Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Apartment car parks across the country are overcrowded as people worked from home or stayed in during lockdown. In Seoul, for instance, 103.6 cars are competing for every 100 parking spaces, and the situation has worsened especially in older apartment complexes. Choi Won-cheol (29), an office worker in Incheon, said, "When I get home after work I find myself driving around for 15 to 20 minutes in search of a parking space. I can tell that people are working from home because the same cars are always parked in the same space." The curfew on restaurants and bars has also exacerbated the problem as people have nowhere to go in the evening. One 56-year-old resident of an apartment complex in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, said, "I often find the parking lot in my apartment complex completely full when I come home around 8 p.m. I end up double-parking and leave home extra early the next day in case I block someone else's car." PHNOM PENH, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed Omicron cases of the COVID-19 variant in Cambodia has increased to 332 after 45 new cases were reported, the health ministry said on Saturday. It said 29 of the new infections were imported and 16 were locally transmitted. The southeast Asian country recorded the first case of the Omicron variant on Dec. 14 on a pregnant Cambodian woman returning from the western African country of Ghana. Cambodian health ministry's secretary of state and spokeswoman Or Vandine said more and more Omicron cases had been detected in the community, urging people to act together to prevent a large-scale community transmission. Cambodia on Friday started rolling out the fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccines to priority groups in capital Phnom Penh in response to the Omicron variant. The country has so far administered at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines to 14.3 million people, or 89.4 percent of its 16-million population, the health ministry said. Of them, 13.7 million, or 85.6 percent, have been fully vaccinated with two required shots. About 4.5 million, or 28 percent, have taken a third booster shot and 20,200 people have received a fourth booster dose, it said. Most of the vaccines used in the country's inoculation campaign are China's Sinovac and Sinopharm. According to the ministry, Cambodia has registered a total of 120,773 cases, with 3,015 deaths and 117,089 recoveries. https://sputniknews.com/20220115/bidens-move-to-police-reform-criticized-as-admin-fails-to-push-other-bills---report-1092285006.html Biden's Move to Police Reform Criticised as Admin. Fails to Push Other Bills - Report Biden's Move to Police Reform Criticised as Admin. Fails to Push Other Bills - Report The White House earlier suffered some severe setbacks to its ambitious legislative agenda, as the Supreme Court blocked its push to force employers across the... 15.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-15T22:17+0000 2022-01-15T22:17+0000 2022-01-16T06:52+0000 us reform police defunding police reform biden administration /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/0f/1092286405_0:321:3071:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_fe102ebd3a0bdb1dbd2c9d25bfd6a93f.jpg Law enforcement groups are expressing concern and scepticism about Biden's reported plan to use executive orders to implement police reform, claiming that it is "not a sustainable" method of achieving long-term change and a political ploy to divert attention away from the administration's week of defeats, Fox News reported on Saturday.The executive orders are still reportedly being completed, but they are scheduled to be implemented at the start of February as the administration works to achieve policy goals ahead of the president's State of the Union speech in March.The development comes as the House passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in March of last year, following the killing of Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis in 2020. But it was reported that months of talks among a bipartisan group of senators have not resulted in a police reform bill, so the White House is expected to utilise the president's executive powers to implement sweeping police reform.The executive director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA), Laura Cooper, noted in a commentary to the outlet that executive orders "in lieu" of congressional legislation are not sustainable over time.The Biden administration has been facing mounting criticism lately for shifting its focus to police reform following a week of huge setbacks on the filibuster, the OSHA vaccination mandate, and other issues. National Police Association spokeswoman Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith told Fox News that Biden is shifting gears to police reform to deflect attention away from one of his worst weeks as president.According to Smith, the White House's priority should be "to protect all communities", instead of "pandering to a militant wing of idealists and activists who believe that police officers are the problem, not the solution, to violent crime".The spokeswoman also reportedly stressed that law enforcement needs leadership rather than "partisan pandering".Jonathan Thompson, executive director and CEO of the National Sheriffs' Association, who was also quoted by the outlet, said that he has not seen any drafts of an executive order on police reform and that he expected Biden would engage in communication with sheriffs across the country before issuing any order.He then underscored that at the moment, despite police recruitment and staffing being at record lows, "the country overwhelmingly supports law enforcement and the adherence to the rule of law".According to a Quinnipiac University national poll conducted earlier this month, the president has a 33% popularity rating and a 53% disapproval rating among US citizens. Biden's approval has dropped three points since Quinnipiac's previous poll in November, while disapproval has remained steady. Moreover, the poll suggested that the president's handling of three major concerns, namely the economy (34%), foreign policy (35%), and the coronavirus epidemic (39%), has him in serious trouble in terms of popularity. https://sputniknews.com/20220115/biden-reportedly-mulling-executive-action-on-police-reform--1092268594.html Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Kirill Kurevlev Kirill Kurevlev News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Kirill Kurevlev us, reform, police, defunding, police reform, biden administration https://sputniknews.com/20220115/blinken-borrell-vow-to-present-united-transatlantic-front-after-russia-talks-1092285178.html Blinken, Borrell Vow to Present 'United Transatlantic Front' After Russia Talks Blinken, Borrell Vow to Present 'United Transatlantic Front' After Russia Talks Borrell Blinken agreed on Saturday to coordinate closely with regard to what the EUs external action service called Russian attempts to redefine security arrangements in Europe. 2022-01-15T20:44+0000 2022-01-15T20:44+0000 2022-01-16T05:00+0000 us antony blinken nato josep borrell russia ukraine security talks tensions eu /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/0f/1092284980_0:0:2477:1393_1920x0_80_0_0_68f88e8c628e8cd6eceb0ec5e2ce490a.jpg The officials briefed each other on their latest diplomatic engagement regarding Russia, Borrell's office said in a statement.The two reaffirmed their support for Ukraine and again demanded that Russia de-escalate tensions. They reviewed preparations of so-called deterrent measures and threatened "massive consequences" if Russia behaved aggressively toward Ukraine.Russia Warns About Risk of Escalation Amid NATO's Creeping ExpansionRussian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov told Newsweek in an interview published on Saturday that NATO's eastward expansion was driving up tensions. He said last week's talks that Russia held with the US and NATO were meant to "preserve peace and stability" in Europe by putting legally binding guarantees down on paper."As [NATO] approaches our border proper, the flight time of NATO air and missile weapons to Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other cities in the European part of the country is reduced. How would the US government react if Washington, New York or Los Angeles were 'under the bomb-sight'", he said.Russia sees NATO's creeping expansion, which has come in five waves since the fall of the Soviet Union, as a national security threat, the diplomat said. He warned about the risk of escalation and direct military confrontation in the post-Soviet expanse and beyond.Senior US and Russian diplomats held a strategic stability dialogue in Geneva on Monday, followed by Russia-NATO talks in Brussels on Wednesday and a meeting of Russian negotiators and representatives of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Vienna on Thursday. Antonov said Ukraine was only briefly mentioned during the Russia-NATO consultations. https://sputniknews.com/20220113/russia-nato-talks-how-the-cold-war-era-hubris-of-the-bloc-limits-pan-european-security-1092239966.html russia ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 us, antony blinken, nato, josep borrell, russia, ukraine, security, talks, tensions, eu https://sputniknews.com/20220115/coins-discovered-near-the-thames-could-rewrite-londons-history-archaeologist-says-1092278703.html Coins Discovered Near the Thames Could Rewrite London's History, Archaeologist Says Coins Discovered Near the Thames Could Rewrite London's History, Archaeologist Says The items were discovered on the southern bank of the river, where researchers previously found the remains of an Iron Age settlement post holes capable of... 15.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-15T12:31+0000 2022-01-15T12:31+0000 2022-01-15T12:31+0000 london tech science iron age /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107816/86/1078168694_0:0:2501:1406_1920x0_80_0_0_6ea94123a0ff095688028527df27b27c.jpg Coins discovered recently near the Thames River could rewrite London's history, Mike Curnow, archaeologist from the Museum of London Archaeology, has said. The general view in the scientific community is that London is a Roman city, as no substantial evidence of a pre-Roman settlement has been found close to the city's centre. The design of the coins discovered, however, suggests that they were made for the Cantiaci Tribe, an Iron Age Celtic people living in Britain before the Roman conquest. Scientists believe they lived in what is now Kent and used Canterbury as their capital.Iron Age specialist Adam Sutton examined the items and concluded that they were the earliest coins ever found in Britain. They had the maker's tabs, which means that an Iron Age mint could have been located in the area.Mr Sutton said researchers are still debating the role of coins in Iron Age society and whether it had a monetised economy. london Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Max Gorbachev Max Gorbachev News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Max Gorbachev london, tech, science, iron age https://sputniknews.com/20220115/defence-chief-bipin-rawats-chopper-crashed-due-to-pilot-error-indian-air-force-says-1092272113.html Defence Chief Bipin Rawat's Chopper Crashed Due to Pilot Error, Indian Air Force Says Defence Chief Bipin Rawat's Chopper Crashed Due to Pilot Error, Indian Air Force Says Indian Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Bipin Rawat and 13 others were killed in an Indian Air Force (IAF) Mi-17V5 helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu last month. Gen... 15.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-15T06:08+0000 2022-01-15T06:08+0000 2022-01-15T06:08+0000 crash tamil nadu military sputnik army defence army flight helicopter pilot /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/0c/08/1091343283_0:31:1024:607_1920x0_80_0_0_3ac05c5966c3f39b40b3f0560774e9ed.jpg Pilot error caused the helicopter crash that led to the death of India's top general, Bipin Rawat, his wife, and several other defence personnel, including crew members, the Court of Inquiry investigating the matter has found.According to the findings, unexpected weather conditions, leading to the formation of clouds in the sky, forced the "disorientation" of the pilots, which resulted in the tragic crash.As per IATA (International Air Transport Association), CFIT is when a pilot who's in complete control of an aircraft unintentionally flies into terrain, water, or another obstacle, subsequently resulting in a collision with the aforementioned subjects.CFIT is among the most common factors behind crashes like that of General Rawat, particularly during bad weather in hilly terrain.Rawat, a former Indian Army chief, was appointed the nation's first chief of defence staff (CDS) on 30 December 2019. He was also head of a separate department in the Defence Ministry named the Department of Military Affairs.Even a month after his death, the Indian government is yet to name his successor. tamil nadu Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Pawan Atri https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/05/12/1082926219_0:0:358:358_100x100_80_0_0_aca1d9bdccc7af990e49b4511ee80344.png Pawan Atri https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/05/12/1082926219_0:0:358:358_100x100_80_0_0_aca1d9bdccc7af990e49b4511ee80344.png News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Pawan Atri https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/05/12/1082926219_0:0:358:358_100x100_80_0_0_aca1d9bdccc7af990e49b4511ee80344.png crash, tamil nadu, military, sputnik, army, defence, army, flight, helicopter, pilot, chopper, general, wife, army, bipin rawat, pilot error, chopper, indian air force (iaf), defence, indian defence ministry, india https://sputniknews.com/20220115/first-migrant-caravan-of-2022-sets-off-from-honduras--reports-1092284451.html First Migrant Caravan of 2022 Sets Off From Honduras Reports First Migrant Caravan of 2022 Sets Off From Honduras Reports Hundreds of Latin American migrants set out from a northern Honduran city overnight in the hope of one day making it into the United States, media said on Saturday. 2022-01-15T19:28+0000 2022-01-15T19:28+0000 2022-01-16T08:23+0000 us mexico migrants asylum illegal migration migrant caravan southern border biden administration /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/0f/1092284425_0:161:3071:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_9b3ffe7a9910b21a573b46c128dd095b.jpg An estimated 600 asylum hopefuls from Nicaragua, Venezuela, Haiti, and Cuba departed San Pedro Sula and marched to the town of Corinto near the Nicaraguan border, La Prensa has reported. Dozens more are waiting to join the caravan further north.This is the first migrant caravan to hit the road this year. US President Joe Biden unsuccessfully tried last month to repeal a Trump-era policy, called "Remain in Mexico", which requires migrants to wait in Mexico for the duration of their asylum proceedings.In August, a US District Court in Texas ordered the Biden administration to restart the policy, which was followed by a failed attempt to fight that order in the US Supreme Court. The latter ruled against the bid to end the policy. us mexico Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 us, mexico, migrants, asylum, illegal migration, migrant caravan, southern border, biden administration https://sputniknews.com/20220115/imran-khans-party-accused-of-neglecting-pakistani-region-bordering-afghanistan-1092276124.html Imran Khan's Party Accused of Neglecting Pakistani Region Bordering Afghanistan Imran Khan's Party Accused of Neglecting Pakistani Region Bordering Afghanistan For months, Pakistani PM Imran Khan's government has been battling criticism from all quarters. While thousands of students protested in October on the issue... 15.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-15T11:21+0000 2022-01-15T11:21+0000 2022-01-15T11:21+0000 pakistan government opposition sputnik national assembly imran khan government afghanistan criticism lawmaker /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/06/1c/1083259124_0:0:3066:1725_1920x0_80_0_0_a736157219465fa661c017f79a7c50ce.jpg Peshawar Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Noor Alam Khan is the latest member of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) to slam his own government and Prime Minister Imran Khan for neglecting Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), an impoverished northwestern region of the country bordering Afghanistan.Noor Alam even demanded that the names of PM Khan and his cabinet colleagues be put on the dreaded Exit Control List (ECL) to prevent them from leaving the country."It seems that Peshawar is not a district of this country", Noor Alam said while referring to a ban on new gas connections in KP, especially in the province's capital Peshawar. Noor Alam's comments aren't the first signs of a brewing rebellion in the ruling party's ranks as his remarks came a day after Defence Minister Pervez Khattak questioned his own government on the same subject.According to several reports in the Pakistani media, Khattak had even warned PM Khan that he would not hesitate to vote against him if problems continued to persist in KP.With contrasting voices growing within the top leadership of Pakistan's ruling party, the opposition has predicted that PTI will disintegrate ahead of the 2023 national elections."The process of collapse within PTI has started", Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ahsan Iqbal told local media. pakistan afghanistan khyber pakhtunkhwa south asia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Pawan Atri https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/05/12/1082926219_0:0:358:358_100x100_80_0_0_aca1d9bdccc7af990e49b4511ee80344.png Pawan Atri https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/05/12/1082926219_0:0:358:358_100x100_80_0_0_aca1d9bdccc7af990e49b4511ee80344.png News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Pawan Atri https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/05/12/1082926219_0:0:358:358_100x100_80_0_0_aca1d9bdccc7af990e49b4511ee80344.png pakistan, government, opposition, sputnik, national assembly, imran khan, government, afghanistan, criticism, lawmaker, pakistan, leader, prime minister, party, rebellion, khyber pakhtunkhwa, prime minister, south asia https://sputniknews.com/20220115/intl-energy-firms-tell-us-they-lack-gas-to-replace-russian-supplies-to-europe-media-says-1092280253.html Int'l Energy Firms Tell US They Lack Gas to Replace Russian Supplies to Europe, Media Says Int'l Energy Firms Tell US They Lack Gas to Replace Russian Supplies to Europe, Media Says Washington repeatedly claimed that Russia might use its gas supplies to exercise political pressure on the EU, despite Moscow's assurances that it is not true... 15.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-15T16:24+0000 2022-01-15T16:24+0000 2022-01-15T16:24+0000 russia-nato row on european security europe us russia sanctions natural gas /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/0b/03/1090438897_0:154:2993:1837_1920x0_80_0_0_8896b20cae25f80eac81553492248801.jpg It would be difficult to replace Russian gas supplies to Europe, several unidentified energy companies have told the US after the Department of State asked whether it was possible, according to a report from Reuters citing several anonymous sources in the industry and an unnamed US official.The companies indicated in their response that gas supplies are at present too limited in the world to replace Russia, which accounts for about a third of EU supplies, Reuters said. Although the Department of State did not specifically ask the companies to boost their output, it asked whether it would be possible and whether the companies could maintain natural gas supplies to the market in case Russia shuts off supplies, for example by delaying maintenance, Reuters' anonymous source in the department claimed.It is not clear which companies were allegedly contacted by the Department of State and why it was making such inquiries. The White House has not commented on the report, but a US National Security Council spokesman told Reuters that contingency planning was continuing without specifying what that involves.Backing European AlliesThe report comes as gas prices in Europe continue to stay high compared with the beginning of 2021. Several factors contributed to this surge, including a prolonged winter that emptied gas reservoirs on the continent and the EU countries' failure to fill them up in summer amid high competition for LNG shipments with the Asian countries, whose economies experienced a resurgence after COVID lockdowns. The gas price first breached the $1,000 per cubic metre and then nearly hit the $2,000 mark before receding a bit.Spiking gas prices have already caused energy bills for consumers and businesses alike to shoot up in Europe. Loss of a major gas supplier such as Russia would likely exacerbate the situation for the EU and so the US vowed to help it however it can, an anonymous industry source told Reuters.The report comes as western nations continue to level allegations that Russia might be planning an "invasion in Ukraine" a claim Moscow has vehemently rejected. The US vowed to slap harsh sanctions against the Kremlin should that happen and discussed joint action with European allies. The fearmongering of invasion is based on reports that Russian troops have been redeployed along the border with Ukraine. Russia had already moved its troops to this region by April 2021, but it was a temporary measure for military exercises. https://sputniknews.com/20211227/us-lng-cargoes-to-europe-jumped-by-a-third-over-christmas-weekend---reports-1091846306.html Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Tim Korso https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0d/1093831826_0:0:216:216_100x100_80_0_0_e3f43a960af0c6c99f7eb8ccbf5f812c.jpg Tim Korso https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0d/1093831826_0:0:216:216_100x100_80_0_0_e3f43a960af0c6c99f7eb8ccbf5f812c.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Tim Korso https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0d/1093831826_0:0:216:216_100x100_80_0_0_e3f43a960af0c6c99f7eb8ccbf5f812c.jpg europe, us, russia, sanctions, natural gas https://sputniknews.com/20220115/prince-andrew-losing-titles-could-affect-mindset-of-jurors-if-case-goes-to-trial---lawyers-1092270186.html Prince Andrew Losing Titles Could Affect Mindset of Jurors If Case Goes to Trial - Lawyers Prince Andrew Losing Titles Could Affect Mindset of Jurors If Case Goes to Trial - Lawyers WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Queen Elizabeth's decision to strip her second son, Prince Andrew, of his royal titles, military affiliations, and royal patronages is... 15.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-15T02:07+0000 2022-01-15T02:07+0000 2022-01-15T07:46+0000 trial ghislaine maxwell prince andrew queen elizabeth /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/0d/1092226913_0:140:3069:1866_1920x0_80_0_0_c47eb14883491acb3ade98547694b5ad.jpg Britain's longest-reigning monarch took this action a day after US District Judge Lewis Kaplan refused to dismiss a civil lawsuit filed against him by Virginia Giuffre, who accuses Prince Andrew of sexually assaulting her when she was 17.Abdul Latif Bennett, a lawyer who has practiced for 32 years, agreed, saying Prince Andrew's lawyers may have been helped by being able to constantly refer to his royal ties. However, he said it is not clear how damaging this development will be to his case.Andrew, Duke of York, is now potentially looking at a trial later this year to answer Giuffre's allegations that she was sex trafficked to the royal by convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. In court filings, Giuffre said she was underage when she was taken to London, New York, and Epstein's Little Saint James in the US Virgin Islands and forced to have sex with Prince Andrew.Since the senior royal's relationship with Epstein was revealed, he has fought to stave off being forced to appear in court. His lawyers tried several legal manoeuvres to have the case dismissed but Kaplan rejected every attempt. Prince Andrew has been consistent in his claims of innocence and his lawyers say he will continue to defend himself against these "false" allegations.In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation in 2019, Prince Andrew said he has no recollection of ever meeting Giuffre despite a picture taken in a London townhouse in 2001 showing the pair with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's confidant, former girlfriend, and socialite. Maxwell, 60, was found guilty of five federal sex trafficking charges in New York City last month. She faces 65 years in prison.Jean-Pierre Coy said she was astounded when she heard some of the names linked to Epstein, including former Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, famed lawyer Alan Dershowitz and former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson - none of whom have been tied to sex trafficking."But you have to look at what evidence they have that ties them to this. Is there evidence of trafficking? Unless you made an overt act like Ghislaine, like bringing people there", she said. "Just because you know someone doesn't make you guilty". Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 trial, ghislaine maxwell, prince andrew, queen elizabeth https://sputniknews.com/20220115/protests-against-covid-restrictions-hit-hamburg-despite-ban-1092276794.html Protests Against COVID Restrictions Hit Hamburg Despite Ban Protests Against COVID Restrictions Hit Hamburg Despite Ban Last week, a demonstration against coronavirus measures in Hamburg gathered over 13,700 people. 15.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-15T11:44+0000 2022-01-15T11:44+0000 2022-01-15T11:44+0000 protests hamburg germany protest coronavirus covid-19 /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/0f/1092276754_0:214:2881:1834_1920x0_80_0_0_d6dbff23bbd65bb9a3b6d80f6c5ebe2d.jpg Sputnik is live from Hamburg, Germany, as people hit the streets to protest against COVID-19 restrictions put in place by the authorities. The event takes place despite a court upholding its ban by the authorities.At the same time, a counter-demonstration, which is not banned by the government, is also planned in the city.The event is being held after the German authorities recently tightened restrictions, demanding people to get both proof of vaccination and a recent negative PCR test in order to enter some public places, including bars and restaurants.Follow Sputnik's Live Feed to Find Out More! hamburg germany Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Anti-COVID-restrix protesters take to Hamburg streets despite ban, counter-demos expected Anti-COVID-restrix protesters take to Hamburg streets despite ban, counter-demos expected 2022-01-15T11:44+0000 true PT260M47S 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 protests, hamburg, germany, protest, coronavirus, covid-19, https://sputniknews.com/20220115/us-lawmakers-mull-banning-defence-contractors-from-buying-chinese-rare-earths-1092282712.html US Lawmakers Mull Banning Defence Contractors From Buying Chinese Rare Earths US Lawmakers Mull Banning Defence Contractors From Buying Chinese Rare Earths Over the past few decades, the US has lost its dominance in mining and processing of rare earth materials having been supplanted by China. Now, as Washington... 15.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-15T17:56+0000 2022-01-15T17:56+0000 2022-01-15T17:56+0000 us china pentagon rare-earth metals /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/0f/1092282686_0:90:3188:1883_1920x0_80_0_0_fb18534b6180df3deb238f0cf46e8195.jpg Two US Senators, Republican Tom Cotton and Democrat Mark Kelly, have submitted a Bill proposing a ban on buying rare earths from China for government defence contractors. If the Bill, called Restoring Essential Energy and Security Holdings Onshore for Rare Earths Act, is passed, defence companies building weapons for the US will have to stop buying rare earth materials from China by 2026. The latter are often used in modern technologies.The law is supposed to persuade contractors to use American rare-earths supplies. However, there is only one rare earths mine functioning in the US and practically no plants that can process them into powerful magnets and other materials and goods.This is where the Bill becomes controversial. To help the contractors to fulfil their obligations in conditions of poor rare earths supplies in the US, the authors propose they should seek these materials from a reserve created by the Pentagon. However, this reserve is at present being filled by the very Chinese rare earth materials that the contractors will be banned from buying if the Bill is passed.At the same time, the Bill inked by Cotton and Kelly contains no means to support the emerging (or rather reviving) US rare-earth industry. Major US defence companies did not comment on the Bill's proposals.The US used to be a leader in production of rare earths, but later ceded the throne to China, which now controls most of the market. Beijing blocked exports of rare earth metals which are essential for modern technologies only once as it acted against Japan in 2019, but it warned it could do the same to the US.The latter designated China as a potential adversary and a rival in the global arena during Donald Trump's administration. Joe Biden's administration made no attempts to become reconciled with Beijing and even expanded tensions, although it added that Washington is ready to work with China in areas where their interests do not collide, such as climate change.Furthermore, in the light of the supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic, the American politicians called on bringing a lot of critical production capabilities back home - especially the ones related to national security and the defence industry, and passing laws that would facilitate this process. The disruptions mainly affected the chip industry, forcing many companies in the technological and even automotive industries to reduce the planned output of their products because of a shortage of key components. https://sputniknews.com/20211125/harmful-for-global-supply-chain-china-blasts-us-for-banning-12-entities-without-factual-basis-1091011078.html china Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Tim Korso https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0d/1093831826_0:0:216:216_100x100_80_0_0_e3f43a960af0c6c99f7eb8ccbf5f812c.jpg Tim Korso https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0d/1093831826_0:0:216:216_100x100_80_0_0_e3f43a960af0c6c99f7eb8ccbf5f812c.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Tim Korso https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0d/1093831826_0:0:216:216_100x100_80_0_0_e3f43a960af0c6c99f7eb8ccbf5f812c.jpg us, china, pentagon, rare-earth metals by Burak Akinci ANKARA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Following a series of vicious canine attacks, Turkey is enacting a ban on "dangerous dog breeds" which prompted some dog owners to abandon their pets, raising concern among animal rights activists. "Dangerous dog breeds" made news headlines in the past few weeks after repeated pit bull attacks left some children injured across Turkey. In one highly publicized case in late December 2021, a four-year-old girl was seriously injured after she was mauled by two unattended pit bulls in the southeastern province of Gaziantep. Three people were later detained. The attack gained a lot of public attention, prompting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to instruct municipalities to round up stray street animals to be sent to safe sanctuaries. Pit bulls and other aggressive dogs, such as Japanese Tosa and Dogo Argentino, are already prohibited from being sold, imported, or owned in Turkey. Meanwhile, stray dogs, who are to blame for some non-fatal attacks, are being rounded up by authorities across the country. Some dogs were abandoned on the streets by their owners before the ban, which also demands sterilization of dangerous dogs, took effect on Friday, according to animal rights groups. "We have received reports of dozens of cases around the country, including in Ankara, and such cases are now being reported on a daily basis," Pelin Sayilgan, the Turkish Animal Right Federation's representative in the Turkish capital of Ankara, told Xinhua. In the Imrahor Valley, located on the outskirts of Ankara, many pit bulls have joined a massive crowd of stray dogs. "Recently, we have seen an increasing number of dogs being abandoned in the city and here," said Mesut Canturk, head of the Patili Can Dostlar (Dear Friends with Paws), an animal rescue organization in Ankara. "Violation of the ban is punishable by severe fines, which some owners consider as an additional cost, so they just abandon their pets who struggle to survive on their own," he said. Turks are well-known for their compassion for stray cats and dogs. Many Turks regard street animals as communal pets rather than typical stray animals. Canturk said that some cities may have "misunderstood" the president's call for better conditions for stray dogs. More than 2,000 animal lovers gathered in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, last Sunday to demand that municipalities not place stray dogs in shelters, which they claim as basically a death sentence for the animals. "Non-governmental organizations and the government should work together to find a solution to this urgent issue," Canturk said, adding "there is no such thing as dangerous dogs but dangerous owners." Dogs are only violent when their owners are reckless and indifferent to them, Canturk said. https://sputniknews.com/20220115/us-working-vibrantly-on-laser-weapons-in-mideast-amid-uav-activity---centcom-admiral-1092270802.html US 'Working Vibrantly' on Laser Weapons in Mideast Amid UAV Activity - CENTCOM Admiral US 'Working Vibrantly' on Laser Weapons in Mideast Amid UAV Activity - CENTCOM Admiral WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Navy is working on laser weapons in the Middle East to counteract a significant upsurge in Iran's deployment and use of unmanned... 15.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-15T03:18+0000 2022-01-15T03:18+0000 2022-01-15T07:00+0000 middle east us us navy laser weapons us central command (centcom) /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107522/53/1075225368_0:198:3787:2328_1920x0_80_0_0_d776c2d97fe61e944d705d7d80e9048f.jpg "There is a growth in the missile defence force and in cruise missiles and Iranian UAVs and the proliferation of those UAVs throughout the region", Cooper told a conference at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on Friday. "There has been a dramatic uptick in the UAV activity in the region: it is significantly different".In response, the Fifth Fleet is deploying and developing the use of laser, or directed energy weapons on its warships in the region, Cooper said, adding that he was not going to reveal any details of the work.The US Navy is developing "laser weapons on warships in the region. This is an area we are working on pretty vibrantly. For understandable reasons, I am not going to talk about it", Cooper said.Starting in September of 2021, the Fifth Fleet activated Task Force 59 as its unmanned vehicles and intelligence task force in the region operated out of Bahrain and Jordan. The operation had already "exceeded our every expectation" with unmanned sea vehicles launched out of the port of Akaba in the southwestern tip of Jordan capable of functioning for up to 33 days at a time, Cooper added. us Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 middle east, us, us navy, laser weapons, us central command (centcom) Nebraska Corn Board (NCB) and Nebraska Corn Growers Association (NeCGA) collectively known as Nebraska Corn are crying foul after researchers at Texas A&M University released an economic analysis suggesting pending tariffs on nitrogen fertilizers will create shortages resulting in increased prices for farmers. Nebraska corn farmers have been concerned for several months as fertilizer prices have risen more than 80% for the upcoming growing season compared to 2021. The Texas A&M report validates farmers fears that fertilizer companies are artificially manipulating prices to the detriment of U.S. agriculture. As part of this study, we conducted an historical analysis going back to 1980 and found that fertilizer costs tend to go up when corn revenues increase, said Dr. Joe Outlaw, lead researcher of the study. Notably, these prices tend to go up exponentially even after accounting for natural gas prices and higher demand. The study noted the price of anhydrous ammonia, one type of nitrogen fertilizer, increased by $688 per ton $86,000 for a 1,000-acre farm from the end of 2020 through the end of October 2021. The economic analysis has farmers worried about a petition by CF Industries with U.S. International Trade Commission to impose tariffs on nitrogen fertilizers imported from Trinidad and Tobago and Russia. CF Industries is one of the countrys leading nitrogen producers. Despite a widespread condemnation from ag groups, the U.S. Department of Commerce released a preliminary finding recommending tariffs. Costs of fertilizers are sky high and will continue to climb with the addition of the proposed tariffs, said Andy Jobman, president of NeCGA and farmer from Gothenburg. Nebraskas farmers have been experiencing financial difficulties for the past several years due to low prices. High input prices are going to cause great financial harm to many operations after we finally thought we caught a break. High nitrogen prices are eliminating profitability for family farms. I think the solution is simple, said Jay Reiners, chairman of NCB and farmer from Juniata. Fertilizer companies need to remove us from their trade spats, while maintaining a reliable and affordable supply of their products in the market. Only then can our farmers have a chance at success as we approach the 2022 growing season. The Texas A&M economic analysis was conducted by 21 state corn organizations including: Nebraska, Texas, Missouri, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wisconsin. The Nebraska Corn Board is funded through a producer checkoff investment of -cent-per-bushel checkoff on all corn marketed in the state and is managed by nine farmer directors. The mission of the Nebraska Corn Board is to promote the value of corn by creating opportunities. The Nebraska Corn Growers Association (NeCGA) is a grassroots commodity organization that works to enhance the profitability of corn producers. NeCGA has more than 2,400 dues-paying members in Nebraska. NeCGA is affiliated with the National Corn Growers Association, which has more than 40,000 dues-paying members nationwide. 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Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe CLEVELAND (AP) Ohio investigators have found the cremated remains of 89 people stored in boxes and bags at an abandoned church in Akron, authorities said. The remains were seized at Greater Faith Missionary Baptist Church on Tuesday by investigators from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, attorney general spokesperson Steve Irwin said Thursday. The church is owned by Shawnte Hardin, 41, who faces 44 counts including racketeering, tampering with records, identity fraud and abuse of a corpse in Lucas County, over 100 miles from Akron. Some of the charges are for alleged criminal violations in Franklin, Summit and Cuyahoga counties, where authorities say Hardin acted as an unlicensed funeral director. The cases were consolidated in Toledo. Hardin has pleaded not guilty. Hardin's attorney, Richard Kerger, said Thursday that a former funeral director named Robert Tate Jr. asked Hardin in 2017 to store the ashes of people whose families had not claimed them. "There was no compensation for him," Kerger said of Hardin. "He was just doing a service for someone who needed it." Tate pleaded no contest to one felony and three misdemeanor charges in November 2015 after authorities board found 11 bodies in various states of decay at his Toledo funeral home. He was sentenced to a week in jail and probation. He died in December at age 65. The remains in Akron were initially discovered Sunday by a woman who told a state investigator she was an "urban explorer" and had entered an open door of an abandoned church. She contacted the Ohio State Bureau of Embalmers and Funeral Directors, triggering the state investigation. The woman said some of the ashes dated to 2010, according to a search warrant affidavit written by state investigative agent Arvin Clar. Kerger disputed that the church was abandoned. He said Hardin has not been able to check on the building since being placed on home detention at his mother's home in Columbus while awaiting trial. Hardin was initially indicted on 37 counts in September after being accused of running an unlicensed funeral operation. The investigation began that same month after someone called 911 and reported seeing a corpse being moved from a van into a building. State agents subsequently removed two bodies from the building. Hardin told a Columbus television station at the time he was not acting as a funeral director but instead offered low cost services for transporting and washing dead bodies. He was charged with seven additional counts, including abuse of a corpse in December. According to his attorney, state law does not require a funeral director's license to bury people. "There's nothing wrong with helping people dispose the remains of their loved ones," Kerger said. Arizonas clemency board has declined to recommend that the death sentence of a prisoner be delayed or reduced to life in prison in what would be the states first use of the death penalty in nearly eight years. The decision marks one of the last steps before Clarence Dixons execution in the 1978 killing of college student Deana Bowdoin. The execution is scheduled for May 11. The boards decision keeps the execution on track, at least for now. A hearing is scheduled Tuesday in Pinal County to consider whether Dixon is mentally fit to be executed. Prosecutors have said the hearing will likely lead to a delay in the execution. The Longview City Council passed an emergency moratorium for its downtown corridor Thursday, keeping all nonprofits and many for-profit businesses from opening there for several months. The unanimous vote establishes an immediate six-month moratorium to allow the planning commission time to consider rezoning the Downtown Commerce District. The ordinance pauses all permit and licenses issued for the district and limits the creation of any new businesses that arent selling home goods or offering professional services, such as real estate or insurance. The council chambers were filled to near capacity at Thursday nights meeting, with a crowd dominated by business and property owners who supported the moratorium. Many of the public comments raised concerns about the number of nonprofits that already have settled along Commerce Avenue and rumors that a soup kitchen was being planned for the area. I really think our community is in need of a food center for the homeless, but I dont believe Commerce Avenue is the place to have it at, Marnee Harris, who owns the Wander shoe boutique, told the council Thursday. Questions about emergency need for changes The moratorium was proposed by council members Spencer Boudreau and Hillary Strobel. The two of them framed the bill as a temporary pause that would allow the planning commission to review zoning changes and the big-picture needs for the downtown corridor. This is part and parcel with building a vibrant downtown that everyone wants to see, as well as making sure those who need it have access to those services, Strobel said. The moratorium also would guarantee multiple public hearings about the future of downtown Longview. Community Development Director Ann Rivers said the ordinance has been in the works in some form since November, when Boudreau and Angie Wean were first elected to the council. While the council ended up unanimously voting for the measure, council members repeatedly asked for clarification about why there was an emergency need to issue the moratorium. I believe the emergency nature of it is challenging because it addresses something that is not in the actual paperwork, Wean said. City Attorney Jim McNamara said the emergency nature was to prevent a flood of applications from places that may be about to get zoned out of the district. Places currently operating on Commerce Avenue or ones that have filed to set up shop are vested in the current zoning situation and would not be removed by future changes. You cant keep them from being downtown Country Folks Deli owner Paige Espinoza said she spoke to a woman who was interested in opening a soup kitchen next door. The proposed soup kitchen would be located in the former home of the Fathers House church and the Old Creekside Cafe. Espinoza said she supported the idea of Longview getting a soup kitchen in principle. She said her concerns came from previous damage to buildings owners suspect was caused by homeless residents and worries the people who eat at soup kitchens might scare away customers. I want to know how they plan to keep it all inside the building, so it wont spill out onto the rest of the street, Espinoza said. Not all public comments supported the moratorium. One property owner who called into the meeting said the pause could be a death sentence for owners of currently empty buildings. Other people questioned whether pushing for zoning changes would have the effect the City Council expects. The homeless have a right to be downtown. You cant keep them from being downtown, Longview resident George Brajcich said. Thinking you can do that by zoning is not going to happen. There is no guarantee of what zoning changes or limitations would end up being proposed for the downtown corridor by the planning commission or approved by the City Council. The council vote Thursday set a public hearing for March 10 to confirm the need for an emergency moratorium and extend it. Love 3 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 2 Angry 7 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. KALAMA Members of the Kalama Planning Commission and the public Thursday voiced questions and concerns about a proposed multifamily development potentially including more than 300 apartments. After hearing the developers proposal in mid-December, during its first meeting of the year the commission received more information about the project from city staff and some updates from the developer. After Thursdays discussion, the commission continued the hearing until the groups next meeting Feb. 10. The Lofts at Kalama LLC, represented by Windsor Engineers, is proposing phased development of the 17-acre site at 6445 Old Pacific Highway south of downtown to include a combination of three- and four-story buildings for up to 329 units. Parking and traffic concerns Most concerns about the project have centered around the effect on parking, traffic and city systems, and how it would fit in with the character of the town. Winsdor Engineers Travis Tormanen said the proposal goes beyond the code requirement of one parking space per unit, with 477 total spaces, or 1.4 per unit. After hearing concerns, Tormanen said they can add an overflow parking area in an undeveloped space to help gauge parking needs and react accordingly as the build out continues. Commissioner Lynn Hughes said most households have two cars and the amount of parking proposed is not good enough. She suggested a condition requiring the developer increase parking by 30%. Commissioner Craig Frkovich raised concerns about parking overflowing into the Stone Forest subdivision up the road or Cedar Springs, the subdivision under construction across the street from the proposed Lofts site. City Administrator Adam Smee said unless there is an hour limit, time limit or permit, the city cant regulate who parks where on public streets. Commissioner Lacey Breton asked if there could be another traffic study done during the school year and during peak school-related traffic times because the original study was completed in June. Residents have complained of traffic backups at the school around drop-off and pick-up times. The problem stems from the school district having to change its traffic plan during construction, Smee said. While Bretons concerns have some merit, the commission cant make the schools traffic problem the developers responsibility, he said. My argument is that the issue exists and needs to be taken into account of how it will affect the lower intersections, Breton said. Kalama resident Cheryl Jacobs said she is worried how the project will add to traffic on Old Pacific Highway, which turns into a mini I-5 when there is an accident on the freeway and people detour through town. Drivers speed and the road gets congested, she said. Variations from standards Todd Johnson, consulting city planner, highlighted several items for the commission to consider, as the type of development gives the board and the City Council more discretion in judging and approving or disapproving planned unit development plans. A planned unit development offers increased density, lower costs, permissive variation in zoning and subdivision standards, according to the Kalama city code. As allowed for planned unit developments, several parts of the Lofts proposal vary from standards, including lot size, building height and setbacks, Johnson said. The development isnt required to have a specific amount of open space, as long as its sufficient for the projects density, Johnson said. The proposal includes about 4.7 acres of open space, with a park and trail system, as well as a clubhouse building with leasing office and other amenities. The open space includes adjacent critical areas and the buffer zone, Tormanen said. Since the last meeting, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife questioned the buffer widths and the applicant updated the plan to expand accordingly, Johnson said. To take this into account, staff proposes adding a condition of approval that the applicant comply with the most recent critical areas report, including the trail wont affect existing shrubs and trees. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. 'Smart' pistols designed to restrict who can fire them are poised to hit the booming US market this year, taking aim at spiking gun deaths as national lawmakers remain deadlocked on firearms restrictions. "Smart" pistols designed to limit who can shoot them are poised to hit the booming US firearm market this year, taking aim at spiking gun deaths as federal lawmakers remain deadlocked on any new restrictions. Questions over reliability and political fights have bedeviled the technology for decades, but backers say it's a chance to prevent children, criminals or people considering self-harm from pulling the trigger. Yet whether the deadly weapons will be embraced by buyers, perform as intended in real-life, or deliver on their pledge to increase gun safety are questions that could be years from a definitive answer. "I don't have a crystal ball to know whether it's going to be good on balance, bad on balance or ultimately like other smart guns in the pastkind of a dud," said Adam Skaggs, chief counsel and policy director at gun control advocacy group Giffords. The system from entrepreneur Tom Holland's company SmartGunz uses RFID chipssimilar to the emitters many people use in their car to pay tollsinstalled inside rings. When shooters grip the gun with the hand wearing the special ring, a safety mechanism unlocks, allowing the gun to fire. Holland sees applications in protecting police officers who could have their pistol wrestled away by a suspect; or parents worried their kids could find their firearm. "This is only about gun safety," he told AFP. "For those consumers that want a 'safer gun'...they can have access to this if they feel they have the need for lethal protection on their property." He expects his pistol, which he said is being tested by some police in the United States, to begin selling to civilians by April or May. "Smart" pistols, like the one Ken Chandler is test firing in this courtesy image, are designed to restrict who can fire them. A gun-owning society Any sales would arrive in an unprecedented context in the United States, where some 40 percent of adult Americans live in a gun-owning household, according to the Pew Research Center. Firearms sales set a record in 2020, with nearly 23 million sold, according to the Small Arms Analytics & Forecasting consultancy. Following racial justice protests and the onset of the the pandemic, the United States saw in 2020 its biggest rise in homicides since national records began in 1960 - though overall levels of killing remained below the 1990s. The recurrent horror of America's mass shootings provoke intense bursts of attention, but over half the roughly 40,000 annual firearms deaths are suicides. Ginger Chandler, the co-founder of smart gun maker LodeStar Works, said the user authentication steps are a physical buffer against accidents, suicides and crimesand a psychological barrier. "In times of stress, somebody who is authorized is going to pick up the firearm but they have to do that (extra) step," she said. "Maybe it makes them pause and go 'Hey, do I really want to be doing this right now?'" The 9 mm pistol her firm is developing, which it plans to have on the market by 2023, can unlock in three ways: fingerprint sensor, smartphone app or a keypad to enter a code. This undated handout photo courtesy of SmartGunz, LLC, shows company President G. Thomas ("Tom") Holland II posing while he holds his product in Baldwin City, Kansas. Gun rights lobby These new entrants arrive after years of turbulence for "smart" weapons. US firearms maker Smith & Wesson agreed with then president Bill Clinton's administration in 2000 to make gun violence-reduction reforms that included developing smart guns, but the deal withered under a backlash from America's powerful gun rights lobby. A 2002 New Jersey state law that would have banned pistols without user-authentication technology sparked a furore - and was recast in 2019 to require state firearms shops to sell smart guns once they become commercially available. Then came the case of the smart pistol developed by the German company Armatixwhich was derided after a hacker showed in 2017 the safety technology could be defeated with magnets. Also, while the smart gun concept has received support from gun control advocates, some experts point out that it's still a deadly weapon. "The whole smart gun argument ignores the most common way guns are used to kill in the USsuicide by the person who bought the gun," Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, told AFP in a statement. Yet the technology has an appeal especially as political polarization appears to guarantee no new federal restrictions on guns in the near future. LodeStar co-founder Gareth Glaser said the company has tried to stay out of the politics of gun rights, and their product seeks to avoid that debate too. "It's a workaround," he said. "We would really rather the government stay out of it and allow the consumer to make the choice." 2022 AFP Former Sen. David Perdue and his wife Bonnie didnt have to wait long in line Monday to cast their ballots for the May 24 primary, which will determine who will receive the Republican nomination for the race to serve as Georgias next governor. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Lets consider a hypothetical scenario. Experts warn that a big disaster is coming. But a large segment of the population decides to disregard it because, people reason, it surely will not affect them. But the problem arrives and hits the community anyway, causing widespread calamity. The situation seems to have no end in sight. Due to the nature of the disaster, it also causes isolation, which only perpetuates the fear, anxiety and frustration. There are helpers working tirelessly to aid the community. The workers are so tired, theyre not sure if they can keep working. Even high-ranking elected officials are affected by this adversity. There is no one person to blame and no single person who can solve the problem. The infrastructure in place is too overwhelmed with the numbers of people needing assistance. Fatigue and exhaustion set in. People begin to cast judgment on one another, questioning why their fellow citizens had voluntarily put themselves in such conditions. Some readers might have assumed that I was speaking of the coronavirus pandemic. I was actually referring to the situation where drivers were stranded on Interstate 95 in Virginia for more than 24 hours in the freezing cold. As I read stories about the ordeal motorists experienced, I easily replaced the words in my head about the pandemic. Replace being stuck in a car and isolated with being stuck at home. In both cases, a person may be stuck in a situation without the necessary supplies or with someone who could wind up carelessly inflicting harm on others. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam called the highway backup an incredibly unusual event after about a foot of snow blanketed the area around Fredericksburg. Department of Transportation officials said the winter weather started with rain, which would have washed away any treatment spread on roadways to prevent icing. The rain was followed by more than a foot of snow. Consider how easily we could replace the term meteorologist with public health expert. AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said in a statement: It was very unfortunate to see the suffering, anxiety and fear that so many people affected felt, especially when you consider it could have been avoided by more proactive responses based on the AccuWeather forecast that highlighted this very concern. Public health experts have been encouraging the proactive measures of getting vaccinated and boosted, yet people, for a variety of reasons, have ignored the advice. Marcie Parker, a Virginia Department of Transportation engineer, was quoted as saying, That was entirely too much for us to keep up with. Her sentence could have easily been said by a health care worker. Parker stated the department was quickly overwhelmed when accidents and ice led to blockages that prevented clearance crews from unclogging the highway. That is exactly what is happening to our health care system. Road crews in Virginia worked through the day and night and day again in ice and snow, to free up the roughly 50-mile traffic jam. I imagine very few of those stuck in their cars even gave those rescue workers a second thought. Hospital workers continue to staff our hospitals despite feeling exhausted and burned out. The days of treating our health care workers as heroes have long expired. They are now being taken for granted. NBC news correspondent Josh Lederman was also one of the helpless on the highway. Nobody knows how long were going to be here or how we are going to get out. He added, This is scary. You dont plan for a situation like this. Two years ago there were probably very few of us who ever planned for a pandemic. As we enter our third year, people are asking how much longer we will be affected by this public health crisis. It has become commonplace to judge one another during this pandemic. Just like the fact that we have no way to know why those hundreds of drivers were on I-95 as a huge storm loomed. Does it matter if they were on their way to work, picking up their child from day care, trying to get to a sick loved one, or just going on vacation? Of course not. Positive stories from the disaster are trickling out as well. Drivers sharing food and water. Truck drivers showing kindness by sharing their heated cabs. These stories of resilience and generosity are examples of how societies can best cope with adversity. Of course, the situations are markedly different, but we can certainly learn from one to help us cope with the other. Here are just a few of those lessons: Heed the warnings of experts. Be prepared, which in this context means to get vaccinated and boosted. Be kind and generous. Stop being judgmental. Understand that there are people working tirelessly to get us unstuck. Finally, know that at some point, well all be on our way again. With COVID-19 cases soaring and local hospitals strained, city officials announced Friday that they are bringing back Lincoln's mask mandate. The mandate, which requires face coverings in all indoor public settings, will take effect at 12 a.m. Saturday and extend through Feb. 11. Lancaster County had a mask mandate throughout the fall, but officials let it expire on Dec. 23, saying at the time that vaccination rates were high and there were more tools available to both prevent and treat the disease. But that was before the omicron wave hit locally. The highly contagious variant has led to soaring case counts. Lancaster County had nearly 2,900 cases last week, a pandemic record for a single week, and as of Friday morning had already recorded more than 3,000 cases this week, including more than 1,000 just for Friday. Lancaster County's COVID-19 risk dial has been in the red, or severe range, for more than two weeks, but Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Director Pat Lopez said conditions have "moved beyond severe to extreme risk." She and Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird both reiterated that people should limit their time in the community to only essential activities such as going to work or school, shopping for food or medicine, or going to the doctor. Lopez said now is the time for an "urgent community response." She said the main tipping point that led to the decision to reinstate the mask mandate just three weeks after it went away was the local hospital situation. Even though the omicron variant has been shown to cause milder disease, the sheer number of cases is leading to more hospitalizations. On Tuesday, there were 142 COVID-19 patients in Lincoln hospitals, the highest number since December 2020. Numbers have declined slightly since then but remain at their highest levels in a year. Lopez said the hospital indicator used in the COVID-19 risk dial has been in the red for more than three weeks, and the average of daily patients has risen from 113 on Christmas Day to 132 as of this week. Another concerning factor is the amount of patients from Lancaster County, which is nearing 100. The more local patients there are, the fewer transfers the Lincoln hospitals are able to accept, she said. Bryan Health on Thursday said it's been instituting many of its crisis care practices for several months now, including repurposing space, limiting elective surgeries and turning down many transfer requests. Bryan also said it was seeing a number of cases of COVID-19 among staff members, although thanks to the fact that nearly all of them are vaccinated, there haven't been any serious cases. "Our hospital and others across the state are severely taxed," the health system said in a statement. "We are seeing accelerating numbers of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations as the omicron variant spreads unyieldingly across our state." CHI Health said it had not yet moved to crisis standards of care at its hospitals, but interim CEO Jeanette Wojtalewicz said its hospitals are "stretched thin," with increasing patient loads at the same time large numbers of staff are out either because they have COVID-19 or are quarantining because of an exposure. As of Thursday, that number was 389 employees. The total number of COVID-19 patients in Nebraska hospitals reached 671 as of Friday morning, which is an increase of more than 100 just in the past week. Gov Pete Ricketts on Friday issued a Directed Health Measure suspending elective surgeries at Nebraska Medicine after it said Thursday that it was instituting its crisis standards of care policy. "The hospitals are really full," said Dr. Eric Avery, president of the Lancaster County Medical Society. "The COVID cases are way too high, and it's up to us to do the right thing, right now." In addition to wearing masks, officials said doing the right thing means getting vaccinated if you haven't yet done so. Vaccines are "proven, they're safe, they're effective," Avery said. Lopez also touted the importance of booster shots. While she said she didn't have data on how many recent COVID-19 cases are in fully vaccinated people, she did say only 10% of the cases are occurring in those who have had a booster shot. Officials also said another instance of doing the right thing would be cutting down on gatherings. Gaylor Baird encouraged community groups to postpone meetings or hold them virtually, and she also said people planning to host events such as weddings or banquets should seriously consider postponing them because people gathering in close proximity without masks is the way the virus spreads most easily. "It's time to get real, and for at least the next four weeks, I'm asking you to make some tough decisions," she said. The reinstatement of the countywide mask mandate comes just days after Douglas County's health director instituted one for the city of Omaha. Douglas County's Health Department does not have the same powers as the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department under state law, and on Thursday Attorney General Doug Peterson filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Omaha mandate. Lopez said she has not talked to anyone from the state about Lancaster County's decision to reinstate its mandate, but she reiterated the importance of the health department being able to make the decision on its own. "That ability to respond from a local level to our local needs is really critical because we best know what our local situation is." The mask mandate being in effect for four weeks may be an indication of hope that the current omicron surge will subside by then. In other countries and in other areas of the U.S., cases have surged for four to five weeks and then started to subside. Lopez said Lincoln is now about two weeks into its omicron wave, but while omicron is the predominant variant, she cautioned that the county is still dealing with cases caused by the delta variant. Dr. James Lawler, co-executive director of the University of Nebraska Medical Centers Global Center for Health Security, said Friday in his weekly coronavirus video update that he expects the omicron wave to peak in Douglas County and much of eastern Nebraska in the next week to 10 days, with the rest of the state potentially about a week behind that. He predicted that the peak in hospitalizations will occur about five to seven days after the peak in case numbers. Reach the writer at 402-473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LincolnBizBuzz. A town house project at Five Points in Grand Island is one step closer to reality. Grand Island City Council on Tuesday approved a redevelopment plan for the site north of State Street, near Five Points Super Saver and Blessed Sacrament Church. Mesner Development Co. of Central City plans to build 70 new town houses at the site for people entering and leaving the housing market, said Rashad Moxey, assistant planner. Essentially, first-time homebuyers and people looking to downsize, he said. Retail and restaurant space had been planned for the area following construction of the Super Saver, but when that fell through the site was optioned to Mesner for development. The property north of Blessed Sacrament has been vacant for 60 years, so that will spur some development there, Moxey said. The project is consistent with the citys comprehensive plan, and future land use plan for low- to moderate-income housing, Moxey noted. With the redevelopment plan approved by City Council, Community Redevelopment Authority will consider Mesners application for tax increment financing. Mesner is pursuing $1.7 million in TIF for the total $16 million project. The redevelopment plan was approved so the CRA can enter into a TIF contract at this point, Regional Planner Chad Nabity told The Independent. The properties north of Blessed Sacrament all will be for sale, CEO Cliff Mesner told council members Tuesday. To the west, the properties will be rental or for sale. We have more than 150 people on our waiting list all the time, so we have a very strong demand for that market, Mesner said. Those directly next to Super Saver will have to be rental properties, Mesner said. I dont think those will have a market for someone to buy, he said. Mesner hopes to start construction on the market-rate units this spring. Along with TIF, the project also will be pursuing low-income tax credits. Mesner has completed seven projects in Grand Island in that way, he said. Well be applying for that, but whether its possible to get remains to be seen, he said. I think Grand Island was the only community west of Lincoln last year that got tax credits, so it may be very difficult to get that. If not, well just go ahead and build them out as market-rate rentals, but theyll be rentals one way or the other. Units for sale will be 1,500 square feet with two bedrooms and two-car garages all on one level. Mesner called it ideal for seniors and good for first-time buyers. A new street would be extended from Wheeler to State streets, in an L-shape, with lots on both sides of the new street. Council member Mitch Nickerson told Mesner he thought the project was appropriate for the site, but said hed prefer a retail strip there, as originally planned. To me, housing just doesnt seem to fit there, Nickerson said. Mesner explained there were previous attempts to build housing at the site through a tax credit project that didnt get funded. Whats different about what were doing is, the church has decided to sell the property to the north, he said. We had some discussions with the church in 2011 and they didnt want to sell it at that point because they were thinking about putting a grade school there. The need for housing in Grand Island has become acute, Mesner said. When Chad (Nabity) looked it up, there were 18 homes for sale in Grand Island, which is an absurd number, he said. Rezoning for the project site was approved for recommendation to the City Council by the Regional Planning Commission at their Jan. 5 meeting. The recommendation will go to the council for action on Jan. 25. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Four Grand Island natives have reached a franchise agreement to open 15 locations of Daves Hot Chicken, a fast-growing restaurant chain, in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. Ten of the units will be in the Kansas City metropolitan area with the other five in Omaha and Lincoln. They will be owned and operated by brothers Dave, Curt, Mike and Gary Staab, who are part of Grand Island-based Staab Management Co. Dave lives in Grand Island. Curt and Mike reside in Lincoln and Gary lives in Kearney, Mo. Curt Staab said the brothers are impressed with the quality of the food and the Daves Hot Chicken leadership team. The chicken segment of the restaurant business is definitely growing. Were excited about that, he said. The chicken served at Daves Hot Chicken has seven different spice levels, he said. Daves Hot Chicken, based in Los Angeles, is growing rapidly. Theyre at about 40 stores right now. Theyre scheduled to open about a hundred next year, Curt Staab said in a phone interview. They started up as a pop-up stand in 2017 in Los Angeles, he said. The brothers visited Daves Hot Chicken locations in Denver and Dallas. And like I said, the quality of the food is really what sold us, he said. In Nebraska, the focus is the Omaha and Lincoln areas. If things go well, there will be opportunities to possibly expand to the Tri-Cities area, he said. The Staabs will open two Daves Hot Chicken restaurants this year one in metropolitan Kansas City and one in the Omaha area. We first fell in love with Daves Hot Chicken because of the quality of the product and the passion that they have for making the food. It truly is unmatched compared to others in the chicken category, Dave Staab said in a news release. Our family cant wait to introduce the flair and excitement of Daves to the Kansas City, Lincoln and Omaha dining scenes. The Staab brothers operate 67 Pizza Huts throughout Nebraska, including the one in Grand Island, as well as Kansas, Iowa and Minnesota Curt Staab was involved with Wendys for 28 years, owning 12 restaurants. Hes sold those locations in the last two years. Im thrilled to bring our rapidly growing brand to new markets with such qualified operators like the Staabs, Bill Phelps, chief executive officer of Daves Hot Chicken, said in the news release. With their multi-unit operating knowledge and strong ties to the Kansas City, Lincoln and Omaha areas, they are the ideal partners for us to grow with. Daves Hot Chicken specializes in hot chicken tenders and sliders, with spice levels ranging from No Spice to Reaper. Each restaurant serves sides of house-made Kale Slaw, creamy Mac & Cheese and crispy fries or cheese fries. In 2019, the restaurant founders struck a deal with Phelps, a co-founder and former CEO of Wetzels Pretzels, and movie producer John Davis to begin franchising the Daves Hot Chicken concept throughout the U.S. and beyond. Additional brand investors include multiplatinum music artist Drake, former California First Lady Maria Shriver, Boston Red Sox owner Tom Werner, actor Samuel L. Jackson and Good Morning America anchor and retired NFL player Michael Strahan. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. With skyrocketing COVID-19 cases in the region, Southern Illinois businesses and local governments are finding new ways to navigate and adapt with long-term strategies. Local businesses are having trouble staffing their stores, local governments are wondering what to do next with ever-changing vaccine mandate rules, and above all, community members like Francis Murphy, a general manager at the Neighborhood Co-op, are concerned for their neighbors. Over 800,000 Americans have already died from COVID and health care facilities are once again becoming completely overwhelmed, including SIH, Murphy said. It gives me a lot of concern. People in the community cant have elective procedures done because there's no capacity to do that. A lot of the people, many of our customers, work for SIH. I can see how overwhelmed they're becoming by the whole thing. So I know it's definitely having a negative impact community-wide and that concerns me, for sure. You know, here at the Co-op, we encourage all of our staff to get vaccinated and of course, everyone wears masks when they're working. So we're just doing what we can basically to try to ameliorate the effects of this latest surge. Sick creates strain In both Williamson and Jackson counties, the current 7-day case total as of Thursday is above 1,200 cases, according to Illinois Department of Public Health figures. That is well above the 375 and 404 case counts in Williamson and Jackson counties seen as of Dec. 30. Several retail businesses and restaurants have closed in Carbondale due to labor shortages caused by employees needing to quarantine with COVID-19, according to William Lo, the CEO of the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce. Despite city ordinance requiring businesses to have employees and customers wear masks indoors, many are still getting sick. The Neighborhood Co-op has even seen an increase in sick employees following everyone traveling home for the holidays, Murphy said. People have questioned whether a shutdown may be coming in the future; however, many in local government dont see that happening. I think with the state of the current economy, another shutdown will have drastic and adverse effects for most small businesses unless there is some financial support from either the state or federal level, Lo said. I feel that we all have the responsibility of keeping each other safe. Whether that's staying at home if you don't feel well, wearing a mask, or getting vaccinated and boosted. I think we all have a social obligation in keeping our friends and neighbors safe. Roni LeForge, spokeswoman for the city, said she thinks the community can avoid a shutdown if everyone does their part to stop the spread. The increase in cases is concerning, but we believe if every business and every person does their part to stop the spread, we can safely remain open, LeForge said. Please get vaccinated and boosted, wear a mask, wash your hands, and keep your distance when possible. Lo had a similar thought when he spoke about local businesses roles in decreasing the spread of the virus. I feel that businesses have a crucial role in stopping the spread and keeping the community safe, Lo said. Most people don't realize that retail and restaurants dread the normal flu season. Staff and employees interact with hundreds of people each day and are at risk of contracting any seasonal illnesses. I think the business has an obligation to keep their staff safe, in methods that are in line with their daily operation. Common policies that should be standard is sending their employees home if they are ill or feeling unwell, having their employees tested in the event of an exposure. The welfare of our employees should be a priority in any business. Changing guidelines The city of Carbondale started mandating employee vaccinations in the fall of 2021. At the start of the pandemic, we implemented a mask policy for all employees, enhanced cleaning, and restricted travel, LeForge said. The mask policy is still in place and weve continued to be proactive to protect our employees and the public. We recently implemented a vaccine policy. Now, 98% of City employees are vaccinated. We are encouraging the booster, although it is not currently a requirement of employment. We have also asked city employees to return to online meetings via Zoom or another platform, when possible. However, other local governments have been in a state of limbo since the Biden administration announced a vaccine and testing mandate for large employers with 100 or more employees. The Supreme Court ended up ruling against the mandate on Thursday. Since then, the Illinois Department of Labor has not taken any formal action to undo its plans to follow federal mandate guidelines; however, IDOL previously indicated they would rescind if the Supreme Court rule in such a way. The Marion City Council, which adopted the mandate rules on Monday as a precautionary measure ahead of the Supreme Court ruling, has yet to rescind that vote. City attorney Wendy Cunningham previously explained that when Illinois OSHA released its timeline, they required employers have a policy in place by Feb. 24. Even two years into the pandemic, vaccine, testing and even mask mandates remain a controversial topic. Murphysboro Mayor Will Stephens said no matter which side one stands on, all can agree everyone should care about their neighbors. My advice to residents would be to get vaccinated and wear a mask, particularly in places where social distancing is going to be difficult and when you are going to be around people who are immune-compromised, Stephens said. Ways to worship Meanwhile, area pastors say the increasing number of cases is having an effect on churches. Jacob Bird, lead pastor of The Journey in Marion said his church has delayed plans to return some areas of worship back to the way they were pre-pandemic. He said the church decided to delay plans to no longer stream worship services online and will continue to offer communion with individual, pre-packaged elements rather than having worshipers come forward in services. We will just continue to put off some of these changes until we move to the next phase of normal. We hope that is for the short-term, he said. Carbondale's Vine Church was forced to postpone a youth retreat planned for the weekend. Church leaders said the event, which would have included students from churches in several states, was impacted by COVID concerns. "We have several COVID cases that have made people cancel and several more exposures waiting for test results as well," a statement from the church said. Reporter Les O'Dell contributed to this report. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. MARION The Williamson County States Attorney Office is fighting back against claims that a man who sexually assaulted a minor was falsely charged and wrongfully convicted. During a hearing Friday in the case of David Blue, Judge Michelle Schafer denied Blues plea for an acquittal; however, she will take the following five days to consider if Blue should receive a new trial, Assistant States Attorney Thomas Slayton said. Slayton is convinced that Schafer will side with the state and confirm Blues conviction after he assaulted a minor. In every criminal case, we are very careful about that because the last thing we want to do is put a 13-year-old through all this, only to have to do it again, Slayton said. Ultimately our focus is the victim in this case. There are special procedures when someone this young and some with her disabilities presents a claim. We made sure that every one of those steps was followed. Blue, 44, of Marion, was convicted on Sept. 10 on two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, class X felonies, and one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, a class 2 felony, according to Judici, an online local courts database. During a press conference Friday, Blues family, including his brother Michael Blue, and his attorney said David Blue is not guilty of any of these crimes, and that he was a victim of wrongful conviction. Our beloved family member David Blue has been convicted of a crime that he did not commit. David was deprived of his presumption of innocence from the moment these false accusations were made. Today, in the United States, that should not be possible. Following the conference, David Blues attorney went before Schafer to argue for an acquittal of David Blues charges or for a new trial. One claim that was made is that the victim said on the stand that she couldnt remember, the events David Blue was being convicted for, according to Jennifer Bonjean, David Blues attorney. Slayton confirmed the victim was caught by the defense team in the case when they cross-examined her as saying she didnt remember or was unsure. However, this can happen as most witnesses and victims cannot be trained for everything the defense might say, Slayton said in an interview with The Southern. Slayton confirmed that on the stand both before the cross-examining and after the victim understood the difference between the truth and a lie, that she could demonstrate that and then asked her if these things did occur, Slayton said. The victim then said both times that the accusations against David Blue did occur, Slayton said. She repeatedly told the court everything, Slayton said. She described the acts in detail that is well beyond her age given her intellectual disabilities regardless of what Ms. Bonjean said about all 13-year-olds watching pornography. This was not a 13-year-old. On a birth certificate, yes, but in terms of intellectual disability, shes much younger than that. She told her story. She told her truth. She was a very credible witness. You have to be there. You have to see her hands shake as she is circling the parts of her body that were abused. She went through a very traumatic experience. Another claim made was that Schafer based her decision to convict on documents that did not make it into evidence. This judged considered she considered material and documents that were never even admitted into evidence, Bonjean claimed. This is such a significant fundamental and structural error." Slayton denied that this occurred saying, the state did not seek to admit any evidence that would have been otherwise inadmissible. Bojean and the family also felt that David Blue was never given a fair investigation and that he was considered guilty from the start. It is our opinion that that investigation was flawed in many ways, Bonjean said. It was very much a tunnel vision type of investigation. The detectives started with a conclusion, and thats called implicit bias. Sometimes there are unreliable and false allegations and we (the police) have to leave that possibility open. That didnt happen. We see no evidence of that. Slayton and States Attorney Brandon Zanotti both believe that everything was done correctly in the investigation and at trial. Evidence was presented at trial, including credible testimony from the victim, and a judge found the defendant guilty, Zanotti said. We believe our criminal justice system worked just fine in this case. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. CHICAGO An Illinois judge could be facing discipline after he mocked an attorney in comments that he apparently did not realize were being broadcast live on YouTube. Cook County Judge William Raines made the comments about attorney Jennifer Bonjean after she appeared before him during a court call. Bonjean a New York-based attorney who has represented a number of high-profile clients around the country, including Bill Cosby was before Raines in a case in which she is seeking to have a client's 1996 murder conviction thrown out. "Can you imagine waking up next to her every day? Oh, my God!" Raines said in a conversation with two assistant state's attorneys and an assistant public defender in the courtroom after Bonjean had left, according to a transcript of the exchange. "I couldn't have a visual on that if you paid me. " A short time later, Raines, whose court call was carried live as many hearings have been during the COVID-19 pandemic, apparently realized that his comments were still being broadcast. "Ohh, wait ... Media streaming live on YouTube? What's up with this?" the judge said before the video ends. Last year, Bonjean won an appeal of Cosby's sexual assault conviction that led to Cosby's release from prison. She is a familiar presence in Chicago. Her clients have included men who alleged they were tortured by police, including one whose rape conviction was overturned and later awarded $5.2 million by a jury and another won a multimillion settlement from the city after a detective allegedly framed him for murder. In a hearing Thursday before another judge, Bonjean asked that the video be preserved so she could lodge a complaint with the state's Judicial Inquiry Board, which reviews judicial misconduct allegations. "There was an incredible casual nature of these conversations that certainly suggests this is not the first time this kind of banter went on," Bonjean told Judge Erica Reddick, who agreed to preserve the video. Bonjean called the remarks "sexist and offensive" and said the two prosecutors who took part in the conversation as well as Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx have apologized. A spokeswoman for Chief Judge Timothy Evans' office said Raines could not comment because it involves a pending case. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A 20-year-old Bamberg man is accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl and recording it, according to Bamberg County Sheriffs Office warrants. Jordan Danny McKenzie Glover, of 116 Calhoun Street, is charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor victim under 16 years of age, first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and disseminating harmful material to a minor. A concerned father brought his daughter to the sheriffs office on Dec. 20, 2021 to report an inappropriate relationship that shed allegedly been having with Glover. She alleged that she and Glover engaged in sexual activity for the first time at a house in another county in early 2021. She also claimed that she and Glover had intercourse on Sept. 2 and Sept. 14 in Bamberg County, an incident report states. Glover was 19 when he allegedly committed the acts. Warrants also allege Glover went to another county to pick up the girl for the purposes of a sexual encounter on Sept. 14, 2021. They further claim that he did commit a sexual battery against the victim which he digitally recorded for the purposes of sexual stimulation. He also allegedly showed a pornographic video and photos the girl at that time too. Glover was taken into custody on Monday. On Thursday, Bamberg County Magistrate Craig Threatt set his bond at $20,000 cash or surety and ordered him to wear a GPS monitor and not have any contact with his accuser or her family. Glover has since posted bond. If convicted, Glover faces up to 20 years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD. Love 0 Funny 2 Wow 6 Sad 2 Angry 4 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A 27-year-old man pleaded guilty to forgery during a recent term of court in Orangeburg County. Richard Isom Baldwin, of 1225 Boone Hill Road #I-6, Summerville, pleaded guilty to forgery valued less than $10,000, criminal conspiracy and federally chartered institution crime. Circuit Judge Diane Goodstein sentenced him to five years in prison. He was given credit for having already served 259 days at the Orangeburg County Detention Center. She also ordered him to pay restitution to Grand South Bank. In other recent pleas: Marquise Rashod Allison, 31, of 4321 Shorecrest Drive, Columbia, pleaded guilty to forgery less than $10,000. Goodstein sentenced him to five years in prison, suspended to five years of probation. She gave Allison credit for having already spent 29 days in jail. Goodstein also ordered him to pay restitution to a liquor store. Demarion Tyquan Wolfe, 27, of 148 October Lane, Cordova, pleaded guilty to first-offense possession of a controlled substance, specifically Xanax. Goodstein gave Wolfe a conditional discharge. She stipulated that Wolfe must test negative for all drugs in 30 days, attend Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous once weekly and complete additional treatment, if needed. Steven Frazier, 58, of 455 Summers Avenue, Orangeburg, pleaded guilty to third-degree domestic violence. Goodstein sentenced him to three days, time served, in jail. A warrant originally charged Frazier with first-degree domestic violence, but he pleaded guilty to third-degree domestic violence instead. Jordi Fana, 23, of 1906 Kimlyn Circle, Kissimmee, Florida, pleaded guilty to unlawful carrying of a pistol. Goodstein sentenced him to pay a $100 that day or report to jail for 10 days. Justin Marc Brown, 25, of 678 Zion Church Road, Orangeburg, pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and battery. Goodstein sentenced him to three days, time served, in jail. A warrant charged Brown with second-degree domestic violence, but he pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and battery instead. Beverly Patrice Moultrie, 51, of 1195 Luke Street, Orangeburg, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and battery. Goodstein sentenced her to two days, time served, in jail. Charles J. Young III, 75, of 2060 Five Chop Road, Orangeburg, pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident involving unattended vehicle with property damage. Goodstein sentenced him to pay a fine of $100. Denzel Kendrick Oliver, 27, of 576 Bayne Street, Orangeburg, pleaded guilty to third-degree domestic violence. Goodstein sentenced him to 90 days in jail, suspended to two years of probation. She gave Oliver credit for having already spent two days in jail. Goodstein also ordered him to undergo substance abuse counseling, complete a domestic violence intervention program and attempt to obtain his GED. A warrant charged Oliver with second-degree domestic violence, but he pleaded guilty to third-degree domestic violence instead. Oliver is not allowed to possess any firearm or ammunition for the next three years. Alvin McMichael, 49, of 300 Cromer Avenue, North, pleaded guilty to first-offense possession of a controlled substance. Goodstein sentenced him to eight days, time served, in jail. A warrant charged McMichael with first-offense possession of cocaine, but he pleaded guilty to first-offense possession of a controlled substance instead. Justin Lucas Hudson, 42, of 373 Greatview Road, Neeses, pleaded guilty to breach of trust with fraudulent intent valued more than $2,000 but less than $10,000. Goodstein sentenced him to five years in prison, suspended to three years of probation. She also ordered Hudson to pay restitution. She further ordered Hudson to obtain a contractors license or disclose to customers that he does not hold a contractors license. Darryl Monte Jenkins, 38, of 966 Redmon Street, Orangeburg, pleaded guilty to first-offense third-degree burglary. Goodstein sentenced him to 18 months in prison, suspended to six months of probation. She gave Jenkins credit for having already served 199 days in jail. As part of the conditions of his probation, Jenkins must remain at home and is only allowed to leave for specific reasons approved by the court. Warrants originally charged Jenkins with non-violent second-degree burglary, but he pleaded guilty to first-offense third-degree burglary instead. Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 2 Sad 1 Angry 1 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Sheriff Leroy Ravenell announced that area residents are again receiving calls indicating they owe money for missed jury duty. Some staff members here at the Orangeburg County Sheriffs Office have been notified by friends that they have been targeted by this old scam, he said. This time, theyre using the name of a city officer. Ravenell said only the names have changed in this scam in which the potential victim is informed of warrants taken out on them for missing jury duty. According to the scammer, the warrants will be dismissed if the victim submits some type of payment. In previous scams, the names have in separate incidents involved deputies with the OCSO. In this latest round, the name being used is that of Lt. Sam Jenkins of the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety. These are real people and real officers, Ravenell said. But no law enforcement agency calls demanding some type of payment for jury duty or demands money any other legal matter." The sheriff said that law enforcement does not handle fines or other financial penalties. If anyone receives such a call, they are advised to hang up and call the OCSO at 803-534-3550, the ODPS at 803-534-2812, or Crimestoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC. Callers using Crimestoppers are encouraged to utilize the P3 Tips app or submit a web tip by going to CrimeSC.com and click Submit a Tip. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Trace amounts of ice could accumulate on roads in The T&D Region on Sunday morning, making travel conditions hazardous. The central and northwestern part of Orangeburg County and most of Calhoun County could see ice accumulations of .01 to .1 inch, according to a Friday weather brief from the National Weather Service. Small amounts of ice could accumulate in areas near Springfield, Neeses, Livingston, North, Jamison, St. Matthews, Fort Motte and Cameron, plus the north and western parts of the City of Orangeburg. The Sandy Run area could see between .1 and .25 inches of ice accumulation. Bamberg County is not expected to see any ice accumulation. Ice could make some roadways (especially bridges and overpasses) dangerous for travel, according to the NWS. The most likely time for freezing rain to occur in The T&D Region will be between 5 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sunday. The Orangeburg Department of Public Utilities is maintaining its operational readiness with its electrical crews. Based on the latest forecast, we have not advanced to any higher state of preparation, spokesman Randy Etters said Friday. The latest forecasts for the T&D Region call for no snow accumulation. The NWS is forecasting a 90% chance of rain mainly after 2 a.m. Sunday with a low around 33. A quarter to a half of an inch of rain is possible. During the day Sunday, there is a 100% chance of rain, mainly before 3 p.m., with a high near 43. About three-quarters to one inch of rain is possible. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph. The NWS noted that black ice is a concern. Temperatures will drop to freezing across much of the area Sunday night, possibly causing refreezing to occur and black ice to become a concern, the NWS said in its brief. Monday's high temperature in Orangeburg is forecast to reach 48. The NWS says areas north of Interstate 20 will most likely see the greatest impacts from Sundays storm in the form of freezing rain. Statewide, Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency in preparation for the storm on Friday. South Carolinas electric cooperatives are bringing in extra help. Louisiana and Florida line workers plan to arrive in the state Saturday. Orangeburg County government officials are offering residents the following tips for dealing with the upcoming weather: Stay informed on the weather and road conditions. Stay off the roads for unnecessary travel. If you must travel, check over your vehicles fluids, battery and tires. If you must go outside, keep dry. Change wet clothing frequently to prevent losing body heat. Ensure your phone maintains charge so it can be used during an emergency. If you lose power, report it to the utility company and have an alternate and safe way to keep warm prepared. Properly vent kerosene heaters to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, and do not burn charcoal indoors as its fumes can cause carbon monoxide poisoning. Do not operate portable generators indoors. Keep anything that can burn three feet away from space heaters, fireplaces, wood stoves and radiators. Use portable heaters that have been listed by a testing laboratory (look for the laboratorys label). These heaters should have an automatic shut-off switch so that if they are tipped over, they will turn off on their own. Plug portable electric heaters directly into the wall outlet; dont use an extension cord or power strip. Freezing temperatures can burst water pipes in homes without heat or proper insulation. Wrap exposed pipes or take other insulating measures. Learn how to shut off water valves in case a pipe bursts. Bring pets inside; dont forget to wipe your dogs paws, as some ice-melting chemicals are not pet-friendly. Move livestock to sheltered areas with non-frozen drinking water. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. This subscription will allow existing subscribers of The World to access all of our online content, including the E-Editions area. NOTE: To claim your access to the site, you will need to enter the Last Name and First Name that is tied to your subscription in this format: SMITH, JOHN If you need help with exactly how your specific name needs be entered, please email us at admin@countrymedia.net or call us at 1-541 266 6047. (TBTCO) - Thi truong chung khoan Viet Nam co ban van giu nhip on inh trong quy au nam nay, tuy nhien, thi truong chiu ap luc ieu chinh kha manh ke tu cuoi thang 3 en nay do tac ong tu cac yeu to ngoai bien va cac vu viec sai pham mang tinh on le cua mot so ca nhan, to chuc. Theo cac chuyen gia, nhung tac ong en tam ly ngan han cua nha au tu la kho tranh khoi, nhung ay la co hoi e huong dong tien i ung huong, giup thi truong gan uc, khoi trong e phat trien ben vung. After a tough year for natural gas and a fortuitous year for coal, the electricity market is beginning to reorient itself. Wholesale electricity prices climbed through most of 2021, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said last week, as curtailed natural gas production led utilities to turn to coal instead. In the years since the fracking boom drove gas prices below the cost of most other fuels, natural gas-fired power plants have contributed a growing share of U.S. electricity production. When demand for natural gas bounced back this summer, with production still well below pre-pandemic levels, prices skyrocketed. Coal, usually the more expensive of the two, was suddenly cheaper. Power producers across the country began to burn less natural gas and more coal, depleting their stockpiles and driving up coal prices. Utilities are buying up coal like crazy right now, trying to replenish stockpiles that they burned down in the last four to five years, Travis Deti, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association, told the Star-Tribune in December, after the spot price of Powder River Basin coal more than doubled. Even at $30 at the spot price, its still competitive. Coal plant closures also slowed last year, the EIA said Tuesday. Between 2015 and 2020, an average of 11 gigawatts of capacity was retired annually. In 2021, just 4.6 gigawatts shut down. Despite the additional retirements, 157 million short tons of coal were burned for electricity in the third quarter of 2021, more than the 155.6 million short tons burned during the same period in 2019. But coals resurgence looks to be a temporary respite. This year, 12.6 gigawatts of coal capacity 6% of total U.S. coal capacity is scheduled for retirement, the EIA said. The agency anticipates that coal-fired generation will drop by 5% in 2022 as natural gas prices stabilize. Natural gas prices rose into October, when the fuel recorded its highest sustained spot price since 2014, $5.51 per million British thermal units, before starting to decline. By December, the spot price had dropped to $3.76 more than a dollar higher than in 2019, but lower than in 2018. Prices are projected to hold relatively steady through 2022, averaging $3.79 per million British thermal units, the EIA said Friday, though several factors contributed to uncertainty in this years price forecast, including unexpected winter weather patterns, risk of extreme weather and record natural gas demand in Europe and Asia. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Sharon Dynak, longtime president and executive director of the Wyoming artists retreat in Ucross, will pass the torch onto new leadership and retire in April. The organizations board of trustees tapped William Belcher, the organizations current director of development and external relations, to take Dynaks place, according to a Thursday news release. Dynak will stay on as an adviser for more months after she retires. It has been a long and exciting adventure and a great honor to work on behalf of contemporary writers, artists, composers and choreographers as well as scientists, curators, educators and others, she said in the release. Dynak has led the northern Wyoming artists community for the past 25 years. Ucross occupies 20,000 acres near Sheridan and Buffalo. It hosts creatives looking for a quiet, scenic place to work and brainstorm. It has room for 10 resident artists at a time usually four writers, four visual artists and two musical composers, according to the release. The organization also puts on educational programming, and hosts conferences and public events. Ucross is a rare and remarkable place. As director of development and external relations, Ive had the benefit of working alongside the board, staff and Sharon for more than four years, Belcher said in the release. Its an honor to be named the next president of this renowned artist residency program, and I look forward to preserving the Ucross experience, championing its alumni artists and strengthening the organization so that it can continue to serve artists and the community in its awe-inspiring setting for years to come. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. One of the most important virtues of a representative democracy is providing and ensuring equitable representation for all citizens. Which is why, at its core, the once-a-decade redistricting process is critical to the well-being of a democratic republic. Every ten years, states are charged with drawing maps that apportion voters into relatively equal districts based on population data collected during the decennial census. Each state approaches this mandate in a slightly different manner. In Wyoming, a 14-member joint committee of state legislators is responsible for preparing the maps that the full legislature will vote on during the February/March Budget session. As of Jan. 1, Wyoming is just one of 10 states that has not produced even a draft map. The Joint Corporations, Elections & Political Subdivisions committee first began to discuss the 2021 redistricting process in August. The mood at this meeting was jovial and somewhat carefree. But flash forward to the Dec. 14 meeting when Rep. Fortner declared, I dont think you coulda shook up a bag of snakes and come up with a worse mess. While Rep. Fortners analogy was likely more tongue in cheek than anything, he does have a point. To date, you can visit the legislatures website that provides access to nearly 40 proposed maps; while most of these are regional maps, so far there is not one that meets everyones needs. Many of the comments from committee members, and other legislators, reflect a thats not fair to my district mentality. I hate to break it to lawmakers, but chances are this is never going to seem fair. It is not meant to be fair to specific legislative districts or regions but rather it is meant to be fair to the voters by equally distributing voting power as populations shift. Wyoming is a challenging state to redistrict. There are the natural barriers that make creating a representable district difficult (mountain ranges, seasonal closures and wide, rural districts). There are also the agreed upon principles guiding the committee that make this process extraordinarily complex (two house districts per senate district, adherence to county lines as much as possible, +/- 5% deviation in population). Which brings me to the point. Wyoming state legislators pride themselves on being citizen representatives. That is, they are not paid, they do not have individual staff, and they all have lives, families and jobs out of Cheyenne (well, except for those that represent Cheyenne). So why are we still expecting them to take on this monumental task? More than a dozen states have already turned to an independent citizen redistricting commission to assist lawmakers in creating the maps that will define political districts for the coming decade. There are a myriad of ways to design these commissions to create an even playing field. Sen. Gierau, D-Jackson, has also indicated that he will be supporting legislation during this session that would create an independent redistricting commission. Once this legislative session is complete in March, most of us will not think about redistricting again until 2030 when its time to conduct the Census again. Now is the time to act, now is the time to create a Wyoming Citizen Redistricting Commission and ensure a more productive process in the future. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 From COVID-19 policies to the types of books included in curricula, schools have increasingly become a political battleground reflecting our divides as a nation. This isnt just a big city issue small, rural states like Wyoming arent immune to the conflicts. But it doesnt have to be this way. Expanding school choice can help us rediscover the role of schools and better support familys values. The past two years have seen an awakening among parents when it comes to school curricula. During emergency remote learning, some parents saw what exactly schools teach to their children for the first time. In many cases, parents did not like the content in their childrens lessons, for political, philosophical, or moral reasons. Schools exist to support families in educating their children, but unfortunately, there are too many examples today where thats not the case. As an example close to home, Laramie County School District #1 moved to administer a student climate survey earlier last year as part of a switch from a peer-reviewed anti-bullying program to a controversial new program. When several parents informally requested to review the survey before it was administered to their children, they were denied the opportunity. At Family Policy Alliance of Wyoming, we heard from many concerned families who believe that nothing taught to students should be withheld from parents. While we tried to work respectfully with the district to ensure transparency surrounding the survey and an opt-out process should parents desire it, our requests were treated capriciously. As a last resort, we turned to a lawyer to ensure the survey was paused until parents could see the questions and after months of work, our efforts were successful. Schools should never replace families; they exist to come alongside families and support them in education. School choice provides one important path through these controversies by empowering parents to access a school that treats them with respect, transparency, and support for their values. Choice reinforces parents, not educational bureaucrats, as the center of a childs academic and moral development. It ensures that the morals and ethics parents teach at home will remain in harmony with what students learn in the classroom. Wyomings rural terrain can pose challenges, but all families have access to at least some amount of school choice. This can include open enrollment, where districts allow students to attend public schools outside their assigned zone. Some communities also have charter schools, publicly-funded institutions with greater flexibility for innovation. Parents can also select from among free online schools, or choose to homeschool. Different families will choose different options and thats the point. Some families may prefer the rigorous nature of a charter school program. Other parents may want to directly imbue their moral ethos in education by undertaking their childrens schooling themselves. School choice embraces all these options, personalizing education to each family and child. This Jan. 23-29, School Choice Week serves to promote family-focused education, in Wyoming and across the country. The Week brings information to families who may not know all their options through school fairs, rallies, and virtual events. I encourage all families to use this time to evaluate whether their current school aligns with their values and learn about all Wyoming choices. As a former legislator, I have seen constituents express a wide range of deeply held beliefs on issues important to them. However, we can work to improve social cohesion and lower the angry tone in our politics, by taking politics out of some environments. Allowing parents to select the education that best suits their values provides one such avenue to calm the political waters and represents one of many reasons why I support school choice. Nathan Winters is a former legislator and Executive Director of Family Policy Alliance of Wyoming. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 NIDCO (the National Infrastructure Development Company) says it has not initiated any tender or award of contract process with regard to the Toco Port. In a news release, the company said the issuance of any letters of award or contracts relating to the Toco Port project is fraudulent and not authorised by Nidco. An increase in measles cases in January and February 2022 is a worrying sign of a heightened risk for the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases and could trigger larger outbreaks, particularly of measles affecting millions of children in 2022, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF have warned. Pandemic-related disruptions, increasing inequalities in access to vaccines, and the diversion of resources from routine immunisation are leaving too many children without protection against measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases. 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. Many people are struggling during this Covid-19 pandemic as prices increase, while many are Those with authority over others often become wolves because the people under their charge More people in Arizona and Pima County tested positive for COVID-19 in the first week of January than any other week on record. For the second week in a row, new COVID-19 cases more than doubled in both places, this time rising nearly 120% statewide and 130% countywide from Jan. 2 through Jan. 8, which is the most recent, complete week of data. We are without a doubt in a very accelerated phase of this pandemic here in Arizona, said Dr. Joshua LaBaer, executive director of Arizona State Universitys Biodesign Institute. And theres no sign of it slowing. The highly contagious omicron variant is infecting so many people that hospitals in Pima County are allowing some health-care workers who have COVID-19 to work. So many health-care workers are getting sick that its exacerbating the staffing shortage in hospitals, said Pima County Health Department Director Dr. Theresa Cullen. For example, an executive at Banner Health sent an internal memo to staff on Dec. 13 telling them that they could decide to work, even if they tested positive for COVID-19, if they are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms and take certain safety precautions. Ultimately, its up to individual employees to decide, according to the memo, but supervisors may send employees home if they appear too ill. Banner Health based this policy change on updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that outlines when employees should return to work. This decision to allow infected staff to work is becoming more common among hospitals in Pima County and across the nation. For example, Tucson Medical Center also chose to adopt a similar policy, which does not require an infected employee to test negative for COVID-19 before returning to work, according to a TMC spokeswoman. We are aware of other Arizona-based health delivery systems that adopted similar crisis staffing models during the week of Jan. 10, 2022, Cullen said. Health-care systems need to be able to care for patients and keep their doors open. Many hospitals throughout the country are in similar situations to those in Pima County. Hospitals are stuck between and rock and a hard place, said Dr. Joe Gerald, an associate professor with the University of Arizonas College of Public Health. It was necessary for these hospitals to make these decisions, he said, but he stopped short of characterizing them as good or bad. Its not ideal. Its not optimal. I dont think its something that the evidence says we should do, Gerald said. I think its something that the circumstances are requiring of us because all the decisions that hospital administrators face right now are bad. There are no good options. On Jan. 13, only 7 adult ICU beds were available in Pima County, or about 2% of all these beds, according to data published by the countys health department. On the same day across Arizona, 75 adult ICU beds were available, or 5% of all these beds, according to data published by the ADHS. Hospitals are at capacity. As more COVID patients are admitted, fewer non-COVID patients are able to receive care in a timely fashion, so their care is delayed, Gerald said. If you were to show up and youre having a heart attack and its an obvious medical emergency, just like COVID would be potentially a medical emergency, those patients are going to get admitted, he said. So its someone else further down the acuity line that doesnt get the bed. Hospitals in Arizona have seen 7 to 10 days of increasing occupancy in general wards, but ICU occupancy hasnt increased by much, Gerald said, adding that its hard to know where hospitalization numbers are going from here because they tend to lag behind cases by about a week or so. Gerald thinks, however, that COVID-19 hospitalizations will rise through the end of the month, peaking 7 to 14 days after cases peak. Then he expects cases and hospitalizations to decrease. Its too soon to know just how deadly the current wave of COVID-19 cases will be since death data lags behind data on cases and hospitalizations by several weeks. However, Arizonas cumulative COVID-19 death rate, which is calculated from Jan. 21, 2020, is the second highest among states, with 343 deaths per 100,000 people. Mississippi has the highest rate, with 355 deaths per 100,000, according to data published by the CDC. What we have been told to expect is here. What happened in South Africa, Western Europe, the East Coast is now happening here. What were going to see is a rapid escalation. Cases probably top out somewhere around 2,500 cases per 100,000 residents, Gerald said. Im still thinking a peak is very likely almost certainly before the end of the month. Arizona had about 1,500 cases per 100,000 people in the first week of January, according to data from the ADHS. Gerald said that it seems enough people over the age of 50 have been fully vaccinated in Pima County to keep the hospitals from imploding. We could have done better, he said. But it looks like we may have done just well enough to, once again, eke by. Contact reporter Alex Devoid at adevoid@tucson.com or 573-4417. On Twitter: @DevoidAlex Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A fight over records in a deadly Tucson hotel fire between the Pima County Attorney's Office and a former prosecutor there has escalated. Ex-prosecutor David Berkman has filed a special action in Pima County Superior Court seeking an order granting him access to records related to a civil suit involving Louis Taylor, who spent 42 years in prison for the 1970 Pioneer Hotel fire. Pima County Attorney Laura Conover declined to comment on the filing, citing pending litigation. Attorneys for her office, however, say in a motion to dismiss filed this week that Berkman isn't entitled to the records. Conover became the county's top prosecutor in January 2020 after being elected to the seat. After her victory, the ethics committee for the office determined Conover had a conflict of interest in Taylor's civil case, according to Berkman's complaint. The Star previously reported that when Conover was campaigning for county attorney in 2020, she cited Taylor's the handling of Taylor's case as an inspiration for her working in law and politics. During her campaign, she said she followed Taylor's case in the 1990s, and did a little research for one of his parole hearings when she was a law student in 2005. In 2013, LaWall's office made a deal with Taylor, in which he agreed to plead no contest in exchange for the office setting aside his original conviction and giving him credit for time served. Two years later, Taylor filed a civil suit against Tucson and Pima County, saying racism and poor training caused police and prosecutors to wrongly convict him, according to Arizona Daily Star archives. Pima County contracted with a private attorney in the lawsuit, and LaWall's office alerted Conover to its decision in October 2020, two months before she took office. After Nick Acedo substituted in as Pima County's attorney in the case in January 2021, it's believed Conover told Gabriel 'Jack' Chin, senior counsel in her office, "to contact Taylor's Lawyer . . . and begin settlement negotiations with him," according to Berkman's complaint. The emails, texts, letters and other written communications Berkman has requested from Conover's office in his late November filing "likely would reveal the precise timing and nature of these negotiations and whether they in any way interfered with Pima County's defense of the case," the complaint says. "It appears that Conover and Chin may have communicated to (Taylor's attorney) that they represented Pima County and may have claimed the authority to negotiate a settlement when that was not accurate," according to Berkman's complaint, which references several exhibits, including a letter from Taylor's lawyer to Chin that says Chin told him Conover asked him to assist in handling ongoing matters in Taylor's lawsuit against the county. The records being withheld would likely prove his claim, Berkman's complaint says. Pima County's primary representatives in the case County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry, the county's risk manager and Acedo "had no idea" about the communications with Taylor's lawyer, according to the complaint. "The (exhibits) reveal Conover's potential breach of ethical rules. The public records withheld likely will shed further light on Conover's actions, including the full extent and breadth of any ethical misconduct if any, and whether it was knowing and intentional," the complaint says. Berkman's court filing also asks for a permanent injunction against Conover and the office from withholding the records, attorney's fees and costs and other relief the judge deems proper. Berkman, who left the county attorney's office on Jan. 1, 2021 before Conover was sworn in is representing himself. Conover and the county attorney's office are being represented by attorneys from the private law firm DeConcini McDonald Yetwin and Lacy. Records Berkman is seeking were created before Conover took office and are protected attorney communications, according to a motion to dismiss Berkman's filing. Conover told the Star in June that Berkman had filed dozens of records request with her office, and that some members of the administration she replaced had "not stopped campaigning." Photos of the 1970 Pioneer Hotel fire in downtown Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel article Pioneer Hotel Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire, Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire, Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire, Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire, Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire, Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson Louis Taylor to be free Contact Star reporter Caitlin Schmidt at 573-4191 or cschmidt@tucson.com. On Twitter: @caitlincschmidt Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Tucson-based Paragon Space Development Corp. says it has finalized its contract with aerospace giant Northrop Grumman to supply life-support systems for a planned orbiting lunar space station and revealed the total value of the contract exceeds $100 million. The contract for the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO), which NASA plans to launch as soon as 2024, is the biggest single contract ever for Paragon, said Grant Anderson, co-founder, president and CEO of Paragon. Paragon has been providing environmental and life-support systems to the space agency and its contractors for nearly 30 years. This one-of-a-kind mission objective of long-term life support 250,000 miles from Earth is challenging and exciting, Anderson said. Paragon appreciates that Northrop Grumman and NASA have recognized the unique skills our team has to deliver on this challenging endeavor. NASA plans to deploy HALO in lunar orbit as the first crew module of NASAs Lunar Gateway, serving as both a crew habitat and docking station for spacecraft that will routinely travel between the Earth and the moon. HALO is vital to Americas efforts to get back to the moon and eventually to Mars, said Barry Finger, Paragon vice president of engineering. It is part of a renewed national commitment to an enduring U.S. human spaceflight program and we are proud to be a part of the program. Under terms of a contract for which work started in secrecy in 2020, the Paragon-Northrop Grumman team will work toward a critical design review in the second quarter of 2022, with intended delivery of the HALO module to the launch site in 2024, the companies said. Paragon will design, build, test and deliver the HALO Environment Control and Life Support System, which will provide a livable, safe and comfortable environment for visiting crew members at the Lunar Gateway, Paragon said. Paragons system will purify and condition the atmosphere by continuously maintaining the air temperature, removing trace contaminants such as carbon dioxide and odors, and controlling oxygen and humidity, while providing operational data needed for monitoring and operations expected to span more than 15 years, the company said. To meet demand for the HALO program and other NASA work, Paragon recently expanded into a larger research and manufacturing space at its second building on Tucsons south side. Privately held Paragon, which recently acquired a New York-based maker of spacesuits, plans to boost its workforce from more than 200 now to about 300 by years end. Photos: Kitt Peak National Observatory - crown jewel of U.S. observatories Kitt Peak National Observatory Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope, KPNO, 1969 Kitt Peak National Observatory Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope, KPNO, 1969 Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope, KPNO, 1969 Mayall Telescope Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory KPNO, lightning, 1998 Mayall Telescope Bok Telescope, KPNO, 1969 Bok Telescope on Kitt Peak National Observatory Southwest view of McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope during construction Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory, 1959 Building the road to Kitt Peak National Observatory Building the road to Kitt Peak National Observatory Building the road to Kitt Peak National Observatory Building the road to Kitt Peak National Observatory Building the road to Kitt Peak National Observatory Snow in Tucson Snow in Tucson Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak National Observatory Contact senior reporter David Wichner at dwichner@tucson.com or 520-573-4181. On Twitter: @dwichner. On Facebook: Facebook.com/DailyStarBiz Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A tsunami has hit Tonga's largest island, Tongatapu, and reportedly sent waves flooding into the capital after an underwater volcano in the South Pacific exploded in a violent eruption on Saturday, sending a cloud of ash and gas steam into the air. A tsunami warning has been issued for the islands of Tonga. Tsunami advisories have also been issued for New Zealand's North Island and the west coast of the United States from California to Alaska, as well as Canada's British Columbia. Satellite imagery shows a massive ash cloud and shockwaves spreading from the eruption. Waves crossed the shoreline of Tonga's capital, Nuku'alofa, on Saturday, flowing onto coastal roads and flooding properties, according to CNN affiliate Radio New Zealand (RNZ). Tonga's King Tupou VI was evacuated from the Royal Palace after the tsunami flooded the capital, RNZ reported, citing local media reports that a convoy of police and troops rushed the monarch to a villa at Mata Ki Eua. Residents headed for higher ground, RNZ said, as waves swept the palace grounds, waterfront and main street. Ash was falling from the sky in Nuku'alofa on Saturday evening and phone connections were down, RNZ said. The Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcano first erupted Friday, sending a plume of ash 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) into the air, according to RNZ. A second eruption hit on Saturday at 5:26 p.m. local time, RNZ reported. Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said it recorded a tsunami wave of 1.2 meters (about 4 feet) near Nuku'alofa at 5:30 p.m. local time on Saturday. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said tsunami waves of 2.7 feet (83 cm) were observed by gauges at Nuku'alofa and waves of 2 feet at Pago Pago, the capital of American Samoa, Reuters reported. Jese Tuisinu, a television reporter at Fiji One, posted a video on Twitter showing large waves washing ashore, with people trying to escape the incoming water in their vehicles. "It is literally dark in parts of Tonga and people are rushing to safety following the eruption," he said in another tweet. The volcano is located about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) southeast of Tonga's Fonuafo'ou island, according to RNZ, and about 65 kilometers (40 miles) north of Nuku'alofa. In addition to the tsunami warning, Tonga's Meteorological Services have issued advisories for heavy rain, flash flooding and strong winds in lands and coastal waters. The nearby island of Fiji has also issued a public advisory asking people living in low lying coastal areas to "move to safety in anticipation of the strong currents and dangerous waves." A tsunami advisory is also in effect for the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, according to its National Disaster Management Office, with residents advised to move away from the coastline and seek higher ground. A tsunami watch is in effect for all Samoan low-lying coastal areas, the Samoa Meteorological Service said. "All people living on low-lying coastal areas are advised to stay away from beach areas," the agency said, and the public should refrain from visiting coastal areas. Warning for US A tsunami advisory is now in effect for the US west coast including the states of California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska, according to the NWS National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska. Dave Snider, Tsunami Warning Coordinator at the National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, told CNN, "We have seen the wave moving through Hawaiian Island." Current observations are that the wave is one-to-two feet high heading toward the US mainland Pacific Coast. The estimated arrival time along the California Coast is 7 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. Pacific Time. Speaking by telephone Snider noted, "We don't have a really good forecast because this event is based on a volcano rather than earthquake." Snider notes this is currently an advisory and not a tsunami warning in effect for the US west coast following Tonga eruption. Strong warnings from the National Weather Service Seattle was issued for the US Pacific Coast Saturday. "Move off the beach and out of harbors and marinas in these areas," NWS Seattle tweeted. "Strong currents and larger waves are possible along these coastal areas. The first wave may not be largest," the agency went on to warn. "Continue to stay out of the water and away from shore along the coastal areas and continue to monitor for updates." New Zealand on alert A tsunami advisory has also been issued for coastal areas on the north and east coast of New Zealand's North Island and the Chatham Islands, where "strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore" are expected, according to New Zealand's National Emergency Management Agency. New Zealand's official weather service said its weather stations across the country had observed "a pressure surge" on Saturday evening from the eruption. Scientist Emily Lane, of New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, told the New Zealand Science Media Centre that it was a "very significant" eruption. "The shock wave from it is clearly visible in satellite imagery and there are reports of the eruption being heard at least as far away as New Zealand," she said. "The tsunami from the eruption has reached over 2,500 km being recorded on gauges over all of Aotearoa." Tsunamis generated by volcanoes are much less common than tsunamis from underwater earthquakes, Lane said. A smaller eruption in late 2014/early 2015 built up the crater of the volcano to above the surface of the water, Lane added, but it's not yet clear exactly how Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai erupted on this occasion. "When we see what is left of the island after this eruption is over we can start to put together the pieces of what happened," she said. Professor Shane Cronin, from the School of Environment at University of Auckland, told the New Zealand Science Media Centre that research into historical eruptions by the same volcano suggested that the current eruption episode could last for weeks or months "and that further similar-sized eruptions to the 15 January 2022 event are possible." "The eruption is likely to result in significant ash fall (cm to ten cm) in Tongatapu as well as the Ha'apai group of islands," he said. "Help will be needed to restore drinking water supplies. People of Tonga must also remain vigilant for further eruptions and especially tsunami with short notice and should avoid low lying areas." An earlier tsunami warning issued for American Samoa has since been canceled, according to the NWS Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. There is no tsunami threat to Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands from a "distant eruption," according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The volcano had been active from December 20, but was declared dormant on January 11, according to RNZ. *** CNN's Haley Brink contributed to this report. Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. Tribal advocates told a Senate panel this week the federal governments effort to fund expanded broadband infrastructure in Indian Country overlooked a fundamental issue. Many tribes did not have the broadband access needed to apply for the funding that would let them improve broadband access. Information about the first round of grants was available only online, and tribes were encouraged to apply online in a 90-day window during the pandemic. The upshot, said Matthew Rantanen, was that only about half of all eligible tribal communities applied for the funding. Some of the tribes didnt get enough of the information about it or didnt have access already, which we know they dont have access to broadband, said Rantanen, the co-chair of the National Congress of American Indians Subcommittee on Technology and Telecommunications. His comments came during a Senate Committee on Indian Affairs roundtable discussion Wednesday on the National Telecommunications and Information Administrations Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, a multibillion-dollar program aimed at increasing digital equity in tribal communities. Originally created as a $980 million program in the fiscal 2021 budget, the program received another $2 billion infusion as part of the bipartisan $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that passed in November. The first phase of the program set aside up to $500,000 for each of the 574 federally recognized tribes that they could seek to use for broadband projects. Paper applications were accepted, but the programs online FAQ page says that NTIA prefers that applicants use Grants.gov to submit their applications. Not only was it difficult for some tribes to access information on the grants, but the short timeframe during a pandemic made it hard for many tribal councils to meet and discuss their applications, said Rantanen, who is also on the board of Arizona State Universitys American Indian Policy Institute. Access is not the only issue dogging the program: Government agencies cannot agree on the scope of the problem. Federal Communications Commission data from 2019 showed that fixed broadband services reached 95.6% of the nation as a whole, but just 79.1% of people on tribal lands and only 46.5% of tribal households had adopted these services. The FCC bases its report on geospatial data collected by broadband providers showing where broadband currently exists and could potentially exist. But a 2018 report by the Government Accountability Office said the FCC data overstates tribal broadband availability, by lumping in areas where infrastructure could be expanded with areas where broadband is available. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said the data can lead lawmakers to believe the situation is less severe than it actually is. We have actual bad data, which leads policymakers to engage in magical thinking about who has broadband connectivity, said Schatz, the chairman of the committee. Manuel Heart, chairman of the Ute Mountain Ute tribe in Colorado, said that rural areas were especially affected by lack of connectivity during the pandemic. Weve had to put in some hotspots where parents have to bring their students to a parking lot just to access internet when schools were shut down by COVID-19, he said. The NTIA said it has approved just five of the 280 tribal applications for the program so far, including one for the Yavapai-Apache Nation in Arizona. But not every tribe had major issues with the grant application during the pandemic. Walter Haase, the general manager of the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, said the Navajo Nations self-funded infrastructure following an Obama-era grant has greatly improved the tribes broadband access. That allowed it to avoid many of the problems with the online application format that hindered other tribes, he said. Internet challenges on sprawling Navajo lands are steep. Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez told a House committee in 2020 that New Jersey is one-third the size of the Navajo Nation but had more than 1,300 communication towers compared to the tribes 1,000 towers most of many of which were on the borders of the reservation. But Haase said forming public and private partnerships and creating nonprofit entities may help other tribes develop a more robust broadband system like the Navajo. Weve made tremendous progress forward, and having that fiber backbone throughout the Navajo Nation gives us an upper hand in solving the problem, he said. For more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org. Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. A Tulsa man has been charged with manslaughter on allegations that he was under the influence of alcohol when he caused a wreck, that killed one of his passengers last summer. Jeremy Kyle Malicott, 45, was arrested Friday and booked into the Tulsa County jail after a warrant was issued for his arrest in the death of David Shane Crockett, 42, of Stillwater. Malicott was charged Friday with first-degree manslaughter during the commission of a misdemeanor and driving under the influence of alcohol. Crockett was dead in the passenger seat of a wrecked Ford F100 and Malicott was being treated by EMSA personnel when Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers arrived in the 7100 block of West 51st Street about 8:15 p.m. July 28, according to an affidavit. The pickup was halfway off the road with significant damage to the front and passenger side, a trooper wrote in the affidavit. A Berryhill firefighter at the scene told troopers he could smell alcohol on Malicotts breath. Troopers then spoke to Malicotts girlfriend at the scene. She told troopers they had just left Malicotts mothers house and that she thought Malicott had drunk a beer or two, according to the affidavit. Troopers determined the vehicle ran off the road, then went back across the road when Malicott overcorrected, and ran off the roadway again, hitting an embankment on the north side of 51st Street. A blood test conducted at a hospital more than two hours after the crash determined that Malicotts blood-alcohol content was 0.229, according to the affidavit. Featured video: Drinking? Dont drive, authorities plead Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A felony murder charge was dismissed last week against a man once accused in a 2021 homicide, and a detective says its due to the actual killers being deceased. Andrew Robert Stevens did, however, plead guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 10 years in Oklahoma Department of Corrections custody with credit for time served. He was held in the Tulsa County jail for about six months while his court proceedings were ongoing. Stevens, 32, was accused in the June 13 shooting death of 32-year-old Jeffrey Lytch, whose body was found in Stevens apartment near Interstate 44 and Memorial Drive hours after Stevens was taken by ambulance to a hospital with what turned out to be a gunshot wound to his arm. He originally told first responders he received the injury jumping out a window, according to his arrest and booking report. The report says Stevens was uncooperative with detectives, giving a detailed account of how Lytch was shot that wasnt consistent with evidence at the scene and then changing his story repeatedly upon confrontation with such evidence. Prosecutors charged him with first-degree murder. The investigation continued, and prosecutors amended Stevens charge in late July to felony first-degree murder. A defendant can be charged with that crime even if he or she was not the killer if a death occurred during the commission of a felony. Court records allege that the felony, in Stevens case, was unlawful distribution of controlled dangerous substances, or, in other words, a drug deal. Tulsa Police Homicide Lt. Brandon Watkins said police think Lytchs actual killer was Joseph Ervin Brown, who was killed in another homicide Aug. 11. Lytchs case is considered closed by death of offender, Watkins said. Of opting for a plea agreement with Stevens, Assistant District Attorney John Tjeerdsma said in such cases, the interest of public safety must be weighed with the risks of taking a case to trial. In this case, based on the evidence, I believe that the interest of public safety was served best by entering into a negotiated plea of 10 years on the firearm rather than the unknown outcome of a jury trial, to ensure (Stevens) would go to prison and be off the streets for 10 years, Tjeerdsma said. Stevens was transferred to the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center to serve his term, according to online DOC records. Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A brother and sister have been charged with first-degree murder and robbery in connection with Tulsa's third homicide of 2022. The charges, filed Friday in Tulsa County District Court, accuse Lilie Crawford, 21, of Houston and Rashawn Graham, 24, of Tulsa of fatally shooting Nickolas Norwood, 30, in his home at the Oakley Apartments near Tecumseh Street and Harvard Avenue about midnight Tuesday. Crawford and Graham were arrested Thursday in connection with unrelated drug and gun offenses in Little Elm, Texas, Tulsa police said in an affidavit. Police were called to Norwood's apartment about 8:45 a.m. Jan. 11. His neighbor had called 911 after hearing gunshots coming from Norwood's apartment the night before and not being able to reach him, according to the affidavit. The neighbor told police he heard the gunshots just after midnight and called and texted Norwood but got no response. Police found Norwood dead on his living room floor, according to the affidavit. Police found a text message conversation between Norwood and a woman on his phone. The conversation included messages about the woman bringing her brother to Norwood's house and "indicating that a significant quantity of drugs was to be sold," according to the affidavit. The timestamp of some of the messages about the woman returning to the apartment with her brother coincided with the time the neighbor heard gunshots, according to the affidavit. Detectives reviewed security footage from the scene and saw a Ford Escape in the apartment complex at the time the neighbor heard the gunshots. The SUV drove into the complex at 11:59 p.m. Jan. 10 and left four minutes later. Detectives linked the phone number Norwood texted to Lilie Crawford and another woman with whom she was once in a relationship. They also learned that woman owned a Ford Escape. "Based on the interviews, phone records and security footage it appears Crawford set up a drug deal with Norwood to take place at Norwood's apartment," police said in the affidavit. "During the drug deal something went wrong, likely a robbery, and a shooting took place. As a result, Norwood was shot and killed." Security footage from a QuikTrip 2 miles from Norwood's complex recorded images of Graham purchasing gas for the Ford Escape about 11:30 p.m., and 1 a.m. security footage from an Okmulgee gas station showed Graham and Crawford together in the Escape, according to the affidavit. After Little Elm police arrested the two, Tulsa police interviewed them. Crawford confirmed that she had been in Tulsa, set up a drug deal with Norwood and went to his apartment complex twice, according to the affidavit. She reportedly told police she took three friends from Arkansas to Norwood's house for the drug deal, but she said she was not in the apartment when Norwood was killed so she didn't know who shot him. Police said in the affidavit that Crawford and Graham "told multiple lies" in their interviews and that once confronted about them, both asked for lawyers. Little Elm police reportedly found Norwood's wallet and Oklahoma ID in the Ford Escape. Featured video: Tulsa police crack down on violent crime Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A Universal Aryan Brotherhood member who is already serving 30 years in state prison for a 2017 kidnapping and robbery that led to the shooting death of a Missouri man pleaded guilty Friday to racketeering conspiracy charges in connection with that same homicide, U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson said in a news release. Dillon Rose, 30, was sentenced to 30 years in Tulsa County District Court in 2018 on charges of kidnapping and robbery after Jason Harris, 38, was found shot to death in the front passenger seat of a vehicle on the shoulder of U.S. 169. Rose and Dustin Thomas Baker, 34, were both charged with murder in Harris death, but Roses murder charge was dismissed, according to court records. Baker was convicted of murder and is serving a life sentence in state prison. According to the news release about Roses federal plea, Rose reportedly admitted to murdering Harris as part of the racketeering conspiracy and in his role with the Universal Aryan Brotherhood, a whites only prison-based gang operating in Oklahoma state prisons. Dillon Rose took an active role in the Universal Aryan Brotherhood. As part of his nefarious crimes, he kidnapped and murdered a man, Johnson in the news release. I want to thank Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis Fries and special agents with Homeland Security Investigations and IRS-Criminal Investigation who have sought justice for Oklahomans victimized by this deadly criminal organization. Rose admitted to being involved directly, or as a co-conspirator, in two or more racketeering crimes that include murder and kidnapping, according to the news release. Specifically, the release states, on Oct. 4, 2017, Rose along with Dustin Baker kidnapped, robbed and killed Jason Harris. Rose also admitted in his plea agreement that he knew that at least two other UAB members would commit racketeering crimes. He understood the objectives of the racketeering conspiracy and took part in it, he acknowledged. Rose was indicted on Dec. 7, 2018, with 17 other UAB members and associates. The indictment alleged the Universal Aryan Brotherhood to be a racketeering enterprise that committed acts of murder, kidnapping, the trafficking of methamphetamine and firearms, money laundering, assault and robbery throughout the state. The indictment alleged that nine people were murdered as part of the UABs racketeering operations, the news release states. Roses plea agreement calls for him to serve 22 years in prison to run concurrently with the state sentence he is currently serving, but a U.S. district judge will determine Roses sentence on May 3. The Tulsa area picked up its first measurable snowfall of the season on Saturday as northeast Oklahoma caught the edge of a major winter storm marching to the Southeast. Light to moderate snow that fell throughout the afternoon left a 0.1 inch accumulation at the official observation site at Tulsa International Airport, according to the National Weather Service. Reports of up to a half-inch of snow in some areas came into the Tulsa office, a forecaster there said as the snow tapered off Saturday evening. Temperatures in Tulsa hovered around 27 degrees through the afternoon. Tulsa County was never under any winter weather watches or warnings, but a wind advisory was in effect until 5 p.m. and gusty winds kept wind chills in the teens. Saturdays forecast had called for the possibility of up to an inch of snow in Tulsa. A winter weather advisory remained in effect for the northeastern portion of the state until midnight with snow accumulations of 1-2 inches possible, according to the National Weather Service. A winter storm warning was in effect for the northeastern corner of Arkansas until midnight with 3-4 inches of snow possible in Fayetteville. Late Saturday afternoon, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation reported that roads were slick in some spots in Delaware, Ottawa, Craig, Mayes, Rogers and Tulsa counties and crews were closely monitoring conditions. Officials were encouraging caution for overnight travel with the possibility that conditions could deteriorate on highways, including those in the Tulsa metro area. Tulsa police and other emergency responders were working crashes on highways around the Tulsa area on Saturday afternoon, in particular the Interstate 44 corridor. Precipitation was expected to move out of the Tulsa area Saturday night with temperatures dropping to around 20 with north winds at 10 mph to 20 mph, according to the National Weather Service forecast. Sundays forecast was for partly cloudy skies in the morning, then clearing and not as cold. Highs were expected to be in the upper 40s with west winds around 10 mph. Sunday night was expected to be mostly clear with lows in upper 20s and light northwest winds. Mondays forecast calls for sunny skies and highs in the mid-50s with light winds. Featured video: Two high-ranking tribal officials have held a phone conversation with Oklahoma Attorney General John OConnor, the Muscogee Nation said Thursday in a written statement. The Muscogee Nation today initiated a discussion with Oklahoma Attorney General John OConnor, the statement says. The approximately 35-minute telephone discussion with OConnor included Acting Attorney General Kyle Haskins and Joe Williams, counsel for Principal Chief David Hill. The Muscogee Nation is among the many tribes that have been largely incommunicado with state administration officials over the past three years, and particularly since the U.S. Supreme Courts 2020 McGirt decision. That ruling effectively expanded the scope of tribal and federal jurisdictions in eastern Oklahoma, much to the chagrin of Gov. Kevin Stitt and many district attorneys. The purpose of the discussion was to establish clear lines of direct communications between the justice departments of both sovereign governments, says the Muscogee statement. Haskins said: The conversation with Attorney General OConnor was meaningful and a good-faith attempt by all involved to develop an open and professional relationship that will permit future understanding and collaboration on safety issues for the betterment of all Oklahomans. We are hopeful that a door has been opened between reasonable people to improve Oklahomas relationship with the Muscogee Nation. The teleconference came after OConnor, earlier in the week, said he is trying to reestablish contact with tribal leaders. Featured video: Oklahoma Gov. Stitts closing statement draws crowds ire at McGirt forum Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. TOKYO -- Several high school students sitting their university entrance exam in Tokyo were wounded on Saturday in an apparent knife attack, Japanese media said. Public broadcaster NHK said three people were conscious after being injured in the morning when another student attacked them with a bladed object as they gathered to take their entrance exam. The alleged assailant, a 17-year old high school student, was arrested, the Asahi newspaper said. Police officers inspect the site where a stabbing incident happened at an entrance gate of Tokyo University in Tokyo, Japan January 15, 2022. Photo: Reuters Half a million high school students across Japan are taking the annual university entrance exams this weekend in hundreds of venues across the country. Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department said it could not comment on the details of the attack nor confirm any arrests. Police officers inspect at the site where a stabbing incident happened at an entrance gate of Tokyo University in Tokyo, Japan January 15, 2022. Photo: Reuters Violent crimes are exceedingly rare in Japan, but there have been a spate of knife attacks by assailants unknown to the victims. In October, a man dressed in Batman's Joker costumestabbed more than a dozen people on a train carriage in Tokyo, sending passengers screaming down the aisles of train carriages and scrambling out of windows to escape. A few months earlier, a man wounded several people in a knife attack on a Tokyo commuter train. A man moves a bicycle as police officers inspect the site where a stabbing incident happened at an entrance gate of Tokyo University in Tokyo, Japan January 15, 2022. Photo: Reuters High demand for groceries combined with soaring freight costs and Omicron-related labor shortages are creating a new round of backlogs at processed food and fresh produce companies, leading to empty supermarket shelves at major retailers across the United States. Growers of perishable produce across the West Coast are paying nearly triple pre-pandemic trucking rates to ship things like lettuce and berries before they spoil. Shay Myers, CEO of Owyhee Produce, which grows onions, watermelons and asparagus along the border of Idaho and Oregon, said he has been holding off shipping onions to retail distributors until freight costs go down. Myers said transportation disruptions in the last three weeks, caused by a lack of truck drivers and recent highway-blocking storms, have led to a doubling of freight costs for fruit and vegetable producers, on top of already-elevated pandemic prices. "We typically will ship, East Coast to West Coast we used to do it for about $7,000," he said. "Today its somewhere between $18,000 and $22,000." Birds Eye frozen vegetables maker Conagra Brands' CEO Sean Connolly told investors last week that supplies from its U.S. plants could be constrained for at least the next month due to Omicron-related absences. Earlier this week, Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran said he expects the supermarket chain to confront more supply chain challenges over the next four to six weeks as Omicron has put a dent in its efforts to plug supply chain gaps. Shoppers on social media complained of empty pasta and meat aisles at some Walmart stores; a Meijer store in Indianapolis was swept bare of chicken; a Publix in Palm Beach, Florida was out of bath tissue and home hygiene products while Costco reinstated purchase limits on toilet paper at some stores in Washington state. The situation is not expected to abate for at least a few more weeks, Katie Denis, vice president of communications and research at the Consumer Brands Association said, blaming the shortages on a scarcity of labor. The consumer-packaged goods industry is missing around 120,000 workers out of which only 1,500 jobs were added last month, she said, while the National Grocers Association said that many of its grocery store members were operating with less than 50% of their workforce capacity. U.S. retailers are now facing roughly 12% out of stock levels on food, beverages, household cleaning and personal hygiene products compared to 7-10% in regular times. The problem is more acute with food products where out of stock levels are running at 15%, the Consumer Brands Association said. SpartanNash, a U.S. grocery distributor, last week said it has become harder to get supplies from food manufacturers, especially processed items like cereal and soup. Consumers have continued to stock up on groceries as they hunker down at home to curb the spread of the Omicron-variant. Denis said demand over the last five months has been as high or higher than it had been in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic. Similar issues are being seen in other parts of the world. In Australia, grocery chain operator Woolworths Group, said last week that more than 20% of employees at its distribution centers are off work because of COVID-19. In the stores, the virus has put at least 10% of staff out of action. The company, on Thursday, reinstated a limit of two packs per customer across toilet paper and painkillers nationwide both in-store and online to deal with the staffing shortage. In the U.S., recent snow and ice storms that snared traffic for hours along the East Coast also hampered food deliveries bound for grocery stores and distribution hubs. Those delays rippled across the country, delaying shipment on fruit and vegetables with a limited shelf life. While growers with perishable produce are forced to pay inflated shipping rates to attract limited trucking supplies, producers like Myers are choosing to wait for backlogs to ease. "The canned goods, the sodas, the chips those things sat, because they werent willing to pay double, triple the freight, and their stuff doesnt go bad in four days," he said. Check out the news you should not miss today: COVID-19 Updates -- From January 19 until further notice, Ho Chi Minh City will suspend operations of COVID-19 field hospitals No. 3, 5, and 10 and Cu Chi Field Hospital. Patients in these infirmaries who need further treatment will be transferred to other facilities. -- Ho Chi Minh City authorities have detected one more imported case of the Omicron variant, which is an 82-year-old Vietnamese repatriate from the U.S. who arrived in Ho Chi Minh City on January 10, bringing the total number of infections carrying this strain in the city to 13. -- Can Tho City in Vietnams Mekong Delta has been classified as level 2, or an area at medium risk of COVID-19 transmission, according to the municipal Peoples Committee on Friday. Society -- The Peoples Procuracy of Quang Nam Province in central Vietnam on Friday launched legal proceedings against a 42-year-old local man for allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old boy multiple times. -- The Peoples Court in Khanh Hoa Province on Friday sentenced a 31-year-old man to seven years in prison for mudering his wifes lover during a jealous rage. -- The Krong Pak District People's Court in Vietnam's Central Highlands province of Dak Lak convicted the namesake district-level People's Committee and the authorities of a local secondary school of violating the law for unilaterally terminating labor contracts with five teachers on Friday, and ordered them to compensate the teachers nearly VND1.3 billion (US$57,230). -- Following months of COVID-19 restrictions, An Giang Province in Vietnams Mekong Delta has allowed restaurants and eateries to serve alcohol drinks again starting Friday. -- Police in Ho Chi Minh City on Friday busted a gang of thieves that stole valuables and jewelries from many houses in the city. -- The Secretariat of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) has called on the six countries along the Mekong to urgently solve the problem of low flows in the region. World News -- Hundreds of students in Boston and Chicago walked out of classes on Friday in protests demanding a switch to remote learning as a surge in COVID-19 cases fueled by the Omicron variant disrupted efforts at returning to in-person education around the United States, Reuters reported. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Vietnams commercial hub Ho Chi Minh City has recorded one more infection of the coronavirus Omicron variant in an elderly Vietnamese woman who returned home from the U.S., bringing the total Omicron cases documented so far in the city to 13. The patient, an 82-year-old woman with some underlying health conditions, arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport on January 10 and tested positive for COVID-19 upon her arrival, local health authorities reported on Friday. The woman was then put in quarantine and a genome sequencing performed on her later confirmed her to contract the highly contagious Omicron strain, said Dr. Le Manh Hung, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases, where the patient is being treated. The elderly woman, who received two shots of Moderna vaccine two months ago, was hospitalized with her leg swelling and some common COVID-19 symptoms including difficulty breathing and tiredness. After four days of treatment, the woman has gradually recovered and she has been able to take care of herself, Dr. Hung said. This has been the 13th Omicron case recorded in the southern city and all the previous 12 patients, with no or slight symptoms, have been discharged from hospital. More than 2,000 people, including those taking the same flights and having direct contacts with the 12 patients, have all tested negative for COVID-19, local health authorities reported. Nationwide, 51 imported Omicron infections cases have been detected in different localities since the first case was confirmed in the capital city of Hanoi on December 21 last year. For early detection of the variant, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health has given rapid COVID-19 tests to all people entering the city from abroad at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport since January 1. First reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) by South Africa on September 24, 2021, the Omicron mutant was designated by WHO as a variant of concern two days later. The strain, which health experts stated appears to be more contagious but less virulent than previous strains, has now been reported by over 130 countries and territories and has become the dominant variant in many places, according to international media sources. Vietnam, with a population of around 98 million, had documented 1,991,484 COVID-19 cases, with 1,666,220 recoveries and 35,341 fatalities, since the pandemic hit the Southeast Asian nation in early 2020, the Ministry of Health reported. Health workers have administered over 78.52 million first doses, 71.94 million second shots and 15.04 million third jabs of COVID-19 vaccines to people nationwide since vaccination was rolled out on March 8, the ministry said. The agency has called on all localities to make more efforts to complete the coverage of second vaccine doses for children aged 12 to 17 within this month. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has proposed the transport authorities re-launching scheduled commercial flights between the Southeast Asian country and the UK, France, Germany and Russia. In its recent petition sent to the Ministry of Transport, the CAAV plans to reopen such flights between Vietnam and these four countries at an initial frequency of 10 flights per week in each direction. This fresh move was made two weeks after the government officially allowed resuming regular international airline routes since January 1 to reconnect the country with overseas destinations after nearly two years of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first week of January saw 16 commercial flights bringing some 1,000 travelers to Vietnam from the U.S., Japan, Thailand, Cambodia and Chinas Taipei, the CAAV reported. About 140,000 overseas Vietnamese may return home to celebrate Tet (lunar New Year) holiday, which will fall on February 1, according to an estimate by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Vietnam may welcome over 30,000 entries per week from now until Tet, including Vietnamese citizens, overseas Vietnamese and foreigners, the ministry forecast. The CAAV said Vietnamese communities in European countries are expecting the early resumption of regular commercial flights between Vietnam and Europe so that they can return home for the upcoming Tet holiday. The agency has contacted aviation authorities of South Korea, Japan, Singapore and Chinas Teipei to discuss the possibility to increase the flight frequency to 14 flights per week in each direction between Vietnam and these destinations. Besides, it will work with Thailand to raise the number of Vietnam - Thailand scheduled flights to 10 per week in each direction for all carriers of both sides. Under Thailands latest epidemic prevention rules, people entering this country through Bangkok have to undergo seven to 10 days at quarantine facilities, while those making entry via Koh Samui or Phuket are asked to self-isolate for the same period, the agency said. The CAAV on Tuesday issued a document to the Australian aviation authorities suggesting the reopening of regular passenger flights between the two countries, at an initial frequency of 10 flights per week for each direction. Meanwhile, China and Laos have yet to give feedback to the CAAVs suggestion to re-operate scheduled flights to and from Vietnam. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Police in the northern Vietnamese province of Lang Son, which borders China, have initiated legal proceedings against three suspects, including two government officials, for arranging customs clearance order at currently congested border gates. Lam Van Huong, 39, and Nong Tuan Anh, 30, both of whom are urban order management officers in Lang Son Provinces Cao Loc District, have been prosecuted for receiving bribes. Meanwhile, Dinh Van Thin, 44, has been accused of "offering bribes," Colonel Nguyen Minh Tuan, deputy director of the provincial public security department, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Friday afternoon. Thin liaised between the two officers and tractor-trailer operators for illegal and unfair priority during the customs clearance procedures in December last year, when thousands of tractor-trailers were stuck at Vietnams border gates with China in Lang Son as Chinese customs forces tightened control measures. Tractor-trailer operators paid VND200-300 million (US$8,804-13,207) for the priority given to each vehicle, according to the indictment. Without such dishonest arrangement, it took a tractor-trailer 13 to 14 days to enter China. The case came to light after Lang Son deputy chairwoman Doan Thu Ha requested local police, border guards, and customs departments on December 31, 2021 to report on some tractor-trailers carrying export goods given unfair priority to travel straight through border gates. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A woman has survived complications after undergoing late-term abortion at a private clinic in Ho Chi Minh City. Hung Vuong Hospital in District 5, Ho Chi Minh City announced on Friday the successful emergency surgery to rescue 44-year-old H.T.P.T., who had been in critical condition after having late termination of pregnancy at a private clinic. T. arrived at Hung Vuong Hospital on an ambulance with excessive vaginal bleeding. The patient was extremely tired, had bluish skin, pale mucous membranes, and cold feet. Her uterus still has a large fetal mass estimated to reach ten to 11 weeks of pregnancy. Doctors diagnosed the patient with severe blood loss due to hemorrhage after miscarriage. The patient was resuscitated against shock before being urgently transferred to the operating room. After a three-hour surgery, the woman survived. T. said she went to a private clinic, where she took a pregnancy ultrasound with the results showed that the fetus had been 15 weeks old. Medical staff at the clinic then advised T. terminate the pregnancy with unknown medication. After taking the pills, T. had severe abdominal pain, miscarriage, and heavy bleeding, so she was taken to Hung Vuong Hospital. Dr. Phan Thi Hang, deputy director of Hung Vuong Hospital, said this is not the first time the hospital has received critically ill patients due to unsafe abortion. In T.s case, the patient would hardly have survived without timely medical intervention. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has announced the investigation of the crash of a training plane belonging to the Aviation School New Zealand (ASNZ) at Chu Lai Airport in central Quang Nam Province. On January 12, the VN-C869 training plane, which is a Diamond DA20-C1 model, encountered a problem during its landing at the airport and rushed out of the runway, causing some parts of it damaged. However, the trainee pilot remained safe. The trainee, a 23-year-old Vietnamese, had successfully performed a flight around Chu Lai Airport on his own between 1:35 pm and 1:41 pm on the day, but the landing of his second flight at 1:47 pm was troubled. Pilot trainers of the ASNZ and Chu Lai air traffic control forces activated the emergency alarm right after the accident and informed relevant parties at the airport to approach the scene of the plane crash at 2:00 pm. The trainee fortunately managed to get out of the plane on his own and suffered neither injuries nor health-related problems, except a little scare. At the scene, the crashed plane stood facing Runway No. 32, about 62 meters to the left of the runway and 420 meters from its starting point. Its engine propeller, landing gear, the back part and horizontal stabilizer were broken. No fire issues was reported. The aircraft has a valid certificate of airworthiness until August 28, 2022 while the trainee has a trainee pilot license valid until October 31, 2023, according to the CAAV. His 38-year-old New Zealand trainer has a pilot license valid until March 31, 2026, and a flight instructor license valid until March 31, 2024. At the time of the accident, it was not raining, and other weather conditions basically met the standards for flight training. The CAAV said it has temporarily suspended and revoked the license of the trainee pilot in question, moved the aircraft out of the runway, and sealed it off. It has also set up a team to conduct an investigation and verify the cause of the accident. The team will report the investigation results to the Ministry of Transport as soon as possible. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears uswhatever we askwe know that we have what we asked of him. (1 John 5:14-15) Kuleba: we continue to cooperate with partners to prevent further Russian aggression Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba, following the results of an informal meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the European Union countries, thanked the partners for their strong support of Ukraine. "I greatly appreciate resolute support for Ukraine at the EU Gymnich Foreign Affairs Council. The EU is unanimous: Ukraine's security is the security of the entire Europe. We keep working closely with our partners to prevent, deter and demotivate Russia from further aggression," Kuleba wrote on Twitter. UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs Elizabeth Truss, in turn, stressed that Russia must de-escalate and return to negotiations. "Russia is waging a disinformation campaign intended to destabilize and justify an invasion of its sovereign neighbor Ukraine. Russia must halt its aggression, deescalate and engage in meaningful talks," she said on Twitter. A Government plan to temporarily restore double-jobbing for Northern Irish politicians has triggered fierce opposition from four of the five Executive parties. The UK Government is facing criticism over plans to allow MPs to retain their seats in Westminster while being elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly. The return of the dual mandate, or double-jobbing, would allow DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson to contest the upcoming Assembly elections while also remaining MP for Lagan Valley at Westminster. Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill on Saturday accused the UK Government of interfering in the Assembly poll, while leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, Doug Beattie, accused the Northern Ireland Office of effectively supporting the DUP election campaign. So the @NIOgov is now directly supporting the DUP election campaign. https://t.co/Z2k6rx5HAO Doug Beattie (@BeattieDoug) January 14, 2022 The details of the move are outlined in a letter from Northern Ireland Office junior minister Lord Caine to members of the House of Lords. It would see dual mandates returning only until the next UK general election in 2024. The current law banning politicians from double-jobbing as MLAs and MPs came into effect in 2016. The letter, seen by the PA news agency, says that the aim of the rule-change is to avoid triggering by-elections in Northern Ireland. In the letter, Lord Caine said: There is no appetite or consensus in Northern Ireland to allow dual mandates to continue indefinitely or to return to a situation in which the overwhelming majority of MPs from Northern Ireland were also members of the Assembly. He told peers that the objective of the UK Government is to support the functioning of the Assembly by providing stability in instances where the Northern Ireland Parties need to reconfigure their representation across Parliament and Stormont, without the triggering of Parliamentary by-elections. Story continues The UK Government, Lord Caine said, plans to submit an amendment to change the law on dual mandates in the coming weeks. It is part of a raft of measures, already passed through the House the Commons, designed to consolidate power-sharing in Northern Ireland following the return of the Executive in early 2020. However, the plans to restore the dual mandate have already proved controversial and have been criticised by some parties in Northern Ireland. Ms ONeill said in a statement: Plans to restore double-jobbing by allowing MPs to also become MLAs are unacceptable and must be scrapped. This is disgraceful interference in the upcoming Assembly election and a desperate attempt by Boris Johnson and Tory ministers in the NIO to facilitate Jeffrey Donaldsons return to the Assembly and prop up the DUP. She called it a major step backwards for politics here. The Tories reversing the ban on double-jobbing to prop-up the DUP is a blatant and disgraceful interference in the Assembly election. Michelle ONeill (@moneillsf) January 15, 2022 Mr Beattie tweeted on Saturday: The fact NIO now directly supporting DUP election campaign means they are not a neutral department. Alliance Party leader Naomi Long called it a seriously retrograde step. She tweeted: I staked my own political future on ending double jobbing in 2010, when I left Council and the Assembly to focus on representing m constituents in Westminster. I was successful in getting double jobbing banned. Other parties promised to act but only did when forced by legislation in 2014. Ive been both an MP and an MLA: you cannot properly do both jobs in the long term. The ban was subject to extensive consultation: this reversal has not been. What a shameless fix. Last throw of the dice for some! Dual mandates were abolished for good reason. That reason hasnt changed. Only the desperation of the DUP has changed. What price has the DUP paid for this? https://t.co/UtSGoWtrNl Jim Allister (@JimAllister) January 14, 2022 Fairly obvious why its being done. SDLP MP Claire Hanna tweeted: Being an MP is a full time job, and then some, as is being an MLA. People deserve representation at both levels, and dual mandates were abolished for good reason. NIO should not be facilitating DUP threats and gambling with devolution. Leader of the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) Jim Allister called the plan a shameless fix. Last throw of the dice for some, he tweeted. Dual mandates were abolished for good reason. That reason hasnt changed. Only the desperation of the DUP has changed. What price has the DUP paid for this? There had been intense speculation in political circles about how and when Sir Jeffrey would return to local politics in Northern Ireland as an MLA, following his election as leader of the party. He had pledged to return to the Northern Ireland Assembly, after being elected as DUP leader last summer. It comes as the new party leader grapples with unionist anger at controversial post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland, as well as concerns about slipping poll ratings for the DUP following months of internal divisions. The DUP share of the vote in Sir Jeffreys constituency was also slashed by over 16% in the 2019 general election, making a by-election in Lagan Valley an unappetising prospect for the party. A spokesman for the Northern Ireland Office said: On Wednesday, the Government tabled an amendment to the NI (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Bill. This followed a proposal by Lib Dem peer and former leader of the Alliance Party in Northern Ireland Lord Alderdice, during Committee Stage in the House of Lords, which could have allowed dual mandates to have been allowed indefinitely. This was not opposed by his front bench. The Governments proposal is for any dual mandates to be strictly time limited to the subsequent Westminster election. It will enable the smoother transition between legislatures should an MP wish to take a seat in the NI Assembly, and therefore supports the objectives of the Bill in promoting greater stability. It will be subject to the usual parliamentary scrutiny as the Bill progresses. People walk in the school compound after a fire outbreak at New Crest Junior at Kibedi Day and Boarding Primary School in Kawempe division, a Kampala suburb, Uganda, Jan. 15, 2022. Four school children on Saturday died in the fire outbreak, police said Saturday. (Photo by Nicholas Kajoba/Xinhua) KAMPALA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Four school children on Saturday died in a fire outbreak in the Ugandan capital Kampala, police said Saturday. Luke Oweyesigyire, police spokesperson for the Kampala Metropolitan area, told Xinhua that the fire started at around 3 a.m. from one of the female pupils' dormitories at New Crest Junior at Kibedi Day and Boarding Primary School in Kawempe division, a Kampala suburb. "Four of the female pupils have been confirmed dead while three are seriously injured and rushed to Kyadondo hospital located in Kisowera zone," Oweyesigyire said, noting that investigations have started into the cause of the fire. He said the owners of the school failed to alert the police after the fire outbreak, which was an act of gross negligence that caused death and injuries. "I was sleeping when our teachers came into our dormitory and told us to get out of the dormitory and converge in the compound. Our teachers started to pour water in the dormitory as I saw them pulling out pupils who were dizzy now," Ibrahim Ssegawa, a primary three pupil told Xinhua. Several parents rushed to the scene to collect their children that survived, although police and school authorities blocked them from accessing the place. Mansul Ssentongo, a parent at the school said he lost his daughter, Husna Nakawuki, a primary three pupil in the inferno. "I brought my daughter on Monday after the opening of the school. I got a telephone call in the morning from school directors, saying that my daughter had died in the fire outbreak. I am stuck here at the gate of the school because I am not allowed to access the scene," Ssentongo told Xinhua. Schools in Uganda reopened on Jan. 10 after close to two years of partial or full closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. School fires are common in Ugandan schools although most of them are not fatal. The last fire was in 2018 when at least nine students were killed in a fire that broke out at a high school in central Uganda. Before the 2018 incident, another fatal school fire happened in 2008, killing 19 pupils at Budo Junior School in the Wakiso district in the central region. Children line up after a fire outbreak at New Crest Junior at Kibedi Day and Boarding Primary School in Kawempe division, a Kampala suburb, Uganda, Jan. 15, 2022. Four school children on Saturday died in the fire outbreak, police said Saturday. (Photo by Nicholas Kajoba/Xinhua) A fire forensic expert is seen collecting evidence at the scene after a fire outbreak at New Crest Junior at Kibedi Day and Boarding Primary School in Kawempe division, a Kampala suburb, Uganda, Jan. 15, 2022. Four school children on Saturday died in the fire outbreak, police said Saturday. (Photo by Nicholas Kajoba/Xinhua) Photo taken on Jan. 15, 2022 shows scattered properties after a fire outbreak at New Crest Junior at Kibedi Day and Boarding Primary School in Kawempe division, a Kampala suburb, Uganda, Jan. 15, 2022. Four school children on Saturday died in the fire outbreak, police said Saturday. (Photo by Nicholas Kajoba/Xinhua) A fire forensic expert is seen collecting evidence at the scene after a fire outbreak at New Crest Junior at Kibedi Day and Boarding Primary School in Kawempe division, a Kampala suburb, Uganda, Jan. 15, 2022. Four school children on Saturday died in the fire outbreak, police said Saturday. (Photo by Nicholas Kajoba/Xinhua) The state Supreme Court has spared a convicted felon an additional 4 1/2 years in prison by concluding that the air-powered pellet gun he was accused of possessing in violation of his probation is not a firearm under the definition spelled out in state law. Ramon Lopez was on probation after eight years in prison for assault when, in 2018, the police in Bristol accused him of possession of a BB gun and a handgun that fired air-propelled, plastic pellets. He was charged with criminal possession of a firearm by a felon a charge that would violate the terms of his probation. Advertisement A Superior Court Judge agreed with the police in Bristol. Lopez was sentenced to another eight years of incarceration, suspended after 56 months, and ordered to serve another 1,273 days of probation upon his release. In addition to customary probationary prohibitions against firearm possession upon release, Lopez was told that he was not to possess any pellet guns, BB guns, zip guns, cap guns, or anything of that nature, or any firearm replicas, [or] anything that looks like a pistol, handgun, rifle, shotgun, assault weapon or the like. Lopezs lawyer Jon Schoenhorn appealed, arguing that the BB and pellet guns were not true firearms as defined by state law. The Supreme Court agreed to take the case directly and released an unusually swift decision late Friday only about a month after hearing arguments. Advertisement The court, in a unanimous decision written by Justice Steven D. Ecker, concluded that, in order to prove that a pellet gun is capable of discharging a shot is a weapon, the prosecutors must prove that it is designed for violence and capable of inflicting death or serious bodily harm. Prosecutors failed to produce evidence justifying either point in Lopezs case, the court said. The BB gun was easily disposed of, the court said, because it lacked parts needed to make it operational. The court found pellet guns to be violent and dangerous weapons in earlier decisions, but said that prosecutors did make that case against Lopez. Questioned during the hearing that led to revocation of Lopezs probation, a Bristol police detective was unable to describe with any specificity the velocity at which the plastic pellet left the gun barrel. He said, It did leave with a velocity. It did not simply fall out [of] the barrel. Five Things You Need To Know Daily We're providing the latest coronavirus coverage in Connecticut each weekday morning. > When the trial judge asked whether the gun could put a persons eye out, the detective said I think thats a hard determination for me to make, to say put somebodys eye out. I cant say that, to be honest. Ultimately, the trial court ruled against Lopez, finding that the preponderance of the evidence in this matter showed that the defendant did possess the seized items within his residence and that the airsoft pellet gun was, in fact, a firearm ... capable of discharging a shot, specifically, 6 millimeter pellets. State law has various definitions for weaponry. A firearm is any sawed-off shotgun, machine gun, rifle, shotgun, pistol, revolver or other weapon, whether loaded or unloaded from which a shot may be discharged. ... A deadly weapon is any weapon, whether loaded or unloaded, from which a shot may be discharged, or a switchblade knife, gravity knife, billy, blackjack, bludgeon or metal knuckles. In the prior case, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a man accused of using an air pistol in an armed robbery because it decided the pistol was designed for violence and was capable of causing death or serious bodily injury. Advertisement To prove that something capable of capable of discharging a shot is a weapon under state law, the court said prosecutors must produce evidence to establish that it is designed for violence and capable of inflicting death or serious bodily harm. In the Lopez case, the court said, There is no evidence of the purpose for which the airsoft pellet gun was designed. For example, the state did not introduce into evidence the operating manual, statements of purpose from the manufacturers website, or expert testimony describing the use for which the airsoft pellet gun was intended. In the absence of such evidence, it is pure speculation whether the airsoft pellet gun is a toy designed for recreational use, as the defendant contends, or a weapon designed for violence and, therefore, a firearm. Whats more, the court said, the state failed to present any evidence from which it reasonably could be inferred that the airsoft pellet gun in this case was capable of inflicting death or serious bodily harm. COVID-19 concerns are shaping community Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations, with annual events migrating online or downsizing to minimize the possibility of coronavirus spread. The traditional Monday night candlelight vigil in honor of the American civil rights leader and his legacy will be held online this year, for the second time in the events 36 years in Waco. The candlelight service starts at 6 p.m. Monday and those wishing to watch or participate can send an email to ogr@baylor.edu to receive a link to the service. Those wishing to lay a wreath, flowers or other remembrance at the marker in Martin Luther King Jr. Park near the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Washington Ave. can do so this weekend through Monday, said Coque Gibson, one of the event organizers. This years theme is Let There Be Peace On Earth and Let It Begin With Me, Gibson said. People leaving those items to honor King are asked to remove them on Tuesday. Members of fraternal organizations Delta Epsilon Zeta and Gamma Omicron Sigma, the Waco chapters of national Zeta Phi Beta and Phi Beta Sigma respectively, will hold a short march at 9 a.m. Monday in honor of the civil rights icon. After a program featuring remarks from Waco Police Chief Sheryl Victorian, the march will proceed from the corner to MLK Boulevard and Elm Avenue to the Bledsoe Miller Community Center, 300 N. MLK Blvd. T.J. Benson, a Sigma member of the planning committee, said the ceremony and march, which has been held for 25 years, were shortened this year out of concerns over COVID-19. Pre-COVID-19 celebrations also featured choir performances and recognition of the winners of youth essay and poster contests. Monday will feature a combination of ceremony and service at Mission Wacos Jubilee Theatre, 1319 N. 15th St. A MLK Day program at 10:30 a.m. includes a reading of Kings Ive Been To The Mountaintop address and a preview of the theaters production of Fairview. A panel discussion led by First Woodway Baptist Church missions pastor Rene Maciel and featuring Waco pastors Emmanuel Roldan, Jangho Jo, Chuck Martin, Hannah Coe, Sam Doyle and C.J. Oliver will follow at the noon lunch break. Mission Waco staff and Waco Independent School District Trustee Jeremy Davis will lead a discussion with youth at that time at The ROCK, Mission Wacos children center at 1315 N. 15th St. After the lunch programs, seven groups of volunteers from local churches, Baylor University, McLennan Community College and business will take part in outdoor MLK Day of Service activities. Groups director Libby Barnhill said the service projects include trash cleanup, property clearing and maintenance work at Mission Wacos children center, training center and Urban REAP program. Approximately 75 people have signed up to participate, Barnhill said. Baylor students also will meet at 9 a.m. Monday at the Bobo Spiritual Life Center at the corner of South Fifth Street and James Avenue to collect donated items to help local nonprofits. Among the suggested items are toiletries; pet food, leashes and collars; new socks; and new or gently used towels, sheets, jackets, sweatshirts and sweatpants. Proceeds will benefit the Animal Birth Control Clinic, Dobey Center, Mission Waco, Tennyson Middle School and Veterans One Stop. The university also has online suggestions for virtual service projects. Organizers of all in-person events celebrating MLK Day cautioned that the current surge of COVID-19 cases in the community may cause last-minute cancellations or changes for the events. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. For some fans of Newsmax, 2021 ended with a fizzle, not a bang. On Dec. 31, Atlantic Broadband, a cable provider that serves 18 states, dropped the conservative news channel from its lineup without notice. Newsmax immediately responded to that decision with full-throated charges of censorship. Despite our high ratings it is clear that Atlantic doesnt like Newsmaxs point of view, Newsmax said in a thundering message to its viewers. They dont want our strong support of American values you care about Atlantic doesnt like Newsmax or its news perspective and they want to shut us down. Predictably perhaps, Atlantic Broadbands response seemed to paraphrase the last words of The Godfathers Tessio: Tell Newsmax it was never politics. It was just business. According to a statement posted on the companys website: While we worked in good faith to negotiate a new agreement, Newsmax insisted on unreasonable terms and conditions that would have resulted in increased TV fees for all Atlantic Broadband customers even though Newsmax is available for free for other viewers. This is unfair to Atlantic Broadband customers, including those who enjoy the channel. Because we could not reach a new agreement, the channel is no longer offered on our lineup. So, what to make of this? Supporters of Newsmax are understandably suspicious given progressives ongoing calls for cable channels to drop conservative news outlets, including Newsmax and Fox News Channel, that they claim spread falsehoods about the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol. In one state, the Newsmaxers arched eyebrows might be further raised upon learning Atlantic Broadband recently signed franchise agreements with at least four New Hampshire localities (Concord, Dover, Somersworth and Durham) to provide high-speed fiber internet, voice, and TV service. Could there have been a quid pro quo involved? Not inconceivable. But that would be a big concession for Atlantic given that it serves viewers in numerous deeply red states, including Mississippi and Alabama. On the flip side, cable providers routinely drop content providers, including local broadcast TV stations and national cable networks. That typically happens because the two parties cant reach a new agreement on how much the cable provider will pay to carry the station or networks content. You know those radio ads urging you to Call XYZ Cable today and tell them you want the Bowling Channel? Thats the content provider seeking negotiation leverage with the cable provider. And as for ratings, in 2021, Newsmaxs viewership ranked 60th among cable TV networks, with an average daily viewership of 186,000. If that number seems small in a nation of more than 330 million people, keep in mind the highest-rated cable channel, Fox News, averaged 1.3 million last year. Its highest-rated show, Tucker Carlson, typically had about 3 million viewers. CNN averaged just 787,000 daily viewers. In other words, battles over cable carriage are becoming more like fights in academia. The brawls are so bloody because the stakes are so low. Cable TV is on the wane. In 2016, 63 percent of Americans had cable TV, according to a CBS News poll. Today that number is 45 percent. During that same period, households that stream their video content jumped from 20 percent to 37 percent. A similar 2021 study by the Pew Research Center makes it clear that older Americans are the last bastion of cable TV viewership: Only about a third (34 percent) of Americans ages 18 to 29 now get TV through cable or satellite, down 31 percentage points from 2015. Among those 50 and older, the decline has been less dramatic. Those ages 50 to 64 saw a 14-point drop since 2015. Those 65 and older saw a 5-point decline, which is not a statistically significant difference. Viewership for cable news channels tends to skew older. The median age of Fox News viewers is 68. The median for CNN is 64. So, it makes sense for Newsmax to fight to stay on every cable providers roster. But cable TV is like an icicle on a 38-degree day. It will be around for a while, but it gets smaller every minute. Smart content providers, including Newsmax, understand the future lies in live streaming and video podcasts. As Atlantic Broadband pointed out in its statement, Newsmax fans can stream the channel from the Newsmax website for free. It is also available via several streaming services and devices, including Roku, Amazons Fire TV and Apple TV. And, as Newsmax noted in its statement, cable devotees in New Hampshire can always switch to another cable or satellite service that continues to carry Newsmax, such as DirecTV or AT&T. The messaging from Newsmax and other conservative media outlets may remain consistent. But how that message is delivered is very much in transition. Randall Bloomquist is a veteran journalist who writes about business and industry for InsideSources. With the recent anniversary of the events of Jan. 6, 2021 and the upcoming celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.s birthday Monday, it is timely to think about the part race has played in our nations history. Too often the role of race has been distorted, misrepresented or simply ignored. There is a longing to return to the values of the past, to recapture the heritage of the Confederate dream, to rewrite history, and to relegate slavery and its legacy to a temporary aberration that is over and done with. Simply put, racism is the perception that one race of people is inherently superior to another. Racism is the inability to recognize white privilege for what it is: the reward for living in a racially divided country. Why do people vote against their own self interest? The answer is simple. Racial superiority is such an overriding self interest that they are willing to sacrifice their own well-being to maintain it. For them it is an existential threat. They are led to believe that racial equality can only be achieved at their expense. They see a growing nonwhite population and a time when whites will be a permanent minority. There is a name for this. It is called white replacement theory. It means that there is a conspiracy afoot to replace whites with Blacks in our society. Just look at those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and it should be obvious who is fighting for what. They were angry white people carrying Confederate flags and wearing MAGA hats. Some will argue the Civil War was fought between the agricultural South and the industrial North over economic issues. Others will say that it was about states rights and whether states could secede from the Union. Many will say the real cause was slavery while ignoring the racial foundation for slavery. The truth is that the institution of slavery as practiced in the South was based on the premise that dark-skinned people from Africa were from a race so inferior to the white race that they were not really human beings. They were enslaved for their own good. That is what the Civil War was all about. It was a struggle for equality and justice that still defines the persistence of racism in the American culture today. Even our Constitution once said that a slave was only three-fifths of a person. Later in 1857, the infamous Dred Scott decision from the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that slaves were not entitled to protection of the law because they were not really human beings. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney wrote in the Dred Scott decision, They had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations; and so far inferior, that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that the negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit. Cornerstone speech Perhaps most telling were these words from Alexander Stephens, previously governor of Georgia and later vice president of the Confederate States of America. He was speaking not just for himself but on behalf of the Confederate states to explain why a new nation separated from the United States was needed. He said, Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth. It is this perception of inequality which is at the heart of racism, even today. Dr. King once said, I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. His dream was for a nation where racial equality and reconciliation were universally accepted and practiced. But that is not what we have become today. Stripped of all the rhetoric and dog whistles, it comes down to those who believe in racial equality and those who still cling to a dream of racial superiority. These two opposing visions were once represented in both political parties. But then in the 1960s one party cynically decided to embark upon a Southern strategy, a very telling choice of words. So we became polarized into one party of racial equality and the other became a party of racial superiority. One party offers hopes and dreams. The other relies on fear and intimidation. One party looks to the future. The other party wishes to return to the past. They want to Make America Great Again, just like it was before 1954. Their supporters know exactly what that means. Slavery may have been eliminated in the 1860s, but the racism that supported it was not. It persisted in Jim Crow segregation laws. It was supported by the doctrine of separate but equal which was affirmed by the Supreme Court in Plessy vs. Ferguson. It gave rise to terrorist groups like the Ku Klux Klan. It persisted in opposition to desegregation in the 1960s and beyond. It persists in opposition to legislation that might promote economic justice and eliminate poverty for fear it might also benefit racial minorities. It persists in making it more difficult for people of color to vote. It persists in the reality that too often black lives dont matter. Its banner is the Confederate battle flag. Its heroes are those who fought not just to preserve slavery but also to preserve a separate and unequal racially divided society. When it comes to defining who is a racist, it is irrelevant that your ancestors never owned slaves. What is relevant is whether you support racial equality and will practice reconciliation in your daily life. Our Constitution promises equal protection under the law regardless of race, gender, religion or sexual orientation. When we salute the flag, we promise to be one nation with liberty and justice for all. That is what it means to be an American. If America is ever to live up to its promise, we must work to eliminate racism. Our common humanity matters. W. Richard Turner is a retired research chemist who lives in Hewitt. Despite the Armistice of Cassibile between the Allies and the Kingdom of Italy in early September 1943, air battles still raged in the skies over the Po River Valley for many more months; Hitlers Luftwaffe and the German-aligned Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (ANR) continued the fight Many lives were lost (needlessly) as a result, both on the ground and in the air. Of those airmen who perished, a good number simply disappeared, seemingly forever buried deep in the Italian soil amidst the concertinaed wreckage of their aircraft. Even though the best part of a century has passed since those tragic days, there are some in Italy who have not forgotten those missing flyers. Indeed, several groups have emerged in recent years with the hope of bringing some sense of closure to the families of the missing by locating where their loved ones fell. Air Crash Po is one of these teams and last year our very own Moreno Aguiari interviewed one of its founding members, Luca Gabriele Merli (we published the resulting article HERE). More recently, the group has discovered another lost aircraft and identified those who flew aboard her on a fateful nighttime raid during November 1943 A Night in 1943 In the early minutes of November 10th, 1943, some sixty Junkers Ju 88A-4s belonging to II./KG30, I./KG54 and II./KG54 took to the skies from northern Italian airfields in Villafranca, Cameri, Bergamo, Villaorba, and Aviano. The twin-engined bombers made their way through the night to attack the port city of Naples, by then in Allied control. A portion of these aircraft were responsible for illuminating the objective so others could attack ships in the harbor. Even though this attacking force made it through to their objective, they paid a heavy price, losing 28 airmen dead and 4 wounded amongst the eight aircraft which failed to return (five from KG 30 and three from KG 54). Five Ju 88s went down over the target area while three crashed on their way home: one in Grosseto, one near Fano, and another on the slopes of Monte Amiata, near Abbadia San Salvatore. The surviving Ju 88s struggled back to their home bases in the darkness between 05:30 and 06:15 hours. The war soon moved on of course, with the losses, on both sides, coming at a mind-numbing pace; there was little time to grieve, and even less energy to locate the missing. The Discovery In the summer of 2021 members of Air Crash Po, Luca Merli, Agostino Alberti, Dario Colantoni, and researcher Michele Mari explored the slopes of Monte Amiata, a preliminary inspection to locate one of the missing Ju 88s. In the course of several exploratory missions, the group discovered significant shards of aircraft wreckage parts of the fuselage, engines, pipes, plates, window glazing, and even the remains of several cockpit instrumentation were among the items discovered. Several items still retained their part numbers, and these received scrutiny from Luca Merli, an expert on such details within Air Crash Po. Merli was able to positively identify the aircraft remains as having come from a Junkers Ju 88A-4. The local information the team had collated was contradictory, however, listing the crash location as belonging to an aircraft which crashed in April 1944. However, amongst the items, Air Crash Po discovered at this location, was the partial remains of a so-called dog tag belonging to one of the airmen who died within the wreck. This fragment bore a part of the mans military identification number and with it the potential solution to the mystery of which missing aircraft and military personnel they had found. With military details provided by Germanys Bundesarchiv the Air Crash Po set their investigative machine in motion. A search through Merlis extensive Luftwaffe archives produced an answer. After delving through these old and discolored mission reports, Merli concluded that this identification tag belonged to Obergefreiter Anton Mathia, an air gunner on that fateful night in November 1943 Alongside Mathia aboard that Ju-88 during the raid against Naples in the early morning of November 10th, 1943, were its pilot Unteroffizier Georg Schaefer, observer Unteroffizier Fritz Klawitter and radio operator Unteroffizier Karl Schmidt. All four aviators died in the Ju 88, which apparently crashed due to a navigation error leading it into high terrain. Merli and his team are now trying to find the families of these airmen. However, the task is proving very difficult due to the scarcity of WWII-era Luftwaffe military unit associations, the lack of reliable archives, and a persisting sentiment amongst many for forgetting the war and Germanys involvement. If any readers have concrete leads on how to reach these airmens families, they would be most appreciative! Air Crash Po expects to have a busy 2022, with several crash site excavations planned, along with hosting visits from the families of two fallen American aviators. Reconstructing the history of the war years is no small feat. Putting together the pieces which made up the puzzle of this recent, though fast receding past involves the considerable expenditure of energy in all respects. However, the desire to learn and understand the history of their home and the men who perished there during WWII invigorates AirCrash Po to persevere in their endeavors, and the commitment is stronger every day. For this reason, they invite anyone with a similar passion to join with them. No matter where you may reside, anyone in possession of documents, photographs, stories, or other information relevant to the Po region in WWII is encouraged to contact them HERE. CEDAR FALLS An open letter to the Board of Regents and the presidents of Iowas three public universities signed by 288 people calls for a series of changes to do more to protect our campus communities as COVID-19 positivity rates continue rising. The two-page letter particularly emphasizes children of faculty, staff, and students. It notes that these children are too young to be vaccinated or ineligible for COVID vaccine boosters. Emailed to regents members, university presidents, and media Friday afternoon, the letter also includes 28 pages of names and other information on the faculty, staff, students, parents, and other community members who signed it. Anne Marie Gruber, a University of Northern Iowa associate professor of library services, sent out the letter on behalf of those who signed it. The letter organizers felt it important at this time to gain signatures and share publicly to demonstrate that there is support across the Regents for stronger mitigations, with our children in mind, as we start spring semester in the midst of the Omicron surge, she said in an email response to questions. The letter was sent two days after Michael Richards, board president, announced that no changes would be made for second semester in the COVID-19 guidance established for the fall. The campuses will continue to implement policies within the guidance provided and in conjunction with the board office, he said at the end of a Wednesday regents meeting. Fall semester marked the return to no requirements for masks or social distancing inside campus buildings following emergency measures during the previous year. There are also no requirements on the campuses around getting vaccinated. The letter notes the growing COVID-19 rates in Black Hawk County, where UNI is located, and in Johnson and Story counties, home to the University of Iowa and Iowa State. This is before most university students have arrived for the Spring semester, the letter states. With the Omicron variant now dominating new cases, this spread will certainly increase over the coming weeks. Childcare services were hanging by a thread before the pandemic, it continues, now we are seeing hours reductions and closures, both temporary and permanent. The letter suggests the health and care of campus employees and students children must be considered for them to be able to work and go to school. This group tends to be forgotten in the conversation about campus and community COVID mitigations, and yet the impact of caregiving needs on the campus workplace, student success, and mental health is significant. Current COVID protocols on our campuses were put into place pre-Omicron, so updated approaches are necessary, the letter says. Letter signers request a universal mask mandate on all regents campuses as well as in campus and contracted childcare centers/homes for those 2 and older. They also call for childcare classroom-level notifications of positive cases and regular testing of those children through campus student health services. They want those measures in place Monday. Gruber noted that UNI has one and Iowa State has three childcare centers. The University of Iowa partners with eleven privately-owned childcare centers. By Jan. 24, letter signers are asking the universities to provide air filtration devices and carbon dioxide monitors in childcare classrooms as well as paid leave options for employees. Those would apply to caregivers impacted by a dependents COVID case or wishing to temporarily remove children from daycare and school settings. On Wednesday, Richards emphasized common sense and individual responsibility for managing peoples health as he sounded a familiar refrain. We are all tired of COVID. Im sick of it. But the single most important thing that anyone can do is get vaccinated, he said. The COVID-19 vaccines are very safe and effective. They overwhelmingly stop serious illness, hospitalizations and death, Richards added. Ive said this on numerous occasions, Ill say it one more time: Get vaccinated. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Want to see more like this? Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Before delivering his State of the State address in 2020, Gov. Ned Lamont greets House Minority Leader Themis Klarides and Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, right. Klarides is expected to make a run at the governor's office this year. (Mark Mirko / Hartford Courant) Campaigns require candidates to put on their armor and head into battle because their skin grows thinner and thinner. Gov. Ned Lamont illustrated the rule recently, expect others to follow. Lamont launched his bid for a second term last fall and has caused or endured a series of stumbles. The most jarring occurred between the Christmas and New Years weekends when the governors administration made a cannot-look-away mess of a claim that millions of COVID-19 test kits in California were soon to arrive in Connecticut. Advertisement Prudence in a competitive market should have caused Lamont to make an announcement only when the shipment arrived in the Constitution State. But common sense is subordinated to anything that might advance the bosss reelection campaign. The kits were stuck in the warehouse, the runway, the plane, depending on the day and hour. They had photos, Lamont and the commissioner of public health insisted in a Dec. 30 press conference at a forlorn warehouse in East Hartford. Lamont, who has a graduate degree in business from Yale, believed the state had a deal with the supplier and thought we might even have had a contract. Theyd seen the pictures. Advertisement Gov. Ned Lamont talks with Jeanne Peters, 95, during a visit to The Reservoir nursing home after she was given the first COVID-19 vaccination on Dec. 18 in West Hartford. (Stephen Dunn/AP) There were no photographs to see. Lamont was executing a humiliating climb-down from a stinging embarrassment and making it up as he stumbled along. Lamonts spokesman, former WVIT political reporter Max Reiss, declared the governors understanding was muddy. As an election draws nearer people will utter the most preposterous words to build a bridge from one nonsensical sentence to another. The states incredibly shrinking Republican Party, could not resist highlighting Lamonts discomfort. It posted a short video on the internet mocking the Greenwich Democrat over his December failure. In 30 seconds, the ad took a shot at Lamonts close relationship with disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. It also reminded viewers that the tri-state region suffered much misery during the pandemic. Nothing about the ad was unusual. Modern politics are brutal and often fought in short bursts of grainy photos, ominous voices, and scary soundtracks. Lamont is familiar with these tactics. Hes employed them in his three extravagantly self-financed statewide campaigns. Lamont, nearing the start of his third year of governing with emergency powers, took offense at the ad and drew more attention to it. The American aristocrat objected, declaring, according to the CT Mirror, We are in a war against an invisible enemy COVID. Usually, when a state, a country, are in a war, they rally together and they speak with one voice. And we dont take cheap political shots, not when we are trying to get everybody through a tense situation. Opinion Weekly Perspective on the week's biggest stories from the Courant's Opinion page > Lamont first made his name in national politics in 2006 a year when dissent was the highest form of patriotism. The nation was in a war then, too. One that Lamont opposed. We did not speak with one voice then and we are not obligated to now. Disagreeing with Donald Trumps misbegotten COVID policies and practices played a critical role in the defeat of the loathsome demagogue in 2020. Lamont did not preach the gospel of one voice and one voice only two years ago. Now as he prepares to face voters the publics right to speak annoys him. Republican businessman Bob Stefanowski is expected to make another run at the governor's office. (Jessica Hill) The governor will use a slice of his vast fortune to finance his reelection campaign, as is his custom. If Lamont gets his wish and Republicans make the fatal error of nominating former state Rep. Themis Klarides for governor, Lamont and national Democrats will remind voters for months that Klarides is married to Eversource executive Gregory Butler. The Lamont campaign will ask Connecticut voters, who pay the highest electric rates in the continental United States, if they want to merge the governors office with the utility giant. Its a legitimate question. Other legitimate questions include reviewing Republican Bob Stefanowskis 2018 fantasy to repeal the state income tax. Or his career in the payday loan business. Advertisement No one should object to an examination of Lamonts troubles navigating the intersection of state government and his family finances. Im happy to wear a mask as we fight the war on COVID-19, but I will not be silenced. Neither should you. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Some schools are struggling to remain open for in-person learning due to the latest coronavirus surge but a lack of money isn't the problem. Twenty-two months into the pandemic, health care workers are dealing with record hospitalizations, unsustainable work schedules and abuse from a public thats frustrated and exhausted. On top of all that, theyre also contracting the virus at higher rates than ever before, federal safety standards surrounding COVID-related working conditions in hospitals have been peeled back, and changes in workers compensation policies are making it harder for many who cannot work. Advertisement We have had record numbers of staff members that have been out with COVID, said Yale New Haven Health CEO Marna Borgstrom. As of Wednesday, 439 staff members were out across the Yale system, down from 700 on a single day last week. Tom Balcezak, chief clinical officer at YNHH, called the trends in worker infections even more frightening than hospital admissions. Advertisement [ Connecticut sees 161 COVID-19 deaths in past week, as hospitalizations, daily test positivity rate drops ] Hartford HealthCare reported 1,500 workers out with COVID on Wednesday, down from 1,600 last week. As of Jan. 11, more than 500 hospital staff were out at Nuvance Health, a network including Danbury Hospital in western Connecticut, though the number had decreased in recent days. Trinity Health declined to provide the specific number of staff out with COVID. Were dropping like flies, said Sherri Dayton, a registered nurse at the Plainfield Emergency Care Center, an emergency center affiliated with Backus Hospital and part of the Hartford HealthCare System. Bill Garrity, who serves as the president of the University Health Professionals Local 337, a union representing over 2,800 health care professionals at UConn Health, said keeping workers safe can start in the hospitals themselves. He wants to see more transparency from management about infections in the workplace to help control worker outbreaks. Id love to know numbers [of workers infected] and where theyre stationed, said Garrity. UConn Health in Farmington, 2020. Photo by Brad Horrigan | bhorrigan@courant.com (Brad Horrigan / Hartford Courant) Changes in workers compensation policies Earlier in the pandemic, the state and federal government put in place crucial workers compensation policies and federal safety measures that have since either expired or been relaxed. At the state level, in July 2020, Gov. Ned Lamont signed an executive order that automatically approved workers compensation for essential workers applying for benefits because they were infected with COVID between March 10 and May 20, 2020. The policy temporarily assumed that essential workers who contracted COVID did so at work. But that policy is no longer in effect. Advertisement Now, several health care professionals report that when they test positive for COVID, theyre often told they likely contracted it out in the community and therefore are not eligible for workers compensation. In December 2020, after the temporary workers compensation policy had ended, Sherri Dayton tested positive for COVID. Earlier that week, her manager alerted her that she had been in contact with two patients who came into the hospital for a tick bite and a skin infection who were later found to have COVID, she said. When Dayton reported her positive result and applied for workers compensation, she said she was told that she likely contracted the virus somewhere other than the hospital, and her request was denied. Workers compensation covers a range of expenses resulting from workplace harm, including medical bills and a portion of lost wages. It also covers all future medical bills related to the injury or, in the case of COVID, the disease. At a time when the long-term effects of the virus are unknown, that safety net is critical, many say. Down the road, you might end up with an asthma problem. People didnt know asbestos was going to cause long-term problems, explained John Brady, vice president of AFT CT, a union representing health care professionals. Brady added that nearly all COVID-related workers compensation requests hes seen have been initially denied, and many health care workers dont have the resources to know they should appeal the decision. Advertisement In Daytons case, she was compensated for lost wages and medical bills, but Dayton appealed the workers compensation denial in case she has future medical expenses associated with her infection. She has not received an update on her case in over a year. OSHA, CDC policies in flux Recent changes to federal policies also threaten to leave medical professionals less protected. On Dec. 23, the CDC cut the quarantine period for infected health care workers from 10 days after a negative test to seven days. The agency noted that this was to help increase staffing for the coming omicron surge. The announcement also specified that the isolation time can be cut further if there are staffing shortages. In July 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the federal agency charged with ensuring workplace safety, issued a temporary standard that set specific COVID-related safety requirements for health care settings, including a requirement to develop a COVID hazard assessment and provide respirators for workers directly exposed to infectious cases. At the end of 2021, that temporary standard lapsed. OSHA said it is committed to putting in place a permanent standard but has yet to do so. Even though the standard wasnt perfect, explained Brady, it provided specific guidelines that health care facilities had to follow in terms of COVID workplace safety. Advertisement These lapses in policies at both the state and federal level have left health care workers with less workplace protection during the peak of COVID infection rates. Health care worker infections also put a strain on staffing at a time when the states health care system is already bursting at the seams, officials said. Its obviously affected hospitals and health care workers from a physical standpoint of being sick but also from a standpoint of our volumes are higher than they have been in the past, and were also dealing with people who are unable to work because theyre testing positive for COVID, said Dr. Seth Lotterman, an emergency room physician at Hartford Hospital. Hartford, Ct. - 10/07/2021 - Exterior view of Hartford Hospital. Photograph by Mark Mirko | mmirko@courant.com (Mark Mirko/The Hartford Courant) Stretched thin, some hospitals are mandating overtime for certain health care professionals, often requiring them to stay for additional shifts with little notice. This can result in 12- to 16-hour work days. On top of mandated overtime, Sherri Dayton reported that, in the emergency center, she and her colleagues have also been forced to treat an unsustainable number of patients at a time. Normally, she treats four patients at a time. Recently, she has been forced to treat six, seven, and, on a particularly difficult day, 11 patients at once. We are exhausted. And we are shouting at the top of our lungs, Help us, said Dayton. Katy Golvala is a reporter for The Connecticut Mirror (ctmirror.org). Copyright 2021 The Connecticut Mirror. PHOENIX A man who escaped from a Colorado jail in late December and who was sought in the subsequent non-fatal shooting of a New Mexico police officer a week ago was arrested Friday in Arizona, police said. Phoenix police got a tip and arrested Elias Buck, 22, of Durango early Friday morning at a convenience store, Farmington police said in a statement. Buck scaled a fence and escaped Dec. 27 from the La Plata County jail in Durango after being arrested Dec. 7 on suspicion of motor vehicle theft, the Durango Herald reported. Buck was sought in Farmington in the Jan. 7 wounding of Officer Joseph Barreto during a possible DWI investigation. According to Farmington police, the shooting occurred when Barreto tried to detain Buck after seeing Buck and a female companion walking after a car in the area had been reported as possibly being involved in drunken driving. SANTA FE For the second year in a row, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will not deliver her State of the State address from the House chambers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Governors Office said Friday the governor would instead deliver remarks remotely from her office on Tuesday, which is the opening day of a 30-day legislative session. Unlike last year when Lujan Grishams pre-recorded remarks were played to lawmakers one week into the legislative session, the governors speech this year will be streamed live on the governors website and Facebook page. It will also be broadcast live by KNME-TV. The address is expected to focus on some of Lujan Grishams top priorities for the session, which include reducing the states gross receipts tax rate, providing salary increases for public school teachers and increasing penalties for some criminal offenses. A Lujan Grisham spokeswoman said the decision to deliver the speech remotely was made out of an abundance of caution and to protect the health of legislators, legislative staffers and members of the public. Typically, the governors State of the State address is delivered in the House chambers with all 112 legislators in attendance. Other elected officials from around New Mexico also frequently show up, along with members of the states judicial branch. The 30-day session officially begins Tuesday at noon. Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE Attorney General Hector Balderas is referring to federal law enforcement allegations that Republicans in New Mexico submitted a false document intended to deliver the states presidential electors to Donald Trump. Democrat Joe Biden won New Mexicos five electoral votes in 2020, defeating Trump by 11 percentage points and 99,720 votes. Election laws are the foundation of our democracy and must be respected, Balderas, a Democrat, said in a written statement Friday. While review under state law is ongoing, we have referred this matter to the appropriate federal law-enforcement authorities and will provide any assistance they deem necessary. American Oversight, a watchdog group, last March obtained certificates submitted by Republicans in seven states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. New Mexico and Pennsylvania Republicans added a caveat saying it was done in case they were later recognized as duly elected, qualified electors. Alex Curtas, a spokesman for New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, said the states five electoral votes were awarded to Biden during a meeting at the state Capitol in December 2020. The election results had been certified by the State Canvassing Board. Republicans went to the Roundhouse that day, too, Curtas said, but were denied entry. It was a highly irresponsible act, he said. The Journal wasnt immediately able to reach a state Republican Party executive for comment late Friday. In New Mexico, state law makes it a fourth-degree felony for designated electors to cast their ballot for anyone other than the presidential candidate who received the majority of the votes cast in the state. The Republican document from New Mexico hedged a bit in saying Trump had won the states five electors, according to a copy published online by American Oversight. It said they certified the vote for Trump on the understanding that it might later be determined that we are the duly elected and qualified Electors for President and Vice President of the United States of America from the State of New Mexico. Michigans attorney general also asked federal prosecutors to open a criminal investigation into Republicans who submitted false certificates stating they were the states presidential electors despite Bidens 154,000-vote victory in 2020. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal A teenage girl from Honduras told police in June that her father left her with his friend a human smuggler as payment for getting the family into the United States before the man brought her to Albuquerque and raped her on a regular basis. Alberto Villanueva, 44, is charged with three counts of criminal sexual penetration and two counts each of child abuse and bribery of a witness in the case. Villanueva was arrested in July and is currently behind bars at the Metropolitan Detention Center. A federal search warrant unsealed this week outlined the FBIs investigation into the case and state court filings filled in some of the other details. Charlie Moore-Pabst, a spokesman for the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, said the girl is safe. He said no other details could be released. On June 17, 2021, an Albuquerque police detective was contacted by CYFD about the sexual assault of a Del Norte High School student. The 16-year-old told police she was originally from Honduras and had been in the city for a few months. The girl reported the abuse to a teacher after being encouraged by a friend and the teacher notified CYFD, according to court records. A CYFD investigator found a State of Texas Power of Attorney Over Child form signed by her father and assigning guardianship to Villanueva. During a sexual assault exam, the teen reported years of abuse at the hands of Villanueva, who she lived with at an apartment complex near the school. The teen said she had known Villanueva, a friend of her fathers, since she was 13 and they all lived in Honduras. The girl told authorities he had raped her regularly ever since that time and had also forced her to send him naked photos and videos. She said in April she and her father met Villanueva in Piedras Negras, Mexico, and he smuggled them into the U.S. The girl told police she thought she would go live with an aunt in Texas but, instead, her father left to go to Tennessee and Villanueva brought her to Albuquerque. The girl said Villanueva was a human smuggler and her father owed him $30,000 for their passage into the country. She believed that she, herself, was to serve Villanueva as the form of payment, the federal search warrant affidavit states. Authorities said Villanueva took her passport, birth certificate and other paperwork. The teen reported that she didnt know anyone in the city, and Villanueva never allowed anyone to come to the apartment and threatened to hurt her and her parents if she did not obey him. The girl told a sexual assault examiner that Villanueva would rape her twice a day, giving her a pill beforehand, and withheld food if she refused, according to court records. She said she reported the abuse to her aunt in Texas, who told her not to come if she was pregnant. Police said the girl told them that, the day before she reported the abuse, Villanueva had choked her and thrown her against a wall for trying to resist his advances. During the course of the sexual assault exam, Villanueva repeatedly called the girl and sent her numerous text messages when she didnt answer. Then, according to authorities, her father called and told her she was lying about Villanueva, that she belonged to (Villanueva) and he was going to get in trouble without reason. Authorities said a nurse overheard the conversation, which ended with the father saying he and Villanueva were going to come for the teen. An Albuquerque private school has agreed to pay a $5,000 civil penalty for violating the states public health order requiring face coverings to mitigate spread of COVID-19, the state Public Education Department said Friday. Hope Christian School notified PED officials this week that it no longer planned to contest the fine, PED said in a written statement. PED on July 26 issued a mask requirement for all elementary school students, teachers, staff and visitors regardless of vaccination status. The rule applied to both public and private schools. State officials notified Hope Christian by letter on Sept. 21 that the school had violated the states public health order. The state took the action after PED officials provided the state Department of Health with an Aug. 6 email written by a Hope Christian official saying the school would not require masks. An attorney for Hope Christian notified PED by letter on Wednesday that it no longer planned to seek a hearing contesting the fine, PED said. Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal New Mexicos Adelina Nina Otero-Warren put in her two bits worth when it came to advocating for such causes as womens right to vote and better education, so its appropriate that her image will soon appear on a quarter issued by the U.S. Mint. Otero-Warrens likeness will be among those appearing on the reverse side of a series of quarters featuring prominent women in U.S. history. Issued from now through 2025, the series will include representations of up to 20 women. Otero-Warren (1881-1965) was the first Hispanic woman to run for a seat in Congress, and is among the first five women selected to be represented on a quarter. New Mexico writer/researcher Sylvia Ramos Cruz said Otero-Warren is worthy of the recognition. All of her life, she worked for communities in the political realm, but also the social realm, she said. Ramos Cruz said all five of the women selected for the American women quarters series so far are terrific. In addition to Otero-Warren, those include Maya Angelou (1928-2014), writer, poet, performer, teacher and civil rights activist; Sally Ride (1951-2012), astronaut, physicist and the first American woman in space; Wilma Mankiller (1945-2010), social worker, community developer and the first woman elected principal chief of the Cherokee Nation; and Anna May Wong (1905-61), an actress considered the first Chinese American Hollywood movie star. They are very representative of the diversity of this country and made contributions not only to womens lives, but also to the general public, Ramos Cruz said. Unique images The Mint has already started shipping quarters with Angelous image. Coins featuring images of Ride, Mankiller, Otero-Warren and Wong will be released later. Each depiction on the quarters will be unique to the woman featured. On the obverse, or front, side, however, each of the quarters in the women series will display Laura Gardin Frasers right-facing portrait of George Washington, created 90 years ago. Frasers creation had been used previously on a 1999 five-dollar gold piece commemorating the 200th anniversary of Washingtons death. The Otero-Warren quarter portrays Otero-Warren with blossoms of New Mexicos state flower, the yucca, and the Spanish words voto para la mujer, which translates to the vote for women. Many, many women pushed for suffrage in New Mexico, Ramos Cruz said. (Otero-Warren) should not get all the credit. But she was needed to recruit Hispanic women (to the suffrage campaign) and she was certainly instrumental in moving Republican votes to yes for suffrage in 1920. Ramos Cruz, 75, is a surgeon who was born in Puerto Rico, educated in New York and who moved to New Mexico in 1990. Since retiring from her medical practice several years ago, she has focused on writing poetry and womens history, and advocating for womens rights. She said Otero-Warren merits commemoration in the women quarters series for her work in the suffrage movement. But she notes that was only part of Otero-Warrens life. She was a feminist, suffragist, educator, writer, politician, businesswoman, homesteader, leader and champion for Hispanic cultural heritage, Ramos Cruz said. An active life Otero-Warren was born in 1881 in her family hacienda near Los Lunas. She was part of two prominent Hispanic families. Her mothers family, the Lunas, had settled in New Mexico in the late 16th century. Her fathers family, the Oteros, came to New Mexico from Spain in the late 1700s. She was related to Miguel Antonio Otero II, New Mexico Territorial Governor from 1897 to 1906. Otero-Warren was educated at a Catholic boarding school in St. Louis from 1892 to 1894. Back in New Mexico, she married a U.S. Army officer in 1908, but divorced him two years later. Because of the stigma attached to divorce at the time, she referred to herself as a widow. Her education in St. Louis had instilled in her a social consciousness and the conviction that women could be community leaders. In 1917, she became one of New Mexicos first female government officials when she took on the job of Santa Fe superintendent of schools, a position she held until the late 1920s. In that role, she was committed to improving the education of Hispanics, Indian peoples and all students in rural areas. She managed the schools very well, Ramos Cruz said. She recognized that, for Spanish-speaking children to come into the mainstream, they needed to know English, as well as other subjects. But she also pushed for the preservation of the history, culture and traditions of the Hispanic West. Otero-Warrens writings about her young life on the family hacienda were published in a 1936 book titled Old Spain in Our Southwest. In 1922, she ran for the U.S. House on the Republican ticket, but lost to the Democratic candidate. She received 45.6% of the vote. Otero-Warren became director of New Mexicos Civilian Conservation Corps in 1930, and worked later with the CCC and the Works Progress Administration on adult education. During the last years of her life, she was in the real estate business in Santa Fe. Nancy Kenney of Santa Fe, Otero-Warrens great-niece, remembers weekly gatherings in the family house in Santa Fe when Kenney was a child. She said there would be a dozen or so adults there, family members, including Otero-Warren, and other people from the community, including a parish priest and about five children, including Kenney. Wed all come in and sit at the feet of the great-aunts, Kenney said of herself and the other kids. We looked up to her (Otero-Warren) in many ways. She held court. She was a good listener and had a loving face, but she was not a big hugger. She was a go-getter. She was trying to make a difference in the world. Otero-Warren died in Santa Fe at the age of 83. And, now, in a tribute to a life well spent, she will be the first Hispanic American woman to be depicted on U.S. currency. DENVER Near the starting point of a Colorado wildfire that destroyed over 1,000 homes and buildings, one man stayed home in an apparent attempt to save a voluminous collection of papers documenting his familys history plus his personal writings and records of his community activism. Robert Sharpe, 69, was spotted last month trying to fight the fire and waved off at least one warning for him to evacuate his home in a semi-rural area near Boulder, according to his brother Milt Sharpe. His remains were found inside his home a week after the Dec. 30 fire tore through the area. The search was still on Friday for the only other person still listed as missing in the fire at a site where a home burned on the outskirts of the town of Superior, downwind from the fires origin point and across open fields and hiking trails at the edge of suburbia. We are still actively working on the searching for and identifying the remains of the second missing person, Boulder County Sheriffs spokesperson Carrie Haverfield said. Authorities have not named the woman, but relatives identified her as 91-year-old Nadine Turnbull while declining further comment to The Associated Press. She lived with her adult granddaughter on plot of land that harkened back to the areas rural roots, with two dogs, two goats and two horses, said Amy Smith, a family friend. Smith organized an online fundraiser for Turnbulls granddaughter, Layla Cornell, who escaped the fire and is struggling to start over again. Neighbor Scotty Roberts told KCNC-TV last week that he barely escaped his familys home in the fire and went to Turnbulls house to tell her to get out, asking a sheriffs deputy to come with him. However, as soon as the front door to the home opened and let air inside, the fire went woosh and intensified, he said. Cornell escaped, but Turnbull was tethered to her dogs, and the leashes were wrapped around a table, the station reported. I couldnt pull all of them and the table with me at the same time, said Roberts, who described the fire as being everywhere at that point. He said he was sorry and ran, said Roberts, who shook with emotion during the interview. Haverfield, the Boulder County Sheriffs spokesperson, declined to answer questions about whether any first responders went to the home and whether anyone attempted to evacuate Turnbull, citing the ongoing investigation. Robert Sharpes home lies about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from Turnbulls house, and Milt Sharpe said one official told him that his brother was fighting the fire at his home and was warned to leave. Another official said he told a man to leave who refused and that he believed it was Robert Sharpe, Milt Sharpe said. Robert Sharpe was not foolhardy and loved his life, so much so that it was hard to keep up with all of his interests and views, from conservation to childrens rights to salsa dancing, Milt Sharpe said. His older brother was someone who would have been willing to suffer some injuries in a fire to save what was important to him, including the documents and papers stored in dozens of file cabinets, Milt Sharpe said. Milt Sharpe added he believed his brother would have fled if he had realized an unsurvivable wall of fire was headed his way. Robert Sharpe worked in construction for many years and was handy with helping fix things and also offering articulate opinions on just about anything, calling into the community radio station and attending town meetings, his brother said. Throughout his 30 years at radio station KGNU, former station manager and news director Sam Fuqua told The Denver Post that he recalled Sharpe calling to talk about environmental issues, politics and local development. Hes the kind of caller you want to have call in to your shows, he said. Someone whos listening, thoughtful and connecting dots that nobody else in the conversation is connecting. Milt Sharpe is also mourning the loss of another brother who died while sequestered in a hospital room with COVID-19 two weeks before the fire. He said he is ashamed that he may have been callous to Robert Sharpes efforts to help him understand the way he saw the world. It was massive, it was just a huge, large life he lived, and he did it with love and compassion, Milt Sharpe said. _____ Associated Press researchers Jennifer Farrar and Randy Herschaft contributed to this report. Federal safety officials are directing operators of some Boeing planes to adopt extra procedures when landing on wet or snowy runways near impending 5G service because, they say, interference from the wireless networks could mean that the planes need more room to land. The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday that interference could delay systems like thrust reversers on Boeing 787s from kicking in, leaving only the brakes to slow the plane. That could prevent an aircraft from stopping on the runway, the FAA said. Similar orders could be issued in the coming days for other planes. The FAA has asked Boeing and Airbus for information about many models. Boeing said it is working with its suppliers, airlines, telecom companies and regulators to ensure that every commercial airplane model can safely and confidently operate when 5G is implemented in the United States. The order for the Boeing jets comes a day after the FAA began issuing restrictions that airlines and other aircraft operators will face at many airports when AT&T and Verizon launch new, faster 5G wireless service Wednesday. The agency is still studying whether those wireless networks will interfere with altimeters, which measure an aircrafts height above the ground. Data from altimeters is used to help pilots land when visibility is poor. The devices operate on a portion of the radio spectrum that is close to the range used by the new 5G service, called C-Band. This weeks FAA actions are part of a larger fight between the aviation regulator and the telecom industry. The telecom companies and the Federal Communications Commission say 5G networks do not pose a threat to aviation. The FAA says more study is needed. The FAA is conducting tests to learn how many commercial planes have altimeters that might be vulnerable to spectrum interference. The agency said this week it expects to estimate the percentage of those planes soon, but didnt put a date on it. Aircraft with untested altimeters or that need retrofitting or replacement will be unable to perform low-visibility landings where 5G is deployed, the agency said in a statement. The order regarding Boeing 787s covers 137 planes in the U.S. and 1,010 worldwide. The 787 is a two-aisle plane that is popular on longer routes, including many international flights. The FAA said that based on information from Boeing, the 787s might not shift properly from flying to landing mode if there is interference, which could delay the activation of systems that help slow the plane. AT&T and Verizon have twice agreed to postpone activating their new networks because of concerns raised by aviation groups and the FAA, most recently after the FAA and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg weighed in on the aviation industrys side. Buttigieg and FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson warned that flights could be canceled or diverted to avoid potential safety risks. Under an agreement with the telecom companies, the FAA designated 50 airports that will have buffer zones in which the companies will turn off 5G transmitters or make other changes to limit potential interference through early July. The 50 include the three major airports in the New York City area LaGuardia, JFK and Newark Liberty OHare and Midway in Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth International, Bush Intercontinental in Houston, Los Angeles International and San Francisco. That concession by the telecoms was modeled after an approach used in France, although the FAA said last week that France requires more dramatic reductions in cell-tower reach around airports. ___ David Koenig can be reached at www.twitter.com/airlinewriter Luna and Luz owner Tess Coats working at her Old Town shop. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Journal) Luna and Luz, an Old Town New Mexico lifestyle shop is located on the second floor of Plaza Don Luis. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Journal) Luna and Luz, sells items ranging from beauty products to jewelry to cards. The stores owner wants to provide an elevated experience. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Journal) Luna and Luz, a new Old Town shop at 303 Romero NW, offers a variety of New Mexico lifestyle items. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Journal) Prev 1 of 4 Next Running a retail store isnt anything new to Tess Coats. She has, after all, been working in retail for the majority of her career while also founding popular local stores like Spur Line Supply Co. and the Spectacle Caravan. So, once Coats left her position at Spur Line in early 2020, it seemed like a logical step to open another retail store. Located in Albuquerques Old Town in Plaza Don Luis at 303 Romero NW, Luna and Luz opened in the fall. Much like Coats previous concepts, Luna and Luz focuses on providing customers with items ranging from small-batch printed cards to jewelry to beauty products made with New Mexican ingredients. My main focus, which has continued through now, is really emphasizing a well-curated collection of local and regional goods, Coats said. The concept and the idea is always to kind of create this more elevated experience and a more elevated curation in terms of the product selection. Many of the brands carried at Coats former projects, like Power & Light Press, Dryland Wilds and Hanselmann Pottery, have also found a home at her new store. Her decision to continue carrying those brands is a result of the yearslong relationship-building effort Coats said she undertook when she first ventured onto Albuquerques retail scene as a small business owner. Coats said as a business owner she has had the ability to form lasting friendships with some owners of the brands she carries and opening Luna and Luz has allowed her to re-prioritize those relationships. As one of the newer Old Town shops, Coats said she is excited to be a part of a change in the neighborhood by offering a store that also appeals to locals and doesnt have to be a once-a-year destination. Tourists are here, theyre in Old Town. Thats the beauty of it, right? Coats said. But the work is in getting the locals here, the work is in getting the locals to know that there is something constantly here. Named after her daughters middle names, Luna and Luz is also a family effort Coats and her partner, Ben, are the stores only employees, though Coats said her daughters often have a say in shops decisions. It was important after leaving Spur Line to kind of go back to like remembering whats most important, which is your family and your home base, Coats said. Luna and Luz is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, visit lunaandluz.com. To understand how the Alvarado Transportation Center got its name, one must follow a line of bread crumbs all the way back to the 16th century and the expedition of Francisco Vazquez de Coronado. The transportation hub, located at First Street and Central Avenue, is named for the grand Alvarado Hotel, which stood there from 1902 until 1970 when it was demolished. There were calls to save the hotel, but they went unanswered. The wrecking ball came instead and reduced the historic building to rubble. Coronado came to New Mexico in 1540 looking for the Seven Cities of Gold based on rumors he had heard. Among the Spanish explorers traveling party was captain of artillery Hernando de Alvarado. According to legend, Coronados men, including Alvarado, once camped in the exact spot where the hotel, and now the transportation center, were located. It was for Hernando de Alvarado that the famous Alvarado Hotel was named. According to a historical essay by Shirley Cushing Flint and Richard Flint, Alvarado was 22 when he came to New Mexico. He was an hidalgo and caballero of the Order of Santiago, which was one of the three great religious-military orders of Castilla. He is said to have saved Coronados life when he was ambushed by a group of men hurling large cobbles from a rooftop as Coronado ascended a ladder. When Coronado fell unconscious, Alvarado threw himself on top of his captain general and eventually dragged Coronado away to safety. Hundreds of years later, the railway would come to Albuquerque and with it a train depot and the rise of passenger services along its lines, including hotels. None were more glamorous than the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Harvey Houses, named for railroad hospitality behemoth Fred Harvey, who had not only hotels but restaurants, dining cars, souvenir shops and his famous Harvey Girls who worked in them. Construction on the Alvarado Hotel began in 1901 and was finally completed in the late spring of 1902. Its opening was a big to-do in Albuquerque. The Albuquerque Journal-Democrat dedicated an entire page to the opening in its May 11, 1902, edition. According to the article, the hotel had 88 guest rooms, 20 bathrooms, a lunch counter, a reading room, a barber shop, parlors, a club room, a 150-person dining room, lush courtyards and a curio shop that sold Southwestern goods and provided a glimpse of local history. The long cherished hopes of the citizens of Albuquerque have, at last, been realized, and the city possesses a splendid hotel that will be remarked with large admiration by every visitor who comes this way. The hotel was updated two years later to add more rooms and bathrooms. Time and the emergence of automobiles, which eclipsed trains as the primary mode of travel, led to the decline of Harvey Hotels. The aging and dwindling use of the Alvarado was obvious and rumors began to swirl in the late 1960s that the railroad company was going to close and demolish it. That day came in the fall of 1969 when the Santa Fe Railway announced it would close and demolish the once popular structure in January of 1970. The city formed a committee to discuss ways the historic property could be salvaged, but if ever there was a Negative Nancy dashing the hopes of those trying to save the building, it was Santa Fe Railway Vice President George W. Cox. Newspaper reports at the time said that during a meeting with the committee, Cox called the Alvarado a firetrap and said the railway was reluctant to postpone razing the property. Every days delay costs more in wages, he said. I feel youre just wasting a lot of peoples time if you feel youre going to rehabilitate that old building. But the citys architect disagreed and said the building was well-constructed and well-designed and there was hope for it. The committee chair told Cox the group was willing to waste our time if the railroad would tell them how much time they were willing to give them to waste. The railway company came back a few days later, via telegram, letting the city know exactly how much time they had 60 days. But that time was going to cost the city $5,000 a month in rent plus liability insurance and taxes. If the city needed more than 60 days, the rent would double to $10,000 a month and must be paid in advance. Santa Fe Railway gave the city officials less than a week to reply. The city counter-offered: How about we pay you nothing and you just donate the building to us? The city probably needed to work on their negotiating skills. As one might suspect, that didnt go over well, and the company said no thanks. Hope remained. The Albuquerque Historical Society filed a lawsuit, supporters passed around a petition, launched a massive telephone campaign and protested in front of the building, but those efforts all proved fruitless. Demolition crews began dismantling the hotel on Jan. 30, 1970. It was completely wiped from physical existence that summer. The historic railroad depot that was part of the Alvarado Hotel complex was spared, but destroyed by a fire in 1993. The city replaced it with the current Alvarado train and bus terminal in 2002. The design includes features such as a tiled roof, arcade and tower, similar to the original depot. The conquistadors are gone, train passengers have dwindled and the once magnificent hotel no longer stands, but the Alvarado Transportation Center is a memento to all three. Curious about how a town, street or building got its name? Email staff writer Elaine Briseno at ebriseno@abqjournal.com or 505-823-3965 as she continues the monthly journey in Whats in a Name? Marvel Studios Movie Production on 'Wakanda Forever' is expected to be back on track next week after several setbacks, the latest of which was several cast and crew, including Lupita Nyong'o, testing positive for COVID. Jan 15, 2022 AceShowbiz - "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" is ready to resume production with Letitia Wright returning. Filming on the superhero sequel is expected to be back on track in Atlanta next week after several major setbacks. According to The Hollywood Reporter, filming on the Ryan Coogler-directed movie will last for four weeks. Production was reportedly initially scheduled to have restarted last Monday, January 10, but was postponed again because several cast and crew members, including Lupita Nyong'o, tested positive for COVID-19. Other sources, meanwhile, say that Winston Duke, who plays M'Baku, will get a hefty raise for his return in the upcoming movie. This is said to be part of the deal for his expanded role in the "Panther" mythos, but it's unclear what the expansion will look like. Insiders additionally tell the site that the filming restart is not expected to impact the movie's release date, which is currently set for November 11. It was previously slated to arrive on July 8, before being pushed back several months to its current date. Letitia took a break from filming the "Black Panther" sequel after she got injured on the set in Boston back in August 2021. She reportedly suffered minor injuries on a stunt rig incident and was soon discharged from the hospital, but wasn't able to return to the set two months later. As the result, production on the movie was temporarily shut down as Coogler has reportedly shot all scenes that his crew is able without Wright. Marvel honchos explained at the time that the injuries were worse than initially thought. "What we had initially thought were minor injuries turned out to be much more serious with Letitia suffering a critical shoulder fracture, and a concussion with severe side effects," said Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito and Nate Moore in a statement. With Wright's anti-COVID vaccination stance, many suspected that the actress, who is a British citizen, caused the delay because she wasn't able to return to the U.S. after spending time in London during her recovery. On November 8, the CDC implemented rules that require all non-immigrant, non-citizen air travelers to the U.S. be fully vaccinated and provide proof of vaccination status before boarding a plane. Neither Disney or Wright's team has commented on her vaccination status, but her agent tells THR, "She always intended to return but just needed to wait until she had fully recovered." Instagram Celebrity The former star of 'Counting On' seemingly uses help from fake bots to boost her social media engagement after her latest YouTube video's comment section is flooded with comments from porn accounts. Jan 15, 2022 AceShowbiz - Jessa Duggar apparently needs some help to boost her social media engagements. The "19 Kids and Counting" alum allegedly bought fake social media followers after her latest YouTube video was flooded with comments from porn bots. On Tuesday, January 11, the sister of disgraced reality star Josh Duggar took to her social media page to share a house tour video after she and her husband Ben Seewald purchased a new "fixer upper house." In it, she also revealed that she's been renovating it to move in. In the description box, she simply wrote, "Part 1: House tour and demo day!" The video had earned nearly 340,000 views and received a bunch of comments congratulating the former reality star. About a dozen comments have come from users with names like "Sandy - F*** Me Check My Profile," "Mia _ T[A]P Me!! To Have [S]EX With Me," "Sussy - Go To My Live Channel" as well as "[Soffy] H0T Girl L!ve Cam," each of whom has profile pictures featuring barely-clothed women. Upon learning of the faux followers, some social media critics speculated that Jessa may have bought followers but was unaware of what she might get. "As someone who has done social media for a job this is definitely bought bots," wrote one commenter. A separate critic added, "She just bought some bots to comment things on her video." "You can buy comments from people and specifically write what you want in the comment," a separate social media user explained. The said person added, "It will generate it from a random account also using the service and a lot of them are thirsty catfish porn [accounts] trying to seem legit with multiple comments from lots of different 'people.' " Another person said that her manager was the one who bought the fake followers. "Checked Insta to see if she is managed by anybody and indeed she is," the critic said. "I am guessing her manager came up with some copy and paid to have bots run on the videos but didn't know exactly what the accounts would be." Prior to this, another Duggar family, Jana Duggar, has settled her child endangerment charge. The former star of "Counting On" settled the legal issue out of court by making a payment for the amount of $890 on the My Fine Payment website. Jana had been cited for the misdemeanor in September, days after Josh's porn conviction. She was released on $430 bail, according to the Arkansas court filing. Though she initially pleaded not guilty, the confirmation of an out-of-court settlement and the record of an $890 fine paid suggested that she might have changed her plea. As for Jana and Jessa's brother Josh, he currently stays behind bars and is placed in solitary confinement for safety reasons. According to the Washington County Detention Center in Arkansas spokesperson, every sex offender "is cordoned off from the general population." Though Josh is not allowed to have any visitation from his family, including his wife Anna Duggar, they reportedly had scheduled video chats. A video visitation log accessed by Instagram user Katie Joy, under the username @withoutacrystalball, saw that Anna had up to five video visits a day with Josh after he was taken into custody in December. Instagram/WENN/FayesVision Celebrity The back-and-forth between Doja and the 'Brooklyn Girls' rapper begins after he tells the 'Say So' hitmaker that it's time for her to 'grow up' because the world is judging her. Jan 16, 2022 AceShowbiz - Doja Cat recently had a weird interaction with Charles Hamilton on Twitter. After firing back at Charles for reminding her to "grow up," the "Planet Her" artist realized that she mistook him for another famed artist, Anthony Hamilton. The back-and-forth between the two musicians began on Thursday, January 13 after the "Brooklyn Girls" rapper told her, "Doja, you gotta chill. The whole world is watching and, yes, judging you. Time to grow up. I know. Sucks. But yeah." Unpleased by the tweet, the "Say So" hitmaker replied, "You ain't s**t." Doja later quote-retweeted Charles' post and shouted, "HOLY S**T ITS CHARLES HAMILTON," to which he responded, "Just know that I luhzhya!!!" Doja then tweeted, "Oh nvm I thought Charles Hamilton was ANTHONY HAMILTON IM OS SORRY NFM F**K THAT FOOL FR... BRO I FEEL SO F**KIN DUMB. IMAGINE HE WAS ANTHONY HAMILTON THOUGH?!?!?" Doja's fans, on the other hand, attacked Charles for his unsolicited advice. It led the Ohio native to explain, "I wasn't hating on @dojacat. I'm just asking for her to take herself serious. She's already one of the elite females in music. I don't want her being ridiculed for being silly." Doja then noted, "Bro i thought you were Anthony Hamilton i was about to tell my whole family I was so excited." "Also, @dojacat is talking about being on 9th beats. Meaning, she wants to be taken serious (as a spitter)," the 34-year-old further elaborated. "I'm just saying she should take herself more serious. She, like I said, is already rockin' the world." Doja might be sorry for mistaking Charles for the Grammy-winning R&B crooner. However, she eventually threw shade at him by insinuating that he's not famous enough. "u that one dude that was like 'YABADABADABA BROOKLYN GIRLS,' " she said while responding to his latest post. Hindustan Times is all set to host Indias biggest online school quiz on January 23, 2022, culminating with the Grand Finale on Republic Day, January 26, 2022. Popularly known as ClassAct, the name syncs with school students acing their way to popularity through quizzing. This quiz is open to all students of Grades 112, across the country, and will test participants on various general topics. A total of 1.25 lakh Amazon vouchers are up for grabs! All participants will also be awarded a Participation Certificate from Hindustan Times. What adds to the attraction of this quiz are the renowned quizmastersDr. Navin Jayakumar and Avinash Mudaliar. Dr. Navin is the founding member of The Quiz Foundation of India and is also the quizmaster for reputed national quizzes, such as the Landmark Quiz, the Murugappa Madras Quotient School Quiz and the Rotary Galaxy Science and Technology Quiz to name a few. Avinash Mudaliar from HT Labs is a renowned quizmaster with decades of quizzing experience. The EY Knowledge Quiz, Microsoft Bhasha India and GIM Wizbiz are a few among the several national quizzes that he has hosted. Registration for the ClassAct 2022 Hindustan Times Republic Day Quiz is FREE and can be completed in a jiffy. Participants will only have to fill in an online registration form to register for the quiz on HT School - htschool.hindustantimes.com/the-classact-republicday-quiz/. Registered students will receive updates about the Quiz on their registered email ID / mobile number. The links to access the Prelims and Finale rounds will also be shared on the participants registered email ID. Students should ensure to check their Spam and Promotions folders as well, as emails sometimes end up in those folders. Registrations will close on January 23, 2022, at 10 AM. In consideration of the pandemic and safety norms, the ClassAct 2022 Quiz will be conducted online. It will unfold over two roundsthe Prelims and the Finale. The quiz will broadly be divided into two categoriesthe Junior category, comprising students of grades 1 to 5 and the Senior category, comprising students of grades 6 to 12. The Prelims will take place on January 23, 2022 at 11 AM and will be a test of the students accuracy and speed. The Prelims will be conducted on the Quizizz platform, and the link will be sent to your registered email ID by 10:45 AM on January 23, 2022. The link will only be active for a stipulated period of time, from 11:00 AM to 11:45 AM. While the Finale is for the top performers in the Senior category, there are exciting Amazon vouchers for the top 20 Juniors, purely based on their scores in the Prelims. The top 100 contestants of the Senior category will make it to the Finale, purely based on their Prelims scores. The Quizmasters decision will be final and binding on all matters. The Finale will be conducted on January 26, 2022, at 3 PM with the top 100 finalists battling it out with Dr. Navin and Avinash, for exciting Amazon vouchers worth 1.25 Lakh. The ClassAct 2022 Quiz is an individual event, and there is no limit on the number of students who can participate from a school. The grand Finale will be broadcasted Live on the official HT School YouTube channel, for viewers to catch up with all the action. Quizzing is a sport and not a test of IQ. It is a sport involving bits of information - facts that may or may not be of practical use but which are always interesting. And like all sports, practice makes perfect. Dr. Navin Jayakumar "A good quizzer is also good at lateral thinking and is seldom just a rattu (one who mugs up information from some source prior to a quiz). Contrary to popular belief, you can seldom win a quiz these days with that strategy, as quizzing today requires you to immerse yourself in the knowledge that is at your fingertips and connect the dots between various points of information to arrive at a possibly right answer." - Avinash Mudaliar It is jubilation time for news broadcasters as MIB resumes TV ratings of news channels MIBs decision comes after the BARC has undertaken revision in its processes, protocols, oversight mechanism, and initiated changes in governance structure, etc. based on the TRP committee report and TRAIs recommendations made in April 2020. No major shifts, just course corrections - Advertisers on resumption of TV news ratings Advertisers are reacting to the Ministry of Information & Broadcastings (MIB) direction to the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) to release the news ratings with immediate effect. It is unclear as to when BARC will start releasing the data. While news broadcasters are hailing the decision, advertisers exercise circumspection in their response: it is a mix of muffled enthusiasm and cautious reaction. TV9 Network walks out of NBDA Leading news network of India, TV9 Network, enjoying a leadership rating status, has decided to quit News Broadcasters & Digital Association (NBDA) over moves by the industry body to further delay the resumption of news ratings in the country. Tata Group to take over as the IPL title sponsor from Vivo The IPL will expand to ten teams in 2022 after the RPS Goenka Group won the Lucknow-based franchise for the highest offer of Rs 7,090 crore. Meanwhile, CVC Group will acquire the Ahmedabad-based franchise after CVC Capital won the auction for 5,625 crore. When legacy meets youth brigade: What the title sponsorship deal means for Tata & IPL Adgully spoke to a cross-section of industry experts to know more about what Tatas coming on board means for IPL, what will the brand rub-off be for both since Tata and IPL are two huge independent brands with tremendous brand equity, what the association with IPL will bring to the table for Tata, and more. What has kept the regional print market buoyant in challenging times? After facing severe disruption during the pandemic period, specifically 2020, when publication and distribution had come to a standstill, print media has been making a strong comeback. Because of cross-device platforms that appeal to their local flavour, regional media has been reaching out to a larger audience. Is the hybrid model of movie release delivering the ROI? In the last two years of the pandemic, we have seen the movie industry opt for either releasing the new films on OTT platforms or having TV premieres, or going for a hybrid release model, when movie halls were allowed to reopen that is, simultaneously releasing the new film in theatres and on OTT platforms. How ITC is indulging Indias sweet tooth, one dessert-in-a-cookie at a time In an exclusive conversation with Adgully, Ali Harris Shere, Chief Operating Officer, Biscuits & Cakes Cluster, Foods Division, ITC Ltd, elaborates on the companys plans to offer consumers a superior chocolate experience, leveraging a new segment Desserts for the Sunfeast brand, marketing & communication strategy and more. In 2022, we anticipate deeper use of AI powered technologies: Vartika Verma For Vartika Verma, Global VP, Marketing, Yellow.ai, the pandemic has transformed the way customers behave and subsequently resulted in a sea change in the emerging trends. According to McKinsey, during this time, consumers embraced five years worth of digital adoption in a matter of merely eight weeks. The push for transparency in influencer marketing has three faces The answer to how one creator could have such a colossal effect is simple. The partnership was transparent and authentic. Long before the brand collaboration even happened, Charli was known to genuinely love and drink Dunkins coffee. Resetting lives, how dating apps are carving a new growth story in pandemic times Dating as a concept has evolved tremendously in India. The growing digitisation in India and growth of technology has only facilitated peoples need for companionship. The pandemic not only brought the world to a screeching halt, but also forced people to spend more of their lives online. Media is a shape-shifting entity, especially since the pandemic began In conversation with Adgully, Deepshikha Dharmaraj, Chief Executive Officer, Genesis BCW, speaks about adopting a multi-stakeholder approach, media training, PR measurement and effectiveness of PR, and more. For digital advertising, seems like our Amygdala is working at its peak In Digital 2022, consumers are being deeply and actively looking at the social consciousness of brands and the kind of values they stand for. There may not be just one particular innovation that will work till a long time. The key challenge, at least for this year, will be to keep innovating closest to calculated experimentation. Patterns of content consumption on digital build more engagement: Dr Vikas Gupta In conversation with Adgully, Dr Vikas Gupta, Rx India Business Head, Cipla Ltd, shares insights on the #InhalersHainSahi campaign, choosing a digital-first approach, along with celebrity engagement, real-time optimization and more. Social commerce and content consumption opportunities in 2022 For, Dina DSouza, Vice President - Monetization, Trell the onset of the COVID-19 crisis upended the world in most aspects, it also brought about accelerated digitisation and adaptation of new-age technologies that would have otherwise taken at least a couple of years to be implemented at such a large scale. Trends for marketers to shape through 2020's : Ipsos India Ipsos India is providing a complimentary copy of the e-Flipbook on GTS 2021 and the comprehensive report for marketers is being customized to their needs a la carte or full report. FoodTech in India: A promising future for mobile marketers For Sunil Thomas, Co-founder and Executive Chairman, CleverTap theres no denying that the foodtech industry is booming. A report by Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) suggests that online food ordering in the Indian ecosystem is estimated to grow at a rate of 25%-30% at a compounding rate and will touch $7.5Bn-$8Bn by 2022, up from $4 bilion currently. In the foodtech business, convenience is a major primary driver in the decision of consumers to purchase a product or store food. GOZOOP Group appoints Samrat Bedi as CEO, India Samrat will be responsible for carrying forward GOZOOPs legacy of helping brands achieve scale and success via a holistic communication approach. Samrat will be based in Mumbai and will report to the board of GOZOOP Group. GE appoints Weber Shandwick as communications partner for South Asia The focus will be on building a strong communications strategy across South Asia, that educates key stakeholders on GE's transformation across Aviation, Healthcare and Energy. The aim is to deliver messages about the future of flight, precision health and decarbonization. Twitter acquires a minority stake in Aleph Group Twitter Inc. (TWTR) is the first of Silicon Valley companies to join Aleph Group as a stakeholder to support Alephs educational endeavors in pursuit of their mission to power the digital ecosystem in emerging countries to unlock and drive economic growth. Zee Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh, one of the largest news networks conducted a colloquium to reaffirm the importance of different growth stories, challenges, economic and societal scenarios. The regional series of the event UDAAN Dare to Dream was conducted in Indore to shine light on emerging businesses that are achieving excellence through innovation in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The event celebrated and acknowledged the inspiring stories of achievers, champions, and entrepreneurs who have exemplified leadership, innovation, and perseverance by disruption. All the speakers delved deep sharing their life experiences and growth story of the state, and how the economy has rapidly opened and paved the way for new growth opportunities for the years to come. The event shed light on the achievers excellence through their hardships and inspiring stories. By being a part of the extraordinary panel actor and performer, Annu Kapoor mentioned, I am proud being a Bhopalite and these inspiring stories are testimony to the kind of culture we harbour. With support of the government in creating a conducive environment, lots of cities can become business hubs and revenue centers, The event brought together people from different walks of their life such as entrepreneurs, thought-leaders, policymakers, and achievers under this platform. The event was graced by the honorable Minister of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare, Government of India, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar; Bollywood Actor, Annu Kapoor; Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State for Food Processing Industries of India; Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste, Union MoS in the Ministry of Steel and Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India; Shri Om Prakash Sakhlecha, Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Science And Technology Minister, Madhya Pradesh; Shri Rajvardhan Singh Dattigaon, Cabinet Minister - Industry Policy and Investment Promotion, Madhya Pradesh; Shri Bhupendra Singh, Minister of Urban Development and Housing, Madhya Pradesh; Shri Kamal Patel, Agriculture Minister, Madhya Pradesh; Shri Akash Vijayvargiya, MLA, Indore; Anshul Agarwal - Partner, Maysore Deep Perfumery House and Pankaj Gupta, AVP Marketing, JK Cement. The first chapter of the series commenced in Delhi where Zee Hindustan held Udaan on 18th September 2021, followed by Mumbai where Zee 24 Taas held the event on 26th November, 2021. Zee Rajasthan helmed the event on 28th November in Udaipur and Zee 24 Kalak in Ahmedabad on 30th November. The event has been scheduled for 13th January 2022 in Bhubaneswar by Zee Oriya, followed by Zee 24 Ghanta conducting the event on 31st January 2022, in Kolkatta. Zee Media is also looking to promote this franchise across various states. On the closure of the event Manoj Jagyasi, CRO (Chief Revenue Officer), Zee Media said, I appreciate all the people present today and thank them for the wonderful contribution and keeping the spirits of our country high. It is indeed an honour to hear these inspiring stories of success, and Zee media is proud to recognise these entrepreneurs for their efforts. The journey of Udaan has been very interesting considering we are able to reach entrepreneurs who often go unnoticed in the humdrum of conglomerates. Udaan was lauded by many and was sponsored by Sri Aurobindo University and JK Super Cement. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Dr. Meryl Nass had this to say about these studies, The purpose seemed, very clearly, to poison the patients and blame the deaths on HCQ. (The correct protocol is to give HCQ, zinc, and Zithromax at a dosage that is safe and effective early in the disease before the patients are critically ill. These studies used borderline lethal doses of HCQ in critically ill patients and did not use zinc and Zithromax. The intent of these studies was to deliberately make HCQ appear ineffective and dangerous.) More on page 26: Dr. Fauci, Bill Gates, and WHO financed a cadre of research mercenaries to concoct a series of nearly 20 studies all employing fraudulent protocols deliberately designed to discredit HCQ as unsafe. Instead of using the standard treatment dose of 400 mg/day, the 17 WHO studies administered a borderline lethal daily dose starting with 2,400 mg on Day 1 and using 800 mg/day thereafter. On page 19, Kennedy explains that Dr. Fauci led an effort to deliberately derail Americas access to lifesaving drugs and medicines that might have saved hundreds of thousands of lives and dramatically shortened the pandemicFrom the outset, HCQ and other therapeutics posed an existential threat to Dr. Fauci and Bill Gates $48 billion COVID vaccine project, and particularly to their vanity drug Remdesivir, in which Gates has a large stake. On page 21 there is more information on HCQ: Some 200 peer-reviewed studies (C19Study.com) by government and independent researchers deem HCQ safe and effective against Coronavirus, especially when taken prophylactically or when in the initial stages of illness along with zinc and Zithromax. (HCQ and other effective and cheap drugs had to be suppressed in order to sell more vaccines and Remdesivir.) On page 8, Dr Peter McCullough, MD observes that We could have dramatically reduced COVID fatalities and hospitalizations using early treatment protocols and repurposed drugs including ivermectin (IVM) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and many, many othersHundreds of peer-reviewed studies now show that early treatment could have averted some 80 percent of deaths attributed to COVIDbut for Dr. Faucis hard-headed tunnel vision on new vaccines and Remdesivir. (We will see that the use of cheap and highly effective drugs was not only ignored but was aggressively suppressed.) This quote is from page XV of the introduction. Kennedy explains: Regulatory capture is the process by which the regulator becomes beholden to the industry its meant to regulate ... From the moment of my reluctant entrance into the vaccine debate in 2005, I was astonished to realize that the pervasive web of deep financial entanglements between Pharma and the government health agencies had put regulatory capture on steroids. (The CDC, FDA, and other regulators no longer protect the people from rapacious pharma corporations. They now protect these corporations from the people.) Best-selling author James Howard Kunstler ( The Long Emergency and several other books) describes The Real Anthony Fauci as A massive book about Faucis unholy career at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a virtual prosecution manual, meticulously annotated, that will be used in countless lawsuits against Dr. Fauci, his colleagues who outlive him, and the many agencies and NGOs and perhaps in actual criminal trials of these well-known perps. (Is this derogatory quote justified? Read on.) This article will cover highlights from the first 100 pages of this 445-page book. Future articles will cover the rest. The plan is to list page numbers so those who have the book can read more about each nugget and look up the references if they want more information. My comments will appear in parenthesis. On page 29, Kennedy describes these studies: Both studies in these respected publications relied on data from the Surgisphere Corporation, an obscure Illinois based medical education company that claimed to somehow control an extraordinary global database boasting access to medical information from 96,000 patients in more than 600 hospitals The Lancet article portrayed HCQ as ineffective and dangerous Three European nations immediately banned use of HCQ, and others followed within weeks. (The Surgisphere data was fraudulently conjured up from thin air.) More on page 30: Both The Lancet and NEJM finally withdrew their studies in shame To date neither the authors nor the journals have explained who induced them to coauthor and publish the most momentous fraud in the history of scientific publishing The capacity of their Pharma overlords to strong-arm the worlds top two medical journals into condoning deadly research and to simultaneously publish blatantly fraudulent articles in the middle of a pandemic, attests to the cartels breathtaking power and ruthlessness The headline of a comprehensive expose in the British newspaper The Guardian expressed the global shock among the scientific community of the rank corruption by scientific publishings most formidable pillars: The Lancet has made one of the biggest retractions in modern history. How could this happen? The Guardian writers openly accused The Lancet of promoting fraud. The sheer number and magnitude of the things that went wrong or missing are too enormous to attribute to mere incompetence Whats incredible is that the editors of these esteemed journals still have a job. Meanwhile in Other Countries On page 32 and 33, Kennedy describes what was happening in other countries regarding HCQ: In compliance with the WHO recommendation, Switzerland banned the use of HCQ; however, about two weeks into the ban, Switzerlands death rates tripled, for about 15 days, until Switzerland reintroduced HCQ. COVID deaths then fell back to their baseline. Switzerlands natural experiment had provided yet another potent argument for HCQ A meta-review of 58 observational studies by physician researchers in Spain, Italy, France, and Saudi Arabia found that HCQ dramatically reduced mortality from COVID, while additional articles by doctors in Turkey, Canada, and the US found that HCQs cardiac toxicity is negligible. Andrew Schlafly (engineer and lawyer) observed that, The mortality rate from COVID-19 in countries that allow access to HCQ is only one-tenth the mortality rate in countries where there is interference with this medication, such as the United States In some areas of Central America, officials are even going door to door to distribute HCQ these countries have been successful in limiting the mortality from COVID-19 to only a fraction of what it is in wealthier countries. Ivermectin (IVM): Nobel Prize for Effective Treatment of Human Parasites On page 37, Kennedy covers the remarkable success of IVM: By the summer of 2020, front-line physicians had discovered another COVID remedy that equaled HCQ in its staggering, life-saving efficacy. Five years earlier, two Merck scientists won the Nobel Prize for developing IVM, a drug with unprecedented firepower against a wide range of human parasites, including roundworm, hookworm, river blindness, and lymphatic filariasis. That salute was the Nobel Committees only award to an infectious disease medication in 60 years. FDA approved IVM as safe and effective for human use in 1996. WHO includes IVM (along with HCQ) on its inventory of essential medicines Millions of people have consumed billions of IVM doses as an anti-parasitic, with minimal side effects On page 38, the effectiveness of IVM in preventing COVID-19 is covered: In Argentina, for example, in the summer of 2020, Dr. Hector Carvallo conducted a randomized placebo-controlled trial of IVM as a preventive, finding 100 percent efficacy against COVID-19. Carvallos team found no infections in 788 workers who took weekly IVM prophylaxis, whereas 58 percent of the 407 controls had become ill with COVID-19. As the U.S. Restricts IVM, Other Countries Are Increasing Its Use On pages 42 and 43, the contrast in the use of IVM in other countries compared to the U.S. is presented: Today, as Dr. Fauci moves the U.S. to eliminate all use of IVM, other countries are using more of it. In February 2021, the head of the Tokyo Metropolitan Medical Association held a press conference to call for adding IVM to its outpatient treatment protocol. Several Indian states had added IVM to their list of essential medications to treat COVID-19. Indonesias government not only authorized the use of the drug but also created a website showing real-time availability El Salvador distributes IVM for free to all of its citizens. Nations where residents have easy access to IVM invariably see immediate and dramatic declines in COVID deaths. Hospitals in Indonesia started using IVM on July 22, 2021. By the first week of August, cases and deaths were plummeting New Delhi, India was experiencing a COVID epidemic crisis. The state government obliterated 97 percent of Delhi cases by distributing IVM. British Physician Dr. Tess Lawries Passionate Support For IVM On pages 52 and 53, Dr. Lawrie began by endorsing the miraculous efficacy of IVM: Had IVM been employed in 2020 when medical colleagues around the world first alerted the authorities to its efficacy, millions of lives could have been saved, and the pandemic with all its associated suffering and loss brought to a rapid and timely end The story of IVM has highlighted that we are at a remarkable juncture in medical history. The tools that we use to heal our patients are being systematically undermined by relentless disinformation stemming from corporate greed. The story of IVM shows that we as a public have misplaced our trust in the authorities and have underestimated the extent to which money and power corrupts Dr. Lawrie called out the corruption of modern medicine by Big Pharma and other interests and attributed the barbaric suppression of IVM to the single-minded obsession with more profitable vaccines. IVM Works Great/Cant Have That/Got to Do Something Dr. Pierre Kory is the former Chief of the Critical Care Service and Medical Director of the Trauma and Life Support Center at the University of Wisconsin. On page 54, his testimony before the Senate and what happened next will shock you. When Dr. Korys explosive December 8, 2020 Senate testimony describing the peer-reviewed science supporting IVM went viral, prescriptions for IVM from U.S. doctors exploded. Americans were getting legitimate prescriptions filled at pharmacies, up to 88,000 scripts in a single week. The truth of the drugs benefits was going viral, and the last thing Dr. Fauci et al could tolerate was an effective treatment for COVID. Something needed to be done. The government moved aggressively to block its use You Tube soon scrubbed Korys video and Facebook blocked him. Then in March 2021 the U.S. FDA, the European Medical Association (EMA), and the WHO issued statements advising against the use of IVM for COVID-19 On July 18, 2021 a front-page Wall Street Journal headline asked, Why is the FDA Attacking a Safe, Effective Drug? On August 16, 2021, two weeks after the Wall Street Journal article, CDC ordered doctors to stop prescribing IVM. (Is it clear yet?) Remdesivir: Ineffective and Deadly On pages 63-70: Anthony Fauci needed to use all his moxie and all his esoteric maneuvers mastered during his half-century at NIH, to win FDAs approval for his vanity drug, Remdesivir. Remdesivir has no clinical efficacy against COVID-19 according to every legitimate study. Worse, it is deadly poisonous and expensive, an expensive poison at $3,000 per treatment Many doctors believe our countrys record COVID-19 fatalities are at least in part due to widespread use of remdesivir in 2020. We had the most deaths worldwide says Dr. Ryan Cole. It is a haunting question: How many of these Americans were remdesivir casualties? Dr. Peter McCullough gives us a stark and clear summary: Remdesivir has two problems. First, it doesnt work. Second, it is toxic and its kills people. VAERS is Intentionally Flawed VAERS stands for Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System. On page 72 and 73: Dr. Fauci stubbornly refused to fix VAERS which systematically suppresses reporting of most vaccine injuries A 2010 HHS study concluded that VAERS detects fewer that 1 percent of vaccine injuries. Put another way, VAERS misses OVER 99 percent of vaccine injuries, thereby lending the illusion of safety to even the deadliest inoculations. In 2010, the federal Agency for Health Care Research Quality (AHRQ) designed and field-tested a state-of-the-art machine-counting system as an efficient alternative to VAERS. By testing the system for several years on the Harvard Pilgrim HMO, AHRQ proved that it could capture most vaccine injuries. AHRQ initially planned to roll out the system to all remaining HMOs, but after seeing the AHRQs frightening results- vaccines were causing serious injuries in 1 of every 40 recipients- CDC killed the project and stowed the new system on a dusty shelf. (Which entities benefit from drastic undercounting of vaccine injuries and deaths?) COVID Vaccines Cause Record Injuries and Deaths On page 87 and 88: Despite CDCs efforts to hide the carnage in the U.S., even the dysfunctional VAERS system has recorded unprecedented waves of documented deaths following COVID vaccines Health workers have administered many billions of vaccines during the past thirty-two years, yet in just eight months, the COVID vaccines have injured and killed far more Americans than all other vaccines combined over three decades. (Read this paragraph again and try to take in this shocking truth.) This article presents only a tiny fraction of the enormously important information in the first 100 pages of Kennedys book. Stay tuned for the nuggets in the next 100 pages soon. About the author: Dr. William H. Gaunt is a retired Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine. He is a graduate of the University of South Florida in Tampa. He was a U. S. Navy helicopter pilot and later an instructor pilot for the Iranian Navy and the Saudi Arabian Air Force before attending medical school at Bastyr University near Seattle, Washington. Dr. Gaunt graduated with honors in 1983. He has also taught chemistry, biology, and anatomy at high school and college levels and published several articles related to vaccines. First Colonial's Nicholas Goenner, bottom, tries to pin Westfield's Abdul Hussein in the 182-pound weight class during the Virginia Duals on Friday at the Hampton Coliseum. (Mike Caudill/The Virginian-Pilot) HAMPTON A pair of top-ranked wrestlers battled in the American Division of the Virginia Duals on Friday at Hampton Coliseum. Great Bridges Noah Lawrence, ranked No. 1 at 170, and First Colonials Nic Goenner, ranked No. 1 at 182, met at Lawrences weight and the Great Bridge junior dominated all the way to a pin at 4:44. Advertisement Great Bridge, the top-ranked team in Hampton Roads, beat No. 7 First Colonial 58-21 in the quarterfinal to advance to a 2 p.m. semifinalSaturday against Grundy. Thomas Stofka, No. 1 at 145, earned a 4-1 win at 138 pounds over Great Bridges Aaron Turner. Advertisement First Colonial joins No. 5 Grassfield and Oscar Smith in the second round that begins at 10 a.m. Saturday. Grassfield fell to Hempfield (Pennsylvania) 53-24 in another quarterfinal. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 7 First Colonial High School wrestler Nicholas Goenner, in blue, tries to pin Westfield High School wrestler Abdul Hussein in the 182 pound weight class during the Virginia Duals wrestling tournament at the Hampton Coliseum on Friday, Jan. 14, 2022 in Hampton, Va. (Mike Caudill/The Virginian-Pilot) Black & Blue Division In one of the closest matches of the day, No. 8 Ocean Lakes edged No. 9 Poquoson 40-30 in the first round. Nate Bushey (Ocean Lakes) upset second-ranked 182-pounder Chris Barber 11-9, while the Dolphins picked up two other solid decisions from Trenton Campos (7-1 over Christian Leonard) and Sean Kerrigan (7-5 over Ethan Sneddon). Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > Sixth-ranked Landstown beat No. 14 Granby 47-24 with a key pin from Michael Phoutasen over Alexis Vasquez in 3:49 at 126 pounds. No. 2 Kellam, No. 3 Cox and No. 4. Nansemond River also advanced to the quarterfinals while Gloucester, Warhill, Tabb, No. 13 Tallwood and York dropped to the consolation bracket. Quarterfinals and the consolation first round were late Friday. Black & Blue semifinals begin at 2 p.m. Saturday. National Division Kings Fork, Western Branch and Lafayette dropped both first-day matches and will compete in double-loser matches on Saturday. Advertisement The National Division is made up mostly of some of the top wrestling programs along the Eastern Seaboard. College Both Apprentice School (American College) and the University of Virginia (National College) lost their opening matches to Averett and Lock Haven, respectively. Ray Nimmo, ray.nimmo@pilotonline.com What makes a man evil? In life, as in fiction, individuals may be motivated to act in evil fashion by malice, by ideological hatred of victims, by wanting to impress superiors, by carrying out orders or instructions, by hunger to advance their careers. These philosophical issues are pertinent in consideration of two recent events: a new film and the anniversary of one of the most macabre meetings in history, which can illustrate the difference between well meant mistakes and evil a contrast between the behavior of Neville Chamberlain, British Conservative prime minister, 19371940, and Adolf Eichmann and the Nazi German regime. Chamberlain is best known as the proponent of the policy of appeasement toward Hitler and the Nazi regime. He became the epitome of the failed leader, the man who lost a confidence vote in the House of Commons and who was succeeded as prime minister by Winston Churchill, a high-profile figure who offered the country nothing but blood, toil, tears, and sweat and has been heralded as the hero of 1940. A milder, revisionist view of Chamberlain is presented in a new film, Munich, the Edge of War, which suggests a reconsideration of the Munich Agreement of September 30, 1938. Chamberlain justified the agreement on several levels, mainly as giving Britain time to prepare for the evident war, an action that he hoped would save millions. It was in general accord with the mood of the country at that time. Yet this defense is not altogether plausible because it also gave Hitler more time to arm and neutralized for him, for a time, the threat of the Soviet Union. Chamberlain can be seen as more acceptable for some policy decisions. He advised the king to send for the then less popular Churchill to succeed him as prime minister rather than choose Lord Halifax, who was more acceptable to the ruling Conservative Party at that time. He rejected the idea of a peace deal with Germany, which Halifax had suggested. He opposed any approach to Mussolini, believing that this would serve no useful purpose. Yet evaluation of Chamberlain will always be based on his policy toward Nazi Germany, his policy of appeasement, his initial trust of Hitler, and above all the Munich Agreement of September 30, 1938. This Agreement, ceding the German-speaking Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Germany, was declared by Chamberlain as "peace with honor." Waving a sheet of paper, Chamberlain held that Hitler had agreed that the two countries would never go to war, and that he had achieved "peace for our time." Chamberlain was guilty in his misunderstanding of Hitler but not a traitor, a villain, or evil. He tried in his own way to save the world from a devastating struggle. He did not anticipate the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, but he declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939. After the Allied forces failed to prevent the German invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940, Chamberlain was criticized by members of all political parties, and he resigned as prime minister on May 10. In his speech on the declaration of war on September 3, 1939, Chamberlain declared, "It is the evil things that we shall be fighting against, brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression, and persecution, and against them I am certain that the right will prevail." Real evil was displayed eighty years ago, at the Wannsee Conference, the meeting on January 20, 1942 at the idyllic lakeside villa outside Berlin, where participants discussed and planned the Final Solution. The portrait of evil is evident in the fifteen-page Wannsee Protocol drafted at a later date by Adolf Eichmann. The conference was attended by fifteen men, representers of most branches of Nazi system, party and state. It is significant to note that they were powerful, highly educated figures, not ordinary or banal. Ten of the fifteen had a university degree, eight had doctorates, and eight had studied law. SS general Reinhard Heydrich, who called and chaired the meeting, reported that the Reich marshal, Hermann Goring, had appointed him delegate for the preparation for the Final Solution of the Jewish question in Europe and declared that the conference would discuss how Jews would be appropriately dealt with. At Wannsee, most if not all of the participants were aware that mass murder of Jews and others had been occurring. The meeting, which lasted only ninety minutes, did not discuss in detail how exactly to deal with the Jews, nor a specific plan to implement the Final Solution, nor an open description of the killing program, since the basic decision had already been made. There were certain misgivings about some aspects, but no one objected to the basic policy to eliminate the Jews, said to number 11 million, in Europe. It was Eichmann who provided the incorrect population statistics, which overstated the number of Jews in Europe. Adolf Eichmann has become a well known subject of controversy because of his arrest and trial by Israel and the controversy over the book Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil by Hannah Arendt, who attended the trial in Jerusalem for only a short time. Her use of the term "banality" was and remains unclear and controversial. Most important, Arendt was struck by "the manifest shallowness" in Eichmann. Her view was that his deeds were monstrous, but he was quite ordinary and commonplace, and neither demonic nor himself monstrous. In controversial conclusion, her surprise was that an apparently commonplace individual was capable of monstrous crimes. Her assertion raises the wider problem of accountability and responsibility, important today, of who is ultimately responsible whether an individual following an illegal order by a superior is guilty. Whatever the meaning of "banality," Arendt was mistaken in her judgment of Eichmann. In conversations recorded in Argentina in 1957, Eichmann admitted he was a cautious bureaucrat but, more important, also called himself a "fanatical warrior, fighting for the freedom of my blood which is my birthright." He refused to acknowledge he had done anything wrong. Indeed, he expressed unhappiness that he was forced remain silent in the years 1945 to 1962. Evil was manifest. Eichmann was the key figure in arranging the deportation of millions of Jews, including 440,000 Hungarians, to death camps. He showed no remorse or guilt for his role. He was a monster of evil, the mastermind of unparalleled horrors, not a faceless functionary. Chamberlain was guilty only of mistakes in judgment. Image: RV1864 via Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. Is Ray Epps the key to uncovering a deep state conspiracy that many of us have suspected for years? With what we have witnessed with Midyear Exam, Crossfire Hurricane, the Whitmer Kidnapping, the 2020 election, and now the January 6 insurrection, it has become obvious that our government is not that of a healthy functioning democratic republic. But the depths of the corruption, and how far bad actors are willing to go in corrupting our society, have largely remained hidden. But there are encouraging signs. When a doctor examines a patient, he will often use palpation. He uses his hands to poke and prod the body looking for swelling, lumps, breaks, or painful reactions. When the body reacts, the doc knows he has found the source of the problem. Well, Ted Cruz just palpated the FBI, and the whole Democrat body politic flinched. On January 11, Senator Cruz questioned Jill Sanborn, the Executive Assistant Director of the FBIs National Security Branch. He questioned her about Ray Epps. Does the FBI know Epps? Does the FBI have a working relationship with Epps? Is the FBI pursuing Epps in relation to the events on January 6? What he got was obfuscation and a total lack of eye contact. Cant comment on an ongoing investigation -- blah, blah, blah. The same excuse the DoJ has used to avoid questions about every scandal from Fast and Furious to Crossfire Hurricane. And then, the Democrat body politic yelped. Within hours of Sanborns questioning, the January 6 inquisition committee released a statement: The select committee has interviewed Mr. Epps. Mr. Epps informed us that he was not employed by, working with, or acting at the direction of any law enforcement agency on January 5th or 6th or at any other time, and that he has never been an informant for the FBI or any other law enforcement agency. The statement reads like the committee is representing Epps and raises more questions than it answers. It didnt say that the committee had confirmed that Epps wasnt working with law enforcement, only that he told them he wasnt. It doesnt say if Epps was associated with some other government agency (CIA, DHS, etc.). For that matter, it doesnt say if Epps is paid by the DNC. It reads like a press release intended to get people to stop asking questions about something they should be asking more questions about. Then Adam Kinzinger (R, Vichy) squealed. The most irrelevant politician in the current Congress ran to the Twitter asylum to defend Ray Epps. He announced that Epps hadnt been arrested because he hadnt done anything wrong. He was just a misled man. So, the same Kinzinger who condones the incarceration of citizens for taking selfies while standing on Capitol grounds is okay with Epps standing on Capitol grounds shouting for people to enter the Capitol. There is a misled fool in this story, but it isnt Epps. The propaganda arm of the Democrat party also reacted. Within 24 hours of Senator Ted Cruzs probing, the New York Times, NBC, and Washington Post (and probably a lot more) all ran stories announcing that the committee press release puts the matter to bed once and for all. Nothing to see here -- go back to watching Big Bang reruns. The propaganda ministry always claims theres nothing to see when there is something really important, and really inconvenient, that you need to see. Who is Ray Epps? Hes a Marine veteran and the owner of a ranch in Arizona that is used as a wedding venue. He is also the former president of the Arizona chapter of the Oath Keepers -- a group that has been under the watchful eye of the FBI for some time. Prior to 2021, Epps and his wife were listed as officers of Patriot Holdings LLC -- a commercial real estate company. They were removed from their positions in May of 2021. It is unknown if their departure from Patriot Holdings resulted in any financial distress for the couple. We dont know if Ray Epps is, or has been, an asset to a federal agency. We do know that his background would make him a prime candidate for recruitment. We also know that there have been a number of curious connections between the feds and the Oath Keepers. On January 5, the night before the Capitol break-in, Ray Epps was seen on numerous videos approaching groups of people around the Capitol. He used a canned speech to encourage everyone to enter the Capitol supposedly for the sake of the Constitution. All rejected his advice, with some even accusing him of being a fed. On January 6, Epps is seen prominently on video footage again. He arrived on the Capitol grounds while President Donald Trumps speech was still underway. He again spent much of his time shouting to the crowd and encouraging them to enter the Capitol. It even appeared that he may have some involvement in coordinating the breach. He is seen speaking to one protester, who then removed barriers and no trespassing signs. He is also seen talking to another protester, telling him he cant take a can of bear spray into the Capitol. That man was later involved in the actual breach of the Capitol doors. Epps also encouraged protesters to stay away from the police. It was obvious he wanted the Capitol breached, but he wanted no casualties on either side. Throughout January 6, Epps appeared to be giving orders, that others seemed to be following. Initially, the FBI included a photo of Ray Epps on its Most Wanted list, identifying him only as suspect 16. Left-wing groups, including Antifa, jumped into action to help the FBI locate and prosecute the Trump-supporting traitors. They quickly verified that Ray Epps was suspect 16, located his address, compiled as much background information as was available, and provided it to the FBI. Was Epps arrested? Nope. Was his property searched? Not as far as we know. On July 1, the FBI quietly removed him from its Most Wanted list. Curious, no? The deep state is behaving like any other criminal enterprise. Success leads to hubris and their adventures get bolder and bolder. The deep state has already affected an election outcome. How swollen do you suppose their ego has become? But eventually, hubris meets nemesis. They go too far. They take too many chances and are exposed. Was January 6 the operation that went too far? Was stealing an election not enough? Did they have to discredit all conservatives as well? Was conducting their caper in front of hundreds of thousands of Americans, and thousands of video cameras, just a bit too bold? We dont know if Ray Epps will be the key to exposing a deep state conspiracy. But, the circumstances of his involvement in January 6 beg for a serious inquiry -- as opposed to the clown show San Fran Nan is currently running. Hopefully, when the next Congress is sworn in, Ted Cruz will get to do some more palpating -- with subpoenas in hand this time. 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: TapTheForwardAssist One way to conduct a coup is to control who can run for elected office. Examples of this abound in autocracies and police states, with the most recent being Chinas coup in Hong Kong. Americas progressive left is attempting the same in this country, by targeting popular Republicans to make them ineligible for election. Lets start with the law and its origins. As a rule, the Constitution prevents Congress from prohibiting a person who meets the basic requirements of Article I 2 (age, citizenship, residency) from competing in a federal election or being seated in government should they win. The sole exception, established after the Civil War in the 14th Amendment, 3, is for those people who have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against our nation. The background to this is colorful. In British-American legal history, this issue arose under King George III in the 1760s. To simplify a complex story: John Wilkes, an immensely popular firebrand, was a vocal critic of King George. The King conspired with Parliament to ensure that Wilkes, even if elected, would not be seated in the House of Commons. In 1768, the House of Commons went so far as to pass a law preventing Wilkes from even standing for election. Wilkes was a consequential figure in our history and a favored household name among our Founders. Because they were familiar with his travails, Wilkess actions and the actions King George and Parliament took against him gave rise to two clauses in the U.S. Constitution and two clauses in the Bill of Rights. As to the latter, when our Founders drafted the Bill of Rights, the First Amendments protection of freedom of the press and the Fourth Amendments prohibition of general warrants owed much to Wilkes. In the body of the Constitution, the protection given representatives for speech on the floor of Congress owes much to Wilkes. And lastly, the fact that Congress cannot normally control who can run for election and then be seated in Congress owes almost entirely to John Wilkes. In 1782, Wilkes convinced Parliament to expunge the law prohibiting him from standing for election. Five years later, as recounted in the 1969 Supreme Court case of Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486, James Madison adopted Wilkess arguments before Parliament to argue at our Constitutional Convention against giving Congress unlimited discretion to exclude people elected to that body. To do so, he said, would be to vest an improper & dangerous power in the Legislature. The qualifications of electors and elected were fundamental articles in a Republican Govt. and ought to be fixed by the Constitution. If the Legislature could regulate those of either, it can by degrees subvert the Constitution. A Republic may be converted into an aristocracy or oligarchy as well by limiting the number capable of being elected, as the number authorised to elect. . . . It was a power also, which might be made subservient to the views of one faction against another. Qualifications founded on artificial distinctions may be devised, by the stronger in order to keep out partizans of (a weaker) faction. The only exception to this power written into our constitutional law came with the passage of the 14th Amendment on the heels of the Civil War after 1,500,000 Americans were killed or wounded and one of John Wilkess distant relatives assassinated a president. That limited exception is that people who have committed rebellion or insurrection against the U.S. may be excluded from running for office or excluded from office if they win an election. The progressive left is going all out to paint conservatives as domestic terrorists and to claim that the January 6 riota riot of a few hours by people with no weapons and carried out virtually without violence (and that may have been part of an FBI entrapment scheme)is tantamount to our Civil War of 1861-1865. This is so far beyond ludicrous it is stunning. Yet progressives fully embrace this tactic as their only hope to stop a popular vote that promises to be a wave election in 2022 and an Electoral College vote that might return Trump to power in 2024. The despicable Marc Elias, the man who paid for the Steele Dossier, stated in a series of tweets last month: Before the midterm election, we will have a serious discussion about whether individual Republican House Members are disqualified by Section 3 of the 14th Amendment from serving in Congress. We may even see litigation. ... I am making clear that members of Congress who engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States are not eligible to serve in Congress. And miracle dictu, we already have our first lawsuit trying to keep a Republican off the 2022 ballot. On Monday, two far-left groups, one of which is associated with Bernie Sanders, filed a lawsuit in North Carolina before the state board of elections to challenge the candidacy of Rep. Madison Cawthorn. They claim that Cawthorn committed the crime of insurrection by challenging the election results and speaking at the peaceful January 6 rally. This attempted coup by lawfare is not aimed merely at Republican congresspeople. It is very much aimed at Donald Trump and the presidency as well. As Liz Cheney, a Republican house member sitting on the lefts kangaroo January 6 Committee, recently stated during a CBS interview: Im very focused right now...on the work of the select committee.... I can tell you that the single most important thing, though, is to ensure that Donald Trump is not the Republican nominee and that he certainly is not anywhere close to the Oval Office ever again. There is no other way to describe this tactic than as an attempted coup using our courts, carried out by a deeply disingenuous group of people motivated solely by an unquenchable thirst for power. This is a deeply cynical attack on our Republic and our democratic traditions. Indeed, if the progressives succeed in their lawfare, they will have managed a coup, obscenely relying on the Constitution to, de facto, end our experiment as a constitutional republic. Henry Ford boasted in his 1922 autobiography that he once stated, Any customer can have a car painted any color he wants so long as it is black. One hundred years later, the progressive left has taken that concept for its own. Between the effort to federalize election laws and its attempted coup through disqualifying Republicans, the progressive left is essentially saying to the electorate, American citizens can vote for any candidate they like, so long as the candidate is a Democrat. Wolf Howling is a pseudonym. Image: John Wilkes by William Hogarth. Public domain. Exactly five years ago, I was in Hue, Vietnam, the site of the Tet Offensive, an American victory that Walter Cronkite helped turn into a defeat. The Viet Cong eventually took over Hue and, said our guide, with tears in his eyes, "the revenge killings were terrible." I thought of leftists on a rampage when I read about what the California Department of Social Services did to Foothill Christian Church Preschool in San Diego and to its director, Tiffany McHugh. The Viet Cong would have been proud of what was essentially a bloodless, but nevertheless highly effective, massacre. There are a few preliminary facts to keep in mind as you consider the news report I'm about to share. First, California is a one-party state the Democrat party. Second, California is drowning in crime and poverty. In 2019, before Biden erased the Southern border, California was home to 10 million illegal aliens. Rather than address their criminality, Gavin Newsom wants Californians to give them free health insurance. Meanwhile, in both San Francisco and Los Angeles, Soros district attorneys refuse to prosecute crimes. This video alone, of the detritus just left lying around after package thieves attacked cargo trains in Los Angeles, is perfectly illustrative of the state of the state: I was unable to find recent information about the total number of small businesses that closed in California thanks to the state's utterly draconian COVID edicts, including forced student vaccinations with this experimental product. As of the beginning of June 2021, a rough guesstimate was that almost 40% of small businesses permanently shut their doors. Considering what the state has continued to inflict on its residents since then, I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that the final number is closer to 50%. Here are a few more important facts: vaccines don't work to stop COVID's spread. Omicron is not deadly, it attacks the fully vaccinated, most cases in America are now omicron, and omicron is peaking and ready to recede. Regardless of the variant, children without serious comorbidities neither catch nor spread COVID. And one more fact: Two-year-olds are not yet children; instead, they are still babies, and it's both cruel and futile to force a mask on these little ones. Image: Tiffany McHugh. YouTube screen grab. So: California is falling apart, omicron isn't a big deal, children don't get sick from COVID, and two-year-olds can't and shouldn't wear masks. With that background, here's the story that has me seeing so red I could spit: A California Christian preschool director has been barred from ever working with children again after she 'failed to encourage' two-year-olds to wear face masks in class. Tiffany McHugh, the director of Foothills Christian Church Preschool in San Diego, had her license stripped after the Department of Social Services shut down the preschool because McHugh couldn't get students to keep their masks on. 'We were coming up against a lot of parents who didn't want their children to be masked that young,' McHugh told CBS 8. 'There were a lot of children who were just too young to wear masks, they pull them off. It's really difficult.' The school is appealing, and there's a hearing set for a month from now. Parents are protesting as well. But where do Hue and the Viet Cong come into this? California is a socialist state, and this is a Christian pre-school in a still relatively conservative county. What the state is doing looks like a pure revenge purge. Christians can't be allowed to continue teaching children that things other than "the state" should have pre-eminence in their lives. And the state is making damn sure that, even when the imaginary plague ends, Ms. McHugh never gets to spread her "evil" religious doctrine to children again. The Supreme Court lopsidedly shot down the Biden administration's clearly unconstitutional workplace requirement that 80 million Americans must receive hypodermic needle injections, ostensibly to "protect" against COVID, even if they don't want the shots. By a 6-3 vote, the Court said the government has no legitimate authority to do that. The same High Court by a single vote expanded the government's unaccountability and sovereignty over the people's lives by permitting a similar diktat that demands that 10 million health care workers receive the same hypodermic injection, ostensibly for the same reasons. There are many troubling aspects to the Biden v. Missouri decision. But most troubling is the further expansion of the Big Brother brand of federal government that is neither answerable to the people nor restrained by laws. One step forward, one step back. The High Court acknowledged the federal government's limitations when it comes to private American workers. But the administrative state's victory to impose an identical requirement on health care workers arguably does more damage than the other ruling did good. Why? As Justice Samuel Alito explained in his dissent: "Today's decision will ripple through administrative agencies' future decision making[.]" Alito threw a spotlight on the crux of the problem that has grown like cancer in government since the administration of Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt. Congress is increasingly irrelevant as the Executive Branch and a monstrously oversized bureaucracy effectively make the bulk of America's "laws" and regulations by fiat. As Alito wrote: "Under our Constitution, the authority to make laws that impose obligations on the American people is conferred on Congress, whose members are elected by the people. Elected representatives solicit the views of their constituents, listen to their complaints and requests, and make a great effort to accommodate their concerns. Today, however, most federal law is not made by Congress. It comes in the form of rules issued by unelected administrators." Biden v. Missouri was a huge win for the interests that for 80 years have been expanding unaccountable big government at the expense of the voice and the rights of the people. "The agency that issued the mandate at issue here, i.e., the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, admits it did not comply with the commonsense measure of seeking public input before placing binding rules on millions of people," Alito wrote in his dissent. Strict adherence to constitutional principles gives "individuals and entities who may be seriously impacted by agency rules at least some opportunity to make their views heard and to have them given serious consideration," Alito explained. "Congress has clearly required that agencies comply with basic procedural safeguards. Except in rare cases, an agency must provide public notice of proposed rules." We have just witnessed such a "rare case" in which public notice and comment were deemed unnecessary by the bureaucrats in the Biden administration. We also are watching what is supposedly "rare" become increasingly commonplace. Alito cited precedent that provides that "the public must be given the opportunity to comment on those proposals ... and if the agency issues the rule, it must address concerns raised during the notice-and-comment process." If you wonder whether you had that opportunity before the vaccine mandate went into effect, you didn't. If you think this means that you can expect more diktats from on high without regard to your consent or even comment, you're right. That one step backward was a huge step, and you have little if any option except to file lawsuits after the fact and hope the damage the Administrative State does can be repaired by the time your case gets a hearing or a decision by the Supreme Court. As Alito points out, this ruling "has an importance that extends beyond the confines of these cases. It may have a lasting effect on Executive Branch behavior." There is no "maybe" about this: Those health care employees who submit to the vaccination to save their jobs won't be able to undo whatever the vaccine does to them. As the effectiveness of the COVID vaccines has been exposed as fleeting at best, many vax critics point to adverse side-effects, up to and including blood clots, inflammation of the heart, fatal strokes, and heart attacks. Rather than put such a momentous decision and its ramifications before the people for comment and approval, the Biden administration "did none of those things," Alito wrote. Here's the twist of the knife: Alito also noted, "[T]oday's ruling means only that the Federal Government is likely to be able to show that this departure is lawful, not that it actually is" lawful. Let that sink in. Take your jab and its consequences, even though later the government may be shown to have forced you unlawfully. If we give the government the benefit of the doubt, maybe Biden's minions are operating on the principle that it's easier to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission. That's a strategy FDR, the shaper of the modern administrative state, would no doubt smile upon. Mark Landsbaum is a Christian retired journalist, former investigative reporter, editorial writer, and columnist. He also is a husband, father, grandfather, and Dodgers fan. He can be reached at mark.landsbaum@gmail.com. Image: Picryl. An Illinois school district recently received some heat from parents for allowing flyers from the Satanic Temple to be placed in the lobby of Jane Addams Elementary School. The flyers invited students between the ages of 6 and 11 to attend an "after-school Satan Club" program being offered by The Satanic Temple. Not to worry, however. Lucien Greaves, the Satanic Temple's co-founder, says the Satan Club won't try to convert children to Satanism or force them to worship the devil. Greaves told WQAD: "This actually isn't a club that's meant to proselytize Satanism or even engage in discussions about religious opinion. This is an educational program meant to focus on critical thinking and just basic education skills." What the hell, maybe they just liked the name "Satan Club." According to the Belleville News-Democrat, the school district is defending the program offered by what it characterized as "a national religious and human rights group." The News-Democrat reported that parents were upset at the prospect of the meetings but noted that they would need to sign a permission slip to allow their children to attend, as they would for any other club. The district's Board of Education allows its facilities to be used for community use. Dr. Rachel Savage, the superintendent for Moline-Coal Valley Schools, issued a statement explaining the decision to allow the after-school Satan club to proceed: "To illegally deny their organization to pay to rent our publicly-funded institution, after school hours, subjects the district to a discrimination lawsuit, which we will not win, likely taking thousands upon thousands of tax-payer dollars away from our teachers, staff and classrooms." Leaders of the Satanic Temple are plotting to bring their message to public elementary-school children across the United States. They claim that Christian evangelical groups have already "infiltrated" the lives of America's children through after-school religious programming available in many public schools and are demanding to give young students a choice: Jesus or Satan? Yay! Who isn't pro-choice? (I mean except for getting vaccinated.) The organization even has an official website: Afterschoolsatan.com. Can't you picture the scenes soon to unfold across the ever more tolerant fruited plain? "Morning mom, I'm gonna stay after school today." "Oh really, Bobby? Is everything okay?" "Yeah, Mom...I'm just gonna join a club...it'll be really cool!" "What club is that, son?" "Um, it's the After School Satan Club, Mom." "Is there a membership fee, honey?" "No, Mom, it's free." "Okay, great, and don't forget your lunch. I made you deviled eggs today, dear." I wonder if schools would be as open to "after-school Trump clubs" or "after-school MAGA clubs"! Tolerance of some things is good. Tolerance of anything and everything...is a highway to hell. It seems as if we are traveling down that road now. Image via Max Pixel. Another Joe Biden calamity we've never seen before is now upon America. Piracy. We've got pirate problems now. Comparable to our border, our unguarded interstate rail trade is facing unprecedented robberies as its cargo moves to its destinations. It's literally being raided, pirate-style, by likely the same gangs that have raided retail stores with zero fear of prosecution. Why raid a mere store when you can get the whole freight train of goods and get away with it? America's freight trains carrying goods are now under attack. The stunning report from a CBS photojournalist who went out to check a tip shows the picture of how bad it is: Missing a package? Shipment delayed? Maybe your package is among the thousands we found discarded along the tracks. This is but one area thieves have targeted trains. We were told this area was just cleaned up 30 days ago so what you see is all within the last month. @CBSLA pic.twitter.com/43002DPyZa John Schreiber (@johnschreiber) January 13, 2022 Note those 787,000-plus views. What we have here is an unprecedented attack that's literally the work of pirates our supply chain, land pirates, who by this definition are the same thing. Wikipedia puts it this way: Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, while the dedicated ships that pirates use are called pirate ships. The earliest documented instances of piracy were in the 14th century BC, when the Sea Peoples, a group of ocean raiders, attacked the ships of the Aegean and Mediterranean civilizations. Narrow channels which funnel shipping into predictable routes have long created opportunities for piracy,[1] as well as for privateering and commerce raiding. Were such acts now happening in Los Angeles to happen at sea, it's would be a casus belli or cause for war, based on the examples from American history. The U.S. went to war with the Barbary pirates around 1815 over pirate maraudings of ships, enslavings, and hostage-takings. It has maintained a longstanding tradition to ensure free trade of the seas (what's called "sea lanes of communication") on the Pacific Rim, as a top mission of the U.S. Navy. The Great White Fleet still serves as the crown jewel of the U.S. military juggernaut, and Robert D. Kaplan described that critical dynamic in his books, The Revenge of Geography and Monsoon. More recently, the U.S. also acted swiftly with NATO forces to get the Somali pirates under control, ensuring that by 2013, there were no pirate attacks at all on Western cargo ships near the Red Sea. The attacks on our supply chain are the same kind of pirate attack, done on land and likely by local organized criminals and Mexican cartels, neither of which has any fear of the law. CNN, citing Union Pacific, points to Sorosian district attorney George Gascon's failure to prosecute crime as the Petri dish for the new land piracy inundating Los Angeles. Union Pacific claims a special directive issued by DA George Gascon has led to a 160% increase in thefts. Union Pacific made over 100 arrests of active criminals vandalizing trains and all were released from custody within 24 hrs. How is this a reform? https://t.co/d4EzLYzQNS jonathanhatami (@jonathanhatami) January 15, 2022 And who is to argue with them? In the past, the U.S. would send in the military to stop this kind of supply chain attack. We don't even have a "bad pirates" statement coming from transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, even though this is clearly another emergency. In Joe Biden's America, all that's standing between pirates attacks and our supply chain are a few security guards employed by Union Pacific, even as 40% of U.S. inbound imports roll in through the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and board the rail lines inland. Billions are obviously being lost. Costs are being passed onto consumers. Gangs and cartels are getting fat. The news reports state that COVID tests, which are distributed free, are thrown all over the place as they have no monetary value to thieves. Wonder where all the missing COVID tests are? Yep, right there on the train tracks junked around in the filthy rubble. Meanwhile, UPS and U.S. Postal Service packages are the thieves' favorites. The attacks here are a much bigger problem than a local problem, given the amount of trade that is affected, and given the number of raided cars apparently, it's one in six, with pirates taking advantage of the narrow passageways and stopped or slowed traffic to roll on in with their bolt-cutters and knapsacks. The National Guard would be a good one to deploy on this for, clearly, this is a threat to interstate and ultimately global trade. Right now, it's just a local curiosity for the security guards to take care of. Biden, and all of the incompetents surrounding him, as usual, have no clue. Image: Twitter screen shot. Advertisement Advertisement For the scorekeepers among us: The very best of the best books of 2021. The final tally is based on 63 votes from a variety of highly selective lists, award nominees, bookseller and librarian picks and more, the editors of industry site Publishers Lunch said in a newsletter. The list: 1. The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois, Honoree Fanonne Jeffers; and Empire of Pain, Patrick Radden Keefe. (Two-way tie for book of the year.) 3. Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro; Harlem Shuffle, Colson Whitehead; and Crying in H Mart, Michelle Zauner. (Each was only two votes behind the No. 1 books.) 6. Cloud Cuckoo Land, Anthony Doerr 7. Matrix, Lauren Groff 8. All That She Carried, Tiya Miles 9. Great Circle, Maggie Shipstead 10. A five-way tie. Advertisement ___ Teachers and librarians in Iowa could be charged with a felony for providing minors material deemed obscene, if two legislators succeed in their push. (Quad Cities Gazette via Publishers Weekly) ___ In Case You Missed It, 1: Manuscript con. For five years or more, authors and others have been bedeviled by someone conning them into sharing unpublished manuscripts hundreds of them. The impersonator never sought ransom. Jan. 5, the FBI arrested a rights coordinator with Simon & Schuster UK after he landed at JFK airport in New York. As for motive, The New York Times took a stab: Early knowledge in a rights department could be an advantage for an employee trying to prove his worth. More: tinyurl.com/BkFraud ICYMI, 2: A rarely seen story by Toni Morrison comes out as a book Feb. 1. Recitatif, written in the 1980s, follows two women from childhood to their contrasting fortunes as adults. One is Black, one is white, and Morrison doesnt permit easy conclusions about racial identity. The story was included in Confirmation: An Anthology of African American Women (1983), co-edited by poet-playwright Amiri Baraka and now out of print. New publisher: Knopf; introduction by Zadie Smith. (AP) ___ Advertisement Daywatch Weekdays Start your morning with today's local news > Bookstores and others unionizing: Image Comics has become the first unionized comic book publisher in the U.S., says its bargaining unit, Comic Book Workers United. Other recent union OKs: D.C.s Politics and Prose bookstores and four Half Price Books stores in Minnesota. The moves reflect increased labor activism because of pandemic safety issues. (Publishers Weekly, AP) The Muse Writers Center spring class schedule runs Feb. 1 through May 1. Classes are online, via Zoom, and require a stable internet connection, webcam and microphone. the-muse.org. In the Pipeline: From Michael Fanone, a memoir, Hold the Line. Hes the now-retired D.C. police officer who, in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, was pulled into the mob, beaten and tased, and suffered a heart attack and brain damage. (Publishers Lunch) Iranian dissident poet and filmmaker Baktash Abtin, who received the 2021 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award, has died of Covid-19 contracted in prison. He was 48. (Reuters) New and recent David Guterson, The Final Case (Knopf, 272 pp.). An adopted child from Ethiopia dies outside her home north of Seattle; her parents, white fundamentalist Christians who left her outside as punishment, are charged. The mothers attorney: an octogenarian at the end of his career. The narrator: his son, who chauffeurs him. From the author of Snow Falling on Cedars. Also: From bestselling author Jami Attenberg, a memoir, I Came All This Way to Meet You: Writing Myself Home ... Alafair Burke, Find Me. Advertisement Erica Smith, erica.smith@pilotonline.com As 2022 gets underway, students are sidelined in their learning yet again due to school closures. According to Burbio's K12 School Opening Tracker, 5,506 schools nationwide opted not to provide students with in-person learning when schools were set to resume the week of January 3. With closures primarily occurring in large urban districts, the number of students and families negatively impacted by this latest disruption to education is enormous. A few of the largest districts keeping their doors shut include Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia. Additionally, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest in the nation with roughly 655,000 students, won't allow students and staff to return to campus until January 11, and then only with proof of a negative COVID test. Chalk up another week of lost learning and supervision. Newark School District, the second largest in New Jersey, plans to keep its 40,000 students remote through January 14. Since schools were already closed for the two-week winter break, it made it easy, if not inevitable, for many to delay resuming in-person in the new year. This flies in the face of the Biden administration's view on the issue, despite its past equivocations. On December 21, U.S. Department of Education secretary Miguel Cardona opined, "I don't think we should be considering remote options. ... Our students deserve more, not less, and our parents have done enough to help balance school closures the first year of the pandemic." In surprising fashion (due to its opposition to the teacher union position), on January 5, President Biden also stated, "I believe schools should stay open." Alas, his involvement on the issue was limited to his verbal statement, as he continued to sit idle as teacher unions call the shots at the expense of students and their families. In Chicago, roughly 340,000 children and their parents went to bed on January 4, not knowing if school would open in the morning. A late-night teacher union vote revealed that 73 percent (91 percent by other reports) of teachers favored remote instruction. The result was a teacher unionstaged strike a strike they planned to continue until January 18. Adding to the drama, the next morning, the Chicago teachers' union accused Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot of locking teachers out of remote instruction. As teachers failed to report to work for a second straight day, Lightfoot called the strike an "illegal work stoppage" and described the closed schools as keeping kids hostage. In addition to Chicago, teacher union walkouts also occurred in Maryland, New Jersey, and California. Some are fighting back. Arizona's Governor Doug Ducey has stayed two steps ahead of union tactics. On January 4, Ducey announced, "We're making sure in-person learning remains an option for all Arizona families and students. ... With the new Open for Learning Recovery Benefit program, if a school closes for even one day, students and families who meet the income requirements will have access to instruction that best meets their needs. It funds up to $7,000 for needs related to Arizona Department of Economic Security approved child care, school-coordinated transportation, online tutoring and school tuition." In stark contrast to the philosophy of teacher unions, Ducey underscored that "parents have a choice always." Currently, public schools continue to receive taxpayer funding regardless of whether they offer in-person learning, remote instruction, or no learning at all. Not surprisingly, 2020 data indicated that the school districts with the strongest teacher unions were less likely to open for in-person learning. Teacher unions seem keenly aware that keeping schools closed gives them leverage as they exercise their power to achieve their political and economic demands. Nearly two years into the coronavirus pandemic, the public is becoming more and more aware of the harm to our students' mental well-being, development, and education caused by ongoing school closures. Parents too are afflicted with stress and negative financial impacts (to say nothing about the negative impacts on employers). The continued disruptions must end. We need more courageous leaders like Gov. Ducey to creatively block teacher unions' power grabs and empower parents, so the promise of education can be fulfilled without excuse. Dr. Keri D. Ingraham is a fellow at the Discovery Institute and director of the Institute's American Center for Transforming Education. Image: Pixabay. Over 2,500 years ago, Aesop moralized, "A man is known by the company he keeps." By that metric, although Nancy Pelosi's son, Paul Pelosi, Jr., has never been charged with a crime, I'm not sure I'd leave him in a room with my silverware. I say that because I've just read the Daily Mail exclusive report noting that Paul has been involved in five companies probed by federal agencies for fraud and other serious financial crimes. From the Daily Mail: Nancy Pelosi's son was involved in five companies probed by federal agencies but has never been charged himself, a DailyMail.com investigation reveals. [snip] While Paul Pelosi Jr.'s mother once pledged to lead 'the most honest, most open, most ethical Congress in history', her son has a staggering wake of criminal colleagues, fraudulent companies and federal investigations. Pelosi Jr.'s links to alleged lawbreakers include: The 52-year-old joined the board of a biofuel company after it defrauded investors according to an SEC ruling, and whose CEO was convicted after bribing Georgia officials Pelosi Jr. was president of an environmental investment firm that turned out to be a front for two convicted fraudsters He joined a lithium mining company and received millions of shares, allegedly issued as part of a massive $164 million fraud He was vice president of a company previously embroiled in an investigation of scam calls that targeted senior citizens He has close business ties with a man accused by the Department of Justice of running a fake UN charity that stole investors' money A medical company Pelosi Jr. worked for tested drugs on people without FDA authorization, according to an FDA investigation The long article spells out the details of those corrupt businesses and businessmen. And in a striking echo of Hunter Biden's career, the Daily Mail adds: But sources close to the Democrat power broker's son and even Pelosi Jr. himself admit that some of his business dealings may have arisen from savvy entrepreneurs hiring him in an attempt to curry favor with his powerful family. Image: Paul Pelosi, Jr., in 2014 (edited in befunky). YouTube screen grab. Moreover, like Hunter, Paul was unqualified for the lucrative jobs that came his way: Though [he claimed to be] frugal, Pelosi Jr. certainly wasn't strapped for cash in February 2007, he had just landed a $180,000 job as Senior Vice President at data company InfoUSA, despite already holding a full-time position as a home loan officer at Countrywide Home Loans in San Mateo and having no experience in database marketing. The company was run by major Democrat donor Vinod Gupta, who had been embroiled in a criminal investigation by the Iowa Attorney General's Office since 2004. Investigators claimed that between 2001 and 2004 InfoUSA knowingly sold millions of consumers' data to fraudsters who used the information to scam the elderly, stripping some of their life savings. In other words, Paul brought nothing to the table but his mother's connections and his father's staggering wealth (which was probably helped greatly by Nancy Pelosi feeling free to buy and sell stocks even though her political actions affected the market). Too many people in our government are essentially American oligarchs. They use politics not for their country's advancement, but for their own. Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi both have enriched themselves and their families while leaving Americans in worse condition with every passing year. I sincerely hope these morally bankrupt people aren't the political leaders America deserves because, if that's true, America has turned into a pathetic, utterly corrupt, third-world oligarchy. Put "race of people shooting police" into Google and you will get page after page of the opposite results: the race or ethnicity of people shot by police. This is obviously no accident. The media narrative is that police shoot people, mostly minorities, without justification. The question of who shoots the police is one that the larger society is generally afraid to ask. To ask that question might shed a different light on whom the police shoot because it would put the question into a larger context about criminality. For the "defund the police" crowd and the progressive minions of distributive and restorative justice, it would undermine an empowering narrative that has enabled them to shackle the police while letting criminals run free without bail and being rewarded with pleas to lower offenses. For as long as the police and the "system" can be viewed as victimizing minorities, these minorities can be viewed as victims and not criminals. The data on who kills police are tracked by the FBI in its Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted program (LEOK). Year-to-year aggregations appear difficult to obtain, and the data I found are from 1980 to 2013, as compiled from LEOK by the Washington Post. During this period, there were 2,269 officers killed in what is described as felonious incidents, which are deaths in the line of duty occurring from criminal acts. There were 2,896 offenders. Of the people who killed police, 52% were white, and 41% were black. The Post article concluded from this that whites were more likely to kill police than are blacks. This observation, regrettably, shows either a commitment to a phony narrative or why journalist students have a difficult time getting through a basic course in statistics. Consider that whites were approximately 70% of the population during this period, while blacks were approximately 12%. White people were 18% less likely to kill a police officer than their distribution in the population, while black people were 29% more likely to kill a police officer than their distribution in the population. Put another way, black people were almost 2.5 times more likely to kill a police officer than would be expected from their distribution in the population. Police officers are not ignorant of who kills them. Police funerals are attended by officers from departments across state lines, and police are well acquainted with officers being memorialized. Moreover, it is not white supremacists calling for killing cops. "Off the pigs" goes back to the Black Panther days of the 1960s. In 2015, protesters in St. Paul, Minnesota were holding a Black Lives Matter banner and chanting, "Pigs in a blanket, fry 'em like bacon." You did not need a degree in criminal justice to understand what they meant, albeit the obvious meaning was subsequently denied by BLM spokespersons and major media outlets. In the wake of Minneapolis police officer Kim Porter shooting Daunte Wright, one protester carried a pig's head on a spike. None of his fellow protesters found this obscene. If that message wasn't clear, the firebombing of a police union hall in Portland and the rioters in Washington, D.C. chanting "burn the precinct to the ground" should have clarified it. We are taught not to think in terms of collective guilt when it comes to identity groups, but when it comes to the police, the tragic behavior of some police is interpreted as representing all police. Like lynchings in the Jim Crow South, if one police officer is at fault, then all are not only equally culpable but also legitimate targets of revenge. How else does one explain the assassinations of police sitting in patrol cars hundreds of miles from the scene of any protest? So if you're a cop and you encounter a black person, your radar is going to start buzzing in a way that it won't if you encounter a white person. According to Office of Juvenile Justice (OJJDP for 2019) statistics for all ages, blacks are responsible for 37% of all violent crimes, 60% of all murders, 53% of all burglaries, and 42% of all illegal weapons possessions, even though they are about 12% of the population. Contrast that with Asians, who are six percent of the population and 1.6 percent of the crime rate. Moreover, Asians have a 5% higher poverty rate than blacks. Obviously, the causes of criminal behavior are complex, controversial, and highly dependent on environmental and opportunistic factors. In addition, criminal justice statistics are based on arrests, and arrests can be subject to discretion and reflection of police bias. But cops on the street are not there to deal with root causes. Their perceptions of any situation are based not only on individual experience but also on the shared experiences of other officers. Consequently, cops, like the rest of us, make judgments honed from experience and perceptions of how society works. To expect anything else is to expect police not to be human beings. Bromides about professionalism and training pale in comparison to gut instincts about survival. If you stop someone whose demographic characteristics suggest a disproportionate involvement in criminal activities and illegal weapons possession, as well as a likelihood of killing you, your mindset is going to be influenced by that perception. In a world where we have been made increasingly sensitive to identity and identity issues, how could it be otherwise? After all, in university sensitivity sessions, if we see each other for our common humanity instead of our racial differences, we are racists by absurd definition. The conflict between minority communities and the police is untenable and unacceptable. Police need to be made aware of policing bias, and minority communities need to be made aware that vilifying the police, resisting arrest, and killing officers will enhance the likelihood of tragedies on both sides. Abraham H. Miller is an emeritus professor of political science, University of Cincinnati, and a distinguished fellow with the Haym Solomon Center. Image: Pixabay. PLEASE NOTE: ALL ONLINE PURCHASES ARE AUTOMATIC RENEWALS UNLESS YOU EMAIL JPAYNE@ANNISTONSTAR.COM OR CONTACT CUSTOMER SERVICE @ 256-235-9253.... Purchase an online subscription to our website for $7.99 a month with automatic renewal. Each online subscription gives you full access to all of our newspaper websites and mobile applications. 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The action came ahead of a crucial vote on the bill by peers on Monday. Protesters describe it as a draconian and anti-democratic crackdown on the right to assembly, freedom of expression and other civil liberties. In the capital, many hundreds marched from Holborn past Downing Street to Westminster, chanting kill the bill and this is what democracy looks like and carrying banners and placards that read defend the right to protest, we will not be silenced and soon this sign could be illegal. A wide range of social, racial and environmental justice groups, including Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion, joined the rally, demanding that peers stop the bill from becoming law. Labour peer Baroness Chakrabarti told a crowd staging a sit-in on Parliament Square that the anti-protest provisions in the legislation represent the greatest attack on peaceful dissent in living memory. She said: This right-wing, authoritarian Government used to encourage pro-Brexit demos and statue defenders when it suited them. A young child is given a shoulder ride in Manchester (Danny Lawson/PA) This Government bangs on about free speech and whinges about cancel culture. It talks a good game about China and Russia and every other place in the world where fundamental rights are under attack. But free speech is a two-way street. And do you know what? The ultimate cancel culture, it doesnt come with a tweet it comes with a police baton and a prison sentence for non-violent dissent. Demonstrators outside Downing Street in London (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn warned that the laws would disempower the public. He said: If the right to protest is restricted, if you have to seek police permission to do anything, well, where does that lead to? It leads to every protest becoming a conflict about having the protest, rather than what the protest is about. This effectively disempowers us all, puts us all on the back foot and puts us all in a totally defensive mode. Protests were held around the country (Danny Lawson/PA) So we end up endlessly defending things instead of demanding things. He added: This sense of disempowerment is designed to have a depressive effect, particularly on young people. Hundreds of clinical psychiatrists and psychologists have also expressed their concerns about the bills impact on young peoples mental health, writing in an open letter that curtailing their right to non-violent protest will further erode young peoples trust in politicians, and their belief that their voices are heard, respected and matter. We cannot think of better measures to disempower and socially isolate young people, the more than 350 signatories wrote in the letter, published online. Demonstrators in Manchester (Danny Lawson/PA) In its current form, the bill would put protesters at risk of lengthy prison sentences and hefty fines for actions that cause serious annoyance, which could be done just by making noise, and for anyone found guilty of damaging a statue or memorial. It would expand police stop-and-search powers, and new laws against residing on land without authorisation with a vehicle would effectively criminalise the way of life of gypsy, Roma and traveller communities. Amendments added to the bill by the Government in the House of Lords in November make it a criminal offence to obstruct major transport works or attach oneself to objects or people, and would equip police with the power to ban named individuals from demonstrating or even using the internet to encourage others to do so. Labour members in the House of Lords tweeted that they will be opposing protest clauses added late on to the wide-ranging bill in Mondays votes. Ben Hancock, 70, from London, told the PA news agency: The measures are completely draconian really, basically rights will be taken away from anybody to protest. I mean, effectively were going to be reduced to a state similar to Russia. A demonstrator in London (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Sue, 62, who would only give her first name and who had travelled to the protest as part of Extinction Rebellion from Godalming, Surrey, said: I believe that some of the provisions in that bill will severely limit the sorts of things that were able to do to protest. Tied to a fellow protester, she added: So we wont, for instance, be able to be together like this holding hands, or or even tying ourselves together. There are many, many things that we wont be able to do and really, protests will just be a thing of the past. And so many of the the freedoms that we have in this country have been gained through protest. Not through just people being quiet about it, and people in power deciding that theyll give freedoms to people, but because people have come out on the streets and made a noise and made a protest. And I want to still be able to do that, I want my children to be able to do that. Demonstrators in College Green, Bristol (Ben Birchall/PA) Terry Matthews, 69, from south London said: I think were facing a really vitriolic attack on our rights to protest and our freedoms to show our dissatisfaction with the status of the Government and the country. And its a really dangerous step to try to take. Home Secretary Priti Patel has argued that the laws are to rein in disruptive protest actions by groups such as Insulate Britain, who have glued themselves to motorways, but critics say its impact would be much further reaching. The national day of action also saw crowds march through Manchester city centre with smoke flares, causing some transport disruption, and North of Tyne Mayor Jamie Driscoll telling a rally in Newcastle that the legislation was not about law and order but about taking away our rights to protest. In Bristol, some of those gathered on College Green held decorated riot shields and placards that read remove the Tories, not our rights and democracy without dissent = dictatorship. Richmond A former state employee who was fired after finding misconduct during an investigation of the Virginia Parole Board has filed a federal lawsuit against her former employer and two top officials of outgoing Gov. Ralph Northams administration. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Jennifer Moschetti, a former investigator with the Office of the State Inspector General, alleges wrongful termination and defamation in a lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court. Advertisement Moschetti said in her complaint that the lawsuit is about protecting whistleblowers. The suit names OSIG, Inspector General Michael Westfall, Secretary of Public Safety Brian Moran and Northam Chief of Staff Clark Mercer as defendants. Moschetti could never have imagined that ... she would become the scapegoat for having shined a light on Board misconduct, the lawsuit states. But thats exactly what happened. Advertisement OSIG and the governors office did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment. Moschetti was the lead investigator on at least nine reports in 2020 that found violations of law and policy, including the board freeing felons convicted of murder without first reaching out to victims families as required by law. She was fired in March. In her lawsuit, Moschetti said Westfall supervised and collaborated with her during the investigation. She said Westfall also certified as substantiated her findings of violations of policy and law by parole board members related to the panels decision to grant parole to eight inmates serving time for convictions of murder. Moschetti said she shared some information from her parole board reports with the FBI, out of concern that wrongdoing by the Board was likely to be covered up. On March 3, Moschetti said she released a partial copy of her file to the leadership of the General Assembly, which is defined as an Appropriate Authority under the Virginia Whistleblower Act. Moschetti said she released information to the General Assembly because she feared she was going to be used as a scapegoat for the controversy surrounding the Boards conduct. Moschetti is seeking $250,000 for loss of wages and benefits. She is seeking an additional $750,000 for future loss of pay. In addition, Moschetti is seeking $10 million in compensatory damages for humiliation, mental and emotional distress. Shes also seeking punitive damages against the individual defendants in an amount not to exceed $350,000. Rising temperatures around the world as a result of climate change are having a devastating effect on foetuses, babies and infants, studies have found. Scientists from six different studies determined that climate change is causing among other adverse outcomes the increased risk of premature birth, increased hospitalisation of young children and weight gain in babies. The separate studies have just been published in a special issue of the journal Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology. The journals guest editors Professor Gregory Wellenius and Professor Amelia Wesselink from the Boston University School of Public Health said that a growing body of evidence indicates the ways in which extreme heat, hurricanes and wildfire smoke can increase the risk of pre-term birth. One of the studies found that pre-term births were 16% more likely in areas experiencing heat-waves (Cathal McNaughton/PA) One of the studies found that pre-term births were 16% more likely in areas experiencing heatwaves. Researchers did this by looking at one million pregnant women between 2004 and 2015 in the high temperature region of New South Wales, Australia. Similar findings were observed in a study that assessed the link between ambient heat and spontaneous pre-term birth between 2007-2011 in the hot climate of Harris Country, Texas. The day after mothers were exposed to heatwave temperatures, their risk of premature birth was 15%. Another study in the journal which analysed 200,000 births in Israel found links between high temperature and weight gain during the first year of life. Of the 20% exposed to night-time temperature, 5% had a higher risk of rapid weight gain. An accompanying study found that as the frequency and intensity of wildfires have increased dramatically over the past two decades in the western US, there had been a 32% rise in a rare condition typically associated with air pollution among pregnant women. Foetal gastroschisis is an abdominal wall defect that is rare, but increasing in prevalence, according to Prof Wellenius and Prof Wesselink. Writing in the special edition of the journal which looked at rising temperatures as well as wildfires and pollution on babies and foetuses, the professors and co-editors said: The evidence is clear: climate hazards, particularly heat and air pollution, do adversely impact a wide range of reproductive, perinatal and paediatric health outcomes. The expected pace of continued climate change and resulting impacts on our physical and mental health and wellbeing calls for decisive and immediate action on adaptation. The professors added that the evidence also found that mothers from more marginalised populations are at much higher risk of being exposed to climate hazards, and were also less resilient to the effects of these hazards due to systematic and structural oppression. They continued: Our climate has already changed profoundly due to human activity and these changes are broadly harmful to our health, with some communities and individuals affected much more than others. Reproductive justice is the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities. Failure to urgently address the reproductive, perinatal and paediatric health impacts of climate change will perpetuate and worsen reproductive injustices, wherein the most marginalised populations will be deprived of their ability to procreate and safely parent their children. A mother whose baby was stillborn while she was seriously ill in hospital with Covid-19 has urged people to get their vaccine to save themselves the agony of becoming severely unwell. Rachel, 38, whose surname was not given, was so ill she did not realise she had given birth to her son Jaxon, at 24 weeks, in August. She had gone to get her vaccine while pregnant last year, but said there had still been uncertainty at that early stage in the rollout over whether expectant women should have it. She said she and her family were devastated by their loss, and urged people to take up the offer of jabs. She said: I did initially go to get the vaccine, but at the time the advice was not to have it. I thought Id have the vaccine when Id had the baby, but it wasnt meant to be. As more data has emerged showing the vaccine to be safe, there have been repeated calls for pregnant women to get jabbed. Earlier this week, the Department of Health and Social Care cited statistics from the UK Obstetric Surveillance System which it said showed 96.3% of pregnant women admitted to hospital with Covid-19 symptoms between May and October were unvaccinated, a third of whom required respiratory support. Rachel, from Bilston in Wolverhampton, was in a coma and in hospital for three and a half months after contracting the virus. She said she would encourage everyone eligible to get vaccinated. She said: I would say take it its a two-minute thing that can save months of agony if you end up like I was. In November last year experts warned that while uptake of the vaccine among pregnant women was improving, they were worried about some groups shunning the jabs, including younger women, those in the most deprived areas and women from black and minority ethnic communities. You can get your #COVID19 vaccination at a walk-in site without an appointment this weekend. This includes: first and second doses for people aged 12 and over booster doses for people aged 18 and over Search for your nearest walk-in site: https://t.co/d0fPoRbUmF pic.twitter.com/S1jJgH22we Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) January 15, 2022 Rachel said it is really important everyone gets their jabs. Speaking about her loss, she said: I didnt actually know I had given birth. I was on drugs so they wanted to tell me when I wasnt sedated, and the obstetrician informed me a few days later. My emotions were disbelief one minute youre having a scan and a gender reveal, naming the baby and getting excited, and then there was this sudden loss. I was only able to see him once. Normally Id have been able to spend a lot more time with him and to hold him. But I didnt get to do that because of the circumstances. She said things have been difficult for her partner and her 18-year-old son. Were all devastated at our loss, she said. We were all very excited at this new life then we were left with nothing. Rachel thanked staff at both New Cross Hospitals integrated critical care unit (ICCU) and Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, for their care. A Government plan to temporarily restore double-jobbing for Northern Irish politicians has triggered fierce opposition from four of the five Executive parties. The UK Government is facing criticism over plans to allow MPs to retain their seats in Westminster while being elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly. The return of the dual mandate, or double-jobbing, would allow DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson to contest the upcoming Assembly elections while also remaining MP for Lagan Valley at Westminster. Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill on Saturday accused the UK Government of interfering in the Assembly poll, while leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, Doug Beattie, accused the Northern Ireland Office of effectively supporting the DUP election campaign. So the @NIOgov is now directly supporting the DUP election campaign. https://t.co/Z2k6rx5HAO Doug Beattie (@BeattieDoug) January 14, 2022 The details of the move are outlined in a letter from Northern Ireland Office junior minister Lord Caine to members of the House of Lords. It would see dual mandates returning only until the next UK general election in 2024. The current law banning politicians from double-jobbing as MLAs and MPs came into effect in 2016. The letter, seen by the PA news agency, says that the aim of the rule-change is to avoid triggering by-elections in Northern Ireland. In the letter, Lord Caine said: There is no appetite or consensus in Northern Ireland to allow dual mandates to continue indefinitely or to return to a situation in which the overwhelming majority of MPs from Northern Ireland were also members of the Assembly. He told peers that the objective of the UK Government is to support the functioning of the Assembly by providing stability in instances where the Northern Ireland Parties need to reconfigure their representation across Parliament and Stormont, without the triggering of Parliamentary by-elections. The UK Government, Lord Caine said, plans to submit an amendment to change the law on dual mandates in the coming weeks. It is part of a raft of measures, already passed through the House the Commons, designed to consolidate power-sharing in Northern Ireland following the return of the Executive in early 2020. However, the plans to restore the dual mandate have already proved controversial and have been criticised by some parties in Northern Ireland. Ms ONeill said in a statement: Plans to restore double-jobbing by allowing MPs to also become MLAs are unacceptable and must be scrapped. This is disgraceful interference in the upcoming Assembly election and a desperate attempt by Boris Johnson and Tory ministers in the NIO to facilitate Jeffrey Donaldsons return to the Assembly and prop up the DUP. She called it a major step backwards for politics here. The Tories reversing the ban on double-jobbing to prop-up the DUP is a blatant and disgraceful interference in the Assembly election. Michelle ONeill (@moneillsf) January 15, 2022 Mr Beattie tweeted on Saturday: The fact NIO now directly supporting DUP election campaign means they are not a neutral department. Alliance Party leader Naomi Long called it a seriously retrograde step. She tweeted: I staked my own political future on ending double jobbing in 2010, when I left Council and the Assembly to focus on representing m constituents in Westminster. I was successful in getting double jobbing banned. Other parties promised to act but only did when forced by legislation in 2014. Ive been both an MP and an MLA: you cannot properly do both jobs in the long term. The ban was subject to extensive consultation: this reversal has not been. What a shameless fix. Last throw of the dice for some! Dual mandates were abolished for good reason. That reason hasnt changed. Only the desperation of the DUP has changed. What price has the DUP paid for this? https://t.co/UtSGoWtrNl Jim Allister (@JimAllister) January 14, 2022 Fairly obvious why its being done. SDLP MP Claire Hanna tweeted: Being an MP is a full time job, and then some, as is being an MLA. People deserve representation at both levels, and dual mandates were abolished for good reason. NIO should not be facilitating DUP threats and gambling with devolution. Leader of the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) Jim Allister called the plan a shameless fix. Last throw of the dice for some, he tweeted. Dual mandates were abolished for good reason. That reason hasnt changed. Only the desperation of the DUP has changed. What price has the DUP paid for this? There had been intense speculation in political circles about how and when Sir Jeffrey would return to local politics in Northern Ireland as an MLA, following his election as leader of the party. He had pledged to return to the Northern Ireland Assembly, after being elected as DUP leader last summer. It comes as the new party leader grapples with unionist anger at controversial post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland, as well as concerns about slipping poll ratings for the DUP following months of internal divisions. The DUP share of the vote in Sir Jeffreys constituency was also slashed by over 16% in the 2019 general election, making a by-election in Lagan Valley an unappetising prospect for the party. A spokesman for the Northern Ireland Office said: On Wednesday, the Government tabled an amendment to the NI (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Bill. This followed a proposal by Lib Dem peer and former leader of the Alliance Party in Northern Ireland Lord Alderdice, during Committee Stage in the House of Lords, which could have allowed dual mandates to have been allowed indefinitely. This was not opposed by his front bench. The Governments proposal is for any dual mandates to be strictly time limited to the subsequent Westminster election. It will enable the smoother transition between legislatures should an MP wish to take a seat in the NI Assembly, and therefore supports the objectives of the Bill in promoting greater stability. It will be subject to the usual parliamentary scrutiny as the Bill progresses. Stephen Graham has said shooting the film Boiling Point in a single take was the most zen acting experience of his life. The Merseyside-born actor answered questions, alongside the films director Philip Barantini, following a screening of the film in Liverpool on Friday evening. The continuously shot film follows Graham as head chef Andy Jones, working the last Friday in December at restaurant Jones and Sons in Dalton, London. Stephen Graham in Boiling Point (Vertigo Releasing/PA) He said: For me, it is the most zen acting I have ever done in my life. When youre acting youre always told its about being in the moment and living for that moment youre in. With that you have no choice because you are actually right in the moment and in the environment. The cast and crew took over the restaurant, owned by a friend of Barantini, in March 2020 and had intended to film eight full takes, but the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic meant they were only able to shoot it four times. Barantini said when he called cut on the third take, the cast celebrated as if they had won the Champions League final. Graham said: The whole room just exploded. I was knackered for about three days after. Barantini said a fourth take was more technically perfect, but the earlier version was used for the film because of the performances. Graham added: I always said wed get it on the third take. Graham and Barantini, also originally from Merseyside, met about 20 years ago when both were actors in series Band Of Brothers. The film is loosely based on time Barantini spent working as a chef and covers issues including self-harm, addiction and racism all in the space of one nights service at the restaurant. The actors were initially given a script with no dialogue, only stage directions, and improvised the words during rehearsals. Graham said: We just let it be as free as possible and then everything is improvised so its natural. We have a blueprint or skeleton and were allowed to embellish that as we go along. He said they also tried to ensure the cast was diverse. We wanted our cast to be a fair representation of what a London, or Liverpool, or any working class kitchen would be, he said. Asked how working with his friend compared to being directed by Martin Scorsese, Graham said the two were very similar. He said: They are both two people I really admire, respect and two people I love to work with. He said he was speechless to be joined by family members including his parents and son to watch the screening at FACT Liverpool. He said: Its overwhelming, for me personally. Boiling Point is in cinemas and on digital platforms in the UK and Ireland now. A company that operates more than 300 Covid-19 pop-up testing sites around the country is under investigation in multiple states and by a federal agency after drawing dozens of consumer complaints ranging from late test results to concerns that no tests were being conducted at all. The Illinois-based Center for Covid Control was founded in Dec. 2020 by Aleya Siyaj, 29, whose previous experience includes starting an axe-throwing lounge and a donut shop, according to state business records and her LinkedIn page. In recent weeks, the Oregon Department of Justice and the Illinois attorney general opened civil investigations into the firm. Massachusetts and Rhode Island have issued cease and desist letters to the company, and local regulators in Washington and California shut down several of its sites for operating without a license. An inspection by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid also shut down multiple sites operating without a license in Massachusetts. We take seriously any allegations of fraud or misbehavior by COVID-19 testing sites, said Dr. Lee Fleisher, chief medical officer and director of the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. CMS is actively investigating numerous complaints about multiple laboratories and testing sites associated with this private company. The Center for Covid Control announced on Thursday that it has paused operations for a week and plans to reopen on Jan. 22. In a statement posted to its website, the company said due to our rapid growth and the unprecedented recent demand for testing, we havent been able to meet all our commitments. It said it will use the pause for additional staff training in sample collection and handling, a refocus on customer service and communication practices, and ensure compliance with regulatory guidelines. The company noted its testing volume had recently increased tenfold, to 80,000 tests a day, and that a key factor in its present customer service challenges was the quick spread of Omicron among its 3,000 frontline staff members. An internal memo, first obtained by USA Today, also cited increased scrutiny by the media into the operations of our collection sites over the past week, which, along with consumer complaints, resulted in various state health departments and even [the Oregon] Department of Justice taking a keen interest in our company. In response to a request for comment by NBC News, a spokesperson for the center, Russ Keene, said the company is in the midst of bringing on new talent and an ethics officer. After getting a test at one of the companys Oregon sites in September, Kelly Fisher contacted the states attorney general, saying she was worried she had fallen victim to a scam as the site felt very fishy and wasnt listed on the states page for Covid testing resources. She said they asked her to provide a picture of her drivers license and insurance information and did not deliver results in the promised time frame. The state attorney general received 10 similar complaints against the company in this week alone. "I trusted that any entity that was engaged in this operation was doing so in good faith," Fisher said in an interview with NBC News. "Since then, Ive only gotten tested at my medical provider's office." NM: People Line Up For Free COVID-19 Testing Amid Omicron Variant Surge (Sam Wasson / Sipa USA via AP) The Center for Covid Control is one of many test companies that have drawn scrutiny from local and state agencies. With demand for Covid-19 testing at unprecedented levels due to the spread of the Omicron variant, officials have warned of unlicensed and scam pop-up testing sites. Legislators and attorneys general in multiple states including California, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas have said they will be investigating and introducing regulatory bills overseeing these operations. In New York alone, the attorney general has already logged 179 complaints and opened investigations into companies charging for testing, sent letters directing others to stop promising misleading result times and issued consumer guidance for how to spot scam testing sites. The rise in unlicensed pop-up testing sites are the latest example of Covid-19 related fraud that regulators have struggled to combat throughout the pandemic. The Federal Trade Commission has received over 650,000 reports of Covid-related fraud, identity theft and other scams, which have cost Americans over $636 million. Collecting samples The Center for Covid Control grew to more than 300 sites and 3,000 staff in just over a year, according to its website. It describes itself as one of the largest national providers of Covid-19 testing and one of the first to offer walk-up testing. Consumers have filed complaints against the company with attorneys general offices in at least three states. The Better Business Bureau, which has given the company an F rating, said that it has sent the company eight unanswered complaints. The complaints made through BBB range from not receiving test results to not receiving a refund after paying for the test, spokesperson Sandra Guile said. The Center for Covid Control is run by Aleya Siyaj and her husband, Ali Syed, according to a person close to the company. The person described the center as a marketing and management company that collects samples. This is a young entrepreneurial husband and wife who has investors and partners, the person said. They identified a marketplace need and have capitalized on it. The centers website states that it is partnered with a CDC approved & licensed laboratory which is registered with the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA). That laboratory, called Doctors Clinical Laboratory, comes up in the CDCs certified lab search at two addresses, one of which is the same Rolling Meadows, Illinois address listed for the Center for Covid Controls business registration. The laboratory has been in operation since 2001, according to business records. Calls placed on Thursday to the phone number listed on the Doctors Clinical Lab website went to an outgoing message that says, Thank you for calling the Center for Covid Control. But a spokesperson for the Center for Covid Control said there is no cross-ownership or coventry business affiliation between the two entities. A spokesperson for CMS, which oversees the laboratory certification process, said the agency is investigating Doctors Clinical Lab. It has identified non-compliance and is waiting for a response from the laboratory to the deficiencies cited." State and federal agencies have warned consumers about test providers not listed on government-run or affiliated websites, saying some some pop-up sites may steal personal information and money. Consumers should be wary of sites that ask for too much personal information, such as social security and credit card numbers. They may provide no test result or a false negative result. I was in Washington D.C. this past week and you could almost feel the strife in the brisk January air, with the endless squabbling over President Bidens stalled Build Back Better plan being Exhibit A. And yet I did find instances of bipartisanship, featuring some strange bedfellows the likes of which I hadnt seen since Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ted Cruz briefly aligned on Twitter last year during the meme stock brouhaha before AOC kicked Ted to the curb, 67 minutes later. Here too the common ground is about stock trading. But in this case, it's much closer to home for lawmakers, specifically, that oh-so tawdry practice of stock trading by members of Congress. Intriguingly, there are high-profile members on both sides of the aisle, andon both sides of the issue, i.e., both Dems and Repubs who are pro stock trading by members and both who are con. Its a debate that has come to the fore this week; two competing bills were introduced on Wednesday, and that plus a flurry of articles could foster some real change here. (Yahoo Finance produced three articles this week on the subject; here, here and here.) I urge you to temper your expectations however. Lets remember the people who would write the stricter rules would be theoretically financially disadvantaging themselves. How often has that happened in human history? Its not just members of Congress whove come under the microscope btw. Federal judges, as well as Federal Reserve officials are being scrutinized and in some instances have taken recent falls. Theres much to chew on there as well, but Im going to focus on members of Congress because theres plenty enough to explore in those hallowed, and slightly sordid, halls. Another reason to focus on Congress is that the laws there are relatively lax. Donna Nagy, a law professor at Indiana University-Bloomington who focuses on insider trading, notes that rules governing members of Congress dont impose any type of conflict of interest restraint on members of Congress akin to the anti-conflict legislation that is enforced for the executive branch and judicial branch. Judges cant have a financial interest in matters before their courts. Its a very similar statute in purpose and effect to the executive branch statute, Nagy says. Members of Congress arent governed by any of these statutes. Theres no independent statute that addresses a broad prohibition on conflicts of interest for members of the legislative branch. Believe it or not, before 2012, regulations for Congress were even looser, until the passage of the STOCK Act, or Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge. (When did it become a thing, btw, that all bills had to be acronyms?) This law effectively bans members of Congress and their families from trading on inside information. Yes, you are reading correctly. Prior to 2012, Congresspeople could (and did) trade on inside information! The law also requires members to report all trades in 45 days instead of one year. Former Washington (state) Congressman Brian Baird was a lone voice in the wilderness pushing for this legislation, which was going nowhere until a scathing "60 Minutes" piece in 2011 cited members of Congress for this practice, in particular during the financial crisis of 2007-2008. (CBS reporter Steve Kroft called out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the piece, more on her in a bit.) The STOCK Act passed the Senate by a vote of 96-3 with one of the "no" votes cast by Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina (More on him in a bit.) So then after 2012, no more trading on inside information and members have 45 days to report, so were all good here? After all, these are lawmakers, so if anyones going to follow the law it would be these folks, right? Actually, no. The abuses have continued. And so have the new stories reporting them. One of the more recent and comprehensive efforts for example was by Insider called "Conflicted Congress," which came out last month. This report and other media have found that 54 members of Congress violated the STOCK Act last year alone. Bigger picture in the first nine months of last year, according to an expert named Tim Carambat: Senate and House members have filed more than 4,000 financial trading disclosures with at least $315 million of stocks and bonds bought or sold." Carambat would know because he created and now maintains two public databases of lawmaker financial transactions House Stock Watcher and Senate Stock Watcher. Then theres this mega report by Unusual Whales. Bottom line: Many members of Congress have a busy side gig of buying and selling securities and some of them are not following the rules. To quote Ronald Reagan: Well, Im not surprised. Neither are the American people, or at least thats what Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) told me this week, garnered from her conversations with folks in the wake of the pandemic, after reports surfaced of Congresspeople profiting from stock trades. What was disturbing to me was that with the American public, or at least my constituents, the reaction was, yeah, of course, we expected this. That there is this acceptance of the idea that yeah, sure, it absolutely makes sense to me that my elected representative would be more interested in their stock portfolio. By taking away this sort of activity, you would remove the fear that members of Congress will introduce particular pieces of legislation or oppose them for some personal financial concern, says Ben Edwards, an expert on securities law and professor at the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Las Vegas Nevada. Two years ago Spanberger and Chip Roy (R-TX) proposed the Transparent Representation Upholding Service and Trust (TRUST) in Congress Act (acronym alert), which would go much further than the STOCK Act and require lawmakers simply to put their stock holdings in a blind trust while in office. This bill didn't go anywhere for a while, but lately gained steam as a precursor and a companion bill to one of the aforementioned bills introduced in the Senate this week, that being by Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced a similar bill. (One of those bedfellow situations I alluded to earlier.) Not be outdone, crowd favorite Ted Cruz reportedly wants in on this too and may propose his own bill. (Theres also the Ban Conflicted Trading Act that has been floating around since last year as well.) 'Laws-are-for-thee-and-not-for-me type of scenario' Before we get to these efforts and where they stand I want to get into the nitty-gritty of whats transpired over the past few years, because its been positively swampy, with both Democrats and Republicans stepping in it. Lets start with Speaker Pelosi, whos aligned herself here with Senator Burr in having an active family portfolio and in pushing back against toughening up laws. As recently as December the Pelosis bought call options in Google, Salesforce, Micron, Disney and Roblox. The speaker defends herself and her colleagues thusly when it comes to stock trading: We are a free market economy, Pelosi told reporters during a recent news conference. They should be able to participate in that. And this: No, Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters at a news conference when she was asked whether she would support such a prohibition. Somewhere in the Speakers home district, (or maybe New Zealand), free-marketeer-in-chief Peter Thiel is applauding. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., speaks to reporters during her weekly press conference at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades) To be clear, Pelosi has said that it is imperative that members adhere to the terms of the law. And Drew Hammill, deputy chief of staff to Pelosi, points out that: The Speaker does not own any stocks. As you can see from the required disclosures, with which the Speaker fully cooperates, these transactions are marked 'SP' for Spouse. The Speaker has no prior knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transactions. Be that as it may, stock trading by the Pelosi family has attracted the attention of one Chris Josephs, co-founder of Iris, a social media app that tracks the trades of members of Congress. Speaker Pelosi has been on a tear with recent trades going back to 2018, Josephs says. She bought Tesla very early, Crowdstrike, Nvidia, Google. We created a portfolio [of] her disclosures, so when she makes a new buy, everyone who follows the portfolio on Iris gets an instant notification saying Nancy Pelosi just bought Micron, buy some if you want. Since we launched the profile on Iris she has around 65,000 people following her actual portfolio." And notions of Pelosi as a stock trading "queen" and "whale" have been making the rounds on TikTok, including one with Josephs, who says the Pelosis outperformed the market. (Also, see here an interview Josephs did with Yahoo Finance last fall.) Why is it that my younger brother, who works in finance, can't buy individual stocks while the Speaker of the House who makes laws that regulate the economy is allowed to? Josephs asks. It doesnt make sense. Its a laws-are-for-thee-and-not-for-me type of scenario. Its hypocritical. Pelosis California colleague Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has also attracted unwanted attention for familial stock trading. In 2000, she was reportedly investigated by the FBI over stock trades made by her husband. And last year the senator admitted that she did not properly disclose one of her husband's stock purchases and has said that she would be prepared to pay the relevant fine, according to the Independent. Now lets head down South and over to the GOP side of the aisle where other lawmakers were busy buying and selling securities too, starting in Georgia, where there may be something in the water. Lets start with former GOP Senator David Perdue whom The New York Times noted made 2,596 trades in a six-year term ending in 2020. Some investments, the paper reports, were made in companies where Perdue had at least an appearance of a conflict of interest. Perdues office denied the conflicts and said the senator's brokers made the trades. The DOJ investigated but declined to bring charges. (Ossoff, who defeated Perdue to become Senator, had attacked him for the stock trading.) Fear not Perdue fans, the former senator has announced he will run for governor of the state this year. Then theres Perdues former colleague, former Senator Kelly Loeffler, (whom I wrote about in 2019.) She also attracted the attention of the authorities with her stock trading. Loeffler, whos married to Jeffrey Sprecher, CEO of ICE, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, went on a selling spree after attending a private briefing in January 2020 about the incipient pandemic. This Atlanta Constitution Journal story provides a timeline of both Loeffler and Perdues stock-picking peccadillos. Like Perdue, Loeffler was ultimately not charged by regulatory authorities. Also like Perdue, Loeffler lost a close election. (Coincidence or not?) Next lets check back in with Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), remembering him from above as one of the "no" votes against the STOCK Act. No vote? No wonder. Burr, who also traded in the wake of being given access to classified documents about the impending pandemic in early 2020, has not been cleared of wrongdoing. CNBC reports that Burr, whos retiring this year, is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Heres CNBC: Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina and his brother-in-law, who is chairman of an independent federal agency, spoke on the phone shortly before both men sold off stocks weeks ahead of national COVID lockdowns in 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a civil court filing. The filing comes as the SEC continues to investigate whether Burr, a Republican, and his brother-in-law Gerald Fauth sold the stocks on the basis of material nonpublic information that Burr obtained as part of his job. So now we have the Spanberger/Roy bill in the House and the Ban Conflicted Trading Act as well as the Hawley and Ossoff bills in the Senate. A few notes regarding the latter two. First Axios reports that Hawley and Ossoff tried to work together but that talks between offices fizzled out. Also Ossoff had sought a Republican co-sponsor before partnering with Kelly. Also you may be wondering if Ossoff has walked the talk, i.e., put his money in a blind trust. The answer is yes, according to The Atlanta Journal Constitution. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., speaks as the House of Representatives debates the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019. (House Television via AP) How sanguine is Representative Spanberger? I think we're doing the building block work that needs to be done right now, she told me. Chip Roy and I were just talking and were both having really good conversations with members whove got some questions. I think thats pretty exciting, and certainly not something that we have seen before. What about support from Speaker Pelosi? It's true that Speaker Pelosi hasn't come up to me and said, I love your bill, Spanberger says. I have perceived her comments to mean she may not be supportive. Certainly I disagree with the statements she has made. But I don't know that she is immovable on this. I know Nancy Pelosi well, I know shes very ethical, says Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist at Public Citizen who works on proposals regulating stock trading by members of Congress. I dont believe shes doing inside trading with her husband. But clearly Iris and everybody who trades with Iris believes thats the case. And that image alone ought to compel Pelosi into joining others and saying, OK lets stop trading on the stock market altogether. Do I think members of Congress and their families should be able to own stocks? Generally speaking, yes. Should they be able to trade stocks (buy and sell) while in office? Generally speaking, no. I include the caveat "generally," because hard and fast rules generally arent a good idea in complex situations like these. For instance, it would be OK for them to own stocks (and not trade), except what if Congresswoman Gabriella Gunslinger, who holds a $50 million slug of Lockheed Martin, becomes head of the House Armed Services Committee? Not a good look. As for never buying or selling, what if Senator Foghorn Leghorn, whose only assets are $175,000 of a publicly-traded candy company founded by his grandfather, needs money to pay for his wifes cancer treatment? Hard to make hard and fast rules, right? However, that doesnt mean there shouldnt be new rules. The STOCK Act was a good start. You would have thought that the bright shining light of day provided a disincentive to lard up at the trough. Except there hasnt been much recourse, either in terms of the legal process, (in a few cases $200 fines) or in the form of public outcry. Both of which are a shame. Change might be coming here. In December, AOC tweeted: It is absolutely ludicrous that members of Congress can hold and trade individual stock while in office. I dont want to jinx it, but that means AOC and Ted Cruz are on the same page again. And this time it seems to be longer lasting. This article was featured in a Saturday edition of the Morning Brief on January 15, 2022. Get the Morning Brief sent directly to your inbox every Monday to Friday by 6:30 a.m. ET. Subscribe Andy Serwer is editor-in-chief of Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter: @serwer FILEMembers of the Ohio Senate Government Oversight Committee hear testimony on a new map of state congressional districts in this file photo from Nov. 16, 2021, at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. On Friday, Jan. 14, 2022, the Ohio Supreme Court rejected a new map of the state's 15 congressional districts as gerrymandered, sending the blueprint back for another try. The 4-3 decision returns the process to the powerful Ohio Redistricting Commission. (AP Photo/Julie Carr Smyth, File) COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Ohio's Republican-drawn congressional map was rejected by the state's high court Friday, giving hope to national Democrats who had argued it unfairly delivered several potentially competitive seats in this year's critical midterm elections to Republicans. In the 4-3 decision, the Ohio Supreme Court returned the map to the Ohio General Assembly, where Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers, and then to the powerful Ohio Redistricting Commission. The two bodies have a combined 60 days to draw new lines that comply with a 2018 constitutional amendment against gerrymandering. The powerful redistricting commission was already in the process of reconstituting so it can redraw GOP-drawn legislative maps the court also rejected this week as gerrymandered. That decision gave the panel 10 days to comply, raising growing concerns about the looming Feb. 2 candidate filing deadline for the May primary. Neither the congressional nor the legislative maps drew a single Democratic vote. Writing for the majority, Justice Michael Donnelly, one of the courts three Democrats, wrote, (T)he evidence in these cases makes clear beyond all doubt that the General Assembly did not heed the clarion call sent by Ohio voters to stop political gerrymandering. The courts three Democrats were joined by Chief Justice Maureen OConnor, a moderate Republican set to depart the court due to age limits at the end of the year. The courts three other Republicans including Justice Pat DeWine, son of Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, a named plaintiff in the cases dissented. They said it was unclear how it should be determined that a map unduly favors one party over another. When the majority says that the plan unduly favors the Republican Party, what it means is that the plan unduly favors the Republican Party as compared to the results that would be obtained if we followed a system of proportional representation, the dissent said. They explained that the U.S. has never adopted a system that requires congressional seats to be proportionally distributed to match the popular vote, nor does Ohios Constitution require it. The decision affects separate lawsuits brought by voting-rights and Democratic groups, which argued it was indisputable that the map unconstitutionally 'unduly favors the Republican Party. The two suits were brought by the National Democratic Redistricting Commissions legal arm, as well as the Ohio offices of the League of Women Voters and the A. Philip Randolph Institute. The groups said either 12 or 13 of the maps 15 districts favor Republicans, despite the GOP garnering only about 54% of votes in statewide races over the past decade. Republicans had defended the map as fair, constitutional and highly competitive. Voting rights advocates and Democrats praised the ruling. The manipulation of districts is the manipulation of elections and voters have had enough, said Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio, a plaintiff. We expect legislative leaders to learn from their mistakes and finally listen to the peoples call for fair maps. Ohio and other states were required to redraw their congressional maps to reflect results of the 2020 census, under which Ohio lost one of its current 16 districts due to lagging population. PIERRE, S.D. (AP) A South Dakota legislative committee on Friday approved a bill championed by Gov. Kristi Noem to ban transgender women and girls from participating in school sports leagues that match their gender identity. With the Republican governor's full-fledged lobbying, the bill received enthusiastic approval in the Republican-dominated Senate State Affairs committee, clearing a legislative hurdle that has been a key roadblock to similar South Dakota bills in the past. It was the first bill the committee took up this year as lawmakers try to fast-track it through the Statehouse. Every Republican on the committee approved the bill, despite warnings from opponents that it alienates and bullies transgender students and exposes public schools to legal action for a political cause that has not been an issue in South Dakota. Proponents say it protects girls sports from trans athletes who may be bigger, faster and stronger than their peers. As a parent, I dont really care if she becomes an elite athlete, but I want her to have the experiences of being on a team, said Jennifer Phalen of her transgender daughter who aspires to participate in school gymnastics. Passage of this bill would directly hurt children, she told the committee in an emotional testimony. It would directly hurt my daughter and take away her freedom to participate in activities with her peers. If the bill passes the Legislature, South Dakota could be the 10th Republican-dominated state to adopt such a ban on transgender women or girls. In two of those states Idaho and West Virginia the laws have been halted by federal judges. The U.S. Department of Justice has challenged bans in other states, slamming them as violations of federal law. But lawmakers have used as ammunition the Pennsylvania case of a 22-year-old transgender woman who has had a dominant year swimming for the University of Pennsylvania, as proof that trans athletes possess an unfair advantage over their competition. Allowing males to compete destroys fair competition and athletic opportunities for girls," Rachel Oglesby, the governor's policy advisor, told the committee. "Similarly gifted and trained males will always have physical advantages over females. The high school activities association asserted that it already has a policy in place that ensures fair competition. The schools evaluate applications from transgender athletes on a case-by-case basis and have only once allowed a trans girl to play in a girls' league. She did not spoil the competition, the athletics association has said. Groups representing public schools said politicians are forcing them to choose between violating state law or federal policy. The Associated School Boards warned that schools could lose federal funds if an investigation from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found them to have violated students' rights. This particular bill does nothing, does absolutely nothing as far as helping young people," said Dianna Miller, representing South Dakota's largest school districts. What it is is discriminatory, unfair, and its not necessary. In an acknowledgment that schools were being put at legal risk, the governor's office amended the bill to stipulate that the state would provide legal representation and pay the costs of any lawsuits. Mark Miller, the governor's chief of staff, insisted that the proposed law complied with the Constitution, that other states had successfully implemented similar laws and the state would prevail in court if sued. Noem last year shied away from signing a similar bill, issuing a style and form veto and arguing that it was flawed because it put the state at risk of litigation and retribution from the NCAA. But this year, she seized on the momentum of a cause taking hold among Republicans and trumpeted her support for protecting fairness in women's sports" as she tries to rehabilitate her standing with social conservatives. Noem launched a campaign ad this week that claimed she never backed down on the issue. And if there was any doubt that her political ambitions lie beyond South Dakota the state where she is running for reelection and where the proposed law would take effect the ad is running on channels nationwide. That's led critics to decry the bill as nothing more than propaganda. This isnt about an issue thats really happening in South Dakota, said Roger Tellinghuisen, representing the Human Rights Campaign, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ people. Its a political statement thats all it is. Noem warming to the issue shows the growing clout of social conservatives in the GOP and their ability to cajole politicians into supporting legislation that discriminates against LGBTQ people. Jon Schweppe, the director of policy at the social conservative group, American Principles Project, praised Noem's bill after last year slamming her for effectively killing the legislation. To see her now coming out with a stronger bill, to see her championing this issue and making it her priority, we havent really seen anything like that before with Republicans," he said. "I think its a significant moment." Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting in the Kremlin on Friday. (Mikhail Metzel / Pool Photo) Reverting to a familiar playbook, Russia is plotting a pretext to invade Ukraine, a false flag operation that would justify its actions despite a week of intense U.S.-Russia negotiations that apparently failed to move Moscow away from a scheme of regional aggression, U.S. officials said Friday. The White House also said Moscow is using social media to mount a disinformation campaign that portrays Ukraine, a former Soviet republic interested in joining Western alliances, as an aggressor that would attack Russia and must be tamed. We are concerned that the Russian government is preparing for an invasion in Ukraine that may result in widespread human rights violations and war crimes should diplomacy fail to meet their objectives, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Friday. She said that laying the pretext included sabotage activities in addition to the disinformation campaigns. On Friday, Ukraine reported cyberattacks on about 70 government and other websites, shutting them down temporarily. It was unclear who was responsible, but a top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky framed the incidents as part of efforts to destabilize the country. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg pledged access for Ukraine to the alliances malware information-sharing platform. Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014 and occupied its Crimean peninsula following a similar series of propaganda efforts. Moscow is also backing separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine fighting government forces, a simmering conflict that has claimed thousands of Ukrainian lives. In recent months, Russia has amassed some 100,000 troops along its border with Ukraine and moved heavy weaponry in behind the manpower. There were reports of live-fire exercises during the last week. We saw this playbook before, Psaki said. Citing fresh U.S. intelligence reports, Psaki said Russia has already dispatched operatives trained in urban warfare who could use explosives to carry out acts of sabotage against Russias proxy forces blaming the acts on Ukraine if Russian President Vladimir Putin decides he wants to move forward with an invasion. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby described the intelligence as very credible. The intelligence findings suggested that a military invasion could begin between now and mid-February, experts said, in part with a view toward a deepening winter that freezes the muddy plains between the two countries and makes it easier for Russia to move heavy equipment into Ukraine. The dire allegations about Moscows intentions, which came from across the administration the State Department and Pentagon as well as the White House marked a jarring coda to what had been a week of relatively civil if inconclusive diplomatic sessions involving the U.S., Russia, NATO and most of Europe. Senior U.S. diplomats meetings with Russian officials in bilateral venues, as well as with other NATO and European allies, made little evident progress toward easing tensions. Putin insists that Washington agree that Ukraine never be allowed to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a nonstarter for the U.S. and the alliance, which insist that any nation that wants to be a part of NATO be allowed to apply. The Russian president is also demanding that NATO pull back its expanding presence in Eastern Europe. Putins overarching goal, analysts say, is to try to preserve a degree of control over events in the former Soviet Union, encompassing now-independent countries such as Ukraine. I think his aim is definitely to keep the U.S. and NATO out of what he considers Russias sphere of influence, the former Soviet states, Liana Fix, a resident fellow at the German Marshall Fund in Washington, said of Putin, a former KGB agent. After taking part in meetings this week with Russian and European officials, a senior U.S. diplomat said he believed war seemed more likely than ever. At the present time, were facing a crisis in European security, the U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Michael Carpenter, said in a news conference. The drumbeat of war is sounding loud and the rhetoric has gotten rather shrill. Jake Sullivan, the Biden administrations national security advisor, previewed the mounting concerns about Russia on Thursday, saying that while Putins ultimate designs may not yet be clear, Moscow was clearly setting the stage for invasion. Some analysts have suggested Russias willingness to engage in talks this week was a feint, a gesture to portray willingness to engage when diplomacy was not the real intention. Putins already calculated the risk of going the whole way into Ukraine, Fiona Hill, a leading expert on Russia and former official at the National Security Council, said in a podcast for the Center for a New American Security. He wouldnt threaten it if he wasnt prepared to do something and to deliver. Russia said, in the talks this week, that it did not intend to invade Ukraine. But it also remained adamant in its position and said it wanted the U.S. to respond in writing to a series of demands. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday his government would not wait indefinitely. We have run out of patience, Lavrov said at a news conference. The West has been driven by hubris and has exacerbated tensions in violation of its obligations and common sense. Moscow and Washington, along with many European states, have agreed there is room to talk on issues of missile deployment and the transparency of military exercises but on little else, and not the core issue of Ukraine's sovereignty. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. An invasion by Russia into Ukraine would violate the most basic freedoms and sovereignty, the Defence Secretary has said following a visit to Scandinavia. Issuing a second warning in a week to Moscow, Ben Wallace said there would be consequences of any Russian aggression towards Ukraine. On Monday, he fired a shot across the bows, telling an event in London that Britain would stand up to bullies, no matter how far away the conflict. Tensions on the Ukrainian border continue to be fraught, with the US suggesting Moscow is preparing for a false-flag operation in order to spark an incursion into neighbouring territory. The new US intelligence was unveiled after little progress was made in talks between the Kremlin and Washington and its Western allies aimed at heading off the escalating crisis. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, appearing to back up the US intelligence, accused Russia of waging a disinformation campaign intended to destabilise and justify an invasion of Ukraine, and called on President Vladimir Putin to de-escalate the military presence. Amid the stand-off, Ms Truss colleague Defence Secretary Mr Wallace met Nordic partners this week, including Finland which shares a border with Russia. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said he met with ministers in Sweden, Finland and Norway to discuss Russias continued aggression and military build-up on Ukraines border, with some 100,000 troops amassed at the divide. The Defence Secretary said: The UK and our Nordic partners are united in our approach to upholding European security. A serviceman takes his position in a trench at the line of separation near Yasne village, controlled by Russia-backed separatists, eastern Ukraine (Alexei Alexandrov/AP) My discussions this week have been directly about deepening bilateral relations, shared security and the consequences of Russian aggression towards Ukraine. Our discussions were clear that a Russian invasion of Ukraine would be a strategic mistake, violating the most basic freedoms and sovereignty. Britain and the Nordic countries have a long and shared history. Our European neighbours and allies remain vital partners as we work together to defend our common values, counter shared threats and build resilience in our neighbourhood, the UK will always stand with them. Russia is waging a disinformation campaign intended to destabilise and justify an invasion of its sovereign neighbour Ukraine Russia must halt its aggression, deescalate and engage in meaningful talks #StandWithUkraine Liz Truss (@trussliz) January 15, 2022 Labour said the threats facing Ukraine must be met with strength and solve by Nato and Europe, with shadow defence secretary John Healey having visited the country this week. The Western allies must work hard to maintain their deterrent pressure on Russia and stand by Ukraine, said the senior opposition MP. Giving details of the Defence Secretarys three-day visit, the MoD said that Mr Wallace met with his Swedish counterpart, defence minister Peter Hultqvist, before travelling to Finland to hold discussions with President Sauli Niinisto, foreign minister Pekka Haavisto and defence minister Antti Kaikkonen. The third leg of his trip saw the Defence Secretary meet with his Norwegian counterpart Odd Roger Enoksen. Newport News police officers will be teaching high school students signs to help them avoid and prevent human trafficking. Hampton Roads was one of two sites across the country selected to pilot the federal program, which is being called TraffickSTOP. Advertisement The program has two parts: Training law enforcement officers to teach the program to students, and educating teenagers on the dangers of human trafficking and how to avoid it, according to a news release from Virginias Attorney Generals Office. Newport News school resource officers will lead the program in partnership with the Hampton Roads Human Trafficking Task Force. The sad reality is that unscrupulous people will prey on young, impressionable people, which is why its so important that Virginias youth are armed with the tools they need to help protect themselves and others, outgoing Attorney General Mark Herring said. Advertisement According to Anti-Trafficking International, the average age of exploitation in the U.S. is 12-15 years old, but children as young as 3 months old have been sold into trafficking. An estimated 100,000 children are trafficked each year in the U.S. The U.S. Justice Department defines human trafficking as a crime that involves compelling or coercing a person to provide labor or services, or to engage in commercial sex acts. Any time a minor is used for commercial sex its considered to be trafficking. The goals of TraffickSTOP are to strengthen the partnerships among school resource officers, the regional task force and the local school divisions while teaching children how to identify and prevent trafficking. Students will also learn about healthy relationships and online safety. Daywatch Weekdays Start your morning with today's local news > The Polaris Project, a nonprofit organization that fights human trafficking in North America, found that the internet is the primary way human traffickers find victims. The pandemic has increased online recruitment by 22%. The organization says that victims may have personal relationships with their traffickers. In 2020, the proportion of reported victims recruited by a family member or caregiver reached 31%, which was up from 21% the previous year. Other school districts, including Norfolk, will receive resources and a curriculum that was created by the National White Collar Crime Center and other organizations. The Polaris Project identified 10,583 human trafficking situations in 2020 with 16,658 victims in the U.S. The most common types of trafficking were escort services, pornography and sex and labor trafficking hidden in businesses that offer spa services, according to the nonprofit. The Hampton Roads task force has opened 337 investigations, made 135 arrests, identified 227 confirmed victims and prosecuted 38 cases in the region since it launched in 2017, according to the news release. Advertisement Herring secured a $1.45 million grant to create the task force, which is a collaboration including the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Attorneys Office, Virginia State Police and law enforcement agencies and prosecutors from Newport News, Hampton, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Portsmouth. Jessica Nolte, 757-912-1675, jnolte@dailypress.com Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Owosso, MI (48867) Today Cloudy with periods of rain. High near 50F. Winds ENE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low 43F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%. by Marta Ottaviani Turkey invested a lot in Kazakhstan in recent years, not only in economic terms. Nazarbayevs regime pulled the country away from Russian influence in favour of a Turkic-oriented nation-building process; now the call to CSTO troops will test the power relationship with Moscow. Milan (AsiaNews) One country closely monitoring unrest and its developments in Kazakhstan is Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was one of the first to call his Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to express his sympathy. A few days later, the Turkish parliament issued a statement expressing solidarity with the Kazakh people. For once, the resolution was voted by all parties, except for the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP[*]). Going one step further, Turkey held a virtual meeting with the members of the Organisation of Turkic States (OTS). Created in 2009, the association brings together countries that share linguistic and religious ties. Although less powerful than the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), the OTS has been able to create synergies in recent years between its members, notably Turkey, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan. Former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, along with Erdogan, was instrumental in setting up the organisation. After ruling the Central Asian nation from 1990 to 2019, Nazarbayev is increasingly becoming the main target of the unrest that has spread across the country. Kazakhstan is an important partner for Turkey. Trade between the two countries has exceeded US$ 2 billion for several years. Turkey imports mainly energy resources and raw materials, whilst exporting textiles and above all agricultural products, which Kazakhstan absolutely needs. Turkish investments in Kazakhstan have increased, but with a twist. Turkey has backed the Kazakh bid to join the World Trade Organisation, but in addition to business, geopolitical considerations have motivated its actions. Whilst infrastructure development has been privileged, religious ties matter. In 2015 Erdogan and Nazarbayev inaugurated a mosque in Kazakhstan managed by Turkeys Directorate of Religious Affairs, better known as the Diyanet[]. In the past 15 years, the two leaders have developed a close relationship, helping Turkey expand its influence throughout the region, eroding, albeit partially, that of Russia. For Erdogan, the bad news is that Kazakhstans recent unrest has substantially weakened Nazarbayev with serious consequences. Within certain limits, Nazarbayevs regime pursued a policy of nation-building as far from Russian influence as possible, certainly closer to Turkey, academic sources in the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan told AsiaNews. Whilst Erdogan saw opportunities, as the country shifts, the Turkish leader now finds himself forced to protect the positions he gained in recent years and this may not work. Facing him is Vladimir Putin, the Russian president. Although nominally a strong ally of Turkey, tensions with Russia just below the surface are pulling the two countries apart. The fact that Tokayev turned to the CSTO means that he needs the help of Russia as a guarantor of the countrys stability, said Alexander Dubowy, an expert on Central Asia at the University of Vienna, speaking to AsiaNews. It should be noted that, unlike neighbouring countries, Kazakhstan has always maintained excellent relations with both the West and with China, Dubowy explained. What is more, it has enjoyed a relative stable internal situation, despite the serious deterioration of the rights and economic welfare of its population. Appealing to the CSTO means accepting to have Russia intervene in the countrys domestic affairs and influence them. The Turkish president risks having to start all over, with the aggravating circumstances that Russia is not the only one set on making the most of the current situation. Despite ups and downs, the marriage of convenience between Ankara and Moscow is holding for now. On the one hand, Turkey and Russia share too many interests to get into a row; on the other, in other places where they are present, they are often at odds or trying to limiting each others influence, like in the Caucasus, Syria and Libya. Even though the unrest in Kazakhstan is purely internal, it could put test again the relative balance of power between the two. [*] Halklarn Demokratik Partisi. [] Diyanet Isleri Baskanlg. Today's headlines: a 17-year-old teenager wounds three people just before university entrance exams in Tokyo; trade between India and China continues to grow. In Israel, Bedouins clash with police over a reforestation plan that would take land away from their communities. Ukraine sends new satellite into orbit with Elon Musk. PAKISTAN The government in Islamabad has decided to offer Pakistani citizenship to foreign investors, tweeted Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry. According to sources quoted by the Pakistani daily Dawn, the move is aimed at attracting rich foreigners, especially wealthy Afghans currently investing in countries like Iran and Malaysia. INDIA-CHINA Despite the political-military confrontation over the Himalayan region, trade between India and China topped US$ 125 billion in 2021. Imports of Chinese products into India are now close to the US$ 100 billion mark, fuelled by demand for machinery. JAPAN Two students and an elderly man were injured in front of one of the gates of the University of Tokyo in a knife attack carried out by a 17-year-old on the day entrance exams were scheduled. The young man, who was arrested, said he acted out of frustration because of his own poor academic performance: "I wanted to cause an incident and die, he explained. ISRAEL Clashes between Bedouins and police have continued for several days in southern Israel. The bone of contention is a reforestation plan ordered by the government in some areas that the Bedouins claim for their own communities. The Bedouins have lived for centuries on the edge of the Negev desert in small settlements never recognised by the State of Israel. UKRAINE Elon Musk's SpaceX company launched a carrier rocket with the Ukrainian satellite Sich-2-30, an event considered historic in Ukraine, since its space agency last satellite was sent into orbit in 2011 in cooperation with Russia. The small square device has major features and advanced technology. TURKMENISTAN In Farap, a district in Turkmenistans Lebap region, about 200 people protested in front of the local government building over higher prices for subsidised foods, seven to eight times in some cases; for example, a litre of seed oil that cost 3 manat jumped to 24 manat (US$ 85 cents to US$ 6.85) by Stefano Caprio Tensions in the post-Soviet space have revived a concept that is more than a simplification about language and space. Its universal claim is rooted in Kievan Rus' and is embodied in Moscow's current ambition to see far. However, at present, it is confronted more and more by the reactions of fraternal peoples. Moscow (AsiaNews) The events of recent years, not to mention recent days, have put the spotlight on many territories of the former Soviet Union, whose existence ended 30 years ago. Political and social crises have turned into unrest, uprisings and conflicts within and between former Soviet republics, in Europe (Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova), the Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan) and Central Asia (Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and most recently, Kazakhstan). This has tested the power of post-Soviet states, above Big Brother in Moscow, enforcer of stability and security within the Russian World (Russkiy Mir). Only the three Baltic nations (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) have avoided the crises shaking the former Soviet empire. Over the centuries, they have looked more towards Europe than Eurasia. By contrast, the other former republics are still closely connected to the Russian-speaking homeland by cultural, linguistic, religious, as well as social, economic and political ties. But they are not alone. Other countries depend on Russia, above all Syria torn by the wars of the Islamic State, known as the 16th Soviet republic in the 20th century and now partially controlled by Russian troops, which challenge Turkeys neo-Ottoman dream in the Middle East and Asia. The Russian World is more than a simplification about language and space. It reflects an ideology and a programme for action that go beyond the borders of the countries involved, with a claim to be universal in scope, which in the minds of Russians is destined to mark the destinies of all peoples, not only those who use the Cyrillic alphabet. The term Russian World has no legal definition, and so allows authors to understand it as they wish: a process of integration, a diasporic strategy, a civilisational core, a political technology, an ideology and more. Since the early 2000s, the concept has been used mainly by the government of the Russian Federation to define its foreign policy doctrine. Outside of Russia, it is often associated with Moscow actions at the international level. In fact, the term Russian World is seemingly rooted in ancient history. According to medieval sources, it was used to define the civilisation of Kievan Rus', which developed between the 9th and 15th centuries, surviving the long night of the Tatar yoke (1240-1480). The dominant historical factors in the process of formation of the Russian World as a civilisation were the set of spiritual and moral values of the Russian Orthodox Church, starting with the Baptism imposed on the Kievan people by Prince Vladimir in 988 AD. The oldest use of the term dates back to A word for the renewal of the Church of the Tithes[*] (11th century), a monument of ancient Russian literature. The laudatio of the Grand Prince of Kiev Izyaslav (grandson of Vladimir) to mark the martyrdom of Pope Clement of Rome says: . . . not only in Rome, but everywhere; also in Chersonesus, and in the Russian world, a reference to the deportation of Clement to Crimea at the end of the first century of the Christian era. After the Mongol invasion, Rus' split into territories that became todays nations of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, along with several regions that now belong to other states. Since the early 1990s, the Russian World is often presented as a historical-cultural idea that underscores an international, interstate and intercontinental community whose aim is to unite all dispersed Russian-speaking compatriots, a reticular structure of large and small societies, which think and speak in the Russian language to quote historian Efim Ostrovsky. For Vladislav Surkov, a politician and one of Putin's ideologues, the Russian world exists in every country that places its hopes in Russia for defence and protection; many of these countries are in Asia, Europe, Africa and all over the world. According to Surkov, the most striking feature of the Russian character is its ability to see far. This led us even into space, when still half of our population lived in shacks and did not have indoor plumbing. Russian expansion is not dictated by interest . . . We are not a trading empire; this is what distinguishes us from the Anglo-Saxons. The Russian diaspora has two faces, an old and a recent one. After the revolution of 1917, Russian aristocrats and intellectuals formed communities in the West. In the 20th century, Russians living abroad (zarubezhnyye[]) set up cultural centres and research institutes, church jurisdictions and monasteries, sports, military and educational associations, often enlivening the cultural life in Paris, London, Rome and New York. The second wave in the diaspora followed the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, and over the past thirty years has set up its own colonies in various countries everywhere. After the initial flight of those who wanted to put Soviet totalitarianism behind them as soon as possible, not trusting the reforms of Gorbachev and then Yeltsin, the new Russians began to arrive everywhere, taking advantage of Russias abrupt transition to a market economy to amass huge fortunes. Whilst these Russian nouveaux riches" got used to the comforts and styles of capitalist countries, they always carried in their hearts an intimate sense of moral and prophetic superiority, showing the world the proud and impetuous face of Russia. Today however, the Russian world appears more like a chimera, torn apart and reviled within the homeland itself by oppositions that since 2012, the year of Putins return to the presidency, periodically express their dissent and impatience towards the ruling caste. Outbursts from youth groups and the poorest strata of the population have sparked greater and more systematic crackdowns. In 2021, Memorial, Russias oldest dissident group, was shut down while leading protest figures like anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny are languishing in camps not that much better than the gulag of the Stalin era. Repression is only one of the consequences of the crisis of the Russian idea. The main challenge comes from the reactions among fraternal peoples, those expected to naturally fall in line with the Russian World. The first ones are the little Russians of Ukraine, where the conflict that began with the Euromaidan uprising in Kyiv in the winter 2013-14 now threatens to drag Europe and the whole world into a new catastrophe of unpredictable proportions. Even the White Russians in Belarus let their impatience explode in 2020 against the brazen rule of Godfather Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power in Minsk since the 1990s. This year, 2022, began with crowds in Kazakhstan, another country considered by Putin naturally Russian, shouting "Get out, old man! against Nazarbayev, the countrys strongman. And the same mood has been reported in almost every former Soviet republic, with European variants in Moldova, Armenia and Georgia and Central Asian variants on the other side of the Urals. The Orthodox Church has played a role in the rise as well as the crisis of the Russian World as an idea; indeed, it can be viewed as the main source of inspiration for this universal ideal. Established in the late 16th century to extol exclusively the Orthodox Christian kingdom freed from Ottoman yoke, the Patriarchate of Moscow has always considered itself called by history to save the world from the demonic assault of heretics, infidels and perverts, in accordance with the political-religious theory of Moscow as the Third Rome that prevailed during the reign of the first tsar, Ivan the Terrible. In the Jubilee Synod of 2000, which also marked the start of Putins reign, the Russian Church consecrated its new social doctrine, outlining precisely the traits of the Russian World realised through the union of Church and State. That text was drafted by then Metropolitan Kirill (Gundyayev), patriarch since 2009, who tried to show the ecclesiastical way of Russias expansion in the world. The conflict with the Ukrainians even led to a break with Constantinople, which makes Kirill's plan even clearer. Today the Moscow Patriarchate exercises its authority everywhere, with exarchates in Europe, Asia, Africa and even the Americas, where it can rely on an autocephalous Russian Church in the United States set up during the Soviet era. The Russian Church seeks to impose a post-ecumenical ecclesial model, in which no time is wasted in dogmatic discussions. Instead, the focus is on defending and promoting everywhere the great moral, cultural and humanitarian ideals of historical Christianity, leaving to each Church its own tradition, its own canonical definition, and its own role in the world, starting with harmony between the First and Third Rome, with no room for the Second. In fact, Moscow has never recognised the See in Constantinople as its "Mother Church". After the city was conquered by Muslims at the end of the Middle Ages, the ecumenical see has come to be seen today in Russia as a Turkish patriarchate under the domination of Erdogan's new imperialism, and as a "Western agent. What is more, Turkey is one of the Russian Worlds great rivals, past and present, as it seeks to create a great Turkic union from the Bosporus to the Altai Mountains. War game between Russia and the United States also fall under the same classic template. Meanwhile, the real great obstacle to the realisation of the dream of the Russian World is becoming increasingly visible, namely Xi Jinping's China, both a friend and a rival, whose economic, ethnic and geopolitical proportions far outclass Russias. Great emperors in ancient times dreamt up world conquests; perhaps, we are now finally moving into a new medieval age. "RUSSIAN WORLD' IS THE ASIANEWS NEWSLETTER DEDICATED TO RUSSIA. WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECEIVE IT EVERY SATURDAY ON YOUR E-MAIL? SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER AT THIS LINK [*] [] You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close ODU graduate student Mauricio Gonzalez works on Rich Whittecar's research on sand dunes at First Landing. They dig deep into the sand to get samples that are old enough and date it to track what the landscape used to be like and information about the coastline history on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021. (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot) Rich Whittecar isnt searching for Blackbeards lost treasure in the sand dunes at First Landing State Park. Some people seem to think that when they see him wearing a hard hat and carrying a shovel over his shoulder, he said. Advertisement Legend has it that the famed pirates men were all over here in the early 1700s, including a time when Blackbeard himself buried treasure in the dunes while escaping back to his stronghold in North Carolina. So when passersby see Whittecar and his team digging, its a fair assumption. Advertisement But Whittecar, a 69-year-old geology professor emeritus at Old Dominion University, is fulfilling his own dream, one that began decades ago when he was just a baby professor. The goal: dating Cape Henrys ancient dunes. Somewhere between 3,000-5,000 years ago, the slender sand crests were formed where the oceans shoreline used to be. It happened as sea levels rose following the melting of ice age glaciers. The thing thats so neat for geologists out there is we have the trails set up along these long, skinny sand ridges all over the park, Whittecar said. If you look at a map, they almost look like fingerprints. But no one knows exactly how old they are. Whittecars estimate is based on best guesses given information about historic global sea levels. Using newer technology, he and his team are hoping to learn a more precise date range. If you can figure out when the ridges actually formed, it will tell you about the coastlines history, sea level rise and more, he said. Im real interested in when those ridges formed. Advertisement Rich Whittecar, ocean and earth science professor emeritus at ODU, is leading research on sand dunes at First Landing. They dig deep into the sand to get samples that are old enough and date it to track what the landscape used to be like and information about the coastline history on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021. (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot) On a beautiful afternoon in mid-December, Whittecar stepped off the main Cape Henry Trail. He was walking on the southernmost section along an inlet called Rainey Gut. The southern side of the park is home to the oldest sand dunes, and thats where Whittecar and a handful of grad students were finishing the last dig of the project. Whittecar rounded the corner to the site, which is lightly shielded from the main trail by trees. Just beyond, joggers, dog walkers and families moved past. The three students who volunteered as part of required fieldwork hours were wearing orange construction vests and hard hats and were several hours into the dig. It looks remarkably like grave digging, they joked. But the team was looking for a layer of sediment deep enough about 5 feet down to have not seen the light of day in a long time. When Whittecar started at ODU about 40 years ago, he tagged along on a soil surveying project at Cape Henry. Advertisement I saw a lot of interesting things and thought it was a gorgeous place to work, he said. Over the decades, he grew fascinated with the landscape and learned how special it was. Sand ridges are a common feature around inlets and barrier islands where theres a large supply of sediment, he said. But something about these kept him coming back for years. After recently retiring from most teaching, Whittecar had time to fulfill his passion project. Previously, it was hard to date the dunes because researchers relied on radiocarbon dating, which examines organic material to determine the levels of a radioactive isotope of carbon. Sand, however, doesnt usually have much organic material, he said. A newer process called luminescence allows for dating based on the energy stored in the crystal structure of each grain of sand. Advertisement When the sand is buried beneath newer layers, as it decays, each grain absorbs ionizing radiation and its electrons get kicked out of position, Whittecar said. Scientists in a lab can measure the amount of time thats passed based on that crystal structure since the sand last saw sunlight. In December, after the students dug deep enough, they used a sheet of colors not unlike paint samples to ensure the sand matched with what they wanted. It was time to get the main sample. Whittecar climbed into the hole. The students then put a black sheet over him to prevent light exposure as he stuck a tube into the deepest side of the hole. He wrapped it in foil and black tape, and they were good to go. The students started filling the hole back in. Throughout last year, Whittecars group dug at seven sites throughout the park. The sand samples now await luminescence dating at a lab in Illinois. Advertisement ODU graduate student Greg Joern establishes the color of the sand as part of Rich Whittecar's research on sand dunes at First Landing. They dig deep into the sand to get samples that are old enough and date it to track what the landscape used to be like and information about the coastline history on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021. (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot) The dunes at First Landing hold a lot of history. Theres the Blackbeard legend. Colonists also found harbor in Crystal Lake and its protective sand dunes, according to Pilot archives. They encountered Chesapeake Indians who retreated into the sand hills after being fired on by ship cannons, according to a historical account on the Cavalier Park/Bay Colony Civic League website. The dunes also can prove relevant in present day. Daywatch Weekdays Start your morning with today's local news > After Hurricane Matthew swept through in 2016, the sand absorbed much of the excess moisture then released it five days later, causing heavy flooding. Advertisement Whittecar said he knows his research wont be a decisive factor in immediate policymaking or engineering decisions related to sea level rise. But from an academic standpoint, it will help officials learn what happened while sea levels were creeping up thousands of years ago, he said. He expects to get the results sometime this year. Well have to wait and see what dates come back, and what story there is to make sense of those dates. Hes hoping the ridges at least line up from oldest to youngest, as he assumes. If they dont, then Ill really have to start scratching my head. Katherine Hafner, 757-222-5208, katherine.hafner@pilotonline.com Mr. Phillip Nathaniel Ware aged 62, passed away on Wednesday April 6, 2022 in Dallas, Texas . He was born to Mr. Frederick Brink Ware and Ms. Irene Duffner on Sunday, November 15, 1959 in Kansas City, Kansas. Phillip N. Ware will leave his loved ones with unforgettable memories and loving st The 1972 model that we have here is also seeking total restoration, although the car already hides a series of changes that more or less jumpstarted the process.Lets start with what the eyes can see and tell everybody the car needs fixes in all the key areas, including in terms of metal. eBay seller bruchhouse says the vehicle has already been repainted more than 30 years ago, and even though new seats, carpet, and door panels have been installed, their current condition still requires a refresh.Now lets proceed to the part that everybody is interested in.The Corvette has been built to 1970 LT-1 specs, so the engine has already been rebuilt. The current owner explains it has also been balanced and blueprinted, and it still comes alongside the original carburetor.On the other hand, the Corvette spent the most recent decades in a garage, pretty much because the owner wanted to fully restore it but didnt get the chance to complete the process. A rough 1979 rolling chassis has already been purchased to prepare the restoration, especially as the existing frame seems to exhibit massive rust issues.This 72 Chevrolet Corvette ended up being listed for sale, and unsurprisingly, there are plenty of people out there who are willing to get it and complete its overhaul. The bidding is underway as we speak, with over 20 offers received so far. However, the top $8,000 bid still isnt enough to unlock the reserve.The vehicle is parked in Spring, Texas if any potential buyer wants to inspect the car in person (which they should, especially since this is the best way to assess the current condition of the Vette more accurately). Thats not the case with A-10 Thunderbolt II . Arguably the ugliest airplane currently being flown in the skies of the world with war in mind, the Warthog, as its also known, is one of those beasts that does not need to be stealthy and sleek to get the job done.The way the thing looks, especially with fangs, teeth and eyes painted all over the front end by the various units that field the plane, has long inspired awe in friendly forces and dread in the hearts of the enemies.One would think that there should be at least one angle from where the plane would shine a beautiful smile. But as the countless stills of the A-10 released by the U.S. Air Force ( USAF ) over the years have shown, theres nothing beautiful about it.As part of the 2021 Year in Photos album, made public last week, the military branch made sure we get that by showing the A-10 while taking off. Its an image captured back in March 2021, when the plane, deployed with the 104th Fighter Squadron of the Maryland Air National Guard, departed from Hill Air Force Base in Utah on a weapons system evaluation program named Combat Hammer.The photo gives us a perfect glimpse of the planes rugged body, with blunt edges and large contours, and showing all the fibers of its muscular body for all to see.The A-10 was born in the hangars of Fairchild Republic in the 1970s. Its primary role is close air support and uses two General Electric turbofan engines to go about its business. America is the only nation that has this plane, made over the years in a little over 700 examples. On January 13th, Virgin Orbit's Cosmic Girl aircraft launched seven satellites onboard its LauncherOne rocket as part of the company's Above the Clouds mission. The successful rocket launch also depended on RAF pilot Mathew Stannard who was part of the flight crew. 6 photos The example that was tested arrived at the track with 19-inch wheels in the described configuration, but Hyundai offers it with 20-inch wheels. In the case of the tested unit, it came with Michelin Primacy 4 tires in the 235/55 R19 size, with a 105W rating.Its platform brother, the Kia EV6, went through the same test in early December 2021, so it was Hyundai's turn at the dreaded test. It is worth noting that the EV6 that was tested by the Spaniards at the time, on the same track, came with Continental ContiPremiumContact 6 tires in the 225/45 R20 H XL specification, which means that they were wider on the Ioniq 5's.Having larger wheels and tires does not always bring a performance benefit, nor does it guarantee a poor result. In reality, the result of a test like this depends heavily on the type of tire used, its compound, tire pressure, asphalt temperature, humidity, and all the other things that you would expect to make a difference. We are referring to suspension design and settings, as well as its mass distribution between axles.We have already covered the differences and similarities between the Kia EV6 and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 . Coming back to the test at hand, which is performed following the ISO 3888-2 norms, both vehicles came with factory-fitted tires and wheels, and both were in their rear-wheel-drive configuration.At the time of its test, the Kia EV6 managed to complete the maneuver at up to 78 kph (ca. 48.5 mph), which is more than the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo did just weeks before it. Well, as you will observe, Hyundai's Ioniq 5 manages to shoot the ball out of the park on this test.The Ioniq 5 managed to get an entry speed as high as 80 km/h (49.7 mph), but it does require setting the regenerative braking to its third level (out of four possible). It appears that that mode offers similar deceleration to a conventional vehicle and makes the car easier to control in this situation. One can only wonder what its N version would do Coastal communities are the hardest-hit when it comes to rising sea water levels , and with climate change, it doesnt look as if things are about to change for the better. As these communities continue to battle rising tides and furious storms, the solution is not to move farther inland but, as noted above, fight water with water. Not literally, but close enough.Floating habitats could be a solution to all the climate-related issues coastal communities are facing. Instead of moving people inland, authorities could be building for them better homes , homes that adapt to harsh weather and environmental conditions. This is the kind of home Puffer Village proposes.City dwellers think of a technology-packed home when they think of a smart home. A smart home is one that offers connectivity to smart appliances, reduces energy used, and ultimately makes life easier. For the people of Ganvie, in the Benin region of Africa, a smart home is a home that can read weather conditions and adapt accordingly, saving lives and livelihoods in the process.According to 3D visualizer and designer Sajjad Navidi, the brains behind the Puffer Village concept, this type of smart floating home would be applicable anywhere else in the world with threatened coastal communities, Amazing Architecture notes. Inspiration for it is found, as the name implies, in the pufferfish, which are able to blow up to fight predators and escape dangerous situations.Much like the pufferfish, this smart home puffs up either on air or water to survive, depending on whats threatening it. In rising tides, for instance, it fills with air and floats on top of the water , but during storms, it fills with water, thus becoming heavier to resist damage.The structure is anchored to the water bed at all times, regardless of the shape it takes. Like the fish its based on, the outer layer or the balloon skin is inflatable, but when no danger is detected by sensors, the house looks close to regular, with a flat roof and a flat base. There are flexible photovoltaic panels on the roof , and a system to capture and store tidal energy below water level. In short, the structure would be completely self-sustainable, which would make its location on the water ideal.Navidi created this concept for the African village, so he chose to imagine each home with an aquaponics system on wooden fences, so farmers could continue earning their livelihood as before. Two types of sensors would work together with the house, one for rising water levels and one for water wave detection. The air and water pump are integrated into the structure, so residents would have to do nothing in case either sensor was triggered.The interior design and layout are inspired by the mating circle created by the male pufferfish, but clearly, the most important thing about this concept is the fact that it would adapt to offer survival chances to those insides.The idea of floating habitats is not new, so Navidis statement that you have to fight water with water isnt surprising either. In the face of adversity, mans survival will always depend on his capability to adapt and overcome, and it seems like a home that can ride out the rising tide or withstand powerful storms would be one way of doing it.That said, this particular idea has not advanced farther than its concept stage. A floating city is planned for 2025, when an Oceanix city will set sail in the Busan Metropolitan City of the Republic of Korea. When that happens, floating habitats will no longer be a pipe dream. On the other hand, if you really want a super-rare Road Runner, what you need to look for is a convertible fitted with a 440 Six-Barrel. This is because Plymouth produced only 34 such cars, and obviously, not all of them are still around these days.The Road Runner that we have here isnt one of these rare beasts but a more common 1970 model born with a 383 (6.2-liter) engine under the hood.As anyone can easily figure out by simply checking out the gallery in the article, this car doesnt come in its best shape, but if we are to trust the seller, this makes perfect sense. This Road Runner has been struggling with all kinds of challenges lately, including a motorcycle accident that caused a dent in the body.This Road Runner spent most of its time in New Mexico, and according to eBay seller roberdouglas-0 , it has already been restored in the late 90s. However, the previous owner passed away, and the vehicle ended up being parked under the clear sky.We all know what this means for a restored car, but the good news is the rust hasnt yet taken its toll on this Road Runner. A respray and a new top are what this Plymouth Road Runner seems to need right now, but of course, theres a chance it requires a little bit more TLC. The best way to figure this out is to head over to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and check out this car in person.The digital fight for this Road Runner is underway as we speak, and judging from the number of bids received on eBay, the car has become an Internet sensation lately. The top bid at the time of writing is getting close to $26,000, with 3 days left until the auction comes to an end. With the international health crisis still in full swing as of the time of press, more car owners were forced to turn to alternative vacation solutions. Traveling by car or RV soon became a good replacement for the traditional hotel stay, while the journey itself replaced international flights. The crisis has had, and will continue to have, devastating effects in all aspects of our life, but one thing thats done right is help man rediscover the joys of travel again and trade businesses keep afloat by releasing new models to meet this surge in demand For todays unofficial history lesson , here is what is considered the worlds first travel trailer that is not a tent. A proper recreational vehicle, it is known as the 1913 Earl Travel Trailer, and it is still around: its been in the Recreational Vehicle / Motor Home (RV/MH) Hall of Fame Museum in Elkhart, Indiana for years, and it will remain there for the foreseeable future.The name of the trailer is derived from its owner, a certain Earl, a professor at Cal Tech University in California. The trailer was built for him on commission by a Los Angeles carriage maker, which should hardly come as a surprise considering its very much a steel-frame wooden box on wheels. But it was well-executed and well-appointed, especially by those times standards. Remember, this was 1913.The Earl Trailer has a steel-clad lower half, while the upper half is oil cloth. The windows were probably made of copper screens and did not survive the passing of time. The trailer, which is permanently on display at the RV/MH Museum , was restored in the 1980s, and has period-correct copper screening windows now, with storm shields made of canvas.The interior is hardwood throughout, from the floor to the ceiling, and offers sleeping and eating for two people. The professor used it as his mobile home on his field trips, so it had to have the basics for everyday living , excluding a restroom again, this was 1913, so the omission is understandable.Inside, there is a dining table that folds out to the ceiling and a double bench. Each bench folds out and becomes a single bed so that, once the table is removed, the living becomes a bedroom for two. On one side next to the entry is a pantry, while the other holds a small wooden wardrobe.The towing vehicle was a same-year-model Ford Model T and it, too, is at the museum and has been restored . Its a 2-seater convertible restored to its original blue color paint; Al Hasselbart, museum curator, explains in the History on Wheels video below that this was the final year that Ford offered three color options before limiting them to just black. The two vehicles are connected by a handmade hitch made by a local blacksmith.The 1913 Earl Trailer and Ford Model T were both donated to the museum by Wade Thompson of Thor Industries. That would be the same Thompson who revived the Airstream brand, a man who knew the rigs true worth and, implicitly, understood why it had to be put into a museum for others to see.If youre ever in Elkhart, Indiana, do drop by to check it out in person. This isnt just a very important piece of automotive history , but quite a neat and well-built trailer, even by todays standards.Or, you could always buy yourself a replica and fully live the vintage lifestyle, if youre up for the challenge. Over the years, several replicas of the iconic Earl Trailer have made the headlines, like the 2007 model included in the gallery above. It popped up for sale in Oregon City, Oregon with a $12,000 asking price and seemed to replicate the original down to a T, with the exception that a kitchen and other road-suitable amenities had been added, like a deep-cycle 12V boat battery, an American Coleman water cooler, a propane two-burner stove, and cabinetry. Before listing it for sale, the builder towed it with a Ford Model A. Showcased at the Paris Motor Show, the Karin concept was a rushed idea. Simply put, Citroen had nothing to show at the event and asked designer Trevor Fiore to come up with an attention-grabbing vehicle. And needless to say, the Karin raised quite a few eyebrows when it unveiled itself to the world.The truncated pyramid design with flush glass panels was the main reason, even though the shape wasn't completely new. The Lancia Sibilo showcased a similar design in 1978, but the Karin was a far more radical proposition.But Citroen might have gotten inspiration for the Karin from a couple of concept cars it designed in the early 1970s, including the GS Coupe and the GS Camargue by Bertone.The Karin was a mix of familiar design features and futuristic cues. While its outer shell was indeed wilder than the average late-1970s concept car, the Karin's headlamps were reminiscent of the Citroen SM , a high-performance grand tourer that Citroen developed in cooperation with Maserati in the late 1960s.At the same time, the partly covered rear wheels were similar to production models like the CX and GS.But it was the massive amount of glass panels that turned the Karin into an oddball of the wedge-design era. As did the roof panel, which might still be the smallest ever produced. The size of an A3 sheet of paper, the Karin's roof was smaller than that of a bubble car like the Peel P50.Like many concepts from the era, the Karin featured butterfly doors, which were actually necessary given the truncated shape of the greenhouse.Things were just as wild inside the cabin, where Citroen opted for a three-seat configuration with the driver seat in the center. The latter was also positioned slightly forward compared to the side passenger seats, a layout that McLaren made popular with the F1 supercar in the 1990s.Still, the Karin wasn't the first vehicle with a centrally-mounted driver seat. This feature had already been used in a 1947 Land Rover prototype, the FAB 1 movie car of the 1960s, and the 365P Berlinetta Speciale concept that Ferrari built in 1966.The wrap-around dashboard looked futuristic as well, while the steering wheel had an unusually long and thick column. The design made room for a display surrounded by controls in a circular dash shaped around the steering wheel.The latter had a V-shaped lower rim section with additional controls. The layout enabled Citroen to bragged about the fact that the driver would be able to control every single car feature without taking his hands off the steering wheel.On the flip side, the French firm didn't talk much about the Karin's drivetrain. Perhaps because it didn't develop the concept as a fully functional vehicle. But it wasn't a static piece, as the Karin was spotted on the go at least one time.Some materials from the era do mention a four-cylinder engine, but it's safe to assume it was far from special and most likely sourced from an existing production model.While Citroen promoted the Karin as a car that showcases technology for the future, none of its features were used in production cars that followed. But it's an edgy idea that may have, to some extent, served as inspiration for the Tesla Cybertruck What happened to the Karin, you ask? Well, it currently resides in Conservatoire Citroen, where the company stores nearly 300 cars built over 100 years. It all started on January 10, 1992, with a powerful storm in the Pacific Ocean. As you may have seen in dramatized variants in motion pictures, storms are not something to mess with while at sea. It does not matter how big the ship you are on is, things can get messy.In the case of a freight vessel that was traveling from Asia to North America, things were not going a-Ok, as the ship was tipped dangerously and repeatedly. Somehow, Evergreen's (yes, that Evergreen ) Ever Laurel did not sink because of the repeated tipping, but it lost a dozen 40-foot (12-meter) containers. Yes, those that some people build minimalist houses out of these days.According to the shipping manifest, one of the intermodal containers that were lost at sea that day had 28,800 rubber bath toys, which came in four forms.They were packaged in plastic , and each box had a green frog, a red beaver, a blue turtle, and a yellow duck. The story does sound better with 28,000 rubber ducks, but reality does not always sound as good as fiction, does it?All those children's toys were meant to reach the Tacoma port in Washington, along with numerous others. Somehow, the container that had the toys, which are called "Friendly Floatee," and were sold by The First Years company, became open, and the packages were free to roam the world's largest bathtub.Those rubber toys managed to be free of their cardboard housing and backing cards because the former was not meant to withstand seawater, and the toys were sealed, which ensured optimal buoyancy.Fortunately, someone saw something positive in the outcome of this incident. Oceanographers Curtis Ebbesmeyer and James Ingraham began to track the progress of those rubber ducks, and they were assisted by beachcombers across the world.Back then, the Internet was something that few people had access to, so contacting people was more difficult and expensive when compared to today's emails and DMs.It took ten months for the first batch of toys to be discovered, and their journey took them to Sitka, Alaska . Only ten toys were found there, so 28,790 were still roaming the world's oceans. Hundreds of other toys were found on the 530-mile-long (850 km) shoreline.They used a computer model called OSCUR, which was supposed to help fisheries, but is an Ocean Surface Currents Simulation based on measurements of air pressure since 1967.Ingraham, the designer of that computer model, managed to predict future movements of the remaining "ducks," as well as discover the likely locations of those lost at sea.The two oceanographers also coined the "flotsametrics" term for the toys, and with it, items that are discarded in the ocean are described as flotsam ever since.The migration of the rubber ducks led to the creation of at least two children's books, at least one scientific book, called Moby-Duck, an animated TV movie, as well as a song.Now, scientists do not require people to let them know that they found plastic ducks from 1992 on a beach, as advanced buoys are used to track oceanic moves. If you want to see what would happen if trash is dropped into the ocean, there is an interactive map for that The pollution of the Globe's oceans and seas is something that is difficult to gauge, but it is happening. Even if we all converted our vehicles to zero-emission technology overnight, that would not fix what is wrong with the world's oceans.The least every person could do is to ensure that they never drop things in the ocean, and that they never leave trash behind when they enjoy nature. Experts are warning that subsequent COVID-19 variants are likely to come after Omicron, AP reports. Why it matters: The warnings come as there's no guarantee that subsequent variants "will cause milder illness or that existing vaccines will work against them," underscoring the need for widespread vaccination, AP writes. The chance of the virus mutating increases with every infection, raising concerns as the highly contagious Omicron variant rapidly spreads, per AP. Between the lines: It's not clear what subsequent variants might look like or how they may impact the pandemic, experts caution. What they're saying: "The faster Omicron spreads, the more opportunities there are for mutation, potentially leading to more variants," Leonardo Martinez, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Boston University, told AP. "Its the longer, persistent infections that seem to be the most likely breeding grounds for new variants," Stuart Campbell Ray, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins University, said, per AP. "Its only when you have very widespread infection that youre going to provide the opportunity for that to occur." The big picture: Preliminary research suggests that the highly contagious Omicron variant is more resistant to prior coronavirus infection than with other variants, Axios' Caitlin Owens reports. Initial studies also have found that coronavirus vaccines particularly without a booster shot are less effective against Omicron infections than other variants, although they appear to hold up well against severe disease. The World Health Organization reported nearly 20 million new COVID-19 cases over the last seven days. Go deeper: Protection from prior infection significantly reduced against Omicron Lois Henry is the CEO and editor of SJV Water, a nonprofit, independent online news publication dedicated to covering water issues in the San Joaquin Valley. She can be reached at lois.henry@sjvwater.org. The website is sjvwater.org. BRUSSELS, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The recent talks between Russia and the West to defuse their tensions have ended without any breakthrough, auguring potential tension escalations, while the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) even warned of the risk of a new military conflict in Europe. The latest Russia-West engagements started with a Russia-U.S. meeting in Geneva on Monday, followed by negotiations between Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna on Wednesday, and then a NATO-Russia Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday. Pessimistic sentiments prevail after the three rounds of fruitless talks, as gaps on fundamental issues remain "unbridgeable." EXPANSION VS "AGGRESSION" Efforts have failed, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said after the talks ended. The NATO chief has, on several occasions in a week, warned Russia about the "high political and economic price" of any possible new aggression against Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly accused the West of threatening its security by expanding NATO eastwards and deploying weapons systems near its borders. "Negotiations were initiated in order to get specific answers to specific fundamental questions raised. It is on these fundamental issues that disagreements have been recorded," the RIA Novosti news agency quoted Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying. Analysts believe that Russia is willing to establish a longer-term security cooperation framework with Western countries led by the United States, while America has failed to respond to Russia's security concerns. After the talks, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who headed the Russian delegation in talks with the United States in Geneva on Monday, said that the main questions were "still up in the air, and we don't see an understanding from the American side of the necessity of a decision in a way that satisfies us." "We do not trust the other side," he noted. "We need ironclad, waterproof, bulletproof, legally binding guarantees -- not assurances, not safeguards." Ryabkov stressed that Russia has no plans to attack Ukraine, and there was no reason to fear an escalation of tensions with Ukraine. "Certain threats or warnings were put forward, we explained to our colleagues that we have no plans to attack Ukraine," Ryabkov said. "There is no basis for fearing any escalated scenario in this regard." Russia's military build-up against Ukraine features "tens of thousands of combat-ready troops, tanks, artillery, armored units, drones, a lot of electronic warfare systems," said NATO. Russia is seeking guarantees of NATO's non-expansion, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, but NATO is not happy to see Russia's interference with NATO's expansion plans. "No one else has the right to try to veto or interfere in that process. And this is about fundamental principles for European security. It's about the right for every nation to choose their own path," Stoltenberg said at a press conference with Estonian President Alar Karis this week. RUSSIA WANTS QUICK RESULTS In a recent interview with German radio Deutschlandfunk, Stefan Meister, an expert on Russia at the German Council on Foreign Relations, said that he had low expectations of the efforts underway to defuse the situation because Russia put forward a maximum requirement as the basis for negotiations, which cannot be met by either the United States or NATO. "I would say it is rather their process, which has started and that is perhaps the chance that NATO and Russia start the process again to talk about European security, arms control and all these issues," said Meister. Meister believed that Russia is a good negotiator. Russia went first with maximum demands in the first round, and then it can still move away from it. However, Michel Collon, a Belgian writer of several books on NATO, maintained Russia's demands were "very reasonable." "What would Washington say if you had Russian troops at the border of Canada or Mexico? They would say it's a provocation," Collon told Xinhua. Volodymyr Ishchenko, a research associate at the Institute of East European Studies at the Free University of Berlin, said in an article that a correlation between support for NATO and different visions of Ukraine's national identity makes the issue especially divisive. Many Ukrainians see NATO as a shield against Russia, while others feel that a NATO membership would surrender more of Ukraine's sovereignty to the West, which they feel has been happening since 2014, and, at the same time, would increase tensions with Russia, escalate internal tensions among Ukrainians, and drag the nation in one of the United States' "forever" wars, said Ishchenko. After a week of talks, the related sides were not any closer than they were before. Further talks are not currently planned. Moscow has reiterated that it is not interested in protracted discussions but wants quick results. Foreign policy expert Fyodor Lukyanov, who is close to the Kremlin, told Russia's state newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta that the differences are "apparently irreconcilable" and that a "new and rather dangerous escalation would be needed or could occur," in order "to force" the parties to new forms of agreement. However, Lukyanov noted that it is still unclear what exactly will happen. Bluefield, WV (24701) Today Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 80F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Mainly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 62F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Three Surprises of Oregon Coast History at Oceanside Published 01/10//22 at 6:02 PM PST By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Oceanside, Oregon) It's the tiny town that's packed with things to do, much more than its diminutive size would indicate. And there's even more when it comes to the little Oregon coast hamlet's past. As Oceanside gets ready to celebrate 100 years this year (look for something big this summer), it's a good time to look into its history. Here's three rather surprising tidbits. Roosevelt and the Refuge Those massive Three Arch Rocks offshore from this north Oregon coast gem are more than meets the eye. They're actually federally-designated wildlife refuges, making it illegal to hunt or kill the creatures that call it home. How that came to be is connected to the concept of the Teddy bear. Back in the late 1900s, a young man named Teddy Roosevelt spent considerable time in the area already known as the Tillamook Coast, and the little beach area that would eventually be called Oceanside. He loved this place, historians note. By the time he became president of the United States, and he'd long become disconnected from this spot, the area was getting ransacked by hunters / poachers who were picking off the various wildlife from those looming rocks. Seals, sea lions, various kinds of birds made this place home, and the issue was a heartwrenching one for many in the still-new state. This included a pair of naturalists / photographers, who wound up making years of observations about the place, paying special attention to the wildlife poaching problem. In 1903, they personally presented their findings to President Roosevelt, and pleaded with him to do something about it. In 1907 he did: Roosevelt designated Three Arch Rocks a national wildlife reserve. Roosevelt also inspired the idea of the Teddy bear the toy that became a staple for kids thereafter. See Odd Oceanside History, N. Oregon Coast, Part 1: Roosevelt to Start Trek One Crazy Idea: the Angel Walk Oceanside in the '40s Oceanside's tunnel was blasted out of that rock in 1926 by the Rosenberg brothers, who had purchased the land in 1921. In 1922, they officially named the town. See Curious History of Oceanside Part 2: WW II, Lighthouse on Oregon Coast Before that tunnel, however, tourists had to go to the other side of the tunnel via an elevated wooden walkway that went around Maxwell Point. It was sometimes called an angel walk. If that sounds like a goofy idea, it was. It didn't last long in that rough surf. The structure fell apart more than once, and was rebuilt at least twice. The tunnel itself isn't always stable, either. The exterior has been covered over numerous times over the last 100 years as landslides smother it. It was closed for years in the 80s. The most recent shut down happened at the end of 2020, but only lasting for a week or two. That landslide was caught on video, however. Famed Tunnel on Oregon Coast Covered by Rockslide; Some Needed Rescue The Fallen Arch of Oceanside For perhaps hundreds of years to maybe thousands of years, the other side of Oceanside had an arch. Then sometime in the winter of 2004, it suddenly didn't. Back in that northwestern corner of the beach beyond Maxwell Point, there are a host of black sea stacks, many of which host an abundance of sea stars and other tidepool life. Before 2004, there was a massive hole in one of them, creating this engaging arch. It had a head-turning shape a much-loved landmark in this tiny cove of the Oregon coast. That fateful winter came and it crumbled. It was gone. The area here is made of basalt: that black, sometimes angular rock that typifies Oceanside is actually cooled lava. Much of the lava fields on the north Oregon coast come from about 13 to 17 million years ago, including nearby Cape Meares. It's the hardest substance on this coastline, and it doesn't break easily. So when something like that arch at the northern edge of Oceanside does go away, it's a big deal. Or at least it's supposed to be, but back then few people noticed. My Space was really the only social media then, and the whole concept of posting photos online was still in its infancy. Plus, there was really no proliferation of cameras like there is now. Those who would've cared the most geologists in Oregon didn't really get the word. These days, it would be the buzz online as well as with geologists. The arch somewhat resembled the time portal in the Star Trek original series episode City on the Edge of Forever. That and a couple of other aspects got this beach called Star Trek Beach for quite awhile, though it seems it had already been called Tunnel Beach before that. For many years, no one knew the original name, and sadly that name seems to be taking over from the Star Trek Beach moniker. The Trek name is much cooler. Hotels in Oceanside - Where to eat - Oceanside Maps and Virtual Tours MORE PHOTOS BELOW More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted A California man who allegedly sexually assaulted a child in Texas has been arrested in Hardin County. Dillon Ellis, 29, is accused of traveling from California to Texas, where he allegedly sexually assaulted a 13-year-old and planned to take the child back to California, police said. Ellis was arrested on Tuesday on charges of trafficking of person, according to a news release from the Texas Department of Public Safety. Ellis used social media to engage with the child, eventually soliciting illicit images, the release said. Investigators believe Ellis was actively communicating with at least three other juveniles on social media and the details of those conversations are part of this ongoing investigation. Ellis was arrested by the Texas Department of Public Safetys Criminal Investigations Division, along with the assistance of the Lumberton Police Department and Texas Rangers, the release said. According to the Hardin County jail records, Ellis is being held on a $1 million bond for both trafficking of person and interfering with child custody. There is no additional information available at this time, the release said. meagan.ellsworth@beaumontenterprise.com twitter.com/megzmagpie Troops killed the alleged leader of an Islamic State-linked militant cell and three others blamed for a bus bombing that killed a 5-year-old boy earlier this week, during a gunfight in the southern Philippines on Saturday, the military said. The soldiers shot and killed Norodin Hassan and his men near the town of Carmen in Cotabato province, said Maj. Gen. Juvymax Uy, commander of the Armys 6th Infantry Division. The military identified Hassan (also known as Andot) as the leader of military affairs for the Daulah Islamiyah-Hassan Group. Daulah Islamiyah is the Filipino name for the Islamic State. The death of alias Andot and three of his cohorts only shows that justice is given to the victims of the Mindanao Star Bus bombing, Uy said in a statement. The military identified two of the other three killed as Abdonillah Hassan and Abdonhack Hassan. Officials did not say if the militants were related or if any soldiers were injured in the gunfight. Soldiers recovered high-caliber automatic rifles, mobile phones, radios and subversive documents with high intelligence value, the military said. The Armys 602nd Infantry Brigade commander said troops had received a tip about the militants. After we identified the perpetrators who were responsible for the bombing attack, we immediately launched the manhunt operation to prevent them from doing similar atrocities in other areas, thus preventing further loss of lives and damage to properties, Col. Jovencio Gonzales said in a statement. The bus had been traveling from the southern city of Davao, President Rodrigo Dutertes hometown, along the highway near Aleosan town where the blast occurred early Tuesday, killing the boy and injuring six others, including the boys father and two younger siblings. Several IS-linked militants have been killed since late 2021, including Salahuddin Hassan, identified as a top lieutenant in the southern Mindanao region under Philippine leader Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan. Military intelligence officials have said they believe Sawadjaan was killed in a clash in 2020 although his body was not recovered. Our continuous effort to go after these terrorist groups has been unyielding. There will be no let-up and slowing down against these terrorists who continue to attack civilian populace, properties and communities, Uy said. Mark Navales in Cotabato, Philippines, contributed to this report. If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom. CLAIM: Viagra can cure COVID-19. THE FACTS: Medical experts told The Associated Press that the use of Viagra to treat COVID-19 is entirely unproven, and cautioned against its use among COVID patients without further research. A spokesperson for Viatris, which markets Viagra, told the AP that the drug is not indicated for COVID-19 or related symptoms. Claims that the commonly-used erectile dysfunction drug Viagra could be useful in treating or even curing COVID-19 began circulating online after one woman in the U.K. relayed her experience being prescribed the drug while battling the virus. In a Jan. 2 interview with a British tabloid, the 37-year-old woman credited Viagra with opening up her airways after she was hospitalized and placed in a medically-induced coma with severe COVID-19. Her story was discussed during a Fox News segment, further amplifying the claims. Viagra functions by expanding blood vessels, helping increase blood flow. While this makes the drug effective in treating erectile dysfunction, the same properties also led the FDA to approve use of its active ingredient, sildenafil, for treatment of pulmonary hypertension, a type of high blood pressure that affects the lungs. With COVID-19, a hypothesis among some people is that because sildenafil helps relax blood vessels in the lungs, it may help improve oxygen levels among patients experiencing respiratory failure. But Dr. Daniel Culver, a pulmonologist and director of the Interstitial Lung Disease Program at Cleveland Clinic, said there has been no strong evidence the drug has been successful in these cases. There has never been a survival benefit demonstrated from using any of these drugs for patients in the hospital with respiratory failure, Culver said, adding: Unless there are large studies demonstrating benefits that are important to patients, like survival or getting out of the hospital sooner, I think its dangerous to advocate use of sildenafil for COVID at this time. Dr. Ashley Winter, a urologist specializing in sexual dysfunction at Kaiser Permanente in Portland, Oregon, also warns against jumping to conclusions about the drugs effectiveness against COVID. Just because it dilates blood vessels doesnt mean that it has any antiviral capabilities, Winter said. If somebody is early on in a COVID infection and they dont have pulmonary hypertension if you dont need to treat that specific symptom associated with being severely ill the Viagra is not going to do anything to your COVID infection. Some social media users cited a Jan. 3 study out of Chile, which evaluated the use of sildenafil for treating blood flow issues in the lungs of 40 COVID patients who were suffering respiratory complications. The researchers found no statistically significant differences in the oxygen status of patients who were given sildenafil and those who werent. The study did find that sildenafil could have a potential therapeutic role in preventing invasive ventilation under certain conditions for some COVID-19 patients, but the paper said the findings needed further research. Culver advised readers to exercise caution when reviewing the results. I dont think we can suggest that it was this particular therapy that made a difference, Culver said. Its possible but its entirely unproven. And in fact, its quite risky to use the active agent in Viagra, sildenafil, in patients with respiratory failure." Associated Press Writer Sophia Tulp in Atlanta contributed this report. Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor sits during a group photo at the Supreme Court on April 23, 2021 in Washington. On Friday, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly claiming Sotomayor dined with Democratic congressional leadership at a restaurant on Jan. 7. Investigations editor Larry Parnass joined The Eagle in 2016 from the Daily Hampshire Gazette, where he was editor in chief. His freelance work has appeared in the Washington Post, Boston Globe, Hartford Courant, CommonWealth Magazine and with the Reuters news service. PITTSFIELD Amtrak still needs to finalize terms with a freight rail company before it can operate New York City-to-Pittsfield passenger rail service this summer. CSX Corp. told federal regulators that it has agreed to the terms specified in a Monday letter regarding the proposed summer 2022 pilot of the Berkshire Flyer. Amtrak, however, has yet to agree to those terms. Amtrak views the letter from CSX as a new proposal, it said in a statement. We are awaiting the details of CSXs proposal, which will be reviewed by Amtrak and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, our state partner, Amtrak said. CSX wants the construction of a new 1,000-foot track in Pittsfield, an addition that it said would reduce interference with freight traffic. The Berkshire Flyer, a four-hour trip between New York City and Pittsfield, needs to use the Albany to Pittsfield stretch of CSXs Albany to Worcester line. New York City-to-Berkshires passenger rail pushed back to summer 2022 Passenger rail service between Berkshire County and New York City could begin in summer 2022, as long as the company that owns part of the tracks agrees to allow Amtrak to operate service on those tracks. CSX is trying to acquire Pan Am Railways, and Amtrak has asked federal regulators the Surface Transportation Board rejected a previous CSX bid to acquire Pan Am last year to require CSX to permit Berkshire Flyer service, one of seven conditions that Amtrak requested. Without those conditions, Amtrak said it would oppose the deal. CSX agreed outright to the other six conditions, it said in a Wednesday filing with the federal Surface Transportation Board. For the Berkshire Flyer, CSX has agreed to the terms specified in the attached letter, the company said. As discussed in a call last Friday between CSX, Amtrak and Senator [Adam] Hinds of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, CSX agrees to the operation of the Berkshire Flyer from Memorial Day to Columbus Day 2022 on the schedule that was provided to CSX, CSX President and CEO James Foote wrote in that letter, addressed to Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner. While we will need to have a commitment on a 1000 foot station track to mitigate freight interference, CSX is willing to support the operation of the Berkshire Flyer in 2022 as a Special Train under the Operating Agreement so that all parties can better evaluate the service, Foote said. Amtrak welcomes CSXs proposal but must evaluate the operating plan and cost associated with CSXs proposal, an Amtrak official told the Surface Transportation Board on Friday. Amtrak runs one daily train through Pittsfield each way on the Lakeshore Limited Line, and the Berkshire Flyer would add a train going each way on Fridays and Sundays over a 20-week period. In particular, we will need CSX to explain why it believes capital investment is necessary for Amtrak to operate 80 passenger trains a year over a 40-mile segment of CSXs Albany to Worcester line when CSX has agreed to allow Norfolk Southern to operate 730 nearly two-mile long trains a year over the entire 160-mile line without any capital investment or capacity study, said Dennis Newman, Amtraks executive vice president of strategy and planning. Meanwhile, state Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield, views what CSX sent as a letter of commitment, he told The Eagle on Friday. As project partners await a finalized agreement between CSX and Amtrak, Hinds said, Were moving forward based on the letter of commitment. A steering committee, which includes Hinds office, the city of Pittsfield, 1Berkshire, Berkshire Planning Commission and Berkshire Regional Transit Authority, met this week, Hinds said. We have the money in place for operating expenses and marketing, we have the marketing plans ready, and weve initiated conversations with the local first and last mile transportation once somebody gets out of the train station, he said in a Friday interview. Now, its a matter of activating the plans. At the Friday hearing, Newman said he hopes Amtrak and CSX can reach an agreement shortly on the Berkshire Flyer, adding that Amtrak would drop its opposition to the acquisition if an agreement comes promptly. Newman also raised a concern over CSXs agreement to the Amtrak conditions. In its filing, CSX agreed to the conditions as the conditions relate to the PAR [Pan Am Railways] System and the existing CSXT [CSX Transportation] network. Yet, Newman said, the way CSX defines those systems excludes Pan Am Southern, which runs freight through Berkshire County, including the Hoosac Tunnel, and is jointly owned by Pan Am Railways and Norfolk Southern Railway. Newman said Amtrak would like the conditions to apply to Pan Am Southern as well and is unsure why Pan Am Southern would be excluded. Amtrak operates passenger service on part of Pan Am Southern, and several state lawmakers want to establish passenger service along the northern tier between North Adams and Boston through Greenfield. Plenty of people on board with resurrecting passenger rail linking North Adams, Boston NORTH ADAMS As a boy, state Rep. John Barrett III can remember joining his father in Williamstown to watch the last passenger train depart from the Northern Berkshires.More than 60 years Newman told the Surface Transportation Board that CSX did not inform Amtrak before it signaled its agreement to Amtraks conditions in Wednesdays filing with the board. Im trying to dissect this, Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin Oberman said. I want to know whats agreed to and what isnt agreed to. Really, our knowledge of whats agreed to is the letter that was sent to the board, Newman said. The town of Richmond is just one Berkshires community that will debate adding a residential tax exemption, which is aimed at helping homeowners who are permanent legal residents stay in their modest properties. Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the interpretation of facts and data. Our Opinion: To honor Martin Luther King's legacy, fight for voting rights and democracy as fiercely as he did Spearfish, SD (57783) Today Windy with a mix of clouds and sun. High near 60F. Winds ESE at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.. Tonight Cloudy this evening with showers after midnight. Low 41F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%. The city of Moscow has applied for and been granted a $955,000 disaster recovery grant to assist with funding the construction of a new Sixth Street bridge over Paradise Creek near Mountain View Road. The U.S. Department of Commerces Economic Development Administration (EDA) has awarded a $955,000 grant to the City of Moscow. The new 24-foot, single-span bridge will replace the existing culvert system that was damaged by flooding in 2019, and will include sidewalks, bike lanes, and be elevated to lessen future flooding in the area. When talking about the grant, Mayor Art Bettge said, The grant money received is very needed as it enables construction of a replacement for the damaged bridge over Paradise Creek on 6th Street. In conjunction with the construction of a roundabout at 6th and Mountain View, traffic flow and pedestrian and bike safety will be greatly enhanced in the vicinity. A grant of almost a million dollars is a rare event and all of us, the citizens of Moscow, should be really happy that these monies have been made available. The receipt of this grant is a great reflection on the diligent efforts on the part of city staff to help stretch Moscows budget to benefit of the entire community. Bridge-building is not inexpensive, and this grant helps the city implement projects that would otherwise be difficult to fund. This EDA grant, provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration, will be matched with $515,000 from the City, and is expected to support the retention of 66 jobs in the community. Senator Mike Crapo also chimed in on the grant. The infrastructure investment in a new bridge over Paradise Creek will help many sectors of Moscows local economy continue to grow and thrive. EDA grants have provided a wide array of benefits across our state as they further the productive focus on growth and development in rural areas." Project construction is anticipated begin this summer and be completed by the end of 2022. OLYMPIA - On Thursday, Washington Governor Jay Inslee announced a number of actions the state will take in an attempt to help alleviate the staffing crisis facing many Washington hospitals. Among them, Inslee plans to deploy the National Guard to be deployed to emergency departments, pausing non-urgent procedures for four weeks, and calling on retired health care workers to temporarily return to the workforce, among other things. Deploying the National Guard Inslee has asked the Washington State National Guard to deploy 100 non-clinical personnel across the state to be deployed to the emergency departments to assist with various non-medical tasks to alleviate the crowded situation currently existing within those emergency departments. The members of the state National Guard will be sent to: Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital in Yakima Confluence Health/Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center & Childrens Hospital in Spokane; and provide COVID testing teams The National Guard will also be deployed to the following locations to set up testing sites: Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland UW Medicine/Harborview Medical Center in Seattle MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital in Tacoma There are additional FEMA testing sites that will be set up in King County and Snohomish County Pausing Non-Urgent Procedures With hospitals being at capacity, hospitals are now required to temporarily halt non-urgent procedures for four weeks so as much capacity and as many staff can be dedicated to emergent patients at the hospitals. Masks for Health Care Workers Hospitals are now required to operate in conventional PPE levels within the so that those who are coming to work under stressed conditions are able to feel confident that they are being given every opportunity to protect themselves. Calling on Retired Health Care Workers Inslee is also calling on retired health care workers to return to the workforce temporarily to help with the current crisis staffing. Retired health care workers are being asked to help with testing, vaccinating, working in the hospital or other locations. If you are interested, you can sign up at WAServ.org. Investing in the Health Care Workforce In his supplemental budget, the governor invested about $30 million to allow nurses, nursing assistants, and medical assistants to achieve their educational and clinical requirements without facing delays caused by limited opportunities for training. Mainly Jem's Birding & Ringing Exploits in the Eastern Province & Ringing Trips to Bahrain The Mercator Atlas of Europe - Pages 19 and 20 Copyright The British Library Board England, f.8 This map of England was made up of extracts from several copies of Mercator's 1564 map of the British Isles. On one of the map's information panels, Mercator declares that he only engraved the map that was sent to him by an unnamed "friend". His reluctance to name the map's creator or accept responsibility for the map's contents has led scholars to try to establish both the identity of Mercator's "friend" and the reasons why Mercator denied the map was his own work. One noticeable feature is the omission of the new bishoprics created by Henry VIII after he broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and established the Church of England in the 1530s. This is a strong political-religious statement by the map's creator. The place names are in Mercator's italic hand, but several mistakes in the rendering of place names suggest that the original source was written in a specifically British early secretary hand which Mercator had found difficult to read correctly, especially the letters "m", "w", and "r". For example, Crawley is written as "Crabsey", Ripon as "Kyppo" and Rotherham as "Motherham". Another striking feature is the prominence given to royal palaces around London - Hampton Court, Richmond, Greenwich and Nonesuch. In addition, even minor great houses connected to the life of the Catholic Queen Mary I (ruled 1553-1558) are marked; New Hall and Copped Hall in Essex where she lived while her younger brother Edward VI was king. Several suggestions have been made as to the identity of the creator of the 1564 map. One possibility is that it was the Scottish mapmaker John Elder, who hoped by making accurate maps widely available he would help France or Spain invade England and overthrow the Protestant Elizabeth I. Such a detailed map would have been of great help to any country planning an invasion of England. In the 16th century rulers increasingly recognised that accurate maps were essential tools of government, both to keep control of their own lands and to invade their enemies. John Elder had earlier betrayed his country by providing King Henry VIII of England with a detailed map of Scotland when he invaded the country in 1543. The Tudor monarchs themselves feared invasion by the powerful Catholic countries of France and Spain. Elder spent time in the 1550s in both England and France. He was probably commissioned by Queen Mary Tudor's husband Philip II or her cousin, Cardinal Reginald Pole, to prepare a detailed map of England, Wales and Ireland. Later he was closely associated with the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots, having been her cousin (and much later husband), Lord Darnley's tutor. He also had links to Mary's relatives, the powerful Guise family in France, especially her uncle, the cardinal of Lorraine. The English ambassador in Paris reported Elder's activities and warned he was dangerous. It is possible that Elder gave his maps to the Cardinal of Lorraine, or sent them directly to Mercator himself in the late 1550s. After his earlier brush with the Catholic authorities, Mercator may have agreed to print them, but insisted on minimal involvement. It is surely significant that the largest single order - for forty copies - of the published map came from Paris. The Mercator Atlas of Europe - Pages 39 and 40 Copyright The British Library Board Italy, f.20 This map of Italy was composed using extracts from several copies of Mercator's 1554 wall map of Europe. In making this map Mercator used a large number of references, including the great geographer of the classical world, Ptolemy. He followed Ptolemy in using the island of Ferro in the Canary Islands for his zero meridian. The first town he plotted on the map was Ptolemy's native town of Alexandria in Egypt as he considered that Ptolemy would have made every effort to have measured the latitude and longitude of the city as exactly as possible. In the 16th century there was still no method of measuring longitude exactly. However, Mercator's patient cross-checking of locations resulted in correcting the distortion that had existed virtually unchanged since Ptolemy's time. Ptolemy had erroneously shown the Mediterranean as stretching across 62 degrees of longitude from east to west. Mercator reduced this to 53 degrees (modern maps make it 41.5 degrees), a great improvement which meant the courses of the major rivers in particular, were depicted much more accurately. In the 16th century Italy was composed of small states. France and Spain fought several wars to try and extend their interests in the peninsula. By 1554 Spain possessed both the duchy of Milan in the north and the Kingdom of Naples in the south, and had secured alliances with the powerful states of Florence and Genoa. In 1559 France renounced all its claims in the peninsula. Emporia, KS (66801) Today Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. High 62F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low around 45F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Unlimited website access 24/7 Unlimited e-Edition access 24/7 The best local, regional and national news in sports, politics, business and more! With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime. ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Newfoundland and Labrador health officials say a 70-year-old woman in the western region of the province has died of COVID-19. The main entrance to St. Clare's Mercy Hospital is shown in St. John's on Tuesday, January 11, 2022. The CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Newfoundland and Labrador health officials say a 70-year-old woman in the western region of the province has died of COVID-19. She is the 24th person to die from the disease in the province. Public health officials said in a news release Friday there were eight COVID-19 patients in hospital, three of whom were in intensive care. The province has 5,574 active reported cases of the disease, though the figures do not include those who may have COVID-19 but do not qualify for PCR testing to confirm their infections. Officials reported 475 new cases, 404 of which had been confirmed since Thursday. The remaining 71 cases were among tests sent to labs outside the province because a demand in testing overwhelmed local capacity. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 14, 2022. HALIFAX - Nova Scotia is reporting 891 new cases of COVID-19 and four outbreaks at long-term care homes in the province. HALIFAX - Nova Scotia is reporting 891 new cases of COVID-19 and four outbreaks at long-term care homes in the province. Officials say the new clusters at the care homes involve a total of 23 staff members and 20 residents who have now tested positive for the disease. The affected residences are in Wolfville, New Glasgow, Sydney and Sydney Mines. There are also additional cases of COVID-19 related to previously reported outbreaks in hospitals across the province. Officials estimate there are now 6,648 active infections, and 57 people are in hospital due to the disease, including 10 in intensive care. Officials also say 83.1 per cent of residents have two shots of COVID-19 vaccine, while 90.4 per cent have had at least one dose. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 14, 2022. --- This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship. Elementary and secondary schools across Western Canada have reopened following the Christmas break as provincial governments faced criticism from teachers over what they say is a lack of protective measures against the COVID-19 Omicron variant. Elementary and secondary schools across Western Canada have reopened following the Christmas break as provincial governments faced criticism from teachers over what they say is a lack of protective measures against the COVID-19 Omicron variant. Schools in British Columbia and Alberta reopened on Monday with health and education officials stressing the need for in-person learning. Schools in Saskatchewan returned the previous week as scheduled. The leaders of teacher unions in Saskatchewan and British Columbia have been critical of how the reopening of schools has been handled and the stress it has placed on staff. "We have situations where learning assistants, or learning resource teachers, who are specialized teachers are being pulled out of their duties into classrooms to cover staff shortages," said Patrick Maze, the head of the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation. "The learning program suffers when you have this many transitions going on in the schools." The president of the BC Teachers' Federation agreed with those concerns. Teri Mooring said teachers want greater access to N95 masks in schools as well as priority for booster vaccines. Four B.C. schools announced functional closures this week, meaning there was not enough staff to teach students. "We're concerned there will be a lot more functional closures. It's hard for us to understand why the additional safety measures we're calling for aren't being put in place," Mooring said in an interview. She said refusing to accommodate the union's requests could lead to a staffing shortage in schools. "We think with those safety measures teachers and support staff are more likely to stay healthy," she said. "This whole issue of doing the bare minimum has always been a problem in education. We'd like to see a more preventive approach rather than a bare minimum approach." B.C. Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside said in an interview that teachers would not be prioritized for vaccines and the government has taken steps to manage risks posed by the virus. "It is a balancing act. One thing we have been very determined about in B.C. ... is to ensure we keep children and youth at the centre of our decision-making. We know how important it is to have access to in-person learning," said Jennifer Whiteside. But Cameron Phillips, a parent and Vancouver secondary school teacher, said he questions if the B.C. government is thinking about the long-term health effects facing students. Phillips said he and his wife, who is an elementary school teacher, decided to keep their kids home this week as they assess the COVID-19 situation in schools. "As a parent, I'm concerned about the future health of my children," he said. "As a teacher, I love my kids. I love my students. I know the school I teach at has many multiple generation families. There are so many students in my classes who are terrified of taking it home to auntie or grandma and causing suffering or havoc in their families." Phillips said he's "baffled" by the reluctance to provide N95 masks to students and staff, and would like to see improved ventilation in schools. Saskatchewan's chief medical health officer, Dr. Saqib Shahab, said schools have done a commendable job of continuing in-person learning in a safe way. "One thing we've seen is how important it is to maintain in-class learning as much as possible while accepting some higher transmission, which is not just unique to school, this is happening in health care, schools, all workplaces," he said. In Alberta, as the number of Omicron infections hit a record high this week, the president of the Alberta Teachers Association said hes concerned about students future in classrooms because "community spread is echoed in schools." I anticipate we're going to have more of what we saw this year but it might be intensified so we'll see more absences, we'll see more inabilities for schools to fill absent teachers, Jason Schilling said Friday. Alberta has left it up to schools to contact trace infections. Hundreds of students and dozens of teachers were reported absent on the Edmonton Public Schools board website on Thursday. Out of 105,151 students under the division, 3.16 per cent were absent due to COVID-19 and 3.56 per cent were absent due to other illnesses. The Calgary Board of Education also said its absent rate for kindergarten to Grade 12 students was 20.2 per cent on Wednesday. With files from Fakiha Baig in Edmonton and Mickey Djuric in Regina. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 14, 2022. This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship. Manitobas health-care system appears to be on the verge of implosion, along with the mental and physical health of the many folks who operate that system. Manitobas health-care system appears to be on the verge of implosion, along with the mental and physical health of the many folks who operate that system. We have been hearing for months now how the COVID-19 pandemic, and the surge of people needing hospital and ICU care, have forced the postponement and cancelation of literally tens of thousands of surgical and diagnostic procedures. Just this week, Doctors Manitoba warned that the estimated backlog now sits at 153,300 procedures, an increase of 1,200 since Octobers estimate. The aftermath of a head-on vehicle collision that took place on Richmond Avenue East early Thursday morning. The owner of this 2015 Ford Edge was transported to the hospital by her husband instead of an ambulance. (Submitted) That includes 57,800 surgeries, 52,900 other diagnostic procedures including endoscopies, mammograms, sleep studies and allergy tests and 42,500 imaging exams. Dr. Kristjan Thompson, the president of Doctors Manitoba and an emergency medicine physician, told media that this estimate merely covers a period before the omicron variant had hit the province late last fall. Doctors Manitoba expects the backlog to jump in the next month. "Unfortunately, I have never seen it this bad," Thompson said. "If you are not one of the unfortunate Manitobans left waiting, then you almost certainly have a friend, a family member, a loved one who is waiting in pain, waiting in fear or uncertainty." And its not only surgery and diagnostic procedures that are falling behind. Health care is experiencing backups, delays and problems throughout the province, including access to hospital beds, emergency-room care, outpatient and medical clinics, and ambulance availability. Thompson said Thursday that part of the problem is sickness among hospital staff. In emergency rooms alone, like the one he works out of, he is seeing long delays for patients seeking care and admissions. Recall that it was only two weeks ago we reported that at least eight emergency departments in rural Westman were closed or operating at severely reduced availability due to a combination of staffing shortages and physical resource issues. Last week the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals held a press conference to warn the public that rural areas of the province saw more than 17,000 hours where ambulances were out of service and unavailable to assist Manitobans in an emergency last October. The timing marked a five-year high and unfortunately shows no signs of slowing down due to increasing demand for ambulances and paramedic staffing shortages during this pandemic. "Its dire. Its dangerous. Its frightening," MAHCP president Bob Moroz told the Sun. Paramedics have been asked to work incredible amounts of overtime and callbacks over the last two years during the COVID-19 pandemic, and as a result the sector is now seeing paramedics who are burnt out and experiencing extreme fatigue psychologically and physically. "Were hundreds of paramedics short rurally," Moroz said. "Its a terrible circle. Our workforce with our paramedics has been far too small for years anyways. Weve been talking about that for years and we would get dismissed." This ambulance shortage is being felt here in Brandon, too. Terry Browett, a Brandon firefighter and president of International Association of Local 802, which represents firefighters and paramedics, said there are multiple times a day when the city has no ambulance coverage. "In Brandon we are no longer able to provide the ambulance service expected in an urban center," Browett told the Sun. "We have no ambulances available to [respond] to EMS calls within Brandon multiple times every day due to call volume. We are now responding with these ambulances to Shilo, Souris, [Wawanesa] and Rivers because they have no ambulance coverage due to staffing or transfers." The city saw almost 7,000 calls for service in 2021 and transfers to Winnipeg from Brandon have increased 300 per cent. And the effect is obvious. Just ask 67-year-old Joseph Nault who fell in the Real Canadian Superstore parking lot on a Thursday evening earlier this month, and was left waiting on the ground in -35 C weather for about 40 minutes for an ambulance to transport him to the nearby hospital. There were no ambulances available in Brandon at the time of his accident, and Joseph said he ended up being transported to the Brandon Regional Health Centre by a rig sent to Brandon from Rivers. Then theres the case of a 27-year-old Brandon woman named Karmelle, who was involved in a head-on collision this past Thursday morning. Karmelle was driving on Richmond Avenue East to attend her out-of-town job located east of Brandon, when a vehicle heading in the opposite direction at around 90 kilometres-an-hour swerved into the oncoming lane about a kilometre west of the Provincial Trunk Highway 110 intersection and hit Karmelles 2015 Ford Edge head on. She was extremely lucky in that she merely sustained only cuts and bruises when the front of her vehicle was crushed, and escaped what could have been a deadly collision. Though paramedics did check both drivers out at the scene, Karmelle was told she should call her husband for transport to the hospital, as apparently she was not high on the priority list for an ambulance call. She was later checked at the hospital following a two-hour wait in the emergency room for internal bleeding through an ultrasound machine. Though the pandemic has not caused all the structural problems within our health-care system, it has certainly exacerbated the cracks and problems within that system. And further, as omicron now washes through our communities unimpeded by government action, it has made all of us far more aware of just how precarious our system of care in rural Manitoba has become. Admittedly, I was a little spooked when I read author Jackie Collins happy new year tweet, especially given shes been dead for over six years. And maybe it was a little morbid of me to keep following her on the social media platform after she died, but there is something oddly reassuring about seeing her tweets, and I did feel a little warm and fuzzy when she wished her 165,000 followers a Merry Christmas from the other side. Jackie Collins may be gone from this world but her Twitter feed is alive and well. Credit:Original photo: Reuters Jackie Collins is in good company when it comes to the posthumous social media lives of our dearly departed celebrities I also follow Elizabeth Taylor, Prince and Michael Jackson on various platforms. Trying to piece together the creative jigsaw of Nightmare Alley, its hard to start anywhere other than Tod Brownings Freaks, a 1932 film that, when it was first released, was considered so horrific it was cut by 30 minutes in the US and banned entirely in the UK. Like Nightmare Alley it is a grotesque study of human darkness set in the wild world of a carnival sideshow. What made Freaks both unique and, at the time, disturbing, was Brownings use of real sideshow performers. Even now, if you walk into del Toros office, you will find life-sized statues of two of its stars: Johnny Eck, an early-20th century carnival sideshow performer who was born without the bottom half of his body, and was billed in sideshows as Half-Boy, and Koo Koo, another carnival sideshow performer, born Minnie Woolsey, who was born with Virchow-Seckel syndrome, which gave her a very short stature and a small head, who was billed in sideshows as Koo-Koo the Bird Girl. Director Guillermo del Toro, left, on the set with actors Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett during the filming of Nightmare Alley. Credit:Searchlight Pictures But when it came to bringing Nightmare Alley to the screen, del Toro says he consciously tried not to fall into the trap of referencing Freaks too directly. I thought thats what people, by pure muscle reflex, are going to think Im going to do, del Toro says. Instead, he leaned into another, less well-known work of Brownings, Fast Workers, about the life of a high-rise skyscraper builder looking for emotional and financial stability. So, its Tod Browning but not in the way you would expect. Opposite and equal to Coopers Stan, as the film enters its middle and final thirds, is Cate Blanchett in the role of psychiatrist Dr Lilith Ritter, the films femme fatale. It is a dazzling performance, enhanced by Blanchetts clarity of understanding and a set so richly stylised it makes her look like she is doing a slow, careful ballet cambre in the midst of an art deco museum piece. For me, the salient thing is intelligence, an intelligence that is contained. And I think Cate is one of the most intelligent human beings Ive ever met and brings that to every part, del Toro says. It was almost like a double take where, how come shes never done [a role like this before]? Because she was literally born to play that part. The same is true for Bradley, del Toro adds. I think the gravity and darkness that he brings to Stan, he had never done. And the way he behaves, moves, assumes the period, the intelligence, to make him real. So, those two, I called them jokingly, when I was going to get Cate Blanchett, I called Bradley and I said, hey, King Kong, Im about to meet with your Godzilla. And I said, together you will destroy blocks and blocks of the city. One of the most interesting aspects of Nightmare Alley is that, for a filmmaker who mostly makes original work, this brought to del Toros desk a work that not only existed as a novel but also as a 1947 film, which starred iconic film actor Tyrone Power as Stan. (Reflecting on William Lindsay Greshams original work in 2010, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Michael Dirda said that as a portrait of the human condition, Nightmare Alley is a creepy, all-too-harrowing masterpiece.) Edmund Goulding, the director of the 1947 film, was directed by then-20th Century Fox studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck to make some changes to the books story, in the service of lightening the films tone and delivering a slightly different ending. When he sat down to write a new screenplay adaptation, del Toro says there was never any doubt in his mind that he wanted to remain faithful to Greshams original ending. The way Bradley, Kim [Morgan, the films co-writer, and del Toros wife] and I discussed it, we always talked about our reckoning, del Toro says. We always said, the whole movie is prologue to the last two minutes. And you dont have [someone like] Zanuck because when you come to the studio, and you come to the actor, you say, look, the ending is a dealbreaker. Even if we test it and people want to burn the theatre, this is the ending. Its not a whim to be edgy, its not a whim to be dark, it is a movie that resonates with the anxieties of today, truth, lies, belief, perception, closed systems of reconfirmation of bias, hucksterism that rises and rises in a populist way. What are you going to end in but the truth? del Toro adds. You show a man the truth of his life, not changing, he just gets worse. And then in the last two minutes, all the masks fall off, and you have an incredible moment. There is one curious point of divergence. In the book, as Stan develops his mentalism act, he transforms himself professionally into Reverend Carlisle. And it seems that Gresham, in the book, was consciously wanting to say something about the idea of the way fear is used as a tool in the commercialisation of faith. But in del Toros adaptation, Stan takes the stage name The Great Stanton, which seems to cast him as magician more than false prophet. Thats what I called the Elmer Gantry portion of the novel and I think it has been done to perfection a few times already, del Toro says, referring to the 1960 film Elmer Gantry, based on Sinclair Lewiss novel, about a confidence trickster and a female evangelist selling religion to a small town in America. (The film earned its writer/director Richard Brooks an Oscar in 1961 for best adapted screenplay.) What I had not seen is a guy being a predator of people who are seeking specific solace, del Toro adds. And its a topic he feels like he knows well. In 1997, his father, Federico del Toro Torres, was kidnapped in Guadalajara and held for 72 days until a ransom was paid for his release. Loading Very early on, some psychics show up to talk to my mother, and they said, we know where your husband is, we can take you there if you believe in us, del Toro recalls. And I remember saying, please get away, leave the house. But I saw my mother hold on to that hope. So, Ive seen this effect firsthand. And for me, its not a discourse. When his father died in 2018, del Toro adds, he left him a watch. Which I tried, and I realised for the first time in my life that Dad had smaller wrists than me, del Toro says. I dont know how or why this is important as a moment, but its there in this movie, he adds. And as a storyteller, I remind myself that I have to speak of things that I believe or feel are true. Because I think when you put out a story, it resonates with people in the ether, and they find themselves in it and are provoked by it. And if its true to you, it resonates beautifully, even if its antagonistic. A NIGHTMARE ALLEY PRIMER Scream MA, 114 minutes At the peak of Hollywoods mid-90s craze for self-awareness, Wes Cravens metafictional horror-comedy Scream managed to be ironic even about its own irony. The characters could crack wise all they liked about slasher movie conventions, but that did nothing to stop a masked killer picking them off one by one. Jenna Ortega confronts the masked killer in the fifth instalment in the Scream franchise. Credit:AP A similar dilemma looms for the makers of the new Scream, the fifth in the series and the first not directed by Craven, who died in 2015. In the unfortunate town of Woodsboro, California, yet another killer is on the loose, prompting the inevitable jokes about how this is just rehashing a tired formula. But is this, in fact, just rehashing a tired formula? To an impressive extent, directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (Ready or Not) and their team succeed in squaring this circle, a trick they accomplish partly by turning their film into a symposium on what a new Scream ought to look like. Imagine youre at a restaurant one night, and after dinner you decide to order not one but two slices of cheesecake for dessert. Many would say thats unhealthy or at least indulgent but everyone deserves a treat once in a while. Right? If you keep ordering two slices of cake for dessert every night for months, however, your health may suffer. Grand romantic gestures in the early days of a relationship could be sweet or a sign youre dating a narcissist. Credit:iStock This is one analogy that Chitra Raghavan, a professor of psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, used to explain how romantic behaviours can transform into a manipulative dating practice known as love bombing: lavishing a new romantic partner with grand gestures and constant contact in order to gain an upper hand in the relationship. One partner, typically male but not exclusively, showers the other person with attention, affection, compliments, flattery, and essentially creates this context where she feels like shes met her soul mate and its effortless, Raghavan said in a phone interview. The reality is, the person who is doing the love bombing is creating or manipulating the environment to look like hes the perfect or shes the perfect mate. Mr Mendez is 79 years old. He has a hot and cold relationship with his neighbours. In the hospital, we know him well. He falls, he neglects himself to the point of collapse and, apart from an unwavering belief that his neighbour has him under surveillance, he is sharp as a tack. Usually, at this stage in his recovery, a community nurse could treat him at home; until Omicron. Next to him is Colin, a paraplegic for more than 15 years, who keeps getting urinary tract infections and occasionally ends up in our intensive care unit. He was managing, until Omicron. The federal and state governments need to work together to improve access to aged care and rehabilitation services, to free up hospital beds. Credit:Louise Kennerley But its Sandy in the next room, who lost her leg from a fall, who is in big trouble. She is just learning to walk with an artificial leg, which she needs to do to see her methadone prescriber weekly. She is in real trouble because of Omicron. None of them have Omicron it is the other 100,000-odd people in NSW who have it that are their problem. We need the beds occupied by Mr Mendez, Colin and Sandy, right now, yet this trio simply cannot get out of hospital because no rehabilitation alternatives are available for them. This situation means the 400 people who turn up each day to our emergency department cant get in. That is the bigger problem and it is happening across the state. More than one-in-20 of Queensland Healths 96,000-strong workforce were off work due to COVID infections or quarantine directions by Friday this week, as the state approaches its Omicron-driven pandemic peak expected by early February. The data comes as the state government consider new hospital visitor limits and urgent action to secure staff and protective equipment at one aged-care facility as growing case numbers and staff shortages bite. Almost 5000 Queensland Health staff were furloughed due to COVID infections or quarantine directions as of Thursday. Credit:Louie Douvis Authorities reported the equal deadliest day of the pandemic in the state so far on Saturday with six deaths, including a person in their 20s, and a 10 per cent jump in hospitalisations amid 19,709 new infections. As the state approaches an expected peak in cases and hospital admissions within the next three weeks, the number of Queensland Health staff furloughed because they had tested positive to COVID had grown to 2621 by Thursday, a spokesperson told Brisbane Times. Queensland has reported six new COVID-19 deaths, including a person in their 20s, alongside 19,709 new infections and a jump of 60 patients in the states hospitals. The update comes just hours after an early scrapping of the states remaining domestic border restrictions, allowing entry by road and air without needing a pass or proof of vaccination status and a negative test result. Queensland Health Minister Yvette DAth has urged people to refrain from calling Triple-0 for mild symptoms of the virus to help ease pressure on the ambulance service. Credit:Matt Dennien Our condolences go to the family and friends of these individuals, Health Minister Yvette DAth told reporters on Saturday. Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said in addition to the person in their 20s, one of the deceased was aged in their 70s, two were in their 80s and another two were in their 90s. All had significant underlying medical conditions and had been vaccinated. IAN FLETT ROBERTSON OAM August 18, 1928-January 9, 2021 Ian Flett Robertson was an ophthalmologist and corneal transplant surgeon devoted much of his career to establish the Lions Eye Bank of Victoria, to help facilitate corneal transplants and improve the vision of many Victorians. Paradoxically, Ian died blind from glaucoma. But, along the way, he was a doctor devoted to his patients and to teaching his juniors and colleagues. Ian was born in Ivanhoe, Melbourne, in 1928 and was dux and school captain of University High School in 1945. With many returned servicemen entering university in 1946, the first year medical, dentistry and engineering students were sent to Mildura, where Ian made many friendships that were to continue through his life. Ian graduated in medicine in 1952 and spent his intern year in Launceston and second year at The Alfred hospital, before beginning ophthalmic training at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital. Minimum nursing ratios are not always being met and most elective surgery procedures were again cancelled last week. On Saturday, the number of COVID-19 hospitalisations in Victoria surpassed 1000 for the first time in the pandemic. A day earlier, staff at one Melbourne hospital were told this could still increase three or fourfold before the worst of the Omicron wave was over, according to leaked correspondence. While the Victorian government says it has no recent modelling on anticipated hospitalisations, the head of the epidemiological modelling unit at Monash University, James Trauer, anticipated Victoria could have 2000 to 3000 COVID-19 patients in hospital in the coming weeks based on what had occurred in the UK. Theres still a lot we dont know, Associate Professor Trauer said. According to an earlier Health Department plan, that rate of admissions could prompt more extreme measures, including reduced access to emergency care and a scenario where hospitals only treated the sickest COVID-19 patients. Loading The deputy state controller of health system operations, Adam Horsburgh, said the Health Department had planned for every scenario, but those measures would only be considered in the worst case. We are doing everything we can to mitigate or reduce the need for us to take that [step], said Mr Horsburgh. Im very conscious that this is a balance between providing access to those with COVID who need care and providing a whole range of non-COVID services that the community needs access to as well. In a worst-case scenario, he said it was possible that pressure on the hospital system would eventually reach the point that pausing some category 1 elective surgeries would be considered. If that happened, he said, senior surgeons at each hospital would assess patients to establish who is truly most clinically urgent and that the intention would be to keep the pause in place for the shortest time possible. He said expert medical groups were in place to be consulted for any other difficult decisions needed. In the meantime, Mr Horsburgh said efforts to take strain off the hospital system were now focused on supporting COVID-19 patients to stay at home, including through expanded hospital-in-the-home programs, and in quarantine hotels, including for those who are close to discharge but needed clinical observations or physiotherapy. Staff working under supervision are also increasingly being brought in to assist nurses, including physiotherapists and occupational therapists on wards along with medical or nursing students nearing the end of their training taking on roles such as being PPE spotters to check people are wearing masks and other equipment properly, he said. Allowing asymptomatic health staff with COVID-19 to return to work is considered a worst-case scenario, along with declaring a code brown emergency for the hospital system a measure that was typically reserved for shorter-term emergencies like a train crash or bushfire. Associate Professor Trauer said if predictions about the Omicron wave peaking soon were correct, introducing new restrictions would probably have little effect on hospitalisations. Loading Instead, he said it would be wise for the elderly or people with conditions that made them vulnerable to illness to have as little contact as possible with those outside their home until the peak had passed. If youre an elderly person, the last thing you want to be doing is turning up at a hospital in the next couple of weeks, he said. Its like a last-ditch thing and there could be a role of government as they could deliver essential supplies to the doorstep of elderly people so they can just stay within their houses. At Monash Health in recent weeks, Ms Hyde has been asking nursing staff to work double shifts and stay back late due to the number of workers being infected or isolating. The hospitals emergency department was 10 staff short during night shift one night last week half the workforce for night duty, she said. Ambulances were ramped outside hospitals for up to eight hours waiting to offload patients. Overstretched nurses were devastated by the necessary shortcuts taken to deal with the load and constantly worried about their quality of care, she said. For the nurses, they always worry: Have I missed something? I feel like Ive left an incomplete shift. Im handing over a mess. I wasnt able to change that pad. Ms Hyde said every COVID-19 wave has felt the hardest, with Delta presenting seriously ill cases and straining intensive care units. But the sheer number of people coming into hospital during the Omicron outbreak, coupled with lack of staff, had set a new precedent. Emergency physician Simon Judkins said patients were being treated in waiting rooms of emergency departments, in some cases for 12 hours, while other healthcare workers said this was occurring in triage tents set up outside hospitals. I cant remember any time working in the public health system for the last 30 years that we have felt this much pressure and this much stretching of resources and compromising of care, Dr Judkins said. Were not able to maintain any level of the patients respect or just humanity. Our job is to help and heal people and its really hard when we cant do that to the best of our ability, said one of the nurses, who requested anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media. Meanwhile, a senior specialist doctor in Melbourne, also not authorised to speak publicly, said he had been told in a meeting this month to avoid soft hospital admissions a direction he understood to mean not to admit people who might be considered borderline. He said junior doctors had also told him theyd been advised to minimise investigations of patients to speed up their discharge from hospitals. Weekend Notes: Negatives before Q1 2022; AirTags; iCloud Private Relay Blocked; Macbeth on AppleTV+ By Graham K. Rogers In time for Q1 2022 at the end of the month, Apple rumors predict doom. AirTags: another feature revealed; and the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. iCloud Private Relay blocked for different reasons in USA, EU and here. Macbeth on AppleTV+ - brilliant. Comments on film photography and stacked images. Apple released what were billed as minor updates to iOS and iPadOS (15.2.1) this week, although the timing was odd - not overnight here and on a Thursday - and there were clearly some security fixes. In just over a week Apple will announce its Q1 2022 figures (27 January), and then another 6 months until WWDC. That is essentially a conference on software development, but an opening keynote may provide some clues as to upcoming hardware. In some years there have even been hardware announcement included in this keynote event. Nonetheless, with 6 months to go and another few months before the next iPhone is announced, the internet is full of speculation about what this next smartphone will include: a smaller notch and 120Hz ProMotion are a couple of features already put forward. There has always been certain amount of speculation about Apple products, but in the last few years this has hardened into a convincing onslaught that confuses consumers and market analysts too. Wall Street isn't too bright when it comes to Apple, but the share price does affect external systems, like pension funds and Tim Cook's remuneration (as long as he and the others that have stocks options stay in place). I always expect that just before the quarterly report from Apple, some analyst or pundit will produce a negative report that will worry Wall Street. There have been concerns about supplies in the last year, but this has not stopped surveys from reporting massive sales of the iPhone, particularly in China where Huawei has had some problems. There has also been much noise about Apple's VR glasses, particularly in the light of the melding of Facebook into Meta and Mark Zuckerberg's creepy video introduction of his vision. While there are certainly good uses for VR that vision suggested to me how divorced from reality Zuckerberg is, but he wants us all to join him on his magical mystery tour and leave the real world behind. Timothy Leary did this much cheaper (and some say better) in the 1960s. Goggles? - Image courtesy of Apple This week however, just in time for the Q1 report, Bloomberg reports (Mark Gurman, et al) that Apple's VR glasses - a product that has not had a release date outside the minds of the pundits - are to be delayed. There are several other reports available online all based on the Bloomberg rumor page. And this is too regular. Many treat Gurman and Ming-Chi Kuo (formerly of Digitimes, now TF International Securities) as if they have direct lines to the Apple command. Perhaps they do, but the negative reporting often has unusual (and strategic) timing. On my left screen I have a report that Apple is to release VR glasses this year. On my right screen there is another report that tells me these glasses are delayed. On the screen of the iPad Pro there is a report from Patently Apple that tells me this week "Ming-Chi Kuo delivered a positive prediction about Apple's coming Mixed Reality Headset being years ahead of the competition", but then "Bloomberg rains on Apple's parade by stating that the 2-custom chip design currently has overheating issues". I will wait until Tim Cook steps onto the stage (virtually these days) and introduces a revolutionary new product that will forever change the way we see things: literally and figuratively. I am sorry to read that Jack Purcher of Patently Apple has been hospitalized with complications from Covid. I wish him a speedy and full recovery. I keep going on about the AirTags and the ways in which some criminal minds have used them, despite Apple's built-in protections, but this week I experienced another way Apple protects users of these tiny devices. As well as my keys I deployed one AirTag inside a case. This might help if the bag was ever lost. With its wheels it was of great help when going shopping to relieve me with the loads I tend to carry. However, Bangkok street surfaces are unforgiving and one of the wheels broke while I was out last week. As I was headed for Siam Paragon, I knew there was a bag repair service there (Mr Bag-Fix) and dropped it off. It will not be back for a week or more so I headed home on the BTS carrying bags of shopping. I had not gone too far (Chongnonsri) when a message appeared on the watch, telling me that I appeared to have left the bag behind. I had toyed with the idea of removing it, but did not bother. I turned off some the controls as I do not want to keep receiving messages. At least Apple had my back. On Macstories, John Voorhees put forward the question of whether AirTags are causing stalking or just making us more aware. After an overview of how Apple's system is designed to protect users, he linked to another article concerning whether the recent spate of reports are because there is a problem or just because we are more aware of the idea. I had thought that it was similar to when someone buys a car of a particular make and model then sees these every day, when they had not been aware of them before. The article he links to by Matt VanOrmer explains that this is something called the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. I sat up: when I was a policeman in the 1970s, this was the name of a terrorist group and there were frequent circulations about this and other groups (such as the Red Brigade). The phenomenon is also known as "Frequency illusion". As VanOrmer notes, the AirTag "anti-stalking features are likely resulting in more unaware victims discovering the unwanted trackers". It isn't just a new outbreak of tracking. Like the Pegasus attacks, there seemed to be more iPhones affected because the logging made it more obvious to analysis, even though Android devices were just as widely affected. For another explanation of the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, Healthline gives a number of ways in which this is actually quite common in day to day living. There is also an explanation of why it was given the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon name: because people heard about it, they were tuned in to the word and it appeared to crop up more frequently. A report early in the week (Chance Miller, 9to5 Mac) suggested that users on the T-Mobile network were unable to use iCloud Private Relay in the USA. This followed another report that some users in Europe were also blocked from using this, but this was clearly because carriers there were upset that it prevented them from collecting user data and hence (they claim) their ability to "efficiently manage telecommunication networks". On Cult of Mac, Killian Bell outlines the situation and it seems clearly this is because of the user data they habitually collect and earn income from. There may be some problems for the carriers as the EU is quite keen on the idea of privacy which this helps. It should be noted that T-Mobile denied that they were blocking this feature and put it down to a problem with the 15.2 update which Apple denied. Joe Wituschek (iMore) has information on this spat and on Private Relay, noting in a later update that T-Mobile had backed down. Not all countries have this feature, which is currently in beta. It can be found in Settings on an iPhone. Access the iCloud panel with the user photo (or icon) then click on iCloud. In the list of services which begins (on my iPhone) with Photos, I can see Private Relay just below Keychain. I have turned this on, although there is a problem here as this is not available in the country: nothing to do with carriers; but with a government that still thinks Cold War rules apply, this is not unexpected. This was the same using WiFi or 4G. At the end of the week I watched the newly released Macbeth on AppleTV+: a Joel Coen movie with Denzel Washington in the title role and Frances McDormand as Lady Macbeth. Washington is one of my top favorites and I like almost everything he is in, but in the way he delivered the lines this exceeded what I had come to expect of him. I had never seen him as a Shakespearean actor before, but I hope there is more: Lear, Caesar; but not Othello. This production made the skin of the black actors irrelevant. The whole production gave an ease of understanding to the difficult dialogue that is sometimes hard to achieve. I was almost moved to tears when MacDuff (Corey Hawkins) was informed of the assassination of his wife and children, while the Macbeth soliloquy, "She should have died hereafter was beautifully paced. I reminded myself of the Ian McKellan Richard III in which the "Now is the winter of our discontent" speech avoids the traditional heaviness and is far more easily absorbed. Coen cut through to allow easy access to the meaning of the dialogue (though some lines were missing) and had a beautiful economy in lighting the sparse set. The clever use of black and white added to this. I had commented on the use of the word, Hereafter while editing a paper this week, suggesting to the writer that this was somewhat archaic. I used the Macbeth soliloquy as part of my proof and she accepted my suggestion. As a result the word was in my mind (see Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, above) and while watching the production on Apple TV+ I noted its use at least four times. I mentioned to my colleague that its use had implications concerning the afterlife, but its use in the play made it all the more clear how Shakespeare was signaling this to his audience. I also write about photography when the mood takes me and have several film cameras. The articles I write are usually put out on the Emulsive site which I have found to be a good resource. This week there is an article by me on the output from a Pentacon six TL that I bought a few month back: 5 (or 6) Frames . . . Of Thai urban and Rural Scenes with ILFORD SFX 200 and a Pentacon Six TL (120 Format / EI 200 / Carl Zeiss Jena MC Biometar 80mm f/2.8). This is a camera with a lot going for it, but with some idiosyncratic features. With a penchant for making odd things work, which is what got me interested in computing in the 1980s, another recent article is 5 Frames. . . Of Fantome Kino ISO 8 with a Nikon F3 (35mm Format / EI 8 / Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AI-S). This looks at output using a film with an unusually low ISO rating. In a couple of comments recently, I have mentioned the massive images created when photographically documenting beetles and The Night Watchman. Now Jaron Schneider (Petapixel) has outlined the process of a Japanese artwork from the 18th Century: The Wind and Thunder Gods, by Tawaraya Sotatsu. In this case, a Canon EOS R5 was used to produce a a 4.2-gigapixel photo. The purpose here is to create a replica that can be examined to keep the original safer. When I visited the Japanese prints department of the Ashmolean Museum in the late 1970s, by appointment I asked to see some of the rarer examples. I was taken to a dimly lit room and one by one the works were brought out to me, although I was not allowed to touch them. Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs. After 3 years writing a column in the Life supplement, he is now no longer associated with the Bangkok Post. He can be followed on Twitter (@extensions_th) The first 3 million of Victorias rapid antigen tests have arrived, as the state records 28,128 new COVID-19 cases and 13 deaths. But Premier Daniel Andrews said the first delivery would go directly to essential workers in critical industries including health, emergency services, disability and aged care. People with pre-existing conditions that make them vulnerable to severe illness will also be prioritised. Some of the newly arrived three million rapid antigen tests, pictured in a Melbourne warehouse. Credit:Nine News The batch is the first of 44 million of the tests the state government has ordered in a bid to address the serious shortage of the tests that is hampering peoples movement and return to work. Speaking at a COVID-19 press conference on Sunday, Mr Andrews said Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Ahead of a federal election that may well see Queensland elect a second Greens senator, the co-parent of the party is worried. And Greens co-founder Drew Hutton has identified an unlikely political figure the party needs to emulate if it is ever to become a mainstream party: firebrand independent Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie. I have been concerned for a long time that the Greens have locked themselves into a middle class, inner-city, tertiary educated, identity politics-driven ghetto that gives them a maximum 12 per cent vote across the country, a couple of lower house seats and no real hold on political power, he wrote in a recent Facebook post. Drew Hutton (front), pictured with Friends of the Earth campaigner Cam Walker in 2013. Credit:Damian White They also dont seem to know how to break out of this. Maybe they could start by electing a bunch of spokespersons who look and sound like Jacqui Lambie. It was a suggestion Lambie had a laugh about, a spokeswoman for the Tasmanian senator says, but she chose not to comment. Advertisement Further commentary was sought from Hutton, who told Brisbane Times: Im afraid I have retired from all political activity except the occasional Facebook post, so Im not available for comment. But Huttons social media post exposes soul-searching within Greens politics in Queensland, even if Lambie is not the type of figure with whom most would feel political kinship. Brisbane councillor Jonathan Sri, the first Green to be elected to a representative chamber in Queensland, acknowledges the party struggles to attract working-class candidates. After all, he says, it is harder to give up work for a six-month campaign without a cashed-up party machine to help pay the bills. There are lots of barriers in life to running as a candidate and engaging actively in electoral politics, Sri says. So unless you have a lot of support, and resorting to offer candidates from more marginalised backgrounds, its very hard for them to commit the time to run. ... Its a hard thing to have to give up your job for a couple of months to go on the campaign trail when theres no guarantee of success. Advertisement And while Lambie plays the part of the outsider the non-politician everywoman very well, Sri says she had a leg-up to political life that other would-be outsiders, including Greens, would lack. Jonathan Sri (left, pictured with South Brisbane Greens MP Amy MacMahon on state election day) says it is hard for smaller parties to attract working-class candidates. Credit:Tertius Pickard The blunt reality is that she wouldnt have won her seat in the first place without the financial backing of a coal billionaire like [Clive] Palmer, he says. The nature of the political system is such that its very, very hard for outside political outsiders to pop through into the mainstream political system without some kind of institutional backing. John Mickel served as a minister in the Beattie Labor government, including a stint as Parliamentary Speaker, between 2009 and 2012. After observing Queensland politics for three years from the Speakers chair, he now does the same thing in his capacity as an adjunct professor in politics at the Queensland University of Technology. Advertisement Mickel suggests Huttons wish for a Lambie-like figure will find little traction within Greens ranks. Jacqui Lambie, it seems to me, has an appeal to people who are over politics and maybe feel left behind and thats not where the Greens are, he says. The Greens are a hectoring, lecturing mob This is what we believe and we dont tolerate anybody who doesnt believe this a la the Bob Brown convoy. Bob Browns anti-Adani convoy meets with a cold reception from pro-mine locals in Clermont in 2019. Credit:Lucy Stone But Huttons comments ring true for Griffith University political scientist Paul Williams, one of Queenslands most respected political scholars. At least in part. What hes really saying is we need to strike a populist chord and thats not wrong, Williams says. Advertisement That is easier said than done. In fact, Williams says, it defies political logic. By their very nature, the well-educated a double-degree, triple-degree inner-city, high-income urban voter rejects populism for its anti-democratic message, he said. And the populist will reject environmentalism because its a post-material value. Populists are driven largely by material values, improving the economic stake of the underclass. Aside from Sri, finding Greens to speak publicly about the partys direction proves a difficult task. I am not the right one to talk, Greens state director Kitty Carra says. Former Greens senator Andrew Bartlett also declined the opportunity to comment, but responded in a comment thread on Huttons post. Advertisement It could be the perfect sport for our times: socially distanced, stress-free and for those lucky enough to live by the bay, very close to home. So, its perhaps no surprise that the stand-up paddleboard craze sweeping post-lockdown Melbourne has made the outsized boards yet another hard-to-come-by item as demand outstrips supply. Sharon Bourke (left) teaching Amber Sarda how to paddleboard at Brighton. Credit:Joe Armao Instructor and competitive stand-up paddleboard racer Sharon Bourke has been teaching beginners to master their boards and the bays fickle winds since 2015 and says demand for her coaching sessions has surged since the city emerged from its COVID-19 lockdowns. Its getting super popular, Ms Bourke said. The (CBI) has booked Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL)s Director (Marketing) E S Ranganathan in a scandal involving the sale of petrochemicals manufactured by at a discount. A CBI statement said, that the investigative agency conducted searches at the premises of the accused at Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Panchkula, and Karnal among others. This led to the recovery of approximately Rs 84 lakh so far which includes recovery of Rs 75 lakh from a Gurgaon-based private person. The other accused in the case are Pawan Gaur (a private person), Rajesh Kumar (director of Rishabh Polychem, Delhi), N Ramakrishnan Nair (a Gurgaon resident), Saurabh Gupta (associated with United Polymer Industries, Panchkula), and Aditya Bansal (associated with Bansal Agencies, Karnal). CBI said that these five accused have been arrested in this case till now. United Polymer Industries and Bansal Agencies have also been named in the CBIs first information report (FIR). CBI also said that searches were continuing at the premises of Ranganathan. The CBI has alleged that Ranganathan was indulging into corrupt and illegal activities in conspiracy with other accused who were acting as his middleman, by obtaining bribe from the private buying petrochemical products marketed by the . CBI said that it laid a trap and apprehended a private person and a Director of a Private Company based in Delhi with an alleged bribe amount of Rs 10 lakh which was collected on behalf of Ranganathan. According to the CBIs FIR, the Director (Marketing) had demanded a bribe of Rs 15 lakh for issuing the discount order in favour of the beneficiary . The Jammu and Kashmir government on Friday said COVID cases in the region have risen 10 times in the past 10 days. The sharp spike has necessitated strict observance of the COVID-appropriate behaviour, protocols, and curtailment of unnecessary movement by the general public, it said. The administration has declared 12 containment zones in the Jammu city as the number of COVID cases rose to 588. The Government Medical College (GMC) and associated hospitals in Jammu have suspended routine surgeries except those of cancer and emergency surgeries. Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta chaired a meeting on Friday to review the situation and ordered observance of strict containment protocols to reduce the rate of transmission. "The COVID cases in Jammu and Kashmir have risen by 10 times over the past 10 days, which has necessitated strict observance of CAB, COVID SOPs and protocols and curtailment of unnecessary movement by the general public, a senior health official said. The chief secretary appealed to the general public to act responsibly during the current wave of the pandemic and avoid unnecessary and non-essential movement, especially during the weekend. Stressing that Omicron is more virulent than the delta variant, Mehta directed the divisional and district administrations to ensure fool-proof enforcement of all COVID protocols and the SOPs. He ordered a mass scale awareness campaign to promote district COVID helpline numbers established for medical assistance over telephone. The official also called for re-activation of block-level COVID medical grid to facilitate isolation facilities at Panchayat level, primary medical assistance at primary health care centres, and referral to district and tertiary healthcare facilities in cases of emergencies. The district administration was directed to enhance the number of tests including RTPCR and expedite identification, isolation, and micro-containment of the infections. The administration also stressed on speeding up vaccination drive in the 15-17 age category which is currently at 40 per cent. The officials were asked to complete the vaccination in this age category within one week. The chief secretary asked the Health & Medical Education Department to prioritize administering of booster doses in vulnerable populations through its 'Har Ghar Dastak' campaign. (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.) Although the number of COVID-19 cases in Delhi rose almost by nine times between January 1 and 14, the percentage of patients on ventilator support in city hospitals grew only by double during the same period, government data showed. During the second wave of when the number of cases were on similar lines, the hospitalisation rate and those on ventilator support was higher, officials said. The city government has, at various stages, said that people developing serious illness are mostly those who are unvaccinated and have comorbidities. Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain had earlier this week said that though the cases are increasing, the hospitalisation rate has stabilised which indicates that the wave has plateaued. According to the data provided by the government, on January 1, there were 2,716 Covid cases, while on January 14, the number of cases was 24,383. Similarly, on January 1, the hospital occupancy was 247, out of which five patients were on ventilator support (2.02 per cent), while on January 14, the hospital bed occupancy was 2,529, out of which 99 patients (3.91 per cent) were on ventilator. It shows that the number of cases rose by 8.9 times between January 1 and 14, but the percentage of Covid patients on ventilator support saw only a two-fold rise. An official of the health department said the data clarifies that the growth rate of percentage of ventilator patients with respect to total hospitalisation is very low. Only those Covid patients who have comorbidity require ventilator support, but we still have to exercise caution, the official said. On January 5, the number of Covid cases was 10,655, while 5,782 patients were admitted in hospitals and out of which only 2.81 per cent (22 patients) were on ventilator support. Similarly on January 10, the city reported 19,166 Covid cases, while the hospital bed occupancy was 1,999 out of which only 3.25 per cent (65 patients) required ventilator support. On January 13, the number of cases was 28,867, the highest since the pandemic began, while the bed occupancy was 2,424, out of which 98 patients (4.04 per cent) were on ventilator. Jain had on Wednesday claimed that hospital admissions have stabilised indicating the current wave has peaked and cases may start declining soon. We have observed that the number of hospital admissions has stabilised in the last four to five days Plateauing of hospital admissions is an indication that the wave has peaked. We may see a decline in cases in two to three days," he said. Jain added that most of those who have died in the ongoing surge of infections had comorbidities and very few deaths have taken place due to . "People with comorbidities are facing more problems, not many people are coming to hospitals for treatment of coronavirus," he said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After two years of contagion and death, Covid is shifting again. is spreading faster than any previous variant, but its also proving less malevolent. Theres growing talk that the worst pandemic of the past century may soon be known in another way as endemic. Spain threw out the idea this week, when Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said its time to think about new ways of living with Covid long term, such as the world does with the flu. Other countries jumped in, saying they may be moving toward a new chapter of the disease. Health experts, however, are preaching caution, saying theres too much uncertainty about how the virus will evolve, how much immunity society has built up and potential damage if people stop being careful. Its inevitable that governments will eventually need to regard Covid as one of many public health challenges that can be managed rather than one requiring the urgency and focus devoted since early 2020. The appetite for economically damaging lockdowns is long gone. Vaccines are protecting swathes of the population, and theres even hope that omicron, with its frenetic spread and less powerful punch, may be hastening the path to the pandemics exit. We probably are starting to see a transition phase toward this becoming an endemic disease, which doesnt mean that we have to stop being very prudent, Spains deputy prime minister, Nadia Calvino, told Bloomberg Television. But it does signal that we should take measures that are very different to the ones we had to take two years ago. Its not just governments hoping 2022 is the year Covid can finally move to the back burner of public discourse. A weary public is also desperate to escape, and Internet searches for the term endemic have jumped in recent weeks. Endemic would mean the disease is still circulating, but at a lower, more predictable rate and with fewer people landing in hospitals. The term sometimes means a disease is limited to a specific region, but that doesnt have to be the case with Covid, just as the flu regularly crisscrosses the globe. Seasonal patterns can happen, too, with higher cases in winter, as well as local outbreaks above the expected norm. At the least, there are reasons to hope that the pandemics grip is loosening. The world has more tools than before, from rapid tests to the ability to update and mass produce vaccines, plus rising levels of immunity through inoculation and earlier bouts of Covid. While antibodies may dwindle, or even fail to stop infections from new variants, the other major weapon of the immune system T cells appears to be robust enough to prevent serious disease. Multiple studies, meanwhile, point to as being less severe than previous strains. Beyond that, it appears to already be burning out in some places. The rate of new infections in South Africa is falling after Decembers surge, while hospital admissions in the U.K. are leveling off. Such evidence is encouraging in some ways, but we have to stay very vigilant, said Noubar Afeyan, co-founder of Moderna Inc. The vaccine maker is preparing an omicron-specific booster that could be ready to enter trials within weeks, he said. Reaching the endemic phase is possible this year, but theres still uncertainty. The World Health Organization, for one, is urging caution. Despite the global vaccine push -- now approaching 10 billion doses administered -- there are massive gaps. More than 85% of the population of Africa hasnt received any dose, while 36 WHO member states havent even reached 10% coverage. Its even an issue albeit to a lesser degree in some developed countries. Germany still has 3 million people over the age of 60 that havent been fully vaccinated, in most instances by personal choice. Uncontrolled spread of Covid would therefore lead to too many otherwise avoidable deaths, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said Friday. There is still no reason to sound the all-clear, he said. In the U.S., its also too soon to start talking about the next phase. While countries where spiked earlier are seeing some numbers ease, the U.S. isnt there yet, according to Chris Beyrer, a professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Its also possible that people infected with omicron arent building up much immunity in the face of whats to come. The harder-hitting delta could surge back, or combine with omicron to create a new hybrid. We still have a virus thats evolving quite quickly, said Catherine Smallwood, senior emergency officer at WHO Europe. It may become endemic in due course, but pinning that down to 2022 is a little bit difficult at this stage. Even without an official declaration downgrading the health emergency, governments may soon start behaving as if that were the case. While Chinas zero-Covid policy is an outlier, most countries are keen to step back from intrusive measures, with many citing low fatalities relative to previous waves. Governments are also coming around to the idea that draconian measures just dont work the way they used to. France closed its borders to the U.K. in mid-December to try to protect it from omicron, to little effect. The country recorded almost 370,000 cases one day this week, and the restrictions are being eased. As governments pull back, the onus will increasingly fall on individuals, through self-testing, mask-wearing and calls to voluntarily limit social interactions. The U.K., which has long had a light touch for restrictions, is among the countries pushing in this direction. This week, England joined others by cutting the Covid self-isolation period to five days. David Heymann, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, this week highlighted the U.K. as a good example of living with the virus, but he noted that there isnt a single timeframe for everyone because countries are moving at very different speeds. We cant predict where variants will occur, and we cant predict what their virulence or their transmissibility will be, he said. It could certainly be a bumpy road. We just dont know. With 42 unicorn start-ups being created last year and India racing to the milestone of one billion internet users, the country will soon make a century of unicorns, Prime Minister said on Saturday. He also announced that January 16 will be celebrated as National Start-up Day from now on. Even during the good days earlier, only a few companies would become big. But in the past one year 42 unicorns have been made. These billion dollar are proof of India becoming Aatmanirbhar (self-dependent) and our country's Aatmavishwas (self-confidence), he said. Prime Minister interacted with over 150 start-ups today to boost the start-up ecosystem in the country. The Prime Minister emphasised that it was important for start-ups to not limit themselves to the country, but have global aspirations with the experience of catering to a large and diverse market like India. India's diversity is our strength. It is our global identity. Our unicorns and start-ups are the messengers of this diversity, he said. PM Modi also highlighted the governments commitment to innovation and star-ups through programmes and measures such as the Atal Innovation Mission, new space technology and drone technology policies, easier compliance processes for start-ups and ironing out the issues regarding angel tax which hamstrung start-up funding earlier. The Prime Minister said that the new drone policy has started showing results with the Army, Navy and Air Force having already placed about Rs 500 crore worth of orders with drone companies. He said that India had progressed to a much better global innovation index ranking of top 50 in the world even as the number of patents granted increased from around 4,000 in 2013-14 to more than 28,000 last year, while the number of trademarks registered rose from 70,000 to more than 250,000 in the same period. The Prime Minister called upon start-ups to look towards solving challenges related to the rural economy and manufacturing sector. Your hard work, businesses, job creation and wealth creation are for the countrys benefit. I want to match shoulder to shoulder with you to transform the youth's enthusiasm into country's enthusiasm, he said. Joe Biden's approval rating is falling as the first anniversary of his presidency approaches. It's currently nearing levels similar to those experienced by former President Donald Trump at the same point in his presidency. For the past three months, Biden's approval rating has been around 40%. Currently, about 42% of Americans approve of his job performance while 51% disapprove of it. Biden's approval rating plummets ahead his 1st year in office After one year in office, Biden has the second-lowest approval rating of any president. Only Trump was able to get a lower number. Biden's approval rating has consistently been in the low 40s whereas Trump's has consistently been in the upper 30s. Trump's approval rating was 39 percent after nearly a year in office, up from the first-year low of 36 percent on December 15, 2017. Most new presidents have a high initial approval rating, which gradually declines over time. When President Barack Obama took office on January 20, 2009, he had a 68 percent approval rating. Biden received 53 percent of the vote. Obama's approval rating has dropped below 50% after a year in office. According to The Independent, following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush's popularity rating skyrocketed, rising from 52 percent on September 10 to 88 percent a month later. Manchin almost doubles Biden's approval Senator Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, has sparked outrage and frustration among Democrats for opposing President Joe Biden's Build Back Better Act and ruling out amendments to the filibuster to address voting rights. However, polling in Manchin's home state indicates that he is acting in the best interests of his constituents. Manchin, a centrist, has consistently emerged as a significant force within the Democratic Party who has stymied parts of Biden's plan. With a Senate that is equally split, it just takes one Democratic senator to make or break the prospect of partisan goals passing in Congress. While the West Virginia legislator has received harsh criticism from the White House and fellow Democrats in Congress, recent polling indicates that his constituents are satisfied. Notably, Manchin is a Democrat in a state that has largely supported Republican presidential candidates since 2000. In 2016, former President Donald Trump won West Virginia by more than 30 percentage points, and in 2020, he won by over 30 percentage points. Meanwhile, Manchin was re-elected in 2018 with a margin of slightly over 3%, as per Newsweek via MSN. Read Also: Kyrsten Sinema, Joe Manchin Doom President Joe Biden's Effort To Strike a Deal for Voting Rights Bill Biden is disappointed with failures in his agenda Per Daily Mail, President Joe Biden acknowledged that his agenda was paused with the failure of his voting rights initiative, but he vowed that he would still get things done as he unveiled plans to spend $27 billion to repair thousands of bridges around the country. After Republicans chastised him for his controversial address on voting rights in Atlanta on Tuesday, he maintained that he was elected to unify the country. The President questioned if Americans wanted to support Martin Luther King and John Lewis or Bill Connor, George Wallace, and Confederate President Jefferson Davis. His speech came at the end of a week in which his approval rating dropped to 33% in a Quinnipiac poll, his vaccine mandate for private employers was struck down by the Supreme Court, and his attempt to push voting rights legislation through Congress was thwarted by Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema's refusal to budge on the filibuster. As he approaches the one-year anniversary of his inauguration, Biden returned to the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill he signed 60 days ago, promising to jumpstart his agenda. Biden also mentioned community initiatives to upgrade highways, ports, and airports, as well as to extend internet, replace lead pipes, and cover abandoned wells. Related Article: Joe Biden Urges Senate Democrats' Unification To Pass Voting Rights Bill; Mitch McConnell Rips the President's Speech @YouTube @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. New Delhi [India], January 14 (ANI): In line with the Narendra Modi government's push for promoting 'Make in India', the on Friday decided to withdraw tenders for deals related to buying short-range surface-to-air missiles and 14 helicopters. The meeting, however, allowed the forces to go ahead with a deal to buy air-to-ground missiles from France and overhaul of Russian helicopters, government sources told ANI. The has started reviewing the import deals under the Buy Global category which are fully acquired from foreign vendors. A number of deals have been put in the closure and deferment list by the and with the ministry discussing whether they can be closed in favour of Indian vendors or developers. The foreclosure and deferment lists include deals like the Very Short Range Air Defence Systems, towed artillery guns, vertically launched surface-to-air missiles, shipborne unmanned aerial systems, additional P-8I surveillance aircraft along with the MiG-29 combat aircraft. Deals under the Foreign Military Sales route like the General Purpose Machine Guns are also in the list and a missile deal is also going to be scrutinised. The multi-billion-dollar Kamov-226 helicopter deal with Russia has also been put in the list. The Kamov-31 shipborne choppers along with the Klub class anti-ship missiles are also in the list. A number of classified projects are also in the list which would be taken up for discussion. The initiative came after Prime Minister Modi took a review meeting with the Defence Ministry officials, including the then Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, where it was felt that strong measures would have to be taken to ensure that the country moves firmly towards Aatmanirbhar Bharat in the defence sector. The Prime Minister has been personally reviewing the progress of initiative in the defence sector and has from time to time asked officials in both services and the Defence Ministry to ensure that more steps are taken to promote in the defence sector. (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.) Odisha's COVID-19 caseload mounted to 11,22,735 on Saturday with 10,856 fresh infections, while two more fatalities pushed the death toll to 8,478, the Health Department said in a bulletin. The state also reported 32 new cases taking the tally of the new strain of in to 202, a health department official said. The daily test positivity rate jumped to 14.49 per cent from 13.57 per cent the previous day, when 10,273 cases were reported, the bulletin said. Khurda district, where the state capital Bhubaneswar is located, reported over a quarter of the new cases at 3,087, followed by 1,943 in Sundargarh, 909 in Cuttack, and 500 in Sambalpur. As many as 1,021 children tested positive for the infection out of the 74,936 samples tested in the past 24 hours, the bulletin said. now has 61,809 active cases, while 10,52,395 patients have recovered from the disease so far, including 2,216 since Friday, the bulletin said. Fifty-three other COVID-19 patients who died in the state to date had comorbidities, the bulletin said. The Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneswar, informed the state health and family welfare department about the detection of the new cases after genome sequencing of the samples. The 32 new cases were detected from genome sequencing of 42 samples, indicating a positivity ratio of the new variant of at 76 per cent. During the last genome sequencing of samples, drawn from nine districts between December 29 and January 9, 74.5 per cent of the samples were found infected with the Delta variant while the remaining 25.5 per cent were of the Omicron strain. ILS director, Ajay Parida, had earlier told journalists that the Delta variant was the dominant variant in the state, but Omicron sub-type BA.2 was fast replacing it in the state. The ILS is the lone laboratory in the state where genome sequencing facility is available. The highly transmissible variant of coronavirus was first detected in on December 21. Public Health Director Niranjan Mishra said that 1,100 coronavirus patients, comprising less than two per cent of the active cases, are hospitalised currently, out of which around 350-360 are in the ICU. Meanwhile, AIIMS Bhubaneswar will suspend the outpatient department (OPD) services from Monday as many staff and students have contracted the virus within a week. The OPD will be functional only for those who have registered online and for all emergency cases, the institute said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister paid tributes to the Tamil poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar on Thiruvalluvar Day, Saturday. "On Thiruvalluvar Day, I pay tributes to the great Thiruvalluvar. His ideals are insightful and practical... they stand out for their diverse nature and intellectual depth. Sharing a video I took last year of the Thiruvalluvar Statue and Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari," the Prime Minister said in a tweet. Thiruvalluvar is regarded as a cultural icon. His most popular work is a collection of couplets on politics, ethics, economy, and love, called "Thirukkuaaa". To honour his contribution, Thiruvalluvar Day is observed either on January 15 or 16 as a part of the Pongal celebrations. While a lot is not known about the life of Thiruvalluvar, it is believed that he used to live in the town of Mylapore, which in today's time is a neighbourhood in Chennai. --IANS rdk/shb/ (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.) National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Friday urged the Jammu and Kashmir administration to come up with a multi-fold strategy to tackle the "imminent" third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement, the Srinagar MP also stressed that vaccination is the only bulwark against the third wave. "I hope the incumbent administration is ready to tackle the imminent third wave because they have learnt their lessons from the first and second Covid wave, which had battered Jammu and Kashmir. I hope the imminent third wave is not treated casually," Abdullah said. "There are other measures that the JK administration must immediately tend to besides ensuring inoculation (administration) of booster doses... to protect especially those who have comorbidities, who are immunocompromised and healthcare workers," he added. Health infrastructure and oxygen production are other areas that should be given extra attention, the NC president said. "Stringent actions to detect, treat and reduce the transmission of the virus should also be part of the road map to curb the sprawl of this deadly disease," Abdullah said. Jammu and Kashmir's COVID-19 caseload increased to 3,52,623 on Friday as 2,456 more people tested positive for the viral disease, while the death toll climbed to 4,557 with five fresh fatalities, according to officials. There are 10,003 active COVID-19 cases in the union territory, the officials said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Central Government on Friday refuted media reports alleging a "significant undercount" of COVID-19 deaths in the first two waves in India, saying that these are baseless, misleading and ill-informed. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in a statement refuted some media reports alleging a 'significant undercount' of the actual number of people who have died in India due to COVID-19 in the first two waves, claiming that the final toll may be 'substantially greater' crossing the figures of about three million. "It is clarified that such media reports are fallacious and ill-informed. They are not based on facts and are mischievous in nature. India has a very robust system of birth and death reporting which is based on a Statute and is carried out regularly from the Gram Panchayat level to the District-level and State level. The whole exercise is carried out under the overall oversight of the Registrar General of India (RGI)," it said. Moreover, the Government of India has a very comprehensive definition to classify COVID deaths, based on globally acceptable categorisation. "All deaths are being independently reported by States, and are being compiled centrally. The backlog in COVID19 mortality data being submitted by the States at different times are being reconciled in the data of Govt of India on a regular basis," the ministry said. The Ministry said that a large number of States have regularly reconciled their death numbers and have reported arrear deaths in a broadly transparent manner. Therefore, to project that deaths have been under-reported is without basis and without justification. It further clarified that there is an extreme difference in COVID caseload and linked mortality between the Indian States. "Any assumptions putting all States in one envelope would mean mapping skewed data of outliers together with States reporting lowest mortality which is bound to stretch the median towards higher and wrong results," it added. Furthermore, there is an incentive in India to report COVID deaths as they are entitled to monetary compensation. Hence, the likelihood of underreporting is less, it said. "During a disruptive situation like the pandemic, the actual mortality could be more than the reported deaths due to many factors, even in the most robust health systems. However, any analysis with the view to deduce information collected from extremely varied caseload and outcome situations among Indian states is bound to be incomplete and incorrect," the statement reads. It said that these current media reports on 'significant undercount' of the actual number of people who have died in India are based on a study which seems biased in nature as only adults with COVID-19 symptoms were captured and cannot be thus representative of the general population. "There also appears to be selection bias as the survey is restricted to phone-owning people who can also take out time to answer questions comprehensively. The sample could be skewed towards urban areas in that sense, where more cases were reported, and thus, have a higher reporting. They are also people likely to be more aware and have greater reporting bias," the Health Ministry said. The media reports quoting the study mention how about 2100 randomly selected adults were interviewed every week. These reports do not clarify whether the same adults were repeatedly asked, or they cumulatively added up to 1.37 lakhs. Evidently, the results will be very different in both these cases. The media reports further mention that the response rate was 55 per cent. It is not clear from this whether people refused to talk or does it mean that they said there were no symptoms. Secondly, if data on only adults with COVID symptoms was captured, this introduces a bias in the study and cannot be thus representative of the general population. It is also to be noted that the denominator of the mentioned study is the UNDP estimate for 2020. This is itself a combination of survey, census and models, thus an estimate. Based on this it has been estimated that 3.4 per cent of households will report a death. This needs to be compared with the data of the Registrar General of India (RGI), which this study has not done. The study mentions that from June 2020- March 2021, 0 to 0.7 per cent of households reported COVID deaths while from mid-April to June 2021, reported deaths reached a peak of 6 per cent. This short period has been extrapolated to measure overall deaths from June 2020 to July 2021. This is clearly not a valid way of calculation as it does not take into account monthly and geographical variations In addition, the media reports stated that "We ascertained from approximately 57,000 people in 13,500 households who lived in the immediate household as of January 1, 2019, who died and when, and if the respondent thought the death was due to COVID or a non-COVID cause". It is observed that firstly, the sample size is too low and secondly, how would the household members know that the death was due to COVID. Incorrect framing of such questions can lead to erroneous responses. While the authors have used three different sources to make a comparable estimation, it is noted that source data being used, represent self-reporting and estimated data from ten States which will only lead to another estimation and is not reflective of an actual situation. Assuming COVID tracker survey as more nationally representative data, when it is self-reported, may be highly incorrect. Further, it is observed that there is a contradiction in the report wherein the authors have referred to misclassification in non-COVID cases. The report states that "Compared to 2019, the increase in non-COVID deaths reported during Sept-Oct 2020 exceeded reported COVID deaths but the reverse was true during April-June 2021.' It is not clear how non-COVID deaths, which are a subset of total deaths, can be greater than total deaths. Besides, it seems the above has been deduced from the US statistics and is not clear how it is being aligned to the Indian scenario. Attributing the probability of death to rural areas without medical attention may be highly incorrect. The many States had rural areas with very low infection rates for sustained periods of time. This has not been taken into account in projecting the estimates in the said study. Moreover, as per the reports, increased mortality has only been captured for specific time periods of COVID peaks, which may not reflect comparable figures since the pandemic is still ongoing. This may need a more thorough comparison and estimation based on recent data, once available, since several factors such as disease prevalence, hospitalization due to past infection or debilitating disease, infection detection rate, infection fatality rate including (definition of COVID deaths) crude death rate etc., may have to be factored in to deduce or gain better clarity on the numbers. The topic of excess deaths due to a certain cause is valid, very significant from the public health point of view and most acceptably required for better policy action and adoption of formidable, sustainable health measures. However, any rush in making the assumptions of excess deaths any time during an ongoing situation can be more of an academic exercise driven by knowledge of public health/ data scientists. More logical and acceptable measures for administrative and policy-making quarters would evolve from more robust government data emerging from exercises like SRS or Census data in the coming months, the ministry said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Taking cognizance of the report presented by Lucknow District Magistrate in view of the violation of COVID protocols after hundreds of people turned up at the Samajwadi Party's office on Friday to physically attend a 'virtual rally', UP Chief Election Commissioner has directed for the suspension of police station in-charge Gautampalli, Dinesh Singh Bisht. The Chief Election Commissioner in an official statement said that the police station in-charge Gautampalli has been suspended with "immediate effect due to gross negligence in the discharge of duties." "Taking cognizance of the report of the District Magistrate, Lucknow, sent by the Election Commission of India on January 14 regarding the violation of the Model Code of Conduct, issued by the Election Commission of India, instructions have been given to suspend the police station in-charge Gautampalli, Dinesh Singh with immediate effect due to gross negligence in the discharge of duties," the official statement read. Apart from this, the commission has sought clarification from Assistant Commissioner of Police Akhilesh Singh and Returning Officer 174-Lucknow Central Vidhan Sabha constituency, Additional Municipal Magistrate-I Govind Maurya by 11 am today. Lucknow District Magistrate Abhishek Prakash on Friday had said that the rally was a violation of the Model Code of Conduct and COVID-19 protocols. An FIR has been registered in the matter. Lucknow Commissioner of Police DK Thakur had said that around 2500 people gathered at the Samajwadi Party office. "As per Election code of conduct no rally, the gathering can happen till January 15. Our team reached there and captured the event. Based on the violations, we've registered a case," he said. Reacting to the incident, party state president, Naresh Uttam Patel said that the people came because of their love for Akhilesh Yadav adding that they followed the COVID protocols and wore masks. "There was a virtual press conference by Akhilesh Yadav, but it was the love of the people that they came here. It is not the fault of the workers of our party or our party either," he told ANI. The state president further termed the visit of the police wrong and claimed that no action is taken against the crowd in the market under the watch of the BJP ministers."There was a virtual programme of the joining of the leaders. Nobody was invited by the Samajwadi Party here at the office. But the people came and followed the COVID protocols, wore masks. No action was taken against the crowd in the market under the watch of the ministers of the BJP. And they are taking action against the virtual programme in the Samajwadi Party's office. This is wrong," he said. Uttar Pradesh assembly elections will be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7. The polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7. (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.) Union Minister for Heavy Industries on Saturday dedicated India's first BHEL-built 'coal to methanol' (CTM) pilot plant to the nation here, as part of the ongoing 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' celebrations, an official release said. Pandey also inaugurated an exhibition on Products Developed under Aatmanirbhar Bharat' organised at Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited's (BHEL) Hyderabad unit, it said. Speaking on the occasion, the Union minister said one of the important goals of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision is to build a self-reliant nation. "The role of the manufacturing sector will be crucial in realising this vision. The government has already highlighted the importance of the manufacturing sector through schemes like Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat, he said. Pandey further said the capital goods industry is the backbone of the manufacturing sector as it provides critical inputs such as machinery and equipment to a broad set of user-industries. The 0.25 TPD (tonnes per day) capacity CTM pilot plant that has been indigenously designed, developed and installed by is currently producing methanol with purity of more than 99 per cent from high-ash Indian coal. Significantly, this conversion of high-ash Indian coal to methanol through the gasification route is the first-of-its-kind technology demonstration in India, the release 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.) Samajwadi Party chief on Saturday took a jibe at the BJP's decision to field Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from the constituency, saying the saffron party has already sent him home. is the hometown of Adityanath. He had been the MP from Lok Sabha seat since 1998 until he became the chief minister in 2017. Speaking to reporters here, the SP chief said, "As far as contesting elections is concerned, earlier it was said that he (Adityanath) will contest from Mathura, Prayagraj, Ayodhya or Deoband. I am happy that the has already sent him home (Gorakhpur) Although he is in Gorakhpur, he had a ticket dated March 11 (counting of votes on March 10) booked for it earlier. I think that he should stay back in Gorakhpur and there is no need for him to return (to Lucknow). Heartiest congratulations," Yadav said. The SP chief further said no MLAs or ministers quitting the will be taken into his party anymore. "I would tell the that I am no longer going to take BJP MLAs or ministers (into SP), you can cut their tickets," he said. However, he later said that a BJP leader will soon be joining the SP but did not reveal his name. When asked about former minister Dara Singh Chauhan, who recently quit the BJP, Yadav said that he will soon join the SP. Former cabinet minister and prominent OBC leader Swami Prasad Maurya on Friday joined the Samajwadi Party along with another rebel minister Dharam Singh Saini. Five BJP MLAs and Apna Dal (Sonelal) legislator Amar Singh Chaudhary also joined the SP in the presence of Yadav. Yadav's statements came after the BJP announced the names of 107 candidates for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls and fielded Adityanath from the Gorakhpur (Urban) assembly constituency. The party has named candidates for the seats going to polls in the first two phases. The list was released by BJP's Uttar Pradesh in-charge and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan along with party general secretary Arun Singh during a press conference at the party's headquarters in Delhi. Pradhan said Adityanath will be the BJP's candidate from Gorakhpur city and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya from Sirathu. Both are currently members of the state's legislative council. Elections for the 403-member Uttar Pradesh assembly are scheduled to be held in seven phases starting from February 10. (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.) (NCP) leader Nawab Malik on Saturday said his party is in talks with the (SP) over the seat-sharing formula for the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh, and so far one seat has been decided for the NCP. He also said the current situation in is similar to that in 1993 when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was stopped from occupying power in that state. Talking to reporters here, Malik, who is NCP's chief spokesperson and Maharashtra minister, said, "The NCP and the have decided one seat, which we (NCP) will be contesting. Talks about other seats are going on. The current situation in is similar to 1993, when BJP was ousted from power." In 1993 elections, SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav had joined hands with the then Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Kanshi Ram to give a jolt to the BJP. The SP-BSP combine formed the government with the support of other parties, even as the BJP had emerged as the single largest party at that time. Malik further said, "The people of Uttar Pradesh are rejecting BJP's politics of identity, which is creating dominance of one community over others. Hence, groups like Dalits, OBCs, labourers and farmers are moving away from the BJP for good." Talking about the upcoming assembly elections in other states, he said the NCP has formed an alliance with the Congress in Manipur, but there is no progress on seat-sharing talks in Goa. "Therefore, NCP is considering going solo in Goa elections like last time," he said. Earlier this week, NCP president Sharad Pawar had said his party would contest the UP elections as part of the SP-led alliance. (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.) Azad Samaj Party chief Chandrashekhar Azad on Saturday said efforts were being made to form a third front of several opposition parties for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls and if it did not materialise, his party would go it alone. He also targeted Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. "We thought this is a new Samajwadi Party and there will be some change in it. We can speak about social justice.... We wanted unity of the bahujan and we were banking on him (Akhilesh Yadav), but yesterday we felt that our hopes had been shattered," he told reporters here. "I feel that Akhilesh-ji does not need us. All the best to him...we will fight our own polls," he added. Uttar Pradesh goes to assembly polls in seven phases between February 10 and March 7. Azad said, "The effort is to unite scattered opposition parties and form a third front. Otherwise, after discussions with the core committee of Azad Samaj Party, we will contest the elections on our own." To a question on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath having food at a Dalit household, he said, "He still considers them (Dalits) as untouchable, hence is trying to prove a point by going and eating there. Why is he not having food at the home of a Brahmin or Thakur. He wants to prove a point that he is giving respect to them by having food with them." (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.) Officials in South Korea reported that North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles on Friday, considered to be the third launch this month, in apparent retaliation for new penalties imposed by the Biden administration for the country's continued missile tests. In reaction to the North's missile launch this week, the sanctions targeted five North Koreans for their roles in procuring equipment and technology for the North's missile programs. It also stated that it would seek fresh UN sanctions. North Korea conducts 3rd missile test within 2 weeks North Korea has been conducting further tests of new potentially nuclear-capable missiles aimed at overwhelming regional missile defenses, as per NBC News. Some observers believe Kim Jong Un is reverting to a tried-and-true tactic of threatening the world with missile launches and absurd threats before providing concession-seeking discussions. Following an unusually provocative series of nuclear and long-range missile tests in 2017, which demonstrated the North's pursuit of a nuclear arsenal capable of striking the American homeland, Kim Jong Un began diplomacy with former President Donald Trump in 2018 in an attempt to use his nuclear weapons for economic gain. However, after Kim Jong Un's second meeting with Trump in 2019, the Americans rejected his proposals for massive sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of North Korea's nuclear weapons. The person, who was not allowed to speak publicly, said North Korea had not responded to the US invitation a few months ago to meet down without preconditions and discuss measures to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and the potential of US humanitarian supplies. Pyongyang's sole answer has been to conduct fresh missile tests, which the person described as "very disruptive, hazardous, and critical, in violation of a whole number of UN Security Council resolutions," SF Gate reported. On Tuesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the second test flight of a hypersonic missile in a week, claiming that it would significantly boost his country's nuclear "war deterrence." Read Also: Australian Man Pleads Guilty to Cold Crime of an American in 1988 Whose Death Was Mistakenly Dismissed North Korean hackers stole $400 million in cryptocurrency According to new research from blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis, North Korea launched at least seven assaults against cryptocurrency platforms last year, extracting about $400 million in digital assets, making it one of its most successful years on record. Pyongyang is accused of using stolen cash to boost its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, according to a UN panel of experts monitoring sanctions on North Korea. North Korea has previously issued comments disputing claims of hacking but has not responded to media inquiries. Last year, the US accused three North Korean computer programmers working for the country's intelligence service of a multi-year hacking campaign aimed at stealing more than US$1.3 billion in cash and cryptocurrencies from firms ranging from banks to movie studios. Per SCMP, the hacking targets were mostly financial businesses and centralized exchanges, according to Chainalysis, including Liquid.com, which disclosed in August that an unauthorized user had acquired access to some of the bitcoin wallets it controlled. According to the report, the attackers employed phishing lures, code exploits, malware, and advanced social engineering to siphon money out of these businesses' internet-connected "hot" wallets and into North Korean-controlled accounts. Related Article: Kim Jong Un Calls for More "Military Muscle" After North Korea Fires More Advanced Missile Test That Flies Ten Times The Speed of Sound @YouTube @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. on Friday slammed Military Intelligence, Section 5 (MI5) report that a British lawyer of Chinese descent is "involved in political interference activities" in the Parliament on behalf of the Communist Party of (CPC). Wang Wenbin, the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at a press briefing that some people may have seen too many films and made too many unnecessary associations, reported Global Times. He stressed that "has no need and will never engage in so-called political interference activities." He also lambasted the for hyping the "China threat theory" for ulterior political purposes. "It is very irresponsible to make groundless and alarmist remarks based on the subjective assumptions of individuals. China hopes that relevant British officials will refrain from making groundless remarks," said Wang, reported Global Times. As per UK-based media, The M15 on Thursday said that Christine Ching Kui Lee, who runs a law firm in the UK, has "established links" for the CPC with current and aspiring members of parliament. Lee made donations to politicians, with funding coming from the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said an M15 source. Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with the promise that wide-ranging individual rights would be protected. But pro-democracy activists and rights groups said that freedoms have been eroded, in particular since China imposed a new national security law after months of at times violent pro-democracy protests in 2019. Lee is the founder of the British Chinese Project, which was established in 2006 and aims to encourage Chinese-British in the UK to take an active part in politics to ensure their voices are heard across British society, reported Global Times. "China always adheres to the principle of non-interference in other country's internal affairs. We have no need and never seek to 'buy influence' in any foreign parliament," a spokesperson from China's Embassy in the UK responded on Thursday, firmly opposing the "trick of smearing and intimidation against the Chinese community" in the UK. Meanwhile, "Pro-Beijing" lawmakers were sworn-in to Hong Kong's Legislature in early January in the seventeenth legislative council of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Area (HKSAR) elections, which follows the electoral overhaul by Beijing in HKSAR. Last month, Hong Kong's first race to Pro-Beijing or "patriots-only" legislative began. The changes slashed the number of directly contested seats and required candidates to be screened by government officials. Moreover, Hong Kong "patriots only" elections witnessed a record low voter turnout as pro-government candidates swept into the expanded legislature. Many people boycotted the elections and had shown their apathy for the adulterated and undemocratic way of conducting the elections. Democracy in Hong Kong has gone for a toss post the electoral overhaul and has included pro-Beijing or "patriots only" people in HKSAR legislator. The latest results show that almost all of the seats have been taken by pro-Beijing and pro-establishment candidates. The US, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand expressed grave concerns over the erosion of democratic elements of the Special Administrative Region's electoral system. (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.) New Zealands National Emergency Management Agency on Saturday issued a warning following a volcanic eruption in Tonga's Hunga Ha'apai island. New Zealand's coastal areas on the north and east coast of the North Island and the Chatham Islands are expected to experience "strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore", it said in a statement. This is the largest eruption from the Tonga volcano so far, and the eruption is ongoing, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying. "Strong currents and surges can injure and drown people. There is a danger to swimmers, surfers, people fishing, small boats and anyone in or near the water close to shore," it added. People in or near the sea are advised to move out of the water, off beaches and shore areas and away from harbours, rivers and estuaries until at least early Sunday morning. On Saturday afternoon, Tonga issued another warning after massive waves have hit the main island of Tongatapu, including capital city Nuku'alofa. The volcano has erupted continuously since Friday morning, raising the plume to altitude 5-20 km above sea level. Tonga's National Warning Centre had issued the first tsunami warning earlier on Friday, alerting civilians to stay away from coastal areas, after swirling abnormal tides drew crowds to the Nuku'alofa waterfront. The tsunami warning was cancelled for Tongatapu, Ha'apai and southern Tonga on Saturday morning because the observation data recorded from the tide gauge at Nuku'alofa indicated that the state of the sea level was back to normal. All domestic flights in Tonga were cancelled on Saturday due to the active volcano. Meanwhile, in Fiji, the Mineral Resources Department has advised the public, especially those in low lying coastal areas to stay out of the water and away from the shore due to strong currents and dangerous waves. The department said tsunami waves from these volcanic eruptions were in effect along the entire Fiji coastline. The volcano is part of the highly active Tonga-Kermadec Islands volcanic arc, a subduction zone extending from north-northeast to Fiji. (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.) North Korea on Saturday said it test-launched ballistic missiles from a train in what was seen as an apparent retaliation against fresh sanctions imposed by the Biden administration. The report by the North state media came a day after South Korea's military said it detected the North firing two missiles into the sea in its third weapons launch this month. The launch came hours after Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry issued a statement berating the United States for imposing new sanctions over the North's previous tests and warned of stronger and more explicit action if Washington maintains its confrontational stance. North Korea in recent months has been ramping up tests of new missiles designed to overwhelm missile defences in the region amid pandemic-related border closures and a freeze in nuclear diplomacy with the United States. Some experts say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is going back to a tried-and-true technique of pressuring the United States and neighbours with missile launches and outrageous threats before offering negotiations meant to extract concessions. North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said Friday's exercise was aimed at checking the alert posture of its army's rail-borne missile regiment. The troops swiftly moved to the launch site after receiving the missile-test order on short notice and fired two tactical guided missiles that accurately struck a sea target, the report said. The North's Rodong Sinmun newspaper published photos of what appeared to be two different missiles soaring above from rail cars engulfed in smoke. Cheong Seong-Chang, an analyst at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea, said the North likely staged a launch that hadn't been previously planned to demonstrate its opposition toward US sanctions. The missiles fired from rail cars appeared to be a solid-fuel short-range weapon the North has apparently modelled after Russia's Iskander mobile ballistic system. First tested in 2019, the missile is designed to be maneuverable and fly at low altitudes, which potentially improve their chances of evading and defeating missile systems. The North first launched these missiles from a train in September last year as part of its efforts to diversify its launch options, which now includes various vehicles and may eventually include submarines depending on the country's progress in its pursuit of such capabilities. Firing a missile from a train could add mobility, but some experts say North Korea's simple rail networks running through its relatively small territory would be quickly destroyed by enemies during a crisis. The Biden administration on Wednesday imposed sanctions on five North Koreans over their roles in obtaining equipment and technology for the North's missile programs in its response to the North's previous tests this month. The announcement by the Treasury Department came just hours after North Korea said Kim oversaw a successful test of a hypersonic missile on Tuesday that he claimed would greatly increase the country's nuclear war deterrent. Tuesday's test was North Korea's second demonstration of its purported hypersonic missile in a week. Hours before Friday's launch, the KCNA carried a statement attributed to an unidentified spokesperson of the North's Foreign Ministry, who insisted that the new sanctions underscore hostile US intent aimed at isolating and stifling the North. The spokesperson warned of a stronger reaction if Washington continues its confrontational stance. Hypersonic weapons, which fly at speeds in excess of Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound, could pose a crucial challenge to missile defences because of their speed and maneuverability. Such weapons were on a wish-list of sophisticated military assets Kim unveiled early last year along with multi-warhead missiles, spy satellites, solid-fuel long-range missiles and submarine-launched nuclear missiles. Still, experts say North Korea would need years and more successful and longer-range tests before acquiring a credible hypersonic system. A US-led diplomatic push aimed at convincing North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program collapsed in 2019 after the Trump administration rejected the North's demands for major sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities. Kim has since pledged to further expand a nuclear arsenal he clearly sees as his strongest guarantee of survival, despite the country's economy suffering major setbacks amid pandemic-related border closures and persistent US-led sanctions. His government has so far rejected the Biden administration's call to resume dialogue without preconditions, saying that the United States must first abandon its hostile policy, a term Pyongyang mainly uses to describe sanctions and combined US-South Korea military exercises. (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.) is committed to providing all possible support to avert a major humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, Prime Minister said on Friday, even as he welcomed United Nations' appeal for aid to its neighbour. On Thursday, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that millions of Afghans are on the verge of death, urging the community to fund the UN's USD 5 billion humanitarian appeal, release the country's frozen assets and reignite its banking system to avert a major economic and social collapse. We welcome the UN's appeal for aid to Afghanistan, Khan said while chairing the third meeting of the Apex Committee on Afghanistan. During the meeting, the committee was briefed on the progress made on relief of in-kind humanitarian assistance worth PKR 5 billion, comprising food items including 50,000 MT of wheat, emergency medical supplies, winter shelters and other supplies. The committee was informed that Afghanistan is currently at the throes of a major famine during the harsh winter. While expressing concerns over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, the committee vowed that would not abandon the Afghans at this crucial juncture. is committed to provide all out support to the Afghan people to avert the humanitarian crisis, a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said. It also renewed its appeal to the community and relief agencies to provide aid at this critical juncture to avert economic collapse and to save precious lives in Afghanistan. Prime Minister Khan also directed the concerned authorities to explore bilateral cooperation with friendly countries as well to stave off the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan by exporting qualified and trained manpower especially in medical, IT, finance and accounting. He also directed to extend cooperation in the fields of railways, minerals, pharmaceuticals and media to help in Afghanistan's rehabilitation process. The meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, Prime Minister's Advisor on Commerce Abdul Razzak Dawood, National Security Advisor Dr Moeed Yousuf and the Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa among others. (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.) supports Turkey's claim on Cyprus and the growing relationship between the two countries can become a cause of worry for . and Turkey have been involved in the long ongoing conflict in Cyprus and the international community is trying to negotiate a settlement between the two nations on the conflict, reported InsideOver. Though all the European Union states back Greece's stand on Cyprus, there are a few countries that support Turkey's claim on Cyprus. tops the list of such countries. The deepening of the military alliance between and Turkey clearly indicates that Pakistan will go all out to support Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in pursuit of his jihadist ambitions of conquest and revival of the Ottoman Empire that would include Cyprus as well. Another cause of worry for is the emergence of a China-Pakistan-Turkey nexus on nuclear proliferation. Turkish President Erdogan has already expressed his desperation on developing the 'Caliphate atom bomb' to fulfil his neo-Ottoman aspirations, reported InsideOver. and Pakistan have been facing charges of illegal sale of missiles and creating a clandestine proliferation market. After a failed coup attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016, Turkey sacked its fighter jet pilots who were considered to be the main conspirators behind the failed coup. Later, the Turkish military revealed that it needed over 500 new pilots including 190 combat pilots to reach its normal level and asked the Pakistani government to send trainers to fly F-16s. Suspicion about Pakistani pilots flying Turkish fighter jets was reinforced after the November 2019 joint military exercises between Turkey and Pakistan. Furthermore, violating the Greek airspace, on November 13, 2019, without filing a flight plan with Greek authorities, a Pakistani P-3 Orion Naval Co-operation and Information Collection Aircraft was flown into Greek airspace, reported InsideOver. Also, In 2018, Pakistan's interference in Cyprus was revealed by Pakistan's Army ex-Lt. Gen. Karamat Ahmed where he claimed that Turkey and Pakistan were 2 countries and one nation. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 26-year-old Army soldier, Sarfaraz Ali, was killed as terrorists attacked a military check post in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's (KP) Bannu district, said Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement on Friday, reported ARY News. The check-post in Bannu's Jani Khel town on January 13-14 night came under attack by terrorists that opened fire on the army troops. The army troops initiated a prompt response and effectively engaged the terrorists, said the military media wing in a statement. Earlier, the security forces had conducted separate Intelligence Based Operations (IBOs) on the presence of terrorists in Tank, Dera Ismail Khan (DI Khan) and village Kot Kili in South Waziristan district, reported ARY News. In the incident two terrorists had been killed, three apprehended and one terrorist surrendered to security forces in the operations, said the military's media wing in a statement. "Weapons and huge cache of ammunition including improvised explosive devices and rockets were also recovered from the terrorists," said the ISPR. (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 UK Opposition is leading the charge to pile pressure on British Prime Minister on Saturday as a picture of a boozy culture at the heart of Downing Street emerges, with new reports of so-called wine-time Fridays by staff during the COVID-19 lockdown. Opposition Labour Party Leader, Sir Keir Starmer, used a major speech to say the so-called partygate scandal shows that Johnson is guilty of "deceit and deception" and unable to lead the country. Starmer's latest salvo comes as a poll for the The Times' found that seven out of 10 British voters think Johnson has not been honest about his account of attending a lockdown breaking party in Downing Street. The YouGov survey found that 70 per cent of voters, including over half of those who voted for Conservative in the 2019 election, did not believe Johnson's account to the Commons. Eight out of 10 said they did not think the gathering, as described by the prime minister in Parliament earlier this week as a work event, was acceptable under lockdown rules. "We are witnessing the broken spectacle of a prime minister mired in deceit and deception, unable to lead," Starmer said in an address to the Fabian Society conference. Besides the Opposition raising the pitch of its attacks on the UK PM, Johnson is said to have gone into hiding this weekend amid a near-mutiny from many of his own members of Parliament and activists. Sky News' says there are reports that he is plotting a fightback to save his premiership, which he is calling Operation Save Big Dog. Meanwhile, the Daily Mirror' claims Johnson encouraged his aides to "let off steam" despite being banned from socialising in big groups under his own lockdown rules at the peak of the pandemic. It is even claimed that the regular events were so popular that staff invested in a GBP 142 drinks fridge to keep their bottles of white wine, prosecco, and beer cool for so-called wine-time Fridays. It is alleged that Downing Street aides took turns on Fridays to visit a local supermarket with a wheelie suitcase to fill up the 34-bottle fridge. It was this suitcase that was used on the night before Prince Philip's funeral on April 16 last year, the latest partygate allegation that led to Downing Street apologising to Queen Elizabeth II. It was followed by another damaging revelation, with the former head of the government's COVID Taskforce apologising for having farewell drinks in the UK Cabinet Office when she left the civil service on December 17, 2020, when strict restrictions were in place in England. Kate Josephs, who is now the chief executive of Sheffield City Council, said she was "truly sorry" for "the anger that people will feel" and said the gathering was now part of the ongoing internal investigation by senior civil servant Sure Gray. Andrew Bridgen, Conservative MP for North West Leicestershire, said: "I don't need to see what Sue Gray says to know that for me has lost the moral authority to lead the country. "If there's another emergency where he has to call on the public to make sacrifices, he doesn't have that authority. That makes his position in my book, as Prime Minister, completely untenable." Bridgen is among a growing number of Tory MPs speaking out against their leader. Many say their email inboxes have filled up after No. 10 apologised to the Queen for staff parties the night before the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral. Johnson was not at this gathering last April, but he is now battling against a growing tide of alleged COVID rule-breaking at the very place where these rules were being made. (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.) Chinese President has called for greater efforts to safeguard national political security and social stability as he gears up for an unprecedented third term in power this year. In an instruction to the political and legal work committee of the ruling Communist Party of (CPC), Xi said efforts should be made to ensure fair access to justice for every individual, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday. Calling on the political and legal work front to uphold the absolute leadership of the CPC and draw wisdom and strength from the party's century-long struggle, Xi urged party officials to promote the ability to forestall and defuse major risks and improve law enforcement and judicial policies and measures. He also stressed on deepening the comprehensive reform of political and legal work and consolidating the achievement made in the education campaign of officers of the front. Party committees at all levels should study and resolve the prominent issues that restrain political and legal work in a timely manner and support political and legal organs to perform their duties in accordance with laws, Xi noted in the instruction. Efforts should be made to provide a strong guarantee for advancing the 'Peaceful China' initiative and promoting the rule of law at a higher level, thus welcoming the 20th CPC National Congress with solid actions, he said. The second five-year term of 68-year-old Xi as the CPC General Secretary, the central authority of power, will end this year. He is widely expected to continue in the post for an unprecedented third term and perhaps for life after the once-in-five-year CPC Congress, scheduled to be held in the middle of this year, and re-appointed as president and head of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC). All his predecessors, including Hu Jintao who handed over the reins to Xi in 2012, retired after two terms in power as a widely-followed convention to encourage the new and collective leadership of the party. A major constitutional amendment in 2018 removed the two-term limit for president to enable Xi to continue in the post. Decks for Xi's continuation as CPC General Secretary were cleared at the last year's meeting of the party's Plenum, a powerful conclave of the party, for his continuation in power, perhaps for life. Politically, the meeting is regarded as significant for Xi, who in the last nine years of his tenure in power, has emerged as the most powerful leader after party founder Mao Zedong. He was also made core leader of the party in 2016, a status enjoyed by Mao. (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.) Britain's foreign minister expressed optimism Friday that there is a deal to be done to resolve a Northern Ireland trade dispute that has soured the UK's relations with the . Foreign Secretary Liz Truss struck an upbeat tone after her first set of talks with European Commission Vice President Maro efcovic, the bloc's chief Brexit negotiator. We have had constructive talks with the EU. We are now going to go into intensive negotiations to work towards a negotiated solution to sort out these very real issues for the people of Northern Ireland, Truss told broadcasters. In a brief joint statement, Truss and Sefcovic said their talks had been cordial and they had agreed to meet again on January 24 after intensified talks between their officials next week. Since Britain left the 27-nation bloc in 2020, relations have soured over Northern Ireland, the only part of the UK that shares sharing a border with an EU member. As part of the divorce deal, the two sides agreed to keep Northern Ireland inside the EU's tariff-free single market for goods to maintain an open border on the island of Ireland a key pillar of Northern Ireland's peace process. That created a new customs border in the Irish Sea for goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK even though they are part of the same country. The arrangement has brought red tape and supply problems for some businesses, and it has angered Northern Ireland's British Unionists, who say the checks undermine Northern Ireland's place in the UK and destabilise the delicate political balance on which peace rests. Truss was appointed Britain's lead EU negotiator last month after Brexit Minister David Frost quit, citing disillusionment with the Conservative government's policies. Brexit negotiations made limited progress under Frost, perceived by many EU officials as an intransigent hard-liner. Truss has struck a warmer tone, though she has stuck to Britain's insistence that the EU remove its top court from its role in resolving any disputes over the Brexit agreement an idea the bloc flatly rejects. The UK is seeking major changes to the arrangements and has threatened to use an emergency break clause to suspend parts of the legally binding Brexit divorce agreement if no solution is found. That would trigger EU retaliation and could spiral into a trade war between the UK and the 27-nation bloc. The EU has accused Britain of failing to respond positively to its far-reaching proposals to ease the burden on Northern Ireland businesses. I think there is a deal to be done. I do want to make progress, Truss said. Clearly if we don't make sufficient progress we will have to look at the alternatives, but my absolute desire is to get a deal that works for the people of Northern Ireland. (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.) Consumer goods giant said it had approached Glaxosmithkline about buying the pharmaceutical group's consumer goods arm, after a newspaper reported that a 50 billion-pound ($68.4 billion) bid it made had been rebuffed. Unilever, which has been under fire from some investors for the group's underperforming share price, confirmed the approach about a potential acquisition of the business in a statement on Saturday. " Consumer Healthcare is a leader in the attractive consumer health space and would be a strong strategic fit as continues to re-shape its portfolio," it said. "There can be no certainty that any agreement will be reached." declined to comment on the approach. Earlier, Britain's Sunday Times said the bid for the business made late last year was worth roughly 50 billion pounds, and had been rejected as too low by and Pfizer, which owns a minority stake in the division. The approach by Unilever, which owns brands such as Dove soap and Marmite, for Glaxoas portfolio of household brands including Panadol painkillers and Sensodyne toothpaste was understood to have been unsolicited, it added. Unilever's bid did not include any takeover premium or recognition of synergies, the newspaper said, adding that it was not clear whether the group would make a higher offer. Unilever has come under pressure from investors after underperforming rivals such as Procter & Gamble. Chief Executive Alan Jope recently got into a spat with British fund manager Terry Smith, who criticised the group for promoting sustainability credentials at the expense of performance. Brokerage Jefferies last year put a valuation for the whole consumer unit at 45 billion pounds. Deutsche Bank analysts said in June 2021 that any takeover bid for GSK's consumer assets worth more then 45 billion pounds would be "eye-watering". Unilever has previously shot down suggestions that it was in the market for big deals. Jope has said he was only interested in small, bolt-on acquisitions in fast-growing areas such as luxury beauty and health and wellness. ($1 = 0.7314 pounds) (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday spoke highly of the "unique architecture of Russia-China ties" and the two countries' joint efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation and solve international problems. The annual summits of the national leaders, meetings of the heads of government, and sessions of various commissions at the level of deputy prime minister (premier) "have proved to be very efficient," Lavrov said during his press conference summarizing Russian diplomacy in 2021. The outcomes of the mechanism "have been thought-through and can be implemented in practice. The mechanism allows us to achieve our goals," he said when answering a question raised by Xinhua. One of the achievements is the record-high turnover of the Russia-China trade in 2021, Lavrov said. The trade turnover surged by 35.8 percent year-on-year to reach nearly 146.9 billion U.S. dollars, according to the General Customs Administration of China. In the international arena, Russia and China are jointly defending the United Nations Charter, the norms of international law, international fairness and justice, territorial integrity and independence, and upholding the settlement of all crises by diplomatic means and non-interference in the internal affairs of any state, Lavrov said. The top Russian diplomat positively assessed the alignment of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Belt and Road Initiative. The two countries are also closely cooperating within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, where Afghanistan and Central Asian issues enjoy special significance, he said. As Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to visit China early next month, Lavrov said that the two heads of state are expected to cover all aspects of bilateral relations and cooperation during their talks in Beijing. Produced by Xinhua Global Service On Thursday, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) slammed President Joe Biden's voting rights effort. On the same day, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) took to the House floor to deliver his statement. Gallego spoke to his state's senior senator by name, which is no coincidence. Although the midterm elections are still 10 months away, some Arizona Democrats are already planning for Sinema's reelection in 2024. Gallego has been mentioned as a possible primary candidate to Sinema, especially given her refusal to modify Senate rules or abolish the filibuster, which has enraged progressives. Sinema dooms Democrats' push to enact voting rights bill Per POLITICO, Sinema's speech just contributed to the conflagration. The Primary Sinema PAC, which is committed to removing her from office in 2024, told Morning Score on Thursday that it was on track to have its best fundraising day ever, but a representative would specify how much money it earned following her speech. Since its start at the end of September, the PAC has raised a total of $250,000, which it split initially with Score. Way to Win, a progressive donor group, gave Primary Sinema PAC an extra $400,000 in seed money. The PAC also produced a letter on Thursday, stating that Sinema's obstruction had "no excuse." Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's statement on Wednesday was notable for its timeliness, which set it apart from her prior demands for bipartisan action rather than unilateral rule changes. Sinema has frequently defended the Senate's 60-vote supermajority requirement for most bills to succeed, as per The Washington Post via MSN. However, she gave her floor statement less than 45 minutes before President Biden arrived at the Democratic luncheon when he planned to ask all 50 members of the Democratic caucus to support modifying Senate rules only to allow voting rights legislation to succeed. Sinema gave White House officials advance notice of what she would say in her speech, according to multiple sources, but she left her colleagues frustrated once again with her rationale for defending a Senate that they believe is broken to act as conservative legislatures manipulate voting rules across the country. Read Also: Joe Biden Urges Senate Democrats' Unification To Pass Voting Rights Bill; Mitch McConnell Rips the President's Speech Joe Manchin praises Kyrsten Sinema's filibuster stance On Thursday, Manchin repeated his support for the filibuster, although he did so in a statement issued after lunchtime. Manchin and Sinema met with Biden for more than an hour at the White House late Thursday. Senator Kyrsten Sinema's choice to support the Senate filibuster rule, which would prevent her party from enacting a federal election reform measure, has generated uproar from liberals who accuse her of racism. President Biden offered a racially harsh speech on Tuesday in an attempt to drum up support for suspending the filibuster. Sinema's reluctance to budge on her filibuster stance comes days after Biden gave a racially charged speech on Tuesday in an effort to bolster support for suspending the filibuster. In his remarks, Biden accused people who oppose waiving the filibuster in order to pass the election reform measure of siding with renowned Democratic segregationists such as Bull Connor and George Wallace, Fox News reported. Related Article: Kyrsten Sinema, Joe Manchin Doom President Joe Biden's Effort To Strike a Deal for Voting Rights Bill @YouTube @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. US intelligence officials have determined a Russian effort is underway to create a pretext for its troops to further invade Ukraine, and Moscow has already prepositioned operatives to conduct a false-flag operation in eastern Ukraine, according to the . press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday the intelligence findings show Russia is also laying the groundwork through a social media disinformation campaign that frames as an aggressor that has been preparing an imminent attack against Russian-backed forces in eastern . Psaki charged that Russia has already dispatched operatives trained in urban warfare who could use explosives to carry out acts of sabotage against Russia's own proxy forces blaming the acts on if Russian President Vladimir Putin decides he wants to move forward with an invasion. We are concerned that the Russian government is preparing for an invasion in Ukraine that may result in widespread human rights violations and war crimes should diplomacy fail to meet their objectives, Psaki said. The did not provide details about how much confidence it has in the assessment. A US official, who was not authorised to comment on the intelligence and spoke on condition of anonymity, said much of the intelligence was gleaned from intercepted communications and observations of the movements of people. Ukraine is also monitoring the potential use of disinformation by Russia. Separately, Ukrainian media on Friday reported that authorities believed Russian special services were planning a possible false flag incident to provoke additional conflict. The new US intelligence was unveiled after a series of talks between Russia and the US and its Western allies this week in Europe aimed at heading off the escalating crisis made little progress. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Thursday said the US intelligence community has not made an assessment that the Russians, who have massed some 100,000 troops on Ukraine's border, have definitively decided to take a military course of action. But Sullivan said Russia is laying the groundwork to invade under false pretenses should Putin decide to go that route. He said the Russians have been planning sabotage activities and information operations that accuse Ukraine of prepping for its own imminent attack against Russian forces in eastern Ukraine. He said this is similar to what the Kremlin did in the lead-up to Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that had been under Ukraine's jurisdiction since 1954. The Crimea crisis came at moment when Ukraine was looking to strengthen ties with the West. Russia had stepped up propaganda that Ukraine's ethnic Russians were being oppressed in eastern Ukraine. Russia has long been accused of using disinformation as a tactic against adversaries in conjunction with military operations and cyberattacks. In 2014, Russian state media tried to discredit pro-Western protests in Kyiv as fomented by the US in cooperation with fascist Ukrainian nationalists and promoted narratives about Crimea's historical ties to Moscow, according to a report by Stanford University's Internet Observatory. Efforts to directly influence Ukrainians appear to have continued during the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, in which at least 14,000 people have died. The Associated Press reported in 2017 that Ukrainian forces in the east were constantly receiving text messages warning that they would be killed and their children would be made orphans. Nina Jankowicz, a global fellow at the Washington-based Wilson Center, said Russia's disinformation efforts have evolved between the lead-up to its annexation of Crimea and now. This time, the Kremlin appears to be driving anti-Ukraine narratives with top officials making bellicose public statements, said Jankowicz, author of How To Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News, and the Future of Conflict. The officials are setting the tone for the state media and they're just running with it, she said. So-called troll farms that post fake comments are less influential in part because social media companies have gotten better at stopping them, she said. Russian efforts on social media often play on existing doubts in Ukrainian society about whether the US will support Ukraine in a conflict and whether the West can be trusted, she said. The US intelligence community has taken note of a buildup on social media by Russian influencers justifying intervention by emphasising deteriorating human rights in Ukraine, suggesting an increased militancy of Ukrainian leaders and blaming the West for escalating tensions. We saw this playbook in 2014, Sullivan told reporters on Thursday. They are preparing this playbook again. The Russians, while maintaining they don't plan to invade Ukraine, are demanding that the US and NATO provide written guarantees that the alliance will not expand eastward. The US has called such demands nonstarters but said that it's willing to negotiate with Moscow about possible future deployments of offensive missiles in Ukraine and putting limits on US and NATO military exercises in Eastern Europe. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned on Friday that Moscow wouldn't wait indefinitely for the Western response, saying he expects the US and NATO to provide a written answer next week. Lavrov described Moscow's demands for binding guarantees that NATO will not embrace Ukraine or any other former Soviet nations, or station its forces and weapons there, as essential for the progress of diplomatic efforts to defuse soaring tensions over Ukraine. He argued that NATO's deployments and drills near Russia's borders pose a security challenge that must be addressed immediately. We have run out of patience, Lavrov said at a news conference. The West has been driven by hubris and has exacerbated tensions in violation of its obligations and common sense. (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 board of Mumbai International Airport (the Issuer), a step down subsidiary company of Adani Enterprises, at its meeting held on 14 January 2022, has approved the issuance of US Dollar denominated Rule 144A/ Reg S Senior Secured Fixed Rate Bonds (Notes), which may, be issued in one or more tranches overseas and that may be listed in any one or more stock exchanges in India or overseas. The proceeds from the issuance of the Notes will be utilised for refinancing of existing debt and to fund capital expenditure requirements of the Issuer, in accordance with applicable laws. The total amount raised will not exceed USD 1.25 Billion. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) SeQuent Scientific on Friday announced that its board of directors has appointed Rajaram Narayanan as new managing director and chief executive officer with effect from 11 April 2022. Rajaram Narayanan will succeed Manish Gupta who will be stepping down effective 10 April 2022 after serving as MD and CEO of SeQuent for the past eight years. Gupta will continue to serve as a strategic advisor to the company until July 2022, SeQeunt said in a press release. Narayanan joins from Sanofi India, where he was the managing director and country chair for India. At Sanofi, he led the strategic reorientation of its India business operations, resulting in accelerated growth in key therapies and significant transformation of Sanofi's market operations. Before this, he was chief marketing officer at Airtel, India's leading telecommunications company. Narayanan started his career at Hindustan Unilever, where he held various leadership roles in India and other Asian markets for over 18 years, building and managing many iconic consumer brands. The company said it is currently focusing on executing on its SeQuent 2.0 growth strategy by scaling its presence in existing markets, expanding into new international markets, and accelerating research and development in animal health Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients and formulations, including value-added generics. Narayanan will oversee the company's next phase of growth and expansion. SeQuent is backed by global investment firm Carlyle. Kamal K Sharma, non-executive chairman of SeQuent said, "We are delighted to welcome Rajaram as MD and CEO of SeQuent as he has a solid track record of successfully transforming businesses in highly complex and regulated industries. His strategic vision as well as operational expertise and rigor will be pivotal for the company's next phase of growth and success, and the Board of Directors looks forward to working with him. SeQuent Scientific is India's largest and amongst the 'Top 20' global animal health companies, backed by global investment firm 'The Carlyle Group' as promoter. The company has 8 manufacturing facilities across Europe, Turkey, Brazil & India with the Vizag site being India's only USFDA approved dedicated veterinary API facility. On a consolidated basis, net profit of Sequent Scientific declined 39.12% to Rs 14.30 crore on 0.31% rise in net sales to Rs 350.55 crore in Q2 FY22 over Q2 FY21. Shares of SeQuent Scientific ended 1.21% higher at Rs 191.90 on Friday. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister on Saturday assured that the central and the state governments will keep working for the empowerment of the people of . Greeting the people of the state on account of Makar Sankranti today, he recognised as a state which makes unprecedented contributions to national progress. "Makar Sankranti wishes to my sisters and brothers of Karnataka, a state which makes unprecedented contributions to national progress. The Centre and State Government will keep working for the empowerment of the people of the state," Modi tweeted. The PM was responding to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's tweet, thanking him for approval of synchronization of 18,78,671 houseless and 6,61,535 siteless households for poor rural people of the state under Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana Gramin (PMAY-G). "Respected Prime Minister Shri ji my Makar Sankranti greetings to you. Thank you for approval of synchronization of 18,78,671 houseless and 6,61,535 siteless households for poor rural people of karnataka in Awaas+ under PMAY-G, which were long pending," Bommai said in a tweet. "This is a Makar Sankranti gift from your good self to Karnataka. I thank you once again on behalf of Karnataka," he said. Bommai, later responding to Modi's tweet, thanked him, stating that his words of appreciation and assurance truly fuel his government's efforts to make even greater contributions to national progress. (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.) Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundarajan played a good samaritan by helping a middle aged woman, who swooned and fell off her scooter while riding in Chennai, get admitted to hospital in time. Soundararajan was in Chennai on Friday to celebrate Pongal festival at her home with kith and kin. In the course of the celebration of the harvest festival, Soundararajan saw a woman fall off the scooter outside her residence in Saligramam there. Immediately, she arranged for an ambulance to take the woman to the hospital. The Lt Governor herself checked the health condition of the woman inside the ambulance before she was taken to the hospital. A release from the office of Lt Governor here said that Tamilisai had been in Chennai (to celebrate Pongal festival). Soundararajan's timely intervention to save the woman was lauded by all those present. (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.) "Indian Army personnel serve in hostile terrains and are at the forefront of helping fellow citizens during humanitarian crisis, including natural disasters," PM Modi said. | (Photo: ANI) On the occasion of on Saturday, Prime Minister lauded the Indian Army, saying it is known for bravery and professionalism, and words cannot do justice to its invaluable contribution towards national safety. is observed on January 15 to mark Field Marshall K M Cariappa taking over as the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, replacing his British predecessor in 1949. " personnel serve in hostile terrains and are at the forefront of helping fellow citizens during humanitarian crisis, including natural disasters. India is proud of the stellar contribution of the Army in Peacekeeping Missions overseas as well," the prime minister said. He added, "Best wishes on the occasion of Army Day, especially to our courageous soldiers, respected veterans and their families. The is known for its bravery and professionalism. Words cannot do justice to the invaluable contribution of the towards national safety. (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 Caixin Must-Read newsletter brings you the best of our coverage over the past week, handpicked by our editors. # Business # In Depth: New Zealand Fruit Giants Kiwi Battle in China Zespri Group fights to profit from yellow SunGold variety it developed, alleging its being illegally cultivated in its largest market In Depth: The Uncertain Future of NFTs in China Hunter Biden's ex-wife wants to issue a bombshell memoir before the November midterm elections, outlining how his drug usage and an affair with his dead brother's widow contributed to the breakup of their 24-year marriage. Kathleen Buhle's memoir 'If We Break: A Memoir of Marriage, Addiction, and Healing' is a "page-turning and sad" account of the breakdown of her marriage to President Biden's second son, and it threatens to disgrace the first family, according to its publisher. According to The Times, Buhle's book promises to disclose the toll her husband's well-publicized difficulties with drug and alcohol addiction have had on their marriage. Buhle, 53, alleges her husband spent their money on cocaine and alcohol, as well as strippers and prostitutes, before having an affair with his sister-in-law. Topics we will wait for Kathleen Buhle's memoir Per MEAWW, Hunter Biden sought to contain the consequences from the laptop with his own memoir, named 'Beautiful Things,' in April 2021, but it received little attention or compassion. Since then, we've discovered more about Hunter, including the fact that a Chinese billionaire gave him an $800,000 diamond and that he assisted a Romanian tycoon in escaping jail. He's ridden out all of the storms so far, but Buhle's memoir might make things more difficult. When the book is out in June, keep an eye out for these four controversies: 1. Influence in the White House Buhle looks to be in the best position to reveal just how much access Hunter had in the White House, with Hunter and Buhle's relationship falling apart near the conclusion of Joe Biden's Vice Presidency. According to leaks from the laptop, Biden used his position as Vice President to try to obtain high-ranking officials and international businesses to meet with him. Biden is also said to have hosted some of Hunter's connections, something both his father and son have denied. 2. Kathleen Buhle, Hunter Biden's secret divorce Hunter and Buhle divorced in April 2017, but the specifics of their settlement were never made public. Buhle wanted $20,000 in alimony and child support every month although it was never established whether the court agreed. Buhle will also be entitled to a percentage of Hunter's retirement benefits although the exact amount is unknown. There are many unanswered concerns about the divorce, especially after the two began making public charges, which we may now receive answers to. Read Also: Queen Elizabeth, Prince William Hold Emergency Summit as Future Kings Allegedly Push for Prince Andrew To Lose Titles 3. Hunter Biden's affair with brother's widow Although Hunter Biden addressed the affair in his memoir, we may see new information from Buhle. We know she discovered Hunter and Hallie's romance via an iPad, and that was the final straw for her. In a July 2016 email, she said, "I'm leaving you because you're having an affair and you've been emotionally abusive." Buhle could now go into further detail about how she found the affair and what she meant when she said "emotionally abusive." 4. Addiction, love for prostitutes of the President's son We know Hunter was addicted to crack cocaine because of his memoir and leaks from his laptop, but the true degree of his addiction has long been a mystery. Buhle allegedly "worked for years to help him break his addiction" but was unsuccessful. Hunter also admitted that he was so hooked to booze that he drove a quart of Vodka every day. It's unclear if crack cocaine was Hunter's lone drug of choice at this time, which Buhle is expected to clarify. Hunter brushed over his love for prostitutes in his memoir, but it was a significant aspect of his divorce struggle. Hunter said he had no recall of a night with former stripper Lunden Roberts, who won a child support lawsuit when she disclosed she was pregnant with his kid in 2017. The controversy is one of many low periods in his life, but if Buhle knew more, we could learn about others. Twitter's oppression on Hunter Biden's laptop story Meanwhile, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., called Twitter's suppression of a New York Post bombshell critical of President Biden's son Hunter in 2020 a "mistake." Khanna made the comments during an American Optimist podcast discussion with Joe Lonsdale about his new book, 'Dignity in a Digital Age: Making Tech Work for All of Us.' Emails reportedly sent from Hunter Biden's laptop were included in the Post story. Twitter went to great lengths to prevent readers from viewing the content via a Twitter link. Although there was no indication that the emails published by the Post were stolen, the business first claimed the item broke its policy of releasing hacked data. After the tech giant received criticism, it was finally made available on Twitter, as per Fox News. Related Article: Hunter Biden's Ex-Wife Writes Memoir, Detailing How Cheating, Drug Abuse of President's Son Destroyed Their Marriage @YouTube @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. This map of Carteret County, organized by zip code, shows active cases of COVID-19 as of Friday afternoon. (Carteret County map) NASA rover, Perseverance, has discovered an animal on Mars. The rover launched in Florida lat July 30, 2020. Perseverance sky-rocketed amid the coronavirus pandemic has made historic progress and proved its massive significance on space, worth further exploring. It has been exploring Jezero Crater on Mars since its arrival in the crater on February 18, 2021. According to EarthSky Organization, from the first 10 months of its visit to this ancient lakebed, the Jezero Crater, scientists have already found interesting discoveries. With that, the scientists announced some surprising new discoveries last month (Dec. 15, 2021). It is undeniable that Perseverance's new discoveries are assisting with answering some critical concerns regarding the region. As data provided by the rover has been analyzed by scientists, it was discovered that the crater has an ancient river delta which is still visible to this day, and that the crater once held a lake. NASA's Rover Perseverance on Jezero Crate As reported by NASA Mars Exploration Program, the Perseverance rover has spent the ten months since its arrival on the Jezero Crater floor examining two very different geologic units. It was able to access the Setah geologic unit in October 2021 after investigating and taking its first two samples from the Crater Floor geologic unit. To understand the relationship between these unique geologic units and their place in the geologic history of Jezero, the NASA rover needs to spend an extensive amount of time discovering and exploring Seitah, and it did. The rover examined the place for months and was able to analyze multiple outcrops. The data gathered through that exploration allowed NASA's scientists to grasp and understand the relationship between these unique geologic sites. NASA Exploration in Mars NASA's rover is on a mission not just for exploration of the red planet but to gather data in any signs where a living life can be formed. NASA's rover is now orbiting Mars and has revealed not only scientifically significant information such as the presence of water on Mars and the history of the Jessero crater landing site. In addition, it exceeded the expectations set as it discovered places and also mysterious animals on Mars. Perseverance surprisingly discovers and continuously captures things that aren't expected by scientists to be there. Read Also: Elon Musk Is Captain Planet: SpaceX Wants to Turn Carbon Dioxide to Rocket Fuel, But Is It Possible? NASA Rover Discoveries Aside from the strange and creepy discovery of a partially buried skeleton taken by Perseverance on Mars, it also discovered a frog. In October 2021 the "Picture of the Week" published by NASA shows a frog sitting in the middle of the red surface of Mars. It was reported by Nintendo Power that the rover has found the presence of a frog on Mars. It is, however, in a rock formation. It will be thrilling to discover a frog on Mars that has been hunting for life for years. The reported frog is actually a stone creation in the shape of a frog. It was from the left Mastcam-Z, the rover's "head" was photographed. Unfortunately, even if there is a frog discovered on Mars, it is still not a sign of life. Researchers are positively expecting great discoveries and data for the Mars missions to be conducted in the future, even if it has not been that successful in its original plan on looking for signs of life on Mars. Scientists are looking forward to the day that the missions done on Mars would also bring rock and soil samples that could help them further analyze the nature of the planet. Related Article: NASA Hubble Images: Online Tool Lets You Check What Space Telescope Saw During Your Birthday! Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and consider subscribing for only $7 per month to get access to more articles and news as it happens. I think a lot of people view silent-era cartoons as a footnote in animation history. Ive certainly made that mistake in the past. But a brief glance over the treasure trove of animation produced in 1926 reveals a level of creativity that is truly staggering. For starters, take a look at this clip from the hilarious and underrated 1926 Max Fleischer cartoon Its the Cats (newly restored by Thunderbean Animation) which combines animation, live-action, puppetry, stop-motion, and everything else to create a wacky climax unlike any youve ever seen: One of the best films of 1926 is the visually stunning fantasy The Adventures of Prince Achmed, the earliest surviving animated feature (released over a decade before Disneys Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs). Pioneering female animator Lotte Reiniger crafted the film using silhouette animation techniques that are still inspiring. Just look at the ornate detail of the sets and expressive movements of the shadow puppets, which Reiniger created almost entirely by herself at 24 frames per second: Felix the Cat, the first bona fide animated cartoon star, was the most popular cartoon character in the world in 1926. Producer Pat Sullivan took all the credit, but the real genius behind Felix was Otto Messmer, who was anonymously writing, directing, and animating the cartoons that Sullivan put his name to (Messmer also wrote and drew the daily newspaper strip, which Sullivan signed). It was Messmers creative personality that gave life to Felix, and his films are full of reality-bending pleasures like this one from Two-Lip Time: The other famous cartoon cat of the era was Krazy Kat, loosely based on George Herrimans comic strip masterpiece. The mid-20s Krazys were animated by Bill Nolan, who doesnt get enough love these days considering he created rubber hose animation, which has had a recent resurgence thanks to Cuphead. Just look at the restless, elastic energy in this Bill Nolan scene from Scents and Nonsense (from Tommy Jose Stathes collection): The most inventive cartoons of the 1920s were the Out of the Inkwell shorts from Max Fleischer, who later produced the Betty Boop and Popeye cartoons. The series starred Ko-Ko the Clown and his dog Fitz, who would frequently jump off the drawing board into the real world. The demented finale to the classic Ko-Ko the Convict is a must-see. This thing just keeps topping itself in visual insanity: Max Fleischer created the Out of the Inkwell series to show off his invention, the rotoscope, which allowed animation to be traced from live-action footage. By 1926, however, Ko-Ko had been given a heavily caricatured redesign by Dick Huemer and the studio relied less on rotoscoping in favor of wonderful only-in-a-cartoon gags like this one from Ko-Ko Hot After It: The Fleischer studio still found special occasions to pull out the old rotoscope, as in this eye-popping bit from Ko-Kos Queen. Note that the crew had to build a giant tabletop set just to make this scene work: Another series that cleverly combined live-action and animation was Walter Lantzs Hot Dog cartoons, which began in 1926 and starred Pete the Pup (not to be confused with Lantzs 1932 creation Pooch the Pup this will all be on the test). Thats Walter Lantz himself getting blown to kingdom come in this clip from Petes Haunted House: Walt Disney puzzled a lot of people when he said, as late as 1930, that my ambition was to be able to make cartoons as good as the Aesops Fables series. Paul Terrys work is usually considered lower-tier among golden age cartoon fans, but its easy to see why his silent Fables were crowd-pleasers. This bit from Hunting in 1950, starring the long-suffering Farmer Al Falfa, is sharper and funnier than many of Terrys sound films. Speaking of Walt Disney, were a little way off from Mickey Mouse entering the public domain, but there are plenty of proto-Mickey rodents scampering around in Disneys Alice Comedies, with Alices Brown Derby being a top-notch example: Even at this early stage, you can see Disney flirting with a vestigial form of character animation. This great scene from Alice Helps the Romance gets laughs from acting nuances, something Disney would expand on in the 1930s: On the flip side, these early Disney cartoons differ slightly from the studios later work in their blunt and callous sense of humor. Alices Orphan is particularly cynical: Some of the silent Disney cartoons are downright morbid. The bizarre Alices Mysterious Mystery concerns a dog-killing operation run by cloaked villains that evoke the Ku Klux Klan. The KKK was at the height of its influence in the 1920s, so I wonder what the reaction was to this expressly negative depiction of the group. Similarly gruesome is the Mutt and Jeff short Dog Gone, where Jeff dons a dog suit to win some prize money at the dog show (the dumbest and therefore funniest get-rich-quick scheme in film history) and nearly gets ground into sausage links. This is truly sick stuff, but really, really funny. Imagine trying to pitch this to a network today: The Mutt and Jeff cartoons, based on Bud Fishers comic strip, are sadly underrated, probably because so few survive out of the 292(!) films produced. Playing with Fire delivers one hilarious joke after another, and ends on this all-timer of a sight gag: Another incredibly creative joke, from Lots of Water. I dont recall ever seeing another gag like this in all of the 96 years since this cartoon came out: Fleischer veteran Dick Huemer directed the Mutt and Jeff cartoons of the 1925/26 series, and some of the dark imagination of the Fleischer cartoons found its way into the films. The wonderfully spooky Slick Sleuths features a transformative shadowy character named The Phantom, who has so many creative possibilities he could helm his own animated series. Maybe that can still happen now that the film is in the public domain. Charley Bowers, a director on the Mutt and Jeff series, mightve been the first animator to make the switch to live-action filmmaking. His jaw-dropping films, which he wrote, directed, and starred in, combine Chaplin-esque slapstick with crazy stop-motion effects to create surreal visual fireworks. This guy was way ahead of his time, as evidenced in Egged On: This bit from Charley Bowers Now You Tell One seems like it should be a meme: The oldest existing clay-animated film (later dubbed claymation by Will Vinton) is 1926s Long Live the Bull! by Chinese-American animator Joseph Sunn. This series was called Ralph Wolfes Mud Stuff, suggesting that the figures were supposed to look like mud come to life: For anime fans, A Story of Tobacco is a fascinating early Japanese animated short by Noburo Ofuji, which takes a cue from the Out of the Inkwell cartoons, only using paper cut-outs instead of traditional cel animation: And outside of traditional narrative film, German artist Hans Richter was one of the first to experiment with abstract animation. His 1926 film Filmstudie uses mixed media to create a bizarre dadaist nightmare with floating eyeballs: Watching these 1926 cartoons, its interesting to see the larger culture reflected in them. Flappers are an iconic element of the Roaring Twenties, and vamps show up all over the place in cartoons of the time, most notably Felix the Cat Busts a Bubble: And even though these cartoons are silent, they make it clear they were produced in the Jazz Age. One character does the Charleston in Disneys Alice Helps the Romance, a dance craze that was at the height of its popularity in 1926: In some cases, details pop up that you wouldnt expect to see in films this old. I certainly wasnt prepared to see the word swag show up in Felix the Cat Hunts the Hunter: To finish things off, heres the spectacular grand finale to Kokos Toot Toot. I hope this article inspired you to play around with or just watch cartoons from 1926. Theres a lot of great stuff to discover. Some of the restorations featured here are by Steve Stanchfield at Thunderbean Animation, Tommy Jose Stathes of the Stathes Archive, and maxfleischercartoons.com. The animated films success in the survey is mirrored in its high user scores on film reviewing platforms Douban and Maoyan: 8.3 and 9.4, respectively. According to Entgroup, its gross to date is Usd$34.6 million a respectable showing for a local animated title. After its release in mid-December, I Am What I Am was condemned by some in China, who argued that the small eyes of its characters unusual for Chinese cg animation reflects a kind of internalized racism. This is how Chinese people were exaggeratedly portrayed during the colonial period. Weve been discriminated against for so long that this doesnt look so strange to some people, read one Weibo user comment. Others defended the film. Its producer Miao Zhang told nationalistic Chinese tabloid The Global Times that the idea was to break away from the influence of Japanese and American animation, where large eyes are common, and aim for a realistic style. Directed by Haipeng Sun, I Am What I Am revolves around three teenagers from Guangdong province who set out to master the traditional lion dance. The setting is the real-world China of today, which sets the film apart from most Chinese animated hits of recent years, works of high fantasy steeped in mythology. Paraphrasing Rao Shuguang, president of the China Film Critics Association, Xinhua noted that the down-to-earth film signals a change of direction in Chinese animated filmmaking. It draws inspiration from ordinary people struggling to make miracles happen in daily life instead of gods in mythology stories. The film played at L.A.s Animation Is Film festival last year. No U.S. distributor has been announced. Photo: Contributed Mounties in Coquitlam, say a male is in hospital with serious injuries following a Friday night shooting in the city. The RCMP say in a release that it happened just before 9:30 p.m. in the 1000 block of Austin Ave. They say the person who was wounded is known to police and there are indications he was targeted. They add it is still unclear whether the incident is connected to the Lower Mainland Gang conflict. No suspect information was immediately released. Investigators are asking anyone with information about the case to contact the Coquitlam RCMP. Photo: The Canadian Press Afghan refugees shout slogans during a rally outside the building that houses the local UNHCR representative office in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, on Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021. Texan YouTuber helped 170 Afghans flee safely to Canada. They arrived in Calgary earlier this week and will resettle in Edmonton. A YouTuber who gives investment tips helped fund the escape of 170 Afghans from the Taliban to Canada. David Lee, an investor who lives in Texas, helped a large group of stranded Afghans get to the Pakistan border after the Taliban took control last August. The Hazaras, who arrived in Calgary earlier this week, included filmmakers, members of Afghanistan's artistic community and human-rights activists. They fled Kabul last summer when the Taliban took control but were stranded in Kandahar, in the south of Afghanistan, with no funds to get to the Pakistan border. They had days to get to a border crossing before it closed but had spent all their money fleeing Kabul. Lee, who had previously funded the escape of a group of 38 Hazaras to Pakistan, as well as emergency food shipments to Afghanistan, was contacted by an Afghan from an aid organization in the United States to see if he could urgently help. Members of the 170-strong group do not want to be identified for fear of Taliban reprisals against friends and family. Taliban fundamentalists have targeted democracy and women activists, as well as musicians, smashing their instruments and beating them up, according to Sen. Salma Ataullahjan, who was born in Pakistan and has contacts with many Afghans. She said one professional Afghan musician she knows buried his instrument for fear of persecution. The Taliban has also imposed harsh restrictions on what Afghans can watch and banned women from appearing in television dramas, according to a report by the BBC. The Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has instructed broadcasters not to screen movies or programs that are against Islamic or Afghan values. With some of his YouTube followers, Lee raised around US$12,000 within hours to fund taxi fares and other costs to enable the refugees to get to a crossing into Pakistan before the border closed. Lee, who gives investment education via YouTube, had previously helped a group of 38 Afghans, including the family of a student at the University of British Columbia, to cross the Pakistan border. He warned the contact who asked him for help that the group had just days to get out of the country before the Afghan-Pakistan border near Quetta closed. But local bus services that could have got them to the border ceased after the Taliban took power. They wanted to cross the border but they were stuck. They had used up all their money to get to Kandahar. Taxis were charging prices ten times higher than usual. I had helped 38 others cross the border and I said, 'Your group needs to move as soon as possible,' he said. I tapped my network and a bunch of people who watch investors videos, and within a few hours we got the fees it was about $12,000 for their costs, most of it for transportation. They made it out just in the nick of time. A couple of days later the land border shut." The money was wired to Pakistan where a go-between managed to arrange transportation for the group of Hazaras. Hazaras are one of Afghanistans largest minorities and speak Hazaraqi, a dialect of Persian. They are also found in parts of Iran and Pakistan, with a large population in Quetta. Historically they have faced persecution in Afghanistan, including by the mainly Pashtun Taliban. The border, near Quetta, closed within days of the refugees crossing. Some of the group almost did not make it across, Lee said. One man spent three days at the border trying to persuade the guards to let him cross. At the border, the refugees had their luggage taken away from them and then returned on the Pakistan side. From the border they journeyed to Quetta where they ended up sleeping on the floor of an unheated marriage hall. In Islamabad, with the help of human-rights groups, they were referred to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which referred them to Canadas special humanitarian program one of two set up to help bring 40,000 Afghan refugees to Canada. The program is intended to help vulnerable groups including human-rights activists, women leaders, persecuted religious or ethnic minorities, LGBTQ people and journalists. In Islamabad, Lee said, Canadian embassy staff interviewed the refugees and took biometric data before approving immigration to Canada. The Hazaras were part of a group of 252 Afghan refugees welcomed to Canada by immigration minister Sean Fraser on Tuesday, and the first admitted through the special humanitarian program. The day after their plane touched down in Calgary, the leader of the group messaged Lee to tell him the entire group was now on Canadian soil and safe and well. The group is now in isolation in a Calgary hotel and will travel to Edmonton when they emerge from quarantine, Lee said. Lee, who lives in Texas, is hoping to travel to Edmonton to meet members of the group when the pandemic wanes. I was so delighted personally when they arrived, he said. "Their lives and those of future generations will be changed forever." Photo: The Canadian Press Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly attends the G7 summit of foreign and development ministers in Liverpool, England Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021. Canada's foreign affairs minister is heading to Ukraine amid mounting fears of a Russian invasion. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Phil Noble Canada's foreign affairs minister is heading to Ukraine amid mounting fears of a Russian invasion. Melanie Joly is to depart Sunday for Kyiv on a weeklong trip that will include stops in Paris and Brussels. Her office says the trip is aimed at underscoring Canada's unwavering support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of continuing Russian aggression. In Kyiv, Joly is to meet with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishyna. She will also meet with some 200 Canadian troops who are in Ukraine as part of a mission to train the country's security forces. Joly will then travel to Paris to meet with her French counterpart and to Brussels, where she is to meet her Belgian counterpart and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. The amassing of Russian troops and equipment in and around Ukraine jeopardizes security in the entire region," Joly said Saturday in a statement announcing the trip. "These aggressive actions must be deterred. Canada will work with its international partners to uphold the rules-based international order and preserve the human rights and dignity of Ukrainians. The statement said Joly will "emphasize the importance of collective security and the role it plays in upholding Ukraines sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence." Photo: The Canadian Press Police secure the area around Congregation Beth Israel synagogue on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022 in Colleyville, Texas. Authorities say a man has apparently taken hostages at the synagogue near Fort Worth, Texas. The Colleyville Police Department tweeted Saturday afternoon that it was conducting SWAT operations at the address of Congregation Beth Israel. UPDATE 8:15 p.m. Hostages who had been held for hours inside a Texas synagogue were rescued Saturday night, according to Gov. Greg Abbott, nearly 12 hours after the standoff began. Prayers answered. All hostages are out alive and safe, Abbott tweeted. Abbotts tweet came not long after a loud bang and what sounded like gunfire was heard coming from the synagogue, where authorities said a man had held people captive as he demanded the release of a Pakistani neuroscientist who was convicted of trying to kill U.S. Army officers in Afghanistan. Details of the rescue were not immediately released and it was unclear whether the hostage-taker was dead or alive. UPDATE 7:20 p.m. A man took hostages Saturday during services at a Texas synagogue where he could be heard ranting in a livestream and demanding the release of a Pakistani neuroscientist who was convicted of trying to kill U.S. Army officers in Afghanistan. At least four hostages were initially believed to be inside the synagogue, according to three law enforcement officials who were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. The synagogue's rabbi was believed to be among the hostages, one of the officials said. One of the officials said the man claimed to be armed but authorities had not confirmed whether he is. The Colleyville Police Department said one hostage was released uninjured shortly after 5 p.m. Saturday. The man was expected to be reunited with his family and did not require medical attention. Authorities are still trying to discern a precise motive for the attack. The hostage-taker was heard demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, the Pakistani neuroscientist suspected of having ties to al-Qaida, the officials said. He also said he wanted to be able to speak with her, according to the officials. Siddiqui is in federal prison in Texas. The officials said investigators have not positively identified the man and cautioned that the information was based on a preliminary investigation as the situation was still rapidly developing. A rabbi in New York City received a call from the rabbi believed to be held hostage in the synagogue to demand Siddiquis release, a law enforcement official said. The New York rabbi then called 911 . Police were first called to the synagogue around 11 a.m. and people were evacuated from the surrounding neighborhood soon after that, FBI Dallas spokesperson Katie Chaumont said. There have been no reported injuries, Chaumont said. Its an evolving situation, and we have a lot of law enforcement personnel on scene, Chaumont said. The services were being livestreamed on the synagogue's Facebook page for a time. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that an angry man could be heard ranting and talking about religion at times during the livestream, which didn't show what was happening inside the synagogue. Shortly before 2 p.m., the man said, You got to do something. I dont want to see this guy dead. Moments later, the feed cut out. A Meta company spokesperson later confirmed that Facebook removed the video. Multiple people heard the hostage-taker refer to Siddiqui as his sister on the livestream, but Faizan Syed, the executive director of Council on American-Islamic Relations in Dallas Fort-Worth Texas, told The Associated Press that Siddiquis brother, Mohammad Siddiqui, was not involved. Syed said CAIRs support and prayers were with the people being held in the synagogue. Texas resident Victoria Francis told the AP that she watched about an hour of the livestream before it cut out. She said she heard the man rant against America and claim he had a bomb. He was just all over the map. He was pretty irritated and the more irritated he got, hed make more threats, like Im the guy with the bomb. If you make a mistake, this is all on you. And hed laugh at that, she said. He was clearly in extreme distress. ORIGINAL 2 p.m. Authorities say a man apparently took hostages Saturday during services at a synagogue near Fort Worth, Texas. The Colleyville Police Department tweeted Saturday afternoon that it was conducting SWAT operations at the address of Congregation Beth Israel. At least four hostages were believed to be inside the synagogue, according to two law enforcement officials who were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. The synagogue's rabbi was believed to be among the hostages, one of the officials said. FBI Dallas spokeswoman Katie Chaumont said an FBI SWAT team was also at the scene and that crisis negotiators had been communicating with someone inside the synagogue. But she could not say whether the person was armed and she declined to describe what the person had said to authorities, citing operational sensitivity. Police were first called to the synagogue around 11 a.m. and people were evacuated from the surrounding neighborhood soon after that, Chaumont said. There have been no reported injuries, Chaumont said. Its an evolving situation, and we have a lot of law enforcement personnel on scene, Chaumont said. Law enforcement shut down access to the roads surrounding the synagogue Saturday afternoon. The services were being livestreamed on the synagogue's Facebook page for a time. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that an angry man could be heard ranting and talking about religion at times during the livestream, which didn't show what was happening inside the synagogue. Shortly before 2 p.m., the man said, You got to do something. I dont want to see this guy dead. Moments later, the feed cut out. The man, who used profanities, repeatedly mentioned his sister, Islam and that he thought he was going to die, the Star-Telegram reported. Colleyville, a community of about 26,000 people, is about 23 kilometres northeast of Fort Worth. Many Californians are getting worried on their missing fourth stimulus checks. Fortunately, the California Franchise Tax Board has given out a few suggestions for delayed, lost or stolen Golden State Stimulus payments. Thanks to the program, eligible Californians could look forward to a one-time payment of a $1,100 Golden State Stimulus check. These payments were distributed in several waves, with the last batch being sent out on January 11. Unfortunately, not all of the eligible recipient has received these payments on time. Some are getting worried that the checks might have gone missing. AS explained the possible reasons for these delays, along with some suggestions to resolve the problem. 4th Stimulus Check: Delivery Delays According to the California Franchise Tax Board (CFTB), recipients who will receive paper check payments should allocate up to three weeks for delivery delays. This means payments that should have come out earlier this week can take until February to arrive. Note, however, that these payments are only credited to Californians who filed their tax returns last year. If they did not file their requirements on the October 15, 2021 deadline, then eligible Californians should take advantage of the extended deadline on February 15. This might be the last chance to apply for the Golden State Stimulus checks. Late filers should keep in mind that they will have a different delivery schedule for the Golden State Stimulus checks should they qualify. If they submit their requirements some time in February, the checks might arrive a few weeks later. Read Also: iPhone 14 Pro Max Price Leak Hints Shocking Increase; But Standard Version Costs Like iPhone 13 Fourth Stimulus Check Tracker: Lost or Stolen Golden State Stimulus Payments Receivers who are confident that they submitted their requirements but have not received their payments are advised to contact the TFB. They can be contacted through: Phone (Weekdays 8 AM to 5 PM): 800-852-5711 or 916-845-6500 (outside the U.S.) Chat (Weekdays 8 AM to 5 PM): Sign in to MyFTB to chat Mail: Franchise Tax Board, PO Box 942840, Sacramento CA 94240-0040 It is important to note that officials have to verify if the Golden State Stimulus check is an erroneous payment. This might take a few more days to process. Recipients can help speed up the procedure by providing a letter that explains the issue. They should include their name and identification number (SSN or ITIN) on the letter. This letter should be mailed to: ATTN: Golden State Stimulus Fund, Franchise Tax Board, PO Box 3070, Rancho Cordova, CA 95741-3070. Tax Calculator 2022: How to Get Ready for Tax Day On a different topic, people who are preparing their budget for tax day might want to use two available online tools for tax calculations. These are the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator and the Estimated Tax Worksheet. IRS Tax Withholding Estimator will help taxpayers budget a proper amount based on their fixed hourly salary or other means of income. On the other hand, the Estimated Tax Worksheet can help taxpayers get an estimate on their tax payment even if they have no clear monthly income. Full details for these tools are available in this article. Related Article: Bernard Arnault Net Worth 2022: How Did Louis Vuitton CEO Surpass Jeff Bezos' Net Worth? This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact The Chanute Tribune office at 620-431-4100 if you have any questions Dr. Russell Dyer, Director of Cleveland City Schools, announces the Cleveland City Schools District Level Teachers of the Year, Principal of the Year and Supervisor of the Year for the 2021-2022 school year. These individuals were chosen based on their outstanding service to Cleveland City Schools and will represent the school system in the next round of state level competitions. District Teachers of the Years: Mr. Rob Jenkins, 4th Grade teacher at George R. Stuart Elementary School, has been selected as the Cleveland City Schools Elementary Teacher of the Year. Mr. Jenkins is in his fourth year of teaching at George R. Stuart Elementary School and for Cleveland City Schools. Mrs. Ali Creel, Special Education teacher at Cleveland Middle School, has been selected as the Cleveland City Schools Middle School Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Creel is in her 14th year with Cleveland City Schools and previously worked at Cleveland High School, Blythe-Bower Elementary School, and E.L. Ross Elementary School. Ali has spent her last seven years teaching Special Education at Cleveland Middle School. Mrs. Susan Rodriguez, Spanish teacher at Cleveland High School, has been selected as the Cleveland City Schools High School Teacher of the Year. Susan is in her 5th year teaching Spanish at Cleveland High School and for Cleveland City Schools. Principal of the Year: Dr. Stephanie Stone, principal at Yates Primary School and E.L. Ross Elementary School, has been chosen as the Cleveland City Schools Principal of the Year. Dr. Stone has worked for Cleveland City Schools for 15 years. She has previously served Cleveland City Schools as a teacher for five years, curriculum coordinator for one year, and assistant principal for six years prior to becoming a principal. Dr. Stone is in her third full year as a principal for Cleveland City Schools. Supervisor of the Year: Dr. Joel Barnes, supervisor of Federal Funds and Professional Development, has been chosen as the Cleveland City Schools Supervisor of the Year. Dr. Barnes has worked in Cleveland City Schools for 17 years with six years as teacher, two years as an assistant principal, and five years as the principal at Blythe-Bower Elementary School. Dr. Barnes is currently serving in his fourth year as a supervisor for Cleveland City Schools. Dr. Dyer shared these thoughts on the selections, It is always exciting to recognize our outstanding educators. Mr. Jenkins, Mrs. Creel, and Mrs. Rodriguez are three shining examples of the great educators we have in our schools throughout Cleveland City. They will each represent us well as they move on to the next level. At the principal level, Dr. Stephanie Stone continues to do a marvelous job in her position as principal of both Yates Primary School and E.L. Ross Elementary School. She has risen to the challenge of navigating leading both schools to a high level of success and is most deserving of this honor. Finally, Dr. Joel Barnes has been an integral part of assisting the school district in navigating the world of federal funding this year and has also completed some important work in updating our professional development offering for staff. He is very deserving of being named Supervisor of the Year. "Cleveland City Schools celebrates and congratulates each of these individuals. Best of luck to each educator as they move into the state levels of competition," officials said. Cleveland City Schools Building Level Teachers of the Year: Arnold Memorial Elementary- Cheryl Matthews Blythe-Bower Elementary- April Salyer Candys Creek Cherokee Elementary- Brittany Strother Mayfield Elementary- Morgan Burke E.L. Ross Elementary- Megan Yates George R. Stuart Elementary- Rob Jenkins Yates Primary School- Susan Hoops-Whitlock Cleveland Middle School- Rodney Broadnax, Ali Creel, and Candace Parker Cleveland High School- Brian DeLoach, Tom Marino, and Susan Rodriguez A woman on East 5th Street told police she was hearing noises coming from her carport that sounded like someone was in it. Police found a man in the carport who seemed confused and was detained. The woman said she didnt know who the man was. He was identified by police who reported he has sleepwalking issues and he was out with friends at a bar on Brainerd Road and his friends dropped him off in this area. A warrant check was conducted showing no active warrants for the man. The woman said she did not wish to press charges for trespassing. * * * An anonymous complainant flagged down an officer and said they saw a man going through unlocked vehicles in the parking lot of La Quinta at 7051 McCutcheon Road. The officer spoke with the man on McCutcheon Road. No victims were identified by police. * * * An officer reported at disorder at Motel 6 at 5505 Brainerd Road. A taxi driver for Mercury wanted to call police for his side of the story after the desk clerk for Motel 6 said she was calling the police to escort him out. He recorded her being rude after suggesting he stay another night and questioning the return of his deposit. She was seen calling him "stupid" and referring to him in an unkind manner to someone on her cell phone. This she got up to call police. The video file was too large to attach to the police report. The officer spoke with the desk clerk about the incident and she said she did not call the police once she saw the man was leaving the lobby. She said the issue was about him receiving his $100 deposit in the morning and not at 3 a.m. * * * The store manager for Walgreens at 2104 McCallie Ave. told police a black male wearing a black beanie and black jacket walked inside the store and started screaming at employees. The manager also mentioned that the man started accusing the employees, saying they chased him out of the store every time and called him a beggar. The man left the scene prior to police arriving. The manager said the man claimed he was going to break all the car windows in the store parking lot. Police drove through the area but the man was not found. * * * A woman on La Porte Drive told police her 2012 silver Kia Optima had been stolen. Also on scene was the womans son. The son told police he left the house at 8 a.m. to take his dogs to the dog park and the car was in the driveway at that time. The son returned at 9:15 a.m. and the vehicle was gone. The woman said her purse had been stolen from her vehicle on Lee Highway and there was a spare key in the purse. The most distinctive feature is the vehicle has a specialty tag, Humming Birds. The car was entered into NCIC. * * * A woman on Talladega Drive said her husband, who is not supposed to be on the property, was there. When police arrived, the man said his girlfriend was already on her way to pick him up. The man left with his girlfriend during police presence. * * * Police received a call from Mobile Crisis stating they had received text messages from a number and the person sending the messages was potentially suicidal. The phone was pinged to North Access Road. When the phone number was contacted by dispatch and police, the female said that it was not her that sent the messages and for dispatch and police to stop contacting her. No suicidal party was ever found and it is believed that the person sending the messages to Crisis was using an app to hide their actual phone number. * * * A woman said she had rented a U-Haul in order to drop off her old mattress and box springs at the refuse center at 1321 Airport Road. The worker at the refuse center said she is not allowed to drop items off in any commercial or rented vehicle. Police assisted the woman in transferring the items into a personal vehicle in order to drop her items off. * * * Police were dispatched to a noise complaint at Target at 5579 Hwy. 153. Police spoke with a man playing his violin in the parking lot. He was asked to move along and he did without incident. * * * A man on East Brainerd Road told police there has been a black male with a beard and gray clothing knocking on his door. He said this has been going on for the last two days and he has no idea who he is. The man does not know if he lives in the apartment complex or what. The man has it on his ring camera of the unknown male repeatedly knocking on his door. * * * An employee at Volcano Crab and Bar at 2342 Shallowford Village Dr. told police a white female and black female came in and ate. After finishing their meal both ran out of the store without paying the $80 they owed. Officers were unable to locate the suspects at this time. * * * A loss prevention office at Home Depot at 7421 Commons Blvd. said someone had just run out with a bag of items without paying for them. He said that a white male, wearing a black jacket, a hat with a yellowish logo on it, and boots walked into the store. He then walked around and picked up a backpack. He started putting items in the backpack and walked toward the door. As he was walking toward the door the employee called police because the officer had just left the store from a previous shoplifting. He said the man got into a black Nissan Sentra with a temp tag. The Sentra left the parking lot and got onto Commons Boulevard. The car appeared to drive into the parking lot of Lowes. The officer was not able to find the car but was able to get a photo of the man and it will be sent out to CPD sworn for possible identification. The amount of merchandise that he got away with was $201.54. * * * Police were dispatched to Fiesta Mexican at 4021 Hixson Pike on a report of suspicious people. They spoke with two men who were camped there. They said they were in the process of leaving and had the property owner's permission to be there until the next day. * * * A man at the Speedway gas station at 3956 Brainerd Road was being loud and rude to employees and the customers and was asked to leave, which he did. * * * A man on Gay Street told police he was having a disagreement with a neighbor living down the street. The man said that the neighbor had called him a pedophile and he was very offended. The officer went to the neighbor's home and spoke with a woman. The woman said that the man stops in the roadway in front of their home while walking his dog. The woman showed the officer a video of the man standing in front of their home for 40 seconds with his dog. The man said he stops to make sure the neighbors dogs are put up. Per the mans request, the officer asked the neighbor to refrain from calling the man a pedophile. Per the neighbors request, the officer asked the man to not stop in front of the neighbors home. Both parties were made aware that the other party did not break the law but by honoring these requests further disorders could be avoided. 1883 is a story that distinguishes itself from its parent series. The Yellowstone prequel follows the Dutton family as they embark on the dangerous trek from Texas to Montana. Although its easy to forget that 1883 is connected to Yellowstone, what happens to James, Margaret, Elsa, and John is intrinsically tied with the Duttons seen in the original series. The prequel begins with a pretty bleak look into Elsas future. What does this scene mean for the Dutton family? Isabel May as Elsa of the Paramount+ original series 1883 | Emerson Miller/Paramount+ What happens in the opening scene in 1883? 1883 begins with a flash-forward to a pretty bleak future. Elsa (Isabel May) narrates as she wakes up on the ground. With tears in her eyes, she crawls out from under a burning wagon and watches Native Americans kill several of the people around her. Elsa retrieves a gun from one of the dead men, but one of the attackers warns her not to use it. He tells Elsa that he will sell her or kill her. Elsa screams, You speak English. How can you do this! to which the man replies, You speak English and all your people do this. Elsa shoots and kills the man, but not before he fires an arrow through her stomach. What does the opening scene mean for the Dutton family? In Yellowstone Season 4, fans got a glimpse of the family from 1883 in a flashback. In the flashback, James Dutton (Tim McGraw) rounds up some cattle thieves. He returns home to his wife Margaret (Faith Hill) bleeding profusely from a bullet wound. James sons John and Spencer appear in the flashback, but Elsa is nowhere to be seen. With all this in mind, its likely that Elsa died of the arrow wound on the way to Montana, though presumably the rest of her family made it there safe. However, its also possible that Elsa is absent from the Yellowstone flashback because she married and began her own family. A lot of questions remain about how the opening scene in 1883 transpired. For example, how did Elsa end up alone and shot with an arrow while her family went on to survive? So far in 1883, James Dutton is extremely protective of his family. He shoots a man who attacks Elsa in her bed without a second thought. James, John, and Margaret arent present in the scene at the beginning of 1883, so where exactly did they go? Sam Elliott comments on the opening seen in 1883 Justin Kirkland of Esquire sat down with 1883 star Sam Elliott to discuss the prequel. Kirkland remarks on the opening scene and the exchange between Elsa and the Indigenous man when they both ask each other, How could you do this? I think thats Taylors way of saying that we laid waste to the American Indians, however, you want to call it the Native Americans, Elliott replied. Its something we still havent reckoned with. Theres bad even in that, as far as Im concerned. 1883 is available for streaming only on Paramount+. RELATED: Inside Yellowstone Prequel 1883 All-Star Cast Jessa Seewald went on the defensive this week after fans questioned whether Jim Bob Duggar had gifted her the home she and her family are moving into. While Jessa said followers were lying and insisted her father had never given her a home, the question wasnt entirely off base. Jim Bob has a well-documented history of gifting his married children homes. Jessa received a starter home when she married Ben Seewald, as did several of her siblings. So how many Duggar kids have had housing provided for them? Two different couples called Jessas starter house home during the early years of their marriages Jessa Seewalds starter home appeared regularly on Counting On, but the house was featured on TLC long before Jessa and Ben moved in. Josh Duggar and his wife, Anna Duggar, moved into the home after returning from their honeymoon in 2008. The couple lived in the house until 2013, when they moved to Washington D.C. The home sat vacant until Jessa and Ben got married the following year. Jessa and Ben returned from their honeymoon and moved directly into the house. They didnt become homeowners until 2017, though. According to Radar Online, Grandma Mary Duggar sold them the house for just $1. Josh and Anna didnt stay in Washington D.C. for too long. After back-to-back scandals, the couple retreated to Arkansas, where they lived in a farmhouse until 2019. After selling their farmhouse, Josh and Anna moved onto the Duggar property, and into a refurbished warehouse. Josh is currently living in the Washington County Detention Center. His wife and seven children are believed to be living in the warehouse still. Joseph Duggar and Kendra Caldwell live on Duggar family property When Josh and Anna sold their farmhouse, they moved back onto the Duggar family compound, but they werent the only adult Duggars living on the familys acreage. Joseph Duggar and his wife, Kendra Caldwell, also live on land owned by Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. When Joe and Kendra tied the knot, they opted to have a log cabin, previously owned by Mary Duggar, moved onto the Duggar land. There is no word on exactly how much the couple paid for the cabin. Most Duggar family critics assume the home was gifted to Joe and Kendra as a wedding present. According to a segment on the familys show, Counting On, the couple renovated the property and relied on a surplus of furniture at the Duggar compound to make the house feel like home. Three children later, they are still living in the cabin. Justin Duggar was gifted a mobile home that he later flipped Justin Duggar, 19, was the youngest Duggar to wed. Engaged just days after turning 18 in November 2020, Duggar family followers initially questioned where Justin would set down roots since his bride lived in Texas. Shortly before their wedding, Justin purchased a mobile home from Jim Bob Duggar for $1. The Duggar family visits Extra at their New York studios | D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Extra Duggar family followers assumed Justin and Claire Spivey would be living in Arkansas thanks to the generous gift. That wasnt part of the plan, though. According to the U.S. Sun, Justin listed the house for sale in January 2021, just a month before his nuptials. Justin and Claire are living in Texas. Joy-Anna Forsyth and Austin Forsyth purchased a pad from Jim Bob for a steal, too Justin, Joseph, and Jessa werent the only Duggars who were given a chance to buy a home on the cheap. After a few years of living in a camper, Joy-Anna Forsyth and her husband, Austin Forsyth, decided to trade in their wheels for a traditional home. They purchased a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom house for just $10. The previous owners were none other than Jim Bob and Michelle. Joy and Austin, like her siblings, picked up the house for a steal, but the couple was reportedly responsible for its renovations. Joy and Austin documented the process on their YouTube channel. They gutted the kitchen and laid down new wood floors before settling into life as a family of four. While the nature of Jessa and Bens newest property procurement remains a bit of a mystery, its safe to say that several of the Duggar kids have been gifted properties by their parents. Whether they are paying more than $1 for those properties in a more casual transfer of funds is anyones guess, but legally the Duggar siblings have paid less than the price of the average lunch for the homes they sleep in at night. RELATED: Josh Duggars Jailhouse Calls Include Chats With Wife and Brothers in-Laws The popular Netflix series Emily in Paris recently released its second season. Fans of the show love Emily and her light-hearted (and sometimes clueless) approach to adventures in Paris. Along the way, theyve watched her struggle to learn French as she figures out how to fit in. But what about the actress who plays Emily, Lily Collins does she speak French, or is she learning along with Emily? Actually, it seems that playing Emily may be doing the opposite of helping Collins become more fluent in the language. Does Lily Collins speak French? Lily Collins | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic The titular character that Collins plays in Emily in Paris struggles with French, but what about the actress? According to Distractify, she does know how to speak the language. Collins not only learned French as a child, but her home life also gave her plenty of opportunities to practice it. I grew up speaking French in school, Collins explained. My little brothers are half Swiss so I started speaking French with them at a young age. Her background has prepared her well to play a French-speaking role, but unfortunately, Emilys lack of ability with the language is having a negative impact on Collins fluency. Emily is so bad at French and Im playing a character whos the most American Ive ever felt in my entire life, she said. It was very difficult for me to decipher between the two so my French, I think, got worse. It seems that Collins skills are getting worse at the same time as Emilys are getting better. Emily moved to Paris without knowing any French Here we go! Im beyond thrilled to finally announce Emily in Paris officially launches October 2, only on @netflix! I hope you guys fall in love with this story, the character and the city just like I did. Cant. F*cking. Wait. Pardon my French pic.twitter.com/7reEktpEjs Lily Collins (@lilycollins) September 1, 2020 Theres a good reason that Emilys French is so bad in Emily in Paris. According to Netflix, she moved to Paris to start a job at a marketing firm. However, when she arrived, she didnt know any French at all. Not only did this make it difficult to navigate her new life, but it didnt endear her to her coworkers. One of them finally clued her in to the fact that other people in the office found it arrogant that she didnt even try to learn the language, so she signed up for a course in French. As any learner of a second language will tell you, its not easy to become bilingual. Emily struggled with learning French in season 1. But the second season was released last month, and she seems to be finding her footing in the new language, as well as a new country Lily Collins international background Beyond thrilled to officially join the @Cartier family! Its such a dream to be included as the face of their latest collection, Clash [Un]limited. Thank you to the whole team for making my inauguration into this iconic Maison so memorable. So much more to come! #ClashUnlimited pic.twitter.com/xSwswuIdvr Lily Collins (@lilycollins) August 17, 2021 Its probably not surprising that Collins had the opportunity to learn French when she was young. After all, she had a different kind of upbringing than most people. Shes the daughter of British pop star Phil Collins and American actor Jill Tavelman. According to The List, Collins was born in the U.K., but when she was 5, her parents divorced. At that point, she and her mom moved to Los Angeles, while her dad moved to Switzerland. Although she lived in the U.S., she frequently returned to Europe to spend the holidays with her famous father. Collins international upbringing made her a natural for the role of Emily. Although shes British, shes lived in America long enough that she feels comfortable playing an American. Collins also knows how it feels to travel between cultures, which must help her portray Emilys surprise at the differences around her. Fans love Emily and cant get enough of watching her adventures in Paris. Hopefully, Collins French will survive the experience as well. RELATED: Lily Collins Reveals She Once Threw a Toy at Prince Charles Head Fans have become invested in the contestants in Netflixs Singles Inferno. While the show kept the contestants professions and backstory a secret, fans could easily look up their social media accounts. Oh Jin-taek displayed CEO vibes as the owner of a tailor shop on Singles Inferno. But fans soon realized his questionable use of emojis in many of his Instagram posts, with netizens criticizing the contestant. [Spoiler alert: This article contains mild spoilers for Singles Inferno.] Oh Jin-taek for Singles Inferno dating show | via Netflix Oh Jin-taek impressed the Singles Inferno contestants with his dashing looks During the opening meet-and-greet on Singles Inferno, the contestants were intrigued by Jin-taek. He arrived on the deserted island in a cream-colored suit, tan skin, and facial hair. He had a drastically different vibe compared to the other males. In his bio interview, he expressed he wanted a hot relationship and preferred women who look healthy. Jin-taek soon set his eyes on Kang So-yeon. Fans were enamored with his ability to stay devoted to her. But problems arose when he picked another female contestant to go to Paradise with. Having hurt So-yeon over his decision, he came clean and explained his reasoning. He hoped So-yeon to more openly express her interest in him after their trip to Paradise. So-yeon and Jin-taek were endgame until the Singles Inferno finale. He chose So-yeon as his final leading lady, and she agreed to leave Inferno with him. Fans express criticism toward Oh Jin-taek over inappropriate use of emojis on Instagram Singles Inferno Contestant Oh Jin Taek Faces Criticism Due To His Choice Of Emojishttps://t.co/13ba1CWabL Koreaboo (@Koreaboo) January 7, 2022 RELATED: Singles Inferno: Why Song Ji-a Choose (Spoiler) in the Shows Finale A look as Jin-taeks Instagram, @timelessbruno, shows off his CEO charisma. He often posts photos dressed in three-piece suits from his British-style tailor shop. Jin-taek has even posted body profile photos showing his rock-hard abs and chest hair. But as fans scrolled through his Instagram posts, they noticed a problematic detail. According to Koreaboo, Jin-taek has numerous posts on Instagram using dark-skinned emojis in the captions. Fans were willing to overlook the issue as a one-time mistake but realized that was not the case. Emojis default to have a yellow skin tone unless the user purposely selects a different color. In posts dating back to 2019, he has used the darkest option available. The Singles Inferno contestant has raised concern by netizens over its meaning. He has used face emojis and other options like hand signals in the same dark skin tone. Is there an underlying issue regarding skin tone in relation to Singles Inferno? 9 . , , . . # #SinglesInferno # #Netflix pic.twitter.com/SDhxGWBnz1 Netflix Korea (@NetflixKR) December 18, 2021 RELATED: Singles Inferno: How do Cha Hyun-seung and Kim Hyeon-joong Know Each Other in Real Life? To non-Koreans, the issue involving Singles Inferno Jin-taek and his use of dark-skinned emoji would raise a red flag. But there could be something deeper at play. Singles Inferno was also criticized for glamorizing the attractiveness of pale skin. When Jin-taek arrived on the island, Shin Ji-yeon was shocked at his tan skin. She commented he did not look Korean. In the male contestants tent, Choi Si-hun expressed his interest in Ji-yeon because of her light skin. He said, she seemed so white and pure. Fans criticized the show for assuming that only light-skinned people are deemed attractive. But according to Korea JoongAng Daily, South Koreas beauty standards toward pale skin dates back to history. People in power in the Joseon era or agrarian societies had pale skin from not working in the sun. The high-class were seen as beauty standards because of it. Jung Ho-jai, an author and researcher in Comparative Asia Studies at the National University of Singapore, explains South Korea has had virtually no other ethnicity apart from Koreans for millennia. Korea has had practically only one ethnicity, skin color does not indicate social class besides a slight distinction between white-collar workers and manual laborers. So expressing a preference for light skin is largely not deemed problematic, said Jung. The comments made in Singles Inferno lead to a broader discussion about beauty in South Korea. Could Ji-taeks emojis correlate to how tanned skin is seen in Korean society? Wharton, TX (77488) Today Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 89F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 73F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Teen Mom UK OG stars Chloe Patton and Jordan Edwards were one of the shows strongest couples until she discovered him cheating on her. After kicking him out, the couple talked about their relationship and seemed headed in the right direction. Are Chloe and Jordan officially back together yet? A smartphone with MTV channel logo on a its screen | Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images Chloe Patton and Jordan Edwards broke up when she discovered him cheating In 2016, Nottingham native Chloe Patton debuted on British spinoff Teen Mom UK after welcoming her first child with boyfriend Jordan Edwards. Only 17 at the time, the two didnt plan to start their family at that age as they intended to focus on developing careers. The couple purchased their own home as she wanted, but Chloe began dealing with postnatal depression. Additionally, Jordan revealed he had depression and started seeing a therapist. Chloe and Jordan are getting ready to make some BIG decisions! #TeenMum pic.twitter.com/4zteyUG8o6 Teen Mom (@TeenMom) October 14, 2017 RELATED: Teen Mom: Family Reunion: Fights Have Already Broken out and They Dont Involve Farrah Abraham The series also follows the pair as she urges him to spend less time on his video games and away with his friends. Their relationship became rocky, and Chloe discovered he had exchanged inappropriate messages and videos with multiple girls. Referring to him as an f cheat, she had an emotional conversation with her mother where she explained she found a hidden folder on his phone that concealed the conversations. The Teen Mom UK regular admitted reading the contexts made her feel sick and caused her to lose trust in him. Clarifying the two were finished following the cheating, she packed up his belongings. The two eventually got back together After the breakup, the co-parents remained in contact, and Jordan comforted her when her grandfather died. He then went on a vacation with his friends, giving the two space. The couple talked about their relationship once he returned, and he admitted he wanted her back after previously claiming a breakup would serve them best. She voiced her displeasure in his several vacations, and Jordan noted he didnt like how much she seemed to nag him. Looks like it's going to be a not-so-happy Valentine's Day for Chloe, but will Jordan be able to make up for it? pic.twitter.com/G6YHiNoFdf Teen Mom (@TeenMom) October 27, 2017 Following their talk, he stayed the night and began spending more time at the house. Her parents didnt appreciate the cheating and made sure to let him know, eventually resulting in Chloe having to tell her mom to stop making sly comments. The two got back together throughout series seven as she referred to him as her boyfriend during a trip with her friend, and he moved back into the house. Chloe and Jordan are seemingly still together by the end of Teen Mom UK Series 7 During a conversation where Chloe wrote down their short-term and long-term goals, Jordan admitted he didnt see kids in his five-year plan. On the other hand, she made it clear she wants to continue expanding their family. While he reiterated that he doesnt want another child in his immediate future, seemingly mainly due to the costs, Jordan noted his mind could change at any point. Chloe and Jordan have a fun day planned, but things quickly go south when Jordan ditches and the tension builds. pic.twitter.com/ZRRmwT9qOB Teen Mom (@TeenMom) July 21, 2017 Series 7 ended with Chloe picking up a hobby, singing, to gain more confidence. It worked as she had the courage to sign up for an upcoming open mic that Jordan attended. According to her frequently updated Instagram page, the pair are seemingly still together as they recently posed wearing matching Christmas pajamas with their son. Teen Mom UK is available to stream on Netflix and Paramount+ RELATED: Teen Mom: Family Reunion: A Cast Member Reveals Secret Marriage There are numerous cast members and characters to keep track of in Women of the Movement on ABC, including new additions Ruby Hurley and Medgar Evers. The two representatives from the NAACP, portrayed by Leslie Silva and Tongayi Chirisa, travel to Sumner, Mississippi, for the Emmett Till (Cedric Joe) trial. They both stay at the home of Dr. Howard (Alex Desert) to help with the investigation of Tills murder. ABCs historical drama details the true story of a 14-year-old Black boy kidnapped and brutally murdered by two white men in 1955. The series emphasizes the role his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley (Adrienne Warren), played in fighting for a fair trial and justice for her son. Jay-Z and Will Smith produce the six-part series. Women of the Movement Leslie Silva | ABC/James Van Evers Women of the Movement: Who is Ruby Hurley from the NAACP in real life? In Women of the Movement Episode 4, Ruby Hurley pretends to be a woman picking cotton in Mississippi to learn more about Emmett Tills murder. According to Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary, Volume 5: Completing the Twentieth Century, she wore cotton pickers clothes to interview witnesses for the Till case. When a journalist asks the NAACPs dynamic duo about the Lee case in Women of the Movement, it is because that is what Hurley and Evers were working on at the time. Medgar Evers and Ruby Hurley investigated the murder of minister George W. Lee in Belzoni, Mississippi, before they participated in the investigation of 14-year-old Emmett Till. Ruby Hurley and Medgar Evers actually went undercover, as field workers to find information on missing witnesses. Ruby built trust with the field hands she spoke with and risked her life to find out what really happened to Emmett the night he died. #WomenOfTheMovement https://t.co/9wqqV8ejOG Women of the Movement (@WomenOfMovement) January 14, 2022 RELATED: Women of the Movement: Carolyn Bryant Shared the Truth with 1 Journalist; Theyre All Dead Now Anyway People often refer to Hurley as the queen of civil rights. She moved from New York to Alabama in 1951 to set up the first NAACP office in the Deep South. She held the Regional Secretary of the NAACPs Southeast Regional Office role, something unheard of for women at that period. In 1956 Hurley fled to Alabama after the state barred the NAACP from operating there. Shortly after, she opened a regional office in Atlanta, Georgia, where she lived until her death on Aug. 9, 1980. Women of the Movement: Who is Medgar Evers? Women of the Movement: Tongayi Chirisa | ABC/James Van Evers ABCs Women of the Movement series portrays numerous civil rights activists from the 1950s, including Medgar Evers. The World War II veteran became the Mississippi field secretary for the NAACP in 1954. He also worked as a salesman for T.R.M. Howards Magnolia Mutual Life Insurance Company. After the 1954 ruling by the Supreme Court to desegregate schools, Evers worked on numerous cases to integrate school systems and universities. He rose to prominence after his involvement in investigating Emmett Tills murder. Evers and his wife lived in the same town as T. R. M. Howard Mound Bayou, Mississippi. On June 21, 1963, Byron De La Beckwith assassinated Evers. He was rushed to a local hospital in Jackson but initially refused entry because he was Black. When his family explained who he was, they finally admitted Evers, but he died 50 minutes later. RELATED: Women of the Movement Glynn Turman Talks Race The Bullet Holes Say Nothings Changed (Exclusive) Women of the Movement cast What Silva and Chirisa are known for Viewers might recognize the actors who portray Hurley and Evers in the Women of the Movement cast Leslie Silva and Tongayi Chirisa from various TV shows or movies. According to IMDb, Silvas well-known roles were in Odyssey 5, Providence, and Shades of Blue. Tongayi Chirisa is well known for NBCs Crusoe, The Jim Gaffigan Show, and Mr. Bones 2: Back from the Past. RELATED: Women of the Movement: Will There Be a Season 2 After the Emmett Till Story Closes? (Exclusive) The Cherokee Nation Veterans Color Guard has reorganized as a non-profit organization to continue honoring veterans and presenting the national colors during tribal events and ceremonies. During her 21 years teaching English at Cheshire High School Donna Norman Carbone has enjoyed sharing her passion for writing with others. I think it (Cheshire) is the Shangri-La of teaching. I love my students and have formed life-long bonds with them, said Carbone. Im also very close to the people in my department. They make for a great work environment. Carbone has made a career out of developing young writers, but now she is also happy to have the opportunity to put her own work on display. On December 21 of last year, Carbone signed a contract to have her first novel, entitled All That Is Sacred, published by Red Adept Publishing. Right now, release of the book is planned for the next year to year and a half. It means a lot, said Carbone. Ive been writing since I could remember. I always saw myself as a writer. While it is a fictional piece, Carbones novel was inspired by two events in her life. The novel is about friendship, loss, loving, and healing, explained Carbone. From my events, I created an imaginary world out of it. For this piece, she actually started writing 10 years ago, but walked away from it to work on a project from National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization works to provide writers with tools, structure, community, and encouragement. During the month of November National Novel Writing Month the organization challenges people to write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days. In working with some critique partners, Carbone enjoyed being a part of the novel-writing community. It got to the point where I started marketing my work, but got some rejections, explained Carbone. To approach publishers, she took a course called Query Mastery. It was about how to write a letter to get your work noticed, said Carbone. It didnt turn out the way that I had wanted at the time, but I learned a lot from it. After shifting her focus back to her original novel, Carbone feels that she started working seriously toward getting it published three years ago. I get through a first draft pretty quickly. For this novel, it took about six months, reflected Carbone. The story has been through three major overhauls since I started it. She has reached out to publishers over the last couple of years and finally found success in communicating with Red Adept Publishing, an independent company specializing in genre fiction. She sent them a query in February of last year. They got back to me in May to say that they had a contract freeze at that time, but I could resubmit in August, recalled Carbone. In October, they asked for a synopsis of the novel and then they offered me a contract in December. As the process moves forward, Carbone will start working on her book with content and line editors. The novel will go through the proofreading stage before it is published. The art department will also work their magic and make a cover, added Carbone. She feels that writing allows her to better understand life. It is a way to express my imagination and get lost in another world, explained Carbone. It is necessary for me to write. She finds the editing process to be tougher because writers need to step back and look at their work objectively. Ive made some friends who have helped me with that over the years, stated Carbone. As a child, she enjoyed writing poetry and giving her work to people as gifts. On the way to getting her bachelors and masters degrees at Southern Connecticut State University, Carbone considered writing as a profession, but on advice from former professor and Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Russo, she decided to pursue a day job first. I went into teaching and raised three kids, reflected Carbone, who worked as a graduate assistant at SCSU and an adult education teacher before coming to CHS in 2001. When my kids graduated, I wanted to look into publishing my work. Carbone signed a seven-year contract for her current book, but as a side project, she is also working on a draft for another womens fiction novel. Once Im halfway through publishing for this book, I can submit other material, added Carbone. She finds the most time to write during the summer months. I cant write as routinely during the school year, said Carbone, who prioritizes helping her students in the classroom. There have been many talented writers coming out of Cheshire. We share a passion, which is nice. Since announcing on Facebook last month that her work would be published, Carbone has been blown away by the congratulatory messages that she has received. CHS librarians have said that they want to add her book to their collection when it is published. It amazed me how many responses I got to that (social media) post, reflected Carbone. Most of my old friends know that Ive been writing, but it was a surprise for other people. Carbone appreciates her familys help in growing her writing career. In Cheshire, Carbone and her husband Anthony have raised two sons, Ryan and Tyler, and a daughter, Alexa. It has been great, said Carbone. They have been very supportive in picking up the slack when Im writing. She is excited for her future opportunities, but plans to keep teaching for the foreseeable future. My dream is to retire at a beach house and write, but Im not there yet, stated Carbone. Chickasha, OK (73018) Today Mostly cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. High 68F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy with late night showers or thunderstorms. Low 54F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Head of Nigerian ministry shares challenges, blessings of reaching the unreached with the Gospel Oscar Amaechina, the president of Afri-Mission and Evangelism Network in Abuja, Nigeria, will never forget the day he thought his life would end. I remember there was a particular mission field where we were ministering to people, and some people came to kill us, Amaechina told The Christian Post. They confessed that they were there to kill us. We saw them with their machetes, we saw them with their swords, and we believed that that was our last breath. We thought we were going to take our last breath and go. While staring death in the face, Amaechina and his fellow missionaries decided to offer one last act of kindness to their persecutors. We gave them rice, gave them spaghetti, gave them cream and soup and they moved away from us, he recalled. They returned, and one of their leaders spoke to us through an interpreter and said, We were here to kill you. Since we are poor, no one has ever given us gifts, but because of these gifts, we want to become Christians. The assailants instant change of heart, Amaechina said, both shocked and amazed him. I couldn't believe it, he shared. And we led them to Christ. It was wonderful, it was awesome and it was an eye-opener. Since that day, we have never resisted showing kindness. There's power in kindness and love. And that is what we believe in ministry. That mentality has driven Afri-Mission and Evangelism Network since its creation in 2007. The nonprofit is made up of a consortium of mission-minded churches and faith-based Christian organizations that seek to advance the Kingdom of God by reaching the unreached people groups in Northern Nigeria with the Gospel. The nonprofit focuses on two major interventions: Gospel intervention, which involves conventional mission, diaspora mission and ecclesiastical mission, and humanitarian intervention. The latter involves several programs, including the feed the hungry program, the clothe the naked program, the clean water program, the orphan and vulnerable children program, medical mission, the education program and the skill acquisition program. We reached so many communities with our conventional mission when we realized its not all about preaching the Gospel, Amaechina said. We looked at the environment, and we saw the degraded nature of the people around the environment. Women walk about naked, children are famished, the water they're drinking is so toxic there is no hospital people are degraded, they're living like wild animals. Preaching the Gospel and sharing about a good God, the pastor explained, became a challenge, as I didnt see any goodness around these people. I didnt know what to say, he said. What I did was to return back home and prayerfully ask God, What are we going to do to bring this knowledge of Christ? And that was how we developed several forms of intervention and the more we do, the more we discover there is much to be done. Presently, there are 19 missionaries in the conventional missionary project, and 56 missionaries in the diaspora mission project. Within the coming year, the organization hopes to bring that total to 160 or 170 but due to risks stemming from Islamic extremist groups and radical Fulani herdsmen, the harvest is plenty but the laborers are few, Amaechina said. We are constantly harassed, threatened and beaten, our spirits are really willing but our fleshes are getting weaker on a daily basis, he wrote in the organizations annual report. Still, missionaries have seen the fruits of their labor. For example, in 2021, 231 people came to Christ thanks to the efforts of the diaspora mission project, while dozens participated in the ministrys discipleship program. We want to develop a multiplier effect; that is the chain reaction, Amaechina said. We impact you and we expect you to impact others during the discipleship. A former pastor, Amaechina told CP that many people groups in Nigeria have never heard the Gospel or even the name of Jesus Christ, even though the country is the most prosperous in Africa. He estimated that about 65,897,000 Nigerians have not heard about Jesus and most of them live in remote areas where they are trapped in obscurity. Amaechina called this unfortunate reality the failure of the Nigerian Church. Many professing Nigerian Christians do not want to travel to unreached places due to physical risk, he said, while others see no incentive to plant churches in poverty-stricken areas. The Church in Nigeria has abandoned the mandate of the Great Commission, he said. Comfortability of the Christians has made it difficult for people to make sacrifices there are forgotten communities where there is no single church existing. Everybody is clustered around the large metropolitan areas because they can collect larger offerings. It is a serious factor. Other times, he said, African Christians are deceived into embracing the prosperity gospel, which teaches in part that believers have a right to the blessings of health and wealth. Such blessings can be obtained through positive confessions of faith and the "sowing of seeds" through the faithful payments of tithes and offerings. Poor African Christians, Amaechina explained, are drawn to this false teaching because it offers a solution to poverty. The Western missionaries brought the Gospel to us, and what we are doing now we are merchandising the Gospel. The Gospel is not for sale, but especially in Nigeria, the Gospel is for sale, he said. It is a serious problem. People are making money merchandising the Gospel and unfortunately, the people are bewitched. You are not interested in salvation, you are interested in prosperity, he continued. Most of the unreached are naked; they don't have clothes to wear. So most churches don't go there to plant, because there's nothing to reap. In the coming year, Afri-Mission and Evangelism Network has a number of specific goals to advance the Gospel. These include mobilizing and training more missionaries; providing clean water to two specific communities; constructing classrooms in one target community where not a single person has gone to school, and providing transportation to missionaries. When we go about distributing whatever we have, we don't discriminate, Amaechina said. We are not just giving because we want to convert you. We are giving because we love you. We will work with you because we want to show you love, whether you get converted or not. He added: There are people who are secret admirers of Christ. I've met so many of them they love Christ, but they cannot openly declare their love for Him. So when we show kindness, we show kindness to everyone, whether you are a Muslim, you are a pagan our kindness is to all humanity with intention with the belief that through the kindness of God, we touch them and if possible, bring them to the saving knowledge of Christ. Amaechina thanked Western Christians for their prayers, stressing the importance of people who will lift our heads when they have fallen down. I must confess most of the time, we feel like quitting. It is difficult. Our life is at stake. The resources are not there. You have good plans, but the plans go down the drain because you don't have anybody to support you, he shared. Nigerian Christians are not interested in mission; they are interested in money what we're doing is, we are settling it on our knees. We are praying, asking God to help. We are trusting that God will be able to do it. School district defends decision to allow After School Satan Club at elementary school An Illinois school district is defending an elementary school after it received criticism from parents for handing out flyers promoting a controversial After-School Satan Club for students in the first through fifth grades sponsored by the Satanic Temple. Hey Kids, lets have fun at After School Satan Club, read the flyer distributed by Jane Addams Elementary School in Moline, Illinois. The flyer says the program is about science projects, puzzles and games, arts and crafts projects, nature activities, according to a tweet. Many parents criticized the Moline-Coal Valley School District after the flyer appeared on social media, CBN News reports. Kick every board member off that allowed this to occur. Vote in new people with common sense, morals and ethics, wrote a parent on Twitter. The school district was quick to come to the defense of the elementary schools decision. The district does not discriminate against any groups who wish to rent our facilities, including religious-affiliated groups, it said in a statement. Religiously affiliated groups are among those allowed to rent our facilities for a fee. It added, The district has, in the past, approved these types of groups, one example being the Good News Club, which is an after-school child evangelism fellowship group. Flyers and promotional materials for these types of groups are approved for lobby posting or display only, and not for mass distribution. It further sought to explain, saying, Students or parents are then able to pick up the flyer from the lobby, if they so choose, which is aligned to District policy. Please note that the district must provide equal access to all groups and that students need parental permission to attend any after-school event. Our focus remains on student safety and student achievement. The Satanic Temple says on its website: Proselytization is not our goal, and were not interested in converting children to [s]atanism. After School Satan Clubs will focus on free inquiry and rationalism, the scientific basis for which we know what we know about the world around us We prefer to give children an appreciation of the natural wonders surrounding them, not a fear of everlasting other-worldly horrors. A letter from Rachel Savage, Moline-Coal Valley Schools Superintendent, said a district parent had asked the Satanic Temple to offer the program to the elementary school to offer parents a choice of different viewpoints, because the school was offering a child evangelism fellowship club. Flyers were not distributed to all students, Savage said, according to New York Post. In November 2016, Point Defiance Elementary School in Tacoma, a school district in Washington state, became the second in the nation to approve the After School Satan Club program for elementary school students. Satanic Temple of Seattle spokesman Tarkus Claypool ... said a parent brought the Bible club to their attention over concerns the club was teaching children to evangelize to other children. Claypool said their curriculum teaches children logic, self-empowerment and reasoning and they dont worship a deity, according to local news station Q13 Fox. A month earlier, the Satanic Temple had launched a nationwide After School Satan Club to counter Christian student organizations in public schools. The groups creation came in response to the Christian Good News Club that was meeting at public schools throughout the nation. Douglas Mesner, spokesperson and co-founder of The Satanic Temple, who goes by the name Lucien Greaves, told The Christian Post at the time that the Christian club's presence at public schools created the need for a counter-balance in the extracurricular options. Moises Esteves, vice president of USA Ministries for Child Evangelism Fellowship, told CP at the time that he believed the Satan club was yet another atheist PR stunt" that "has no staying power. The After-School Satan Club is simply another attention-seeking atheist club. The choice of mascot reveals that its leaders simply hate God, and are trying to provoke or spook parents and schools, said Esteves. Like those before it, this club will fizzle out, because parents don't view their children as pawns for a 'blend of political activism, religious critique and performance art' by angry atheists. In 2001, the United States Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in the decision Good News Club v. Milford Central School that the Christian group had the right to meet on public school property after school hours. Fewer than 10% of Evangelicals want shorter sermons; 30% want more in-depth teaching: survey Fewer than 10% of Evangelical Protestants want to have shorter sermons during worship, while nearly a third want more in-depth teaching, according to recently released survey data. Grey Matter Research and Infinity Concepts released a new report last Friday titled The Congregational Scorecard: What Evangelicals Want in a Church. The researchers surveyed 1,000 American Evangelical Protestants, asking for their views on 14 different elements about the churches they attend for worship. According to the report, a copy of which was emailed to The Christian Post on Monday, only 7% of respondents want sermons to be shorter, while 85% believe the sermon lengths are acceptable as they are. About 8% percent said they wanted sermons to be longer. These trends were fairly consistent across generations, as 10% of Evangelicals under the age of 40 preferred shorter sermons, while 11% over the age of 70 responded the same. Evangelical respondents between the ages of 40 and 54 were the least likely to want shorter sermons, with 3% agreeing with this idea. Respondents between the ages of 55 and 69 were the most likely (88%) to believe sermon lengths were fine as they are. One of the more surprising findings was that so few Evangelicals want shorter sermons, since such a common and unfortunate stereotype is long-winded pastors, Grey Matter Research President Ron Sellers told CP. Not only that, but we keep being informed that younger adults have short attention spans, and pastors really need to cut down their sermons to reach this population. I expected to find a higher proportion of evangelicals (especially younger people) who wished for shorter sermons, like maybe 20% or 30%. Instead, it is just 7%. Additionally, the data shows that 30% of respondents want more in-depth teaching from their churches, while 69% responded that they felt the depth of teaching was fine as is. Mark Dreistadt, CEO of Infinity Concepts, said that he considers the nearly one-third of Evangelicals wanting more depth in sermons to be especially surprising. The most surprising insight was that 30% of evangelicals want more in-depth teaching than their church is currently providing, said Dreistadt. This demonstrates an opportunity for pastors to go deeper into the Word of God. This is good news at a time in our culture when biblical literacy is so low there appears to be a desire among Evangelicals to deepen their understanding of biblical truth. In 2019, former LifeWay Christian Resources CEO Thom S. Rainer reported that a social media survey of 1,000 people found that the average length of sermons was declining compared to four years earlier. The median length of the sermon of those surveyed was 27 minutes, down from 29 minutes four years ago, explained Rainer. Though a number of respondents indicated changes to sermon length were longer than previous years, by a 3:2 margin more pastors were moving to shorter sermons. The Grey Matter Research and Infinity Concepts report also found that around two-thirds of respondents liked the political messages or political involvement of their churches, while 22% wanted less political involvement from their churches. Sellers told CP that this finding did not surprise me much, because any time a topic is controversial, I expect to see some reaction to it. There have been many stories and a lot of anecdotal evidence, plus a variety of studies, showing people switching churches or even leaving the Church due to political differences, either overall or on a specific position such as abortion or same-sex marriage, he added. So if people leave or switch due to political differences, it wont be anything new just a continuation of whats already been happening in our society for some time. In addition to questions over sermon length, depth of teaching and politics, respondents were asked if they believe their church needs to change the amount of music, styles of music and styles of worship. Respondents were asked for their thoughts on their churches focus on evangelism, social issues, outreach, overall service length, congregation size, racial diversity, how often donations are requested and the number of women in leadership. For each element listed, on average 74% of respondents said they were content with how their church handled the matter and did not want to see a change. Dreistadt hopes the report will give church leaders some benchmarks to measure and some insights to consider. However, it is important to note that there is a wide variety of church styles to choose from and evangelicals tend to look for churches that fit their personal preferences, Dreistadt said. So we want to encourage pastors and church leaders to learn from the data and increase their awareness of potential changes. However, we also want to encourage them to always pursue the calling God has placed on their hearts for the congregation. Biden vows to codify Roe v. Wade on 48th anniversary of abortion ruling While more than 62 million lives have been lost to abortion since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the Biden administration announced on the judgments 48th anniversary Friday that it will back abortion with a codified federal law in the event the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the ruling. The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to codifying Roe v. Wade and appointing judges that respect foundational precedents like Roe, the White House said in a statement Friday, the day after National Right to Life Committee said in its annual report that the total number of abortions since 1973 had exceeded 62 million. In the past four years, reproductive health, including the right to choose, has been under relentless and extreme attack, added Biden in the White House statement. We are deeply committed to making sure everyone has access to care including reproductive health care regardless of income, race, zip code, health insurance status, or immigration status. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops reacted to Bidens support of abortion. We strongly urge the president to reject abortion and promote life-affirming aid to women and communities in need, the U.S. bishops Committee on Pro-Life Activities head Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, said, according to Catholic News Agency. It is deeply disturbing and tragic that any president would praise and commit to codifying a Supreme Court ruling that denies unborn children their most basic human and civil right, the right to life under the euphemistic disguise of a health service, he said. March for Life President Jeanne Mancini also responded. Abortion isnt healthcare, she tweeted. It is heartbreaking but not surprising that on the day we commemorate the loss of 60+ million Americans to abortion the new administration is already aggressively leaning into abortion extremism. The Trump administration enacted many pro-life policies, including reinstituting and expanding the Mexico City Policy and implementing the Protect Life Rule, and was praised for nominating three judges to the Supreme Court. However, on Thursday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Biden will be rescinding his predecessor's pro-life policies. Fauci told board members of the World Health Organization that the administration will repeal the Mexico City Policy in the coming days. It will be our policy to support womens and girls sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights in the United States, as well as globally, Fauci said. To that end, President Biden will be revoking the Mexico City Policy in the coming days, as part of his broader commitment to protect womens health and advance gender equality at home and around the world, he added. In response to the National Right to Life Committee's release of its annual report, The State of Abortion in the United States, President Carol Tobias said: The tragic legacy of Roe is more than 62 million lives lost to abortion. Every unborn child should be welcomed in life and protected in law. No mother should ever feel like abortion is her only option and no unborn child should ever be considered expendable. Christian nurse falsely accused of blasphemy by co-worker, tied and beaten in Pakistan A Christian nurse in Pakistan and her family have gone into hiding after being accused of committing blasphemy by a Muslim co-worker. Many across the country are upset after videos surfaced online of her being attacked by coworkers. Tabitha Nazir Gill, a 30-year-old Christian nurse, was accused of blasphemy Thursday at Sobhraj Maternity Hospital in Karachi city in Sindh province, where she worked for nine years, the United States-based persecution advocacy organization International Christian Concern reports. A Muslim co-worker, who was not identified, allegedly made the accusation after a personal dispute over receiving cash tips from hospital patients. According to the ICC report, the hospitals head nurse instructed all medical staff not to receive cash tips from patients. Gill reportedly remained the co-worker who she saw collect money from a patient about the instruction. The co-worker then falsely accused Gill of committing blasphemy. According to sources that spoke with the nonprofit, hospital staff beat Gill after tying her up with ropes and locking her in a room before police arrived. She was taken into police custody. However, police released Gill as they did not find any evidence against her. But ultimately, police were pressured to file charges. Gill and her family have fled to an unknown location in fear of vigilante violence, the persecution watchdog stated. Police provided protection to Gill and tried to resolve the issue, a source told ICC. However, a mob of hundreds of Muslims gathered at the local police station to force the police to register an FIR [formal complaint] against Gill, the source told ICC. This FIR was lodged today [Friday]. In Pakistan, blasphemy insulting Islam or its prophet Muhammad is a crime that is punishable by prison time or even the death penalty. The blasphemy law, embedded in sections 295 and 298 of the Pakistan Penal Code, is frequently misused for personal revenge. It carries no provision to punish a false accuser or a false witness of blasphemy. But Pakistan imprisons more people on blasphemy charges than any other country in the world. Islamist extremists also use the law to target religious minorities Christians, Shias, Ahmadiyyas, and Hindus. In Pakistan, blasphemy allegations forever ruin the lives of the accused, even if proved to be false, ICC Regional Manager, William Stark, said in a statement. We call on Pakistani authorities to thoroughly and fairly investigate this false allegation and bring the false accuser to justice. Pakistans blasphemy laws must no longer be allowed to settle personal scores or incite religious hatred. Too often, these laws have been a tool in the hands of extremists seeking to stir up religiously motivated violence against minorities. According to the Union of Catholic Asia News, police registered Gills blasphemy case under section 295-C of the Pakistan legal code, the section punishable by the death penalty. The outlet notes that a midwifery student accused the nurse of saying that Prophet Ishmael was born of adultery and insulted Muhammad. A video that surfaced online of Gill being beaten at the hospital drew the ire of a Muslim cleric Maulana Tahir. It is with great grief I request Prime Minister Imran Khan and state leaders to take notice. The police investigation proved that she didnt commit blasphemy, he stated in a video message on Facebook. The faces of the attackers are clear in the video. They should be given strictest punishment as well so that a violent or a religious fanatic cannot misuse the 295 [blasphemy] law to harm minorities and settle a personal score in the name of religion. Tahir stated that the blasphemy law is causing minority girls to face mountains of tyranny. Try to amend this law, he was quoted as saying. Nobody should suffer. Prophet Muhammad urged to protect creation for the will of Allah. Minorities deserve equal rights to live and worship peacefully. Between 1987 and 2017, 1,534 people in Pakistan were accused of blasphemy, according to ICC, which also says that at least 238 of those accusations were made against Christians. Christians only make up 1.6% of Pakistans total population. Pakistan is listed by the U.S. State Department as a country of particular concern for religious freedom and is ranked as the fifth-worst country when it comes to the persecution of Christians. The worlds attention was drawn to Pakistans blasphemy law after Christian mother of five Asia Bibi was sentenced to death and served over 10 years in prison before Pakistans Supreme Court acquitted her in 2018. Her acquittal drew the ire of radical extremist groups as many protested in the streets and threatened to kill the Supreme Court judges responsible. The threat of communal violence following a blasphemy allegation is also real. In 2014, Christian couple Shehzad and Shamah Masih were burned to death in a brick kiln over false accusations they ripped pages from the Quran. The brother of a U.S. citizen is also facing the possibility of being sentenced to death in Pakistan on trumped-up blasphemy charges. The brother, Shakeel Anjum, urges the Biden administration to pressure that country to release his brother, Nadeem Samson. By March-end, 47-year-old Samson will go before Pakistans Lahore High Court to plead against blasphemy charges, Anjum told The Christian Post earlier this month. On Nov. 24, 2017, a man named Abdul Haq allegedly told police that Samson had opened a fake Facebook account where he allegedly posted blasphemous material. He asked for an immediate police raid on Samsons home to catch him in the act. Police captured Samson and a police report claimed that he had admitted to the crime, which, his brother said, was done under torture. Police are accused of beating Samson for three days until he admitted to the crime, the brother recalled. We are not free to pray [in Pakistan], Anjum argued. We do not say anything and we are charged for blasphemy. This is a question of genocide of Christians in Pakistan. They just destroyed three years in trial. They are destroying the lives of blasphemy victims. Ex-drug user credits sobriety, salvation to church staying open amid COVID-19: 'I would be dead' Before surrendering to Christ, Jennifer Scott was a drug user, "smoking and shooting" 7 grams of crack cocaine into her body every day. But God used other Christians to save her life and she believes if it wasnt for her church staying open during the COVID-19 lockdowns, she would be dead. Scotts church, Trinity Bible Chapel in Ontario, Canada, posted a video on Twitter of her sharing her testimony, which has since gone viral. Despite bans on worship gatherings and ongoing lockdowns in response to the pandemic, Trinity Bible Chapel incurred over $100,000 in fines for staying open in opposition to the Reopening Ontario Act and the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act. Scott, who testified ahead of her baptism that she'd abused drugs since she was 14, credited her recovery with the churchs decision to keep its doors open despite opposition. Before Christ, I was a very angry person, and filled with fear, doubt and self-pity. I was constantly seeking avenues of filling the hole in me that only Jesus could fill, added Scott, according to The Daily Wire. It began with marijuana and ended with smoking crack cocaine and intravenous drug use. I was a slave to darkness. While mired in drug addiction, Scott was invited to a prayer meeting at Trinity by her son. Shortly after attending that meeting, she started to attend the church, led by Pastor Jacob Reaume, regularly. In my small group, I asked for prayer to help me stop, Scott shared in her video testimony, referring to her drug use. I left a comment on one of Pastor Jacobs sermons on YouTube. Pastor Jacob took the time to find out who I was and tracked me down and called me to pray for me to encourage me to keep coming to church. I did. Shortly after the pastor and church elders prayed for her, Scott received a phone call that there was a bed available at a sober living house in Cambridge. In the meantime, Scott said, she continued to attend Trinity. Ive been clean and sober now for over seven months, moved into my own apartment and the Body of Christ here at Trinity has helped me with [furnishings] and other blessings, she revealed. None of these things would have happened if Trinity closed its doors and was solely online. I know for a fact that I would be dead right now if God had not used this church in my life. "None of these things would have happened if Trinity closed it's doors and was solely online...I'd be dead right now if God had not used this church in my life." There are people like Jennifer in your community. Refuse to turn them away.#OpenYourChurchpic.twitter.com/OEzFVIW5bM Trinity Bible Chapel (@TBCWR) January 11, 2022 Scott added that even when struggled with relapsing on several occasions, Jesus never stopped His pursuit after her. The Gospel is the good news that we have salvation through Jesus Christ, Scott said. God came down in the form of a sinless man, Jesus, and poured out His wrath onto Him, that He might spare us eternity in hell; if only we believe that He is the Son of God the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and the Truth, the Way, and the Life. The video of Scotts testimony was spread across Twitter feeds with the hashtag #OpenYourChurch. Over the last two years, several pastors have been jailed or their churches hit with fines for violating Canada's COVID-19 restrictions of church gatherings. Last year, Trinity Bible Chapel and its leaders were ordered to pay thousands of dollars in fines over its decision to remain open despite the lockdown orders. This included a $35,000 fine for the church itself, $10,000 fines for its pastors, and other leaders of the congregation each being fined $7,500, among other fines. At the time, Reaume posted a statement to the church's website explaining that despite opposition, Jesus is worth it. "[W]orship services are not ours to give up. They belong to Jesus. He purchased His worship with the price of His own blood, wrote Reaume. Not only do we rejoice that our extravagant worship services have given us the opportunity to lead many people to Jesus, as it seems we learn of new people every week who have been saved during this time of persecution, but also now our extravagant worship services have furnished the opportunity to bear witness to the worthiness of Christ before the Superior Court of Ontario. Though restrictions on religious gatherings due to COVID-19 vary across Canada, all provinces have placed limits on how many people can get together under one roof. On Monday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and U.S. State Department advised against travel to Canada because of a rising number of COVID-19 cases as the Omicron variant continues to spread. In an op-ed for The Christian Post, Sey criticized Canada's leadership for enacting a fourth lockdown. "[Most] Ontarians arent necessarily suffering from Omicron or COVID. Were suffering from the consequences of our governments incompetent leadership," he wrote. "Omicron isnt a threat to most of us, but the government has become a threat to us all. Ontarians and Canadians have some of the highest vaccination rates in the world. Yet, we also have some of the most severe restrictions in the world." Sey pointed out that a recent poll revealed that 55% of Canadians supported new restrictions and new lockdowns because of Omicron. "In some ways, we are just as responsible for the authoritarian and oppressive COVID policies. If we didnt support or remain largely silent on these policies, our government would be too afraid of their political future to enforce them," he contended. "So shame on the government, and shame on us for continuing to allow them to do this." Hillsong apologizes after video of campers singing, dancing despite COVID-19 orders causes outrage Hillsong Church responded with remorse after the leader of New South Wales slammed the Australia-based global evangelical church network for gathering teenagers at a camp in Newcastle to dance and sing despite a strict COVID-19 public health order. New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet said he was incredibly disappointed after seeing footage of Hillsongs youth camp attendees singing and dancing to mainstream music, which he believes was not in compliance with the countrys exemptions for religious groups. As a result, the church was ordered by New South Wales Health to cease singing and dancing immediately. Singing and dancing at a major recreational facility is in breach of the public health order, New South Wales Health Minister Brad Hazzard said in a statement Thursday. Hillsong Church told The Christian Post that they have always abided by public health orders as directed by each government, and takes COVID safe procedures very seriously for all services and events. Ensuring the safety of those attending Hillsong events, and supporting the wider community effort to keep Australia safe, are both priorities for our church, Hillsongs statement stressed. Photos and videos posted on the ministrys social media accounts showed countless 15 to 17-year-olds singing and dancing without masks while musicians performed on stage. The camp session ends on Sunday. It is important to clarify that the current youth camps we are holding are not music festivals, Hillsong said. These are high school aged events that include sporting activities and games. They are alcohol-free events, held outdoors, and the number of students attending each camp is just over 200. The students are known to us and part of the same social network. Hillsong maintains that the gathering is considered low-risk under the governments current guidelines. Hillsong assured that it implemented strict COVID safe procedures before and during each camp gathering, which included professional paramedics onsite 24 hours per day with testing capabilities. New South Wales Health restricted gatherings for major recreational facilities, which prohibited dancing and singing in indoor and outdoor settings until Jan. 27. The government announcement resulted in the cancellations and postponement of various music events. Singing and dancing in hospitality venues and nightclubs is deemed high risk due to increased movement and mingling within and across these venues, the influence of alcohol consumption, and the removal of masks in these settings to consume food and drink. People attending religious services generally remain in fixed positions and masks are mandatory for these indoor gatherings, A New South Wales Health spokesperson said in a statement. Hillsong contends that only a small fraction of the three-day camp involved singing and dancing but apologized for the situation. These camps have a Christian focus and include worship services. Over a three day duration the percentage of time spent singing is minor. However, we regret giving any perception that we were not playing our part to keep NSW safe and we sincerely apologise to the community at large, the church continued. Our heart is for people, and loving and caring for all people is at the core of our church. We have since spoken to NSW Health and received instruction to cease congregant/student singing and dancing during the services that occur on the campsite and have immediately and willingly enacted that instruction. The Guardian reports that Hillsong will not face fines of up to $55,000 after investigators were told that the camp was not a music festival, a prohibited gathering under the health rules. While the order does not apply to religious services, it does apply to major recreation facilities and this event is clearly in breach of both the spirit and intent of the order, which is in place to help keep the community safe, Hazzard said in his statement. Massachusetts House overrides governor's veto of abortion bill Just days after Gov. Charlie Baker vetoed a bill that would expand abortion access in Massachusetts, the states Democrat-led House of Representatives has voted to override the veto. Last week, Baker, a Republican who supports abortion, elected to veto abortion legislation known as the ROE Act. The bill, which was originally included as part of the states budget for fiscal year 2021, would codify the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationwide into law and loosen abortion restrictions in the state. I strongly support a womans right to access reproductive health care, and many provisions of this bill, Baker wrote in a letter to state lawmakers explaining his decision. However I cannot support the sections of this proposal that expand the availability of later-term abortions and permit minors age 16 and 17 to get an abortion without the consent of the parent or guardian. The House of Representatives voted 107-46 Monday to override Bakers veto of the bill, just barely exceeding the two-thirds majority required to overcome a gubernatorial veto. The Massachusetts Senate, where Democrats outnumber Republicans 36 to 4, is expected to follow suit, meaning that the ROE Act could very well become law in spite of Bakers veto. The Senate has until Jan. 5, when the current legislative session expires, to override the veto. If enacted, Massachusetts will become the 14th state to pass a law establishing a right to abortion that would remain in effect if the Roe v. Wade decision was ever reversed. According to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, the others are California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Even before issuing a veto of the ROE Act, Baker had expressed concerns about the legislation and offered amendments to the bill. While he described the provisions in the bill calling for the codification of Roe v. Wade into law and allowing abortions after 24 weeks in cases of a fatal fetal anomaly as important changes to protect a womens rights and autonomy in the commonwealth, he offered an amendment that would remove language enabling 16- and 17-year-olds to get abortions without their parents consent. Additionally, Baker asked lawmakers to consider changing the language in a provision of the bill that allows abortions to take place after 24 weeks gestation if it is necessary, in the best medical judgment of the physician, to preserve the patients physical or mental health to read if a continuation of the pregnancy will impose, in the best medical judgment of the physician, a substantial risk to the patients physical or mental health. The legislature rejected Bakers amendments and sent the abortion legislation to his desk as a standalone measure, which he vetoed. The pro-life group Massachusetts Citizens for Life praised Bakers veto, arguing that it would limit violence against women & babies. The group also noticed that his veto coincided with Christmas Eve and slammed Democratic House Speaker Bob DeLeo for putting #abortion special interest over #womenslives & babies lives. On #ChristmasEve, @SpeakerDeLeo was putting #abortion special interest over #womenslives & babies lives. No euphemisms, Speaker! Baker's veto would limit violence against women & babies, which have nothing to do with health, reproductive or otherwise.#roeact#mapoli#massprolifepic.twitter.com/JNX8BQWnhB MA Citizens for Life (@MassProLife) December 28, 2020 The ROE Act is one of several efforts put forward by lawmakers in Democrat-run states to pass liberalized abortion laws. In early 2019, New York passed the Reproductive Health Act, which allows abortion up to the moment of birth for any reason. Shortly after President Donald Trump announced his nomination of pro-life Judge Amy Coney Barrett to serve on the United States Supreme Court, New Jersey Democrats rallied around the Reproductive Freedom Act, which would codify Roe v. Wade into law and require insurance companies to cover abortions and contraception at no out-of-pocket cost to patients. No action has been taken on the bill, which has been referred to the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee. Sean Feucht claims he lost book deal with HarperCollins over 'political views' Worship leader and activist Sean Feucht took to social media on Monday to claim that book publisher HarperCollins dropped his book deal over his "political views." Feucht tweeted that he had just received a call from his book publisher, mentioning one of the country's largest book publishers, HarperCollins, by name. "They are canceling my book because of my political views," he asserted. "This is nuts!!" Just got a call from my book publisher @HarperCollins and they are canceling my book because of my political views. This is nuts!!! ???? Sean Feucht (@seanfeucht) January 10, 2022 Feucht then shared videos on Instagram with further detail but said the social media platform kept removing his videos. In his latest video, which is still active on the page as of Tuesday afternoon, the preacher claimed that he had worked on the book for three months with the publishing giant. "Signed an agreement with the second-largest publisher in the world, HarperCollins. We've been working on it for three months together. [I] have an agreement, had it signed, pretty far into this process, and was just notified today. They're canceling it," he noted. The Christian Post reached out to Feucht and the publishing company for further details. A HarperCollins Christian Publishing spokesperson said, "We did not have a signed contract." Feucht responded to CP, alleging that "Harper Collins is trying to weasel out of their signed agreement." "The reality is that we had a signed Deal Memo with Harper Collins," he assured. "The book had gone to auction, and there were six different offers. I accepted the offer from Harper Collins. The signed Deal Memo includes an agreement on terms such as the advance, royalties, discount rates, subsidiary rights, and book buybacks. Just within the last several days, we were working with them on the title, book cover and manuscript development." Feucht ran for U.S. Congress in 2020 as a Republican in California's 3rd Congressional District but came in third place. Since then, he has been at the center of several large health mandate-defying Christian revival gatherings since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that have gotten national media attention. His book will discuss how God helped him and his team through it all. "Why is there so much resistance to this message? The premise of the book is about boldness and courage. I'm sharing about our journey in the last couple of years, and how the Lord forged this thing in us through many different layers of resistance. So I just thought it was so ironic that, that they would cancel a book on boldness and courage because they didn't have the boldness and courage to publish it," Feucht maintained. "The irony is so rich here." Feucht has become a well-known revivalist, and his latest album, Let Us Worship - Azusa, reached No. 1 on the iTunes chart in October. The former Bethel Church worship leader is the founder of the Let Us Worship movement. The Oral Roberts University alumnus believes the new "resistance" is more than a move by a publisher but part of a spiritual battle. "Just thinking about the spiritual elements that don't want us to have this message, and how even this message of boldness and courage would be controversial. The book is actually not political, really, at all. It's just talking about our faith and how we got to stand up for our faith," the father of four clarified. "I feel even more after today feeling the waves of this resistance. I even feel more in my spirit like I'm stewarding something that I feel like it's going to bless a lot of people and free a lot of people. So of course, even in the process of writing this message, I'm walking through the fire of how to steward and stay bold and courageous in the midst of this." Feucht ended his video by asking his thousands of followers to pray for him as he needs "wisdom and discernment." "These are big dogs, man, that are coming after us, "he concluded. "I'm not one to demonize people. It's powers and principalities that don't want the message to go out. But I feel like this is the call, this is the cry, this is what we need to hear and what we need to release in 2022." HarperCollins Publishers is among the five biggest English-language publishing companies in the world. Teen mom who confessed to tossing newborn in dumpster is charged with attempted murder A New Mexico teenager who confessed to police that she was the mother of a newborn baby found discarded in a dumpster and that she was the one who left the child has been charged with attempted murder and felony child abuse. In a statement shared on Facebook, the Hobbs Police Department said that at about 8 p.m. last Friday, officers were called to the 1400 block of N. Thorp Street about a baby found in a dumpster. Shortly after confirming the report, they provided assistance to the newborn. Hobbs EMS transported the child to a Lubbock, Texas, hospital for pediatric treatment. After reviewing the surveillance video of the area, police identified 18-year-old Alexis Avila as a suspect in the case. She later confessed that she gave birth to the baby at another location before leaving the child in a dumpster. Avila is scheduled for a court appearance in Lovington on Wednesday afternoon. She is charged with attempting to commit first-degree murder. Joe Imbriale, the owner of Rig Outfitters and Home Store, told KOB4 that when police called him Friday night with a request to view his surveillance footage, he knew something wasn't right. I saw the officers' faces, and they did not look right. They really didn't, he said. "I said, 'What is it we are looking for?' And she goes, 'We're looking for somebody who dumped a black garbage bag in your dumpster.' I turned around, I said, 'Please don't tell me it was a baby,'" the business owner said. The video shows a woman believed to be Avila leaving the dumpster at about 2 p.m. Friday. Around six hours later, three people are shown searching through the dumpster and pulling out a black bag. A woman in the group pulls out the newborn and cares for it, while a male quickly uses his phone. Police later arrived on the scene. "I was in shock just to see this, Imbriale said. According to a criminal complaint, Avila told police that she didnt know she was pregnant until a Jan. 6 doctor's appointment she had for abdominal pain. She said the day she gave birth, the baby came "unexpectedly" when she went to the bathroom. She said she panicked as she cut the umbilical cord. She wrapped the baby in a towel, placed the child in a bag with some trash, then put them in another bag and tied the bag shut. When asked what she thought would happen to the child after it was placed in the dumpster, she said nothing. One of Avila's school friends at Hobbs High School, who declined to be named but has known her since freshman year, challenged her claim to police that she did not know she was pregnant in an interview with The Daily Mail. I heard her talk about being pregnant around late September, early October, the friend said. She never expressed that it was a bad thing that she was pregnant. On Dec. 17, she reportedly dropped out of high school. The 16-year-old father of the child, who was not named in the report because he is a minor, told the publication that Avila was aware of her pregnancy well before January but told him she had a miscarriage. The baby boy is reportedly currently in the custody of the New Mexico Children, Youth & Families Department. Those wanting to make donations to help the baby can contact the New Mexico Children, Youth & Families Department, the police department announced Tuesday night. The teen father says he wants custody of the baby and has called him Saul, according to The Daily Mail. While he remains younger than the legal age of consent in New Mexico, which is 17, Avila is not expected to face statutory rape charges because she is less than four years older than him. Imbriale said hes now having difficulty sleeping. I can't sleep at night just knowing that this baby was just tossed in a dumpster like that. I'm sorry, but who does that? he asked. That is evil. I don't have words for it." Tennessee pastor, step-daughter die after domestic shooting Members of the Mosheim Church of God in Tennessee mourned the loss of their pastor, Kenneth Cook, on Sunday, who died along with his 16-year-old step-daughter, Teagan Welch, and Teagans biological father, Christopher Ray Welch, 48, after a domestic-related shooting in White Pine at a Pilot gas station. Police are still investigating the shooting. However, the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office told WVLT News that the Jan. 3 event stemmed from a custody drop-off between the pastors wife and Teagans father, who were meeting to change custody of their child. Cook was installed as the pastor of Mosheim Church of God in June 2018, according to The Greenville Sun. Cook and his wife, Shannon, who are veterans, and Teagan relocated from Cleveland, Tennessee. Teagans father is also a veteran. Teagans father died at the scene of the shooting on Jan. 3, while she died days later last Thursday. Police said Pastor Cook died on Saturday. Mr. Cook was a great man, church member and friend Jeff Hale told WJHL. Anything that you needed, he would drop everything to come and help you. He never met a stranger. He was a leader in the church, we loved that man. I know he was in the Army, and his wife was in the Air Force. That makes him an upstanding person. Weve got to respect people who serve in our military, Hale added. When he heard that his pastor was shot, Hale said he couldnt believe it. I thought, Oh Lord, what went on? he said. If you knew our pastor, you wouldve never thought anything like that wouldve happened to him. Teagan was an 11th-grade student at Greeneville High School in the Greeneville City School District, where she was mourned after the shooting. Teagan was a standout member of the Pride of the Greene Devils Band and a cherished member of the GHS Bowling Team, the school district said in a statement to News 5. Numerous supports have been put into place for GHS students, faculty, and staff as they grieve this tremendous loss. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Teagans family and friends. An obituary for Christopher Ray Welch described him as a loving father, veteran and member of the Baptist faith. He joined the United States Army in 1992. Chris was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd group Special Forces as a demolition/engineer sergeant. He later served as a Special Forces Advanced Urban Combat Instructor, it said. He also served in Bosnia during 1998 and 1999 before working with the Department of Homeland Security as a federal agent and lead training specialist for the Office of Secure Transportation. Chris enjoyed spending time on the water with his friends and daughter. He was a talented woodworker and of the Baptist faith. He was a loving father to his daughter Teagan Welch, the obituary said. The pastors wife survived the shooting. My totally candid reflections on the COVID vaccinations Although I myself have not been vaccinated (more on that shortly), I have never been remotely anti-vax, nor have I ever downplayed the lethal nature of the virus. Not for a second. As I wrote in my very first article on COVID on March 2, 2020, There is no denying the seriousness of the virus. As Bill Gates noted in the New England Journal of Medicine on February 28, In the past week, Covid-19 has started behaving a lot like the once-in-a-century pathogen weve been worried about. And even at this early stage, Covid-19 has already caused 10 times as many cases as SARS [severe acute respiratory syndrome] in a quarter of the time. I have lost far too many friends to COVID to minimize the threat of this foul virus. And my own experience with it, finally contracting COVID on December 26 and spending a day in the hospital earlier this week, underscores to me how virulent this coronavirus is. Accordingly, I find it abhorrent when people mock its reality a tendency I find primarily in our conservative circles as if it was some kind of phantom virus or creation of the media or the government or nothing more than the flu. Please. When people make such statements, they mock the memory of the dead and ridicule the pain of the mourning. When it comes to the vaccine, a friend and I were recently comparing notes, and of the several dozen people we know who have died of COVID, to our knowledge, not one of them was vaccinated. This is very troubling and, in my view, cannot be lightly brushed aside. Would some of their precious lives have been saved if they had been vaccinated? While in the hospital, I had a candid conversation with a totally non-judgmental doctor. He told me that 95% of the COVID victims fighting for their lives in that facility were not vaccinated, while the 5% who were vaccinated had severe co-morbidities. And as I write these words, another colleague is fighting for his life, now on a ventilator and needing a miracle. He was a very strong anti-vaxxer but told his wife before being sedated that he now wished he had been vaccinated. How many similar stories have we heard? On the other hand, there remain many serious concerns with the vaccines, concerns raised by leading scientists and doctors. Do we simply dismiss them out of hand, especially when they have nothing to gain by raising their concerns? And what are we to think when social media bans their material? Doesnt this only underscore the warnings they are bringing? Added to this is the draconian nature of the vaccine mandates, not to mention their apparent illegality, and everything becomes more complex still. And what about those documented cases where otherwise healthy people have died of blood clots (or related conditions) within hours or days of getting vaccinated? Why so little reporting on this? As to why I was not vaccinated before, I weighed the issues carefully, as did my wife, Nancy. I also consulted my primary care physician and got advice from some other top doctors. And I watched how a large number of my friends and co-workers contracted COVID and were back to normal in a matter of days or weeks. In the end, because of my 100 percent commitment to healthy living and eating, dating back to August 24, 2014 (without any deviation from that healthy routine for a single day since then), I was advised not to be vaccinated given the strength of my immune system and my overall vibrant health. (The blood tests for my annual physical can be as many as 35 pages long, so my health is very carefully analyzed.) And, during these last two years, I have been in many crowds of multiple thousands, standing together in close quarters. It appears that my immune system had been doing quite well. Plus, my doctor had already prescribed Ivermectin for me, along with some other recommended supplements, in the event that I did contract COVID. So, I was prepared in the event of getting sick. That being said, watching other friends die over these months and now having to recover from COVID myself, I continue to wrestle with the question of vaccination. (Thankfully, I have finally developed natural immunity.) Yet, because many people look to me for guidance in life and death matters, when I do not feel confident that I can give a definitive answer, I refrain from doing so. Why simply venture an opinion on something so critical? Thats why I remained quiet about my personal choices until now, not wanting to influence others either way when I was not sure myself. Yet I am terribly grieved over the divisions in the Body over the vaccines, with some accusing the vaccinated of lacking faith or branding mask-wearers as spiritual wimps. What kind of madness is this? To those who mock, I ask, Who appointed you God? Who anointed you the arbiter and judge of the faith of others? Who gave you the right to criticize those who feel it is important to act with extreme care and caution? But I am also grieved at those who pass judgment on the unvaccinated rather than recognizing that these are complex and difficult issues. And I know pastors who felt that the Lord told them not to yield to fear but to go on with their public services, and in two years, they have not had a significant COVID outbreak of any kind. Shall we tell them their own faith is not real? Yet there are pro-vaxxers who use reports of the latest COVID death as their personal bully pulpit, with posts like, Well, your friend wouldnt have died if he had been vaccinated! And they do this in Jesus name, at that. What a cruel game to play! Right now, America and the nations are hurting. The death toll continues to rise. Confusion continues to dominate. And human suffering continues to increase. Let us walk with respect and grace to those who hold different perspectives. And let us be vigilant and diligent to preserve our own health. And rather than throwing stones at others, lets offer a helping hand. If we ever needed to work together, it is now. Why this years March for Life marks a celebration of hope Hope. Scripture says it is the essence of faith. And these are hopeful times for the pro-life faithful. Many are daring to hope the arduous quest to overturn a Supreme Court opinion that cost millions of lives over the past 50 years is almost over. That quest began almost immediately after the Court issued Roe v. Wade, legalizing abortion across the country. The first annual March for Life was held one year later, on January 22, 1974. And its been an annual event ever since drawing tens of thousands of pro-life advocates to our Capitol. Always peaceful and surprisingly upbeat, the March in recent years has been dominated by Christian teens and 20-somethings who cannot sit idly by while their classmates and friends are sucked into a life-ending vortex that sacrifices unborn children for convenience. These dedicated young people have hope that our nation can overcome a culture of death. This year the March is on January 21 just 5 days after Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, when churches nationwide celebrate the sacred value of life, expected and unexpected. Its a date chosen to correlate with the tragic day Roe was handed down. Thousands of pastors annually take this day to remind their parishioners of the assurance in Psalm 139 that God knit them together in their mothers womb, and that they are fearfully and wonderfully made. That each of us are uniquely, divinely designed is also a source of hope even as our perceived security is threatened on all sides by pandemics, violence, and political uncertainty. The God who made us promised to be with us through it all. In fact, Paul the Apostle encouraged Roman believers to rejoice in tough times because it develops perseverance, character, and hope. And that brings us to why the ever-hopeful pro-life movement is even more optimistic this year. Its been tough times since 1973. But last May, the Supreme Court agreed to take up a case challenging Mississippis law that protects unborn children and their mothers from dangerous and painful late-term abortions. This is a big deal, because the Supreme Court usually takes cases to reverse them. The lower courts struck down the Mississippi law because it limits abortion after 15 weeks gestation at least 6 weeks before the baby has any hope of being viable. Past Court decisions have severely limited pre-viability abortion regulations, based on the assumption that a state has more interest in protecting fetal life once the child has a chance of living outside the womb. That arbitrary line makes little sense, given that a child at 15 weeks has all the same limbs and organs as any other human being. Like any other child, he or she just needs time to mature. After all, even a toddler cannot survive on its own. And wouldnt the state have more interest in protecting young life that is more vulnerable? Based on that reasoning alone, many legal experts expect the Supreme Court to uphold Mississippis 15-week regulation in this case (Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization) and allow states more freedom to protect pre-viability life. And that hope was greatly encouraged after the Court heard oral arguments on the case in December. At least 6 of the 9 justices expressed concern about a court deciding for the whole country when society has an interest in protecting unborn children and their mothers from the pain and horror of abortion. That means there is hope that the Court will not just uphold the law, but actually overturn Roe and allow states to regulate abortion like any other medical procedure. The longing expressed by hundreds of thousands of marchers for almost 50 years would be fulfilled. The theme of thousands of Sanctity of Life Sunday sermons would be realized. And the prospect of stopping the loss of millions of unborn lives would become attainable. Of course, we likely wont know for sure what the Supreme Court will do till the end of its term in June. And the pessimist would remind us that Scripture also says, hope deferred makes the heart sick. But the second part of that Proverb providentially declares, a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. Thats a reason for faith, which is the substance of things hoped for. home World Nigerian bishop called in for questioning after criticizing gov't inaction on abductions, persecution A security agency in Nigeria has ordered a prominent Catholic bishop to appear for questioning over his remarks that the countrys government, led by President Muhammadu Buhari, has failed to stop kidnappings and persecution of Christians, according to media reports. The State Security Service, which reports to Nigerias president, has asked Bishop Matthew Kukah of the Sokoto diocese in northwest Nigeria to present himself for questioning after he wrote in his Christmas message that the government seems to have left the fate of Nigerians in the hands of evil men, The National Catholic Register reported. In his message, the bishop referred to more than 100 girls who were abducted by the Boko Haram terror group who are yet to be rescued as well as hundreds of other children whose captures were less dramatic, according to CNAs partner agency ACI Africa. Nothing expresses the powerlessness of the families like the silence of state at the federal level, he said. We have before us a government totally oblivious to the cherished values of the sacredness of life. Tales and promises about planned rescues have since deteriorated into mere whispers. He continued, Every day, we hear of failure of intelligence, yet, those experts who provide intelligence claim that they have always done their duty diligently and efficiently. Does the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria not believe that he owes parents and citizens answers as to where our children are and when they are coming home? The bishop warned that Nigeria is fully in the grip of evil, adding: Today, a feeling of vindication only saddens me as I have watched the north break into a cacophony of quarrelsome blame games over our tragic situation. The Peoples Gazette reports that the State Security Service is a federal secret police that holds a reputation for intimidating and arresting government critics. The Southern Kaduna Peoples Union, which has spoken out against insecurity in the Kaduna state, has urged Bishop Kukah not to accept the agencys invitation for questioning, arguing that other critics who have been called in for questioning have been silenced. SOKAPU National Youth Leader Issac John Sirjay argued in a statement Monday that the government has extended invitations to some people who had at one time or the other accepted invitations, particularly persons considered to be critical of the nepotistic and clandestine leadership style of the Buhari administration. We mourned the sudden demise of Dr. Obadiah Mailafia of blessed memory who until his death was a dogged critic of this administration and a regular visitor at one of the DSS facilities, Sirjays statement reads, according to the United States-based outlet Sahara Reporters. Without ruling out any possibility of harm, we consider the invitation of Bishop Kukah by the DSS as one of such ploy designed to silence him at all cost. In light of the above, it suffices to state boldly that the DSS has unarguably deviated from its core mandate of protecting national security and has become a willing tool for the suppression of free speech, the statement added. Last November, a Nigerian journalist and Roman Catholic, Luka Binniyat, was detained allegedly for his reporting about attacks against predominantly Christian communities and the governments response. Binniyat, a father who writes for the anti-communist newspaper Epoch Times, was arrested and arraigned at the Barnawa Magistrates Court in Kaduna state. He was charged with cyberstalking a charge critics say is often used in the African country to silence the media. He was arrested after writing an Oct. 29 article titled In Nigeria, Police Decry Massacres as Wicked But Make No Arrests. The article is part of The Epoch Times coverage of the deadly attacks targeting the predominantly-Christian farming communities in the West African countrys Middle Belt. Binniyat pushed back against government official's characterization of an attack on Christian farmers in the state as a clash. The Nigerian government has long claimed that violence in Nigerias Middle Belt results from decades-old farmer-herder clashes that have been exacerbated in recent years by more herders migrating south due to desertification and climate change. Critics have warned that the Nigerian governments lack of action in the Middle Belt could result in a religious genocide. But the Nigerian government has pushed back on such assertions. According to a recent study from the Anambra-based International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, at least 60,000 Christians have been killed in the past two decades in Nigeria. The organization, which is run by Christian criminologist Emeka Umeagbalasi, reports that hundreds of churches have been threatened, attacked, closed, destroyed or burned in 2021. In the northern parts of Nigeria, criminal groups and terrorists have conducted several large-scale abductions of school children in recent years. In 2014, about 276 schoolgirls were kidnapped from a school in Chibok in the northeast Borno state by the Islamic radical group Boko Haram. As many as 112 of those girls remain missing. In February 2021, armed militants kidnapped nearly 300 schoolgirls from the Government Girls Science Secondary School in Jangebe, Zamfara state. The children were released weeks later. Watchdog group Open Doors USA, which monitors persecution in over 60 countries, ranks Nigeria as the ninth-worst country when it comes to Christian persecution. Originally published in The Christian Post. LATEST Jan. 15, 11:30 a.m. More videos of large waves from the tsunami crashing into the Bay Area and surrounding areas are hitting the internet. One woman posted a video of waves hitting the pier in front of her oceanside property in Pacifica, splashing into her patio and crashing over a walking man in the process. Meanwhile, more video from Santa Cruz Harbor shows a parking lot has flooded, apparently dislodging several vehicles. Elsewhere in Santa Cruz, waves are slamming the beachfront, sweeping up debris and garbage cans. The Marin County Sheriffs Office posted a photo of a severely damaged dock in Richardson Bay. Jan. 15, 10 a.m. Videos posted to Twitter by Santa Cruz-based photographer Tim Cattera show a surge of water flooding the Santa Cruz Harbor, as well as some portions of land surrounding the marina. The harbor has issued a statement saying access to the docks has been restricted to the public for safety purposes. Jan 15, 7:18 a.m. A tsunami advisory is in effect Saturday morning for the West Coast, including coastal California and parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, after a large underwater volcanic eruption near the Tonga Islands on Friday night. The National Weather Service said peak waves of 1 to 2 feet are possible from the event. The waves caused by the volcano are expected to arrive in California around 7:30 a.m., with peak waves occurring possibly one to two hours later. Main impacts expect to be strong rip currents, coastal flooding, and inundation of low lying areas is possible, the weather services Bay Area office said. In a tweet, the office said to Avoid venturing onto the immediate coastline today. The Berkeley Fire Department issued an evacuation order for the citys Marina district. Meanwhile, wave run-up has been observed at Del Monte Beach. A tsunami advisory was also in effect for the entire U.S. Pacific seaboard and Hawaii on Saturday morning. A tsunami capable of producing strong currents that may be hazardous to swimmers, boats, and coastal structures is expected, the U.S. National Weather Service wrote in a flash bulletin. The undersea volcano erupted late Friday night near the remote Pacific nation of Tonga, sending massive tsunami waves crashing across the shores of the island. People in Tongas capital of Nukualofa rushed to higher ground. Video posted to social media showed large waves washing ashore in coastal areas, swirling around homes and buildings. The Bay City News contributed to this report. Editors note: A previous version of this story stated the volcanic eruption triggered an earthquake, based on early reporting that has since been clarified. There was no earthquake, just the seismic event of the eruption alone. The story was updated at 9:15 a.m., Jan. 15, to reflect this information. Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) is expected to deliver a year-over-year increase in earnings on higher revenues when it reports results for the quarter ended December 2021. This widely-known consensus outlook gives a good sense of the company's earnings picture, but how the actual results compare to these estimates is a powerful factor that could impact its near-term stock price. The earnings report, which is expected to be released on January 21, 2022, might help the stock move higher if these key numbers are better than expectations. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower. While management's discussion of business conditions on the earnings call will mostly determine the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations, it's worth having a handicapping insight into the odds of a positive EPS surprise. Zacks Consensus Estimate This regional bank holding company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.37 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +37%. Revenues are expected to be $1.69 billion, up 36.4% from the year-ago quarter. Estimate Revisions Trend The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 1.78% higher over the last 30 days to the current level. This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period. Investors should keep in mind that an aggregate change may not always reflect the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Earnings Whisper Estimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. This insight is at the core of our proprietary surprise prediction model -- the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction). The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier. Thus, a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate. However, the model's predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only. A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time, and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP. Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss. Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and/or Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell). How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for Huntington Bancshares? For Huntington Bancshares, the Most Accurate Estimate is higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting that analysts have recently become bullish on the company's earnings prospects. This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of +1.46%. On the other hand, the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #3. So, this combination indicates that Huntington Bancshares will most likely beat the consensus EPS estimate. Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue? Analysts often consider to what extent a company has been able to match consensus estimates in the past while calculating their estimates for its future earnings. So, it's worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number. For the last reported quarter, it was expected that Huntington Bancshares would post earnings of $0.36 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.35, delivering a surprise of -2.78%. Over the last four quarters, the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates two times. Bottom Line An earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower. Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors. Similarly, unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss. That said, betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success. This is why it's worth checking a company's Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported. Huntington Bancshares appears a compelling earnings-beat candidate. However, investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release. Infrastructure Stock Boom to Sweep America A massive push to rebuild the crumbling U.S. infrastructure will soon be underway. Its bipartisan, urgent, and inevitable. Trillions will be spent. Fortunes will be made. The only question is Will you get into the right stocks early when their growth potential is greatest? Zacks has released a Special Report to help you do just that, and today its free. Discover 5 special companies that look to gain the most from construction and repair to roads, bridges, and buildings, plus cargo hauling and energy transformation on an almost unimaginable scale. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (HBAN): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Copyright 2022 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Twilio (TWLO) closed the most recent trading day at $215.16, moving -0.92% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.08% gain on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.56%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.42%. Prior to today's trading, shares of the company had lost 16.77% over the past month. This has lagged the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 5.11% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.22% in that time. Twilio will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 9, 2022. On that day, Twilio is projected to report earnings of -$0.23 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 675%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $768.89 million, up 40.29% from the prior-year quarter. Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Twilio. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook. Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system. Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. Twilio is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). The Internet - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 176, putting it in the bottom 31% of all 250+ industries. The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1. Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions. Infrastructure Stock Boom to Sweep America A massive push to rebuild the crumbling U.S. infrastructure will soon be underway. Its bipartisan, urgent, and inevitable. Trillions will be spent. Fortunes will be made. The only question is Will you get into the right stocks early when their growth potential is greatest? Zacks has released a Special Report to help you do just that, and today its free. Discover 5 special companies that look to gain the most from construction and repair to roads, bridges, and buildings, plus cargo hauling and energy transformation on an almost unimaginable scale. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Twilio Inc. (TWLO): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Copyright 2022 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc/Corbis via Getty Images January is prime bald eagle nesting time in Texas, with typically one to three baby eaglets in each nest. A new project with Texas Nature Trackers is helping scientists examine and collect information on the status of Bald Eagle and Golden Eagle nesting sites across Texas. Texas Nature Trackers, a contingent of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, is a citizen monitoring effort that connects nature lovers all of ages. The organization calls on those who are able to observe a given nest through breeding season to submit weekly photo updates to the project on the app iNaturalist. MANISTEE The Manistee-Ludington area PFLAG group is expected to meet via Zoom Sunday at 1 p.m., according to a news release from the organization. Lou Anne Smoot is the guest speaker for the Jan. 16 meeting. She plans to "share the struggle of hiding her homosexuality in Texas for 60 years and how she built the courage to come out. As a member of a conservative family which raised her in the Baptist faith she faced a number of challenges to acknowledging her sexuality," according to a news release The man accused of speeding away from a Harris County Sheriff's Office deputy who later crashed and killed a young woman in the ensuing high-speed chase Wednesday night is now in federal custody on robbery and weapons charges. But as state and federal prosecutors build their case against 29-year-old DaVonte Williams, attorneys in the Harris County District Attorney's Office tasked with prosecuting vehicular crimes are also looking at potential charges for the deputy behind the wheel. Federal prosecutors on Friday filed charges against Williams for interference with commerce by robbery and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. He's also facing a state-level charge of evading in a motor vehicle causing death, according to prosecutor Sean Teare who heads the DA's vehicular crimes division. Detectives claim Williams pulled a gun during consecutive robberies at an Exxon gas station and CVS pharmacy along the Eastex Freeway late Wednesday. As the deputy tried to stop Williams in the CVS parking lot, he allegedly sped off in a Lincoln Town Car, and the deputy pursued. The deputy told dispatchers that Williams was driving "at a high rate of speed" before catching up to him. He chased Williams for a little under two miles before crashing with a Kia Borrego driven by 22-year-old Autrey Davis at the intersection of Laura Koppe Road and Lockwood Drive around 10:50 p.m. The collision split Davis' Borrego and sent the deputy's cruiser careening into a nearby parking lot in a ball of flames. Investigators did not disclose the order of events that led to the crash. Davis was pronounced dead on scene, while two young children in her car were hospitalized. One of the children was listed in critical condition. Williams continued to flee after the deputy crashed but was arrested late Thursday. Investigators did not disclose how they determined Williams was the man who robbed the stores and fled from the deputy. OnScene.TV As robbery detectives focused on Williams, vehicular crimes investigators with the Houston Police Department are still gathering data related to the crash and working with Teare's office to determine if the deputy should be charged. "This is the very beginning of what's going to be a relatively long investigation," Teare prefaced in a phone call Friday. "But it could go all the way as high as manslaughter. Criminally negligent homicide could be a potential charge. Any time you're talking about travelling at high speeds, whether or not you're an officer or not, we've got to determine if it's reckless, negligent or none of the above." Teare said the case will be presented to a grand jury in the coming months. Investigators have pulled telemetry data from the cruiser's computer and are assessing the findings, including determining how fast the deputy was driving and any evasive action he might or might not have taken. In recent weeks, the Houston area saw a spike in deadly crashes involving law enforcement officers. In each case, the officers survived but left behind someone dead. On Dec. 4, Houston police officer Orlando Hernandez, 25, drove onto a Sunnyside sidewalk while responding to a call and killed 66-year-old Michael Wayne Jackson. Hernandez remains on active duty. Then on Dec. 26, HPD officer Christopher Cabrera crashed into 75-year-old Charles Payne, who later died in the hospital. Cabrera was later relieved of duty, according to police. The HCSO deputy behind the wheel in Wednesday's wreck has not been identified. The Texas Department of Public Safety issued a reminder this week about its iWatchTexas program, a resource creates to report suspicious activity in schools and communities in an effort to prevent dangerous attacks. The program is a partnership between communities and law enforcement that uses tips from citizens to thwart potential criminal acts, according to the news release from DPS. EAST HARTFORD U.S. Rep. John B. Larson, D-1st District, staged a modest campaign kickoff Friday, formalizing what never was in doubt: He is seeking reelection, typically a desultory affair in this safe Democratic district. Larson, 73, has held public office for most of the past 45 years, moving from the Board of Education and Town Council to the state Senate, then landing in Congress after winning a fierce Democratic primary for an open seat. That was 24 years ago. He has not been challenged since for the nomination, a streak that a 27-year-old progressive Muslim and former Capitol Hill staffer named Muad Hrezi is trying to end, arguing Larson has stayed too long. In short, Hrezi is hoping to catch a wave, testing whether there might be an undetected vein of dissatisfaction with Larson and if anything in the playbook used by U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley might work here. Larson was elected to Congress in 1998, the same year as Joseph J. Crowley of New York and Mike Capuano of Massachusetts. Both lost primaries in 2018: Crowley to Ocasio-Cortez, Capuano to Pressley. Both challengers benefitted by being women of color in districts where minorities had become the majority. That is not the case in the 1st District. I think theyre very different races, Larson said. But the lesson you always take is: Dont take anything for granted, including the democracy that were in; dont take your seat for granted; dont take this great democratic republic that were a part of for granted. Hrezi is the same age Ocasio-Cortez was when she opened her campaign against Crowley in April 2017. He is using at least three of her issues: support for Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, and opposition to the special interest money that readily flows to congressional incumbents. The dominant industries in the 1st District are insurance, including major health insurers like Aetna and Cigna, and aerospace, with East Hartfords Pratt & Whitney Aircraft reliant on the military as a major purchaser of its jet engines. Hrezi is trying to make the case that Larson is too deferential to both. Lets make sure that we can build an industry outside of just health insurers and defense contractors, Hrezi said. And that to me is the vision of what a leader does. A leader doesnt just play as a mouthpiece for the biggest employers in their district. He faults Larson for continuing to support funding for the troubled F-35 fighter, which uses Pratt engines, and accuses him of being too conservative on health care, even if Larson supported the Affordable Care Act and a public option for health insurance. With U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, and others, Larson has proposed expanding Medicare but does not favor making it the basis for health coverage. Larson, who has made a point of working with Ocasio-Cortez on a bill aimed at stabilizing and enhancing Social Security for future generations, said incremental progress should not be dismissed. Both Joe Courtney and I have a Medicare buy-in bill that ultimately will get us to where many people who believe in Medicare for All would like to be. But with 185 million people having private insurance, thats not going to happen tomorrow, Larson said. You know, this is a business where you have to deal in increments many times because you have to. And people arent going to necessarily give up the insurance they already have, if they dont know the alternative. And weve seen that in two presidential cycles. Insurers may be a major employer, but Hrezi casts them as an enemy of change, one that Congress should disregard. We shouldnt just be a mouthpiece for these insurers. And I think that theyre not interested in actually taking care of people anymore, Hrezi said. Health insurers are making a killing putting up barriers to care. And theyre not good players in our economy. So far, Hrezi has not demonstrated that those issues can act as a catalyst for building a wave capable of unseating Larson. In 2006, opposition to the war in Iraq energized liberal Democrats and helped Ned Lamont defeat Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman in a primary. Lieberman was reelected as an independent, but the loss contributed to his not seeking another term in 2012. The challenger said he finds encouragement from voters, and he believes his fundraising will help assure Democrats of his viability. Hrezi had raised nearly $132,000 and had $42,000 in available cash at the end of September. Numbers for the final quarter of 2021 are not due until the end of January. Larson raised about $640,000 in the first nine months of 2021, $220,267 from individual donors and $419,400 from other committees, including industry PACs. He had $783,131 cash on hand. Outside groups willing to finance liberal challengers in primaries, such as the Justice Democrats, have not yet shown an interest. Listen, its a great country. Anybody has the right to run, Larson said. But he said dollars he needs to spend on a primary will mean less money available in competitive district. Its a very consequential time. Its a time when we have the barest of minorities, and this is something I think that is lost on people. For the most part, the 1st District is what we would call a donor district, meaning were helping other members. Hrezi said he is committed to the race. He was born in Libya and raised in Connecticut, where his parents relocated after fleeing the Gadhaffi regime. He described his father as a dissident, though declined to offer details, saying relatives remain in Libya. The congressional bailout of Wall Street after the housing bubble burst in 2008, sparking a deep recession from which Connecticut has not fully recovered, and the protracted fight over health care reform contributed to his interest in politics. He said he supported Bernie Sanders in 2016, then joined the staff of U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy after studying health policy at the University of North Carolina. Murphys office says Hrezi worked for the senator in Washington as a legislative correspondent from May 7, 2018 until Sept. 11, 2020. Hrezi filed papers creating his campaign committee four months later, on Jan. 25, 2021. Murphy played a role in encouraging Jahana Hayes to run for Congress in the 5th District in 2018, when Hayes and Pressley became the first two Black women elected to Congress from New England. But he has distanced himself from Hrezis challenge. Larson made his reelection announcement in a community room at Goodwin University to two reporters, one television photographer and a virtual audience on Zoom. Then he hustled up I-91 to Windsor to enjoy a benefit of incumbency and make small talk with Hrezis former employer. In the shadow of a rusting Bissell Bridge that carries I-291 across the Connecticut River, he joined Murphy, Gov. Ned Lamont and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal to celebrate a Democratic legislative victory: Passage of a massive infrastructure funding bill that will accelerate rehabilitation of the bridge. After the event, Murphy declined to comment on whether his former staffers challenge reflected anything deeper in contemporary politics about generational impatience with the pace of change or the number of septuagenarians in Congress. All I know is that John Larson has more energy than a 23-year-old, and more passion for this state and for the Hartford area than anybody Ive ever met, Murphy said. I just think its rare to have somebody thats so effective, so good at his job, and cares so much about the state. And I think that people of the 1st District have seen that for decades. And thats why they keep on sending him back with big, big margins. EAST ALTON Expansion efforts are underway once again for Joes Pizza & Pasta in the Metro East. Corey McMahan owns the Joes Pizza locations in Edwardsville and Godfrey as well as a new restaurant at Eastgate Plaza in East Alton and a Mascoutah location scheduled to open later this year. The Edwardsville store, which completed its most recent expansion in 2019, was the first McMahan and his wife, Kayla, opened after he moved to the area to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 2002. In February of 2010, Joes first opened shop just down the street from its current location before moving to the larger space just three years later. Overall, McMahan said that Joes Pizza now has 20 franchise locations, all in Illinois. I love the communities that we are in, McMahan said. I came here to go to college and decided that this was a good place to stay. The East Alton location at Eastgate Plaza was most recently the site of J.J. Thermos Bar and Grill which closed on Dec. 31 after a three-year run. McMahan is aiming to open Joes Pizza sometime in March or by April 1 at the latest. I looked at the same space in Eastgate Plaza a few years ago and it wasnt a good time for me to do anything at that point, McMahan said. I reached back out to them a few weeks ago about another open space they have because theyve been doing a great job with that plaza. The owner of the plaza (Todd Kennedy) mentioned that the owners of J.J. Thermos might be wanting to end their lease with them. We looked at the space and started talking with the owners of J.J. Thermos and came to an agreement with them to purchase their equipment and their furniture. They have the majority of what we need to get open there and we only need a few other items. McMahan noted that the Eastgate Plaza space vacated by J.J. Thermos is considerably larger than his current locations in Edwardsville and Godfrey. Theres a huge patio outside and the place probably seats 300 to 350 people, said McMahan, who lives in Edwardsville near his restaurant. It may the biggest Joes Pizza location in the entire franchise. My Edwardsville store is 3,600 square feet and this one is 6,000 square feet. Mascoutah, meanwhile, is another market that McMahan has looked at for a long time. For the building were going into, its a been a long process to get everything ready," he said. "The owner of the building is still working on it and well hopefully move in there in the next few months after we get the East Alton store open. My dad, Pat McMahan, has lived in Mascoutah for over 15 years, so thats why Im familiar with that market," he said. "As of last year, he is now the mayor of Mascoutah. Hes been involved with the city council and a lot of the volunteer organizations there for years. As with countless other restaurant owners throughout the nation, McMahan has had to deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Weve been more fortunate than most restaurants because we were already doing a lot of carryout and delivery and weve been able to adapt to whatever the rules have been at the time, McMahan said. But its been one challenge after another, with food prices going crazy and having trouble finding enough help. Youre trying to keep everything staffed and youre dealing with people who have been exposed (to the virus)," he said. "Its been a little crazy and certainly not what we signed up for up when we opened up a restaurant. David McMahan, Coreys brother, owns Joes Pizza locations in Collinsville and Troy; the Troy restaurant is preparing to move to a new location. The former store at 904 Edwardsville Road in Troy closed Jan. 8. According to a post on its Facebook page, the new Joe's Pizza at 633 Edwardsville Road will open within three weeks. We have been abandoned. The Biden Administration has failed Texans. By ignoring our border crisis, President Biden and so-called Border Czar Vice President Kamala Harris are signaling that our nations sovereignty and security remain off the White Houses list of priorities. I visited Del Rio with state Rep. Brooks Landgraf and state Rep. Andrew Murr, as well as Ector County Sheriff Mike Griffis and state senate candidate Kevin Sparks. During our trip, we learned that the Del Rio sector saw more illegal migrant crossings in 2021 than in the past nine years combined. President Biden and his administration refuse to acknowledge the border crisis, resist implementing key security programs and continue to encourage illegal crossings through their rhetoric and policies. In September, I visited the surge of nearly 15,000 illegal immigrants gathered under the Del Rio bridge. What many told me is that the U.S. border was easier to get through than the borders of Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico. This is unacceptable, and a direct result of the Biden administrations shortsighted border policies. The impact can be seen in dangerous encounters, human trafficking tragedies, perilous high-speed chases, property damage that harms Texas farmers and ranchers, tragic deaths from extreme condition exposures, and gaps where illegal drugs like fentanyl are seeping into our country. New numbers report that not only is fentanyl pouring into our country at increasingly higher rates, but that these drugs are even more dangerous than before. Tragically, fentanyl has now become the leading cause of death in Americans ages 18-45. This past year alone, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) seized enough fentanyl at the border to kill every American seven times over. Texans should be incredibly alarmed by this chaos emanating from President Bidens failed policies. We have been urging the White House to take the border crisis seriously for nearly a year now. Our pleas have been ignored. Critical legislation has been shoved aside by House Democratic leaders. Texans have been forsaken and left to fend for themselves. When President Biden and Vice President Harris refuse to even step foot at the border, Texans are stepping up. Without our honorable Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and state law enforcement officers stepping up and standing in the gap, things at the border would be even worse. I am grateful for the work of my colleagues in the Texas Legislature, Landgraf, Murr, Speaker Tom Craddick and others for their work to pass Operation Lone Star and provide resources to secure the Texas border. But Texas should not be going at it alone. I will continue to put forward common-sense border solutions in Congress to protect the security of communities across Texas District 11 and the entire nation. I am proud to join with Ranking Member John Katko and my colleagues on the Homeland Security Committee to offer a comprehensive border security solutions bill. I will also be introducing legislation in the coming days to require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to tell the American people how many known and suspected terrorists have been apprehended at the border. The federal government cannot play political games with our security and immigration laws. We must return to policies we know work to stem the flow of illegal immigration and regain operational control of our southern border. The American people deserve transparency and peace of mind in knowing that their government is doing everything possible to keep them safe. To any Democrats in Congress or the White House: I implore you to come to the border with me. See the suffering for yourself and work with us to fix it. Trudging up the steep, cactus-lined trail to Ballast Point on Catalina Island off Southern California, the views of the Pacific and a pair of scenic harbors below were becoming increasingly epic. This was a good idea, I said, and my partner Steve agreed. We were the only hikers on the lesser-explored local trail above the town of Two Harbors, a tranquil, outdoorsy outpost on the northern stretch of the island. It hadnt really been part of the plan to do this hike, but then again, most of what we had expected for this trip had gone awry. The hike we originally had in mind was much more ambitious. A couple of months prior, I had read about the Trans-Catalina trail, and instantly wanted to do it. Ideally all of it, but at least part of it. The 38.5-mile thru-hike offers stunning views from island mountaintops, beach camping and a chance to spot bison whose ancestors were left behind in 1924 by a Hollywood film crew. The whole thing takes four days to complete, but we only had one weekend, so we settled on the most recommended stretch: Two Harbors to Little Harbor an unspoiled beach on the western side of the island and back. Five miles each way, and a night of primitive beach camping. It was going to be perfect. But upon arrival in Southern California with our tent, sleeping bags and camping stove in tow, the weather forecast showed an oncoming storm, with a 100% chance of rain in Two Harbors. The island gets almost no rain, but when it does, Catalina Island Conservancy actually closes the trails. The island is largely composed of clay, which sticks to the bottom of shoes and creates unsafe and slippery conditions on the paths, many of which feature precipitous inclines. Even the roads become mucky, preventing rescue vehicles from traveling to assist injured hikers. We considered canceling the trip, but ultimately realized we had nothing better to do. Any experience on Catalina Island was probably better than no experience on Catalina Island, right? Boarding the Catalina Express ferry from San Pedro, we were relieved that we werent the only passengers, but a bit concerned that everybody else was carrying hiking poles. Crossing the channel took less than an hour, and the weather was cold but clear as we disembarked at Isthmus Cove. To prepare for the hike just in case the weather cooperated we picked up food for the next three days at the well-equipped Two Harbors General Store. We then walked half a mile to our tent cabin in Two Harbors Campground to drop off our backpacks and groceries, before heading over to the Harbor Reef Restaurant for a hot meal and a game of pool. A nearly full moon glowed above us on our return to the tent cabin, and upon arrival, I sensed that something was off. We had left the canvas tent Velcroed shut, but one of the corners had been pried open. In the middle of the floor was a pile of sh-t. What is that! I yelled. Steve turned to look at our grocery bag, which was perched on a cot. We hurried over and were relieved to see that our food remained, but then I noticed something else on the floor. Half a bagel. The bag of eight bagels, Steve confirmed, was gone. What sort of wild animal likes bagels, we wondered. What mammals were even on the island? It turns out there are only a few: shrew, mice, rats, squirrels, feral cats, mule deer, blackbucks, bison and foxes. By the size of its turds and reputation for slyness, we determined a fox had stolen our bagels. The creature likely knew we had more food, though, which made us nervous that it might come back as we slept. There were six cots in the tent cabin, and we piled four in front of the entrance. Overnight, a storm came through, pounding our tent and drenching the campground. When I tried to walk down to the beach in the morning, clay stuck to my shoes, creating a platform. There was no way to keep traction, and I knew it wouldnt matter that we lost the bagels, because hiking was impossible. We canceled our campsite at Little Harbor and instead booked two nights at Banning House Lodge, a hilltop hacienda-style home built in 1910. The patio furniture had been tossed about by the storm, but our room was cozy and a common area featured a fireplace, games and striking views of the boat-dotted Catalina Harbor and deep blue Isthmus Cove. Down the corridor, a pair of hikers we befriended had also changed their itinerary. The mud-covered couple had spent the previous night at Little Harbor, they told us, and rain poured over their tent. They barely managed to slide their way up the road to Two Harbors and instead of staying two more days as planned, they rebooked themselves on the next morning's ferry. We were in no such hurry. Over the next two days, we read books, did puzzles and played Yahtzee by the fire. When the rain finally subsided, we took a double kayak to a secluded cove and snorkeled in a kelp forest. On our final day Christmas Day the terrain seemed a bit more manageable, and we asked around about shorter hikes. The locals all gave the same recommendation: Ballast Point. We picked up the trail right outside Banning House Lodge, on a steeply sloping road. We had tried scaling it the day before and immediately slid back down, our shoes covered in muck. But on Christmas, it was doable with walking sticks. Ashley Harrell For the first half mile or so, our trail was also part of the Trans-Catalina trail, and I felt grateful to have conquered even just a small portion of it. Prickly pear cactuses often flanked the path, as did a fencing with peoples names spelled out with barbed wire, and as we climbed, the sun occasionally found its way through the clouds, baking and solidifying the clay beneath our feet. We ascended 900 feet in just over a mile, and the views of a cobalt blue cove to the north and milky turquoise harbor to the west were unreal. We could also see other deserted coves stretching for miles down the southern shoreline, and a chain of shrub-covered mountains unfurled from Catalina Head to the east. The sky was enormous, and so was the multi-hued sea. As we reached a wooden hut at Ballast Point, the sky darkened a bit and in the distance, we could see a storm moving over the Pacific. It was a beautiful thing to behold, and we agreed that the only thing missing from our Catalina trip was a bison. Later that afternoon, in the shuttle from Banning House to our ferry, our driver made a detour to where she had seen a bison earlier in the day. She calls him Karl, she said, and sure enough, Karl was still in that same spot, munching grass. Overcome with happiness, I bounded out of the vehicle to take his photo from a safe distance. The trip felt complete, and well definitely be back someday to hike the full Trans-Catalina. A North Korean missile is fired from a railway-based platform in North Pyongan Province, a northwestern region of the country bordering China, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, Jan. 15. Yonhap North Korea said Saturday its railway-based missile regiment conducted a firing exercise a day earlier, with two tactical guided missiles hitting a target in the East Sea. The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the drill was aimed at "checking and judging the proficiency in the action procedures" of the unit. The missile tests mark the North's second known launches using a railway platform since one last September. On Friday, the South Korean military announced the latest launches from Uiju in North Pyongan Province in Pyongyang's third show of force this year. In this weeks air travel news, United Airlines plans to reduce flight operations due to staff shortages; Delta Air Lines claims schedules are back on track despite 8,000 workers testing positive for COVID-19, and gives customers holding travel credits another year to use them; JetBlue Airways will stop flying 17 mostly leisure routes this spring, including SFO-Cancun; American Airlines trims frequencies on several domestic routes; Air Canada will suspend service to 15 Caribbean destinations; British Airways temporarily drops three U.S. gateways; Virgin Atlantic will begin London-Austin flights; Finnair is coming to Seattle; Singapore Airlines has big plans for service out of the New York area; the U.S. threatens retaliation against China for shutting down transpacific flights; Hong Kong bans transit passengers for a month; American starts code sharing with Aer Lingus; U.S. adds Canada to do not travel list; Southwest offers discounted COVID self-testing kits to passengers; and two new European carriers move forward with plans to fly to the U.S. this year. As U.S. airlines struggle to maintain schedules with workforces reduced by COVID cases and quarantines, United offers numbers this week on just how bad the staffing problem is. In a memo to employees this week, United CEO Scott Kirby revealed that the airline is reducing our near-term schedules to make sure we have the staffing and resources to take care of customers. Kirby didnt specify how deep the reductions would be. He said the airline currently has about 3,000 employees who tested positive for COVID, or roughly 4% of its workforce. The situation varies by location. Just as an example, Kirby said, in one day alone at Newark, nearly one-third of our workforce called out sick. The rapid spread of the omicron variant has put a strain on our operation, resulting in customer disruptions during a busy holiday season, he noted. While we go to great lengths to avoid canceling flights, we worked to get ahead of the impact by acting early to cancel flights when necessary and notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport. Eric Lee/Bloomberg Delta said that in the past four weeks, 8,000 employees have tested positive for COVID, out of a total workforce of 75,000. That personnel deficit contributed to Delta canceling more than 2,200 flights since Christmas, but CEO Ed Bastian said the airlines cancellation rate this week due to COVID issues is down to 1% of its schedule. While the rapidly spreading omicron variant has significantly impacted staffing levels and disrupted travel across the industry, Deltas operation has stabilized over the last week and returned to pre-holiday performance, Bastian said. Omicron is expected to temporarily delay the demand recovery 60 days, but as we look past the peak, we are confident in a strong spring and summer travel season with significant pent-up demand for consumer and business travel. Considering the omicron fallout on passenger bookings, Delta this week gave all customers holding unused travel credits an additional year to use them. Effective Jan. 12, all existing eCredit holders will have an additional year of flexibility for rebooking and traveling. Customers will be able to rebook their ticket by December 31, 2023, for travel throughout 2024, the airline said. Furthermore, all Delta customers with upcoming 2022 travel or who purchase a ticket in 2022 also have the flexibility to rebook their ticket through December 31, 2023, and travel throughout 2024, if their plans change. United isnt the only carrier reducing its flight operations in the face of omicron. Both JetBlue and Alaska Airlines said in recent weeks that they are cutting January schedules by up to 10%, due to COVID workforce issues. A JetBlue spokesperson told The Points Guy this week that after reviewing its network, it has decided to stop service this spring on 17 routes that have underperformed, and to convert some markets to seasonal operation. Most of the suspended routes are leisure markets additions we made in response to pandemic travel trends to help us bring immediate cash in the door, the spokesperson said. Routes getting the axe include service to Cancun from San Francisco, Sacramento, and Las Vegas, as well as flights to Bozeman, Mont., from Los Angeles and Ft. Lauderdale. Other cuts include East Coast routes to Florida, the Caribbean and Latin America. Meanwhile, American Airlines is reducing flight frequencies in several domestic markets instead of cutting routes. For instance, its Los Angeles-El Paso and LAX-Denver schedules were both cut from three flights a day to one, while Long Beach-Phoenix will drop from 21 flights a week to 10 in February. Most other service reductions were in the eastern half of the country. Jeff Chiu / Associated Press Its not just domestic routes that are affected. Air Canada, citing the COVID pandemic and a drop in customer demand, has decided to eliminate service to 15 leisure destinations in the Caribbean and Bermuda from Jan. 24 through the end of April. And British Airways, which recently resumed service to most of its U.S. gateways, is now suspending flights to three destinations as of Jan. 18, including Nashville, Baltimore/Washington, and New Orleans. Theyll likely be resumed in the spring. But some airlines are still adding new international routes. Virgin Atlantic, a partner of Delta, said it plans to launch service on May 25 between London Heathrow and Austin Bergstrom, flying the route four days a week. The Austin-LHR route is already served by British Airways. Meanwhile, Finnair has announced a June 1 launch date for service between Helsinki and Seattle. The new route will give Finnair passengers the chance to link up with Alaska Airlines flights; both carriers are members of Americans Oneworld alliance. However, COVID-related staffing problems did lead Finnair to push back its planned introduction of Helsinki-Dallas/Ft. Worth flights, from Feb. 6 to March 27. On the East Coast, Singapore Airlines has big plans for an expansion of service out of the New York area. By late March, Singapore will be flying three flights a day there, including non-stops from JFK to Singapore, non-stops from Newark to Singapore, and one-stop service from JFK to Singapore via Frankfurt. The Frankfurt route will use an A380, while the other two will operate with A350-900ULRs (ultra-long range). Theres a new aviation spat between the U.S. and China as the Chinese government increases cancellations of passenger flights between the two countries. So far this month, China has ordered the suspension of 70 flights including, most recently, two United departures from San Francisco to Shanghai and four China Southern flights from LAX to Guangzhou. The Chinese government keeps a close watch on the number of inbound travelers who test positive for COVID after arrival, punishing the airline that brought them in by ordering it to temporarily suspend service. The total number of U.S.-China flights from American and Chinese airlines was already down to just 20 a week this winter, versus more than 100 in pre-pandemic times. The White House this week blasted Chinas mandatory flight cancellations, calling them inconsistent with its obligations under the U.S.-China Air Transport Agreement, and said the U.S. might retaliate in some unspecified way. Meanwhile, Hong Kong has gone even further in its effort to keep COVID at bay, declaring this week that passengers from 150 nations, considered to be high-risk, will be banned from making connections at Hong Kong International Airport from Jan. 16 through Feb. 16. Anyone who has visited or stayed in any of those countries wont be allowed to enter Hong Kong, even at the airport. The city had already imposed a two-week ban on flights from several nations, including the U.S., U.K., Australia and Canada. The new ban on transit passengers is expected to have a devastating impact on Hong Kongs hometown carrier, Cathay Pacific. American Airlines, which flies to Dublin from several U.S. gateways, this week started a new codeshare with the Irish carrier Aer Lingus, allowing customers to book AA-coded connecting flights beyond Dublin to various European destinations. The codeshares are on Aer Lingus flights from Dublin to London (Heathrow and Gatwick), Amsterdam, Birmingham and Manchester, as well as from London Heathrow to Belfast in Northern Ireland and Shannon and Cork in Ireland. The deal also puts Aer Lingus code on several AA domestic routes out of Chicago OHare. Further expansion of the codeshare is also planned in the near future, American said. Last year, Aer Lingus became a member of AAs transatlantic joint venture operation that also includes British Airways, Iberia and Finnair. Both the State Dept. and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week added Canada to their Level 4 Do Not Travel list, citing an ongoing rise in COVID cases there. Scores of countries worldwide were already on the CDCs Level 4 list, including most European nations. It was just two months ago that the U.S. started to allow fully vaccinated foreign visitors to enter the U.S. via Canadian and Mexican land borders, after closing them to non-essential travelers for the last year and a half. Last month, Canada urged its citizens to avoid all non-essential travel outside the countrys borders. Alex Tai/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Southwest Airlines customers who travel outside the U.S. can now purchase self-administered COVID test kits for use before their return flights, at a discounted rate of $50 each, from the healthcare company CityHealth. The kits provide a Rapid Antigen test approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and include an online appointment with a testing specialist at CityHealth, who will supervise the users sample collection process. The RapidReturn kit does not require travelers to download an app or use a specific operating system, CityHealth said. All that's required is a Wi-Fi connection and a video-enabled device (such as a smartphone, tablet, or laptop), minimizing compatibility issues. A secure link to download the digital health certificate is sent via email shortly after the test is completed, typically within 2-3 minutes. Two new low-cost European airlines are advancing their plans to fly to the U.S. in the new year. Icelands PLAY, started by former executives from the defunct WOW Airlines, is due to begin flying April 20 between London Stansted and Baltimore/Washington, and May 11 between Stansted and Boston. Both routes will include a short stopover at Icelands Keflavik Airport outside Reykjavik. PLAY started operations last summer and currently flies from Iceland to six destinations in Europe. Meanwhile, Oslo-based Norse Atlantic Airways, which aspires to be a successor to Norwegian Airlines across the Atlantic, was just awarded an operating certificate from the Norwegian government. (Norwegian Airlines is still around, but it no longer flies to the U.S.) Norse Atlantic plans to start flying 787s this spring from Oslo to Ontario, Calif., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. and Stewart International Airport in Orange County, N.Y., 60 miles from New York City. A medical team in the intensive care unit of Toronto's Humber River Hospital helps a patient with COVID-19. The risk of hospitalization among people who are unvaccinated has been found to be seven times greater than that of vaccinated and their intensive care attendance rate is nearly twice that. Most Canadians are fed up with this situation and favour consequences. People watch news on a TV at Seoul Station in Seoul, Jan. 14, about North Korea's launch of two alleged short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea. Yonhap The United States condemned North Korea's latest missile launches Friday amid growing tension between the two countries following multiple missile tests by the North during the last week. North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles Friday afternoon (KST). These short-range missile tests follow on the heels of two separate launches of what Pyongyang claimed to be a new hypersonic missile, Jan. 5 and Tuesday. "The United States condemns the DPRK's ballistic missile launch. This launch is in violation of multiple U.N. Security Council Resolutions and poses a threat to the DPRK's neighbors and the international community," a spokesperson for the Department of State said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "We remain committed to a diplomatic approach to the DPRK and call on them to engage in dialogue. Our commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea and Japan remains ironclad," the official added. Florida, US (34429) Today Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. Thunder possible. High 87F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Rain showers this evening with clearing overnight. Thunder possible. Low 67F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. In the first Express Entry draw of the year, IRCC invited only PNP candidates to apply for permanent residence. Express Entry: Canada holds first draw of 2022 In the first Express Entry draw of the year, IRCC invited only PNP candidates to apply for permanent residence. Express Entry: Canada holds first draw of 2022 In the first Express Entry draw of the year, IRCC invited only PNP candidates to apply for permanent residence. Express Entry: Canada holds first draw of 2022 In the first Express Entry draw of the year, IRCC invited only PNP candidates to apply for permanent residence. Shelby Thevenot Alexandra Miekus Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif Sans Font Size A A Canada is starting the new year inviting 392 Express Entry candidates to apply for permanent residence. In the January 5 draw, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) only invited Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates. The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score cutoff was 808. PNP candidates get an automatic 600 points added to their score when they receive their nomination, which is why the score seems high compared to other invitation rounds. IRCC has only been holding PNP draws since September. According to an internal briefing memo, IRCC has been focusing on PNP candidates as immigration officers are processing a backlog in applications. The immigration department wants to cut Express Entry backlogs in at least half before inviting candidates from other programs. Get a Free Express Entry Assessment New year, new Express Entry The Canadian government has suggested that they plan to make changes to Express Entry this year. In the 2021 federal budget, the Liberal government proposed to give the immigration minister more flexibility to invite Express Entry candidates that meet Canadas labour market needs. Later in the year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked Immigration Minister Sean Fraser in a mandate letter to expand permanent residence pathways for international students and temporary foreign workers via Express Entry. At this time, no further details have been released publicly. Also, Express Entry-eligible occupations may change when the new Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities (TEER) system comes into effect, and replaces the current National Occupational Classification (NOC) skill levels. For now, Express Entry only recognizes work experience from NOC 0, A, and B occupations. This type of classification will be changed when TEER comes into force in late 2022. Canada only held program-specific Express Entry draws for PNP and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates in 2021. It was the first year in the history of Express Entry that no Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) candidate was invited to apply. Before the pandemic, FSWP candidates were the main source of Express Entry immigrants. FSWP candidates are more likely to be applying from outside of the country, compared to PNP or CEC candidates. Last year, IRCC focused more on admitting applicants who were already in Canada due to travel restrictions. CEC candidates are most likely to be in Canada already, since they are required to have at least one year of Canadian work experience. PNP candidates are already nominated for immigration by the provinces, which means they have demonstrated that they can help support regional labour markets. What is Express Entry? Express Entry is the application management system three Canadian immigration programs: the Canadian Experience Class, the Federal Skilled Worker Program, and the Federal Skilled Trades Program. PNP candidates in the Express Entry pool have already qualified for one of these programs. Express Entry uses a points-based system, the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), to rank candidates profiles. The top-scoring candidates receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA), and can then apply for permanent residency. Next, an IRCC officer reviews their application and makes a decision. After that, they will ask for biometrics and may set up an interview or request more documents. If the application is approved, IRCC issues a Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR). Approved permanent residents can then complete the landing process. If they are outside Canada, they can access pre-arrival services to help them with the first steps for settling in Canada. Who was invited? The following is a hypothetical example of someone who may have received an ITA in the new Express Entry draw. Julia is 34 with a Masters degree and has been working as a database analyst for ten years. She wrote the IELTS and scored a 7.5 in listening and a 6.5 in every other category. She has never worked or studied in Canada. Julia entered the Express Entry pool and also submitted a profile to the Canadian province of Manitoba. She entered the Express Entry pool with a CRS score of 360. Shortly after submitting a profile to Manitoba, Julia was invited to apply for provincial nomination. After being nominated, her Express Entry CRS score increased to 960 and Julia received an Invitation to Apply for permanent residence in the new Express Entry draw. Get a Free Express Entry Assessment CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options. Sorry, no valid subscriptions were found for this Publication. Please select from an option below to start a subscription. SUBSCRIBE TODAY! 24 Hour Access Centrul CONTACT prelungeste concursul de angajare expert/experta sau grup de experti in elaborarea si aplicarea metodologiei de evaluare a capacitatii in prestarea serviciilor A visitation will be held on Tuesday, May 3, 2022 at the MMS- Payne Funeral Home Chapel from 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Family will greet friends from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Grace Ann Harrison passed away on April 26, 2022 at the age of 76 years old. Grace Ann was born to Dryden and Joan Carman People take COVID-19 tests at a testing site near Seoul Station in Seoul, Jan. 15. Yonhap Daily COVID-19 infections stayed above 4,000 for the fourth consecutive day Friday, as the health authorities maintained tight vigilance with the extension of strict social distancing measures for three more weeks. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 4,423 new cases, including 4,077 local ones, raising the total caseload to 687,984. Twenty-two more deaths were also recorded, raising the death toll to 6,281, with a fatality rate of 0.91 percent, according to the health authorities, which also reported 626 critically ill patients. The number of imported cases was tallied at 346, down from a daily high of 409 reported Friday. The health authorities have been on high alert as concerns persist over a possible resurgence of the virus due to the fast spread of the Omicron variant ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday later this month. The government has decided to maintain a 9 p.m. curfew on restaurants and cafes while raising the limit on the size of private gatherings to six from the current four. The revised rules will be in place from Monday through Feb. 6. To fend off imported cases, the health authorities decided to ban all entrants' use of public transportation upon arrival and tighten rules on the proof of negative COVID-19 test results. These measures will go into effect Thursday. On Friday, the government began administering U.S. drug giant Pfizer Inc.'s Paxlovid antiviral COVID-19 treatment pills, a day after the first batch for 21,000 people arrived in South Korea. Patients with a compromised immune system and those aged over 65 are on the priority list, the KDCA said. The government has secured medication for 762,000 people, alongside oral pills made by U.S. drugmaker MSD for 242,000 people. The second batch of Paxlovid for 10,000 people will be shipped by the end of this month. Of the new domestic cases, 1,761 cases were reported in Gyeonggi Province surrounding Seoul, 823 in the capital, 221 in the western port city of Incheon, 205 in the southwestern city of Gwangju and 151 in South Jeolla Province. As of Saturday, 43.47 million people, or 84.7 percent of the country's 52 million population, have been fully vaccinated, and 23.02 million, or 44.9 percent, have received booster shots, the health authorities said. (Yonhap) Beachwood, OH (44122) Today Showers and thundershowers likely. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 64F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Showers with a possible thunderstorm early, then variable clouds overnight with still a chance of showers. Low 48F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Beachwood, OH (44122) Today Rain early...then remaining cloudy with thundershowers developing for the afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 64F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Showers with a possible thunderstorm early, then variable clouds overnight with still a chance of showers. Low 49F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Clinton, IA (52732) Today Windy with a steady light rain early...then remaining cloudy with a few showers. High 48F. Winds NNE at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 37F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 14) Seventeen police personnel are facing a murder complaint over the deaths of two more victims of the "Bloody Sunday" raids last year. In a statement on Friday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed the complaint against officers linked to the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Calabarzon. The case covered the killings of Ariel and Ana Mariz Evangelista in Batangas. The two were part of fisherfolk group UMALPAS-KA. In its six-page complaint made public on Saturday, the NBI found that the police officers who carried out the operation had a "deliberate intent to kill." The DOJ said it will now conduct a preliminary probe on the case, "with all due consideration to the families of the victims and the constitutional rights of the alleged perpetrators." "There is zero tolerance for impunity in the ranks of Philippine law enforcement agencies, and these mechanisms are in place for the maintenance of an environment free from threats to anyone's life, liberty, and personal security," it added. The Evangelistas were among the nine activists killed in simultaneous police operations in Calabarzon provinces in March 2021 a case that sparked outrage among human rights advocates. In December, the DOJ also said 17 policemen were slapped with a murder complaint for the death of labor leader Emmanuel Asuncion. Human rights group Karapatan welcomed the development, but made a fresh call to authorities. "We urge the (task force) to include in their investigations the culpability of officials of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict and former PNP Chief Debold Sinas," Karapatan said. "Judges who issued the questionable search warrants and regional and provincial level police and military officials should likewise be held accountable." PNP: Cops to cooperate in probe The PNP vowed all officers tagged in the case will be available once the investigation starts. "At any rate, the PNP respects the legal action of NBI in bringing the case up for prosecution before the DOJ," PNP chief Dionardo Carlos said. "This will allow the respondents the opportunity to face their accusers and present their side in the best interest of due process." Carlos maintained that the police operation in Batangas was legitimate, citing a search warrant. However, he added that the PNP would also look into the administrative liability of the concerned personnel. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15) Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario backed a recent study by the US State Department invalidating China's sweeping claims in the South China Sea. Del Rosario, who chairs local think tank Stratbase ADR Institute, said the study - called Limits in the Seas No. 150 - "draws heavily from the 2016 Arbitral Ruling won by the Philippines in The Hague against China." "We are proud to see that a small country like the Philippines is able to make that impact in the world, so that the Rule of Law prevails over China's continuing deployment of brute force," Manila's former top diplomat said in a statement on Saturday. The US State Department study - a follow up to its 2014 report that debunked China's "nine-dash" - said there was no legal basis for China to assert "historic rights" in the South China Sea. It also questioned China's claims to more than 100 features in the contested waters that are submerged below the sea surface at high tide, which - under international law - cannot be lawfully claimed or generate maritime zones such as a territorial sea. Some of these features fall within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone. "Mischief Reef forms part of the waters of the Philippines but China claims Mischief Reef as if it were land territory - thereby artificially and illegally converting the reef as one of its air and naval bases within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines," del Rosario said. The former secretary called on Filipinos to elect new leaders who will uphold the country's territorial rights. "Confronting China over its illegal claims in the South China Sea is an intergenerational struggle. We should elect a government that would strongly fight for what is ours and for all nations to uphold the Rule of Law," del Rosario said. CNN Philippines correspondent Tristan Nodalo contributed to this report. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15) The government must put more effort in ramping up COVID-19 health services, partcularly telemedicine and outpatient care, to help ease the burden on the healthcare system amid soaring cases of infections, a health reform advocate said. "The thrust of the government should be more on the outpatient and the telemedicine to augment the medical force seeing mild cases and provide them with medical supplies and instructions," Dr. Tony Leachon told CNN Philippines. With this, he said Filipinos will no longer see the need to visit hospitals if they have mild symptoms, which are common with the more infectious Omicron variant. Leachon also suggested deputizing fourth year medical students and interns to help licensed doctors handle and monitor patients with mild symptoms, citing the difficulty in booking telemedicine appointments and the importance of prescribing medicine at the right time. Revisit travel restrictions? Leachon, a former special adviser to the National Task Force on COVID-19, urged the national government to revisit the travel restrictions especially in the provinces, where cases are also rising. Prior to the announcement of Alert Level 3 in Metro Manila and the addition of other areas, he called for the imposition of Alert Level 4 to prevent the virus from spreading outside the region. "Alert Level 4 may be important sa areas na hindi kasing prepared ng NCR,: he said. "Ang problema kasi sa Alert Level 3, there is inter-zonal travel eh. Ngayon kung magde-declare ang isang province na wala munang magbibiyahe dito, eh bakit naman hindi? Ang ayaw mo nga na makapasok sila eh." [Translation: Alert Level 4 may be important for areas not as prepared as NCR. The problem with Alert Level 3 is there is inter-zonal travel. Now if one province declares no one can enter first, why not? You don't want them to enter.] He said the tighter restrictions will give provinces time to prepare their healthcare system for the increase in cases. Leachon also asked the government to provide support for hospitals in the provinces, which are not as equipped as the ones in NCR. He also appealed to authorities to reconsider its decision to allow returning Filipinos coming from high-risk countries. Country has not yet seen peak of surge Leachon believes the country has yet to see the peak of the COVID-19 surge because of the record-breaking number of daily cases, active cases and high positivity rate. "I cannot see yung sinasabi nilang we're actually reaching the peak eh," he argued. "Tingin ko nasa acceleration phase pa tayo. Kaya lang in different stages of the epidemic curve yung iba. Manila may be reaching the peak pero the other areas, magsisimula pa lang doon sa epidemic." [Translation: I cannot see what they are saying that we're actually reaching the peak. I think we are still at the acceleration phase. However, we're just in different stages of the epidemic curve. Manila may be reaching the peak, but other areas are still starting in the epidemic curve.] Leachon likened the current surge to chickenpox, wherein the infection starts in the chest and spreads to other parts of the body. He said other provinces will start to feel the increase soon, especially those with low vaccination rates. The Philippines recorded 39,004 new cases on Saturday, breaking its highest single-day tally and number of active infections anew. Active cases are now at 280,813 which is 8.9% of the total count. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15) The Kabataan Party-list is urging President Rodrigo Duterte to implement a two-week academic "health break" in areas under Alert Level 3 or higher. While several local government units have already declared a "health break," subsequently suspending classes in their areas amid rising COVID cases, the Kabataan Party-list wants the national government to formally issue the order. "The Omicron variant will surely make its way into more cities and provinces to cause surges in COVID-19 cases. This will affect the ability of students and teachers to continue with education which has already been difficult under Duterte's anti-poor distance learning program," the group said in a statement Saturday. "In this light, Kabataan Party-list calls on President Duterte and the IATF to declare a two-week academic health break at all levels, public and private, in areas under Alert Level 3 or higher as may be designated by IATF in the coming days," it added. READ: LIST: Class suspensions, adjustments amid COVID-19 surge The proposal came after the party-list group, together with the National Union of Students of the Philippines and the Rise for Education Alliance, held nationwide online consultations to assess the needs of students following the devastation of Typhoon Odette and the sudden surge in COVID-19 cases. During the consultations, Kabataan Party-list said students aired their problems on the current learning system, worsened by the lack of electricity and water supply, especially in areas ravaged by the deadly typhoon. Given the situation, the group said the government must "institutionalize the easing of academic requirements, and to distribute emergency student aid." Some nursing students from different schools also expressed worries about the possibility that limited in-person classes may fail to start "because of lack of logistical preparations and clear cut policies to confront a COVID surge," it added. The Kabataan Party-list said it will file resolutions at the House of Representatives and send formal letters to Duterte, the pandemic response task force, the Commission on Higher Education, and the Department of Education. A rainbow flag, symbolizing LGBTQ rights, is displayed on the U.S. Embassy building in Seoul along with the U.S. flag in this June 2019 photo. A group of foreign missions submitted a letter of support for the organizer of the Seoul Queer Culture Festival, which has filed a complaint with Seoul City's Administrative Judgment Committee against the city's rejection of its application to establish a non-profit foundation. Korea Times file By Kwon Mee-yoo A group of foreign missions in Seoul have shown their support for Korea's largest queer culture festival organizer's effort to promote rights of sexual minorities here. Seventeen foreign missions in Korea submitted a letter of support, under the signature of Dutch Ambassador to Korea Joanne Doornewaard, to the festival's organizer on Jan. 12. The letter will be used in favor of the organizer in its ongoing administrative battle with the city government. The Seoul Queer Culture Festival (SQCF) Organizing Committee filed an application to set up a non-profit corporation to the Seoul Metropolitan Government in October 2019, but the local government rejected the application in August 2021, citing concerns of social conflict if approved. The festival organizer rebuked the Seoul Metropolitan Government's decision for being a "clear discriminatory administrative action" and filed the complaint with Seoul City's Administrative Judgment Committee. As many foreign missions have supported SQCF and participated in the festival, its organizing committee approached the Dutch Embassy for a general letter of support. There is a monthly conversation of like-minded foreign envoys in Korea on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) rights, and they used that coordination mechanism to develop the letter. According to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, one of the embassies that joined for the letter, supporting the festival is one of the embassy's efforts to promote human rights. "Taking a leading role in advancing universal human rights is a shared responsibility of the world's democracies," the U.S. Embassy told The Korea Times. "From the U.S. perspective, the SQCF is an important forum for LGBTQI+ people to be visible, safely gather as a community and advance their human rights. ... The Biden administration has placed human rights at the center of our policy and advancing LGBTQI+ human rights around the world is part of that." The U.S. Embassy added that it is?committed to ending?discrimination on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression and sex characteristics.?? "That commitment to gender?equity and equality involves continuing to?listen to, learn from and?advocate for the?human rights of transgender?and gender non-conforming?individuals around the globe, in partnership with?human rights defenders?and civil society organizations like SQCF," the embassy said. "To that end, we have provided support for SQCF over the years through participation in the festival and arranging booths. We were proud to be among the first foreign missions to participate, and are happy to see that attendance has grown in recent years," it added. Yang Sun-woo, also known by the nickname Holic, chairperson of the Seoul Queer Culture Festival Organizing Committee, said the letter shows the foreign missions' long-standing support to the festival and LGBTQ rights in Korea. "It is not common for a group of foreign embassies in Korea to submit a joint letter of support. I think the letter from the embassies reflects Korea's poor status in LGBTQ+ rights despite the country's developed image," Yang told The Korea Times. The committee will use it as a supplementary reference in the administrative appeal against Seoul City. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15) The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has launched its own investigation on the reported hacking of the servers of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Saturday. "Today, the NBI conducted a physical security inspection of the Comelec facilities in Laguna, together with representatives from Smartmatic and the Comelec," he told reporters. Guevarra also said certain documents have also been turned over to the NBI for validation and authentication. "A thorough investigation is now in progress," he added. This, as the poll body sought the assistance of the NBI to probe the alleged data breach, Guevarra said. A report from Manila Bulletin earlier this week revealed that a group of hackers was "able to breach the servers of the Comelec, downloading more than 60 gigabytes of data that could possibly affect the elections" last Jan. 8. Among the files that were allegedly compromised include "usernames and PINS of vote-counting machines (VCM)," the report stated. Comelec Chairman Sheriff Abas, however, dismissed the report as "fake news." He stressed the reported incident did not happen, saying it is "quite impossible to hack non-existent information" as the poll body had yet to configure the data. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15) The Philippines has agreed to procure a shore-based anti-ship missile system from India in a bid to further beef up its naval defense capabilities. In a social media post on Friday, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana confirmed that he has signed the Notice of Award for the acquisition project with Brahmos Aerospace Private Ltd worth $374,962,800. Negotiated with the Indian government, the deal includes the delivery of three batteries, training for operators and maintainers, as well as the necessary Integrated Logistics Support package, according to Lorenzana. The Coastal Defense Regiment of the Philippine Marines will be the primary employer of this modern strategic defense capability of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), he said. No further details were provided. The deal is one of the latest developments in the Philippine militarys 15-year modernization program, which aims to strengthen all branches of the AFP the Air Force, Navy, and Army. The program which has a multi-billion funding from the government is divided into three horizons and is now in the second phase, which runs from 2018 to 2022. Lorenzana said the plan to purchase the missile system was floated as early as 2017. The Office of the President approved its inclusion in the Horizon 2 Priority Projects in 2020, he disclosed. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15) Police on Saturday have launched a crackdown on fake vaccination cards, warning users that they will face hefty penalties. Philippine National Police Chief General Dionardo Carlos said persons caught "falsifying, tampering, or using" counterfeit vaccination cards will have to pay a fine of 20,000 to 50,000 and/or face imprisonment of one to six months, according to the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases Law. "Dont ever attempt to falsify the vaccination card or else youll face raps," he said in a statement. His warning comes after Cotabato City Mayor Cynthia Guiani posted on social media about confiscating two of these fabricated cards. The crackdown is also in line with the recent move to restrict the mobility of unvaccinated persons. Local government units have issued ordinances prohibiting unvaccinated residents from leaving their homes. Meanwhile, transportation officials have limited the use of public transport in Metro Manila to fully vaccinated individuals onlyfully vaccinated individuals only. Columbia, SC (29201) Today Partly cloudy early followed by scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. High 89F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 67F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Penn State celebrated its long relationship with National Taiwan Normal University with the unveiling of a plaque Friday in the Old Botany building. Erica Brindley, head of Penn State's Department of Asian Studies, said the plaque celebrates the exchange program between NTNU and Penn State which was signed in November 2021. Each year, the program brings two Taiwanese visiting scholars to Penn State to help students learn Chinese, according to Brindley. Additionally, up to 24 Penn State students may be granted summer and academic semester scholarships to attend the university's Mandarin Training Center in Taiwan every year, Brindley said. The partnership between the universities enables them "to develop the grassroots work of language training and cross cultural diplomacy [that is] so vital for encouraging mutual understanding between the U.S. and Asia today," Brindley said. Penn State's history with the Taiwanese university extends back to the 1950s when Penn State supported the development of Taiwan's vocational education system, according to Penn State Global. NTNU's Executive Vice President Frank Ying was present at the ceremony in the Old Botany building Friday. Ying said Penn State became NTNU's "sister university" in 1983. Penn State and NTNU have collaborated in the fields of education and linguistics since 2013, and in that time, more than 100 NTNU professors have traveled to Penn State, Ying said. The delegations of professors came to share knowledge and conduct research, according to Ying. However, Ying said NTNU has stopped sending professors due to the coronavirus pandemic and hopes the practice will resume in the future. "We will supply [Penn State] the best program support," Ying said. "We hope our cooperation will move into the new milestone and write the new chapter for both universities." NTNU invited Penn State President Eric Barron to visit the university in Taiwan, Ying said, but Barron's visit has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Ying said he hopes Barron can make it to Taiwan for NTNU's 100-year anniversary this June. MORE CAMPUS COVERAGE Penn State's Students Against Sexist Violence hosted a rally Friday night in front of the Allen Street Gates in downtown State College in response to the university's activation of the firing process against Penn State professor Oliver Baker. After a physical altercation with a counter-protester at a vaccine mandate rally in August 2021, Baker was charged with harassment, disorderly conduct and simple assault. On Nov. 8, 2021, Baker was found not guilty on one charge of harassment by Centre County District Judge Steven Lachman, while the other two charges were withdrawn. Facing Allen Street, protestors, made up of students and families, held up signs and chanted. All support to Dr. Baker and "fist up, fight back were among the chants shouted at the protest. The words, "What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now! And if we dont get it? Shut it down! were written on papers handed out to those who gathered at the protest. On Thursday, Baker said via email Penn State has "activated the AC70 process," which is the dismissal procedure for tenure and tenure-eligible faculty members. "Regrettably, the university intends to hold a hearing under the AC70 process if I choose not to resign," Baker said. "That is all that I wish to say at this point." A spokesperson at Friday's event said the message of the protest was to stop the unjust persecution of Dr. Baker. Bailey Campbell, a member of the protest, said seeing the university weaponize a dismissal process and adhere above legal proceedings is ridiculous. Campbell (graduate student-electrical engineering) said she has seen Baker organize events, such as ones promoting "anti-racism," around town which Campbell said she supports. I want to make it clear to the university that Dr. Baker is a very high member of the community, Campbell said. Penn State's chapter of the American Association of University Professors released a statement Thursday also in support of Baker. In the statement, the AAUP said "the insult to justice and the harm to the Universitys reputation would be incalculable if the university proceeds with the AC70 process. At the protest, people took turns speaking into a microphone directed at the crowd and encouraged others to voice their opinions. Many in the crowd stated they are standing up against the university. We need to keep calling out the system on what they are doing when its not right, another spokesperson said. Others expressed their concerns with the university for proceeding with Baker's termination even though Baker was proven innocent in the court of law. According to Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Powers, the process is "confidential," and the university is "following processes/guidance" found under the university's "Academic Policies" and "Administrative Policies" as applicable. Baker remains on administrative leave while university processes continue, according to Powers. Lauren Miller, a student protester, said she is really disgusted by Penn State's decision to proceed with [termination]. Miller said the rally intended to bring awareness and show the university that we are watching and pressuring them into taking action to do what is right. I think it shows how oriented [the university is] about money and... concerned about Dr. Baker being a liability to the university opposed to the actual facts of what happened." MORE CAMPUS COVERAGE Colorado Politics is published both in print and online. Our website features subscriber-only news stories daily, designed for public policy arena professionals. Member subscribers also receive the weekly print edition of our award-winning newspaper, containing outstanding features and news stories, in their mailboxes every Saturday. A North Korean missile is fired from a railway-based platform in North Pyongan Province, a northwestern region bordering China, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, Jan. 15. Yonhap U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned North Korea's recent missile tests as a violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions and reaffirmed the "ironclad" commitment to the defense of South Korea, the State Department said Friday. In a phone call with South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, Blinken reaffirmed the bilateral alliance as "the linchpin of peace, security, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond," according to a statement by the department. Blinken "highlighted the importance of continued U.S.-ROK-Japan trilateral cooperation, and stressed that U.S. commitment to the defense of the ROK remains ironclad," it said, referring to the acronym for South Korea's official name. The phone conversation came shortly after Pyongyang said it fired two tactical guided missiles into the East Sea the previous day in its third missile test this month. Following two launches of what the North claimed were hypersonic missiles, the Joe Biden administration slapped sanctions Wednesday on six North Koreans involved in the reclusive regime's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs. In response, the North warned of a "stronger and certain reaction" if Washington helped impose more sanctions on it in response to its recent series of missile tests. All the tests violated U.N. Security Council resolutions that ban North Korea from developing or testing ballistic missile technologies. (Yonhap) Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. 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 As the Cubs were beating the Braves 6-3 Wednesday night Steve left to see the game with his mom and dad, Reva and Harold, brother Ron and baby niece Elizabeth Henney. He left behind to run the store his wife Kathleen (Knight), Amelia (27), Nathan (24) and his beloved cat Lewis Black. His sis Visitors to a wild animal cafe in Seoul play with raccoons in this Jan. 29, 2018, photo. Courtesy of AWARE By Bahk Eun-ji The government will ban operation of wild animal cafes where people can see and touch the animals, in a bid to better protect the animals, according to the Ministry of Environment, Friday. The measure follows criticism that animals at wild animal cafes are stressed from exposure to customers as well as poorly managed hygiene standards. "There are 159 such cafes nationwide where raccoons, meerkats, prairie dogs as well as various amphibians and reptiles are on display," a ministry official said. "Exhibiting such wild animals in indoor settings, besides zoos, is undesirable from an ecological point of view and for their welfare, so we are planning to move them to more adequate facilities." When the relevant revision bill is passed at the National Assembly, wild animal cafes will have to close after a grace period of three to four years. The animals from the facilities will be moved to the National Institute of Ecology in Seocheon County, South Chungcheong Province, and the government plans to build two more protection facilities by 2025 to take care of abandoned or privately-raised wild animals. Before the opening of the facilities, the ministry plans to operate a temporary protection system in cooperation with 10 wildlife rescue centers across the country. For raccoons, which are feared to disturb the local ecosystem if abandoned or released into the wild, the ministry said it will also run a pilot project to register the animals. Also those planning to operate a zoo will have to get permission from the authorities, while the operation so far has required only registration. There are 107 zoos across the country, and for the grace period over the next five years, they will need to get permission to continue operating by meeting requirements for animal protection, hygiene and safety. Those failing to meet them will be forced to shut down. What's Included With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please call our customer service team at 319-283-2144 or email circ@oelweindailyregister.com. Akshay Kumar to shoot underwater, ocean scenes for his 'Ram Setu' movie Actor Akshay Kumar is gearing up for some major underwater and ocean shoots in Sri Lanka for his next film 'Ram Setu' slated for release in November this year. Following the film's theatrical release in October 2022, 'Ram Setu' will soon be available for Prime members in India. Photo courtesy: Twitter/@ManozKumarTalks The movie also stars Jacqueline Fernandez and Nushrratt Bharuccha in lead roles. The underwater shoot sequence, which was to be filmed on Akshay Kumar in the Lankan nation, would not be possible due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, News18 said in its report. "After doing some research and on-location recce, the team has finalised Daman and Diu as their next-best bet to shoot these sequences. But there are some more shots which are remaining and the makers have decided to finish it in Mumbai. Akshay will be seen doing some high-octane underwater sequences for which an international crew has also been hired," a source was quoted saying to News18. The source further told the website that the 'Ram Setu' team is left with just the last schedule, which was supposed to start from January end onwards. "There is about a month of shooting left of 'Ram Setu' which the makers have decided to finish in Mumbai. The production team is currently setting up the entire schedule and it will be an indoor as well as outdoor shoot. The team expects to begin shooting by the end of this month," the source told News18. 'Ram Setu' has been directed by Abhishek Sharma and was first announced on Diwali 2020. Akshay's late mother, Aruna Bhatia, was one of the producers. Following the film's theatrical release in October 2022, 'Ram Setu' will soon be available for Prime members in India, along with more than 240 countries and territories. Amazon Prime will also be the worldwide exclusive streaming partner for the film. Congratulations, avirtuosa.com.br got a very good Social Media Impact Score! Show it by adding this HTML code on your site: Avirtuosa.com.br scored 88 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 4.5/5.0 Stars by Social Team This CoolSocial report was updated on 26 Jan 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. avirtuosa.com.br is very popular in Twitter and Facebook. It is liked by 180 people on Facebook, it has 21 twitter shares and it has 1178 twitter followers. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the avirtuosa homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if avirtuosa has a Facebook fan page). The total number of people who shared the avirtuosa homepage on Delicious. The total number of people who shared the avirtuosa homepage on StumbleUpon. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the avirtuosa homepage on Twitter + the total number of avirtuosa followers (if avirtuosa has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the avirtuosa homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. Basic Information PAGE TITLE A Virtuosa - O Espaco da Mulher DESCRIPTION A Virtuosa e a maior loja virtual de cosmeticos do Brasil, oferecendo diversos produtos de maquiagem, cosmeticos e bijuterias, alem de perfumes, bolsas, apetrechos e todo item de beleza e moda que as mulheres procuram! A Virtuosa - O Espaco da Mulher! KEYWORDS maquiagens, cosmeticos, bolsas, macrilan, luisance, viviton, maquiagem 3d, fina flor, bijuterias, koloss, perfumes, estojos, paletas, sombras, blushes, virtuosa, a virtuosa, loja virtual de maquiagens, maquiagens online, loja confiavel de maquiagens, cosm OTHER KEYWORDS de r, maquiagem, macrilan, jasmyne, em at, r 10, no carto The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The title found in the head section of the homepage. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site. 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Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. Haenyeo circa 1953 Robert Neff Collection By Robert Neff Arguably, the most iconic image of Jeju Island in the 20th century was the haenyeo the women divers. They were portrayed in newspaper and magazine articles in almost mythical prose the sirens of the sea able to dive to great depths who did most of the work while their husbands stayed safely home with the children. One of the first Americans to explore and spend an extended amount of time on the island was Charles Chaille-Long, the secretary of the American legation in Seoul. He traveled to the island in 1888 and wrote several accounts (official and personal) of his adventure. Despite the accounts being self-aggrandizing they are very interesting, not only because they are rich in detail but also because of what they lack. Chaille-Long took some interest in the islanders' fishing industry. He described the abalone "a monster bivalve" that was "greatly prized as an article of food when dried, and the shell furnishes a beautiful nacre or mother of pearl" which was taken to Fusan (modern Busan) where it was then exported to Japan. Although he described them in his book, I believe Bergman purchased this picture (like many others in his book) of the haenyeo and wrote his narrative around it. Sten Bergman, "In Korea Wilds and Villages," published by Travel Book Club in 1938. He mentioned the island's male fishermen briefly but completely ignored the haenyeo. He did, however, note the growing friction between the Jeju Islanders and the Japanese fishermen: "The Japanese fishermen along the coast have discovered this, and, when they dare, approach and stealthily fish and even barter with the natives, whose prejudices yield at times to the tempting offer of cloths and small wares offered in exchange." Four years later, another American, Franklin Ohlinger, the editor of The Korea Repository, also reported that there was some trouble at the "sacred domain of Quelpart [an old Western name for Jeju]" where the "quondam gynocracy [had] resorted to violence" in order to repel "over-aggressive Japanese fishermen." It was a brief mention and apparently did not garner much attention despite the number of articles appearing in Japanese newspapers (and copied by American newspapers) of alleged attacks upon Japanese fishermen by the Jeju islanders. In 1899, two Western missionaries traveled to Jeju and reported that there was an "abundance of pearl oysters and seaweed, which are both used on the island and exported. The pearl oysters are very large some measuring ten inches in diameter, and very fleshy. Unlike other oysters, it has only one shell, which is often used by the Koreans as an ashtray and of which mother of pearl is obtained." They were quick to add that "pearls are but very seldom found in the oyster [but the oyster's] meat is considered a luxurious dish and one oyster costs as much as six cents on the island." This delicacy was also prized on the mainland. "For export the oysters are torn out of the shell; the intestine bag cut off, the meat cleaned, dried and strung on thin sticks. Altho white when fresh the color changes to a dark red, like that of a dried apricot. They can be seen displayed in the native grocery shops in Seoul, flat reddish disks of about four or five inches in diameter fastened by tens with a thin stick stuck thro them." The oysters were not the only sea products exported so, too, was seaweed. According to the missionaries, there were several types of seaweed harvested. One type, gathered along the shore, was very rich in nutrients and was used as fertilizer. There was also seaweed harvested from the bottom of the sea that was used as food and some sold to the Japanese to be used in the manufacture of "carbonate of soda." The missionaries were rather surprised to discover that the harvesting of seaweed from the sea floor (along with the pearl oysters) was done entirely by women: "Dressed in a kind of bathing suit with a sickle in one hand and a gourd with a bag tied to it in front of them, they swim out from the shore as far as half a mile; boats cannot be afforded and there dive, probably a depth of forty or fifty feet, to the bottom, cut the weeds with the sickle, or if they find a pearl oyster, tear it off from the stone, and then put it into the bag which is kept floating by the gourd. They don't go back before the bag is filled, which often takes more than half an hour. Altho they are magnificent swimmers, one cannot help admiring their endurance, when he thinks that this work is begun as early as February." This respect for the women's ability was also tinged with concern that their reign of the sea was coming to an end: Your (assuming you live in Queens, NYC) Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has had some pretty dark stories over the years, like the one where he sells his marriage to the devil, the one where he turns into a giant spider, dies, and gives birth to himself, or the one where he kills Mary Jane with his radioactive spunk. And yet, despite all the tragedies in his life, he's still a relatively happy-go-lucky guy who goes out of his way to brighten his enemies' days with his little jokes and gags (hope they appreciate the effort). Well, in the '80s, Marvel planned to change that via a story that would have left Spider-Man as a more violent, more traumatized, and more adulterous hero who almost lets a criminal die because he has the hots for the guy's wife, seen here in some preview panels: Marvel Comics Like Uncle Ben said before he died: "With great power comes great responsibility, unless you come across some great gazongas." Spider-Man: The Gilded Cage was pitched sometime in the early '80s by writer/artist Bob Layton and approved by Marvel's Dictator-in-Chief, Jim Shooter. In this very special graphic novel, Spidey stops the assassination of a mob wife named Carla DelVeccio but runs out of web fluid at the worst possible moment and ends up eating nine bullets from a machine gun. Carla, feeling somewhat responsible, takes the half-dead Spidey to a mob doctor who saves his life. She then spends the next weeks taking care of a badly hurt Peter Parker in her giant mansion while her husband, who she hasn't seen in years, is outside the country. Naturally, they get to know each other and ... *cue Spider-Man theme remade in porno grooves* By Scott Shepherd Almost immediately after moving to Korea, I developed pretty unpleasant stomach problems, probably related to the stress of migrating to the other side of the world. Although it did not seem serious, it certainly wiped me out for a while. Let's not go into details, but I couldn't keep anything down, so over the course of a week or two I lost a lot of weight. Apart from the obvious physical discomfort, having lost that weight was actually pretty good news: I slimmed down very nicely in time for my wedding a month later. After about a week in this rather debilitating situation (I had to sleep on the floor next to the toilet for easier access), I was ordered by my soon-to-be wife to visit a doctor, just to make sure I wasn't about to undergo some kind of horrific death a few weeks before our wedding. Dutifully I limped to the nearest gastrological doctors a mere ten-minute walk in this most convenient of countries. Thankfully, the doctor confirmed that none of my organs looked like they were going to burst out of me and I probably wasn't about to die. It was just a stomach bug and in my particular case, there wasn't much to do other than wait. To my surprise, however, he nonetheless prescribed me a multicolored concoction of drugs. Since I had only just moved to the country and I didn't have medical insurance, I had to pay more than I would do now, but it certainly wasn't too expensive. Accustomed to the British system, I didn't understand why I was being given medication for something like this, but like any good patient, I took them according to the doctor's orders. I survived the brief illness and a few weeks later got happily (and slimly) married. The pictures turned out great. This illness was my first experience with the Korean medical system, and I was pretty satisfied. Since then, I've had a few other encounters with doctors, thankfully not for anything serious. Every time I've gone to a hospital, it has only really been to make sure that what seemed like a minor injury or illness wasn't actually going to turn out to be something much worse that would somehow kill or maim me horribly. And much to my relief, so far nothing has. However, every time I ever go, I'm told I should receive some kind of treatment or take six or seven pills of various hues every day for the next two weeks. I once went in for a slight injury to my ankle, just wanting to check that there was no serious damage. There wasn't, but within half an hour of walking into the doctor's office, I found myself lying down, watching my ankle being methodically electrocuted by a little machine. Korea's healthcare system is undeniably good. Korea has coped pretty well during the pandemic, especially compared to many other OECD countries. If I got a serious illness, I have no doubt that I'd be able to see a doctor quickly and cheaply, and that the problem would be identified and treated to a high standard. I know two people who are right now receiving treatment for serious ailments in Korea, and I'm glad to see that they are receiving such great care. However, I'm worried that we over-medicalize our daily lives, that we treat every ache and pain as if it merits a series of hospital visits. I wonder how many (if any) people reading this article have ever visited a Korean hospital for a minor problem without receiving some kind of treatment or drugs. That's not to say treatment is never necessary, but it seems to be the default action to automatically prescribe some medication for every patient who walks into a clinic. Clearly, any medical intervention has risks inherent to it. Doctors should weigh up those risks and make a decision; they shouldn't be making medical decisions based on pressure from their patients or worse based on the desire for higher profits. We all know about the problems that come from the over-prescription of antibiotics, and periodically, we see new horror stories about hyper-super-ultra-resistant bugs, the kinds of invisible and invincible monsters that have evolved as a direct result of the imprudent use of antibiotics. So far, it seems that we haven't lost the fight, but by relying too heavily on antibiotics, we're acting against our own long-term interests. It's not just drugs either; a number of articles from recent years explore the causes of Korea's unusually high rates of birth by Caesarean section. One published in the journal, points to such issues as the shortage of obstetricians, economic deprivation, and even the fear of litigation. An article in the suggests, alarmingly, that it may be down to doctors pressuring their patients because the surgical procedures generate better profits and require less work. This reality is nothing short of madness. No one is denying that Korea's healthcare system has a lot of advantages. But the country's population is rapidly aging, and the birthrate has already dropped through a pit. Over-reliance on medication and demands to receive treatment for every little ailment can be as unsustainable as they are dangerous. And that's not even thinking about those people who can't afford medical treatment. There are certainly people who will put off a trip to the hospital for fear of the cost. That reluctance to visit the doctor may be exacerbated by the near-certainty that they'll be prescribed something no matter what the issue. These are complex problems. No single group is to blame, and the solution lies as much with the population as with the medical establishment. We have to stop treating medicine like it's magic; we should stop expecting and demanding pills for every little ailment. Equally, doctors have a responsibility not to give us medication unless it is medically necessary. It's important to make it clear that I am not medically qualified. My doctorate is in the text and performance of Shakespeare's plays a subject which, while limitlessly fascinating and of utmost importance to the whole population, does not give me any kind of medical authority. I'm merely writing this article as someone who, like so many others, has seen my medical insurance bills go up this year; and we will continue to see them rise if questions are not asked. So doctors, nurses, medical professionals of every kind: thank you for your great work, especially during this pandemic. But please stop pushing us towards unnecessary medical interventions and, please, unless we really do need them, stop giving us drugs. Dr. Scott Shepherd is a British-American academic. He has taught in universities in the U.K. and Korea, and is currently an assistant professor of English at Chongshin University in Seoul. The views expressed in the article are the author's own and do not reflect the editorial direction of The Korea Times. I've already been to some live sporting events. Yes, I plan on attending several events. I may go to one or two. I like sports but I doubt it. I'm not into sports. Vote View Results Connecticut is in store for an extremely cold start to the weekend with wind chills dipping to as low as negative-15 degrees before a winter storm could bring several inches of snow on Sunday night, the National Weather Service said. The National Weather Service has issued a wind chill advisory for all of Connecticut overnight and into Saturday morning. After the cold start to the weekend, the region is expected to see a mix of snow and sleet Sunday night that could bring as much as 7 inches of snow, at times falling up to an inch an hour, and up to a tenth of an inch of ice. The weather service warns that the roads will be covered in snow and ice, making it difficult to travel. The precipitation will then turn into rain or a wintry mix by Monday morning and taper off by midday, the weather service said. The extreme temperatures will be driven by frigid air passing through the region from the Arctic Ocean and northern Canada, as well as gusting north winds on Friday night. Gov. Ned Lamont said Friday he was activating the states extreme cold weather protocol, which provides coordination between state agencies to house and transport homeless and other vulnerable people in need of shelter. Its looking like we are going to see another blast of arctic temperatures moving into the state, followed by the potential for a winter storm, Lamont said in a statement. These conditions can be extremely dangerous if someone is outdoors for extended periods of time, which is why we are urging anyone in need to seek shelter. The governor said anyone in need of shelter, or those who know someone in need of shelter, should call 211. Eversource, the states largest electrical utility company, said it has positioned crews around the state ahead of high winds expected Friday evening and Mondays winter weather, as well as calling in additional crews from out of state. Weve been carefully monitoring these weather systems for the last few days and well have workers and materials in position across the state ready to respond and will adjust our plans if the forecast changes, Eversources President of Electric Operations in Connecticut, Steve Sullivan said in statement. With wet snow in some parts of the state and wind gusts over 50 miles per hour possible, there is the potential for trees and tree limbs to come down onto power lines and electric equipment. Were fully stocked with extra utility poles, wire, transformers and other equipment and ready to repair any damage this storm may cause. New London Mayor Michael Passero said the citys library will be used as a warming center during the day Saturday and Sunday. People who need access to a shelter after business hours will be directed to Homeless Hospitality Center on Huntington Street, he said. On Saturday, skies will be clear with temperatures only rising into the teens and wind chills making it feel like negative 10 degrees, the weather service said. The temperatures will rise on Sunday into the upper 20s to low 30s, the weather service said. The storm is expected to move into Connecticut Sunday night with 4 to 7 inches of snow possible, according to the weather service. The snow is expected to turn to a wintry mix of snow and sleet, before becoming all rain on Monday when high temperatures are expected to reach the low 40s. The precipitation is anticipated to taper off by midday Monday. Some northwestern parts of the state, where temperatures are expected to stay colder, could see snow without a mix of rain and sleet, according to the weather service. This article is the 30th in a series about Koreans adopted abroad. Apparently, many Koreans never expected that the children they had sent away through adoption would return as adults with questions about their true identity and origins. However, thousands of adoptees visit Korea each year. Once they rediscover this country, it becomes a turning point in their lives. We should embrace the dialogue with adoptees to discover the path to recovering our collective humanity. ED. By Lee Kyung-eun In early summer of 2021, I sat with The Korea Times' digital content editor. We had met on the terrace of a small cafe in Seoul to discuss starting a new column series. That warm and sunny day stands out because it was the first moment this series' journey began. Since 2017, a few like-minded individuals and I have been devising different ways to bring greater public attention to the need for fundamental changes in the laws and policies related to child protection and adoptees' access to origins. Despite our attempts, we fell short of achieving a meaningful impact on Korean society. These memories lingered in my mind as I spoke with the editor. Although a number of adoptees' accounts had been published over the years, I felt that the missing element was a common thread weaving these individuals' narratives together. While each adoptee delivered a captivating story, they shared one collective experience being sent away by a system designed and maintained by Korea for seven decades. I wanted to give space to adoptees to talk about their experiences but to also incorporate broader discussions, a dialogue, on the underpinning laws and policies that affect these experiences. And most importantly, I wanted to frame adoptees' grievances for what they truly represented human rights violations. This task was anything but easy, especially considering that in this country, adoption-related issues are dismissed as part of the past. Even some of the most renowned leaders of civil society groups scoffed, "If this is really a human rights issue as you're insisting, then where are all of these 200,000 rights-holders? Why are they invisible and their voices silent?" I eventually came to realize that I was going in circles, not just by doing the same thing over and over again, but also treading water dealing with social networks so closely knit that they have evolved into their own isolated world. In there is a tightly guarded circle of international law experts and scholars. Then there is the social circle where only the Korean language prevails, and anything spoken in another language is disregarded. There's also the small circle of those who believe that they know what is best for adoptees and act upon such beliefs. This observation isn't entirely a criticism because, like anyone, I feel safe and comfortable in these circles. But as long as I remain satisfied in that comfort zone, then I'll remain there without ever reaching beyond those borders. Korean society never thought that adoptees, whom it sent away decades ago, would ever return and start posing serious questions about their true identity and origins. This society never imagined that they'd want more than just a "homeland tour" or "cultural experiences." It's for these reasons that Korea remains ill-equipped and ill-prepared to engage adoptees in a dialogue. Consequently, I'm confronted with a sense of urgency to build solidarity and alliances with adoptees, those stakeholders with a direct interest, to collaborate on initiating changes in this country, but the speed and impact in which we may undertake this effort is tempered by our geographical distances. Most adoptees live outside of Korea and do not hold citizenship, so they remain an invisible group unable to partake in meaningful change for themselves. Therefore, I started this series by trying to reach that audience by delivering the facts and conveying the matter in a language that they can understand. We need to dismantle the status quo in which so much information critical to informing adoptees about their rights remains in a language inaccessible for most of them. For far too long, those laws that have directly impacted adoptees have been passed without their knowledge or input due to a lack of translation into languages other than Korean. Therefore, publishing articles in The Korea Times presented the most appropriate means to facilitate participation with the inclusion of guest adoptee writers and to disseminate rights-related information to adoptees overseas. I initially recruited some guest writers, but as the series progressed, adoptees from around the world volunteered their own stories. The only criterion I had was that the right to origins underpins the content. As I read the submissions, I noticed that despite the different perspectives and arguments, the right to origins as a universal human right resonated throughout the articles. To date, this series consists of 30 articles: half were written by me and the other half by guest writers, 12 of them being adoptees and one, Seo-vin, being the child of an adoptee couple. Seo-vin's article was particularly compelling and ranked as the top story of the site. Some adoptees had mentioned that they hadn't given much thought to any identity crisis that their own children may endure. Ultimately, the aim of "Dialogues with Adoptees" is to illustrate the relevancy of adoption-related issues and remind society that these matters extend beyond just adoptees. The historical causes that sent thousands of children away rippled across society and reverberated through time. Today, as the country prioritizes raising the fertility rate to cope with the lowest birthrate in the world, one must ask whether this problem is solely a fertility factor or a human rights issue. For more than half a century, this country has regarded the lives of certain children as numbers that it could objectify and commodify. Because the ghosts of the past continue to haunt us today, we should not cease our journey for reform for this generation and the next one to come. I welcome everyone to share their support and solidarity by revisiting this series on the , a separate section that The Korea Times developed. This move represents the first time that a Korean media outlet, whether in English or Korean, has dedicated space to this issue, and I look forward to expanding it with the next series in the near future. Lee Kyung-eun (Ph.D. in law) is director of Human Rights Beyond Borders and author of the Korean-language book, "The Children-selling Country" and English book "The Global Orphan Adoption System; South Korea's Impact on Its Origin and Development." SHELTON - The city has agreed to sell 25 acres of the city-owned Mas property to Fairfield-based RC Bigelow Inc. - known worldwide as Bigelow Tea. The Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to approve the sale after an executive session. No details were given as to the purchase price as of Thursday night. Cindi Bigelow, third generation president and CEO, said for more than 70 years, Bigelow Teas headquarters and production facility have been in Connecticut. We are thrilled to remain and grow in this state, Bigelow said. The company plans to build a large warehouse within five years to handle distribution needs that will cover the next two decades. Bigelow said the family-owned company was blessed to be continually growing. Bigelow Tea also is expanding its facilities in Louisville, Ky. and Boise, Idaho. We feel very fortunate to be in this position and take our commitment to our communities very seriously, Bigelow said. This move comes as the city prepares to submit an application to the Planning and Zoning Commission for a zone change on the 70-acre piece of property. The city expects to have this submitted to the commission and a public hearing next month. A major portion of the development is extending Constitution Blvd. West, with bids coming in between $4.5 million and nearly $10 million, Mayor Mark Lauretti said in December. Shelton state Rep. Jason Perillo helped secure $5 million in funding for the road extension in the states 2021 bond package. The funding will be available once approved by the state Bond Commission, according to Perillo. Extending the roadway and use of the Mas property has been on the table for years, but Lauretti began the most recent push in April when he presented preliminary plans for creating the road leading into the city-owned land, which would be developed into a manufacturing corporate park. The 70-acre parcel known as the Mas property sits near Bridgeport Ave. and the roadway plans include extending Constitution Blvd. to reach Shelton Ave./Route 108. Lauretti said a zone change would be needed, requiring plans to go before P&Z at some point. The Mas property is now vacant. It is mostly wooded with considerable stone ledges and several ponds, including one that is about 600 feet long and 250 to 300 feet wide, and lies between Bridgeport Ave., Cots Street, Tisi Drive, Sunwood Condos on Nells Rock Road, Regent Drive, Walnut Avenue, and Kings Highway. Part of the land abuts the back of the Perry Hill School property. brian.gioiele@hearstmediact.com A 9-year-old girl claims in a lawsuit that former CNN producer John Griffin repeatedly sexually abused her at his Vermont ski house. The girl, identified in the lawsuit as Jane Doe, filed the complaint in state Superior Court in Bridgeport through a custodian listed in the filing as Janet Doe. The suit seeks unspecified damages. This action is brought for personal injuries, including emotional distress and all other attendant consequences, caused by the horrific sexual abuse, sexual exploitation and sexual assault of the plaintiff, the lawsuit stated. Joel Faxon, the New Haven lawyer who filed the lawsuit Monday on behalf of the girl, said the child is living with the custodian in Connecticut after moving from Nevada. Griffin, 44, of Stamford, a long-time staffer and producer for CNN, was fired last month following his arrest by the FBI on federal charges, alleging he tried to lure women to his Vermont ski home to train their daughters to be sexually submissive. Griffins attorney did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment. Faxon confirmed that his client in the lawsuit is the same victim alleged to have been sexually abused by Griffin in the federal indictment. We are seeking to restrain his assets so he doesnt have the financial wherewithal to abuse another child, Faxon told Hearst Connecticut Media Group. Griffin has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Vermont and has pleaded not guilty to three counts of using a facility of interstate commerce to attempt to entice minors to engage in unlawful sexual activity. According to the indictment, Griffin began using the alternative website, alt.com, to seek women who were submissive and open-minded. Griffin, who moved to Stamford from Norwalk after separating from his wife about two years ago, then used messaging features on Kik and Google Hangouts to communicate with some of the women, pretending to be the parents of underage girls, according to the indictment. In the communications, Griffin tried to persuade parents to let him train their daughters to be sexually submissive, the indictment stated. In June 2020, Griffin told a mother of 9- and 13-year-old girls that she needed to have her daughters trained properly, the indictment stated. Griffin then transferred about $3,000 to the woman for plane tickets so she and her 9-year-old could fly from Nevada to Bostons Logan airport, the indictment stated. The mother and child flew to Boston in July 2020. Griffin picked them up and drove them to his home in Ludlow, Vt., where prosecutors said the girl was forced to engage in illegal sexual contact. After the trip, prosecutors said Griffin tried to bribe a family member of the girl who confronted him about the accusations. The girls adoptive mother, whose name Hearst Connecticut Media is withholding to protect the childs identity, was charged in August 2020 with two counts of child abuse, two counts of sexual assault against a child under 14 and lewdness with a minor under 14. Her case remains pending in the Henderson Justice Court in Nevada. Griffins indictment details allegations that he tried to entice two other children over the internet to participate in sexual activity. In April 2020, Griffin coordinated a virtual training session, where he instructed a woman and her 14-year-old daughter to remove their clothes during the video chat, prosecutors said. In June 2020, prosecutors said, Griffin offered a trip to a woman and her 16-year-old daughter to his Vermont ski house for sexual training involving the child. In one of the conversations, Griffin told someone claiming to be the father of a child that he sexually trained girls as young as 7 years old, the indictment stated. Thousands of Connecticut student loan borrowers will receive cash payments as part of a $1.85 billion settlement the state has reached with Navient. In a joint statement with Consumer Protection Commissioner Michelle H. Seagull and Banking Commissioner Jorge Perez, Attorney General William Tongs office said Thursday the settlement was part of a coalition with 39 attorneys general, who allege the company engaged in unfair and deceptive student loan practices. States claimed that since 2009, despite vowing to help borrowers find the best repayment options for them, Navient steered struggling student loan borrowers into costly long-term forbearances and away from more affordable income-driven repayment plans, the statement said. In a statement, Mark Heleen, Navients chief legal officer, said the claims were unfounded and the company agreed to the settlement to avoid the additional burden, expense, time and distraction to prevail in court. Navient is and has been continually focused on helping student loan borrowers understand and select the right payment options to fit their needs, his statement said. In fact, weve driven up income-driven repayment plan enrollment and driven down default rates, and every year, hundreds of thousands of borrowers we support successfully pay off their student loans. Connecticut officials said 1,339 borrowers in the state will receive $19 million in private loan debt relief, while another 4,875 borrowers will receive almost $1.3 million in restitution. The state will also receive more than $141,000 from the settlement, which will be placed in the general fund. This settlement will send millions of dollars directly to thousands of Connecticut borrowers who were deceived by Navients abusive practices, Tong said in a statement, calling the settlement a massive victory for borrowers. But the attorney general said the billions of dollars in student loans owed by Connecticut families remains an insurmountable barrier for many, and pledged to continue working on the financial crisis brought about by the debt. Tongs office said he filed the settlement as a proposed stipulated judgment and complaint in State Superior Court on Thursday. It will require the courts approval. The states alleged that Navient pushed borrowers to forbearance options, where loan payments are temporarily paused or reduced, rather than income-based repayment plans. That meant that borrowers saw interest add up on their loan balances, rather than obtaining forgiveness, interest subsidies or low payment options. 99 cent introductory offer Includes everything we offer online for 24-7 news. This option allows you to read unlimited stories at ctnewsonline.com, and access our e-Edition (digital replicate of the daily newspaper). $7.99 per month after the introductory offer. This service comes with a complimentary CT Select Card allowing for local discounts. Rates are subject to change. Student loan borrowers in Connecticut will soon receive cash payments as part of a $1.85 billion settlement the state reached with student loan provider Navient, formerly part of Sallie Mae Bank. The settlement was part of a coalition comprised of 39 attorneys general who sought restitution and debt cancellation for student loan borrowers following the companys alleged unfair and deceptive loan practices. The loan servicer will cancel $1.7 billion in student loan debt owed by approximately 66,000 borrowers, according to NPR. But which student loan borrowers will be affected by the settlement? And how will they know if their debt has been canceled? Heres how the Navient student debt cancellation and restitution affects Connecticut borrowers. How many people in Connecticut will be affected by the Navient settlement? According to the office of Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, 1,339 borrowers will receive a total of $19 million in direct private loan debt relief, and 4,875 borrowers will receive nearly $1.3 million in restitution. How do I know if my student debt was canceled? Borrowers receiving loan debt cancellation will receive a notice from Navient by July 2022, according to Attorney General Tongs office. At this time, they will also receive any refunds on payments made on the canceled loans after June 30, 2021. How will I receive restitution payment? Borrowers who are eligible for a restitution payment money paid as compensation to loan borrowers placed in certain long-term loan forbearances will receive approximately $260, according to Attorney General Tongs office. They will be notified by a postcard in the mail from the settlement administrator this spring. What is forbearance? According to the Federal Student Aid website, forbearance is a period in which a borrower is authorized to not make payments on their loan or temporarily make smaller payments. In this time of nonpayment, interest still might accrue on the loan. Who is eligible for debt cancellation? The office of the attorney general for Massachusetts clarifies the borrowers that are eligible for student debt cancellation as those who took out private subprime student loans (made to borrowers with low credit scores) through Navients predecessor, Sallie Mae, between 2002 and 2014, and then had more than seven consecutive months of delinquent payments prior to June 30, 2021. Debt cancellation can also apply to those with non-subprime private student loans that were issued by Sallie Mae Bank and other lenders between 2002 and 2014 for borrowers who attended specific for-profit schools, the office notes. These schools include University of Phoenix and Lincoln Technical Institute, among others. For these loans to qualify for cancellation, the office notes that the loan must have been in past due status for more than seven consecutive months prior to June 30, 2021. Who is eligible for restitution payment? Those who can receive restitution payment must live in a restitution-participating state (like Connecticut) as of January 2017 and entered repayment on a direct or FFEL Program loan (Family Federal Education Loan) before January 2015, according to the Massachusetts attorney generals office. They also need to have had at least one federal loan that was eligible for income-driven repayment. Borrowers eligible for restitution must have had at least two years of consecutive verbal or administrative forbearance between October 2009 and January 2017, where at least one of the forbearances was entered through a phone call, and where at least half of the forbearance time was prospective (i.e., not used to bring a past-due loan current), the Massachusetts attorney generals office notes. Finally, eligible borrowers must have not enrolled in an income-driven repayment plan before the forbearance period. Do I need to do anything to benefit from the settlement? According to NerdWallet, cancellation of debt will be automatic, and borrowers will not have to do anything to have the cancellation take effect. How do I know if Navient is my student loan servicer? According to the Federal Student Aid website, borrowers can identify their loan servicer by logging into their studentaid.gov account, navigating to their account dashboard and viewing the My Loan Servicers section. They may also call Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC) at 1-800-433-3243. For private loan servicers, the Massachusetts attorney generals office notes that borrowers should look for their most recent bill or check their credit report. Photo: Michael Lee/Getty Images It goes without saying that New York City, built on a cluster of low-lying islands, will need to be reimagined and rebuilt in order to survive the climate crisis. The galaxy-brain proposal from Rutgers economist Jason Barr in a New York Times opinion piece published today calls for an entire neighborhood, dubbed New Mannahatta, to be constructed off of lower Manhattan. This, in his view, would address both the affordability crisis and the climate crisis. Build a new floodplain across stretches of the Hudson and East Rivers, and fill it with 178,282 units of new housing? What could possibly go wrong? Well this is quite the proposalhttps://t.co/HMvZekXzzo pic.twitter.com/T1Ps2Od1YF Samantha Maldonado (@sssmaldo) January 14, 2022 As we saw during Superstorm Sandy, low-lying lower Manhattan is particularly prone to flooding, and the razing, lifting, and rebuilding of East River Park is the first of what will have to be many large-scale infrastructure projects to help protect it from future flooding. (Of course, it has been a contentious mess from the get-go.) Barrs Long Manhattan could help save parts of Manhattan from flooding, like the Financial District. The new 1,760-acre peninsula that would extend off the tip of the original Manhattan landmass would push vulnerable places like Wall and Broad Streets further inland. By wrapping part of the way up both the East and West Side, it would put neighborhoods like Two Bridges more inland too. But mostly, the new neighborhood would provide a bulwark of mixed-income housing that would house nearly a quarter-million people between the New York Harbor and the Financial District. Long Manhattan would essentially protect places like the Stock Exchange, where zero people live. Barrs proposal does call for building the land at a higher elevation (but does not offer any topographical details beyond that), and includes the construction of a necklace of wetlands along the new waterfront, which would in theory absorb future storm surges. This is really the only good idea in the entire scheme (aside from extending the G train): Truly, the only thing that we should be building onto the edge of Manhattan are wetlands, marshes, and other soft-edged shoreline habitats, which are the best flood-protection technology around. Long Manhattan tries to pass itself off as a Big Idea of the future. But as many have pointed out, it has far more in common with the various misguided plans to pave over the Hudson and the East River. Theres even a plan from 1911 to extend the borough so that its southern point stretches all the way to Ellis Island an even longer Manhattan than Barrs Long Manhattan proposal. During the 1930s in particular, when a plan to cap off the Hudson with a dam was proposed, the federal government had a thing for such massive, landscape-altering projects: building dams, channelizing rivers, filling in marshes, and doing lasting environmental damage in the process. It is time it is damn time we fill in the East River! pic.twitter.com/IFTfw7gS9J Rick Paulas (@PaulasRick) January 6, 2022 But the closest counterpart to Barrs New Mannahatta that actually exists in the world are the landfill neighborhoods that Robert Moses constructed out of mounds of trash along the Jamaica Bay waterfront. How have those fared over the years? Queens Broad Channel with its houses on stilts extending over marsh-grass-dotted shallows is arguably the most flood-prone neighborhood in the city, and has the highest proportion of repeat flood-insurance claims. A woman rides a scooter past the Russian Foreign Ministry headquarters in Moscow, in this April 15, 2021, file photo. AFP-Yonhap Moscow slammed the U.S., Friday, for sanctions it imposed earlier this week on a Russian citizen and a Russian company over their involvement in North Korea's nuclear program. Russia's foreign ministry quoted its spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying that the accusations were "absolutely unacceptable." "Without bothering with evidence, the United States is trying to substitute fiction for real facts," Zakharova said. She added that Washington is "throwing around far-fetched and baseless accusations that Russia is promoting the development of the North Korean nuclear missile program." On Wednesday, the United States imposed sanctions on five North Koreans linked to the authoritarian country's ballistic missile program. The Treasury Department said one of the North Koreans being sanctioned was based in Russia and had provided support to North Korea's Second Academy of Natural Sciences, which is already subject to sanctions. Washington also designated Russian citizen, Roman Anatolyevich Alar, and a Russian company, Parsek LLC, for having "materially contributed to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or their means of delivery by (North Korea)." The move prohibits any dealings by US citizens with the designated individuals and foreign companies that engage with them could also be subject to sanctions. (AFP) The Eugene City Council may soon take measures to implement renter protections amid a tightening housing market in Eugene. The council voted unanimously to direct staff to bring back more information about the feasibility and resources needed to implement renter protections consistent with the Housing Policy Boards recommendations which include prohibiting application and screening fees as well as restricting no-cause evictions at a Nov. 22, 2021 work session. The HPB acts as a forum for public input into community issues related to affordable housing, according to the city of Eugenes website. The board is made up of two elected officials county commissioner Joe Berney and city councilor Emily Semple and six Lane County community members with low income representation. Genevieve Middleton, the citys grants manager for community development, presented the HPBs recommendations for renter protections. For the application stage, the HPBs recommendations include prohibiting landlords from charging applicants rental application and screening fees, requiring landlords to process applications in the order received and prohibiting landlords from including medical or educational debt when evaluating an applicants income versus expenses. For the move in/move out stage, the HPB also recommends requiring landlords distribute an education document describing SB 608, a state law from 2019 that caps the amount rent may increase each year, while also restricting no-cause evictions for tenants who have lived in their homes for one year or longer. The board also recommends limiting landlords to charging deposits with a maximum of two times the subject units monthly rent. For renters support services, the HPB recommends creating a rental housing navigation role, as well as increasing funding for a tenant hotline and creating additional tenant support services like accessible rental unit lists and supporting improved rental data. To fund these services, the HPB recommends increasing the Rental Housing Code fee program, an annual fee that property owners and managers pay. I think these all sound very doable and make a lot of sense, Councilor Jennifer Yeh said. Middleton also presented statistics from the 2018 Eugene Renters Experience Survey with more than 850 survey responses and 120 listening session participants. Students made up 15% of participants. 71% of participants had considerable trouble during the rental application period, 35% had issues with landlords regarding fees, 38% experienced issues with landlords regarding deposits, 63% experienced issues with landlords regarding rent increases, 27% experienced a no-cause eviction and 34% had their rent increase resulting in them moving. Middleton said the western vacancy rate the number of rental properties not occupied by tenants is 4.4%, while Eugenes vacancy rate before the pandemic was 2.8%. However, according to data from Costar Real Estate, Eugenes vacancy rate in 2021 is 1.6%. This means that Eugenes renters have few choices, and rent is increasing due to market pressure, Middleton said. Some councilors expressed concerns about the recommendations. Syrett and Keating said the council may not have the authority to ban application and screening fees, and they would support a central application platform as a possible alternative. Some of those fees are needed for folks to actually do background checks, but I think there is an abuse of that allowance, Syrett said. Councilor Randy Groves said he has heard about rental agreements being brought forth to tenants that are only for 11-month increments so landlords can avoid no-cause eviction limitations. Groves also said he is concerned these policies could affect mom and pop operations with one or two homes and push landlords to put their rentals on the market and sell them. In response, Yeh said it is important to regulate small businesses that can fly under the radar. When you only have one or two tenants, it takes a long time for people in the community to realize that youre doing things improperly, she said. When you have 100 people that youre renting to, word gets out a lot faster. Councilors also said they would like to hear more about creating displacement protection assistance, which requires financial support by landlords who issue a valid notice for no-cause eviction or an extreme rent increase resulting in eviction. Ryan Moore, a volunteer with the Springfield Eugene Tenant Association, asked the council to consider displacement protection assistance during the public forum portion of a Nov. 8, 2021 city council meeting. This has been a long time coming, Moore said. There, of course, is more that needs to be done, but we're really grateful to see this move forward after all this time. A no-cause eviction notice must be at least 30 days before the actual date of termination, according to the Oregon State Bar. Moore said it is unrealistic to expect a renter to be able to get rehoused in 30 days. It's through no fault of their own, he said. They didn't know this was coming, and so the logical conclusion when a lot of these people cannot get rehoused within 30 days is that they are being pushed into homelessness. No-cause evictions are widespread, and his organization sees them happening in almost every local neighborhood, Moore said. The city council has not yet scheduled a work session to discuss the renter protections further. White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks at a press briefing at the White House in Washington, Jan. 14. AP-Yonhap U.S. intelligence officials have determined a Russian effort is underway to create a pretext for its troops to further invade Ukraine, and Moscow has already prepositioned operatives to conduct ''a false-flag operation'' in eastern Ukraine, according to the White House. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that intelligence findings show Russia is also laying the groundwork through a social media disinformation campaign that frames Ukraine as an aggressor that has been preparing an imminent attack against Russian-backed forces in eastern Ukraine. Psaki charged that Russia has already dispatched operatives trained in urban warfare who could use explosives to carry out acts of sabotage against Russia's own proxy forces blaming the acts on Ukraine if Russian President Vladimir Putin decides he wants to move forward with an invasion. ''We are concerned that the Russian government is preparing for an invasion in Ukraine that may result in widespread human rights violations and war crimes should diplomacy fail to meet their objectives,'' Psaki said. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby described the intelligence as ''very credible.'' A U.S. official, who was not authorized to comment on the intelligence and spoke on condition of anonymity, said much of it was gleaned from intercepted communications and observations of the movements of people. The U.S. intelligence findings, which were declassified and shared with U.S. allies before being made public, estimate that a military invasion could begin between mid-January and mid-February. Ukraine is also monitoring the potential use of disinformation by Russia. Separately, Ukrainian media on Friday reported that authorities believed Russian special services were planning a possible false flag incident to provoke additional conflict. The new U.S. intelligence was unveiled after a series of talks between Russia and the U.S. and its Western allies this week in Europe aimed at heading off the escalating crisis made little progress. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Thursday that the U.S. intelligence community has not made an assessment that the Russians, who have massed some 100,000 troops on Ukraine's border, have definitively decided to take a military course of action. Russian President Vladimir Putin listens during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Jan. 14. AP-Yonhap But Sullivan said Russia is laying the groundwork to invade under false pretenses should Putin decide to go that route. He said the Russians have been planning ''sabotage activities and information operations'' that accuse Ukraine of prepping for its own imminent attack against Russian forces in eastern Ukraine. He said this is similar to what the Kremlin did in the lead-up to Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that had been under Ukraine's jurisdiction since 1954. The Crimea crisis came at moment when Ukraine was looking to strengthen ties with the West. Russia had stepped up propaganda that Ukraine's ethnic Russians were being oppressed in eastern Ukraine. Russia has long been accused of using disinformation as a tactic against its adversaries in conjunction with military operations and cyberattacks. In 2014, Russian state media tried to discredit pro-Western protests in Kyiv as ''fomented by the U.S. in cooperation with fascist Ukrainian nationalists'' and promoted narratives about Crimea's historical ties to Moscow, according to a report by Stanford University's Internet Observatory. Efforts to directly influence Ukrainians appear to have continued during the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, in which at least 14,000 people have died. The Associated Press reported in 2017 that Ukrainian forces in the east were constantly receiving text messages warning that they would be killed and their children would be made orphans. Nina Jankowicz, a global fellow at the Washington-based Wilson Center, said Russia's disinformation efforts have evolved between the lead-up to its annexation of Crimea and now. This time, the Kremlin appears to be driving anti-Ukraine narratives with top officials making bellicose public statements, said Jankowicz, author of ''How To Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News, and the Future of Conflict.'' ''The officials are setting the tone for the state media and they're just running with it,'' she said. So-called ''troll farms'' that post fake comments are less influential in part because social media companies have gotten better at stopping them, she said. Russian efforts on social media often play on existing doubts in Ukrainian society about whether the U.S. will support Ukraine in a conflict and whether the West can be trusted, she said. The U.S. intelligence community has taken note of a buildup on social media by Russian influencers justifying intervention by emphasizing deteriorating human rights in Ukraine, suggesting an increased militancy of Ukrainian leaders and blaming the West for escalating tensions. ''We saw this playbook in 2014,'' Sullivan told reporters on Thursday. ''They are preparing this playbook again.'' The Russians, while maintaining they don't plan to invade Ukraine, are demanding that the U.S. and NATO provide written guarantees that the alliance will not expand eastward. The U.S. has called such demands nonstarters but said that it's willing to negotiate with Moscow about possible future deployments of offensive missiles in Ukraine and putting limits on U.S. and NATO military exercises in Eastern Europe. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned Friday that Moscow wouldn't wait indefinitely for the Western response, saying he expects the U.S. and NATO to provide a written answer next week. Lavrov described Moscow's demands for binding guarantees that NATO will not embrace Ukraine or any other former Soviet nations, or station its forces and weapons there, as essential for the progress of diplomatic efforts to defuse soaring tensions over Ukraine. He argued that NATO's deployments and drills near Russia's borders pose a security challenge that must be addressed immediately. ''We have run out of patience,'' Lavrov said at a news conference. ''The West has been driven by hubris and has exacerbated tensions in violation of its obligations and common sense.'' (AP) William Carter, 62, of Ashland, Kentucky, died Monday morning, May 2nd, at Kings Daughters Medical Center. William was born April 7, 1960 in Ashland, Kentucky, a son of Betty Lou Perry Carter of Ashland, Kentucky, and the late William Paul Carter. He was retired from the car shops at CSX. Su Stay up to date on COVID-19 Get Breaking News Sign up now to get our FREE breaking news coverage delivered right to your inbox. Prince Harry does pick his moments, doesnt he? Just in case the Queen had temporarily forgotten about the nightmare that he and the Duchess of Sussex have visited upon her in recent months, here he is to remind her that, whatever other pressing issues she might have on her plate, its all about HIM. What a whining, pathetic bore this man has become. What an entitled, tedious little ingrate. Hes trashed his family, splashed his grievances all over the worlds front pages and kicked his 95-year-old granny when shes down. Now he needs to make sure that he doesnt demand she or the British taxpayer has to stump up for his familys protection when they are in the UK. Lets be in no doubt: it was Harry and Meghans own decision to leave behind their Royal trappings in search of a different life in America. Theirs and theirs alone. SARAH VINE: Prince Harry does pick his moments, doesnt he? Just in case the Queen had temporarily forgotten about the nightmare that he and the Duchess of Sussex have visited upon her in recent months, here he is to remind her that, whatever other pressing issues she might have on her plate, its all about HIM SARAH VINE: What a whining, pathetic bore this man has become. What an entitled, tedious little ingrate And while they may delude themselves that they were forced into exile by an ungrateful nation insufficiently appreciative of their gracious presence, the truth is they really didnt have to go. They went because it suited their purpose, and because their ambitions exceeded what they saw as the parochial, limiting confines of dear old Blighty. They went because they had convinced themselves that they were being poorly treated, when in fact they had every opportunity to make a success of things. They just couldnt be bothered to try. Which is fair enough its their life after all, their choice. But own it. Instead, theyve spent the past two years blaming everyone else. When it was not other peoples approach towards them that caused all their problems in the first place, it was their appalling attitude and their determination to see the slightest criticism as an act of aggression. SARAH VINE: And while they may delude themselves that they were forced into exile by an ungrateful nation insufficiently appreciative of their gracious presence, the truth is they really didnt have to go Anyone who treated them with anything other than total sycophancy even within the ranks of their own family and advisers became an enemy. Truth is, we all adored them both until they started acting like a pair of woke evangelists, lecturing the world about how people should behave while demonstrating spectacular levels of hypocrisy and arrogance. Hopping on private jets when it suited them while going on about climate change; luxuriating in the generosity of the British taxpayer and the trappings of their Royal standing while refusing to play their part with anything other than resentment and rancour; abandoning their duties for the sake of a life without responsibility (but with a newfound opportunity to trade on their titles and status to secure lucrative deals abroad for spilling the Royal beans). They cast themselves as victims at every turn, refusing to accept their own part in this tedious and never-ending drama. Fact is, they lost their taxpayer-funded security protection because they chose to relinquish their Royal status and move halfway across the world to the sunny uplands of California. Why should the British people continue to pay for two people who want nothing to do with Britain or our Royal Family? SARAH VINE: Lets hope thats not what Harry is asking for. If you want security, Harry, make sure your new mates at Netflix pay for it. Im sure theyll be more than happy to stump up in exchange for another no holds barred moan-a-thon about the wicked folks back home If someone quits their job for more money and better perks, then badmouths their previous employer all over town, they cant also demand they keep their old company credit card, can they? Lets hope thats not what Harry is asking for. If you want security, Harry, make sure your new mates at Netflix pay for it. Im sure theyll be more than happy to stump up in exchange for another no holds barred moan-a-thon about the wicked folks back home. The fact that he is choosing to embark on this course of action in such an aggressive way and through legal channels at a time of great difficulty for the Queen is just the last straw as far as Im concerned. Proof, if proof were needed, that Prince Harry really has become the kind of fellow who would sue his own grandmother. A Union Pacific locomotive passes through a section of tracks littered with thousands of opened boxes and packages stolen from cargo shipping containers, targeted by thieves as the trains stop in downtown Los Angeles, California, Jan. 14. AFP-Yonhap Dozens of freight cars are broken into every day on Los Angeles's railways by thieves who take advantage of the trains' stops to loot packages bought online, leaving thousands of gutted boxes and products that will never reach their destinations. According to the tags found Friday by an AFP team on a track near the city center which was easily accessible from nearby streets many major US mail order and courier companies such as Amazon, Target, UPS and FedEx are being hit by the thefts, which have exploded in recent months. The thieves wait until the long freight trains are immobilized on the tracks, and then climb onto the freight containers, whose locks they easily break with the help of bolt cutters. They then help themselves to parcels, ditching any products that are difficult to move or re-sell, or are too cheap, such as COVID-19 test kits, furniture or medications. Rail operator Union Pacific has seen a 160 percent rise in the thefts in Los Angeles County since December 2020. "In October 2021 alone, the increase was 356 percent compared to October 2020," UP said in a letter to the local authorities, seen by AFP. The explosion in looting has been accompanied by an upsurge in "assaults and armed robberies of UP employees performing their duties moving trains," the letter said. The phenomenon spiked recently with the peak of activity linked to Christmas shopping. According to figures reported by UP, more than 90 containers were vandalized every day on average in Los Angeles County in the last quarter of 2021. To combat the trend, Union Pacific says it has strengthened surveillance measures including drones and other detection systems and recruited more security staff for its tracks and convoys. Police and security agents have arrested more than 100 people in the last three months of 2021 for "trespassing and vandalizing" Union Pacific trains. "While criminals are being caught and arrested, charges are reduced to a misdemeanor or petty offense, and the person is back on the streets in less than 24 hours after paying a nominal fine," said a spokesman for the rail operator. "In fact, criminals boast to our officers that there is no consequence," he said. Union Pacific wrote to the Los Angeles County attorney's office at the end of December asking them to reconsider a leniency policy introduced at the end of 2020 for such offenses. The operator estimates that damages from such thefts in 2021 amounted to some $5 million, adding that the amount in claims and losses "does not include respective losses to our impacted customers" or the impact on Union Pacific's operations and the entire Los Angeles County supply chain. (AFP) Should male criminals ever be incarcerated with women? You might think that this is a mad question, with an obvious answer: of course not. Or that the appalling crimes committed by Karen White, a 52-year-old male jailed for rape, sexual assault and wounding, then placed in a womens prison, would make that all too clear. But to many of our Moral Betters, the answer to the question is: yes. By all means imprison a man with women if, like Karen White, that male criminal identifies as female. Former Home Office Minister Baron Blencathra has recently tried to stand up to this madness with an amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. He wants prisoners to be incarcerated according to their sex at birth. Our Moral Betters continue living in a dream-world, rolling out heaven on earth, over the bodies of real-world women. A stock photo is used above [File photo] A key principle is at stake here. Baron Blencathra argues that women have a right to some spaces free of men and that prisons ought to be the definitive example of such a space. Yet today, jails are not safe for women. As Blencathra puts it, when women are jailed, their punishment should not include the threat of rape and violence from big, brute rapists who have decided to identify as women and get sent to a womens unit. He has a point. Blencathra proposed that transgender inmates could be housed in specialist units. You might think this a reasonable compromise. But in November, the House of Lords disagreed with a majority of their Lordships voting in favour of some males having access to womens prisons. How did we get to this surreal place? In 2015, Tara Hudson, who was born a man but transitioned to live as a woman, sued the Government after being imprisoned in the all-male HMP Bristol. Hudsons activist supporters claimed that such transgender individuals were at risk of violence and abuse in male prisons, and Hudson was moved to a womens facility. In 2017, prison policy changed again. Instead of demanding medical certification of trans identity, guidance emphasised the right of prisoners to self-identify and to be treated according to the gender in which they identify. Should male criminals ever be incarcerated with women? You might think that this is a mad question, with an obvious answer: of course not. Or that the appalling crimes committed by Karen White, a 52-year-old male jailed for rape, sexual assault and wounding, then placed in a womens prison, would make that all too clear The truth is, however, that there are stark differences between the way that men and women break the law. True, there are notorious female criminals. But most crimes committed by women are minor, such as TV licence fee evasion. Around 96 per cent of the UK prison population is male. Most murderers and violent offenders are male: 93 per cent of killers convicted between 2018 and 2020. Men account for 98 per cent of all reported UK rape and sexual assault. On average men are much more violent than women. And theyre much more sexually aggressive. And theres no evidence that identifying as a woman makes any difference. Studies suggest when transgender women commit crimes, those crimes follow the male pattern not the female one. Despite this, when prison policy was altered to accommodate transgender inmates, little effort was made to consider any possible impact on female prisoners. And there was an impact. The policy has failed in the case of White. Its failed in other cases where transgender inmates have sexually assaulted female fellow inmates. It has been said that the Prison Service has learned the lessons of the Karen White fiasco. Risk assessment, we are told, is now so solid that womens prisons can be made effectively unisex, without any increased danger to women. However, women locked in a mixed-sex prison might still live in a climate of fear even if they are not physically assaulted. A study of Scottish prisons reported fears among female inmates of predatory behaviour by some trans prisoners. One inmate said a transgender fellow prisoner had spoken of wanting to have sex with loads of lassies. Its not a stretch to think that someone who violates social norms badly enough to end up in prison could also be the kind of person who takes sexual advantage of vulnerable women. Or the kind of person to abuse the system cynically, without a sincere wish to transition, in search of a cushier sentence in a less violent womens facility. The same Scottish report also revealed that some transgender prisoners had identified as women when being sentenced in court, only to revert to their birth gender after release from jail. Anyone with a basic grasp of human nature and of the observable differences between men and women could have seen this fiasco coming. Yet the idealists who rejected Blencathras sensible amendment just stuck their fingers in their ears. No one disputes that we should take individual circumstances into account. But when it comes to prisons, womens safety and dignity depends on acknowledging whats clear to see: that sometimes the difference that matters is between the sexes rather than how someone self-identifies. Meanwhile, our Moral Betters continue living in a dream-world, rolling out heaven on earth, over the bodies of real-world women. Mary Harrington is a contributing editor at online magazine UnHerd. 'It is not right and not fair that she should have to suffer this,' SARAH VINE says of the Queen My first thought when I saw the news that the Queen had cut Prince Andrew loose and effectively cancelled her second son was, 'What do the Royal Family know that we don't?' I simply couldn't understand why, having stuck by him this far, and especially in the wake of that disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019, she would withdraw her support like this. After all, no one really thought his lawyers' attempts to have the case thrown out would work. It was only ever going to be a legal long-shot, and Judge Kaplan's ruling last week, while typically bombastic and headline-grabbing, was entirely expected. Perhaps it had something to do with the Ghislaine Maxwell verdict. She has now given the green light for the identities of the eight 'John Does' cited in an earlier civil case brought against her by Virginia Giuffre in 2015 to be revealed. There has been widespread speculation about the identity of these men, ranging from Bill Clinton to Donald Trump to a 'well-known Prime Minister'. The Queen leaves after attending the opening ceremony of the sixth session of the Senedd in Cardiff in Ocotber Given Prince Andrew's friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, it is not inconceivable that his name could also be in the mix. Then again, none of the men is accused of any wrongdoing, while Prince Andrew emphatically is. So how could it make much of a difference? Was there, I wondered, some terrible photograph? Andrew has argued that the famous one of him and Giuffre, supposedly in Maxwell's flat, isn't real. I've always thought her arm looks squiffy and never put much stock in it because, even if it is genuine, what does it actually prove? Just because two people are photographed together doesn't mean there's any intimacy between them, consensual or otherwise. I wondered if the Royal Family had had sight of something more obviously damning. My imagination ran wild with unsavoury visions, including that of the poor Queen having to confront the unimaginable. In reality, though, the truth is far less conspiratorial and complex. There are two reasons why she has done what she has done, and both speak to her loyalty and duty to the crown she wears. Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson driving from Royal Lodge, his residence in the grounds of Windsor Great Park in Berkshire Firstly, the Armed Forces. Anger has been steadily growing among the ranks at the lack of judgment displayed by the Prince and the embarrassment he has caused. Word has been fed up the chain of command, in particular to Prince Charles and Prince William, and the displeasure has been made abundantly clear. In particular, the Grenadier Guards were very unhappy about Andrew's situation, which they largely saw as entirely self-inflicted, with officers saying they were 'uncomfortable having to drink to the health of Prince Andrew at the end of regimental dinners'. One senior veteran, former lance sergeant Julian Perreira, publicly called for him to step down from his ceremonial role in the regiment. Most people perhaps don't grasp how much of a Forces family the Royals really are, but the truth is, few things matter more to them than the men and women who lay down their lives in defence of the Crown. The second factor is the Jubilee. The Queen sees this not so much as her celebration but as the entire nation's celebration. One that, after all we've been through in the past few years, we all deserve to share in. Nothing can be allowed to overshadow it. And now nothing will. And so the Queen has done what the Queen always does that is to say, the hardest thing of all. She has, not for the first time in her long reign, put monarchy before motherhood and moved to protect not her own private feelings towards her son but the institution which she has guarded with such clear-sighted vision and grace all these years. However much she knows this, I imagine it must still break her heart. A heart that, let's face it, has already been pretty bruised and broken in recent months by the loss of Prince Philip. But that is what makes her such a Queen for our times, such a beacon in this uncertain world. They say that as a mother you are only ever as happy as your unhappiest child. It is not right and not fair that she should have to suffer this. Of all people, she really does not deserve it. But she will, as she always does, bear it with dignity and fortitude. I'm all for cuddling the dog Why is it offensive to ask people to save money on fuel bills by putting on an extra jumper? Ovo Energy has apologised for sending customers what was no doubt intended to be a light-hearted list of energy-saving tips such as snuggling up to your pet and eating 'hearty' bowls of porridge. Given the prevailing climate of hysterical cancel culture, it quickly turned into a PR nightmare. But seriously: at what point did we become so spoiled we expect to live all year round at a constant 20 degrees? I have my heating set at 18 degrees, and it comes on twice a day for a few hours. The rest of the time, if the kids complain which they do, endlessly I tell them to put more clothes on. And yes, to cuddle our dog Snowy who, being somewhat on the chunky side, makes an excellent, albeit slightly windy, hot water bottle. News of a drinks fridge being delivered to No 10 in December 2020 has prompted further fevered speculation about boozy Downing Street lock-ins. I'm as furious as the next person about all this, but there's a difference between having a glass of something cold at your desk which lots of offices do all the time and having a full-blown knees-up. So yes, let's condemn the breaking of rules if rules were broken. But let's not turn into a nation of sour-faced prohibitionists. Loopy leggings First it was ski jackets, then Moon boots now another dubious slopes-inspired fashion trend has emerged: stirrup leggings. Last popular in the 1980s, they feature a loop under the foot to stop them riding up. Victoria Beckham is a fan, and indeed you can buy a pair from her clothing collection (prices range from a mere 490 to around 800). Apparently they 'look especially chic styled over a pair of point-toe pumps'. Or you could just cut a hole in a thick pair of tights Victoria Beckham is a fan, and indeed you can buy a pair from her clothing collection (prices range from a mere 490 to around 800) Chelmsford has acquired the somewhat dubious accolade of being the Costa Coffee capital of the UK. I wish someone could explain to me the mystery of Costa Coffee. The brown gunk they serve is so unutterably disgusting, I cannot imagine how it survives, let alone thrives. Perhaps it's just more proof we Brits have terrible taste. Call me eloquent any time! Is it offensive to call someone 'eloquent'? Apparently so, according to Cambridge academic Priyamvada Gopal (Professor of Postcolonial Literature), who accused her colleague David Abulafia of insulting the TV historian David Olusoga by describing him as such in an article about the acquittal of the Colston statue vandals. he Cambridge Dictionary defines 'eloquent' as 'giving a clear, strong message'. Sounds like a huge compliment to me. Unless, of course, you're someone who has forged a career out of finding offence in everything. Postcolonial Literature? How about Professor of How Very Dare You? I completely agree with Bear Grylls when he says children who fail at school are often better equipped to deal with real life, and that measuring success purely in terms of academic achievement is one of the great problems with our education system. Like me, my daughter was never a straight-A student (dyslexia), but since she left school she's the happiest I've known her. That sense of being a failure has turned to delight at the realisation that life is about so much more than being a success on paper. She's finally free and it's such a joy to see. Proposals to protect England's national parks include a move to rename 'areas of outstanding natural beauty' a term dating back to 1942 with the infinitely duller 'national landscapes'. Why change something just for the sake of it? I'd rather explore 'outstanding natural beauty' especially when 'landscapes' could denote anything from a mountain to a slurry pit. The person I feel most sorry for this week is poor Partygate investigator Sue Gray. If she finds Boris Johnson guilty, she's toast. If she doesn't, she's also toast. She's going to need a long holiday when all this is over. A mother-of-three who felt 'stripped of her identity' and struggled to leave the house after losing her hair to alopecia has told how she finally feels like herself again after trying the new 'hyperrealism' brow tattoo. Zelda Burborough, a former Retail and Events Editor from London, first started losing her hair after the death of her father in 2019, and was horrified when the left side of her hair fell out. She went to see her GP who prescribed her with iron tablets, and even went vegan, cut out sugar and practised yoga in an effort to get her hair back - but that month she lost 80 per cent of her body and facial hair, with just her brows and lashes left. Sadly, they soon followed, and after witnessing the shock on the faces of her children Rafferty, 15, Bella, 14, and Amelie, 11, when she was forced to shave her head, she decided to try celebrity make-up artist Tracie Giles' new 'hyperrealism' semi-permanent make-up technique- describing it as 'life-changing'. Before: Zelda Burborough, a former Retail and Events Editor from London, first started losing her hair after the death of her father in 2019, and was horrified when the left side of her hair fell out. She was shocked how much of a difference losing her brows and lashes made After hyperrealism brows: After witnessing the shock on the faces of her children when she was forced to shave her head, she decided to try semi-permanent make-up - describing it as 'life-changing' Zelda is seen looking stylish in a headscarf with her daughter Bella, 14 Speaking to FEMAIL, Zelda, who has started her own business Arty & Bella designing reusable head wraps and facial wipes said: 'Alopecia is such a cruel illness and for me, it's been a mental health battle. You are stripped of your identity - I couldn't look at myself, I couldn't recognise myself and it was a real effort to leave the house as I didn't want to see or speak to anyone.' She remembered: 'I developed Alopecia over two and a half years ago. A few months after my father died, the left side of my hair fell out. 'I went to see my GP, where I had lots of blood tests, was prescribed strong iron tablets and told to come back if it got worse. During that month, 80 per cent of my hair fell out from my head and body but luckily I still had my brows and lashes.' But her children struggled to deal with her hair loss, worrying that their mother had a life-threatening illness. Zelda described alopecia as a 'cruel disease' which took its toll on her mental health and admitted her children struggled to deal with her hair loss, worrying that their mother had a life-threatening illness (seen before) She decided to take the plunge and try the 'hyperrealism' brow tattoo, which uses extra delicate brush strokes for a realistic finish (seen afterwards) Zelda is seen with her husband before she lost her hair and facial hair in 2018 She continued: 'On Mother's Day in 2019, my husband shaved my head for me, as I felt like a dandelion. My hair would just puff away constantly and I couldnt take the daily uncontrollable hairloss. 'My husband was upset doing it and my kids were horrrified - it was difficult all round, especially as hairloss is associated with serious illness and chemotherapy and no matter how much I reassured them, they didn't really believe me.' What is the hyperrealism brow? How does it work? Hyperrealism Brows are a new, advanced permanent makeup technique mastered by only a handful of artists worldwide and championed by Tracie Giles London. Hyperrealism Brows are achieved using a cosmetic tattooing device and a needle (not microblading), and a highly specialised tattooing technique to create the most realistic, natural-looking brows currently available. Rather than tattooing individual strokes into the skin, like with Hairstroke Brows, the Tracie Giles London Artists tattoo wispy, overlapping hairstrokes in a unique pattern to mimic the natural movement and direction of real eyebrow hairs. This pattern builds in intensity in the middle of the eyebrow to create a hyper-realistic 3D effect. What is the process? After the consultation, the process take 2-3 hours and the side effects include mild redness for a few days. Does it hurt? A numbing gel is applied before and during the treatment to minimise any discomfort. How much does it cost? It costs 995 which includes a consultation, initial appointment and first retouch appointment when taken within 2 12 weeks. Alopecia sufferers are offered a 10 per cent discount. How long does it last? Up to two years depending on the individual. Advertisement Zelda recalls trying 'everything' to stay positive and get her hair back - including going vegan, cutting out sugar and exercising more. She admitted: 'I tried to keep cheerful for my kids sake, but inside I was numb and felt like I was dropping into a black hole. 'Four months later, I had some hair regrowth and I got 80 per cent of my hair back. However, it was patchy and a couple of milimetres long but I felt like rapunzel. I thought my hairloss was an unlucky blip.' But sadly Zelda's hair loss wasn't a phase, and a year after she first experienced hair loss, the rest of her hair fell out. She said: 'Within a week of the first anniversary of my father's death, my hair fell out much more aggressively and within two weeks I had lost all my hair everywhere, this time losing my eyebrows and eyelashes, which was devastating. 'I also didnt want anyone to know how devasted I felt as I felt vain for being so upset about losing my hair. After all ' its just hair', as I kept getting told by people with hair, eyebrows and eyelashes! 'One day, I was at hot yoga and someone coming out of a class couldn't stop staring and looking back at me, they nearly walked into a pillar - needless to say I didnt feel very zen.' And as well as the cosmetic and mental toll it had on her, the mother revealed how she is more prone to infections as she has no protection from dirt. Explaining how having no facial hair has affected her, Zelda said: 'You don't realise how important your eyebrows and eyelashes are until you lose them. 'Everything feels too bright, and sweat, dust and dirt go straight into your eyes. I get an eye infection every other week and that's before how they make you look and feel. You lose your facial definition and your features. 'For the last year and a half I've drawn my brows on and used brow transfers, but the reality for me is they have been wonky, in the wrong place like a panto character, which has stopped me from dropping my daughter off at the school gate so I dont have to bump into anyone. 'I also hate cleaning my face and being brow free at the end of the day.' Zelda decided to take the plunge and look into semi-permanent make-up, but was worried about the horror stories she had read about. She said: 'I looked into a permanent solution but I've seen quite a few dodgy semi pemanent eyebrows and was worried about how they might look - too overdone and fake.' Zelda recalls trying 'everything' to stay positive and get her hair back - including going vegan, cutting out sugar and exercising more. (Seen left before and right afterwards) She then stumbled across the hyperealism brows on the celebrity artist Tracie Giles' Instagram account, adding: 'I saw the amazing natural hairlike strokes on a brunette woman with hardly any brows that blew me away as I'd never seen anything so delicate and realistic before. 'I was also really impressed with Tracie Giles medical tattooing for breast surgery clients and offering clients with medical hairloss a discount as it's not 'just a beauty treatment'. After having an extensive consultation process and her pictures taken, Zelda had the treatment and says she finally feels like herself again. Describing the treatment as 'artwork', she said of the therapist: 'Miri gave me my identity back, my old brows but better! She gave me some of my old self back, my confidence back, and I'm happy to look at myself again and recognise myself. My family and work friends cant believe how natural and realistic my brows are, my mum even thought my brows must have grown back. Zelda's next stop is to get permanent eye make-up to disguise her lash loss, explaining: 'It might sound ridiculous to someone who hasn't lost their hair to understand what a massive impact my new eyebrows has made to me. But as my kids say 'it's so nice to see you happy mum', I can honestly say for the first time in years I am happier and feel like I'm finally on a road to acceptance.' For many, Ryanair is synonymous with budget tickets and patchy customer service. But the airline has found a new generation of fans on TikTok - on both sides of the Atlantic. The Irish low-cost airline has struck a cord with Gen Z users of the video-sharing app, where it boasts 1.5million followers and has more than 41.9million likes, making it the biggest airline brand on the platform. Virgin Atlantic has 74,500 followers and 1.1million likes, while easyJet lags behind on just 17,000 followers. British Airways doesn't have a TikTok account. The videos, which mock passengers, rival airlines and its own service, have proved a particular hit with users in the US and Asia, who have called for Ryanair to expand its flight routes so they can experience the airline after discovering it on the app. Ryanair has struck a cord with Gen Z users of the video-sharing app, where it boasts 1.5million followers and has more than 41.9million likes, making it the biggest airline brand on the platform. Some feature staff, like the ones above. Left, employees doing a dance routine The majority of are based around Ryanair aircraft with the social media manager's eyes and mouth superimposed onto the plane (seen above). They capitalise on the TikTok trends The videos, which mock passengers, rival airlines and its own service, have proved a particular hit with users in the US and Asia, who have called for Ryanair to expand its flight routes One posted: 'I will literally move countries just to be able toly Ryanair.' Another American user added in response to a video: 'This is great and I can't even fly Ryanair in the US.' A third wrote: 'I don't live in Europe so I will never fly Ryanair but because of this account it's my favourite airline.' However European users are quick to keep their expectations in check, with several posting about cases of slow refunds, cancelled flights and bumpy landings. One posted: 'Queen of TikTok but not queen of the skies.' Ryanair isn't afraid to take aim at rivals and called out United Airlines (right) when it tried to mimic the signature Ryanair aesthetic (seen left) Ryanair mocked Virgin Atlantic for being 'mid' - a slang term for mediocre in a recent video (right). Left, a video joking about flying to the US, which sparked pleas from American fans Ryanair took aim at short passengers complaining about the lack of leg room in one recent clip (above). While most followers praised the joke, some claimed they would boycott over it Writing on a video of flight attendants recording on a plane full of passengers, one joked: 'Is this why my plane was late?' Ryanair videos poke fun at passengers, other airlines or the company itself, using the dances, sounds and trends that are popular on the app. Some feature cabin crew and Ryanair staff but the majority are based around Ryanair aircraft with the social media manager's eyes and mouth superimposed on the nose of the plane. The most recent video mocks Ryanair customers who complain about paying for a suitcase after buying a ticket for under 10 euros. The caption reads: 'Bestie how else will I make bank Im sorry,' using a trendy term to mean making money. Another video makes fun of short customers who complain about the lack of legroom, with the caption: 'Man thinks he's in the NBA'. Meanwhile Virgin Atlantic is mocked for being 'mid' - a shorthand term to mean mediocre - and United Airlines was called out when it tried to replicate Ryanair's signature aesthetic. Speaking in a recent interview, Ryanair's Head of Social, Michael Corcoran, explained he thought the success of the brand of TikTok was due to the decision to 'lose the corporate tone of voice'. He added: 'Weve conditioned social media to be a dumping ground for every piece of information available to us - Ryanair want to stand out and avoid clutter.' Andy and Candis Meredith's scandal-ridden show 'Home Work' will return to Chip and Joanna Gaines' Magnolia Network following allegations they had scammed clients out of thousands of dollars with shoddy renovations. Several people who appeared on the home renovations program claimed the Utah-based couple ripped them off, forced them to live in unsafe environments, failed to communicate with them, and left many of the promised renovations unfinished accusations the couple has continuously denied. The backlash led to the show being temporarily pulled on January 7, just two days after its premiere. On January 14, the network released a statement saying 'Home Work' will be brought back after an investigation concluded there was no 'ill or malicious intent' on part of the Merediths. 'Magnolia Network is dedicated to sharing hopeful and genuine stories. In doing that, we strive to meet people with compassion, and to cautiously approach difficult moments with honest understanding,' Allison Page, the president of the network, said in a statement. The Magnolia Network has announced that 'Home Work' will return to the channel following an investigation into the allegations against hosts Andy and Candis Meredith (pictured), saying it was concluded there was no 'ill or malicious intent' on their part Several people who appeared on the home renovations program claimed the Utah-based couple ripped them off with shoddy or incomplete renovations. The backlash led to the show being temporarily pulled on January 7 "After speaking with homeowners as well as Candis and Andy Meredith regarding renovation projects for "Home Work," and hearing a mix of both positive and negative experiences, we do not believe there was ill or malicious intent.' 'Our commitment now is to provide appropriate resolutions for those whose experience with Home Work fell short of our networks standards,' Page added. 'While Home Work will return to Magnolia Network, we recognize the responsibility we have to act on how we can better support not only our talent, but those who put their trust in them and this brand.' The news comes just a few days after Candis, 38, broke down in tears as she furiously fired back at accusations that she and her husband Andy, 41, scammed homeowners out of tens of thousands of dollars and destroyed their properties while filming the series. 'We do not believe in bullying online. We feel like this attack was particularly calculated for the day before the network launch, and we are hopeful that this can allow the narrative to continue on a more equal playing field without malicious intent,' she said in an Instagram video. She claimed that the homeowners' statements about her and her husband were 'false' and that they were 'purposely trying to take anything they could' from the pair. In a second video, Candis said she and her husband 'were not OK' and that her kids were getting bullied at school due to the backlash they have been facing over the show. Days before, Candis, 38, sobbed as she responded to accusations that she and her husband Andy, 41, had scammed homeowners and destroyed their properties while filming the show She and her husband (right) have continuously denied the allegations, and now, she has claimed that she was 'bullied and attacked' by the homeowners in a new set of videos Candis said she believes this was a 'calculated attack' against her and her family and that the homeowners were 'purposely trying to take anything they could' from the pair 'Whatever your opinion, I'm asking the bullying to my kids to stop. Whatever your side is, please tell your kids who go to my kids' schools to stop,' she begged, as tears streamed down her face. 'We're not OK and whatever you think of me is fine but please leave my children out of this, thank you.' She also responded to claims that they were 'liars, thieves, and con artists,' calling them 'so extremely hurtful and based on one narrative amplified by others who were not part of any of these situations.' 'We fully admit that we took on too much at one time and that this was a hard road for these four clients renovation projects,' she wrote in the caption of one of her videos. 'We also acknowledge that after working in an extremely difficult industry for over 10 years, working with hundreds of people, there are inevitably going to be some who are dissatisfied. 'We realize that we have put ourselves out there for the world to make judgments, and we have to accept that. What we will not accept is losing our livelihood and being put on public trial.' 'We understand the frustrations, we really do,' she added. 'But these should have been resolved privately, through any means of communication, within the last two years and not in this malicious and salacious attempt to take away our means of living. Candi said her kids were getting bullied at school due to the backlash they have been facing over the show, and she begged people to stop 'We support many families with this show, we have balances with contractors we are actively working on, there is so much more to this than just us. 'By taking away all means of income, it is only making it more difficult for us to pay for anything outstanding and people are losing their jobs because of this.' She concluded: 'We will protect our family and those whom we support with "Home Work." We stand behind our work and our principles and are not here to take anything away from anyone the way it has been done to us. 'However, we are asking that any and all who have contributed to this toxic cancel mindset take a moment to review both sides before passing judgment on us.' The Merediths have a total of seven kids. They both had three boys from previous relationships before they married in 2013 and welcomed a daughter together. They renovated homes for years and posted about it on their joint Instagram account, but they told People magazine in a 2021 interview that they were stunned when they received a DM from Fixer Upper host Joanna a few years prior, who pitched them the idea for the show. The Merediths have a total of seven kids. They both had three boys from previous relationships before they married in 2013 and welcomed a daughter together The couple purchased an abandoned 113-year-old schoolhouse in Utah and turned the 20,000-square-foot building into their dream home (pictured) They transformed the building (pictured when it was still a school) into a luxury mansion and filmed the entire process for their show Their new home is now complete with the most up-to-date appliances, a 13-foot island in the kitchen (pictured), a 7-foot chandelier in the dining area, and more 'We said we would be honored, and it was a match made in heaven,' Candis said at the time, unaware that the series would eventually lead to so much dismay. Days before the show was pulled, homeowners detailed the anguish that the Merediths allegedly put them through in a series of Instagram posts while sharing pictures of the horrific damage that they claimed was done to their properties. The clients accused the hosts of breaking promises, hiring unlicensed workers, going thousands of dollars over their budgets, taking months to complete short projects, building things incorrectly, and even putting them in danger. As for their own living space, the Merediths purchased an abandoned 113-year-old schoolhouse in Utah and turned the 20,000-square-foot building into their dream home while filming the entire process as part of the show. They transformed the former learning place into a luxury mansion complete with the most up-to-date appliances, a 13-foot island in the kitchen, a 7-foot chandelier in the dining area, and more. However, unhappy clients painted a different picture while detailing what it was like to have the Merediths in charge of their home renovations. The day before the premiere of 'Home Work,' numerous homeowners who had taken part in the show came forward with allegations against the Merediths, resulting in it getting pulled Teisha Satterfield Hawley explained in a series of Instagram posts that she was thrilled when she and her husband Jeff (pictured together during filming) were picked for the show, but their dream quickly turned into a nightmare Teisha claimed that she and her husband agreed on a budget of $45,000 with Candis (pictured working on the Hawleys' home in the first days of construction and filming) and Andy to fund the renovation of their kitchen, dining room, family room, and laundry room Teisha said she and her husband were told that construction would only take three to four weeks to complete, but weeks went by without any work being done. When contractors finally showed up (pictured), they allegedly laid her floors three times Teisha Satterfield Hawley revealed in her posts that she signed up to be on the show after coming across a casting call on Instagram. She and her husband Jeff had purchased their home a few years prior and had always wanted to fix it up, so they thought it was going to be a great opportunity. Teisha said that before the renovations began on their home in October 2019, she and her husband agreed on a budget of $45,000 with Candis and Andy, who told them this sum would cover the cost of renovating their kitchen, dining room, family room, and laundry room. 'I expressed concern that I did not think everything could be done for this amount but was assured that they knew all the secrets and it was going to be amazing and everything I ever wanted,' Teisha claimed. 'We ended up wiring $35,000 to them and spent $10,000 on a couch and some appliances.' Teisha and her family claimed they were told the renovations would only take three to four weeks to complete, but they took much longer than that. In January 2020, three months after the project first started, Teisha said she was relieved to see things were finally coming together. However, to her horror, the floors allegedly had to be ripped up and redone three times due to mistakes. In a series of Instagram posts, Teisha shared images of her home during the various stages of renovation (pictured) while claiming that her family was left to live in a construction site for weeks on end because of various 'delays' with the work Teisha even claimed a crew member fell through their floor into the basement while sharing an image of her ceiling with a large patch on it (pictured) Teisha posted images of her splintered and mismatched floorboards (pictured), saying they had to be ripped up multiple times because there were multiple mistakes made When she and her husband met with the Merediths, they were told they were well over their budget. According to Teisha, that was the first she heard of any money problems, and it made her feel 'hopeless' and 'sick' to her stomach. 'She told us we would have to give her another $35-$40k to produce the product she had promised and pitched us,' Teisha claimed. 'This was double our budget and the first we had heard about it. This number was with us making sacrifices and doing Ikea cabinets, butcher block counters, and lower quality fixtures. 'Hopeless is the word that comes to mind when I think of that day. I had applied for this show and had put our family in this situation. We had been living in our basement for months at this point including Thanksgiving, Christmas, and birthdays,' she added. 'We were exhausted, we had just been told all of our funds were used and our home was torn apart with bubbling floors laid.' Teisha and Jeff were allegedly told they would have to wire the couple $10,000 immediately if they wanted the renovations to continue. 'Sadly our excitement quickly turned into horror,' she wrote alongside an image of loose floorboards scattered across a room. 'Our floors were laid wrong three times!' Teisha added that on one occasion after flooring had been put down, the boards began to 'shift' whenever they stepped on it, explaining that it felt as though there were 'bubbles' in the floor while they were walking across them (pictured) She also shared images of exposed nails that were reportedly left poking out of the floors (pictured) during the renovation process Tight on money, they said they wouldn't be able to send it until one month later, and all construction was halted until then. 'We were stuck in a demoed houses, were limited on funds, and were not sure what was next,' she recalled. 'To say it was awful and emotional would be an understatement. Two years later talking about it makes me sick and brings tears to my eyes. 'The lack of communication, the lack of respect for our budget, and the lack of respect for realizing my family was living in a basement truly makes me sick.' The couple eventually cut ties with the Merediths and brought in a friend's construction team to finish the renovations. 'So there it is Our story of the remodel from Hell, and to tell you that things are not what they always appear to be on TV or social media,' she concluded. 'It is scary to speak out but also something we have to do. Weve sent attorney letters that have only been met with threats of lawsuits. 'Weve reached out to the networks in charge of these shows, but accountability is passed off to someone else. In talking to attorneys, we have a case that would surely be in our favor, except it would cost everyone a lot more money and likely end up unpaid. 'My hope is this somehow helps someone or at least brings an awareness to the large corporations that are hiring for these shows We are real people, our money is something we have worked hard for and can not just throw around, WE have had to live through this Hell. Teisha said Candis later told them they would have to give her another $35,000 to $40,000 to 'produce the product she had promised' The couple eventually cut ties with the Merediths and brought in a friend's construction team to finish the renovations, saying they had 'a full working upstairs within weeks.' Her home is pictured mid-way through the second round of renovations She showed off the results of the completed renovations (pictured) while praising her friend Josh and his crew, whom she says 'went above and beyond' in order to finish their home in a matter of weeks 'Thankfully we are and will be OK but that is not the case for others affected by these same people for this show (not to mention anyone we are unaware of previous to or since our experience).' However, Candis claimed on Instagram that she and Teisha had a 'friendly relationship all the way to the very end.' 'We had no sense whatsoever that they were as dissatisfied as they claim. We got within a week of completing the project when Jeff asked for a phone call,' she wrote. 'He stated that if the countertops were not in by Friday (the countertop installer had repeatedly canceled) we would be sued. 'I couldnt sign that agreement, because it was wholly out of my control, and he took the project over. We tried to reach out and offer any and all assistance, we were ignored. We had spent about $10,000 of our own money at this point. We offered solutions. We havent heard from them whatsoever in almost two years.' Aubry Bennion, another accuser who was chosen to appear on the show, shared a similar horror story on Instagram, saying she had a budget of $25,000 when she asked to have her kitchen and laundry room renovated in 2019. She was also told that the project would take only three weeks to complete, but soon as construction started, she said she saw some red flags. Aubry Bennion (pictured) hared a similar horror story in a series of lengthy Instagram posts, detailing the anguish the Merediths allegedly put her through while attempting to redo her kitchen and laundry room She claimed she told the couple she had a budget of $25,000 for the renovations and was promised it would be done in three weeks. However, it allegedly took a lot longer than that and cost thousands of dollars more. She was forced to store all of her kitchen stuff in the other rooms in her house for months on end (pictured) Aubrey claimed that as soon as construction started, she saw some red flags. She said she was told to 'roll with it and trust in the process' while her house sat in disarray (pictured) 'When things didnt follow what would seem like home renovation protocol, I was told to roll with it and trust in the process,' she claimed. 'While some things were conveniently delayed, like the wire transfer information that didnt come immediately, some of it was unsettling like the lack of contract and inconsistent schedule from the crews. 'Immediately, the communication was disastrous. Distrust between Candis and the production team was clear. I heard different stories from every party in every call and text. Candis was overwhelmed by her workload and Andy was nowhere to be seen. 'I begged for a scope, schedule, and budget foundational details project managers provide to their client. I saw none, from start to finish,' she continued. 'Any anomaly to my experience in construction, as a daughter of a contractor and as a project manager in the construction industry for over 15 years, was chalked up to "that's how it works for TV." 'Anytime a suggestion was made on or off camera about a feature, I would ask if it was in the budget. Candis assured me every time it would be OK.' Things got worse when Candis allegedly decided that they were going to build a deck onto her home, which was not part of the original plan. 'Candis design eliminated the back door and severed access to the backyard and basement to my home,' Aubry explained. 'She suggested I didnt need a second egress, but I insisted it was required by code and functionality, as the one living in the home. She said the 'lack of contract' and' inconsistent schedule from the crew was 'unsettling,' and that the communication was 'disastrous.' Aubry also claimed that the men the Merediths hired to work on her house were 'unlicensed and uninsured' Things got worse when Candis allegedly decided that they were going to build a deck onto her home, which was not part of the original plan. Her design for the kitchen eliminated the back door and severed access to the backyard, so her solution was to build the brand new porch from scratch, which she insisted was in the budget. Candis is pictured measuring the area of the deck At one point, Aubry said she noticed a 'drainage problem' and brought it to Candis attention via text (pictured). But, according to Aubry, it was never taken care of, and it resulted in a near-flood in her basement 'Her solution was to knock out a window, turn it into a door and build a deck. My first question was if building a deck was within budget. Candis told me she was sure she could fit it.' Aubry claimed that the men the Merediths hired to work on her house were 'unlicensed and uninsured.' During the process, she said she noticed a 'drainage problem' and told Candis, who allegedly said she would 'take care of it.' But, according to Aubry, it was never taken care of, and it resulted in a near-flood in her basement. And that was just one of the many mistakes they reportedly made. Aubry also claimed the crews would go MIA for weeks, adding that the Merediths jetted off to Paris and Mexico before finishing her home. By December, she said it was 'clear the entire project was in trouble.' 'Construction went completely quiet. No crews in sight. Ten days would go by between responses from Candis,' she said, recalling how she reached out to anyone she knew who was connected to the project. 'Its hard to articulate how vulnerable that place was to feel like I was being held captive in my own unearthed home while screaming and shouting for anyone to hear me but being ignored,' she said. She also claimed they built the deck (pictured) on top of sprinklers without rerouting them, never stained the the pine lumber, and constructed the stairs on top of mud without proper protection, causing them to rot During the construction, Aubry said crews would go MIA for weeks, and the Merediths even jetted off to Paris and Mexico before finishing her home. Her kitchen is pictured during various stages of production while the Merediths allegedly enjoyed a vacation Aubry said it soon became 'clear the entire project was in trouble.' Some of the original plans for the construction are pictured In February 2020, she was ready to quit the show when she was allegedly told that she owed the Merediths $40,000 $15,000 over her budget. Aubry claimed that the whole ordeal gave her panic attacks that resulted in hives all over her body. The kitchen was eventually completed, and they filmed a reveal for the show, but the deck was allegedly left unfinished. 'Ill never show the finished product [of the kitchen] on the internet because it cleans up nice and, with the right filter, is worthy of every wow and word of praise for everyone who doesnt have to live in it or had to live through what it took to get there,' she wrote. 'They planned to come back and finish staining the deck, stage some furniture and wed finish out filming the reveal. Except I never saw Candis again. 'As soon as the cameras cut, she turned to me and said, "I know this hasnt been an easy journey. I dont really care how things shake out from here, I just want you to love it." 'Im not sure what she meant by any of that, but I took it as, "Please dont talk bad about it/me." I never saw receipts, I never saw spreadsheets, we never discussed finances again.' Aubry claimed she was later sent bills that the Merediths never paid from Ikea and the flooring company they used. In February 2020, she was ready to quit the show when she was allegedly told that she owed the Merediths $40,000, which was $15,000 over her budget Aubry claimed that the whole ordeal gave her panic attacks that resulted in hives all over her body (pictured) The kitchen was eventually completed, and they filmed a reveal for the show (pictured). But after that, Aubry said she never saw Candis again and her deck was left unfinished Months later, she allegedly received a text from Candis, who said she 'didn't feel comfortable editing her episode unless everything was OK between them.' Aubry responded: 'We are fundamentally on different planes about acceptable practices and based on previous conversations, Im not sure we ever will be.' Seen are alleged screenshots of the messages Months later, she allegedly received a text from Candis, who said she 'didn't feel comfortable editing her episode unless everything was OK between them.' She said in her final message to the host, she told her she was 'not okay' and was 'still reeling from the remodel process.' 'You are welcome to use the footage for an episode if you need it, but I dont feel, in good conscious, that I can share in the excitement,' Aubry allegedly wrote to Candis. 'I hope youve learned lessons, improved processes, and made future home remodels run smoother, but my home and our relationship is simply a casualty of the actions of the last six months no matter how much either of us wish it went another way.' On Instagram, Candis claimed that she and her husband spent $32,000 of their own money to finish Aubry's kitchen and was blindsided by her comments. 'We are very proud of the work that went into this project,' she wrote. 'We revealed this space on February 20, 2020, and fully acknowledge that before this point in time there were hard conversations and misunderstandings about this project and budget, but we were absolutely under the impression that we had resolved those issues together. Aubry claimed she was later sent bills that the Merediths never paid from Ikea and the flooring company. Pictured is a photo of the bill she claims she was sent from Ikea Aubry said she will never show pictures of the finished product of the kitchen on the internet because 'it cleans up nice' and she doesn't want to give the Merediths any praise, but she did share some pictures of the chipped paint that the couple allegedly left without fixing On her own Instagram account, Candis responded to Aubrys accusations, claiming she and her husband spent $32,000 of their own money to finish her kitchen (pictured) She insisted there was 'never any indication' that Aubry was 'dissatisfied whatsoever' and that she was 'absolutely shocked and blindsided' by her final message. Pictured is the kitchen after Candis and Andy's renovations were complete 'If Aubry was unhappy at this point overall, we had no idea whatsoever.' Meanwhile, Vienna Goates alleged in her Instagram post that she paid the couple $50,000, but no work has been done on her house to date. The Merediths denied the allegations against them in an Instagram post, writing, 'We've seen stories that [have] been circulating, and although we cannot speak for anyone but ourselves, we can say that we have always tried to give everything we have to make anyone we work with happy. 'We will never take away their truth and how they are feeling. We can only say that there are two sides to every story and while we chose not to go public with our truth, because we know how hurtful this feels, we understand that only hearing one side can paint a negative picture. 'We ask that these threats and piling on without the full story stop, they are the same handful of stories spinning and spinning, looking like there are "so many" hurt people in our wake. 'So many believe that we are frauds, have hurt people intentionally, and that we are not who we say we are. That is simply not true.' Royal fans have gone wild over Charles Spencer's resemblance to a young Prince Harry, after the Earl shared a childhood sketch of himself to Instagram. The late Princess Diana's younger brother, 57, took to his Instagram to share a picture of their childhood home Althorp House, revealing a picture of himself as a boy in the grand library. The 9th Earl Spencer, is heir to the 90-room property in Northamptonshire, where he lives with his third wife, Karen, and their seven-year-old daughter Lady Charlotte Diana Spencer. Scroll down for video Lookalike uncle! Royal fans have gone wild over Charles Spencer's resemblance to a young Prince Harry, after the Earl shared a childhood sketch of himself to Instagram The sketch shows a young red-haired boy with delicate features much like those of his nephew Prince Harry, 37, seen above in 1990, aged six Taking to Instagram this week, the Earl shared a glimpse inside his home, writing: 'In a quiet corner of the Library at @althorphouse - above a childhood pastel of me, in fact - Ive just placed leather-bound copies of the eight books Ive written so far (another is on its way). 'I dont expect future generations to read them, but hopefully their handsome spines will blend in gently, in this most beautiful of rooms.' The sketch shows a young red-haired boy with delicate features much like those of his nephew Prince Harry, 37. Remarking on the resemblance, one follower wrote: 'I see princes George and Harry this photo', while another added: 'Harry is the spitting image.' Remarking on the resemblance, one follower wrote: 'I see princes George and Harry this photo', while another added: 'Harry is the spitting image.' Another agreed, writing: 'What a lovely room. I actually thought that was a young picture of Prince Harry', and one wrote: 'You and Harry are twins!'. 'I see princes George and Harry in this photo', one said and another added: The pastel of you also looks like Prince Harry'. Earl posts on Instagram and Twitter - where he boasts a combined 21,800 followers - show how he has been passing the time with early morning strolls. While the house itself offers plenty of room to roam around, the family also has 550 acres of land to explore. Earl Spencer inherited the family seat in Northamptonshire on the death of his father in 1992. Earl Spencer inherited the family seat in Northamptonshire on the death of his father in 1992 The late Princess Diana is seen with sons Prince William, then 10, and Prince Harry, then eight, in 1992 in Wales Prince Charles is seen with Prince Harry, aged one, in Kensington Palace Charles, 57, lives at the 90-room property Althorp House, with his third wife, Karen, and their seven-year-old daughter Lady Charlotte Diana Spencer Althorp boasts 500 years worth of art and family relics and is the final resting place of Princess Diana. Earl Spencer has previously said that the 20,000 annual visitors to the estate can be divided into two distinct groups - those who are interested in looking at the house, and others who come to pay their respects to his late sister. The aristocrat made headlines when he revealed he is likely to follow the practice of male primogeniture, a custom in which titles, as well as stately homes, are inherited by the eldest son. It means Althorp will likely be passed on to drama student Viscount Louis Spencer, 25, rather than to any of his three older daughters. Earl Spencer also has four children with his first wife, Lady Kitty Spencer, Lady Eliza Spencer, Lady Amelia Spencer, Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp, and two children with his second wife, Edmund Spencer and Lady Lara Spencer. London circa late 1980s. Charles Althorp (Earl Spencer) at Mirabelles Restaurant Mayfair After all she has endured at the hands of male doctors, Jean Hatchet couldn't be clearer. 'If there was a man and a woman, each similarly qualified in the area of medicine I needed, I would choose the woman,' says the 55-year-old former teacher from Sheffield. 'I look back in horror at what I've experienced over the years, and would never let a male medic touch my body now. At all.' Jean's ordeal began in November 2017 when a male radiographer carried out a 'rough' internal scan and failed to spot tumours that had developed in her ovaries, liver and bowel. She was eventually diagnosed six months later. Then, during the operation to remove the growths, one surgeon who also happened to be male suggested it was necessary to remove a section of her bowel and fit a stoma bag, which collects waste products outside the body. In many cases they are permanent and carry risks including serious infection and hernia. This was despite Jean's decision which she had put in writing before the procedure to refuse a stoma, whatever happened. Jean Hatchet's ordeal began in November 2017 when a male radiographer carried out a 'rough' internal scan and failed to spot tumours that had developed in her ovaries, liver and bowel. The 55-year-old former teacher from Sheffield was eventually diagnosed six months later Thankfully, her oncologist a woman was also present, and had 'fought her corner' to make sure her wishes were respected. 'After the surgery, I learned that because my amazing oncologist stuck it out he was forced to make that extra effort, and they managed to cut the tumour away without removing any of the bowel. 'She made him work harder when he wanted to take the easy route. I tell everyone: if you can, ask for a woman.' Jean's experience is, she believes, a good example of the different care patients can receive at the hands of a female surgeon. They are strong words, but is Jean right? Are there times a woman would be better off demanding a female doctor? A major study published this month suggests there might be. Canadian researchers looked at 1.3 million case reports and discovered something they rightly described as 'troubling': that women are 15 per cent more likely to have a bad outcome from surgery, and 32 per cent more likely to die, with a male surgeon. The type of operation doesn't seem to matter, the researchers found the same outcome held true for a knee op, weight-loss surgery or complex procedures on the brain or heart. A major study published this month suggests there might be. Canadian researchers looked at 1.3 million case reports and discovered something they rightly described as 'troubling': that women are 15 per cent more likely to have a bad outcome from surgery, and 32 per cent more likely to die, with a male surgeon (stock photo) For men, however, whether they had a male or female surgeon made no difference at all to their outcome. As about 80 per cent of surgeons are men, it raises the concerning prospect of a deep inequality at the heart of the NHS. As the study's authors put it: 'We are failing some female patients with fatal consequences.' The obvious question is why. The Canadian team suggested male surgeons may be acting on 'subconscious, deeply ingrained biases, stereotypes and attitudes'. Could this translate into a more freewheeling attitude towards female patients, or female conditions, and then worse outcomes? The sad truth is that it already does. For instance, the average time it takes to diagnosis endometriosis when the womb lining grows uncontrollably outside the womb in regions such as the pelvis or bowel is eight years. Many women with endometriosis are initially misdiagnosed or offered painkillers, and not investigated to find the real cause. Untreated, endometriosis can worsen to the point where patients are left with organ damage. In 2020, The Mail on Sunday reported on a landmark legal case in which endometriosis patient Fran Bell was awarded a record 500,000 payout from Nottingham University Hospitals after 'patronising and condescending' male doctors failed to spot the warning signs of the disease for 18 years. IT'S A FACT Female GPs earn 15 per cent less than their male counterparts on average, a 2021 independent review found. Advertisement Shockingly, they called her 'highly strung'. Having read about endometriosis, she suggested it to one of them but it was ignored. By the time she was diagnosed in her early 30s, the abnormal tissue was in her bowel and spine and on the sciatic nerve, which runs from the back down the legs. The disease had, in her words, 'obliterated' her insides, leaving her infertile. Most disturbingly, her solicitors suggested that her experience was 'not untypical'. And campaigners say other female conditions, such as polycystic ovary syndrome, or illnesses which predominantly affect women, such as painful fibromyalgia, are also under-researched and poorly understood. 'Women suffering pain are often labelled as attention-seeking, not very brave,' says Dr Stephanie deGiorgio, a GP specialising in women's health. 'Anyone who's ever had pelvic pain from endometriosis knows just getting up in the morning is really hard. Women's pain isn't seen as serious.' As for the disturbing findings of the Canadian study, Dr deGiorgio told the Medical Minefield podcast last week: 'There's clearly something going wrong. I wouldn't like to say that it's male doctors doing something wrong, but it might be something to do with communication. It might be that there is easier communication between a female patient and a female doctor.' This is backed up by research. One recent study found women GPs had better clinical knowledge and used their listening skills more regularly than men, asking more questions about patients' mood, loneliness, relationships or about recent bereavements which could pick up hidden clues to health problems. Other US-based research, which involved observing consultations, has found male GPs interrupt their patients after just 47 seconds, whereas female doctors waited on average nearly three minutes. The effects go beyond letting patients feel cared for. Studies have shown patients who feel 'listened to' suffer less severe pain, less anxiety and are more likely to take medication. This empathy itself can be life-saving, as an Oxford University report in 2017 found. 'Unfriendly doctors are less likely to get enough information from patients to make the right diagnosis or prescribe the right treatments,' it said. 'One study even showed unempathetic doctors cause harm by scaring patients away from medical care when they need it.' Of course, no one would suggest male doctors were, by default, unempathetic. However, it isn't difficult to gather anecdotes from women who felt male doctors had failed spectacularly to understand their problems. Rowena Jeffries believes she is a case in point. The 30-year-old from Hackney, East London, has had six cervical examinations colposcopies over the past few years to investigate abnormal cervical smear-test results and check for the presence of pre-cancerous cells. On two occasions she had a male doctor and both of these examinations left her feeling 'traumatised and vulnerable'. Rowena, who runs an analytics company, tells the podcast: 'One accidentally cut me when putting in the speculum, which made me bleed, and then accused me of being on my period. 'His tone was incredibly accusatory, which made me feel a lot of shame, especially when you're in such a vulnerable position. 'The other took multiple biopsies, and the nurse could see I was in pain and crying. Halfway through she had to ask him to stop and use an anaesthetic. He tried to continue before it had time to work, and she had to ask him again to wait.' Female doctors treated her differently, she says. 'The women talked me through the process, checked I was OK, and paused when I needed pain relief. IT'S A FACT Women suffering with the common pelvic-pain condition endometriosis wait on average seven to nine years before being diagnosed. Advertisement 'With the male consultants it felt a lot more transactional, and they didn't seem to take consideration for what I was feeling.' Asked if men should not carry out such procedures, Rowena says: 'All doctors are professionals and equally qualified to do it. But I'm definitely going to request a female doctor, as they do seem to show more empathy. For male doctors, who don't have a womb, maybe they don't empathise with the vulnerability and pain of this seemingly routine procedure.' Jean points out it's 'a language and humour issue, too'. 'You can laugh about your vagina being a bit shorter than other people's with a woman doctor,' she says. 'It's uncomfortable talking about and having procedures on your reproductive system, and humour can make a difficult situation more bearable. You can't joke about that kind of thing with a man.' Female empathy may also help with surgery. Experts suggest female doctors might be better at persuading patients to prepare for surgery such as by losing weight or making lifestyle changes which can affect how successful it is. But it doesn't wholly explain why female patients have such worse outcomes with male surgeons. Communication and working style might play a significant role in the operating theatre itself. Dr Clare Gerada, past president of the Royal College of General Practitioners, suggests female-led surgical teams can be more collegiate and therefore perform better. Evidence shows team-working and good patient preparation can cut the risk of surgical complications by 50 per cent. 'In a crisis, I'd rather be operated on by a female surgeon than a male one,' says Dr Gerada. 'Women tend to work as part of a group than as an individual, as a man might be more inclined to do.' Women are 'probably not' simply better at surgery than men, Dr deGiorgio suggests. But the challenges women face in reaching the top may mean that the ones who do are the very best or at least the most determined. Surgery is traditionally a male-dominated field, and women still report 'endemic misogyny', being belittled by male doctors and bullied by more senior staff, as well as being overlooked for promotion. The hours are also long, often unpredictable and not compatible with family life. Dr Gerada explains: 'Any female surgeon who succeeds is likely to be the absolute creme de la creme. 'Surgery has the longest training and the most unpredictable working hours. So it may be those women who do stick it out and succeed in this area may have something quite extraordinary about them which translates into better results.' A Government consultation on women's experiences in the NHS recently found the system often fails to listen to women and keep them safe. A strategy for women's health will be published in spring, and a 'woman's health ambassador' appointed to deliver changes. The consultation follows similar concerns raised in inquiries into rogue breast surgeon Ian Paterson who was jailed for 20 years in 2017 for a catalogue of botched operations and into the use of pregnancy test drug Primodos, epilepsy medication sodium valproate and the devastating impact of vaginal mesh implants. In all cases, women's concerns were ignored. Dr deGiorgio says: 'What we really need to do is get a lot more female doctors into senior level so that we can make sure they can influence the system.' This will not be quick. In the meantime, experts agree that women should be able to request a female doctor. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists says hospitals will 'do their best' if a woman requests a female medic. But in practice, there are simply not enough of them and insisting may mean women wait weeks or months for an appointment. 'There is no harm is asking,' adds Dr deGiorgio. 'But it might not always be possible. This isn't ideal, but is unfortunately the way the health service is at the moment.' Any female surgeon who succeeds is likely to be the absolute creme de la creme which translates into better results. It started with the faintest itch at the back of my throat, the Wednesday before last. As a health reporter, Ive been writing about Covid for almost two years now, and I was well aware I wasnt suffering an official listed symptom. But I was also aware, from other research, that roughly half of people with Omicron are getting common cold symptoms. So, just to be on the safe side, I grabbed a rapid lateral flow test from the kitchen cupboard and swabbed my nose. Negative. The almost imperceptible yet niggling symptom continued. And something in the back of my mind wasnt convinced I was in the clear. On New Years Eve, Id attended a dinner party, and two of the guests tested positive afterwards. As per the guidelines, Id started testing daily. All negative. It started with the faintest itch at the back of my throat, the Wednesday before last. As a health reporter, writes Eve Simmons, Ive been writing about Covid for almost two years now, and I was well aware I wasnt suffering an official listed symptom (stock photo) The scratchy throat wouldnt budge, so I asked The Mail on Sundays Dr Ellie Cannon what I should do. Get a PCR test, she said. So, armed with this recommendation from a doctor (I would not have been eligible otherwise), on Thursday, January 6, I did. The next morning I got the result: positive. Text messages from Test and Trace instructed me to self-isolate. Id need to do so for ten days from when my symptoms began but could come out of isolation on day seven if Id recorded two negative lateral flow tests, 24 hours apart (that isolation period is being cut to five days from tomorrow). But heres the thing: Id taken a lateral flow test the day I got my positive PCR result and it had been negative. I took another, having a good dig around inside my nose, just to be sure. Negative. To confuse matters more, two days later I took another lateral flow test and it was positive, and remained so until day ten of my isolation (at this point, you can go back outside, masked, regardless of your test results). Public services are grinding to a halt as people isolate. Its time for a rethink So what on earth was going on? With time on my hands I wasnt ill, just a bit sniffly I decided to ask the experts. And they said I am a perfect example of why, at this time when Covid is very much endemic a common virus we have to live with our current approach to testing, and trying to pick up and isolate as many cases as possible, might no longer be appropriate. The Government guidance for testing is out of date, says Dr Julian Tang, virologist at the University of Leicester. Its not suitable for a highly vaccinated population, or for dealing with Omicron. Despite my positive PCR result, Dr Tang says its likely that my negative lateral flow test results meant I wasnt contagious. PCR tests are highly sensitive, he explains. The viral genetic material PCRs pick up can be present either way before or way after you are infectious. Lateral flows, which detect a certain protein in the virus, are the best way of identifying Covid when a person is infectious. Lateral flows, which detect a certain protein in the virus, are the best way of identifying Covid when a person is infectious (stock photo) Dr Tang says: If youre testing negative on lateral flows consistently, with mild symptoms like yours, theres no need for a PCR test for the average person. Studies show that, as with other respiratory viruses, the most contagious period for Covid is actually a few days prior to symptoms. The virus infects cells in the upper airways, makes many copies of itself and begins to shed, potentially spreading to others as we breathe. But Dr Tang says that for many of those who have had three doses of a vaccine as I have this period of infectiousness will be exceptionally short. Immune system cells created by your jabs can come along quickly and neutralise the virus before it has a chance to shed, he explains. Its likely that you cleared the live virus within a day or so, which is why the lateral flow tests you did earlier on didnt pick it up. Perhaps that explains why I didnt pass the virus on to a single person, including my mother, with whom I shared a changing room during my supposedly most contagious period, and my partner. So what about the later positive results, five days into my infection? What did they mean? The most plausible explanation, according to the scientists I spoke to, is the tests were detecting viral proteins bound up in my immune systems fighter cells, and I was still not likely to infect anyone. Studies have shown that, for this reason, even lateral flow tests can give a positive result weeks after symptoms stop. Had I isolated unnecessarily? Ultimately, it doesnt matter much, because I can do my job from home or the office. But with public services seemingly grinding to a halt as so many people isolate, its clear there needs to be a rethink. The day after my positive PCR, I did a lateral flow test negative! Now that the virus is endemic, some say it may even be time to do away with routine lateral flow testing for those without symptoms. The idea behind asking people to do these tests before going to work, or to an event, was to try to catch Covid cases during that period when its most contagious. This was to slow the spread, but the guidance was put in place pre-vaccine rollout and pre-Omicron. Were in a different world now. We need to start treating Covid-19 like flu or any other respiratory virus, says Professor Robert Dingwall, a sociologist from Nottingham Trent University and a former Government adviser. You stay at home if you dont feel well, but you dont keep testing yourself to find out exactly what virus you have. People who are obsessive and feel the need to test all the time can buy lateral flow devices but they arent necessary for everyone. There is a second possibility, that the lateral flow test I did at the start of my infection issued whats known as a false negative in other words, it was wrong. Lateral flow tests vary in method. Some devices require you to swab both the nose and throat, others just the nose. Mine was a nose-only one. And nasal swabs, it turns out, are not as efficient at picking up the Omicron variant. Recent US studies have found that Omicron viral cells replicate faster in the throat than they do in the nasal cavity, which is certainly worth knowing. Dr Tang says: Id recommend swabbing both the nose and the throat, regardless of the instructions on the test packet. It was when I did this that the lateral flow test came back with a positive result. So did I even need to know my extremely mild cold was Covid? Probably not, but well never know for sure and, at present, the advice is to continue to follow the rules. And as frustrating as it was, being stuck in for ten days solid, at least I got a lot of washing done. Continuing Covid prevalence means many still don't feel safe to go outside Debbie Carol has left her house twice in 22 months once for a hospital visit, and once to get married. The 69-year-old former college lecturer from London has not entered a shop, eaten in a restaurant or gone to the cinema in that time. Nor has she hugged her two children or two grandchildren. 'I rarely even go for walks,' she says. 'There's a school at the end of my road and it's always so busy out there. Most of the time I feel too terrified to leave the house.' Debbie suffers from chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, a form of blood cancer that affects the immune system. While her condition is stable she isn't currently undergoing treatment it means she's prone to infections. It's why she, along with about two million other Britons identified by the NHS as being extremely vulnerable to Covid, were told to shield at the start of the pandemic. Officially, shielding ended in September. But there is a group who remain high-risk the estimated 500,000 Britons with a weakened immune system. Dan Baker (right), 25, from Warwickshire, received a kidney transplant in October and was told by doctors he needed to keep shielding because he is vulnerable to Covid. This was the strictest of stay-at-home orders they were told not to leave the house, even to exercise. It was a vital step, but psychologically arduous. Officially, shielding ended in September. Thanks to the vaccines and a better understanding of who Covid hits the hardest, swathes of those previously at high risk are no longer deemed to be so and can breathe a sigh of relief. But there is a group who remain high-risk the estimated 500,000 Britons with a weakened immune system. This group, known as immunocompromised, includes, along with cancer patients such as Debbie, transplant patients who rely on medication to suppress their immune system to stop their bodies rejecting donor organs, which renders the Covid vaccine less effective. Many still don't feel safe to go outside And with Covid so prevalent one in 15 people in England, one in 20 in Scotland and Wales, and one in 25 in Northern Ireland have the virus, according to the latest Office for National Statistics data many of them still don't feel safe to go outside. 'I've shielded for nearly two years and I'm not going to stop now,' says Debbie, who lives with her husband Ray Miller, 66, a retired IT technician. 'I look at the thousands and thousands of cases in London and it makes me scared. They say Omicron is mild but I don't fancy taking that risk.' Also in a similar position is Dan Baker, 25, from Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, having received a kidney transplant in October. He was told to shield after he suffered kidney failure in December 2020 and began dialysis treatment which leaves patients more vulnerable to Covid. 'The doctors say I will have to keep shielding for a while,' says Dan, who works for an online learning firm. Some doctors believe the arrival of the less-severe Omicron variant will allow the immunocompromised to live more normal lives (stock photo) 'All my colleagues are going back to the office, but I'm still at home. People find it hard to understand that even though I've had my vaccines, it's still not safe for me to go out. My friends keep asking if I want to do something, but I have to say no. Some don't ask any more.' According to Kidney Care UK, about a third of the patients it speaks to are still shielding. 'And another third are still taking precautions, such as avoiding crowds and wearing masks at all times outside the house,' says Fiona Loud, the charity's chief executive. 'It feels like everyone is ready to move on from Covid and return to normal, but people who are clinically vulnerable are not out of the woods yet.' Doctors agree that Covid still presents a serious risk to many immunocompromised people. UK studies found that after two doses of the vaccine, just a third of blood-cancer patients developed Covid-fighting antibodies defensive cells created by the immune system that stop infections from entering the body leaving them highly vulnerable to the virus. IT'S A FACT Of the Britons who are unlikely to respond well to vaccines, nearly half are blood-cancer patients. Advertisement Doctors were relieved when, late last month, scientists at the Francis Crick Institute and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in London found that after a third dose, the protection level rose to nearly three-quarters, and they are hopeful that a fourth dose, which was offered to these patients last month, will increase levels of antibodies further. Last week a French study found many kidney-transplant patients who had failed to respond to three doses recorded a 'satisfactory antibody response' to a fourth. However, experts stress that for many, protection is still weak, and they have not ruled out a fifth jab. 'This group will almost certainly need additional boosters,' says Dr Samra Turajlic, consultant medical oncologist at The Royal Marsden. 'How often and which ones will depend on the data.' And there are patients who don't respond, even after four vaccines, says Professor Liz Lightstone, a kidney specialist at Imperial College London. She adds: 'This means they might be completely unprotected.' For this reason, the NHS launched a nationwide programme last month that aims to offer immunocompromised people who catch Covid rapid access to drugs designed to fight the disease and reduce the severity of symptoms. These include sotrovimab, shown to reduce hospitalisation and death by nearly 80 per cent, and molnupiravir, shown to reduce hospitalisations and death by a third. Those identified by the NHS as eligible are sent a letter confirming their status and a box of PCR tests to be taken if they develop symptoms. If they test positive, they will be contacted by a clinician who will prescribe one of the treatments. However, many patients who should be eligible report that they have not yet been contacted. Carol McCullough, 60, from County Armagh, had a kidney transplant last year and has been shielding ever since. The retired nurse took an antibody test after her third Covid vaccine last October, which showed she had not developed any defensive cells capable of fighting off the virus. She says: 'I only really ever leave the house to go to my hospital appointments. I get my groceries and drugs delivered to my door.' Despite this, Carol, who lives alone, has yet to receive any information about access to drug treatments. 'No one I know in Northern Ireland who should have has had any information,' she says. Prof Lightstone says the problem is that patient lists are not up to date. She adds: 'People with new transplants or new diseases are not being added to the lists, so there are lots of people out there who are unaware of what to do.' If immunocompromised patients test positive for the virus but have not received their letter, the advice is to contact their GP. Doctors also say that some patients have such severely impacted immune systems that they cannot fight off the virus even with the new drugs. Professor Alex Richter, an immunologist at the University of Birmingham, reveals that she has treated several immunocompromised people who are still fighting Covid more than six months after becoming infected. Whats the difference... between T cells and antibodies? Both of them are vital features of the immune system that help the body to fight off infections. Antibodies are proteins that the body produces in response to a bacteria or virus. They are able to recognise proteins on the intruder cells, and latch on to stop them from infecting healthy cells and spreading through the body. T cells are the body's fighter cells, which recognise material deep within the invader's cells. An attack from T cells can be sufficient to defeat a virus if a person lacks antibodies, either naturally or from a vaccine. Advertisement She says: 'Their immune systems are too weak to destroy the virus, so it stays in their body. Most of them are not severely ill but they remain infectious, meaning they have to isolate.' Doctors now believe the best option for the severely immunocompromised are drugs designed to be taken even before the patient develops Covid. Experts are particularly excited about one called Evushield, created by vaccine maker AstraZeneca. It is a combination of two drugs that provide the body with artificial antibodies and has been shown in trials to reduce the risk of symptomatic Covid by 77 per cent. Early US trials, in which immunocompromised patients were tested, reported no severe cases of Covid or any Covid-related deaths. It is already approved for use in the US and France. Doctors are now rushing to recruit immunocompromised volunteers for a UK trial in the hope it could be rolled out to those who have failed to mount an immune response to vaccines. 'Drugs like this really are the only feasible way back to normality for these patients,' says Prof Lightstone. However, she also says the earliest Evushield could be rolled out in the UK is next year. What should the immunocompromised do in the meantime? Prof Richter says they should 'take precautions', adding: 'This means masking, meeting people outside where possible, and avoiding crowded spaces such as public transport.' Gemma Peters, chief executive of Blood Cancer UK, believes the Government now needs to consider financial support for immunocompromised people who are still in work. She says: 'There are many people with blood cancer who can't work from home and have to go into busy places such as cafes where they run the risk of catching Covid. 'It's not right that they are asked to put their lives at risk at a time when the infection rate is so high, so the Government needs to provide these people with some financial protection, at least in the short run.' Some doctors believe the arrival of the less-severe Omicron variant will allow the immunocompromised to live more normal lives. 'At our hospital we had more than 150 kidney-transplant patients catch Omicron in December, and very few were seriously ill,' says Prof Lightstone. 'That does not mean everyone is safe, but compared to the horrible number of deaths we saw in the first wave, it's a step in the right direction.' New Covid rules mean return of lone birth anguish ByEve Simmons Deputy Health Editor For The Mail On Sunday Thousands of pregnant women face giving birth alone thanks to renewed Covid restrictions in hospitals. One in five women have been told that if they catch Covid, they will have to endure labour without their partners, according to a new survey of 7,000 women who have used maternity services in the past two months. This contradicts NHS guidance, which states: 'Birth partners can stay for the duration and continue to offer support during labour.' The research, seen exclusively by The Mail on Sunday, also revealed that a quarter of partners were not able to visit the ward after birth, despite testing negative for Covid. And more than a third of partners were banned from pre-birth scans and appointments. Thousands of pregnant women face giving birth alone thanks to renewed Covid restrictions in hospitals (stock photo) One mother said her husband was asked to leave immediately after birth, while another couple said they had shut themselves inside for a month to avoid catching Covid after being told that if either one caught the virus, the woman would undergo labour alone. 'Restrictions in antenatal care have been the biggest stress of my pregnancy,' said one woman, due in February. 'I may have to go through labour in hospital without my loved one. But if I gave birth in the pub or supermarket, I could invite who I liked.' The Mail on Sunday was among the first to call for an end to the birth rules adopted by NHS trusts in spring 2020. That September, we launched a campaign to end the practice, which led to many women discovering devastating news, such as a miscarriage, alone. In April 2021, NHS England issued updated guidance for trusts, following pressure from campaigners, to stop lone births amid falling Covid cases. The following month, The MoS revealed that all NHS hospitals had adopted the policy, but last month we warned that restrictions had returned, amid rising Omicron cases. The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust in Essex has now ruled all women must attend antenatal appointments alone. Joeli Brearly, of charity Pregnant Then Screwed, which conducted the research, said: 'These rules are not only unnecessary but are contributing to mental health problems in expectant mothers. Stress during pregnancy can cause problems for a baby. The current set-up is failing everyone.' Dr Jo Mountfield, vice-president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: 'We urge trusts to use innovative approaches to ensure partners can be included at all stages of the maternity journey. 'We would also support rapid testing of birth partners so they can spend more time on wards.' 'If I gave birth in the pub I could invite anyone I liked' Too much lip filler makes you look like a duck so chimes the voiceover, rather bluntly, of one advert. 'The good news is, it's simple to undo.' 'Not happy with your lip filler? Then reverse the result,' advises another, from a cosmetic clinic on video-sharing app TikTok. 'An eraser enzyme instantly dissolves the filler [and can return] your lips to their natural shape and form.' For the uninitiated, lip fillers are medical-grade gels that are injected into the lips. They sit beneath the skin and add volume, creating a plump, pillowy pout. Once the preserve of wealthy middle-aged women looking for an anti-ageing pick-me-up, the number of twentysomethings and teens undergoing the procedure has soared over the past five years, no doubt inspired by sexually charged images of social-media celebrities and reality TV stars who've had the jabs. One recent survey of 18-to-24-year-olds suggested that as many as seven per cent of this age group had undergone a cosmetic lip enhancement, while a staggering 68 per cent said they knew someone who had. A recent survey of 18-to-24-year-olds suggested that as many as seven per cent of this age group had undergone a cosmetic lip enhancement, while a staggering 68 per cent said they knew someone who had Yet experts have warned they are now having to tackle a 'tsunami' of unhappy patients with botched or abnormal-looking results who are desperate to have lip filler removed. So is it, as another advertisement claims, possible 'to start over'? The answer, worryingly, is that it can be far more risky than they make out. The drug that must be injected into lips to dissolve filler gel can also destroy healthy tissue, leaving cavities, irregularities and other deformities, cosmetic doctors have told The Mail on Sunday. If carried out by a well qualified injector, the procedure is safe and effective. But in the wrong hands, both lip fillers, and the jabs given to remove them, can leave patients permanently disfigured, they warn. Recently, a number of reality TV stars have spoken publicly about having their lip fillers reduced, claiming they've decided to go for 'a natural look'. Last year Love Island contestant Molly-Mae Hague, 22, boasted she had spent thousands having procedures, including jaw and lip fillers, reversed. Experts have warned they are now having to tackle a 'tsunami' of unhappy patients with botched or abnormal-looking results who are desperate to have lip filler removed. One woman, Daniella Bolton, 24, from Edinburgh, recently needed treatment with steroid medication after her lips ballooned to '20 times their normal size'. She'd first had her lips enhanced when she was 17 something that would now be illegal, as offering cosmetic jabs to under-18s was banned in October and in a YouTube video that's been viewed more than two million times claimed she did not miss her 'lumpy, bumpy horrible filler'. A few months earlier, Kylie Jenner, 24, a member of the reality TV Kardashian clan who has more than 300 million followers on Instagram, admitted the reason she was looking different in photos was 'because I got rid of all my filler' sparking a slew of magazine articles proclaiming 'the end of lip injections'. However, it's not always possible to reverse lip-filler procedures, warns Dr Raj Acquilla, who runs cosmetic clinics in London and Cheshire. He says he regularly sees young women who have 'realised what they've done doesn't suit their face'. My advice to young women? Don't have your lips done in the first place He adds: 'They feel ashamed at what they've done to themselves, and are desperate to look normal again, but in many cases we have to tell them there's only so much we can do to help.' While he isn't against the use of lip fillers, Dr Acquilla continues: 'One problem I see often is a uniform amount of filler injected throughout both lips, giving them an abnormal sausage-like appearance, rather than the natural heart shape they should have.' And poorly applied lip filler isn't just a cosmetic issue. He says: 'Big duck lips that project outwards look unnatural, but they can also affect the function of the mouth. Some patients can't form certain words properly. And expressions can become warped the corners of the mouth turn up but the lips don't move.' He calls this 'a Joker smile', after the grotesque, clown-like villain in the Batman comics and films. A big part of the problem, he says, is that most lip filler procedures are being carried out perfectly legally by practitioners with little or no training. Lip fillers are classified as implants, so don't need to be prescribed as medicines do. In 2019, Ashley booked in for a new kind of lip-filler procedure, dubbed 'Russian lips', in which extra filler is injected into the centre of the lips to accentuate the cupid's bow giving a Russian-doll-like look, hence the name. She immediately regretted it. Pictured: Ashley before, posing with her enhanced pout Ashley paid about 250 for her Russian lips procedure but 3,000 for three appointments at the end of last year with Dr Acquilla to have them dissolved. Pictured: Ashley after, now with a natural look Research suggests up to eight in ten of those offering the injections are beauticians or people with no medical experience. Other investigations have found jabs being offered in gyms and leisure centres, hair salons and even living rooms, usually at a fraction of what a private doctor or nurse would charge. And many, it would seem, now offer treatments they say will 'fix sausage lips' and 'correct ugly results' promoting their services directly on social media. Patients post 'lip filler dissolving journey' videos, often mentioning the name of their beautician on TikTok there are seemingly endless posts tagged 'lipdissolve' and similar with claims such as 'my lips were completely free of filler and no longer swollen in two days', and 'I had my old filler dissolved and redone'. IT'S A FACT Love Island's 2021 series sparked a 37 per cent rise in enquiries for lip fillers, a British analysis of Google searches found. Advertisement The most commonly used lip filler is a jelly-like substance called hyaluronic acid, a man-made version of a naturally occurring compound found in the skin and cartilage where it provides moisture and suppleness. It can be broken down in minutes by injecting the drug hyaluronidase. But inexpert lip dissolving can be even more disastrous than badly done filler, warns Dr Acquilla. 'Hyaluronidase can break down healthy lip tissue, as well as the filler. If it's not done right it can leave patients with irregular shaped lips and even cavities as if bites have been taken out of the face. 'These poor girls go for dissolving treatment because they feel bad about the way fillers have made them look, and are left in even more of a state.' Women who are unhappy with hyaluronic acid filler results can play a waiting game the gel is naturally reabsorbed by the body over six months to a year. However, things may never look the way they did. In these cases, the only option is to keep filling. 'We can help women look more normal, but some will need reconstructive treatment for the rest of their life,' continues Dr Acquilla. 'Filler expands the tissue, so the lips might be left looking stretched and baggy. Filler also stimulates the production of scar tissue inside the lips, which can cause permanent thickening and lumps which would have to be cut out. Many patients aren't aware that if they have lip fillers, the results can't always be fully reversed.' His patient Ashley Stobart is a case in point. The 31-year-old, an aesthetic practitioner at a cosmetic clinic, began having lip fillers when she was 18. 'I wasn't unhappy with the way I looked I just wanted to be a better version of myself,' says the mother-of-one from Cheshire. In 2019, Ashley booked in for a new kind of lip-filler procedure, dubbed 'Russian lips', in which extra filler is injected into the centre of the lips to accentuate the cupid's bow giving a Russian-doll-like look, hence the name. She immediately regretted it. Last year Love Island contestant Molly-Mae Hague, 22, boasted she had spent thousands having procedures, including jaw and lip fillers, reversed She adds: 'I did it on a whim. I'd seen pictures on social media, and I'm always one to follow a trend. It was done by a nurse at a well-known cosmetic clinic but they looked just horrific. 'Absolutely low-rent porn-star vulgar. At work and I could see people thinking, "What's she done to her face?" It was so embarrassing, especially as I work in the industry. I should have known better.' Ashley paid about 250 for her Russian lips procedure but 3,000 for three appointments at the end of last year with Dr Acquilla to have them dissolved. The inner structure of her lips has been permanently damaged by the fillers, which made reconstructing a 'natural' shape a tricky procedure. She will need to have filler injected for the rest of her life in order to look normal. 'The skin above my top lip has been stretched by the weight of having fillers for so long, too,' adds Ashley, who uses her social-media channels to warn about the pitfalls of cosmetic treatments. It was embarrassing. I could see people thinking, 'What's she done to her face?' 'I'll probably need a lip lift to fix it at some point. My advice to young people is: don't have your lips done.' Lip-dissolving jabs can also cause severe allergic reactions, and again on TikTok there are dozens of videos showing the dramatic swelling that can occur. One woman, Daniella Bolton, 24, from Edinburgh, recently needed treatment with steroid medication after her lips ballooned to '20 times their normal size'. Dr Nyla Raja runs a chain of cosmetic clinics and has recently set up a service offering free treatment to women aged 18 to 20 who have suffered botched procedures they can't afford to get fixed. She says: 'We're seeing a tsunami of patients with lips that are badly done or just far too big for their face. The truth is, many will be left with lifelong changes, such as lumps or lax skin. There was this obsession, fuelled by reality stars like the Kardashians and shows like Love Island, that bigger lips meant more beautiful. 'We've always advised women away from anything that will leave them looking overdone, but other clinics don't. 'Now they're coming to us asking for a more natural look, but reducing lip filler isn't simple.' Lip filler, injected wrongly, can cause serious complications. Bruising and swelling are common, as are hard lumps known as granulomas. More concerning is when filler either presses on a facial blood vessel, indirectly blocking it, or worse, is accidentally injected into the blood vessel itself. This can lead to tissue death, known as necrosis. In rare cases, facial fillers have migrated into the blood vessels around the eyes, blocking them and leading to blindness. Experts say it is vital that anyone injecting filler is medically qualified to treat problems should they arise. One of Dr Raja's patients, Natalie Murphy, narrowly avoided having to have her top lip removed after she suffered a blocked blood vessel when she had her lip filler dissolved, then refilled, by a beautician. IT'S A FACT Complaints about botched procedures had jumped nearly ten-fold in five years from 217 in 2016, to 2,083, say charity Save Face Advertisement The 35-year-old business development manager from Liverpool started having fillers aged 25 but in recent years, she felt trends had changed. 'Girls in Liverpool used to get dolled up to go out on a Saturday night, but now it's fine to wear jeans and heels. 'And if you look at the vibe of people on Instagram, especially after lockdown, it's more relaxed and undone. I just felt my lips were a bit much the look didn't sit right any more.' Most cosmetic doctors charge 300 to 400 for lip fillers, and a similar amount to dissolve them. Beauticians charge as little as 180 for both procedure. In October, Natalie opted to get rid of her 'big' lips and then have filler reinstated over two sessions to give a more natural look. She says: 'The night after I had the new filler put in, I noticed the skin above my top lip, just to the left of the middle, was darker. I called the beautician and sent her a picture, but she said it was probably just a bruise.' When it didn't go away, Natalie, still worried, called Dr Raja's clinic. 'She asked me to come in straight away.' Fillers were blocking a blood vessel above Natalie's lip, compromising the blood supply. Dr Raja injected dissolving agent, and disaster was narrowly averted. 'If Natalie had left it much longer, the tissue would have started to die and she'd have lost her lip,' she explains. 'I've seen some terrible cosmetic results from poorly done dissolving women with dents in their faces.' Last year MPs warned that a 'complete absence' of regulation for beauty treatments such as Botox and fillers was putting the public at risk. The All Party Parliamentary Group on Beauty, Aesthetics and Wellbeing urged the Government to address the problem after the year-long inquiry that examined, among other things, the 'serious issue' of misleading advertising and posts on social media. Yet it's not the first time concerns have been raised. A decade ago, after a campaign by this newspaper, a Government-backed inquiry came to a similar conclusion. The General Medical Council and Royal College of Surgeons among others were tasked with setting standards expected of those undertaking aesthetic procedures, including non-surgical ones. Why, then, has the problem festered? Former medical director of NHS England Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, who led the 2013 review, says: 'It was clear then this was a time bomb waiting to go off, but the Government wasn't keen to bring in unnecessary, heavy-handed regulation at that time. 'These procedures are increasingly popular and some pretty dodgy practices are putting people at real risk. So the question is, how long can we afford to wait before clamping down?' Plastic surgeon Simon Withey, who sat on the review board, agrees: 'The idea was to set standards for anyone offering cosmetic treatments, and set up registers of properly qualified practitioners. It was hoped patients would choose wisely. 'But it hasn't worked. I don't think the message got out that these are risky procedures and I don't think people who want to have them look at Government websites anyway. It may be time to make registration mandatory.' In the meantime, Dr Acquilla says the best thing is not to have unnaturally large lip fillers in the first place: 'Often, it's the first thing that young women have done, and it upsets the natural harmony of the face. 'It's a bit like putting a huge sofa in a small room it's just going to look weird.' To find qualified cosmetic therapists, visit saveface.co.uk. A couple visits the promenade on a bridge over the Huangpu River in Shanghai, in this March 5, 2021, file photo. AFP-Yonhap In yesterday's Daily Mail, in the first part of an exclusive series about how to beat insomnia, renowned consultant neurologist and sleep expert Professor Guy Leschziner told how the pandemic has been driving another global health crisis: an epidemic of sleep problems. He explained how the most extreme forms of insomnia can lead to depression, type 2 diabetes, heart trouble and even Alzheimer's. But it's not all bad news. Today, in the second of his four-part series which continues in tomorrow's Daily Mail, Prof Leschziner shares the latest research on techniques for dealing with sleeplessness, outlining an approach that holds the key to a better night's sleep. Over 15 years as a neurologist specialising in sleep, I've treated every disorder under the sun (or perhaps I should say moon). I've helped people plagued by night-terrors that make them scared to go to bed, and teenagers who cannot wake up before early evening. And yet, fascinating and frustrating as these rare cases can be, the one sleep disturbance everyone wants to discuss is insomnia: chronic trouble sleeping. There's no doubt that the pandemic has exacerbated this problem, with evidence that those who've caught Covid, and many who haven't, have suffered sleep issues following the strain the pandemic has put on our minds and bodies. There's no doubt that the pandemic has exacerbated chronic trouble sleeping, with evidence that those who've caught Covid, and many who haven't, have suffered sleep issues following the strain the pandemic has put on our minds and bodies (stock photo) Although we are hopefully moving into a post-Covid era, more people than ever are having difficulty trying to re-establish refreshing and continuous sleep. There is little else more demoralising, and lonely, or that saps away more at quality of life, than chronic sleeplessness. Tossing and turning in the dead of night, it's easy to become afraid. You may fear not falling asleep for yet another night, that you will feel terrible tomorrow, or worry that your insomnia is untreatable or harming your health. Indeed, sleep deprivation can be a precursor to serious conditions: lowered immunity, heart problems, depression, type 2 diabetes and possibly even dementia. But as I explained in the first part of this series I've devised exclusively for readers of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, the vast majority of insomnia sufferers are not at risk of these long-term dangers. Insomnia can take many forms, and be miserable and stressful to battle with, but only a minority with the problem have the 'risky' sort ('short sleep duration' insomnia) that leads to serious health problems. I've helped people plagued by night-terrors that make them scared to go to bed, and teenagers who cannot wake up before early evening. And yet, fascinating and frustrating as these rare cases can be, the one sleep disturbance everyone wants to discuss is insomnia: chronic trouble sleeping, writes Professor Guy Leschziner Not only is their sleep severely curtailed (to under five hours a night), but they experience notable physical changes in their stress hormone levels and heart rate, for instance. You won't know if you suffer this type of insomnia unless monitored in a sleep lab but, based on scientific evidence, it's clear that most people with insomnia don't sleep as badly as they think. Indeed, we're not always good judges of our own sleep. It's not uncommon for individuals, after a night observed in the sleep lab, to think they've had only a few minutes' sleep across the whole night. But looking at their brainwaves, I've seen that they've had more sleep than I did! Drugs can lead to troubling withdrawal effects and anxiety For most insomniacs, sleep might be broken and they may take time to nod off. But, still, they're usually getting a decent amount of sleep, particularly the deeper stages of sleep. We call this type of insomnia sleeping normally despite feeling you've not slept a wink paradoxical insomnia. Once, this was considered to be primarily a psychological phenomenon but we're beginning to understand there may be underlying neurological processes that explain it. We know that we don't necessarily achieve the same degree of sleep in the whole of the brain at the same time. It's possible for parts of the brain to be wakeful while others are in very deep sleep. That occurs in conditions such as sleepwalking, for example. So it could be that, in patients with paradoxical insomnia, some area of the brain responsible for awareness is not 'switching off' to the same extent as the rest of the brain, so they feel they were awake all night. There really is such thing as 'half-asleep' or half-awake. Other patients may take hours to drift off, or wake several times during the night and feel wretched. But one relatively safe, temporary option to deal with insomnia is melatonin, a man-made version of the 'sleepy' hormone that occurs naturally in the brain to help control sleep patterns. The body produces melatonin just after it gets dark and continues through the night (stock photo) Even so, they spend enough time asleep to enjoy an adequate amount of deep, slow-wave sleep thought to be where the majority of the restorative processes for brain and body occur. So it's only people whose sleep is truly curtailed who'll experience the physical consequences of poor sleep, with their nervous system on high alert, flooding their systems with hormones and chemical messengers. While almost all insomniacs will have an over-active mind at night and experience the emotional consequences of poor sleep which can include low mood, anxiety and irritability most won't experience any of these markers of physiological stress. Even the daytime cognitive performance of people with 'normal' insomnia is more like that of people who say they have no trouble sleeping than those with short-sleep duration insomnia. Hormone tablet that may help sleep for a while Drugs are never my first port of call and should never be relied on as a solution for insomnia. Indeed, no crutch not even herbal tea can be the answer. The key is a change in behaviour or how you think about sleep. But one relatively safe, temporary option is melatonin, a man-made version of the 'sleepy' hormone that occurs naturally in the brain to help control sleep patterns. The body produces melatonin just after it gets dark and continues through the night. Tablets can add to your body's natural supply of the hormone to help you get to sleep and stay asleep. Melatonin is sold freely over the counter in the US and elsewhere, but is only available on prescription in the UK to help treat insomnia for up to 13 weeks in individuals over the age of 55. The side effects may include nausea, headache and night sweats but it doesn't lead to the dependence and other serious issues seen with some other sleeping pills. On its own, like other medications, it is not the long-term solution for insomnia but it may help a little alongside other non-drug-based strategies. Advertisement There is no way of knowing for sure if you're one of those 'at-risk' insomniacs without undergoing clinical observation but, in some respects, it's academic because everyone with any type of insomnia will be suffering and will want to address it. It means that, for the majority of insomniacs, worries about their long-term health should not be added to existing anxiety about poor sleep. One key step to tackling a sleep problem is to identify potential 'saboteurs' that could be undermining your sleep without you realising it. For example, exercising in the evening or working in bed can make sleep more of a challenge, and I'll look at this in tomorrow's Daily Mail. But first, I want to explain why one of my six rules for better sleep is to avoid the quick-fix solution. Sleeping pills are not usually the answer. When people reach my clinic, they're often willing to try anything and the quicker the fix, the better it sounds to anyone desperate for rest. That is partly why strategies for treating insomnia have focused on medication. But drugs are not often the solution and prescribing sleeping pills can create more problems than it solves. Benzodiazepines, a form of sedative, hit the market in the early 1960s, rapidly becoming the staple treatment for insomnia and anxiety, popped in vast amounts (especially in the US). Over recent decades, however, the dangers of 'benzos' have become apparent, as have the risks of the related but newer 'Z' drugs, or hypnotics, such as zolpidem and zopiclone. Despite being initially hailed as reducing some of the risks of benzos, they did not do so entirely. The potential risks of both groups of pills include morning drowsiness or 'hangover', traffic accidents, falls and fractures, and they can also trigger sleepwalking (it's thought by extending deep sleep). Importantly, they can lead to dependency and troubling withdrawal effects, such as a return of sleep problems and feelings of anxiety, with ever-increasing doses required to achieve the same effect on sleep. Most alarmingly, there's growing evidence these drugs are associated with cognitive decline, or risk of dementia. The association between poor sleep and Alzheimer's has yet to be fully understood. We know there may also be a link between lack of sleep and dementia, so there is a balance to be struck. But whatever the case, concerns about this and other side effects of medication have prompted a change in how we treat insomnia. While I'm not wholly against drugs for some there may be no option they have serious limitations and some evidence suggests they give you only an extra half an hour or so of sleep a night anyway. Exercising late or working in bed make nodding off challenging I strongly believe sleeping pills should not be used as a first-line treatment for anyone with insomnia, unless there's a clear and short-lived reason why they're not sleeping. For example, if somebody has been unable to sleep for several nights because of a recent bereavement, then giving them a week-long prescription to offer relief might be reasonable. But the primary aim should always be re-establishing healthy sleep patterns, not staying on drugs long-term. Drugs themselves do not address the underlying issues. That's why the gold-standard treatment for insomnia, now widely accepted, is a form of therapy known as cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBTi). This uses behavioural techniques to reprogramme the brains of people with insomnia. Its beauty is that once a course of treatment is completed, the effects are long-lived. Whereas with a pill, it's likely the insomnia will return once the medication is withdrawn. So how does CBTi work? Primarily through conditioning. If you have no problems with sleep, you associate your bedroom with that comforting sensation of putting your head on the pillow and drifting off. But for the insomniac, the conditioned response the dread of those countless nights of anxiety can mean that just being in the room arouses anxiety. Breaking down this negative conditioned response and rebuilding positive sleep connotations lies at the core of CBTi. The trick is to re-establish the bed as a haven. This is done using a number of strategies stimulus control, sleep restriction, relaxation training and the cognitive therapy after which it is named. Set aside time to write down worries and put the day to bed We begin by doing things during the day that facilitate sleep later, including setting regular wake and sleep times, restricting light exposure in the evening and not eating late at night or consuming caffeine. (For more details on the steps involved, see tomorrow's Mail.) We then move on to 'stimulus control', aiming to restore the connection in your mind between bed and sleep. This means using the bedroom only for sleep (getting dressed in the morning and having sex are also permitted, but no TV, Twitter, or reading work emails). And you mustn't nap during the day as this could diminish your body's desire for sleep at night. At night, if you haven't drifted off within 15 minutes, you must get out of bed and go to a different room, only returning when you feel sleepy. This is to prevent you spending hours in bed awake and unsettled. The next step, sleep restriction, further limits the amount of time spent in bed to the actual time spent sleeping (see report on previous page). In addition, a CBTi programme is likely to teach physical and mental techniques to reduce hyper-arousal when you're lying in bed, such as meditation or progressive muscular relaxation (where you tense a group of muscles in a certain order as you breathe in, relaxing them as you breathe out). Finally, there's cognitive 'talking' therapy. This is unique to each patient and unearths their own feelings and myths around sleep, helping them to reframe their outlook. Techniques, including setting aside time to write down worries and possible solutions, are encouraged as a way of 'putting the day to bed' before entering the bedroom. Such a programme, undertaken over six weeks using either an online programme or face- to-face therapy, helps 60 to 80 per cent of patients. Multiple studies show it to be as effective if not more so as most drug treatments, longer-lasting and with none of the dramatic side effects. Your GP can refer you for face- to-face CBTi sessions, which are often given in groups, or for online programmes. Sleep therapy is also available privately. Professor Guy Leschziners book, The Secret World of Sleep, is published by Simon & Schuster (8.99). Harrow Joy Williams Tuskar Rock 14.99 Returning to long- form fiction for the first time in 20 years, laurelled author Williams depicts a near-future in which the world reels from unspecified environmental calamity. Picking through its toxic landscape is a teenage girl named Khristen, whose mother is convinced she briefly died as an infant, glimpsing the mysteries of existence before she was revived. Glittering, allusive, sometimes funny, this is dystopian fiction at its most compelling and least compromising. Hephzibah Anderson Wayward Dana Spiotta Virago 14.99 Set in upstate New York, this smartly observed tale of inter-generational strife follows Sam, a menopausal mother working at a museum celebrating a fictional 19th Century feminist now deemed problematic. We join the action when, angry at Donald Trumps election, she walks out on her marriage, to the ire of her teenage daughter, Ally. Spiotta tells the story from both their perspectives in a ruefully funny portrait of the difficulties of navigating womanhood. Anthony Cummins The Heretic Liam McIlvanney HarperCollins 14.99 Glasgow in the 1970s and the citys gang warfare is getting out of hand: warehouses torched, pubs blown up, and now a former MP found tortured to death. DI Duncan McCormack, a gay Catholic in a macho Protestant police force, is charged with restoring order. This is both a relentlessly compelling thriller and an indelible widescreen portrait of a society reluctantly coming to terms with decades of dirty laundry. John Williams A Terrible Kindness Jo Browning Wroe Faber 14.99 A newly qualified embalmer endures a baptism of fire when his first assignment is to offer his services after the Aberfan disaster. The experience traumatises him and, as we learn of his backstory as a boy chorister in Cambridge struggling to come to terms with the death of his father, Browning Wroe crafts a richly textured portrait of a fundamentally decent man struggling to find his feet. The result is a debut novel of quite exceptional promise. Max Davidson Save The Cinema Cert: 12A, 1hr 49mins (In cinemas and on Sky) Rating: Scream Cert: 18, 1hr 54mins Rating: Cow Cert: 12A, 1hr 34mins Rating: Some of you will remember Dream Horse, one of the first British films to be released when cinemas reopened last year. It told the true story of a middle-aged woman from the South Wales valleys who hadnt given up on her dreams and ended up breeding a horse that would eventually win the Welsh Grand National. Well, Save The Cinema is more than a bit like that in that it tells the predominantly true story of a middle-aged Welsh woman from a bit further along the M4 who hasnt given up on her dreams either and resolves to save Carmarthens Art Deco cinema when it is threatened with demolition by developers. Just as Dream Horse required Toni Collette to give it box-office clout, so Save The Cinema has to rely on Samantha Morton and Tom Felton (above, centre) To some extent, it hits most of its intended targets in that its sweet, lightweight and manages to be both amusing and touching. But it should be more of all those things, hampered by a screenplay that needed more work and by the realities of getting a film financed and made. Just as Dream Horse required the Australian film star Toni Collette to give it box-office clout, so Save The Cinema has to rely on the considerable Nottingham-born talents of Samantha Morton to play the central role of Liz Evans and the fame of Surrey-born Harry Potter star Tom Felton. There must be Welsh actors gnashing their teeth from Swansea to Rhyl. That said, director Sara Sugarman is Welsh and imparts a decent and in this case vital sense of place, ensures Morton is pretty much spot-on with her accent and draws nice performances from a supporting cast of compatriots that includes Jonathan Pryce, Erin Richards and Owen Teale. The end result is the sort of film people always say they just dont make any more, a modestly funny, gently uplifting tale of a community coming together to do a good thing. And if you cant track it down at a nearby cinema, you will find it slightly ironically given the title on Sky Cinema. Twenty-five years after the blood-soaked original was released, it would be nice to think the Scream horror franchise was finally limping to a body-strewn close with the release of its latest instalment, given that its a full ten years since Scream 4 and six years since franchise creator Wes Craven died. But with the new film now titled Scream rather than Scream 5 and with fresh directors at the helm, I fear a reboot. After all, nothing actually dies in Hollywood if its still making money. Scream has always been able to argue that its cleverness and self-awareness make up for the endless grisly murders endured at the hands of Ghostface (above) With its constant stream of references to both itself, the slasher-killer genre and other horror films entirely, Scream has always been able to argue that its cleverness and self-awareness make up for the endless grisly murders endured by the teenagers of Woodsboro at the hands of Ghostface. But I have never been convinced and theres nothing in the new film to make me change my mind. Still, its nice to see franchise stalwarts Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette loyally returning to the bloody fray, not just for fame and fortune but, as a climactic final dedication touchingly puts it, For Wes. Nevertheless, its for horror buffs only. It's nice to see franchise stalwarts Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette loyally returning to the bloody fray, but its for horror buffs only. Above: Jenna Ortega British film-maker Andrea Arnold is best known for hard-hitting dramas such as Fish Tank and Red Road, but in Cow she changes tack dramatically to make a narration-free documentary about the life of a dairy cow. Luma is her name. How much you get from it depends on how much you know about dairy farming and, thanks to holidays spent on a Montgomeryshire dairy farm, I know quite a lot. So while my interest definitely lagged in the second half, I can see others might learn a lot and possibly be quite upset by what they see. A creative labour of love, undoubtedly, but leaves a slightly sour taste. Millions of mobile phone users will face extra charges when using their handsets in Europe later this year as some of the biggest network providers reintroduce roaming fees. Since 2017, all phone users have enjoyed free roaming in Europe. It meant they can use mobile data and make and receive calls and texts on the same deal as they have in the UK. However, providers including EE, Vodafone and Three have announced plans to reintroduce roaming charges this year. Increased charges: Some of the biggest network providers are reintroducing European roaming fees The additional charges could cost a family of four up to 100 on a two-week holiday in Europe. But there are ways you can keep costs down or banish them altogether. Switch provider Virgin Mobile and O2 customers will not have to pay roaming fees in Europe, parent company Virgin Media O2 confirmed last week. It is the only major provider to buck the trend and abstain from reintroducing the charges. As a result, phone users who travel in Europe often and like to use their handsets while abroad, could find it makes financial sense to switch provider once their current contract ends. However, lower costs while abroad must be weighed up against all other network costs to determine whether it would amount to an overall saving. Before switching you should also check that your new network provides good coverage in your area: all networks have maps showing their coverage on their websites. Switching phone network is straightforward and is arranged by the new provider. You can opt to keep your existing phone number if you wish. All you need to do is get a porting authorisation code known as a PAC code from your existing provider by phoning their customer support line or by texting PAC to 65075. Use wi-fi to make and receive calls If your phone provider plans to start charging to make and receive calls in Europe, you could make calls over the internet, using wi-fi instead. Services such as Skype and WhatsApp offer free calls and generally offer comparable sound quality. You will need to find free wi-fi while abroad, often available at hotels, cafes and in public buildings. Switch off your voicemail before you go abroad Once providers introduce roaming charges, you may have to pay to pick up your voicemails while abroad. To avoid this, you can turn off your voice mailbox before you travel. Callers will not be able to leave you messages, but your phone should still log missed calls, so you will know who was trying to reach you. Keeping voicemail switched off while away could help holidaymakers avoid surprise fees Use a different SIM card If you plan to use your phone a lot while abroad, it may make sense to buy a local SIM card to use in your existing handset. That should offer you cheaper local calls and web browsing. If you travel regularly and widely, a global SIM card that works in numerous countries may make better sense. The cost of making and receiving calls and using data will vary depending on which country you are in. Download everything you need before you travel If you plan to watch movies or read books on your tablet or smartphone while away, download them at home before you travel. That way, you are using your existing allowances or home wi-fi, rather than paying for roaming abroad. You can even download maps from Google of the places you plan to visit. An Australian solar panel company is offering up to $5,000 a week in a bid to find staff for a sales consultant role as skills shortages grip the nation, but many have been quick to point out the job comes with a catch. The job ad, posted on Seek earlier this week, says sales consultants can earn between $3,500 and $5,000 per week selling solar panels. However, after the ad went viral, many pointed out that the role is commission only, even though all training was provided. 'This role is commission only, you must be able to back yourself and your sales ability,' the ad says. Commission-only jobs are those that pay employees based on individual performance, rather than paying a set hourly rate or annual salary. They are usually high pressure as there is no guarantee of a weekly income, so anyone who applies will need to be a strong salesperson. Australia's top 10 highest paying jobs you don't need a degree for 1. Construction manager ($150,000 per year) 2. 'Ethical' cybersecurity hackers ($130,000 per year) 3. Maintenance manager ($110,000 per year) 4. Commercial pilot ($100,000 per year) 5. Real estate agent ($95,000 per year) 6. Farm manager ($90,000 per year) 7. Sales manager ($90,000 per year) 8. Gym manager ($86,000 per year) 9. Electrician ($84,000 per year) 10. Senior aged care worker ($83,000 per year Advertisement The sales role for a Townsville solar panel company is commission only Some Australians pointed out that there's big money to be made in the solar panel industry Despite the role being commission only, some Aussies said there's big money to be made in the solar panel industry. 'Ive worked for their competitors and also know people who work for them now. $150k is not hard to earn in solar,' one Reddit user wrote. 'I used to live with a lady who did that for a job, and she was loaded! She made a killing on commission.' Covid border closures have slashed the number of visa holders in Australia. The result is a huge shortage of workers suffered by businesses around nation. Job vacancies are now are record highs with 396,100 positions available in November, the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed on Wednesday. During the past year, advertised employment numbers have surged by 56.1 per cent or by 142,400, making it even harder for employers to recruit staff. Intriguingly, the number of job ads in November 2021 was 74.2 per cent higher than in February 2020, just before the pandemic. Some businesses are so desperate they are offering prizes and special bonuses to attract staff. Hospitality group Solotel - which owns 24 venues including Sydney's Aria restaurant, run by celebrity chef Matt Moran, said about 20 per cent of trade had been lost due to staff shortages. Many businesses are struggling to find workers after Covid border closures, resulting in higher wages for new staff Mr Moran told Daily Mail Australia the issue was the lack of workers. 'It's not just a matter of finding staff... it's just that there aren't any people to find. 'We are at the point now where we are offering incentives to existing staff members who bring in other people willing to work. 'But it's so bad. It is the worst conditions I have ever seen in my whole career. And until we get the visa holders back in the country it won't improve.' Sydney's exclusive Rockpool Bar & Grill offered dishwashing staff as much as $90 an hour for weekend nights, but still struggled to get workers in the door. The owner of Bondi's Pompei pizza restaurant George Pompei said last month his $2,000 signing bonus was being turned down by applicants preferring to stay on JobSeeker. The Apollo in Potts Point is seeking a floor manager and offering a cash bonus to the successful applicant. Meanwhile, hospitality companies The Dog's Group and Australian Venue Co. are offering up to $3,500 as sign-on bonuses. It's not just the hospitality industry facing a shortage of workers. Unskilled but well-paid entry-level mining jobs Truck drivers and 'nippers: $90,000 to $120,000 (0-12 months experience) Service crew: around $150,000 (6-12 months experience) Diamond driller: $150,000 to $190,000 Boggers and charge-up: $160,000 to $200,000 (2-5 years) Jumbo operators: $200,000 to $250,000 Supervisors and foremen: Up to $300,000 Source: Underground Training Advertisement Thousands of unskilled jobs paying up to $120,000 a year are about to become available in the mining industry. The re-opening of the Western Australian border on February 5 is expected to create a new boom for entry-level mining jobs for double vaccinated people, especially in hard rock underground and iron ore mining. Jobs in iron ore and gold mining are being driven by high prices and surging production. Salaries for mining sector graduates in WA jumped up to 27 per cent in 2021, but now it seems even unskilled workers can earn six figures from the latest mining boom. Andrew Knight, a trainer with Underground Training, predicts there will be new roles available across 120 WA sites mining everything from gold, zinc, nickel, copper, uranium and lead. Demand for these minerals is driven by export for components into phones, batteries and computers. New starters such as truck drivers and unskilled 'nippers' or 'gofers' (who drive people across a mine site) commonly earn between $350 and $550 a day. 'An experienced nipper around Kalgoorlie can make up to $550 a day,' Mr Knight said. That adds up to between $95,000 and $120,000 a year before tax. For those interested in mining careers, it doesn't take long to move into highly-paid roles, well beyond most jobs. After around six to 12 months, many people graduate into 'service crew' roles earning up to $650 a day, which equates to a salary of $154,700. Mr Knight estimated around a quarter of crews are women. Andrew Knight, a trainer with Underground Training, predicts there will be new roles in available across 120 WA sites mining everything from gold, zinc, nickel, copper, uranium and lead He said people new to mining will start in a driver or gofer role for at least six months to a year, usually working two weeks straight before having a week off. Mr Knight points out that 12 hour shifts and working 14 days straight are 'industry standard' - which can come as a shock to people who 'go in green'. 'The failure rate is around three out of five people if they aren't trained before they start.' 'If they turn up without training to a mine site it's sink or swim. A lot of people sink.' Mr Andrews says the toughest thing for newbies - aside from the long hours and physically-demanding work - is the pressure. 'For a lot of people it'll be the most time-oriented job they'll ever have. 'The mining industry measures downtime in tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars per hour,' he said. A mother-of-seven has told of the moment she broke down in tears after purchase restrictions stopped her from buying enough meat to feed her family at Coles. The mum said a staff member intervened as she tried to buy three five-packs of sausages from her local Coles in Port Macquarie on the mid-north coast. The supermarket on Tuesday limited customers to buying two packets of sausages each amid the latest Omicron Covid outbreak. Supply chain disruptions have led to empty shelves in Woolworths and Coles stores across the country, as truck drivers and other essential workers are struck down by the virus. She called on NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet for help, who also has seven children. Pictured is Dominic's wife Helen and five of the couple's seven children Supermarket shelves across the country have been left empty as supply chain issues bite 'Hey Dom Perrottet, I cried at Coles yesterday as the staff member said I had to put back sausages due to the buying limit,' the mum wrote on Twitter. 'I explained we had seven kids, offered to show her my Medicare card and Christmas photos as proof.' She called on Premier Perrottet, who also has seven children, for tips on feeding her children amid supermarket shortages. 'Any tips on feeding seven kids when the government has failed them,' she wrote. Although the mum was frustrated about being unable to buy several packets of sausages, she was quick to point out it she sympathised with the Coles' worker, who was just 'doing her job.' A mum's plea for help after struggling to purchase food for her seven children has quickly gone viral 'This is a governmental failure and she is copping the brunt,' the mum wrote. 'But she did add that the limit was per person and to next time bring some kids along to put through their own transactions.' While she received no response from Premier Perrottet, many Aussies were quick to offer her advice on how to get around the limits. 'Why dont you buy vegan sausages? They are better than meat and youre also saving the planet,' one woman suggested. Others suggested to visit a local butcher, as many still have plenty of stock. 'Go to a local butchers, most have excellent stocks of meat and others, maybe try your fruit and vegetable greengrocer, they seem to have plentiful stocks also.' Another shopper told the mum she gets around the limits by bringing one of her older children to pay for the items separately. 'Or do a double shop. Go in - shop and pay. Then go to another shop and do it again. But that was exhausting.' Dominic Perrottet says the NSW government was focused on the issues in food supply chains Many other parents of large families were also struggling to feed their families with supermarket buying limits now in place across the country. 'I only have three kids, and like you basically have to forage for food every second day with limits,' one mother wrote. 'My family drinks eight litres of milk in a week, and approximately a loaf of bread per day. Im not stockpiling when I buy four bottles of milk and six loaves of bread, its my weekly shop.' Another mum spoke out about the 'judgemental' looks she received from other shoppers as she shopped for her large family. 'Same, four teens including two 15-year-old boys. We go through two loaves of bread a day and three litres of milk, no problem. The looks we get with six loaves and six three-litre milks in the trolley ... people are so judgy.' Shopping limits now at force in Coles Paracetamol, ibuprofen, aspirin - two packs per customer Toilet paper - one pack per customer Covid-19 tests kits - one pack per customer Chicken breasts - two packs from the meat department or 6 fillets from the deli Chicken thighs - two packs from the meat department or 6 fillets from the deli Mince - two packs Sausages - two packs Advertisement Earlier this week, national cabinet agreed to expand the definition of essential workers to help address the supply-chain issues that are causing empty supermarket shelves. The definition of essential workers now includes transport, logistics, service station staff, emergency services, correctional workers, energy, water and waste workers. Food distribution workers, telecommunication, broadcasting, media, education and childcare employees will also be classified as essential staff under the plan. Isolation rules have eased for essential staff, with employees able to return to work even if they are deemed to be a COVID-19 close contact, provided they test negative to a rapid antigen test. Prime minister Scott Morrison said the situation was a delicate balance of keeping people at work while also protecting the health system. 'We know what we have to ... keep our hospitals going, keeping our health system strong and keeping as many people at work,' Mr Morrison told reporters in Canberra. 'The less restrictions you put on people to get them to work, the more pressure that could potentially put on your hospital system.' On Monday, Premier Perrottet said the government was focused on the issues in food supply chains. 'We will work with our health teams in relation to that, but we need to prioritise here and ultimately our number one responsibility is to keep people safe.' Florida deputies Clayton Osteen and Victoria Pacheco revealed no outward signs of the torment that led them to take their own lives within days of each other, authorities revealed on Friday. The tragic deaths of the couple - who left their weeks-old baby son Jayce orphaned - were a personal 'gut punch' to their peers and remain a mystery, Sheriff Ken Mascara said during a press conference in Fort Pierce. The St. Lucie County's sheriff revealed the two young outstanding officers had thorough psychological evaluations before they were finally selected for their demanding roles. Deep scrutiny of his department's work and welfare procedures have thrown no new light on the mental health tragedy, but the county's top law enforcement officer insisted there was nothing his office could have done differently to prevent the deaths. Family and friends are reeling from the loss are expressing shock at Osteen and Pacheco's choice to end their lives, saying they were as happy as ever after welcoming their new baby and that the reason behind the drastic actions are unknown The St. Lucie Sheriffs Office is rallying to raise money and day to day basics to help raise baby Jayce, (pictured) including accepting essentials like diapers, wipes, gift cards to baby stores and food stores The St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office on Friday answered questions about the recent deaths of officers Clayton Osteen and Victoria Pacheco, who both died by suicide within days of each other Former U.S. Marine Osteen, 24, attempted suicide late New Year's Eve and died two days later in hospital while grief-stricken Pacheco, 23, killed herself on January 4. The new parents were laid to rest side-by-side in American flag-covered caskets Saturday at a heart-breaking funeral attended by family, friends and fellow officers of St. Lucie Sheriff's Department, who saluted as their coffins passed. Sheriff Mascara revealed he had seen four officers die in his 22 years in the top job but admitted 'the two recent losses of Deputy Osteen and Pacheco, they were probably the most impactful to me.' 'Out of all of them they all had their own unique impact on me, but these two were a gut punch and it was because of the manner,' he added. He said he immediately questioned himself when the tragedies occurred. 'The first thought when I received the call that it was a suicide, was did I miss something?' he said. 'Did our agency miss something? Did we not have the right safeguards in place to prevent something like this from happening? 'And after reviewing the facts of this tragic incident, after reviewing all of our policies, all of our protocols, I can definitely tell you that we did not miss anything. 'No matter what we had in place, things that we could have done, this was something that happened that none of us could have prevented. I am 100 per cent sure of that.' Deputy Clayton Osteen, attempted suicide on New Year's Eve and was later taken to the hospital where he was taken off life support two days later. Victoria Pacheco took her own life on January 4 The young couple had just welcomed their first child together, a boy, in mid-November. Osteen and Pacheco are pictured during her baby shower in September The couple was laid to rest side-by-side on Saturday, January 8 after they both took their own lives within days of each other, leaving their six-week-old son orphaned Sheriff Mascara said both officers were outstanding candidates for the job while studying at nearby Indian River State College law enforcement academy at different times. They were talent spotted by senior St. Lucie officers but still had to go through extensive suitability testing. 'We have a situation where many of our upper leadership in the sheriff's office also teach at the law enforcement academy,' he said. 'What this allows us to do is identify really sharp people in our law enforcement academy. And both of these individual were identified early as two special people.' But he added: 'Notwithstanding what we thought of either one of them in the law enforcement academy, our policies and procedures have to do a very thorough background investigation on each one of these individuals before they come to work here. 'That includes physical tests, that includes medical tests and most importantly that includes a psychological test. 'A psychological test on both of these individuals revealed that they were fully compatible and acceptable to enter a law enforcement profession. 'There were no doubts, no concerns whatsoever.' Baby Jayce was born on November 22 and was only six weeks old at the time of his parent's death Jayce Osteen has been left orphaned after his mom and dad, who were both sheriff's deputies, took their own lives Osteen started as a deputy in November 2019 after four years in the military, where he served in a non-combat role in Korea. Pacheco began in February 2020. They 'were a beautiful couple together', added the sheriff. 'When you saw them, there was just something special about them. They first developed a work relationship which then blossomed into a romantic relationship. They moved in together first in Port St. Lucie and then moved to their current residence in Lakewood Park. 'And it was in the beginning of 2021 that Victoria became pregnant and I can tell you that there was one proud doting, soon-to-be father and that was Clayton.' Mascara said both were thrilled to be starting a family and he did not believe the stress of a newborn was a factor in the tragedy. The pair had worked at the department for over a year together with Osteen starting in 2019 and Pacheco in 2020 'I can tell you that both of them were excited and looking forward to the birth of this baby boy,' he continued. 'Jayce was born November 21, 2021, and they were both tickled to start a family. 'There has been some presumption that the baby caused stress. Those of us who have children, babies do cause stress. There's change in sleep patterns, every day activities, changes in your responsibilities. But we feel, and all of their friends and family feel, there was just normal stress that people have. 'There was nothing added that could have led to the decision of suicide.' In the days after Pacheco's suicide, Osteen's brother Zack, a fellow St. Lucie County deputy gained an order giving him temporary custody of Jayce. 'An emergency court order hearing took place that week and recognized Clayton's brother as Jayce's guardian for at least a year,' said Mascara. The married brother has a girl of 11 and a two-year-old son. 'Jayce is in a loving home with two cousins. We foresee nothing but the best for Jayce in that environment,' he added. A gofundme.com page started by a family friend to raise money for Jayce is currently at $122,000. Meanwhile the sheriff's department is also raising money and donations for the child, with its total at $20,000. The department has been swamped with diapers, baby formula, food and other items. The sheriff's office posted photos of the somber service to their Facebook page, along with a heartfelt message by Sheriff Ken Mascara: 'Today we say goodbye to our brother and sister, Deputy Clayton Osteen and Deputy Victoria Pacheco. May you rest in peace' Donations and tributes have since piled in for Baby Jayce, including a GoFundMe account that has since raised over $112,000 as of Monday morning There is also a move to give free legal help to make the adoption of Jayce permanent, said the sheriff. 'The outpouring of support from around the world has been overwhelming and we continue to want people to support Jayce,' he added. 'The tragic loss of Deputy Osteen and Deputy Pacheco occurred off duty. It is a private family matter and because of restrictions with HIPAA (the federal law that protects patient health information) there is a tremendous amount of information that we cannot share.' Osteen is the grandson of St. Lucie's eighth sheriff and the nephew of the county's ninth, said Mascara. 'So immediately we knew he's got some good DNA. 'And in his short time with us he excelled in everything he did. He was deputy of the quarter and deputy of the year in his first year. He was on out SWAT team and an all-round excellent deputy. 'Deputy Pacheco was just as talented, receiving a life-saving award in 2021 and a unit citation in 2021.' The gofundme page that has raised $122,000 was started by family friend Kelly Ridle. She wrote when it launched: 'The families of Clayton and Victoria are so grateful for all prayers and support received. All donations will be used for enriching Jayce's life experiences and securing a brighter future. 'Clayton and Victoria were joy-filled, first-time parents excited about their growing family, enamored with their baby Jayce, and so in love with each other. Osteen was a retired US Marine, previously serving as a rifleman with 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment The young mother-of-one took her own life just one day after her partner's death 'Tragically, for reasons completely unknown and totally out of character, Clayton took his own life December 31st, 2021. Reeling from the shock of loss, Victoria took her own life two days later.' Pacheco's grandmother, Bernice Bartolini, has likened the double tragedy to doomed Shakespearean lovers Romeo and Juliet. 'My heart is so sad I thought I was hurting before I lost my beautiful granddaughter. Tragic Romeo and Juliet story. They are now together forever,' she wrote in a Facebook post. 'This loss is so painful ... Victoria and I were very close when I lived in Florida, she was there for me. I wish I could have been there for her. My insides are being torn apart, my heart hurts so bad.' Sheriff Mascara posted a heartfelt message on his department's Facebook page after the funeral. He said: 'Today we say goodbye to our brother and sister, Deputy Clayton Osteen and Deputy Victoria Pacheco. May you rest in peace. 'We greatly appreciate the outpouring of support and love from our fellow law enforcement agencies and the community.' The sheriff also said he prayed the double tragedy could help initiate change to help with mental health issues. He said: 'While it is impossible for us to fully comprehend the private circumstances leading up to this devastating loss, we pray that this tragedy becomes a catalyst for change, a catalyst to help ease the stigma surrounding mental well-being and normalize the conversation about the challenges so many of us face on a regular basis.' For confidential support call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255 A fugitive businessman has been arrested for the beating of a woman following a New Year's Day head-on collision in the southern Dominican Republic province of Peravia. Alexis Villalona, 47, was found hiding at a family member's home in Bani, Peravia, on Friday. A spokesman for the Dominican National Police told Noticias SIN that Villalona was almost arrested on several occasions on Thursday, but each time managed to slip past the police by changing homes. Villalona's actions sparked outrage across the Caribbean nation after a surveillance camera captured him violently attacking Santa Arias, 35, after she crashed her scooter into his SUV at an intersection the morning of January 1. Alexis Villalona attacks Santa Arias' moped moments after she crashed head-on into his SUV on New Year's in Bani, Dominican Republic. Villalona spent 12 days on the run before he was arrested at a family member's home on Friday Alexis Villalona was arrested Friday in Bani, Dominican Republic, almost two weeks after he was caught on camera assaulting a woman who was rising on moped on New Year's Day and accidentally crashed head-on into his SUV Santa Arias was attacked by a motorist identified as Alexis Villalona in the Dominican Republic was she crashed her moped into a SUV at an intersection. She was pushed to the ground and slapped by the Villalona before he fled the scene Villalona was about to make a left at a corner and immediately pressed the breaks as Arias slammed her moped into his vehicle. He subsequently stepped out of the SUV to inspect the damages and argued with Arias before he pulled out a gun from his pocket. Villanova proceeded to kick the scooter three times and then shoved Arias to the ground as his female companion stepped in and tried to pushed him away. A witness at the scene recorded Villalona continuing to push his companion to the side as he tried to go after Arias again. He then grabbed Arias by the hair and shoved her back to ground as other motorists looked on. Moments later, Villalona could be seen putting the gun away and smacking Arias, knocking her to the pavement and instructing the woman he was with to get back in the vehicle before they drove off. Footage of the arrest showed Villalona refusing orders from the police when they attempted to handcuff him, at one point telling the agent in charge of the operation, 'I am not a thug.' A witness recorded the moment Alexis Villalona grabbed Santa Arias by her hair while his female companion attempted to stop him Alexis Villalona initially refused to be handcuffed, telling the police that he was not a 'thug' before the escorted him from a family member's home where he had been hiding Friday Villalona told a throng of reporters at the district attorney's building on Friday that he regretted attacking Arias. He insisted the road rage attack was due to him being under the influence of alcohol and added that he was on the run because he 'was scared.' 'I apologize to the girl, to the authorities, it was a mistake, I am very sorry,' he said. 'I lost control, I was under the effects of alcohol, I ask Santa Arias, the country and authorities for forgiveness, I am so sorry.' Former Vice President Margarita Cedeno blasted the police in a series of tweets on Thursday that questioned the department's efforts in apprehending Villalona while calling on him to turn himself in. 'They want us to forget about Alexis Villalona, the Bani aggressor. It's not possible that the police is not capable of finding a thug who has been identified, who has two weeks on the run,' Cedeno wrote. 'This aggressor is laughing at the entire country, including women. Women who are victims of misogynist violence need to know that the police and the justice system do their job.' Villalona is due to appear before a judge on Saturday and be formally charged. Peravia lead prosecutor Angel Tejada said the district attorney general's office will submit a request to hold Villalona in pre-trial detention for one year. A New Jersey economics professor has implored newly sworn-in New York City Mayor Eric Adams to reshape Manhattan - by adding nearly 2,000 acres of artificial land to the borough's southernmost tip. In an opinion piece published by The New York Times on Friday, Rutgers University's Jason Barr unveiled his grand plan, which would see 1,760 acres of landfill added just below Battery Park, effectively creating a new neighborhood in the City That Never Sleeps, complete with two subway lines, stores, apartments and parks. In the public appeal, Barr christened the prospective area as 'New Mannahatta' - a tribute to the original name given by the Lenape tribe of Native Americans before the island was sold to the Dutch in 1626. Barr claims that the expansion would help quell dangerous floods spurred by climate change, while serving as a locale that could theoretically house rows of affordable-housing complexes. The professor asserted that Adams could 'help tackle both issues in one bold policy stroke' by approving the plan. 'If New Mannahatta is built with a density and style similar to the Upper West Sides, it could have nearly 180,000 new housing units,' Barr wrote. The proposed 'New Mannahatta' expansion would help quell dangerous floods spurred by climate change, while serving as a locale that could theoretically house rows of affordable-housing complexes, Rutgers University professor says Barr wrote that he envisioned 'a diverse neighborhood that contains housing in all shapes and sizes, from traditional brownstones to five-story apartment buildings to high-rise towers' when penning the plan. He added that 'in these times of peril, big thinking is necessary,' referring to the city's current housing affordability crisis and the ongoing threat of climate change. Barr then mentioned Mayor Adams' planned policies for affordable housing, which include incentivizing construction throughout the five boroughs - something he says New Mannahatta can uniquely allow. 'New Mannahatta offers the possibility to realize the goal of adding a significant number of new units, many of which can be made affordable for low-income households.' Barr proceeded to describe his vision to readers: 'Imagine replicating from scratch a diverse neighborhood that contains housing in all shapes and sizes, from traditional brownstones to five-story apartment buildings to high-rise towers.' The economics professor - who penned 'Building the Skyline: The Birth and Growth of Manhattans Skyscrapers' in 2016 - also pointed out in his piece that New York was once a city of big projects like the Brooklyn Bridge and the subway system - as well as the 92-acre Battery Park City, which was built by land reclamation in the 1970s. Details of Barr's prospective installation were eyebrow-raising. Apart from the aforementioned 180,000 affordable housing units, the shoreline expansion would house an extension of the city's 1 and G subway lines, as well as a 35-acre park, which Barr called the 'Main Square.' It would also boast a skew of ferry terminals along its manmade coast, five further parks, and a scenic, seaside bike path. The area would also completely surround Governor's Island, a 172-acre island located south of the tip of Manhattan. Ironically, the island itself is a partial product of landfill extensions, with more than 100 of its acres being artificially added over the years. The same can be said for Manhattan itself. The landscape of Lower Manhattan was originally much narrower than it is today. The curve of Pearl Street, which is named for the pearly shells found on the shore at the time, originally marked the island's eastern waterfront, while Greenwich Street bordered the Hudson River to the west. The most recent land-fill addition to the island of Manhattan was Battery Park City, pictured, built on top of landfill and waste from the construction of the World Trade Center, built in the late 60s and early 70s, in 1973 Rutgers professor Jason Barr asked the mayor Friday to add nearly 2,000 acres of artificial land to the southern tip of Manhattan, while unveiling a detailed outline of the project A series of land reclamations, the first of which took place in 1646 under Peter Stuyvesant, who took over as the governor of New Amsterdam colony at the time, expanded the island between one and four blocks on each side. It was not until the 20th century, however, that Lower Manhattan's geography underwent a dramatic transformation as a result of landfill-based land expansions. In 1934, construction began on the East River Drive (known now as the FDR Drive), expanding Manhattan to the east. Running 9.5 miles from Lower Manhattan's Battery to the Triborough Bridge, the highway is built on a combination of landfill and pile-supported relieving platforms, according to the site LowerManhattan.info. The original shape of Manhattan island, which was called Mannahatta by the Lenape tribe before selling it to the Dutch in 1626 View of Manhattan island in 1883 after Brooklyn Bridge was built connecting boroughs in 1869 By 1976, Lower Manhattan had expanded an additional 23.5 acres with the creation of Battery Park City along the Hudson River, with 1.2 million cubic yards of earth and rock excavated for the World Trade Center, completed in 1973, as its foundation. The area became home to an upscale residential neighborhood with great schools and parks not far from New York's City bustling Financial District, but the close proximity to the water has left that part of Manhattan prone to flooding. However, it was Lower Manhattan's violent encounter with Hurricane Sandy, which overwhelmed the city's streets with with water and plunged most of the area into darkness in October 2012, that made local residents and city officials realize how truly vulnerable that reclaimed land was. Battery Park as it was in 1895. Missing is the manmade installment of Battery Park City, which would not be constructed for nearly another century Battery Park City in the 1980s. Created by land reclamation on the Hudson River using over 3 million cubic yards of excess soil and rock from the construction of the World Trade Center the decade prior, the area now boasts a bevy of parks and apartment complexes - much like Barr's New Mannahatta would What's more, around the time of the American Revolution in 1774, when Manhattan's population had grown to 30,000, the city began selling 'water lots,' allowing entrepreneurs to use landfill to crate additional usable land. Now, New York City has 400,000 people and 68,000 building inside the flood plain, and the value of structures located directly in the path of storms and floods has increased between four and seven times over the past century alone, Jeroen Aerts and Wouter Botzen, of the Netherlands VU University, told The Economist. Barr say his project would largely quell such disasters by pushing currently vulnerable areas like Wall and Broad streets in the city's Financial District further inland, and with the construction of 'specific protections,' like manmade wetlands, around the new coastline to serve as a buffer to stop flooding. 'In particular, wetlands ecologies around the shorelines would absorb surges,' Barr wrote. 'Building the land at a higher elevation would further improve its protective ability, and the new peninsula could recreate historic ecologies and erect environmental and ecological research centers dedicated to improving the quality of New Yorks natural world.' Barr further asserted that his envisioned expansion, which would stretch 2.75 square miles - nearly 50 percent more surface area than Manhattan's Upper West Side - would solve the borough's current housing crisis, which has been hopelessly exacerbated by COVID, he writes, as rents return to pre-pandemic levels. The professor asserted that newly sworn-in Mayor Eric Adams could ease flooding concerns from climate change and the city's housing crisis by approving the plan 'To give a sense of the scale, from 2010 to 2018, 171,000 units of housing were constructed, enough to accommodate about 417,000 people,' Barr said of the continuing crisis. 'In the same period, the citys population grew by nearly 500,000,' the professor then pointed out. He went on: 'The Covid pandemic put a temporary damper on New York City real estate, but its impact is waning, and the affordability crisis has renewed itself. Rents are returning to their prepandemic levels.' Barr finished the piece by urging the mayor to act, using his plan as a launching pad. 'Mayor Adams has a chance to create a legacy of making New York safer and more affordable. New Mannahatta can help ensure that the city thrives in the 21st century.' Donald Trump is heading to rural Arizona for his first rally of the new year to kick off the mid-term season, where he will be joined by several GOP candidates in the state he lost to Joe Biden by less than half a point. Accompanying the president will be three Republican lawmakers Reps. Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs and Debbie Lesko, all who voted to overturn the 2020 presidential results last January 6. Also joining the president will be MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, one of the president's most ardent defenders in his claims of election fraud. Trump's unfounded claims that the 2020 election fraud was stolen from him will likely be a central theme of the rally in Florence, about 60 miles outside Phoenix. Trump was the first Republican to lose Arizona in 24 years. The Copper State has become central to the former president's election fraud fight, where a GOP-led election audit recently reaffirmed Biden's win. Trump was previously scheduled to hold a press conference from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot - and the certification of Biden's win - but abruptly canceled, and promised to talk about the 'important topics' at his Florence rally instead. Donald Trump is heading to rural Arizona for his first rally of the new year t kick off the mid-term season, where he will be joined by several GOP candidates in the state he lost to Joe Biden by less than half a point Also joining the president will be MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, one of the president's most ardent defenders in his claims of election fraud 'In light of the total bias and dishonesty of the January 6th Unselect Committee of Democrats, two failed Republicans, and the Fake News Media, I am canceling the January 6th Press Conference at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday, and instead will discuss many of those important topics at my rally on Saturday, January 15th, in Arizona,' he wrote, adding, 'It will be a big crowd!' Notably absent from the state will be Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and state Attorney General Mark Brnovich, both of whom have feuded with Trump as they disputed his claims that the election was 'rigged' in their state. On the eve of the rally, Trump put out a statement calling Ducey a 'weak RINO.' 'Rumors are that Doug Ducey, the weak RINO Governor from Arizona, is being pushed by Old Crow Mitch McConnell to run for the U.S. Senate. He will never have my endorsement or the support of MAGA Nation!' Two of Trump's handpicked candidates - former TV anchor Kari Lake for Arizona governor and Rep. Mark Finchem for secretary of state - will be on hand for the rally. Rounding out the guest speaker list are Kelli Ward, the chairwoman of the Republican Party of Arizona, Dr. Alveda King, a niece of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. who served on Trump's 2020 advisory committee and Boris Epshteyn, an adviser to Trump's 2020 campaign. The January 15 rally coincides with Martin Luther King's birthday, and falls two days before MLK Day. The King family will be in Phoenix holding a rally that same day pushing for federal voting rights protections, bills that Trump doesn't support. Trump is also likely to bask in Biden's failures this week, where a new Quinnipiac poll found his job approval at a new low of 33%, as so far Democrats have failed to pass legislation to expand voting rights in the Senate after months of back-and-forth talks on his landmark Build Back Better bill also fell through. Biden on Friday admitted to 'disappointment' as his agenda stalls in the Senate after a trip to Capitol Hill to beg moderate Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema to get on board with the filibuster reform needed to push through voting rights. 'There's a lot of talk about disappointments and things we haven't gotten done,' he noted. 'We're gonna get a lot of them done, I might add,' the president added. Lindell, meanwhile, is sure to talk about his claims that he has enough voter fraud evidence to put nearly the entire population of the U.S. in prison. 'We already have all the pieces of the puzzle. When you talk about evidence, we have enough evidence to put everybody in prison for life, 300-some million people,' Lindell said during a recent appearance on Real America's voice. 'We had that all the way back in November-December, but what we have are these other things that had to happen, which is evil revealing itself.' Trump is also likely to bask in Biden's failures this week, where a new Quinnipiac poll found his job approval at a new low of 33% Trump's choice of Arizona to kick off the midterm season signals that he will make election fraud claims front and center of his message for the 2022 elections, where Republicans have a shot to take back control in Congress, and could also be the basis for a 2024 comeback campaign for the White House. The former president has dropped a series of not-so-subtle hints that he intends to run for the presidency in 2024, but has stopped short of formally announcing a campaign just under three years ahead of the race. GB News' Nigel Farage asked Trump during a sit down at Mar-a-Lago in December, 'Why on earth would [you] consider going into that hell again?' 'So I love our country,' Trump said. 'If you love the country you have no choice. It's not a question.' 'This is a wonderful, beautiful life,' Trump said of his lavish existence in Palm Beach. 'But I like that [being president] too because I was helping people. That's why I did it and I think you'll be happy in the future too because that'll be your next question. You'll be happy.' Advertisement Shocking aerial photos have captured the debris of a thousand shredded packages along a California railway that were left behind in the midst of a cargo looting crisis. The Los Angeles area has continued to see a rising trend in thieves looting from cargo containers carrying valuable items on Union Pacific tracks from companies including Amazon, REI and UPS that were bound for West Coast residences. The photos capture the discarded packages left behind by the looters that have since blanketed the tracks with a considerable length of debris. A series of discarded products such as unused COVID test vials and pharmaceutical drugs that were considered to be dispensable were also discarded. Packages have also been seen spilling from open containers as thieves have been using materials such as bolt cutters to break the locks when the train is either stopped or slowly moving. An increased security presence on the railway has since been enforced by Union Pacific to catch potential looters surveying the area. Shocking aerial footage captured the debris left behind by thieves looting packages from cargo containers on Los Angeles railways The cargo containers on Union Pacific tracks have been heavily targeted by looters who have been stealing valuable packaged items from companies such as Amazon, REI and UPS Shredded boxes and packages are seen strewn across the tracks as a result of a month's worth of looting A train travels through the debris-filled tracks as a person is seen carrying discarded items found nearby The railway company has since released a statement about their increasing concern of cargo theft on the tracks. 'Union Pacific is very concerned about the increased cargo thefts in California, and we have taken several steps to address this criminal activity,' they said in a statement. 'These rail crimes pose a serious safety threat to the public, our employees and local law enforcement officers. 'We have increased the number of Union Pacific special agents on patrol, and we have utilized and explored additional technologies to help us combat this criminal activity. 'We also will continue to work with our local law enforcement partners and elected leaders.' Packages containing items considered to be of little value, such as COVID tests, were left behind by the looters Unused test vials and other pharmaceutical drugs were seen scattered along the tracks Union Pacific has estimated that around 90 packages have been compromised per day The company has continued to report crimes on the tracks as the debris that had been accumulated was the result of only a month's worth of cargo looting. They have also estimated that around 90 packages have been compromised per day, according to Fox. Despite these concerns, The LAPD has said that they do not respond to these type of crimes unless they are requested by the company for help. However, Union Pacific has their own police force who have been actively patrolling the tracks. Contractor workers carry vehicle tires found among the shredded boxes and packages Security workers have continued to keep an eye out for potential looters on the scene attempting to rifle through containers or packages to steal Packages have continued to spill from passing trains that were broken into by the looters Thieves have been using materials such as bolt cutters to break into the cargo containers This is not the first instance where cargo containers have been targeted this year. Cargo burglaries were also reported in November during the supply chain crisis period as trains en route to Los Angeles ports were being looted. The cargo trains had traveled through an area of tracks that were lined with homeless encampments where thieves were reportedly cutting through the carts with bolt cutters. Officials with the city then moved the shipping containers into vacant lots to prevent further thefts as a result. The U.S. Marine Corps became the first military branch to approve COVID-19 vaccine exemptions based on religious reasons after they approved two requests. On Friday, the Marine Corps confirmed they approved two requests for religious exceptions from the COVID-19 vaccine after receiving 3,350 requests and processing 3,212 of them. No information about the two specific approvals was provided, due to privacy reasons. The two religious exemptions are the first to be approved by the Corps in 10 years, the Marines said Friday, and are the first to be approved in any military branch so far regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. The Marine Corps confirmed they approved two request for religious exceptions from the COVID-19 vaccine after receiving 3,350 requests and processing 3,212 Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (pictured) has said repeatedly that getting the vaccine is critical to maintaining a healthy, ready force that can be prepared to defend the nation Overall, 95 percent of the more than 182,000 active-duty Marines are at least partially vaccinated, while 94 percent are fully vaccinated, a Marines spokesman said. The vaccination rate for Marine reservists has gone up as well, with 86 percent of reservists at least partially vaccinated and 83 percent fully vaccinated. The services have come under criticism for their failure to grant religious exemptions, with members of Congress, the military and the public questioning if the review processes have been fair. Troops are required to get as many as 17 different vaccines which include shots for smallpox, hepatitis, polio and the flu and service leaders have said that religious exemptions to vaccines required by the military are very rare. Despite only approving two of over 3,000 requests, the Marines said they are taking the process seriously. 'All current exemption requests are being reviewed on a case-by-case basis,' the Marines said in a statement. 'Each request will be given full consideration with respect to the facts and circumstances submitted in the request.' Troops are required to get as many as 17 different vaccines and service leaders have said that religious exemptions to vaccines required by the military are very rare According to the Marines, exemption requests are reviewed first by commanders and then sent to a three-person board at Manpower and Reserve Affairs. The board makes a recommendation and the deputy commandant for manpower makes the decision. Marines can appeal any denials to the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps. All the military services have said the decisions are based not only on the individual request, but also on its impact on the unit, its mission and readiness, and the health and safety of other troops. The Navy and the Marine Corps have said that unvaccinated service members are not allowed to deploy out to sea on ships, where infections can more easily spread. The Army has yet to grant any of the 2,128 religious exemption it received and has rejected 162 so far but have granted five permanent medical exemptions for vaccination out of 653 requests to date. As they process exemption requests, the U.S. military branches have also begun to discharge up to 30,000 active-duty service members who have continued to refuse the shot. The military branches set their own deadlines after the Biden administration announced plans to mandate the vaccine for all U.S. service members across the branches - Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines and Navy - back in August. In total, more than 1.9 million service members have either been partially or fully vaccinated, according to data from the Department of Defense. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said repeatedly that getting the vaccine is critical to maintaining a healthy, ready force that can be prepared to defend the nation. The Pentagon is also weighing making the vaccine booster shots mandatory for service members. Officials say the vaccines, particularly boosters, beef up protections against more severe illnesses. Earlier this week the Army reprimanded six active-duty commanders for refusing to comply with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The Army did not specify the rank of the punished officers, though two battalion commanders were among those who were relieved of those duties. In addition, 2,994 soldiers received written reprimands for refusing the vaccine out of the 3,611 troops who have yet to get the jab. The Army has yet to initiate separations for soldiers refusing the vaccine as it expects further guidance this month. Over 96 percent of of the roughly 481,000 active-duty soldiers in the largest military branch have been fully vaccinated and more than 97 percent are partially vaccinated. The Army Reserves remain at about 73 percent fully vaccinated. There are about 57,000 officers serving at the level of captain or above in the US Army, meaning around 0.01 percent of commanding officers were punished for not getting the jab. Americans' freedoms have been gradually eroded over the last 20 years, a new study has found, with the COVID-19 pandemic giving local officials more power over everyday life. A new study by the Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C. think tank that promotes individual liberty, limited government and free markets, has assessed each of the 50 states under 23 different categories and produced an overall ranking. The most and least free states are unchanged - New York being the least free, followed by Hawaii and California, and New Hampshire, Florida and Nevada being the most free. The three least free states all have Democrat governors; two of the three freest states have Republican governors, except Nevada, ruled by Democrat Steve Sisolak. New York is ranked 50th in the 'freedom ratings', and New Hampshire is first, according to the Cato Institute William Ruger and Jason Sorens, the Cato Institute researchers who compiled the annual report, said that their analysis showed individual liberties were being curtailed across the board. 'Although the rights of some have increased significantly in certain areas, for the average American, freedom has declined generally because of federal policy that includes encroachment on policies that states controlled 20 years ago,' they state. They looked at factors that varied depending on the state - such as taxation, marriage restrictions, rules around wearing seatbelts in cars and helmets on motorbikes, and marijuana and gambling laws. New Hampshire, whose motto is 'live free or die', unsurprisingly came at or near the top on most metrics - although they were at the bottom of the rankings for land use and marriage equality. 'We ground our conception of freedom on an individual rights framework. In our view, individuals should be allowed to dispose of their lives, liberties, and property as they see fit, so long as they do not infringe on the rights of others,' the authors wrote. 'This understanding of freedom follows from the natural-rights liberal thought of John Locke, Immanuel Kant, and Robert Nozick, but it is also consistent with the rights-generating rule-utilitarianism of Herbert Spencer and others.' ECONOMY Economic freedom involves both fiscal and regulatory policy. Florida was ranked the freest state, with no individual income tax. 'Florida does especially well on economic freedom, and even more so on fiscal policy,' the authors write. 'Indeed, it is our top state on both. 'Regulatory policy is improved but mediocre compared with the fiscal side.' Florida is followed by Tennessee and third New Hampshire. 'The Volunteer State lacks an income tax, and both state and local tax collections fall well below the national average,' the report notes. New Hampshire's overall tax burden is well below the national average at 8.1 percent. The state government taxes less than any other state but Alaska. The average individual income tax rate for all taxpayers is 13.3 percent, according to a Tax Foundation report from February 2021. All three states have Republican governors. EDUCATION Arizona, Florida and Indiana are leading the way when it comes to education, taking into account requirements and restrictions for private and homeschools. The most restrictive states are North Dakota, ranked 50, followed by Nebraska and Michigan. 'North Dakota remains the very worst state in the country for educational freedom,' the authors write. 'Private schools and homeschools are both more harshly regulated than anywhere else, and the state has no private or public school choice.' The Cato Institute recommends that Doug Burgum, the Republican governor of North Dakota, eliminate teacher licensing, mandatory state approval, and detailed curriculum requirements for private schools, and reduce the notification and record-keeping burdens on homeschooling families. Maryland - ranked 46th for educational freedom - 'is one of the least free states in the country, and it has had this status since the beginning of our time series in 2000,' the authors write. Homeschools and private schools are tightly regulated, the latter more so, thanks to mandatory state approval and teacher licensing. The state raised the years of compulsory schooling from 11 to 12 in 2014, and then to 13 in 2017. HEALTH INSURANCE Idaho, North Dakota and Nebraska are deemed the freest state for health insurance. Socially and economically conservative, the states protect nurse practitioner independence, and physician assistants have full prescribing authority. There is no certificate-of-need requirement for hospitals. The most regulated states are New Jersey, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Health insurance mandates are extensive in New Jersey, the bottom of the list. In 2013, nurse practitioner freedom of independent practice was abolished despite more states going the other direction. In 2018, New Jersey legislated a state-level individual health insurance mandate. MARRIAGE The Cato Institute ranked states based on the freedom of couples to enter into private contracts - both civil unions or marriage. Eleven states made it equally easy for couples to marry. The states ranged from deeply Democrat California and Hawaii to staunchly Republican Tennessee. Seven states sat at the bottom of the table, with Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington all putting up the most barriers. GUNS While many believe Texas to have the most liberal gun laws, it is actually Kansas which has the least restrictive gun ownership policies. Permitless open carry was legalized in 2013, and permitless concealed carry was enacted in 2015. American civilians own an estimated 393 million firearms, both legal and illegal; thats more than all of the firearms combined from 24 countries reporting the highest rates of civilian gun ownership, according to Small Arms Survey. However, only one in three Americans report owning a gun, while 44 percent live in homes where a gun is held. That means most gun owners have more than one gun. Four states Texas, Florida, California, and Pennsylvania had at least a million estimated gun sales in 2020. Kansas may have the most liberal gun laws, but the most guns are held in the state of Wyoming, followed by Montana and Alaska. Iowa, Massachusetts and Nebraska have the lowest rates of gun ownership, plus Washington DC. Massachusetts, California and Hawaii have the most restrictive gun ownership rules. The mother at the heart of the MI5 security alert is the daughter of a Hong Kong immigrant who ran Chinese takeaways and restaurants. Christine Lee moved with her parents to Northern Ireland in 1974 before relocating to the West Midlands in 1985 and marrying her first husband in Birmingham when she was 21. Some five years later she married Martin Wilkes in Solihull and the couple had two children. Mr Wilkes, 71, who is also a solicitor, is listed as a director of five of Miss Lee's companies and has been described as the head of Christine Lee & Co's Birmingham office and its conveyancing department. A profile on the company's website says he is responsible for the 'smooth running of the firm' and that he has more than three decades of experience in property law. Christine Lee (pictured) moved with her parents to Northern Ireland in 1974 before relocating to the West Midlands in 1985 and marrying her first husband in Birmingham when she was 21 There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of Mr Wilkes. A family source described being introduced by Mr Wilkes to his wife on just one occasion at a Chinese restaurant after a family christening. The source said: 'Christine seemed very nice and [she and Martin] were a nice couple. I knew she was a lawyer and was very bright. That was in Birmingham but we've not seen them since. 'We were close to Martin when we were growing up and this is such a shock. 'When I saw her on the news I didn't even realise it was the same woman. She doesn't use the name Wilkes so this is just an amazing twist. Martin is very nice but we have not been in touch for years. This will really rattle everyone.' Another source added: 'Bit of a shock to think there's a spy in the family.' The couple and their two sons appear to have amassed a large fortune and own two properties worth 1.77million. Some five years later she married Martin Wilkes in Solihull and the couple had two children. Mr Wilkes, 71, who is also a solicitor, is listed as a director of five of Miss Lee's companies and has been described as the head of Christine Lee & Co's Birmingham office and its conveyancing department. (Above, Miss Lee's office in London) Miss Lee and Mr Wilkes live in a 1million house in an upmarket gated estate in the smart market town of Solihull, where three luxury cars were parked yesterday. Miss Lee has spoken previously of her 'troubled' childhood in Belfast, where she attended a top boarding school. She recalled being bullied and teased 'for her yellow skin and black eyes'. In a revealing YouTube video she also spoke about how she encouraged the 'weaker boarders' to get together and stand up to the bullies. 'They didn't know what to do at first so I started to teach them kung fu,' she said. 'I didn't know much about kung fu, I just watched Bruce Lee on TV so I pretended I knew.' But she claims her troubled childhood made her determined to 'fight for her rights' and inspired her to become a lawyer. She has also previously said she was motivated by her father, who founded the Chinese Community Association in Belfast. The Mail understands that he ran restaurants and takeaways in Northern Ireland and was listed as a director on one of Miss Lee's many companies. The Chinese spy at the heart of Whitehall boasted of lobbying 'more than 480 MPs' and even sought to get her own puppet politician elected. Christine Lee, 58, secretly funnelled cash to a prospective MP she hoped would secure her influence long term but they did not succeed in gaining office, it emerged last night. The Chinese solicitor exposed as a Communist agent by MI5 boasted of her influence with 'government ministers, senior civil servants and peers', posting photos of herself in Downing Street, the Houses of Parliament and the Supreme Court. The Mail has learnt she was also invited to the Home Office where she had access to immigration officials. In a YouTube video, Chinese spy Christine Lee hinted at the scale of her ambitions in 2015, describing efforts to lobby 'more than 480 MPs' on behalf of the Chinese community as part of the British Chinese Project promoting closer relations. Her efforts paid off when Theresa May, who was pictured with Miss Lee at No 10 (above), presented her with an award for her work in 2019 The Chinese solicitor exposed as a Communist agent by MI5 boasted of her influence with 'government ministers, senior civil servants and peers'. Miss Lee's access in Whitehall also included getting inside the Home Office. (Above, during her visit) Miss Lee's boasts of helping Chinese entrepreneurs seek opportunities in the UK and obtain visas have raised concerns she could have brought in other agents. Above, promotional material for her law firm But despite Miss Lee being accused of 'political interference activities on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party', there was growing anger last night that the married mother of two looks set to escape sanction. Home Secretary Priti Patel said her activity was 'under the criminal threshold' and Whitehall sources confirmed Miss Lee will not be expelled after MI5 issued an alert on Thursday warning MPs about her penetration of Parliament. Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said yesterday the case was the 'tip of a very large iceberg' and called for Miss Lee to face a criminal investigation. He spoke out as it emerged that Miss Lee sought to expand her influence outside Parliament after being handed a role at the 2012 London Olympic Games as a Chinese goodwill ambassador. She also secured a position as the UK population census promotion ambassador in 2011. On her website, now removed, Miss Lee described herself as the legal advisor to the embassy of the People's Republic of China in the UK. She described going door to door speaking to the electorate, encouraging them to vote and later lobbying on behalf of Remain during Brexit, raising concerns about interference in democracy. The Daily Mail has learnt that she secretly sought to sponsor an aspiring MP but her efforts to get them elected failed. Home Secretary Priti Patel said her activity was 'under the criminal threshold' and Whitehall sources confirmed Miss Lee will not be expelled after MI5 issued an alert on Thursday warning MPs about her penetration of Parliament The unnamed candidate is not Barry Gardiner, a former Labour minister who received more than 600,000 from Miss Lee as part of a 670,000 wave of donations to Labour and the Liberal Democrats over the past 15 years. MI5 is investigating her funding and a web of companies and investments, including a property portfolio. In a YouTube video, Miss Lee hinted at the scale of her ambitions in 2015, describing efforts to lobby 'more than 480 MPs' on behalf of the Chinese community as part of the British Chinese Project promoting closer relations. 'We were able to force our concerns to the Parliament directly,' she said. Around the same time she was pictured at an audience in Parliament with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who tellingly gave her law firm permission to operate in China the only UK firm of solicitors permitted to do so. Her efforts paid off when Theresa May, who was pictured with Miss Lee at No 10, presented her with an award for her work in 2019. Miss Lee's access in Whitehall also included getting inside the Home Office. The Daily Mail has learnt that Miss Lee secretly sought to sponsor an aspiring MP but her efforts to get them elected failed. The unnamed candidate is not Barry Gardiner (above), a former Labour minister who received more than 600,000 from Miss Lee as part of a 670,000 wave of donations to Labour and the Liberal Democrats over the past 15 years She secured a meeting with officials in the department in January 2018 to discuss immigration policy. Miss Lee's boasts of helping Chinese entrepreneurs seek opportunities in the UK and obtain visas have raised concerns she could have brought in other agents. Sir Iain said: 'How many of them are there? We have been utterly naive about her and her activities. 'At the very least she should face a criminal investigation before being expelled.' No 10 said yesterday it was 'deeply concerning' that a Chinese agent was able to target MPs in an attempt make British policy more favourable to Beijing. A spokesman added ministers were committed to strengthening anti-espionage legislation through a new counter-state threats Bill. The claims were dismissed as 'highly irresponsible' yesterday by a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman who accused the UK Government of being 'too obsessed with James Bond 007 movies'. Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in London said: 'We have no need and never seek to 'buy influence' in any foreign parliament.' Miss Lee moved with her parents to Northern Ireland in 1974 before relocating to the West Midlands in 1985 and marrying her first husband in Birmingham when she was 21 Revealed: Chinese Communist agent is the daughter of a Hong Kong immigrant who ran Chinese takeaways and restaurants By ANDY DOLAN and KUMAIL JAFFER for the Daily Mail The mother at the heart of the MI5 security alert is the daughter of a Hong Kong immigrant who ran Chinese takeaways and restaurants. Miss Lee moved with her parents to Northern Ireland in 1974 before relocating to the West Midlands in 1985 and marrying her first husband in Birmingham when she was 21. Some five years later she married Martin Wilkes in Solihull and the couple had two children. Mr Wilkes, 71, who is also a solicitor, is listed as a director of five of Miss Lee's companies and has been described as the head of Christine Lee & Co's Birmingham office and its conveyancing department. A profile on the company's website says he is responsible for the 'smooth running of the firm' and that he has more than three decades of experience in property law. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of Mr Wilkes. A family source described being introduced by Mr Wilkes to his wife on just one occasion at a Chinese restaurant after a family christening. The source said: 'Christine seemed very nice and [she and Martin] were a nice couple. I knew she was a lawyer and was very bright. That was in Birmingham but we've not seen them since. 'We were close to Martin when we were growing up and this is such a shock. Some five years later she married Martin Wilkes in Solihull and the couple had two children. Mr Wilkes, 71, who is also a solicitor, is listed as a director of five of Miss Lee's companies and has been described as the head of Christine Lee & Co's Birmingham office and its conveyancing department. (Above, Miss Lee's office in London) 'When I saw her on the news I didn't even realise it was the same woman. She doesn't use the name Wilkes so this is just an amazing twist. Martin is very nice but we have not been in touch for years. This will really rattle everyone.' Another source added: 'Bit of a shock to think there's a spy in the family.' The couple and their two sons appear to have amassed a large fortune and own two properties worth 1.77million. Miss Lee and Mr Wilkes live in a 1million house in an upmarket gated estate in the smart market town of Solihull, where three luxury cars were parked yesterday. Miss Lee has spoken previously of her 'troubled' childhood in Belfast, where she attended a top boarding school. She recalled being bullied and teased 'for her yellow skin and black eyes'. In a revealing YouTube video she also spoke about how she encouraged the 'weaker boarders' to get together and stand up to the bullies. 'They didn't know what to do at first so I started to teach them kung fu,' she said. 'I didn't know much about kung fu, I just watched Bruce Lee on TV so I pretended I knew.' But she claims her troubled childhood made her determined to 'fight for her rights' and inspired her to become a lawyer. She has also previously said she was motivated by her father, who founded the Chinese Community Association in Belfast. The Mail understands that he ran restaurants and takeaways in Northern Ireland and was listed as a director on one of Miss Lee's many companies. A woman has issued a desperate plea for someone to deliver alcohol to her home as new rules for unvaccinated Western Australians are set to take effect. New rules for unvaccinated WA residents will be enforced from January 31, banning non-jabbed residents from a range of venues - including pubs and bottle shops. Unvaccinated Western Australians will be banned from even using bottle shop drive-throughs when strict new proof-of-vaccination rules come into force. The announcement prompted a woman from Secret Harbour, 59km south of Perth, to issue a request for a delivery service. A woman has asked her Facebook group for help with alcohol delivery once a new rule takes effect in WA on January 31 banning unvaxxed residents from bars, pubs, and bottle o's 'Looking for a fully jabbed to buy and deliver me booze twice a week from 31 of January. Cheers,' she wrote on a Facebook page. People were quick to jump on the idea and said the booze delivery service could become a profitable business. 'What a great idea for a side hu$$le,' one commenter wrote. 'This is bloody brilliant, someone could earn a lot of money here,' another said. One person offered to deliver booze of his choice for a '20 per cent tax', an offer the woman politely declined. 'No thanks,' she wrote. However a large group of commenters told the woman to 'just get vaxxed', highlighting alcohol can't be healthier than the jab. The woman said she was 'looking for a fully jabbed to buy and deliver me booze twice a week,' as commenters pointed out a possible profitable business delivering beverages Premier Mark McGowan on Thursday announced unjabbed adults would be banned from dining at cafes, pubs and restaurants in the state from January 31. He added WA would soon redefine the term 'fully vaccinated' to include the Covid booster jab, meaning the third shot would be essentially compulsory in WA. Poll DO YOU AGREE WITH MCGOWAN'S UN-VAXXED BAN? Yes No DO YOU AGREE WITH MCGOWAN'S UN-VAXXED BAN? Yes 966 votes No 1642 votes Now share your opinion Mr McGowan said the rules could be in place 'for years' to stop the unvaccinated from mixing with WA's fully-immunised residents. The premier said he would also be banning those who had not received both Covid vaccine doses from bottle shops to 'incentivise' them to roll up their sleeves. The unvaccinated would be banned from using bottle shop drive-throughs too, he said, as part of 'the broadest proof of vaccination requirements in the nation'. They'll also be banned from visiting loved ones in hospital or taking their kid to a play centre. Speaking on Thursday night, Mr McGowan warned 'life will change significantly' for the unvaccinated, who need to be 'protected from themselves'. The premier later confirmed the unvaccinated would be barred from museums, Perth Zoo, gyms, and the entire Crown Casino complex. The Duke of York is bracing himself for his former wife and daughter Princess Beatrice to be dragged into his court case. He is expecting to find out imminently which family members lawyers for sex accuser Virginia Roberts wish to interview under oath. The next stage of the sexual assault case brought by Miss Roberts is for both sides to formally interview witnesses, done outside of a courtroom setting but with a court recorder sitting in. Out and about: Princess Beatrice in London yesterday The Duke of York (pictured) is bracing himself for his former wife and daughter Princess Beatrice to be dragged into his court case Princess Beatrice crosses the road in Chelsea this week as she goes out on a shopping with her baby daughter Sienna Princess Beatrice pushes her baby daughter Sienna in a pram along King's Road while shopping in Chelsea this week Princess Beatrice comes out of a store in Chelsea earlier this week as she goes on a shopping trip in London Priness Beatrice puts her pram into the back of a London black cab this week after her shopping trip in Chelsea Known as depositions, the hearings allow lawyers to ask any question, no matter how personal. David Boies, Miss Roberts lawyer who has been nicknamed the great inquisitor because of his skill at interviewing witnesses under oath, has already suggested he might question Sarah Ferguson and their daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. Andrew gave Beatrice as his alibi saying they were at Pizza Express in Woking for the date in 2001 when he is alleged to have forced Miss Roberts to have sex. Each side in the case is expected to name as early as this weekend about a dozen witnesses they want to interview. Both lists could include current or former royal staff, footmen and secretaries, if the lawyers think they might have testimony helpful to their client. David Boies, Miss Roberts lawyer who has been nicknamed the great inquisitor because of his skill at interviewing witnesses under oath, has already suggested he might question Sarah Ferguson and their daughters, Princesses Beatrice (pictured) and Eugenie Princess Beatrice drinks a Pret coffee as she walks around London's exclusive Chelsea district earlier this week Princess Beatrice pushes her daughter Sienna in a pram around London's Chelsea while looking in the shops Princess Beatrice went shopping earlier this week just hours before the Queen stripped Prince Andrew of his honorary military roles Beatrice was seen in London this week two-and-a-half hours before Buckingham Palace issued the statement Princess Beatrice is also styled as Mrs Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi after her marriage to the property developer in July 2020 Princess Beatrice looks at the sales on King's Road in Chelsea while pushing her three-month-old daughter Sienna in a pram The case is progressing this week after Andrews crushing defeat trying to have Miss Roberts claims against him thrown out. She vowed to prove that the rich and powerful are not above the law. Outside America, US courts do not have jurisdiction. However there is a legal mechanism for forcing British witnesses to give evidence via a High Court order known as a letter of request. Andrew denies the accusations. War in Ukraine is 'inevitable' with a Russian invasion just days away, it was claimed last night. It came after President Vladimir Putin amassed tens of thousands of troops on the border, with intelligence sources suggesting he may launch a disguised attack on his own forces to justify going into Ukraine. Tobias Ellwood, Tory chairman of the Commons defence committee, said: 'I am afraid an invasion by Russian forces is inevitable and imminent and we have allowed this to happen. Getting ready: Ukrainian soldiers fire an anti-tank missile in a military exercise this week as the country prepares for a possible invasion 'We had the opportunity to place sufficient military hardware and personnel in Ukraine to make President Putin think twice about invading but we failed to do so. 'Only President Putin knows what he is going to do next but next week would seem pivotal. 'He has negotiated himself into a corner and after Nato refused to bow to his threats seemingly only one option remains.' The UK and US have dismissed Russian demands for a veto on former Soviet republics joining Nato and rebuffed calls for the removal of Western troops from eastern Europe. Russian defence ministry footage released yesterday showed armoured vehicles and other military hardware being loaded onto trains in what Moscow called an inspection drill to practise deploying over a long distance. Firepower: Russian troops carry out trials on tank weapons which may be used in Ukraine US-based military analyst Rob Lee said: 'This is likely cover for the units being moved towards Ukraine.' Along with the troops already along the border, more Russian aircraft have been flown to the region in recent days and satellite photos have confirmed the positioning of makeshift military hospitals usually an indication that a land offensive will be staged. Yesterday a major cyber attack on Ukrainian government ministries was blamed on Moscow. Russian hackers were believed to have left chilling messages on websites saying: 'Ukrainians. Be afraid and expect worse. It's your past, present and future.' It followed the break-up of three sets of peace talks this week. The US warned of a possible 'false flag' operation with Russia wrongly claiming Ukraine had attacked its troops as an excuse to invade. It has long been thought that part of Mr Putin's strategy is to claim that Ukraine is preparing to attack his forces. The Kremlin can then claim its military action is being conducted in self-defence. The US said it had intelligence that Russia had already sent saboteurs into Ukraine with the intent of stirring up trouble. Along with the troops already along the border, more Russian aircraft have been flown to the region in recent days and satellite photos have confirmed the positioning of makeshift military hospitals US national security adviser Jake Sullivan claimed Russia was 'laying the groundwork to have the option of fabricating a pretext for an invasion'. A US official said: 'We have information that indicates Russia has already pre-positioned a group of operatives to conduct a false flag operation in eastern Ukraine. 'The operatives are trained in urban warfare and in using explosives to carry out acts of sabotage against Russia's own proxy forces.' A false flag operation is a disguised act with the intention of blaming another party. Mr Sullivan told reporters Russia used similar tactics in 2014 when it seized Crimea and backed an ongoing insurgency in eastern Ukraine. Top US diplomat Michael Carpenter warned: 'The drumbeat of war is sounding loud.' The Daily Mail can reveal that RAF spy planes have mounted surveillance flights in the region to monitor Russian troop movement and radio communications. On Thursday, an RC-135 aircraft, packed with sensors and listening devices, flew over Ukraine's southern coast. A Kremlin spokesman last night dismissed claims of an invasion as 'unfounded'. US has intelligence Putin will stage a 'false flag' attack on his OWN troops to set up a pretext to invade Ukraine after talks between the US and Russia collapsed By Rob Crilly, Senior U.S. Political Reporter for Dailymail.com The US has intelligence that Russia is planning a 'false-flag' operation on its own forces in eastern Ukraine to create a pretext for invasion. Officials on Friday also said they believed Russia was mounting a social media disinformation campaign to portray Ukraine as the aggressor. The update, making the prospect of military conflict more immediate, came as Ukrainian government websites were taken offline in a 'massive' cyberattack, talks between Washington and Moscow collapsed and Russia held a combat readiness inspection of their troops. Meanwhile, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia had 'run out of patience' with the West as Moscow demanded assurances that NATO would not expand closer to its territory. The United States has evidence that operatives trained in urban warfare and sabotage will carry out these attacks on Russian proxy forces, officials told journalists on Friday, possibly weeks before an invasion. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki warned of human rights violations and war crimes if diplomacy failed and the Russian government went ahead with its plans. 'We have information that indicates Russia has already pre-positioned a group of operatives to conduct a false flag operation in eastern Ukraine,' she said. 'The operatives are trained in urban warfare and using explosives to carry out acts of sabotage against Russia's own proxy forces.' She said it mimicked the playbook used when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula, and included social media disinformation to show Kyiv as the instigator of violence. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the intelligence was 'very credible.' The Kremlin quickly denied it was preparing a provocation. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the reporting was based on 'unfounded' information, according to the TASS news agency. Details emerged as Russia held snap combat readiness inspections of its troops on Friday and as several prominent Ukrainian government websites were taken offline Friday, authorities said, in a sweeping cyber attack. A militant of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) observes the area at fighting positions on the line of separation from the Ukrainian armed forces in Donetsk region, Ukraine January 14, 2022. The claim of a false-flag operation echoes Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, which said that Russian special services were preparing provocations against Russian forces in order to frame Ukraine. And a day earlier, President Biden's national security adviser said that the U.S. had intelligence that Russia was preparing a pretext for invasion. 'Our intelligence community has developed information ... that Russia is laying the groundwork to have the option of fabricating a pretext for an invasion, including through sabotage activities and information operations, by accusing Ukraine of preparing an imminent attack against Russian forces in Eastern Ukraine,' he told reporters at the White House 'We saw this playbook in 2014. They are preparing this playbook again.' But he also said officials had not determined that President Vladimir Putin had made a definitive decision to invade, suggesting a diplomatic resolution might still be possible. Officials are trying to weigh whether Putin is ready to act on his desire to swallow up Ukraine or whether it is a feint to strengthen his regional influence. Even so, the Biden administration is considering how to back a Ukrainian insurgency should Russia invade. Options include training fighters in nearby countries, such as Poland, Romania or Slovakia, or working with NATO allies to provide medical services or even shelter during Russian offensives, officials told the New York Times. In a sign of the complex forces in play, Russia also announced it had detained members of the ransomware group REvil at the request of the United States. It marked a rare moment of collaboration at a time when relations are at rock bottom. 'The investigative measures were based on a request from the... United States,' the FSB domestic intelligence service said. '... The organised criminal association has ceased to exist and the information infrastructure used for criminal purposes was neutralised.' A Ukrainian Military Forces serviceman walks on a trench on the frontline with Russia-backed separatists near Luganske village, in Donetsk region. Kiev has been on high alert since Russia moved 100,000 troops close to its border last year Meanwhile, the White House said President Biden had been briefed on the cyberattack, which took down a string of Ukrainian government websites. Some displayed messages saying: 'Be afraid and expect the worst.' A Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman confirmed details of a hack to AFP. 'As a result of a massive cyberattack, the websites of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a number of other government agencies are temporarily down,' he said. The education ministry wrote on Facebook that its website was down due to a 'global (cyber) attack' that had taken place overnight. There was no immediate claim of responsibility and Kiev did not say who may have been responsible. Ukraine had blamed Russians with links to the Kremlin for previous attacks. About 70 websites of national and regional government bodies were targeted, according to Victor Zhora, deputy chair of the State Service of Special Communication and Information Protection. He stressed, however, that no critical infrastructure was affected and no personal data was leaked. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said: 'The United States and our allies and partners are concerned about the cyber attack, and the president has been briefed. 'We are also in touch with the Ukrainians and have offered our support as Ukraine investigates the impact and nature, and recovers from the incident. EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell said on Friday the bloc was mobilising 'all its resources' to aid Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia said it was running out of patience with its demand that NATO does not expand eastward, closer to Russia. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that Moscow wouldn't wait indefinitely for the Western response, saying he expected an answer from the US and NATO next week. A fighter jet is takes off in footage released by Russia's ministry of defence. Amid concern over Russia's troop buildup, Russia says it is up to Moscow alone where it moves its forces around on its territory and that they pose no external threat 'We have run out of patience,' Lavrov said at a news conference. 'The West has been driven by hubris and has exacerbated tensions in violation of its obligations and common sense.' It comes after a string of meetings between the two sides this week that failed to bring a breakthrough. As a result, American officials have stepped up their warnings. The U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the result was a 'crisis in European security.' 'The drumbeat of war is sounding loud and the rhetoric has gotten rather shrill,' Michael Carpenter said. That drumbeat has put countries in the region on alert. Poland warned that Europe faced its greatest threat of war in the past 30 years. And a senior military figure in Sweden said Friday that there had been increased Russian activity in the Baltic Sea which 'deviates from the normal picture.' 'We have decided to reposition our troops. It does not have to mean an increased threat, but we always want to adapt to the prevailing situation,' Lt. Gen Leif Michael Claesson told The Associated Press. Sweden, which is not part of NATO, has monitored landing craft from Russia's northern navy entering the Baltic Sea. As a result, Claesson who is the operations manager at the Swedish Armed Forces, said the country had raised its level of preparedness. Some of the measures taken would be visible and others would not, he added. Gary Neville has joined the Labour Party and hinted he is not ruling out a venture into politics. The former Manchester United captain, 46, has been a fierce critic of Boris Johnsons Conservative Government. Confirming his decision to join the party, the ex-England defender turned pundit and businessman, pictured, said: I do believe that we need a progressive Labour Party, but one that actually not just looks after the Left side; it has to come towards the centre. Gary Neville has joined the Labour Party and hinted he is not ruling out a venture into politics The former Manchester United captain, 46, has been a fierce critic of Boris Johnsons Conservative Government Sharing the news on social media, Shadow Cabinet minister Lucy Powell said she was very pleased Neville had finally decided to join Labour. She also suggested that he may have a political career in store. But speaking to the BBCs Political Thinking podcast, Neville said he was worried about getting eaten alive in Westminster. Save the Children bosses have agreed to drop the font that was originally designed by disgraced artist and paedophile Eric Gill from its corporate branding. The children's charity confirmed it would no longer use its logo featuring the Gill Sans typeface, that was designed by Gill himself and released for public use in the UK from 1928. Save the Children bosses have agreed to drop the font that was originally designed by disgraced artist and paedophile Eric Gill from its corporate branding Staff working with the organisation are said to have repeatedly warned managers of the dangers of linking the work of a known abuser with a children's charity before Gill's work was finally axed. Save the Children reportedly agreed to drop Gill Sans from its branding last year after sources highlighted the potential hypocrisy of a children's organisation using artwork produced by a man who molested his two eldest daughters. Gill made headlines again this week when a furious protestor, David Chick, was seen chipping away at one his 1933 statues that is on display outside BBC's Broadcast House in London. Campaigners have long-called for the statue, named Prospero and Ariel, to be removed since it was revealed decades after his death in 1940 that its creator Eric Gill sexually abused his two eldest daughters. One source told managers that continuing to use Gill's artwork in the 21st century 'probably wasn't a good idea', reports The Times. On Save the Children's website, it declares its intention is to ensure 'children stay safe, healthy and keep learning.' But its most recently published guidelines from 2016 insist the use of Gill Sans Infant Standard is to be used across the organisation's vast array of published literature. The news comes just days after a sculpture named 'Prospero and Ariel' that was installed by Gill (pictured above) in 1933 on the side of the BBC's Broadcast House was attacked by a lone hammer-wielding protestor Eric Gill: The dark side of a famous sculptor Pictured: English sculptor Eric Gill In 1907, Eric Gill moved with his wife Ethel Hester Moore to Ditchling in Sussex, where he established a bohemian artists' community In Sussex and at his later home in a ruined Benedictine monastery in Wales he produced life drawings of his daughters as they grew up He drew his daughter Petra, who he admitted having sex with, as a nude teenager in work Girl In Bath In his diary, published after his death, he described his penchant for bestiality and incest - with his sister and with his daughters He had a string of affairs with models for his work Advertisement The charity has since promised it will be rolling out a new typeface for 2022. Save the Children have been contacted to provide comment. Last October, the BBC ditched the use of Gill Sans across its programming following complaints from viewers that it looked 'dated' and 'old-fashioned'. But the national broadcaster has so far rebuked calls to tear down Gill's Prospero and Ariel statue that adorns the side of Broadcasting House in Portland Place. It is one of a number of Gill sculptures at the BBC's headquarters - the Sower can be found in the reception area, while he also contributed to Bas Reliefs of Ariel in the building as well. David Chick, 52, was arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage and was today being held in custody by the Metropolitan Police after he was accused of using a hammer to attack a statue by known paedophile Gill. The Gill sculpture, depicting Prospero and Ariel from Shakespeare's play The Tempest, was installed in 1933, according to the BBC. 'Prospero, Ariel's master, stands 10ft tall and is depicted sending Ariel out into the world. Ariel, as the spirit of the air, was felt to be an appropriate symbol for the new mystery of broadcasting,' the BBC says on its website. In 1990, the BBC adopted his typeface Gill Sans which he created in 1927. The corporation used the font for its wordmark and many of its onscreen television graphics. The logo became one of the longest standing logos in the world and was only recently changed. A biography on the Tate museum website said: 'Gill's religious views and subject matter contrast with his sexual behaviour, including his erotic art, and (as mentioned in his own diaries) his extramarital affairs and sexual abuse of his daughters, sisters and dog.' Nearly 2,500 people have previously signed a petition demanding the removal of the sculpture on the website of political activist group 38 Degrees. If you already subscribe to our eEdition edition, sign up for FREE access to our online edition. Thanks for reading the El Campo Leader News. French, German and Spanish GCSEs are being dumbed down to 'phrasebook' learning under government reforms to make them more accessible, it was claimed yesterday. Teenagers in England will be expected to learn up to 1,700 frequently used words in a curriculum overhaul. The Association of School and College Leaders says that pupils should have a 2,000-word 'basic threshold' after learning a language for five years in order to feel they are making progress, The Telegraph reports. Ministers hope the move will boost the take-up of languages in schools, making it 'clearer' what pupils will need to know in their exams. French, German and Spanish GCSEs are being dumbed down to 'phrasebook' learning under government reforms to make them more accessible, it was claimed yesterday But private school head teachers warned of a widening 'academic step up' for pupils who wish to take the subjects at A-level. And Chris McGovern, of the Campaign for Real Education, attacked a 'dilution in standards'. He said: 'We're back to phrasebook language learning which might enable children to order an ice cream in Benidorm or in Paris but little more than that.' He added: 'This is a massive dumbing down. In comparison with what's going on in other countries, we are miles behind.' The Department for Education (DfE) yesterday announced the updated curriculum, designed to make language subjects 'more accessible and attractive'. Teenagers in England will be expected to learn up to 1,700 frequently used words in a curriculum overhaul Revised French, German and Spanish GCSEs will test teenagers on common conversational and written vocabulary, as well as grammar and pronunciation. Pupils will be assessed on 1,200 'word families' at foundation tier and 1,700 at the higher tier, which is sat by the brightest. An example of a word family is 'manage', 'managed' and 'manages'. At least 85 per cent of phrases will be taken from a language's 2,000 most frequently used words. A DfE consultation on the proposals, which received more than 1,600 responses, highlighted concerns around introducing a prescribed list of words. Many respondents were worried youngsters 'would not be exposed to a large enough vocabulary... to be able to communicate effectively'. Others were concerned that stipulating numbers of words would 'disadvantage' English teenagers compared with their European peers. But the DfE consultation document argues: 'The definition of word families is broader than that of individual words... this change means the number of words on which students can be assessed is higher.' Ian Bauckham, chairman of the modern foreign languages review and also of regulator Ofqual, defended the overhaul. Writing in the Times Education Supplement, he said that 'being clear about vocabulary that needs covering will make sure that students know the most commonly needed words'. The reformed GCSEs will be taught from September 2024, with first exams in 2026. Advertisement A Tom Cruise lookalike has been kicked off Instagram for 'pretending to be someone,' which has destroyed his business. Jerome LeBlanc, 33, from Quebec, Canada, who resides in San Diego, California, was removed from the social media platform for breaking one of the apps 'community guidelines' which forbid people from impersonating others. LeBlanc, who blessed with good looks and appears uncannily like the real Tom Cruise, had been able to find work impersonating the Top Gun actor and built up his Instagram following over the course of six years. Having built up more than 30,000 followers, his sudden removal from Instagram led to a sharp drop in business. 'It was a pretty big blow for someone self employed like me to lose an account that brought me so much business,' LeBlanc told DailyMail.com. LeBlanc was first banned from the platform in June 2021. He appealed and was reinstated before being stuck off for good weeks later. Jerome LeBlanc, 33, built up his Tom Cruise lookalike business over 10 years but has now been kicked off Instagram LeBlanc, left, impersonates the real Tom Cruise and his character Maverick, right, from the 1986 film Top Gun Professional Tom Cruise impersonator Jerome LeBlanc is seen on his Facebook page, left, while the real deal Tom Cruise is seen, right Instagram rules state: 'Creating an account to impersonate someone is against the Community Guidelines and could result in the removal of your account.' The app further advises: 'Don't pretend to be the real individual or brand. This includes: Speaking in the voice or portraying yourself as the individual, brand, or organization. Misrepresenting your relationship to the individual, brand, or organization.' LeBlanc tells DailyMail.com: 'I tried appealing the disabling of my account - explaining I'm impersonating a fictional character, but no luck. They stated "I was pretending to be someone, and my name did not match the account." Of course I wasn't pretending to be anyone, I was impersonating a fictional character.' LeBlanc set about providing Instagram documents that would hopefully see the company, which is owned by Meta (formerly Facebook), reconsider. He supplied them with information including a business license showing that owned a lookalike business, but the decision was a firm 'no'. 'I began to appeal three times a day for weeks. Finally, I received a different response, they said I needed either a lawyer or someone on my behalf to prove my legitimacy. So I retained a lawyer,' he continued. 'After thousands of dollars lost during the process, and thousands spent on a lawyer trying to regain my account. They never even responded to my lawyer,' LeBlanc explained. LeBlanc often makes in-person appearances at military-themed events LeBlanc has now been forced to switch to TikTok to generate business. He is pictured in 2021 LeBlanc says he does not believe the real Tom Cruise, pictured above, is responsible for him being removed from Instagram while others have suggested that he may well be 'It has affected my business greatly due to the fact my Instagram was mainly a San Diego base following. Which is where I live. Also, to top it off... This is all happening during a pandemic where we need to maintain a physical distance.' Before heading online, LeBlanc began impersonating Cruise's character Maverick from Top Gun on Hollywood Blvd in Los Angeles at the age of 23, where he would pose with tourists. In recent times, when not making in-person appearances at parties or larger events such as the San Diego Comic Con for a fee of thousands, LeBlanc would generate income by making personal videos for those who requested them for around $80 a pop. Despite speaking French as a first language, LeBlanc trained himself to perfect the quintessential Tom Cruise laugh, a trademark of the Syracuse-born superstar. Now married with two children, his impersonation role is his full-time job. Since being kicked off Instagram, LeBlanc has been forced to start all over again and has now switched to TikTok and Cameo. LeBlanc began impersonating Cruise's character Maverick from Top Gun, on Hollywood Blvd pictured above, in Los Angeles at the age of 23, where he would pose with tourists LeBlanc, pictured, says he does not believe the real actor is behind his suspension but has had word that Cruise may well have had some influence behind the scenes If you can't meet Tom Cruise, you can at least pose with the next best thing - meet Jerome LeBlanc! LeBlanc is seen in a typical Tom Cruise pose with hair, glasses and flight jacket all in the character of Maverick from Top Gun Even real life members of the U.S. Air Force are happy to pose with the Tom Cruise impersonator On TikTok, he has quickly managed to build up a loyal fanbase of more than 530,000 followers. Nevertheless, he is still disappointed in how he was treated by Instagram. 'My career was mainly 'meet and greets' and appearances, and because of this platform I survived the entire pandemic creating videos for people and never receiving unemployment,' he said. 'I'm extremely disappointed that a platform so huge wouldn't have a customer service system with real people responding.' LeBlanc says he does not believe the real actor is behind his suspension but has had word that Cruise may well have had some influence behind the scenes. 'In November, I tried appealing once again but the email address simply bounced, so I have been definitely banned from the appealing process at this point.' Despite a frustrating six months, LeBlanc remains humble: 'I'm very grateful for a career that is not only fun for me, but fun for others. The exchange of energy this job brings is absolutely fantastic.' Despite a frustrating six months, LeBlanc remains humble: ' I'm very grateful for a career that is not only fun for me, but fun for others. The exchange of energy this job brings is absolutely fantastic.' An 80-year-old white ex-ballet dancer mistaken for a black suspect in his 30s and tasered in his kitchen has finally received a public apology from police chiefs. Roy Morton was woken on December 28 by officers armed with sub-machine guns who smashed through his front door, tasered him, pinned him to the floor and handcuffed him after allegedly mixing up his address. Chief Superintendent Philip Ryan, from Scotland Yard's specialist firearms command, said: 'I am deeply sorry that this terrible error occurred and I apologise wholeheartedly to Mr Morton.' Roy Morton (pictured) who suffers from a heart condition was woken on December 28 by officers armed with sub-machine guns who smashed through his front door, tasered him, pinned him to the floor and handcuffed him after allegedly mixing up his address He said a team is investigating what happened but Mr Morton, from Cricklewood, north-west London, said the apology was superficial and he is 'still very shaken'. He said: 'I don't go outside. I just stay indoors now with the curtains shut. 'I feel like an old man for the first time in my life.' Describing the moment armed officers burst into his kitchen at 7am, Mr Morton told the Daily Mail earlier this month: 'I was wearing my pyjamas just standing there on the tiled floor wondering desperately what the hell was going on. 'At least four police in full gear carrying machine guns were shining dazzling bright torches in my face, all shouting and screaming something unintelligible at me. They gave me no instructions, nothing. The 80-year-old white ex-ballet dancer, who was mistaken for a black suspect in his 30s, has finally received a public apology from police chiefs. Pictured: Mr Morton on tour in Barcelona 'Suddenly one of them fired this Taser at me and the electricity started zapping. It hit me in the stomach and the top of my leg and I fell to the floor of the kitchen, helpless. 'Then they jumped on me, kneeling on my back to pin me onto the tiled floor, twisting my arms behind my back and handcuffing me and telling me I was under arrest for affray.' Describing his 'state of shock and confusion', he said officers then watched him get dressed and go to the toilet before taking him away. Mr Morton who was fitted with a pacemaker 25 years ago for a condition called heart block said he was taken to the Royal Free Hospital in north London after the arrest to have the device examined. He was later transferred to Colindale Police Station in a 'filthy' police van where he was told about the mix-up. Health Minister Greg Hunt says Australia has reached a 95 per cent first-dose vaccination rate against covid, while there is hope the latest Omicron outbreak has peaked. He said the milestone for first vaccine doses for Australians aged 16 and older surpassed 'almost all possible predictions that were made at the outset of the pandemic'. 'That is often referred to as a full vaccination level but we want to go further, we want to continue to encourage Australians to come forward,' Mr Hunt told reporters on Saturday. Australia has reached a 95 per cent first-dose vaccination rate against covid while some 92.5 per cent of Australians aged 16 and over have had two vaccine doses Some 92.5 per cent of Australians aged 16 and over have had two vaccine doses, while 52.6 per cent had received their booster, including 245,000 people on Friday. More than 250,000 children aged between five and 11 have received their first dose of a vaccine since becoming eligible on Monday, including 57,000 on Friday. Mr Hunt also flagged a decision on the Novavax covid vaccine - which is not yet available in Australia - is expected by the Therapeutic Goods Administration 'in the coming 10 days'. Health Minister Greg Hunt said the milestone for first vaccine doses for Australians aged 16 and older surpassed 'almost all possible predictions' Some 51 million doses of the protein-based vaccine have been ordered by the federal government. NSW recorded 48,768 new covid cases and 20 deaths on Saturday, while Victoria registered 25,526 infections and 23 deaths. Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said there were 'signs for hope' the outbreaks in both states, as well as the ACT, have peaked. Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said there were 'signs for hope' for outbreaks in NSW, Vic, and the ACT as forecasts predict case numbers will soon reach their peak 'All predictions and now the actual forecasting based on actual numbers of cases, particularly in NSW but also in Victoria and ACT, leads me to believe that we are close to the peak of this wave in terms of cases,' he said, noting infections are likely to be going under-reported. However, Professor Kelly noted the situation in Western Australia 'is another story'. 'When they do start to get cases it will be later on. But for most of the rest of Australia, we are still on that upward curve, we may be plateauing and then there is a downswing of cases after that,' he said. Prof Kelly also noted there will be a rise in hospitalisations and deaths in the coming weeks but noted the overall rate of severe disease is 'extremely low'. However, Professor Kelly noted the situation in Western Australia 'is another story' saying their case numbers will pick up 'later on' Infectious disease experts have warned people may become reinfected with covid due to different variants circulating in the community. Epidemiology chair at Deakin University Professor Catherine Bennett says while the majority of cases in the country are linked to the Omicron variant, people are still being infected with the Delta strain. She said people who caught covid linked to one strain could still get it again from the other. Experts have warned people believed to have 'immunity' after recovering from covid should remain vigilant as they could be exposed to other strains 'We know Omicron has higher rates of reinfection, and that was in people who have had Delta,' Professor Bennett told ABC TV. 'Even if Omicron doesn't reinfect after an infection has cleared, you can still have a Delta infection at a party and still be vulnerable to Omicron, so it is still possible to have a reinfection.' A men's rights activist who has been convicted of stalking has been slammed after calling domestic abuse victim Hannah Clarke a 'perpetrator'. Adam James, also known as Adam Benjamin Cocks, claimed Ms Clarke extorted her husband Rowan Baxter days before he doused her and their three children in petrol and set them alight at Camp Hill, Queensland, in February 2020. Mr James made the inflammatory comments to his Facebook page 'Don't Believe All Women', which he set up to demonstrate 'that some women tell lies and we should be careful when cons.' Social media users have been quick to slam the accusations as 'disgusting' and 'baseless' while complaints have been lodged to Facebook to take down the post. A men's rights activist who has been convicted of stalking has been slammed after calling domestic abuse victim Hannah Clarke a 'perpetrator' Adam James, also known as Adam Benjamin Cocks, claimed Ms Clarke extorted her husband Rowan Baxter days before he doused her and their three children in petrol and set them alight at Camp Hill, Queensland, in February 2020 Mr James made the inflammatory comments to his Facebook page 'Don't Believe All Women', which he set up to demonstrate 'that some women tell lies and we should be careful when cons' 'What is little known, as it's been concealed by the family, is that Hannah was extorting Rowan in the days leading up to the deaths,' Mr James wrote. 'What is known is that she had posted on his facebook profile publicly that she was going to 'take his kids and shut down his business'. Considering the bias in the court system she certainly would have easily succeeded at that.' Mr James claimed the coercive control laws were engineered against men. 'If Rowan wanted to choose to address Hannah's threats legally and nonviolently how could he have done this?' he wrote. 'If he went to the police he would've been turned away (70% of men are turned away when reporting a crime committed by a woman). 'Most disturbingly, her choice to extort him and what is an extreme example of coercive control by her, has now resulted in new laws that will further disempower men and give greater control to heterosexual women who use coercive control.' Mr James finished the post by calling Ms Clarke a perpetrator: 'We need to raise awareness of female perpetrators of coercive control like Hannah Clarke.' 'We need to have gender neutral laws so men have the ability to address women who are being abusive lawfully and nonviolently.' Domestic violence advocate Rachael has lodged complaint with Facebook demanding the social media giant remove the 'baseless' post. 'It is absolutely disgusting. There is not a shred of evidence to substantiate his claims,' she said. Social media users have been quick to slam the accusations as 'disgusting' and 'baseless' while complaints have been lodged to Facebook to take down the post Mr James finished the post by calling Ms Clarke a perpetrator: 'We need to raise awareness of female perpetrators of coercive control like Hannah Clarke' The pleas have fallen on deaf ears with Rachael revealing Facebook has refused to take down the post. 'We have complained to Facebook, we have reported it as unsubstantiated rubbish, and we all did it and we all got the same message back from Facebook that it did not go against their community guidelines. We asked for a review and it still stood,' she said. A spokesperson for Meta, Facebook's parent company, said the post did not breach community standards. 'We've reviewed this post and found it doesn't breach our policies. We work hard to find the right balance between allowing people to debate current and topical social issues, while ensuring we protect our community and minimise harms on our platforms,' she said. Domestic violence advocate Rachael has lodged complaint with Facebook demanding the social media giant remove the 'baseless' post 'We've shared this content with our third party fact checkers who review content that doesn't breach our policies but may be deemed false or misleading.' Mr James also defended his claims and doubled down on his accusation that Ms Clarke was a 'perpetrator'. 'Domestic violence is bidirectional,' he told The Daily Telegraph. 'We know for sure that Rowan was a perpetrator. What has been concealed is that Hannah was also a perpetrator. 'The horrible irony is Hannah was guilty of coercive control.' Daily Mail Australia contacted Mr James for comment. Border checkpoints are being dismantled in Queensland with domestic travellers no longer required to show proof of a negative covid test as the state recorded another 19,709 virus cases and six deaths. Since 1am on Saturday, interstate visitors have been welcomed into Queensland regardless of where they have come from, without the need for a border pass or negative test. With domestic border controls now lifted, Queensland Police are removing border checkpoints, drawing the curtain on an epic operation. Queensland has recorded another 19,709 virus cases and six deaths as the state opens to interstate travellers without regulation Interstate travellers no longer need to show proof of a negative covid tests or fill out a border pass as of 1am on Saturday Gold Coast District Acting Chief Superintendent Rhys Wildman said the barricades that played a central role in preventing covid outbreaks as vaccination rates rose in Queensland would be completely gone by 5am on Sunday - and he does not expect them to return. "The vaccination rates here are high enough and hospital rates are so low compared to the case numbers so we are achieving our outcomes," Mr Wildman said. "The whole purpose of the borders was to provide time for our community to get used to and ready for this situation, so the advice we have been given is that we won't be back (at border checkpoints)." Mr Wildman said the checkpoint closure would provide a healthy injection back into Queensland Police's frontline ranks with almost 100 staff returning to Gold Coast operations alone. Gold Coast District Acting Chief Superintendent Rhys Wildman said the barricades marking borders will be fully dismantled by 5am on Sunday Mr Wildman said the checkpoint closure would provide a healthy injection back into police's frontline ranks with almost 100 staff returning to Gold Coast operations alone Queensland was initially set to dump all border controls when it hit a covid vaccination rate of 90 per cent - a target expected to be achieved next week. But the shift has been brought forward with the Omicron variant already widespread in the community and 90 per cent of eligible Queenslanders to be double-jabbed in the coming days. Queensland's latest figures show 91.48 per cent of those eligible have had one jab and 88.51 per cent have received two. Since the checkpoints were first established in March 2020, 3.3 million border passes have been issued and almost 3.7 million cars have been intercepted, with 35,902 turned around and 20,247 people sent to quarantine There were six deaths and 19,709 new virus cases announced on Saturday, with 649 people being treated for covid in hospital, including 46 in intensive care. Since the checkpoints were first established in March 2020 and reintroduced in May of 2021, 3.3 million border passes have been issued and almost 3.7 million cars have been intercepted, with 35,902 turned around and 20,247 people sent to quarantine. Overall there were 818 fines and arrests, 3571 individual investigations, 61 changes to border rules and 192,000 police hours spent managing checkpoints. Gay rights activist Diaz-Johnston, pictured, was found dead in a landfill in Florida A missing gay rights activist and the brother of former Miami mayor Many Diaz was found dead in a Florida landfill on Saturday, and authorities are investigating the death as a homicide. Jorge Diaz-Johnston, 54, the brother to the Mayor of Miami from 2001 to 2009, who had been missing since January 3, was discovered in a trash pile at a landfill in Baker, Florida, roughly 60 miles east of the Alabama border, Tallahassee police announced on Wednesday. 'I am profoundly appreciative of the outpouring of support shown to me, my brother-in-law Don, and my family after the loss of my brother, Jorge Diaz-Johnston,' former mayor Diaz, 68, wrote of his brother. 'My brother was such a special gift to this world whose heart and legacy will continue to live on for generations to come.' Diaz-Johnston's body was found the same day a missing persons report was filed by concerned family. No arrests have been made as of Saturday morning, and police said an investigation is ongoing. Diaz-Johnston had been married to his husband, Don Diaz-Johnston, 51, since March 2015. They were among five other same-sex couples who sued the Miami-Dade County Clerk's Office in 2014 after they were denied the ability to get married, and then were among the first to get married the following year. Scroll down for video Pictured: A landfill in Baker, Florida, roughly 60 miles east of the Alabama border, where Jorge Diaz-Johnston, the brother to former mayor of Miami, was discovered in a trash pile Jorge Diaz-Johnston, 54 (right), was found dead on Friday in a Florida landfill. He and his husband Don (left) are pictured waiting to speak to the media and supporters after a court hearing on gay marriage in 2014 Former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, pictured, brother to slain Diaz-Johnston, speaks as he introduces Democratic presidential candidate, former NYC mayor Mike Bloomberg, in 2020 'I am profoundly appreciative of the outpouring of support shown to me, my brother-in-law Don, and my family after the loss of my brother, Jorge Diaz-Johnston,' Diaz wrote of his brother 'There are just no words for the loss of my beloved husband Jorge Isaias Diaz-Johnston,' Don wrote. 'I can't stop crying as I try and write this. But he meant so much to all of you as he did to me. So I am fighting through the tears to share with you our loss of him.' The two were married shortly after winning the high-profile court case in March 2015. 'For us, it's not just only a question of love and wanting to express our love and have the benefits that everyone else has in the state, but it's an issue of equality, and it's a civil rights issue,' Jorge Diaz-Johnston said at the time, according to NBC Miami. He had been married to his husband, Don Diaz-Johnston, 51, since March 2015 They were among five other same-sex couples who sued the Miami-Dade County Clerk's Office in 2014 after they were denied the ability to get married Pictured: Diaz-Johnston and his husband, Don Daniella Levine Cava, the current mayor of Miami, praised Diaz-Johnston's for his advocacy role for LGBTQ rights in the city. 'In Jorge Diaz-Johnston, we lost a champion, a leader, and a fighter for our LGBTQ community,' she tweeted. 'His tragic loss will be felt profoundly by all who loved him, as we honor his life and legacy.' Elizabeth Schwartz, who represented the six couples in the case, noted how hard they two had to fight just to marry, only for it to end in tragedy. 'They fought so hard for their love to be enshrined and to be able to enjoy the institution of marriage, and for the marriage to end in this way - in this gruesome, heartbreaking way - there are no words,' Schwartz said. A desperate search for a missing nine-year-old girl has entered its second day with police combing through dense bushland in the Blue Mountains. Charlise Mutten was reported missing at 8.20am on Friday from a home at Mt Wilson, deep in the Blue Mountains national park. She was last seen on Thursday. Acting Superintendent John Nelson said Charlise is from Queensland and has been holidaying with her family in Mt Wilson over the school break. NSW Police confirmed the house was being searched and that a car had been seized for examination. A full-scale operation involving hundreds of officers, helicopters, the dog squad and emergency response volunteers was launched on Friday. A desperate search for a missing nine-year-old girl has entered its second day with police combing through dense bushland in the Blue Mountains NSW Police released two photos of Charlise as the search for her intensified on Friday. She is described as being of Caucasian appearance with brown hair (pictured, Charlise Mutten) The girl was reported missing at 8.20am on Friday from a property at Mt Wilson, 60km northwest of Richmond (pictured, police and detectives on the scene on Friday) SES and rural fire service members have joined police in the search The search was temporarily halted as heavy storms lashed the region before officers resumed on Saturday. Charlise is described as being of Caucasian appearance with thin brown hair. It is not known what she was wearing when she disappeared. It is understood the police homicide squad was called in on Friday afternoon, 9News reported. NSW Police told Daily Mail Australia that officers would continue 'sweeping the area' through the night but that PolAir helicopter, which was using 'thermal imaging technology', was forced out of the operation by thunderstorms. A command post was established at the Mt Wilson Rural Fire Service Station with members from the Rural Fire Service and State Emergency Service assisting police from the Blue Mountains Police Area Command, Police Rescue, the Dog Unit, and PolAir. The crews are searching dense bushland around Mt Wilson, which is approximately 30km northeast of Blackheath. It is understood search teams are checking tents and bins in the area. NSW police sent out a geo-targeting text message to all local residents in the area on Friday evening to inform them of Charlise's disappearance. They also asked social media users to share the missing girl's photo widely. The police post was shared over 6,000 times in three hours. Police are appealing for anyone with information about her whereabouts to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. NSW police sent out a geo-targeting text message to all local residents in the area on Friday evening to inform them of Charlise's disappearance The heiress of one of the largest ranching dynasties in the state of Texas is suing her brother over a controlling stake in the 660,000-acre holdings of land that was assembled over decades by their father, affectionately known a 'Big Daddy,' former State Governor Dolph Briscoe Jr., who died in 2010. One of his daughters, Cele Carpenter, 65, married a family of well-known Dallas business leaders and in the lawsuit is accuses her older brother, 68-year-old Dolph 'Chip' Briscoe III, of plotting to gain control over an inheritance that is valued at more than $1 billion. The estate includes banks and a small sporting goods store, as well as land, 15,000 cattle and even oil wells consisting of 600,000 acres stretching over 10 counties that Forbes valued at $1.3 billion in 2015. Issues arose after their sister, Janey Briscoe Marmion, changed the will before her death from cancer in 2018. 'Big Daddy' Dolph (second from left) and Janey Briscoe (second from right) are shown in an official campaign portrait with their children Janey, Dolph III (Chip) and Cele at the Frio Ranch. Dolph Briscoe Jr. was elected Texas governor in 1972 Dolph Briscoe, Governor of Texas from 1972 until 1978, was the largest individual landowner and rancher in a state famous for its huge ranches. He was one of the most respected businessmen in Texas, with a portfolio that included banks, agribusinesses, cattle, and oil and gas properties. He is pictured with wife Janey, left, and three children in a picture from the 50s The West Texas ranch lands are where the former governor grew up during the Great Depression but his three children all went off in different directions The Briscoe Ranch in Catarina, Texas - part of 660,000 acres of land left by the former Governor to his children that are now squabbling over it Janey left no heirs to the land after her own daughter, Kate, died after being shot in 2008 when she was a sophomore in college. She died from a gunshot wound to the chest. News reports at the time detail how a county judge ruled her death an accident. But her death altered how the future of the Briscoe family fortune would be shared and the families of the surviving siblings, Cele and Chip, are now fighting in court over how to divide up Janey's portion of the Briscoe fortune. With Janey no longer having an heir, she decided to rewrite her will in order for her share of the inheritance money to be split among her niece and nephews. It meant that Cele's family, which consisted of three children, would ultimately receive more than brother Chip's, who had only two kids. Yet Cele's children would have a greater say in the future of the ranch holdings. Pallbearers carry the casket of former Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe at his July 2010 funeral Former Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe at his Uvalde, Texas ranch in 1997 A lawsuit filed in Dallas County court reveals how Cele didn't find out that her three children had in fact been cut out of Janey's will until the day the family buried her. Filing suit in Uvalde County, west of San Antonio, where much of the sprawling ranchland sits, a judge approved Janey's will making her brother the executor. But earlier versions of the will saw Janey's one-third share of the Briscoe holdings split equally among her five nieces and nephews. Court filings seen by the Wall Street Journal see Chip mocking his younger sister's move to North Texas, referring to her as the 'Dallas' family. Cele alleges that Chip persuaded sister Janey to modify her will in 2014, effectively cutting the Carpenter heirs out of a portion of their inheritance. Janey Briscoe and her husband former Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe in front of their Uvalde, Texas ranch home in 1997 The former governor focused on his ranch, a portion of which is pictured, while his three children all headed off on different paths They say Chip worked in a change to Janey's estate documents so that none of her assets would go to Cele's children with Chip's family able seize control of the business. The suit states how Chip resented that she would have control over the West Texas ranchland where the former governor grew up during the Great Depression. Although Governor Briscoe worked out of the State Capitol in Austin from 1972 serving two terms and leading the state during its oil and gas boom years. After he failed to win a third term, he returned to the ranch buying up more and more land from anyone selling west of San Antonio. The former governor focused on his ranch while his three children all headed off on different paths. The oldest, Janey, got married to a South Texas rancher. The youngest, Cele, married Dallas-area developer John Carpenter III. Middle child, Chip, studied in Austin at the University of Texas before following in his father's footsteps as a rancher, managing the ranch since his father passed away in 2010. Janey Briscoe Marmion, pictured in green. She died from cancer at the age if 68 in 2018. She is pictured here in 2013 After former governor died at the age of 87, the relationship between Chip and Cele also collapsed, the lawsuit details. When their sister, Janey was diagnosed with cancer, she told her siblings she would give half of her inheritance to charity in the name of her daughter in order to promote southwestern Texas art and heritage. The remainder was intended to be distributed equally between her five nephews and nieces, although that would be giving Cele a slight majority. When Janey died from cancer at the age of 68, Chip told his sister Cele about the newly revised will which gave a larger portion of Janey's holdings to the charity named after her daughter Kate while making Chip executor. The remainder of the estate went to Chip's two children with Cele's children completely removed. Former Governor Dolph Briscoe Jr., his daughter Janey Briscoe Marmion and her daughter Kate Marmion, who died after being shot by a rifle in 2008 Cele Carpenter, right, is at the center of a lawsuit which is has the remaining siblings at war. Uvalde Memorial Hospital development specialist (left) Sheri Rutledge gives Benjamin Carpenter and Cele Briscoe Carpenter a tour of the new MRI scanner, pictured in November 2021 'The changes in Janey's estate serve no purpose other than to benefit Chip and his family while cutting out Cele and her family entirely,' the suit states. Eight months after Janey's funeral, Cele's legal reps told Chip that she would be contesting the new will and the decision by an Uvalde County court judge that saw her brother being approved as the executor. Cele also then went on to sue in Dallas County. David Beck, Chip' lawyer, said Cele's family is trying to contest a will that wasdesigned to preserve the family business. 'In our view, Janey's sister Cele wants to break up the Briscoe Ranch. In their pleadings, the Carpenters (Cele) have said some very hurtful and untrue things against Chip,' Beck said. 'Whether the Carpenters think leaving money to charity is rational or not, that is exactly what Janey wanted; it was her money. Although not a beneficiary of her will, as executor of Janey's estate, I will defend Janey's estate plan and preserve Kate's memory and Janey's wishes for the Kate Marmion Charitable Foundation.' 'The three, 'although already wealthy in their own right, filed this will contest seeking to overturn Janey's estate plan and take in excess of half a billion dollars from Kate's foundation to put in their own coffers,' Chip Briscoe stated in a filing. Janey Briscoe and her husband former Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe, aboard their private plane en-route from San Antonio to their Uvalde, Texas ranch in 1997 Janey Briscoe and her husband former Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe at their Uvalde, Texas ranch home in 1997 Former Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe, Honorary Grand Marshal, waves as he takes part in Fiesta's Battle of Flowers Parade in San Antonio, in 2008 'In what can only be described as breathtaking audacity, they attack their aunt for leaving so much money to charity instead of to them. Waiting until Janey can no longer defend herself, they allege that Janey 'lacked the necessary capacity' to execute her estate plan,' he adds. Cele maintains she has no interest in breaking up Briscoe Ranch Inc. or taking operational control away from her brother. She said that her father was 'scrupulous' in his estate planning 'to ensure that his three children share equally in the ownership and benefits of the family's assets, its vast ranching operations, valuable oil and gas interests and large banking business.' The suit seeks more than $1 million in damages. Some of the best years of my life I miss those people. Good times and memories, but I have moved on. Not my best days, but I have made peace with them. Glad to be away from those people I dont miss the high school experience. Vote View Results The Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday that it's reviewing a proposal from FedEx that would allow the company to install a laser-based missile-defense on its Airbus A321-200 airplanes. FedEx Corp in October 2019 applied for approval to use a feature that emits infrared laser energy outside the aircraft as a countermeasure against heat-seeking missiles, the FAA disclosed in a document. The installation of these missiles would allow the package delivery company to fly into otherwise restricted air spaces. The FAA noted that FedEx would have to receive special approval, as commercial cargo planes are not typically designed to carry and shoot missiles. The agency said it is still reviewing the proposal and will consider public comments on the approval of the missile installation. The airline industry and several governments have been grappling with the threat to airliners from shoulder-fired missiles known as Man-Portable Air Defense Systems, or MANPADs, for decades, with some using infrared systems to target an aircraft's engines. FedEx is having a proposal reviewed by the FAA after they requested the installation of laser-based missiles on their cargo planes to combat heat-seeking missiles Man-portable air defense systems, or MANPADS, are considered a threat to flying aircraft especially in restricted areas 'In recent years, in several incidents abroad, civilian aircraft were fired upon by man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS),' the FAA documents state. 'This has led several companies to design and adapt systems like a laser-based missile-defense system for installation on civilian aircraft, to protect those aircraft against heat-seeking missiles. 'The FedEx missile-defense system directs infrared laser energy toward an incoming missile, in an effort to interrupt the missiles tracking of the aircrafts heat.' The FAA proposed conditions before it would consider approving the system, as well as incorporating safety measures. As part of these conditions, the laser device must have measures in place to prevent accidental activation onto the ground. The device must also not damage the aircraft, including other ones, and must not harm or injure other persons during the course of the flight. In addition, the FAA is asking for safety and maintenance information about workers using the system as well as instructions for the craft's airworthiness and for when it will be active. 'Infrared laser energy can pose a hazard to persons on the aircraft, on the ground, and on other aircraft,' the agency added. 'The risk is heightened because infrared light is invisible to the human eye. 'Human exposure to infrared laser energy can result in eye and skin damage and affect a flight crews ability to control the aircraft. 'Infrared laser energy also can affect other aircraft, whether airborne or on the ground, and property, such as fuel trucks and airport equipment, in a manner that adversely affects aviation safety.' A U.S. government trial took place in 2008 for anti-missile technology for civil planes by installing Northrop Grumman's Guardian countermeasures system on some commercial cargo flights while BAE Systems said it had installed its JetEye system on an American Airlines airplane. Other aircrafts who regularly fly in restricted areas have implemented the use of missiles as a method of safety. Since the 1970s, more than 40 civil airplanes have been hit by MANPAD For instance, foreign airlines such as El Al from Israel have had missiles installed on their aircraft as early as 2004. The UC-25 airplane, or Air Force One, designed to transport the US president has installed countermeasures to dodge incoming missiles. According to the U.S. State Department, more than 40 civil airplanes have been hit by MANPADs since the 1970s. Efforts to combat the threat accelerated after two missiles narrowly missed an Arkia Israeli Airlines Boeing 757 passenger jet on take-off from Mombasa airport in November 2002. Cargo planes have also been targeted. An Airbus A300 freighter flown by DHL in 2003 was damaged by MANPADs and forced to make an emergency landing in Baghdad. A more recent incident involved Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 in 2020 where 176 passengers were killed after a missile hit the aircraft while leaving Tehran. Saousoalii Siavii Jr., 43, (pictured in 2019) was found unresponsive at the US Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas on Thursday afternoon A former Seahawks defensive tackle was found dead in a federal prison where he was awaiting trial for an illegal firearms possession charge and drug trafficking, a prison official said. Saousoalii Siavii Jr., 43, was found unresponsive at the US Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas on Thursday afternoon after he was transferred there on December 17, US Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Anna Armijo said in a statement. The penitentiary has seen an influx of prisoners after the federal contract with CoreCivic ended recently. Siavii was treated by prison staff and taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead. The prison did not release additional details about Siavii's death, but was said to 'never' be a problem for staff or other inmates. In August 2019, Siavii was arrested and later charged with being an unlawful drug user in possession of firearms after suburban Kansas City police say he was spotted exiting a vehicle reported stolen and fighting with officers, who used a stun gun on him twice during the arrest. Prosecutors alleged Siavii possessed a gun, ammunition, methamphetamine and marijuana. The US attorney's office said in August 2019 that he was twice stunned with a Taser after he resisted arrest when he was taken into custody in August. The former Seahawks defensive tackle was arrested in August 2019 for gun and drug trafficking charges and was awaiting trial at the time of his death The confrontation began after the 6-foot-5 Siavii was spotted exiting a vehicle reported stolen. Prosecutors say he fought off officers in the Kansas City suburb of Independence before being restrained. Siavii was stopped by police while driving an improperly registered vehicle that had been seen at a house known to be involved with drug activity. Siavii allegedly led police in a high-speed car chase that left the road at one point, which is when Siavii fled on foot before being captured. In that case, Siavii was found in possession of a .22 caliber handgun, as well marijuana, meth ammunition and drug paraphernalia, according to kctv5.com. He was later charged with three federal counts of being an unlawful drug user in possession of firearms. Siavii was also found in possession of drugs after a traffic stop in January 2019. He died inside the US Leavenworth Penitentiary (pictured) in Kansas He was also named a suspect in a meth drug ring was charged alongside eight other co-defendants. The six-foot-five, 315-pound former tackle defense for the Seattle Seakhawks was drafted by Kansas City in the second round in 2004 as the draft's 35th pick. He only had 15 tackles and one sack before sustaining a knee injury. He spent two seasons with the Chiefs. He went Dallas in 2009 and Seattle in 2010. U.S. satellite broadcaster DirecTV said on Friday it will drop far-right channel One America News (OAN) from its service when its contract expires, in a blow to the popular conservative news network. OAN, which rose to prominence amid the triumph and tumult of the administration of then-President Donald Trump, has been criticized for spreading conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 election. The removal of the network will now affect millions of households worldwide who use the DirecTV provider, which will lose a significant part of its revenue. DirecTV's contract expires in early April, according to Bloomberg News, which first reported the development. US satellite broadcaster DirecTV announced they are dropping conservative channel One America News (OAN) from its service on Friday OAN rose to prominence amid the triumph and tumult of the administration of then-President Donald Trump 'We informed Herring Networks that, following a routine internal review, we do not plan to enter into a new contract when our current agreement expires,' a DirecTV spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Reuters. AT&T Inc, the parent of DirecTV, entered into a deal with Herring Networks Inc in 2017, which included OAN and a little-watched lifestyle channel, AWE. DirecTV began carrying the networks in April that year. AT&T has been a crucial source of funds for OAN, providing tens of millions of dollars in revenue, a Reuters investigation found last year. Ninety percent of OAN's revenue came from a contract with AT&T-owned television platforms, including DirecTV, according to 2020 sworn testimony by an OAN accountant. Although DirecTV has become an independent company, AT&T still owns 70 percent of it. DirecTV's parent company AT&T heavily funded OAN and poured tens of millions of dollars into its revenue It remains unknown, however, how much of the channel's revenue comes from DirecTV and how many households it will reach once the company stops carrying it. The OAN channel has received an abundance of controversy after promoting conservative view on the results of the 2020 elections as well as news surrounding the COVID pandemic. The decision to remove the network was based on these views as the channel quickly became condemned by opposing parties. AT&T also received backlash after it came into light that the company had a key role in helping to develop OAN. An 11-alarm fire erupted near a New Jersey chemical plant on Friday night, reportedly affecting 100,000 pounds of chlorine pellets, as residents were ordered to shut their windows. The massive fire broke out around 9pm near the Qualco Inc warehouse in Passaic, New Jersey, which produces chlorine-based chemicals used for pools and spas. The blaze started at the site of the manufacturing company Majestic Industries on 225 Passaic Street before spreading near the area of the warehouse. At around midnight, around 100,000 pounds of chlorine pellets had been affected. The fire reportedly never reached the warehouse and it was unclear how the chlorine pellets were impacted. After the fire reached 11 alarms early early on Saturday, officials helped nearby residents evacuate as around 200 firefighters were called to the scene, including members from other departments. There have been no current reports of fatalities and fire officials are still investigating the cause of the fire. Nearby residents recorded footage of the flames and smoke billowing into the air that began at the site of the warehouse of manufacturing company Majestic Industries at around 9pm The 11-alarm fire reportedly affect 100,000 pounds of chlorine pellets contained at the plant as it specializes in chemicals for pools and spas State officials such as New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy urged residents to close their windows as firefighters began to work on containing the fire A fire broke out near a chemical plant on Friday night in Passaic, New Jersey as flames and smoke were seen visible for miles Large fire at a chemical plant in Passaic New Jersey. The mayor is asking nearby residence to keep their windows closed. @CBSNewYork pic.twitter.com/mLVrSjdwql Nick Caloway (@NickJCaloway) January 15, 2022 Passaic Mayor Hector Lora has since told residents in a video posted on Facebook to stay away from the area and keep their windows closed. 'We are requiring all residents to close your window, stay away from the immediate area,' Lora said. He also added that he expects firefighters to continue working until the morning at least due to the strength of the blaze. The Department of Environmental Protection also arrived on scene assessing air quality, Lora said. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted about the fire, echoing calls for people who live near it to keep their windows closed. 'We urge everyone in Passaic to stay safe as firefighters battle a large eight-alarm fire at a chemical plant off of Route 21,' Murphy wrote at the time. 'Praying for the safety of our first responders on the scene.' Around 200 firefighters were called to the scene with some members coming from other departments While battling the flames, at least one firefighter has been injured in the blaze No other injuries or fatalities have been reported at this time Passaic Fire Chief Patrick Trentacost said the building was vacant when the fire broke out. 'A portion of the building did have chlorine in it and that seems to be under control at this time,' he said just after midnight. 'We'll be monitoring that also throughout the night but certainly were far from having control of the fire.' New York City Emergency Management sent a notification Friday night saying residents might see or smell smoke from the fire as the plant is located about 13 miles from Manhattan. Videos of the scene captured nearby residents gathered near the site of the fire as flames continued to engulf the area. Others captured the flames and smoke seen billowing from afar as emergency crews rushed to the site of the fire. Tucker Carlson slammed the head of a Satanic Temple for hosting an 'after-school Satan club' meeting, which had drawn the outrage of some parents after fliers advertising the event were seen in the Illinois elementary school. The Fox News host questioned the group's leader, Lucien Greaves, who appeared on his 'Tucker Carlson Tonight' program on Friday, just a day after protesters stood outside Jane Addams Elementary School in Moline, Illinois, to push back on the satanic after-school club. 'So could there be an "I hate gays" club?' Carlson asked on Friday. 'Or a "black people are inferior" club?' 'The answer of course, is no, because the community has some say in what its kids are exposed to on government property, i.e. a public school,' he said. 'So you're just telling me that everyone is just kind of going along with it because of the Supreme Court?' 'I don't want to use profanity on air but, what you're saying is ridiculous, we both know it's ridiculous, I just want to be really clear on this.' Greaves, who's Satanic Temple runs the club, which says it promotes 'benevolence and empathy and critical thinking' and does not believe in Satan, repeatedly citing the Supreme Court's decision to uphold freedom of religion, using that logic to justify the club's existence. The school district has said the club is allowed to meet because they can't discriminate against 'different viewpoints.' SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO Tucker Carlson slammed the Satanic Temple for putting on after-school clubs in a segment on Friday Tucker Carlson, left, slammed the Satanic Temple's after school program to the group's head, Lucien Greaves, right Greaves, right, who's Satanic Temple runs the club, repeatedly cited the Supreme Court's decision to uphold freedom of religion, and excused the club's existence through that logic Satanic Temple co-founder Lucien Greaves discusses an elementary schools controversial after-school Satan Club with Tucker Carlson. Read more: https://t.co/kcNQZEnVGD pic.twitter.com/Fj707Cafae The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) January 15, 2022 'The Supreme Court has allowed for religion... What you can't do is allow the government to pick which religions,' Greaves said. 'But they do all the time,' Carlson responded. 'You could be suspended from school for quoting portions of the old testament.' 'Like immediately.' 'If there is an after-school Satan club, students should at least be able to quote (scripture) without being suspended,' Carlson said. 'Is there a Satan school of theology?' he asked Greaves. Fliers for the Satan club started appearing this week and were posted online by a parent on Monday. The club already scheduled five meeting dates, starting Thursday At the protest on Thursday, one man stood outside with a large wooden cross reading, 'Stop and Talk.' Others held signs that said 'God Knows Your Heart. You Need Jesus' and 'You Are Not An Atheist. You Need Jesus.' A small group led by a pastor protested outside Jane Addams Elementary School in Moline, Illinois on Thursday as the school hosted the first meeting of an 'after-school Satan club' 'No, we've got educators who have volunteered with us, we do criminal background checks that aren't required of after-school clubs and haven't been required of any of the religious clubs because we want to be responsible about this,' Greaves said. On Thursday, half a dozen protesters led by a pastor stood outside the school as it held its first 'after-school Satan club' meeting, with the district saying the club is allowed to meet because they can't discriminate against 'different viewpoints.' Fliers for the club appeared this week at Jane Addams Elementary School in Moline, a small city along the Mississippi River. They read: 'Hey Kids, lets have fun at our After School Satan Club! Science Projects! Puzzles & Games! Arts and Craft Projects! Nature Activities!' The fliers also noted that five dates were already scheduled, with the first meeting held Thursday afternoon from 2:45 to 3:45 p.m. The club's flier says it promotes 'benevolence and empathy, critical thinking, problem solving, creative expression and personal sovereignty.' Above, a tweet from the Satanic Temple The Satanic Temple is the national parent organization for the club. It says it doesn't believe in Satan and only promotes 'intellectual and emotional development' A copy was posted online by a parent and quickly spread across social media, angering some. The district says that a parent reached out to the 'national after-school Satan club' to have them bring the program to the school, and that the club is not connected to any teacher or school employee.' At the protest on Thursday, one man stood outside with a large wooden cross reading, 'Stop and Talk.' Others held signs that said 'God Knows Your Heart. You Need Jesus' and 'You Are Not An Atheist. You Need Jesus.' 'To illegally deny their organization (viewpoint) to pay to rent our publicly funded institution, after school hours, subjects the district to a discrimination lawsuit, which we will not win, likely taking thousands upon thousands of tax-payer dollars away from our teachers, staff, and classrooms,' said Moline-Coal Valley Schools Superintendent Rachel Savage in a message posted to the district's website Wednesday. On Thursday, Moline police had a cruiser and a community service officer on the scene when school got out, according to OurQuadCities.com. The pastor leading the small protest said he and his group plan to protest as long as the club continues to meet. The Satan club's flier says it promotes 'benevolence and empathy, critical thinking, problem solving, creative expression and personal sovereignty.' In a FAQ section on its website, the Satanic Temple says it does not 'believe in the existence of Satan or the supernatural.' 'The Satanic Temple believes that religion can, and should, be divorced from superstition. As such, we do not promote a belief in a personal Satan. To embrace the name Satan is to embrace rational inquiry removed from supernaturalism and archaic tradition-based superstitions.' That hasn't stopped parents and others on social media from fuming about the club hosting meetings at the school. Parent Necia Cole posted a photo of the flier on Facebook on Monday, according to KTVI. One person responded: 'Wait what????? How is this even a thing? Who approved this? I just know theyre about to catch hell because I would be going tf off.' The district says a parent reached out to the Satanic Temple to host the club, and that the district can't discriminate against anyone willing to pay to rent space for after-school meetings. Jane Addams Elementary also hosts a child evangelism fellowship club Cole replied: 'I will add that the flyer was only allowed due to the rules and regulations that the school has to allow it. My kids attend a pretty good school. I may also add that no teacher physically passed out the flyers.' Superintendent Rachel Savage addressed the controversy on Wednesday, citing 'many mounting concerns and questions.' She stressed that the club meeting doesn't impact the school day and does not involve any district teacher. 'A parent from within our district reached out to the national after-school satan club, informing them that Jane Addams Elementary School, in Moline, offers a child evangelism fellowship club and asked that they bring their program to that school as well, to offer parents a choice of different viewpoints,' Savage wrote. The Board of Education allows the community to use and rent the district's facilities, she added. 'Since we have allowed religious entities to rent our facilities after school hours, we are not permitted to discriminate against different religious viewpoints,' Savage said. She emphasized that only 30 fliers were sent to the school and that they were not distributed to students, but simply placed on a table in the lobby where they could pick one up. Advertisement A Republican senator who grilled Dr Anthony Fauci over his financial disclosures - leading a frustrated Fauci to call him under his breath a 'moron' - has published the public health expert's financial records. The records show that Fauci - the highest-paid federal employee in the country, who earns more than President Joe Biden - and his wife, the top bioethicist at the National Institutes of Health, have a combined wealth of $10.4 million. Fauci, 80, has led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984 and, if he continues until the end of Biden's term in 2024, will have made roughly $2.5 million as the president's chief medical advisor. He is the highest-paid federal employee in the country, making $434,312 a year as head of the NIAID, while Biden's salary is $400,000. When he retires, Fauci's pension will be the largest in US history, exceeding $350,000 per year. Fauci's records show that he and his wife were paid $13,298 to attend four galas and ceremonies - three of them virtual. They also have an interest in an Italian restaurant in San Francisco, Jackson Fillmore Trattoria. The restaurant did not make them any money, however, the disclosures show. Fauci's wife, Christine Grady, 69, is also still working full-time at the National Institutes of Health on an annual salary of $176,000. Dr Anthony Fauci (left) is seen on Tuesday, during a heated Congressional hearing, holding up a screenshot from Rand Paul's website where he fundraises by getting supporters to pay to donate to his 'Fire Dr Fauci' campaign. He also got into a debate with Roger Marshall (right) Fauci was paid $13,000 to attend three virtual galas and one in-person event in 2020, financial disclosures show Fauci accepted a $5,000 'travel reimbursement' to virtually attend the 2020 RFK 'Ripple of Hope' gala (above) Dr. Anthony Fauci and Sharon Stone attend the Drugs For Neglected Diseases Initiative's Inaugural Making Medical History Gala at The Bowery Hotel on October 24, 2018 in New York City Fauci poses with Sir Elton John at the Syringe Access Fund Reception at Open Society Foundations on July 24, 2012 in DC Fauci, seen in 1987, has been the director of NIAID since 1984, an astonishing tenure that has resulted in him being the highest paid federal employee in the country, making more than the US president From humble Brooklyn roots to wealth and fame: the rise of Dr Fauci Born in 1940, Fauci grew up in the family's Brooklyn apartment, above the pharmacy his father operated in Dyker Heights. Despite standing just five-foot-seven, he captained the basketball team at Regis High School, a Jesuit school. After earning his medical degree from Cornell, Fauci joined the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases as a clinical associate in the late 1960s, and has remained there climbing the ranks ever since. In 1984, he became the director of NIAID, a position he still holds, and has turned down repeated offers to become the director of the National Institutes of Health, a political appointment with much higher turnover. Due to his extremely long tenure, Fauci is now the highest paid federal employee in the country with a salary of $434,000. When he retires, his pension will be the largest in US history, exceeding $350,000 per year. Advertisement The disclosures show Fauci was paid $5,000 to attend a 'RFK Ripple of Hope' virtual awards ceremony in December 2020; $1,600 to attend 'An Evening of Hope' virtual event in April 2020; and $1,500 to attend a 'Prepared for Life' virtual gala in October 2020. He was also reimbursed $5,198 for costs associated with his being awarded federal employee of the year and being given the Service to America medal, in October 2020. The four events were listed under 'gifts and travel reimbursements'. Roger Marshall, who represents Kansas, clashed with the 80-year-old doctor on Tuesday. Marshall wanted to see Fauci's financial information; Fauci told him the documents were public. 'Yes or no, would you be willing to submit to Congress and the public a financial disclosure that includes your past and current investments?' Marshall asked. 'Our office cannot find them.' Fauci replied: 'I don't understand why you're asking me that question. 'My financial disclosure is public knowledge and has been so for the last 37 years or so.' The Center for Public Integrity reported that Fauci's financial statements were indeed public available, but noted obtaining them was a lengthy procedure: they requested the document in May 2020 and not receive it until three months later. The publicly available salary information for Fauci shows he earned $3.6 million from 2010 to 2019. He will make roughly $2.5 million more for the years 2020 through 2024 if he stays on through Biden's current term. Financial records from December 2020 show that the New York-born medical expert has a contributory IRA with $638,519.70 in it, and a brokerage trust account with $2,403,522.28. All his accounts are with Charles Schwab: the most valuable of the three disclosed being a Schwab One Trust containing $5,295,898.92. His three accounts have a total of $8,337,940.90. Senator Roger Marshall, whom Fauci dismissed as a 'moron', is seen discussing Fauci's salary on Tuesday. Marshall has introduced the Financial Accountability for Uniquely Compensated Individuals (FAUCI) Act in Congress The veteran public health expert had $5.3 million in his trust account at the end of 2020 Fauci had $2.4m in a brokerage trust account, with 79% of the portfolio invested in stock funds His third of three accounts, an IRA, contained $639,000 and gained $49,000 in 2020 with 82% of the portfolio in stocks She has two accounts - an IRA, containing $120,277.82, and a Schwab One Trust with $1,962,819.27 - giving a total of $2,083,097.09. Between them, the pair are worth $10.4 million. By comparison, the CEO of Pfizer, Albert Bourla, was paid $21 million last year. Fauci is paid $434,312 as head of the NIAID. By comparison, the president's salary has been $400,000 annually since 2001. Fauci, a public servant for almost 40 years, also qualifies for Social Security and a full federal pension. Fauci and Grady met in 1983 'over the bed of a patient,' she told In Style magazine - Grady then a clinical nurse specialist at the NIH in Washington, D.C., and Fauci an attending physician at the NIH. They married that year, and have three daughters. Fauci appeared on the cover of In Style magazine in July 2020 Fauci is pictured in October 2016 with his wife Christine Grady, the Chief of the Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health. The pair married in 1983 and have three daughters. She earns $176,000 for her work Fauci's wife Christine Grady also had $1.96 million in her trust account, financial disclosures show Fauci's wife, Christine Grady, had $120,000 in her IRA and also invested aggressively in equities, with 86% devoted to stocks Marshall, angered by Fauci's insistence that his financial records were indeed public, on Friday announced he was introducing the so-called FAUCI Act 'to hold Anthony Fauci and other high-paid government officials accountable'. He added: 'If you're an unelected bureaucrat, and you make hundreds of thousands of dollars, America needs to know if you have any conflicts of interest.' Marshall hopes the Financial Accountability for Uniquely Compensated Individuals (FAUCI) Act would make it easier for the public to learn the salary and see financial disclosures for high-paid federal workers. Hours later, Marshall published the disclosure document, stating: 'I obtained Dr. Fauci's previously unpublished financial disclosures. 'Dr. Fauci was completely dishonest about his disclosures being readily accessible to the public which is why I am releasing them now,' he tweeted. He also handed them to Fox, stating that Fauci is 'more concerned with being a media star and posing for the cover of magazines than he is being honest with the American people and holding China accountable for the COVID pandemic that has taken the lives of almost 850,000 Americans.' Fauci's money was largely from his salary, the documents show. Fauci has been on the editorial board of Harrison's since 1983 He also earned between $100,000 and $1 million from his books, including multiple imprints of Harrison's Principals of Internal Medicine - a textbook referenced widely by medical professionals. Fauci has been on the editorial board of Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine since 1983, and in July 2019 was reimburse $6,328 for six-day trip to La Jolla to attend an editorial board meeting, his disclosures show. He also has been on the editorial board of Harrison's Manual of Medicine, which was launched as a companion to the 15th edition of the main textbook, and has edited four editions of Harrison's Rheumatology. Fauci also coedited three editions of Harrison's Infectious Diseases. In November, Fauci published 'Expect the Unexpected: Ten Lessons on Truth, Service, and the Way Forward'. He was not paid for the book, or the documentary that accompanied it. 'The book was developed by National Geographic Books in connection with an upcoming National Geographic Documentary Film about Dr. Fauci,' said a spokesman. 'He will not earn any royalties from its publication.' Fauci declared a stake in the Jackson-Fillmore restaurant in San Francisco - but it did not make him any money Fauci's finances have long been a source of online conspiracy theories. A Facebook post early in the pandemic claimed Fauci downplayed the potential use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus patients because he stands to lose $100 million on a Gates-funded vaccine if the alternatives are proven to work. The post was marked as disinformation. Fauci himself has hit back, pointing out that his critics are now using personal attacks on him to fundraise. Rand Paul, the Kentucky senator who relishes challenging Fauci in Congressional hearings, now has a button on his website where people can donate to his campaign funds, via a 'Fire Fauci' contribution. Fauci said that Paul was 'making money by making me the villain'. He added: 'I have threats upon my life. 'Harassment of my family, and my children, with obscene phone calls because people are lying about me.' A leading epidemiologist has been diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from severe headaches. Professor Mary-Louise McLaws confirmed the devastating news on Saturday afternoon on Twitter, before announcing she will take a month of sick leave from her two roles with the World Health Organisation and University of New South Wales. During the pandemic, Prof McLaws has been working with the WHO as an adviser for health emergencies, playing a key role in the prevention and control response to Covid-19. Leading Sydney based epidemiologist Mary-Louise McLaws has been diagnosed with a brain tumour Prof McLaws has also been a regular on TV screens since 2020 for her expert health advice and has often called out the government for what she perceives as 'poor handling' of the pandemic. In recent weeks she said the refusal to widely distribute free rapid antigen tests across Australia was a clear example why the government's 'outbreak management has failed.' A number of media identities, journalists and the general public were quick to pass on their well-wishes soon after Prof McLaws' shock announcement. The Project host Carrie Bickmore tweeted ' Oh Mary-Louise I am so sorry to hear that. Sending so much love', while veteran Australian media commentator Mike Carlton labelled the development 'terrible news.' During the pandemic, Prof McLaws has been working with the WHO as an adviser for health emergencies, playing a key in the prevention and control response to Covid-19 Professor Mary-Louise McLaws confirmed her devastating diagnosis on Twitter 'You have been such a rock of expertise and calm common sense in this pandemic, an asset to our society,' he added. 'I do hope all goes well for you.' Lucy Turnbull, the one-time Lord Mayor of Sydney, said the professor has been a 'consistently wise voice during this pandemic'. The wife of former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull added McLaws was 'way ahead of the curve' when it came to discussions surrounding rapid antigen tests. 'So sorry to hear this. You have supported so many during this difficult time. Please look after yourself first,' read another Twitter response. A migrant carrying a baby wrapped in a blanket was one of 200 migrants brought in to the UK shoreline on Saturday. It takes the total number whove arrived since the new year to around 800, despite freezing weather conditions in the Channel. Figures show 118 migrants reached the UK on Friday on four boats - with the French said to have intercepted or rescued another 97 people. A man, believed to be in his 20s and from Sudan, died after falling into the water while making the perilous crossing from northern France to Britain Friday morning. He was found unconscious and taken back to shore for treatment, but was later declared dead. Twenty-five people were found still on board the boat and were picked up by rescue teams while five others were found on a nearby sandbank, French authorities said. One male migrant arriving in the UK on Saturday morning was pictured holding a small baby that had been wrapped in multiple blankets. Another man was taken ill with a suspected back injury and had to be rushed to the William Harvey Hospital for treatment. Photos show two boats arriving, each carrying around 30 people including children, in the early hours of Saturday morning. One craft was brought in to Dover while the second group were brought ashore at Dungeness. The groups were rescued in pitch-black conditions by the RNLI following two small boat incidents in the Channel. A migrant carrying a baby wrapped in a blanket is brought ashore in Dover as up to 30 more people were picked up in the Channel overnight Figures show another 118 migrants reached the UK on Friday on four boats - with the French said to have intercepted or rescued another 97 people Searches for any missing migrants following the tragedy in the Channel have been called off, the Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea confirmed. The local lifeboat service in Berck had been scouring the sea with the help of French Navy patroller The Flamant and helicopter Dauphin. No other victims were found in the area and all people involved accounted for. The Maritime Prefecture tweeted at 2.40pm on Friday: 'End of assistance operations in the Strait of Pas-de-Calais and near Berck-sur-Mer. All the people found at sea were taken care of at the dock.' Back in Dover, a further 36 migrants were brought into harbour around 2.30pm. An elderly man was helped up the gangway for processing by two Immigration Enforcement officers. Women and teenagers were also among the group. The Home Office is yet to confirm official figures. A home Office spokesman confirmed French authorities were leading the investigation into the death. They said in a statement yesterday: 'This tragic loss of life in France today is devastating and our thoughts are with the victim's family and loved ones. 'It is sadly another reminder of the extreme dangers of crossing the Channel in small boats and of how vital it is that we work closely together with France to prevent people from making these dangerous crossings. 'The Government's New Plan for Immigration will fix the broken system to welcome people through safe and legal routes whilst preventing the criminality associated with it.' As many as three migrants could still be missing according to testimonies from those who were rescued on Friday, according to reports in French media. An investigation into what happened has been opened by the Boulogne-sur-Mer prosecutor. The latest death in the Channel, believed to be the first this year, comes after 27 migrants drowned in November after their dinghy capsized near Calais. Five women and a young girl were among the victims. At least 39 people are believed to have died attempting the Channel crossing last year, according to figures from the International Organization for Migration. Charity bosses and MPs described yesterday's death in the Channel as a 'tragedy' and urged the Government to act to end the dangerous small boat crossings. Dungeness Lifeboat was called out to rescue migrants. One was taken seriously ill and had to be taken to the William Harvey Hospital for treatment The crew on Dungeness Lifeboat help migrants down from the vessel A small child is carried by a man after the lifeboat landed in Dunganess, Kent One migrant was taken seriously ill and had to be brought to hospital for treatment Migrants walked along the beach after they were rescued from the Channel A migrant was covered over as they were taken seriously ill on Saturday morning A number of children are believed to have been onboard the dinghy A woman carried her child across the beach after the group was rescued A mother carries her child across the beach in Dungeness, Kent It comes as figures Friday showed more than 450 migrants have crossed the Channel from France to the UK in two weeks. A total of 271 migrants were confirmed to have made the dangerous crossing on Thursday - bringing the total number of arrivals so far this year to at least 458. The total number of migrant arrivals Thursday was more than the entire figure for January last year - when 223 people in 15 boats crossed the Channel in 31 days. More than 28,381 people crossed the Channel to the UK across the whole of 2021, compared to 8,400 in 2020. Footage from Friday shows an RNLI lifeboat bringing a group of migrants into Dover in the early hours, when air temperatures were as low as 6C (42F). A child walks hand-in-hand with an adult after a group of migrants arrive in the UK Men and women landed in Dungeness, Kent, in the early hours of Saturday The group was brought to shore by an RNLI lifeboat The migrants were given orange pullovers to help them get warm after the journey The migrants' inflatable dinghy is seen on the Dungeness beach in Kent A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dungeness, Kent One male migrant arriving in the UK on Saturday morning was pictured holding a small baby that had been wrapped in multiple blankets Migrants were brought ashore in Dover on Saturday morning One migrant wrapped themselves up in a blanket to try to warm up on Saturday A migrant carried a baby in a bundle of blankets as he arrived in the UK on Saturday Sea temperatures meanwhile were also around 9.5C (49F). Experts say the average person can afford to be in water that cold for 'between five and ten minutes' before risking hypothermia. The RNLB City of London II Dover Lifeboat brought the group of young men wearing jackets and woolly hats into Dover Marina. One gave a thumbs up to celebrate arriving around 2am as their large black RHIB was left in the harbour filled with discarded equipment and an outboard engine. Meanwhile, around 45 migrants were brought ashore by an RNLI lifeboat at Dungeness Thursday night - the first crossing of its kind so far this year. French authorities also prevented 75 people from making the dangerous journey across the Dover Strait in three incidents, according to the Home Office. Those arriving at Dover on Friday, all of whom appeared to be men, were seen wrapped up in thick coats as they were led up from the lifeboat at to the shore. Those brought to shore in Dungeness, all said to be men and all of whom are said to have claimed to be from Syria, were escorted off an RNLI lifeboat before being taken to Border Force staff to be processed. Almost 100,000 Australians who waited in line for hours have been told they won't be receiving their Covid test results - as exhausted health staff reveal the horrific conditions they've been forced to endure during the pandemic. Victorian residents were sent a text message on Saturday, stating that their 'PCR sample is no longer suitable for processing and no result can be provided.' The message went on to suggest they should take a rapid antigen test or self-isolate for seven days from their first test date. Given some people had queued for up for up to three successive days to get tested, the development - caused by overrun laboratories - has frustrated many as Covid cases in Australia climb to more than 100,000 a day. A number of residents are also now unsure if they are infected with Covid - or were previously. It comes as a nurse in rural Victoria, who didn't want to be named, opened up about how some angry patients have abused or spat on her colleagues as well as refused to wear face masks during treatment while unvaccinated. At least 100,000 Australians who waited in line for hours have been told they won't be receiving their Covid test results (pictured, people at a testing site in Victoria) The development comes as numerous health care workers have revealed the horrific treatment they have endured during the pandemic - including being spat on (pictured, a health workers performs a PCR test in Melbourne recently) 'There is no time for drink breaks and we often go [through] eight to 10-hour shifts without a meal break... we are also constantly understaffed,' the registered nurse told news.com.au. 'Everyone is burnt out, exhausted, dehydrated and, as a consequence, is getting sick. We work so hard to look after others, but we aren't looking after ourselves. I now dread my job with every inch of my body. 'We wear full PPE but many patients refuse to care about anyone else other than themselves, they request treatment but remain unvaxxed, spit on us, refuse to wear a mask, shout abuse. We don't deserve this.' Victoria Covid Commander Jeroen Weimar confirmed on Saturday that close to 90,000 PCR tests from a week ago have been discarded due to the testing labs being under pressure. 'They (testers) have made the decision essentially not to process some old tests,' he said. 'This is something that we understand and that we support.. but we (do) apologise on behalf of the wider testing system.' Victoria Covid Commander Jeroen Weimar confirmed on Saturday that close to 90,000 PCR tests from a week ago have been discarded due to the testing labs being under pressure (pictured, testing in St Kilda recently) The confession from exhausted health workers calls into question Scott Morrison's insistence that hospitals across the nation would comfortably deal with the Omicron outbreak. NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has been adamant the state's hospital system would be able to cater to overwhelming patient demand, stating 'we (NSW) have invested significantly we have the best health system in the country, if not the world.' A nurse based on NSW's far north coast had a blunt reaction when quizzed on whether the state government was currently doing enough to support healthcare workers. 'No. We were the heroes of 2020 and now we are just pawns until they break us all into leaving,' she said. The rundown nurse revealed her colleagues are constantly expected to work 16 to 18-hour double shifts - before adding a fellow staff member worked 24 hours straight due to lack of available staff. Advertisement A Tsunami has struck the West Coast of the United States, with 4ft waves causing flooding in California with the worst of the devastation still yet to arrive, experts fear. A warning for Hawaii and the Pacific seabord was issued earlier today after an undersea volcanic eruption near Tonga triggered a a 7.4 magnitude earthquake. There were no reports of injuries or the extent of the damage as communications with the country remained cut off hours after the eruption. Hundreds of frightened Tongans fled to higher ground as the eruption triggered a tsunami in the island nation, with a four-foot wave observed in Tonga's capital Nuku'alofa. In Santa Cruz, video showed significant flooding near the harbor, with at least one vehicle caught in the surge. Waves of up to 4.1 feet were recorded in Port San Luis, and in El Segundo, a number of daring surfers were spotted defying warnings to catch the powerful waves. Officials say widespread inundation is not expected, but rather coastal hazards such as rip currents and dangerous waves in harbors. Authorities caution that the first waves to strike may not be the highest waves experienced in an area. The initial tsunami wave hit Los Angeles around 7.45am PST (3.45pm GMT) and San Francisco at 8.10am PST (4.10pm GMT), and was expected to last for several hours. The 'violent' underwater volcanic eruption in the Pacific at 5.10pm local time (4.10am GMT) - that was visible from space - was confirmed as the cause of the tsunami, which overwhelmed homes, buildings, fences, roads and cars in Tonga around 20 minutes later. Locals pleaded for people to 'pray for us' as the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai volcanic eruption was compared to 'bombs going off' by those who heard it, followed by the tsunami surging ashore. The eruption could be heard thousands of kilometres away and sparked warnings in New Zealand, Fiji, American Samoa and Australia, with several Australian offshore territories under threat, including Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island and Macquarie Island, officials said. New Zealand's military said it was monitoring the situation and remained on standby, ready to assist if asked. Meanwhile residents of American Samoa were alerted to the tsunami warning by broadcasters as well as church bells that rang territory-wide. Later, a tsunami advisory was also put into effect for the entire US Pacific seaboard and Hawaii. 'A tsunami capable of producing strong currents that may be hazardous to swimmers, boats, and coastal structures is expected,' the US National Weather Service said in a flash bulletin on Saturday morning. 'If you are located in this coastal area, move off the beach and out of harbours and marinas. Do not go to the coast to watch the tsunami. Be alert to instructions from your local emergency officials,' the agency warned. Early on Saturday, Hawaii was already seeing tsunami wave activity of up to 2.7 feet. The advisory now extends from California's border with Mexico to Attu Island at the tip of Alaska's Aleutian Islands. The tsunami is projected to hit Monterey, California at 7.35am PST (15:35 GMT), where officials say it is not expected to cause widespread inundation, but rather coastal hazards. The initial tsunami wave is projected to hit Los Angeles around 7.45am PST and San Francisco at 8.10am PST, but the highest water levels may not arrive for several hours. Satellite images showed a huge eruption lasting around eight minutes, a 3-mile wide plume of ash, steam and gas rising like a mushroom about 12 above the blue Pacific waters. Dramatic official aerial maps showed the eruption cloud over Tonga after the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcanco erupted (pictured, satellite images of the volanic eruption in the Pacific Ocean on Saturday) Tonga volcano eruption as seen from Himawari-8 of the Japan Meteorological Agency. Hundreds of frightened Tongans fled to higher ground as the eruption triggered a tsunami in the island nation, with a four-foot wave observed in Tonga's capital Nuku'alofa Pictured: Satellite imagery shows the underwater explosion (left). The images showed a 3 mile wide plume rising into the air to about 12 miles In this satellite image taken by Himawari-8, a Japanese weather satellite, and released by the agency, shows an undersea volcano eruption at the Pacific nation of Tonga Saturday A car is caught in rising water at Santa Cruz Harbor on Saturday as tsunami flooding strikes low-lying areas A surfer defies warnings to stay out of the water and catches a wave at Manhattan Beach in El Segundo, California Saturday A tsunami has struck Tonga sending terrified locals fleeing for high ground as huge waves crashed over roads and into homes (pictured, tsunami waves begin to overwhelm coastal homes in Tonga on Saturday) Locals took to social media to share dramatic videos of the surging waves making land and crashing through homes and cars (pictured, still images from video filmed in Tonga and posted to social media on Saturday) Waves wash ashore Seal Beach after a tsunami advisory was issued following an underwater volcano eruption over 5300 miles away In Seal Beach, California, residents ignored warnings to stay away from the beach and flocked to the municipal pier to take pictures of the waves after a tsunami advisory was issued Spectators flock to view waves from the Seal Beach municipal pier after a tsunami advisory was issued following an underwater volcano eruption around 5,300 miles away 'A 1.2 metre tsunami wave has been observed at Nukualofa,' Australia's Bureau of Meteorology tweeted. The maximum tsunami wave recorded following an explosion in the region on Friday was 30 centimetres. The Tonga Meteorological Services said the tsunami warning was in effect for all of Tonga. There were no immediate reports of injuries or the extent of the damage as communications with the small nation remained problematic. The eruption was so intense it was heard as 'loud thunder sounds' in Fiji more than 500 miles away, officials in Suva said. Victorina Kioa of the Tonga Public Service Commission said Friday that people should 'keep away from areas of warning which are low-lying coastal areas, reefs and beaches.' The head of Tonga Geological Services Taaniela Kula urged people to stay indoors, wear a mask if they were outside and cover rainwater reservoirs and rainwater harvesting systems. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a 'tsunami advisory' for American Samoa, saying there was a threat of 'sea level fluctuations and strong ocean currents that could be a hazard along beaches.' Authorities in Fiji also issued a warning, telling people to avoid the shoreline due to strong currents and dangerous waves. Fijian officials also warned residents to cover water collection tanks in case of acidic rain fall. New Zealand's military said it was monitoring the situation and remained on standby, ready to assist if asked. Residents of American Samoa were alerted of the tsunami warning by local broadcasters as well as church bells that rang territory-wide. An outdoor siren warning system was out of service. Those living along the shoreline quickly moved to higher ground. As night fell, there were no reports of any damage and the Hawaii-based tsunami center canceled the alert. Authorities in the nearby island nations of Fiji and Samoa also issued warnings, telling people to avoid the shoreline due to strong currents and dangerous waves. The Japan Meteorological Agency said there may be a slight swelling of the water along the Japanese coasts, but it was not expected to cause any damage. Locals pleaded for people to 'pray for us' as the eruption was compared to 'bombs going off' by those who heard it, followed by the tsunami surging ashore The eruption was so intense it was heard as 'loud thunder sounds' in Fiji more than 500 miles away, officials in Suva said Large waves move in near Santa Cruz on Saturday. Inundation is not expected, but a tsunami advisory means there could be dangerous currents and strong waves along the coast Large waves are seen in San Mateo County at around 8.10am on Saturday as a tsunami moved ashore Joggers stretch next to a tsunami hazard zone sign in El Segundo, California, on January 15, 2022. The US National Weather Service issued tsunami advisories for the entire west coast of the United States following a massive volcanic eruption Pictured: Image captured by NOAA's GOES West satellite and made available by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows an explosive eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano, located in the South Pacific Kingdom of Tonga, 13 January 2022 The eruption (pictured from a satellite) could be heard thousands of kilometres away and sparked warnings in New Zealand, Fiji and American Samoa A tsunami advisory (orange) is in effect for Hawaii and the entire US Pacific seaboard, from the US/Mexico border all the way to the tip of Alaska's Aleutian Islands, after an undersea volcano erupted near Tonga The Islands Business news site reported that a convoy of police and military troops evacuated Tonga's King Tupou VI from his palace near the shore as residents headed for higher ground. The explosion of the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai volcano was the latest in a series of spectacular eruptions. Mere Taufa said she was in her house getting ready for dinner when the volcano erupted. 'It was massive, the ground shook, our house was shaking. It came in waves. My younger brother thought bombs were exploding nearby,' Taufa told the Stuff news website. She said water filled their home minutes later and she saw the wall of a neighbouring house collapse. 'We just knew straight away it was a tsunami. Just water gushing into our home. 'You could just hear screams everywhere, people screaming for safety, for everyone to get to higher ground.' A Twitter user identified as Dr Faka'iloatonga Taumoefolau posted video showing waves crashing ashore. 'Can literally hear the volcano eruption, sounds pretty violent,' he wrote, adding in a later post: 'Raining ash and tiny pebbles, darkness blanketing the sky.' Earlier, the Matangi Tonga news site reported that scientists had observed massive explosions, thunder and lightning near the volcano after it started erupting Friday. The site said satellite images showed a three-mile-wide plume of ash, steam and gas rising about 12 miles into the air. More than 1,400 miles away in New Zealand, officials warned of storm surges from the eruption. The National Emergency Management Agency said some parts could expect 'strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore following a large volcanic eruption'. Late on Saturday, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said the threat to American Samoa appeared to have passed, although minor sea fluctuations could continue. The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano sits on an uninhabited island about 40 miles north of the Tongan capital Nuku'alofa. In late 2014 and early 2015, a series of eruptions in the area created a small island and disrupted international air travel to the Pacific archipelago for several days. Advertisement Forecasters today predicted the white stuff could hit the UK in two weeks' time as a freezing Arctic blast is expected to bring snow flurries and temperatures of -5C. Heavy snow could blanket the capital before the end of the month, with most areas expecting a coating on January 30, according to forecaster WX Charts. Meanwhile today the Met Office has warned of travel chaos and possible flight cancellations as visibility plunges to just 50 yards in some areas. Temperatures are set to plummet this weekend with lows of 0C in Wales and west England as a yellow fog weather warning was issued for London, Birmingham and the East of England on Saturday morning. Drivers should expect 'hazardous driving conditions' and slower journey times, with delays to bus and train services expected. 'There is a chance of delays or cancellations to flights,' according to the Met Office. Elsewhere today the fog will slowly lift to low cloud and there will be a 'chilly feel'. The Met Office said: 'Most parts will be dry with large amounts of cloud and some sunny intervals. A few showers are expected to affect western parts later.' It comes amid a risk of freezing conditions until next Monday, with temperatures set to plummet as low as -4C (24F) in parts of the country and people urged to check on their vulnerable neighbours. Bookmaker Coral has made it odds on at 4-5 that the UK will record its coldest January ever, while also making it even shorter odds of 1-2 on snow falling in London this month. Temperatures are set to plummet this weekend with lows of 0C in Wales and west England as a fog warning is issued for London, Birmingham and the East of England. Pictured, fog in the Oxfordshire countryside Heavy snow could blanket the capital before the end of the month, with most areas expecting a coating on January 30, according to forecaster WX Charts Met Office spokesperson Stephen Dixon told Metro he was not expecting widespread snow, but for a light dusting on high grounds in Scotland, which is expected at this time of year. Pictured, a pony in Dundsen, Oxfordshire From Thursday afternoon, the Met Office warned the West Midlands, East Midlands, East of England, London, South East England and South West England regions will experience cold weather. Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist Dan Rudman said: 'Overnight minimum temperatures are possibly getting to -4C in some rural areas, but widespread below-freezing conditions elsewhere overnight in the following days. 'This will result in some harsh frosts and possible freezing fog in some places.' Agostinho Sousa, Consultant in Public Health Medicine at UKHSA, added: 'As we continue to experience very low temperatures this winter its important to remember to check on those who are more vulnerable to cold weather, such as elderly or frail friends and family, especially if they live alone or with a serious illness.' She said the 'most vulnerable' should heat their homes to at least 64F (18C) particularly if they have reduced mobility, are 65 and over, or have a health condition. She also advised people to wear shoes with good grip if they need to go outside during the cold weather. Met Office spokesperson Stephen Dixon told Metro he was not expecting widespread snow, but for a light dusting on high grounds in Scotland, which is expected at this time of year. Meanwhile, Coral's Harry Aitkenhead said: 'With January still yet to reach its third week and temperatures forecast to sink extremely low as the month progresses, we now make it odds on to be the UK's coldest ever.' He added: 'Londoners can expect snow this month with the white stuff falling firmly odds on according to our odds.' A yellow fog warning has been put in place across London, Birmingham, the east of England and the north east Drivers should expect 'hazardous driving conditions' and slower journey times, with delays to bus and train services expected. Pictured, Dunsden in Oxfordshire this morning Elsewhere today the fog will slowly lift to low cloud and there will be a 'chilly feel'. The Met Office said: 'Most parts will be dry with large amounts of cloud and some sunny intervals. A few showers are expected to affect western parts later.' Pictured, cars in Dunsden, Oxfordshire Thick fog rolling in from the River Thames smothers the town of Gravesend in Kent Fog is pictured in Gravesend, Kent, early on Saturday morning. Drivers were warned to expect low visibility A walker is pictured in a park in Gravesend, Kent, amid a foggy start to the day on Saturday The fountain in Gordon Gardens was difficult to see because of the fog over Gravesend, Kent, Saturday morning Park runners gathered in Finsbury Park, London, on Saturday morning The fog did not put off park runners in Finsbury Park on Saturday morning A lone walker can barely be seen amid the fog in Finsbury Park, London, on Saturday morning With the cold weather arriving as Britons face a crushing cost-of-living crisis, including increased costs on heating bills, the Government advised people to heat the living room during the day and the bedroom while going to sleep 'if people can't heat all the rooms they use'. The UKHSA, which issued the cold weather alert, added: 'Wearing a few thin layers is better at trapping heat than wearing one thick layer. 'Having plenty of hot food and drinks is also effective for keeping warm.' The predicted cold weather comes after Britons experienced a milder than usual start to the year and follows the UK's warmest ever New Year's Day when St James's Park in London registered 16.3C (61.3F), beating the previous record of 15.6C (60.1F) set in Bude, Cornwall, set more than a century ago in 1916. And that came after the country's mildest New Year's Eve on record the day before when Merryfield in Somerset reached 15.8C (60.4F), beating the previous high of 14.8C (58.6F) set in 2011 at Colwyn Bay in North Wales. A boat and car have been seized as police grow increasingly desperate in the search for a young girl who went missing three nights ago from a lavish property surrounded by dense bushland. Charlise Mutten, nine, was staying with her mother Kallista Mutten when she vanished on Thursday at a sprawling private wedding venue owned by the family of her fiance, Justin Stein, who was interviewed by investigators on Saturday. There is no suggestion the 31-year-old is in any way involved in the child's disappearance. Charlise and Kallista, who live in Queensland, were on holiday in Sydney and were at the exclusive property dubbed Wildenstein by the Stein family at Mt Wilson in Sydney's Blue Mountains. NSW Police told Daily Mail Australia that 'all lines of investigation' remain open in the baffling case. The girl was last seen on Thursday at the property, but she was not reported to police until 8.20am on Friday. A full scale search began within hours and police now hold 'grave concerns' for her safety. Charlise Mutten, nine, was staying with her mother Kallista Mutten when she disappeared on Thursday at a sprawling private wedding venue owned by the family of her fiance, Justin Stein, in Sydney's Blue Mountains The distressed mum Kallista Mutten was consoled by emergency workers on Saturday NSW Police released two photos of Charlise as the search for her intensified on Friday. She is described as being of Caucasian appearance with brown hair (pictured, Charlise Mutten) The missing girl is described as being 'of Caucasian appearance, between 130cm and 140cm tall, of thin build, with brown hair and brown eyes,' NSW police said. 'It is believed she was last seen wearing a pink top with a round neck collar, a black knee-length skirt and pink Nike thongs.' Investigators are now treating the manicured 12-acre property, including the residential buildings on it, as a crime scene. Police divers scoured a pond at Wildenstein, which is run by Justin's brother James Stein, on Saturday, 9News reported. They also seized a white boat used on the property and analysed it for fingerprints. The boat is also understood to be subject to ongoing forensic testing. NSW Police divers spent hours searching a pond on the Wildenstein property at Mt Wilson on Saturday Kallista Mutten's fiance Justin Stein went to Penrith on Friday to speak with NSW police At Penrith police seized a red utility vehicle connected to the persons of interest for examination Police confirmed that homicide detectives are now investigating Charlise's strange disappearance. The police dog squad, PolAir, police rescue, divers and Blue Mountains local police are all involved. Officers on off-road trail bikes have also been deployed across the property and are searching the surrounding area. It still remains unclear how Charlise went missing, with hundreds of police and volunteers - including fully equipped SES and rural fire service members wearing backpacks - searching the dense surrounding bushland since Friday. The girl was reported missing at 8.20am on Friday from a property at Mt Wilson, 60km northwest of Richmond (pictured, police and detectives on the scene on Friday) NSW police sent out a geo-targeting text message to all local residents in the area on Friday evening to inform them of Charlise's disappearance The search and rescue teams have not stopped since, working through Friday night and are expected to continue overnight on Saturday into Sunday. Storms prevented a PolAir helicopter, which used thermal imaging technology, from searching overnight on Friday, but it was deployed again on Saturday. It is understood the terrain is extremely challenging for searchers with tangled and dense undergrowth and steep cliffs. Rural fire service volunteers have used 'line searching' tactics and marked out any items found in their painstaking search. The sprawling 12 acre property that Charlise was staying at with her mum Kallista was owned by her fiance Justin Stein's family The property, dubbed Wildenstein, by the Stein family is run by Justin's brother James On Saturday police confirmed the distressed mum, Kallista, was being consoled by police. 'For any parent this is a distressing scenario, so yes she is quite distressed so we're providing her with support,' acting superintendent John Nelson said. Police also confirmed her fiance Justin Stein, 31, drove to Penrith to speak with investigators but there is no suggestion he is accused of any wrongdoing. A red utility vehicle was seized for examination at Penrith on Friday. NSW Police said no arrests had been made and that all lines of enquiry remained open. The search and rescue command post was established at the Mt Wilson Rural Fire Service Station on Friday after Charlise was reported missing nearly a day after going missing. The crews immediately began searching dense bushland around Mt Wilson, which is approximately 30km northeast of Blackheath. Charlise Mutten, 9, went missing on Thursday but her disappearance wasn't reported to police until Friday It is understood search teams were checking tents and bins in the area. NSW police sent out multiple geo-targeting text messages to all local residents in the area on Friday and Saturday evening to inform them of Charlise's disappearance and request help. They also asked social media users to share the missing girl's photo widely. The police post was shared over 13,000 times in a few hours. Police are appealing for anyone with information about her whereabouts to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Advertisement Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Fergie were today seen together for the first time since he lost his military titles as they drove away from their Windsor home amid the ongoing sexual assault civil case. The Duke of York's legal team on Saturday revealed it wants to question his accuser Virginia Giuffre's husband Robert and her psychologist Dr Judith Lightfoot. Prince Andrew was today photographed with his former wife Fergie in the passenger seat as he was said to be fearful of 'complete financial ruin' as the costs of the case start mounting up. The couple were in a two-car convoy, indicating the Duke is still receiving royal protection. Last week security minister Damian Hinds would not be drawn on whether taxpayers would still foot the bill to protect Andrew. Andrew's lawyers' fees are currently at least 2million and legal experts believe he may have to pay 10million to his accuser Ms Giuffre to stop the case coming to court. The disgraced duke was stripped of his military titles and remaining royal patronages following a 30-minute audience with the Queen on Thursday. Both Mr Giuffre and Dr Lightfoot are residents of Australia and would be requested to be examined under oath, either in person or by video-link. In recently published documents, lawyers for the Queen's son argue that Ms Giuffre 'may suffer from false memories', and state that Dr Lightfoot should be examined on 'theory of false memories' among other topics including matters discussed during their sessions and any prescriptions she wrote for Andrew's accuser. They also wish to be allowed to inspect documents including the doctor's notes from all sessions with Ms Giuffre. Andrew (pictured on Saturday with Sarah Ferguson), who denies the allegation, has complained to friends about the financial impact of the case, adding that he fears being left insolvent The Duke and Fergie were in a two-car convoy, indicating he is still receiving a level of protection despite the stripping of his royal patronages and military roles this week. Witness accounts are being sought from Virginia Giuffre's partner Robert Giuffre and Dr Judith Lightfoot, according to court documents. Pictured, the Duke of York with his former wife driving from his residence in the grounds of Windsor Great Park in Berkshire on Saturday. Ms Giuffre is pictured with her husband Robert Giuffre in Queensland, Australia (left). Lawyers for Prince Andrew (right, with the Queen) wish to be allowed to inspect documents including the doctor's notes from all sessions with Ms Giuffre Lawyers want Mr Giuffre to be questioned on a range of areas including the circumstances under which he met his now wife around 2002 and the Giuffre household finances. Lawyers want testimony to be obtained from the witnesses by April 29 this year 'or as soon thereafter as is possible'. The trial is scheduled to take place between September and December. Andrew's lawyers have requested that the US court issues letters to the Central Authority of Australia for their assistance in obtaining the testimony. The requests from the duke's lawyers follow similar requests from Ms Giuffre's legal representatives. Her team is seeking witness accounts from Andrew's former equerry Robert Olney and a woman called Shukri Walker, who claims to have seen the royal in Tramp nightclub. Documents submitted by Ms Giuffre's legal team say that Mr Olney's name appears in Jeffrey Epstein's phone book under 'Duke of York'. They say this means it is likely Mr Olney has relevant information about Andrew's travel to and from Epstein's properties during the relevant period. The documents say Ms Walker has stated publicly in the press that she was a witness to Andrew's presence at Tramp during the relevant time period with a young woman who may have been Ms Giuffre. It is understood the Queen will 'not assist' her son in paying a settlement because of the damage it could do to the crown's reputation. Pictured, Prince Andrew with Virginia Giuffre in London in 2001 Ms Giuffre is suing the duke in the US for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager and claims she was trafficked by Andrew's friend, convicted sex offender Epstein, to have sex with the duke when she was 17 and a minor under US law. The duke has strenuously denied the allegations. Ms Giuffre claims Andrew had sex with her against her will at Maxwell's London home and at Epstein's mansion on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The duke is also alleged to have abused Ms Giuffre on another occasion during a visit to Epstein's private island, Little St James, and on a separate occasion at Epstein's Manhattan mansion. Today Andrew is in talks with his lawyers in the UK and US as Ms Giuffre's team respond to a 6pm deadline regarding her living arrangements, according to The Mirror. It is believed Andrew's team are arguing the case cannot be held in a US federal court because Ms Giuffre, 38, has lived in Australia since 2002. Ms Giuffre has claimed Andrew had sex with her on three occasions when she was just 17. Andrew, who denies the allegation, has complained to friends about the financial impact of the case, adding that he fears being left insolvent. A royal source said: 'Until very recently it appears the absolute enormity of this case and the consequences he faces has not hit him (Andrew). 'Now the bills are mounting up and the possibility of a settlement, or even worse a judgement against him, is being widely discussed; he fears complete financial ruin. 'There is a very real prospect of him being completely broke.' A spokesman for the Duke of York would not comment when approached by MailOnline. It is understood the Queen will 'not assist' her son in paying a settlement because of the damage it could do to the crown's reputation. After the Queen banished him from royal life, Andrew was left to fight the allegations as a 'private citizen'. One source said senior royals have said Andrew has 'run out of road' following a New York judge's decision to throw out the Duke's latest effort to stop a full civil trial. Prince Andrew has now been rushing to sell a 17million Swiss chalet amid rising debts. He still owes a 6million payment to a French socialite he bought the alpine mansion from in 2014. Sources close to the Duke said he would 'continue to fight to clear his name'. Meanwhile, it was revealed Andrew was given just two hours notice on Thursday to attend a face-to-face meeting with the Queen at midday - with the duke 'fully aware what was coming'. It has also been confirmed Andrew will not lose his security detail, following speculation over how he would afford to fund the 300,000-a-year team. It has been suggested the Queen would privately meet the cost if necessary. Princess Beatrice will NOT be called as key witness in Prince Andrew civil sex case as lawyers for royal's accuser Virginia Giuffre seek testimony from his ex-assistant and woman who claims she saw him in Tramp nightclub By Emer Scully for MailOnline Princess Beatrice has been spared from testifying in her father's sexual assault civil case against his accuser Virginia Giuffre. The mother-of-one, 33, was previously expected to be called as a key witness after Prince Andrew claimed he was with her at a Pizza Express party in Woking at the time he is accused of rape in 2001. The Duke of York's accuser Ms Giuffre will, however, be seeking witness accounts from his former assistant and a woman who claims to have seen the royal in Tramp nightclub. Ms Giuffre's laywers have requested testimony from Andrew's former equerry Robert Olney and a woman called Shukri Walker. Documents submitted by Ms Giuffre's legal team say that Mr Olney's name appears in Jeffrey Epstein's phone book under 'Duke of York'. They say this means it is likely Mr Olney has relevant information about Andrew's travel to and from Epstein's properties during the relevant period. The documents say Ms Walker has stated publicly in the press that she was a witness to Andrew's presence at Tramp during the relevant time period with a young woman who may have been Ms Giuffre. Virginia Giuffre (pictured) is asking the UK courts to help with obtaining testimony after her lawsuit against Andrew took a major step forward this week when a judge threw out a motion by the duke's lawyers to dismiss the case and ruled it can go to trial Beatrice was seen in London this week two-and-a-half hours before Buckingham Palace issued the statement revealing Andrew had been stripped of his military titles The documents say: 'Ms Walker has therefore stated herself that she is a potential witness, and would thus be relevant to this dispute because plaintiff contends that defendant abused her in London after visiting Tramp together, while defendant denies being at Tramp on the night in question or having ever met Plaintiff.' Ms Giuffre is asking the UK courts to help with obtaining testimony after her lawsuit against Andrew took a major step forward this week when a judge threw out a motion by the duke's lawyers to dismiss the case and ruled it can go to trial. The next stage of the sexual assault case brought by Miss Roberts is for both sides to formally interview witnesses, done outside of a courtroom setting but with a court recorder sitting in. Known as depositions, the hearings allow lawyers to ask any question, no matter how personal. David Boies, Ms Giuffre's lawyer who has been nicknamed the great inquisitor because of his skill at interviewing witnesses under oath, has already suggested he might question Sarah Ferguson and their daughters, Princesses Beatrice (pictured) and Eugenie David Boies, Ms Giuffres lawyer who has been nicknamed the great inquisitor because of his skill at interviewing witnesses under oath, had previously suggested he might question Sarah Ferguson and their daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. Andrew gave Beatrice as his alibi saying they were at Pizza Express in Woking for the date in 2001 when he is alleged to have forced Miss Roberts to have sex. Each side in the case is expected to name as early as this weekend about a dozen witnesses they want to interview. Both lists could include current or former royal staff, footmen and secretaries, if the lawyers think they might have testimony helpful to their client. The fallout from Andrew's civil sex case continued on Saturday as he faced calls to pay for his own security and lose his dukedom. Criticism of Andrew is mounting after the Queen stripped him of his remaining patronages and honorary military roles as the monarchy distanced itself from the duke ahead of potentially damaging developments in his lawsuit. The Prince of Wales did not respond when questioned about the sex scandal which has engulfed his brother, during a visit to the north east of Scotland to meet people who helped in the clear-up operation after Storm Arwen. The fallout from Andrew's civil sex case continued on Friday as he faced calls to pay for his own security and lose his dukedom. Pictured, with his daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie in 2016 Charles was involved in the royal family discussions with the Queen and Duke of Cambridge that resulted in Andrew losing his military roles, patronages and dropping his HRH style. But when he arrived at Haddo House and Country Park, the heir to the throne did not comment when a broadcaster from Sky said: 'Your Royal Highness, can I ask you your view on your brother's position, Prince Andrew? How do you view it?' Ms Virginia, reacting publicly to this week's court ruling enabling her civil sex case against Andrew to proceed to trial, tweeted she has the opportunity to 'expose the truth', adding: 'My goal has always been to show that the rich and powerful are not above the law & must be held accountable.' She is suing the duke in the US for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager and claims she was trafficked by Andrew's friend, convicted sex offender Epstein, to have sex with the duke when she was 17 and a minor under US law. The duke has strenuously denied the allegations. Ms Giuffre claims Andrew had sex with her against her will at Maxwell's London home and at Epstein's mansion on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The duke is also alleged to have abused Ms Giuffre on another occasion during a visit to Epstein's private island, Little St James, and on a separate occasion at Epstein's Manhattan mansion. A spokesperson for Andrew declined to comment on the newly released legal documents. A source close to the duke has said: 'This is a marathon not a sprint and the duke will continue to defend himself against these claims.' An unjabbed midwife is concerned she will be sacked from her job after she chose not to have a Covid jab because she has a heart condition. NHS workers face mandatory vaccination as a condition of employment from 1 April. But Erika Thompson, an independent midwife from Hampshire, has chosen not to get a jab because she has heart inflammation conditions. Ms Thompson, who had Covid previously, is not against vaccines but is concerned her personal health could suffer after seeing evidence of very rare cases where people with heart inflammation were affected by the jabs. This is despite The British Heart Foundation's recommendation that people with heart inflammation or a history of the condition take the vaccine. Speaking to the BBC, she said: 'I don't want to not be a midwife anymore. I feel like it's part of who I am. But I also feel strongly that a mandate is not the way forward and that it's infringing on our human rights to make these decisions.' Ms Thompson, who also works at her local NHS unit when they need staff, is concerned that new rules on NHS employment will affect the public. She said that the organisation cannot afford to lose staff or their years of experience and it will be 'decimated' if staff are sacked. Erika Thompson (pictured), an independent midwife from Hampshire, has chosen not to get a jab because she has heart inflammation conditions Ms Thompson said after having Covid she has got natural immunity and wondered why it is not being considered in the equation. But Professor Adam Finn, a government vaccine advisor, has said immunity against serious illness, gained by getting Covid, wanes faster than protection from jabs and according to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), jabs are the 'best defence' against the virus. There are around 90 per cent of NHS workers who are already vaccinated but in the south region there are 7,000 staff who have not had one jab. The Royal College of Midwives and Unison support staff getting jabbed but are against making vaccination mandatory. A DHSC spokesperson said: 'NHS and care staff do amazing work and we are thankful to those who have chosen to get the vaccine. 'Health and social care workers are responsible for looking after some of the most vulnerable people in society, many of whom are more likely to suffer serious health consequences if exposed to the virus. 'This is about patient safety, and ensuring people in hospital or care have as much protection as possible.' Airbnb owners in rural communities may need to acquire a licence to offer their homes as short-term holiday lets due to fears locals are being driven out due to a lack of rental properties. A proposal being considered by ministers could force second homeowners to gain consent from their local council to manage short-term holiday lets. The plan follows Tory MPs in popular coastal spots including Cornwall, Devon and the Isle of Wight raising concerns over the booming industry leading to a lack of affordable housing in their area. A government source told The Times: 'It's clear we need to respond to the way the market has ballooned.' Yesterday the Department for Levelling Up announced a tax crackdown on second home owners who 'pretend' to let their properties out to holidaymakers. From April 2023, holiday lets must be rented out for at least 70 days a year to qualify for business rates under the new rules, which are aimed at benefitting tourist destinations. A proposal being considered by ministers could force second homeowners to gain consent from their local council to manage short-term holiday lets (pictured: St Ives in Cornwall) Selaine Saxby, Tory MP for North Devon, warned during a Commons debate that rising house prices have contributed towards people becoming homeless in her community. She also said that 'noise, antisocial behaviour, parties and hot tubs' at Airbnb lets were causing distress to locals. And Bob Seely, Tory MP for the Isle of Wight, said the village of Seaview has been 'effectively stripped out of permanent life' due to 82 per cent of properties being second homes. Referring to the latest developments, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said: 'The government backs small businesses, including responsible short-term letting, which attracts tourists and brings significant investment to local communities. 'However, we will not stand by and allow people in privileged positions to abuse the system by unfairly claiming tax relief and leaving local people counting the cost. 'The action we are taking will create a fairer system, ensuring that second homeowners are contributing their share to the local services they benefit from.' Yesterday the Department for Levelling Up announced a tax crackdown on second-home owners who 'pretend' to let their properties out to holidaymakers (Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove pictured on January 10) Kurt Jansen, Director of the Tourism Alliance, added: 'Establishing these new operational thresholds for self-catering businesses is welcomed by the tourism industry as it makes a very important distinction between commercial self-catering businesses that provide revenue and employment for local communities, and holiday homes which lie vacant for most of the year. 'It is recognition that tourism is the lifeblood of many small towns and villages, maintaining the viability of local shops, pubs and attractions.' In 2018-19, three per cent of households in the UK reported having a second home, with the proportion remaining unchanged from 2008-09, according to the Department for Levelling Up. The most common reason for having a second home is for use as a holiday home or weekend cottage, while 35 per cent say they view it as a long-term investment or income and 16 per cent once used it as their previous home. An Airbnb spokesperson said: 'We take housing concerns seriously and have already put forward proposals to the government for a national registration system for hosts' (file photo) Overall, 57 per cent of second homes are located in the UK while 34 per cent are in Europe and nine per cent are in non-European countries, according to the latest figures. In the government department's English Housing Survey 2018-19, it said: 'Since 2008-09 there has been an increase in the proportion of second homes in the UK and a corresponding decrease in European and non-European second homes.' An Airbnb spokesperson said: 'The majority of hosts share space in their own home and nearly a third say that the additional income is an economic lifeline. 'We take housing concerns seriously and have already put forward proposals to the government for a national registration system for hosts. We look forward to supporting the upcoming consultation.' The father of murdered schoolgirl Vicky Hamilton has raised a glass to toast the stroke that her killer Peter Tobin suffered in prison. Michael Hamilton, 71, said that he had kept the brandy around for the killer's death but decided to break into it early to celebrate his stroke - which he suffered around 7.30pm on Thursday. Tobin murdered 15-year-old Vicky in 1991 and is being treated in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary after collapsing in HMP Edinburgh. Mr Hamilton told the Sun that he hoped his daughter's killer was 'suffering like hell' and said he would like to go to the hospital to 'cheer him on' in his failing health. Mr Hamilton told the Sun that he hoped his daughter's killer was 'suffering like hell' Peter Tobin (pictured in 2012), 74, was taken to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh after becoming unwell. It is not the first time he has been to hospital in recent years Mr Hamilton, from Falkirk, said: 'We have been waiting on news like this for a long, long time. 'I couldn't ask for anything better. I hope he's suffering, to be honest. 'It's the type of news that deserves a glass of brandy. I'll have a glass tonight. I have a bottle that I have been keeping for when he goes. 'As far as I'm concerned, he needs to suffer before he does go because I've been suffering for a long time.' 'I'd like to go and visit him in hospital and cheer him on. Tobin is is serving a life sentence for raping and murdering Polish student Angelika Kluk (pictured left), 23, and another life term for the murder of 15-year-old schoolgirl Vicky Hamilton (right), from Redding, near Falkirk, in 1991 'I'd walk into his room and say, 'Are you not dying yet, you ****? I'm here to cheer you on, Peter and I hope you're suffering like hell'.' Serial killer Tobin was taken to hospital from the prison where he is serving life for the murders of three young women yesterday. Tobin is also serving life terms for the raping and murdering Polish student Angelika Kluk, 23, and hiding her body under the floor of a Glasgow church, and the murder of 18-year-old Dinah McNicol. Tobin is also known for feigning illnesses, according to the Sun, and is supposedly suffering from serious cancer. The killer has been behind bars since 2008. The Scottish Prison Service said it does not comment on individual inmates. Coronavirus cases are 'plateauing' in London, the South East and East of England and 'giving cause for optimism', said health chiefs today. Dr Susan Hopkins, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) chief medical adviser, said parts of the UK are seeing the number of infections flatten. But she remained cautious, saying cases were still relatively high, with one in 15 people in England infected and one in 20 elsewhere in the UK, but that there was a 'slow down' in hospital admissions. Other experts said they were hopeful about the coronavirus situation, while the Welsh Government began to ease restrictions. Their wary approach came despite daily UK Covid cases plunging below 100,000 for the first time in weeks yesterday as infections fell for the ninth day in a row. Another 99,652 positive tests were logged, according to Government dashboard data, marking a 44 per cent fall on the figure last week. Covid cases are now falling in every region of England and all four home nations in another sign that the Omicron wave is on its way out. Daily hospitalisations have also remained flat with the latest data showing 2,423 new admissions on January 10, down by less than a per cent on the previous week. Dr Susan Hopkins (pictured above), the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) chief medical adviser, said parts of the UK are seeing the number of infections flatten Daily UK Covid cases dropped below 100,000 for the first time in weeks yesterday as infections fell for the ninth day in a row Daily hospital admissions have also remained flat with 2,423 new admissions on January 10, the latest date with data, which was down by less than a per cent on the previous week Daily Covid deaths which are a lagging indicator have been creeping up for several weeks. Another 270 were registered today in a 17 per cent weekly rise Dr Hopkins said: 'We see that infections are plateauing in the community, which is good, in London and the south east and the east of England. 'There are still risings, but much slower in the northern parts of the country. 'All of that means we are seeing a slowdown in the number of admissions to hospital but they are slowing down rather than reversing at the moment, so there are still more than 2,000 admissions to hospital across the UK, and nearly 2,500 yesterday.' She said hospitals had been able to discharge patients 'faster' due to Omicron being milder than previous coronavirus variants but that, with around 15,500 people in hospital last week, the NHS remains under 'a lot of pressure', with some trusts 'unable to do much of their elective care', a situation exacerbated by staff absences. Prof Linda Bauld, a professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh and chief social policy adviser to the Scottish government, said Omicron cases in the UK appeared to be 'stabilising'. She told BBC Breakfast: 'The cases, if we look at them, are going down by over 20%. 'In fact, yesterday I think was the last day, the first day for a while we've had less than 100,000 cases so things seem to moving in the right direction.' However, she cautioned the number of patients in hospitals was still 'very high'. Prof Linda Bauld (left), a professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh, said Omicron cases in the UK appeared to be 'stabilising', while Dr Chris Smith (right), a consultant virologist and lecturer based at Cambridge University, said current coronavirus data gives him 'great cause for optimism' She added: 'I think we've got more data this week that suggests more optimism, and let's hope, as we continue, that trajectory will be consistent and we can feel we've got through what's been a really, really tough period.' Dr Chris Smith, a consultant virologist and lecturer based at Cambridge University, said current coronavirus data gives him 'great cause for optimism'. He told BBC Breakfast: 'The number of people who are going into intensive care or are on mechanical ventilation beds is actually dropping. It has remained flat.' He added that, because of vaccines and reinfections, around 96% of the country now have antibodies against the coronavirus, meaning the vast majority of people can better 'fend off' the disease. Dr Smith said: 'So we don't see that strong connection of cases turning into consequences.' Falling case numbers and a decline in the number of patients in critical care beds has meant Wales is to scale down from alert level two to zero over the coming weeks. As a first step, the number of people who can be present at outdoor events in Wales has risen from 50 to 500 as of Saturday. Meanwhile in Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon has said restrictions on outdoor events will be lifted next Monday. She added that all measures, including the closure of nightclubs, could be lifted from January 24. And in Northern Ireland, First Minister Paul Givan said the Stormont Executive could begin lifting some coronavirus restrictions by next week. A lost renaissance painting now valued at a whopping $25million could be comfortably perched on the wall of a suburban Melbourne home, according to expert art researchers. Paolo Veronese's The Pool of Bethesda - once owned by Russian Empress Catherine the Great - hasn't been spotted in public since art enthusiast Robert Black attempted to sell the masterpiece at the Melbourne Athenaeum way back in 1877. At the time, Melbourne had countless conmen circulating in art circles, so the trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria cast serious doubt on Mr Black's claim. Paolo Veronese's The Pool of Bethesda (pictured) has been valued at $25 million - and could be pride of place on the wall in a suburban Melbourne home. It hasn't been seen in public since 1877 University of Melbourne Professor Emeritus Jaynie Anderson and fellow art detective, emeritus professor Roderick Home recently unearthed the minutes from a trustees meeting staged on September 9, 1877, The Australian reports. The trustees present at the meeting stated they were 'not prepared to consider the question of the purchase of this picture without satisfactory proof of its authenticity, and value, as an example of the Great Master'. Professor Anderson is hopeful the elusive renaissance painting can eventually be located - and put on display at the National Gallery of Victoria. Boasting a size of 3.35m x 1.9m, it is larger than most traditional paintings. University of Melbourne Professor Emeritus Jaynie Anderson (pictured) believes due to the large size of the painting it is unlikely to be gathering dust inside an attic 'I mean if a painting is small and someone doesn't like it say they've inherited it or something they stuff it in the attic or a cupboard or something but this is huge,' art historian and curator Prof Anderson said. Renowned artist Veronese was famed for his creations, which inspired subsequent large-scale ceiling and mural paintings in Venice, Italy, and across other parts of the world for centuries. The multi-million dollar painting is said to represent healing. Leslie Downey (pictured), whose brother was left paralyzed by David Bennett, said the ex-con did not deserve the innovative medical treatment and wishes the pig heart could have been given to someone else in need The sister of a man left paralyzed by the world's first person to successfully have a heart transplant using a pig's heart slammed the now-famous ex-con as 'not a worthy recipient.' David Bennett, 57, who received the groundbreaking heart transplant last week, was convicted for attacking Edward Shumaker, then 22, while he played pool at a Maryland bar in April 1988 after he caught his then-wife Norma Jean Bennett sitting in Shumaker's lap while the pair were talking and drinking. Shumaker was paralyzed after being stabbed seven times in the back, abdomen and chest. He survived for 19 years before suffering a stroke in 2005 and dying two years later at age 40. His sister, Leslie Shumaker Downey, bemoaned the praise being heaped on a man who robbed her younger brother of a healthy life in an interview with the BBC, which aired Saturday. Downey said he is 'not a worthy recipient' and dislikes his portrayal as a hero. 'Morally, in my opinion, no,' she said, when asked if he should have been the first person to benefit from the medical breakthrough. 'For the medical community, the advancement of it and being able to do something like that is great and it's a great advancement but they're putting Bennett in the storylines portraying him as being a hero and a pioneer and he's nothing of that sort.' 'I think the doctors who did the surgery should be getting all the praise and not Mr. Bennett.' David Bennett (pictured right with surgeon Dr. Bartley Griffith on his left) last week became the first patient in the world to get a heart transplant from a genetically-modified pig Edward Shumaker (pictured in a nursing home on Christmas in 2003) was left paralyzed after being stabbed seven times by Bennett at a Maryland bar in April 1988 after he caught Shumaker being friendly with his then-wife Bennett was 23 when he viciously attacked Shumaker in a jealous rage. He was convicted for battery and carrying a concealed weapon, and sentenced to ten years in prison, but he did not serve the full term. His exact time behind bars remains undisclosed but Shumaker's family said it was five years. Last Friday, the former convict, who suffered from terminal heart failure and an uncontrollable irregular heartbeat, underwent a groundbreaking transplant that saved his life. Downey, who did not begrudge Bennett receiving the life-saving surgery, recounted the ordeal her brother went through after being paralyzed. Edward Shumaker ended up having a stroke as a result of complications from the many surgeries he needed and lost the use of his right arm and most of his left. 'He couldn't even feed himself every night,' Downey said. 'So my father went to the nursing home every night faithfully and fed Ed his dinner. That was the only enjoyment Ed had out of life, was food.' She was also upset that she was not contacting before Bennett was chosen as the pioneer patient. She said that one of her four daughters instant messaged one day last week and said 'Mom, this is the man that stabbed uncle Ed.' Bennett underwent the nine-hour experimental procedure (pictured) at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore on Saturday. His doctors, refusing to indicate if they were aware of Bennett's criminal history, said they made a decision about his transplant eligibility 'solely on his medical records' Surgeons used a heart taken from a pig that had undergone gene-editing to make it less likely that his body's immune system would reject the organ Bennett (center with his son, David Bennett Jr. on left and Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin on right) was recently taken off the machine that kept blood circulating through his body for more than 45 days and is breathing on his own. Doctors said he is even speaking but with a quiet voice A pig heart was gathered for a terminal heart disease patient who was ineligible for a human heart transplant. Scientists inserted six human genes into the genome of the donor pig modifications designed to make the organ more tolerable to the human immune system. They inactivated four genes, including sugar in its cells that is responsible for that hyper-fast organ rejection and a growth gene to prevent the pig's heart, which weighs around 267g compared to the average human heart which weighs 303g, from continuing to expand. Surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center performed a nine-hour surgery to remove the patient's heart and insert the altered pig heart David Bennett Jr. (right) said his father (left) cannot wait to be released from the hospital and is grateful that his doctors took a chance on him with this procedure Bennett Jr. (left), describing his father (second from left, with several family members) as a 'private and selfless man.' He also declined to comment on his dad's criminal history How was the surgery possible? David Bennett, a 57-year-old handyman from Baltimore, Maryland, on Friday became the first person in the world to receive a pig heart transplant. The operation was performed as Bennett did not meet the criteria for a human heart transplant and faced dying from heart disease if he did not undergo the operation. 'It was either die or do this transplant,' he said. Have animal organs been transplanted to humans before? Scientists have been toying with animal-to-human organ donation, known as xenotransplantation, for decades. Skin grafts were carried out in the 1800s from a variety of animals to treat wounds, with frogs being the most popular. In the 1960s, 13 patients were given chimpanzee kidneys, one of whom returned to work for almost 9 months before suddenly dying. The rest passed away within weeks. At that time human organ transplants were not available and chronic dialysis was not yet in use. In 1983, doctors at Loma Linda University Medical Center in California transplanted a baboon heart into a premature baby born with a fatal heart defect. Baby Fae lived for just 21 days. The case was controversial months later when it emerged the surgeons did not try to acquire a human heart. More recently, waiting lists for transplants from dead, or allogenic, donors is growing as life expectancy rises around the world and demand increases. In October 2021, surgeons at NYU Langone Health in New York successfully transplanted a pig kidney into a human for the first time. It started working as it was supposed to, filtering waste and producing urine without triggering a rejection by the recipient's immune system. The recipient was a brain-dead patient in New York with signs of kidney dysfunction whose family agreed to the experiment before she was taken off life support. Why would his body not reject the animal organ? Earlier attempts to insert animal organs into human hearts have largely failed because patients' bodies rapidly rejected them. Rejection is caused by the immune system identifying the transplant as a foreign object, triggering a response that will ultimately destroy the transplanted organ or tissue. Roughly 50 percent of all transplanted human organs are rejected within 10 to 12 years, for comparison. To give the experimental operation the best chance of success, scientists genetically modified the pig heart to make it more compatible with the human body. This involved removing a certain sugar in the cells that is known to cause rapid rejection. A pig heart was used over other animals because pigs are easier to raise and achieve adult human size in six months. Several biotech companies are developing pig organs for human transplant. After a nine-hour procedure, Mr Bennett is said to be recovering and doing well. Doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center say the transplant showed that a heart from a genetically modified animal can function in the human body without immediate rejection. But they warned Mr Bennetts prognosis is unknown at this point and he may only live for days with the pig heart. What did they do to make sure the pig heart could be used? Revivicor, a subsidiary of US biotech company United Therapeutics, genetically modified the pig heart that was implanted in Mr Bennett. Scientists inactivated four genes, including sugar in its cells that is responsible for that hyper-fast organ rejection. A growth gene was also inactivated to prevent the pig's heart from continuing to grow after it was implanted. In addition, six human genes were inserted into the genome of the donor pig modifications designed to make the organ more tolerable to the human immune system. How long does the pig heart last? As it is a world-first, it is unclear whether the operation will be successful in the long-run or how long the heart will last. After undergoing a standard heart transplant using a human organ, around nine in 10 people will live for at least a year. When animal hearts have been used so far, all patients have lived for just days or weeks because patients' bodies rapidly rejected the animal organ. In 1984, Baby Fae, a dying infant, lived 21 days with a baboon heart. But doctors performing the surgery used a pig heart that had undergone gene-editing to remove a sugar in its cells that is responsible for that hyper-fast organ rejection. Doctors cautioned that the operation is only a first tentative step into exploring whether transplanting animal organs into human bodies might work. What will happen if the operation remains successful? Around 200 heart transplants are carried out in the UK every year, while the US figure is 3,800. But 300 Britons and 1,700 Americans are currently on the waiting list for a heart. The huge shortage of human organs donated for transplant has driven scientists to try to figure out how to use animal organs instead. If the operation using a pig heart is successful, it could solve this chronic shortage and provide an endless supply of organs for patients, doctors said. But medics warned it is crucial data on Mr Bennets surgery and condition is gathered and shared before others rush to perform similar operations. Advertisement When asked if a warning that Bennett was under consideration would have made things easier, Downey had her doubts. 'I don't think it would change my personal opinion of how it made me angry and how it upset me, but it would've been nice to have been notified in some other way than my daughter seeing it on social media,' she said. 'It just makes you relive everything and rehash everything that my brother went through for 19 years and what my parents went through,' Downey added. There are no US laws or regulations prohibiting treatment of convicted felons. In fact, the Medical Code of Ethics requires doctors to 'be dedicated to providing competent medical service with compassion and respect' for all patients. The University of Maryland Medical Center, declining to say whether officials were aware of Bennett's criminal history, told the newspaper the patient came to the facility 'in dire need' and that doctors made a decision about his transplant eligibility 'solely on his medical records.' Hospital officials also argued the facility provides 'lifesaving care to every patient who comes through their doors based on their medical needs, not their background or life circumstances.' Medical ethics experts allege the separation between the legal and healthcare systems 'exists for good reason'. 'We have a legal system designed to determine just redress for crimes,' said Scott Halpern, a medical ethics professor at the University of Pennsylvania. 'And we have a health-care system that aims to provide care without regard to people's personal character or history.' 'The key principle in medicine is to treat anyone who is sick, regardless of who they are,' Arthur Caplan, a bioethics professor at New York University, echoed. 'We are not in the business of sorting sinners from saints. Crime is a legal matter.' Bennett underwent the nine-hour experimental procedure at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore last Saturday. Surgeons used a heart taken from a pig that had undergone gene-editing to make it less likely that his body's immune system would reject the organ. Bennett has since been taken off the machine that kept blood circulating through his body for more than 45 days and is breathing on his own. Doctors said he is even speaking but with a quiet voice. His surgeon, Dr. Griffith planned to leave Bennett plugged into the heart-lung machine for another week but told USA Today on Wednesday: 'The heart was rocking and rolling and he was so stable that we elected to remove it.' Due to his condition, Bennett was ineligible for a human heart or pump. He also did not follow his doctors' orders, missed appointments and stopped taking drugs he was prescribed. It is not clear what medicine he was told to take but heart disease patients are often prescribed blood thinners or drugs such as beta blockers and ACE inhibitors to keep their blood pressure down. Underlying conditions that could hamper the success of the surgery, as well as their ability to stick to a treatment plan before and after the op, is a major consideration among medics deciding who should be given a life-saving organ. It is still too soon to know if his body will fully accept the organ and the next few weeks will be critical. His doctors also remain concerned about Bennett's risk for infection risk. But, if successful, the transplant would mark a medical breakthrough and could save thousands of lives in the US alone each year. Doctors called the procedure a 'watershed event'. Bennett knew there was no guarantee the risky operation would work but was too sick to qualify for a human organ. A day before his pioneering surgery, Bennett said it was 'either die or do this transplant', adding: 'I want to live. I know it's a shot in the dark, but it's my last choice.' His son, David Bennett Jr., said his father cannot wait to be released from the hospital and is grateful that his doctors took a chance on him with this procedure. 'My dad's a fighter,' David said. 'He was chosen to do this. He chose to do this.' After the procedure, Bennett thanked the doctors and scientists who spent decades researching and developing the procedure. Griffith said the thanks 'just set me back on my heels'. 'I should be thanking him for all he has done in terms of his willingness to participate and how much work he's put into getting well and into cooperating with the plan,' the surgeon added. There is a huge shortage of human organs donated for transplant in the US and the UK, driving scientists to try to figure out how to use animal organs instead. Nearly 120,000 Americans are in need of healthy organs and, on average, 20 people die each day waiting for one to become available. Last year, there were just over 3,800 heart transplants in the US, a record number, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), which oversees the nation's transplant system. Prior attempts at animal organ transplants or xenotransplantation have failed, largely because patients' bodies rapidly rejected the organs. Notably, in 1984, 'Baby Fae' who was born with a rare heart condition lived 21 days with a baboon heart. The Food and Drug Administration, which oversees such experiments, allowed the surgery under what is called a 'compassionate use' emergency authorization, available when a patient with a life-threatening condition has no other options. Bennett Jr., describing his father as a 'private and selfless man,' said Bennett also considered how the procedure could be used to help others when he elected to have the surgery. 'This was something that made me proud as a son,' Bennett Jr. said. 'This tops everything, in terms of what makes me proud. He has a strong will and desire to live.' He also declined to discuss his father's alleged criminal record saying: 'My intent here is not to speak about my father's past. My intent is to focus on the groundbreaking surgery and my father's wish to contribute to the science and potentially save patient lives in the future.' The hospital and academic institution would not reveal the cost of the procedure but took care of fees not covered by insurance. Scandal-scarred couple Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli were reportedly the victims of a break-in at their multimillion dollar Los Angeles-area compound, where masked bandits allegedly swiped $1 million in jewelry while the former jailbirds were not home. Loughlin, 57, and Giannulli, 58 - who both went to prison in the college admissions fiasco - home was broken in on January 3 after thieves broke their bedroom window and took the Full House actress's jewelry box, according to TMZ. The burglars, who were described as wearing all black, were reportedly spotted by a housekeeper before making their getaway. Police later obtained security footage from inside the home, but have yet to release it. The couple bought a farmhouse in Hidden Hills for $9.5 million in August 2020, just weeks before they were handed their sentences for the college admissions scandal - although it is not clear if this is the property that was robbed. The heist at the start of 2022 continued last year's rampant lawlessness that including several high-profile home invasions and follow-home robberies in LA's wealthy enclaves Jacqueline Avant, 81, a philanthropist and the wife of music legend Clarence Avant, was killed in a home invasion at her Beverly Hills mansion last month. Lori Laughlin, 57, and Mossimo Giannulli, 58, had their LA-area home broken into on January 3 The pair (pictured at co-star Bob Saget's funeral) were not home at the time of the break-in Laughlin (pictured with her daughters Olivia Jade and Bella), who went to prison for her part in the college admission scandal, said her jewelry box containing $1million in bling was stolen Police are unsure if the Full House actress and fashion designer were targeted or just victims of a random attack. The cops floated a theory that the bandits are part of a South American group that travels to different areas across the US to hit high-priced homes, TMZ reported. Since the robbery, the couple has amped up security at their 12,000-square-foot Hidden Hills home, which has been described as 'contemporary farmhouse masterpiece,' and features several rooms, marble interiors, a huge back patio, and a large kitchen island. A representative for Loughlin said the actress is 'thankful no one was hurt,' according to Metro. The flack went on to say that the recent death of Full House co-star Bob Saget has changed the Loughlin's 'perspective' on material thing. 'She says material stuff isnt the most important thing in life, its family and love,' the representative told Metro. Loughlin attended Saget's funeral on Friday in Hollywood Hills with co-star John Stamos and dozens of other A-listers. About $1million in jewelry was stolen from Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli's home after burglars broke into the Hidden Hills mansion. Their Hidden Hills home (pictured) was purchased in August 2020 for $9.5million, just weeks before they were sentenced for the college admissions scandal. It is unclear if this is the home that was burglarized The house features lot of natural light with grand views of the Los Angeles area It opens up to a grand patio with plenty of space to entertain The college admission scandal couple isn't the only one in the Los Angeles area experiencing break-ins. Robbery is up almost 20 percent in the city. California, as a whole, has experienced a string of robberies throughout the state, with November being a hard-hit month. Over the past year, Hollywood's total violent crime rate increased 25 percent, with its homicide rate doubling, robberies up 41.6 percent and shootings up 54.2 percent over last year, Los Angeles Police Department showed. That is higher than the crime rate in the rest of the city, which saw homicides climb 12 percent, robberies up 5.3 percent and shootings up 14.8 percent. LA crime has been on the rise, with robberies up almost 20 percent Loughlin and Giannulli were famously given slap on the wrist sentences of of two and five months, respectively. Loughlin had to pay a $150,000 fine and Giannulli had to pay $250,000, followed by community service. Giannulli and Loughlin kicked off their prison stints in November 2020. Loughlin was released in December and her husband released three weeks earlier on April 17, 2021. A Duke University police officer shot dead a detained man in the emergency room of Duke University Hospital late Friday night after he grabbed another officer's gun, officials in North Carolina said. The unidentified man was taken to the hospital's emergency department for an unspecified medical condition after being detained by the Durham Police Department, officials said. A struggle ensued when the detainee wrestled away the Durham officer's gun, authorities reported. Duke, a top-echelon school located on a sprawling campus in Durham, employs both police and security officers. The police officers with the university system are fully deputized and function as city officers. Scroll for video A police officer fatally shot a man being held in custody and treated at Duke University Hospital late Friday night The State Bureau of Investigations is conducting an investigation into the deadly incident A Duke University police officer responded to the scene and fatally shot the man, Duke officials said. Hospital staff immediately began treating the man but were unable to save him. Officials are notifying his family, a hospital spokesperson said. The Durham police officer was also treated for unspecified injuries after the shooting but has since been released. No one else was injured. Authorities have not confirmed how many times the man was shot or why he was in custody or in the emergency department late Friday night. Officials from the State Bureau of Investigations were at the scene beginning an investigation into the deadly altercation early Saturday morning. Both officers were wearing bodycams at the time of the shooting but footage has yet to be released. Investigators have also identified several witnesses. The man was immediately treated for his wounds but did not survive. Officials have not shared why he was in custody and being treated at the emergency department Hospital operations continued as scheduled through the night but have been reduced to accommodate the investigation. The man fatally shot Friday night was the third killed by police in the area during the week. A man was killed by two Durham officers Wednesday morning as he used a glass bottle to attack a Circle K employee and then tried to harm himself, authorities reported. Another man was fatally shot by Raleigh police on Tuesday along Interstate 440 after he crashed his car. Authorities claim they received calls that he was intoxicated and reported he swung a knife at them. Family and friends have identified the man as Daniel Turcios but denied that he would ever drink and drive. Advertisement A desperate motorist was filmed holding his daughter aloft and pleading with defiant protestors to stop blockading the road as thousands gathered to protest against 'Kill the Bill' protests earlier today. The clip, taken in Bristol as demonstrators challenged the Government's Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, shows a furious driver get out of his Mercedes and request a huge crowd of demonstrators move from the road so he can safely drive his children home. In the footage, the unidentified man opens his door and implores one young woman to move because he 'wants to go home', before leaving his vehicle as his appeal falls on deaf ears. He then finds nearby police officers and pleads with them to help remove the obstruction from the road. By this time, the man's actions have drawn the attention of the swelling crowd, with those holding banners, beating drums and recording on their phones swamping the man's vehicle as he asks: 'What's your problem with me?' and tempers begin to flare. In a dramatic turn of events, the motorist pulls one of his children from his car before declaring: 'She wants to go home!' as the crowd watch on and ignore his pleas. As he finally returns to his vehicle, the demonstrators start chanting: 'This is what democracy looks like'. Demonstrations took place in cities including London, Bristol, Coventry, Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and Plymouth on Saturday afternoon ahead of a crunch vote on the proposed bill on Monday. Protesters describe the new legislation as a draconian crackdown on the right to assembly, freedom of expression and other civil liberties. In London, many hundreds marched from Holborn towards Parliament Square in Westminster, chanting 'kill the bill' and carrying banners reading 'defend the right to protest' and 'we will not be silenced'. Members of a wide range of social, racial and environmental justice groups joined the rally, demanding that peers stop the bill from becoming law. Demonstrators hold up placards as they take part in a march to protest against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in central London Demonstrators walk behind a 'Kill The Bill' banner on Whitehall as they take part in a march to protest against the bill Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn addresses protesters during the 'Kill the Bill' march in London today Demonstrators with flares and placards outside Downing Street during a 'Kill The Bill' protest. Many were also aimed at Boris Johnson Many of the protesters wore masks as they demonstrated on the streets of London. Pictured: A man holding a red flare in Manchester city centre Around 3,000 protestors marched from Lincoln's Inn Fields to Parliament with some donning Black Lives Matter clothing during the demonstration Protesters demonstrate during a 'Kill the Bill' protest outside Downing Street in London against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill Protesters make their point heard in Bristol city centre today during a 'Kill The Bill'rally A police officer in Bristol passes a protester dressed as an officer wearing a red nose at College Green today Protesters describe the bill as a draconian crackdown on the right to assembly, freedom of expression and other civil liberties. Above, the scene in Bristol this afternoon Demonstrators in Manchester city centre hold smoke flares today during the 'Kill The Bill' protest Ben Hancock, 70, from London, said: 'The measures are completely draconian really, basically rights will be taken away from anybody to protest.' 'I mean, effectively we're going to be reduced to a state similar to Russia.' Sue, a 62-year-old who would only give her first name and who had travelled to the protest as part of Extinction Rebellion from Godalming, Surrey, said: 'And I believe that some of the provisions in that bill will severely limit the sorts of things that we're able to do to protest.' Tied to a fellow protester, she went on to say: 'So we won't, for instance, be able to be together like this holding hands, or, or even tying ourselves together. 'There are many, many things that we won't be able to do and really, protests will just be a thing of the past. Demonstrations took place in cities including London, Bristol, Newcastle, Liverpool, Oxford, Swansea and Manchester Protesters in Manchester called for an end to more police powers while they marched today through the city Members of a wide range of social, racial and environmental justice groups joined the rally, demanding that peers stop the bill from becoming law. (Above, in Manchester today) A woman in a black and yellow mask protests against the controversial bill in London on Saturday Protesters hold placards and banners during the 'Kill the Bill' march on the national day of action in London today Demonstrators hold up placards as they take part in a march, past The Royal Courts of Justice, Britain's High Court Across Britain thousands of people took to the streets to show their displeasure at the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill Police watch on as demonstrators protest the bill outside Downing Street with flares and signs directing anger at the proposals Demonstrators hold a banner in London that calls to 'protect the right to protest' during a march against the proposed law Protesters believe if the bill passes the right to protest may be compromised as police have more power to break them up 'And so many of the the freedoms that we have in this country have been gained through protest. 'Not through just people being quiet about it, and people in power deciding that they'll give freedoms to people, but because people have come out on the streets and made a noise and made a protest. 'And I want to still be able to do that, I want my children to be able to do that.' Terry Matthews, 69, from south London said: 'I think we're facing a really vitriolic attack on our rights to protest and our freedoms to show our dissatisfaction with the status of the Government and the country. A woman in a multi-coloured mask and a black hat holds a 'kill the bill' placard with an Extinction Rebellion logo on it Drummers joined protesters in London to demonstrate against the bill. The drums they used were plastered in Extinction Rebellion stickers One sign included the hashtag 'we won't be silenced' underneath a call to kill the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill One protester suggested there was one rule for the Prime Minister and another for the general public with images of Partygate and a woman being arrested at a vigil for Sarah Everard last year The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is set to be discussed by peers in the House of Lords tomorrow when it comes before them Extinction Rebellion demonstrators in orange jumpsuits also joined a 'Kill The Bill' protest against The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in Manchester city centre Members of a wide range of social, racial and environmental justice groups joined the rally, demanding that peers stop the bill from becoming law 'And it's a really dangerous step to try to take.' The Bill would put protesters at risk of lengthy prison sentences and hefty fines for actions that cause 'serious annoyance', which could be done just by making noise. It would expand stop and search powers, and new laws against residing on land without authorisation with a vehicle would effectively criminalise gypsy, Roma and traveller communities. Amendments added to the bill by the Government in the House of Lords in November make obstructing major transport works a criminal offence and would equip police with the power to ban named people from demonstrating. Advertisement A tsunami has struck the West Coast of the United States after a massive undersea volcanic eruption triggered a 7.4 magnitude earthquake near Tonga. 'A tsunami is occurring. Remember - the first wave may not be the largest. Move away from the shore and head to high ground,' the National Weather Service said in a flash bulletin on Saturday. 'If you are located in this coastal area, move off the beach and out of harbors and marinas. Do not go to the coast to watch the tsunami. Be alert to instructions from your local emergency officials,' the agency warned. Waves of up to 4.1 feet were recorded in Port San Luis, and tsunami-effect waves were recorded along the coast in California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska. Despite the dire warnings, spectators flocked to the beaches to view the surging tsunami waves, and surfers threw caution to the wind to catch the powerful waves generated by the surge. The initial tsunami wave hit Los Angeles around 7.45am PST and San Francisco at 8.10am PST, and was expected to last for several hours. In Santa Cruz, video showed significant flooding near the harbor, with at least one vehicle caught in the surge. The tsunami advisory in Hawaii was cancelled shortly after 8am local time, after the surge passed through the area damaging some docked boats. There were no early reports of casualties from the islands. Officials said widespread inundation is not expected, but rather coastal hazards such as rip currents and dangerous waves in harbors. Authorities caution that the first waves to strike may not be the highest waves experienced in an area. 'West Coast residents be prepared for impacts in bays and harbors. Live-aboards seek shelter and high ground,' the NWS said in an alert. A car is caught in rising water at Santa Cruz Harbor on Saturday as tsunami flooding strikes low-lying areas A surfer defies warnings to stay out of the water and catches a wave at Manhattan Beach in El Segundo, California Saturday In Seal Beach, California, residents ignored warnings to stay away from the beach and flocked to the municipal pier to take pictures of the waves after a tsunami advisory was issued Spectators flock to view waves from the Seal Beach municipal pier after a tsunami advisory was issued following an underwater volcano eruption around 5,300 miles away A spectator records waves on her mobile phone, as a lifeguard truck patrols to clear lookie-loos from beaches that were closed after a tsunami advisory was issued Large waves move in near Santa Cruz on Saturday. Inundation is not expected, but a tsunami advisory means there could be dangerous currents and strong waves along the coast Large waves are seen in San Mateo County at around 8.10am on Saturday as a tsunami moved ashore Joggers stretch next to a tsunami hazard zone sign in El Segundo, California, on January 15, 2022. The US National Weather Service issued tsunami advisories for the entire west coast of the United States following a massive volcanic eruption On Saturday morning a tsunami advisory (orange) was in effect for Hawaii and the entire US Pacific seaboard, from the US/Mexico border all the way to the tip of Alaska's Aleutian Islands, after an undersea volcano erupted near Tonga Dramatic official aerial maps showed the eruption cloud over Tonga after the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcanco erupted (pictured, satellite images of the volcanic eruption in the Pacific Ocean on Saturday) In Berkeley, California, police issued a mandatory evacuation order for anyone living aboard boats in the Berkeley Marina. 'Tsunamis often arrive as a series of waves or surges which could be dangerous for many hours after the first wave arrival. The first tsunami wave or surge may not be the highest in the series,' the NWS warned. Early on Saturday, Hawaii was already seeing tsunami wave activity of up to 2.7 feet, and there were reports of waves lifting boats out of the water onto docks, but no reports of inundation. The mainland tsunami advisory extended from California's border with Mexico to Attu Island at the tip of Alaska's Aleutian Islands. In Tonga, the eruption sent large tsunami waves crashing across the shore and people rushing to higher ground. The 'violent' underwater volcanic eruption in the Pacific at 5.10pm local time - which was visible from space - was confirmed as the cause of the tsunami, which overwhelmed homes, buildings, fences, roads and cars in Tonga around 20 minutes later. Surfers grip their surf boards in the middle of a wave in Manhattan Beach, California, on Saturday in defiance of an advisory An image from Japan's Himawari-8 satellite and released by the National Institute of Information and Communications (Japan) on January 15, 2022 shows the volcanic eruption that provoked a tsunami in Tonga Tide Station Point Reyes near San Francisco recorded erratic waves slamming into shore as the tsunami struck The Tide Station in Honolulu registered erratic waves approaching one meter, which threw boats up onto docks Under a tsunami advisory, residents are warned to stay out of the water and away from beaches and marinas In Tonga, an island group in the southern Pacific, locals pleaded for people to 'pray for us' as the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai volcanic eruption was compared to 'bombs going off' by those who heard it, followed by the tsunami surging ashore. The Islands Business news site reported that a convoy of police and military troops evacuated Tonga's King Tupou VI from his palace near the shore. He was among the many residents who headed for higher ground. New Zealand's military said it was monitoring the situation and remained on standby, ready to assist if asked. The eruption could be heard thousands of miles away and sparked warnings in New Zealand, Fiji, American Samoa and Australia, with several Australian offshore territories under threat, including Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island and Macquarie Island, officials said. Residents of American Samoa were alerted of the tsunami warning by local broadcasters as well as church bells that rang territory-wide. An outdoor siren warning system was out of service. Those living along the shoreline quickly moved to higher ground. As night fell, there were no reports of any damage and the Hawaii-based tsunami center canceled the alert for American Samoa. Authorities in the nearby island nations of Fiji and Samoa also issued warnings, telling people to avoid the shoreline due to strong currents and dangerous waves. The Japan Meteorological Agency said there may be a slight swelling of the water along the Japanese coasts, but it was not expected to cause any damage. Satellite images showed a huge eruption, a three-mile wide plume of ash, steam and gas rising like a mushroom about 12 above the blue Pacific waters. On Friday, a tsunami struck Tonga sending terrified locals fleeing for high ground as huge waves crashed over roads and into homes (pictured, tsunami waves begin to overwhelm coastal homes in Tonga on Saturday) Locals took to social media to share dramatic videos of the surging waves making land and crashing through homes and cars (pictured, still images from video filmed in Tonga and posted to social media on Saturday) Pictured: Satellite imagery shows the underwater explosion (left). The images showed a 3 mile wide plume rising into the air to about 12 miles In this satellite image taken by Himawari-8, a Japanese weather satellite, and released by the agency, shows an undersea volcano eruption at the Pacific nation of Tonga Saturday 'A 1.2 metre tsunami wave has been observed at Nukualofa,' Australia's Bureau of Meteorology tweeted. The maximum tsunami wave recorded following an explosion in the region on Friday was 30 centimetres. The Tonga Meteorological Services said the tsunami warning was in effect for all of Tonga. There were no immediate reports of injuries or the extent of the damage as communications with the small nation remained problematic. The eruption was so intense it was heard as 'loud thunder sounds' in Fiji more than 500 miles away, officials in Suva said. Victorina Kioa of the Tonga Public Service Commission said Friday that people should 'keep away from areas of warning which are low-lying coastal areas, reefs and beaches.' The head of Tonga Geological Services Taaniela Kula urged people to stay indoors, wear a mask if they were outside and cover rainwater reservoirs and rainwater harvesting systems. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a 'tsunami advisory' for American Samoa, saying there was a threat of 'sea level fluctuations and strong ocean currents that could be a hazard along beaches.' Authorities in Fiji also issued a warning, telling people to avoid the shoreline due to strong currents and dangerous waves. Fijian officials also warned residents to cover water collection tanks in case of acidic rain fall. New Zealand's military said it was monitoring the situation and remained on standby, ready to assist if asked. Residents of American Samoa were alerted of the tsunami warning by local broadcasters as well as church bells that rang territory-wide. An outdoor siren warning system was out of service. Those living along the shoreline quickly moved to higher ground. As night fell, there were no reports of any damage and the Hawaii-based tsunami center canceled the alert. Authorities in the nearby island nations of Fiji and Samoa also issued warnings, telling people to avoid the shoreline due to strong currents and dangerous waves. The Japan Meteorological Agency said there may be a slight swelling of the water along the Japanese coasts, but it was not expected to cause any damage. Locals pleaded for people to 'pray for us' as the eruption was compared to 'bombs going off' by those who heard it, followed by the tsunami surging ashore The eruption was so intense it was heard as 'loud thunder sounds' in Fiji more than 500 miles away, officials in Suva said Pictured: Image captured by NOAA's GOES West satellite and made available by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows an explosive eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano, located in the South Pacific Kingdom of Tonga, 13 January 2022 The eruption (pictured from a satellite) could be heard thousands of kilometres away and sparked warnings in New Zealand, Fiji and American Samoa The Islands Business news site reported that a convoy of police and military troops evacuated Tonga's King Tupou VI from his palace near the shore as residents headed for higher ground. The explosion of the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai volcano was the latest in a series of spectacular eruptions. Mere Taufa said she was in her house getting ready for dinner when the volcano erupted. 'It was massive, the ground shook, our house was shaking. It came in waves. My younger brother thought bombs were exploding nearby,' Taufa told the Stuff news website. She said water filled their home minutes later and she saw the wall of a neighbouring house collapse. 'We just knew straight away it was a tsunami. Just water gushing into our home. 'You could just hear screams everywhere, people screaming for safety, for everyone to get to higher ground.' A Twitter user identified as Dr Faka'iloatonga Taumoefolau posted video showing waves crashing ashore. This picture taken on December 21, 2021 shows white gaseous clouds rising from the Hunga Ha'apai eruption seen from the Patangata coastline near Tongan capital Nuku'alofa 'Can literally hear the volcano eruption, sounds pretty violent,' he wrote, adding in a later post: 'Raining ash and tiny pebbles, darkness blanketing the sky.' Earlier, the Matangi Tonga news site reported that scientists had observed massive explosions, thunder and lightning near the volcano after it started erupting Friday. The site said satellite images showed a three-mile-wide plume of ash, steam and gas rising about 12 miles into the air. More than 1,400 miles away in New Zealand, officials warned of storm surges from the eruption. The National Emergency Management Agency said some parts could expect 'strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore following a large volcanic eruption'. Late on Saturday, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said the threat to American Samoa appeared to have passed, although minor sea fluctuations could continue. The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano sits on an uninhabited island about 40 miles north of the Tongan capital Nuku'alofa. In late 2014 and early 2015, a series of eruptions in the area created a small island and disrupted international air travel to the Pacific archipelago for several days. The Michigan woman who tried to hire a hitman through a website to kill her ex-husband has been sentenced to seven to 20 years in prison. Wendy Lynn Wein, 52, of South Rockford, pleaded guilty on November 12 to using the RentAHitman.com site to hire someone to whack her ex-husband and for using a computer to commit a crime in July 2020. She was sentenced to seven to 20 years in prison on Thursday and will be credited the 545 days she's already spent in jail. Wein's former spouse, who was not identified, was never targeted because RentAHitman.com was set up by an IT professional in 2005 as part of a class project to snag people looking to hire contract killers. Bob Innes, the owner behind the fake website, immediately contacted state police, who sent an undercover detective posing as a hitman to meet with Wein. Wendy Lynn Wein, 52, of South Rockford, Michigan, was sentenced to seven to 20 years in prison on Thursday for using a fake hitman website to take out her ex-husband She used RentAHitman.com to attempt to murder her husband and wrote 'I prefer not going to jail' Wein showed remorse before her sentencing, and admitted she was struggling with the death of eight of her family members at the time. 'I take full responsibility for my actions, and I hope a lesson is learned by my example,' she said on Thursday. 'I had no right to lash out at anyone, and in a manner of minutes I changed everyone's lives. Bob Innes created the website in 2005 as a class project and has helped authorities multiple times over the years 'I've humiliated my family doing this,' she continued. 'I am not making excuses for myself. I simply wanted to let you know where my head was,' she said on Thursday. Wein had used a fake name to complete a service request on the site in July 2020, writing to Guido Fanelli that she wanted to have her ex-husband killed because he stole $20,000 from her. 'I prefer not going to jail. Thank you for your time,' she wrote after requesting a consultation to help her with an 'issue.' Fanelli is the alias Innes uses on the site, which has ensnared over a dozen others who have tried to use the website to hire a contract killer, Rolling Stone reported after Wein's arrest last year. Wein eventually met with the undercover detective and provided him information about her ex-husband before paying him a $200 down payment for the hit, while agreeing on a $5,000 total when the job was completed. When filling out the request, she used her real name and was arrested later that day. The Foreign Secretary has c'alled for Russia to 'halt its aggression' amid fears Moscow is preparing to invade Ukraine. Liz Truss tweeted: 'Russia is waging a disinformation campaign intended to destabilise and justify an invasion of its sovereign neighbour Ukraine. 'Russia must halt its aggression, de-escalate and engage in meaningful talks.' Her comments came as Russia pressed ahead with military exercises despite denying US claims that Vladimir Putin is planning a 'false flag' operation as a pretext to invade its neighbour. New pictures showed ambush and live firing tank exercises, the latest of a frenzy of drills since the New Year in the country's western military district. New pictures from Russia today showed ambush and live firing tank exercises, the latest of a frenzy of drills since the New Year in the country's western military district Britain's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (pictured on Tuesday) has called for Russia to 'halt its aggression' amid fears Moscow is preparing to invade Ukraine Liz Truss tweeted: 'Russia is waging a disinformation campaign intended to destabilise and justify an invasion of its sovereign neighbour Ukraine. 'Russia must halt its aggression, de-escalate and engage in meaningful talks' Her comments came as Russia pressed ahead with military exercises despite denying US claims that Vladimir Putin (pictured on Monday) is planning a 'false flag' operation as a pretext to invade its neighbour British MP Tobias Ellwood, Tory chairman of the Commons defence committee, has said a Russian invasion of Ukraine is now 'inevitable'. The US claimed it had intelligence that Russia was preparing for a 'false flag' operation to make it appear that Ukraine had attacked its troops. Russia 'has already pre-positioned a group of operatives' to stage such an operation in eastern Ukraine, it was claimed. 'The operatives are trained in urban warfare and in using explosives to carry out acts of sabotage against Russia's own proxy forces.' This brought an angry riposte from the Russian authorities. 'Representatives of the administration are already describing in detail the scenarios of such provocations, naming the dates of the eventual start of 'operations', said the Russian embassy in Washington. 'As usual, there is no evidence.' A spokesman said: 'Such statements confirm the incessant information pressure on our country. Moreover, the same scenario is repeated - there is a 'stuffing' of a sensation, which then, repeated many times by the media, turns into the main news.' Russia insisted that 'the continuous accusations against us in the United States are unfounded and cannot have any confirmation'. The US claimed it had intelligence that Russia was preparing for a 'false flag' operation to make it appear that Ukraine had attacked its troops, as a pretext to invade Russia insisted that 'the continuous accusations against us in the United States are unfounded and cannot have any confirmation'. Pictured: A Russian tank takes part in a drill But Moscow is insisting that a solution must be based on 'security guarantees' proposed by Russia. These involve a vow that Ukraine will never join NATO and a Western refusal to deploy strike weapons across a swathe of eastern Europe. Yet the tank drills at Mulino in Nizhny Novgorod region are only the latest of a programme of regular war games at a time when Putin is reported to have 100,000-plus troops and heavy military equipment close to the Russian border with Ukraine. More than 300 servicemen were involved in the special tactical exercises. Elsewhere in Voronezh region, which borders Ukraine, crews of T-72B3 tanks were drilled in 'the skills of night driving combat vehicles in heavy snowfall and a blizzard at the Krinitsa training ground'. Mr Ellwood warned: 'I am afraid an invasion by Russian forces is inevitable and imminent and we have allowed this to happen. 'We had the opportunity to place sufficient military hardware and personnel in Ukraine to make President Putin think twice about invading but we failed to do so. 'Only President Putin knows what he is going to do next but next week would seem pivotal. He has negotiated himself into a corner and after NATO refused to bow to his threats seemingly only one option remains.' Pictured: A member of the Kyiv Territorial Defense Unit is trained in an industrial area on January 15, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine Members of the Kyiv Territorial Defense Unit are trained in an industrial area on January 15, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine Following a visit to Scandinavia, Britain's defence secretary said an invasion by Russia into Ukraine would violate the 'most basic freedoms and sovereignty.' Issuing a second warning in a week to Moscow, Ben Wallace said there would be 'consequences' of any Russian aggression towards Ukraine. On Monday, he fired a shot across the bows, telling an event in London that Britain would 'stand up to bullies', no matter how far away the conflict. Wallace met Nordic partners this week, including Finland which shares a border with Russia. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said he met with ministers in Sweden, Finland and Norway to discuss Russia's continued aggression and military build-up on Ukraine's border, with some 100,000 troops amassed at the divide. The Defence Secretary said: 'The UK and our Nordic partners are united in our approach to upholding European security. Issuing a second warning in a week to Moscow, Ben Wallace said there would be 'consequences' of any Russian aggression towards Ukraine Along with the troops already along the border, more Russian aircraft have been flown to the region in recent days and satellite photos have confirmed the positioning of makeshift military hospitals 'My discussions this week have been directly about deepening bilateral relations, shared security and the consequences of Russian aggression towards Ukraine. 'Our discussions were clear that a Russian invasion of Ukraine would be a strategic mistake, violating the most basic freedoms and sovereignty. 'Britain and the Nordic countries have a long and shared history. 'Our European neighbours and allies remain vital partners as we work together to defend our common values, counter shared threats and build resilience in our neighbourhood, the UK will always stand with them.' Labour said the threats facing Ukraine must be met with 'strength and solve' by Nato and Europe, with shadow defence secretary John Healey having visited the country this week. 'The Western allies must work hard to maintain their deterrent pressure on Russia and stand by Ukraine,' said the senior opposition MP. An Omicron case has been detected in Beijing, officials in the Chinese capital said Saturday, as the country battles multiple outbreaks of the highly transmissible coronavirus variant ahead of the Winter Olympics. Lab testing found 'mutations specific to the Omicron variant' in the person, Pang Xinghuo, an official at the city's disease control authority, told a news briefing. Officials have sealed up the infected person's residential compound and workplace, and collected 2,430 samples for testing from people linked to the two locations, a Haidian district official said. The detection of the Omicron variant Beijing came as cities across the country ratchet up viral vigilance ahead of the Winter Olympics, due to start February 4. Authorities have also warned that Omicron adds to the increased risk of COVID-19 transmission as more people travel across the country and return to China from overseas for the Lunar New Year holiday starting at the end of the month. A medical worker wearing a full protective outfit swabs the throat of a man during a COVID-19 test in Beijing, China on Friday. An Omicron case has been detected in Beijing, officials in the Chinese capital said Saturday as the country battles multiple outbreaks One locally transmitted Omicron case was discovered in the capital's Haidian district, home to many tech company headquarters, city official Xinghuo said at a press conference, a rare breach of Beijing's tightly-guarded Covid-19 defences. Authorities are testing the other occupants of the patient's residential compound and office building, and have restricted access to 17 locations linked to infected person, Pang said. Beijing has long barred people from parts of the country that have reported cases, while requiring all arrivals to provide recent Covid-19 tests. Residents have also been urged in recent weeks not to leave the city for the upcoming Spring Festival holiday. On Friday, the coastal city of Zhuhai, which borders the gambling hub Macau, said Omicron had been detected in one mildly ill and six asymptomatic patients. Zhuhai officials have asked residents to avoid leaving the city 'unless necessary', with those who are required to show negative Covid test results within the past 24 hours. The city had launched mass testing for its population of 2.4 million people on Friday after a Covid case was detected in neighbouring Zhongshan earlier in the week. Businesses including beauty salons, card rooms, gyms and cinemas were ordered to close on Thursday, with officials announcing the suspension of public bus routes in parts of the city. China has kept Covid-19 cases relatively low throughout the pandemic with its zero-tolerance strategy of immediately ordering mass testing and strict lockdowns when infections are detected. People wearing face masks line up for COVID-19 tests in Beijing, China, 14 January 2022. China is battling multiple outbreaks of the highly infectious variant ahead of the Winter Olympics Harsher lockdowns have been imposed on China's smaller cities where millions of people have been ordered to stay home and get tested. Meanwhile, economic hubs such as Shanghai and Beijing have locked down and tested only specific neighbourhoods in more targeted efforts. But the fast-spreading Omicron variant has tested that strategy in recent weeks, appearing in the port city of Tianjin close to Beijing before spreading to the central city of Anyang. National Health Commission spokesman Mi Feng told reporters on Saturday that the country faced a 'twofold challenge' from both the Delta and Omicron strains of the virus. He warned that regions that had not yet seen outbreaks 'must not relax' their prevention measures and 'strengthen risk auditing'. Aside from Beijing, China has reported locally transmitted infections of the Omicron variant in at least four other provinces and municipalities -- in the northern city of Tianjin, the central province of Henan, the southern province of Guangdong and the northeastern province of Liaoning. However, the total number Omicron cases remains unclear. An armed policemen wears a protective mask and marches past a 17 meter-high flower bed with the theme of 'Wonderful Winter Olympics' at Tiananmen square on January 15, 2022 in Beijing, China. The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics are set to open February 4 He Qinghua, an official at the National Health Commission (NHC), said in a briefing earlier on Saturday that the Omicron variant was also detected in Shanghai, without specifying the case count. He did not say whether the variant had been found locally or among travellers from overseas. He said 14 provincial areas in China had found the Omicron variant in infected individuals arriving from overseas, without naming the regions. In a statement on Saturday, the NHC reported 165 new confirmed coronavirus cases for Jan. 14, down from 201 a day earlier. Of the new infections, 104 were locally transmitted, according to a statement by the National Health Commission, compared with 143 a day earlier. The new locally transmitted cases were in Henan, Tianjin, Guangdong, Shaanxi and Zhejiang. China also reported 25 new asymptomatic cases for Jan. 14, down from 42 infections a day earlier. China classifies asymptomatic cases separately from confirmed cases. There were no new deaths, leaving the death toll at 4,636. As of January 14, mainland China had 104,745 confirmed cases. No casualties have been reported but Trentacost said several firefighters were treated for injuries ' There's fire in the basement underneath the roof,' he said. 'It was a total collapse of a three-story building' As of Saturday morning the blaze was downgraded to a four alarm fire but 25 companies remain on site as the building that the fire originated in has collapsed Fire officials on Saturday began to finally contain an 11-alarm fire that erupted near a New Jersey chemical plant on Friday night - but officials have ordered residents to keep their windows shut as a precaution against noxious fumes. More than 200 firefighters were able to corral the massive chemical fire that began at Majestic Industries manufacturing in Passaic and spread to the Qualco chemical plant, which produces chlorine-based products used for pools and spas, Passaic Fire Chief Patrick Trentacost said. 'The fire is contained. But I can't say it's under control because of the pockets of fire,' Passaic Mayor Hector C. Lora told NorthJersey.com Saturday morning. 'The goal now is to make sure it doesn't reach the main plant.' There were no major injuries reported Saturday. As of Saturday morning firefighters were able to contain the 11-alarm fire that broke out in Passiac at around 9 pm on Friday Over 200 firefighters battled Friday night's blaze that began at Majestic Industries manufacturing in Passaic and spread to the area of the Qualco chemical plant As of Saturday morning the blaze was downgraded to a four alarm fire but 25 companies remain on site as the building that the fire originated in has collapsed Lora told the New York Times that about 100,000 pounds of chlorine in the plant were 'impacted' by the fire, the heat from the flames or water from the firefighters' hoses. As of Saturday morning, the blaze has been downgraded to a four-alarm fire, but 25 companies remain on site, Trentacost said. Trentacost said most of the building where the fire originated, which was used for storage of plastics and pallets, has collapsed 'There's fire in the basement underneath the roof,' he said. 'It was a total collapse of a three-story building.' No casualties have been reported but Trentacost said several firefighters were treated for injuries. 'One firefighter was sent to the hospital with a laceration to the face,' the chief said. 'He was treated and released. We had about 14 to 16 firefighters slip and fall with bruises, twisted ankles, all minor.' No casualties have been reported but chief Trentacost said several firefighters were treated for injuries While battling the flames, at least one firefighter has been injured in the blaze The 11-alarm fire reportedly affect 100,000 pounds of chlorine pellets contained at the plant as it specializes in chemicals for pools and spas Fire officials are still investigating the cause of the fire. Even after the fire was contained, Lora asked Passaic residents to keep their windows shut as a precaution. The intense blaze sent large plumes of smoke into the sky and the scent of smoke and chemicals was enough to make people's eyes water as far away as a mile away in Wallington, Northjersey.com reported. The state Department of Environmental Protection plans to monitor air quality in the area throughout the day. 'As of this morning residents are able to come out and go to work,' the mayor said. 'We are not requiring individuals to stay in their homes. The air quality is under levels that would create concern.' Nearby residents recorded footage of the flames and smoke billowing into the air that began at the site of the warehouse of manufacturing company Majestic Industries at around 9pm A fire broke out near a chemical plant on Friday night in Passaic, New Jersey as flames and smoke were seen visible for miles Videos of the scene were captured by nearby residents gathered near the site of the fire as flames engulfed the area. Security guard Justin Johnson, who was was the only one working inside the building at the time, told CBS New York he was checking the building's water pressure when he noticed smoke. 'I look out the window, I see smoke coming from, maybe, like, the stack tower right there. I don't know if that caused the fire or not, but I also see smoke coming from there, so I decided to come back to security office, called the fire department and get them down here. The alarm system went off already,' he said. Advertisement The suspect is Simon Martial, 61, pictured in a previous undated mugshot. He has been charged with murder in the Saturday incident NYPD have arrested a homeless man accused of shoving an Asian woman to her death in front an oncoming subway train in Times Square. Simon Martial, 61, is charged with second-degree murder after the Saturday morning incident at around 9:40 a.m. in Manhattan when a woman was killed at the southbound N, Q, R and W platform at West 42nd Street and Broadway. Police have identified the woman as Michelle Alyssa Go, 40, who lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Martial has a history of mental illness and told reporters to 'go f*** yourself' as he was walked out of a Midtown precinct on Saturday night, declaring himself 'God.' 'Yeah because I'm God,' he said when asked if he killed Go, the New York Post reported. 'Yes I did. I'm God, I can do it.' He then claimed: 'She stole my f***ing jacket, that's why.' NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said the attack was 'unprovoked' and the victim 'does not appear to have any interaction with the subject.' The victim was remembered fondly on Saturday night as a 'good soul.' 'Everybody at Ruxton Towers liked her,' an anonymous acquaintance who asked not to be named told DailyMail.com on the Upper West Side. 'She was a good soul - a nice person. She didnt deserve this' Martial reportedly shoved Go onto the tracks as a southbound R train approached the station in a seemingly random attack. He purportedly had approached a different woman, who was not Asian, but she moved away, police said. Martial has a previous criminal history and served two years in state prison for attempted robbery before being released in August 2021, the New York Post reported, citing state records. Sources told DailyMail.com that he has been arrested at least twice in the past for robbery. One incident was in August 2017 in Manhattan, when he was charged with first-degree robbery after allegedly entering a car, pretending to have a gun and stealing $43. He was also arrested in July 1998 for allegedly simulating a gun in an attempt to rob a taxi driver, threatening to kill the driver. He was charged with two counts of robbery and criminal possession of a weapon at the time. Sources told the Post that he has had three encounters with police as an emotionally disturbed person. Martial's sister, Josette Simon, was shocked and told the New York Post that her brother has a history of mental illness, but had once managed a parking lot and made 'good money.' 'Hes been on medication for over 20 years and in and out of mental hospitals in New York,' she told the Post. Simon Martial, 61, is charged with second-degree murder after the Saturday morning incident. He is seen Saturday night leaving the Midtown precinct Martial is accused of killing a woman, identified as Michelle Alyssa Go, at the southbound N, Q, R and W platform at West 42nd Street and Broadway Martial has a criminal record of at least three arrests dating back to 1998. His sister told the New York Post that her brother has a history of mental illness Simon Martial's previous arrests and charges Simon Martial, 61, has a criminal record of at least three arrests dating back to 1998. July 9, 1998 Martial was arrested for allegedly simulating a gun in an attempt to rob a taxi driver, threatening to kill the driver. He was charged with two counts of robbery and criminal possession of a weapon at the time. August 9, 2017 Martial was charged with first-degree robbery in Manhattan after allegedly entering a car, pretending to have a gun, and stealing $43. He was accused of entering a mans car on Sixth Avenue and Waverly Place while simulating he had a weapon, saying 'I have a gun. Give me your cash!' according to the New York Post. He served years in state prison for attempted robbery before being released in August 2021, according to state records. January 15, 2022 Martial was arrested on Saturday after police say he shoved an Asian woman to her death in front an oncoming subway train in Times Square. He was charged with second-degree murder after the incident at around 9:40 am in Manhattan when Michelle Alyssa Go, 40, was killed at the southbound N, Q, R and W platform at West 42nd Street and Broadway. Martial admitted to killing Go when asked by reporters as he was escorted out of a Midtown precinct on Saturday night, saying 'because I'm God, I can do it' Advertisement The MTA confirmed that Go had been struck by a train. Police found the victim lying on the tracks, unconscious with trauma to her body. EMS personnel pronounced her dead at the scene, authorities said. Go had reportedly been standing with two other women when she was pushed. Delays were reported on the N, Q and R lines due to the incident. The horrifying attack comes as crime in the subway and around the city continues to soar at the beginning of Mayor Eric Adams and Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's first terms. Bragg's controversial decision to downgrade burglary, armed robbery and drug dealings from felonies to misdemeanors has drawn criticism, as it has led to many criminals being let back out on the streets. The number of felony assaults has since increased by 4.7 percent over the course of the last week, as compared to the same time last year. Overall, crime is up 30.5 percent from the same period in 2021, according to the city's crime stats. Former Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said newly-elected Mayor Eric Adams has his hands tied in terms of crime while Bragg's office implements its woke policies. Adams had promised a return to broken-windows policing after winning on a tough-on-crime approach campaign. 'I don't know how Mr. Adams is going to do that when the DA is effectively handcuffing the police,' he said. Several of New York City's borough district attorneys also took aim at the soft-on-crime policies laid out this week by Bragg. This is the second death on the subway tracks in Manhattan in recent weeks. A Good Samaritan was killed by a train after jumping onto the tracks to rescue the victim of a beating on New Year's Day attack in the New York City subway. Police on Wednesday apprehended two boys, ages 16 and 17 years old, charging them with murder, robbery and gang assault stemming from the death of Roland Hueston, NBC New York first reported. The incident took place at the Times Square Subway Station at West 42nd Street and Broadway in Manhattan The unidentified woman was at the N, Q and R lines at the station waiting for her train, police said New York's crime rate continues to rise under new Mayor Eric Adams, who promised to be tough on crime, and 'woke' progressive DA Alvin Bragg It is unknown at this time if they were being charged as adults. Their names have not been released as of Friday morning. The incident took place within the 46th precinct, which has seen 17 felonious assaults from January 1 to January 9, a 325 percent increase compared to last year. Earlier this week, police announced the arrest of another 16-year-old boy in connection with the deadly incident. The teens were allegedly among nearly a dozen young people - eight males and three females - who police say attacked a 38-year-old man on the B/D train platform at the Fordham Road station in the Bronx at around 2.45am on January 1. The New York Daily News previously reported that the beating victim was drunk and got into an argument with the youths, who began punching and kicking him. At least one of the alleged attackers threatened the victim with a knife, according to witness accounts. In the course of the attack, the drunken man fell onto the tracks as a D train was pulling into the station. Roland Hueston, 36, has been identified as the Good Samaritan who was struck by a subway train and killed while trying to save a man who had been attacked by an alleged gang Police on Wednesday arrested two boys, 16 and 17, who they say were among the 11 people (pictured above) who attacked and beat up a 38-year-old inside a Bronx subway station The upcoming hearings on the US Capitol riot will 'blow the roof off the House', Rep. Jamie Raskin has claimed. Speaking with a group of progressive activists on a Zoom meeting on Thursday, the Democrat from Maryland previewed the hearings that the House of Representatives select committee on the riot plans to televise in the coming months. 'We are going to do everything we can to subpoena all the information we need and to enforce our subpoenas,' Raskin said in the remarks first reported by Yahoo News. 'But even if we don't get every last person in there, we are going to have hearings that I believe will be compared to the Watergate hearings, because they are going to blow the roof off the House in terms of explaining to America what actually happened in the attack on our democracy.' 'I hope everybody will watch and I hope everybody will discuss it and then it will lead to a report that, I hope again, will be a game changer in terms of American history,' Raskin said. Speaking with a group of progressive activists on in a Zoom meeting on Thursday, Raskin previewed the hearings that the House select committee plans in coming months The panel is investigating the causes of the attack on the Capitol by then-President Donald Trump's supporters, and the role played by Trump himself Democrats hope to tie the violence of the riots directly to former President Donald Trump and his allies in Congress, tarnishing Republicans ahead of the crucial midterm elections in November. While the nine-member panel includes just two Republicans - anti-Trump moderates Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger - Raskin said that it was the 'most bipartisan' committee he had ever served on. Though some close Trump allies from the prior administration have defied the committee's subpoenas, Raskin said that the group had spoken with more than 400 witnesses and obtained thousands of records and documents. A schedule for the hearings has not yet been finalized, and it remained unclear whether the committee planned to release a single bombshell report, or string out its revelations to maximize news coverage. The committee's prior release of text messages from Fox News host Sean Hannity and Ivanka Trump, among others, has already garnered headlines. Meanwhile, Senator Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, on Thursday said that he would not have voted 'no' on a resolution honoring the work of Capitol personnel during the riot, which passed by a voice vote. Senator Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, on Thursday said that he would not have voted 'no' on a resolution honoring the work of Capitol personnel during the riot Hawley explained that he opposed the resolution because it included language referencing 'violent insurrectionists' as the perpetrators of the attack. 'Not a single person from that day has been charged with the crime of insurrection,' Hawley said in remarks first reported by Politico. 'If we are going to honor Capitol Hill workersand we shouldwe must do so in a manner that focuses on their service to their nation, not on false narratives that are meant to divide us.' Hawley added that the resolution was written to score 'cheap partisan political points.' The select committee on Thursday subpoenaed Facebook parent Meta, Google parent Alphabet, Twitter and Reddit, seeking information about how their platforms were used to help spread misinformation and violent extremism. 'We cannot allow our important work to be delayed any further,' the House Select Committee's chairman, Bennie Thompson, said in a statement. The subpoenas are the latest development in the panel's investigation into the causes of the attack on the Capitol by Trump loyalists, and the role played by Trump himself, who has pushed false claims that he won the election. Republican leader Kevin McCarthy claims the investigation is not legitimate and accuses the panel of 'abuse of power' 'Two key questions for the Select Committee are how the spread of misinformation and violent extremism contributed to the violent attack on our democracy, and what steps - if any -social media companies took to prevent their platforms from being breeding grounds for radicalizing people to violence,' Representative Thompson said. 'It's disappointing that after months of engagement, we still do not have the documents and information necessary to answer those basic questions.' Republican leader Kevin McCarthys refusal to provide information to the committee about his call with then-President Donald Trump during the Capitol riot is deepening a standoff between the committee and GOP lawmakers. McCarthy joined two other Trump allies, Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, in rejecting the panels requests for interviews and documents. McCarthy, a California Republican, decried the committee as an 'abuse of power' and said he had little to offer. There is 'nothing that I can provide' to the committee, he said, as it investigates what Trump was doing inside the White House, and his state of mind, as hundreds of his supporters violently stormed the Capitol. The stand by the three GOP lawmakers has left the committee of seven Democrats and two Republicans with a stark choice: take the extraordinary step of subpoenaing their own colleagues or allow the requests, and the defiance of their work, to go unanswered. The committee's leaders, Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., have said they are prepared to subpoena any witness crucial to the investigation. But privately, committee members are wrestling over the potential legal and political complications of such a move. While congressional ethics committees have the authority to subpoena lawmakers, there is little modern precedent for another committee doing so. The British-born terrorist who is thought to be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people has split from her latest partner and fled to Yemen, security sources have said. Mother-of-four Samantha Lewthwaite, originally from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, is among the world's most wanted women. The 38-year-old jihadist, who was married to one of the 7/7 suicide bombers, fled the UK for South Africa in 2009, later crossing into Tanzania in 2011 and then Kenya, before investigators tracked her to an al-Shabaab stronghold in Somalia. Her nickname among intelligence agencies is 'White Widow', and she has been linked with a string of terror attacks in Africa that have caused the deaths of more than 400 people. Most recently, she spent seven years with her fourth husband, a Somalia warlord known as 'Sheikh Hassan', before splitting from him and fleeing to Yemen, reports The Mirror. Security sources say Lewthwaite, who was the daughter of a British solider during Northern Ireland's Troubles, is understood to have fled from a 'no-go' area in Somalia after their breakup. She is now believed to reside in a jihadi-sympathising stronghold in neighbouring Yemen, where she wears a full niqab and gloves to conceal her identity. White Widow Samantha Lewthwaite, 38, pictured, originally from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, had spent seven years with her Somalia warlord partner 'Sheikh Hassan' Security sources warn Samantha Lewthwaite may be hiding alongside jihadist-sympathisers in Yemen following her split from her partner of seven years One security source told the Mirror: '[Lewthwaite] and Sheikh Hassan are no longer together it is thought they are divorced. She had protection from his family in a no-go area in Somalia. 'But now she is not welcome and has gone back to al-Qaeda-controlled Yemen. She got there in a dhow sailing vessel. Though no intelligence on British mother Lewthwaite's exact location has been received for months, security sources now believe that she is caught up in the deadly chaos of Yemen's long-running civil war between government forces and Islamists. Lewthwaite, originally of Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, was the wife of 7/7 bomber Germaine Lindsay and is thought to be behind scores of suicide attacks across Africa and the Middle East. Interpol issued a Red Notice warrant for her arrest after she was linked to the 2013 Westgate Mall attack in Kenya, which left five Britons and 66 other people dead and injured around 200 others. Security services believe her other atrocities include the slaughter of 148 people by gunmen at a university in 2015. Samantha Lewthwaite pictured with her husband, 7/7 bomber Germaine Lindsay In Yemen, she is understood to have recruited female suicide bombers with bribes of 3,000. She is also thought to have sent male suicide bombers as young as 15, high on heroin, to their deaths. London University graduate Lewthwaite reportedly altered her appearance through plastic surgery and piled on weight in a bid to remain unrecognised. She has pledged to raise all of her four children, who have three different fathers, as jihadists. As a teenager she was seduced by the teachings of extremist cleric Trevor Forrest, or Sheikh Abdullah el-Faisal, through whom she met Lindsay, who killed himself and 26 others in 2005. Police have launched an appeal to find a missing teenager who was last seen at a London hospital two days ago. Sydnee, 17, was last spotted at St George's Hospital in Wandsworth, southwest London, at 7pm on Thursday, according to police. The Metropolitan Police launched a social media appeal on Friday morning asking for the public's help in finding Sydnee, who is from Tooting, Wandsworth. The force also released a photograph of Sydnee to help with the appeal. Sydnee (pictured), 17, was last seen at St George's Hospital in Wandsworth, southwest London, at 7pm on Thursday, according to police Sydnee is understood to have links to Surbiton in Kingston upon Thames and Thornton Heath in Croydon. Members of the public are asked to dial 999 if they see her and advise operators of their location. In a Twitter post, Wandsworth Police wrote: '#MissingPerson | 22MIS001470 Sydnee, 17, is missing from Tooting. 'She was last seen at 7pm at St George's Hospital. 'She has connections to Surbiton and Thornton Heath. If you see her, call 999 and state your location. 'If you have info that could help us find her, call 101.' A thug who stabbed a black teenager to death in 2006 is set to walk free from jail. Peter Connolly murdered Christopher Alaneme, 18, after the teen was chased by a gang of five white men who were on holiday on the Isle of Sheppey, in Kent. Nigerian-born Christopher grew up in Penge, south London, but had moved to the coastal town because he considered it safer. The teen, who had been living in the Blue Town area of Sheerness for about two years, was fatally stabbed in the abdomen during the attack in the High Street on April 21 around midnight. He died about an hour later. Peter Connolly (above), who stabbed a black teenager to death in 2006 is set to walk free from jail. Connolly, then aged 29, murdered Christopher Alaneme, 18, after the teen was chased by a gang of five white men who were on holiday on the Isle of Sheppey, in Kent Maidstone Crown Court heard during Connolly's trial in 2007 that one of the five men had made a racist remark towards Christopher but the judge ruled the attack was not racially motivated. Connolly, a painter and decorator from Peckham, south-east London who was 29 at the time, was jailed for life with a minimum of 15 years. However, after a probation hearing in November, Connolly has been considered fit for release, according to The Sun. Nigerian-born Christopher (above) grew up in Penge, south London, but had moved to the coastal town because he considered it safer. The teen, who had been living in the Blue Town area of Sheerness for about two years, was fatally stabbed in the abdomen during the attack in the High Street on April 21. He died about an hour later The Parole Board analysed 'hundreds of pages of evidence and reports' before reaching its decision. A spokesman for the Parole Board said: 'A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims. 'Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports in the lead-up to an oral hearing. 'Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.' Five men, who had been visiting Kent from London at the time, were charged with Christopher's murder; three were charged with wounding with intent for attacking another man, a white taxi driver named Mark Davies who was stabbed but survived. Four of the defendants were cleared of all charges. In newly-unearthed audio, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy endorsed a bipartisan investigation into the Captiol riot on January 6, 2021 and said that former President Donald Trump told him he felt some responsibility for it. The interview on a local radio station in California just days after the attack has resurfaced right after McCarthy said he would not cooperate with the now ongoing Jan. 6 investigation panel. On Thursday, McCarthy was asked by CNN reporter Manu Raju about how he had said he was 'willing to testify' about Jan. 6 but now did not support the select committee hearing. The House Minority Leader interrupted, saying, 'That's not true. Ask your question. I'll verify what's true in there.' CNN has since unearthed two audio clips in which McCarthy called for the investigation and blamed Trump for the attack. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy bristled at questions on Thursday about why he would not cooperate with the Jan. 6 investigation, turning instead to attack House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and saying he had nothing to offer the House probe Former President Donald Trump expressed some admission of responsibility for the events in a call with McCarthy, the House Minority Leader alleged McCarthy and Trump have both refused to cooperate with a bipartisan investigation into the riots CNN reporter Manu Raju asked McCarthy about his previous comments on Thursday but the House Republican denied any such statements 'I say [Trump] has responsibility,' McCarthy told an interviewer on Bakersfield, California, radio station KERN on January 12, 2021. 'He told me personally that he does have some responsibility. I think a lot of people do.' McCarthy then says he has proposed a bipartisan commission and 'get all your facts, actually work through the grand jury to find out at the end, instead of predetermining, whether someone's guilty or not.' 'The one thing about impeachment, why would you run it through so fast? I say let's put a bipartisan commission, let's learn all the facts,' he added. The Texas Congressman now says that he refuses to cooperate with the committee because he believes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is 'playing politics.' CNN also found audio of McCarthy blaming Trump - and the ex-president somewhat blaming himself - for the riots in a call with fellow House Republicans right after the attack. 'I asked him personally today if he holds responsibility for what happened,' McCarthy is heard saying on January 11, 2021. 'If he feels bad about what happened. He told me he does have some responsibility for what happened. But he needs to acknowledge that.' 'Let me be clear to you and I have been very clear to the president,' he added. He bears responsibility for his words and actions. No, if ands or buts.' McCarthy on Thursday said his Jan. 6 conversation with President Donald Trump was 'very short' and that he had nothing to give the committee investigating the Capitol riot. A day after he refused a request by House investigators to provide information about his conversations with Trump, McCarthy shrugged off questions at his regular news conference. Instead he attacked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the record of the Biden administration. 'My conversation was very short advising the president what was happening here,' he said of his Jan. 6 call with the president. 'There is nothing that I can provide the January six committee for legislation ... moving forward. 'There is nothing in that realm. It is pure politics of what they're playing.' Yet in an interview with his hometown newspaper in the aftermath of the violence he characterized the call differently. He told the Bakersfield Californian they had a 'very heated conversation as the riot was taking place and that he urged the president to 'get help' to the Capitol. Those comments were central to a letter sent by committee chair Bennie Thompson on Thursday asking for more information. McCarthy rejected that request on Wednesday evening, saying the panel was not 'conducting a legitimate investigation.' That set the stage for a combustible atmosphere at the House minority leader's weekly news conference. Reporters quizzed McCarthy about why he had publicly criticized Trump after the riot - saying he 'bears responsibility' - before changing his tune after a meeting at the former president's Florida home. McCarthy claimed he did not single out Trump. 'My criticism went to everyone on that day: Why was the capital so ill prepared that day? ... And how do we make sure it will never be ill prepared again.' He described a meeting with the head of Capitol Police with lawmakers this week and hinted that Pelosi was to blame for hobbling officers' efforts. 'Some of the questions that were asked to the Capitol Police, the chief said that was above his pay grade to make the answer,' said McCarthy. 'I asked him well, who's above you?' He was also asked why he said in May last year he would provide testimony to the committee investigating the attack, but had apparently changed his mind. McCarthy said that was two months before Pelosi set down the rules of the committee so that the minority could not appoint their selected individuals. Committee chairman Bennie Thompson wrote to McCarthy on Wednesday asking for help with various topics, including his conversations with the president 'before, during and after' the riot 'So when you asked me that question, never did I think a speaker would play such politics and then appoint a chairman who starts the committee by saying the only person out of bounds is the speaker,' he said. 'Maybe if Nancy Pelosi had done what other speakers would do, and not play politics with it. It could have been a different answer.' Critics within his own party have already accused the House minority leader of trying to cover up what really happened on Jan. 6. Rep. Liz Cheney, one of the few Republicans to openly criticize Trump for his role in the violence and one of only two GOP members of the committee, told CNN: 'I wish that he were a brave and honorable man. 'He's clearly trying to cover up what happened. He has an obligation to come forward, and we'll get to the truth.' Amanda Holden is backing a campaign to halt a wind farm that would have turbines taller than the Eiffel Tower from blighting one of Britains most beautiful coastlines. The Britains Got Talent judge is angry at plans by German energy company RWE to erect the giant towers of up to 1,066ft within sight of the West Sussex coast. She has offered her support to thousands of local campaigners battling to stop the new site called Rampion 2, which will occupy an area the size of the Isle of Wight just eight miles from shore. Amanda Holden was angry when she learned of the plans during a pre-Christmas weekend break in beach resort Middleton-on-Sea with her celebrity friends Tamzin Outhwaite and Lisa Faulkner The proposed wind turbines will be taller in height than the Eiffel Tower The TV star was angry when she learned of the plans during a pre-Christmas weekend break in beach resort Middleton-on-Sea with her celebrity friends Tamzin Outhwaite and Lisa Faulkner. Having opposed wind farm plans near her Norfolk holiday home in 2009, Ms Holden has now joined Tory MPs, environmentalists and locals in urging RWE to locate the turbines further offshore or in the North Sea. RWEs existing site Rampion 1, which has been criticised as an eyesore, features 459ft-high turbines that power 350,000 homes. Rampion 2 will have up to 116 turbines generating enough energy to power one million homes. Campaigners have warned that the new projects towers, which are three feet taller than Pariss 1,063ft Eiffel Tower, will dwarf the existing turbines and be a bigger eyesore. They are also angry that the site will be built just eight miles offshore, when the Government recommendation is that the turbines be erected at least 14 miles from the coast. Campaigner Zoe Visram said: At 14 miles out, the winds are stronger and proven to generate up to 60 per cent more power as a result. She pointed out that Rampion 2 will be visible along 50 miles of the West Sussex shoreline, from Bognor Regis in the west to Newhaven in the east with Brightons beachfront in the middle. RWE, which held a nine-week online consultation, is about to submit its application to the Planning Inspectorate, run by Michael Goves Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Because the wind farm has national significance, the planning process will bypass local councils. Campaigners complain this has left residents and politicians without a voice. Environmentalists have also warned that a 22-mile cable to connect Rampion 2 to the National Grid cuts through the South Downs National Park and will destroy marine life and an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. However, RWE said Rampion 2 will meet the energy needs of at least a million homes each year and prevent 1.8 million tons of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere annually. Advertisement All four hostages taken by the suspected terrorist who stormed a Texas synagogue 'armed with backpacks of explosives' have been released after the man was shot dead. He held the hostages, including Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, trapped inside the Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, for about 10 hours before the hostages were reported free and safe. Dramatic footage revealed the moment two hostages ran out of the temple. The suspect can be seen popping out of the door as he chases after them with a gun, but he quickly retreats back inside, closing the door after spotting the nearby SWAT team. Dozens of agents then quickly mobilize to breach the synagogue as gunshots can be heard firing off. FBI special agent Matt Desarno said the agency's Hostage Rescue Team, who were flown in from Quantico in Virginia, entered the synagogue at around 9pm CST, freed the hostages and killed the suspect. He added that the investigation is ongoing and they will be working with London police on the case. The suspect appeared to have a British accent when he spoke during the synagogue's livestream. Colleyville Police Chief Michael Miller said bomb technicians are still active at the scene as police investigate the suspect's claims of having explosives inside the temple. Officials said they have identified the suspect, but will not release his name yet or motive. The suspect had demanded the release of convicted terrorist Aafia Siddiqu - known as Lady Al Qaeda - who, police say, he referred to as his 'sister.' However, a lawyer representing the woman's brother denied he was involved after networks reported it was him. Siddiqui was jailed for 86 years after being arrested in Afghanistan in 2008 for the attempted murder of a U.S. Army captain. The Pakistani-born neuroscientist was found with two kilos of poison sodium cyanide and plans for chemical attacks on New York's Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building. The assailant told a SWAT team from the Texas synagogue: 'If anyone tries to enter this building, I'm telling youeveryone will die.' He was caught on the synagogue's Sabbath livestream, before it was cut off at 2pm CST, saying: 'I'm going to die. Don't cry about me' 'Are you listening? I am going to die,' he repeated over and over. The terrorist spoke with a New York City rabbi earlier Saturday who was being interviewed by the FBI. He bizarrely demanded the female rabbi release Aafia. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson and New York City Mayor Eric Adams had deployed additional patrol units at synagogues as did other major cities, like Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Police say there is no current threat to the general public. Hostage taker runs after the hostages, and goes back inside. Shortly after, police storm https://t.co/E6ekwu4nSX Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) January 16, 2022 One of the hostages at the Congregation Beth Israel in, Colleyville, Texas, was released and taken to his family. Authorities have said all hostages are now out and safe after the terrorist was shot FBI special agent Matt Desarno confirmed that the suspect was dead and that all hostages were released safely and uninjured after the agency's elite Hostage Rescue Team breached the temple A SWAT team was set up by a nearby middle school as the hostage situation dragged on for eleven hours The SWAT team was on standby as the FBI spoke with the suspect and investigate his background Authorities were in negotiations with the suspect for about 10 hours There were four hostages inside the synagogue, including the temple's rabbi. One hostage has been released Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker (right) is one of four being held hostage by a man claiming to be the brother of convicted terrorist Aafia Siddiqui (left) known as Lady Al Qaeda Police are blocking roads near the temple and nearby residents have been evacuated as night falls Armored vehicles are at the scene where the assailant claims to have bombs as the FBI attempts to diffuse the situation Law enforcement have also gathered at the Colleyville Elementary School to help evacuate local residents Local and federal authorities are working together to try and free all four hostages safely The standoff is taking place at the Congregation Beth Israel, in Colleyville, just 27 miles from Dallas Who is Aafia Siddiqui, the 'Lady Al Qaeda' terrorist who planned chemical attacks on Empire State Building and Brooklyn Bridge Siddiqui, who was a biology major at MIT, said in 1993 that she wanted to do 'something to help our Muslim brothers and sisters' even if it meant breaking the law. She jumped to her feet and 'raised her skinny little wrists in the air' in a display of defiance that shocked her friends. An in-depth account of her journey to infamy also reveals that she took a National Rifle Association shooting class and persuaded other Muslims to learn how to fire a gun. Siddiqui lied to her husband and after they wed over the phone he was stunned to discover she was just marrying him for his family's connections to better enable her to wage jihad. Two handout photos of terror suspect Aafia Siddiqui released by the FBI in May of 2004 She was arrested in Afghanistan in 2008 by local forces who found her with two kilos of poison sodium cyanide and plans for chemical attacks on New York's Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building Siddiqui, a mother-of-three, eventually got her twisted wish and became the most wanted woman in the world by the FBI. She was handed to the Americans and convicted of attempted murder in a U.S. court in 2010. But her hatred for the U.S. was so strong that during her interrogation she grabbed a rifle from one of her guards and shot at them shouting: 'Death to Americans'. A 2014 Boston Globe profile of Siddiqui's time in Boston sought to answer what happened during her 11 years as a student in the U.S. Something happened to radicalize an intelligent and devout woman who not only graduated from MIT but also got a doctorate in neuroscience from Brandeis University. At MIT she made few friends and was remembered as intelligent, driven and a regular at the Prospect Street mosque, which would later be attended by alleged Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev. She wore long sleeves and the hijab and was seen as 'very sweet' for a former roommate at her all-female dorm. The focus of her life was the Muslim Student Association but things appear to have changed with the start of the Bosnian War, which seems to have been the beginning of her radicalization. Siddiqui became involved with the Al-Kifah Refugee Centre, a Brooklyn-based organization which is thought to have been Al Qaeda's focus of operations in the US. Terrorism expert Evan Kohlmann said: 'Aafia was from a prominent family with connections and a sympathy for jihad. She was just what they needed.' In 1993 as she and some friends debated how to raise money for Muslims being killed during the Bosnian War, one of them joked that they didn't want to go on the FBI's Most Wanted List. Waqas Jilani, then a graduate student at Clark University, said: 'She raised her skinny little wrists in the air and said: 'I'd be proud to be on the Most Wanted list because it would mean I'm doing something to help our Muslim brothers and sisters' 'She said we should all be proud to be on that list'. Jilani added that Siddiqui said in her speeches that Muslims should 'get training and go overseas and fight'. He said: 'We were all laughing like, 'Uh-oh, Aafia's got a gun!' 'Part of it was because she was such a bad shot, but also because she was always mouthing off about the U.S. and the FBI being so bad and all.' Siddiqui married Mohammed Amjad Khan, the son of a wealthy Pakistani family, in a ceremony carried out over the phone before he flew to Boston. But upon arrival he discovered that far from being the quiet religious woman he had been promised, her life was very different. He said: 'I discovered that the well-being of our nascent family unit was not her prime goal in life. Instead, it was to gain prominence in Muslim circles.' Khan described to the Boston Globe how she regularly watched videos of Osama bin Laden, spent weekends at terror training camps in New Hampshire with activists from Al-Kifah and begged him to quit his medical job so he could join her. In the end he stopped bringing work colleagues home because she would 'only to talk about them converting to Islam'. Khan said: 'Invariably this would lead to unpleasantness, so I decided to keep my work separate.... '...By now, all her focus had shifted to jihad against America, instead of preaching to Americans so that they all become Muslims and America becomes a Muslim land'. The breaking point was the September 11 2001 attacks after which Siddiqui, who was by now dressing in all black, insisted they return to Pakistan and got a divorce. American officials suspect she remarried Ammar Al-Baluchi, the nephew of 9/11 architect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, though her family deny this. Siddiqui and her children disappeared in Karachi, Pakistan in 2003 shortly after Mohammed was arrested. The following year she was named by FBI director Robert Mueller as one of the seven most wanted Al Qaeda operatives, and the only woman. Advertisement Colleyville, Texas, police are conducting SWAT operations and locals are being told to evacuate the area. State police are also assisting the scene as authorities set up by a nearby middle school, according to WFAA. The school is around the corner from the synagogue. The FBI is negotiating with the man and the FBI can be seen on site. The White House is also 'closely monitoring' the situation, according to ABC's Erielle Reshef. Aafia's attorney, Marwa Elbially, told CNN by phone that her client has no involvement in the hostage situation. 'She does not want any violence perpetrated against any human being, especially in her name,' Elbially said. 'It obviously has nothing to do with Dr. Siddiqui or her family.' Jonh Floyd, of the Houston branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, also confirmed Aafia's family was not involved in the current hostage situation, and that they condemn the suspect's actions. 'We want the hostage-taker to know that Dr. Aafia Siddiqui and her family strongly condemn this act and do not stand by you,' Floyd wrote in a statement directed at the hostage taker. 'We want the assailant to know that his actions are wicked and directly undermine those of us who are seeking justice for Dr. Aafia.' Lawyer Annette Lamoreaux who represents Siddiqui's biological brother Mohammad, a Houston architect, told Mail Online: 'The gunman is most definitely not her biological brother. 'I spoke to Mohammad an hour ago and he is very upset to be implicated in this attack by the hostage-taker.' Aafia, now 49, was jailed for 86 years after being arrested in Afghanistan in 2008 for the attempted murder of a US army captain. The Pakistani-born neuroscientist was found with two kilos of poison sodium cyanide and plans for chemical attacks on New York's Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building. She was handed to the Americans and convicted of attempted murder two years later in a US court. But her hatred for the US was so strong that during her interrogation she grabbed a rifle from one of her guards and shot at them shouting: 'Death to Americans.' She came to the US in 1991 and won a partial scholarship to MIT, where she was a biology major. Siddiqui was sent by her neurosurgeon father from Pakistan to study in the U.S. on her own and won a partial scholarship to study at the prestigious Cambridge school. She arrived there in 1991 having been living with her brother in Texas, for a year where she studied at the University of Houston and gave regular speeches on Islam. During one she told the crowd: 'The hijab is not a restriction. It allows a woman to be judged by her content, not by her packaging, by what is written on the pages, not the pretty artwork on the cover' In 1993, she wanted to do 'something to help our Muslim brothers and sisters' even if it meant breaking the law. That same year, as she and some friends debated how to raise money for Muslims being killed during the Bosnian War, one of them joked that they didn't want to go on the FBI's Most Wanted List. She then completed a 10-hour NRA shooting course at Braintree Rifle & Pistol Club on her own and urged other Muslims to join her. She moved to Texas to be near her brother, the reported hostage taker, who is listed as an architect in Houston. The mother of three was radicalized after the 9/11 terror attacks, divorcing her husband and moving back to Pakistan, where she remarried Ammar Al-Baluchi, the nephew of 9/11 architect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. What happened in Pakistan before her arrest is unclear and even during her U.S. trial judge Richard Berman said he did not know what she was doing. But even now such is her importance as a symbol of defiance to the West that Islamic State fighters publicly stated they wanted to swap her for James Foley, the American photojournalist they executed earlier this year. Siddiqui declined to be interviewed when approached by the Boston Globe at the Federal Prison in Fort Worth, Texas, where she is being held. She is serving an 86-year sentence at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell in Fort Worth, about 25 miles from the hostage site at the Texas temple. During her trial, Aafia demanded that every jury member get DNA tested to see if they were Jewish. 'I have a feeling everyone here is them [Jews], subject [them] to genetic testing They should be excluded if you want to be fair,' she told a federal judge in 2010. A Colleyville spokesperson told CNN: 'The FBI negotiators are the ones who have contact with the person in the building.' Leaders from the Islamic Center of Southlake, who have worked closely with Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker to help unite the faithful in the Dallas-Fort Worth area came out to the scene to denounce the attack and pray for their friend. 'We want to see him again as soon as possible,' said Shahzad Mahmud, the former president of the Islamic Center. 'We just want to make sure he goes back to his family,' The Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is also 'closely monitoring' the situation. He wrote on Twitter: 'I am closely monitoring the hostage situation taking place in Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. 'We pray for the safety of the hostage and rescuers.' US Press Secretary Jen Psaki wrote on Twitter that President Joe Biden has also been briefed on the situation. 'He will continue to receive updates from his senior team as the situation develops. 'Senior members of the national security team are also in touch with federal law enforcement leadership,' Psaki wrote. There are currently no reported injuries or fatalities. Texas Gov. Greg Abbot said that he is providing the state's full assistance to Colleyville to help ensure all the hostages are released safely. Social media users have been offering prayers for Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, but his condition and location are unknown. Congregation Beth Israel is a Reform Jewish synagogue in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, which has about 70,000 Jewish people, one of the largest communities in the state. The Muslim man can be heard saying the live stream (pictured) that he was 'going to die' repeatedly. It is unclear who he was saying this too Members of the Islamic Center of Southlake came out to show support for their friend, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, who they have worked with for years to help unite the faithful in the Dallas-Fort Worth area Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, pictured with wife Adena Cytron-Walker, was described as a staple of the community Local police are assisting in evacuations of local residents Emergency vehicles are stationed throughout the area. There have yet to be any reported injuries The Israeli Prime Minister is also monitoring the situation. President Biden has been briefed on the situation and will received updates as they come in Armored vehicles have been seen in the area Emergency response vehicles are currently on site as well, as the four hostages are still inside The standoff has gone on for six hours and SWAT teams are on site as the FBI negotiates with the suspect Ms Lee is said to have donated over 650,000, chiefly to the office of Labour MP She was accused of working on behalf of United Front Work Department agency It comes after MI5 told Parliament that Christine Lee was operating as an agent It will look into if he exploited his frontbench position to lobby on behalf of China Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has ordered his officials to conduct a 'deep dive review' into whether Labour MP Barry Gardiner exploited his frontbench position to lobby on behalf of China. The review comes after MI5 last week alerted Parliament that solicitor Christine Lee has been operating as an agent of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to infiltrate British politics. Whitehall sources last night said the Security Service had uncovered Ms Lee's attempts to 'exert a malign influence' on politicians and believed she was 'hiding her links' to the communist party. In a dramatic intervention, MI5 accused the 58-year-old of working on behalf of China's powerful United Front Work Department (UFWD) agency to corrupt politicians. Review has been ordered into whether MP Barry Gardiner exploited his frontbench position to lobby for China. MI5 told Parliament Christine Lee (both pictured) was operating as an agent Ms Lee is said to have donated more than 650,000, chiefly to the office of Mr Gardiner. Mr Kwarteng's officials are trying to establish if Mr Gardiner, who served as Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade from 2016 to 2020, tried to secure information about Britain's civil nuclear programme. A source said: 'It is not immediately obvious why Ms Lee would be interested in Barry there must be a good reason.' Mr Gardiner denies any wrongdoing and said he had only found out last week from MI5 that Ms Lee was a spy, but had been 'liaising with our security services for a number of years' about Ms Lee's donations and was cleared to continue receiving them. The Mail on Sunday can reveal that another Labour politician, Lord Davidson of Glen Clova, who has spoken in support of policies pursued by the Chinese government, is a board member of an organisation closely linked to the UFWD. A former Labour government Minister, the barrister is vice-chairman and advisory board member of the UK Sichuan Business Association. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng's officials are trying to establish if Mr Gardiner (pictured) tried to secure information about Britain's civil nuclear programme In 2014 he described China's occupation of Tibet as one of its 'remarkable accomplishments'. The UK Sichuan Business group's president Wenli Song has been praised for her work by UFWD officials. There is no suggestion that Lord Davidson has been involved in any wrongdoing. Lord Davidson said he was 'unaware' he was listed as 'vice chairman of the advisory board' and had 'no communications from her [Wenli Song] that I can recollect.' The Chinese embassy has denied the espionage claims, insisting that it did not need to buy influence. Matthew Henderson, a former Foreign Office diplomat based in China, said: 'The Chinese Communist Party targets over-extended mediocrities. 'They want people who feel undervalued and ought to be respected and listened to much more than they really are.' Doylestown Health leaders are urging the Central Bucks School District board members to take reasonable steps in their coronavirus health and safety plan as cases surge. Doylestown Health CEO James Brexler and Chief Medical Officer Scott Levy wrote the nine-member board Friday afternoon advising they keep actively infected children out of school for at least five days and until it is unlikely they could infect others. Advertisement The impact to those with comorbidities, immunocompromised and otherwise at risk, as well as those requiring healthcare for other reasons will be profound. The importance of these measures will help assure that in-class education can safely continue, the letter reads. Students were provided separate seating from adults during a Central Bucks school board meeting, on Tuesday at the students request after bringing up concerns for their safety. Advertisement The message comes just days after the district voted 6-3 against changes that would have brought the districts COVID response plan in compliance with current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines regarding quarantine and isolation periods. A draft plan on Tuesday had proposed a quarantine and isolation period of five days and no mention of masks but was said to be in compliance with CDC recommendations. The CDC recommends infected individuals quarantine at home for at least five days, returning to school or work if fever-free and wearing a mask at all times for an additional five days. Those recommendations were not proposed for adoption in Central Bucks. Board member Dr. Mariam Mahmud attempted to amend the plan and correct the errors, but that motion failed to pass with board members Karen Smith and Dr. Tabitha DellAngelo the only others voting in favor of it. First Call Daily Leading local stories delivered on weekday mornings > Brexler and Levy do not specifically mention the CDC guidance or the districts plan, but their letter seems to suggest the district implement quarantine periods similar to those guidelines. The letter notes that young children are more likely to present with mild cases of COVID-19 or even present with no symptoms at all, but the greater risk comes when infected children spread the virus to others. The data is clear that children exposed to (COVID-19) are readily infected as are adults . . . just as clear form laboratory data is that high concentrations of live, viable virus are typically shed from infected individuals for at least 5 days, and often for up to a week. The current plan requires students or staff stay home at least three days and then allows them to return if fever free and wearing a mask for four days. Advertisement Brexler and Levy said Doylestown Hospital is overwhelmed with patients testing positive with COVID-19, about 240 in total Friday. About 65 of those patients were hospitalized with serious symptoms. More than 250 hospital staff have also been out due to the virus over the last 10 days, straining hospital capacity and underscoring the need for as many community precautions as possible, the letter reads. The letter ends saying steps taken now could impact more than just individual students and were a lesson as to the importance of empathy and community responsibility. Labour has held its biggest lead over the Conservatives since 2013 as the Partygate scandal continues to damage Boris Johnson's popularity among voters. The prime minister's personal rating has plummeted to its lowest level yet, the same as Theresa May's at the lowest ebb of her reign. Johnson's core Brexit supporters are also starting to abandon him in the wake of the series of damaging revelations about the alleged partying and drinking culture at Downing Street throughout the pandemic,. Of the Leave voters who backed him in 2019, 46 per cent say he should resign, in a signal of his dwindling support. The Opinium poll carried out by The Observer puts Labour on 41 per cent, the Conservatives on 31 per cent, the Lib Dems on nine per cent and Greens on six per cent. Labour has held its biggest lead over the Conservatives since 2013 as the Partygate scandal continues to damage Boris Johnson's popularity among voters The prime minister's personal rating has plummeted to its lowest level yet, the same as Theresa May's at the lowest ebb of her reign The survey also revealed that 78 per cent of the electorate believe government staff broke lockdown rules to host parties, while only eight per cent say officials abode the harsh measures. Three quarters of voters believe the prime minister himself broke the rules, while 64 per cent say he is not telling the truth about the scandal. The online poll of 2,005 people was conducted between January 12 and 14. Earlier this week, a YouGov poll for the Times placed the Tories on 28 per cent, with Labour on 38 per cent. More than a dozen MPs have issued public criticism of the PM, while backbenchers have branded Downing Street staff 'prats' and told how they have been inundated with angry emails from constituents calling for him to resign. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer repeated Mr Bridgen's assertion that the Prime Minister had lost his moral authority, and called for the Tory party to topple him Former minister Tim Loughton became the latest Conservative MP to join in the calls for Johnson to resign. The East Worthing and Shoreham MP, in a post on Facebook, said: 'I have regretfully come to the conclusion that Boris Johnson's position is now untenable, that his resignation is the only way to bring this whole unfortunate episode to an end and I am working with colleagues to impress that view on Number 10. 'I am deeply sorry for the great hurt that has been caused to many people who have made substantial sacrifices during lockdown, ultimately in some cases not being able to share precious final moments with loved ones. 'Whatever our view on how disproportionate or impractical some of the lockdown measures may have been, it is entirely appropriate that we should all expect everyone to follow the rules equally, not least those responsible for implementing them.' Mr Loughton said he had come to his conclusion following some 'lively conversations' with constituents on Saturday, adding: 'Frankly the issue for me is not how many sausage rolls or glasses of prosecco the Prime Minister actually consumed. The reason for my conclusion in calling for him to stand down is the way that he has handled the mounting revelations in the last few weeks. Peter Bone (pictured left), the MP for Wellingborough since 2005, said anyone who partied in No10 on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral 'needs to be sacked', while Nigel Mills (right), who backed Johnson during the Tory leadership contest, expressed his confusion over how 'so many stupid things could have happened' The comments come amid claims that Downing Street held 'wine-time Fridays' every week throughout the pandemic which Johnson attended. Staff even invested in a 34-bottle drinks fridge (pictured right), which was delivered by a courier (left) through the back door of Downing Street on December 11, 2020, while indoor socialising was banned 'Obfuscation, prevarication and evasion have been the order of the day when clarity, honesty and contrition was what was needed and what the British people deserve.' The growing fury comes amid claims that Downing Street held 'wine-time Fridays' every week throughout the pandemic which Johnson attended, urging aides to 'let off steam' at a time when Britons were banned from socialising indoors, sources told The Mirror. Staff even invested in a 34-bottle drinks fridge which was delivered through the back door of Downing Street on December 11, 2020, to keep their beer, prosecco and wine cold, and took a wheely suitcase to the local Tesco Metro to stock it up, extraordinary pictures revealed. It is just the latest in a series of damning revelations about the alleged culture of drinking and partying throughout the pandemic at Downing Street as growing calls are made for Johnson to resign, some from within his own party. On Thursday it was revealed that a leaving do was held on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral, prompting Johnson to order No 10 to apologise to the Queen. Tory MP Nigel Mills, who backed the PM during the Tory leadership contest, expressed his confusion over how 'so many stupid things could have happened'. And Peter Bone, the MP for Wellingborough since 2005, said anyone who partied in No10 ahead of the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral 'needs to be sacked'. Lee Anderson, a new Red Wall MP for Ashfield, even created a poll on Facebook asking voters if Johnson should stay as Prime Minister. Amid the party's internal fallout, one ex-minister warned that Johnson is 'toast', while another said the crisis now feels 'terminal'. One senior backbencher revealed they had received more than 200 angry emails from infuriated constituents over the parties, alongside only five supporting the PM. The latest comments follow five Tory MPs calling for the embattled premier to step down over his handling of the lockdown party scandal. Andrew Bridgen submitted a letter of no-confidence in Johnson, joining Douglas Ross, Sir Roger Gale, William Wragg and Caroline Nokes in urging him to quit. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer repeated Mr Bridgen's assertion that the Prime Minister had lost his moral authority, and called for the Tory party to topple him. It is understood that up to 30 letters of no-confidence have been submitted to Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 committee of Tory MPs. If more than 15 per cent of the party's MPs submit letters, there has to be a vote on the leadership. Education chiefs have been criticised for asking children as young as two what their preferred 'gender' is when they fill in the national school census. In a move that has sparked a backlash from parents, youngsters have been asked to choose if they 'feel' more like a girl or boy rather than note down the sex they were born. The nationwide survey, which is carried out across state schools, including nurseries, primaries and secondaries three times a year, gathers key information about children between the ages of two and 19 living in England. In the survey, youngsters have been asked to choose if they 'feel' more like a girl or boy (file photo) Everything from names, postcodes, age, ethnicity, educational history and attainment scores are collected and then logged in a central database run by the Department for Education to help inform future policy and planning decisions. Now The Mail on Sunday can reveal that officials are also asking children to say what 'gender' they are, rather than to state their sex. It means that a child who was born a boy but identifies as a girl will be logged as 'female' on Government records. Currently, there is no provision in the survey for the Government to record legal sex. Last night, critics warned that the move could be subject to legal challenge and endanger young girls. Stephanie Davies-Arai, of pressure group Transgender Trend, said: 'The Office for National Statistics was legally challenged on exactly the same data collection and had to change it. 'The Department for Education should be aware of the law and aware of the ONS case. Education chiefs have been criticised for asking children as young as two what their preferred 'gender' is when they fill in the national school census (file photo used) 'It means essentially they cannot distinguish between girls and boys and therefore monitor sex discrimination in schools. This is really serious.' It comes as Tory peer Baroness Barran admitted that the Department for Education's school census did not collect children's sex. She said the Government's position was that 'gender should be specified as either 'M' (male) or 'F' (female) (which may be different from the individual's legal sex)'. She added: 'This should be self-declared and recorded according to the wishes of the parent and/or pupil. The school census does not collect the sex of pupils.' The move comes amid a growing trend among public bodies to allow individuals to record their preferred gender. But in the past year, pushback has been gaining momentum. In December, a leading girls' schools organisation, the Girls' Day School Trust, declared it would not accept transgender pupils over fears they could 'jeopardise' schools' status as single-sex institutions. A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'The school census currently records gender for the purpose of our own data gathering. In this limited context, we consider gender to be self-declared and recorded according to the wishes of the parent and/or pupil. 'As a result of the changing use of language in this area, and the evolving needs of the school population, the department is currently reviewing its data standards in this area.' Labours Deputy Leader Angela Rayner is sometimes described as fiery or ballsy, an authentic, working-class gobby Northern lass her own words who can stick it to the Tories. As such, she has come under intense scrutiny some might say unfairly on occasion over the way she speaks. On BBC Radio 4s Today programme on Wednesday, as the row raged over the No 10 party during the first lockdown in May 2020, Rayner said Boris Johnson had questions to answer about the gathering when people nationwide were banned from meeting more than one person they didnt live with outdoors. Was you there or not at the party? she demanded of the Prime Minister. She repeated this grammatical faux pas more than once. I winced each time. Not long after, Rayner took to Twitter to highlight the criticism she had received. I, too, am a gobby Northern lass, hailing from Oldham, Greater Manchester, with an accent to match which becomes stronger the more, er, animated I get. I did not go to a posh school; I went to a state comprehensive but I was taught good grammar and I know its value Ive been on the media this morning so my accent and grammar are being critiqued, she posted. I wasnt Eton-educated, but growing up in Stockport I was taught integrity, honesty and decency. Doesnt mater [sic] how you say it. Boris Johnson is unfit to lead. That may well be the case, Angela, but how you say it and the grammar you use do matter. In my book, there is no excuse for bad grammar in spoken or written language. As a public figure and the highest-ranking woman on the Opposition front bench she should know better. I, too, am a gobby Northern lass, hailing from Oldham, Greater Manchester, with an accent to match which becomes stronger the more, er, animated I get. I did not go to a posh school; I went to a state comprehensive but I was taught good grammar and I know its value. I wasnt Eton-educated, but growing up in Stockport I was taught integrity, honesty and decency. Doesnt mater [sic] how you say it. Boris Johnson is unfit to lead. That may well be the case, Angela, but how you say it and the grammar you use do matter You dont have to have enjoyed a privileged upbringing or education in order to speak well and it is insulting to working-class people to suggest that their background rules out a command of the Queens English by which I mean using language which is grammatically correct and free of slang. Look at Prince Harry. The best education in the land at Boriss alma mater at a cost of about 44,000 a year yet he often struggles to construct coherent sentences when interviewed. And that was before Californian psychobabble took over. Im not the only one to take issue with Rayners aggressive stance. GB News presenter Colin Brazier, who was born in Bradford, responded to her tweet with: There are plenty of working-class folk who were taught the value of good grammar. Im one of them. Naturally, the Labour Deputy Leader had support from her fan base on the Left, who agreed that, of course, poor Angela was the target of prejudice and snobbery. Author Michael Rosen told her: You speak really well. There is nothing wrong with regional accents and dialects. Hes right. There is nothing wrong with regional accents and dialects more of that later. But good grammar is the issue here. For Rayner to conflate the two is disingenuous. Indeed, there are several prominent Labour MPs with interesting accents: Jon Trickett and Richard Burgon (Yorkshire), Jon Ashworth (Greater Manchester) and Jo Stevens (Welsh). As far as I am aware, no one makes fun of them. Nor is Rayner being vilified for her accent, however she might spin it. Im not the only one to take issue with Rayners aggressive stance. GB News presenter Colin Brazier, who was born in Bradford, responded to her tweet with: There are plenty of working-class folk who were taught the value of good grammar. Im one of them' The MP for Ashton-under-Lyne is, in many ways, a remarkable woman. She was brought up on a council estate in Stockport by a single mum who struggled with bipolar disorder. At 16 she left school, pregnant with the first of her three children. This disadvantaged background, as well as the years she spent working in the care sector, means she has more experience of hardship than most of her fellow MPs. That is why she is seen as an authentic voice for working-class people. But I believe she deploys the hard-done-by Northern card far too often especially when criticised for the crass behaviour and abusive language she is prone to, which demeans her and the people she represents. At a fringe meeting at the Labour Party conference last September, Rayner famously ranted about how the Conservatives were a bunch of scum, homophobic, racist, misogynistic, absolute pile of banana republic Etonian piece of scum that I have ever seen in my life. She refused to apologise, insisting her attack was made using street language. Pressed by Skys Trevor Phillips, she insisted that its a phrase that you would hear very often in Northern, working-class towns that wed even say it jovially to other people. What nonsense! I have never once heard someone refer to another person as scum in a jovial manner up North. Ever. And Im certain if I ever described anyone in my circle back home as such, Id get a clip around the ear. Rayner eventually apologised. But she does have form on this. A year earlier she had to apologise for calling Conservative MP Chris Clarkson scum during a heated debate in the Commons. There is simply no excusing this sort of derogatory language, and to blame it on her background is unforgivable to many of us who share similar roots. Where Angela Rayner does have a point, however, is on the snobbery and class prejudice that persists around accents. George Bernard Shaw once observed: It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him. Research shows there is still a perception that Received Pronunciation makes a person sound more educated, that a Birmingham accent is deemed the least attractive and those with a Liverpudlian accent are the least trustworthy, while Irish and Scottish accents are sexy. Some people, as they progress in life, actively try to lose their accent, while others will maintain theirs to stay true to their roots. Actor Kenneth Branagh last week revealed that within three years of moving to South-East England, he had lost any trace of his Belfast accent. He admitted to feeling guilty when it disappeared. On the positive side, there is no question that class prejudice around accents is on the wane helped by television and radio, where broadcasters have recognised the need to feature more representative voices to better reflect their audiences. Journalist Chris Mason, 41, who hails from the Yorkshire Dales, is tipped to be the BBCs new political editor partly because he has a regional accent. (It also helps that hes a brilliant reporter and presenter.) Some of the Beebs most eminent young journalists have pronounced regional accents. Amol Rajan, 38, who recently joined the Corporations flagship Today programme, speaks pure sarf London, while Emma Barnett, 36, the lead presenter of Womans Hour, grew up in Manchester and you can hear it in her voice. Few listeners would, however, take issue with their grammar. In the age of social media, when texting shorthand and slang are the way many people communicate, some will say that grammar isnt an issue. But it does and should matter. It is key to good communication, to being understood, to getting your message across. And no one should better understand the importance of that than Rayner. But in playing the working-class card to excuse her slip-ups, she risks becoming a caricature of what it means to be a Northerner and take it from me, the rest of us dont much like it. It is a bleak forecast even by the Met Offices standards the complete collapse of society leaving armed militias and criminal gangs to roam the land unchallenged. That is one of the doomsday scenarios set out in a report commissioned by the UKs weather service to model the potential consequences of climate change. The extraordinary report, called Shared Socio-economic Pathways and developed for the Government-funded UK Climate Resilience Programme, sets out supposedly plausible futures as a result of global warming. A doomsday scenario considered by the Met Office involves armed militias and criminal gangs roaming the land following a climate change catastrophe One of those scenarios described by the authors is a surge in Right-wing populism, resulting in the collapse of political and governance systems One of those scenarios described by the authors is a surge in Right-wing populism, resulting in the collapse of political and governance systems. After that a tipping point is reached when the police and justice system (as known in the past) cease to exist. Due to past investments in military and defence... without an effective central government, different military groups (militias, criminal groups, etc) rise to de facto power. Under a different scenario in the report, a rich elite imposes conscription. Society is more divided than ever, the report suggests, with the majority of the population having low incomes and poor health, contrasting with a rich ruling elite. Social unrest increases and the prison population skyrockets. To keep the general population in line, governments introduce military conscription by the end of the century. The report makes another woke political point by claiming that climate change would lead to the privatisation of the NHS. It says: Because of the high costs associated with reforming the NHS, the preferred solution is to increase privatisation of general and specialised health services and medication provision. Citizens are encouraged to purchase private insurance policies in order to receive better healthcare. This transitional period worsens care for the poorest in society. The Meteorological Office report, which was carried out by Cambridge Econometrics, the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, and the universities of Edinburgh and Exeter, does however suggest a way of averting this future by rejoining the EU. It advances the thesis that the most sustainable scenario for surviving global warming would be the establishment of a federal UK, with citizens assemblies becoming the primary decision-making mode and the UK re-entering a progressive and expanded European Union. The report says that creating such scenarios are important to climate risk and resilience studies. It argues that physical climate change and continued socio-economic change are highly interrelated and that socio-economic factors determine greenhouse gas emissions and land use changes that cause climate change. Those factors also determine the levels of vulnerability and capacity to adapt to climate change and are plausible socio-economic future outlooks up to 2100 that provide the challenging context within which future decisions... must be determined and implemented. A spokesman for the Met Office, a Government agency overseen by the Department for Business, said: The Shared Socio-Economic Pathways project is important in order to understand climate risk and resilience as climate change and socio-economic factors are highly linked. It is just one project as part of a wider programme of science research funded by the UK Governments Strategic Priorities Fund on UK climate resilience. These include research programmes to protect the environment and communities from the effects of climate change and to support a move to a low carbon economy. Source said she is determined to 'ruin' the Prince as she is angry at his behaviour Prince Andrew's accuser has vowed to 'destroy' him and leave him penniless as the tactics undertaken by the Duke's legal team were slammed as 'victim-blaming' by furious women's safety campaigners. Andrew's lawyers have requested the mental health records of his accuser, Virginia Roberts and plan to question he husband Robert and psychologist Dr Judith Lightfoot under oath. It is understood that his lawyers will plan to question potential 'false memories' in Ms Roberts' allegations that she was sexually assaulted and raped. But both legal insiders and women's safety experts have criticised the Duke's legal team's new approach - accusing them of 'victim-blaming' and questioning the integrity of such a move. Ms Roberts 'believes Andrew should go to jail but leaving him broke and destroyed may be enough,' a source close to her legal team said last night. The astonishing comments follow a devastating week that saw the Duke of York stripped of his Royal and military titles by the Queen after a New York judge ruled the civil sex abuse case against him will go ahead. During another day of fast-moving developments: A stony-faced Andrew was spotted leaving his Royal Lodge home in Windsor with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson; The Duke's team filed legal papers demanding to speak to his accuser's husband and her psychiatrist; Lawyers for Ms Roberts whose married name is Giuffre said they want to grill the Duke's former equerry, a retired lieutenant colonel; A woman who claims she saw Andrew and Ms Robert s dancing at London nightclub Tramp will also be quizzed under oath about whether she saw him sweating. Virginia Roberts 'believes Andrew (both pictured with Ghislaine Maxwell) should go to jail but leaving him broke and destroyed may be enough,' a source close to her legal team said Dr Charlotte Proudman, a research fellow at Cambridge and barrister, was critical and described the new legal strategy as 'the ultimate form of victim-blaming'. She told The Times that it was not uncommon for victims of abuse to request therapy and support, and explained Prince Andrew's legal team will attempt to extricate the Duke on any inconsistencies shown in Ms Roberts' recollection of the allegations. '[Andrew's lawyers] are trying to discredit her. They are trying to find something she might have said to her psychologist that potentially undermines the claims she has made or to show potential inconsistencies', Ms Proudman added. Plaque that marked the opening of a Devon police station by the Duke of York has been removed following public complaint as Andrew becomes a 'pariah Prince' A plaque that marked the opening of a police station reception by the Duke of York has been removed following a complaint from a member of the public. In a sign of how Andrew has become a 'pariah Prince', senior officers in Devon decided to take down the plaque which had been on the wall at Torquay police station since 2001. Andrew has strong links to Devon, having trained at Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth from 1979 to 1980. He also attended the Dartmouth Regatta in 2019, just weeks after the death of his friend, the American paedophile tycoon Jeffrey Epstein. But in comments that will add to his ignominy, Assistant Chief Constable Jim Nye, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said: 'Following a complaint we received from a member of the public, a decision was made to move the plaque from public display. 'The recent removal of Prince Andrew's military affiliations and Royal patronages were also taken into account when making this decision.' Advertisement A legal source close to Ms Roberts's team yesterday said she is determined to 'ruin' the Prince because she is so angry at his 'arrogant' behaviour. She claims that she was forced to sleep with the Prince on three occasions by US paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell the first time when she was 17 and under the legal age of consent under New York law. Andrew has always vehemently denied the accusations. A source close to Ms Roberts said: 'No one can believe how badly Andrew and his legal team have messed up. His arrogance is what has destroyed him. 'It is Virginia's firm belief that Andrew should go to jail for what he's done but in the end leaving him broke and destroyed may be enough. He is already destroyed. 'Now it's a matter of how much money he offers [in a settlement] and how broke we leave him.' Anna Birley, co-founder of women's safety campaign group Reclaim These Streets, also weighed in. She told The Times: 'It should never be a question of how the victim behaves, what she wears, how much she drank or what she shared with her therapist. 'Abuse is never ok and the focus should be on the actions of the perpetrator'. Andrew has vowed to fight the case as a private citizen. On Friday night, his lawyers submitted formal demands to the New York court to interview under oath both Ms Roberts's husband, Robert Giuffre, and her psychiatrist, Dr Judith Lightfoot in Australia. Court documents filed by the Duke's lawyer, Andrew Brettler, have argued that Ms Roberts 'may suffer from false memories' and accused her of making up claims against Andrew 'to deflect from her own participation in Epstein's sex trafficking scheme'. Mr Brettler wants to grill Mr Giuffre about his wife's 'role in recruiting and trafficking underage girls for Epstein' as well as her claims against Andrew. He also wants to forensically examine the couple's financial records. The Duke's team want Dr Lightfoot to turn over all records about Ms Roberts's mental health, records of prescription medication and notes about 'plaintiff's alleged emotional and psychological harm' and 'theory of false memories'. In separate filings on Friday, Ms Roberts's lawyers said they intend to question or depose the Duke's former equerry Robert Olney, an ex-Army Air Corps officer who is Head of Safety and Business Delivery at the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Ms Roberts (pictured with legal team) claims she was forced to sleep with the Prince on three occasions by US paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell How the Queen's children met to tackle 'the Andrew problem': Charles, Anne and Edward paved the way for Her Majesty to exile the Duke of York over his sex abuse lawsuit By Kate Mansey Assistant Editor For The Mail On Sunday A series of meetings involving Prince Andrew's siblings paved the way for the Queen to exile him from official Royal duties. Prince Charles canvassed the opinions of his sister Princess Anne and younger brother Prince Edward after calling them together to discuss 'the Andrew problem'. A source said: 'The three siblings held several meetings, one of which included Prince Andrew. 'They were all in agreement, which took the pressure off their mother, but it is the Queen, ultimately, who still has the power here. 'Charles and Andrew are not particularly close, so it was important that any meetings were held with Anne and Edward present. 'The Duke of Cambridge has been informed and agreed with his father and grandmother but his role has been somewhat overplayed in all this.' Prince Edward has long been seen as a bridge between Charles and Andrew, but he has recently stopped horse-riding at Windsor Great Park where the Duke of York now takes daily rides. While painful for the Queen, insiders said the decision to make Andrew an outcast was inevitable after his bid to dismiss sex claims in a US court failed. Andrew continues to vehemently deny any wrongdoing. Advertisement Mr Olney was appointed as Andrew's equerry in September 2002 the year after Ms Roberts claims she was allegedly forced to have sex with the Duke but his name appeared in Epstein's infamous 'little black book' of contacts and he accompanied Andrew on trips around the globe before stepping down in 2004. Ms Roberts's lawyers plan to quiz him about Andrew's travel to and from New York and 'any of Epstein's homes'. The documents state that Mr Olney's testimony should be obtained by April 29, either in person or by video conference. Ms Roberts's lawyers also want to talk to Shukri Walker, a Somali-born woman who lives in London who claims she saw Andrew and Ms Roberts dancing together at the famous Tramp nightclub. Ms Roberts has claimed the Prince was 'sweating all over me' as they danced and alleges they had sex later that night when they returned to Maxwell's home. Andrew claims he cannot sweat because of an injury suffered in the Falklands War. The civil lawsuit is set to be financially ruinous for Andrew. His legal bills are said to have reached 2 million and there are reports he may offer to settle the case before it reaches court for up to 10 million. He could receive some money from the sale of a ski chalet he bought in Verbier, Switzerland, five years ago. It is understood that a sum close to its 17.6 million asking price has been agreed. The Mail on Sunday also understands that Andrew could face a heavier tax bill for his home Royal Lodge after losing the use of his HRH title as he would no longer qualify for tax relief. The source close to Ms Roberts's legal team said: 'If there is a settlement it will have to be a big, big number. Prince Andrew was offered the chance to open negotiations before the civil suit was filed but his lawyers ignored all our letters in the hope it would go away. 'Virginia wants her day in court but, of course, any case can be settled for a variety of reasons. Andrew has ruined himself through his arrogance.' The Duke is expected to be deposed for up to seven hours by lawyer David Boies in London in February. Last night, he said: 'I look forward to being able to question Prince Andrew under oath.' Andrew's camp had feared that both the Duchess of York and Princess Beatrice could be deposed, but sources now suggest that this was unlikely. War hero who served in Northern Ireland is tipped to replace Prince Andrew and lead Trooping the Colour in this year's Platinum Jubilee celebrations By Charlotte Griffiths for the Mail On Sunday A former Colonel of the Grenadier Guards may come out of retirement to replace Prince Andrew and lead Trooping the Colour as a key part of this year's Platinum Jubilee celebrations. The Mail on Sunday understands that Lieutenant General Sir George Norton is favourite to replace the Duke of York who was last week stripped of all his military titles. 'The planning is that George Norton will come in for the short term,' said a military source. 'With limited time before the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Weekend, which begins with Trooping the Colour on June 2, the role requires someone of stature and experience.' Lieutenant General Sir George Norton (pictured) is understood to be favourite to replace the Duke of York, who was last week stripped of all his military titles, to lead Trooping the Colour In a long and distinguished career, Sir George, 59, served four times in Northern Ireland and was awarded the MBE for operational service in Bosnia. He subsequently became Commanding Officer of the prestigious Grenadiers before serving three times in Afghanistan, receiving the US Meritorious Honor Award and a Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service. But it is his familiarity with Trooping the Colour and ceremonial procedure which are now highly prized. Appointed Major General Commanding the Household Division in 2011, he had a key role in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee the following year. Sir George retired from the Army in 2019 to become Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies. Now he could take centre stage at the Jubilee, alongside the Prince of Wales, Colonel of the Welsh Guards; Prince William, Colonel of the Irish Guards; Princess Anne, Colonel of the Blues and Royals; and the Duke of Kent, Colonel of the Scots Guards. Sir George's role is likely to last only for the Jubilee. 'At some point in the not-too distant future, another Royal will be appointed Colonel of the Grenadiers and is likely to be either the Duchess of Cambridge or Prince Edward or his wife, Sophie,' the source said. A paralysed Afghan toddler offered life-changing surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital has escaped the Taliban and crossed the border to Pakistan but is still waiting for British civil servants to fly him to London. The two-year-old boy, called Navid, was injured in August during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan when a suicide bomber killed 183 people at Kabul airport. Specialists at Great Ormond Street have agreed to help, but his family whose plight was revealed last month by The Mail on Sunday have been frustrated by Foreign Office delays. The two-year-old boy, called Navid, was injured in August during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan when a suicide bomber killed 183 people at Kabul airport Two suicide bombers targeted people trying to enter Kabul Airport and get airlifted from Afghanistan before the Taliban took over The family have a 30-day visa to stay in Pakistan and hope that UK civil servants will arrange transport to London before it expires early next month. A Government spokesman declined to comment on Navids case, but said: We continue to do all we can to secure safe passage to enable British nationals and eligible Afghans to leave the country. Dr Zuzanna Olszewska, a specialist on Afghanistan at Oxford University who has helped the family, said: This feels like a cruel trick. After a firm promise of help, the family were so full of hope, but now they feel crushed again. If their Pakistan visas run out they risk imprisonment or deportation which would be a death sentence. Every day the family ask us if the British Embassy has been in touch and what more they need to do. A series of meetings involving Prince Andrew's siblings paved the way for the Queen to exile him from official Royal duties. Prince Charles canvassed the opinions of his sister Princess Anne and younger brother Prince Edward after calling them together to discuss 'the Andrew problem'. A source said: 'The three siblings held several meetings, one of which included Prince Andrew. Prince Charles (pictured with Andrew in 2012) canvassed the opinions of his sister Princess Anne and brother Prince Edward after calling them together to discuss 'the Andrew problem' It comes after the Duke of York was last week stripped of all his Royal and military titles by the Queen (both pictured in June 2019) 'They were all in agreement, which took the pressure off their mother, but it is the Queen, ultimately, who still has the power here. 'Charles and Andrew are not particularly close, so it was important that any meetings were held with Anne and Edward present. 'The Duke of Cambridge has been informed and agreed with his father and grandmother but his role has been somewhat overplayed in all this.' Prince Edward has long been seen as a bridge between Charles and Andrew, but he has recently stopped horse-riding at Windsor Great Park where the Duke of York now takes daily rides. While painful for the Queen, insiders said the decision to make Andrew an outcast was inevitable after his bid to dismiss sex claims in a US court failed. Andrew continues to vehemently deny any wrongdoing. Advertisement A second tsunami has hit the Pacific island of Tonga after a massive undersea volcanic eruption, flooding homes and triggering warnings as far away as Australia, Japan, and the US. The government said no Australians were injured in Tonga, but the eruption has led to a major surf event in Sydney being cancelled on Sunday. A Tongan family recorded the moment water rushed in from the ocean, flooding homes as they finished church choir practice, while the country's consulate lamented the devastation. 'This is incredibly sad. The damage being done to the Kingdom of Tonga is extreme,' the consulate wrote on Twitter. 'The people of Kingdom are strong. Sending prayers to Tonga. Ofa lahi atu.' There are reports of severe damage to communications on the island that prevented people from reaching family to know if they were alive. Children sleeping in a tent in Tonga after being evacuated from their homes because of the tsunami on the island The tsunami forced people to flee after the volcanic eruption was heard as a series of massive booms across several Pacific islands. Children were forced to sleep in tents in Tonga after being evacuated from their homes because of the tsunami. Tsunami warnings were issued for Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Vanuatu, American Samoa, Lord Howe, Macquarie Island, and Norkfolk Island along with Japan, Hawaii, and the west coat of the US. The warning for Australia was cancelled by the Bureau of Meteorology on Sunday afternoon. The tsunami also reached South America and caused flooding in Peru on the west coast of the continent. The Chilean coast of Los Rios, almost 10,000km from Tonga, has also been affected and huge swells were seen in the US. A second tsunami has hit the Pacific island of Tonga after a volcanic eruption, with a maritime warning issued for much of Australia's eastern seaboard Part of the devastation the tsunamis have caused in Tonga pictured from the deck of a fishing boat BoM said the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano erupted at 3.10pm AEDT on Saturday. Earlier, BoM had issued a national marine warning for all NSW coastal areas, as well as parts of Queensland and Victoria. However, a tsunami warning is still active for parts of Australia's east coast and Lord Howe, Norfolk, and Macquarie islands. Injuries on Tonga are unknown with disruptions to communications. Health minister Greg Hunt said no Australians were injured. Mr Hunt said foreign minister Marise Payne and the Department of Foreign Affairs are working with Tongan authorities. 'DFAT will continue to engage with the Tongan Government and has offered through the foreign minister all possible support that may be required,' he told reporters in Canberra. In this satellite photo taken by Planet Labs PBC, an island created by the underwater Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai volcano is seen smoking on January 7, 2022. An undersea volcano erupted in spectacular fashion near the Pacific nation of Tonga on Saturday, January 15, sending large tsunami waves crashing across the shore and people rushing to higher ground Sydney police and the NSW State Emergency Service evacuated and closed beaches around the state, with early-morning swimmers called out of the water in Bondi and other Sydney beaches. Beaches across NSW are shut. On Sunday morning, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said 'Our beaches are closed, please do not swim.' A curtain-raiser to the Ironman series for Australia's top lifesavers at Bondi Beach was cancelled this morning and later the professional ironman and ironwoman series itself was cancelled. The ironman series and teams league had been raced on Friday and Saturday before the tsunami warning. 'The athletes are disappointed, the conditions are good so we are all very disappointed,' series competition chair Steve Leahy said. 'But it is safety first and everyone understands that. No one is suggesting it's a wrong decision.' The bureau said a tsunami wave height of 1.27m was observed on Norfolk Island at 9pm AEDT and an 82cm wave was registered on the Gold Coast at 10.54pm on Saturday. It said 1.10m-high waves were being recorded at Ned's Beach on Lord Howe Island about 11pm and a 50cm surge was observed at Hobart's Derwent Park about 11.44pm. Port Kembla in NSW's Wollongong registered a 65cm wave at 2.50am on Sunday. In Tonga, locals pleaded for people to 'pray for us' as the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai volcanic eruption was compared to 'bombs going off' by those who heard it, followed by the tsunami surging ashore. The Islands Business news site reported that a convoy of police and military troops evacuated Tonga's King Tupou VI from his palace near the shore. He was among the many residents who headed for higher ground. New Zealand's military said it was monitoring the situation and remained on standby, ready to assist if asked. Residents of American Samoa were alerted of the tsunami warning by local broadcasters as well as church bells that rang territory-wide. Surfers grip their surf boards in the middle of a wave in Manhattan Beach, California, on Saturday in defiance of an advisory Under a tsunami advisory, residents are warned to stay out of the water and away from beaches and marinas A tsunami struck Tonga sending terrified locals fleeing for high ground as huge waves crashed over roads and into homes (pictured, tsunami waves begin to overwhelm coastal homes in Tonga on Saturday) An outdoor siren warning system was out of service. Those living along the shoreline quickly moved to higher ground. As night fell, there were no reports of any damage and the Hawaii-based tsunami centre canceled the alert for American Samoa. Authorities in the nearby island nations of Fiji and Samoa also issued warnings, telling people to avoid the shoreline due to strong currents and dangerous waves. The Japan Meteorological Agency said there may be a slight swelling of the water along the Japanese coasts, but it was not expected to cause any damage. Satellite images showed a huge eruption, a three-mile wide plume of ash, steam and gas rising like a mushroom about 12 above the blue Pacific waters. Locals took to social media to share dramatic videos of the surging waves making land and crashing through homes and cars (pictured, still images from video filmed in Tonga and posted to social media on Saturday) Pictured: Satellite imagery shows the underwater explosion (left). The images showed a 3 mile wide plume rising into the air to about 18km Locals pleaded for people to 'pray for us' as the eruption was compared to 'bombs going off' by those who heard it, followed by the tsunami surging ashore 'A 1.2m tsunami wave has been observed at Nukualofa,' Australia's Bureau of Meteorology tweeted. The maximum tsunami wave recorded following an explosion in the region on Friday was 30 centimetres. The Tonga Meteorological Services said the tsunami warning was in effect for all of Tonga. There were no immediate reports of injuries or the extent of the damage as communications with the small nation remained problematic. The eruption was so intense it was heard as 'loud thunder sounds' in Fiji more than 800km away, officials in Suva said. Victorina Kioa of the Tonga Public Service Commission said on Saturday people should 'keep away from areas of warning which are low-lying coastal areas, reefs and beaches.' The head of Tonga Geological Services Taaniela Kula urged people to stay indoors, wear a mask if they were outside and cover rainwater reservoirs and rainwater harvesting systems. The Islands Business news site reported that a convoy of police and military troops evacuated Tonga's King Tupou VI from his palace near the shore as residents headed for higher ground. Pictured: Image captured by NOAA's GOES West satellite and made available by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows an explosive eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano, located in the South Pacific Kingdom of Tonga, 13 January 2022 The explosion of the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai volcano was the latest in a series of spectacular eruptions. Mere Taufa said she was in her house getting ready for dinner when the volcano erupted. 'It was massive, the ground shook, our house was shaking. It came in waves. My younger brother thought bombs were exploding nearby,' Taufa told the Stuff news website. She said water filled their home minutes later and she saw the wall of a neighbouring house collapse. 'We just knew straight away it was a tsunami. Just water gushing into our home. 'You could just hear screams everywhere, people screaming for safety, for everyone to get to higher ground.' A Twitter user identified as Dr Faka'iloatonga Taumoefolau posted video showing waves crashing ashore. 'Can literally hear the volcano eruption, sounds pretty violent,' he wrote, adding in a later post: 'Raining ash and tiny pebbles, darkness blanketing the sky.' Earlier, the Matangi Tonga news site reported that scientists had observed massive explosions, thunder and lightning near the volcano after it started erupting Friday. This picture taken on December 21, 2021 shows white gaseous clouds rising from the Hunga Ha'apai eruption seen from the Patangata coastline near Tongan capital Nuku'alofa The site said satellite images showed a three-mile-wide plume of ash, steam and gas rising about 18km into the air. More than 2,250km away in New Zealand, officials warned of storm surges from the eruption. The National Emergency Management Agency said some parts could expect 'strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore following a large volcanic eruption'. The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano sits on an uninhabited island about 64km north of the Tongan capital Nuku'alofa. In late 2014 and early 2015, a series of eruptions in the area created a small island and disrupted international air travel to the Pacific archipelago for several days. First we were told by energy firms to cuddle our pets and wear thick socks to keep out the cold this winter as energy prices soar. Now Octopus Energy has suggested that we eat and drink ourselves warm and keep bills down. The energy provider also suggested customers could make yourself a cup of tea before you touch the thermostat and praised the benefits of comfort foods. Octopuss attempt to share innovative guidance on how to keep warm comes after the Government was warned pensioners are at risk of freezing to death this winter because soaring fuel prices will mean many will switch off their heating. Octopus Energy has suggested that we eat and drink ourselves warm and keep bills down The energy company wrote the advice on a blog to help customers deal with the increasing cost of heating their homes - pictured PM Boris Johnson outside the firm's HQ in London in October 2020 Octopus Energys advice appeared on a post on its website last month, which has since been amended. One of the removed items suggests wearing multiple layers and mixed fabrics because you are probably not wearing enough clothes. A separate section, which has also since been amended, said Octopus customers could keep their heating low when they were snug in certain parts of the house, with the suggestion of using a couch blanket, onesie or grain heat packs. The post was part of a blog with Winter Workout tips to help consumers save money and stay cosy. Octopus did not provide any specific explanation as to exactly when or why the blog, most of which is still on the site, has been changed when asked for comment by The Mail on Sunday but it said the blog is regularly updated. E.ON apologised after it emerged the company shipped socks to 30,000 households with advice on how to keep warm. The Conservative MP and former Cabinet Minister Theresa Villiers said the advice was likely well-intentioned but also pretty insensitive because people are very anxious about rising energy bills The government fears the massive hike in energy prices could see pensioners freezing to death in their own homes as they turn off the heating as they can no longer afford it, picture posed by models And Ovo sparked controversy when its website contained controversial energy-saving tips such as eating hearty bowls of porridge. It also recommended customers of SSE Energy Services, which it acquired in 2020, could try sticking to non-alcoholic drinks, having a cuddle with your pets and encouraging blood flow by eating ginger. It later said it was embarrassed about the post. The Conservative MP and former Cabinet Minister Theresa Villiers said the advice was likely well-intentioned but also pretty insensitive because people are very anxious about rising energy bills. The UK faces a deepening fuel crisis with fresh warnings this weekend that bills could double to 2,400 by October. Prices have already increased after the wholesale cost of gas rose six times, hitting a record high before Christmas. Earlier this month, former Pensions Minister Ros Altmann demanded that the Government take urgent action to support hard-up pensioners. The charity for the elderly, Age UK, branded the situation a national emergency. Its research shows that every winter one old person dies every seven minutes from the cold in England and Wales. Labour signalled today that it would no longer back lockdowns, claiming that the country now has to 'learn to live with Covid'. Wes Streeting, the party's health spokesman, announced that its approach changing 'as the threat has changed'. In an article for The Mail on Sunday, he wrote: 'We know that the coronavirus is here to stay but, as Labour's Shadow Health Secretary, I don't want to see our country in lockdown ever again.' He added: 'Learning to live well with Covid will prepare us to get through the next wave of infections without more restrictions on our lives, livelihoods and liberties.' Wes Streeting (pictured), Labour's health spokesman, signalled today that it would no longer back lockdowns, claiming that the country now has to 'learn to live with Covid' Another 81,713 positive tests were logged in the last 24 hours, according to Government dashboard data, marking a 44 per cent drop on the figure last week The number of deaths is also beginning to decrease. Another 287 were registered today in an eight per cent fall compared to last Saturday However, party sources made it clear last night that the policy switch would not stop Labour voting for restrictions made necessary by new virus variants. Mr Streeting's announcement comes just a month after Boris Johnson had to rely on Labour votes to pass pandemic restrictions in England, including controversial Covid passes for nightclubs and large venues and compulsory face masks in most indoor settings. The Prime Minister faced a massive rebellion from his own side of 99 Tory MPs. Mr Streeting wrote that Labour 'saved his bacon' by deciding to put party politics aside before Christmas'. He said: 'Without Labour, sensible Plan B measures wouldn't have happened and we wouldn't be enjoying the new year without the threat of new restrictions.' He added that Mr Johnson 'should be thanking us'. Mr Streeting, who became health spokesman in November, acknowledged the harm caused by full lockdowns to children's education and people's jobs and mental health. The Ilford North MP said: 'A visit to a primary school in my constituency this week was a reminder that lockdowns come at a great cost. It comes just a month after Boris Johnson (pictured) had to rely on Labour votes to pass pandemic restrictions in England, including controversial Covid passes for nightclubs Daily hospital admissions have also remained flat with 2,423 new admissions on January 10, the latest date with data, which was down by less than a per cent on the previous week 'Children spent 155 days out of school on average over the past couple of years, but the impact on their learning, their wellbeing and their life chances is immeasurable.' Workers 'have lost their jobs' through 'no fault of their own', while there was plenty of evidence that 'shutting us off from our colleagues, friends and family has taken its toll on our mental health and wellbeing'. Mr Streeting, who coupled his policy change with a swipe at Mr Johnson's 'boozy parties' at No 10, admitted Tory Ministers had already said the nation had to learn to live with Covid, but had failed to set out how to do so. Labour's plan involved proper air ventilation for schools and 'decent levels of sick pay' to let workers isolate when they tested positive. Last night, anti-lockdown Tory MPs welcomed Labour's 'conversion' to common sense but insisted they should never have voted for lockdowns as there was no 'clear evidence' from international comparisons that lockdowns worked. Senior Tory MP and lockdown opponent Sir Graham Brady said: 'So far, Labour has not only supported every lockdown or restriction but has urged that they go on for longer and that restrictions should always be tighter than those put in place by the Government. 'If this is genuine change of stance, I welcome it. It is time that all parties made it clear that it should be for the public to make decisions for themselves using common sense and being informed by the best evidence and advice.' WES STREETING: For the sake of our children, we can never shut down our country again By Wes Streeting Shadow Health Secretary for The Mail On Sunday It's not only parties at No 10 that Boris Johnson has been misleading the country about. Last week, the Prime Minister told the House of Commons that the Labour Party would have locked down the country over Christmas in response to the Omicron variant. It's total rubbish. We take it as a compliment. The Prime Minister can't find anything to attack in Labour's common-sense approach to Covid and so he is having to make it up instead. While the Labour Party supported lockdowns at earlier stages of the pandemic, our approach has changed as the threat has changed, Wes Streeting (pictured) said The truth is that, while the Labour Party supported lockdowns at earlier stages of the pandemic, our approach has changed as the threat has changed. I'm not surprised that Boris Johnson is socially distanced from the truth, but I am surprised he's taken to telling porkies about Labour's policies on Covid, given that we put party politics aside before Christmas and saved his bacon. Without Labour, sensible Plan B measures wouldn't have happened and we wouldn't be enjoying the new year without the threat of new restrictions. He should be thanking us. We know that the coronavirus is here to stay but, as Labour's Shadow Health Secretary, I don't want to see our country in lockdown ever again. A visit to a primary school in my constituency this week was a reminder that lockdowns come at a great cost. Children spent 155 days out of school on average over the past couple of years, but the impact on their learning, their wellbeing and their life chances is immeasurable. Entrepreneurs who have spent years building up their businesses have seen them collapse, while others have made enormous sacrifices just to survive. Workers have lost their jobs. All through no fault of their own. I still haven't forgiven the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, for leaving so many self-employed people excluded from any support whatsoever, while carelessly handing billions in Covid support to fraudsters. There is plenty of evidence that shutting us off from our colleagues, friends and family has taken its toll on our mental health and wellbeing. Without Labour, Plan B measures wouldn't have happened and we wouldn't be enjoying the new year without the threat of restrictions. Boris Johnson (pictured) should be thanking us Feelings of loss and loneliness are inevitable when much of what makes life worth living is taken away. That's why when Keir Starmer spoke about shifting the focus on healthcare to prevention as well as cure yesterday, he pledged that Labour would guarantee mental health support within a month to all who need it. We need to learn to live with Covid. We've heard that phrase a lot from Ministers recently, but without a plan this is little more than a slogan. And unless we learn from the mistakes of the past two years we are doomed to repeat them. That's why I've announced Labour's plan for living well with Covid. It includes some of the action we want to see from Government immediately, which would help to limit the spread of infections while having a minimal impact on our lives, livelihoods and liberties. Fitting our schools with proper air ventilation systems means they can stay open and children can continue to socialise and learn without sitting in their coats in freezing classrooms. Paying workers a decent level of sick pay means they can afford to isolate when they test positive for Covid and are less likely to spread the virus to their colleagues. We've got to build our own national resilience and capacity for testing and vaccination. It means we're not reliant on other countries and can stand on our own two feet and give a boost to British manufacturing. We cannot allow a repeat of the shortages of tests we've seen over the past month. It was extraordinarily complacent of the Government to go into this winter not knowing that their testing delivery service was taking Christmas off. We'll also retain a standing volunteer army to help roll out future vaccines to keep the pressure off NHS staff. When Keir Starmer (pictured) spoke about shifting the focus on healthcare to prevention as well as cure, he pledged that Labour would guarantee mental health support within a month Our best defence against new variants is to play our part in vaccinating the world. None of us are safe until all of us are safe. It is not just the right thing to do, it is also in our national self-interest. Most importantly, we need a plan to make sure we never again enter a pandemic with a health and social care system lacking the staff, capacity and resilience to cope. The NHS went into the pandemic with 4.5million people waiting for treatment, then a record high. We had a social-care system that had seen 8 billion of cuts, with elderly and disabled people denied the security they deserve. It's not just that the Conservatives didn't fix the roof when the sun was shining, they dismantled the roof and removed the floorboards. Now they are too distracted by boozy parties in Downing Street to take us forward. Learning to live well with Covid will prepare us to get through the next wave of infections without more restrictions on our lives, livelihoods and liberties. Wes Streeting is the MP for Ilford North. He became Labour's health spokesman in November. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., center, rides a bus in 1956 in Montgomery, Ala., after the U.S. Supreme Court declared that bus segregation was unconstitutional. The ruling ended a bus boycott that was called after Rosa Parks had refused to give up her seat to a white man and was arrested. Sitting in front of King is the Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy; beside King is the Rev. Glenn Smiley of New York (Associated Press) For many people, the iconic image of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is him standing on a podium in front of the Lincoln Memorial on a sweltering August day in 1963, sharing his dream of racial equality in America. Those who have never read or heard that entire speech may know only famous quotes captured in historical news clips, such as Kings longing for a nation where people are judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Advertisement As King is celebrated on MLK Day on Monday, those familiar with the civil rights icons legacy, beyond just his March on Washington speech for racial and economic equality, say his words have been taken out of context to promote certain stances on divisive issues today. Im concerned about how some people really misunderstand Dr. Kings message and have such a distorted view of an effort to include whats been ignored about our nations history, said Chuck Dickerson, a member of the NAACPs Easton chapter. Advertisement [ Martin Luther King Jr. celebration events in the Lehigh Valley ] Dickerson cited a Texas law passed in September that restricts how schools can teach about race-related topics. He also cited the controversy stirred in July when an organization donated books, which featured some stories from the viewpoints of people of color, to George Wolf Elementary in the Northampton Area School District. Were now in an environment where some people are questioning the need to teach children in public schools a true and complete history of our country, Dickerson said. People are weaponizing their concerns against something Dr. King stood for, which is having history books include the struggles and contributions of people of color in America. A nationwide backlash from some parents argues against teaching critical race theory, which has become a catchall phrase used by people critical of ways schools are dealing with racial concepts. Some conservatives call this an effort to shame white children. Critical race theory goes against everything Martin Luther King Jr. taught us, [which is] to not judge others by the color of their skin, Kevin McCarthy, Republican minority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, tweeted in July. The left is trying to take America backward. Northampton Area School Board member Doug Vaughn, whose school district was involved in the July book donation controversy, agreed. I dont know enough about the books donated, but I oppose critical race theory because it promotes racism and divides people, similarly to the principles of Marxism, Vaughn said. Defining people as racist based on the color of their skin is inherently wrong and immoral. I do not think Dr. King would support [this]. He was a peaceful man who supported national unity of all Americans regardless of their skin color, wealth or political affiliation. Critical Race Theory goes against everything Martin Luther King Jr. taught usto not judge others by the color of their skin. The Left is trying to take America backward. pic.twitter.com/ZUx9Wu319Q Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) July 12, 2021 Ray Block Jr., associate professor of political science and African-American studies at Penn State, said teaching Americas racial history isnt about shaming whites for being white. Its about educating everyone on the reality of race relations in America and how, despite some progress thats been made since Dr. Kings time, theres still work we all must do together to improve those relations, Block said. Advertisement Cherry-picking Kings quote about his dream of a color-blind society dangerously ignores the rest of his speech about the gap that still needs to be filled between that dream and reality, Block said. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir, King said in that same address. The note was a promise that all men, Black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Though efforts by King and others have resulted in laws designed to prevent discrimination and guarantee rights, the default King spoke of continues today to a significant degree, Lehigh Valley activist Justan Parker Fields said. That led to the rise of Black Lives Matter, a nationwide grassroots movement for racial justice and equality. Some call Black Lives Matter inconsistent with Kings philosophy of nonviolence, based on news coverage of riots and looting being associated with the movement. Former President Donald Trump called the movement a symbol of hate in a July tweet responding to a plan to paint the phrase Black Lives Matter in front of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. As a white person, you cannot communicate to a Black person your thoughts on Dr. King being against the Black Lives Matter movement, said Fields organizer of the Lehigh Valley chapter of Black Lives Matter. This is Black business. Dr. King, first and foremost, was Black. The equality that he preached about, although for all people, was about Black people. He wanted us to have equal footing to white people. So, as a white ally, your support should be just that. Support, without the criticism. As nonviolent as Dr. King was, they still shoved a letter opener through his hand, threw him in jail, beat him and killed him, he said. You cannot place activism in a pretty box with a pretty bow filled with pretty people to fit a narrative. [Activism is] ugly. Its sad. Its courageous. Its meaningful. Its impactful. Its violent. Its nonviolent. Its us. Advertisement East Stroudsburg University history professor Christopher Brooks said people should be careful when applying Kings words. Im left with the impression that both [those] who call Black Lives Matter a violent movement, and [those] who agree with peoples right to protest as long as the protesting doesnt become violent, misuse Dr. Kings message concerning nonviolence vs. violence, Brooks said. And its largely because his words were uttered in a particular historical context which Im not convinced is given due respect. Matthew Stein, an assistant visiting professor of politics, racial identity and social movements at Lafayette College, agreed, referencing Kings calling a riot the language of the unheard in a 1968 speech at Gross Pointe High School in Michigan. And what is it America has failed to hear? King asked in that speech. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity. In other words, King wasnt condoning rioting, but simply stating it as an outcome of the countrys refusal to heed people of colors concerns, Stein said. On the other hand, some marginalized people are adopting a misled, dangerous view of looting as a form of taking reparations, or whats owed to them for generations of being oppressed, Brooks said. King spoke about reparations, saying America helped European immigrants by giving them land to farm for themselves while denying Black former slaves the same path to self-sufficiency. Advertisement While the rage and frustration of oppressed people is certainly understandable, Dr. King wouldnt find any justification for the looting we saw in Chicago, where a Black Lives Matter organizer approved and encouraged looting as reparations, Brooks said. First Call Daily Leading local stories delivered on weekday mornings > People in other movements, such as those for gender and gender identity equality, have cited King and other historical figures as inspirations, said the Rev. Dr. Larry Pickens, a former Allentown resident and executive director of the Pennsylvania Council of Churches. I dont particularly have an issue with groups using Dr. Kings words or philosophy if that use is grounded in the context his ministry was about, which was human rights, nonviolence and dismantling systemic racism and racist structures, Pickens said. Overcoming oppression is something we as Americans are called to do and something we all ought to aspire to. Pickens and others agree whats needed is a more complete view of Kings life, legacy and thoughts, including those putting him in a light that may be less comfortable for some to view. A lot of people tend to focus just on the King who spoke about his dream at the March on Washington in 63, Dickerson said. They dont know or dont like to focus on the King who was speaking out against American imperialism and U.S. involvement in Vietnam by the time he was assassinated in 68. Advertisement Kings stances on issues such as Vietnam got him labeled by others as a radical, Stein, the Lafayette College professor, said. We have to remember that this man, whose birthday we now celebrate as a holiday, was a demonized, polarizing figure on the FBIs list of threats at the time he was killed, he said. Some scholars are very aware of this. Id suggest reading Erin Pinedas book, Seeing Like An Activist, which goes into this in more detail. Any positive changes we see credited to Dr. King result from radical struggle, not from a simple, quiet argument of policies on a congressional floor. I would like to see us recapture some of that radical legacy he left us. Morning Call reporter Andrew Scott can be reached at 610-820-6508 or ascott@mcall.com. Anti-vaxxers are spreading misinformation in the inner-city neighbourhood with Englands lowest Covid vaccine uptake. More than a year after the UK began rolling out its jab programme, 69 per cent of people in Harehills South in Leeds have still not had two doses of the vaccine. Since mid-September, just 20 Covid jabs have been given per 100 people aged over 12 living there, the lowest rate in England. The second lowest at 24 doses per 100 is neighbouring Harehills North. Just 69 per cent of people aged over 12 in Harehills South in Leeds, pictured, have been double jabbed against Covid-19 An investigation by The Mail on Sunday has found efforts to boost those figures are being stymied by an anti-vax campaign. The impact is being felt by local NHS services. A leaked memo recently revealed that medics at the citys two major hospitals have seen Covid-19 patients flooding wards, forcing the suspension of non life-saving surgery An investigation by The Mail on Sunday has found efforts to boost those figures are being stymied by an anti-vax campaign. The impact is being felt by local NHS services. A leaked memo recently revealed that medics at the citys two major hospitals have seen Covid-19 patients flooding wards, forcing the suspension of non life-saving surgery. Harehills is a deprived, densely populated and ethnically diverse area. Almost 72 per cent of its 8,800 residents is from an ethnic minority, with 31 per cent of the population British Pakistani, according to the Office for National Statistics, though there are also groups from Eastern Europe, Somalia and Iraq. Other areas in northern England with similar demographic profiles have considerably higher vaccination rates and there is no shortage of vaccination centres in Harehills, with two hubs and at least three pharmacies offering the jab. Pharmacist Salwan Al-Biatty, 29, who works at the Imaan pharmacy on Harehills Lane, said he had encountered high levels of vaccine-scepticism caused by scare stories. Weve tried hard to promote the vaccine and have received abuse from anti-vaxxers in response, he said. They told us to f*** off and that people didnt need the vaccine. Councillor Andrew Carter, the leader of the Tory group on Leeds council, revealed that anti-vaxxers tried to confront him at his home last October. The anti-vax brigade are seriously beginning to undermine the excellent work the health services have been doing to get people vaccinated, he said. We were away but our neighbour alerted us to two men knocking on the door and windows of the house trying to get someone to answer. We got in touch with the police and they tracked them down. They were anti-vaxxers. Furqan Ahmed, imam of Bilal Mosque in Harehills, said he had tried in vain to promote the vaccine. Conspiracy theories are a problem, he said. One of those spreading misinformation online is Neil Holmes, who acts as administrator for the Harehills Community Watch Facebook page. In response to a post about the poor vaccination uptake in the area, Mr Holmes said: Dont get jabbed, hug your loved ones, show your amazing smile and try to remain psychotic free. Confronted by the MoS this weekend, Mr Holmes stood by his views, which appear to have been widely accepted in Harehills. Salma Arif, a local Labour councillor and Leeds councils executive member for public health, said: I do think the area is unique because of the diversity of the area, and the fact that some of those communities are suspicious or have seen misinformation. I acknowledge that vaccine rates are low in certain areas but I also feel confident that we are doing everything in our power to make sure people have access to the information they need to make an informed decision. Ralf Rangnick has no plans to replace Harry Maguire as Manchester United captain despite calls for Cristiano Ronaldo to take the armband after his rousing comments this week. Ronaldo called on his United team-mates to raise their game and secure a top-three finish in an explosive interview with Sky Sports, while also suggesting the club's younger players are struggling to accept criticism behind the scenes. His words certainly impressed the Old Trafford faithful, who now want Rangnick to make him captain on a permanent basis. Ralf Rangnick says he has no plans to replace Harry Maguire as Manchester United captain United fans want Cristiano Ronaldo to be made captain on the back of his explosive interview The Portugal star has recently been leading the side in Maguire's absence, but Rangnick sees no reason to replace his current skipper when he returns from injury. 'Right now, I don't see a reason to do that because Harry has been the captain so far and as long as Harry is playing he will be the captain,' the United interim boss said. 'And if he's not playing then someone else will have to be the captain. This can change from game to game just depending on who is playing. 'It's not only Cristiano we have. Edinson [Cavani], we have. Harry, we have, quite a few other older players, David de Gea in goal, Victor Lindelof, Bruno [Fernandes]. But Rangnick has no plans to make Ronaldo permanent Red Devils captain anytime soon 'We have enough experienced older players who can not only be role models themselves in training, on the pitch and in games, but also in all those conversations that happen in the locker room or when they are together in the hotel for away games or home games, this has to happen. 'In a team, in a united team that happens automatically and I can only invite and challenge and tell all the players, also the older players, to do that on a regular basis because that helps even more so in a team that we have currently.' United are set to go away to Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, and Rangnick expects Ronaldo and Maguire - who both missed their FA Cup win over Steven Gerrard's side in the week - to be fit. 'I think they will be available,' he said. 'They only trained yesterday (Thursday) for the first time Cristiano yesterday, Harry the day before yesterday. 'We have to wait for the final training session, but they should be available.' Weddings, funerals, house buying the things that are nightmares to navigate in real life are sailed through with ease in Soapland. So it stands to reason that adoption should also be totally unrealistic too. Its generally no bad thing when soap parents put their children up for adoption as they will surely fare better if raised by anyone else. Yet somehow the child in question always ends up boomeranging back to them. Take Raymond in EastEnders. Denise had him adopted, only for him to be returned three years later. Its only been a year and the poor mite has already been abducted. In Emmerdale, Kyle was taken into care after his dad Cain didnt want to know and his mum Amy couldnt cope. Now back with Cain, hes just survived a brush with death after getting hypothermia on a camping trip. And the people who adopted Abis twins in Coronation Street are the most accommodating people in the world. Despite moving to Australia, they recently agreed to return to Weatherfield so the twins ex-junkie birth mother could spend Christmas with them! CORONATION STREET: SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL Head teacher Mrs Crawshaw (pictured right, with Daniel) is forced to take action on the upskirting incident in Coronation Street Following Summers upskirting incident, Amy investigates and discovers that several other girls at school have also been victims. She daubs stop protecting sex offenders on the school wall, which leads to her suspension. Summer publishes a letter on social media in support of her friend that ends up going viral. Before long, with the help of Daniel, the Gazette are involved and head teacher Mrs Crawshaw is forced to take action. Sally becomes convinced that Tim is having an affair and Shona has clocked that hes spending a lot of time with Aggie and starts to gossip about it. Sally tracks Tim to Aggies house where a confrontation leads to the revelation that her husband isnt being unfaithful, hes just been concealing his serious heart condition. And, right on cue, Tim collapses and is carted off to hospital. Merry widow Jenny continues to enjoy dates with Leo, who introduces her to his flatmates, making her realise just how big the age gap is. When Leo suggests she meets his parents she starts to panic. Why is she even bothering with a limp lettuce like Leo anyway when randy Ronnie is still keen? EASTENDERS: GRAY DAYS FOR CHELSEA Whitney and Kheerat (pictured) tell an anxious Chelsea to stick to their plan for getting rid of Gray in EastEnders Whitney and Kheerat tell an anxious Chelsea she must stick with their plan if they are to nail Gray. Unfortunately for Chelsea, the plan seems to be that she carries on living with a serial killer until she can get a passport, register Jordans birth and leave the country. Chelsea knows that if Gray gets his name on the birth certificate, shell never be rid of him and plots a way to register her son on the sly. Will the scheme come off? With Kheerat and Whitney masterminding it, I think we all know the answer. In anticipation of a jail sentence, Phil starts to put his affairs in order and decides hell sell the business as Ben is not up to looking after it. What, one MOT a fortnight? Even Lexi could cope with that. Phil hasnt been honest with Kat about how bad things are but they admit their feelings for one another. Never mind that, Kat, just get your mitts on the combination to Phils safe and the wads of cash it seems to contain. Mick gives Rainie flowers to thank her for helping with his Linda dilemma, but she lies to Stuart about where they came from and he questions her loyalty. Janine pleads with Mick to let her use The Vics address as her place of residence to boost her chances of getting Scarlett back. He agrees, and Jay accuses Mick of having an affair in front of the whole pub. Stuart gets the wrong end of the stick and assumes Jay is referring to Rainie. Poor Mick, no wonder he has panic attacks. EMMERDALE: NOBODY CLOCKS THE BOX! Leyla and Jacob (pictured) fail to spot Meena's trinket box of victim trophies in the dirt at the allotment in Emmerdale Meena is on the run but when Leyla and Jacob go to inspect the damage at the allotment they fail to spot her trinket box of victim trophies in the dirt. Later Sam covers the box with earth while digging and it seems the evidence could be lost forever. Chas and Marlon discover that the insurance on the pub is not valid because they hadnt mentioned the development plans. Liv learns that until Manpreet wakes up she wont be released from prison, news that sends her in search of more illegal hooch. But, not to worry, the dozy Dingle clan have a plan... to bust her out. Whether it's in her adopted home of Los Angeles or in her native Brazil, Alessandra Ambrosio knows how to turn any location into her personal runway. And on Friday the longtime supermodel, 40, caused a stir while rocking a tiny tie-dyed bikini on Praia Brava beach. This go-around the mother of two struck a number of poses under the glorious sunny skies just feet from the incoming waves. Flirty: Alessandra Ambrosio enjoyed another day on the beach in her native Brazil on Friday Ambrosio, 40, gave plenty of titillating looks and stares as she strutted her stuff on the gorgeous beach in the peach, yellow and white two-piece. She pulled her long brown tresses into a bun and accessorized with a pair of mirrored sunglasses. Alessandra posed for four photos that were later posted to her Instagram page, including one where she walked towards the camera with a sly smile on her face. Titillating: The longtime supermodel, 40, caused a stir while rocking a tiny tie-dyed bikini on Praia Brava beach. The Gal Floripa swimsuit co-founder also looked up towards the horizon while tugging at her string bikini bottoms. While frolicking in the sand, Ambrosio stood in front of a man who had stationed his portable refreshment stand on the shoreline just in front of the gorgeous ocean water. There's also an image of the longtime Victoria's Secret Angle reaching towards the blue skies just feet in front of a woman who was maneuvering a large yellow and orange dual-line parafoil kite. Props: While frolicking in the sand, Ambrosio stood in front of a man who had stationed his portable refreshment stand on the shoreline just in front of the gorgeous ocean water The model has frequently been updating her 10.7 Instagram fans and followers on the latest happenings in her life since arriving in Brazil just before new year's. It hasn't been all play for Ambrosio, who has been busy filming for her new show, The Cut, for which she serves as the host. The competition centers on 12 of the best hairdressers in Brazil as they compete for the title of most talented. The HBO Max show debuted on November 25th. Bachelor couple Jimmy Nicholson and Holly Kingston are sure living it up while on holiday in the tropical Port Douglas. The pair were seen on Friday heading off on an idyllic cruise on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland. Blonde bombshell Holly looked chic in a black and white striped swimsuit, which she teamed with black cut-off denim shorts which accentuated her trim pins. Another day in paradise! Bachelor stars Jimmy Nicholson and Holly Kingston enjoyed a cruise on the Great Barrier Reef on Friday She was ready for the cruise - and presumably the snorkel on the reef - carrying a blue and white striped towel on board. Holly looked chic with a pair of beige cat-eye sunglasses and a headband, wearing her long locks out and neatly straightened. Pilot Jimmy meanwhile, showed off his buff physique in a khaki singlet and navy and white shorts. Turning heads: Blonde bombshell Holly looked chic in a black and white striped swimsuit Legs eleven! She teamed her swimsuit with a pair of black cut-off denim shorts which accentuated her trim pins Ready to go: She was ready for the cruise - and presumably the snorkel on the reef - carrying a blue and white striped towel on board Buff: Pilot Jimmy meanwhile, showed off his buff physique in a khaki singlet and navy and white shorts The pair looked nothing but excited and elated as they headed off on their reef cruise. Earlier this week, they were spotted riding bikes on the beach in Port Douglas. The pair, who are based in Sydney, are currently in tropical far north Queensland to shoot their upcoming new series, 100 Honeymoons. Life's a beach: The pair looked nothing but excited and elated as they headed off on their reef cruise. Earlier this week, they were spotted riding bikes on the beach in Port Douglas Mixing business with pleasure: The pair, who are based in Sydney, are currently in tropical far north Queensland to shoot their upcoming new series, 100 Honeymoons Romantic: The trip is acting as a 'honeymoon' for the pair, even though they aren't yet engaged or married The trip is acting as a 'honeymoon' for the pair, even though they aren't yet engaged or married. The couple formed the idea for the show after discussing their 'dream honeymoon destination'. That, combined with the Jimmy and Holly's love for travel and respective careers in flying and journalism and marketing, led to the creation of 100 Honeymoons. Popular: The couple's manager Benji Hart stated that the show's concept has already had 'a lot of interest' The couple's manager Benji Hart stated that the show's concept has already had 'a lot of interest'. 'The first six episodes will be available online,' he divulged. 'But then watch this space...' Jimmy and Holly sparked a romance on the latest season of The Bachelor which aired earlier last year, with their relationship going from strength to strength ever since. Thandiwe Newton caught the eye in a quirky denim coat and jazzy blue earrings as she posed at the premiere for documentary President on Friday. The actress, 49, looked in great spirits as she posed alongside journalist Chenayi Mutambasere at the event which was held at Bertha Doc House in London. Thandiwe, who executive produced the film, teamed her blue jacket with a cartoon-print grey jumper and sparkly black leggings. There she is: Thandiwe Newton caught the eye in a quirky denim coat and jazzy blue earrings as she posed at the premiere for documentary President on Friday The star - born Melanie Thandiwe Newton - rounded off her look with chunky black boots, a black quilted handbag and bright blue embellished earrings. Thandiwe looked in great spirits as she posed with the likes of Patricia Chinyoka, Chenayi, Rose Maponga and Olive Ruzvidzo at the screening. The Camilla Nielsson directed film focusses on Zimbabwean opposition leader Nelson Chamisa and his presidential bid in 2018 following the removal of Robert Mugabe from power. Posers: The actress, 49, looked in great spirits as she posed alongside journalist Chenayi Mutambasere at the event which was held at Bertha Doc House in London Danny Glover also serves as executive producer on the Sundance 2021 award-winning documentary, while Signe Byrge Srensen serves as producer. Speaking of the film last year, Thandiwe told Variety: 'Zimbabwe needs this film like a body needs oxygen. It has the potential to save lives, liberate the oppressed, and discover truths. There is no better purpose for filmmaking, than this.' Elsewhere, Thandiwe previously revealed that she turned down a role in a superhero movie, despite wanting to star in one. Her style: Thandiwe, who executive produced the film, teamed her blue jacket with a cartoon-print grey jumper and sparkly black leggings (pictured with Nyasha Matonhodze) While promoting her movie Reminiscence in an interview with LADBible in September, the actress said that, despite turning the other movie down, she is open to starring in the superhero genre. 'I was offered a role playing someone's mum who just dies. I was like, "Meh, no." It was more the role, you know what I mean?' Newton said. While she didn't identify what superhero movie it was, she made it clear that she'd be open to starring in a superhero movie in the future. Girls' night: Thandiwe looked in great spirits as she posed with the likes of Patricia Chinyoka, Chenayi, Rose Maponga and Olive Ruzvidzo at the screening 'I love what's happening with these genres now, where filmmakers are f*****g with the genre,' Newton said. She added that her 'perfect example' of what she was talking about is director Taika Waititi, who directed the 2017 superhero sequel Thor: Ragnarok. 'I love that the actors in it really want to push it too, of course they do - it's boring otherwise, Jesus,' she added. New release: The Camilla Nielsson directed film focusses on Zimbabwean opposition leader Nelson Chamisa and his presidential bid in 2018 following the removal of Robert Mugabe from power Neil Patrick Harris was seen kissing and comforting his beloved dog Spike after the pup injured himself. On Friday, the 48-year-old actor shared a video to Instagram in which Spike perched on his lap with one of his legs in a cast. 'Spike broke his toe,' the How I Met Your Mother star revealed as he laid back in a chair for the clip, which he captioned 'Poor Spike..!' Sweet: Neil Patrick Harris was seen kissing and comforting his beloved dog Spike after the pup injured himself Neil continued, 'He's in a little cast for four weeks.' He began kissing the pooch on the chest as the French bulldog rested his paws on the Broadway performer's shoulders. 'I'm sorry, I hope it doesn't snow,' the two-time Golden Globe Award winner told Spike. Poor pup: On Friday, the 48-year-old actor shared a video to Instagram in which Spike perched on his lap with one of his legs in a cast 'Spike broke his toe:' The How I Met Your Mother star laid back in a chair for the clip, which he captioned 'Poor Spike..!' When Spike turned his head to the side, Neil looked over and said 'Who's that?' The New Mexico native continued kissing Spike and making blowing noises as he buried his face in the pooch's chest. 'You're like a French horn, a French bulldog horn', he joked. Spike wore a bright yellow cast that had a neon green dog bone pattern on his front left leg. Great gift: In December, David surprised Neil by gifting him with plush replica versions of Spike, Gidget and Ella for Christmas Likeness: Neil shared photos of the replicas as well a snap of his real dogs, writing, 'Awesome gift this year: replica stuffed versions of our dogs The New Mexico native's 11-year-old twins had written encouraging messages in a red marker on the cast. Neil shares son Gideon Scott, and daughter Harper Grace with his husband of seven years, David Burtka, 46. The whole family: On Christmas, Neil was joined by David, Gideon and Harper along with their dogs in an Instagram video in which the family wished the actor's fans a Merry Christmas. In addition to Spike, the family has two other dogs, wire terrier mix Gidget and Golden Retriever Ella. In December, David surprised Neil by gifting him with plush replica versions of Spike, Gidget and Ella for Christmas. Neil shared photos of the replicas as well a snap of his real dogs, writing, 'Awesome gift this year: replica stuffed versions of our dogs. 'Bravo @cuddleclones for nailing Gidget, Spike and Ellas likenesses. Swipe to see their actual visages. Swipe quickly back and forth for a chuckle (thanks @dbelicious for being so gift smart!).' On Christmas, Neil was joined by David, Gideon and Harper along with their dogs in an Instagram video in which the family wished the actor's fans a Merry Christmas. Advertisement Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis have sold their first marital home in Beverly Hills for $10.35 million, according to The Wall Street Journal. The actor, 43, and actress, 38, originally put the mansion on the market for $13.995 million in May 2020, which means they sold it for $3.605 million less than their original asking price. The 7,351 square foot home, which has five bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms, was purchased by the couple in 2014 for $10.2 million. The latest: Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis have sold their first marital home in Beverly Hills for Beverly $10.35 million, according to The Wall Street Journal . The actor, 43, and actress, 38, originally put the mansion on the market for $13.995 million in May 2020, which means they sold it for $3.605 million less than their original asking price The lovebirds reduced the price from $13.995 million to $12.25 million then $11.3 million before they settled on $10.35 million for the final price, per the outlet. The property was the first home the actors purchased together as a couple; it was also their primary residence. They purchased it in May 2014, just five months before they welcomed their first child, daughter Wyatt Isabelle Kutcher, now seven. Ashton and Mila, who were engaged in February 2014 and married July 2015, welcomed son Dimitri Portwood Kutcher, now five, in November 2016. Stars: The actor, 43, and actress, 38, originally put the mansion on the market for $13.995 million in May 2020, which means they sold it for $3.605 million less than their original asking price; seen September 28, 2021 in LA Sold! The 7,351 square foot home, which has five bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms, was purchased by the couple in 2014 for $10.2 million A dip! The property was the first home the actors purchased together as a couple; it was also their primary residence House: They purchased it in May 2014, just five months before they welcomed their first child, daughter Wyatt Isabelle Kutcher, now seven The home is located in the mountains above Beverly Hills in Coldwater Canyon, in an area called Beverly Hills Post Office (BHPO); the neighborhood, Hidden Valley, is a guard-gated community with fellow mega celebs like Adele, Katy Perry, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban and Jennifer Lawrence as neighbors. Their three-story home on sale is an East Coast traditional home that was built in 1999. Their home has a gym and sauna, a wet bar, a temperature controlled wine room and two fireplaces. The stunning abode sits on over half an acre of land with a stone terrace, outdoor bar and kitchen, a pool and spa and a lot of space for entertaining. Amazing: Ashton and Mila, who were engaged in February 2014 and married July 2015, welcomed son Dimitri Portwood Kutcher, now five, in November 2016 Views: The home has an open-air plan on the ground floor for the living room and kitchen Home: The home is located in the mountains above Beverly Hills in Coldwater Canyon, in an area called Beverly Hills Post Office (BHPO); the neighborhood, Hidden Valley, is a guard-gated community with fellow mega celebs like Adele, Katy Perry, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban and Jennifer Lawrence as neighbors Elaborate: Their three-story home on sale is an East Coast traditional home that was built in 1999 Cozy: The backyard had cozy corners to sit and relax in Vibes: The stunning abode sits on over half an acre of land with a stone terrace, outdoor bar and kitchen, a pool and spa and a lot of space for entertaining The office features mahogany paneled walls with oak floors throughout as well as intricate molding, French doors ; the home has an enormous kitchen with white counter tops and matching cabinets with a large island. Four bedrooms are on the third floor, all with en-suite bathrooms; the main level (second floor) features the living spaces, a breakfast nook, the dining room, a cook's kitchen, the wet bar and the office. The first level features the guest bedroom, gym, sauna and wine room. The master bedroom also has bay windows, dual walk-in closets and the bathroom en suite; the master bathroom features a free standing tub with large windows with views of the backyard. Details: Four bedrooms are on the third floor, all with en-suite bathrooms; the main level (second floor) features the living spaces, a breakfast nook, the dining room, a cook's kitchen, the wet bar and the office Sunshine: The home has an enormous kitchen with white counter tops and matching cabinets with a large island Outdoor: The home featured a large pool with plenty of seating and greenery Another one: The living room featured a fireplace and plenty of windows for natural lighting So cool: There is a kitchen seating area as well with built in seats along the sides with multiple windows Amazing: One bedroom had large shutters along the windows as well as a chandelier So beautiful: The master bedroom also has bay windows, dual walk-in closets and the bathroom en suite; the master bathroom features a free standing tub with large windows with views of the backyard Relaxing: There is also a large sitting area with large couches, perfect for warm California days and nights So pretty: Another bedroom had a built in sitting area with plenty of natural light Tiffany Haddish spoke about the loss of comedian Bob Saget during an interview with Extra that was published on Friday. During the sit-down, the 42-year-old performer spoke about how she initially met the late actor during her earlier years and how he was one of her constant sources of encouragement and inspiration. The Full House actor passed this past Sunday in a hotel room in Orlando, Florida at the age of 65, and authorities are still determining a cause of death. Being honest: Tiffany Haddish spoke about the loss of comedian Bob Saget during an interview with Extra that was published on Friday Haddish began by noting that, although things were going well for her professionally, she was saddened by Saget's passing. 'My career is blowing things out of the water, my life, because I'm a human, it feels like it's in shambles, but it's not. I'm just sad because I've had some losses,' she said. She went on to speak about her first time meeting the late performer, which occurred when she was developing her stand-up act. 'My first memory of him is when he came into the comedy camp and I got on stage and to tell some of my jokes,' she recalled. Devastating loss: Haddish began by noting that, although things were going well for her professionally, she was saddened by Saget's passing; he is seen in 2021 Haddish then noted that, although Saget was supportive of her, he was also committed to making sure that she understood the finer points of performing. 'He goes, "Good, that's good. Now keep the time" Like, stick to time. I was going over the time I wanted to tell my whole story,' she said. The Bad Trip actress also shared a shot of herself spending time with the performer on an episode of Friday Night Vibes to her Instagram account on Monday. She wrote a short message in her post's caption to memorialize Saget, which began with: '@bobsaget I am going to miss you so much.' Tough love: Haddish then noted that, although Saget was supportive of her, he was also committed to making sure that she understood the finer points of performing; she is seen in 2021 Haddish then illustrated how important the late comedian was to her development as a performer and comic. 'You have brought so much joy to this planet . You were one of my 1st Great teachers. You always made me feel safe and worthy. You always made me laugh,' she wrote. The Card Counter cast member concluded her message by writing: 'Now you make God and all the Angels laugh I Love you forever!' Haddish also included a video of the two spending time together on Friday Night Vibes, and they spoke about a time when another comic was pushing her to change up her act. Mentor: Haddish then illustrated how important the late comedian was to her development as a performer and comic; she is seen in 2021 She told Saget that, at the time, he 'came right up and said 'Don't you listen to that motherf*****.''' The late comic appeared to be happy that the actress took his advice and told her: 'You've got to follow your voice.' He then recalled: 'One of the first things you said to me is 'I want to be like Richard [Pryor].' I said well okay, this minus some of the drugs ... but you had it in your heart.' Saget made a point of telling Haddish that she 'had the fire in you from the beginning...you can't learn that.' Words of wisdom: The late comic appeared to be happy that the actress took his advice and told her: 'You've got to follow your voice'; she is seen in 2021 The interview's release came just hours after it was revealed that the actress had been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence by Peachtree City, Georgia police officers in the early hours of Friday morning. According to TMZ, law enforcement officials were responding to a call about a driver who had fallen asleep at the wheel. The police later booked her on suspicion of both driving under the influence and improper stopping on a roadway, and they also believed that she had smoked marijuana prior to driving. Haddish only remained in custody for a few hours, and posted $1,666 to bond out of jail at 6:30 in the morning. PHILADELPHIA If you live in Pennsylvania, theres a good chance youve been seeing Mehmet Oz on your television and not like you used to. The celebrity surgeon and former talk show host known as Dr. Oz is pouring millions of dollars into campaign ads as he runs for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, buying up slots during Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, morning news shows and Fox News staples as he tries to grab an early advantage in a sprawling GOP primary. Advertisement Oz has already booked nearly $5 million of ad time from his Nov. 30 campaign launch through early February, drawing some comparisons to Gov. Tom Wolfs big splash in the 2014 Democratic primary. Wolf, a millionaire businessman with almost no political profile, ran a barrage of early ads about himself and his Jeep, and sprinted to the forefront before his rivals even got off the starting line. He never looked back. It was a great example of the power of early communication, said J.J. Balaban, a Democratic messaging strategist from Philadelphia. Advertisement But unlike Wolf, Oz has rivals who can compete with his financial firepower. Two other ultra-wealthy Republican candidates, David McCormick and Carla Sands, are also spending big on television, preventing Oz from having the airwaves, and messaging, to himself. The blasts of cash four months before the primary show the impact of the Republicans candidates immense personal wealth, and signal an extraordinarily expensive and drawn-out campaign, one that could saturate (and maybe overwhelm) viewers with competing information. It could also potentially squeeze candidates in both parties with less to spend. In a state as large as Pennsylvania, covered by more than a half-dozen media markets, television advertising is crucial for reaching a mass of voters, though it isnt always decisive. This level of spending, the pace of spending and the placement of the ads reminds me more of three weeks out from Election Day, and not four months out, said Christopher Nicholas, a Republican strategist based in Harrisburg. The race carries national weight: With incumbent Republican Sen. Pat Toomey retiring, its one of the most competitive Senate contests in the country, and could determine control of the chamber. None of the Republican candidates, including developer Jeff Bartos, conservative commentator Kathy Barnette and attorney George Bochetto, has ever held elected office, so the TV spending comes as they all try to define themselves to voters for the first time. Oz, while famous as a TV personality, has tried to reintroduce himself politically as a conservative outsider, echoing the appeal once used by Donald Trump. McCormick, an Army veteran, calls himself battle-tested, while Sands, the U.S. ambassador to Denmark under Trump, has tried to carry the former presidents ideological banner. Her latest ad attacks President Joe Bidens immigration policies, vowing to fight amnesty. McCormick, who most recently lived in Connecticut and until this month led the worlds largest hedge fund, only formally announced his campaign on Thursday, but had already been on the air. Hes spent $3 million since late December, according to AdImpact, which tracks political advertising. His campaign launch included two new ads, including one aiming to ground him as a down-to-earth Pennsylvanian who grew up in Bloomsburg and hunts and clears hay bales. Advertisement Sands was the first candidate on the air, in October, but has since spent less than her rivals, around $2 million overall, according to AdImpact. She was previously CEO of Vintage Capital, an investment management firm founded by her late husband, Fred Sands. But Oz has led the way. Since entering the race in late November, hes already spent more on television alone than the 2016 Democratic nominee, Katie McGinty, spent on her entire primary campaign during a competitive contest (though she also had significant support on the air from allied campaign groups). Ozs first financial disclosure report, which will show even more spending on other parts of his campaign, is due at the end of the month. Ozs most recent spots, released Thursday, feature him speaking with people at the Pennsylvania Farm Show and on a factory floor pledging, I cant be bought. He also can be seen in another ad in front of the former Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces, saying we need to get America working again. Hes even running a significant share of his ads in the Philadelphia media market, one many candidates shy away from early on because its so expensive and inefficient (the area is heavily Democratic and includes many viewers in New Jersey and Delaware who cant vote in Pennsylvania). It still accounts, though, for about 30% of the vote in Republican primaries, according to Nicholas. McCormick and Sands ads have been more concentrated in other, less pricey areas that tilt more Republican, such as the Harrisburg and Wilkes-Barre markets, as well as the Pittsburgh area. Advertisement Ozs rivals argue that hes advertising so heavily to get ahead of his vulnerabilities and lingering distaste from some of his controversial medical advice. But both Balaban and Nicholas said his image is still malleable when it comes to the Senate race. Hes not known in a political context, Balaban said. Theres a whole swath of voters who have heard his name and may have seen him on TV but have no opinion of him as a U.S. Senator. The big money from the three Republicans isnt likely to slow down. Once campaigns go on the air, they tend to stay on, because if not, the messages fade fast from voters memories, Balaban said. At least three candidates think they have enough money to do this until Election Day because you never start TV advertising and then slow it way down, Nicholas said. Republican rivals have accused the trio of trying to buy the race, particularly when none of them showed up to a Senate candidate forum last week hosted Wednesday by Republicans in Lawrence County, a small county northwest of Pittsburgh, on the Ohio border. They think theyre going to phone in this election from their penthouses, Barnette said at the event. They have no intentions of really spending time with you. Advertisement Bartos, also a multimillionaire, emphasized his work to build support by traveling the state and meeting with grassroots party activists. You cannot help save Main Street in this commonwealth if you cannot find Main Street, he said during the forum. Its a shame that many people didnt show up here tonight. Money and television exposure alone, of course, arent enough to win. Several operatives pointed to the example of billionaire Michael Bloomberg in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, who spent big and crashed quickly because he was out of sync with his partys voters. Tom Knox spent heavily on the 2007 Philadelphia mayoral primary, only to lose to Michael Nutter. You have to do more than just buy TV ads, Nicholas said. The airwaves could quickly get crowded. Along with the candidate spending, Super PACs supporting Oz, Bartos and Bochetto are also lurking, and in some cases starting to hammer rivals. (Such groups cant formally coordinate with the candidates, but can accept donations without the normal federal limits). Last Call Daily Get top headlines from The Morning Call delivered weekday afternoons. > The Democratic Senate race doesnt have as much personal wealth, but Lt. Gov. John Fetterman has emerged as a grassroots fund-raising powerhouse, building up a $5.3 million war chest. Advertisement U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb has said he had $3 million at the end of December, though as of Friday morning neither Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh nor state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta had released their latest fund-raising figures, due at the end of January. Both have trailed in raising money. That race has yet to ramp up on television, but surely will in the coming months. When it comes to TV spending, just because youre first, doesnt mean youre best, Balaban said. But other things being equal, he added, youd rather be the campaign that can do it, than not. (c)2022 The Philadelphia Inquirer Visit The Philadelphia Inquirer at www.inquirer.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. She was spotted attending a Pilates class in the heart of the city with her gal pal Alexa Demie earlier in the day. But Hailey Bieber was ready for some night life as she swung by celeb hotspot Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica on Friday. The 25-year-old model turned heads in a dramatic black leather coat with a fuzzy collar and matching cuffs. Out on the town: Hailey Bieber was ready for some night life as she swung by celeb hotspot Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica on Friday Bieber layered the eye-catching outerwear over a black Prada crop top and a pair of matching high-waisted trousers with a flared leg. Her honey blonde hair was slicked back into a chic bun and she appeared to be wearing little to no makeup. Hailey accessorized with a single pair of gold hoops and a dainty chain necklace. The wife of Justin Bieber gave her look a pop of color by donning a green face mask amid surging coronavirus cases. Hailey has gotten a productive start to the New Year, often attending workout classes and hitting up business meetings around Los Angeles. Fashion-forward: The 25-year-old model turned heads in a dramatic black leather coat with a fuzzy collar and matching cuffs She also recently lent her support to her friend Fai Khadra in celebration of his new sunglasses collaboration. Hailey attended the star-studded launch party on Tuesday with her longtime BFF Kendall Jenner. Kendall, 26, was all legs in a tiny mini skirt while Hailey turned heads in all-leather outfit complete with trench coat. The new sunglasses collaboration between Fai and Oliver consists of five different shades ranging in price from $500 to $560. Friends supporting friends: On Tuesday night, she also indulged in a bit of night life with her best pal Kendall Jenner in support of friend Fai Khadra and his new sunglasses collaboration They are also available in colors ranging from burgundy to emerald bark. Along with supporting her friends, Hailey has proven to be her husband Justin Bieber's number one fan since getting hitched to the star in 2018. Bieber is set to commence his Justice World Tour, after he was forced to postpone it due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2021. The 27-year-old is slated to perform 98 concert across the globe throughout 2022 and into 2023. The tour kicks off on February 18 at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California. Annastacia Palaszczuk made a glamourous entrance at the Magic Millions Race Day on Saturday. The Queensland Premier arrived at the Gold Coast Turf Club alongside her boyfriend, surgeon Dr Reza Adib. The 52-year-old turned heads in a navy toned silk dress with a plunging neckline and a gathered waist. Glamourous: Annastacia Palaszczuk made a glamourous entrance at the Magic Millions Race Day on Saturday. The Queensland Premier arrived at the Gold Coast Turf Club alongside her boyfriend, surgeon Dr Reza Adib. Both pictured The retro style dress featured long, wide sleeves and ruffled detailing around the neckline. She added a pair of gold strappy midi-heels, and wore a pair of dainty earrings while skipping other accessories. Dr Adib looked chic in a pair of cream trousers worn with a white shirt and pink pastel blazer, as well as brown dress shoes. Looking good: The 52-year-old turned heads in a navy toned silk dress with a plunging neckline and a gathered waist. Dr Adib looked chic in a pair of cream trousers worn with a white shirt and pink pastel blazer Palaszczuk also posed alongside Racing Minister Grace Grace, 63, as the pair put politics on hold to enjoy the festivities. The premier revealed in September that she was seeing Dr Adib, the CEO of Brisbane Obesity Clinic - describing him as a 'gorgeous man' who 'makes me happy'. Dr Adib is a multi-millionaire Brisbane doctor who specialises in weight loss surgery. Party time: Palaszczuk also posed alongside Racing Minister Grace Grace, 63, (right) as the pair put politics on hold to enjoy the festivities A look: The retro style dress featured long sleeves and ruffled detailing around the neckline 'He is a very warm and caring, intelligent man with a great sense of humour, and we are just enjoying getting to know each other,' she said. Palaszczuk was first pictured with the dashing Dr Adib at the Caloundra Cup at the Sunshine Coast Turf Club on July 11, leading to speculation the pair were romantically linked. Dr Adib, a general and laparoscopic surgeon, began his career at the Royal Brisbane Hospital in 1994 and established the Brisbane Obesity Clinic in 2004. Katie Holmes wrapped up warm as she stepped out in Soho in New York City on Saturday to do a spot of shopping. The actress, 43, looked effortlessly chic in a khaki green coat and tucked her hands into the sleeves to fight off the bitter cold. She teamed the jacket with a pair of blue denim jean and brown loafers, while toting a black handbag. Bundled up: Katie Holmes wrapped up warm as she stepped out in Soho in New York City on Saturday to do a spot of shopping She swept her chocolate brown locks up in a messy bun and appeared to go makeup free for the outing, letting her natural beauty shine through. Abiding by coronavirus rules, the Dawson's Creek star also sported a black face mask over her mouth and nose. It comes after last week, Katie took to her Instagram Story to share an image of a sign on the side of a building that she had captured on her phone. Fashion forward: The actress, 43, looked effortlessly chic in a khaki green coat and tucked her hands into the sleeves to fight off the bitter cold Looking good: She teamed the jacket with a pair of blue denim jean and brown loafers, while toting a black handbag Sharing a message: Last week, Katie took to her Instagram Story to share an image of a sign on the side of a building that she had captured on her phone The sign featured a quote by dancer and choreographer Twyla Twerp that read, 'Art is the only way to run away without leaving home'. A scattering of snow and slush lined the street and covered nearby newspaper stands. Meanwhile, on her Instagram page, Katie paid tribute to legendary actor Sidney Poitier, who passed away on Friday at the age of 94. Tribute: On her Instagram page, Katie paid tribute to legendary actor Sidney Poitier, who passed away on Friday at the age of 94 Poitier became the first black actor to win a Best Actor Academy Award for his performance in 1964's Lilies of the Field. The mom of one shared a black and white image of Sidney, writing, 'Rest In Peace,' along with several prayers hands emojis. Katie is currently prepping to start production on an adaptation of The Watergate Girl. Development on the project was initially reported by Deadline this past March, when it was made known that the actress would produce and star in the project. The upcoming feature is based on former Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks' autobiography, The Watergate Girl: My Fight For Truth and Justice Against A Criminal President, which was published last year. Watch the iconic series Dawson's Creek, on Stan in Australia. Dakota Fanning cut a casual figure as she arrived on set for the upcoming drama series Ripley in Venice, Italy on Saturday. The actress, 27, is currently in the midst of filming the US Showtime series which is based on the Ripley crime novels by Patricia Highsmith. Dakota bundled up from the chilly weather in a navy blue coat, which she left open to show off her grey jumper underneath. Looking good: Dakota Fanning looked effortlessly trendy as she arrived on set for the upcoming drama series Ripley in Venice, Italy on Saturday She teamed it with a pair of coordinating navy trousers and some smart black shoes. Abiding by coronavirus rules, she also sported a black face mask over her nose and mouth. She wore her blonde locks swept up in an elegant bun, and opted for a natural makeup look as she strolled through the picturesque city. Stylish: The actress, 27, is currently in the midst of filming the US Showtime series which is based on the Ripley crime novels by Patricia Highsmith In the new series, set in the 1960s, Ripley is hired by a wealthy New Yorker to travel to Italy to convince his wayward son Dickie to return home. But along the way, Ripley starts to weave a complex web of deceit with murderous consequences. The drama is being adapted from Highsmith's novels by Schindler's List scribe Steve Zaillan. Dakota who will portray Marge Sherwood, an American living in Italy who starts to suspect Ripley's motives when he shows up looking for her boyfriend Dickie Greenleaf. She will star against Andrew Scott, who will play the titular character of John Ripley. In the 1999 movie The Talented Mr. Ripley, directed by the late Anthony Minghella, starred Matt Damon as Tom Ripley with Gwyneth Paltrow as Marge and Jude Law as Dickie. Cast: Dakota will portray Marge Sherwood, an American living in Italy who starts to suspect Ripley's motives when he shows up looking for her boyfriend Dickie Greenleaf (pictured 2019) The news of Dakota's casting comes on the heels of her joining Showtime's anthology series The First Lady. She's set to play the daughter of President Gerald Ford and First Lady Betty Ford in the show. The former child actress is best known for I Am Sam, Man On Fire, War Of The Worlds and The Twilight Saga. Ripley's US release date in the USA is confirmed to be 2022. A UK release is to be announced. Fiona Falkiner and her fiancee Hayley Willis are both battling Covid-19. The Biggest Loser host revealed a text showing her positive PCR test results in an Instagram Stories post on Saturday. 'And then there three,' the 39-year-old captioned the image, likely referring to herself, Hayley and the couple's nine-month-old son, Hunter. Oh no! Fiona Falkiner and her fiancee Hayley Willis are both battling Covid-19. Pictured with their son on holiday last week Just five days earlier, Hayley, 30, had celebrated not coming down with the virus while the trio were on holiday in Port Douglas, Queensland. 'We swam, we drank, we sweated (a lot), we fine dined with our third wheel because why not,' she wrote on Instagram. 'We sweated some more, swam with a snake in a creek cause straya, juggled airport chaos like a couple of seasoned pros and by some miracle are all still Covid free'. No fun: The Biggest Loser host revealed a text showing her positive PCR test results in an Instagram Stories post on Saturday. 'And then there three,' the 39-year-old captioned the image, likely referring to herself, Hayley and the couple's nine-month-old son, Hunter Hayley posted a series of holiday photos of the women enjoying the summer weather as the slipped into a pool with their son. Fiona had been showing off her recent 12kg weight loss in a skimpy bikinis during the vacation. The model and TV host also celebrated her 39th birthday during the getaway. Oh well! Just five days earlier, Hayley, 30, had celebrated not coming down with the virus while the trio were on holiday in Port Douglas, Queensland. 'By some miracle [we] are all still Covid free' she wrote alongside a series of vacation images 'Best birthday holiday ever! This is 39. Thanks to my beautiful family for making my day so special! Feeling so blessed,' she wrote alongside one holiday photo. Fiona and Hayley announced their son Hunter's birth in March last year, sharing several photos on Instagram of themselves with the newborn. The couple recently revealed they will try for another baby after their wedding. Nicole Kidman is known for her porcelain complexion. But as a child growing up in scorching Australia, she was often forced to stay at home, indoors, while other children played on the beach in the midday sun. Avoiding sunburn led to the 54-year-old creating her own fun, which involved acting out the plays of Russian writer Anton Chekhov. Sun safe: Nicole Kidman (pictured) is known for her porcelain complexion. But as a child growing up in scorching Australia, she was often forced to stay at home, indoors, while other children played on the beach in the midday sun 'I've played every role in Chekhov in my bedroom, at all different hours, day or night,' she told American radio journalist Terry Gross this week. 'Little did I know that that was going to lead me to my vocation' she added. Nicole relies on a combination of daily sunscreen, multi-tasking makeup and beauty supplements in order to ensure she protect her pale visage. Learned young: Avoiding sunburn led to the 54-year-old creating her own fun, which involved acting out the plays of Russian writer Anton Chekhov. 'Little did I know that that was going to lead me to my vocation' she said. Pictured with her sister Antonia (right) as children 'As a fair-skinned girl, I've worn sun cream since I was a kid,' she told Harper's Bazaar recently. Nicole is a huge fan of Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sun-screen Broad Spectrum SPF100+ for her face every single day, even if it's cloudy. Elsewhere on her face, the star said she is strict about taking her makeup off and double cleansing every night. Looking after her face: 'As a fair-skinned girl, I've worn sun cream since I was a kid,' she told Harper's Bazaar recently But if she is having a late night or has been travelling, Nicole isn't averse to using a cleansing wipe in order to make things quick and easy. Nicole also loves to mix high and low-end skin products: 'La Mer creme is my go-to, but I also love Aquaphor. It costs nothing,' she told Allure. The actress mixes and matches the $250 moisturiser with the budget staple in order to get her dewy look. She known to flaunt her figure online. And Lottie Moss, 24, gave a glimpse of her skimpy lingerie over her low-slung jeans as she enjoyed a night out with her friends on Friday. The model sister of Kate Moss, slipped into a mesh paneled corset top and a pair of white cargo trousers for dinner at Ciro's Pizza Pomodoro in Knightsbridge. Revealing: Lottie Moss, 24, flashed her underwear in low waisted trousers as she slipped into a mesh panelled corset and enjoyed a night out with pals in Knightsbridge on Friday Lottie showed off her ample assets in the busty top and layered over a leopard print leather biker jacket to fend off the cold. Her bright blonde hair was styled in loose waves and she added feline flick of black eyeliner to complete her look. She donned a pair of skyscraper leather platform heels as she strutted home from the restaurant. Edgy: Lottie showed off her ample assets in the busty top and layered over a leopard print leather biker jacket Out and about: The model joined pals for dinner at at Ciro's Pizza Pomodoro in Knightsbridge Oh my! She gave a glimpse of her tiny black thong as she pulled her underwear up above her trousers Fun: Lottie added a pair of skyscraper leather platform heels as she strutted home from the restaurant All smiles: The friends had a good night at the Italian restaurant Lively: Lottie and her pals chatted on the path outside Chic: She stopped for a cigarette outside the restaurant This comes as Lottie is dating tattooed Valentino model Teddy Corsica, MailOnline can reveal. The model shared a sultry black and white picture of her fellow catwalk star feeding her a lollipop on Instagram this week. Pals close to Basingstoke-born pin-up Teddy, real name Edward Groucher, claimed the pair started dating following Lottie's split from The Vamps drummer Tristan Evans in November. Night out! Her bright blonde hair was styled in loose waves and she added feline flick of black eyeliner to complete her look Pals: Lottie appeared to be in high spirits Chilly! She zipped up her jacket as the night got cold Skimpy! Lottie does not shy away from revealing attire Opps: Her tiny lingerie peaked over her cargo trousers A source said: 'Lottie and Teddy have been dating for a number of weeks having met on the London fashion scene. 'They hang out around in the same circles and clicked immediately, despite the fact Lottie called him out on social media early on. 'Teddy is a bit of a sofa surfer in London and has a bad boy image within that clique but that doesn't seem to put off Lottie. New romance: This comes as Lottie is dating tattooed Valentino model Teddy Corsica, MailOnline can reveal They added: 'He can smooth talk anyone and it clearly worked with her.' Teddy's was tight-lipped about the blossoming romance. Speaking from her 1.2million farmhouse in rural Hampshire, Catherine Goucher, said: 'No comment' when asked about it. A representative for Lottie has been contacted by MailOnline for comment. Alison Hammond has detailed growing up with her late drug smuggler father Clifford, whom she described as 'shady'. The This Morning presenter, 46, opened up on her dad - who died in 2020 - and his less than savory lifestyle in her book You've Got To Laugh, with excerpts serialised in The Mirror. And in her memoirs, the star recalled spending time with Clifford, who had split from her late mother Maria, and detailed how he was both 'respected and feared' within his community in Jamaica. Memories: Alison Hammond has detailed growing up with her late drug smuggler father Clifford, whom she described as 'shady' Birmingham native Alison's mother only discovered that Clifford, who imported trucks between the UK and the Caribbean, was married with kids once she was pregnant with Alison. And while she was brought up single-handed by her mother, Alison still had contact with her dad, telling of one occasion he visited from Jamaica, coming to her mother's home straight from the airport. She said: 'One day, he came straight to our house from the airport. See these boots?! he said, grinning down at his feet. "These are the most expensive pair of snakeskin boots in the world". "Why are they so expensive?" my mum asked. He bent down, unzipped a boot and a load of ganja fell out. Dad: The This Morning presenter, 46, opened up on her dad - who died in 2020 - and his less than savory lifestyle in her book You've Got To Laugh, with excerpts serialised in The Mirror 'That was my dad! Cliff was charismatic and charming, but he was naughty. Hed illegally bring drugs into the country in the days when people could get away with it, before they introduced sniffer dogs and body scans at the airport.' Despite her fondness for her father, Alison confessed that she was 'embarrassed to admit' that the rolls of cash that he gave her mother upon his visits were probably earned from 'smuggling ganja', with the star remarking: 'So shady!' In her book, Alison - who shot to fame on Big Brother in 2002 - explained how Clifford 'definitely had the lifestyle' and would shower her with gifts and treat her to Chinese takeaways, which at the time was be considered a 'luxury'. And while she was treated like a princess by Clifford, the businessman was treated like a 'king' in his native Jamaica, with his powerful presence leaving residents 'uneasy' - most likely due to the shotgun he carried around with him. Childhood: In her memoirs, the star recalled spending time with Clifford, who had split from her late mother Maria, and detailed how he was both 'respected and feared' in Jamaica Story: While she was brought up single-handed by her mother, Alison still had contact with her dad, telling of one occasion he visited from Jamaica (pictured with mum Maria) She said: 'You could tell by the way people spoke about him that he was respected and feared in the community. They called him Mr Hammond and you could see the unease in their eyes when they spoke to him. Im not surprised, either, because he drove everywhere with a massive shotgun tucked under his pick-up truck. He didnt mess around.' Clifford passed away in June 2020, just four months after Alison's beloved mum Maria lost her battle with liver and lung cancer. Taking to Instagram at the time, the TV presenter told of her sadness at not having spent much time with him and being unable to attend his funeral. She penned: 'This is my real dad, Clifford Hammond, who passed away last week in Jamaica. 'Im saddened that I wont be able to make his funeral and saddened that he wasnt part of my life as much as I would have liked... but I still have a sense of loss and emptiness. Sleep well Daddy, love leaves a memory no one can steal. RIP.' Meanwhile, on Thursday, Alison shared a loving tribute to her mum Maria on the anniversary of her death. The TV personality took to Instagram to mark two years since her late mother passed away from liver and lung cancer. Alongside a snap of her beloved mother in her younger days Alison wrote: 'Mummy Two years today you left me and the pain has never left my heart. So sad: Meanwhile, on Thursday, Alison shared a loving tribute to her mum Maria on the anniversary of her death She continued: 'I love and Miss you sooo much . I hear and feel you all the time . My Angel Maria ' The star was flooded with supportive messages from her close pals and celebrity friends. Holly Willoughby wrote: 'Ah Alison sending huge love to you ' While colleague Ruth Langsford wrote: 'Oh darling.sending you so much love and one of my big hugs. Your Mum was, and always will be. SO proud of you ' Close friend Kate Lawler penned: 'What a beautiful picture of your Mumma. She will be so proud of all you have accomplished since she passed darling x ' Alongside a snap of her beloved mother in her younger days Alison wrote: 'Mummy Two years today you left me and the pain has never left my heart Alison's mum, who was from Guyana, tragically died in January 2020 and the star's dad, who lives in Jamaica, also passed away in June of the same year. Announcing the sad news at the time, the former Big Brother star shared a series of photos of her mum one of which showed her smiling wearing a yellow top while sitting on a hospital bed. Alison wrote: 'I dedicate Valentine's Day to my beautiful , wonderful Mother Maria who passed away from liver and lung cancer.' Sweet: Announcing the sad news at the time, the former Big Brother star shared a series of photos of her mum 'Yesterday my family and I celebrated her amazing life and laid her to rest in a beautiful ceremony she would have been proud of. 'Thank you mummy for giving me the strength to move forward in the knowledge that your ok and with God in Heaven now. I will always remember you and try and make you proud. I love you mum.' The star added on Twitter: 'RIP my best friend and Living Angel please come to my dreams.' Shay Mitchell put on a leggy display for dinner with her boyfriend Matte Babel at Craig's in West Hollywood on Friday night. The Pretty Little Liars alum kept her look minimal and paired an oversized gray blazer with clear heels. Shay slicked her long brown hair back in ma tight ponytail. Following the local mask mandates, the 34-year-old actress was seen in a rose gold face covering, only removing it once she was in the car with her 41-year-old boyfriend, Matte Babel. Legs on display: Shay Mitchell put on a leggy display for dinner with her boyfriend Matte Babel at Craig's in West Hollywood on Friday night The actors' have been dating since 2017 and welcomed their daughter together, Atlas, 2, in October 2019. Although their relationship is going strong, the Beis designer doesn't think marriage is in the cards for her. 'There's no pressure here,' she said to E! News in August. 'I love it. I love the fact that we come home and every day I'm like, "I choose you and you choose me." It keeps us on our toes. I'm like, "Hey, I can walk out. I don't need to go through a lawyer, I can just walk out." And same with him. It keeps it sexy.' The chic look: The Pretty Little Liars actress kept her look minimal and paired an oversized gray blazer with clear heels. Shay slicked her long brown hair back in ma tight ponytail Mom and dad: Following the local mask mandates, the 34-year-old actress was seen in a rose gold face covering, only removing it once she was in the car with her 41-year-old boyfriend The Dollface actress launched her own travel brand, Beis, in 2018. The line makes sleek carry-on and check-in roller bags, totes and weekenders. 'Ive been traveling since I was a teenager and was always a bit frustrated by the travel accessories on the market,' Shay said to Forbes. 'I always felt like the bags I was finding were either out of my price range, looked good but lacked function, or were ugly and super packed with features. As I got older, I found more and more that there were no options of chic looking, highly functional AND affordable items in the travel category. This was the white space opportunity that I wanted to carve out with BEIS.' Shoutout to Matte: Shay posted a few snaps from her family vacation with her daughter and boyfriend in Jamaica for New Year's Mother and daughter: Shay and actor Matte Babel welcomed their daughter, Atlas, in October 2019 Daisy Lowe struck a sultry pose as she stripped totally naked for a sensational social media snap on Saturday. The model, 32, covered her modesty with her arms as she posed in a mirror while standing in a bathroom with red roses emblazoned across the walls. She could be seen standing with her arm behind her head as she covered her modesty with the other in the snap from her trip to California with boyfriend Jordan Saul, also 32, which she captioned: 'Jet Lag Diaries.' Sizzling: Model Daisy Lowe, 32, struck a sultry pose as she stripped totally naked for a sensational social media snap on Saturday Daisy and Jordan flew to America for a break together earlier this month. And the fashionista gave her followers a glimpse at their break as she posted photos from when the couple dined out together and shopped at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, California. The pair sat in the red booths at the restaurant and walking outside the shops at the world-famous hotel. Jet set: The fashionista gave her followers a glimpse at their break as she posted photos from when they shopped at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, California Keeping it casual: Daisy was in a cheerful mood as she walked around the resort in the golden sunshine Daisy's post comes after she cosied up to beau Jordan for a New Year's post as they saw out 2021. The star slipped into a daring black dress, which included cut-out elements on the back and by the outfit's revealing slit. While she flaunted her sensational curves, Jordan placed his hands on her hips as the couple posed for the sexy snap. Out for the night: The pair sat in the red booths at the restaurant and walking outside the shops at the world-famous hotel Love life: Daisy stared dating Jordan in June 2020, with the couple often sharing cosy pictures on social media In another snap, the smitten pair stopped to take a photograph while on a date night, London-born Daisy's natural beauty shining through as she captured the moment. For another album highlight, which was captioned '2022 here we go ', the runway beauty used a black-and-white filter for a close-up feature as she exhibited her modelling finesse for a sexy bikini snap. The model took to Instagram in June to mark their first anniversary and reveal to her followers how she met her beau with a sweet post where she called Jordan her 'hero'. '2022 here we go': Daisy Lowe posed in a sultry dress with beau Jordan Saul as she looked forward to the new year with a slew of cosy snaps on Tuesday Memories: In another snap, the smitten pair stopped to take a photograph while on a date night, London-born Daisy's natural beauty shining through as she captured the moment She captioned the upload: 'A year ago today I went to meet @misstilda for a walk on the Heath. But I was running a little late- Mercury was in retrograde [crying laughing emoji]. 'When I arrived, Monty ran straight towards a very handsome Belgium shepherd, attached to this handsome dog was a rather handsome man. 'I dawdled around having some dog chat we ended up walking together for a couple of hours, what a dog walk!' Love: The model took to Instagram in June to mark their first anniversary and reveal to her followers how she met her beau with a sweet post where she called Jordan her 'hero' She continued: 'Here we are a year later, through countless lockdowns, adventures, disasters and triumphs. You @jordanjaysaul have been my hero. 'Through and through. Thanks for feeling like home & always making me giggle even when I really dont want to! Its my absolute favourite making you laugh so much your legs give way. 'I am very happy I was 5 mins late to meet Tilds that day & I am so very grateful you are mine. Happy anniversary my pain in the ass. I love you .' [sic]'. A man charged in three separate Northampton County cases involving burglary, rape and an attempted sexual offense now faces sexual assault charges in a Montgomery County case, authorities said. Clement Swaby, 35, of the 600 block of Hayes Street, Bethlehem, is in county jail under a total of $1.5 million bail, court records show. Advertisement Swaby is charged with involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, nonconsensual aggravated indecent assault and nonconsensual indecent assault, aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault on an unconscious person, burglary and criminal trespassing in a 2019 incident in West Conshohocken, police there said in a criminal complaint filed Jan. 5. Involuntary deviate sexual intercourse does not involve penetration, unlike rape. According to a police affidavit: Advertisement On the morning of Sept. 6, 2019, Swaby, a Lyft driver, drove a group of college friends from a bar to a residence in the 100 block of Moorehead Avenue. The friends ate and then went to bed, leaving the woman to sleep on the living room couch since she was a guest there. Last Call Daily Get top headlines from The Morning Call delivered weekday afternoons. > The woman told police Swaby entered the residence and approached her, identifying himself as the bud guy. She said he then assaulted her and that she was half-asleep and too intoxicated to fight him off. Later that morning, she asked her friends if anyone knew the bud guy, to which they said they knew no such person. She told them she had been assaulted and they suspected the Lyft driver, whose information she had from the payment transaction stored in her phone app. That information included Swabys photo, which resembled the man she said assaulted her. She texted Swaby and asked him if he entered the house after dropping her and her friends off. He texted back, saying he entered the house around 3:30 a.m., but left because the weed guy was there and had a cocky attitude, the affidavit states. She and her friends told police they were eating at that time and recalled no one else coming into the house. The woman later reported the incident to police, who were able to trace Swaby after contacting the agency through which he had leased the Lyft vehicle. She submitted her clothing on which police found DNA matching Swabys, which is in the criminal database. West Conshohocken police learned Swaby is charged in three other cases with burglarizing residences and committing or attempting to commit sexual offenses at knifepoint against women living there. Hes charged in a May 2020 incident in Bethlehem and February and March incidents at neighboring apartments in Easton. The women were all college students. In all cases, he identified himself as a marijuana supplier or someone looking for a marijuana supplier, authorities said. Swaby is also being investigated in a similar 2016 incident in Florida state. Morning Call reporter Andrew Scott can be reached at 610-820-6508 or ascott@mcall.com. Film producers are planning a woke version of the Harry Potter movies in which the magical characters will be played by transgender and non-binary actors. In what will be seen by many as a challenge to J.K. Rowling, who was attacked for questioning the claim that trans women are identical to biological women, the filmmakers are seeking a more diverse line-up for the starring roles. They are insisting that some of the characters for the new versions to be aired as a web series cannot be played by white actors, including the starring role of James Potter, father of young wizard Harry. According to casting notes, that role is only open to an actor who is Asian, black, African descent, ethnically ambiguous, multiracial, Indigenous peoples, Latino, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, South Asian, Indian, Southeast Asian or Pacific Islander. Producers have not specified who they want to play Lily Evans, Harrys mother, but have said they want a gender-nonconforming, non-binary, trans female. American film producers are planning to release a new Harry Potter movie featuring transgender and non-binary actors. Pictured, original cast members Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, who are not involved in this new production JK Rowling, pictured, is not believed to have allowed the movie's producers to use her creations leading to the possibility of a court case with Ms Rowling protecting her copyright Casting sheets for Sirius Black, originally played by Gary Oldman in the movie adaptations, call for a non-white actor. All genders can audition for the part. The projects creator, TikTok video producer Megan Mckelli, said: We aim to reflect the diversity of the fanbase in its beloved characters, introducing people of colour, queer storylines, and characters of differing faiths. But the producers, who are based in the US, are almost certain to face a legal battle from Ms Rowling, who is not believed to have granted permission for them to use her characters. While the filmmakers have written their own script, which does not feature Harry played by Daniel Radliffe in the original films alongside Emma Watson as Hermione Granger and Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley as the central character, it is based on the books written by Ms Rowling, who guards her copyright. Her characters such as Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Marlene McKinnon and Dorcas Meadowes will feature in the series, due to be filmed in the Pacific Northwest area of America in June and July. Lupin, say producers, can be played by all genders, but Pettigrew must be played by a gender non-conforming, non-binary, trans male. It is not yet known when the series will be screened but Ms Mckelli has hired LA-based casting agent Hannah Schill. Ms Rowling, 56, did not respond to requests for comment about the venture. Advertisement Kanye West has claimed he was not 'allowed to know' the location of his daughter Chicago's fourth birthday party in a video he recorded on Saturday. West - who shares Chicago and three other children with his estranged wife Kim Kardashian - made the allegations as he drove around town, seemingly in search of the party. However, in video posted to Atiana de la Hoya's Instagram account, Kanye could be seen attending the party. Kanye West claimed the location of his daughter Chicago's birthday party was withheld from him in a rambling video he recorded on Saturday However, in video posted to Atiana de la Hoya's Instagram account, Kanye could be seen attending the party 'I'm just wishing my daughter a public happy birthday. I wasn't allowed to know where her party was,' Kanye said in the video. 'There's nothing legal that saying that this is the kind of games that's being played, it's the kind of thing that really has affected my health for the longest and I'm just not playing, I'm taking control of my narrative this year. 'I was supposed to be in Miami recording my album. My whole schedule is all based around on me being able to take my kids to school, me being there for them, making sure that I'm in their life, that's the whole point, I have the money they take so many fathers just throughout America, they've been taking the fathers out of homes purposely so I'm speaking up, I'm using my voice to say, "This ain't going to keep happening, this narrative and that... happened." 'It's a lot of people that's not in a position where they ain't got no voice when people be playing games like this, baby mamas be playing games, the grandmas will be playing games like this, and it's like as y'all know, that ain't going to play like that with me.' However, in video posted to Atiana de la Hoya's Instagram account, Kanye could be seen attending the party West - who shares Chicago and three other children with estranged wife Kim Kardashian - recorded his thoughts as he drove around town, seemingly in search of the party, in the video Sources, however, say Kim and Kanye had actually planned on having two separate parties for their daughter. Kanye was set to have his party Saturday at 4PM. However, it was news to Kim and the rest of the family that he had made a video alleging he had not been invited. The insider says the invite allegations were untrue, and Kanye was given the information about the second party once he decided to come. He is now in attendance. Sources, however, say Kim and Kanye had actually planned on having two separate parties for their daughter Having a chat: Kanye appeared in good spirits chatting with Jenner Kardashian didn't publicly respond to the drama on social media, where she uploaded a sweet birthday tribute to her little girl and documented the party throughout the day. 'My birthday baby girl Chi Chi turns 4 today! My independent baby girl twin. You are the most lovable huggable snuggable baby girl on the planet,' she captioned a slideshow of photos with her youngest daughter. She continued: 'The ultimate princess! I cant wait to celebrate with all of the Barbies and LOL Dolls a girl could dream of lol. You really have brought so much joy into our family and I love you so so soooo much!!!!' Proud mama: Kardashian didn't publicly respond to the drama on social media, where she uploaded a sweet birthday tribute to her little girl and documented the party throughout the day 'My birthday baby girl Chi Chi turns 4 today! My independent baby girl twin. You are the most lovable huggable snuggable baby girl on the planet,' she captioned a slideshow of photos with her youngest daughter Yum! Kim's sister Khloe Kardashian shared photos of the joint birthday of her nieces Chicago and Stormi, who is the three-year-old daughter of Kylie Jenner Wow: Khloe snapped a picture of her daughter True having fun next a massive ball pit at the bash In a statement to Page Six, Kim's divorce lawyer Laura Wasser shutdown any notion that the children are being 'kept' from Kanye. 'Mr. West being kept from the children, by security or anyone else, is news to us. Both parties' priority has always been the children maintaining strong bonds with each of their parents throughout this transition and beyond,' the statement read. A source also told TMZ that all that Kim 'has asked Kanye to do is call ahead of time when he wants to come to her house to see the children' because she 'simply wants some structure in order to protect her right to privacy in her home.' Alleged: In an extended clip obtained by ET , the rapper claimed that he 'couldn't come inside' Kim's house on Monday to visit with daughter North, eight, because her 'security stopped me at the gate'; Kim and Kanye pictured in 2020 West continued: 'Earlier this week, Monday, when I went to go pick my kids up from [sic] school, the security stopped me at the gate. 'So at that point, security was in between me and my children and that's what was not going to happen,' he claimed to the host. 'But I didn't want to argue about it. So I just chilled, took my kids to school, and then took my kids back. I am driving. I bring them back and North was like, 'I want you to come upstairs and see something.' And it's like, 'Oh, Daddy can't come see something. Daddy can't come inside.' But that hadn't been defined. 'My daughter wanted me to go inside. I was like, I am the richest Black man and North's father, right, and the security was able to stop me from going into the room with my daughter and that had not been defined. The former couple share four children together which they are currently co-parenting; North, eight, Saint, six, Chicago, three, and Psalm, two 'And I am hearing that the new boyfriend is actually in the house that I can't even go to.' Kanye then claimed that he called on two of his female 'cousins' to speak to security on his behalf. 'That's where I call my cousins. And my cousins is real opinionated, you know that. And I said, 'I need you to go and say these two things: Security ain't going to be in between me and my children, and my children ain't going to be on TikTok without my permission.'' He insisted that the alleged confrontation between Kardashian's 'security' and his 'female cousins; was 'non-aggressive' and that he 'simply' wanted to relay some things to his estranged partner. West said he had 'two female cousins' relay to Kim's 'security' that 'his children ain't going to be on TikTok without my permission'; North and Kim pictured on TikTok 'Just to say really simply like, look, for us to be - Certain words I don't like, co-parent - like, from where I am from, you're my baby mama. So for us to be cordial and civil, there are certain things that are not finna be done and be done under the rug,' Kanye said. Later in the interview, Kanye once again alluded to Kim's beau Pete Davidson by bringing up the kiss they shared during a Saturday Night Live sketch when she hosted back in October. 'This is for anybody that's going through a separation, and people intentionally do things to be mean and hurt you to be playing games,' he said. 'How you gonna bring me to SNL and kiss the dude you dating right in front of me, and everybody's like, ''Aw, that's cool.'' Not happy: Kanye recently alluded to Kim's beau Pete Davidson by bringing up the kiss they shared during a Saturday Night Live sketch when she hosted back in October (pictured) He continued: 'I can have my principles and things I've changed things, and I backslide, and I haven't been the best Christian and things the media can make seem some kind of ways But at the end of the day, I'm Jesus gang. 'I'm about family, just me and my kids, parenting. And I mean, my kids' mom we not together. I'm still gonna be the best dad.' Sweet: Kanye West , 44, is reportedly planning to tear down the home he has purchased for a whopping $4.5 million across the street from his estranged wife Kim Kardashian, 41, and their kids (Kim and Kanye pictured with North and Saint) The comments come after reports claimed Kanye is still 'pursuing' his ex Kim, despite having moved on in a new relationship with Julia Fox. For the most part, the former couple's divorce has gone smoothly, and the former couple had been acting cordially towards each this past year. There have also been reports that Kim is happy that Kanye has found a new love interest in Uncut Gems star Julia, giving the relationship her full blessing. However, West surprised fans by releasing a diss track aimed at Kardashian's new boyfriend Pete, threatening to 'beat his a**' over the weekend. David M. Shribman is the former executive editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Follow him on Twitter @ShribmanPG Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription and are still unable to access our content, please link your digital account to your print subscription If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. As we have come to the close of an extremely challenging two-year period for our great commonwealth, one would predict that our states current financial position would likely be challenged as well. Yet, according to the Independent Fiscal Offices 2021 Economic and Budget Outlook, state revenues continue to exceed expectations, currently ahead by $1 billion or 5.7%. Additionally, the IFO is predicting general fund surpluses for the next two fiscal years. Advertisement How we got here is the product of the time-tested public private partnership. The fortitude of Pennsylvanians to continue to produce in the face of adversity, and the proactive fiscal management and responsible budget principles advanced by state government, helped to stabilize Pennsylvanias economy during the pandemic while also managing federal stimulus funding to meet core obligations and community needs. Advertisement The unprecedented times the commonwealth faced required the formulation and advancement of five appropriations acts developed by the Senate Appropriations Committee during a 14-month period. These bipartisan plans addressed our recurring obligations and programmatic needs, structured federal stimulus distributions to meet community need and charted a responsible future fiscal path. Pat Browne (Morning Call File Photo) Members of the state House and Senate gather in a joint session in the Capitol building in Harrisburg. (Chris Knight / AP) The final act of these five was the enactment of the 2021-22 state budget in June. No new or increased taxes or issuance of additional debt are included in this years budget. Based on the latest projections, the commonwealth will be able to maintain its financial footing through 2022-23 provided policymakers follow the same principles that have carried us through the pandemic: restrained spending growth; prioritization of remaining federal stimulus funding to meet core obligations; and prudent use of the commonwealths Rainy Day Fund. The IFOs November update shows a projected 2021-22 ending balance of $5.1 billion, a $2.4 billion increase from its July 2021 projections. This new projection is due to better-than-anticipated revenues and increased medical assistance payments from the federal government. However, not all of the reports information was as rosy. While revenues continue to outpace estimates, the commonwealth still has a yearly recurring structural deficit problem, as projected annual expenditures driven largely by low-income health and long-term care costs outpace projected annual revenues. The IFOs projections show that once federal American Rescue Plan relief is exhausted at the end of 2022-23, the commonwealth will face a negative year-end balance of nearly $2 billion yearly from 2023-24 through 2026-27. The reason is largely two factors: the states demographic trends and increases in vital federally mandated costs. Advertisement The IFO reports that by 2025, Pennsylvanias working population will have decreased by 203,000 people or 1.9% over the previous 10 years, while our post-working population will have grown by 677,000 people or 31.1% over that same period. The ramifications of these demographic changes are dramatic increased costs for the vital care of our aging population and decreased tax receipts from a reduction in the number of people working in the state. This is resulting in Pennsylvanias health care and long-term care costs outpacing our incoming revenues year over year. To reverse the current demographic trends, we must continue to advance strategies that attract businesses to the commonwealth and encourage the expansion of growth-sector businesses already in Pennsylvania as a means of retaining and attracting young people. Renewed investment in Pennsylvanias diverse public and private higher education sector that is targeted at student post-graduate economic performance will be a keystone of any growth agenda. While the Lehigh Valley and Southeast Pennsylvania are fortunate to be growing regions with continued investment in workforce needs and job opportunities, not everywhere across the state is experiencing the same trends. Advertisement Encouraging new investments in areas of the state that lost population and job opportunities is vital to the commonwealths overall well-being. The federal $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Act will deliver much-needed funding over the next five years and should play a key role in the redevelopment of struggling economic centers across Pennsylvania. The Senate Appropriations Committee will be proactive in developing plans to distribute that funding to encourage investment in the Lehigh Valley and in our states most economically challenged areas. The commonwealth has already begun this important work with the creation of the nations first broadband development authority. This entity is charged with developing a broadband plan that deploys funding across the states unserved and underserved areas. I was pleased to have played a leadership role in crafting the enacted broadband authority legislation, along with legislation targeted to expand access to 5G technology to every Pennsylvanian. A promising financial future for the commonwealth will depend on the continued execution of strong growth and investment strategies. Advertisement Following those same fiscal management principles advanced by the Senate Appropriations Committee that helped the commonwealth manage through the pandemic is crucial to ensuring Pennsylvanias future continues on the brightest path. Pat Browne is a Republican state senator from the 16th District, representing constituents in parts of Lehigh County. Newly unredacted documents from a state-led antitrust lawsuit against Google accuse the search giant of colluding with rival Facebook to manipulate online advertising sales. The CEOs of both companies were aware of the deal and signed off on it, the lawsuit alleges. The original, redacted lawsuit, filed in December 2021, accused Google of anti-competitive conduct and of teaming up with the social networking giant. But the unredacted version offers details on the involvement of Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in approving the deal. Facebook has since renamed itself Meta. According to the lawsuit, Facebook's chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, was explicit that this is a big deal strategically'" in a 2018 email thread about the deal that included Facebook's CEO. While the names of the Facebook executives are still redacted in the suit, their titles are visible. Also Read: Twitter, Meta, others subpoenaed in US Capitol riot probe When the two sides hammered out the terms of the agreement, the team sent an email addressed directly to CEO Zuckerberg, the lawsuit states. We're nearly ready to sign and need your approval to move forward, the email read, according to the complaint. Zuckerberg wanted to meet with Sandberg and his other executives before making a decision, the complaint states. In a statement, Google spokesperson Peter Schottenfels said the lawsuit is full of inaccuracies and lacks legal merit. In September 2018, the complaint says, the two companies signed the agreement. Sandberg, who was once the head of Google's ad business, and Pichai personally signed off on the deal, per the states' complaint. Meta spokesperson Chris Sgro said Friday that the company's ad bidding agreement with Google and similar agreements it has with other bidding platforms have helped to increase competition for ad placements. These business relationships enable Meta to deliver more value to advertisers while fairly compensating publishers, resulting in better outcomes for all, Sgro said. Also Read: India's talent will help us create 'better' Metaverse: Mark Zuckerberg Internally, Google used the code phrase Jedi Blue to refer to the 2018 agreement, according to the lawsuit. Google kept this code phrase secret. Google's Schottenfels said the lawsuit's allegation that Pichai approved the deal with Facebook "isn't accurate. We sign hundreds of agreements every year that don't require CEO approval, and this was no different, he said, adding that the agreement was never a secret. The lawsuit is led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and was joined by the attorneys general of Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah. Watch the latest DH Videos here: A day after the EC reduced the period for registration of new political parties, the AAP on Saturday said its claim stood vindicated and accused the poll panel of relaxing the norms in the middle of the elections to damage the poll prospects of the Arvind Kejriwal-led party in Punjab "under a conspiracy". The AAP had on Thursday claimed that the Election Commission (EC) was going to register a new political party by bringing changes in its rules at the behest of the BJP in the middle of elections to stop the party from winning assembly polls in Punjab and forming its government in the state, an allegation the poll panel later dismissed, terming it "factually incorrect". Addressing a press conference at the party's headquarters here on Saturday, AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadha asked the EC and the BJP to disclose the name of the "political morcha" for which the rules were changed "overnight". The AAP leader, however, refused to name the political party in question, saying it will soon be known to everybody. The EC on Friday announced the reduction of notice period for registration of new political parties in the five poll-going states from 30 days to 7 days, keeping in view difficulties caused by Covid-19-induced curbs. Also read: Parties lay out their poll road map with ticket list in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab "The Election Commission of India came with a circular on January 14 saying that it has reduced the 30-day notice period to 7 days in view of the political parties facing some difficulties in submitting their registration form and completing other formalities due to Covid-19 pandemic," Chadha told reporters on Saturday. "With this, the AAP's prediction, apprehension, suspicion, information has turned into belief," the AAP leader said, terming the Commission's notification "documentary evidence" of the claims that AAP had made in this on Thursday. Raising objections to the Election Commission's decision, Chadha, who is co-in charge of the AAP's political affairs in Punjab, alleged that the EC has brought in changes in its rules to register a new political party "under a conspiracy" to defeat "the AAP and Arvind Kejriwal's honest politics" in the assembly polls. "Under a big conspiracy, a new political party is being registered, perhaps to cut the votes of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)... This is our apprehension. It is bothering us," he said He asked both the poll panel and the BJP to disclose the name of the party for whose registration the rules were relaxed "overnight". "Who are those political people, political forces who want to see AAP defeated at any cost? I want to ask both the Election Commission and the BJP... People have the right to know in democracy. The Election Commission going to register a new party overnight so that it cuts the AAP's votes," he said. Replying to a question on whether the party now plans any legal course of action against the poll panel's decision, Chadha said that the AAP will take the issue to the people's court, instead of approaching the court of law. The AAP leader claimed that the EC "never" registered a new political party by bringing changes in its rules "in the middle of elections and after the announcement of the dates of polls". However, the EC in its statement on Thursday had said that it relaxed the notice period in view of the pandemic during the assembly polls in Bihar, Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Noting that it had recently announced the schedule for assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur on January 8, the poll panel said, "It has been brought to the notice of the commission that in view of prevailing restrictions on account of Covid-19, there was dislocation and delay in moving applications for registration, which in turn led to delay in registration as a political party." After considering all aspects, the commission has given a relaxation and has reduced the notice period from 30 days to seven days for the parties which have published their public notice on or before January 8. "For all parties, including those parties which have already published the public notice in less than 7 days prior to January 8, objection, if any, can be submitted latest by 5.30 pm on January 21, or by the end of the originally provided 30 days period, whichever is earlier," the statement added. Watch the latest DH Videos here: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday took a jibe at the BJP's decision to field Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from the Gorakhpur constituency, saying the saffron party has already sent him home. Gorakhpur is the hometown of Adityanath. He had been the MP from Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat since 1998 until he became the chief minister in 2017. Speaking to reporters here, the SP chief said, "As far as contesting elections is concerned, earlier it was said that he (Adityanath) will contest from Mathura, Prayagraj, Ayodhya or Deoband. I am happy that the BJP has already sent him home (Gorakhpur) Also Read | Yogi Adityanath to contest UP polls from Gorakhpur Although he is in Gorakhpur, he had a ticket dated March 11 (counting of votes on March 10) booked for it earlier. I think that he should stay back in Gorakhpur and there is no need for him to return (to Lucknow). Heartiest congratulations," Yadav said. The SP chief further said no MLAs or ministers quitting the BJP will be taken into his party anymore. "I would tell the BJP that I am no longer going to take BJP MLAs or ministers (into SP), you can cut their tickets," he said. However, he later said that a BJP leader will soon be joining the SP but did not reveal his name. When asked about former Uttar Pradesh minister Dara Singh Chauhan, who recently quit the BJP, Yadav said that he will soon join the SP. Former Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister and prominent OBC leader Swami Prasad Maurya on Friday joined the Samajwadi Party along with another rebel minister Dharam Singh Saini. Five BJP MLAs and Apna Dal (Sonelal) legislator Amar Singh Chaudhary also joined the SP in the presence of Yadav. Also Read | Exodus impact: Modi may replace Yogi as BJP mascot in Uttar Pradesh Yadav's statements came after the BJP announced the names of 107 candidates for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls and fielded Adityanath from the Gorakhpur (Urban) assembly constituency. The party has named candidates for the seats going to polls in the first two phases. The list was released by BJP's Uttar Pradesh in-charge and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan along with party general secretary Arun Singh during a press conference at the party's headquarters in Delhi. Pradhan said Adityanath will be the BJP's candidate from Gorakhpur city and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya from Sirathu. Both are currently members of the state's legislative council. Elections for the 403-member Uttar Pradesh assembly are scheduled to be held in seven phases starting from February 10. Check out DH's latest videos: Congress candidate from Meerut assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh Archana Gautam, who had represented India in 'Miss Bikini 2018' and had won 'Miss UP 2014' besides acting in several films and serials, has taken strong exception to the alleged attempts to tarnish her image through posting of her pictures in bikini on social media platforms. 26-year-old Archana has urged the people not to "mix" her profession with his "political career." ''The two are different....I have entered politics to serve the people,'' she added. Social media was flooded with Archana's pictures in bikini outfits almost immediately after her name figured in the Congress' first list of candidates released on Friday. Some netizens also posted objectionable remarks on her. Archan will contest from Hastinapur (reserve) constituency in the forthcoming assembly polls. Born at Nagla Harairu village in Meerut district, Archana had studied engineering before migrating to Mumbai to try her luck in Bollywood. She joined Congress a few months ago. Also read: UP polls: Right-wing groups slam Congress for fielding 'bikini model' from Hastinapur ''I was very much impressed by Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's slogan ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon (I am a girl and I can fight) and decided to join the Congress,'' she added. Archana expressed concern over the use of religion for political gains and said that she wanted to contribute toward establishing a society in which every religion was respected. Congress has also condemned attempts to tarnish the image of its nominee. ''In the past also Bollywood actors have contested elections...it seems some people are perturbed over her candidature and feel that she can defeat their nominee,'' said a senior UP Congress leader here. Congress' first list of nominees included Unnao rape survivor's mother Asha Singh, anti-CAA activist Sadaf Zafar, Tribal leader Ramraj Gond and Asha worker Poonam Pandey. Watch the latest DH Videos here: By Naomi Kresge and Tim Loh, After two years of contagion and death, Covid is shifting again. Omicron is spreading faster than any previous variant, but its also proving less malevolent. Theres growing talk that the worst pandemic of the past century may soon be known in another way as endemic. Spain threw out the idea this week, when Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said its time to think about new ways of living with Covid long term, such as the world does with the flu. Other countries jumped in, saying they may be moving toward a new chapter of the disease. Also Read | Omicron less severe even for unvaccinated, claims South African study Health experts, however, are preaching caution, saying theres too much uncertainty about how the virus will evolve, how much immunity society has built up and potential damage if people stop being careful. Its inevitable that governments will eventually need to regard Covid as one of many public health challenges that can be managed rather than one requiring the urgency and focus devoted since early 2020. The appetite for economically damaging lockdowns is long gone. Vaccines are protecting swathes of the population, and theres even hope that omicron, with its frenetic spread and less powerful punch, may be hastening the path to the pandemics exit. Also Read | 2021's mistakes being repeated in 3rd Covid wave; unnecessary medication should be avoided, doctors say We probably are starting to see a transition phase toward this becoming an endemic disease, which doesnt mean that we have to stop being very prudent, Spains deputy prime minister, Nadia Calvino, told Bloomberg Television. But it does signal that we should take measures that are very different to the ones we had to take two years ago. Its not just governments hoping 2022 is the year Covid can finally move to the back burner of public discourse. A weary public is also desperate to escape, and Internet searches for the term endemic have jumped in recent weeks. Endemic would mean the disease is still circulating, but at a lower, more predictable rate and with fewer people landing in hospitals. The term sometimes means a disease is limited to a specific region, but that doesnt have to be the case with Covid, just as the flu regularly crisscrosses the globe. Seasonal patterns can happen, too, with higher cases in winter, as well as local outbreaks above the expected norm. At the least, there are reasons to hope that the pandemics grip is loosening. The world has more tools than before, from rapid tests to the ability to update and mass produce vaccines, plus rising levels of immunity through inoculation and earlier bouts of Covid. While antibodies may dwindle, or even fail to stop infections from new variants, the other major weapon of the immune system T cells appears to be robust enough to prevent serious disease. Also Read | Poorer nations dump millions of close-to-expiry Covid-19 vaccines: UNICEF Multiple studies, meanwhile, point to omicron as being less severe than previous strains. Beyond that, it appears to already be burning out in some places. The rate of new infections in South Africa is falling after Decembers surge, while hospital admissions in the UK are leveling off. Such evidence is encouraging in some ways, but we have to stay very vigilant, said Noubar Afeyan, co-founder of Moderna Inc. The vaccine maker is preparing an omicron-specific booster that could be ready to enter trials within weeks, he said. Reaching the endemic phase is possible this year, but theres still uncertainty. The World Health Organization, for one, is urging caution. Despite the global vaccine push -- now approaching 10 billion doses administered -- there are massive gaps. More than 85% of the population of Africa hasnt received any dose, while 36 WHO member states havent even reached 10% coverage. Its even an issue albeit to a lesser degree in some developed countries. Germany still has 3 million people over the age of 60 that havent been fully vaccinated, in most instances by personal choice. Also Read | Covid-19 deaths: Unvaccinated, partially vaccinated paying the price Uncontrolled spread of Covid would therefore lead to too many otherwise avoidable deaths, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said Friday. There is still no reason to sound the all-clear, he said. In the US, its also too soon to start talking about the next phase. While countries where omicron spiked earlier are seeing some numbers ease, the US isnt there yet, according to Chris Beyrer, a professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Its also possible that people infected with omicron arent building up much immunity in the face of whats to come. The harder-hitting delta could surge back, or combine with omicron to create a new hybrid. We still have a virus thats evolving quite quickly, said Catherine Smallwood, senior emergency officer at WHO Europe. It may become endemic in due course, but pinning that down to 2022 is a little bit difficult at this stage. Even without an official declaration downgrading the health emergency, governments may soon start behaving as if that were the case. While Chinas zero-Covid policy is an outlier, most countries are keen to step back from intrusive measures, with many citing low fatalities relative to previous waves. Governments are also coming around to the idea that draconian measures just dont work the way they used to. France closed its borders to the UK in mid-December to try to protect it from omicron, to little effect. The country recorded almost 370,000 cases one day this week, and the restrictions are being eased. As governments pull back, the onus will increasingly fall on individuals, through self-testing, mask-wearing and calls to voluntarily limit social interactions. The UK, which has long had a light touch for restrictions, is among the countries pushing in this direction. This week, England joined others by cutting the Covid self-isolation period to five days. David Heymann, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, this week highlighted the UK as a good example of living with the virus, but he noted that there isnt a single timeframe for everyone because countries are moving at very different speeds. We cant predict where variants will occur, and we cant predict what their virulence or their transmissibility will be, he said. It could certainly be a bumpy road. We just dont know. Check out DH's latest videos: The Taliban-led government in Afghanistan has denied a new Human Rights Watch (HRW) report which said that the fall of the country to the new regime has accelerated human rights crises and humanitarian catastrophe. In a statement on Friday, Taliban deputy spokesman Bilal Karimi alleged that the human rights situation has become better compared to the previous years in the country, TOLO News reported. "We deny it because since the Islamic Emirate swept into power, the rights of women have been maintained. These reports are published based on false information," Karimi added. Also Read: Taliban seeking greater role in distribution of foreign aid HRW in its World Report 2022 released on Thursday said the political change in Afghanistan on August 15, 2021 accelerated human rights crises and humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan. The report further said that the two most significant achievements of the post-2001 era progress in women's rights and a free press were rolled back after Taliban takeover. The HRW also raised concerns over what it called further restrictions against women. "These included measures severely curtailing access to employment and education and restricting the right to peaceful assembly," the report reads. Reacting to the report, Naveeda Khurasani, a women rights activist, said: "The Islamic Emirate has banned many women workers from going to work. So, now what should those women who are the breadwinners of the family do?" Also Read: Afghan universities to reopen, female students included: Taliban The narrowing of space for media and journalists to operate is another point highlighted by HRW as a result of the political change, saying it has led to self-censorship and the closing of many media outlets in the country. "Many media outlets closed or drastically scaled back their reporting, partly because many journalists had fled the country," the report reads. The report also states that the fall of the former government and subsequent political developments worsened the humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan, as the country's central bank assets were frozen abroad, development aid was cut off and banking systems were disrupted. "Junior job posts should be formed. There should be investment in the banking system to counter the economic situation in the country," said Khwaja Fahim Abbas, a political analyst. In the 753-page report, HRW reviewed human rights practices in nearly 100 countries. The report has characterized the human rights situation in Afghanistan as a "crisis". Watch the latest DH Videos here: Amid surging Covid-19 cases, elections to four municipal corporations in West Bengal scheduled for January 22 have been deferred. In a notification issued on Saturday, the West Bengal State Election Commission has stated that the elections will take place on February 12. The notification mentions that in compliance with a division bench order of Calcutta High Court, the Commission on consideration of the prevalent Covid-19 pandemic situation, with modification to its earlier notification, has appointed the new date of elections as February 12. The four corporations that are set for polls are Siliguri, Chandernagore, Bidhannagar, and Asansol. On Friday, the High Court had delivered a verdict responding to a PIL that sought courts order to the Commission for postponing the elections. A division bench had directed the Commission to look into the situation and take a call within 48 hours on whether it was possible to postpone elections by four to six weeks, considering the rising number of Covid cases. Opposition parties in the state, primarily the BJP, had been in favour of deferring the polls. The BJP had asked that polls be deferred by at least a month. The Left and the Congress Party, too, had been skeptical about the holding of elections at a time when people are under threat due to a surge in infections. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees nephew and Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee, too, had stated that in his personal opinion, he considers that all religious and political activities be deferred by at least two months. In West Bengal, the rise in Covid cases has continued for the past two weeks. On Friday, the state reported 22,645 fresh cases, of which 6,867 are from Kolkata. As many as 28deaths due to Covid were recorded on Friday. Meanwhile, after a review, the state executive committee of West Bengal State Disaster Management Authority has decided to extend the current restrictions till the end of January, while allowing graded relaxations. Starting Sunday, marriage functions are allowed to have 200 people at a time, or 50 per cent of the venue's capacity, whichever is lower. Mela, fair - will be allowed in the open-air venue in a restricted manner with the following of Covid norms. Watch the latest DH Videos here: India is set to export the BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles it jointly developed with Russia to the Philippines as the South East Asian nation is seeking to bolster its defence capabilities in the face of the growing belligerence of China. This is the first time that India will be exporting the missiles designed, developed and manufactured by the BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited, a joint venture of its Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and the NPO Mashinostroyeniya (NPOM) of Russia. India is also exploring the possibility of exporting the BrahMos missiles to Vietnam another South-East Asian nation, facing the aggression of China. The Ministry of National Defence of the Government of the Philippines is likely to sign a $374.9 million deal with the BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited next week for procurement of an undisclosed number of shore-based anti-ship missile systems, sources in New Delhi said. Also read: India test-fires advanced version of BrahMos missile The BrahMos has established itself as a major force multiplier in modern-day complex battlefields with its impeccable anti-ship and land-attack capabilities with multi-role and multi-platform abilities and has already been deployed in all three wings of the Indian Armed Forces. The first test launch of the BrahMos took place in 2001 and to date numerous test launches have taken place from various ships, Mobile Autonomous Launchers and Su-30 MKI aircraft, making it a versatile weapon. The air version of the missile was successfully test-fired from the supersonic fighter aircraft Sukhoi 30 MK-I on December 8 last year. The sea-to-sea variant of the missile was test-fired from a navy warship off the western coast as recently as Tuesday. The Philippines is bolstering its defence capabilities to counter Chinas growing belligerence over disputed islands on the South China Sea. New Delhi has been trying to step up its defence cooperation with the South East Asian nations, particularly after Chinas aggression along its Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India triggered a military stand-off in April-May 2020. Check out latest videos from DH: Maharashtra has added over one lakh new Covid-19 cases to the state tally which shot above 71 lakh on Friday with a stupendous 200-plus Omicron cases, with Pune overtaking Mumbai, health officials said here. After recording record high of 46,723 on Wednesday, the number of new Covid infectees in the state figures dropped to 43,211 and the fatalities also fell from 36 to 19, and the mortality rate dipped from 2 per cent to 1.98 per cent. After 207 Omicron cases on January 9, the state infections of the variant shot up to a new peak of 238, sparking fresh concerns among the health authorities. The government is continuing the intensive surveillance of passengers arriving at the three international airports - Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur - since December 1. A total of 277,114 travellers have landed here, including 42,062 from the "high risk" countries from where 523 have tested positive and 580 from other countries, with all their reports sent for genomic sequencing to confirm if they are afflicted by Omicron. CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE ONLY ON DH Besides, another 4,641 positive samples from field surveys conducted since November 1 have been sent for genomic sequencing with the results of 83 are awaited, the officials said. Omicron has spread extensively across several districts in the state, and out of the 1,605 cases till date, 859 have recovered. Mumbai was edged out by Pune as far as the total Omicron infections are concerned. Now, Pune has 677 cases of the variant, followed by 629 in Mumbai, 79 in Thane, 59 in Sangli, 51 in Nagpur, 19 in Raigad, 18 in Kolhapur, 13 in Satara, 11 in Osmanabad, nine in Amravati, six each in Palghar, Akola, and Buldhana, three each in Nanded, Aurangabad, and Gondiya, two each in Ahmednagar, Gadchiroli, Latur, Nandurbar, Nashik, and Solapur, and one in Jalna. Of the 43,211 new Covid-19 cases, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region alone accounted for 22,037 infections, while Mumbai city remained at a high, with 11,317 new cases. The next is Pune circle's 11,421 infectees, Nashik circle's 3,182, Nagpur circle's 2,552, Kolhapur circle's 1,264, Latur circle's 1,227, Aurangabad circle's 913 and Akola circle's 615. The number of people sent to home quarantine shot up hugely - from 17,95,631 on Thursday to 19,10,361 now, and another 9,286 have been shunted to institutional quarantine. Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Raigad, and Palghar remain at the top with the highest number of active cases currently in the state, with the afflictions shooting up from 251,828 a day before to 261,658, with the recovery rate dropping from 94.39 per cent a day earlier to 94.28 per cent. The cumulative figures of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic in March 2020 now stands at 71,24,278 cases and 141,756 deaths, while a total of 67,17,125 patients have fully recovered till date. Check out latest coronavirus-related videos from DH: Three petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court seeking transfer to it the pleas on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) issue pending in the Delhi High Court to avoid multiplicity of litigations and ensure its final adjudication. The transfer petitions have been filed by Amber Zaidi, Nighat Abbas and Danish Eqbal whose separate pleas seeking implementation of the Uniform Civil Code have been pending in the Delhi High Court. The pleas said though the high court, on March 20, 2020, had issued notices to several union ministries on the PILs on UCC, no substantial hearing has taken place thereafter. Also Read | Centre opposes plea for framing Uniform Civil Code As the petitions involved very important constitutional issues, it would be in the fitness of things that they are transferred to the Supreme Court for a pronouncement with finality, they said. Article 44 of the Constitution, which is part of the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP), lays down that the state shall endeavour to secure UCC for the citizens throughout the territory of India. Earlier, a similar transfer petition was filed by lawyer and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay. Upadhyay, in his transfer plea filed through lawyer Ashwani Dubey, had said that his five separate PILs seeking uniform laws on minimum marriage age, divorce grounds, maintenance-alimony, adoption-guardianship and succession-inheritance are pending in the Supreme Court. The petition had also sought a direction to the Centre to constitute a judicial commission or expert committee to draft the Uniform Civil Code while considering the best practices of all personal laws and civil laws of the developed countries and international conventions. "A gender-neutral, religion-neutral law will apply to all Indians, whether Hindu or Muslim, Zoroastrian or Christian, in relation to the will, charity, divinity, guardianship, sharing of custody, etc. The gender-based discrepancy in the religion caste and sect will end. "A comprehensive unified gender-neutral and religion-neutral law will be passed at the national level and will be equally applicable to all citizens," Upadhyay had said in his plea. It had said that it would not only promote fraternity and national integration but also secure gender justice and dignity of women. The plea stated that the "Uniform Civil Code or Indian Civil Code has always been seen as a "spectacle of religious appeasement". The Supreme Court or a high court cannot ask the government to implement Article 44 of the Constitution but can direct the Centre to constitute a committee to prepare a draft of the Uniform Civil Code, the plea said. "The Supreme Court and High Court may direct the Centre to constitute a Judicial Commission or Expert Committee to study the Uniform Civil Code of the developed countries and the laws applicable in India and make public a draft of the 'Indian Civil Code', combining the good of all, and public discussion could begin on this subject," it said. Check out DH's latest videos: On the occasion of Army Day on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the Indian Army, saying it is known for bravery and professionalism, and words cannot do justice to its invaluable contribution towards national safety. Army Day is observed on January 15 to mark Field Marshall KM Cariappa taking over as the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, replacing his British predecessor in 1949. "Indian Army personnel serve in hostile terrains and are at the forefront of helping fellow citizens during a humanitarian crisis, including natural disasters. India is proud of the stellar contribution of the Army in Peacekeeping Missions overseas as well," the prime minister said. Best wishes on the occasion of Army Day, especially to our courageous soldiers, respected veterans and their families. The Indian Army is known for its bravery and professionalism. Words cannot do justice to the invaluable contribution of the Indian Army towards national safety. pic.twitter.com/UwvmbVD1hq Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 15, 2022 He added, "Best wishes on the occasion of Army Day, especially to our courageous soldiers, respected veterans and their families. The Indian Army is known for its bravery and professionalism. Words cannot do justice to the invaluable contribution of the Indian Army towards national safety." President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday said the Indian Army has been pivotal in ensuring national security and the country is grateful for their service. Also Read: India's desire for peace born out of strength, should not be mistaken otherwise: Army Chief Greeting Army personnel and veterans on Army Day, he said the soldiers have displayed professionalism, sacrifice and valour in defending the border and maintaining peace. "Greetings to Army personnel and veterans on Army Day. Indian Army has been pivotal in ensuring national security. Our soldiers have displayed professionalism, sacrifice and valour in defending borders and maintaining peace. The nation is grateful for your service. Jai Hind!" Kovind tweeted. Greetings to Army personnel and veterans on Army Day. Indian Army has been pivotal in ensuring national security. Our soldiers have displayed professionalism, sacrifice and valour in defending borders and maintaining peace. The nation is grateful for your service. Jai Hind! President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) January 15, 2022 Watch the latest DH Videos here: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday held discussions with Sri Lankan Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa on projects by India that would strengthen the economy of the island nation and sought an early release of detained Indian fishermen on humanitarian considerations. During the meeting, Jaishankar conveyed that India has always stood with Sri Lanka, and will continue to support that country in all possible ways for overcoming the economic and other challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs said. As close friends and maritime neighbours, both India and Sri Lanka stand to gain from closer economic interlinkages, the external affairs minister conveyed during the virtual interaction. Also Read | Sri Lanka to return Indian prisoners under SAARC prisoner exchange agreement On his part, Rajapaksa recalled India's long-standing cooperation with Sri Lanka and deeply appreciated the gestures of support and welcomed Indian investments in a number of important spheres including ports, infrastructure, energy, renewable energy, power and manufacturing. During the "detailed" meeting, Jaishankar also raised the issue of Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan custody and urged for their early release as a humanitarian gesture. "EAM brought up the issue of Indian fishermen detained in Sri Lanka. He urged the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure early release of the detained fishermen on humanitarian considerations," the MEA said. Also Read | India should warn Sri Lanka against attacking fishermen: Ramadoss Last month, the ministry said that 68 fishermen from Tamil Nadu have been taken into custody by the Sri Lankan authorities between December 18-20. While expressing concern over the detention, the ministry asserted that steps were being taken to ensure their early release. The issue of fishermen remains one of the irritants in India and Sri Lanka ties and there have also been several alleged incidents of Sri Lankan Navy personnel firing at Indian fishermen in the Palk Strait and seizing their boats. "Just concluded a detailed virtual meeting with Sri Lankan Finance Minister @RealBRajapaksa. Reaffirmed that India will be a steadfast and reliable partner of Sri Lanka," Jaishankar tweeted after the meeting. "We positively noted the extension of the $400 million swap facility and the deferred ACU settlement of $515.2 million. Discussed the early realisation of $1 billion term loan facility for essential commodities and of $500 million LoC for fuel purchase," the external affairs minister said. Considered projects and investment plans by India that would strengthen Sri Lankan economy. Urged early release of Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan custody as a humanitarian gesture. Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) January 15, 2022 Jaishankar said he assured that India will take up with other international partners initiatives to support Sri Lanka at this important juncture. "Welcomed the progress on Trincomalee Tank Farm which will contribute to energy security," he said in another tweet. "Considered projects and investment plans by India that would strengthen the Sri Lankan economy," Jaishankar said. This interaction follows Rajapaksa's visit to India last month. The MEA statement said that both ministers positively noted that extension of $400 million to Sri Lanka under the SAARC currency swap arrangement and deferral of ACU settlement of $515.2 million by two months would assist Sri Lanka, the MEA said. The two ministers reviewed the progress in extending the Indian credit facility of $1 billion for importing food, essential items and medicine and $500 mn for importing fuel from India. During the meeting, Rajapaksa welcomed Indian investments in Sri Lanka in a number of important spheres including ports, infrastructure, energy, renewable energy, power and manufacturing and assured that a conducive environment will be provided to encourage such investments. In this context, both ministers noted that the recent steps taken by the Government of Sri Lanka for jointly modernizing Trincomalee Oil Tank Farms will boost the confidence of investors, apart from enhancing Sri Lanka's energy security, the MEA said. It said the two ministers agreed to remain in close touch for guiding mutually beneficial bilateral economic cooperation towards long-term economic partnership for shared progress and prosperity. Jaishankar conveyed greetings to the finance minister, people and the government of Sri Lanka for the year 2022 and on the occasion of the festival of Pongal celebrated both in India and Sri Lanka, the statement said. Check out DH's latest videos: "Urged early release of Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan custody as a humanitarian gesture, he added Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief K Sudhakaran on Saturday continued to criticise the ruling CPI(M) over the recent killing of Dheeraj Rajendran, an activist of its student wing SFI, and claimed that the arrested Youth Congress activists have no connection with the incident. Alleging that the 21-year-old youth was a victim of the Marxist party's "violent politics", the Kannur MP said even witnesses did not say that the arrested YC activists had stabbed him. Playing a purported voice clip of some students, who are said to have witnessed the incident that happened at the Government Engineering College in Idukki last week, he told reporters that none of them said who had stabbed the deceased man. Also Read: 2 Youth Congress workers held in SFI activist murder case How could the responsibility of the crime be attributed to the YC activists, he asked during a meet-the-press programmme here. Sudhakaran claimed that the Kerala Students Union (KSU) and YC activists did not go after anyone to attack them and asked why the police were reluctant to rush the injured Rajendran to hospital. Urging police to find out the "real" culprits, he also rejected the criticism that he did not mourn the youth's death. "The loss of a human life is a sad incident. My mind is not made of stone and iron... I am a person who can understand the pain of his family members. But it was the CPI(M) that tried to celebrate his death by buying land to build a memorial in his name soon after the incident," Sudhakarn charged. Rajendran's family came from the Congress background, he claimed and said he really wanted to visit and console them. Taking a dig at the ruling party, the Kannur strongman also said the CPI(M) also did not mind organising a mega thiruvathirakkali, a traditional group dance, while mourning the student activist's death. The veteran Congress leader was referring to the recent controversial group dance organised in connection with the Marxist party's district conference soon after the death of Rajendran. Coming down heavily on the SFI, he said it was an outfit that has managed to prevail in the state campuses only because of its violent politics and they were unleashing violence against the KSU activists. Nikhil Paily, a district-level YC leader and Jerin Jijo were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly stabbing Rajendran to death. Rajendran was a student of the college. Two students, Abjijith and Amal, were also seriously injured in the attack. In the FIR, the police have mentioned that the murder took place due to political rivalry. The ruling CPI(M) had alleged that the murder was pre-planned and claimed 21 Left workers were killed in the state in the last six years. Watch the latest DH Videos here: A day after a Sessions Court here acquitted Roman Catholic Bishop Franco Mulakkal of the charge of raping a nun in a convent in the State, Kerala police on Saturday sought legal advice to move an appeal against the verdict in the High Court. Kottayam SP D Shilpa told reporters that the police have sought legal opinion from the special public prosecutor to move an appeal against the judgment. "We got the detailed verdict late Friday. We have sought a legal opinion to move the appeal," she said. Also Read | Nun's contradictory statements, lack of evidence cited by Kerala court for bishop's acquittal Meanwhile, Bishop visited various churches and met former MLA P C George, who had been backing Mulakkal since the issue came out. The Bishop, after a brief meeting with George, left for other visits to churches nearby, but refused to comment before the media. George, who met the media after the meeting, said the case was an effort to target the Church. He said the case was part of a conspiracy to target the Church and the believers. Mulakkal, 57, was accused of raping the nun multiple times during his visit to a convent in this district between 2014 and 2016 when he was the Bishop of the Jalandhar Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church. The complainant is a member of the Missionaries of Jesus, a diocesan congregation under the Jalandhar Diocese. Acquitting the Bishop, the judge of the Additional District and Sessions Court I, Kottayam, in the order, said the victim's claim that she was raped on 13 occasions under duress cannot be taken reliance on the basis of her solitary testimony. Check out DH's latest videos: The alliance talks between the Congress and Trinamool Congress for the Goa polls appear to have been lost in translation for now, if the exchanges between leaders from both parties are anything to go by. Initial overtures by the TMC Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra have been rebuffed on Twitter by two All India Congress Committee officials, namely AICC in charge of Goa Dinesh Gundu Rao and Congress general secretary KC Venugopal. Also Read | Congress should realise its leaders not emperors of India, says TMC; calls for anti-BJP alliance in Goa The rumour in circulation that a possible alliance with TMC was discussed by Rahul Gandhi in todays meeting is completely baseless & untrue. Let me assure, that the Congress party is confident- we will put Goa back on the path to progress soon, Venugopal had tweeted on January 10, amid rumours of an alliance between the two parties working out. The rumours had been fuelled by Mahuas initial overture to the Congress, to join the West Bengal based partys joint battle to oust the ruling BJP. Venugopals clarification on Twitter was responded to by Mahua, who said that her party had given a formal and definitive offer to the Congress and party had sought time to respond to it. In response, 1. AITC already made formal & definitive offer to INC on Goa to defeat BJP. 2. INC leadership asked for time to revert. This was almost two weeks ago. 3. If Mr Chidambaram is not aware of details he should talk to his leadership rather than making these statements, Mahua said. Responding to Mahua this time was Rao. If Venugopals tweet wasnt reply enough, I wonder who from amongst Delhi leaders response is Mahua Moitra awaiting. And Trinamools brilliant strategy to defeat BJP in Goa is to weaken Congress and divide the anti-BJP vote. Whom does that help Moitraji? he said on Saturday morning. By Saturday afternoon, Mahua appeared to have had enough of the Twitter contest. Check out DH's latest videos: It is no news that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is firmly in the saddle and that there is no threat to his authority and influence from anyone within the ruling dispensation. The Opposition remains a pale story. But with 2022 setting in, the race to become his No 2 has intensified in right earnest, going by the buzz in political circles. Any keen observer of the Delhi durbar could sense the churning. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, undoubtedly the No 2 in the party and the government for the past seven and a half years, is facing competition from a party leader whom he had helped to become a Chief Minister. Yogi Adityanath is virtually declaring from the rooftop that he is no pushover. The huge posters at various places in the national capital, especially Delhis toilets, let everyone know that there are only two leaders in the BJP who matter. The first and foremost is the Prime Minister, while the other is Yogi. Never in the history of independent India has the Chief Minister of a state, albeit the most populous state in the country, made such a splash in the national capital. If the number of advertisements in the print and electronic media, as also the space being occupied by the UP Chief Minister in news, including the sponsored category, is taken into consideration, there should not be any doubt in the mind of anyone that Yogi wants a second term, and more. At least, this is the belief of the bhakts, who feel that the saffron-robed CM is the perfect man to succeed the Prime Minister whenever the latter calls it a day. In the eyes of the loyalist, Yogis hardline Hindutva is making him the natural successor to Modi, a thing that is a worry for the Home Minister, who has been Modis Man Friday since their Gujarat days. It is a journey that started two decades back. Since then, Shah has risen by his hard work. From Minister of State for Home in Gujarat to Union Home Minister is a long journey. Shah had worked hard as BJP general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh that facilitated Modis sweep to power at the Centre in May 2014. Shah headed the BJP when Modi secured a spectacular second term. A high point of his career was the way the Home Minister scrapped Article 370 which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. It is another story how matters have unfolded since then. But politics has its own dynamics. Yogi is from Uttar Pradesh. He may be a native of Uttarakhand but for most of his adult life, he has been in Gorakhpur. Besides Modi, he has made a mark on the core constituency of Hindutva across the length and breadth of the country. It is not just a coincidence that he is the only BJP CM who has been drafted for campaigning in almost all parts of the country. Another thing is that Yogi is too ambitious and he does not hide it. Besides, like a true Thakur, he does not shy away from a fight. When plans were made last year in New Delhi to foist Modi loyalist A K Sharma, a bureaucrat-turned-politician, as Deputy CM in Uttar Pradesh, Yogi put his foot down. Sharma had to remain content with being made vice president of the state BJP, after becoming an MLC last year. Yogi has also ensured that he remained the tallest Thakur leader in the state. Rajnath Singh might be the Defence Minister and former UP Chief Minister, but he has been systematically marginalised in state politics by Yogi. So, even if the BJP does not do all that good in UP as it did in 2017, Yogi still will barely lose his stature in the Hindutva hierarchy. Shah, by his actions, statements, and work, has shown that he sees himself as undoubtedly the No 2 and that he enjoys the Prime Ministers trust and confidence, unlike any other BJP leader. Besides, he has got elected from Gandhinagar, the constituency of party veteran and former Deputy PM L K Advani. Shah has moved to the Krishna Menon Road bungalow, previously occupied by the late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during his last years. Shah hails from Gujarat and, unlike Modi, has not been elected from UP, a move that has made a huge impact politically since May 2014. Soon after becoming Prime Minister in 2014, Modi had made it known in a lighter vein that he would like to be at the helm for 10 years. At a Teachers Day function, a young boy from Imphal had provoked a hearty Modi laugh when he asked, "How can I become the PM?" "Start preparing for 2024 elections," Modi had responded, adding after a beat, "It also means till then I do not have any threat. Unlike the US, where one can be President only for two terms, there is no such term limit for the Prime Minister of India. The results of the seven Assembly polls, including in UP and Gujarat, this year will show how the race for the No 2 slot pans out as the BJP appears to have become desperate for victory. 2022 will also show whether the likes of Nitin Gadkari, who is considered the most competent and amiable minister in the Modi dispensation, are looked upon by party cadres for greater glory and whether another sidelined minister Rajnath Singh gains more traction. Interestingly, in no talk on No 2 in the BJP does the name of party president J P Nadda figure. A telling commentary on how the worlds largest political party is being run. (The writers are senior journalists and political commentators) Political polarization has begun in the five poll-bound states - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur. Issues of caste and religious identity are again the focus, while those of livelihoods, pandemic management, price rise and such have still not come to the fore. All five states have substantial urban populations. Unfortunately, issues linked with urbanisation remain neglected. It would not be amiss to mention that recently Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited a few mayors to Kashi to witness his vision of urban India. It is a brazenly iniquitous, exclusivist vision of urban design and governance. Status of urbanisation in five states Of the five poll-bound states, UP, in numerical terms, has the highest number of urban voters, 4.5 crore according to the 2011 Census, 22.7 per cent of its population, living in 3894 census towns. The Noida city alone contributes 10.12 per cent of UP's gross domestic product, followed by Lucknow's four per cent. Urban and peri-urban areas send nearly a hundred legislators to UP's 403-member legislature. Also Read | BJP will return to power in UP with overwhelming majority: Adityanath At 37.48 per cent, Punjab has a high urban population percentage, higher than the national average of 34 per cent, and has some of India's largest industrial towns. Some model towns were also developed in Punjab, which finds reference in many Punjabi songs as places to have fun and frolic. While more than one crore people live in 237 defined townships of urban Punjab, the peri-urban in the state is also primarily urban, and hence issues of urbanisation are relevant. Towns contribute nearly 60 per cent of the state's GDP, and according to an estimate, there is an outlay of a meagre 3 per cent for urban areas. Goa is 62.17 per cent urbanised, with 9.06 lakh living in its 20 small and big towns. Uttarakhand has 114 small towns and municipalities and an urban population of 31 lakh, or 30.2 per cent of its total. Nearly 50 per cent of Uttarakhand's workforce migrates out to seek work. Manipur has almost 30 per cent urban population, 8.34 lakh, residing in 51 towns. Commonality of issues Nearly six crore urban population living in these five states will exercise their voting right over two months. The number surpasses populations of many European countries which are predominantly urban. But urban issues are seldom exclusively seen from a political perspective. Also Read | Be visible, accessible, ethical, CEC tells observers Even if urban issues become essential, we cannot generalise these to be common to all urban areas. In some towns and cities, water may be a vital issue. It could be garbage management, mobility or healthcare services in other urban areas. But there are still a few concerns and issues shared across the urban spectrum. Foremost of all is the enormous impact on peoples' livelihoods owing to "privatisation of cities" since last few decades but with a rocket speed since 2014. These towns and cities, which were centres of employment and industry, have seen a sharp increase in people's vulnerability, mainly economic, and this has happened across the states. This privatisation of cities is not confined only to some utilities and has accentuated poverty levels since it is taking place with the city planning process. It contributes to inaccessible housing, high costs of transport, utilities, water, electricity, health, education; the list is long. The loss of livelihoods in urban centres is phenomenally high. The unemployment rate crossing double-digit figure in the past is the highest in the last four decades. The cost of living has skyrocketed in urban centres. The social security net has loosened, which has compounded the distress. People, especially migrants who comprise a large population in the urban areas, find it difficult to make ends meet, evident in the aftermath of the lockdown announced in March 2020. Also Read | EC extends ban on public rallies in poll-bound states till January 22 Inequity in India's towns and cities has increased sharply. Since the last few years, the Oxfam report has repeatedly pointed out that urban inequity is phenomenally high in India. The gap between the rich and the poor has been widening. One reason is how towns and cities are being developed as envisioned by the prime minister. The 'smart cities' further rob the people of the urban commons and transfer them to the super-rich in urban areas. Lastly, the common feature in urban towns is the low levels of urban governance. Charles Correa, the chairperson of the first urban commission in India, once pointed out that cities in India are hardly run by the elected mayors but by the chief ministers of the state. Moreover, the 74th constitution amendment provisions empowering city governments by transferring the three F's - functions, functionaries and finances - are yet to happen. Most cities are unable to manage the waste generated, be it solid or liquid, and unable to pay their employees' salaries on time. Thus, city governance structures are weak and performances abysmal. In its recent report, the Reserve Bank of India pointed out that towns need more finances and empowerment. Despite these significant issues that concern people, one does not find them to be resonating in the political atmosphere in the five poll-bound states. One reason for the urban puzzle is that the political process leading to urban leadership is too meek to demand a space in the overall political debate. For example, the All-India Mayors Council (AIMC), a body of elected mayors from the country but completely defunct. The chairperson of the AIMC is the mayor of Agra. The political interest of the mayor is not to strengthen such bodies rather would be to become an MLA from his constituency. Agra city may be elect as many as five MLAs still the mayor would like to be one of them. Here, allow me to share an anecdote KC Sivaramakrishnan, former secretary of the ministry of urban development, shared with this writer at a meeting of the national task force to review the 74th constitution amendment. He said, "Do you know what a mayor of Mumbai would like to become?" The mayor, he said, wants to become an MLA despite Mumbai electing more than 20 MLAs and five MPs. (The writer is a former deputy mayor of Shimla) Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH. Check out DH's latest videos: An estimated 1.8 million people in India are homeless. A further 73 million families lack access to decent housing. An Indian physical and visual designer working in the US may have hit upon a feasible solution to this ubiquitous social problem: The Pop Hut. It is a low-cost housing prototype, which can be quickly deployed during emergencies or set up as temporary shelters for the poor. The flat pack prototype can be easily transported and reassembled as a life-sized home. It is 100 x 96 x 96 inches in size and can accommodate one person. A lot like home The Pop Hut is not a bare structure. It exudes the warmth and security of a real home. Jayati Sinha, the designer, explains, It has a front door with a keyed lock, a door number, and a tiny front stoop complete with a motion-activated porch light. Inside the hut, we used colours and transparency as therapeutic tools to make users feel secure and cared for. She has also provided open shelves on the inside walls for occupants to store belongings and create their aesthetics to help them regain a sense of belongingness, she notes. The prototype is made of birch plywood, polycarbonate panels (translucent material), aluminium tubes (for frames), and honeycomb panels (for insulation). The materials are not the highlight of the concept, she clarifies. They can be customised depending on the need, weather conditions, and what is locally available. But the panel design is of consequence. The flatpacked design can be expanded and contracted into different sizes at the time of reassembly because of the panel design, she explains. The hut can be assembled in 40-50 minutes. Made in US, global in use In April 2018, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti consulted a number of architecture and design schools to design bridge housing, a temporary shelter for the homeless. An estimated 5,53,742 people in the USA experience homelessness on a given night, she points out. Along with ArtCenter at Pasadena, California, Jayati participated in the project as an environment designer. She has studied product design in India and environment design in the USA. She has worked with design and innovation companies like Fuseproject, and Fjord in the USA. It took us about six months to develop this prototype. It involved a lot of field research to understand the demographics (of the end-users), and the conditions under which such houses could be set up. The teams came up with a few concepts and we kept refining them until it was time to build it in real size, recalls Jayati. Ask Jayati when these homes will be available for deployment and she says: This is a prototyped solution. If developers are interested in investing and building homes using this prototype, I would love to work with them and make this a reality. Jayati considers this project extraordinary and attractive as it can be transferred to any country in the world, facing any version of homelessness. My hope is to inspire people in India to bring change using this emergency temporary housing initiative, she says. Highlights of the Pop Hut Flatpack for mobility and deployment. Corrugated sheets that are strong but not heavy. Allows natural ventilation and light. Slanted roof drains water, can be used to install solar panels. Open wall shelves to store belongings. Who is it meant for? These huts can be set up anywhere to provide a safe environment for the underprivileged, victims of natural disasters, refugees, disaster response forces, or armed personnel. How long can it last? The hut is not built as a permanent solution to housing. It can be used for a few months to up to a year, depending on the materials used, says Jayati. How much does it cost? The prototype was built for about $2,000 (about Rs 1,50,000). But if it is made in bulk and using lower-cost materials in India, it can come cheaper, says Jayati. On Ugadi, April 13, 2021, following a distress call from my brother-in-law, my wife and I drove down to his house. All five in his family he, his mother, his wife and two daughters had tested Covid positive, and his own and his mothers condition was deteriorating. For six hours, we stood at their gate, while they sat at the door, trying to obtain hospital beds for them. They lived right behind one of Bengalurus biggest private hospitals. It would have been ideal had they got beds there, but we were told it didnt have any. We got the same response from several private hospitals. We called up the BBMP Covid Control Room. We were asked to give a BU number for each patient. Now, the BU number to be given by the BBMP as soon as a patient tested positive had not been generated. One hand of the BBMP was unable to generate the BU numbers, and the other wouldnt give us beds without those numbers. Thanks to the efforts of this papers health reporter, at about 10.30 pm, the director of a government hospital in Shivajinagar agreed to admit the two without the BU numbers. He was a god-send, if I, a non-believer, may use that expression. By that time, the two patients oxygen saturation levels had begun to drop to the low 80s. We rushed them in our own cars Prasads wife driving the two in their car; and my wife and I leading in our car, through multiple police check points, at each of which we had to explain our situation. As we entered the hospital premises, two dead bodies were being wheeled out. My wife and I exchanged worried glances, but we had no choice. The hospital was now our best shot. The junior doctors and staff who were running the admissions process were all in full PPE gear and exhausted, having been on duty for over 12 hours at least already (and they had had no off-day for months, some even for more than a year by then), but they were all most patient, courteous and helpful. The testing and admissions process took until 4 am, when both patients were taken to their beds on the seventh floor of the building. My wife (who had waited outside all this time) and I drove back home. It was nearly 6 am by the time we reached home to our children a daughter, 12, and a son, 10 -- who were fast asleep, having managed through the previous day and night all by themselves. We showered and went to bed. Over the next three days, I made trips to the hospital to give them breakfast, lunch and dinner, and to keep track of their progress with the hospitals dean and in-charge of the Covid ward. His team had started a WhatsApp group for the families of all patients admitted there, and we were regularly informed of our patients condition and treatment. That was wonderful, but as with all government hospitals, the patients got medication according to the Covid treatment protocol, but nursing care and ward services were absent. Perhaps there were too few paramedical and ward staff, and they all were tired, having been on the Covid battle frontline for over a year. Both my brother-in-law (BIL) and mother-in-law (MIL) were on oxygen support, but my BIL had to frequently take off his oxygen mask to visit his mother in the ladies ward to help her with food, taking medicines, etc., and to monitor her oxygen levels. This was worsening his own condition as he would soon run out of breath each time. Also, each time, I went to the hospital, it seemed more dead bodies were being wheeled out. The mortuary was just behind where I was parking my car. I decided to shift them to a private hospital as soon as possible. A lucky break came when the cancer hospital chain HCG Hospitals started a Covid centre. I called up Dr Krupesh, the man in charge. After pleading with him for two days, I was able to shift the two patients there one by one, in the dead of night, with the ambulance breaking down for two hours between the two trips. At HCG, I did not have to worry about nursing care. Both patients said they were getting excellent care. Nor did I have to take food to them. The hospital provided good quality food. Also, by this time, I had developed cold and cough myself. But as the patients condition was not improving despite giving them the remaining doses of Remdesivir (they had been started on it at the government hospital) and other drugs. The doctors decided to try out platelet transfusion. After seeking blood from the two patients blood groups from blood banks, on WhatsApp groups, etc., I finally managed to find a unit for each of them over a period of two days from two different blood banks and gave them to the hospital, which promptly carried out the transfusions. Whether due to this or not, the two patients began to recover thereafter. My MIL was out of the hospital first. My brother-in-law was still in a bad condition but improving steadily, with some experimental drugs also being given to him, one of which left his face painted in multiple colours for a few days. Another cousin, who too was in the same hospital, was also making slow recovery. It was time for me to step back and wait for them to heal. Or so I thought. I had caught it But now, around April 22, I began to show symptoms, perhaps from all the exposure I had had. The next day, my wife and I got ourselves tested. The PCR test threw up a false negative for both of us (as was happening to most around the time), but the CT-scan severity score was 17/25 for me, 5/25 for my wife. I had to get admitted to a hospital; my wife could manage at home. On April 24, by evening, my oxygen saturation level was beginning to drop and I could not spend time and energy making calls. I asked a colleague to help. He called up the BBMP official managing the bed allotment process. Now, in my case, I had the BU number, but my PCR test was negative. So, I could only be admitted to a non-Covid SARI hospital. I was asked to go to the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases. Deterioration The non-Covid SARI ward was a long room with two rows of beds. To my utter surprise, all the other patients had family members wives, sons, daughters attending to them. While the patients slept on the beds, the attendants slept on the floor beside the beds. Everyone knew we were Covid patients there. All patients were on oxygen support, and we were being treated according to the Covid protocol. Yet, officially, it was a non-Covid ward, and attendants were allowed! Here, too, the nurses came around regularly to check sugar levels, give insulin injections, zinc and Vitamin C tablets, and Remdesivir from the second day of admission. But that was about the level of care I would get. For everything else, I was on my own. I would take the oxygen mask off while eating or when I had to walk the long way to the restroom. I would feel dizzy, and would support myself on other beds or the walls as I walked. Nobody seemed to care. In fact, the nurses berated me for not having an attendant with me. The ward staff there were meant to only keep the room clean, not help the patients. I learnt later that one of them even called up my wife and asked her why she had left me to die there! The doctors a senior and a junior said I need not worry at the moment, but warned that they had no ICU, no ventilators. If things got worse, I would have to go elsewhere. This was also a place bereft of mobile connectivity. As a result, I could scarcely communicate with anyone outside. For three days, my wife had scant information about my condition. Two avoidable deaths April 27: I was surrounded by patients who were worse, and their suffering was there for all to see. Indeed, on the third day of my admission, two men began to sink rapidly. Had an ICU and ventilators been available, they might have survived. The two died early that evening, as the rest of us watched in horror. I began to ask myself what I was doing there. Was I going to let myself die like them? As I was trying desperately to reach my wife and colleagues, a junior doctor informed me that from the swabs collected the previous evening, I had tested positive for Covid and so I could no longer stay in that hospital. I was told I had three hours to get out! My wife had been calling up Dr Krupesh at HCG every day since I left home and pleading to admit me there. Finally, after three days, he had a bed available for me. The ICU that didnt stop As I learnt later from my medical records, when I reached HCG, my oxygen saturation level, without support, was 56%! It had been 84% at the time of admission to RGICD. I was wheeled into HCGs Covid ICU. It was a sea change from the earlier hospital, and the reason I am alive today. As my doctor told me later, I was put on a non-invasive ventilator with high-flow oxygen. (Fortunately, they did not put me on invasive ventilator, the complications of which became apparent in hundreds, if not thousands, of Covid patients later with the Black Fungus and other side-effects). The change was striking in every respect. The ICU had been set up at short notice I believe just three days. It was a war-room and a battlefield combined, with a command centre in the middle, and the ICU beds some 15 all around it. It was brightly lit day and night, buzzing with alerts from medical devices. Patients were calling for help and making phone calls, and doctors were discussing among themselves the conditions of individual patients. The paramedical and ward staff were constantly tending to the patients. I was in a bed in one corner of the room; in the bed diagonally opposite was a lady over 80; in the corner directly opposite was a man in his 40s; in the bed along the side between him and me was another woman in her 80s, apparently the mother of one of the doctors at HCG. He came periodically to pep-talk her into cooperating with the treatment, but the lady didnt seem to respond. I could hear him saying, Ma, do you want to go home soon? ... He would repeat this throughout his visit, sometimes walking out of the curtains and throwing up his hands in despair. To my left was a woman who must have been much younger than me, perhaps in her 30s. Unlike at the earlier hospital, the doctors, the paramedical and ward staff were for the most part in PPE suits. The training had clearly been rigorous, and Covid protocols were strictly followed at all levels. Here, I was strictly instructed not to take off the oxygen mask even for a minute. While eating, I had to take off the mask, have a spoonful, and put on the mask again. I was to lie down on my stomach, in proning position. As my doctor said later, I did this well and it contributed greatly to my quick recovery. The nurses would come every hour to monitor BP and sugar, especially sugar, and give insulin injections and tablets. The ward staff would come at 3.30 am to clean me up with a sponge bath and change of clothes. I was to relieve myself in a urine can. To pass motion, I insisted on a commode-chair. This was how it was for the next three days. If he saw me turn ever so slightly from the proning position, Dr Krupesh would come and admonish me: You are lazy. You expect us to do everything for you! It was a comment he made to every patient, because he knew what was at stake. It was his way of motivating us to keep up the will to survive. My experience and impression of hospital ward staff had been mostly negative till then, especially in recent years when my father was constantly hospitalised during his last three years. They whined, they were not committed, they didnt care much about patient comfort or even the end result of the treatment. But here, it was totally different. Mind you, they were throughout in full PPE, they worked 12-hour shifts or longer, and most of them had been working for months without an off day. Worst of all, when they went home, they always were in danger of carrying the virus to their families. Yet, the ward staff, given the lowliest of tasks, never complained, never whined, never delayed help. There was almost a spiritual quality to the way they conducted themselves. Post-discharge, when I went for a follow-up check, I asked to meet the ward staff who had attended to me. One was around at the time. I thanked him, I enquired about the others, and I offered to put some money into a fund for them if the hospital had such a fund. I could not think of anything else I could offer to these men and women. The man refused. This Covid is a chance for us to do some good, to save lives, to realise our highest selves as humans. That you are still with us is reward enough. Your words of appreciation are enough, he said. I am not a believer in god or gods greatness. To me, god does not exist, and even if god does exist, then by definition, god is all-capable and therefore there is nothing great about any miracle such a god can perform. I believe in human beings, instead. Humans are flawed, limited and not all-capable. Therefore, they are capable of greatness which they can achieve by overcoming their flaws, their limits. Here, in the ward staff, I saw vindication of what I believe in and what I dont believe in. Sinking, but saved April 28: A CT scan revealed that the severity score was now 24/25! Dr Krupesh told me: Your lungs are damaged 90%. We will do our best. You have to help us. (I learnt later that his prognosis was even more dire when he spoke to my wife). For the next two days, I did as I was told (proning, breathing exercises when sitting up, and even taking what was then said to be an experimental immune-suppressant drug that would help Remdesivir do its job). By April 30, I was on the path to recovery, and ready to be shifted to a ward. The oxygen mask was replaced by a nasal cannula. The flow rate was reduced daily. Finally, on May 5, I was ready to go home after I had been without oxygen support for 24 hours. What I learnt When you are faced with the possibility that you might not go back alive, a few things happen involuntarily: Images of your dear ones flash by. And there is the urge to pray to God to save you. Im a non-believer, agnostic to be precise. The last time I prayed was 24 years ago when my mother was dying. I was agnostic even then, but when your mother is dying at 52, it doesnt matter what you believe in or not. You want to call upon any force at all that can save her. All you can think is, she should not go. When that didnt work, my unbelieving got more strident with the years.But here I was now, needing to pray to save my own life. For a minute, I did. No mantras, but simply the selfish, God, Im too young to die. I have two young children, I cant just go now. I dont even have savings or a house that I can leave for them (thinking of such luxuries on a journalists salary, are you kidding me!). But then, a part of me stepped away and mocked me: Hmm such a hypocrite, arent you? Suddenly, you want a God you do not believe in to save you! I virtually slapped myself and snapped out of the self-pity. I cant stand hypocrisy, not even my own. I said to myself, If the treatment works, I live. If it doesnt, then its the end. My wife is not a weakling, she can take care of herself and the children. And I have a brother who will support them. Now, lets go to battle. And here I am still. Throughout this time, at home, my wife was holding it all together, ensuring that the children didnt panic, all of them praying together, coordinating things that had to be done, giving updates to friends and family, replying to well-wishersHer colleagues in an ongoing Cambridge University fellowship pooled in a lot of money and sent us an oxygen concentrator from the UK, figuring that I would need it once I got back home. Before going home, I asked my doctor: Look, it is now being said that Remdesivir is useless, platelet transfusion is useless, and so on. So, what actually worked for me? How did I come out alive? His reply: Raghotham, after discharge, youll have to rest for two months. You will have plenty of time. Do your own research then, because even we dont know. You took to proning easily. That certainly helped. And, of course, I know you dont believe in god, but I do, and I think god saved you. We agreed to disagree on that. I think, he and his team saved me. My wife did, by ensuring that I landed up at HCG. That I did not have co-morbidities helped faster recovery. I was lucky in all these respects. And luck is a matter of probabilities, not of a god determining who should live and who should die. Millions of others passed away, entire families got wiped out during the second wave. To think that there is a god who somehow favoured me over all those others whom he let perish seems incongruent, if not vulgar, with the very idea of god. To me, it seems, with all its faults and failures, the healthcare system in Bengaluru worked for me, and it did because of dedicated men and women. Perhaps the crucial lesson is that if the BBMP control room had not insisted on the BU numbers, and my brother-in-law and mother-in-law had found beds in the hospital nearby, none of the rest would have followed, and I probably would not have contracted Covid at all. It is this systemic part that needs to work differently during this wave. The focus must be on saving lives, and not on BU numbers and reporting Covid statistics. Those are important, but they must be secondary to the urgent task of saving lives. If this is kept in view, the system will become much more compassionate. Secondly, the difference between the private hospital and the government hospital was not in the doctors or the equipment, but in the nursing care and ward services. Government hospitals provided medication according to the protocol, but forgot to tell patients the little things that ultimately made the difference: dont take off your oxygen masks; maintain proning position, etc. These dont call for money, just training and unwavering commitment. This is, of course, a dry narration of what happened over a few days last year, bereft of much of the distress and the struggle behind the scenes at every stage. But a dry narration, minus the drama, is necessary to draw out objective lessons. Hopefully, the ongoing third wave will not become as severe as the second, and the pressure on the system will not be as high as it was in April-May last year Spreading at breakneck speed, the Omicron variant might give us all the jitters even if it is milder in its potency. So if the exploding numbers mean we are already in the midst of a third wave, will the decentralised triaging system and fight-back perfected during the second wave save us from big trouble this time? The signs are similar to the second wave. But it is far less deadly, as healthcare experts point out. If six out of 10 needed hospitalisation then, this time only two to three would need to be admitted. Going by the data from the first two weeks, it is likely that the peak will be reached sometime by the end of January or the first week of February, points out Dr Ambanna Gowda, Consultant, Internal Medicine, Sparsh Hospital, who has been actively tracking the combat strategies. Also read: Maharashtra adds 1 lakh Covid cases in 2 days; Pune tops in Omicron infections But there is no scope for complacency. Learning from the fatal turn that the second wave took, the government is beefing up oxygen supplies and other critical equipment at hospitals and primary health care centres. Apartments, local hospitals and other healthcare facilities should be ready too. Ward-level data Decentralisation is clearly the way to go. Simply put, this means ensuring ward-level detection of cases, ward-level data on vaccination, availability of beds, ambulances and a hyper-local response that guarantees speed and efficiency. Early adoption of this strategy, experts are convinced, could have prevented the frantic search for ICU beds, oxygen cylinders and eventually the high fatalities of the second wave. Without proper triaging, a patient from the citys South zone, for instance, would panic looking for a bed in the North zone. This time, as Dr Ambanna points out, proper, ward-level triaging should ensure that beds and other facilities are easily available from the zone to ward to even booth level. Every ward has a BBMP office. Patients should be made aware about the availability of doctors, nurses, medicines and ambulances. This will reassure people and avoid unnecessary panic. Beyond automated calls Tying up with a Bengaluru-based startup StepOne, the government has activated a sytem where Covid-positive patients get daily automated calls enquiring about fever, sore throat and other symptoms. But as cases rise, this automated setup will need to be complemented by a system that lets the patients / relatives call and enquire about hospitalisation and other facilities available within the ward. Reliable, ward-specific numbers should be provided to people so that they can call back to know what to do, where to go and if other family members need to be tested. Also read: Symptomatic child Covid cases on the rise in third wave, doctors warn Second wave anxiety had mounted with patients often forced to await generation of a Bengaluru Urban (BU) number for bed allocation. This was a big problem during the second wave. A dedicated, ward-level, number will avoid anxiety. Private hospitals are required to set aside a proportion of their beds for patients sent by the government. Currently, this stands at 30% but could go up to 50 or 70% if the cases continue to rise. But the availability status will need to be constantly updated ward-wise and communicated to patients in need. No elected corporators Tara Krishnaswamy, CoFounder, Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB) agrees that ward-level disaster management is a very good strategy. But it cannot realise its full potential without elected corporators at the helm. The nodal officers can only do so much, and they often run into bottlenecks. We dont necessarily institutionalise best practices, she contends. Ward-level management, Tara notes, implies you can access oxygen cylinders, PPE kits, ambulances locally; a local list of doctors and nurses are easily accessible and anyone with symptoms are identified quickly. But without an elected ward corporator, who do you hold accountable? Yes, in some wards, the system can work with diligent staff. But without an elected councillor, where is the accountability of a ward committee coming from? Who can follow up if something goes wrong? If you had a corporator, you would bug him, ensure that things are done, she points out. Elections to the Bruhath Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) are unlikely to be held before results of the five State polls come in, and as Tara says, the urgency to conduct them will depend on the verdict. Until then, the city will have to make do without a third tier of governance. Known as a gateway to Kalyana Karnataka, Kalaburagi has a rich historical and cultural heritage. It has seen Buddhists, Jains, Madhwas, Shaivas, Sharanas, Sufi saints and the Tatwapadakaras thrive. Royal dynasties of Mauryas, Satavahanas, Rashtrakutas and Kalyani Chalukyas flourished along the banks of the River Bhima. At Sannathi in the district, Mauryans and Satavahanas constructed Buddhist Stupas to popularise Buddhism between the third century BC and the third century AD. Several villages like Sannathi and Kanaganahalli in Chittapur taluk and Hurasgundi in Shahapur taluk were centres of cottage industries since the third century AD. There is evidence that suggests that pots and other items made of clay here were supplied to places in north India. Using the stones found locally, the artists here carved stupas, Buddha statues and other architectural wonders. Even the fort at Malkhed that served as the capital of the Rashtrakutas was built using local stones. Jainism thrived in Kalaburagi after the 10th century, under the reign of the Rashtrakuta ruler Amoghavarsha Nrupathunga I. It was during this period that several Jain Basadis and temples came up in Sedam, Kalagi and Chittapur. The Jain Basadi at Malkhed (known as Manyakheta then) can be seen even to this day. In the 12th century, the Vachana revolution led by Basavanna, attracted thousands of people to Kalyana, who passed through Kalaburagi to reach there. It is said that many Sharanas, led by Basavannas nephew Channabasavanna, took refuge in villages in Kalaburagi, after the violence provoked by Basavanna's support of inter-case marriage. Not just this, several villages of the district have close historical connections to developments that took place at Kalyana. Vachanakara Jedara Dasimayya is from Mudenur in the district. A pair of footwear said to be made for Basavanna by Harlayya and his wife Kalyannama (a couple who were followers of Basavanna) has been preserved at the Bijanalli village in Sedam taluk even to this day. During the reign of the Bahmani Sultans, Kalaburagi saw the rise of the Sufi culture and tradition. Even to this day, hundreds of people from the middle-east countries travel to Kalaburagi to attend the Urs of Khwaja Bande Nawaz. Like the Sufi saints, the Tatwapadakaras of the district reached to the common masses through their tatwapadas (mystical songs) that were rich in expression and life experiences, but in a language easily understood by the common people. Madhwa tradition too found a place in Kalaburagi and the Uttaradi Math at Malkhed located on the banks of the Kagina river became a major centre for the Madhwas. Historically, Kalaburagi nurtured several faiths and religious traditions, and in a similar way, it fostered multiple languages. Along with Kannada, the district is influenced by Urdu, Persian, Telugu and Marathi. Aland area shares a border with Maharashtra and has Marathi influence whereas Chincholi and Sedam share a border with Telangana. People break into Telugu just as easily as they speak Kannada. (Translated by Divyashri Mudakavi) The Puttur rural police arrested two rowdy sheeters for allegedly threatening and trying to extort money. Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police Rishikesh Sonawane said that the arrested had called an entrepreneur from Puttur and demanded Rs 13 lakh to release their associate who is lodged in jail. The callers had used different mobile phone numbers to make extortion calls and even threatened him with dire consequences of failing to pay the money. The arrested are Kalander Sharief alias Shafi, a resident of Golthamajalu in Bantwal and Hasanabba alias Hasan alias Acchu alias Achun, a resident of Manjanady in Mangaluru taluk. The duo had asked the entrepreneur to get ready with Rs 3.5 lakh within two days and even threatened to kill him and his children if he failed to arrange the money, said the SP. Following the complaint, the police had registered cases under various sections of the IPC against the extortion callers. The police who swung into action arrested the duo while they were returning after collecting money from the entrepreneur. The police seized Rs 50,000 cash, a car and a mobile phone from the arrested. The Bantwal police had opened a rowdy sheet against Kalander for the offences he carried out in the past while Hasanabba is a rowdy sheeter in Konaje Police Station. The Puttur rural circle inspector Umesh Uppalige, SI Uday Ravi, Ameen Saab M Attar and other police personnel carried out the operation to arrest the duo under the guidance of DK SP Rishikesh Sonawane and Puttur sub-division DSP Dr Gana P Kumar. Watch the latest DH Videos here: Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Directorate-General for External Policies of the Union, European Parliament, head of the unit, Niccolo Rinaldi, said, Multilateral cooperation and a strong Europe-Asia relationship is crucial for the global recovery. We believe it is important for all our Asian partners to work together to build back better in a greener, digital, sustainable and inclusive way in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. He was speaking at the inaugural programme of a Winter School on EU-Asia Relations in a Multipolar World jointly organised by the Manipal Centre for European Studies (MCES), a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, and Nordic Centre in India, at Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Manipal. Rinaldi also acknowledged the importance of collaboration and exchange between the EU member states and Asian countries in the education process. He stressed the critical role of universities like Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) as interlocutors of strengthening the EUs ties with Asia. He emphasised the Indo-Pacific region, highlighting its increasing importance reflects in the EUs strategy for cooperation with the region. We are already a top investor in the Indo-Pacific. Moreover, we are also the top development cooperation and trading partner in Asia. We have decided to reinforce our strategic focus, presence and actions with the region. Our new EU strategy for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific sends a strong political signal, said Rinaldi. Speaking on the occasion, European Union Centre in Singapore, director, Dr Yeo Lay Hwee emphasised the importance of partnership between Asia and Europe in strengthening multilateralism. She stressed the urgent need to uphold the international order based on rules and principles of international law with the United Nations at its core to address global and regional challenges. She also noted the importance of confidence-building measures and preventive diplomacy in contributing to peace and stability and reaffirmed the principles of mutual respect, mutual understanding, mutual interest and the renunciation of the use of force and the threat of using force in international relations. Manipal Centre of European Studies (MCES), head, Dr Neeta Inamdar, highlighted the importance of enhancing Asia-Europe connectivity, which has political and economic aspects and socio-cultural links with people-to-people aspects. ADA [ndash] Memorials services for Clifford Brent Hall, 63, of Ada are 10:00 A.M. Thursday, May 5, 2022 at Trinity Baptist Church, Doug Brewer will officiate. Mr. Hall passed away Monday, April 25, 2022 at a local nursing home surrounded by family. He was born August 8, 1958 in Shawnee, OK t Louth Fianna Fail Senator, Erin McGreehan, has today welcomed news that the Government has agreed to begin the process of recruiting an Online Safety Commissioner. This comes as the Minister with responsibility in the area received Government approval to publish the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill. As part of the framework, the Commissioner will devise binding online safety codes that will set out how regulated online services, including certain social media services, are expected to deal with certain defined categories of harmful online content on their platforms. The Online Safety Commissioner will have a range of powers to ensure compliance, including the power to require the provision of information, to appoint authorised officers to conduct investigations and to sanction non-compliant online services, including through financial sanctions of up to 20 million or 10% of turnover. In welcoming this announcement, Senator McGreehan said: "Tackling this issue has been a key priority of mine since I first got involved in politics and it was one which Fianna Fail has been spearheading since we re-entered Government in 2020. "The Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill marks a watershed moment as we move from self-regulation to an era of accountability in online safety. "Social media has many useful functions but, sadly, some use it for bullying and intimidation and to direct abuse at individuals. These actions have cost lives. "We regulate the public space to ensure that it functions effectively and that it is safe for everyone and the virtual world should be no different. Responsibility must be placed at the door of the social media companies "I understand that the goal of the Online Safety Commissioner will be to minimise the availability of defined categories of harmful online content through binding Online Safety Codes, including certain criminal content, serious cyberbullying content and other damaging material. The Commissioner will have specific regard to the effects of such content on children when defining and enforcing the Online Safety Codes. "This Bill represents a new departure in Irish law and is emblematic of this Governments commitment to protecting the people of Ireland, especially our children, whether offline or online through fair, rules-based and robust regulation,'' she concluded. Manchester Police Public Information Officer Heather Hamel holds two reward posters, Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022, in Manchester, that show missing girl Harmony Montgomery. The father of the young girl, Adam Montgomery, 31, of Manchester, has been arrested on second-degree assault, custody and child endangerment charges regarding his daughter, but the search for her continues, authorities said Wednesday, Jan. 5. NEW YORK, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Bridgewater Associates LP founder Ray Dalio voiced support for China's efforts to realize "common prosperity," suggesting that countries like the United States can benefit from similar approaches, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has reported. "Common prosperity is a good thing," Dalio was quoted by the paper on Monday as saying. "It's another way of saying prosperity for most people." Dalio also said that the United States "needs more common prosperity, a lot of countries do," said the report. Plaistow - Linda Diane Bettincourt, age 71, of Plaistow, NH, formerly of Wakefield, MA passed away Thursday, April 28 at the Exeter Center in Exeter, NH. Born in Potsdam, NY on March 13, 1951 she was the daughter of the late Leon and Jean (Kembel) Schuyler. Linda was raised in Foxborough and Randy Gant, top, and Zimry Paulk, both of Clovis install a drywall sheet in what is to become a manufacturing area of Vana LLC's cannabis growing and manufacturing facility in Clovis. CLOVIS - A minority woman-owned firm based in Clovis is one of the first two firms in New Mexico to be licensed to grow and manufacture cannabis products, according to a news release from the New Mexico Cannabis Control Division of the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department. The company is called Vana, LLC. Its founder and chief executive Parin Kumar, who lives in Albuquerque, said she chose Clovis as the location for the venture because it is a "rural community in need of economic impact." In addition, Kumar said, she lived in Clovis with her family for 18 years, and her children attended Clovis High School. She said Vana is leasing space in a Clovis building to house both growing and cannabis manufacturing processes. The license application include a business address of 3608 N. Prince, Suite E, and the manufacturing facility is located at 1020 Santa Fe in Clovis. "It's going to be a state-of-the-art, high-tech" facility, she said. "We're going to use the most modern technology on the market." She said she decided to enter the newly legalized cannabis industry in New Mexico because it represents a good business opportunity for "someone who is already an entrepreneur." High profit margins for early growers and manufacturers, she said, have been a pattern in other states, and it's only speculation whether that will be the case in New Mexico. "There has been a shortage (of supply) at first," she said, "and then it levels out." New Mexico observers of the cannabis industry have predicted that demand for cannabis products will exceed supply in the early days of the industry, which will increase supplier prices and profits. Construction at Vana's site is in early stages, a visit to the site revealed, but areas for growing and manufacturing have been laid out in blueprints. Kumar stated that Vana is planning eventually to expand into retail sales, and expects to retain about 40 employees in its manufacturing and retail outlets, according to the CCD news release. "We are so grateful for this opportunity to grow and manufacture cannabis and are looking forward to serving New Mexico," Kumar said in the news release. "We hope to educate fellow New Mexicans about the benefits of cannabis and provide a variety of consistent, high-quality products." CCD did not identify the other growing and manufacturing licensee. The state's first retail licenses went to two Albuquerque-based businesses, Enchanted Botanicals and Dulce Cannabis," the news release stated. The adult-use cannabis industry is expected to bring in $300 million in sales each year, create 11,000 jobs and generate $50 million in state revenue in the first year alone, the CCD news release stated. The state has set a goal of opening retail cannabis operations by April 1. Adult recreational cannabis became legal on June 29. As of Wednesday, CCD stated it had received 285 cannabis business license applications, not including existing medical licensees. All who successfully complete the licensing process will receive licenses, the CCD said. New Mexico is not limiting the number of licenses, the news release said. The news release said the CCD had issued nine microbusiness licenses, two retail licenses, along with the two manufacturing licenses. More information about applying for a cannabis license is available from the CCD website at http://www.ccd.rld.state.nm.us. Local state legislators will join others from across New Mexico at the state capitol on Tuesday, with 30 days of mostly budget-related lawmaking and assurances state tax revenues will be high due to increased oil and gas severance tax revenues and continued federal COVID-19 relief. According to a report from the Legislative Finance Committee, a Legislature committee that meets between sessions, recurring revenues for fiscal year 2023, which began on July 1, are estimated at $9 billion, about $1.6 billion, or 21.5% higher than recurring revenues for fiscal 2022, which ended June 30. State Sen. Stuart Ingle, R-Portales, said that after several lean years, state coffers contain more than we've ever had. That will mean pay raises for public employees, including teachers, he said, but he struck a note of caution. With the raises, he said, will come increases in retirement benefits that future budgets will have to accommodate. While there is substantially more money available to spend this year than in previous years, Ingle said, we have to make sure we keep reserves and state permanent funds strong. Capital outlays, he said, should be allocated to projects where the money will be used within a year. In the recent past, he said, some of the capital outlay allocated has not been used within two years. He said, however, he would advocate for road repairs in Clovis and on the campus of Eastern New Mexico University in Portales - primarily Avenue K and University Drive. State Rep. Martin Zamora, R-Clovis, said he was encouraged that Democrats have presented bills that will make criminals be responsible for their crimes. Democrat-proposed bills would make it harder to grant bail to persons accused of murder, gun crimes, rape or other sex crimes, and increase penalties for second-degree murder, gun crimes and fleeing law enforcement. Zamora said he will again introduce a bill to place more weather stations in rural areas of the state. He introduced weather station bills in the 2021 Legislature, but they did not get to a final vote. Zamora also said he will sponsor a memorial to ask U.S. Congressional representatives to look at New Mexico a little differently because we are so arid. The state needs agricultural policies that will help conserve water, he said. State Sen. Pat Woods is eyeing enhancements in public education as the best place for the state's apparent windfall of new tax money. Teacher salary raises of about 7%, he said, would help the state retain teachers at a time when the state is noting shortages of educators, but he said he is considering some new outside the box ways to increase the state's teacher ranks. One would be partnerships between four-year colleges and two-year community colleges that would allow students to earn four-year degrees, particularly in education, through community colleges without having to leave their communities. Another would be to offer full scholarships, tuition and books, for students who seek education degrees and agree to spend a minimum number of years teaching in New Mexico. Another alternative would be education programs that allow students to work in education while they attain education degrees. Such programs, Woods said, could give substitute teachers incentives to go into full-time teaching. With New Mexico graduating only 70% of its high school students and only 20% of graduates going on to college, he said, the state should consider more generous scholarship programs and more opportunities to make college free of charge. New Mexico colleges are seeing declining enrollment, he said, and the average age of college students has risen to the mid-20s. Aside from education, Woods said he will sponsor legislation that would further programs to plant drought-resistant trees compatible with climate conditions in deforested areas of the state. The idea would be to correct deforestation using more trees more likely to do well in adverse conditions. Only one legislator representing Curry or Roosevelt county has pre-filed legislation before the beginning of the session. District 66 Rep. Phelps Anderson of Roswell, who declines to state his party affiliation, is a cosponsor with Rep. George Munoz, D-Gallup, of a bill that would change the make-up of the state's Public Employee Retirement Association's board. Anderson is the sole sponsor of another bill that would set conditions under which a retired public employee could return to the public payroll. Attempts to reach Anderson, state representatives Jack Chatfield and Randal Crowder were unsuccessful late last week. In a news release Friday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham stated her priorities center on investing in policies and programs that will benefit students, workers, families, businesses and communities large and small across the state. Specifically, the governor is seeking legislation in education, criminal justice reform, economic development, the environment, and health, well-being and quality of life Under education, the governor is seeking raises for educators and expanded opportunities for free college education for New Mexico students. In criminal justice, the governor is hoping the Legislature will create a fund to hire and train more public safety officers, keep violent criminals off the streets, and increase penalties for violent crimes. To enhance economic development, the governor is proposing cuts in gross receipts taxes for all New Mexicans, expand the Buy New Mexico Initiative that encourages governments in the state to give preference to New Mexico contractors in purchasing goods and services, establish the state as the hub of a hydrogen energy industry, establish a state media academy to help students enter the film and media industry, and expand job training and economic development programs. The governor is also seeking environmental legislation that would create a $50 million Land of Enchantment Bond to fund environmental programs, reach net-zero emissions by 2050, and set a clean fuel standard for transportation to reduce vehicular carbon emissions. Last updated 1/15/2022 at 2:28pm ALBUQUERQUE The State Bar of New Mexico is offering a free online divorce options workshop Feb. 2, according to a release. The workshop will run 6 p.m.-8 p.m. at Zoom meeting 87823042763, passcode 568906. The workshop includes a presentation by a volunteer attorney, an open question-and-answer period, and a free one-on-one consultation with an attorney. Information: 505-797-6022. A CORK woman blamed a bad crowd from Kilkenny for leading her astray in a case where she went shoplifting and verbally abused a member of staff at a pharmacy as a blondie prostitute. Julianne McDonagh, of 1 Inchera Close, Mahon, Cork, got a five-month jail term at Cork District Court and now she has appealed that sentence to Cork Circuit Appeals Court. Sergeant John Kelleher outlined the background to the charges of theft and engaging in threatening behaviour that resulted in the total sentence of five months being imposed on McDonagh, aged 21. The incident occurred at Boots at Mahon Point on February 11, 2021. Julianne McDonagh was one of two women who went into the pharmacy that day and stole 291 worth of cosmetics. Julianne McDonagh was not wearing a face covering. She refused to put on a mask when approached in relation to the matter by a member of staff. She got aggressive and called her a blondie prostitute and a whore, Sgt. Kelleher said. In a later incident, she returned to the same pharmacy and stole hair dye on April 15. She picked up two packets of the product and put one of them in her bag without offering payment. When CCTV was shown to her she identified herself and said she got annoyed when she was accused of taking things. She had seven previous theft convictions and came to the attention of gardai since this incident for alleged possession of knives, Sgt. Kelleher said. Alison McCarthy, barrister, appealed the severity of the five-month jail term at Cork Circuit Appeals Court and said of the 21-year-old: She is very young. The reason she got involved in these thefts was that she fell in with a bad crowd from Kilkenny. She is no longer with that crowd. The barrister asked for the sentence to be suspended or for it to be replaced with a community service order. Ms McCarthy said the young woman had a crucial role in minding her elderly mother. Judge Helen Boyle said at the appeal: There are two issues that are glaring: She has offered no compensation and there is not a scintilla of an apology. She obviously has not focused her mind at all on any of these offences. If something steals something they have to make restitution. The judge adjourned the appeal until March 23 and told the appellant to pay the pharmacy back for what she had stolen and to write a letter of apology to the member of staff who was verbally abused. Judge Boyle said she was not making any promise on the outcome of the appeal but said that compensation and an apology were basic matters that needed to be attended to before the appeal could be even considered. A further 40,600 people were added to hospital waiting lists in past year, according to the latest data released by the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF). Some 879,000 are currently on waiting lists, of which 96,000 are children. Figures show 114 people were added to hospital waiting lists every day throughout 2021, with over 100 per cent increases in outpatient and inpatient waiting lists at some public hospitals. Hospitals which saw the highest increases in outpatient waiting lists in 2021 included Cork University Maternity Hospital (101 per cent), the Coombe Womens & Infants Hospital (30 per cent), St Johns Hospital, Limerick (28 per cent), St Columcilles, Loughlinstown (24 per cent), Cork University Hospital (24 per cent) and Mayo University Hospital (22 per cent). 'Unacceptable waiting lists' According to the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA), increasing waiting lists come as one in five hospital consultant posts remain vacant or are filled on a temporary basis. Commenting on the latest NTPF figures, IHCA president Professor Alan Irvine, said: More people were waiting for hospital treatment at the end of 2021 than at the start of the year, despite a four-month action plan from Government to address the issue. These waiting lists are not being brought under control quick enough and the lack of progress in the past year is really damning. Unfortunately, with the recent increases in Covid cases, overcrowding in our emergency departments and widespread cancellation of essential scheduled care and outpatient appointments, there is little prospect of the waiting list coming under control anytime soon. This is simply not good enough, irrespective of the pressures we are facing during this latest Covid wave. He continued: 114 people are being added to a waiting list every day in this country a shocking fact that we cannot ignore and must give serious priority to. More worryingly, due to the pressures faced in the system, some of these people will be described erroneously as non-urgent cases and have their scheduled appointments cancelled. Their conditions will only become more serious and difficult to treat the longer they are left waiting often in pain, suffering and facing the psychological distress of not knowing when they will be able to receive care. It is essential that the Minister Stephen Donnelly delivers on the unambiguous commitment he has made repeatedly to restore pay parity for all Consultants contracted since 2012. This is crucial if public hospitals are to attract and recruit the highly trained specialists needed to fill the one in five permanent hospital consultant posts across the country that are either vacant or filled on a temporary basis and finally reduce these unacceptable waiting lists. 'Alarmed' Sinn Fein's spokesperson on health David Cullinane said he was alarmed over the number of people on hospital waiting lists. He called on the Minister for Health to urgently publish his Waiting List Reduction Plan and the HSE's 2022 National Service Plan. "Waiting lists are far above capacity, and the health service is in serious need of investment and reform," Mr Cullinane said. The figures published today by the NTPF show that 880,000 people are on hospital waiting lists, higher than the end of the previous year. The Minister's long-term action plan is urgently needed. 82% of patients on lists are waiting for a first appointment, procedure, or a surgery David Cullinane T.D. (@davidcullinane) January 14, 2022 "We need to see the detailed plan for 2022, which has yet to be published despite the fact we are now two weeks into the new year," he added. "The Minister for Health must show leadership and act decisively to tackle waiting lists. He must publish his plan. "The delays in publishing the long-term waiting list plan and the national service plan for 2022 show a concerning lack of urgency." Three Extinction Rebellion activists who disrupted a London train during rush hour were acquitted by a jury Friday. The three defendants, who said they were motivated by their Christian faith, did not deny their actions. Instead, they argued that their protest was lawful under the Human Rights Act. When a jury hears the truth about the escalating climate crisis, with the depth and seriousness they wont get from the government or the media, they understand the urgent need to act, Extinction Rebellions Zoe Blackler said in a statement emailed to EcoWatch. The real criminals here arent 3 committed Christians who are risking their liberty to sound the alarm on a threat of existential proportions. The real crime lies with a government failing to do whats necessary to safeguard the future of the human race. Reverend Sue Parfitt, 79; Father Martin Newell, 54; and former university lecturer Phil Kingston, 85 conducted their protest on October 17, 2019, The Independent reported. The three activists disrupted a Docklands Light Railway (DLR) train at Londons Shadwell Station for 77 minutes, delaying or canceling around 15 trains. While Kingston super-glued his hand to the train, Parfitt and Newell climbed on top to say prayers for the planet. All three are members of Christian Climate Action and told the jury they were inspired to protect Gods creation by spurring action on the climate crisis, according to an Extinction Rebellion release emailed to EcoWatch. Kingston also said he wanted to preserve the future for his four grandchildren. During the trial, which took place at the Inner London Crown Court, the jury was presented with facts about the climate crisis, The Guardian reported. Climate change is a clear and imminent threat to human civilisation, the jury was told, according to Extinction Rebellion. It has become increasingly widely recognised that immediate substantial action needs to be taken in order to stabilise the climate at a temperature in which we can avoid massive and widespread loss of life. The jurys decision follows other recent acquittals of climate activists. In December, a jury chose to acquit six Extinction Rebellion protesters who had stopped transit entering Londons financial district, The Guardian reported. In April of 2020, a further six activists were let off for a protest at Shells London headquarters. There is mounting evidence from the courts and in particular from juries that the public is taking the climate crisis and the increasingly urgent need to focus on it far more seriously than government and business, Mike Schwarz, a solicitor at the firm Hodge Jones and Allen who represented the defendants, said, as The Guardian reported. This verdict is part of this escalating pattern. Stay up to date on COVID-19 Get Breaking News Sign up now to get our FREE breaking news coverage delivered right to your inbox. Sponsored By: St Anthony's Hospital Athens, AL (35611) Today More clouds than sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 82F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Low 63F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Apple is facing another lawsuit over Powerbeats battery trouble. New York resident Alejandro Vivar has filed a potential class action lawsuit over allegations Powerbeats Pro design defects prevents the wireless earbuds from charging properly. As it's reportedly too easy to lose contact between the buds and their charging case, one of the earpieces either won't charge "consistently" or quickly drain its charge. Apple committed fraud by misrepresenting battery life and failing to address issues it supposedly knew about, the plaintiff said. Vivar's attorneys suggest a combination of the case design and an insufficiently sturdy ear "gasket" (the piece that goes into your ear) may be responsible. Customers have had to resort to inserting a "wedge" to keep the charging pins in contact, according to the lawsuit. The lawyers also reject Apple's claims the Powerbeats Pro are sweat- and water-resistant, arguing that sweat corrodes the charging contacts. The lawsuit calls for Apple to "correct" the situation, compensate affected users and pay unspecified damages. If the lawsuit is fully certified as a class action, it would cover both New York customers as well as those in Georgia, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Virginia. We've asked Apple for comment. As with many such lawsuits, there's no certainty it will reach class action status or lead to compensation. And don't expect a windfall even if the case succeeds with some exceptions, class actions tend to result in small payouts. If anything, the lawsuit may do more to affect design choices than Powerbeats Pro buyers' bank accounts. Google may have to rethink its non-disclosure agreements following a long-running lawsuit from an anonymous worker. According to The Washington Post, a California Superior Court judge has ruled that Google's employee confidentiality agreements violate state labor laws. Terms banning the employee from discussing his job with potential employers amounted to a non-compete clause and were thus illegal in the state, the judge said. The internet company originally persuaded a judge to toss out most of the worker's claims in the belief federal law overrode California legislation. An appeals court overturned that decision, however, noting that state laws did more to protect free speech rights that included work experience. Google has declined to comment on either the verdict or any plans to appeal. The outcome wouldn't let Google employees discuss trade secrets if it was upheld. It would let people discuss work experience, though, and could make it easier for job-seekers to switch roles without fear of lawsuits. It might also provide more opportunities for sexual assault and harassment victims to discuss their reasons for leaving a company, although California legislation has already tackled non-disclosure agreements that bar victims from talking about incidents. This ruling might also have wider repercussions for California's tech sector. QH Law partner Ramsey Hanafi told the Post that many large tech companies have similar gag rules. Like it or not, Silicon Valley firms might have to revamp their agreements and accept that it will be easier for staff to leave or identify toxic work cultures. CAIRO/BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The latest round of intensive interaction between China and several Middle East countries, as well as between China and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), will enhance China's cooperation with those countries and the Middle East region as a whole, analysts have said. Abdulaziz Al-Shaabani, a Saudi journalist and expert on China, said the recent interaction is in line with both China's and the Gulf countries' wishes, and will benefit all sides by promoting economic and trade exchanges between the world's second largest economy and the Gulf countries. "The time has come for China and the Gulf states to have deeper and more comprehensive relations, especially in light of the similar challenges they face, and their common wish to strengthen bilateral relations," he said. Noting that both China and the Gulf countries attach great importance to their sovereign independence and oppose any country's interference in internal affairs of others, Abdulaziz Al-Anjari, founder and CEO of the Reconnaissance Research in Kuwait, said the common ground will help deepen the relationship between the two sides. During a meeting between Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and visiting GCC Secretary-General Nayef bin Falah Al-Hajraf on Tuesday, the two sides agreed that the conditions for China and the GCC to establish a strategic partnership are ripe, and they will accelerate this process. They also agreed to complete negotiations on a free-trade agreement between China and the GCC at an early date. Several experts believed that the facilitation of talks on a China-GCC free trade agreement is one of the major outcomes of the recent talks held in China. Ibrahim Hamoud Al-Subhi, Oman's first ambassador to China, called for speeding up talks to facilitate the signing of a free trade agreement, and emphasized the significance of learning from the "successful and important" experience of China's development. "Gulf states, including Oman, need a strong economic partner. I think China can play that role," he said, adding that the meeting between the leaders of the Gulf countries and China is crucial for relevant sides to strengthen cooperation, especially in the field of economy. In a written interview with Xinhua, Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani said reaching a free trade agreement will further upgrade the level of bilateral cooperation, strengthen trade exchanges and lay a solid foundation for the two sides to build a mutually beneficial and win-win strategic partnership. In face of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is of great significance to seal a deal on trade liberalization and facilitation, he added. Pointing out that the GCC and China enjoy a long-lasting good relationship, the foreign minister stressed that based on mutual political trust and economic strength, the GCC-China partnership will play a particularly important role in sustaining peace, stability, and development in the Gulf region, the Middle East and the world as a whole. Kuwaiti economic analyst Hajjaj Boukhdour voiced his support for the creation of a free trade zone between the GCC and China, which he believes will considerably improve trade liberalization and facilitation, as well as both sides' governance capability on commercial and economic interests. On the sideline of the meeting between Wang and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday, both sides agreed to deepen all-round cooperation to further advance bilateral ties. Wang said that under the guidance of the two heads of state, China-Turkey relations have maintained their development momentum. Analysts believe the meeting will further synergize development strategies between Turkey and China, enhance communication and mutual understanding through bilateral channels, and expand cooperation in new areas. On Friday, Wang held talks with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, during which the two sides announced the launch of the implementation of the 25-year comprehensive cooperation plan and conducted in-depth discussions. The two sides also exchanged views on the Iranian nuclear situation. The Iranian foreign minister paid high attention to the 25-year comprehensive cooperation plan and the two sides' exchange of views on the Iranian nuclear situation during his visit to China, analysts said, adding that the visit will advance Iran-China cooperation in various fields. FedEx jets might soon pack defensive weaponry. NBC News and Reuters report FedEx has asked the Federal Aviation Administration for permission to equip an upcoming fleet of Airbus A321-200 aircraft with an anti-missile laser system. The proposed hardware would disrupt the tracking on heat-seeking missiles by steering infrared laser energy toward the oncoming projectiles. The courier service pointed to "several" foreign incidents where attackers used portable air defense systems against civilian aircraft. While there weren't specific examples, NBC pointed to Iran shooting down a Ukranian airliner in January 2020 (reportedly due to mistaking the jet for a cruise missile) and a Malaysian flight brought down by Russia-backed Ukranian separatists in July 2014. FedEx first applied for the laser system in October 2019. The FAA is open to approval, but has proposed "special conditions" before lasers could enter service. The system would need failsafes to prevent activation on the ground, and couldn't cause harm to any aircraft or people. The concept of including countermeasures isn't strictly new. Some American commercial aircraft have used anti-missile systems as early as 2008, and FedEx helped trial a Northrop Grumman countermeasure system around the same time. Israel's El Al has used anti-missile systems since 2004. FedEx's plans would be significant, though, and rare for a courier company. It wouldn't be surprising if more commercial aircraft followed suit, even if the risks of attacks remain relatively low. Yet another service has kicked sex workers off its platform. According to Motherboard, Linktree, a tool that allows you to share multiple links with one URL online, has given sex workers the boot overnight and without warning. Banned users have taken to social networks like Twitter to announce that their accounts were banned "for inappropriate use" and didn't even get an email or any kind of notice about it. Some were reportedly billed for the service, which costs $9 per months for the Pro tier, but weren't refunded when their account was canceled. Marlene Bonnelly, Head of Trust & Safety at Linktree, told the publication that the accounts that were banned shared a URL that violated its Community Standards. Bonnelly's statement reads: "Per our company's policies, the Linktree accounts banned stemmed from sharing a URL which violated Community Standards by sharing advertisements for the sale of real-life sexual services." Sex workers make use of tools like Linktree, because some platforms don't allow linking out to adult websites such as OnlyFans directly. Perhaps more importantly, they have to diversify make use of several websites, because they'll never know when a service will suddenly decide to ban adult content. Financial services like PayPal, Visa and MasterCard, have long been known to close the accounts of people in the business of sex. Patreon banned content of a sexual nature back in 2017, and the number of services that decided not to host sex workers and their content have only grown since the US government passed FOSTA-SESTA a few years ago. Even OnlyFans, which has become synonymous with adult content, tried to ban "sexually explicit conduct" in 2021 until it suspended its planned policy change. Linktree's Terms of Service states that a user must not "include any sexually explicit material (including pictures and language) on your Page itself or your account itself." However, it's vague and not entirely clear if linking to websites like OnlyFans has always been against its rules. It's also unclear why Linktree suddenly started banning sex workers when they'd been using the service without issue for quite some time, but people in the business of sex may want to find another link-sharing tool they can use. Update 01/16/22 2AM ET: Linktree told Engadget that a lot of sex workers use the tool while adhering to legal and Community Standards guidelines. Advertising real life sexual services is not legal, the company said, and would have legal ramifications for the service. Bonnelly also clarified in a statement that users that were booted off will be refunded: The hacker behind the ransomware attack that took down the Colonial Pipeline last year has been apprehended by Russian authorities, according to US officials. Russias FSB intelligence agency said Friday that 14 people associated with the REvil ransomware group had been arrested, according to The Wall Street Journal. The group has taken responsibility for numerous cyberattacks in the US. Officials in the US believe the hacker behind the ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline last spring was among those arrested, according to an unnamed administration official who spoke to CNN. Last years cyberattack, which was attributed to a ransomware gang , caused a significant disruption to the Colonial Pipeline, which supplies nearly half of the fuel for the entire east coast of the US. The temporary shutdown of the pipeline incited mass panic buying at gas stations in and around the east coast of the US, which resulted in shortages in at least 11 states . As CNN notes, the arrest comes after a week of diplomatic talks between the United States and Russia regarding Russias buildup of troops near the border with Ukraine. The Biden official told the network that it believes the arrest was not related to the situation. But some analysts have suggested otherwise, noting that this is the first first US investigation Russia has cooperated on in eight years. Tesla has once again quietly pushed back its Cybertruck's release to next year, according to Reuters. The automaker will reportedly begin the electric truck's production by the end of the first quarter of 2023 instead of this year. While Tesla has yet to formally announce the delay, the Cybertruck's order page removed a previous reference to production in 2022. The design section of the page previously read "You will be able to complete your configuration as production nears in 2022." Now, the sentence ends after the word "nears." Back in November, somebody on Twitter asked company chief Elon Musk for an update on the Cybertruck. Musk responded that Tesla has been grappling with a "supply chain nightmare," and that he'll provide more updates during the company's next earnings call scheduled for January 26th. Oh man, this year has been such a supply chain nightmare & its not over! I will provide an updated product roadmap on next earnings call. Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 29, 2021 According to Reuters' source, Tesla will have a limited production of the Cybertruck at first before increasing its output. The company unveiled the Cybertruck in 2019 at a big event, wherein Musk said that production was slated to begin in late 2021. During the company's January 2021 earnings call, he said Tesla only expects a few deliveries in 2021 and for volume production to start in 2022. Later that year, though, the company delayed the vehicle's release to 2022. Delays with Tesla releases don't come as a surprise anymore, seeing as Musk is known for announcing timetables that are a bit too optimistic. Supply chain and component shortages brought about by the pandemic may have also contributed to the delay, if Reuters' report turns out to be true. We'll find out for sure when Tesla reveals its updated product roadmap before the month ends. Enid, OK (73701) Today Mostly cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. High near 65F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy with late night showers or thunderstorms. Low 47F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Ghazala Jamil writes: Abusive comments on the social media accounts of women journalists and activists who dared to question or critique the union government have nearly been normalised in India. However, since the early days of this regime, women influencers who spoke as Muslims, were especially singled out for excessive and graphic threats of sexual violence in addition to the offensive trolling. While the online hate, targeting Muslim women influencers has only intensified, Muslim womens political articulation on social media has strengthened. This is in part because of their determination to continue to have a voice when a combination of brutal violence and pandemic restrictions were used to force the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) ActNational Register of CitizensNational Population Register (CAANRCNPR) protests to end from public spaces. It should be remembered that the hostility of the government to this movement was also because Muslim women appeared in publicunafraid, articulate, and armed with sharp political critiquecontradicting all the stereotypes perpetuated about them. The Sulli DealsBulli Bai incidents of tech-mediated violence against Muslim women reveal the discursive boundaries set by Hindutva ideology and actors seeking to discipline Muslim womens speech and punish them for dissent. These incidents of targeting have to be necessarily read as warnings to Muslim women to not transgress their portrayal as voiceless victims. If there is ever an impartial investigation, we might learn whether the operatives behind these apps were working autonomously or at the behest of organised information technology (IT) cells, like the one using Tek Fog. In either case, designing apps (using GitHub, a specialised software development service and a social networking platform for developers) for online sexual abuse and humiliation is elaborate and deliberate violence perpetrated by these actors. It is way more than annoying, disruptive trolling. The level of effort, expertise, and resources that must have gone into the crafting of this humiliation is not only intended to have a chilling effect but also meant to terrorise. The effort and intentionality of this tech-mediated misogyny and communal violence exposes the futility of advice to ignore the trolls. Muslim women were told that reacting would amount to engagement, which would only encourage the trolls. The question that Muslims should not need to ask, but are forced to, is this: Are these actorsradicalised by their hate for Muslims and on a long leash of impunityin need of any encouragement from the victims? What we have at hand is an entire subculture of Hindutva. Many actors in this right-wing subculture see hate as a sure pathway for proximity to power, a way to get a foothold in electoral politics. Others have a clear political aspiration of playing foot soldiers of the majoritarian regime that promises to usher in the Hindu rashtra. They enjoy unmitigated impunity from the police, particularly in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states and powerful patronage of those occupying high public offices in the union government. What was characterised as fringe for long was just the proverbial tip of the iceberg, as the recent expose of the Trad versus Raita ecosystem shows. On the other hand are Muslim women influencers and activists. Most of them are young and have no aspirations for careers in politics. They have no mentors, and no resources except personal. They are opinionated, extremely articulate, and extend solidarity to all manner of causes and marginalised groupsfrom queer rights to gig workers to environmental activists, not to mention the farmers movement, human rights defenders, Christians, Sikhs, and Dalits. They seek to educate and influence public opinion. They take on issues frontally, putting a lot of emphasis on appearing in public and speaking as Muslims, not merely for their personal freedom of expression but to claim the rights of their community. What accounts for their struggle to have a voice on social media is perhaps a belief that social media platforms are digitised equivalent of public sphere. The belief in this potential of social media is a legacy of the way it was characterised as having facilitated popular dissent in the Arab Spring protests or the rape law protests following the Nirbhaya case in India in the late 2012. A truly sticky question is, whether the publics, networked as users on these platforms, can hope to engage and get treated as if on a digital public sphere? And looking at the international experience, we can further ask, what makes Big Tech easy to be hijacked by right-wing manipulations? Big Tech social media platforms waging social media wars with each other for engagementusers, likes, retweets, comments, and viewsturn a blind eye to the use of trolls, bots, and apps by actors and regimes inclined towards authoritarianism. If a space, whether analogue or virtual, does not foster the spirit of democracy, no amount of stuff getting said should be confused with the idea of public sphere. Sulli Deals and Bulli Bai are a stark illustration of it being of no concern to Big Tech that this engagement is fuelled by hate, perpetuates a culture of violence, and destabilises democracy. Muslim womens outrage against their targeting is not an exaggerated reaction to deplorable but stupid trolling. At the heart of their struggle are, once again, more profound questions than can meet even the most sympathetic eyes. The Social Democratic Party, the Greens, and the liberal Freedom Democratic Partywho form the new German governmentmight discontinue a political cycle, which has lasted for almost four decades, now faced with far-reaching ecological, economic, and social transformations. It remains to be seen what is to be expected. For 16 years, Angela Merkel was the chancellor of Germany. She left office on 6 December 2021. Except for a short period of seven years, between 1998 and 2005when a coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Greens ruled the countrythe Christian Democrats (Merkels political party) with different alliance partners had shaped the political development of the Federal Republic of Germany for roughly four decades, including its important role in Western Europe. Their governments coincided with the hegemonic cycle in global capitalism that is commonly referred to as neo-liberalism. This cycle starts with the election of Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom (1979) and Ronald Reagan in the United States (US) (1981). The article argues that this political cycle now draws to an endin Germany as well as elsewheresince the neo-liberal notion of progress has lost its power of persuasion and the neo-liberal political economy has met with its structural limits. The 2021 Election Results . Reservations for women in Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs) were seen as a means to bolster women empowerment through increased political awareness, self-confidence, and involvement in development and social issues of the region. The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts, 1992 proved to be catalytic, ushering in more than 15 lakh women into leadership positions in Indias local administration. These amendments, among other things, handed over the batons of power to the population at the panchayat level with one-third reservation of seats and crucial positions within the panchayat for women. In addition to the above, these amendments also made it indispensable for all states to hold gram panchayat and municipal elections and empowered these bodies to undertake development activities at the local level. As of now, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal have increased their reservation benchmarks for women in their PRIs to 50%. States like Karnataka have more than 50% women representatives in PRIs, which is suggestive of the fact that more and more women are now emerging victorious in wards that were not reserved for them. An exploration of the trends and patterns of sex ratio at birth in urban India and the processes behind son preference suggests a systematic worsening of SRB with increasing urban district size classes. The likelihood of giving birth to a son at the first order is highest among women with a stated son preference, which continues to effect second and third order births, given the sex of the previous child. The interrelationship between SRB and educational attainment shows an inverted U-shape. A balanced SRB among poor women corroborates their unbiased gender preference. In contrast, wealthier women and those with exposure to mass media exhibit poor SRB, although they report a neutral preference. The relationship between urbanisation and sex ratio at birth (SRB) in India is a generalised perception that lacks empirical underpinning. Studies around this subject, which concede that declining SRB is primarily an urban phenomenon, suffer from a lack of comprehensive evidence-based examination of their association. While the factors affecting SRB have been a subject of academic discussion, they have never been satisfactorily resolved. The recent decline in SRB has drawn the interest of researchers, who have attempted to understand and differentiate its determinants and also provide evidence of distortion. However, until now, there has been no comprehensive study that attempts to understand the dynamics of SRB at a granular level in urban areas, and correlating it with determining factors. The present study attempts to fill this gap. Notably, the fertility aspirations of couples have witnessed manifold changes in urban India with a rapid decline in infant and child mortality, establishing demographic impacts on SRB (Guilmoto 2009). One such demographic consequence is the skewed SRB (urban). The World Health Organization (2011: 12) describes skewed SRB as an unacceptable manifestation of gender discrimination against girls and women and a violation of their human rights. An undeniable favouritism for boys at birth has a historical cultural inheritance in India, influencing discrimination against girls even in recent times such that a significant number of girls are eliminated before birth (Patel 2006). The Economic Survey, 201718 (GoI 2018), reports that over the last 1015 years, Indias performance improved on 14 out of 17 indicators related to womens agency, attitudes, and outcomes, especially in urban areas. However, gender parity remains a serious challenge in different spheres of development. Despite advancements in economic development, the survey shows that gender biases prevail in land possession, entitlements of assets, and levels of education, employment and wages. Furthermore, it draws attention to the phenomenon of missing women and unwanted girls, which it attributes to the skewed SRB. People waited in line outside the Wonderland of the Americas mall as Bexar Countys newest COVID-19 testing site opened there for the first time at 8 a.m. Friday. It has become a familiar sight to anyone who has tried to get tested for the virus in the past month. As thousands of new coronavirus cases continue cropping up every day, at-home rapid tests have disappeared from store shelves, pharmacies are booking appointments a week in advance and drive-thru clinics are swarmed by cars before sunrise each day. With the crush of omicron, everybodys needing to be tested, Community Labs President Sal Webber said. I think there were people here starting at 7. Webber estimates the new site will test as many as 2,000 patients a day around 200 each hour. The entire process online registration, waiting and swabbing takes about 15 minutes, he said. Demand for testing remained strong Friday as the Metropolitan Health District reported 3,796 newly diagnosed COVID cases and 1,028 patients in San Antonio hospitals testing positive for the virus. The latter number includes 46 children. More than a quarter of all patients now admitted at San Antonio hospitals 27.7 percent are testing positive for COVID. Metro Health reports that 67 percent of hospitalized patients are unvaccinated, while a third had received their COVID shots. The city of San Antonio and Bexar County partnered with Community Labs, a nonprofit, to offer free PCR tests, vaccines and booster shots at the new Wonderland of the Americas location. The operation, funded by the county, is on the malls lower level across from Tejas Pediatric Dentistry. Tests will be offered from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Appointments arent required. On ExpressNews.com: Bexar County deaths from COVID surpass 5,000 Its the only site in Bexar County that provides COVID tests as well as vaccines. Another is scheduled to open Monday. The tests, which patients give themselves through a nasal swab, are provided at the site on a first-come, first-served basis. Results are available within one to two days. The site will remain active as long as needed. Were just providing surge capacity in this short amount of time and just trying to be as flexible and helpful as possible, Webber said. County Judge Nelson Wolff expects the local area will continue to experience a spike in newly diagnosed COVID cases for the next one to three weeks. Basically, I think what you can do is look to Europe and particularly to Britain, Wolff said Friday. They had a rather steep climb up, and now theyre coming down at a relatively fast pace. Its hard to predict how far up we will go. While the numbers will fall eventually, Wolff said, theres still going to be a lot of people going to the hospital. Theres still going to be a lot of people getting sick. Many people waiting in line at the new site sought testing Friday because a family member had tested positive for the virus. On ExpressNews.com: Nirenberg, Wolff: As omicron spreads, health care system on brink Roofer Lupe Mejia had taken the day off work to get tested. Similarly, Nicole Valdez left her work shift early at Target near North Star Mall. Keeping an eye on her two toddlers as she spoke, Valdez said all three of them had recently been exposed. Thankfully, this place opened up, she said. Valdez knows how difficult it can be to get tested. She and a family member recently spent hours waiting in a car at a drive-thru testing site. It actually took the entire day, she said. We got there in the morning, and we didnt leave until, like, 4. Toby Brown and his daughter Shae also waited in line after another child in their family tested positive the day before. They, like Valdezs family, had trouble accessing same-day testing. We tried to book something this morning for one of the drive-thrus, and they were all booked until Monday, if not Tuesday, Brown said. I cant get in to see my doctor or anything like that. Theyre completely booked. Wolff made his remarks at the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center, where local government officials and physicians made a public plea Friday for more blood donations, noting the current supply has become critically low. Mayor Ron Nirenberg declared a blood supply emergency in San Antonio, Bexar County and the larger metropolitan area. On ExpressNews.com: Nirenberg, Wolff send dire plea to Gov. Abbott for more staffing help at San Antonio hospitals The South Texas Blood and Tissue Center has struggled with maintaining an adequate blood supply during the pandemic as businesses and schools have closed and blood drives have been canceled. More than 1,000 blood drives were canceled in 2020, the first year of the pandemic. At the same time, San Antonios population growth has pushed the demand for blood supply donations about 15 percent higher than it was before the COVID virus became a threat. The blood supply shortage is the worst that I have ever seen it in the eight years that Ive been here, said Dr. Samantha Gomez Ngamsuntikul, the centers associate medical director. During the pandemic, the center has recorded a 60 percent decline in donations from young donors 16 to 19 years old, she said. Its also seen a 30 percent decline in blood donations given by first-time donors. New donors and young donors are really key to having a sustainable blood supply, Gomez Ngamsuntikul said. Our goal has always been to have a seven-day blood supply. And right now, our total blood inventory is around two days with O-positive around half of a day. All of San Antonios hospitals have experienced a severe shortage of blood, said Dr. Joyce Schwartz, medical director of Methodist Hospitals blood bank. She described it as an extremely critical matter that means life or death for some patients. Im asking the public to step up and help us with this severe shortage, Schwartz said. So many of our hospitalized patients require blood. Our trauma patients, those cancer patients that are on chemotherapy, new mothers and their newborns, our transplant patients. The current blood supply shortage in San Antonio is unprecedented, said Dr. Leslie Greebon, medical director of University Hospitals transfusion services. I have not seen anything like this in my previous 10-plus years within medicine, she said. All 10 of San Antonios City Council districts will hold blood drives on specific days next week to help address the shortage. Those wishing to give blood at one of these events can make an appointment at SouthTexasBlood.org/SAChallenge. pohare@express-news.net | Twitter: Peggy_OHare caroline.tien@hearst.com | Twitter: ctien0612 Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi holds talks with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 14, 2022. (Xinhua/Ji Chunpeng) NANJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks on Friday with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province. The two sides announced the launch of the implementation of a comprehensive cooperation plan. Wang said China is ready to work with Iran to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, strengthen communication and coordinate actions, constantly enrich the connotation of China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership and open a new era for the development of bilateral ties for the next 50 years. Abdollahian, on behalf of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, said that Iran firmly supports China in safeguarding its core interests and firmly adheres to the one-China policy. Iran highly appreciates and will actively participate in the joint building of the Belt and Road, said Abdollahian, adding that developing relations with China is Iran's top decision. The Iranian side is firmly committed to advancing Iran-China cooperation and staunchly supports the Beijing Winter Olympics. The two sides jointly announced the launch of the implementation of the 25-year comprehensive cooperation plan and conducted in-depth discussions. Both sides agreed to step up cooperation on energy, infrastructure, production capacity, science and technology, and medical and health care. They also agreed to expand cooperation in agriculture, fisheries and cyber security as well as promote tripartite cooperation, and deepen people-to-people and cultural exchanges in education, film and personnel training. The two sides also exchanged views on the Iranian nuclear situation. Wang said that the right and wrong of the Iranian nuclear issue is clear. The U.S. unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) has directly created the current difficult situation. The United States should bear the major responsibility and rectify its mistake as soon as possible China will firmly support the resumption of negotiations on the implementation of the JCPOA and will continue to participate constructively in follow-up negotiations, he said. It is hoped that all parties will overcome difficulties and meet each other halfway to advance the political and diplomatic settlement process, Wang said. Lauding the constructive role played by the Chinese side, Abdollahian said Iran is committed to reaching a set of stable guarantee agreements through serious negotiations and is willing to maintain close communication with China. A man accused in the shooting death of a 17-year-old during a botched drug deal nearly three years ago was among 343 people indicted by Bexar County grand juries this week. Dwight Sanchez was indicted on one count of murder in connection with the 2018 death of Zachariah Bostic, according to the Bexar County District Attorneys Office. San Antonio police responded to a call on Sept. 13, 2018, in the 5600 block of Prentiss Drive and discovered Bostic on the ground unresponsive. He had a gunshot wound to his chest, police said. Bostic was taken to University Hospital, where he died. San Antonio police investigators said at the time that 20-year-old Taijhzee Slum Dialantey Mitchell and two other people had set up a meeting with Bostic to buy drugs. They said the drug deal went wrong and that Mitchell turned to Bostic and shot him. Bostic got out of the vehicle, and the three drove away. Mitchell was arrested and charged in connection with Bostics death six months after the killing. He remains in jail awaiting trial. Sanchez was arrested this week. His bail was set at $200,000, and he was released after posting it. It is not clear what role he is accused of playing in Bostics death. On ExpressNews.com: Suspect arrested months after fatal shooting of 17-year-old near Leon Valley The grand juries also issued murder indictments this week against Monique Scott and Calvin Williams. They are accused in the shooting death of 32-year-old Gary Smith on May 5, 2021. According to police, Scott was driving a getaway car when Williams shot and killed Smith, who was in his car near the Oak Manor Apartments, at 2330 Austin Highway. Murder is a first-degree felony that is punishable by five to 99 years or life in prison and a possible fine of up to $10,000. The grand juries also issued three indictments this week for failure to stop and render aid resulting in death. Racine Reno Delgado is accused of driving a vehicle that caused the death of 54-year-old Jerry Alfaro on May 3, 2021. Officials said Alfaro was driving his motorcycle southbound on General McMullen when a Acura MDX registered to Delgado struck the back of his motorcycle, causing it to spin out. Delgado made a U-turn and quickly fled the scene, investigators said at the time. Raybert Diaz, meanwhile, is accused of intentionally and knowingly driving a vehicle that caused the death of John Herbert Kearney on March 25, 2021. And Cedric Sillmon is accused of driving a vehicle that caused the death of Dana Neal Bauer Jr. on Nov. 5, 2021. According to the indictments, all three left the scenes of the crashes without giving assistance to the victims when it was apparent all three were in need of medical treatment. Failure to stop and render aid resulting in death is a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison and a possible fine of up to $10,000. eeaton@express-news.net Editor's Note: This article originally published in 2021. An attorney for the former San Antonio campaign worker arrested Wednesday raised questions about the nature of the arrest. Former Bexar County District Attorney Nicholas "Nico" LaHood is representing Raquel Rodriguez, who was charged with election tampering by the state attorney general's office. Rodriguez was charged with four counts, all felonies. She was released Thursday afternoon from the Kendall County Jail, northwest of San Antonio, on bonds totaling $60,000. The probable cause affidavit and related documents are under a court seal filed by the attorney general's office, according to Kendall County District Clerk Susan Jackson. The 30-day seal will expire on Feb. 12 unless extended by court order. READ MORE: San Antonio woman arrested on election fraud charges based on Project Veritas video "Every citizen accused of a criminal allegation deserves a fair process and an aggressive defense and our goal is to make sure shes afforded both," LaHood said Thursday. The allegations against Rodriguez surfaced last fall after the conservative activist group Project Veritas posted an edited video of her appearing to help an elderly person fill out a mail-in ballot form and discussing unlawful tactics, including assisting people at the polls. The video included only snippets of what appear to be multiple conversations, and it was not clear who Rodriguez believed she was speaking to or under what context. COURTESY PHOTO / Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, said in a statement that his office reviewed dozens of hours of unedited footage, and that Rodriguez says at one point that she knows her actions are illegal. "Nothing that we've reviewed, even thats out there in the public arena, concerns us as to her guilt," LaHood said. Rodriguez's attorney questioned the site of the court process for the case. "They're only allegations, but even the allegations that we believe the AG is making, no one is going to say they occurred in Kendall County," LaHood said. LaHood, pointing to his past experience as a prosecutor, also wondered why the evidence was not presented to a grand jury. "You walk a warrant when theres a clear and present danger to a citizen or complainant or alleged victim. We don't see that here," LaHood said. "Theres no election going on. The elections two months over and theres not another one for another 10 months." Kendall County Sheriff's Office In October, Rodriguez, who also goes by the first name Rachel, posted on Facebook that Project Veritas had approached her saying it represented an anonymous candidate with money looking for help in a future city council race. I immediately suspected something was wrong with this conversation, she said, adding: I chose to continue the conversation and play along in order to discover the source and gather my own evidence that I could submit to legal authorities. At the time of the video, she appeared to be working on behalf of a Republican congressional candidate, and mentioned working for several other San Antonio area political figures, including former Republican state Sen. Pete Flores, newly elected state Rep. Elizabeth Liz Campos, a Democrat; and former state District Judge Renee Yanta, a Republican. Yanta sued Rodriguez days after the video was released, saying Rodriguez defamed her by claiming to the Veritas interviewer that she had Yanta and several other judges in her pocket. The suit is pending. LaHood said he is not representing Rodriguez in that case. Staff writers Jeremy Blackman and Elizabeth Zavala contributed to this report. 2 1 of 2 Courtesy CPS Energy Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Courtesy CPS Energy Show More Show Less Thousands of San Antonio area residents awoke to no power after strong overnight winds pushed into San Antonio bringing down power lines and damaging equipment, according to CPS Energy. At a 4:30 p.m. update, the city-owned utility reported their crews were working on 73 weather-related outages that affected about 2,700 customers. Last summer the Aspen Institute selected a 15-square-mile area in San Antonios historic West Side to be part of a national small business initiative. It chose five other communities across the country, all of them predominantly Latino with long-existing inequities and lots of small businesses. The goal: to help them grow, become more profitable and build wealth. For the last six months, Prosper West San Antonio formerly the West Side Development Corporation has facilitated that work under the leadership of a local steering committee. Its chaired by former Mayor and Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros, a longtime West Side resident and chairman of American Triple I Partners, who recently relocated his offices to the West Side. Aspens Latinos and Society Program and its City Learning and Action Lab have guided the steering committee to figure out how to promote long-term business growth and resiliency on the West Side. Its report, not yet available online, identified a major problem. Though San Antonio has business resources that are program rich, they operate in silos with system poor delivery. The lack of coordination between those programs, including universities, chambers, financial institutions and others, makes it hard to achieve meaningful impact, the report states. The initiatives work has resulted in a new project, ESTAR West, officially launched Friday. The projects goal is to reach out to business owners before they need help and shorten the distance between them and their revenue goals. It will begin with 30 to 50 small businesses a year, the report states, with a goal of helping each increase their revenue or profitability by 50 percent. Over the next three years, ESTAR West wants to reach 750 businesses. Eventually, they want to reach out to every West Side business. The report says the West Side area has about 2,500 small businesses that operate food, hospitality, retail, healthcare and social services. Many have fewer than five employees. The project includes a promotora-styled outreach program as well as digital technology and training. Ramiro Gonzales, who heads Prosper West, said West Side small businesses, though incredibly resilient during the pandemic, stand to benefit from a collaborative ecosystem thats easier to see and reach. They figured out how to get by, he said. But they arent where they want to be and dont want to struggle the same way in another crisis. Gonzales said efficiencies will allow them to capitalize on the growth thats coming to the West Side. ESTAR Wests goals include a marketing campaign to change negative perceptions of the area; purchasing and redeveloping property to make the area more inviting to customers and visitors; and the creation of a land trust. The latter is an innovative concept that allows land to remain in a trust while properties on it are rented or sold. It holds the potential of safeguarding affordable housing units that stave off gentrification. Aspen hasnt committed a dollar figure for establishing ESTAR Wests programming, but Gonzales said it vows to offer fundraising assistance. Its important to note that ESTAR West comes at a time when taxpayers and community activists are asking tougher questions about whats meant by growth and development. Such phrases have been tossed around but left behind low-wage earners. It has made San Antonio a minimum-wage town in a country that hasnt raised the federal minimum wage in 13 years. So, ESTAR West should be met with equal parts goodwill and skepticism. Several respected activists serve on its steering committee, including representatives of COPS/Metro and the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center, which has been studying the land trust idea. Experts from the University of Texas at San Antonios Small Business Development Center, the Maestro Entrepreneur Center, several financial institutions, the citys two major chambers of commerce and first lady Erika Prosper sit on the steering committee, too. Theyll be pressed if redevelopment displaces residents, or at least too many of them. Gonzales noted the group isnt blind to such realities but seeks to get ahead of it, control growth, produce more of what West Side needs, including affordable housing. He said having the Aspen Institute alongside has made for a good journey. Theres some comfort in the definitions of the Spanish word estar. It means to be and stay, to be present and remain. Its an acronym for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses Thriving Alongside Residents. Let it be a pro-business project that holds onto the two last words of its name and applies it to those whove stayed and remained. eayala@express-news.net Some 30 years ago I developed a habit of rising early to write in my journal. I sit quietly after lighting a candle and invite from yesterday what wished to be remembered. The language I deploy to record yesterdays events leads me into what significance they had and how it may shape my life today. On a national level, we recently remembered a historical event, recorded as it unfolded: the Jan. 6 insurrection. The unprecedented invasion grew out of a grievance that was unmoored from any historical facts that the election was somehow stolen and that only a violent response could right such a fantasized wrong. Words alone, absent any historical referents, provoked a vicious violation of the Constitutions instructions for the peaceful transfer of power. Words were also used by competing factions to shape what we saw. We were exposed to a fiction on one hand, and on the other hand to the facts recorded by many news outlets. The insurrection revealed an invasion on the written document that defines us as a nation. Carefully worded by the Founding Fathers, but still open to interpretation, the Constitution expresses a method of governing that installs the will of the people in their most prominent position: the center of an experiment in democracy. We are thus a nation founded by words that we agreed to as a people to further what democracy is and can be. When Alexis de Tocqueville visited the United States from France in 1831 at 25 to observe this experiment, he noted the rights of the people were linked to virtue. The idea of rights is nothing but the conception of virtue applied to the world of politics, Tocqueville wrote in Democracy in America. And while he praised the new nation for linking virtue to rights, he admitted, nothing is harder than freedoms apprenticeship. The same is not true of despotism which has a sinister intention; it often presents itself as the repairer of all the ills suffered, the support of just rights, defender of the oppressed, and founder of order. His observation intimates that democracy will always be in jeopardy of being undermined by words that promise the opposite of their actions. Democracy, nested in the language of the Constitution, is always vulnerable to an invasion by hordes of words that disguise insidious intentions. Words conveying a stolen election, and promoted by nothing more than a desire for power, led to the Jan. 6 attack, reinforced by an army of laws to suppress voting. Yet each citizens vote is an expression of the larger language of the peoples will. The rights of the governed face accelerated erosion today by words that shape laws to steal the voice of citizens. Words have the power to orient or disorient us, to shape our thoughts and behavior, as well as distort our perceptions and beliefs. In On Tyranny, Timothy Snyder explores the power of words in the section Be kind to our language. He encourages us to read more and watch news outlets less; avoid using cliches that deaden ideas and fresh thinking; and develop our own way of speaking to avoid the sinkholes of media-speak in order to define the shape and significance of events. He promotes shared conversation over angry confrontation because it encourages a more critical attitude toward what we hear. Democracy flourishes when challenged; it falters when our words atrophy into stock responses. Dennis Patrick Slattery, Ph.D., is distinguished professor emeritus in mythology at Pacifica Graduate Institute and a resident of New Braunfels. Jason Fochtman, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Former President Donald Trump is coming back to Texas for a rally at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds on Jan. 29. The Save America Rally will be his second appearance in the region in just two months. In December, Trump was part of a speaking tour with former FOX News personality Bill O'Reilly. FAIRFIELD The school district has modified its approach to distance learning amid the high number of COVID-19 cases. The Board of Education changed its policy this week to allow students who are out because they tested positive for COVID and are isolating or are quarantining because they are a close contact to be considered present if they complete various virtual or electronic tasks, Superintendent Mike Cummings said in a statement. These include engaging in virtual classes and/or virtual meetings, completing activities on time-logged electronic systems and submitting completed assignments, he said. He added the administration is required to develop regulations to support continued student engagement. Please understand that given the high number of students out of school for isolation or quarantine it is imperative that only those students who are absent for COVID related reasons qualify for this support, Cummings said. As of Friday, the school systems COVID-19 dashboard was reporting 188 active student cases and 41 staff cases district-wide, for an overall positivity rate of 2.12 percent. There were 23 student quarantines and zero staff quarantines reported. Our goal is to keep students academically and socially engaged in learning while they are unable to attend school in-person, the policy reads. The board had previously amended the distance learning policy in September due to the pandemic. The changes were intended for short-term needs and at that, time, applied only to those students who were absent due to a Health Department required absence related to COVID 19, Cummings said. The board removed the wording Health Department directed this week because the department is no longer determining quarantines and isolation based on updates to the state Department of Public Health guidance. Instead the district is moving to the self-reporting of home tests and close contacts. That policy move, which went into effect Wednesday, also prompted the changes to the remote learning options, Cummings said. We recognize that many of the students who are absent are not feeling well and are unable to complete their assignments, he said. We also know that some students may have difficulty accessing their classrooms with technology. In those cases, we encourage parents to reach out to teachers to make them aware of these situations. We may be able to provide other arrangements. Under the policy, teachers will be required to put supports in place for the student within 24 hours of them being notified that student has been placed in quarantine or isolation. Officials cautioned the high levels of absent students could mean it takes longer for teachers to be notified. Students in the K-5 level will be included daily in the classroom morning meeting through Google Meet. The teacher will tell the student and their parents or guardians, as well as the district support instructor for that grade, what their expectations are for the work to be completed in the units of study being sent home. If appropriate, the teacher will also send work materials and/or books home for the absent student. The support instructor will also set up meeting times for the student and meet with the student daily, either individually or in grade-level groups. The instructor will also provide any needed academic support by email or Google Meets, correspond with the classroom teacher and monitor the work the student completes and adjust workloads as needed in consultation with the classroom teacher. The classroom teacher will be available for Google Meets with the student several times during the student's absence. The Meet will be in place to provide academic support as well as face-to-face time with the classroom teacher, according to the policy. For those at the middle and high schools, teachers will post relevant lesson materials and assignments in the Google classroom. Teachers will also be able to email with the students. Teachers can choose at least one approach from four options to support their students who are out. These include recording their lessons and posting them on Google classroom, providing lesson videos ahead of class time, turning on the classroom cameras to provide live instruction - though there will be no interaction between the absent student and the teacher or in-person students - and being available at least 20 minutes per school day through Google Meets to review course content, address student questions, and provide learning supports. Cummings noted that not all of the options are feasible based on the amount of cases and staff absences. For example, he said the high number of students absent at the middle and high schools could mean livestreaming the instruction makes the most sense for that group. Due to other staff absences our teachers are helping to keep schools open by covering classrooms of absent colleagues, Cummings said. For many of our staff there is not enough time for them to support the other three options. I support the decisions teachers will make, as they are concerned with their students well-being. Students will make up assessments and hands-on activities like science labs, when they return to school, according to the policy. I want to thank Mr. Smoler, the FEA representatives, and the administrators who collaboratively developed an approach that best supports students, both those at home and those in person, to continue their learning, Cummings said. FAIRFIELD Two members of the Racial Equity and Justice Task Force have moved to rescind their approval of the bodys defining document because their views on whether systemic racism exists in Fairfield differ with the majority of the body. Tameisha Powell-Dunmore and Sandra Tallman said they did not agree with one of the recommendations in the task forces racial equity plan that calls for the town to make a formal proclamation acknowledging the existence and impact of a combination of systems that disadvantage BIPOC residents in access and opportunity in Fairfield. The resolution would also include a commitment to address racial equity and justice in town governance and town operations. The plan comes after the task force has worked more than a year to study the towns policies or procedures in an effort to ensure fair treatment of all people in town. Powell-Dunmore and Tallman said they do not agree that such a proclamation is necessary, as it implies the existence of systemic racism in town which they do not believe is true. There are always going to be racist incidents everywhere, anywhere, but that doesnt mean the town has this pervasive racism to me, Tallman said. Powell-Dunmore said she did not want people to read the suggestion in the blueprint as an admission that systemic racism exists in Fairfield. While both women acknowledged that the task forces research turned up examples of racism in town, they said they did not find enough evidence that would point to it being a problem larger than simply the actions of individuals. Maybe we leave it up to the next commission to dig deeper, to get that quantifiable data, Powell-Dunmore said, referencing the documents suggestion of a permanent Commission on Racial Equity and Justice. But Steve Bogan, another member of the task force, said the group did find evidence, which is laid out in the blueprint, of systemic racism within town and added its something that merits continued looking into. Theres systemic racism in Fairfield, he said. Its in the blueprint. Its not something we thought (wed find) going in. We brought in experts to talk about it. Tallman and Powell-Dunmore said they knew the wording in the proclamation recommendation amounted to the same thing as systemic racism, but decided to relent and allow the other members to include it. We played with (the language) probably seven times before coming to that conclusion, Powell-Dunmore said. Even in that, I was more so happy that the word systemic racism was no longer in the document, that I didnt thoroughly understand what that line was saying... it was just another way of saying it. Bogan said one example of systemic racism listed in the document comes from the Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project, which found in 2017 that the Fairfield Police Department showed patterns of traffic stops in areas bordering Bridgeport that targeted Black and Hispanic drivers. Its not like we just said Fairfields racist, he said. We just want to make (Fairfield) a more positive experience for everyone. Tallman said the way the document can be interpreted became more clear to her after she saw how others reacted to it. Bogan said one of the first things the task force did 15 months ago was create a glossary of terms which were used during their work and in the creation of the blueprint so the members could understand the basic terms. Tallman and Powell-Dunmore said they believed their voices were not being valued by the other members of the task force. I cant say that someone made me do something, Tallman said. I was trying to be compromising, but I think that I should have instead at least abstained. Were in a situation now where Im retrospectively looking back saying, You know what? I dont agree with the spirit of this. Bogan said people are going to interpret things in different ways, adding the task force encouraged discussion from all its members. Were all about speaking up, he said. We had these listening sessions with different stakeholders, and wed listen to different people from the town. That was the next key thing listening, talking. Bogan said it is not the task forces job to do anything with the information it found other than to highlight it for further research and make recommendations about what can be done about it. Were just reporting on the information that weve gathered, he said. Everybodys opinion or lived experience is important. Its important to share that with everybody. Im happy about the work that weve done. Its a good blueprint for the person or people that are going to take over the permanent job of making Fairfield continue to be an inclusive place for all or more welcoming to everybody. Powell-Dunmore said she still supports most of the rest of the document, but does not think the town should be painted in the light of having a systemic racism problem. Im not saying that the instances that we found are discredited or of no value, she said. But before we can make a proclamation or broad statement as such that theres systemic issues here of racism, we need to back that up with data. This week, Powell-Dunmore and Tallman told the rest of the task force they want to vote to re-vote on their support of the document. Tallman said she is unsure if the majority of the group will allow the re-vote next week. They dont need our votes to go forward with this, she said. There would be no reason for them not to. joshua.labella@hearstmediact.com LONDON, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Experts point to several reasons why the rate of COVID patients in hospital is higher in North America than in most other parts of the world, the BBC has reported. Professor David Larsen, an epidemiologist and global health expert at Syracuse University in New York, told the BBC that the U.S. population is markedly different from that of both Europe and South Africa. "We have an older population than South Africa. That's a big one," he said, adding that the U.S. population has an age structure similar to Europe but is less healthy than in Europe. Dr Larsen noted that rates of hypertension and obesity -- both of which are comorbidities that increase the risk of COVID -- are higher in the United States than in most other countries. Dr. Mark Cameron, an associate professor in the department of population and quantitative health sciences at Case Western University in Ohio, told the BBC that he believes the United States is suffering from "a perfect storm" of COVID-19 --comorbidities, uneven access to healthcare and hostility to vaccines, masks, and other preventative measures. "When all of that 'perfect storm' nature of vulnerabilities that are unique to the U.S. combine, you've got an outbreak of the virus that can quickly lead from increased cases to increased hospitalizations, which tax the local hospitals and health community." 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Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category NOT FOR PUBLICATION OR RELEASE IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES OR AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, NEW ZEALAND, THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND OR THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, OR ANY PROVINCE OR TERRITORY THEREOF OR TO OR FOR THE ACCOUNT OF ANY NATIONAL, RESIDENT OR CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES OR ANY PERSON RESIDENT IN AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, NEW ZEALAND, THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND OR THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA. 11 January 2022 ELECTRIC GUITAR PLC ("Electric Guitar" or the "Company") Admission to the Official List and first day of dealings Electric Guitar PLC, a UK company established as a special purpose acquisition company to seek an acquisition target in the digital media sector, is pleased to announce that its ordinary shares of 0.005 each have been admitted to the Standard Segment of the Official List and to trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, following a successful placing of 40,000,000 ordinary shares at 0.03 pence per share raising gross proceeds of 1,200,000, before expenses. First dealings in the Ordinary Shares are due to commence at 8am today under the ticker symbol "ELEG". On admission, the Company will have 57,862,776 ordinary shares in issue. Alexander David Securities Limited acted as Corporate Adviser and Axis Capital Markets Limited acted as Placing Agent and Broker. The Company is raising capital to fund the acquisition of a company or business in the digital media and advertising sectors. The Directors consider that admission of the Company's shares to trading on the Main Market will be attractive both to investors under the Placing and to the vendors of potential target companies or businesses as the Company executes its investment strategy, relative to the listing or admission of the Company's shares on a different exchange. Company highlights Electric Guitar was established in 2021 through the issue of shares to the founders as a special purpose acquisition vehicle which will seek an acquisition target in the digital media sector. The Company intends to act as a consolidator and operator in the digital advertising market. While there has been some activity to date within the large capital advertising market, with the focus of legacy agencies' increasingly on digital advertising solutions, less attention has been paid to the smaller agencies. The Directors have identified an opportunity to invest in these agencies with few or no legacy issues with technologies that can provide alternative strategies. In light of the above, the Directors believe that there is a significant commercial opportunity in the digital advertising sector as advertisers and their customers explore different ways to reach their target audiences in the disrupted market. The Company's prospectus published in connection with its listing is available on the Company's website at www.electricguitarplc.com. The Directors of Electric Guitar Plc accept responsibility for this announcement. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Electric Guitar PLC John Regan john@electricguitarplc.com +44(0)1189 570444 FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This announcement contains forward-looking statements which reflect the Company's or, as appropriate, the Directors' current views, interpretations, beliefs or expectations with respect to the Company's financial performance, business strategy and plans and objectives of management for future operations. These statements include forward-looking statements both with respect to the Company and the sector and industry in which the Company proposes to operate. Statements which include the words "expects", "intends", "plans", "believes", "projects", "anticipates", "will", "targets", "aims", "may", "would", "could", "continue", "estimate", "future", "opportunity", "potential" or, in each case, their negatives, and similar statements of a future or forward-looking nature identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements address matters that involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events that may or may not occur in the future. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause the Company's actual results, prospects and performance to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. In addition, even if the Company's actual results, prospects and performance are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement, those results may not be indicative of results in subsequent periods These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this announcement. Subject to any obligations under the Prospectus Rules, the Market Abuse Regulation, the Listing Rules and the Disclosure and Transparency Rules and except as required by the FCA, the London Stock Exchange, the City Code or applicable law and regulations, the Company undertakes no obligation publicly to update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or individuals acting on behalf of the Company are expressly qualified in their entirety by this paragraph. The information contained in this announcement is for background purposes only and does not purport to be full or complete. No reliance may be placed for any purpose on the information contained in this announcement or its accuracy, fairness or completeness. Alexander David Securities Limited and Axis Capital Markets Limited, which are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, are acting only for the Company in connection with the matters described in this announcement and are not acting for or advising any other person, or treating any other person as its client, in relation thereto and will not be responsible for providing the regulatory protection afforded to clients of Axis Capital or advice to any other person in relation to the matters contained herein. WOONSOCKET (dpa-AFX) - Pharmaretailers, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA), and CVS Health Corp. (CVS) are closing down stores as the number of cases keeps breaking records in the country. The chains have reported massive staff shortages in the wake of the omicron spread. Walgreen reported that the demand due to the superspreader strain of the virus is unlike anything it has seen before. Kris Lathan told CNN today, 'While the vast majority of our stores are open and operating with normal business hours, the ongoing labor shortage combined with the surge of COVID-19 cases has resulted in isolated instances in which we've had to adjust operating hours or temporarily close a limited number of stores.' The company is going to close some stores after selecting days with the lowest prescription demands and will also funnel the pharmacy service to the nearest open Walgreens outlet. CVS has also expressed a similar stance as they have also been understaffed severely. The stores will stay open for the entire week but will stay either on one or on both of the days of the weekend. Executive Director of CVS Corporate Communications, Mike DeAngelis said, 'a tiny fraction of stores are temporarily closed on one or both days of the weekend to help address acute staffing issues amidst both the omicron surge and the workforce shortage affecting nearly every industry and company.' The increasing threat of the strain has rendered the country crippled again with the hospitals completely filled with patients. In this situation, the closure of the pharmacies can prove to be disastrous. Mitchel Rothholz, chief of staff at the American Pharmacists Association had said, 'It's a problem across the whole healthcare system, not just in pharmacy. but our members are dealing with this constantly now, because of the increased demand for testing as well as Covid vaccinations, people who are wanting to get the boosters or even getting their first doses.' Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX CVS HEALTH-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de Toronto, Ontario and Red Deer, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - January 14, 2022) - Chesswood Group Limited ("Chesswood"), North America's only publicly traded commercial equipment finance company focused on small and medium-sized businesses, and Rifco Inc. (TSXV: RFC) ("Rifco"), a leading Canadian alternative auto finance company, are pleased to announce the successful completion of Chesswood's strategic acquisition of Rifco pursuant to the previously announced statutory plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (Alberta) (the "Arrangement"). The Arrangement was approved by 98.90% of the votes cast by Rifco shareholders at the special meeting of Rifco shareholders held on December 17, 2021. After obtaining the requisite Rifco shareholder approval, the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta approved the Arrangement on January 10, 2022. Under the terms of the Arrangement, Rifco shareholders were entitled to elect to receive $1.28 for each Rifco common share (a "Rifco Share") held in the form of: (i) cash (the "Cash Consideration"); (ii) common shares of Chesswood ("Chesswood Shares") at a deemed price of $14.05 per Chesswood Share (the "Share Consideration"); or (iii) a combination of Cash Consideration and Share Consideration. Of the aggregate consideration of approximately $28 million, Chesswood paid $21,019,623.68 in cash and issued 498,605 Chesswood Shares. Further details of the Arrangement are set out in Rifco's management information circular dated November 25, 2021 (the "Circular"). If a registered Rifco shareholder did not make a valid consideration election by December 10, 2021 ("Non-Electing Shareholders"), that Rifco shareholder has been deemed to have elected to receive Share Consideration in exchange for their Rifco Shares. Non-Electing Shareholders should send their completed letters of transmittal and election forms and certificates representing their Rifco Shares to the depositary for the Arrangement, TSX Trust Company, in accordance with the instructions contained in the letter of transmittal and election form in order to receive the Share Consideration to which they are entitled pursuant to the Arrangement. A copy of the Circular and letter of transmittal and election form can be found under Rifco's profile at www.sedar.com. "We are excited to work with Rifco's management and staff to strengthen Rifco's market position by leveraging off of Chesswood's strengths and are so glad to have them join the Chesswood family," said Ryan Marr, Chesswood's President and CEO. The Chesswood Shares issued as Share Consideration were listed for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX") upon closing of the Arrangement. The Rifco Shares were delisted from the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") at the close of trading on the date hereof. Corporate Revolver Renewal Chesswood is also pleased to announce it has completed the renewal of its corporate revolver. This facility is provided by a syndicate of banks, including leading Canadian and U.S. banks active in our industry, and is co-led by RBC Capital Markets and TD Securities. "Our revolving credit facility allows us tremendous opportunity to fund our current and future growth. We are excited to announce we are expanding the base commitment to US$300 million and the accordion feature to US$100 million, for a total potential facility amount of US$400 million," said Marr. "This renewal provides greater financial and operational flexibility for the company as it pursues its strategic plan, including a welcomed reduction in our cost of funds. This renewal reflects the strong commitment Chesswood continues to receive from its lenders. We're very grateful for the support of our lenders in Canada and the United States," added Marr. The term of the senior revolving facility now extends to January 2025 and provides the Company with a strong capital base from which to support future growth. About Chesswood Group Limited Through two wholly-owned subsidiaries in the United States and three subsidiaries in Canada, Chesswood Group Limited is North America's only publicly traded commercial equipment finance company focused on small and medium-sized businesses. Colorado-based Pawnee Leasing Corporation, founded in 1982, finances a highly diversified portfolio of commercial equipment leases and loans through relationships with over 600 brokers in the United States. Tandem Finance Inc. provides financing in the U.S. through the equipment vendor channel. In Canada, Blue Chip Leasing Corporation has been originating and servicing commercial equipment leases and loans since 1996, and today operates through a nationwide network of more than 50 brokers. Vault Credit Corporation specializes in equipment leases and commercial loans across Canada, allowing for customizable financing solutions while catering to a wide spectrum of credit tiers, equipment types and sectors by offering industry-leading service levels, experienced underwriters and account administrators. Vault Home was launched in September 2021 and focuses on providing home improvement and other consumer financing solutions in Canada. Based in Toronto, Canada, the Chesswood Shares trade on the TSX under the symbol CHW. To learn more about Chesswood Group Limited, visit www.Chesswoodgroup.com. The websites of Chesswood's operating subsidiaries (other than Rifco) are: www.PawneeLeasing.com www.TandemFinance.com www.VaultPay.ca www.BlueChipLeasing.com www.VaultCredit.com About Rifco Inc. Rifco is focused on being the best alternative auto finance company through its wholly owned subsidiary Rifco National Auto Finance Corporation. Its mission is to help deserving Canadians own automobiles. Rifco seeks to create sustainable long-term competitive advantages through personalized partnerships with dealers, innovative products, the use of industry-leading data and analytics, and leading collections practices. Rifco's corporate culture fosters employees that are highly engaged, innovative and performance driven. The website of Rifco is www.rifco.net Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release includes "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws relating to, among other things, the successful integration of Rifco and the accreted use and continuing availability of credit facilities. Forward-looking information may in some cases be identified by words such as "will", "anticipates", "expects", "intends" and similar expressions suggesting future events or future performance. Chesswood cautions that all forward-looking information is inherently subject to change and uncertainty and that actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. A number of risks, uncertainties and other factors could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking information or could cause Chesswood's current objectives, strategies and intentions to change. Accordingly, Chesswood warns readers to exercise caution when considering statements containing forward-looking information and that it would be unreasonable to rely on such statements as creating legal rights regarding Chesswood's future results or plans. Chesswood cannot guarantee that any forward-looking information will materialize and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information. Any forward-looking information contained in this news release represents expectations as of the date of this news release and are subject to change after such date. However, Chesswood is under no obligation (and Chesswood expressly disclaims any such obligation) to update or alter any statements containing forward-looking information, the factors or assumptions underlying them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. All of the forward-looking information in this news release is qualified by the cautionary statements herein. Forward-looking information is provided herein for the purpose of giving information about the matters referred to above. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. A comprehensive discussion of other risks that impact Rifco can also be found in its public reports and filings which are available under its profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. None of TSXV, TSX or their respective Regulation Services Providers (as that term is defined in the policies of the relevant exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contact Investor Relations: Phone 416-386-3099, Email: investorrelations@chesswoodgroup.com Media Inquiries: Ryan Marr, Chief Executive Officer, 416-386-3099, rmarr@chesswoodgroup.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/110293 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 14, 2022) - Alchemist Mining Incorporated (CSE: AMS.X) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that, further to its News Release of December 21, 2021, it has completed its non-brokered private placement (the "Offering"), pursuant to which it issued an aggregate of 11,983,333 units (each, a "Unit") at a price of $0.075 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $898,749.98. Each Unit is comprised of one common share (each, a "Share") and one common share purchase warrant (each, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to acquire one Share (each, a "Warrant Share") at a price of $0.20 per Warrant Share for a period of four years from closing of the Offering. There were no finder's fees associated with the Offering. The aggregate gross proceeds from the sale of the Offering are expected to be used for repayment of convertible debentures, general working capital, and a normal course issuer bid. All securities issued in connection with the Offering are subject to a statutory hold period expiring four months and one day after closing of the Offering. The CSE granted the Company confidential price protection on November 24, 2021 based on the closing price on November 24, 2021. The Company obtained a one week extension to close the financing due to technical issues with completing DAPs during the holiday season. None of the securities issued in the Offering have been, and none of them will 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. Paul Mann - CEO For and on behalf of the board Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contact Information For more information please contact: Alchemist Mining Incorporated Charles Lee Investor Relations +1 604 913 5356 - Email: clee@alchemistinc.ca The Canadian Securities Exchange (operated by CNSX Markets Inc.) has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this press release. Not for distribution to U.S. Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/110304 Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 14, 2022) - Ready Set Gold Corp. (CSE: RDY) (FSE: 0MZ) (OTC Pink: RDYFF) ("Ready Set Gold" or the "Company") announced that Mr. Christian Scovenna, the Company's Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") tendered his resignation as CEO effective immediately. Mr. Scovenna was first appointed as Director and CEO on December 9, 2020. The Company is very appreciative of his valuable leadership and growth over the last thirteen months and the Company wishes Mr. Scovenna success in his future endeavours. Mr. Scovenna brought critical leadership to help the company capitalize over that period of time and will remain on the Company's Board of Directors. The Company has appointed Mr. Alexander McAulay as its Interim CEO. In order to fulfill this new role, Mr. McAulay has resigned as the Company's Chief Financial Officer ("CFO"), but will remain as the Company's Corporate Secretary. Mr. Phillip Ellard, CPA has been appointed as the Company's Interim CFO. All resignations and appointments are effective January 14, 2022. About Ready Set Gold Corporation Ready Set Gold Corp. is a precious metals exploration company listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under symbol RDY and the Boerse Frankfurt Exchange as 0MZ. The Company has consolidated and now owns a 100% interest in the Northshore Gold Project, located in the Schreiber-Hemlo Greenstone Belt near Thunder Bay, Ontario which is prospective for gold and silver mineralization. The Company also owns a 100% interest in two separate claim blocks totaling 4,453 hectares known as the Hemlo Eastern Flanks Project. The Company also holds an option to acquire a 100% undivided interest in a continuous claim block totaling 1,634 hectares comprising the Emmons Peak Project located 50 km south of Dryden, Ontario that is near the Treasury Metals Goliath and Goldlund advanced gold development projects. On Behalf of the Board of Directors, READY SET GOLD CORP. "Alexander McAulay" Interim Chief Executive Officer Email: info@readysetgoldcorp.com Interim CEO Direct Line: +1 (604) 365-0425 For further information please contact: Investor Relations Sean Kingsley - Vice President, Corporate Communications Email: skingsley@readysetgoldcorp.com Tel: +1 (604) 440-8474 www.readysetgoldcorp.com Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange 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. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/110272 Sudbury, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 14, 2022) - McFarlane Lake Mining Limited ("McFarlane" or the "Company") (formerly 1287401 B.C. Ltd. ("128")) is pleased to announce the completion of its previously announced reverse takeover transaction (the "RTO" or "Transaction") with McFarlane Lake Mining Incorporated ("MCFL"), a privately held mineral exploration company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario, by way of a three-cornered amalgamation (the "Amalgamation"). In connection with the completion of the Transaction, the NEO Exchange Inc. (the "Exchange") has conditionally approved the listing of the MLM Shares (as defined below). The MLM Shares are expected to commence trading on the Exchange under the symbol "MLM" on or about January 26, 2022. Listing will be subject to the Company meeting all of the Exchange's listing requirements. A further press release will be issued once trading has commenced. The Transaction Prior to the completion of the Transaction, the Company: (i) completed a share split of its issued and outstanding common shares on the basis of 1.20967742 post-split shares for each 1 pre-split share; and (ii) approved the name change from "1287401 B.C. Ltd." to "McFarlane Lake Mining Limited" (the "Name Change"). The Transaction was completed according to the terms of a business combination agreement dated January 12, 2022 (the "Business Combination Agreement"). Pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, on the date hereof, MCFL and 1000034047 Ontario Inc. ("Subco") (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario for the purpose of completing the Transaction) amalgamated in accordance with the provisions of the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) and continued operating under the name "McFarlane Lake Mining Incorporated" ("Amalco"). In connection with the Transaction: (i) the holders of the 75,582,313 issued and outstanding common shares of MCFL (each a "Target Share") received one common share of the Company (each a "MLM Share") for each Target Share held; (ii) the holders of the 65,500 issued and outstanding common shares of Subco (each a "Subco Share") received one MLM Share for each Subco Share held; (iii) as consideration for the issuance of the MLM Shares to effect the Amalgamation, the Company received one common share of Amalco for each MLM Share issued to holders of Target Shares and Subco Shares; and (iv) each Subco Share issued to the Company on incorporation was cancelled. Additionally, the Company issued approximately 4,206,156 replacement warrants (the "MLM Warrants") to existing holders of common share purchase warrants in MCFL and Subco on a 1:1 basis. Concurrently with the completion of the Transaction, the Company has: (i) granted an aggregate of 5,500,000 replacement options ("MLM Options") to the directors and officers of MCFL, to purchase common shares (the "Option Shares") of the Company, exercisable at a price of $0.10 per Option Share until May 31, 2026; and (ii) issued 834,575 replacement broker warrants and 262,500 replacement advisory warrants to Canaccord Genuity Corp. ("Canaccord") on the same terms and conditions as the broker warrants and advisory warrants issued to Canaccord for services provided in connection with MCFL's previously completed brokered and non-brokered offerings of units and flow-through common shares (together, the "Offerings") (see the Company's press release dated December 10, 2021 for further information regarding the Offerings). In the near future, the Company plans on filing articles of continuance to continue from the Province of British Columbia into the Province of Ontario, subject to regulatory approvals. A summary of material changes resulting from the Transaction are provided herein. For further information, readers are referred to the filing statement of the Company dated January 14, 2022 (the "Filing Statement") which was prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Exchange and filed under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.SEDAR.com. Included in the Filing Statement is a summary of the National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") technical report prepared pursuant to NI 43-101, prepared by Sears, Barry & Associates Limited partner Seymour M. Sears titled "NI 43-101 Technical Report on the High Lake and West Hawk Lake, Canada" with an effective date of May 25, 2021 (the "Technical Report"). The full version of the Technical Report is also available on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.SEDAR.com. Board and Management Immediately after the completion of the Transaction, the Company reconstituted its board of directors to consist of seven (7) nominees of MCFL, and all existing officers of the Company resigned and were replaced by nominees of MCFL. Consolidated Capitalization After completion of the Transaction, there are: (i) 79,397,813 MLM Shares issued and outstanding; (ii) 4,206,156 MLM Warrants issued and outstanding, with each MLM Warrant being exercisable for a MLM Share at an exercise price of $0.60 and having an expiry date of December 9, 2024; and (iii) 5,500,000 MLM Options, with each MLM Option being exercisable for a MLM Share at a price of $0.10 until May 31, 2026. Escrowed Securities Pursuant to the requirements of the Exchange, upon listing of the MLM Shares, all securities of the Company that are held by "principals" of the Company (collectively, the "Escrowed Securityholders") will be placed into escrow. Upon completion of the Transaction, there are an aggregate of 30,345,400 MLM Shares, 131,250 MLM Warrants and 5,000,000 MLM Options (collectively, the "Escrowed Securities") held in escrow pursuant to a security escrow agreement ("Resulting Issuer Escrow Agreement") entered into among TSX Trust Company, as the escrow agent, the Company, and the Escrowed Securityholders. Subject to the Resulting Issuer Escrow Agreement, 25% of the Escrowed Securities held by the Escrowed Shareholders shall be released from escrow on the date the MLM Shares are listed on the Exchange ("Listing"), 25% shall be released from escrow 6 months after Listing, 25% shall be released from escrow 12 months after Listing, and the remaining 25% shall be released from escrow 18 months following Listing. Directors and Officers In connection with the Transaction, the following individuals were elected to serve as members of the board of directors of the Company or appointed as officers. The following information is as furnished by such directors and officers. Mark Trevisiol, 60 - Chief Executive Officer, President and Director Mr. Trevisiol is a professional engineer with 30 years of experience in mineral processing, mining, capital projects and executive management. Mr. Trevisiol spent over 20 years with Glencore predecessor companies Falconbridge Ltd. and Xstrata Nickel, where he was General Manager of Business Development and Strategy, General Manager of the Sudbury Smelter Business Unit, Manager of Smelter Operations and Superintendent of the Kidd Creek Zinc Plant. More recently, Mark held a number of executive leadership and board positions, including CEO positions at Crow flight Minerals and Silver Bear Resources. During his career, Mr. Trevisiol has had responsibility in mining and mineral processing for teams of up to 300 people, with responsibility for operations, safety & environment, custom feed, engineering, maintenance and technology. He has worked across several commodities, including nickel, cobalt, zinc, copper, lithium, gold, and silver. Mr. Trevisiol holds an Engineering degree from the University of Waterloo. Charles Lilly, 63 - Chief Financial Officer, Corporate Secretary and Director Mr. Lilly is a partner in the public accounting firm of Sostarich, Ross, Wright & Cecutti, LLP. He has a B. Comm from Laurentian University, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude, and an M.B.A. from the University of Toronto. Mr. Lilly has served as an officer or a director of a number of public corporations listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Toronto Venture Stock Exchange. Roger Emdin, 63 - Chief Operating Officer and Director Mr. Emdin is a Professional Mining Engineer with more than 30 years of global experience in Operations, Projects, Engineering and Sustainable Development in both base metal and gold mining environments. Mr. Emdin started out in gold with the Dome and Canamax Resources in Ontario before turning to base metals in Zambia, returning to Canada but working globally as a consultant. Joined Glencore (Falconbridge) filling various roles including, Engineering Superintendent, Mine Manager (Craig & Nickel Rim South) and of Manager Sustainable Development for Sudbury Operations before coming back to gold in 2015 as the Vice President of Operations for Harte Gold. Mr. Emdin served as the Industry Co-Chair for the Mining Legislative Review Committee for 7 years, was active in the Ontario Mining Association and served as the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI). Mr. Emdin also participated with the Ontario government as a member of the Advisory Group to the Mining Health and Safety Prevention Review and was a member of the Board for Cambrian College for six years including roles of Chair of the Audit Committee and Chair. Perry Dellelce, 58 - Director Mr. Dellelce is a founder and the managing partner of Wildeboer Dellelce LLP, one of Canada's leading corporate finance and transactional law firms. Mr. Dellelce practices in the areas of securities, corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Dellelce serves on the boards of many of Canada's leading businesses, including but not limited to, Mount Logan Capital Inc. and Lendified Inc. Mr. Dellelce is the past chair and a current member of the board of directors of the Sunnybrook Foundation and the current chair of the NEO Exchange Inc. and Canadian Olympic Foundation. Mr. Dellelce holds a BA from Western University, a LLB from the University of Ottawa and an MBA degree from the University of Notre Dame. Amanda Fullerton, 41 - Director Ms. Fullerton has been the Vice-President, Legal & Corporate Secretary of GCM Mining Corp. since March 25, 2019. She has also been the Corporate Secretary at Denarius Silver Corp. since February 2021. She was a Vice President, Legal (and prior thereto, Associate, Legal) of Macquarie Capital Markets Canada Ltd. from March 24, 2014, to March 22, 2019. Prior thereto, Ms. Fullerton was an associate with Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP from September 2008 to March 2011 and MacLeod Dixon LLP (now Norton Rose Fulbright LLP) from March 2011 to March 2014 and practiced in the areas of corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions and corporate/commercial law, focused primarily on the mining industry. Guy Mahaffy, 50 - Director Mr. Mahaffy is the managing director of W.G. Mahaffy Limited, a financial advisory firm. He holds the professional designations of Chartered Accountant, Chartered Professional Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst. He has over 25 years of experience, with the past 15 years focused on the junior resource sector. He has served as an officer and director of mineral resources exploration companies on both the Toronto Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange, including previously having served as a director and as the chief financial officer of Manitou Gold Inc. from June 2009 to June 2012. Mr. Mahaffy was reappointed to the board of directors of Manitou Gold in 2015 and currently serves as the Chair of that company's board of directors. He is also currently the Chief Financial Officer of SPC Nickel Corp. Fergus Kerr, 79 - Director Mr. Kerr is a Professional Mining Engineer and is currently self employed as a consultant. Mr. Fergus Kerr is a graduate of the Royal School of Mines and a mining engineer with over 35 years of experience, including 14 years at Denison Mine's Elliot Lake uranium mine, where he served as General Manager for five years. Subsequent to Denison, Mr. Kerr served as Sector Director at Workplace Safety & Insurance Board, and Mine Manager, Sudbury Operations at Inco LLC Area Manager at Inco's Sudbury operations. Mr. Kerr is sought after health and safety specialist consulting globally with recent assignments in Mongolia, Indonesia and Australia. Robert Kusins, 66 - Vice President, Geology Mr. Kusins B.Sc., P Geo has over 35 years of mining, exploration and consulting experience. Mr. Kusins has spent his career involved with exploring, developing, validating and mining of a number of deposits including the Golden Giant Mine (Newmont Canada), Holloway Mine (Newmont Canada), Tundra Project (Noranda), Timmins West Mine Complex (Lake Shore Gold - Pan American Silver) and most recently the Sugar Zone Mine (Harte Gold). Mr. Kusins has worked in the capacity of Chief Geologist, Chief Resource Geologist and Geology Manager at producing mines where he has co-authored several NI 43-101 Technical Reports. Previous to working for Harte, Mr. Kusins was employed by SRK as a Principal Consultant (Geology) in the Sudbury office. Proficient in GEOVIA GEMS with expertise in three-dimensional geological modeling, developing and managing exploration programs, data management and mineral resource estimation. Exchange Approval The MLM Shares are expected to be listed for trading on the Exchange on or about January 26, 2022. The Listing remains subject to the final approval by the Exchange and fulfillment of all the requirements of the Exchange in order to obtain such approval including, among other things, submission and acceptance of all documents requested by the Exchange in its conditional acceptance letter and payment of all outstanding fees to the Exchange. Early Warning In connection with the Transaction, each of Perry Dellelce and Mark Trevisiol acquired ownership, control, or direction over MLM Shares requiring disclosure pursuant to the early warning requirements of applicable securities laws. Mr. Dellelce, in exchange for his holdings of Target Shares, acquired 11,550,000 MLM Shares representing approximately 14.55% of the Company's issued and outstanding shares on a non-diluted basis. Mr. Trevisiol directly and indirectly owns or controls 12,350,000 MLM Shares, which represents approximately 15.55% of the Company's issued and outstanding shares on a non-diluted basis. The securities of the Company acquired by each of Mr. Dellelce and Mr. Trevisiol are presently being held only for investment purposes. Subject to regulatory approval, each holder may from time to time in the future increase or decrease their ownership, control, or direction over securities of the Company held by each of them, through market transactions, private agreements or otherwise, the whole depending on market conditions, the business and prospects of the Company and other relevant factors. A copy of each early warning report (the "Early Warning Report") will be filed by each of Mr. Dellelce and Mr. Trevisiol, respectively, pursuant to applicable securities laws in connection with the completion of the Transaction. A copy of each Early Warning Report to which this press release relates will be available under the Company's profile on SEDAR www.SEDAR.com. The MLM Shares acquired by each of Mr. Dellelce and Mr. Trevisiol are held in escrow pursuant to the Resulting Issuer Escrow Agreement described above under "Escrowed Securities". Additional information on McFarlane can be found by reviewing its profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. About McFarlane Lake Mining Limited McFarlane's wholly owned subsidiary McFarlane Lake Mining Incorporated, a corporation incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario, has entered into a definitive purchase agreement dated effective December 30, 2021 with Canadian Star Minerals Ltd. ("CSM") to purchase all of CSM's right, title and interest in the High Lake mineral property located immediately east of the Ontario-Manitoba border, the West Hawk Lake mineral property located immediately west of the Ontario-Manitoba border and the McMillan mineral property located 13km south of Espanola . In addition, McFarlane Lake Mining Incorporated holds options to purchase the Michaud/Munro mineral property and the Mongowin mineral property. McFarlane is a "reporting issuer" under applicable securities legislation in the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. Additional information on McFarlane can be found by reviewing its profile on SEDAR at www.SEDAR.com. Qualified Persons McFarlane engaged Sears, Barry & Associates Limited partner Seymour M. Sears (the "Author") to prepare the Technical Report. The Author is a "qualified person" and considered "independent", as such terms are defined in NI 43-101. All of the scientific and technical mining disclosure contained in this news release and the Filing Statement regarding the High Lake Property and West Hawk Lake Property has been reviewed and approved by the Author. The materials in Part IV - Information Concerning McFarlane - Material Mineral Project | High Lake - West Hawk Lake Project" in the Filing Statement comprise the "Summary" section of the Penouta Project Technical Report. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of McFarlane to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements are described under the caption "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Filing Statement dated as of January 14, 2022 which is available for view on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this press release and McFarlane disclaims, other than as required by law, any obligation to update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, results, future events, circumstances, or if management's estimates or opinions should change, or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. McFarlane's operations could be significantly adversely affected by the effects of a widespread global outbreak of a contagious disease, including the recent outbreak of illness caused by COVID-19. It is not possible to accurately predict the impact COVID-19 will have on operations and the ability of others to meet their obligations, including uncertainties relating to the ultimate geographic spread of the virus, the severity of the disease, the duration of the outbreak, and the length of travel and quarantine restrictions imposed by governments of affected countries. In addition, a significant outbreak of contagious diseases in the human population could result in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets of many countries, resulting in an economic downturn that could further affect operations and the ability to finance its operations. Further Information For further information regarding the Transaction, please contact: Mark Trevisiol, Chief Executive Officer, President and Director McFarlane Lake Mining Limited mtrevisiol@mcfarlanelakemining.com Al Wiens Wildeboer Dellelce LLP awiens@wildlaw.ca To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/110310 Apple will soon require employees to show proof of a booster COVID-19 shot, according to an internal memo. According to the email, which was obtained by The Verge, starting on Jan. 24 retail and corporate employees will have to prove that they have received a booster shot against the deadly coronavirus, amid the emergence of more-contagious variants. Advertisement Due to waning efficacy of the primary series of COVID-19 vaccines and the emergence of highly transmissible variants such as Omicron, a booster shot is now part of staying up to date with your COVID-19 vaccination to protect against severe disease, the tech giant said. Employees who are eligible for a booster shot will have four weeks to receive one. If they dont, they will need to routinely take COVID-19 tests before they can enter into the office, retail stores, or partner stores, starting on Feb. 15. Advertisement Unvaccinated employees will be required to show proof of negative antigen, or rapid, tests before going into work starting on Jan. 24 however, its not clear whether the rule will apply to employees who work at the corporate office, at retail locations, or both. In this file photo, Apple employees pictured during a store opening in Toronto. (Shutterstock) Earlier this week, Facebook parent company Meta announced that it would delay its office reopening date in the U.S. from Jan. 31 to March 28 adding that it would require all employees returning to the office to get a COVID-19 booster shot. On Friday, Google announced that anyone going into one of its U.S. offices would require to wear a surgical-grade mask and submit to weekly COVID-19 testing. To help prevent the further spread of COVID-19 during this period of heightened risk, were implementing new temporary health and safety measures for anyone accessing our sites in the U.S., a Google spokesperson said, according to Reuters. XI'AN, China, Jan. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Xi'an, located in Northwest China, is one of the most historical cities in the world, serving as the capital for much of ancient China. It's no wonder, then, that hundreds of millions of tourists visit Xi'an every year to explore sites such as the Terracotta Warriors, the Daming Palace, and the Drum and Bell Tower of Xi'an. The city truly boasts a seamless blend of culture, nature, and modern development. In today's digital age, however, these droves of visitors bring massive torrents of data. From a global perspective, according to third-party database company Statista, 2021 saw a 79 Zettabyte (ZB) increase in data volume, the equivalent of approximately 79 billion Terabytes (TB). Such dramatic increases in data volumes put heavy strains on operators, and those in Xi'an are no exception to this trend. As one of the world's largest telecommunications carriers, China Mobile has helped revolutionize connectivity around the world, enabling more than 2 billion connections between users. Needing a new data hub for the Northwest China region, the carrier set an ambitious goal to build its new Xixian Data Center of China Mobile (Shaanxi) in the ancient capital, Xi'an. And as the speed of data center construction and expansion directly affects the digital experience, the carrier was not going to let its users down. Indeed, in June 2021, the engineers at the Xixian Data Center achieved their construction goal: deliver a green data center with 938 cabinets in just six months. A data center is complex and sophisticated physical infrastructure that involves many subsystems and thousands of devices. Typically, a data center building with 1000 cabinets would take eight months to construct, and 10 months would be required for equipment installation, commissioning, and acceptance. The construction would also generate dust and debris, not ideal as Xi'an aims to become cleaner and greener. What's more, such a large-scale data center would consume 60 million kWh of electricity and 60 million tonnes of water every year, which indirectly contributing to nearly 30,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per year. Facing such challenges, the China Mobile (Shaanxi) engineers felt confident that they could achieve a quick service rollout while prioritizing green and low-carbon results. In collaboration with long-term partner Huawei, they decided on a solution that involved combining a prefabricated modular data center with indirect evaporative cooling technology. The data center was divided into 232 modules with the equipment all prefabricated and preinstalled in the factory. Then, after completing onsite preparation, LEGO-like construction was performed. This allowed engineers to complete the entire service rollout in just six months, with construction waste and dust slashed by 80%, and a material recovery rate exceeding 80%. Traditional data center cooling systems are also extremely resource-hungry, accounting for more than 30% of total power consumption and using up all of the water resources available to the data center. Huawei's indirect evaporative cooling technology, however, capitalizes on Xi'an's climate, drawing air from the surroundings to cool the facilities. Powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, the air compressor is only needed for two months of the year, with the facility relying on natural cooling for the other 10 months, reducing the cooling system's energy consumption by more than 50%. As such, over a 10-year cycle, nearly 60 million kWh of electricity is saved, alongside 400,000 tonnes of water, which translates into slashing carbon emissions by 27,000 tonnes, the equivalent of planting 37,000 trees. Such impressive feats were only made possible thanks to China Mobile (Shaanxi)'s engineering team, as well as Huawei's innovative Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure. And by taking full advantage of the natural climate from the ancient city, the rapid service rollout of just six months was achieved, all while prioritizing environmental protection, serving as a new benchmark for low-carbon data center development. Bolt, a San Francisco, CA-based checkout and shopper network company, secured $355m in the first part of its Series E funding. Lead investors in this round are funds & accounts managed by BlackRock, with participation from Schonfeld, Invus Opportunities, H.I.G. Growth, and CE Innovation Capital. This new raise brings Bolts total funding to nearly $1 billion. Led by Ryan Breslow, founder and CEO, Bolt strengthens retailers relationships with their customers by enabling secure, logged-in, lightning-fast checkouts. The companys network of one-click-checkout-ready shoppers visits Bolt merchants as if they are return customers. Hundreds of retailers currently use Bolt. The company, which has offices in New York City, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Toronto, Stockholm, Wrocaw, and Barcelona, launched new products like SSO Commerce, which redefines customer logins and unites store accounts with Bolt accounts; expanded into Europe; added new customers like Benefit Cosmetics and launched new strategic partnerships with Adobe Commerce and PrestaShop; and acquired Sweden-based Tipser, a startup that enables shopping on any digital surface. In 2021, Bolt also launched a number of forward-thinking workplace experiences that are helping reshape the industry. FinSMEs 1501/2022 Tampa, FL (33646) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 87F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Showers early, then partly cloudy overnight. Thunder possible. Low 67F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. Geneva, NY (14456) Today Overcast. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 68F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Periods of rain. Low near 55F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. Kaiser High Schools Theater Department was recognized as the third-place winner of the California Educational Theatre Associations 2021-22 High School Theater Festival for the fall 2021 production of Shakespeares Coriolanus. (Contributed photo by FUSD) Lawyers for a woman who accuses Jeffrey Epstein pal Prince Andrew of sexually abusing her want British authorities help tracking down a witness who saw her with Andrew decades ago. Virginia Giuffres lawyers on Friday asked Manhattan Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan to seek help from the Senior Master of the Royal Courts of London to find the eyewitness, Shukri Walker. Advertisement Giuffre says Walker saw her with Andrew at a London night club before he abused her in March 2001. She wants her lawyers to depose Walker as part of her lawsuit against the British royal. Because Prince Andrew has denied ever meeting (Giuffre) or being at Tramp Nightclub during the relevant time period, Ms. Walkers testimony is highly relevant, Giuffres lawyer Sigrid McCawley wrote the judge. Advertisement Walkers lawyer Lisa Bloom who represents several Epstein victims told the FBI in August 2020 that her client could corroborate Giuffres claim that she was at the nightclub with Andrew, according to The Guardian. Giuffre claims Ghislaine Maxwell was there, too. Maxwell was convicted Dec. 29 of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein. Giuffre claims Andrew sexually abused her that night after they left the club. Virginia (Roberts) Giuffre (center) with fellow survivors and attorneys after a hearing in the case of Jeffrey Epstein in Manhattan Federal Court in August 2019. (Alec Tabak/for New York Daily News) Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > Giuffre also wants the court to work with English authorities to locate the Duke of Yorks onetime assistant or equerry, in royal speak Robert Olney. Plaintiff has reason to believe that Mr. Olney has relevant information about Prince Andrews relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, as Mr. Olneys name appears in publicly available copies of Epsteins phone book, reads the Friday filing by Giuffre. The requests come at the end of a catastrophic week for Andrew. On Thursday, his mother, Queen Elizabeth, stripped him of his military and royal patronages and said he would defend himself in Giuffres suit as a private citizen. The Queens stunning rebuke came a day after Kaplan ruled Giuffres sex abuse case against her son could proceed. The jurist did not rule on the merits of Giuffres claims. Prince Andrew smiling as he stands with his left arm around the waist of a young Virginia Roberts. It is alleged to have been taken in early 2001. Ghislaine Maxwell stands behind. Now 38, Giuffre says Andrew raped and sexually assaulted her when she was 17 and being trafficked worldwide for sex by Epstein, who killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell as he awaited trial, and Maxwell. Advertisement Andrew has denied all allegations and claims hes never even met his accuser despite a widely-circulated image of him standing with his arm around the small of a teenage Giuffres back. Maxwell stands behind them smiling. Andrews lawyers did not respond to the Daily News request for comment. Bloom could not immediately be reached. This is our best offer! You get home delivery Monday through Saturday plus full digital access any time, on any device with our six-day subscription delivery membership. This membership plan includes member-only benefits like our popular ticket giveaways, all of our email newsletters and access to the daily digital replica of the printed paper. Also, you can share digital access with up to four other household members at no additional cost. Subscriptions renew automatically every 30 days. Call 240-215-8600 to cancel auto-renewal. Most subscribers are served by News-Post carriers; households in some outlying areas receive same-day delivery through the US Postal Service. If your household falls in a postal delivery area, you will be notified by our customer service team. Emergency first responders remain at the scene after an intense fire at a 19-story residential building that erupted in the morning on Jan. 9, 2022, in the Bronx borough of New York City. Reports indicate over 50 people were injured. (Scott Heins/Getty Images) Mayor Adams said Friday his offer of fire safety advice was not meant to blame the tenants of a Bronx apartment that erupted in flames and smoke that killed 17 people on Sunday and he vowed to investigate the landlords of the building where the blaze broke out. The blame was not pointed towards the tenants, he said. Advertisement The day after the blaze, Adams admonished New Yorkers to close the door, close the door when a fire breaks out in their building. Adams offered the advice after Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said two open doors, one to the apartment where the fire started and another on the 15th floor, allowed smoke to spread quickly throughout the building, resulting in the fatalities. Advertisement Mayor Adams arrives at the Masjid-Ur-Rahmah mosque in the Bronx on Friday. (Seth Wenig/AP) Adams said Friday that by repeating advice often offered by the Fire Department he didnt mean to point a finger at the victims. This is not to blame or traumatize that family, he said. I was very clear with it. That seemed to have been missed in my communication. Its about informing, because any day we could have another fire. Mayor Adams greets the owners of a bakery who brought cupcakes and coffee to the Masjid-Ur-Rahmah mosque in the Bronx on Friday. (Seth Wenig/AP) He promised a thorough investigation of the building landlords, one of whom, Rick Gropper, sat on his transition team. Gropper is the co-founder of the Camber Group, which owns part of the 121-unit Twin Parks North West complex at 331 East 181st St. in Fordham Heights, where the blaze occurred. Theres a lot that landlords have to learn, as we are going to dig into these inspections, and hotlines if the doors are not closing automatically, Adams said. A memorial for the 17 victims of last Sunday's deadly fire in the Bronx, in the shadow of the building where they died. (Seth Wenig/AP) The building had self-closing doors required by law but Nigro said at least one door wasnt functioning as it should. Nigro blamed the fire on a malfunctioning space heater left on in an apartment for several days. Sundays blaze was the deadliest in the city since 1990, when an arsonist set fire to the Happy Land Social Club in the Bronx, killing 87 people. Advertisement As the mayor defended himself and vowed to get to the bottom of the fire, politicians unveiled bills aimed at preventing similar tragedies. The 17 known victims of last Sunday's deadly Bronx fire. Top row, from left to right: Seydou Toure, Haouwa Mohamadou, Isatou Jabbie, Hagi Jawara, Aisha Drammeh, Muhammed Drammeh; Middle row, from left to right: Omar Jambang, Ousman Konteh, Sera Janneh, Fatoumata Tunkara, Fatoumala Drammeh, Fatoumata Drammeh; Bottom row, from left to right: Haji Dukuray, Haja Dukurehcq, Fatoumata Dukuray, Miriam Dukuray, Mustapha Dukuray Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and others introduced a package in Congress that would require landlords of federally subsidized buildings to install self-closing doors to protect apartments. Torres said he also wants all federally subsidized housing units to have a heat sensor that will enable real-time monitoring and reporting of heating levels in an apartment. The use of space heaters is often a cry for help, and a cry for heat, the congressman said. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), center, spoke to reporters Friday near the site of the deadly fire in the Bronx. (Seth Wenig/AP) It is time to bring housing code and enforcement into the 21st century, Torres said. He vowed to turn up the heat on landlords who deny heat to their tenants. Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > Torres would also require space heaters to have automatic safety shut-off switches. Advertisement The reform bill comes as the Bronx Gambian community prepares for a mass funeral service for 15 of the victims in the blaze. The Fordham Heights building had become a de facto center point for immigrants from the African nation. A memorial for the victims of an apartment building fire is displayed in front of the building in New York on Friday. (Seth Wenig/AP) The Islamic Cultural Center on E. 166th St. in Concourse Village will hold Janaza, a Muslim funeral prayer, for 15 victims on Sunday. Mayor Adams said he hopes that everyone learns something from the tragedy, and that his instruction to close doors when a fire breaks out was meant to empower everyday people with information. I am clear that all of us must be empowered to prevent an incident like this from occurring again, he said. That includes city agencies, landlords everyone must play a role. This was a horrific experience, and I dont want this to happen again. Just as we learn from the Happy Land fire, were going to learn from this incident. Adams also announced Friday that the victims of the fire would receive gift cards for $2,550, money collected through the Mayors Fund to Advance New York and donated by Bank of America and the Met Council. Keep the conversation about local news & events going by joining us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Recent updates from The News-Post and also from News-Post staff members are compiled below. Predictions are a tricky business just ask anyone who went on the record with a look-ahead in December 2019. But as we flip our calendars over to start another solar revolution, we can, at least, send some wishes skyward for good things to come in the new year. We asked scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center for their reads on whats to come in 2022, whether firm predictions, lofty hopes or something in between. Experts across the Hutchs five scientific divisions brought us visions of technological advancements, new standards of care for people with cancer and something even more fundamental: the return of trust. As far as scientific predictions, I am not sure this will happen, but it is my hope that 2022 will be the year of evidence-based thinking and a resurgence of public trust in science, said Fred Hutch nutritional epidemiologist and Cancer Prevention Program head Dr. Marian Neuhouser. Cancer screening and prevention Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers in the U.S. and can be deadly at an advanced stage. But unlike many other cancer types, there is a slate of effective screening tests that can detect early colorectal cancers and even precancers so they can be removed before they cause harm. Fred Hutch experts hope that 2022 will bring an increase in colorectal cancer screening among the millions of people who are eligible, which, as of this year, includes everyone in their mid- to late 40s. "It is my hope that we are getting colorectal cancer screening rates to above 80% of the eligible population, which is everyone between the ages of 45 to 75, and everyone with a positive first-degree family history of colorectal cancer [meaning a parent, sibling or child had this cancer] between ages 40 and 75, said Dr. Ulrike Peters, whose research focuses on the genetic epidemiology of colorectal cancer. She added: It is my specific hope that we particularly encourage screening in African American and Alaska Native people, who have particularly high rates of colorectal cancer. Leek writes periodically about topics in statistics, teaching and more at his personal blog and a shared blog called Simply Statistics . Hes also active on Twitter ( @jtleek ). Like many graduate students in (bio)statistics, when I started my career, I thought, I like math and I want to find a way to help people. I love that statistics lets me work on problems I feel are meaningful for helping people. Read the full profile interview with Leek at Amstat News from Nov. 1, 2021 As Fred Hutch, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, UW Medicine and Seattle Childrens pursue their proposed restructure, Leek will play a leading role in shaping and implementing the integrated data enterprise for the future Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. Leek will also be responsible for fostering partnerships within the Seattle areas thriving data science and technology ecosystem to support research collaboration and enhance the Hutchs ability to fulfill its mission to eliminate cancer and related diseases as causes of human suffering and death. Im eager to get plugged in to the Seattle tech ecosystem and pull in partners to support Hutch scientists and create mutually beneficial relationships, he said. Leadership in biostatistics and education Leek has won high honors in his field for both his research and educational initiatives. He is a fellow of the American Statistical Association and a recipient of the Mortimer Spiegelman Award as well as the 2021 Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies Presidents Award, the most prestigious award given to statisticians under the age of 40. The latter recognized Leek for influential work addressing high-dimensional data; for development of empirical tools for data science as a science with applications to meta-research, reproducibility and replicability; for scaling (bio)statistics-centered data science education to millions of people worldwide; and for leveraging data science tools, educational technologies and community partnerships to create economic opportunities in underserved communities, according to the award citation. In his research at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, where he is currently a professor of Biostatistics and Oncology, his group develops statistical methods, software, data resources and data analyses that help people make sense of massive-scale genomic and biomedical data. A current focus is on population-scale genomic data, including developing very large collections of gene expression data which can be used to study the regulation of gene expression (that is, how cells turn genes on and off) as well as the dysregulation often seen in cancer. As co-director of the Johns Hopkins Data Science Lab, Leek has helped craft online open courses that have enrolled more than 8 million people and partnered with community-based nonprofits to use data science education for economic and public health development. He also directs Data Trail, a no-cost educational program aimed at equipping members of underserved communities with the skills and support required to work in data science. Data Trail currently runs in Baltimore and New York, and Leek said he looks forward to the possibility of creating a similar effort in the Seattle area. Leek has a Ph.D. in biostatistics from the University of Washington and completed postdoctoral fellowships in stem cell biology at Mount Sinai and in computational biology at Johns Hopkins before joining the Hopkins faculty in 2009. A clumsy Photoshop of a gun wrongly led a Queens man to be charged of threatening to shoot a former business partner, his lawyer said Friday. Prosecutors asked a judge to drop the case against Partah Gupta, 44, who was arrested in October on charges he threatened Shah Nawaz. But Queens DAs reason for seeking to have the case dismissed was not made clear. Advertisement Gupta and his lawyer say the image of a gun clumsily Photoshopped into a picture of Gupta is the likeliest reason for the cases dismissal. Partah Gupta, pictured, was arrested in October over an alleged threat against Shah Nawaz, but the photo Nawaz gave prosecutors of a wide-smiling Gupta sitting in a room with a pistol on a bed was actually just Guptas profile picture, at left, edited to add a gun, at right, according to Gupta's attorney. (Obtained by Daily News) The picture in question shows Gupta sporting a big smile as he saw in a room with a tiny pistol on a bed next to him. Advertisement He Photoshopped it. He took a picture of my Facebook [image] and he put the pistol in the picture and then showed the [police] precinct, a frustrated Gupta told the Daily News in an interview before the charges were dropped. This case is bulls--t, Gupta said. It was the most obvious photoshop job since the [Microsoft] application Paint was created, said Cary London, who represented Gupta. London said the cops and prosecutors who used the photo as evidence to back Guptas arrest must have been blind. Gupta had been charged with menacing, harassment and aggravated harassment. Nawaz accused Gupta, who had previously been a business partner, of threatening him at a music festival where Gupta, a musician, was performing, according to the initial criminal complaint. Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > While at the show, the complaint said, Gupta and another person approached Nawaz. When the unidentified man pushed Nawaz, the complaint said, Gupta pointed a gun at him. I will kill you immediately on the spot. Wherever and when I get an opportunity, I will shoot you to kill, Gupta allegedly told Nawaz in a text. Advertisement But London claims that Nawaz never provided the text message to prosecutors, and that when asked about it he told them that he received the text from a private number. He said that came from a private number. You cant get texts from a private number, London said. Partah Gupta's original Facebook photo, sans gun. (Obtained by Daily News) Prosecutors sought the cases dismissal on Wednesday. Ive never seen a case Ive been more disgusted by the DAs office with. They should be embarrassed. Its the most fake gun Ive ever seen, London said. Nawaz could not immediately be reached for comment. A spokesman for Queens DA Melinda Katz said they could not comment on a dismissed and sealed case. Rosemarie Chandler as Grace Banker and Gabrielle Smith as Suzanne Prevot in the Phoenix Theatre Companys production of The Hello Girls. DENVER, Jan. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Monday, January 17, Governor Jared Polis, Lt. Governor Dianne Primavera, Senator Michael Bennet, AmeriCorps CEO Michael D. Smith, Jill Hunsaker Ryan, Executive Director of Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), and other service community leaders gathered virtually to celebrate the creation of a new Economic Mobility Partnership, designed to save Coloradans money. In support of this partnership, Governor Polis and Lt. Governor Primavera have announced January 14, 2022 as AmeriCorps Economic Mobility Day. The Polis-Primavera Administration, AmeriCorps, Serve Colorado, and CDPHE will work collaboratively to increase enrollment in the Child Tax Credit (CTC), Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC). The partnership will also support financial literacy training, tax filing assistance, unified benefit enrollment, education assistance, increasing affordable housing options, and other strategies. As we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s legacy for justice, were called to heed Dr. Kings calling of what are you doing for others? Our administration is proud to partner with Senator Bennet to provide information on ways hardworking families can save money with the state and federal child tax credits, said Governor Polis. As Coloradans experience higher costs, Im grateful to Governor Polis, Lt. Governor Primavera, and Director Ryan for establishing a first-of-its-kind partnership with AmeriCorps to help families and workers save money, said Senator Bennet. As we approach tax filing season, this partnership will help educate Coloradans on this years dramatically expanded tax credits and put money back in their pockets. Serve Colorado will also prioritize economic mobility programs through its AmeriCorps State program grant competitions and Request for Applications. Service can play a key role in helping build more equitable and just communities. This partnership with AmeriCorps will create even more opportunities to serve, said Lt. Governor Dianne Primavera. As we approach MLK Day of Service, I encourage others to learn more about how they can get involved in these efforts to support their fellow Coloradans. Today, two AmeriCorps NCCC teams began their service at Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites to provide free help with tax returns filing to qualifying taxpayers, helping more Coloradans claim the tax credits they are eligible for. In addition, over the next year, AmeriCorps will engage all streams of national service, including VISTA and AmeriCorps Seniors, in supporting economic mobility priorities and projects. The American Rescue Plan provided the largest Child Tax Credit ever and historic relief to families nationwide. This new partnership will help Coloradans across the state, said Michael D. Smith, AmeriCorps CEO. Im grateful for the Biden-Harris administration's continuous work to build back better and for the leadership of the Polis-Primavera administration throughout the past year as we worked together to get this program off the ground. CDPHEs Title V Maternal and Child Health Program will work with partners to identify priority needs for economic mobility programming for AmeriCorps consideration. The partnership between CDPHE and AmeriCorps promises to make a major impact on the lives of the people we serve. Using a variety of supports - including tax credits, financial education, and much more - we can improve the health and independence of many Colorado families. We are excited to expand this unique collaboration, said Jill Hunsaker Ryan, Executive Director of CDPHE. The MLK Day of Service, the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service, is a call to act on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy of social justice and equity. Partners will join together to help promote recruitment of volunteers for VITA sites across the state. VITA site volunteers are trained to prepare taxpayers' tax returns, helping more individuals understand their tax-credit eligibility. For more information about this initiative and how to get involved visit servecolorado.colorado.gov/economicmobility. Bettendorf, Jan. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bettendorf, Iowa - Davenport, IA based John Cornish - Mortgage Lender is pleased to place his extensive expertise in the mortgage industry at the disposal of his community. Given his years of experience, he has long realized that homeowners looking to buy their first home and veterans are among those who most need help. As such, he considers it his mission to prioritize these groups to ensure they can afford the homes they deserve. The real estate industry has a reputation for being quite challenging to navigate, so the assistance of a specialist is recommended at every turn. Where home buyers may refer to a real estate agent for help finding the right property, however, they should also give due consideration to working with a mortgage expert like Cornish when exploring their financing options. This is especially true given that many consider him to be a leading name in the ranks of Quad Cities mortgage companies. Cornish himself attributes much of his success to his determination to help people succeed in achieving their home-owning vision. He adds, When buyers consider getting a mortgage on their journey to purchasing a new home, they tend to find themselves almost overwhelmed by the range of options at their disposal. However, even if we disregard the predatory lenders that are out there, the vast majority of the options offered to them will not be right for their circumstances. The interest might not be suitable for their finances, the principal may fall short of the buyers requirements when compared to alternatives from competitors and so on. Many factors need to be considered, and this tends to be well beyond the average buyers capabilities. Fortunately, my partners and I work hard to bring the best opportunities to your attention. Cornish additionally makes it his mission to simplify the process for his clients as much as possible. One of the reasons he primarily chooses to support first time home buyers and veterans is the fact that these groups stand to gain the most from his involvement. In the event a client displays any unfamiliarity with their mortgage, he invests the time to break down its most complex aspects into accessible concepts. This, he says, is a vital part of his services. When you make a financial commitment at the scale a mortgage necessitates, he explains, every little step and decision you make matters. What seems like a negligible detail today could lead to you finding it a challenge to pay the bills a few years on. My job is to make sure you understand what you are committing to and what it could mean for you and your family years or even decades from today. The best decision you can make is an informed one. Many have already turned to him for this exact service, as is evident in the numerous positive reviews he has received. An example of this can be seen in one 5-Star Google review from Kristin R., who says, John and his team were exceptional. The entire process from start to finish was a breeze and I would recommend [them] to anyone. I was never left wondering what the next step was, and no question went unanswered. Response time was great if and when I did have questions, even during off hours. They go the extra mile to ensure you feel safe and confident in your decisions. Thank you team! 10/10! An excerpt from a review from Jason K. also illustrates the fact that Cornish provides a superior service even when compared with his peers. Between both of us, we've bought and sold a few homes, and this was, by far, the absolute best experience we've ever had getting a mortgage. John's team was attentive and incredibly easy to work with. Their process is quick and efficient, and as long as you do your part to keep things moving forward, your mortgage process will move along nice and quick. We also pursued an aggressive closing deadline, and Team Cornish handled it perfectly. And when we hit a snag at the last minute, they worked with us as we postponed closing and then quickly scheduled one the following Monday. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue_gN7mGUpU Quad Cities homebuyers are welcome to get in touch with John Cornish today for personalized assistance with mortgages, refinance options and much more. He has already helped thousands of families obtain mortgage financing to purchase their dream home, and both he and his team look forward to helping thousands more. ### For more information about John Cornish - Mortgage Lender, contact the company here: John Cornish - Mortgage Lender John Cornish (563) 214-1539 jcornish@gohomeside.com 5189 Utica Ridge Rd Davenport, IA 52807 An 11-alarm fire at a chemical plant forced the evacuation of downtown Passaic, N.J., and a warning to New Yorkers that they might smell or see smoke from the gigantic blaze. A fire has engulfed a warehouse near Route 21 in Passaic, N.J. (Joshua Oszczepalski) The fire erupted around 8 p.m. near the Qualco warehouse next to Route 21 in Passaic, which is about nine air miles from Columbus Circle. Several buildings in the area were reported to be in flames. Advertisement Our firefighters are hitting the fire at every angle, said City of Passaic Mayor Hector Lora in a Facebook broadcast. Were receiving firefighters from all over. Due to emergency personnel operating at a six alarm #fire in Passaic, New Jersey, residents in NYC may see or smell smoke. NYCEM - Notify NYC (@NotifyNYC) January 15, 2022 Our firefighters are doing everything possible to maintain and contain this fire. It is an extremely difficult fire that continues to rage over this city, Lora said. Advertisement Around 10:20 p.m., New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy urged people living near the scene to stay indoors. The fire scene is near an area where the Passaic River separates Passaic and Bergen counties. We urge everyone in Passaic to stay safe as firefighters battle a large eight-alarm fire at a chemical plant off of Route 21. If you live nearby, keep your windows closed. Praying for the safety of our first responders on the scene. https://t.co/70QQwbyqzt Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) January 15, 2022 When Murphy issued the warning, the flames had not reached the Qualco plants chemical storage area, reports said. Qualco specializes in marketing swimming pool chemicals. Its products include chlorine, which can be toxic to humans. We need you to stay away from the area, Lora warned Passaic residents. As of 10:30 p.m., no injuries had been reported, Lora said. We wont be able to fully inspect [the scene] until fire is completely put out, Lora wrote on his Facebook account. It may take some time to establish cause. Main issue with chlorine fire is wind. Northbrook, Jan. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Northbrook, Illinois - David Hochberg, from Chicago home financing company Team Hochberg, is announcing their services to help people buy the perfect home in and around the Chicago area. With an office in Northbrook, Illinois, near Chicago, Team Hochberg endeavors to help homebuyers who want to know more about what kind of house they can afford given their current financial circumstances. Team Hochberg is especially interested in finding homes for veterans, or at least providing their services to veterans who want help buying a good home at a great price, and who would like to take advantage of various offers that may be available to them, thanks to their veteran status. The firm is also interested in working with homeowners who want to refinance their homes. Home prices in the Chicago area are expected to increase this year, even while the number of sales are likely to decrease. In the state of Illinois, nearly seventeen thousand homes were sold in September 2021, which was 7 percent fewer houses than sold a year earlier, in September of 2020. In that time, median home prices in the state rose over 5%. Chicago, as the third largest city in America, and one of its hottest real estate markets, often has homes selling below listing price, which makes it a great place for home buyers to find their perfect new home. Among neighborhoods where houses are available for sale in Chicago, Beverly, a neighborhood on the South Side, has a range of housing styles, from brick bungalows to large Craftsman-style homes. Beverly is known for its Irish roots, and so has a number of Irish pubs and great events celebrating Irish heritage, such as the South Side Irish Parade. Another great neighborhood for buying a home in Chicago is Edison Park, which is removed from hectic city life and conveniently only 15 minutes away from Chicago OHare International Airport, making it a great location for frequent travelers. Theres also Lake View, right on the edge of Lake Michigan, which is great for singles and young professionals. This neighborhood has lots of affordable townhomes and condos, and has great access to transit, nightlife and more. Regardless of where, in or out of the city, a person is looking to buy a home, the professionals of Team Hochberg can help interested homebuyers purchase the home of their dreams. They are able to walk home buyers through the steps in the process to buying a home, whether someone is a veteran home buyer or a first time home owner, and help them understand how to organize their finances to make buying a home possible. To learn more about Team Hochberg and the services they offer, visit their website. The company also profiles on Facebook and Instagram, where they post a variety of content, between these platforms and their website, from information about home buying to inspirational quotes and more. The team even has a radio show, Home Sweet Home Chicago, on local radio station WGN Chicago, hosted by David Hochberg, who talks to listeners about their home owning and home buying concerns. Recent episodes of the Home Sweet Home Chicago show include conversations about insurance, home equity, radon reduction services and more. Hochberg brings in local experts to share their knowledge and answer listener questions. Team Hochberg is excited to help the future home buyers of the Chicago area purchase homes that will make them happy for years to come. Whether home buyers are buying their first home, and need assistance with understanding FHA home buying programs, or veterans interested in learning more about what the VA has to offer them, Team Hochman will bring their professionalism and extensive knowledge to the table, working with home buyers to secure the resources necessary for their upcoming home purchase. Anyone looking to buy a home in the Chicago area can reach out to them today for expert advice and guidance on all things home financing. ### For more information about David Hochberg, contact the company here: David Hochberg David Hochberg (855) 563-2843 dhochberg@gohomeside.com 3100 Dundee Rd Suite 906 Northbrook, Illinois 60062 NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors that they have until February 22, 2022 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Chegg, Inc. (NYSE: CHGG), if they purchased the Companys shares between May 5, 2020 and November 1, 2021, inclusive (the Class Period). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Get Help Chegg investors should visit us at https://claimsfiler.com/cases/nyse-chgg or call toll-free (844) 367-9658. Lawyers at Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC are available to discuss your legal options. About the Lawsuit Chegg and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws. On November 1, 2021, the Company announced its third quarter financial results, the first quarter in which students returned to campus across the United States, disclosing fewer than expected online enrollments due to the Covid-19 pandemic and failed to provide guidance for 2022. On this news, shares of Chegg fell nearly 50%. The case is Leventhal v. Chegg, Inc., No. 21-cv-09953. About ClaimsFiler ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. At ClaimsFiler.com, investors can: (1) register for free to gain access to information and settlement websites for various securities class action cases so they can timely submit their own claims; (2) upload their portfolio transactional data to be notified about relevant securities cases in which they may have a financial interest; and (3) submit inquiries to the Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC law firm for free case evaluations. To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com. Ecuador, Jan. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SANTA CRUZ, GALAPAGOS ISLANDS Ecuador President of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso today signed a historic Executive Decree to create a new marine reserve Reserva Marina de Hermandad to increase protection for one of the worlds most important marine ecosystems, the Galapagos Islands, home to nearly 3,000 marine species, 20 percent of which are found nowhere else on Earth. The expansion will create a massive new ocean corridor or swimway of 60,000 sq km that will connect Ecuadorian waters with Costa Rican waters and significantly enhance protection for threatened migratory wildlife including humpback whales, sea turtles, giant manta rays, and endangered hammerhead sharks. The Reserva Marina de Hermandad includes 30,000 sq km where all extractive activities are prohibited (no-take zones) including critical ecosystem areas, migratory routes, and feeding areas for threatened marine species, and 30,000 sq km as a buffer zone where the use of long lines is prohibited. This new reserve increases the area of protection to nearly 200,000 sq km, when combined with the existing Galapagos Marine Reserve. It is also a key component of the newly announced mega-marine protected area known as the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor (Corredor Marino del Pacifico Este - CMAR), which has recent commitments from the Presidents of Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia to link the four countries Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) covering 500,000 sq km of protected waters. WildAids Marine Program has been working in the Galapagos for over 20 years improving marine enforcement operations systems and implementing a comprehensive marine protection plan with the Galapagos National Park. WildAid was instrumental in facilitating a partnership between the Ecuadorian Navy and the Galapagos National Park rangers to enforce GMR laws and to prevent illegal fishing and shark poaching within its borders. WildAid and its partners will be working to implement protection mechanisms and procedures that will be deployed across the new protected area, including state-of-the-art technologies to significantly enhance and improve control of the marine reserve. WildAid President Peter Knights applauded the action, It is essential that nations take bold actions to stem the tide of environmental degradation. President Lasso and Ecuadors leadership for this historic decree is outstanding, and the collaboration of Costa Rica, Panama and Columbia to protect CMAR is vital and laudable. As we mark twenty years of our partnership with the Galapagos National Park Directorate to prevent illegal fishing, we are honored to continue to support what we believe is one of the best marine protection systems in the world. Despite the establishment of new global marine protected areas (MPAs) every year, many countries are ill-equipped and under-resourced to properly manage and enforce their MPAs. Often, the critical step from declaration to implementation falls short resulting in limited conservation benefits and parks in name only or paper parks. WildAids Marine Program is working with government, nonprofit, and community partners around the world to strengthen the protection and enforcement of MPAs and coastal fisheries. Manuel Bravo, Latin America Regional Director for WildAid Marine said, These actions protect an area of incredibly high biodiversity, but also preserve the importance of connectivity between those regions. Wildlife that travels long distances in the open-ocean dont care about boundaries on a map, and this expansion will help protect the unique and often threatened megafauna that migrate through these waters. Todays decree follows many months of dialogue with artisanal fishermen and the industrial fishing fleet, who agree on the importance of expanding this zone and the benefit spillover of fisheries resources from increased fisheries production. The action is accompanied by an international financing structure of a debt-swap for nature conservation, to implement realistic management of the newly established boundaries. Most people dont realize that nearly 60 percent of all marine protected areas lack effective enforcement. Our focus is on closing this gap. Starting in the Galapagos, we are creating centers of excellence to share best practices and help partners prioritize smart and effective enforcement strategies and funding mechanisms. said Meaghan Brosnan, Director of WildAids Marine Program. In addition to our work in Ecuador, we are working with the governments of Panama and Costa Rica to help design marine protection systems, effective enforcement, and legislative strategies to ensure the long-term sustainability of these priority marine areas. Not only is this important for threatened marine wildlife, but also to sustain essential economic drivers such as tourism, fishing, and maritime transportwhich generates close to USD 3 billion annually. The leadership demonstrated by the Ecuadorian government sets the stage to help achieve the global goal of protecting 30 percent of the ocean by 2030. Attachments Toronto, Canada, Jan. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ZT Exchange, a famous cryptocurrency exchange, recently announced the establishment of a branch office in Toronto Canada, officially expanding its cryptocurrency trading and commercial services into the North American market. In March, 2021, ZT Exchange announced the establishment of a multi-party resource system together with SoftBank Group and excellent industry builders such as Cabin VC, Candaq, Dealean, etc., to improve the Zenith Smart Chain ecological governance mechanism and primary and secondary market business structure. ZT Exchange has established operation centers in many countries and regions around the world. The establishment of the Canadian branch marks a further step in its global layout. ZT Exchange's Official Entry in the North American Market with Its Establishment of the Canadian Branch In addition to Canada branch, ZT Exchange has established service centers in many countries and regions around the world and has a global professional operation team. It is committed to providing clients with 7*24 hours of service and providing one-stop client service process management, explaining blockchain and digital assets for clients in detail, and conducting real-time tracking management of the whole process from client consultation to client request solution. With close links and effective work flow, it can quickly respond to and handle every request of clients, and improve efficiency and client satisfaction. ZT Exchange has always been focusing on the global market, and is committed to becoming a preacher covering the global blockchain, leading more blockchain practitioners and enthusiasts to create their own value in this digital economy era. As for why Canada was chosen as a position to enter the North American market, Richard Li, the CEO of ZT Exchange Canada explained that since 2021, the weekly net inflow of investors to the North American market has increased by more than 7,000 times compared with that of the beginning of the year. The sudden influx of investors into North America has driven a shift in digital currency trading, rebalancing the distribution of assets across exchanges and platforms. Users in North America can now conduct digital currency transactions through ZT Exchange Canada. Richard said that another important role of ZT Exchange Canada is to discover and invest in excellent blockchain projects in North America and provide them with all-round assistance and incubation. In this way, the overall ecology of ZT platform can be more prosperous, and it can also allow users to access more excellent projects. ZT Exchange is still making efforts on its international expansion. The company is currently in negotiation with relevant government agencies in many countries to discuss the development of digital currency trading and exchange business. ZT officials stated that they aim to open multiple global operation centers and branches in 20 countries by the end of the year. At present, ZT Exchange provides the most secure and reliable high-quality digital asset trading and derivatives services to millions of users in more than 158 countries and regions around the world. ZT Exchange creates a safe and convenient trading platform with top blockchain technology and rigorous regulatory system to provide comprehensive, complete, multi-level and multi-dimensional one-stop digital asset trading services for clients. It aims to become an industry model. About ZT Exchange ZT Exchange, founded in 2018, is affiliated to ZT Global and is an independently operated digital asset trading service provider. ZT Exchange is committed to promoting and developing digital asset management services related to the digitization of assets based on the global digital asset trading business. At present, the ZT Exchange platform ranks in the TOP 20 in the global comprehensive ranking. Media Details: ZT Global service@ztb.com Toronto, Canada The information provided in this release is not investment advice, financial advice or trading advice. It is recommended that you practice due diligence (including consultation with a professional financial advisor before investing or trading securities and cryptocurrency). News provided by KISS PR Press Release Distribution HOUSTON, Jan. 15, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Leading invoice funding company Charter Capital urges business owners to focus on their supplier relationships going into 2022. While good rapport with suppliers has always been important, the slow supply chain recovery means key relationships can be a defining factor in a business' success moving into the new year. The company's recent publication, "How Factoring Can Help You Maintain Healthy Relationships with Your Suppliers," outlines the business case and provides actionable tips for strengthening supplier bonds. The complete piece is available at CharterCapitalUSA.com. Joel Rosenthal, Co-founder and Executive Manager at Charter Capital, says the supply chain was strained before COVID-19, but conditions throughout 2020 and 2021 pushed it past its breaking point. As experts, such as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell, have predicted "bottlenecks lasting well into next year," business owners must make supplier relationships one of their top priorities, Rosenthal says. "It's easy to overlook how important supplier relationships are until something goes wrong," Rosenthal explains. "But, it's important to think of these connections as an investment in your business." Rosenthal describes supplier relationships as a way to "futureproof" a business and contends that, even in this digital age, the difference between running a business that gets what it needs and going without can rest on how well a business owner has connected with suppliers. Oftentimes, suppliers will prioritize and speed up deliveries for favored clients too. "It used to be that great supplier relationships meant receiving better deals or getting better payment terms," Rosenthal notes. "We still see that in some industries, but with the ongoing supply chain bottlenecks, it's more about ensuring needs are met." Businesses do not have to be huge companies placing high-volume orders to get priority treatment, says Rosenthal. Opening the lines of communication, having fair expectations, and paying on time set a solid foundation. According to Rosenthal, invoice factoring can help too. By accelerating cash flow, businesses can ensure timely payments and scale up without needing additional credit from suppliers. Those interested in learning more about invoice factoring are encouraged to request a free rate quote by calling 1-877-960-1818 or visiting CharterCapitalUSA.com. About Charter Capital Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Charter Capital has been a leading provider of flexible funding solutions for the B2B sector for more than 20 years. Competitive rates, a fast approval process, and same-day funding help businesses across various industries secure the working capital necessary to manage daily needs and grow. To learn more, visit CharterCapitalUSA.com or call 1-877-960-1818. Related Images Image 1: Strong Supplier Relationships Can Be Key to Financial Health Small businesses should make balancing healthy supplier relationships a core business activity. This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. Attachment OTTAWA, Jan. 15, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress, released the following statement today: It was with great sadness that I learned of the death of Alexa McDonough, a true Canadian political giant. On behalf of Canadas unions, I extend our sincere condolences to her sons, Justin and Travis, and all the friends and family she leaves behind, who will feel her loss so deeply. There is not a woman in Canadian politics or public life who does not owe a debt to the trailblazing role Alexa has played. When she won the leadership of the Nova Scotia NDP in 1980 and became the first woman to lead a major, recognized political party in Canada she gave us an example that so many young women could follow. Not just to be at the table, but to lead it. It was not an easy road. When first elected to the Nova Scotia legislature, there was no womens washroom for MLAs. But instead of complaining to the media, Alexa walked back into the legislature and talked about the issues she heard about from the women waiting with her to use the public washrooms. For those of us in the labour movement, we will always be grateful for her strong advocacy for workers rights, fair wages and safer working conditions. Her work helping to get the Westray Bill passed continues to benefit workers today. The labour movement will mark the 30th anniversary of the Westray legislation this year and Alexas words, said in the House of Commons in 2003, on the day the Westray Bill received Royal Assent are still central to the labour movements fight: The Westray bill is a victory for working people across Canada and culminates 11 years of work by New Democrats in solidarity with families of mine disaster victims, Westray survivors, steelworkers and other trade union partners. This brings us one step closer to ensuring that corporations are held liable for irresponsible working conditions that end up costing workers their lives. Alexa was someone who had an abundance of dedication, and never one to shy away from hard work or a difficult fight. From working as a teenager to draw attention to the conditions in the Africville community in Halifax, to elected office and leadership roles at the provincial and federal level, to decades of activism on so many important issues, she has truly blazed an impressive trail. Both with the provincial and federal NDP, it is no coincidence that the leaders who followed her both had breakthrough successes and became Leader of the Official Opposition. She laid the groundwork for so many of us. After stepping down as federal NDP leader, she stayed on to serve under new leader Jack Layton as the partys foreign affairs critic, taking on a leadership role in peace advocacy and international work. After leaving politics she went on to become president of Mount Saint Vincent University and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada. Labour unions worked to help honour her in 2013, raising funds to make sure Alexas contributions were permanently recognized at Mount Saint Vincents Alexa McDonough Institute for Women, Gender and Social Justice. Such a fitting tribute for someone who gave so much of herself to help others. Canadian Labour Congress www.canadianlabour.ca New Mayor Gregory Vergas sanity check is the Hofner electric bass hanging behind his desk in his City Hall office. If he needs a little bre A massive New Jersey chemical plant fire that poised the threat of evacuations was contained before the flames could reach buildings with the most noxious substances, state officials said Saturday. As a direct result of the remarkable response, we were able to contain the fire and it did not reach the main chemical plant, Passaic N.J. Mayor Hector Lora said during a 3:30 a.m. video update about the fire posted on Facebook. After an assessment of the air quality as we continue battling the fire, there is no need for an evacuation. Advertisement Firefighters battle an 11-alarm fire at a chemical plant in Passaic, New Jersey, on January 14, 2022. (Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Residents who live nearby the Qualco Inc. warehouse were still being asked to keep their windows shut as a precaution. Lora said a team of environmental specialists will monitor the air quality in the area as firefighters continue working at the warehouse next to Route 21, which is about nine air miles from Columbus Circle. Advertisement The fire erupted around 8 p.m. Friday. Within a very short time, several buildings in the plant complex were ablaze. This image from video provided by Mikey B shows a fire near a New Jersey chemical plant, Friday, Jan. 14, 2022 in Passaic, N.J. (Mikey B/AP) Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > Flames could be seen and smelled for miles. New Jersey Gov. Murphy had encouraged residents living near the plant to keep their windows closed while they assessed whether an evacuation would be necessary. We urge everyone in Passaic to stay safe as firefighters battle a large eight-alarm fire at a chemical plant off of Route 21, Gov. Murphy wrote Friday night. If you live nearby, keep your windows closed. Praying for the safety of our first responders on the scene. Firefighters battle an 11-alarm fire at a chemical plant in Passaic, New Jersey, on January 14, 2022. (Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Lora said firefighters from all over were called in to help tamp down the blaze. Our firefighters are doing everything possible to maintain and contain this fire. It is an extremely difficult fire that continues to rage over this city, he said Friday night. Qualco specializes in marketing swimming pool chemicals. Its products include chlorine, which can be toxic to humans. We urge everyone in Passaic to stay safe as firefighters battle a large eight-alarm fire at a chemical plant off of Route 21. If you live nearby, keep your windows closed. Praying for the safety of our first responders on the scene. https://t.co/70QQwbyqzt Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) January 15, 2022 We need you to stay away from the area, Lora warned Passaic residents. As of Saturday morning, no injuries had been reported. MANSFIELD [mdash] Patricia Ann Thursby-Daniels, 77, of Mansfield, Texas, formerly of Elkhart, Indiana, died Sunday April 10, at Mansfield Hospital in Mansfield, Texas. She was born May 30, 1944, in Elkhart, Indiana, to Robert James and Opal Mae (Allison) Thursby. On Feb. 14, 1965, she marrie Amid criticism that his new correction commissioner has caved to the departments unions by firing the jails top investigator and loosening sick leave rules, Mayor Adams insisted Friday that he is not doing the unions bidding. Those who know me know I do not placate, Adams said. Advertisement So my partnership is not with the union, the mayor added. My partnership is with the people of the city of New York, even if they are incarcerated, and Im going to continue to have that partnership. People must be saved, even if they committed a crime. Mayor Eric Adams (Shawn Inglima/for New York Daily News) Adams new correction commissioner, Louis Molina, fired the departments top investigator, Sarena Townsend, shortly after he took office. Advertisement Adams did not directly address Molinas Jan. 3 decision to dump Townsend, a highly regarded investigator whose work was lauded by the federal monitor overseeing the jails as recently as Dec. 22. The Correction Officers Benevolent Association relentlessly slammed Townsend over what it claimed was her pursuit of too many disciplinary cases over minor uses of force. On Thursday, the Daily News reported that Molina pressured Townsend to close 2,000 disciplinary cases in his first 100 days in office. She pointed out that wasnt possible, and she was escorted from correction headquarters. The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. > Townsend told The News she perceived that Molina wanted her to simply dismiss cases something that wasnt possible because of the underlying evidence. Molina has not said why he fired her. Molina has also loosened rules requiring officers to get a medical evaluation within 24 hours of calling in sick. The union had bridled against suspensions of officers accused of abusing sick leave procedures. Molina extended the deadline for officers to get a medical evaluation to two days. Asking for two days is not asking for a Christmas bonus, said a Correction Department source. Staffing issues continue to be a problem at Rikers Island and other city lockups. On Wednesday, 2,081 uniformed officers were out sick, or 27% of the uniformed component of 7,708, numbers obtained by The News show. Advertisement By comparison, the average daily number of officers on sick leave in August was 1,416, Correction Department figures show. There is a COVID problem in the jails, the correction source said. Theres been a huge spike, we believe, from the visitors to the jails. Well over 85% of uniformed members are vaccinated at this point. An assassin masquerading as an Uber driver knocked on a Manhattan mans front door, whipped out a gun and fatally shot him, police said Saturday. The unidentified gunman rapped on 30-year-old Davon Venables apartment door at the Lillian Wald Houses off the FDR Drive in the East Village just before 10 p.m. Friday, cops said. Advertisement Did you order an Uber? the stranger asked seconds before he pulled out his gun and shot Venable in the back and neck inside his fourth floor apartment, police said. Investigators gather at the Lillian Wald Houses in the East Village after the fatal shooting of Davon Venable, 30. (Sam Costanza/for New York Daily News) EMS rushed Venable to Mount Sinai-Beth Israel Medical Center, but he could not be saved. Advertisement The gunman ran off and was still being sought Saturday. The Community Announcements calendar publishes twice weekly on Thursday and Saturday. The submission deadline for Thursday announcements is noon on the previous Tuesday. The submission deadline for Saturday is noon on the previous Wednesday. The writer served three terms as U.S. representative for Connecticuts 5th District. Copyright 2022 Gary Franks. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Greensburg, IN (47240) Today Windy with showers and thunderstorms likely. High 73F. Winds SW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 51F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph. GREENWICH The death of Devon Dalio, who died in a fiery car crash into a retail store in Greenwich last month, has been categorized as accidental by the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Dalio, 42, died of smoke inhalation and thermal injuries in the Dec. 17, the M.E.s office said Thursday afternoon. No other information was released on the crash. Dalio was at the wheel of a 2016 Audi when it crashed into a Verizon store in the Riverside Commons shopping center in Greenwich and caught fire, police said. The fire marshals office said the cars gas tank ruptured and caused the blaze, which destroyed the Verizon store and damaged other businesses in the structure. Police said they had no further information to provide on Dalios death or the crash. Capt. Mark Zuccerella said the case was still under investigation. Officers and bystanders were unable to enter the store after the crash due to the intensity of the flames. The Verizon workers ran out of the store and were not injured in the blaze. Courtesy of the Dalio Family / Dalio, who grew up in Greenwich, was the son of local philanthropists Ray and Barbara Dalio. Ray Dalio is the founder of the Westport-based hedge fund Bridgewater Associates and is considered to be Connecticuts wealthiest resident. Devon Dalio was the co-founder of P-Squared Management Enterprises, a private equity firm that is focused health-care technology companies. He served as a board member of the familys foundation, Dalio Philanthropies. He graduated from Lafayette College. Bruce Zimmerman, a friend and associate, told an industry trade magazine, Institutional Investor, that Dalio was admirable and principled. Zimmerman told the magazine, My first impressions when I met him: Kind. Passionate. Inquisitive. Generous. Loved his family, his parents, his brothers, his wife, his child. A loving man. In addition to his parents, Devon Dalio was survived by his wife and daughter. Memorial arrangements were private. The death of his son triggered an enormous amount of pain and reflection, Ray Dalio said in a lengthy essay published on his LinkedIn account about two weeks after the crash. Over that time, I went through a journey that Im still on, Dalio wrote. At first losing Devon was worse than losing a part of myself, which was made more painful by my seeing the pain that it was causing my family members. With time, Ray Dalio said he was able to learn there is no right approach to healing after a tragedy. Each person needs to deal with the death of a loved one in the way that is right for them, he wrote. Department of Public Works employee Martin Barcinas looks down the center of a 30-foot metal structure as he and fellow worker Mike Terrell remove hundreds of Christmas lights from the framework during the breakdown of decorations at the Skinner Plaza in Hagatna, on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. The decorations were part of the Electric Winter Wonderland light display at the park during the holiday season. Emergency first responders remain at the scene after an intense fire at a 19-story residential building that erupted in the morning on Jan. 9, 2022, in the Bronx borough of New York City. Reports indicate over 50 people were injured. (Scott Heins/Getty Images) More than a dozen FDNY fire safety seminars are planned at schools and community centers in the Bronx in the wake of a smoky blaze that killed 17 people at a Fordham Heights high rise, department officials said Saturday. In the week since the fatal fire the citys deadliest since a 1990 blaze killed 87 at the Bronxs Happy Land Social Club the FDNY has been making a broad outreach effort to distribute fire safety information. Advertisement The FDNY also put together a minute-long public service announcement streaming on the department social media platforms with scenes of the damage the fire left at the Twin Parks North West building on E. 181st St. near Tiebout Ave. The fire is blamed on a space heater a tenant had left running for days. Smoke from the blaze also spread because a self-closing door to the apartment was broken and the smoke was allowed to escape. Advertisement The fire was sparked by a space heater that a tenant had left running for days. Smoke from the blaze also spread to all the adjoining floors because a self-closing door to the apartment was broken and the smoke was allowed to escape. (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News) Fire safety experts say landlords should help firefighters spread this important information, especially if they know tenants are supplementing their heat with portable space heaters. Building management should be saying, Hey, folks, if youre buying space heaters you should get the modern ones and learn how to use them properly, said Glenn Corbett, a professor at John Jay College. In Sundays blaze, more than 30 people were rushed to area hospitals with life-threatening injuries. All 17 of the dead who included eight children died of smoke inhalation, a spokeswoman for the citys medical examiner said. An FDNY firefighter looks out from a burned apartment at the Twin Parks North West building Monday afternoon. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/for New York Daily News) The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. > Within hours of the blaze, FDNY fire safety educators were in the community offering fire safety advice, said department spokesman Frank Dwyer. We do what we have always done, Dwyer said. Every time we have a fatal fire, our fire safety education teams are out there as soon as possible with fliers and smoke detectors to talk about fire safety. We do this religiously and we have a very strong fire education safety program. The FDNY is engaging with any community organization that can help spread the word. We are 100 percent ready to meet with every single group we can to get the info in their hands, the spokesman said. A memorial for the 17 people killed in the Twin Parks North West fire in the Bronx. (Seth Wenig/AP) Fire safety specialist Prabodh Panindre, a research scientist and faculty member at New York Universitys Tandon School of Engineering, said more education is necessary. Advertisement I think when you get a portable heater you open the box, get it ready to be used, and throw that instruction sheet in the garbage, Panindre said. You really need to educate people how to use this equipment safely. Printable flyers for landlords and more fire safety information can be found at the departments FDNY Smart webpage. There were 198 new cases of COVID-19 from 1,191 tests analyzed Jan. 14, the Department of Public Health and Social Services reported. Of those, 135 cases were identified through contact tracing, according to a Joint Information Center news release. Additional results are pending analysis and submission from other clinics and will be reported Tuesday. There were 23 people hospitalized for COVID-19, the release stated 14 patients at Guam Memorial Hospital, including one in intensive care. The remaining nine patients were hospitalized at Guam Regional Medical City, with one in intensive care. Guam has had 23,115 officially reported cases of COVID-19, with 274 deaths. There are 3,451 cases in active isolation, the release stated. School cases On Friday, the Guam Department of Education confirmed 33 positive COVID-19 cases involving students: Five at George Washington High. Four at Tamuning Elementary. Three each at Adacao Elementary and John F. Kennedy High. Two at Agana Heights Elementary, Agueda I. Johnston Middle, Jose L.G. Rios Middle, Vicente S.A. Benavente Middle, Okkodo High and Tiyan High. One each at C.L. Taitano Elementary, Harry S. Truman Elementary, J.Q. San Miguel Elementary School, Liguan Elementary, Ordot-Chalan Pago Elementary and Simon Sanchez High. Guam DOE notified teachers and parents of students who may have been in contact with positive cases to schedule testing. Cleaning and disinfecting of the campuses will ensure schools are ready for regular hours of operation Tuesday. Guam DOE also confirmed six positive cases of COVID-19 involving employees: One each at Inarajan Elementary, Liguan Elementary, Talofofo Elementary and Agueda I. Johnston Middle. There were two at John F. Kennedy High. Screening Effective Jan. 16 Public Health will cease processing of passengers and airline crew members of flights from foreign countries where vaccination and exception screening is already being facilitated by the airlines, in accordance with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the release stated. For passengers and airline crew members not subject to the provisions of the October 2021 presidential declaration, Public Health will continue the screening process. The flights include departures originating from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Narita, Honolulu and chartered flights. Cyberbullying has increased in Guam public schools over the past two years, according to Superintendent Jon Fernandez. He said based on disciplinary reports that track infractions, administrators have been dealing with more cases than in the past. It isnt just the pandemic, it basically reflects the overall move toward technology for many of our students, Fernandez said. I think thats the biggest challenge to understand. The Guam Department of Education has an anti-bullying policy, but schools have problems addressing cyberbullying. One of the biggest issues: Teachers and administrators dont understand how social media platforms work, Fernandez said. I think the challenge is that its not always easy to identify cyberbullying, said Fernandez. Ive been involved in cases where parents and students have disputes in schools, ... and unless you are very adept and familiar with technology, as a third party trying to investigate a complaint about cyberbullying, its sometimes very difficult to put the pieces together. Evolved Students agree that cyberbullying has evolved. Since everyone has moved their whole social life online due to the pandemic, bullying has followed them there. It is difficult to know how much bullying is going on since we have a huge problem with underreporting, said Emmy Bawit, John F. Kennedy Highs representative in the Islandwide Body of Governing Students. (It) can be seen most prominently on Instagram, where multiple tea accounts have been created. Tea accounts, called that because tea is slang for gossip, are set up anonymously and used by students to spread rumors and gossip. Bawit said more students are seeing these accounts as something that is normal and fewer recognize its a form of bullying. LGBTQ+ Additionally, with students being more vocal online, Bawit said students who are part of the LGBTQ+ community are having difficulty finding safe spaces online. One example she noted was a trend that emerged early last year. Its called the super straight trend. Its specifically to mock members of the LGBTQ+ community and has seen widespread adaptation in social media, Bawit said. Bawit and fellow Islandwide Body of Governing Students representative John Paul Pineda of George Washington High, are in the process of reviewing the board policy on harassment. They are discussing the merits of an amendment to the policy to include specific protections for LGBTQ+ students. We are excited to be working on this project and hopefully bring about positive change to the island community, Bawit said. Training Fernandez said more training is needed to help teachers and administrators determine when cyberbullying is taking place. In addition to addressing bullying, the departments policy prohibits cyberbullying, sexting and sexual harassment in the classroom, on buses and bus stops, and at school-sponsored activities. National research shows cyberbullying is most often a problem with students between the ages of 12 and 15. It tends to peak around the ages of 14 and 15 before decreasing, according to a report from the Cyberbullying Research Center. Deputy Superintendent Tom Babauta said the department initiated bullying prevention measures about 15 years ago, focusing on positive support. Were looking into changing the culture and starting at a very young age catching kids doing something good and changing the structure of the school system that would really promote and reinforce positive behavior, Babauta said. Weve implemented and instituted this and, in line with that, we also do character education. Parent role Fernandez said parents should also take an active role in monitoring their childrens online activities. As a parent himself, Fernandez said when the schools shut down, it was his responsibility to not only monitor how much screen time his children had, but also to be aware of what was happening in their online lives. I think the role parents have to play in the last couple of years has especially been important, because kids havent been in school, he said. There are just some things we may not know coming to manifest themselves now that the kids are back on a regular basis. As Charlene Tenorio was driving home Saturday to Barrigada Heights from her horse ranch in Yigo in her black Ford Ranger, she turned into a street on Route 16 near Commercial Tire in Barrigada. She said a man riding a motorcycle hit the back of her truck. The Guam Fire Department said the accident resulted in serious injuries, but no details of the crash or the extent of injuries it caused were released. The accident temporarily closed northbound and southbound lanes and motorists were rerouted, according to the Guam Police Department. Tenorio said she noticed a police car chasing the motorcycle and that it was speeding up before it collided with her vehicle. Came apart Literally, his motorcycle came apart. He landed up on the street about 100 feet forward and was lying there on the ground, Tenorio said. She said the man didnt have a helmet on and was wearing shorts and sandals. She said she spoke to the lead police officer pursuing the man on the motorcycle after an ambulance arrived at the scene. She said she was told she wasnt at fault. I was a little shook up. Not physically I was fine because he hit the back end and I had my seat belt on but Im a little emotionally upset, said Tenorio. Guam Unique Merchandise & Art is working with the Mayors Council of Guam to offer free training on starting or improving a home business. The nonprofit organizations first pilot program event, I Bisinun Mami, which means our neighbors in CHamoru, was held at the Dededo Senior Citizens Center Saturday in partnership with Mayor Melissa Savares. Lorraine Okada, who led the session, said it took participants through five simple steps for starting a home business: visualizing your dream; doing your research; identifying your needs; developing your plan; and working your plan. (The participants) want to start their own business, home-based, but they dont know how to get started, so that is what we are doing here today, Okada said. Saturdays workshop had six participants, which Okada said was enough to make improvements for the future. Participants Rita Wojciechowski of Dededo joined for help to start a business based on her passion of repurposing old tires into furniture and other items. She learned whats required to get a business license and how to strategize and plan marketing. Taking out a lot of these tires in my area is making me feel a lot better because our place is a lot more cleaner now, said Wojciechowski. Gian Magana of Dededo wants to pursue a home-based business in photography so he can be his own boss and meet new people. He also wants to inspire others with autism or other learning disabilities to have their own voice in the photography field. He said the session helped him gain connections with Guam Unique Merchandise & Art, who can impart their experience and knowledge. Okada said grant funding for the program comes from the Administration for Native Americans under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The money received will go toward helping small business entrepreneurs and hosting village trade fairs in the future. Partnership Program assistant Brandon Fujikawa said working with the mayors is an important way to reach out to potential participants. The reason why we partnered with the mayors offices is because the mayors know who is in their villages and have the knowledge of what existing home-based businesses are out there. Its a lot easier for us to reach out to them because the mayors already have the numbers for them, said Fujikawa. Training sessions will continue throughout the year with Mongmong-Toto-Maite and Hagatna scheduled for February, with the times and locations to be announced. Christopher Wray is FBI director. This article was written for the Wall St. Journal. A gunman lying in wait jumped out of a car and gunned down a man on a Brooklyn street early Saturday, police said. The 44-year-old victim was underneath an elevated train line on Broadway near Jefferson Ave. in Bushwick about 4:50 a.m. when the shooter stepped out of a Honda Accord and opened fire, striking the victim in the neck and chest. Advertisement The 44-year-old victim was underneath an elevated train line on Broadway near Jefferson Ave. in Bushwick about 4:50 a.m. when the shooter stepped out of a Honda Accord and opened fire, striking the victim in the neck and chest. (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News) EMS rushed the victim to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, but he could not be saved. The mans name wasnt immediately disclosed as cops tried to locate his relatives. The gunman drove off. Advertisement The 44-year-old victim was underneath an elevated train line on Broadway near Jefferson Ave. in Bushwick about 4:50 a.m. when the shooter stepped out of a Honda Accord and opened fire, striking the victim in the neck and chest. (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News) Cops on Saturday were scouring for surveillance footage that could help identify the gunman. No arrests have been made. Haiti - FLASH : FBI, CIA and the DHS will open an investigation into the assassination of President Moise Thursday night, January 13, 2022, the US Senate passed a law (previously ratified by the House of Representatives) which requires, among other things, that the Biden administration put into action the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to shed light on the Assassination of President Jovenel Moise, July 7, 2021 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34175-haiti-assassination-of-president-moise-international-reactions-part-1.html "No later than 90 days after the date of proclamation of this Act, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, shall submit to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee a report on the assassination, on July 7, 2021, of the former President of Haiti Jovenel Moise," indicates the text of the law which also stipulates that the required report must include "[...] a detailed description of the events that led to the assassination of former President Jovenel, a description and summary of the investigation, an identification of key dates and the names of foreign persons related to the assassination and the investigation into the assassination. A description of United States support for efforts by Haitian authorities to investigate the assassination of former President Jovenel Moise, an assessment of the independence and ability of Haitian authorities to investigate the assassination of former President Jovenel Moise. A description of the existence of any foreign persons previously employed by or having served as contractors or informants for the United States Government implicated in the assassination of former President Jovenel Mose and an assessment of the intentions of such foreign people." Recall that 2 suspects are already in the hands of American justice: Mario Palacios a former retired Colombian military officer voluntarily extradited on January 3, 2022 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35640-haiti-flash-palacio-extradited-to-the-usa-first-official-indictment-in-the-assassination-of-president-moise.html who decided to collaborate with the American justice https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35696-haiti-flash-palacios-confessed-that-the-final-plan-was-to-assassinate-the-president-of-haiti.html and the businessman Rudolph Jaar aka "Dodof" arrested on January 7, 2022 in Dominican Republic, former drug trafficker who later became an informant for the DEA "Drug Enforcement Administration" These two men hold valuable information that they have begun to make available to American investigators. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35716-haiti-news-zapping.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35692-haiti-news-zapping.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35696-haiti-flash-palacios-confessed-that-the-final-plan-was-to-assassinate-the-president-of-haiti.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35640-haiti-flash-palacio-extradited-to-the-usa-first-official-indictment-in-the-assassination-of-president-moise.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34175-haiti-assassination-of-president-moise-international-reactions-part-1.html SL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Politic : 4,041 Haitians repatriated by 5 countries in 25 days Since September 19, 2021, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Haiti has provided reception and post-arrival assistance to more than 17,000 returnees from the United States, Mexico, Cuba, Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Additionally, between February 1 and September 15, 2021, IOM had already assisted 2,140 returning Haitian migrants via 37 flights from the United States. Most migrants who returned from the United States and were assisted by IOM resided in Chile or Brazil before starting their journey to the United States, with several returnee children born in these countries. Other returnees had migrated more recently, particularly on the sea routes, motivated by various factors such as lack of income or employment opportunities, insufficient access to basic services for themselves and their families, the earthquake of August 14, which affected the southern departments of Haiti, insecurity, and political instability. Returns evolution : December 13 - 17, 2021 (1,127 returns) - Adult men 677 - Adult women 332 - Boys 54 - Girls 64 December 20 - 24, 2021 (1,040 returns) - Men 571 - Women 253 - Boys 110 - Girls 106 December 27 - 31, 2021 (548 returns) - Men 290 - Women 134 - Boys 62 - Girls 62 January 3 - 7, 2022 (1,326 returns) - Men 525 - Women 407 - Boys 177 - Girls 217 TOTAL : 17,313 returns United States: 13,690 repatriated migrants Cap-Haitien (CAP): 2,239 Port-au-Prince (PAP): 11,451 128 flights CAP: 24 PAP: 104 Men: 54% Women: 26% Boys: 9% Girls: 10% Mexico : 5 flights 375 returnees Bahamas : 13 flights 1,337 returnees Turks and Caicos Islands : 8 flights 142 returnees Cuba : 11 flights 1,362 returnees Interception at sea by the US Coast Guard : 3 return to Haiti 406 returnees HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Extradition of Handal : Turkey asks for more info and guarantees from Haiti Samir Handal under Interpol warrant (red notice), arrested on his arrival in Turkey on a Turkish Airlines flight from Miami on November 15, 2021, in transit to Jordan for a family visit, is currently imprisoned in Istanbul. Suspected by Haiti of having participated in the plot that led to the assassination of President Moise on July 7, 2021 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34162-haiti-flash-president-jovenel-moise-assassinated-by-mercenaries-official-updated-7am-+-video.html although the judicial authorities have never publicly specified what Handal was specifically accused of, Haiti provided on December 21 to the Turkish Embassy in the Dominican Republic, all the documents (translated and certified) requested by the Turkish authorities in the context of a possible judicial transfer of Samir Handal to Haiti in the absence of an extradition treaty between Haiti and Turkey. However, Turkish authorities are now asking Haitian justice before January 21, 2022 for further information under Turkish law (#6706) governing the extradition process in order to complete Haiti's request procedure : This is in particular to provide "[...] a guarantee that the crimes which are the basis of the request for extradition do not require the death penalty or a punishment incompatible with human dignity. A notification of the type of penalty incurred (imprisonment, life imprisonment or aggravated life imprisonment) and the maximum penalty period, separately for each of the offenses included in the extradition request. As well as the texts of Haitian law (translated into Turkish) which regulate the alleged offenses constituting the justification for the extradition request." See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35541-haiti-assassination-of-the-president-the-eventual-transfer-of-samir-handal-from-turkey-may-take-a-long-time.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35261-haiti-assassination-of-the-president-haitian-businessman-samir-handal-in-prison-in-istanbul-for-40-days.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35253-haiti-flash-samir-handal-suspect-in-the-assassination-of-president-moise-arrested-in-turkey.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34162-haiti-flash-president-jovenel-moise-assassinated-by-mercenaries-official-updated-7am-+-video.html S/ HaitiLibre Haiti - DR : Abinader discusses again about the situation in Haiti Dominican President Luis Abinader reduced behind closed doors on January 13 at the National Palace about thirty national political leaders and the executive power around the crisis in Haiti. This is the third meeting of this type to be held at the Palace, the last two were held on November 4 and 8, 2021. After a two-hour meeting, all the participants agreed on the unitary drafting of a joint declaration, in relation to the Haitian situation and the challenges and risks that this represents for the Dominican Republic. Abinader stressed that the document serves to launch a new appeal to the international community so that it can help resolve the serious crisis that Haiti is going through. Joint statement to the national and international community : "Faced with the crisis that the neighboring Republic of Haiti is going through, the political leadership of the Dominican Republic, in a demonstration of maturity, responsibility and patriotic unity, beyond political, partisan and ideological differences, by subordinating sectoral and particular interests to the national interest, we have united our efforts with the Government in order to direct strong actions to protect our borders, our national security and ensure scrupulous compliance with our migration laws. Today, Haiti is plunged into a multidimensional crisis which affects its governance and is expressed in humanitarian, citizen, economic, environmental, institutional and political terms. This has brought it to a situation of systemic collapse that has dangerous consequences not only for the Dominican Republic, but for the entire Latin American and Caribbean region, reaching the continent of developed countries and overseas departments. We ask the international community, in particular the United States, France, Canada and the European Union, as well as all the democratic nations of our America, to assume without further delay an effort to help and serious and consistent collaboration to save Haiti. We fully subscribe to the foreign policy approach decisively adopted by the Dominican State, echoing a great national clamor, that there is not and will not be of Dominican solution to the problems of Haiti. We also invite the Dominican people and all sectors of national life, in this crisis, to join in this collective effort of the entire political leadership of the Nation. As our eminent humanist Pedro Henriquez Urena said : 'The ideal of civilization is not the complete unification of all men and all countries, but the consideration of all differences in a harmony'. Finally, we reaffirm the policy of good neighborliness with the Haitian people, based on non-intervention and mutual respect for sovereignty, as well as on the necessary contribution of each, of its territory, it must contribute to the security of its nationals and the preservation of livelihoods, and essential to human dignity as a fundamental pillar of a social and democratic state of law." See also : https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-35611-icihaiti-dr-purchase-of-land-along-the-border-for-the-construction-of-the-technological-fence.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35457-haiti-politic-3-caribbean-countries-ask-for-the-strengthening-of-the-un-mandate-in-haiti.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35303-haiti-politic-the-mixed-bilateral-commission-will-resume-its-talks-between-the-dr-and-haiti.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35241-haiti-crisis-the-international-community-indifferent-to-what-is-happening-in-haiti.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35205-haiti-flash-the-international-community-will-not-intervene-to-resolve-the-country-s-insecurity.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35147-haiti-flash-the-international-ignores-haiti-and-the-dr-militarily-strengthens-its-border.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35047-haiti-flash-dr-90-day-ultimatum-for-haitian-workers.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-35042-icihaiti-dr-it-is-urgent-that-the-international-community-help-haiti.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34996-haiti-flash-colombia-calls-for-a-hemispheric-response-to-the-haitian-migration-crisis.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34846-haiti-politic-the-president-of-mexico-urges-the-un-to-face-the-haitian-crisis.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34822-haiti-dr-president-abinader-urges-un-countries-to-assume-haiti-once-and-for-all.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-34795-icihaiti-dr-haiti-generates-a-danger-for-the-region-and-in-particular-for-the-dr.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34229-haiti-dr-abinader-calls-on-the-international-to-take-responsibility-for-the-crisis-haiti-is-going-through.html HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - News : Zapping... Assassination of Moise : Start of the international investigation "Finally, This is the beginning of the International investigation https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35717-haiti-flash-fbi-cia-and-the-dhs-will-open-an-investigation-into-the-assassination-of-president-moise.html . Only such an investigation will tell who is behind this odiousc rime," former Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe. EDH : "The task ahead seems impossible, BUT... "I proceeded this Thursday to the installation of my board of directors at the headquarters of the Electricity of Haiti (EDH). The task ahead seems impossible, but with a clear awareness of the seriousness of the situation and experienced employees, we will face it," said Jean Errol Morose, DGof the company. Abinader "The political crisis in Haiti will worsen" Dominican President Luis Abinader said this week that there are "of environments, indices and situations that indicate that the political crisis in Haiti will worsen in the coming days [...] But at the same time, I think that some countries and the United States are realizing that they cannot leave Haiti adrift." Carnival 2022 in reflection Thursday at the end of a 2-day government retreat at the Decameron Hotel, Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced on his twitter account the "[...] formation of a committee to reflect on the organization [or not] carnival this year [...]" This committee will be made up of representatives of the Ministries of Culture, Tourism, Public Health, Public Works and the Secretary General of the Presidency, Josue Pierre-Louis. USA : Security in Haiti meeting in Canada Joe Biden plans to send Secretary of State Antony Blinken to a meeting to be hosted by Canada on January 21 and devoted to security assistance in Haiti. Emerging Photography Fund, Extended Applications The deadline for receiving applications for the Fund for Emerging Photography in Haiti (FPEH) call is extended until January 27, 2022. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35575-haiti-call-for-applications-emerging-photography-fund-in-haiti.html HL/ HaitiLibre By Panos Kotzathanasis | Published on 2022/01/14 Based on a novel by Choi In-ho that was considered a symbol of youth culture, Lee Jang-ho's feature debut was a rather successful production, winning numerous accolades including awards for Best New Director at the 1974 Grand Bell Awards, and the 1975 Baeksang Art Awards where it also won Best Cinematography, before screening at Berlin. Advertisement Told in nonlinear fashion, the story focuses on Kyeong-ah, a young, beautiful, naive girl who finds herself exploited by both a number of men and the urban environment she inhabits. In the beginning, she is just a happy young woman working in an office and retaining a relationship with a coworker. However, his pressure to have sex before their marriage, puts her under intense strain, to the point that she becomes an alcoholic. The two eventually split, and then she ends up married to a rather rich widower, An-joon, finding herself living in his villa, along with his young daughter and a maid. The man, however, is still intensely traumatized by the death of his former wife, who bore an uncanny similarity with Kyeong-ah, with the house essentially being a perverse temple to her. The couple eventually manages to get over their issues, but then An-joon learns of her past and leaves her. The third man is Dong-heon, a brutish pimp who turns her into a bar hostess, essentially signaling a downward spiral to her demise. It is during this time that she meets the lonely painter Mun-ho, with the film actually beginning with their meeting. Dong-heon is in love with her, but her past and her overall mentality do not seem to unburden her at any time. Lee Jang-ho directs a movie about female youth, essentially highlighting how, in the 70s as much as before, women in the country were completely dependent on men, with their fate in life essentially resting utterly on the nature of the males they ended up being with. In that setting, Kyeong-ah, in distinct melodramatic fashion, is rather unlucky in that regard, with the men in her life being flawed and exploitative, to the point that when the one decent one finally appears, she is already too broken to change. This approach gives the movie a distinct, melodramatic element that also derives from a story that could be described as an odyssey, although not towards salvation as in the original, but towards destruction. At the same time, however, the film does not unfold as a direct accusation towards men, since Kyeong-ah's demise comes also from her decisions and an overall mentality, particularly after she becomes a hostess, that seems to derive from extremely low self esteem to a point that could be described as suicidal. This approach somewhat dulls the overall message/accusation against the patriarchal society, but also makes the whole story more realistic, avoiding, thus, becoming a polemic against men, a decision that definitely works in favour of the title. Apart from context, the movie also thrives in terms of production values, through a stylistically radical approach that frequently appears avant-garde. Apart from the non-linear story and the occasionally delirious flashbacks, Lee Jang-ho has also included extreme camera angles, which, particularly in the mansion of her husband, take a surreal/horror-like hypostasis, courtesy of the excellent cinematography of Jang Seok-jun. The psychedelic rock soundtrack, which occasionally turns to rock'n'roll in a number of kaleidoscopic scenes also moves in the same direction, before it follows more traditional paths close to the end, which, just like the protagonist, seems to state that escaping the clutches of tradition (in this case of melodramatic filmmaking) is impossible. Hyeon Dong-chun's editing implements all the aforementioned elements through a rather fast pace, which, occasionally, is as delirious as the cinematography and overall progression of the story. Former child actress An In-suk gives a captivating if occasionally excessive performance, highlighting a character that is both a femme fatale and a victim, in the most entertaining fashion. Despite being just 22 at the time, she manages to carry the film heavily on her shoulders, essentially appearing in every scene, with a number of them, and especially the violent and the erotic ones, being particularly demanding. "Heavenly Homecoming to Stars" does not make sense at all times, and the deliriousness associated with cinema in the 70s does not always work in its favour. It is, however, a rather intriguing movie, both contextually and cinematically, with the overall approach Lee Jang-ho implements carrying the movie from beginning to end. Review by Panos Kotzathanasis ___________ "Heavenly Homecoming to Stars" is directed by Lee Jang-ho, and features An In-suk, Kang-Shin Sung-il, Yoon Il-bong, Hah Yeong-soo, Baek Il-seob, Jun Won-joo. Release date in Korea: 1974/04/26. Login or sign up to follow actresses, movies & dramas and get specific updates and news Login Sign Up Email Password Password Username Your E-mail will only be used to retrieve a lost password. Stay logged in Help Published on 2022/01/15 | Source Korean documentary "The Combat Kings" added to HanCinema database Advertisement "The Combat Kings" (2021) Directed by Lee Sang-ho Synopsis May 18, 1980, during the Gwangju Democratization Movement. The Chun Doo-hwan regime came to power in a coup d'etat by slaughtering peaceful protest crowds. The people continued to fight against the military dictatorship in their own ways through various social circles. The story of reporter Lee Sang-ho, who has been covering for more than 30 years begins. Release date in Korea : 2022/02/17 Mary Lou Montgomery, retired as editor of the Hannibal (Mo.) Courier-Post in 2014. She researches and writes narrative-style stories about the people who served as building blocks for this regions foundation. Books available on Amazon.com by this author include but are not limited to: "The Notorious Madam Shaw," "Pioneers in Medicine from Northeast Missouri," and "The Historic Murphy House, Hannibal, Mo., Circa 1870." She can be reached at Montgomery.editor@yahoo.com Her collective works can be found at maryloumontgomery.com A Manhattan teenager has been arrested for a brutal October assault against an Asian man in Midtown, cops said Saturday. Jordan McNamara, 18, was arrested Friday for the Oct. 23 attack on Fifth Ave. near W. 31st St. Advertisement The 30-year-old victim was near the intersection about 10:30 p.m. when he found himself surrounded by three men and two women, cops said. What are you doing here, Asian? one of the suspects said before the ruthless crew repeatedly pummeled and beat him with sticks, cops said. Advertisement The victim suffered a head injury and was treated at Bellevue Hospital. Police released photos of three suspects in a brutal anti-Asian beatdown. (NYPD) McNamara, who lives about five blocks from the attack, was identified as one of the suspects caught on surveillance camera that captured the attack. Although the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force investigated, no hate crime charges were brought against McNamara, who was charged with assault. His arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court was pending. The October assault occurred when attacks against Asians were rampant in the city. In 2021, cops investigated 118 hate crimes against Asians in the five boroughs, a 321% jump from the 28 reported in 2020. Out of the 118 incidents, 54 arrests were made, according to NYPD data. Fueled mostly by misconceptions that China was responsible for the coronavirus pandemic, Asian residents suffered racial slurs, suggestions they return to their country to unprovoked assaults. Things had gotten so bad the NYPD created a special unit that deployed Asian police officers undercover throughout the city to catch bigots. Thank you for reading! You have reached our free-content limit. If you are a current subscriber, please log in to continue viewing content or purchase a subscription by clicking the Subscribe button below. Thank you for supporting independent Journalism. Quincy, IL (62301) Today Cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 54F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Low 43F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Editor: The rest of the story about the TransCanada Energy pipeline is explained i New York Daily News: Fixing the filibuster: There's Biden's way and a better way This tension has broken out as Russia constantly demands from the brigade commanders to send combatants to combat ISIS, whose activity has recently escalated across the Syrian desert. According to Syrian Observatory sources, the leadership of Russian-backed 8th Brigade in Daraa has rejected sending fighters to fight in the Syrian desert due to the presence of foreign fighters of non-Syrian nationalities from Iran-Afghanistan-Iraq fighting alongside the Syrian regime. It is worth noting that Russian forces have not handed over the salaries of fighters of the 8th Brigade in Daraa for 5 months, for unknown reasons. A.K The Damascus government resorts to so-called reconciliations in some areas, with the aim of extending its control over them. However, daily practical experience has proven that these did not contribute to achieving security and stability in those areas. Recently, there has been talk of similar steps in the regions of northern and eastern Syria, which were categorically rejected by the components of the region. During a meeting that our agency conducted with Sheikh Lorans Al-Bursan, a member of the Al-Walda clan's notables council in Raqqa, he confirmed their rejection of these "individual reconciliations." Al-Bursan noted that the Damascus government is taking advantage of the need of some residents of the region. Al-Bursan likened these "reconciliations" to flimsy, like a spider's thread, "which is useless, and if there was a serious desire for settlements, it would have adopted International Resolution No. 2254, and worked on it on the basis of a comprehensive Syrian settlement to resolve the Syrian crisis." He said, "If the regime wants reconciliation in the current period, it must be through the Syrian-Syrian dialogue table." Sheikh Al-Bursan added, "Following these reconciliations, the sheikhs and dignitaries of the tribes in the region held a meeting in the guesthouse of the Sheikh of the Afada tribe Huwaidi Al-Shalash, and a statement was issued in which they rejected any individual reconciliation process and demanded that the settlement be a general solution to the Syrian crisis." He considered these "reconciliations" insulting to the Syrian people in general, and ended his speech by saying: "We say to those who have been deceived that these reconciliations are flimsy and do not benefit or benefit anything, and do not benefit the public interest," and called for settlements to be comprehensive in accordance with international resolutions. A ANHA A 74-year-old Tennessee woman convicted for the murder of her great-niece has been exonerated after spending nearly 30 years behind bars. Joyce Watkins, and her boyfriend at the time, Charlie Dunn, picked up 4-year-old Brandi from a home in Kentucky on June 26, 1987, according to a report filed with the Davidson County Criminal Court. The following morning, the girl was unresponsive and Watkins rushed her to Nashville Memorial Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead. Advertisement Shed been with the couple for just nine hours, CNN reported. Attorney Jason Gichner, with Tennessee Innocence Project, looks at Joyce Watkins after she makes a statement at the Justice A. A. Birch Building in Nashville, Tenn., on Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022. Judge Angelita Blackshear Dalton vacated her conviction. Watkins and Charlie Dunn were convicted in 1988 based on medical evidence at trial that has since been debunked, according to a Thursday order by Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Angelita Blackshear Dalton. In addition, the trial prosecutor told the jury that Watkins had washed bedsheets in order to destroy evidence of rape, an assertion that was simply untrue, Dalton wrote. (Stephanie Amador/The Tennessean via AP) (Stephanie Amador/AP) The medical examiner, Dr. Gretel Harlan, determined Brandi suffered from severe vaginal and head injures, all sustained within the window of time shed spent with Watkins and Dunn. In August 1988, they were each convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated rape. Advertisement The couple spent 27 years in prison before they were granted parole in 2015. Dunn however, died behind bars, just before his release. With some help from the Tennessee Innocence Project and the Davidson County District Attorneys Office, Watkins was eventually able to clear both their names. In court documents requesting that their convictions be vacated, Watkins clarified that she saw blood in Brandis underwear shortly after she picked the girl up. A report from Dr. Shipla Reddy was also included in the filing. It concluded Harlans methodology for dating the head injury based upon a lack of histiocytic response in the brain tissue is not a legitimate method for dating pediatric head trauma. It noted Harlan had since conceded to the error in her methodology. On Wednesday, Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Angelita Blackshear Dalton, announced the charges against the pair had been dropped. Prior to her death, Brandi was living with her great-aunt, Rose Williams. Her mother was in Georgia at the time. During her time there, a Kentucky Department of Social Services worker visited the home to investigate allegations that the girl was being abused. Her guardian blamed her injuries on a playground accident and the case was closed. "A Turkish military base was subjected to a missile attack in the north of the country, where two "Katyusha" missiles landed in vicinity of the Turkish (Zilikan) base in Nineveh Governorate." according to Russia Today ( RT ). it added that the attack did not result in any casualties . Iraqi security sources confirmed to Al-Ain news network on Saturday that Turkish forces were targeted with Grad missiles at Zlikan base in Mosul, whereas an Iraqi security source said that Zlikan camp, which includes Turkish forces, was attacked by three missiles from an unknown source. The bombing did not result in casualties among the Turkish forces, according to the source. A.K As COVID-19 case numbers continue to increase across the state, local and state officials are continuing to monitor case numbers, community transmission rates and vaccination rates. On Jan. 10, Gov. Andy Beshear said Kentucky reported 52,603 new COVID-19 cases last week, which was the highest weekly total ever by nearly 22,000 cases. The second highest week for new cases was the week ending Sept. 5, 2021, when 30,680 cases were reported. Beshear also reported the states highest ever test positivity rate on Monday, which was 26.33 percent. The Omicron variant, said state officials, is very widespread at the moment. Omicron continues to burn through the commonwealth, growing at levels we have never seen before. Omicron is significantly more contagious than even the delta variant, said Beshear. If it spreads at the rate we are seeing, it is certainly going to fill up our hospitals, he said. Beshear said he is deploying 445 Kentucky National Guard members to 30 health care facilities to provide support beginning this week. We are now in a nearly vertical spike the likes of which dwarf all prior escalations, said Dr. Steven Stack, commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH). In just two weeks, Kentucky has gone from roughly half our delta variant surge peak to more than double our delta variant surge peak. At this point, essentially all COVID-19 in Kentucky is likely to be the omicron variant. Omicron appears to cause less severe illness, particularly among people who are vaccinated, said officials. Dr. Stack provided several tips to help Kentuckians during the surge: If you are sick, stay home until you feel better. Get vaccinated or boosted, if eligible. Boosters dramatically bolster your protection against severe disease and death. Wear a well-fitting mask at all times when indoors in public places such school, work, stores, etc. If you think you have COVID-19 and/or have had a high-risk exposure and you are able, get tested. According to the Kentucky River District Health Department, as of Jan. 10, Perry County has had 7,164 total COVID-19 cases, 134 COVID-19 related deaths and had an incidence rate of 83.2. As of Jan. 11, the CDC reports that 68.3 percent of the total Perry County population has had at least one dose and 59.6 percent have been fully vaccinated. For more information please visit, www.kycovid19.ky.gov, or, https://www.cdc.gov/. Duke Energy estimates 750,000 could lose power Duke Energy on Saturday projected that up to 750,000 households and businesses in the Carolinas could lose power when a major winter storm marches into region. In advance of the storm, which could span two days, Duke Energy has strategically staged more than 10,000 workers power line technicians, damage assessors and vegetation workers across North Carolina and South Carolina. About 4,100 of those workers are from other companies, some based in Texas and Oklahoma. The more than 10,000 total workers also include Duke Energy crews normally based in Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky who have traveled to the Carolinas to assist North Carolina- and South Carolina-based Duke Energy workers. All crews are ready to begin power restoration as soon as weather conditions safely allow. Ice-buildup on trees and branches that causes them to fall on power lines is usually the main culprit behind power outages during a winter storm. Specifically, ice buildup of a quarter-inch or more is often the threshold amount that causes trees and branches to topple. The heavy weight of significant ice buildup directly on power lines themselves can sometimes cause the lines to fall or sag, as well. Heavy, wet snow of six inches or more also can cause trees and branches to fall on power lines. Duke Energy meteorologists continue to monitor weather conditions and the company is making plans accordingly. Travel conditions could be hazardous and challenging after the storm passes, possibly delaying Duke Energy crews ability to access hard-hit areas to assess storm damage and begin power restoration. Following the storm, as conditions permit, damage assessment crews will begin assessing extent of damage which can sometimes take 24 hours or more in major storms with widespread damage and hazardous driving conditions. Damage assessments determine the types of crews, equipment and supplies needed to restore power. Power restoration crews will begin working immediately after the storm, but restoration efficiency improves as damage assessment information is available to ensure the right workers and materials are dispatched to each power outage location. Duke Energy will provide estimated power restoration times to customers once damage assessments are completed. The company also will provide regular updates to customers and communities through emails, text messages, outbound phone calls, social media and its website, which includes power outage maps. The company is working closely with state officials in both North Carolina and South Carolina to prepare for the storm. Duke Energy serves 4.3 million customers in the Carolinas 3.5 million in North Carolina; 800,000 in South Carolina. Customers can take steps now to prepare for the storm: Ensure an adequate supply of flashlights, batteries, bottled water, non-perishable foods, medicines, etc., as well as the availability of a portable, battery-operated radio, TV or weather radio. Customers should make alternate shelter arrangements as needed if you will be significantly impacted by a loss of power especially families who have special medical needs or elderly members. If a power line falls across a car that youre in, stay in the car. If you MUST get out of the car due to a fire or other immediate life-threatening situation, do your best to jump clear of the car and land on both feet. Be sure that no part of your body is touching the car when your feet touch the ground. Be aware that snow can cause hazardous driving conditions resulting in traffic accidents and downed power poles resulting in isolated outages. If you are driving and encounter emergency responders or other roadside work crews, remember to MOVE OVER. If you use a generator due to a power outage, follow the manufacturers instructions to ensure safe and proper operation. Operate your generator outside; never operate it inside a building or garage. Dont use grills or other outdoor appliances or equipment indoors for space heating or cooking, as these devices may emit carbon monoxide. Stay away from power lines that have fallen or are sagging. Consider all lines energized as well as trees or limbs in contact with lines. Please report downed power lines to Duke Energy or local emergency services. Be prepared for an emergency by purchasing an emergency preparedness kit from the Red Cross. How to protect refrigerated food during power outages For customers who lose power and have full refrigerators and freezers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends the following: Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature. A refrigerator can keep food cold for about four hours if it is unopened. If the power will be out for more than four hours, use coolers to keep refrigerated food cold. A full freezer will keep the temperature for approximately 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full) if the door remains closed. A HEMP farm in Goring Heath is encouraging people to grow the plant illegally in a bid to force the Government to scrap its licensing regime. Hempen, a not-for-profit workers co-operative, was launched in 2016 but lost its Home Office licence to grow hemp three years later. Now it has launched the Grow Hemp Campaign, calling for an end to the licensing of industrial hemp. Hemp is a strain of the cannabis plant and regulated under the Misuse of Drugs Act, despite only containing trace elements of THC, the component which makes users high. Hempen grew hemp to help people with ailments and address the climate emergency as well as using it to make products such as bags, tea and cosmetics. Hemp can also be used to make fibreboard, environmentally friendly plastic substitutes, paper, clothes and animal bedding. It is also used to make cannabidiol (CBD) products, such as balms, creams and oils, which are used medicinally to relieve anxiety or sleep disorders. CBD is harvested from the flowers of the hemp plant while other products are made from the seeds and stalk. In 2018, the Home Office made clear that the harvesting of CBD was no longer allowed with an industrial hemp licence, meaning a licence to grow all types of cannabis would be needed. Hempen, which had previously harvested its own CBD oil from the plants it grew, had to destroy these and import flowers from Switzerland. In 2019, Hempen informed the Home Office it had been producing CBD while the rules were unclear and was refused a licence to continue growing industrial hemp. The farm had to destroy its crop, worth 200,000. It was also refused a licence in 2020 and 2021, meaning that all Hempens products now have to be made with imported hemp rather than homegrown. Patrick Gillett, 37, a co-founder of Hempen, said: We want to encourage mass civil disobedience, to get people taking direct action by growing hemp in an everyday setting. We want people to grow their own hemp at home in window boxes. If the Government wants to prosecute us for it, we will all stand together in court. Were a hemp farm without a hemp field at the moment. Weve asked what public interest this is serving and received no response. All the Government has said is that its the law so weve replied saying, You make the law. Why are they criminalising a product that has massive enviromental benefits? The UN says hemp shouldnt be a controlled substance and the World Health Organisation says there is no public health risk from CBD and industrial hemp. Why are we having to apply for licences which are not given? The UK is the biggest CBD and hemp market in the world but farmers here cant realise that market. Ending the harvesting of our own CBD hit our finances. This was followed by the pandemic which lost us face-to-face sales as well. Our growth has stalled and in 2020 it went in the opposite direction. Last year looks similar. The farm held a gathering in October to encourage people to sign up to grow their own hemp and teachthem how to do it. A Home Office spokesman said: The cultivation of hemp, a type of cannabis, requires a Home Office controlled drugs licence to ensure the safe and lawful harvesting of the plant, protect the public from unsafe products and prevent illegal misuse of the drug. An Indiana man is accused of killing his roommate by repeatedly spiking her beverages with windshield fluid because she expressed disapproval for his heavy drinking habits. Thomas Holifield has been charged with murder in the poisoning death of his 64-year-old roommate, Pamela Keltz, who died of methanol poisoning on June 1. He contacted authorities the day prior, confessing to the fatal crime, according to court documents obtained by The (Northwest Indiana) Times on Friday. Advertisement Thomas Holifield has been charged with murder in poisoning death of his 64-year-old roommate, Pamela Keltz, who died of methanol poisoning on June 1, 2021. Upon learning that Keltz was poisoned, doctors at Franciscan Health in Michigan City adjusted their course of treatment, but she was ultimately declared brain-dead and her family decided to have her taken off life support. Holifield has since pleaded not guilty in the case, and a judge in October appointed mental health professionals to determine whether he is competent to stand trial. Hes due back in court on Thursday. Advertisement According to court documents, Holifield said he and Keltz were once in a romantic relationship, but that he had come to see her as more of a best friend. He even rented her a room in his home, but the pair started to clash over alcohol. He was a big drinker, Holified told police, while Keltz did not drink at all. Holifield added that it was a recurring point of contention between the two of them and that he came to feel disrespected by his roommates criticism. For revenge, he started putting eye drops into a cup she would often drink soda from, according to court records. Thomas noted that the eye drops were not causing severe enough illness, the documents read. Pamela would have hallucinations and diarrhea but then recover, the records state. In early May, his tactics escalated after he spotted a bottle of windshield fluid in Keltzs room. With a bit of research, he learned the product contained methanol, a poisonous chemical, and then poured some into the victims 2-liter soda bottles. She almost immediately became sick but recovered after receiving treatment at a hospital. When she returned home, Holifield told officers that he upped the doses of fluid, with the goal of killing her, according to court records. Detectives with Michigan City Police reportedly found an empty gallon-size bottle that was full of washer fluid when Holifield allegedly started poisoning Keltz. Greenville, TX (75401) Today Scattered thunderstorms this morning, then cloudy skies this afternoon. High near 70F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 61F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Anderson, IN (46016) Today Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 71F. Winds SW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Overcast. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 49F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph. Imprisoned Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli was banned for life from the pharmaceutical industry and ordered to return to victims $64.6 million of the profit he made by jacking up the price of a life-saving drug, a federal judge ordered Friday. The Federal Trade Commission and seven states, including New York, sued in January 2020 accusing Vyera Pharmaceuticals formerly Shkrelis company Turing of increasing the price of Daraprim by more than 4,000% from $17.50 to $750 a pill. Advertisement Shkreli and Vyera sought to thwart competition in an illegal scheme to maintain Daraprims high profits, said Manhattan Federal Court Judge Denise Cote. Martin Shkreli outside Brooklyn Federal Court in 2017. (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News) After a seven-day trial last month, Cote found Shkreli liable and ordered him to pay $64.6 million to the FTC, New York, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, North Carolina and Virginia. The FTC and the states will disperse the money to victims nationwide, the judgment reads. Advertisement He (Shkreli) was the mastermind of its illegal conduct and the person principally responsible for it throughout the years, Cote wrote in her judgement. Daraprim, which treats toxoplasmosis, a potentially fatal parasitic disease for HIV patients and other immunocompromised people, was affordable up until August 2015 when Vyera purchased the drug. The front page of the New York Daily News on Aug. 5, 2017. (New York Daily News) The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. > A former executive testified the gouging in price was excessive, crazy and irresponsible, said New York AG Letitia James office. It was not immediately clear whether Shkreli has the means to pay the judgement. However, prosecutors said Shrekli reported his net worth at $70 million after his arrest, Reuters reported in 2017. Envy, greed, lust, and hate, dont just separate, but they obviously motivated Mr. Shkreli and his partner to illegally jack up the price of a life-saving drug as Americans lives hung in the balance, James said in a statement, referencing the Wu-Tang Clan album Shkreli was forced to hand over to cover a $7.4 million forfeiture judgment. But Americans can rest easy because Martin Shkreli is a pharma bro no more. The judgment comes after Vyera Pharmaceuticals and its parent company, Phoenixus AG, agreed last month to pay a $40 million settlement over 10 years to consumers who were allegedly victims of the price gouging. As a result, former Vyera CEO and Shkreli business partner Kevin Mulleady agreed to a seven-year ban in working or consulting for a pharmaceutical company. Advertisement Shkreli is currently serving a seven-year federal prison sentence in Allenwood, Pa. for a securities fraud conviction connected to hedge funds he ran prior to his pharmaceutical career. New water lines are installed at a home along Ogden Avenue in Benton Harbor on Nov. 8. City residents are being asked to complete the Water Service Line Replacement Agreement so contractors can replace their lead service lines at no cost to residents. Uniontown, PA (15401) Today Rain. High 81F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Showers and thunderstorms. Low 62F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Uniontown, PA (15401) Today Thunderstorms. Potential for severe thunderstorms. High near 80F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Showers and thunderstorms. Low 61F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. A teen worker at an Arizona Wendys was shot in the head by an enraged customer, who allegedly lost his temper when he learned the fast food joint was out of barbecue sauce. Violence erupted at the restaurant in Phoenix on Thursday around 8 p.m., after a man walked up to the drive-thru window and started fighting with one of the employees, Sgt. Vincent Cole told Fox 10. Brian Durham Jr. was struck in the subsequent gunfire. Advertisement Wendy's employee Brian Durham is expected to survive. Police said the 16-year-old victim, on the job for just four months, was working at the time but that he was not involved in the altercation. My son just stayed quiet and had the guys change in his hand, his father, Brian Durham Sr., told the news outlet. [He] just stayed quiet while the other two was in confrontation. Advertisement Wendy's employee Brian Durham was shot. The assailant fled the scene, but he was arrested on Friday, Cole said. He was later identified as 27-year-old Theotis Polk. Durham was left hospitalized in wake of the incident, but is expected to survive his wounds. His father told Fox that while he was shot in the head, the bullet only grazed the teen. Do you believe in miracles? Durham Sr. said. Yeah, this was a miracle today, cause my son aint supposed to be standing. If he would have switched two seconds to the left, maybe one, he would have been gone. Hypocrisy of Pakistan ! If Hindutva is really a key threat from India, then Pakistan would have not survived till today. Actually Hindus are the most peace loving and inclusive community and hence Hindutva can not be a threat to any community or country ! Editor, Hindujagruti Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday launched Pakistans first-ever National Security Policy based on a citizen-centric framework and focusing more on boosting the countrys flagging economy and its standing in the world, unlike the previous one-dimensional security policy deeply rooted in the development of military capabilities. Unveiling the public version of the policy at a ceremony in the PM Office, Khan said the policy, which was separately endorsed by the National Security Committee and the Cabinet last month, was a major priority of his government. The original 100-page version of the policy will remain classified. Khan said the new policy was more focused to strengthen the economy of Pakistan. Our foreign policy will also focus much more on economic diplomacy going forward, he said. He said inclusive growth was needed but Pakistan had to go after loans from institutions like the International Monetary Fund, lamenting that the country never had a plan to secure itself economically. The concept we have now brought to Pakistan is to make sure of the uplift of the vulnerable segment, he said, adding that his government had taken steps like introducing health cards for health service for the welfare of the poor. Khan said the rule of law was also important for prosperity and progress. The reason behind the progress of any country is a strong presence of the rule of law, he said. The prime minister explained that the National Security Policy 2022-2026 centres on the governments vision, which believes that the security of Pakistan rests in the security of its citizens. Any National Security approach must prioritise national cohesion and the prosperity of people while guaranteeing fundamental rights and social justice without discriminationTo achieve the vast potential of our citizens, it is necessary to promote delivery-based good governance, he said. He also highlighted the importance of the policys successful implementation and announced that the National Security Committee (NSC) will regularly review progress. The national security has been clearly explained in the new document, he said, adding that the policy articulates a citizen-centric framework, placing economic security at its core and seeking a secure and economically resilient Pakistan. Khan said that Pakistan, since its evolution, has had a one-dimensional security policy where the focus was on the military. For the first time, the National Security Division has developed a consensus document which defines national security in a proper way, he added. Khan in his speech on Friday likened Pakistans armed forces with glue to keep the nation united and pledged more support for them in the days to come. Our armed forces are our pride and glue the nation together. Given the threats, we face in the region, and the growing threat of hybrid warfare, they will continue to receive even greater support and importance, Khan said. The powerful army, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 70 plus years of existence, has hitherto wielded considerable power in the matters of security and foreign policy. The five-year-policy document which took seven years to prepare is being propped up by the Khan government as the countrys first-ever strategy paper of its kind that spells out the national security vision and guidelines for the attainment of those goals. We need to realise that our biggest security is when the people become stakeholders and stand up for the country. And this can be achieved through inclusive growth. We need to develop as a nation, not in sections, Khan said. The main themes of the National Security Policy are national cohesion, securing an economic future, defence and territorial integrity, internal security, foreign policy in a changing world and human security. The launch ceremony was attended by Federal Ministers, National Security Adviser, Parliamentarians, Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee, all Services Chiefs, senior civil and military officials, among others. Khan also said that the primary objective of Pakistans foreign policy and military might was to keep peace in the region. The foremost aim of our foreign policy and military capability will remain peace and stability in the region and beyond, he said. NSA Moeed Yusuf in his remarks briefly explained the National Security Policy vision and thanked the prime minister and all officials for their constant support. The National Security Policy has taken a broad view of national security as both traditional and non-traditional issues impacted our security, he said. Yusuf also said that while the National Security Policy is centered on economic security, the geo-strategic and geo-political imperatives also feature prominently to strengthen Pakistan security and standing in the world. The policy puts economic security at the core. A stronger economy would create additional resources which would then be distributed to further bolster military and human security, he said. On the foreign front, the new policy highlights disinformation, Hindutva, and the use of aggression for domestic political gains as key threats from India, the Express Tribune newspaper reported. The report, quoting Yusuf, said the policy places the Jammu and Kashmir issue as the core of the bilateral relationship. When asked about the message it sends to India, Yusuf said: it tells India to do the right thing and jump on the bandwagon to benefit from regional connectivity to uplift our peoples. It also tells India, if you dont want to do the right thing, it will be a loss to the entire region, but most of all India. Yusuf said the document was finalised after full civil and military consensus. Earlier, after the approval of the policy, Yusuf said that the policy had been in the making since 2014 and all stakeholders were taken on board before its finalisation, adding that it would be updated after every five years. The NSP 2022-2026 was last month approved by the Cabinet as well as by the National Security Committee. It articulates a citizen-centric framework, placing economic security at its core and seeking a secure and economically resilient Pakistan. The original version of the policy will remain classified, but a public version of the document has been released. The main themes are national cohesion, securing an economic future, defence and territorial integrity, internal security, foreign policy in a changing world and human security. Source : India TV The Illinois judge who sparked outrage after reversing a sex offenders conviction has been reassigned. According to the Herald-Whig newspaper, on Thursday Adams County Judge Robert Adrian was removed from presiding criminal cases and reassigned to civil cases including small claims, legal matters and probate dockets. Advertisement Adrian first made headlines earlier this month, after he overturned the conviction of 18-year-old Drew Clinton, who had been found guilty in the sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl last year. According to court documents, the teenager said that she was sexually assaulted after becoming intoxicated at a party on May 30. Advertisement She said that she became unconscious after drinking alcohol and swimming in a pool at the party. When she later woke up she said she had a pillow covering her face while Clinton was assaulting her. Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > In October 2021, after a three-day bench trial, the judge found Clinton guilty on one count of criminal sexual assault, which would carry a minimum sentence of four years. But on Jan 3., when Clinton appeared for sentencing, the judge tossed the conviction and seemed to shift the blame to others. This is whats happened when parents do not exercise their parental responsibilities, when we have people, adults, having parties for teenagers, and they allow coeds and female people to swim in their underwear in their swimming pool, Adrian said, according to the transcript. Its just they allow 16-year-old to bring liquor to a party. They provide liquor to underage people, and you wonder how these things happen, he added. Well, thats how these things happen. The Court is totally disgusted with that whole thing. He also said that the minimum sentence was not just, according to the transcript. There is no way for what happened in this case that this teenager should go to the Department of Corrections, he said. I will not do that. Speaking to local station WGEM-TV the victim later said that the judge made me seem like I fought for nothing and that I put my word out there for no reason. She added that after hearing the judges decision, she immediately had to leave the courtroom and go to the bathroom. I was crying. A familiar name at GHM, Morton Johnston was previously the general manager at The Chedi Muscat, Oman. Upon his return in January 2022, Johnston will play a critical role in leading the landmark opening of The Chedi Katara Hotel & Resort in Doha, Qatar in the second half of 2022. Johnston's extensive luxury experience includes key leadership positions at Regent Hotels & Resorts in Taipei and The Leela Palaces & Resorts in India. "The highly-anticipated opening of The Chedi Katara Hotel & Resort will redefine bespoke hospitality in the GCC region. It is my privilege to be given the opportunity to craft the prologue of this new beachfront landmark of the Katara Cultural Village in Qatar's capital, which will be the accommodation of choice for discerning world travellers," said Morton Johnston. A veteran in luxury travel, Fabio Marigliano brings over twenty years of hospitality experience to the award-winning team at The Chedi Al Bait, Sharjah, UAE. His expertise in the GCC region puts him in good stead to bring the charms of Sharjah to life and curate even more memorable guest experiences. Most recently, Marigliano was the executive assistant manager at Minor Hotels and Resorts in Doha, Qatar with oversight of the pre-openings of The Vyra Suites NH Collection Doha office and The Plaza Doha by Anantara. "Joining the GHM family at The Chedi Al Bait, Sharjah is a culmination of my extensive experience within the GCC region. I am delighted to embark on this exciting GHM journey as we celebrate the company's 30th anniversary in 2022 and bring the hotel's success to greater heights," said Fabio Marigliano. "I look forward to leveraging my knowledge and in-market experience together with my world-class team to showcase A Style to Remember." Sustainability is quite a buzzword in recent years, being infused into conversations about nearly everything, and the travel industry is no exception. While sustainable travel accounts for more than just environmental impactit also comprises the socioeconomic and cultural impact of tourismthere is rightfully an increasing concern about the former. According to scientific journal Nature Climate Change, tourism accounts for 8% of the worlds carbon emissions. Since we all cant (and shouldnt) simply stop traveling, theres an increasing demand and effort to reduce travels impact on the earth, by both travelers and providers. And those dual efforts, as well as the widespread transparency of how they're being achieved, will continue to put pressure on the industry as a whole to reduce its impact. Many travel providers have already committed to lessening their impact, several within the past year. In 2020, United Airlines pledged to go 100% green by 2050, and JetBlue became the first U.S. airline to achieve carbon neutrality on all domestic flights. Tour operators are also emphasizing the importance of climate-minded travel, such as Intrepid, which has been carbon neutral since 2010 and declared a climate emergency in 2020 with a seven-point plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. These are only a handful of the many that are making strides toward a greener industry, and sustainability-minded travelers are applauding those steps. A June 2021 survey from Booking.com that included more than 29,000 respondents from 30 countries showed that 83% of travelers think sustainable travel is vital, and 49% believe there arent enough sustainable travel options available. Another survey this year from The Vacationer revealed that 83% of all Americans believe sustainable travel is either somewhat important or very important to them (kudos to the latter), with 71% of adult Americans willing to pay more for a vacation in order to lower their carbon footprint. Read the full article at tripsavvy.com A Virginia education bill cites the debate between Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass as acceptable curriculum material that does not promote the divisive concepts being targeted by conservative lawmakers. As critics of the legislation point out, that could in be due in part to the fact Lincoln never debated that Douglass. That bill is being championed by freshman GOP representative Wren Williams an ardent right-winger who joined former president Donald Trumps efforts to overturn the results of the presidential election in Wisconsin. Advertisement Lincoln did in fact debate Sen. Stephen Douglas while campaigning for the senate in Illinois in 1858 and beat him in the 1860 presidential election. This undated photo shows abolitionist Frederick Douglass. (AP) After becoming the nations 16th president, Lincoln welcomed former slave Frederick Douglass to the White House in 1863. Douglass helped recruit Black soldiers during the Civil War, including two of his sons. He returned to the White House to meet with Lincoln in 1864 and 1865. Advertisement Stephen Douglas, who opposed the abolition of slavery, landed on the other side of history on account of the fact that his wife had inherited a southern plantation through which the couple profited. Last year, the city of Chicago removed his name from a park and renamed that land in honor of Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass, who died in 1895, began trending on Twitter Friday. One of those weighing in on the Douglass debacle was University of Texas Law School professor Steve Vladeck. [ Dr. Seuss wont be part of Read Across America Day in Virginia due to racial undertones ] If you dont know the difference between Frederick Douglass and Stephen Douglas, you dont get to tell anyone else what to teach, he tweeted. There has been great debate in Virginia over the teaching of history, particularly with regards to Critical Race Theory. Conservatives, including newly elected governor Glenn Youngkin campaigned on the promise that discipline would be kept out of the states schools. Politifact notes that nowhere in the Virginia Department of Educations curriculum is CRT mentioned. Douglass also made news from the grave in 2017 when Trump spoke about the civil rights giant as if he were still alive. Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody whos done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I notice, Trump told supporters at an event kicking-off Black History Month. With News Wire Services In our last blog, Preparing Your Data for the Cookieless World, we shared tips on what data you should collect, how you can collect it, and how to get it into a database. In this blog, well look at how to activate data in a cookieless world. The key is activating with a full-funnel, multichannel approach. Targeting travelers online can be complicated. Travelers have over 500 touch points during their research for a single trip, and can do so across both desktop and mobile environments. As a travel marketer, you need to engage with them throughout that journey from dream to destination. This is very important now and it will be even more important in the cookieless future. Go Multichannel We hear from our customers that theyre challenged with getting in front of travelers before they complete the booking. This makes channels like Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and metasearch, where travelers are actively telling you that theyre planning for a trip, even more critical. However, focusing only on these channels, which are highly competitive, can get costly. This is why a multichannel strategy, expanding channels and tactics youre using in order to engage travelers who are already in the plan to book phase, is key. This is where channels like Facebook, Instagram, and other social channels become highly valuable. On average, Sojern customers that adopted three channels: display, Facebook, and SEM, saw their number of conversions double. Oftentimes in the travel industry, full-funnel marketing is focused on the bottom of the funnel. But in the cookieless world, we recommend expanding your full-funnel marketing to reach travelers in the dreaming stage, before they have selected a destination. Again, a focus here would be social channels like Facebook and Instagram. SEM is important here as well as a lot of travelers will start their dreaming with a search. Your SEM strategy should include not only branded key terms (like the name of your hotel), but unbranded keywords (like hotels in Dubai) to drive conversions. In the cookieless world, some channels will actually be even more powerful as you are collecting hashed emails, and this applies to channels like Connected TV. As weve noted, hashed emails are the new digital passport. In order to watch anything on Hulu, Amazon Prime, or other on-demand channels, you use your email to sign up and login. Sojern can connect those hashed emails with viewers on Connected TV. Contextual Targeting & Cohort Advertising Contextual targeting will be important to expand your awareness marketing strategy, or advertising to people that are looking at content that aligns with the context of what youre offering. It matches ads to relevant sites on the web using your keywords or topics, among other factors. For example, for a user looking at beaches in Hawaii, theres a pretty good likelihood that theyre looking to travel to Hawaii. As a hotel marketer in Hawaii, this would be a key person to target using the contextual model, and this strategy can be very effective. Finally, cohort advertising solutions will be a piece of the cookieless world. Cohort-based advertising solutions target anonymized groups of people who share common interests and online behavior, similar to look-a-like models. Understanding a block of users that are aligned with your interests or aligned with what youre trying to target against, for example people who have booked hotels in Paris. Youre targeting those users, but youre targeting them as a group. You wont get the feedback around performance at an individual level, but you receive feedback around the performance of that cohort. For example, youll see based on the specific group you targeted whether they came to the site or engaged with another piece of content. However, this is more valuable as an upper-funnel tactic, because as you get into the bottom of the funnel, youll likely want to get that understanding at an individual level, if you targeted someone, did they convert? Work With Trusted Partners The cookieless world will be complex, and the key is to work with trusted partners who can help you collect and organize data effectively, turn that data into audiences, and then activate those audiences across multiple channels, driving real-time performance and reporting to make your campaigns successful. And most importantly, those partners stay up to date on changes and ensure your advertising has a privacy-first approach. 2022 is here and its time to get started transitioning to the cookieless world. Speak with an expert at Sojern to get started. About Sojern Sojern's digital marketing solutions for travel are built on more than a decade of expertise analyzing the complete traveler path to purchase. The company drives travelers from dream to destination by activating multi-channel branding and performance solutions on the Sojern Traveler Platform for more than 10,000 customers around the world. Recognized as a Deloitte Technology Fast 500 company six years in a row, Sojern is headquartered in San Francisco, with 600 employees based in Berlin, Dubai, Dublin, Hong Kong, Istanbul, London, Mexico City, New York, Omaha, Paris, Sao Paulo, Singapore and Sydney. The Biden administration announced on Friday it will buy 1 billion at-home rapid COVID tests to mail to residences for free, according to a White House press release. People can now go to COVIDtests.gov to order tests online in English or Spanish. A free call line will be set up for those unable to order online. TEST SITES: Need a COVID-19 test? Try one of these Houston-area sites However, each residence will be limited to four tests, shipped by USPS beginning in late January. The turnaround time means Americans will have to request the tests in advance, before they notice COVID symptoms. "Public health experts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that Americans use at-home tests if they begin to have symptoms, at least five days after coming in close contact with someone who has COVID-19, or are gathering indoors with a group of people who are at risk of severe disease or unvaccinated," the release said. The White House initiative comes as local authorities across the country race to set up testing sites amid an unprecedented level of cases caused by the omicron variant. Widepread shortages of at-home rapid tests, which can deliver results within 24 hours, have been reported at many local pharmacies. Federal government agencies have so far secured contracts for 420 million at-home rapid tests as part of the program, the White House release said. By Jan. 19, a "half-billion tests" will be available for order, exceeding the 375 million at-home rapid tests for sale in the U.S. this month, according to the release. In addition to the four free tests, starting on Saturday, private insurance companies will be required to completely cover the cost of up to eight at-home rapid COVID tests per person each month. The administration's free test program will "ensure equity and access" in distributing tests by "prioritizing processing orders to households experiencing the highest social vulnerability and in communities that have experienced a disproportionate share of COVID-19 cases and deaths, particularly during this Omicron surge." The release did not include further details on which households would be prioritized. charlie.zong@chron.com Last week Harris County Pct. 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey convened a meeting with local law enforcement to discuss the impact of increasing numbers of fraudulent temporary license plates on crime and criminal investigations in the area. The round-table discussion produced strategies that included increased use of Automatic License Plate Reader technology and the real-time sharing of information of not only the suspected fake license plates but also of the suspected suppliers. Additional training will be provided to area officers on how best to spot fraudulent temporary tags over the coming weeks, said Memorial Villages Police Chief Ray Schultz. That training along with some specific funding to target traffic enforcement of improper temporary tags should send a clear message to the violators and sellers of these paper tags that we mean business. Schultz, in his weekly communique to the public, said the timing was right particularly since just this week they located two bad paper tagsone a fraudulent tag that was reported as stolen and the other unregistered and illegally issued. More on those cases below. Weekly Crime Report Piney Point 1/7/22 at 6:15 p.m. 11500 block of Raintree. Forgery. The victim reported that after reading last weeks V-LINC report about mail being intercepted/stolen from the mailbox at the Briar Grove Pharmacy and knowing that he had recently mailed items at that location, he decided to check on the status of some checks. After examining his account, he found that one of his checks had been stolen, washed and reissued to a female that he did not know. Information about the stolen check and cashing bank was obtained and provided to detectives for their follow up investigation. 1/8/22 at 4 a.m. 500 block of Piney Point. Public Intoxication. While on patrol officers located a suspicious vehicle parked in a driveway with the lights on. After approaching the vehicle, a male suspect was found to be sleeping inside of the car. The male did not live at the address and was found to be heavily intoxicated to the point that he did not know where he was. The 29-year-old male was placed under arrest and booked into the MVPD jail. The vehicle was towed from the driveway. 1/10/22 at 6:30 a.m. 11600 block of Arrowood. Public Intoxication. Officers were dispatched to the area in reference to a vehicle parked on the side of the road with the headlights shining into the residence. Officers arrived and located the pickup truck in question with a male subject passed out inside. The male was found to be heavily intoxicated and did not know where he was. The 37-year-old male was placed under arrest and booked into the MVPD jail. The truck was towed from the scene. 1/13/22 at 2:45 a.m. 2200 S. Piney Point Road. Unlawful Use of a Stolen License Plate/Fugitive from Justice. Officers were notified of a vehicle with a stolen license plate entering the Villages on S. Piney Point Road. Officers were nearby and located the vehicle that attempted to elude officers by driving in an erratic manner. The vehicle was eventually stopped when it pulled into an apartment complex in Houston. The male was ordered out of the vehicle and taken into custody. When asked about the license plate he admitted that it was stolen as he had bought it from a crackhead. While at the scene a female and a small child showed up. The male asked that a large quantity of cash that he had in his pocket be given to the female. Officers learned that the male driver was fugitive with outstanding warrants for burglary and auto theft. The male was booked into Harris County Jail and the vehicle was towed. Detectives were notified to follow up on the suspect and to determine if he was involved in any other area crimes. 1/13/22 at 4 p.m. Memorial at Blalock Road. Fictitious Temporary License Plate/Tag. Officers were notified of an ALPR hit on a vehicle with a stolen paper license plate. Officers were nearby and located and stopped the vehicle. Through investigation it was learned that the paper license plate was a fraudulent plate that had been given to the driver when they bought the vehicle. The vehicle had been purchased from an individual and she was making payments but was not given a real license plate but instead was given various paper tags upon making her payments. The paper license plate was collected and tagged into evidence. Detectives were notified of the event and will follow up. Hunters Creek 1/9/22 at 1 p.m. 200 block of Bryn Mawr. Attempted Fraud. The victim reported that she was selling an item on a local social media site and was contacted by a male subject who was interested in the item. After a price was agreed upon the buyer said a check would be sent for the cost, plus shipping, and that a shipping company would retrieve the item. The check arrived for a sum much larger than the agreed upon price. The buyer asked for the check to be cashed and the extra funds be given to the shipper. A check with the bank found the check to be a fraudulent check. The sale did not proceed. Information about the attempted fraud was obtained and provided to detectives for their follow up investigation. (Note: The bank/check is associated with Massachusetts and the address of the phone number to Georgia.) 1/9/22 at 1:30 p.m. 800 block of Voss. Unlawful Use of a Stolen Vehicle. Officers were alerted to a stolen vehicle entering the Villages on Voss Road. Officers were nearby and quickly located and stopped the vehicle. While speaking with the driver, he stated that he had borrowed it from a guy named Trip who lived at a hotel. Officers observed the car window to be freshly broken out with glass still on the window frame and on the floor. A key was broken-off inside of the ignition. The DAs Office was contacted but declined charges. However, the suspect was found to be a wanted fugitive. The driver had outstanding warrants for Organized Criminal Activity and (drumroll) Unlawful Use of a Stolen Vehicle. The 51-year-old suspect was booked into the Harris County Jail and the vehicle was recovered and towed. 1/10/22 at 2 p.m. 400 block of Kari Court. Fraud. The victim reported that he received information of possible fraudulent activity on a credit card. The activity had occurred in Chicago. After the card was closed, he noticed additional suspicious activity and called his bank. They stated they had never called him or canceled the card. Further investigation located additional unauthorized charges totaling 1,000s of dollars at Houston area Costcos. The real bank then closed the account. Information was collected and provided to detectives who are following up on this unusual case and differing type of fraud. 1/10/22 at 2:15 p.m. 700 block of Creekside. Fraud. The victim reported that he learned that a check that he had written and mailed at the Briar Grove Pharmacy had been intercepted, washed and reissued to a female who he did not know. The check had been cashed via mobile deposit and the account that it was deposited into has since been closed. Information about the stolen check was obtained and provided to detectives for their follow up investigation. 1/11/22 at 1:15 p.m. 10600 block of Twelve Oaks. Fraud. The victim reported that several checks that had been written and mailed at the Briar Grove Pharmacy had been intercepted, washed and one actually cashed, and two others denied by the bank. Information about the checks and respective banks was collected and provided to detectives for their follow up investigation. 1/14/22 at 12:45 p.m. Voss at Memorial. Unlawful Possession of a Deadly Weapon. Officers were monitoring the intersection as the result of complaints of red-light runners. Officers observed a vehicle run the red light and initiated a traffic stop. When approaching the driver, officers could smell marijuana coming from the vehicle. A subsequent search located marijuana and loaded handgun. The 24-year-old driver was placed under arrest and booked into Harris County Jail. Bunker Hill 1/11/22 at 7:30 a.m. 1-100 block of Valley Forge. Theft of Construction Equipment. The victim/contractor said that two unknown Hispanic males had entered the property and removed over 100 pieces of wood. A picture of the suspects was located on a nearby surveillance camera. A check of other cameras located a yellow Penske truck in the area. Detectives then used the ALPR camera and identified the Penske truck that was found to be a stolen truck. Detectives have taken over the investigation and are following up several leads on the suspects who are possibly involved in other area contractor thefts. 1/11/21 at 10:45 a.m. 11700 block of Durrette. Fraud. The victim reported that he was advised of suspicious activity on his credit card. After further investigation he learned that several charges had been made on his credit card and an account opened at an AT&T store with several Apple watches being purchased. Information about the account activity was collected and provided to detectives for their follow up investigation. A new year begins with a flurry of activity and a look back over the projects that wrapped as 2021 came to a close. The RAH - The Rotary After Hours Club of The Woodlands Rotary Club - ended their year with a shopping spree for the kids at Journey School. More than 65 children went shopping at Target, plus each family received a $150 gift card and groceries. The RC of The Woodlands hosted their annual Senior Giving Lunch in partnership with Interfaith. Club members assisted with the set up and tear down and then served a wonderful lunch to more than 250 seniors. The report is that all seemed to have a wonderful time and they enjoyed being pampered and entertained. The annual WRC Evening of Elegance Gala is just around the corner. It will be held Feb. 12 at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott and this year will honor US Congressman Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, and his wife Cathy. The theme this year is Mardi Gras. Sponsorships are available now, and tickets will be on sale soon. See the WRC website and Facebook page for more information. The Rotary Clubs of Lake Conroe and Conroe participated in the annual Candy Roll Project for The Mexico Childrens Ministry of The Montgomery United Methodist Church. Organized and facilitated by Rotarian Mike Landes for more than 20 years, this year the group took 9,300 candy rolls to Alamo, Texas for distribution to more than 40 churches across the Mexico border. More than 5,000 children benefited from this project and for many of these kids, this is Christmas. Such a small, simple project, but one that reaches across borders, language and religion to bring joy to needy children. Many thanks to The Landes Family for their dedication to this project all these years. The new fountains in Memory Pond, the centerpiece of Memory Park, were lit in red and green during the holidays and provided a beautiful bit of holiday cheer in the park. What a wonderful addition to the park, provided by the generosity of two donor families. The four small Rotary Clubs in Montgomery County - Conroe, Lake Conroe, Magnolia and East Montgomery County - held a joint meeting last week to hear about the 2022 Rotary International Conference, which will be held in Houston and hosted by The Rotary Club of Houston. Jeffrey Tallas of the HRC spoke to the four clubs about the upcoming conference and all the great events planned. What an opportunity this is to have an International Conference so close to us. This isnt something that happens very often. Well be hearing much more about this in the weeks to come. A 59-year-old Cracker Barrel manager has died following a shooting during an apparent attempted robbery Saturday morning in Harris County, authorities said. The Precinct 4 Constables Office responded around 6:15 a.m. to the shooting in the 14700 block of North Freeway, where they arrived and learned a female manager was shot once, a Harris County Sheriffs Office deputy said. On HoustonChronicle.com: Sunnyside shooting kills 1, leaves 2 injured An employee had been ringing a bell to be let inside the store, which was closed, when a metallic gray vehicle what appeared to be a Dodge Charger pulled up, according to the deputy. A man got out of the vehicle and went up to the employee, who was waiting for a manager to let her inside, the Harris County Sheriffs Office wrote in a release. A manager opened the door for her, and the man who was armed tried to grab the employees purse and fired into the establishment, striking the manager in the chest, according to the sheriffs office. On HoustonChronicle.com: Person dead after their vehicle crashed, running lights in Houston The manager was sent to a hospital, where she was in serious condition and having surgery, the deputy said during a media briefing. The Harris County Precinct 4 Constables Office later tweeted the woman shot has succumbed to her injuries. Authorities say no one else was injured. Authorities ask those who have information to call Harris County Sheriff's Office homicide unit at 713-274-9100 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-8477. This is a developing story. Check back for updates. Since returning from winter break to the reality of the highly contagious omicron variant, Houston-area school administrators have spent their days trying to stay ahead of rising COVID-19 infections among students and staff in an unceasing effort to keep their campuses open. The difference between the current spike in cases and the one at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, school leaders say, is the number of teachers and staff isolating because of exposure to the virus and positive tests. While the omicron surge is expected to level off within a relatively short amount of time, schools are struggling to keep enough staff to continue operations until then. Our employee (cases are) twice as much as they were at the beginning of the school year, Conroe ISD Superintendent Curtis Null said in a video released by the district Thursday evening. ...When we see staff numbers like this, this is very scary. Nulls district had 409 active employee cases by Friday afternoon. There are 1,828 employees in the school system. Conroe ISD was able to fill only 63 percent of its substitute positions on Friday, leaving 483 unfilled. On HoustonChronicle.com: As omicron sweeps through Houston, thousands of kids return to school in HISD We have reached a point where we are as fragile today as we have been through this entire process with our ability to keep our schools open, Null said. The superintendent said the Centers for Disease Controls new recommendation of quarantining for five days instead of the previously required 10 days before returning to work after contracting COVID has been essential in keeping the district open. If we still had the 10-day out rule, Im not sure that we would be open, he said. At least 30 small Texas districts temporarily have canceled in-person instruction since the return from winter break due to the spread of the virus among their staffs. Other districts have done the same for individual classes hard-hit by the virus. Many of the districts cite staffing shortages due to COVID as the cause. Sealy ISD in Brazos Countytemporarily halted in-person instruction Friday through Tuesday at all of its schools due to the spread of COVID. Monday already was a scheduled school holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. On HoustonChronicle.com: Confusion reigns as Houston schools make last-minute changes to COVID plans amid omicron wave Obviously, like everywhere else during the Christmas break, our cases started coming in, Superintendent Bryan Hallmark said at a news conference Thursday. "Since we returned on Jan. 3, we had about 131 cases reported. Today, we have 93 active cases in the district (and) 19 of those are staff. The school system has 2,800 students and 400 staff. Of the districts employees, 3 percent had confirmed cases of COVID on Friday. Katy ISD has had to cancel individual classes this month, according to district spokeswoman Maira Dipetta. In those cases, the classrooms have reopened the next day, she said. In the Houston region, Aldine, Conroe, Waller, Barbers Hill, Fort Bend, Texas City, Alief, La Porte, Cypress-Fairbanks, Humble, Goosecreek, Spring and Conroe ISDs say they have not yet had to cancel in-person classes since the start of the spring semester. District leaders say their mitigation protocols have helped. Unlike the start of the school year, the latest surge was seen in county data before it impacted schools because students were out for two weeks over their winter breaks. That gave administrators a head-start to see the impact of the new variant before kids returned, allowing time to ramp up prevention strategies. On HoustonChronicle.com: Channelview ISD moves to mask requirement as omicron spreads At least 11 Houston-area districts changed their COVID plans before students returned to school. Channelview ISD announced it would begin mandating masks again due to the surge. After previously saying it would lift its mask requirement, Aldine ISD opted to continue once it was clear omicron was highly contagious. Spring and Houston ISDs also kept their mandates. Still, case counts are increasing in most districts compared to numbers seen before the winter break. In Katy ISD, for example, there were 407 active staff cases Friday, nearly 3 percent of the districts employees. There were 1,751 active student cases, about 2 percent of the more than 84,000 student body. There were more than 1,000 active cases in Cy-Fair ISD, including 234 among staff. Null said that while omicron is believed to cause less severe illness than previous variants, it still is having a big impact on schools. There would be huge ramifications if we were to close our schools, he said. We need to do all that we can to make sure that does not happen. hannah.dellinger@chron.com A hostage situation at a suburban Dallas-Fort Worth synagogue ended Saturday with a loud bang and what sounded like gunfire, followed by a tweet from Texas governor that all the hostages were free, news reports said. Prayers answered. All hostages are out alive and safe, tweeted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott at 9:33 p.m. Central time, more than ten hours after the incident began at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville. Advertisement The hostage-taker was killed when a SWAT team entered the synagogue to rescue the hostages, said Colleyville Police Chief Michael Miller. Advertisement Cops swarmed the synagogue around 11 a.m. Saturday and evacuated the area. Authorities moved in as a rabbi in the synagogue called a New York City rabbi, who in turn called 911, the AP reported. The hostage-taker claimed to be the brother of Aafia Siddiqui, a suspected Al Qaeda associate convicted of trying to kill U.S. military officers while she was imprisoned in Afghanistan. The man also claimed to have bombs in unknown locations, ABC News reported. Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > He took four hostages, including the synagogues rabbi. About 5 p.m., one of the hostages was freed, and was reported to be uninjured. Law enforcement officials gather Saturday at a local school near the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas. (Garreth Patterson/AP Photo) The hostage-taker demanded Siddiquis release from a federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas, news reports said. Siddiquis actual brother Muhammad told The Daily Beast through his lawyer that he was not the hostage-taker and not involved in any way. A Facebook livestream captured early moments of the incident, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. In the stream, a man was heard talking about his sister and mentioned Islam. Advertisement Law enforcement teams stage near Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas on Saturday. Authorities said a man took hostages Saturday during services at the synagogue. On a Facebook livestream, the man was heard demanding the release of a Pakistani neuroscientist convicted of trying to kill U.S. Army officers in Afghanistan. (Lynda M. Gonzalez/AP Photo) Aafia Siddiqui was sentenced to 86 years in prison in 2010. The chief plotter of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, said Siddiqui was connected to Al Qaeda. Siddiqui was convicted of shooting at U.S. military personnel while she was detained in Afghanistan. No one was killed in that incident. Siddiqui has maintained her innocence throughout the entire case. ISIS has taken hostages in her name, killing journalist James Foley and humanitarian worker Kayla Mueller after attempting to trade them for Siddiqui. All five members of Harris County Commissioners Court signed onto a letter this month asking the local congressional delegation to ensure that future disaster relief bypasses the state government and goes directly to large counties. The letter is the latest round of bipartisan outrage in Houston triggered by the Texas General Land Offices decision last May to initially shut out the city and the county the epicenter of flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey from $1 billion in flood control dollars later awarded to Texas after the 2017 storm. The letter suggests that Congress or a federal agency require future disaster relief go directly to counties with at least 500,000 residents, instead of being administered by state agencies. The courts two Republicans, Commissioners Jack Cagle and Tom Ramsey, joined the courts Democratic majority County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Commissioners Rodney Ellis and Adrian Garcia in signing the letter. Cagle and Ramsey had been sharply critical of fellow Republican George P. Bush, who runs the GLO, after the agency declined to award any money to the city or county. In the letter, the five court members wrote that a direct allocation of federal aid would bypass potential bureaucratic delay caused by various Texas agencies and by other entities that will harm our ability to have quick and efficient implementation. BLAME GAME: George P. Bush, Harris county point fingers over failure to win flood aid They did not mention the GLO by name, though the letter was sent to Harris Countys nine-member congressional delegation one week after federal officials halted the distribution of nearly $2 billion in flood control funds to Texas because, they said, the GLO had failed to send in required paperwork detailing its plans to spend the money. Garcia, a Democrat who is up for re-election this year, said the letter was in part a response to when Harris County got GLOd last summer, with the $0 flood control award. Garcia said he was also concerned about a letter Gov. Greg Abbott sent to state agency heads last month, in which he told them to decline federal infrastructure funds if they hinder or needlessly constrain the state or commit the state to ongoing costs for which there is not an appropriation available. Texas statewide leaders such as Governor Greg Abbott and Land Commissioner George P. Bush have proven themselves to be unwilling partners on anything to do with Harris County, Garcia, whose office penned most of the letter, said in a statement. Why should the feds even bother letting state agencies get their hands on our money as taxpayers? Time and time again the state has shown no interest in helping the people of Harris County. After Harvey, Houston and Harris County asked the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to directly send them a portion of the funds approved by Congress to better protect southeast Texas from future storms. Under the proposal, the GLO would have administered the remaining funds for the other 48 smaller counties hit by Harvey, whose combined population roughly equals that of Harris County. The federal agency rejected the request, but agreed to directly send the city and county each a share of Texas separate $5 billion haul for housing recovery. The GLO later took control of the countys flagging recovery operation, along with most of the citys housing funds after a drawn-out legal battle. In a statement Jan. 14, GLO spokeswoman Brittany Eck said the state agency had supported the countys attempt to secure the Harvey funds directly. She did not address the contents of the letter. The GLO has long supported a direct allocation of both disaster and mitigation funds to Harris County, Eck said in a statement. Unfortunately, HUD has refused the request repeatedly. Meanwhile, with the flood control funds, the GLO last May sent $90 million to four small municipalities in east Harris County, but nothing to Houston or the county itself. A Houston Chronicle investigation found that the GLO distributed the $1 billion using scoring criteria that discriminated against populous areas, steering aid disproportionately to inland counties with a lower risk of disasters than more vulnerable coastal ones. Bush has claimed falsely that federal rules were to blame for the result. Bush, who is challenging Attorney General Ken Paxton in the March Republican primary, later asked federal officials to send $750 million to the county as he faced swift bipartisan backlash from Houston-area officials. The total still falls well short of the $1.3 billion collectively sought by city and county officials for their flood control projects, and its unclear when the funds will arrive. Houston officials have argued they should receive about half of the federal flood mitigation aid, roughly proportional to the damage sustained there compared to the rest of the state. The city and county can still apply for flood control funds from the remaining $1.1 billion that the state has yet to award. jasper.scherer@chron.com County officials in urban areas across the state say they've been forced to reject an unprecedented number of mail ballot applications because they do not adhere to new requirements stipulated by the election bill passed last year by the Legislature's Republican majority. The new law, which Democrats decried as an attempt to suppress the votes of minority groups, requires mail voters to give their drivers license number or state ID number. In the absence of those, they can provide the last four digits of their Social Security number or indicate they do not have the required IDs. The problem some counties are running into one that critics of the bill had warned lawmakers about last year is that the number provided by the voter must match with what the county has on file, typically the one used to register to vote. And an online portal run by the state, per the new law, to allow voters to check on their applications, has had a bumpy rollout in the Secretary of States Office. We have never had to reject applications for ballot by mail in this number, said Jacque Callanen, Bexar County elections administrator. (Voters) expect the next thing theyre going to get from us is the actual ballot to vote on and mail back. Now all the sudden theyre receiving a letter from us that says, Ehh, we need you to fill out this other information before we can process your ballot Thats frustrating for them; its frustrating for us. As of the latest tally on Wednesday, the county had rejected 325 applications. Callanen said she plans to hire two temporary workers to deal with this issue alone. Tips for successfully applying for a mail ballot 1) If you've already applied and received a rejection notice, respond with the proper information as quickly as possible. The county must receive the application by mail by Feb. 18 - even if an electronic copy is also emailed or faxed. 2) While guidance varies by county, Harris County officials are advising residents to include both their driver's license number and last four digits of their Social Security number on their application, to cover all their bases. There is no guarantee, however, that doing so will guarantee acceptance of the application. 3) To make sure voters get their mail ballots in time, county officials are advising them to respond to any letters regarding missing or incorrect information. See More Collapse In Harris County, officials say theyve so far had to reject about 208 applications out of more than 1,000 applications received so far for the same reasons. In both counties, most of the rejected applications were lacking any ID information from the voter. There is time to fix the problems ahead of the primaries: The states deadline for mail ballot applications is Feb. 18. Election Day is March 1. So far, Harris County is seeing fewer applications than usual for this time of year, but that could be related to political campaigns and parties had to wait for redistricting before mailing out applications, county spokeswoman Leah Shah said. Under the new voting law, counties are not allowed to mail out ballot applications, as many had in the past, unless a voter requests one. For comparisons sake, during the same time period ahead of the last midterm election in 2018, the county received nearly 5,000 applications and rejected about 100. We are seeing a 700-percent increase in the percentage of rejected mail-in ballot applications, which certainly raises a red flag for our office, elections administrator Isabel Longoria said. What we're seeing here is a direct byproduct of SB1, which simply makes voting more difficult. The problem was even more pronounced in Travis County, where officials said as of Thursday theyd rejected about half of the about 700 applications theyd received, most because of the new ID requirement. A lot of the administrators in the state saw potential for this to be a challenge for voters to successfully submit applications, said Remi Garza, president of the Texas Association of Elections Administrators. We did our best to communicate that to the policymakers had they heeded our advice and perhaps phased this process in or allowed for applications to be processed and not immediately rejected, I think it would have been easier for voters to access the ballot-by-mail process. Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, who authored Senate Bill 1, the new voting bill, has said that the purpose of the legislation was to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat. Hughes did not respond to a request for comment Friday. Rep. Jessica Gonzalez, D-Dallas, vice-chair of the Texas House Elections Committee, said this was exactly the effect Democrats had repeatedly tried to warn Republicans this bill would have. The March Primary is quickly approaching, and I worry for senior and rural Democratic and Republican voters that may not have access to their ballot due to these new requirements, Gonzalez said. As elected officials, our goal should be to expand voter access, not make voting more complicated and difficult. Its the kind of matter that Gonzalez and eight of her Democratic colleagues said theyd like to raise with Secretary of State John B. Scott, whom Gov. Greg Abbott appointed in October. In a letter they sent Friday, the Democrats said theyd also like to discuss the offices audit of the 2020 election; the first phases results released last month yielded no proof of widespread fraud. Abbotts last two appointees, Ruth Hughs and David Whitley, failed to receive confirmation by the Texas Senate Nominations Committee. Whitley resigned after losing confidence from legislators with a botched voter purge in which thousands of legal voters were targeted. In a hearing last year, the states director of elections under Hughs during invited testimony pronounced Texas 2020 election as smooth and secure. Some lawmakers say that testimony led the Republican-led Senate to oust her by declining to hold a vote to confirm her appointment. MORE ON THAT: Did a smooth and secure 2020 election cost the Texas secretary of state her job? Secretary of State blames county Texas has some of the most restrictive voting laws in the country, and among those are its limitations on who can vote absentee. Even during the pandemic as some Republican states moved to temporarily expand vote-by-mail access, Texas was one of seven in the country where an excuse other than risk of infection was still needed. To qualify, the Texas Election Code requires voters to be 65 or older, disabled, in jail or out of their home county during the voting period. The Secretary of States office in a statement on Friday said the office was surprised to learn for the first time of the apparent wholesale rejection of mail ballot applications by Travis County and called on the county to re-examine the rejected applications. We urge all county election officials to contact the Texas Secretary of State's office to seek advice and assistance on the correct method of processing mail ballot applications, said spokesman Sam Taylor. On Twitter, the office showed less patience with county officials: Always, you can pick up the phone and call our office instead of calling a press conference. Much more time efficient, responding to Travis County, which is set to hold one on Tuesday. It was not clear what the office expected the counties to do differently, however, and the office did not respond to repeated requests for clarification. I dont know what other options the Secretary of States office thinks are available, Garza said. I dont want to challenge what the Secretary of States office thinks should be happening, but I think if they were sitting in our chairs, I think our hands are tied. The new election law also included a process for voters to correct such issues with their mail ballot applications, one that voters are supposed to be able to stay on top of via an online ballot tracker. Yet some election officials say they havent been told how to upload information to the web application. A spokesman told KUT on Friday that guidance was forthcoming within days on how to use the online ballot tracker. Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. North Adams Library Suspends In-Person Events NORTH ADAMS, Mass. The library will reevaluate whether or not they will resume in-person events at the end of the month. Library Director Sarah Sanfilippo told the trustees Wednesday that all in-person events and activities in the library have been suspended as they monitor the recent COVID-19 surge. "We decided to do this for the month of January, and we will reevaluate in a couple of weeks just to keep things on the safe side," she said. "Not everybody but a number of libraries are doing the same thing." She then reviewed a recent staff development day and although they were unable to undergo the crisis management portion of the training, they did receive a presentation from Berkshire Harm Reduction. "We talked about how to recognize an overdose and when you should react and how you should react," Sanfilippo said. "We were shown how to use Narcan and what it does to the body." She said they were given Narcan, or naloxone, to have on the premises. She said only staff comfortable with administering Narcan and the training opted in. According to harm reduction experts, drug users are told to never use alone, and if they plan to use, use in a public space. "So if they overdose they can be found, which I think makes sense," she said. "I think it is important now for people who are in public spaces to be aware and to be able to help." Chairwoman Tara Jacobs asked if the library ever installed a sharps disposal container as was discussed some years ago. Sanfilippo said the container was never installed, however, finding needles is not a common occurrence. Granted it has been not been a typical few years in the library, she said. "Things have been so bizarre since I have been hired. There were maybe one or two needles that were found before we shut down and one after we opened back up," she said. Jacobs said she thought this was still an amount that warranted a sharps box. Sanfilippo said staff are taking a year to record their different duties to create a procedure document "Eventually at the end of the year, we will have everything in one document so it will be easier if someone has to cover for someone else or if we bring on someone new," she said. Jacobs said she has been in contact with new Mayor Jennifer Macksey and they have a meeting scheduled to go over the library's budget, needs, and the state of the library. "She signaled a sense of support and that is encouraging," she said. "We are on the same page of how important the library is to the community." Most notably the trustees want to make sure the city continues to properly fund the library so they can continue to receive state certification. Certification provides state aid and access to CW-MARS. She said she is also working toward a meeting with the City Council. The failure of last weeks high-stakes diplomatic meetings to resolve escalating tensions over Ukraine has put Russia, the United States and its European allies in uncharted post-Cold War territory, posing significant challenges for the main players to avoid an outright and potentially disastrous confrontation. Unlike previous disagreements that have arisen since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the current Ukraine crisis and seemingly insurmountable differences between Washington and Moscow carry real risks of debilitating economic warfare and military conflict that are exacerbated by the dangers of miscalculation and overreaction. Advertisement For the U.S. and its NATO and other European allies, nothing less than a vast pullback of the roughly 100,000 Russian troops now deployed near the Ukrainian border will prove that Russian President Vladimir Putin has any intention of negotiating in good faith. For the Russians, the Wests absolute refusal to consider a ban on NATO expansion and the withdrawal of troops from Eastern Europe is proof of its perfidy. A Russian tank T-72B3 fires as troops take part in drills at the Kadamovskiy firing range in the Rostov region in southern Russia, on Jan. 12. (AP) Potential concessions are complicated by the fact neither Putin nor President Joe Biden wants to be seen as backing down before either domestic or foreign audiences. Advertisement The refusal thus far by each side to climb down from what the other regards as unrealistic and maximalist demands has left the prospects for diplomacy in limbo, with the U.S. and its allies accusing Russia of stoking tensions for no legitimate reason and the Russians complaining again that the Americans are the aggressors. Some believe the situation will have to become even more dire before the impasse can be broken. The gap in perceptions is so broad that a new and dangerous escalation could be necessary to make the parties open up their imagination and search for agreements, Fyodor Lukyanov, the head of the Moscow-based Council for Foreign and Defense Policies, observed in a commentary. For Western analysts, it seems a situation in which Putin will have to compromise if conflict is to be avoided. Some think Putins focus on NATO, which has struggled for years with questions about its relevance, may have given the alliance a new lease on life. This is an extremely uncertain and tense period without an obvious way out unless Putin backs down, said Jeff Rathke, a Europe expert and former U.S. diplomat who is currently president of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Hes talked himself into a frenzy that is hard to walk away from if he doesnt get the fundamental redrawing of the European security architecture that he claims to want. Hes shown hes ready to play chicken with the threat of massive military force to bring that about and hes certainly gotten everyones attention, but he hasnt changed anyones views, Rathke said. U.S. officials from Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan to chief negotiator Wendy Sherman have said it is Russia that faces a stark choice. De-escalate or face punishing sanctions and the opposite of what it wants: an increased NATO presence in Eastern Europe and a more well-armed Ukraine. Yet in Russia, officials say the shoe is on the other foot. They have cast their demands as an absolute imperative and have argued that the Western failure to meet them makes talks on other issues irrelevant. Advertisement Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday that Russia had vainly tried for years to persuade the U.S. and its allies to engage in talks on the non-deployment of intermediate-range missiles to Europe, limits on war games and rules to avoid dangerously close encounters between Russian and allied warships and aircraft until the U.S. and NATO expressed willingness to discuss those issues this week. He attributed the change in approach to a U.S. desire to shift attention away from Russias main demands, adding that Moscow will focus on NATO non-expansion. And he insisted that its the U.S. thats formulating the position in talks while other allies just march on its orders. To be frank, everyone understands that the prospect for reaching a deal depends on the U.S., Lavrov said. He said whatever the U.S. says about the need to consult allies in negotiations are just excuses and attempts to drag the process out. Thus, the stalemate. The Wests approach has been to have as much diplomatic effort as possible to de-escalate, said Andrew Weiss, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he oversees research in Washington and Moscow on Russia and Eurasia. Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > The problem weve got is that the Russians mean business, and theyve shown us in a bunch of cases, in 2014, in 2008, that theyre prepared to go to war to get these things, and were not, he said. And thats the challenge. Advertisement The tough and uncompromising Russian positions have led some to believe that Moscow will only up the ante after receiving what all sides expect will be formal, written refusals from the U.S. and NATO to accede to its demands. Indeed, the chief Russian negotiator in the talks, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, suggested Thursday that Moscow might respond to rejections by escalating matters outside of Europe through the potential deployment of troops to Cuba and Venezuela. The U.S. has called such a suggestion bluster and said it would respond decisively if it happened. The lack of a diplomatic solution logically leads to the further exacerbation of the crisis, wrote Dmitri Trenin, the head of the Carnegie Moscow Center, in an online analysis. Trenin predicted that a set of military-technical measures that Putin said Russia would take if the West rejects its demands could include a broad array of moves ... from the deployment of new weapons systems in various regions to much stronger military ties with Belarus and a closer coordination with the Chinese partners. Still, theres a risk that by focusing his ire on NATO, Putin may have inadvertently strengthened its hand, especially with its newer members like the Baltic states, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. For countries that have joined NATO since the Cold War, you can definitely say that NATO is more relevant to them now than it was a year ago or in 2014, Rathke said. Anyone who thought that NATO was no longer relevant to European security has been taught a lesson in the last few months. And its only going to get worse. Woburn, MA (01801) Today Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. High 58F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Mainly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low near 45F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. When bureaucracy does us more harm than good Forest Hills: Hell cannot be worse than dealing with the MTA! I dropped my cellphone on the QM10 Express bus last week. My son was able to track it and we knew it was on the bus. We tracked it to the College Point Bus Depot. After numerous calls to 511 and speaking to one nasty representative after another, a rep at the depot confirmed that my phone was there but, even though I live 10 minutes away, they would not let me pick it up. I was told I would have to fill out a lost-and-found form and wait for them to transfer my phone to Manhattan, then I would be contacted to schedule an appointment to pick it up. Advertisement Lost and Not Found. (Shutterstock/Shutterstock) I asked my state assemblyman, Daniel Rosenthal, to intercede and a lovely and determined employee named Daniel tried to get my phone back. They finally agreed to let me come and pick up the phone but it had to be me. Since I was in Manhattan at the time, I asked if I could send my son but they refused. So after one week, I am still without my phone and have no idea when the MTA will give it back to me. I would like to add that the 511 reps are all working from home and they could not be ruder. I have had to travel to work during the entire pandemic. Its about time they got off their lazy butts and went back into the office. Libby Gurgis Advertisement Short stature North Castle, N.Y.: The photograph on pages 2 and 3 of Tuesdays edition (Faulty self-closing doors are blamed for devastating Bx. toll, Jan. 11) is captioned, Cleanup crews arrive Monday at Fordham Heights building a day after horrific blaze. At first glance, the white-suited group carrying backpacks could be mistaken for students showing up for class. But the logo on the back of the suits and the words over the doorway say otherwise. Upon further examination, the group indeed looks to be the height and size of schoolchildren. Were children/minors entering a building full of health hazards? Something seems to be amiss here. Robert Cappio Simple safety Hartsdale, N.Y.: Re the Bronx fire, it has been obvious that there were multiple reasons for this tragedy, but I have not seen a mention of two things that could have made a real difference: having a fire extinguisher in your home or apartment and having your own smoke detector. We know that the FDNY was on the scene in three minutes, but this fire started small and could have been extinguished by the apartment dweller in seconds. For the other residents of the complex, having your own smoke detector assures that you know it is working properly or not. While accounting for faulty doors makes news, how many apartments had their own fire extinguishers? Norman E. Gaines Jr. School lessons The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. > Brooklyn: Can anyone recall the last time any fire in a New York City school resulted in death? I cant. A big reason is probably because of school fire prevention, which involves regular drills and building safety. This also includes self-closing doors in rooms and stairways. If every commercial building had self-closing doors for stairways, the smoke that killed so many recently could have been avoided and all those lives saved. John Madero Electrifying Manhattan: Re A new mayor, a new approach to climate? (op-ed, Jan. 10): Reef ridges, trees and oysters are important ways to increase resilience in our city of heat and floods. But what of facing up to the climate crisis itself? An important step has been the City Councils passage of the All-Electric Building Act, which would ban new gas hook-ups in buildings of up to seven stories by December 2023 and larger ones by 2027. Buildings are responsible for one-third of New York Citys greenhouse gas emissions. A pilot project in retrofitting a prewar apartment house in Manhattan has been a success, reducing energy costs and improving indoor air quality. Think of the jobs retrofitting would create. Gov. Hochul wants to electrify 2 million homes by 2027. Lets step it up and get passage of the state All-Electric Building Act to electrify new homes by 2024. Matthew Schneck Early indicators Astoria: Well, I was hoping my gut instincts were wrong about Eric Adams, but it turns out I was probably right. In the days since hes been mayor, Adams has approved the plan to give voting rights to 800,000 illegal immigrants living in New York City and praised the newly elected, insanely progressive Manhattan district attorney as a fine prosecutor. But as soon as I saw him standing alongside Al Sharpton, I knew then and there that, his pledge to reduce crime notwithstanding, the city is in for another four rocky years. Carmine Coluccio Special self-interests Dix Hills, L.I.: I applaud The News for your Laughingstocks (Jan. 11) editorial. The unabashed hypocrisy that permeates Congress is a situation that defies logic in modern-day society. What is most disturbing is that this duly-elected body of lawmakers can, without censure or control, make rules that govern their own behavior. They answer to no one and continue to take advantage of their situation to feather their proverbial nests on our dime. They dont stop at insider trading either; they gave themselves lifetime health care as well, which we all pay for. In my estimation, Congress is like the coronavirus, only there is no vaccine available except maybe who you vote into office, although, as you may have heard, absolute power corrupts absolutely. B. Lorge Half-baked coins? Glen Head, L.I.: Why does the Daily News accept two pages of advertising for Last State Silver Bank Rolls up for grabs? The ad says that you can purchase a roll of Kennedy half dollars for Only $19 per coin, $380 per roll! These are not numismatic (valuable collectible coins) which are graded and come in protective cases. Except for 1964-1970 Kennedy half dollars, any other years Kennedy half dollars are worth exactly 50 cents each! Based on silver content, the 1964 Kennedy half dollar (90% silver) is worth about $10! The 1965-1970 Kennedy half dollars were only 40% silver content and they are worth about $4-$5 each. In my opinion, the ad is a complete scam and it rips off gullible people who dont know about coins and their value! Shame on you, Daily News, for allowing your readers to be duped and deceived! Robert Kralick Top people Huntington Station, L.I.: In the wake of the death of beloved actor Sidney Poitier, I was struck by the number of times the words dignity and grace were used by the people memorializing this very fine man. I tried to think of other celebrities who would have such acknowledgments bestowed upon them. Then I saw the clip of the lovely Anne Bancroft reading his name on Oscar night in his win for Lilies of the Field. I was so moved by this incredible and beautiful woman, who was overjoyed with Poitiers win. If you get a chance, watch as she walks offstage with the Oscar winner; her utter joy is palpable. Another person to whom dignity and class could and should be applied Anne Bancroft, the woman who married the funniest human being who ever lived, Mel Brooks. What fun it must have been in that house. Nancy Macri Kennedy Advertisement Overlooked awardee Las Vegas: You are not the first and Im sure will not be the last to have omitted Hattie McDaniel as the first African-American actor to win an Academy Award. She won hers for her portrayal of Mammy in Gone With the Wind. The film won many awards and she won hers as best supporting actress in 1940, and to my knowledge, it was a competitive award with her going up against Olivia de Havilland, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Edna May Oliver and Maria Ouspenskaya. Was there perhaps an asterisk next to her name that would cause this omission? She faced more discrimination in her career than any Afro-American to follow. I believe in giving credit where credit is due and you and all the other news services have not done that! Marion Barber In late 2021, CEO Roz Brewer of Walgreens Boots Alliance sat down with The Harvard Business Review for a chat. The thrust of the interview? Empowering employees, the importance of learning the inner-workings of business, and the problems we still face in diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI). Brewer is a Black female CEO -- one of two in the Fortune 500s -- and has an impressive career stretching from drive-thru work at Starbucks to trucking for Walmart and, most recently, helming one of the biggest health and wellness companies in the country. Her experience is a gold mine for entrepreneurs, as the HBR interview revealed. Not only does it show what would-be business leaders need to do to climb the ladder (hint: pay attention, listen, work in the trenches, and do the "worst and the best" of the jobs so you really know the business), but uncovers the embarrassing DEI ruptures that still rift the workforce. Perhaps most insightful was this excerpt from the back-and-forth with HBR, notably the last line: ... [this is] the history that we know in the United States: give someone their start and then they take it to the next level. ... [But we] haven't done enough work to study and think about, what happens in someone's life, when you're single parenting more than one child, and you've got to care for that child? And it's more than cost, it's about their self-esteem. And so we began to look at things like, how do you feel about yourself and are we developing that in people? For many with ladder-climbing ambitions in the business world, the focus is on efficiency and productivity practices at the beginning of the journey: How do you position yourself to be a successful leader? How do you get to the top rung and stay on top? Brewer, however, shines the spotlight on the work that still needs to be done when you've reached the top, emphasizing more than just dollars and cents. It's about the people. Instead of asking questions about best practices for staying at the top, the questions should become: How do I give my employees a fair and equal opportunity to climb their own ladders? This, she implies, is not about sweeping statements or generalized programs, but about asking individuals: What do you want, and what do you need to get there? It's about equity, Brewer says. It's about ensuring that the people who make your company successful feel seen and heard, given a fair chance to succeed on their own terms. "That's the next level of leadership," she explains. "We're going to have to get pretty gritty about listening and acting and making people feel included in the environments that we create, as leaders." Imagine a world in which Google is a smaller private company, not the global behemoth Alphabet is today. Surprisingly, it almost happened. Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page were hesitant to go public because they feared that sharing control of the company with shareholders would force them to do things they didn't want to do. A chance meeting with Warren Buffett changed their minds. Buffett explained the two-tier stock structure that he used to retain control over Berkshire Hathaway, even though he did not own most of its stock. Brin and Page realized they could use a similar approach to keep control of Google, and when they launched their IPO, they modeled their stock structure on Berkshire's. That revelation comes from the book Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber, by Mike Isaac, which came out in 2019, but is getting a lot of attention these days as the basis of a new Showtime series. Isaac, a longtime tech reporter for The New York Times, writes a lot about Silicon Valley in general in his book. In it, he recounts what an unnamed investor told him: that even as Google grew under their leadership, along with that of CEO Eric Schmidt, Brin and Page resisted an IPO because they feared the loss of control that could go with it. But when they met the Oracle of Omaha and talked about their reluctance, Buffett explained the system of Class A and Class B shares he used at Berkshire Hathaway. A shares, owned by Buffett and some others, carry one vote per share. B shares carry only 1/10,000 vote per share. This means the company can sell shares to investors but remain protected from activist shareholders and hostile takeovers. Even though such classes of shares were unusual in the tech industry, Brin and Page decided to copy the structure. In the case of Google (now Alphabet), A shares carry one vote, while B shares each carry 10 votes. Brin and Page between them own 51 percent of those B shares, giving them joint control of the company, even though they own less than 12 percent of its total shares. They also copied another tactic of Buffett's--before their 2004 IPO, they laid out their philosophy in a letter titled "'An Owner's Manual' for Google Shareholders," which they freely admitted was largely inspired by Buffett's 1996 "Owner's Manual" for Berkshire shareholders. In their letter, Page and Brin talked about their leadership philosophy and their concerns about the outside influence of shareholders. They wrote: As a private company, we have concentrated on the long term, and this has served us well. As a public company, we will do the same. In our opinion, outside pressures too often tempt companies to sacrifice long term opportunities to meet quarterly market expectations. Sometimes this pressure has caused companies to manipulate financial results in order to "make their quarter." The co-founders went on to explain that they might take actions that they believed were in the long-term interests of the company and its shareholders, even though those actions might cause profits and share prices to fall in the short term. "We would request that our shareholders take the long term view," they wrote. You know the rest of the story. Google shares went public at $85 a share and, after a two-for-one stock split in 2014, each of those original shares is worth well over $5,000 today. Brin and Page are still serious about retaining control, so much so that they split the stock by creating a new class of C shares that have no voting power at all. People who had either A or B shares at the time of the split got one non-voting share for every voting share they held. Investors keep buying Alphabet, and Berkshire Hathaway too, even without much voting power, because those companies continue to be very good investments. Since 1963, The Independent has helped create a great community! Since our founding in September of 1963, The Independent has been dedicated to giving Livermore, Pleasanton, Dublin, and Sunol readers the news they need to be in-the-know about what's going on in the Tri-Valley region. remaining of Thank you for Reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. A day after it was announced that Raza Murad is the brand ambassador of Bhopal Municipal Corporation's 'Swachhata Abhiyan', he has now been removed from the post. This happened on Madhya Pradesh Urban Development Minister Bhupendra Singh's order. Twitter Singh wrote a letter to Bhopal civic chief saying that Murad should be dropped as brand ambassador. He stated that his contribution in the field of cleanliness was not known. Twitter "A brand ambassador should be such a person who has contributed in a major way in the field of cleanliness or who is well-versed with Bhopal's culture. Therefore, the order in this regard should be cancelled with immediate effect. Instead, nominate a prestigious person/institution who has made noted contributions in the field of cleanliness," his letter read. Twitter On this, Raza Murad told PTI, "No one can be a bigger Bhopali than me as my mother, wife and many other members of the family belong to Bhopal. I did my schooling from the Cambridge School here. I am well versed with the city, its roads, its typical language, its tea, paan and gutkha, so the charge that I don't know the culture of the city holds no ground." "Secondly, the minister also said the brand ambassador should be such a person who has done commendable job in 'swachhata'. But, when you do not give me an opportunity to prove (my credentials in the field), then how can you decide I have not done anything," he asked. Murad said that he had already started the work within 24 hours of his appointment. "If the minister doesn't want my services, so be it, as they (powers that be) are maalik (all powerful)," he added. Congress spokesperson KK Mishra said Raza Murad was removed as he was Muslim. Some people on Twitter agreed. Only HINDU needed. SAWINDER SIDHU (@SAWINDERSIDHU1) January 14, 2022 kya gndgi mchayi isne? monk (@archnaverma) January 14, 2022 Shayd pahle nhi samajh paye honge ki Raza Murad ek muslim https://t.co/cUNtS7Agx1 Afshan Khan (@AfshanK90844107) January 14, 2022 On its 74th foundation day, the Indian Army unveiled for the first time in public its new combat uniform, as commandos of the Parachute regiment, clothed in the new uniform, marched at the parade ground in Delhi Cantt on Army Day. Features of new uniform The camouflage uniform is based on a "digital disruptive" pattern and will be available in 13 sizes. Here's all you need to know about the new combat uniform of the Indian Army: The new uniform has been designed to serve two purposes--Protection against harsh climatic conditions, and to provide soldiers outfits with field camouflage, to increase survivability. The new Army Combat Pattern Uniform has been developed with the help of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) after going through options of 15 patterns, eight designs, and four fabrics. Rahul Singh (@rahulsinghx) January 15, 2022 The Army's uniform is made of a combination of cotton and polyester in a ratio of 70:30. The fabric of the Indian Army's new uniform will be lightweight and will dry quickly, thus will be more comfortable for the troops during the operation. The new uniform will be much more durable as well as comfortable in both summers and winters. The uniforms, which will feature a mix of colours including olive and earthen, have been designed taking into considerations aspects like areas of deployment of the troops and climatic conditions in which they operate. It is learned that the new combat uniform has been finalised after wide-ranging discussions and analysis of military uniforms of several countries. News agency ANI shared a clip of the commandos marching in the army's new combat fatigues. Similar to British Army It was reported in December last year that the army will showcase its new battle fatigues at the 2022 Army Day parade. The new uniform, which replaces the force's decades-old combat fatigues, features a digital camouflage pattern, similar to the one used by the British Army. It is likely to be introduced in the Indian Army by August this year. It has been designed keeping in mind the army's working requirements and the need for uniformity in soldiers' battle fatigues. For more on news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News. The Maharashtra government aims to have a village of books in each district on the lines of Britains Hay-On-Wye, the famous town of books, as per The New Indian Express. Funds ready Rs 50 lakh per village has been earmarked to implement this initiative. Marathi language minister Subhash Desai said the aim was to bring reading as a habit among the villagers, especially kids. EPS The aim of the initiative On a similar line, we want to work on this concept to spread Marathi language and culture on a global platform, he said referring to the Hay-On-Wye town. The government has decided to extend all possible help to develop the infrastructure and other facilities in the designated villages. Small libraries and bookshelves will be set up in at least 10 prominent spots of the chosen villages, said a government official. EPS The village should have won the awards in cleanliness and other state government competitions such as a strife-free village. It should have a lot of greenery, the official added. Its impact and significance It is a great initiative and one hopes it goes through. The more people read, especially kids, the more knowledgeable they grow. Education is important and literacy goes hand in hand. By making reading a habit, development is affected in a good way. They should offer their space to set up the libraries. The government will provide the funds to develop the places and each spot will get Rs 5 lakh to buy furniture, books etc, the official went on to say. For more on news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News. The worlds largest sapphire cluster from Sri Lanka has entered the Guinness Book of World Records. Named Serendipity Sapphire, the pale-blue sapphire weighs over 300 kg and was found in a gem pit in the country in July 2021. The Sri Lanka State Minister of Gem and Jewellery Related Industries Lohan Ratwatte was quoted in a local daily saying it was certified as the largest star sapphire cluster by the Gubelin Gem Lab in Switzerland. Twitter The star sapphire was found by workmen who were digging a well in a gem traders home in the gem-rich Ratnapura area 100 km southeast of the Sri Lankan capital Colombo. A group of Buddhist monks had chanted blessings for the gemstone before it was unveiled to the world in December 2021. Ratnapura is a gem-rich area where residents had previously found some of the world's most expensive gems by accident. Twitter The region is also known as the gem capital of Sri Lanka and is a leading exporter of sapphires and other precious gems. Ever since it was discovered five months ago, many international agencies showed interest in buying it from the government. Recently, the Sri Lankan government had informed that it was in talk with a Dubai based company that has offered $100 Million for the World's largest blue sapphire cluster. Though they didnt reach an agreement as the government wanted to auction it at a higher price. The Minister said that the cluster which is currently in Switzerland will be taken to Britain for auction. The world level recognition is sure to give it more sparkle and raise its price. For more Trending stories, click here. The safest place for our children is in a school building, Mayor Adams said on the first day to class back after the winter break. For many families across New York City, where school is their only source to a meal and a shelter, there is no doubt that in-person instruction holds tremendous value for our most vulnerable New Yorkers. But at a time when thousands of students and teachers are testing positive for COVID, many school buildings have in fact become infection sites. Until the citys still-surging COVID case numbers dwindle down, is it fair to say that the safest place for our children is a school building, when students and educators in quarantine are listening? Advertisement Students, educators, parents and lawmakers have relentlessly urged Adams and Schools Chancellor David Banks to create a remote option so students can stay healthy and keep learning. As a student attending a public high school in the Bronx, whose mother is a health-care worker, every day is another reason to temporarily provide a remote option for families like me who need it. My reality is what the media does not show; already this year, dozens of my classmates have tested positive for COVID as a result of being exposed to a close contact at school. I travel on crowded city buses every day. I am learning in winter coats, as the windows in all my classes must be open for ventilation. With cold, empty classrooms typically holding fewer than 10 students daily, it already feels like I am not supposed to be at school. And with an overall attendance rate of 44.51% on a snowy Friday last week, a high school teacher shared in PIX11 that [students] were in the auditorium watching movies or were half asleepschool buildings may be open, but truly are functioning as a babysitting lounge. Advertisement Teachers and students rally in the plaza outside Barclays Center to protest unsafe health conditions in schools, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022. (Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News) This situation is stressful for all of us. But having a remote option, for families to fundamentally choose what is best for their situation, would ease many New Yorkers to have control over their life. Students like me are not waiting for change to happen; we are assembling rallies and protests to amplify the remote learning demand. On Jan. 11, 2022, high school students across New York City walked out of their classes and gained national attention to urge Adams to embrace a remote learning option. For some critics, the hesitation over returning to remote learning is understandable after many students experienced learning loss, technology and mental health issues. Learning from home also made it harder to have an educational experience for those who live in homeless shelters and need meals, or for working parents. The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. > But no one is talking about shuttering schools entirely. Having a remote option would provide the best of both worlds. Families would have the freedom to choose which option suits their needs best. Its ironic to hear people invoking the needs of Black and Brown families when rejecting a remote option. After all, students of color were more likely to choose a remote learning option than their white classmates in September of 2020, with 46% of Black and Hispanic students opting for remote learning in NYC schools, as compared to just 33% of white students. Of course, we all ultimately want our schools to be open. As a senior in high school, I want to live the rest of the school year having a prom and graduation. I am planning events in my school that operate around an in-person environment. But I along with thousands of other NYC public school students know that in order to have a normal school year moving forward, we need to accept our reality and offer a remote learning option to control the COVID transmission. After Adams ruled out remote learning and said it would take roughly six months to add, after roughly 290,000 of 938,000 students missed class the past two weeks, Adams and Banks now say theyre considering a remote learning option. Now is the time to take the voices of students, parent,s and educators who have long been demanding a remote option since the beginning of the school year seriously. In his welcome message to New York City families, our new chancellor put it this way: We want to empower you to be advocates for your children, your schools, and your communities. We want to engage all families and elevate their crucial voices. Advertisement I am using my voice and power as a New York City public high school student to launch an Instagram platform, @restoreremotenyc, to continue sharing experiences from students and educators on why we need a remote option. I am using my voice, but are you listening? Hussein is a high school senior at Fordham High School for the Arts in the Bronx. Around the globe, India is well known for its sumptuous cuisine and it couldn't have achieved the feat it wouldn't have been a land of spices and rich culture. Due to India's diversity, the country has a wide range of foods to offer. And no denial that a good meal can lighten the mood, and in India, there are many ways to do that. Here we have listed some of the oldest restaurants in the country those that are more than 100 years old and you should visit at least once soon. 1. Glenary's, Darjeeling Glenarys Darjeeling the Cafe and Pub | nomadicweekends.com Queen of the hills Darjeeling's one of the most iconic restaurants, Glenary which is over 130-years old. Glenary is in Darjeeling and it is not just visually stunning, but the area where it is built will make you feel as if you are transported out of India to somewhere foreign location. 2. Tunday Kababi, Lucknow Tunday Kababi, Lucknow | newsd.in India's most famous Lucknows Tunday Kababi is believed to be established in 1905 by Haji Murad Ali, the one-armed star cook of the Nawab of Lucknow. Tucked away in the narrow gullies in the old area of Lucknow, the eatery still uses the same age-old intricate blends of spices to make its sensational non-vegetarian gourmet preparations. ALSO READ: 15 Most Beautiful & Picturesque Villages In India That You Must Visit In 2022 3. Indian Coffee House, Kolkata Indian Coffee House, Kolkata | mapmyindia The most famous branch of Indian Coffee House is situated in the bustling college street of Kolkata that carries a nostalgia of the past. It used to be Albert Hall until it was renamed as a coffee house after 1947. Established in 1876, the coffee house has had some famous patrons over the years, including Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, American poet Allen Ginsberg, to name a few. 4. Britannia and Co, Mumbai Britannia and Co, Mumbai | Facebook A cult restaurant, Britannia is where Mumbaikars head to when they are in need of some seriously traditional Parsi fare. One of Mumbai's most loved restaurants, Britannia first opened its doors to British officers stationed in the Fort area in 1923. ALSO READ: 15 Villages With Inspiring Stories That Will Make Every Indian Proud 5. Leopolds Cafe, Mumbai Leopolds Cafe, Mumbai | Pinterest 150-years-old Leopolds Cafe is one of the most popular restaurants and bars in Mumbai. It came under international attention when it was one of the targets during the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Founded in 1871 by Iranis, this cafe shot to fame after the 2002 Mumbai attacks and to date there are bullet-riddled walls and mirrors from the 26/11 terrorist attacks. The place is a favourite among tourists and of course locals. ALSO READ: 6 Places Around The World That Women Aren't Allowed To Visit 6. Karims, Delhi Karims, Delhi | Tripadvisor Karims at Jama Masjid is the oldest outlet of the restaurant chain and it was established in 1913. The eatery has become a favourite of the locals. Its homely Mughal dishes are mouthwatering and quite different from other similar restaurants. The Jama Masjid section provides a rich ambience too. ALSO READ: Believe It Or Not, These Are The Places In India Where Indians Are Not Allowed 7. Dorabjee and Sons, Pune Dorabjee and Sons, Pune | whatsuplife.in A charming, old restaurant in Pune, Dorabjee and Sons was started by Dorabjee Sorabjee back in 1878. Initially a humble little tea stall, the eatery soon started serving traditional lunches that quickly became popular. Most interestingly, they still have the menu from the years gone by where rates are mentioned in annas. 8. Shaikh Brothers Bakery, Guwahati Shaikh Brothers Bakery, Guwahati | whatsuplife.in Shaikh Brothers Bakery rapidly became one of the most preferred bakeries in Guwahati, established by Shaikh Ghulam Ibrahim way back in the late 1800s. As per experts, this bakery was Assams passage into Western confectionery at that point in time. Now, the menu also includes hotdogs, burgers, sweets, and more. As per their website, India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru too was known to be "extremely fond" of this bakery's cheese straws. 9. Hari Ram and Sons. Allahabad Hari Ram and Sons. Allahabad | tripadvisor.in Allahabad's Hari Ram and Sons is known for serving one of the best snacks when you visit Loknath street. They have been making the savouries at their own shop for more than 100 years. The small shop sees a crowd throughout the day and you can go to this place for some amazing chai and snacks. 10. Kesar Da Dhaba, Mumbai Kesar Da Dhaba, Mumbai | whatshot.in Kesar Da Dhaba is a vegetarian Punjabi Dhaba in Amritsar, Punjab, India, that originated as a small restaurant selling dal and roti set up by Lala Kesar Mal, a Punjabi Hindu in Sheikhupura, near Lahore in 1916. It moved to Amritsar after the partition of India in 1947. Lala Lajpat Rai, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Padmini Kolhapuri, Yash Chopra and Rajesh Khanna are said to have eaten here. 11. Mitra Samaj, Udupi Mitra Samaj, Udupi | thebetterindia The eatery follows the Udupi tradition of temple cooking under which the use of onion, garlic and radish is prohibited. It's believed to be almost 100 years old, Mitra Samaj is an authentic Udupi restaurant famous for its delicious dosas, bullet idlis and Goli Baje, also known as Mangalore Bajji. If you are someone who is willing to go on a food adventure throughout key Indian cities, then you need to visit these stores. For more interesting stories like this, click here Incidents of thefts of Amazon and other courier packages are a growing cause of concern for the authorities in the US. While the parcels keep on disappearing from the entrance of people who order them online, a disturbing trend of them being stolen on the way is giving added trouble to authorities. As the menace is growing, CBS photographer John Schreiber visited the Lincoln Heights Area in Los Angeles after hearing about the theft from trains cargo containers rising continuously. AFP Lincoln heights- a densely populated area in central LA - train tracks converge on a Union Pacific (UP) terminal as well as a United States services (UPS) customer centre, where trains unload their cargo. In a series of videos that he posted on Twitter which has been viewed by over 2 Million times so far, Schreiber explained that one in five of the containers he saw on the tracks had been targeted, with doors open and locks cut. Keep hearing of train burglaries in LA on the scanner so went to #LincolnHeights to see it all. And theres looted packages as far as the eye can see. Amazon packages, @UPS boxes, unused Covid tests, fishing lures, epi pens. Cargo containers left busted open on trains. @CBSLA pic.twitter.com/JvNF4UVy2K John Schreiber (@johnschreiber) January 13, 2022 "There's looted packages as far as the eye can see," he wrote. He reported having found packages from many major US courier companies such as Amazon, Target, UPS and FedEx. Its here that thieves wait until the long freight trains are slowed down and then climb onto the freight containers, whose locks they easily break with the help of bolt cutters. AFP via NDTV As they forage the boogies, they take away the valuable items which were destined to reach various parts of the country leaving what they consider non-essential items or are difficult to re-sell, or are too cheap like medical kits and toiletries. As a rule, it is the responsibility of the UP agents to police the track and inform the LA police of any theft before which it could not take any action. But police say UP hasnt alerted them of any theft yet. Such incidents have led people to raise questions of how Amazon and other mail services will ensure the safe delivery of packages ordered through various portals considering the theft has been going on for a while now. As you can see, trains frequently slow or stop in this area as they get worked into the @UnionPacific Intermodal facility near Downtown LA. The thieves use this opportunity to break open containers and take whats inside. Id say every 4th or 5th rail car had opened containers. pic.twitter.com/PHpujyB84M John Schreiber (@johnschreiber) January 13, 2022 In response to it, Union Pacific says it has strengthened surveillance measures -- including drones and other detection systems -- and recruited more security staff for its tracks and convoys. LA Police and security agents have also upped the restriction and have arrested more than 100 people in the last three months of 2021 for "trespassing and vandalizing" Union Pacific trains. "While criminals are being caught and arrested, charges are reduced to a misdemeanour or petty offence, and the person is back on the streets in less than 24 hours after paying a nominal fine," said a spokesman for the rail operator, reported AFP. For more Trending stories, click here. Real-time social media posts from local businesses and organizations across Northern Virginia, powered by Friends2Follow. To add your business to the stream, email cfields@insidenova.com or click on the green button below. How the Vietnam War pushed MLK to embrace global justice, not only civil rights at home DirectTV is dropping the far right-wing cable station OANN. We informed Herring Networks that, following a routine internal review, we do not plan to enter into a new contract when our current agreement expires, a DirectTV representative told the Daily News. Advertisement OANNs deal with DirectTV its largest TV programming distributor ends in April. Bloomberg, which first reported on the divorce, called the split a major blow for the conspiracy pushing network thats slavish devotion to former President Donald Trump has it defending against more than $3 billion in lawsuits from a pair of voting technologies companies. No reason for the severance was given. Pay-TV companies find themselves shedding costs to compete with streaming service. Advertisement OANN suffered a 'major blow." (Shutterstock/Shutterstock) DirectTV began carrying OANN which stands for One America News Network in 2017 after Herring Networks compelled them to do so with a lawsuit. The network can still be viewed by Verizon Fios customers, according to OANNs website. The sensational network punched above its weight class during the Trump administration when it famously availed itself to him and vice versa which included guaranteed softball questions in interviews and White House briefings. On occasions Trump became upset that the much larger Fox News network wasnt sufficiently sensitive to his needs, he would publicly express an affinity for OANN. Now that Fox News has joined the mainstream media in censoring factual reporting, the most powerful leaders in the world count on OANN to deliver the truth to YOU! Trump tweeted in December while trying to push the lie that he had won Novembers presidential election. [ President Trump gets mad at Fox News again, promotes OANN ] The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. > He was upset that Fox News was among the first media outlets to correctly declare on Election Night that Joe Biden had won the state of Arizona. OANN, by contrast, covered live the so called fraudit in Arizona where a Florida technologies company with no experience auditing elections was contracted by conservative lawmakers to take another look at the vote count after Trump lost. The certified election results held. OANN plans to broadcast what it calls a President Trump rally from Arizona on Saturday, where he is expected to be joined by conspiratorial MyPillow CEO and OANN booster Mike Lindell. Like Fox News, which has far more star power and higher viewership, OANNs formula is to rail against mainstream media services while advancing a narrative friendly to conservative personalities and causes. In 2019, OANN posted, then removed a tweet calling itself one of (Trumps) GREATEST supporters. A March 2020 study by the Public Religion Research Institute found that viewers who tune into OANN, or its far-right competitor Newsmax, which poached much of OANNs on-air talent last year, were less likely to be vaccinated. Watchdog group Media Matter for America praised DirectTV for dropping OANN Friday calling it a cauldron of misinformation and extremism. Advertisement According to Reuters, an OANN accountant testified under oath in 2020 that the networks value would be zero with its DirectTV connection. Company founder Robert Herring Sr. testified hed been offered $250 million for the outlet in 2019. OANN has not responded to a request for comment. Irish renewable energy company Elgin Energy has sold a portion of its solar power assets in Britain in a multi-million pound deal to Scottish Power Renewables, a subsidiary of global energy giant Iberdrola. The move will significantly enhance Elgins financial strength and enable it to further develop remaining solar projects it already owns in Ireland, Britain, and Australia. The value of the deal has not been disclosed. However, the transaction ranks as the highest value sale involving solar energy assets in Britain. Elgin has agreed to sell a 519-megawatt portfolio of solar projects and 70mw of co-located energy storage capacity to Scottish Power. The latter battery solution is at an advanced stage of development and all projects are expected to be operational by 2025. Elgin said the assets being sold will play a pivotal role in contributing towards Britains 2050 net zero strategy. It said the projects will supply zero carbon electricity to more than 143,000 homes in Britain and will generate low cost and low carbon power. The transaction will see Spains Iberdrola become a leading solar energy player in Britain It said developing the portfolio will cost around 500m (600m). Elgin still has a massive 5-gigawatt project pipeline, which it said it will continue to develop and deliver on. It includes projects at various stages of development. Most of Elgins remaining portfolio of projects are located in Ireland and Britain. It secured financing, last year, to develop 1.36gw of solar projects and in 2020 won two solar power contracts in Irelands first solar energy provision auction. Iberdrola currently has three Irish offshore wind projects planned, through a joint venture with Cork firm DP Energy, which will generate enough clean electricity for 2.6m homes. An ESB worker who was tossed into the air by a stag on a Tipperary mountain said on Friday that the attack will forever haunt him. In a statement after he settled his High Court action against the ESB, John Corcoran, 63, said: While I am so grateful to be alive and be here today, the attack I endured that day will forever haunt me. He added: Being left for dead in a bush for over an hour and a half, having narrowly escaped death is not a risk in the workplace that should ever be allowed to happen. I truly hope lessons have been learned. He said no employee, particularly in the already dangerous line of work of the ESB" should ever be left alone, especially when working so remotely. Mr Corcoran said it was deeply regrettable that the case and the accident occurred and he claimed it could so easily have been prevented with better support and working conditions from the ESB. Mr Corcorans case had been adjourned after he had to attend hospital when he has an asthma attack in the witness box this week. Mr Justice Paul Coffey was on Friday told the case had been settled and another case brought by Mr Corcoran against the ESB in relation to alleged exposure to asbestos had also been settled. The terms of the settlement are confidential. John Corcoran was an engineering officer with the ESB and was on his way to check on a mast when the stag attacked him on a forestry path at Kilduff Mountain outside Templemore, Co Tipperary, six years ago. The attack took place in September 2016, during what is traditionally rutting season. John Corcoran, 63, of Fawnlough, Nenagh, Co Tipperary, had sued ESB Networks Designated Activity Company with a registered address at Clanwilliam House, Clamwilliam Place, Dublin, and the Electricity Supply Board with a registered address at East Wall, Dublin, over the stag attack on September 12, 2016. Liability admitted Mr Justice Paul Coffey was told liability had been admitted in the case, which was before the case court for the assessment of damages only. The court previously heard Mr Corcorans case includes a claim for a total of 420,000 in loss of earnings. It was claimed Mr Corcoran had been permitted to work alone in a mountain area during the deer mating season when it ought to reasonably have been known that it was dangerous and unsafe to do so. It was further claimed there was a failure to have in place any warning device, panic alarm, man-down system or automatic distress message system for persons working alone in isolated areas. In evidence, Mr Corcoran said it was a really lovely summers day when the attack happened. A herd of deer crossed the path in front of me. I said wouldnt it be a lovely picture and then I got a sense of fear. The hairs on my neck were standing. I looked behind me and there was a stag 15 paces back from me, he said. He started to run but he said the stag hit him with force, his antlers creating eight puncture wounds on Mr Corcorans rucksack and wounding him in the shoulder. He propelled me through the air at speed over a bank and into the scrub. I lost my helmet and glasses, he said. The stag continued to attack with feet and antlers but Mr Corcoran said he had a rod and managed to hit the stag a few times in the nostrils, but it reared up on his hind legs and came crashing down on him. Mr Corcoran said he lost consciousness for an estimated 10 to 12 minutes but later managed to reach his phone and summon help. His solicitor, Sean Fitzgerald of HOMS Assist, after the announcement of the settlements said it was miraculous Mr Corcoran had survived the stag attack. We are only grateful that his case is one that highlights the role of care and responsibility that employers have for their employees. We are pleased that Mr Corcoran now has some closure and that he and his family have the financial support for the care he requires for his life-changing injuries, he added. People in society are saying enough is enough, this cannot happen again in the wake of the murder of Offaly teacher Ashling Murphy, the Taoiseach has said. Micheal Martin said the outpouring of grief across the country for the 23-year-old, who was killed by the Grand Canal outside Tullamore on Wednesday, represents a powerful act of solidarity. He said that he has to acknowledge that people dont feel safe, but said the Government is set to bring forward a major strategy in terms of violence against women, under the aegis of Justice Minister Helen McEntee. Speaking on RTEs Late Late Show, Mr Martin added that there has to be a cultural sea change. We have to call out any undermining of women, any violence, but also the culture of misogyny, and the absence of parity of esteem. The vast majority of men are repulsed by this. We need to listen to women more, sometimes we do not do that, but listening is the first step. Men do want to help, he said. Taoiseach Micheal Martin speaking to Grace Corrigan, a friend of Ashling Murphy, as a large crowd gathered outside Dail Eireann in Dublin. Photograph: Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie In terms of the ongoing pandemic, Mr Martin said he is feeling optimistic at present given the situation with Omicron is stabilising here, and the progress is clear to be seen. Case numbers are coming down, we are certainly heading past the peak at this stage, he said, adding that by the end of next week I think well be in a position to make decisions over restrictions. He said that we have to learn to live with Covid, but said he means that in terms of being able to switch on a vaccination programme as needed. As to whether or not the 8pm closing rule for hospitality will be gone by early February, the Taoiseach said I hope so. We want to ease restrictions when its safe to do so. But were still at 17,000 cases a day. I want to say to people your efforts are having an effect. It is the unvaccinated who are getting very sick, he said. Regarding Nphets prospective discussion of possible mandatory vaccinations, Mr Martin reiterated that he is an advocate of the voluntary system of vaccinations. The fact we got to 94% first and second doses, most world leaders would look at that and ask how the hell did you get that, he said. He said he doesnt expect schools to close again. When we had 20,000 cases a day we opened the schools, he said. The fact we can tolerate such a level of disease in society, the vaccines are working, and theyll get better in the future. He said he is comfortable about rotating the Taoiseachs office back to Leo Varadkar at the end of this year, and insisted he will certainly still be the leader of Fianna Fail when that happens. In her final moments, did Ashling Murphy plead for her life? Or, did the sheer force of the terror racing through her entire being render her immobilised? Well never know. But many women can well imagine. Now the women of Ireland are pleading in her place. Will you listen? Several women I know have shared information about vigils, toxic masculinity and mens violence against women on their social media accounts in recent days. They have all lost followers as a result. And so, kicks off the whole debate, as per usual, not all men. Stop offending us. But the minute you say not all men is the minute you stop listening and we move further and further away from a solution. Men, I get it. How do you take responsibility for a crime you didnt commit, but someone of your gender did? Its hard. I know. Approximately 500 people gathered in Emmett Square, Clonakilty this evening to hold a vigil in memory of Ashling Murphy. Picture: Andy Gibson The following words could be addressed to fearful girls and women, who go outside in the daylight in the course of living their lives. These words could serve to validate their fear, their grief stricken response to Ashlings abominable murder. But, if we are in the business of solving the issue of mens violence against women we need to address those who dont get this. We need to talk to those who are apathetic at best or who take offence at the term mens violence, at worst. This is not about you. The same way a black persons righteous rage may land in the body of a white person and trigger endless shame, it is not about the innocent white person and their offence at the accusation of privilege. It is about the black person who is humiliated and enraged at having to navigate, on a daily basis, a system that was designed by white people for white people with them as free labour. Dear men: the injustice or offence you feel right now does not supersede the murder of a vivacious 23-year-old woman, daughter, friend, sister, teacher whose entire life lay ahead of her. With all due respect, get over yourself. How have we made another of these murderous moments about men? Even in death, the real victim cannot be fully acknowledged, validated and honoured. Because, youre a victim too right? Youve been offended by the term mens violence against women. But last time I checked, your heart is still beating, your limbs are intact. You are earthside. But what about Ashling? What about Fiona Pender (Offaly, 1996), Deirdre Jacob (Kildare, 1998), Fiona Sinnott (Wexford, 1998), Charlene McAulliffe (Cork, 1999), Nora Kiely (Cork, 2002), Elaine OHara (Dublin, 2012) or Ana Kriegel (Dublin, 2018)? The roll call of women who have died at the hand of a violent man. Misogyny No motive, other than misogyny. And what about the many more women who will meet the same fate? It is a deeply uncomfortable and inconvenient truth to have to reckon with, that men perpetrate violence specifically against women. While many men die in crime-related homicides, many women die in men-related homicides. We, as a society, perpetrate violence against women every day. In the delivery room we offer women an episiotomy though neither the mother, nor the child are in any distress. But in the under-resourced world of maternal healthcare, there is a clock ticking in the delivery room. Alanna Norris (9) and her mother Jennifer Collins (second left) attend a vigil at Leinster House, Dublin. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA Wire Government after government has supplied only so much resources to the demands of labour in Ireland. In the courtroom - we give violent fathers and partners suspended sentences, men who have terrorised their own kin. Because its family, you know? We are not blaming you for Ashlings murder, nor are we holding you personally accountable, though you may interpret the affront as such. What we are asking you is that you take affirmative action to eliminate the risk of mens violence against us. That is what we mean when we ask you to take responsibility. We can take all the protective measures under the sun to mitigate the risk of our daughters being murdered by teaching them the difference between consenting and relenting, by telling them to walk in groups and to always carry keys in the fist of their hand, but unless you play a role in eliminating the risk, we are all playing a fools game. This isnt risk mitigation, this is risk elimination. So what can you actually do? How can you turn your offence into supportive action Firstly, its not your fault, but it is your responsibility to help end mens violence against women. How? When your brother makes a sexist, derogatory or misogynistic joke, tell him you thought his humour was better than that, that you thought he didnt need to rely on the incitement of violence to get a laugh. If your colleague on the building site comments on some passing womans behind, respond with: Imagine that was actually your mum, missus or sister. Not so sexy now. If any of them take great offence and turn it all back on you saying to cool the jets or to get a sense of humour, remind them youre just responding to the topic of conversation they brought to the table. If you think you have to be a hard man because thats what society taught you masculinity looks like, remember how Normal Peoples Paul Mescal became an overnight international heartthrob because he played a character who was the exact opposite of that in. Be an ally Have Instagram or Facebook? I dare you to share a story about mens violence, a post you see, how to be an ally or some such. Too scared in case the lads in the gym slag you or some follower rolls their eyes at you from the comfort of their couch? Imagine how scared Ashling Murphy was the moment she knew for sure her gig was up. But I get it, its hard to choose between not offending a misogynist and perhaps changing one mind for the better, for the safety of a woman or girl you may never know. Ending mens violence against women is not about curfews, pepper spray and car keys. Ending mens violence against women is about emboldening boys and men to expressly state opinion that goes against the grain of the patriarchal society we live in. Ending mens violence against women is about giving boys dolls and prams to play with instead of just guns and action figures. Ending mens violence against women is about equipping boys with emotional literacy, instead of believing feelings are the strict preserve of the female. Ending mens violence against women is on all of us, not just women and some men, but all of us. Will we let this national outrage pass as just another part of the news cycle, or is Ashling Murphys death a watershed moment in our nation to end mens violence against women? Only you can answer that by the actions you take from here. Man up. Attend a vigil. Talk to your boys. Tackle your own misogyny, no shame, we all have it. COOL AND CALM Penneys' latest collection of home accessories, above, is all about creating a calm sanctuary in your home. It'll take more than a nice vase to do that in our gaff, but still, there are some very pretty pieces here. I like the two-tone arch ornament, it's 7, find out more in stores nationwide and www.primark.com/en-ie. CURSE OF THE CELTS On the Bathroom Shelf this week, we're delighted to feature a fabulous product from Irish company Citrine Healthcare. It's part of their new derma range, Rosatrine, for people with skin prone to redness. Hands up anyone else who suffers from the curse of the Celts? This is the Rosatrine Intensive Cream, it's 30ml for 17.95. A powerful anti-oxidant, dermatologically tested on sensitive skin and ingredients include azelaic acid, natural tea tree oil, panthenol, and green pigment with SPF 30. It's available in Irish pharmacies nationwide now. For more information visit www.citrinehealthcare.com. ART COLLECTIVE Kildare Village is hosting a vibrant showcase of street art from the all-female creative group, the Minaw Collective. Taking its name from the Irish word mna, the collective is a diverse group of artists from all over the world, each currently based in Ireland. The artists canvas will evolve naturally over time, with new pieces of art being added every few weeks by different members of the collective. The exhibition space is located beside 7 For All Mankind and is open from 10 am to 6 pm each day. See www.tbvsc.com/kildare-village/en. PIZZA TIME Anyone trying Veganuary? Domino's Pizza has announced the launch of their newest Vegan-Friendly pizza, the Vegan PepperoNAY. See what they did there? This vegan twist on a classic pizza is perfect for vegans, those looking for more choice and anyone out there considering a flexitarian lifestyle. Dominos Group Ordering function on the app means that everyone can feed their individual requests into one order, there's gluten-free too. The Vegan PepperoNAY is available in stores across Ireland. See www.dominos.ie MONOCHROME MOMENT Go wild this month and get your hoofs on the TK Maxx and Homesense limited edition charity range inspired by National Geographic. We love this Zebra tote bag, 7.99. Most items in the range are made from recycled, sustainable and organic materials, with at least 1,50 from each product going to Enable Ireland. See www.tkmaxx.ie. ART EXHIBITION Were very excited to see that Thadys Tras photography exhibition opens today at 5 pm at the Clonakilty Community Arts Centre, Asna Square, running until the end of the month. Thady is a talented photographer who shoots black and white film and develops and prints them in his darkroom in the arts centre. He tells us his photos are of everyday people and places seen in his own way. This is his mother Fionnula and brother, Jack Tra, after a winter swim in Barrys Cove. The exhibition is entitled What I See, find out more at thadytra@gmail.com and on Instagram @thadytraphoto. WHEELIE COOL Roll up and check out this bronze skater vase. Tres trendy, it's from Red Candy and it's 28.80, check out other colours at www.redcandy.co.uk/. LENTIL CHIPS On the Kitchen Shelf this week, it's Mr Tayto, and his latest offering, Tayto Lentil Chips. With 40% less fat than standard potato crisps, these are a source of fibre, they're light and crispy and are packed full of flavour. Find them in stores now, they're available in two flavours, cheese and onion and sour cream and onion. They come in a 110g share bag and multipacks for 2.89, www.taytocrisps.ie. Burma Junta Watch: Coup Leader Finds a Godbrother, Sacks a General, Backs a Friendly Monk and More Myanmar coup leader Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen exchange commemorative gifts at a state dinner in Naypyitaw on Jan. 7, 2022. / Cncds Regime reshuffles key military posts General Maung Maung Kyaw, who as Myanmars air force chief oversaw airstrikes that killed dozens of civilians and displaced thousands, was forced to retire on Jan. 10 and replaced with Chief of Staff (Air Force) Lieutenant General Tun Aung. The military said Maung Maung Kyaw, who had served as air force chief for four years since January 2018, was due to retire as per the militarys retirement policy, issued in 2021, which sets the terms of office for the military leadership. Under the policy, his term could have been extended for two more years, and at 58 the general is still two years short of the official retirement age in Myanmar. It is not clear why coup leader Min Aung Hlaing sacked him. Maung Maung Kyaw will however remain on the State Administration Council (SAC), the governing body of the military regime. He graduated with the 26th intake of the Defense Services Academy and is the youngest son of General Thura Kyaw Htin, who served as the air force chief in the 1980s during Ne Wins military dictatorship. SAC Secretary Lieutenant General Aung Lin Dwe was also recently forced to step down as judge advocate general of the military. He remains SAC secretary, however. The commander of the Monywa-based North Western Command, Major General Phyo Thant, was also transferred to the Border Affairs Ministry as deputy minister. The transfer came after intense fighting in Sagaing, which is overseen by the North Western Command. There is unsurprisingly no mandatory retirement age for the ranks of Senior General and Vice Senior General in the retirement policy issued in 2021. Birds of a feather flock together Min Aung Hlaing asked Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to be his Godbrother during the latters visit to Myanmar, reported Fresh News, a pro-Hun Sen media outlet. Min Aung Hlaing reportedly told the authoritarian Cambodian leader, who has held power for 36 years, that in the future if the premier celebrates any family gatherings such as [a] wedding ceremony, he would like to be invited as a guest. It was in his role as the current chairperson of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that Hun Sen met with Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, whose ouster of the elected government of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has plunged Myanmar into violent conflict and economic disaster. During his two-day visit to Naypyitaw on Jan. 7 and 8 Hun Sen became the first head of government to visit Myanmar since the military takeover last February. Protests and rallies were held in some parts of Myanmar as people expressed anger at the visit. Cambodia was forced to postpone the first ASEAN meeting under its 2022 chairmanship amid reports of differences among the blocs members over Hun Sens visit to Myanmar, during which he did not meet democracy leaders. Amended law benefits regime-friendly monk Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing signed into law an amendment to the International Theravada Buddhist Missionary University Law on Jan. 11. The amendment allows the universitys deputy rector Ashin Chekinda, a well-known Buddhist monk close to the coup leader, to remain in the position for 15 consecutive years with the possibility of an extension, should the regime consent to it. On Myanmars Independence Day on Jan. 4, the coup leader conferred on Ashin Chekinda the title Agga Maha Pandit, an honorific bestowed on Buddhist monks who demonstrate a high proficiency in teaching Buddhist doctrine. The monk is known for his summer school programs, in which he teaches teenagers Buddhism and other subjects like civics, attracting hundreds of youngsters annually. He has barely appeared in public since the coup and has been tight-lipped about the regimes brutal crackdowns on peaceful protesters, some of whom were the same age as his summer school students. When Min Aung Hlaing and his family renovated the Kyaik Devi pagoda in Hlegu Township on the outskirts of Yangon Region in December, the monk was present at the ceremony, confirming suspicions that he is close to Min Aung Hlaing. The thief cries Thief! The military regime announced on Jan. 12 that it would take action against the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), the political wing of the Karenni Army, and Peoples Defense Force (PDF) groups, labeling them terrorist organizations and accusing them of committing war crimes as defined by the Geneva Conventions and international law in Kayah States Loikaw. The regime accused the KNPP and PDFs of taking cover in religious buildings, schools and residential wards, and of using civilians as human shields to attack its troops, as well as using heavy guns to attack Loikaw Prison. In reality, almost all residents of Loikaw have been forced to flee junta airstrikes since last week. At the same time, the regime has imposed restrictions making it difficult for displaced people from the town to flee into other regions and states. Junta soldiers have been looting and torching houses in abandoned wards and villages. On Dec. 24, at least 35 people including women and children were killed and burned in seven vehicles by junta soldiers near the village of Moso in Hpruso Township. It was unclear whether the victims were burned alive or after they were killed. The military regime said the bodies found in the vehicles were those of PDF fighters. It said one of their vehicles caught fire during an armed clash and the blaze spread to other vehicles. It was a particularly obvious lie from the regime, as the so-called PDF fighters included children who were not even in their early teens, and the burned vehicles were some distance apart, as seen in photos. Months ago, Chin States Thantlang and Karen States Lay Kay Kaw became virtual ghost towns after being subjected to junta raids. Many a religious building and house were damaged by junta shelling, something that has become routine during regime raids. The juntas statement on the fighting in Loikaw is nothing more than a case of a thief crying Thief! Coup leader calls on Indian doctors to save his grandchild Indias Telangana Today reported last week that two senior pediatric cardiologists from Hyderabad were specially invited to perform a heart procedure on the grandchild of coup leader Min Aung Hlaing in Yangon last month. The two cardiologists operated on the infant, who was born some two months after the coup. According to the newspaper, the 9-month-old was discharged the day after the operation and was doing well. In a picture published by Telangana Today, Min Aung Hlaing, on whose orders more than 1,000 people including pregnant women, preschoolers and school-aged children have been killed since last years coup, appeared visibly relieved after his grandchilds life was saved. You may also like these stories: After Residents Flee Fighting, Myanmar Soldiers Loot Town NUG Accuses Myanmar Junta of Committing Crimes Against Humanity Suspended International Infrastructure Projects Resumed in Myanmar Ithaca, NY (14850) Today Overcast. Slight chance of a rain shower. High around 70F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy with showers. Low 53F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Were working to cover how COVID-19 is affecting our region. Tell us your story. Have you or someone close to you been monitored, quarantined or tested and can you share about the process? Are you a medical professional dealing with this who wants to share your experience and needs at this time? Are you a student or worker affected by closures? Are there questions you have about the coronavirus and COVID-19 response that havent been answered? We want to hear about your experience. We understand this is a sensitive and private issue and we are willing to protect your identity if you request it. Sean Penn and Leila George are taking an unusual step in settling their divorce. The estranged couple have retained a well-connected private judge to help hammer out a deal for their uncoupling. Advertisement Sean Penn and Leila George attend a Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association benefit for Australia Wildfire Relief Efforts at Los Angeles Zoo on March 8, 2020. (Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images) Court documents reveal that the 61-year-old two-time Academy Award winner and human rights activist and the 29-year-old daughter of actor Vincent DOnofrio asked the court to appoint Judge Scott Gordon to hash out an arrangement to end their one-year marriage. According to People, Penn will pay to retain the private judges services, including Gordons $950 hourly rate and additional fees as part of the agreement. Advertisement Known throughout Hollywood circles, the retired judge was reportedly hired by Kelly Clarkson in her messy divorce from ex-husband and manager Brandon Blackstock. While serving on the bench of Los Angeles Superior Court, Gordon presided over Mel Gibsons and Britney Spears messy custody battles with their exes. Penn, who was previously married to Robin Wright and Madonna, is apparently moving to keep this divorce battle secret. The couple, who were spotted ringing in the New Year together in Australia, will go through meditation instead of going through the public motions in court. In California, temporary judges are allowed to preside over cases in effort to assist with backlogged courts. Gordon, who was appointed by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2010, serves as an extension of the court. Johnson City, TN (37604) Today Sun and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 83F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms. Low 62F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. In this May 2020 photo, a respiratory therapist pulls on a second mask over her N95 respirator before work in a COVID-19 intensive care unit in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) (Elaine Thompson/AP) We Americans may hate wearing masks, and we definitely hate how mask guidelines keep changing, as they did yet again late Friday. But public health officials say those annoying face diapers may be one of the best things we can do to prevent further damage from COVID-19s highly contagious omicron variant. Provided, of course, we use masks right. Advertisement And based on the ubiquity of fashionable single-ply cloth masks, ill-fitting surgical masks and masks worn under the nostrils hello? those orifices count too! it appears that very, very few of us know what were doing. I know wearing a mask is a pain in the butt. I totally get that, said Jason Salemi, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of South Florida College of Public Health. But to me, its a small price to pay to try to reduce community spread. Because with this variant, even if it ends up being a lot less severe, were seeing all of the numbers go up in a bad direction. Advertisement Last week, as the number of Floridians hospitalized with COVID-19 climbed nearly 34% over the previous week and 66 Florida residents were reported to be dying of the virus each day the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its mask guidance to acknowledge what most people already knew: that not all masks are created equal. Loosely woven cloth products provide the least protection, the agencys new guidelines said. Layered finely woven products offer more protection, well-fitting disposable surgical masks and KN95s offer even more protection, and well-fitting N95 masks also called respirators offer the highest level of protection. But the update stopped short of recommending that everyone wear those higher-quality masks, as some critics have urged. Instead, it said to wear the most protective mask you can that fits well and that you will wear consistently. Meanwhile, Congressional Democrats have introduced a bill to distribute N95 masks to every person in America, a move the Biden administration is said to be considering. And outside of Florida, where Surgeon General Joe Ladapo has been a vocal critic of mask mandates, a growing number of employers, college campuses, school districts and cities are starting to require them. Last week, Utahs Salt Lake County ordered residents and visitors to wear a well-fitting N95 mask or its equivalent when indoors in public, regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status or past COVID-19 infection. The masks are also required when lining up outdoors to enter a building or be tested for COVID. You can recognize N95 masks by their hefty half-globe shape, moldable nose piece and straps that go around the head, not behind the ears. They also have one very critical thing you cant see: an electrostatic charge that helps filter out 95% of airborne particles. The masks have been shown in real-world studies to be highly effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19, stopping an average of 90% of viral particles emitted when the wearer was speaking. And, yes, those were the very masks we were once told by the CDC not to wear. Advertisement Early in the pandemic, the masks were in such short supply that officials wanted to save them for front-line health care workers. An N95 mask, like the one in this photo, is considered the gold standard -- if it's properly fitted. (Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune/TNS) That gave rise to Americans buying N95-equivalent masks manufactured in different countries, including the KN95 from China and the KF94 from South Korea. Like N95, both have been plagued by sales of sketchy look-alikes, so its important to check that the masks youre getting are the ones approved by health regulators in their respective countries. (For N95s, theres a list of those certified by the CDCs National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health NIOSH at www.cdc.gov.) But the initial directive not to use N95 masks not only set the stage for two years of confusion, it also spurred the massive marketing of cloth masks as fashion accessories. It turns out theyre not entirely useless. But theyre close. You know, there was never an argument at the beginning as to whether cloth masks were comparable to N95s, said Jessica Holzer, assistant professor in health sciences at the University of New Haven, who has studied health policy and bioethics. They just didnt want Joe Schmo wearing them because of the supply issue. And part of the reason that people were discouraged from wearing cloth masks is the argument that, basically, they werent that effective. And thats still true. Yes, cloth coverings will prevent someone elses sneeze droplets from landing in your mouth, and they can be used over a surgical mask to help hold it against your skin for a better fit. Advertisement But most lack the thickness, weave and electrostatic charge to stop airborne viruses from invading your airways. Cloth masks were also recommended at a time when the coronavirus was a little less capable of spreading, a little less capable of replicating so quickly, Holzer said. But omicron is so much more infectious than delta was. The Health Report Weekly A weekly update on health news in Florida. > In between N95s and cloth masks are surgical masks. They do have multiple layers a plus and that electrostatic charge that traps viral particles, but surgical masks also have a fit problem. Because they lack the structure of an N95, they typically allow air to enter through the side. These masks are moderately effective at capturing particles coming out of your own mouth what we engineering nerds call source control. But they offer little protection against incoming particles, writes Aaron Collins, a mechanical engineer with a background in aerosol science who conducts detailed mask tests on his YouTube channel. We call this part how well the mask protects the wearer respiratory protection. A typical cloth mask, he writes, provides from 30% to 60% respiratory protection, depending on the number of layers, fabric weave and fit. Surgical masks range from 40% to 80%. Importantly, all masks lose their effectiveness over time. They get contaminated, the fit loosens, the electrostatic charge falters. Collins tested the KF94 and found it effective for 30 to 40 hours in a clean office-type environment. Those in dirtier or more crowded settings can count on less. Advertisement And no mask is foolproof, which is why Salemi sees masking as an important but incomplete weapon. Absolutely nothing that we have to battle omicron is foolproof in and of itself, he said. Not masks, not distancing, not vaccination or even boosting. The idea is, if we can do these things collectively, then we really reduce our likelihood of infection and, especially, of severe illness. ksantich@orlandosentinel.com Joe Hadsall is the digital editor for The Joplin Globe. He has been the editor of the former Nixa News-Enterprise and has worked for the Christian County Headliner News and 417 Magazine. Follow Joe Hadsall 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 Afrofuturism in the Visual Realm, which features artwork by Black Kirby, will be on display at the Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts for one year. (Courtesy Bird Dog Media) The Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts kicked off the 33rd annual Zora! Festival with the opening of Afrofuturism in the Visual Realm. The exhibition features the work of Black Kirby, an artist duo that takes the work of comic book artist Jack Kirby, who co-created characters like the X-Men and the Hulk, and combines it with Afrofuturism, struggles for social justice and hip-hop. Advertisement The exhibit will be on display for one year, coinciding with the newly expanded Zora! Festival. Curator and Zora! Festival academic committee member Julian Chambliss said moving from a one-month calendar to a year-round calendar will allow people to sit longer with the ideas the festival explores. Advertisement The goal of this festival cycle is exploration of the meaning of Afrofuturism, he said. University of California at Riverside professor John Jennings, one half of Black Kirby, explained that Afrofuturism is a response to the lack of representation of Black people in science fiction. If you look at 1950s sci-fi you dont see people of color in the future, he said. And thats really problematic, like, what happened to us? Stacey Robinson, Jennings collaborator and assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said that as Black Kirby, he and Jennings create the types of comics they wanted to see growing up. "Gil Scott Free combines the likeness of spoken-word artist Gil Scott with Scott Free, a DC superhero. (Courtesy Stacey Robinson) The comics displayed in the exhibit combine Jack Kirbys characters with Black historical figures and Black culture. Gil Scott Free combines Gil Scott, who Jennings described as one of the most amazing spoken word artists to ever live, with Scott Free, a superhero from the DC universe who is a master escape artist. Robinson said the piece, along with its companion Jill Scott Free, looks at the idea of the Black escape, or the freedom from oppressive systems. You have this husband and wife, who are speaking backward and forward into time to free each other, he said. Because we are not free in the future without each other. Advertisement Robinson said Black Kirby isnt just about making Jack Kirby superheroes Black. The artwork they create asks questions. Jennings said they played around with the idea of who can become a superhero. Do you think that a Black person is qualified to save you from a burning building? he asked. Or will you run from them and clutch your purse? The Black Thing references Jack Kirbys The Thing from the Fantastic Four and a lyric from Kanye Wests song Monster. (Courtesy Stacey Robinson) Jack Kirbys The Thing from the Fantastic Four is transformed into Black Kirbys The Black Thing. A speech bubble from the character reads ARRRGHH! IM A MUTHA-EFFIN MONSTER! Zora! Festival academic committee member Trent Tomengo said he thinks the message of the piece is to embrace the labels others try to use against you. Its constructed in a way where the message, at least from my standpoint, seems to be from Black cultures perspective, he said. You think were monsters, right? Well, were gonna embrace that concept. Advertisement Tomengo said when people look at these works, theres a chance they could change the way they think about themselves and the world around them, which could lead to a change in their actions. So, this is where the reality of the future idea comes in, he said. If you dont change the way you act, you wont change what happens to you in the future, or what could happen to you in the future. Things to Do Weekly A look at entertainment and sporting events in Orlando and around Central Florida. > Chambliss said being able to see yourself in representations of the future is transformative. The idea that if you see a future where you are included, he said. The mechanisms around achieving that future becomes something that you can, you can start to imagine. If you go The exhibit, Afrofuturism in the Visual Realm, is on display at Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts, 344 E. Kennedy Blvd. in Eatonville. Admission is free. 01/14/2022 by Buffy Lockette Jacksonville State University will be closed in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday, Jan. 17. Offices will be closed and classes will not meet. Please review the following hours and information for campus services. Dining Sodexo will operate normal dining hours over the weekend. On Monday, Jack Hopper Dining Hall will be open 8-9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., and 5-7 p.m.; WOW will be open 4 p.m. to 12 a.m. The Red Rooster will be open Saturday and Monday, 12-7 p.m., and closed on Sunday. All other dining locations will be closed on Monday. Students with meal plans are reminded to update their plan for spring by Tuesday, Jan. 18. Those who fail to do so will be defaulted into Plan C, which is 10 meals per week with $400 flex. For assistance with meal plans, please call 256-782-7242. Bookstore The Campus Bookstore will be open on Monday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., to provide students the opportunity to purchase books and supplies before the second week of the spring semester. Online order pickups and Financial Aid charging will be available. Recreation and Fitness Center UREC will be open normal hours on Monday: 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. Houston Cole Library The library will be open regular hours over the weekend: Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 3-11 p.m. It will be closed on Monday. Health, Safety, and Transportation The RMC/JSU Health Center will be open on Monday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. As always, walk-ins are seen 8-11 a.m. and patients with appointments from 1-4 p.m. The University Police Department is open 365 days per year, 24/7. Call 256-782-5050 for assistance. Students experiencing a mental health emergency after-hours should contact campus police at 256-782-5050 to be connected with an on-call counselor from the JSU Counseling Center. Due to staffing shortages, jsuRIDE will suspend its service Jan. 14-19, resuming operations on Jan. 20. 01/14/2022 by Buffy Lockette Due to an increase in the demand for student assistance, the university has split the Director of Counseling and Disability Support Services role into two positions. Longtime director Julie Nix will continue serving as Director of Counseling Services while faculty member Sean Creech has been selected as the new Director of Disability Resources, effective immediately. A JSU alumnus, Creech holds a Bachelor of Social Work from the university as well as a Master of Social Work from the University of New England. The Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker is a doctoral candidate in the University of Alabamas Doctor of Social Work program. Upon graduating from JSU in 2006, Creech began his career as a social worker for Child and Adult Protective Services with the Alabama Department of Human Resources. He also worked as a medical social worker for National Healthcare Corporation and served as a community outreach worker and advocate for a local domestic violence non-profit organization. Prior to returning to his alma mater as a full-time social work instructor in 2018, Creech served as Director of Long Term Services and Supports and HIPAA Security Officer for East Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commissions Area Agency on Aging leading five aging programs, each of which provided services to the elderly and individuals with disabilities across a 10-county region of East Alabama. In his new role, Creech will be responsible for creating usable, equitable and inclusive learning environments for students with disabilities by increasing the assimilation of universal design principles in campus facilities, instructional delivery, programs and activities. He will also continue to teach as a part-time adjunct and serve as a deputy Title IX coordinator. Outside of his work with JSU, Creech provides consulting, accreditation and program evaluation services to four local government agencies in Alabama. He also sits on several community boards, serving as vice president of the Family Services Center of Calhoun County and as a founding member and president of Self-Care for Advocates, an international non-profit. As a department within the Student Success Center, Disability Resources is now located on the second floor of Houston Cole Library. For assistance, contact Creech at sccreech@jsu.edu or 256-782-5264. 01/06/2022 by Buffy Lockette Dr. Brent Cunningham, head of the Department of Management and Marketing, has been appointed to serve as interim dean of the JSU College of Business and Industry, effective Jan. 3. Cunningham has been a member of the JSU faculty since 1999, when he was hired as an assistant professor of marketing. He was promoted to full professor in 2012 and was named department head in 2018 after serving in the interim role the preceding year. He served as JSU Faculty Senate president during the 2009-2010 academic year. A JSU alumnus, Cunningham received a BS in marketing from the university in 1987. He went on to earn an MA in marketing from the University of Alabama in 1990 and a Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Mississippi in 1999. His dissertation was titled, Coping Strategies, Materialism and Shopping Orientations: An Integrative Analysis of Todays Consumer in the US. Before arriving on campus, Cunningham began his academic career as a member of the marketing faculty at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., from 1990 to 1998. At least 108 civilians have been killed since New Years in a series of airstrikes in the war-torn northern Tigray region of Ethiopia, the United Nations said Friday. The UN also warned of a looming humanitarian disaster in the region, with its food distribution operations on the verge of grinding to a halt. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Twitter: My appeal to the parties: stop the fighting in all its forms. All people who need humanitarian aid must receive it as quickly as possible. Its time to start dialogue and reconciliation. The UN human rights office urged the Ethiopian authorities to ensure the protection of civilians, saying disproportionate attacks hitting non-military targets could amount to war crimes. Northern Ethiopia has been beset by conflict since November 2020 when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops into Tigray after accusing the regions ruling party, the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF), of attacks on federal army camps. We are alarmed by the multiple, deeply disturbing reports we continue to receive of civilian casualties and destruction of civilian objects resulting from airstrikes in Ethiopias Tigray region, rights office spokeswoman Liz Throssell told reporters in Geneva. At least 108 civilians have reportedly been killed and 75 others injured since the year began, as a result of air strikes allegedly carried out by the Ethiopian air force. She detailed a series of airstrikes, including the January 7 attack on the Dedebit camp for internally displaced persons, which left at least 56 dead and 30 others wounded, of which three later died in hospital. On Monday, 17 civilians were reportedly killed and 21 injured after an airstrike hit a flour mill, and on Tuesday, the state-owned Technical Vocational Education and Training institute was hit, reportedly killing three men, said Throssell. Numerous other airstrikes were reported last week, she added. We call on the Ethiopian authorities and their allies to ensure the protection of civilians and civilian objects, in line with their obligations under international law, said Throssell. Failure to respect the principles of distinction and proportionality could amount to war crimes. Meanwhile, the UNs World Food Programme said its distributions were at an all-time low, with the escalation of the conflict meaning that no WFP convoy has reached the Tigrayan capital Mekele since mid-December. Life-saving food assistance operations in northern Ethiopia are about to grind to a halt because intense fighting in the neighbourhood that has blocked the passage of fuel and food, WFP spokesman Tomson Phiri told reporters. After 14 months of conflict in northern Ethiopia, more people than ever need urgent food assistance. With no food, no fuel, no access, we are on the edge of a major humanitarian disaster. Governor Laura Kelly recently released her budget proposal, which includes increases in funding for universities like the University of Kansas. CENTRAL UNITED STATES -- A massive storm system that's dumping several inches of snow on the central US is expected to move toward the southeast Saturday, prompting the governors of Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia to declare states of emergency ahead of a crippling ice and snow event. More than 65 million people in the affected areas are under winter weather alerts, the National Weather Service said. "A strong developing storm over the Lower Mississippi Valley will move eastward to the Southeast by Sunday morning, then head northeastward to the northern mid-Atlantic by Monday," the National Weather Service Prediction Center said early Saturday. Rain, snow, sleet, and freezing rain -- or a combination of all of those -- will make travel difficult over the three-day holiday weekend across the Eastern US. Bookmark this site to check if snow is forecast for your region A swath of 8 to 12 inches of snow was recorded across portions of North Dakota on Friday. From there, the system dove deeper south, heading into Missouri, Arkansas and Kansas where it delivered rain and snowfall. "How fast surface temperatures fall below freezing, and therefore, how fast rain changes to snow will play a big role in determining just how much snow accumulates," said the NWS office in Topeka, Kansas. Throughout Saturday the storm system will bring heavy bands of snowfall to the Mid-South and Tennessee Valley. Localized areas of Tennessee could see snow totals exceeding 6 inches as the storm continues its eastward track toward the Southern Appalachians. Southeast may get a mix of everything For much of the Southeast, the system will begin in the form of rain on Saturday. As the temperatures rapidly drop behind a strong cold front, rain will change into freezing rain, sleet and eventually snow for many locations across the Southern Appalachians by Saturday evening. States of emergency were declared by governors in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, allowing assets and resources to be positioned ahead of the storm's arrival. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp ordered the state Department of Defense to prepare 1,000 National Guard troops to assist in the response to the storm. In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster urged residents to monitor local weather forecasts and take precautions. Major cities including Atlanta, Greenville, Charlotte, and Raleigh are included in winter weather alerts in effect through Monday. Forecasting winter weather in the Southeast is never easy, as timing often comes down to the wire. "These different types of wintry precipitation are very sensitive to small changes," said Kyle Thiem, a meteorologist at the NWS office in Atlanta. "A change of just a degree or two can mean the difference from relatively harmless rainfall to very impactful ice and snow accumulations." However, it is the slow forward speed of this system that provides the setup for a crippling ice storm that could knock out power to millions. Ice storm impacts could be seen from northeast Georgia to southern Virginia Saturday night through early Monday morning. Significant icing in the Piedmont of the Carolinas will likely lead to dangerous travel conditions, power outages and widespread tree damage, according to the Weather Prediction Center. Cities including Charlotte and Columbia are forecast to see ice accumulations of a quarter to a half an inch through Sunday night, alongside wind gusts of up to 30 mph likely to take down trees and power lines in the region. The National Weather Service has issued an ice storm warning for portions of northeast Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, in effect through early Monday morning in advance of the system, with temperatures likely to remain sub-freezing until the start of next week. "Significant amounts of ice accumulations will make travel dangerous or impossible. Travel is strongly discouraged," according to the NWS office in Greenville. The NWS is warning that ice accumulations will become very dangerous along and east of I-85 including Spartanburg, South Carolina, all the way up to Salisbury, North Carolina. This includes the entire metro Charlotte area. In the southern Appalachian Mountains, the snow totals will go up as quickly as the elevation does. Asheville, North Carolina, for example, is forecast to pick up 8-12 inches, but could reach 20 inches at elevations above 4,000 feet. Mid-Atlantic and Northeast The storm will turn northeastward to the East Coast on Sunday and Monday, with heavy snow of more than a foot expected in some locations. Some snow will fall in the major metro areas of Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New York and Boston, but a change to rain will hold down the accumulations. "As is common with this storm track, the Shenandoah Valley back toward the Alleghenies will be the likely winners in terms of highest snowfall totals," NWS Baltimore said Saturday. "7 to 10 inches is possible, but over a foot is not out of the question where heavier bands form." Snowfall intensity in the region may be heavy enough to evade significant icing, but NWS Baltimore warns that untreated surfaces may still lead to dangerous travel conditions where ice accumulates. The majority of accumulating snowfall will occur Sunday afternoon through Monday morning. Interior cities such as Charleston, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Syracuse and Burlington, Vermont, will see the heaviest snow. Prior to the snow event moving into the region, the Northeast will experience cold temperatures and dangerous wind chill. Wind chill alerts are in effect for nearly 20 million people Saturday, as feels-like temperatures could drop as low as 40 to 45 below zero in parts of the Northeast. "The dangerously cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes," the NWS warned. Alongside the snowfall potential, strong winds from the east associated with the storm system could cause major coastal flooding of up to 3 feet above ground in some areas along the Northeast coast during high tide. The timing of winds shifting from the east to the south will largely determine the severity of flooding, with moderate flooding potential if winds shift prior to high tide. "Widespread moderate to locally major flooding of vulnerable areas is possible near the waterfront and shoreline, including roads, parking lots, parks, lawns, and homes and businesses with basements near the waterfront," the NWS in New York said Saturday. Inundation could cause road closures and structural damage along the Atlantic coastline. The-CNN-Wire & 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved. Funding on its way for repairs to Oregon bridges Catherine Owens, 30, and her mother Vanette Owens, 58, who have been living in an Airbnb for the past two weeks with financial support from their church, pose for a portrait in the living room of the Tampa apartment on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. "When you're begging for help, 'please, they're going to evict me,' there's nobody there," Catherine said. "I don't know who is behind the scenes in these programs, but they have to do a better job because people are out here suffering, and I happen to be one of them." (Ivy Ceballo/Times) Three days before Christmas, Catherine Owens found the pink notice taped to her door telling her she was being evicted from the Temple Terrace apartment she shared with her 58-year-old mother. The women had five days to vacate, the notice said. Advertisement Owens, 30, had applied for rental assistance three months earlier through Floridas emergency relief program, called Our Florida. She said she had been working as a nursing aide for a small agency and inconsistent shifts made it difficult to stay on top of bills. She ended up going to work for Office Depot. Advertisement Owens application for assistance was approved in September, and she was told shed receive seven checks totaling more than $8,000. The money was earmarked to cover rent for the last quarter of 2021 and the first two months of 2022. It was also to help her pay a balance owed after she missed rent payments in August and September. Owens said she felt good when she found out she was approved. It was a layer of security she hadnt had before. Checks to cover rent for October and November arrived, but Owens said the back payments for September and August never came. Our Florida records show those checks were never deposited and have expired. Owens gave her property manager documentation that money was on its way, but the apartment management company proceeded with eviction. As she scrambled to pack what she could fit into a travel bag clothes, bathroom supplies, the essentials Owens pulled out her phone and fired off an email in a final attempt to get the help she had been promised. Hello my name is Catherine Owens... I have been calling Our Florida for months, she wrote to a case manager with the agency. Im facing eviction when Im supposed to be receiving help from this program. PLEASE I NEED IMMEDIATE HELP!!! She never heard back. Owens and her mother turned in their keys, piled into their car, and drove more than 500 miles to her uncles house in North Carolina. We were homeless, just like that, Owens said. Advertisement Unreturned calls As the moratorium on evictions was lifted last August, a flood of filings were made against tenants around the country who had fallen behind on rent. At the same time, billions of dollars in federal relief had been rolled out to states from the U.S. Treasury to assist people, like Owens, who had been financially affected by the pandemic. Early studies found that many states, including Florida, were slow to hand out rental assistance aimed at averting mass evictions. But even for those who got in line, the money has not provided the lifeline intended. As Owens waited on assistance to arrive, and her landlord inquired about missing payments, she said she tried contacting Our Florida to get answers. A review of Owens phone records shows she called the program support number more than nine times in December. Her call history doesnt go back farther than the month, but she estimates she reached out to inquire about the missing payments and warn of a pending eviction at least 30 times over the three months she was waiting. Id be on hold for hours sometimes, and the line would disconnect, Owens said. When I did get through to a customer service person, theyd tell me the same thing over again. Weve taken your case number. Advertisement Well escalate your concerns. Somebody will be in touch with you soon. Then nothing would ever happen, Owens said. It was so frustrating. An Our Florida representative said that if a scheduled payment is flagged as undeposited, the agency reaches out via text to the renter 45 days after the payment was sent, and again after 60 days. Then, the agency said it makes three phone calls to the tenant to offer assistance. When asked to comment on Owens case and for answers to questions about how many phone calls they receive each day, how many customer support staff are available to answer client inquiries, or how common Owens situation is, the agency said it would get back to the Tampa Bay Times. After eight days of interview requests made via phone and email to Our Florida, the agency has not returned comment. Advertisement Lack of transparency Florida received more than $870 million to distribute for rent and utility relief, through Our Florida, a program under the Department of Families and Children. But the administration and dispersion of funds has been roiled with problems and slow to get money into hands of the people who need it. In July, the Tampa Bay Times reported the program had distributed just 2 percent of allocated funds. Although other states were similarly slow to distribute only 6.5 percent of funds had been distributed nationally at the time others moved quickly. Texas, which was a national leader at the time, had distributed 47 percent. In the six months since, Florida has dramatically ramped up distribution, according to data released by the Department of Families and Children. As of Jan. 3, the department said that the program had provided approximately $700 million to more than 135,000 households. The department has posted updates about its distribution pace on social media platforms. They often attract comments by people who say they are renters like Owens, inquiring about missing payments and unreturned calls. Mercy Roberg, the director of operations and an attorney for the Pinellas Community Law program, which provides free legal advice for people in need, said Owens experience is not unique. Advertisement Roberg said that just since December, her organization has worked with around 25 people who are facing evictions while waiting to receive payments from Our Florida. Theyll have been approved through the portal, but the money doesnt come, Roberg said. Clients trying to call the center on their own never get a response. Roberg said that it has made it really difficult to argue eviction cases in court. It is almost impossible for me to take a case and get in front of a judge and say payment will be arriving in four days because (we dont know) if it will, Roberg said. And Roberg said that shes starting to see apartment complex operators say they wont accept government assistance checks because the payments take too long to arrive. Theres a lack of transparency from the state, Roberg said. If youre just an individual renting and trying to navigate the system on your own, its almost impossible to break through the web of non-information. Advertisement Rajni Shankar-Brown, a professor of social justice education at Stetson University and vice president of the National Coalition for the Homeless, said that when systems that are supposed to be supporting renters break, the damage is especially harmful. Theres a sense of false hope, and it prevents a person from making other plans, Shankar-Brown said. Shankar-Brown said that navigating applications for assistance can be a challenge for many people, especially those who havent had to before. And, said Shankar-Brown, as cities face an increase in evictions and housing insecurity, its important to remember that people of color, particularly women, are often disproportionately affected. Its really important to mention the intersectional connections with systemic racism and gender violence, Shankar-Brown said. Which in Florida, theres a deep history of. Holding on After Owens and her mother were evicted, the women spent a night sleeping on the floor of what she described as her uncles crumbling North Carolina home before deciding to return to Florida. Advertisement The conditions were worse than we were expecting, Owens said. My mom has health problems, we couldnt stay. Breaking News As it happens Be the first to know with email alerts on important breaking stories from the Orlando Sentinel newsroom. > For a handful of nights, a minister from a Tampa church used her own money to put the mother and daughter up in an Airbnb, while they tried to figure out a more permanent plan. She said shes since lost her job at Office Depot, because she had to miss work, so shes trying again to find employment as a nursing aide. On Jan. 6, after the Times contacted the Department of Children and Families with questions regarding Owens case, she received an email from a program representative regarding her assistance. I attempted to call you but in all honesty there is an issue with our outgoing phone system and the call hangs up mid ring, the representative wrote. Incoming calls seem to be good though. Owens returned the call to the agent the following day, and said that she was reassured that the program would again look into providing her assistance, and would work with her former apartment complex to try to get her back in her home. Owens said she hasnt heard from the representative. Advertisement Ive called three times, Owens said. Ive emailed. I dont know what else to do. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Vehicles sit idling on Thousand Island Parkway waiting to cross into the US, on Monday Nov. 8, 2021. The Canada Border Services Agency said Wednesday that a vaccine mandate for truckers would not come into effect this Saturday as planned. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg Kelowna school trustees will vote Jan. 26 on whether to introduce a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for teachers and the the rest of the 4,000 district employees. Trustee Lee-Ann Tiede said it was 'improper' to ask for her view on such a mandate. Some of the 1,461 publicly-funded long-term care beds in the Kelowna area have been temporarily closed because of staff shortages. Wait times for placement have also increased because of the closure, on Dec. 23, of the Pine Acres care home, shown here. Quebec Director of Public Health Dr. Horacio Arruda responds to a question during a news conference in Montreal, on January 5, 2022. Arruda, who had been public health director since 2012, abruptly resigned Monday after overseeing the province's pandemic response for 22 months, citing criticism about the government's response to the fifth wave. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson Are cloth masks good at preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus? Only kind of, according to the experts. Are more high-quality, medical-grade N95 masks going to be made available? Maybe. President Joe Biden's administration is expected to announce a plan to get more of them in the hands of the public sometime this upcoming week. That's already too late in the eyes of some Democrats. What's the Biden administration doing to combat COVID-19 surges? Facing mounting criticism for a perceived lack of action, the White House has announced new efforts to get more tests in the hands of Americans. What about understaffed medical facilities? The military is being called in in some places. Tests Starting Wednesday, Jan. 19, Americans can go to a federal website to request delivery of free rapid-COVID-19 tests to their homes, according to the White House. The launch of covidtests.gov is an attempt to remedy nationwide shortages, but tests will be limited to four per home, the White House said Friday. Last month, amid growing criticism of his administrations pandemic response and as tests became harder to obtain, Biden announced a plan to purchase 500 million at-home tests. This week, he announced that the administration will double that number to 1 billion in a longer-term commitment to make testing more available. Staffing Biden acknowledged Thursday that were all frustrated with the ongoing pandemic as he announced additional federal support to help Americans navigate the omicron wave. The military is deploying medical personnel to reinforce strained hospitals, following through on a plan that Biden outlined last month. On Thursday, Gov. Tony Evers announced that Wisconsin National Guard members were being dispatched to work at nursing homes to care for residents and free up beds at overwhelmed hospitals. Through a partnership with Madison Area Technical College, Guard members are receiving accelerated training as certified nursing assistants. About 50 Guard members started working at six nursing homes last week week, with another 80 expected to join in by the end of the month and 80 more in February, Evers said. The influx should allow nursing homes to open 200 more beds for residents by the end of February, Evers said. That will help hospitals, where administrators have said they cant discharge some patients who are ready to leave because nursing homes havent enough staff to accept them. Masks The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised earlier guidelines that had discouraged the use of N95 masks, the gold standard in masks, in new guidance published Friday. The agency had earlier suggested reserving such masks for medical personnel. U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., is among more than 50 Democrats in Congress to back a proposal that would send an N95 mask to every American. Since the beginning of this pandemic Ive been calling on the U.S. government to increase the national production of the medical supplies we need to fight this public health crisis. I have long supported unlocking the full power of the Defense Production Act to scale up production of Made in America personal protective equipment and medical supplies, including N95 masks, Baldwin said in a statement. As Americans are urged to upgrade the quality of the masks they wear, I want to make sure everyone has access to an American-made N95 mask, and this legislation will help make that happen and save lives. According to the FDA: "An N95 respirator is a respiratory protective device designed to achieve a very close facial fit and very efficient filtration of airborne particles the edges of the respirator are designed to form a seal around the nose and mouth," and is form-fitting, unlike loose-fitting surgical masks that are more readily available and typically seen worn by hospital staff before and during the pandemic. The proposal has been spearheaded by progressive U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. "Not all face masks are created equal," Sanders said in a statement. "Congress must demand the mass production and distribution of N95 masks, one of the most effective ways to stop the spread of the COVID virus. It is an absolute scandal that in the richest country in the history of the world, high-quality masks are not more readily available to frontline workers, health care workers, and all Americans. We are proposing that we do what our public health experts and scientists say we must do: provide all of our people with high-quality, N95 masks without cost, which could prevent death and suffering and save huge amounts of health care dollars." The bill includes an allocation of $5 billion to pay for manufacturing the masks within the U.S. The masks would be delivered to households via the Postal Service as well as being distributed to "prisons, shelters, college dorms, and assisted living facilities, as well as all workers in health care settings, including doctors, nurses, clinical staff, and support staff from administrative and janitorial, to food service." Cloth vs. N95 vs. nothing Research continues to show that wearing just about any mask is preferable to wearing no mask in terms of preventing the spread of disease, but the N95 mask is considered to be far superior in preventing the spread of nasal or oral droplets that may carry the novel coronavirus that causes the illness we know as COVID-19. A report based on federal research published by the Wall Street Journal found that the estimated time it takes to transmit COVID-19 from one person who is infected to one person who isn't is about 15 minutes if neither are masked, about 27 minutes if both are wearing cloth masks, 2.5 hours if only one is wearing an N95 mask and 25 hours if both are wearing N95 masks. Among the reasons cloth masks caught at the start of the pandemic 22 months ago was that they were more easily made by the public, and the more effective N95 masks were largely reserved for health care workers and first responders as they remained in short supply in 2020. A release from Baldwin's office said that "Studies indicate universal mask wearing could save the U.S. economy $1 trillion," although there's no indication that simply providing masks would lead to more people wearing masks. An Ipsos poll conducted in late October and early November 2021 prior to the ongoing spikes in new cases, hospitalizations and deaths found that 35% of Americans said they were wearing a mask at all times when outside their home. That was up from 29% in summer 2021, but far below the peak of 75% in January 2021. This is, in part, because a coronavirus particle is approximately 0.12 micrometers in diameter, while a Nepalese study, published in 2019, found that the size of the pores in cloth masks are rarely smaller than 80 micrometers and are often as big as 500 micrometers. According to an international study published last year: "N95 masks are designed to remove more than 95% of all particles that are at least 0.3 micrometers in diameter. In fact, measurements of the particle filtration efficiency of N95 masks show that they are capable of filtering approximately 99.8% of particles with a diameter of approximately 0.1 micrometer. SARS-CoV-2 is an enveloped virus approximately 0.1 micrometer in diameter, so N95 masks are capable of filtering most free virions, but they do more than that. How so? Viruses are often transmitted through respiratory droplets produced by coughing and sneezing." Reporting from Adam Rogan of The Journal Times, Bloomberg, the Associated Press, Anumita Kaur of The Los Angeles Times and David Wahlberg of Lee Newspapers is included in this article. With the help of a friend, 85-year-old Letha Owens visited 34 homes in her neighborhood in the Kentucky Baptist Convention's Gospel to Every Home evangelistic outreach. (Submitted photo) Ketchikan, AK (99901) Today Rain. High 47F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Cloudy. Some light rain is likely. Low near 40F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Pardon me if youve heard this story (I tell it a lot), but Martin Luther King Jr. Day always reminds me of how I learned the word segregation. I was a kid, visiting relatives in Alabama, which my parents called down home, when I decided I needed to get a drink of water. Advertisement I was directed to a pair of water fountains, one marked white, the other marked colored. Chicago Tribune columnist and editorial board member Clarence Page. (Bill Hogan / Chicago Tribune) Curiously, I turned the knob on the one marked colored, and was quite disappointed to see the water come out as clear as the water fountains I had used in the north. Advertisement Why? I asked my dad. Segregation, he responded and didnt say much more. That was in the late 1950s. Those days are mercifully behind us, thanks largely to Dr. Kings civil rights movement, although a lot of the old social, legal and political arguments have only been replaced with new ones. For example, we used to argue about race in America. Now we argue about the history of race in America. Critical race theory has become the label for a new furor over how this countrys racial history should be taught in public schools. Ironically, as Boston Universitys bestselling anti-racism scholar Ibram Kendi explains, it was this nightmare of post-civil rights racial inequality that caused legal scholars in the 1970s to develop critical race theory in law schools, particularly to study and reveal the laws role in the maintenance of inequality. Thats the critical race theory thats not taught in public schools. But activists on the political right have demonized the label so well that 32 states have introduced bills or taken other steps to restrict teaching it or limit how teachers can discuss racism and sexism, according to an Education Week analysis. King would not approve. These days everyone seems to be eager to quote his famous wish from his 1963 March on Washington speech, I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. But he said a lot more than that about the work that we all need to do to turn that dream into a reality. For one, we Americans need to undo the damage that has been done by those who use race to keep us divided. Advertisement FILE - Martin Luther King, Jr. and his civil rights marchers cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., March 21, 1965, heading for capitol, Montgomery, during a five day, 50 mile walk to protest voting laws. (AP Photo/File) (ANONYMOUS/AP) Racial segregation as a way of life did not come about as a natural result of hatred between the races immediately after the Civil War, he said at the end of the historic 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery for voting rights. Citing the noted historian C. Vann Woodwards classic book, The Strange Career of Jim Crow, which King called the historical bible of the civil rights movement, the segregation of the races was really a political stratagem employed by the rich and powerful southern conservatives mostly Democrats in those days to keep the southern masses divided and southern labor the cheapest in the land. King praised the very significant populist movement for pushing back with an interracial working class coalition that began awakening the poor white masses and the former Negro slaves to the fact that they were being fleeced by the emerging elite interests. Political Pulse Weekly Get latest updates political news from Central Florida and across the state. > After stirring divisions between the races, southern segregationists passed Jim Crow laws to make it a crime for Blacks and whites to come together as equals at any level. And that did it. That crippled and eventually destroyed the populist movement. Jim Crow was finally banned by the 1964 Civil Rights Act. We Americans certainly have come a long way on the path that led to the election of Barack Obama, the nations first Black president. But, yes, that was followed by the election of Donald Trump, whose abrasive brand of MAGA populism has not rejected Kings dream, but hasnt exactly embraced it either. Advertisement Yet, as crazy and even dangerous as our politics have become, Ive seen enough progress and well-meaning people in my lifetime to hold onto more than a modicum of hope. Let us be divinely dissatisfied, King preached in the final months of his life, as long as we have a wealth of creeds and a poverty of deeds. Im definitely dissatisfied. I guess, thats a start. Clarence Page is a member of the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board. 112 Shares Share Its no secret that rural hospitals have been struggling. According to online data from the University of North Carolina, 137 rural hospitals have closed in the U.S. since 2010. In Appalachia, the rural hospital where I work, which is staffed by a single hospitalist, has been in the crosshairs since I arrived in 2016 and has been limping along with subsidies from our regional health system. Over the years, we have repeatedly and fruitlessly discussed how to increase patient volume, increase case-mix index, avoid patient transfers to referral hospitals, etc., so that the mothership wouldnt decide to shut us down. Since COVID-19 has arrived, however, our ICU and medical floor have filled up. High-value, ventilated COVID-19 patients have boosted revenue. Due to a lack of beds at nearby referral centers, many of the non-COVID patients who normally would have been sent down the road for specialty consultations or services have remained in our hospital: one with a subdural bleed after an inpatient fall, one with septic arthritis, one with fulminant liver failure from a Tylenol overdose, one with a creatinine of 8+, and another with platelets of less than 3,000 and hemoptysis. These sicker patients have certainly increased our daily census, case-mix index, and diagnosis-based revenue. So, I wasnt too surprised when, at our last medical staff meeting, our leadership team reported that our little hospital was in the black and not just because of the CARES Act funds, they specified. We were making it work on our own. Well, more precisely, in my opinion, COVID-19 had saved us, with an honorable mention to the high proportion of unvaccinated patients in our area, who were without question the predominant ones in the hospital and on ventilators. Payments to hospitals for ventilated patients are high. References to Medicare reimbursement for COVID cases estimate a payment of about $13,000 for a respiratory infection with major comorbidities and over $40,000 for those requiring ventilator support for greater than 96 hours. The coronavirus relief legislation also created a 20 percent premium for COVID-19 Medicare patients. From the perspective of a rural county with a median household annual income of less than $27,000 in 2010, those are big numbers. So, for a short moment in time, our small hospital has been feeling pretty good: financially, that is, whereas the staff has been exhausted. Actually, my conclusion was premature: Other leaders reminded me that our little hospital needs to pay back the subsidies from previous years before any kind of celebration could take place. Well, I wasnt thinking of a celebration. What would we, in fact, be celebrating: The fact that the sick and dying residents of our community made us profitable for once? I dont feel too good about that idea. There is a bottom-line lesson that just seems to keep popping up like a bad penny in the domain of U.S. health care; that is, our health care system is built around sickness, not health. When people in our communities are sick, we prosper. And that, in and of itself, is sick, because if we had saved lives with a more successful vaccination campaign in our community, we might very well still be staring blankly at each other in the boardroom and shamefully accepting more subsidies, or shutting down for good. So, COVID-19 may simply be a tsunami of profitability that fills our coffers for a short time before slinking back into the sea, leaving behind death, destruction, and the same uncertain future. Thank you, COVID-19, and the unvaccinated, for these brief days of financial glory. Or not. David M. Mitchell is a hospitalist. Image credit: Shutterstock.com Local featured Murder suspect files for competency hearing At a Jan. 4 hearing at the Plantation Key courthouse, Circuit Judge Luis Garcia called Daniel Weisbergers case for a status hearing. The young man charged with homicide, who was attending via webcam from the jail on Stock Island, appeared on the screen in a chair rocking back and forth. Weisberger Garcia asked a correctional officer to help Weisberger, 18, to the stand, where he continued to sway with his arms wrapped around him, saying nothing. Garcia, who has been familiar with Weisberger for years through proceedings in family court, remarked that he does not look well. Weisbergers attorney, Coral Gables-based Edward ODonnell, said to the judge that hed spoken with his client the day before, when hed seemed better. It caused an emotional response from Weisbergers mother. His father, Ari Poholek, later said that its the worst that hes seen his son appear since he entered jail over a year and a half ago. In all the other hearings, Ive never seen Daniel anything like that, he said. He added that his son had displayed some of the same behavior to a lesser extent at his last hearing, saying that Daniel had been rocking in his chair. He seemed to be speaking repetitively. He seemed like he was kind of in a trance. The next day, ODonnell filed a motion for a competency hearing. Weisbergers attorneys have been attempting to get him evaluated by forensic psychiatrist Mark Mills for a number of months. His examinations have been held up due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and at the Jan. 4 hearing, ODonnell told the judge that due to the spike in COVID cases amidst the spread of the omicron variant, Mills would not be willing to visit the jail for now. Florida statutes state that a defendant has to have a rational understanding of the proceedings against him or her in order to hold a trial. It requires that a defendant must be evaluated by no less than two experts before the court takes further action. If experts find that the defendant is mentally incompetent to proceed, the expert shall report on any recommended treatment for the defendant to attain competence to proceed. The state operates a number of facilities where competency restoration can take place. The Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability says persons judged to be incompetent to proceed due to mental illness are provided medical and psychological treatment services to stabilize their condition. Once the defendant is deemed to have regained competence, legal proceedings resume. A 2008 report by the OPPAGA showed that such facilities are quite costly, and Poholek said he is concerned being sent to one could interfere with his sons education. Meanwhile, Weisberger has been in jail since May 2020, and his father worries that his mental state is declining. A spokesman for the Monroe County Sheriffs Office said a licensed mental health counselor is available at the main jail 40 hours a week, an advanced psych practitioner was available 14 hours a week and a psychiatrist was available four hours per week. All inmates who have mental health needs are housed at the main jail, the spokesman said. His mental health condition has been deteriorating for months and now weve seen the worst yet, Poholek said. Weisberger is accused of stabbing his younger brother, 14-year-old Pascal, to death in May 2020, and then attacking Poholek with a knife. Weisberger, who was 17 at the time, was charged as an adult. It is not uncommon for states to charge older teens as adults in murder cases. Some states even have laws that automatically transfer youths to adult courts if they are above a certain age and are charged with rape or murder. But Poholek said he believes Weisberger should be charged as a minor and should not be given a harsh prison sentence, fearing that he will lose his remaining son. Poholek said that Weisberger was once a bright, well-liked and involved child in the Upper Keys community, but claims that he was abused by his mother, which she has previously denied. As Daniel entered his late teen years, he developed worsening mental illness and the problem was exacerbated when he turned to substance abuse, Poholek said. On the day of Weisbergers attack, he was briefly a fugitive before he walked into U.S. 1 traffic and was hit by a car traveling 30 mph. He was in a coma for a number of weeks but regained consciousness, and Poholek said hes been having severe headaches and cognitive issues as a result. Poholek maintains that Weisberger was not a calculated killer, but rather he killed his brother while in a psychotic state of mind and has been filled with grief ever since. He said his son has been focused on getting a high school diploma, attending school through a virtual program and hopes to be able to have some sort of productive life, instead of a lengthy prison sentence. But in order to do that, he will need extensive mental health treatment, Poholek said. Poholek said both victims in the case, he and Pascal, want or would want Weisberger to be given mental health treatment as opposed to imprisonment. The last thing Pascal would want in the world was for his brother to be treated this way. He would be the first person to grab a sign and stand in front of the courthouse, he said. eweld@keysnews.com On Oct. 11, 1945, Jesse James Payne was taken from the Madison County Jail. The next morning, his body was found riddled with buckshot. Payne, a sharecropper, had been accused of molesting the young daughter of the man who owned the land he worked. But few believed he was guilty. The real source of contention appeared to be a dispute between Payne and his employer, who happened to be the brother-in-law of Madison County Sheriff Lonnie Davis. Please note: Some images in this gallery contain racial slurs and racial terms that are no longer in use - Original Credit: Florida Archives (Courtesy photo) Looking to update your home? Watch the KHQ Spring Home Design Guide featuring the areas top home improvement businesses on Sat, May 7 at 4:30pm on KHQ. And click here to win a $500 VISA gift card, courtesy of our presenting partner - VPC Electric! Kilgore, TX (75662) Today Scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High 78F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today Cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. High near 55F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Mostly cloudy skies. Low 41F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Support local journalism Local news, sports and entertainment when you want it. Please consider subscribing so we can continue to bring you the best local news, sports and entertainment coverage. Conservation groups have expressed disappointment in the passage of legislation last year that they believe weakens state oversight of the protection of open spaces like the Killbuck Wetlands in Anderson, shown here. A bill filed in the 2022 legislative session by Rep. Sue Errington, D-34th District, would authorize property tax deductions for landowners who maintain qualified wetlands areas. If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here Attorney Jason Gichner of the Tennessee Innocence Project, and Joyce Watkins after her conviction was vacated. President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook wave before leaving from Seoul Airport in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Jan. 15. Yonhap President Moon Jae-in left for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saturday, for talks with leaders there as South Korea seeks to explore business opportunities with the Middle East nation in the fields of hydrogen, space and other sectors. On Sunday, Moon will attend a bilateral business roundtable on cooperation in the hydrogen industry, during which he plans to ask the UAE to help Korean firms make inroads into the industry there. Also scheduled for Sunday is a visit to a "Day of Korea" ceremony at the Expo 2020 Dubai and a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. During the talks, Moon and the UAE prime minister will discuss ways to expand cooperation in infrastructure, efforts to tackle climate change, and space. The two leaders will also discuss Korea's bid to host the 2030 Expo. In Dubai, Moon will step up South Korea's campaign to host the Expo at the nation's southeastern port city of Busan. The following day, Moon plans to deliver a keynote address on carbon neutrality at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week and hold take part in a summit with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan on ways to deepen bilateral cooperation over climate change, national security and defense, and public health. In October last year, South Korea and the UAE announced that they would launch official talks toward a bilateral free trade agreement. The UAE is Korea's top export market in the Middle East and its biggest partner in human resource exchanges in the region. Korea has previously said it is pushing to sell its mid-range surface-to-air missiles known as M-SAM to the UAE. The UAE is the first leg of Moon's three-nation trip to the Middle East that will also take him to Saudi Arabia as well as Egypt. President Moon Jae-in presides over a meeting of his senior secretaries at the presidential office in Seoul, Jan. 10. Yonhap Moon will visit Riyadh, Tuesday, and hold talks with Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Moon and the crown prince are expected to discuss how to expand bilateral cooperation in public health, artificial intelligence, hydrogen as a power source and education, while bolstering cooperation in energy, infrastructure and construction. After holding talks with the crown prince, Moon will attend a business forum and meet Yasir al-Rumayyan, chairman of Aramco, the kingdom's state oil giant. The chairman also heads Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, known as the PIF. On Wednesday, Moon plans to attend a meeting with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Nayef bin Falah Al-Hajraf, during which they plan to announce the resumption of negotiations for a free trade agreement. Korea and the GCC had agreed to push for a free trade deal in 2007 and had three rounds of talks until 2008, but the negotiations have since been stalled after the council announced the suspension in 2010. Trade volume between the two came to $46.6 billion in 2020. The GCC, which has six member nations the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait, supplies 68 percent of South Korea's crude oil imports. On the last leg of the trip, Moon will leave for Cairo on Wednesday evening. He will hold summit talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Thursday, to further develop a comprehensive cooperative partnership between the two countries. Moon and the Egyptian president are expected to agree on a joint feasibility study to forge a bilateral free trade deal, which would be Korea's first free trade agreement on the African continent if sealed. In Cairo, Moon will also attend a business forum where companies from the two nations plan to discuss how to strengthen cooperation in electric cars, information technology and transportation. Moon will leave Cairo Friday afternoon and return home Jan. 22. (Yonhap) This photo provided by Cheong Wa Dae, Jan. 15, shows the new presidential jet, a Boeing 747-8i. Yonhap South Korea's new presidential jet entered service Saturday for a three-nation trip by President Moon Jae-in to the Middle East, according to Cheong Wa Dae. The new presidential plane, a Boeing 747-8i, was placed in commission Thursday. Moon and his entourage flew aboard the new "Air Force One" for an eight-day trip to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The 213-seat plane is equipped with various security and communication devices, as well as hardware to improve its defense against outside attacks, such as missiles, while new engines have increased its cruising speed and maximum total range, the presidential office said. In 2020, the government signed a five-year contract with Korean Air Lines to lease the new plane. Under the 300 billion won ($252.7 million) deal, Korean Air Lines provides pilots, crew members, mechanics, as well as a back-up plane of the same type for the president's overseas trips. The lease period for the previous presidential jet, a B747-400, expired Monday, after flying some 1.62 million kilometers since it entered service in 2010, the office said. (Yonhap) Welcome Guest! You Are Here: President Joe Biden and former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu walk to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Tuesday, Nov. 16 2021. As mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landrieu oversaw billions of dollars in infrastructure repairs and improvements when he took over a lagging recovery from Hurricane Katrina in 2010. Now, he's tasked with infrastructure work on a national scale. (AP photo by Carolyn Kaster) MISSOULA, Mont. - Data from the Department of Public Health and Human Services shows Native Americans are disproportionately impacted by COVID seeing deaths rates 11 times higher than other Montanans. Right now, one of biggest challenges Native Americans are faced with is access to COVID testing, especially in Missoula. According to the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS), COVID-related complications was the leading cause of death among Native Americans in 20-20 accounting for almost 30 percent of all COVID-related deaths in the state. The report also showed indigenous communities have a higher level of social vulnerability. All nations health representatives share high positive rates could stem from native access to safe housing, among other health needs. With a spike in COVID cases, The All Nations Health Center says right now all five of Montana's urban Indian organizations are working together to offer more vaccines, testing services and quarantine support across the state... Specific to their community. Right now the biggest need is access to COVID testing, All Nations cites availability could remain the same for them, if demand stays the same or slows down in the coming weeks. LAME DEER, Mont. - The Northern Cheyenne Tribe is celebrating their youth tonight as they complete the 26th Annual Fort Robinson Outbreak Spiritual Run. Over the course of the last week, Northern Cheyenne youth made the journey from Nebraska to Montana, commemorating their ancestors' breakout of Fort Robinson on January 9th, 1879. Running in relays, participants traced the 400 miles from Fort Robinson to the Northern Cheyenne homeland in Montana, completing the journey their ancestors could not. The event honors their history, when tribal members captured in Rort Robinson, resolved to resist and escape their captors. None survived, but this run serves to honor those who fought so hard to get back to their homeland. Lynette Twobulls, the organizer for the event, says this run is particularly significant to the kids who have suffered so much loss throughout the pandemic. One of the things this run is, is we're remembering them and remembering our ancestors and the strength that they had and how they would want us to continue to live and to look to the future and to have hope. So that's really what this run does for them, Twobulls said. This year, 40 Northern Cheyenne runners completed the 400-mile trek from Rort Robinson Nebraska to the memorial gravesite in Busby. Twobulls says she looks forward to continuing this important tradition that helps to heal the Northern Cheyenne community. Have a news tip or would like to report a typo? Email Anthony Victor Reyes at areyes@kvoa.com. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. Below are the Lake Geneva Police Department blotter items for the week of Jan. 4-9. 01/04/22 9:35 p.m.: An officer conducted a traffic stop on Center St at Geneva St. The driver, 26 year old Han Thanh Nguyen, West Milwaukee, was issued a citation for possession of drug paraphernalia. 01/05/22 8:49 p.m.: An officer was dispatched to the 200 block of N. Edwards Blvd. for a retail theft complaint. Upon arrival, the officer issued a citation to 38 year old Bernardita Martinez Zarate, Lake Geneva, for retail theft. 11:19 p.m.: An officer conducted a traffic stop on Maxwell St. at W. Main St. The driver, 19 year old Nicholas Paul Kopiwoda, Kenilworth, IL, was issued citations for exceeding speed zones for travelling 40 mph in a 25 mph zone and a citation for driving too fast for conditions. 11:39 p.m.: An officer conducted a traffic stop on W. Main St. at Center St. The driver, 32 year old Scott E. Ayers Jr., Kenosha, was issued citations for driving too fast for conditions and operating while revoked. 11:41 p.m.: An officer conducted a traffic stop on Lake Geneva Blvd. at Rush St. The driver, 21 year old Znairia S. Keys, Milwaukee, was issued a citation for operating while suspended and possession of THC. 01/06/22 2:20 a.m.: An officer conducted a traffic stop on Lake Geneva Blvd. at Rush St. The driver, 21 year old Znairia Save Keys, Milwaukee, was issued citations for operating while suspended and operating a motor vehicle without insurance. 8:36 a.m.: An officer conducted a traffic stop on Hwy H at Center St. The driver, 40 year old, Daniel T. Szpara, Lake Geneva, was issued a citation for non-registration of auto. 3:11 p.m.: An officer stopped a vehicle on Geneva St West of Broad St for no front plate. Driver did not have insurance, Officer gave verbal warning for both. Officer received consent from driver to search vehicle. Officer located THC in vehicle. The driver, 20 year old, Jalin D. Deleon, Delavan, was issued a citation for possession of THC. 3:51 p.m.: An officer conducted a traffic stop on Hwy H at Minahan Rd. The driver, 40 year old, Tasha M. Loma, Lake Geneva, was issued a citation for operating while suspended. 6:15 p.m.: Officers were dispatched to 201 N Edwards Blvd for a retail theft complaint. 64 year old, Arturo G. Soto, Lake Geneva, was issued a citation for retail theft-price tag altering and 62 year old, Susana Avila, Lake Geneva, was issued a citation for retail theft-price tag altering. 7:36 p.m.: An officer was dispatched to 200 block of Havenwood Dr for a noise complaint. 37 year old, Andrea N. Glover, Lake Geneva, was issued a citation for disorderly conduct. 9:25 p.m.: An officer conducted a traffic stop on Highway H at Wheeler St. The driver, 18 year old Giovanni Vincent Galdine, Elkhorn, was issued a citation for operating without a valid license first offense. 01/07/22 1:11 a.m.: An officer conducted a traffic stop on Dodge St. at Warren St. The driver, 31 year old Michael R. Benedict, Lake Geneva, was issued citations for an IID violation, improper display of license plate/tag/decal, operating while revoked alcohol related and bail jumping. 7:59 a.m.: An officer was dispatched to a motor vehicle crash in the area of W. Main St. at Broad St. One of the drivers, 36 year old Corey James Watson, Lake Geneva, was issued a citation for operating while suspended. 01/08/22 1:51 a.m.: An officer conducted a traffic stop on Milwaukee St. at Center St. The driver, 29 year old Marcia Ann Ojeda, Lake Geneva, provided officers false identification and was issued citations for operating after registration suspension and obstructing an officer. 4:40 p.m.: An officer conducted a traffic stop on Edwards Blvd. at Park Dr. The driver, 55 year old Jae I. Hwang, Bloomfield Hills, MI, was issued a citation for exceeding speed zones for travelling 52 mph in a 30 mph zone. 6:15 p.m.: While on patrol in the area of E. Townline Rd. at Wells St., an officer was flagged down by a driver who stated that their vehicle had been struck in a hit and run collision. After investigating, the officer located the driver, 42 year old Jorge A. Lopez Rivera, Burlington, and issued him citations for an IID violation, operating while revoked alcohol related and hit and run. 10:57 p.m.: An officer conducted a traffic stop on Highway 120 at Highway 50. The driver, 23 year old Oscar Perez Manzanares Jr., Glendale Heights, IL, was issued a citation for violation of a red light. 11:33 p.m.: An officer conducted a traffic stop on Broad St. at Dodge St. The driver, 27 year old Jon Hunter Jacobson, Lake Geneva, was issued a citation for operating a motor vehicle without insurance. 01/09/22 12:09 a.m.: An officer conducted a traffic stop on W. Main St. at Mill St. The driver, 43 year old Kevin Michael Daugherty, Racine, was issued a citation for operating while under the influence first offense and subsequently released to a responsible party. 1:48 a.m.: An officer conducted a traffic stop on Grant St. at Madison St. The driver, 41 year old Pablo S. Arzate, Lake Geneva, was issued a citation for operating without a valid license third offense within three years. 2:28 a.m.: An officer conducted a traffic stop on Wisconsin St. at Broad St. The driver, 34 year old Lauren Christ Nocek, Lake Geneva, was issued a citation for operating while under the influence first offense and subsequently released to a responsible party. 1:01 p.m.: Officers were dispatched to the 100 block of W. Main St. for a report of two subjects fighting. Upon arrival, an officer issued 20 year old Nicole Mathis, Lake Geneva, citations for disorderly conduct and trespass to dwelling. RACINE Seventeen months after 30 gravesites were defaced at Mound Cemetery in Racine, two people have been charged for their alleged involvement in the destruction. Kaitlyn B. Armstrong, 19, from Oak Creek, and Brandon S. Pfeifer, 20, of the 5200 block of Willowview Road, Caledonia, were each charged with a felony count of criminal damage to cemetery/mortuary. According to a criminal complaint: On July 31, 2020, an officer was sent to Mound Cemetery, 1147 West Blvd., for a vandalism complaint. The officer was advised that people overnight of the previous day had destroyed around 30 gravesites. Multiple veteran, floral and other displays had been removed and thrown about. Upon arrival, officers photographed the scene and located fingerprints on two of 24 damaged headstones. The prints had been submitted to the Automated Fingerprint Identification System for matches. On Dec. 27, 2021, AFIS returned a hit on the fingerprints and one of the suspects was identified as Armstrong. An investigator was able to locate Armstrongs Facebook page and saw she had shared a post regarding the damage to the headstones. GPS information acquired by police showed that her phone was in the area of Mound Cemetery the night of the incident. It also showed that she called Pfeifer during that timeframe. An investigator found Armstrong at her residence in Oak Creek. She told the investigator that she was at the cemetery the night of the vandalism. She said that she was with Pfeifer and another individual who was Pfeifers friend. She and Pfeifer began to fight in the cemetery and she pushed him into a headstone, breaking it. Pfeifer then ran off screaming and broke other headstones. When asked to explain why her prints were on the headstone, she said I mean, Im not going to lie, I do admit, Im not going to say, I dont even know if it was an accident or just something I could push him into. It happened, and I did that. Pfeifer was also located and taken into custody. He admitted to being at the cemetery with Armstrong and his friend. He said he had used acid (LSD) and marijuana that night. He claimed that his friend was doing all the damage to the headstones and that he should have called police but he ran because he was scared. When confronted with Armstrongs story, he changed his and said he had been doing drugs and called Armstrong to come over. He then said his friend and Armstrong did most of the damage. Court documents indicate the friend has been identified, but has not been arrested. Both Armstrong and Pfeifer were given a $1,000 signature bond in Racine County Circuit Court on Friday. Both have a preliminary hearing is set for Jan. 19 at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave., online court records show. Lifelong Lake Geneva resident Daniel Derrick is celebrating two milestones in the new year 50 years of firefighting service and the 110th anniversary of his familys business. Derrick recently was recognized for his 50 years of service with the Lake Geneva Fire Department. He joined the department Jan. 4, 1972. It makes me feel old, Derrick said of working for the fire department for 50 years. Its a big number. Fire Chief John Peters said he is honored to recognize Derricks 50 years of service on the department. There are very few in history of the department that have reached this milestone, one of them being Dans father, former Chief Tom Derrick Jr., Peters said. It is a testament to Dans dedication, skill and perseverance that he could accomplish this goal. During his time with the department, Derrick has served as a firefighter, emergency medical technician, lieutenant, captain, assistant chief and deputy chief. From probationary firefighter to deputy chief, Dan has ably served the department in a variety of capacities that strengthened our organization, Peters said. We have benefited from his calm demeanor in emergency situations and from his helpful leadership of the department over the past 50 years. Derrick said he has only worked for the Lake Geneva Fire Department, but the department often responds to emergency situations with other local firefighting agencies. With mutual aid, we work with Linn, Lyons, Elkhorn, Delavan and Bloomfield. We go to help them, and they come to help us, Derrick said. He enjoys interacting with and learning from the other firefighters. Chief Peters father was a close friend of mine. He was my mentor when I got on, Derrick said. I think thats the biggest thrill Ive had, just watching so many young people become really good firefighters and EMTs and paramedics. Derrick became interested in firefighting through his father, Thomas Derrick Jr., who worked for the Lake Geneva Fire Department for about 51 years. Thomas Derrick Jr. joined the fire department in 1951 and served as its chief from 1955 to 1994. He worked with the fire department until his death in February 2002. He made his last round with me a week before he died, Derrick said. I literally grew up in it. He received the magazines that firefighters get, and I would read them from beginning to end. Sometimes I would read them before he did. Memorable fire callsDerrick said some of the more memorable calls he responded to during his career includes a fire that occurred Thanksgiving 1972 between the Geneva Theater and the building where Thumbs Up Saloon is currently located. We spent all of Thanksgiving Day there. I think that was the biggest one we ever had that I remember, Derrick said. We saved the theater. We saved the tavern, but that kept us busy. Derrick also recalls a fire that occurred at the Dunn Lumber Company on New Years Day during the early 1990s. Changes in the firefighting professionDerrick said some of the changes he has noticed in the firefighting profession over the years includes better equipment and training for the firefighters. However he said fires are hotter now because of the newer types of materials that are being used for constructing buildings. I think some of the dangers that are there now werent there when I first started because of construction materials, he said. Fire service is a family affairDespite being a part of fire service for 50 years, Derrick doesnt plan to hang up his fire helmet just yet. He plans to continue to be involved with the Lake Geneva Fire Department in some form for at least the foreseeable future. I would like to continue, but with my age you dont know how long that goes, Derrick said. Captain Ryan Derrick, Daniel Derricks son, said he looks forward to continuing serving with his father on the fire department. Well keep him around for as long as he wants to stay, Ryan Derrick said. He doesnt go in the buildings anymore, but he can stay for as long as he likes. Daniel Derrick said he is excited that his son has followed in his footsteps, and that he has been a valuable member of the department. Im very proud of Ryan, Daniel Derrick said. Hes one of our captains. Hes a training officer and advanced EMT. Sandy Derrick, Daniel Derricks wife, is a member of the Lake Geneva Fire Bells, a nonprofit organization that provides food, drinks and temporary shelter for emergency workers during serious emergency situations. I started bringing water and filling my car up with things they might need during fires, Sandy Derrick said. Well go to McDonalds, and they will give us up to 150 burgers for the emergency workers. Celebrating 110 years of the family businessDaniel Derrick also is celebrating the 110th anniversary of his familys business, Derrick Funeral Home & Cremation Services. He said he has enjoyed following the family tradition of working in the funeral home industry. I can honestly say Ive never had to go to work a day in my life, because I enjoy the work that I do, he said. Derrick Funeral Home was started by Daniel Derricks grandfather, Thomas Derrick Sr., in 1912 in the 700 block of Main Street. The business was moved to 252 Center St. in 1924 and then to its current location at 800 Park Drive in 1997. The Center Street location is the building that was torn down in 2021 to make room for a store. Thomas Derrick Jr., Daniel Derricks father, took over the business shortly after his father died in November 1962. Daniel Derrick graduated from mortuary school in 1965 and received his license in 1966 and began working at the funeral home full time. He had assisted his grandfather at the funeral home during his early teenager years so he wasnt new to the business. I was 14 or 15 years old when I really started helping him, he said. Daniel Derrick currently operates the business with his wife, son and other family members. He enjoys assisting people during their time of need and has worked with many local families for generations. Ive buried grandchildren of grandparents that Ive buried, and Ive met an awful lot of nice people, Daniel Derrick said. A lot of times, Ive made a lot of good friends too. Changes in the industry Daniel Derrick said he has noticed several changes in the funeral home industry throughout his career. He said when he first started, the funeral home also often served as an ambulance service. Funeral homes provided ambulance service, because in a small town they were the only ones that had a vehicle that could really hold a prone human body, and that started years before I got into it, he said. Thats how it was until the state made a lot of regulations. Thats the way it was when I started a funeral home and ambulance service. Daniel Derrick said there has been more requests for cremation services during the past few years. When I first started, if we cremated three or four people in a year that was a lot, Daniel Derrick said. Now about 50% or more of our services are cremations. Ryan Derrick said there are also more requests for memorial services. Theres more celebrations of life, Ryan Derrick said. Ryan Derrick said he plans to continue the family business. Im planning on it, Ryan Derrick said. I hope I can keep it going. Daniel Derrick said the key to operating a successful family business for 110 years is to be available to clients when needed. He said his family often works holidays assisting clients. In this business, its being approachable and being available and putting the families first, day or night, Daniel Derrick said. People call us no matter what time of day it is. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. BURLINGTON A 63-year-old man required life-saving measures after an ATV accident near Browns Lake on Friday. The Racine County Sheriffs Office was dispatched after a 911 call that reported a man was lying unresponsive on the ice and turning blue. RCSO Sgt. Joe Patla said in a statement that deputies arrived within minutes and began emergency aid. The injured man was transported to Aurora Medical Center Burlington and from there was immediately taken to a regional trauma center by Flight for Life. The initial investigation revealed the ATV operator lost control and rolled over. Factors that could have contributed to the accident are careless operation and alcohol, according to the RCSO statement. The Racine County Sheriffs Office and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources are investigating. City of Burlington Rescue was assisted by Rochester Rescue at the scene, Patla said. A federal judge has blocked a power line under construction in Iowa and Wisconsin from crossing the Mississippi River after finding the governments environmental review was inadequate. Judge William Conleys ruling throws the fate of the Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line into question just months after utilities began construction on the $492 million project. Conley sided with four conservation groups that sued two federal agencies over approvals of the contentious 102-mile line between Dubuque, Iowa, and Middleton. In an order issued Friday, Conley said the Rural Utilities Services environmental review did not give adequate consideration to alternatives and therefore failed to comply with federal law. He ruled the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services decision to grant a right-of-way through the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge was arbitrary and capricious and that the line is not compatible with the refuges mission. Conley additionally found a proposed land exchange cannot be used to evade Congress mandate for the 240,000-acre refuge, which stretches from Rock Island, Illinois, to the confluence of the Chippewa River near Eau Claire. Conley noted the utilities waited until after the lawsuit was filed to change their right-of-way permit application, and the Fish and Wildlife Service suddenly discovered errors in its approval just a week before arguments were due. The utilities then proposed a land swap, which the Fish and Wildlife Service endorsed but Conley said is equally incompatible. Meanwhile, the utilities have continued construction on either side of the river, which Conley said amounts to little more than an orchestrated train wreck at some later point in this lawsuit. The case was filed by the Environmental Law and Policy Center on behalf of the National Wildlife Refuge Association, Driftless Area Land Conservancy, Wisconsin Wildlife Federation and Defenders of Wildlife. Two of the groups, Driftless Area Land Conservancy and Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, are pursuing separate cases in state and federal court to block the line, a joint venture of American Transmission Co., ITC Midwest and Dairyland Power Cooperative. Howard Learner, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, called the ruling a tremendous win for conservation groups that have been fighting the line for years. This is a protected national refuge thats not where youre supposed to go, Learner said. The federal agencies responsibility is to protect the publics interest, not the utilities. The utilities issued a statement saying they were reviewing the decision but are committed to completing this project, which will reduce energy costs, improve electric grid reliability, relieve congestion on the transmission system, support decarbonization goals and help support the interconnection of renewable generation in the Upper Midwest. Spokespeople for the Fish and Wildlife Service did not respond to requests for comment Friday. Conley gave the parties until Jan. 24 to advise him on any next steps. A separate federal lawsuit challenging the Wisconsin Public Service Commissions permit is on hold while a state court resolves similar conflict of interest challenges. Meanwhile the state case before Dane County Circuit Judge Jacob Frost is on hold while the Wisconsin Supreme Court considers whether former commissioner Mike Huebsch must submit to questioning from power line opponents and whether his private communications with utility executives created an appearance of bias that could invalidate the lines state permit. The utilities have separately appealed a federal court injunction barring construction in wetlands and other federally protected waters. Will virtual fence technology find its way to Pennsylvania? If so, Holsteins like these in East Earl could be doing some high-tech grazing in the near future. New Delhi [India], January 15 (ANI/Heylin Spark): TrueCV is India's first 360 Verification portal and employment history repository system. It's a venture of VLS Sourcing Private Limited, one of the leading HR consulting firms for the Hospitality and IT Industry. With a vision to channelize the recruitment process and assist employers onboard the candidates hassle-free, TrueCV offers modern-day solutions. It's a one-stop destination to verify the candidate details, share the offer letter, and verify the documents. Besides, True CV is also an aggregator of verification agencies that lets users select their choice of agency through which they can get their details verified. Also Read | Freight Train Loots in Los Angeles: Theft Menace on Union Pacific Railroad Route As Parcel Boxes Seen Littered On Railway Line. Kunwar Vaibhav Singh, Founder & CEO of TrueCV believes that necessity is the mother of invention. He says, "With the amalgamation of technology and innovation, remarkable solutions can be found." He is the Managing Director of VLS Sourcing Private Limited, a 7 year old recruitment consulting firm for the Hospitality and IT Industry. Having contributed as an HR professional in India's Top Food and Retail Industry, Kunwar Vaibhav Singh understood the gap in onboarding the candidates where employers find it difficult to collect and verify the documents from the candidates and proceed with the onboarding process. Punam Pathania, Co- Founder of True CV who is Director of VLS Sourcing Pvt Ltd and takes care of IT Recruitment says, "Many candidates don't join the organization even after taking the offer letter because there is no history maintained of the offer. TrueCV address this issue and help build a better connection between employers and employees from the initial days." TrueCV allows employers to send offer letters through a simple offer letter template. Once the candidate accepts it, the history is created in the candidate's profile which can be viewed by other employers on request. The employers are also authorized to review employees on their profile page from their official ID. TrueCV also helps to get the verification done through a simple and easy process of document/details submission. Rather, anyone can get their employee or even house help's aadhaar verified using this app. The app also helps in reducing crime. The police can upload the aadhaar number of fugitives who are on the run after crime on the secured server. If the person tries to get a job and gets verified through TrueCV, a notification will be sent to the police with the person's IP address and location. Also Read | Tongas Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Haapai Volcano Erupts Again, Watch Video and Satellite Images. TrueCV aims to help MSME and small business owners to get their employees verified easily. With a mission to promote better verification and hassle-free onboarding process, TrueCV strives for excellence. To know more about VLS Sourcing Visit https://vlssourcing.com/ and Click https://truecv.co/ to know more about TrueCV. This story is provided by Heylin Spark. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/Heylin Spark) (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 [India], January 15 (ANI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached flats and plots of land worth Rs 410 crore of Maharashtra-based Omkar Group and Viiking Group in a money-laundering case. These properties include flats worth Rs 300 crore of Omkar Group in Tower C of sale building namely Omkar 1973 based in Mumbai's Worli and an open land situated at Viram in Pune worth Rs 80 crore of Viiking Group belonging to Sachin Joshi. Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022: Yogi Adityanath to Contest From Gorakhpur, Keshav Prasad Maurya from Prayagrajs Sirathu Constituency. ED launched the investigation on the basis of an FIR filed by City Chowk Police Station, Aurangabad. ED had conducted a search last year on January 25 and January 27 and had arrested Babulal Varma, Managing Director of ORDPL, Kamal Kishore, and its Chairman. Sachin Joshi was arrested later on. Also Read | January 16 to Be Celebrated as National Start-Up Day, Says PM Narendra Modi. The ED had, earlier, filed a prosecution complaint on March 26 last year before the Session Court, Bombay. ED, during the investigation, found that loan amount Rs 410 crore was fraudulently acquired by Surana Developers Wadala, LLP, a sister concern of ORDPL through falsely increased slum dwellers numbers and FSI. "Out of Rs 410 crore, an amount of Rs 330 crore was laundered into the sale building of Omkar Group and an amount of Rs 80 crore approximately was laundered through Sachin Joshi and his Viiking Group of companies under the guise of services and investment," the ED said. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi [India], January 15 (ANI): Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra will hold a series of virtual meetings on Saturday with the Health Secretary, Chief Secretary, and Chief Electoral Officers of five poll-bound states before taking a call on holding poll rallies and roadshows, said sources. To begin with, Chandra will take feedback of Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan who will brief the overall picture of Covid Cases in the country and measures taken, instructions issued to states to combat the surge of Covid-19 cases to Commission. Also Read | Delhi Air Pollution: Air Quality in National Capital Stands in Very Poor Category Today, AQI Stands at 339. As of today, India reported 2,68,833 fresh COVID cases (4,631 more than yesterday) and 1,22,684 recoveries in the last 24 hours. Total 14,17,820 active cases are in the country with a daily positivity rate of 16.66 per cent. This week Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also taken a meeting with the Chief Ministers of States. Also Read | India Reports 2,68,833 New COVID-19 Cases, 402 Deaths in Past 24 Hours; Omicron Tally Rises to 6,041. After that, Commissioner Sushil Chandra will meet with the Health Secretary and Chief Secretary of poll-bound five states. The last scheduled meeting is with Chief Electoral Officers of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa. Earlier on January 8, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided that no physical rallies, roadshow, pad-yatra, cycle/bike/vehicle rally and procession shall be allowed till January 15, 2022.The commission shall subsequently review the situation and issue further instructions accordingly. A call on the political gatherings will be taken after January 15 depending on the dynamic situation of the pandemic's third national wave, Chandra said. He said the duration of polling will be extended by an hour amid the Covid restrictions. Meanwhile, ECI on Friday organized a briefing for Observers to be deployed for the forthcoming General Elections to the Legislative Assemblies of Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, informed ECI. Over 1,400 officials attended the sessions in a hybrid model, added ECI. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, January 15: As India is celebrating Indian Army Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said India is proud of the stellar contribution of the Army in Peacekeeping Missions overseas. The Prime Minister also highlighted that Indian Army personnel serve in hostile terrains and are at the forefront of helping fellow citizens during a humanitarian crisis. "Indian Army personnel serve in hostile terrains and are at the forefront of helping fellow citizens during humanitarian crisis, including natural disasters. India is proud of the stellar contribution of the Army in Peacekeeping Missions overseas as well," PM Modi tweeted. Army Day 2022: PM Narendra Modi Greets Soldiers & Their Families. Army Day is observed every year on January 15 to celebrate the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army - Field Marshal Kodandera M Cariappa. The position was taken over on January 15, 1949, from General Sir Francis Butcher, the last British Commander-in-Chief of India. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Guwahati, Jan 15 (PTI) Only one rhinoceros was killed by poachers during 2021 at Kaziranga National Park in Assam, a senior police official said on Saturday. Also Read | Punjab Assembly Elections 2022: CM Charanjit Singh Channi Writes to Election Commission of India, Demands Polling Be Postponed. Gyanendra Pratap Singh, the chief of the newly formed Anti-rhino Poaching Task Force, shared the data for 22 years since 2000 on Twitter and claimed that incidents of rhino poaching were least in 2021. Also Read | Virat Kohli Steps Down As Test Skipper: BCCI Thanks Former Team India Captain for His Admirable Leadership. "Year 2021 saw only one incident of rhino poaching in April 2021. The containment of poaching of one-horn rhino has been a major achievement of Anti-Poaching Task Force constituted by @mygovassam in June 2021. "Compliments to @assampolice and @kaziranga_ personnel," he added. Singh, also the Special DGP (Law and Order) of Assam Police, asserted that the Anti-Poaching Task Force will be ruthless in eliminating the poaching of famed one-horned rhinos in Assam and aims to eliminate this menace. He credited this achievement to the team effort of police forces of various districts along with forest guards of Kaziranga National Park. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Unnao (UP), Jan 15 (PTI) Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was confronted by jailed former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar's daughter over her decision to field Makhi rape victim's mother from Unnao Sadar seat. Kuldeep Sengar was sentenced to life imprisonment in December 2019 for raping a girl in Makhi village and is currently in jail. Also Read | Punjab Assembly Elections 2022: CM Charanjit Singh Channi Writes to Election Commission of India, Demands Polling Be Postponed. In a list of candidates released on Thursday, Congress had named Asha Singh, the rape victim's mother, as its candidate from Unnao assembly seat. In a video that went viral on social media on Saturday, Sengar's daughter Aishwarya was seen objecting to the decision invoking morality. Also Read | Virat Kohli Steps Down As Test Skipper: BCCI Thanks Former Team India Captain for His Admirable Leadership. "Priyanka Gandhi ji, this political step taken by you may be sound, I do not know politics. But the religion of society and morality will never forgive you," she allegedly said in the video. Aishwarya even claimed that Asha Singh, the proposed candidate, has a case registered against her for forging a transfer certificate and mark sheet. More than dozen of cases are registered against your candidate's family in this Unnao Unnao will never accept politics which destroys a family. You will also see its result on March 10. The blessings of our Unnao were with me and always will be," she said. (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, Jan 15 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday paid tributes to Thiruvalluvar on 'Thiruvalluvar Day', saying his ideals are insightful and practical, and stand out for their diverse nature and intellectual depth. Thiruvalluvar Day is observed every year as part of Pongal celebrations in Tamil Nadu to honour the great Tamil poet and philosopher, whose couplets on a variety of issues have been a source of wisdom to his readers. Also Read | Army Day 2022: India is Proud of Stellar Contribution of Army in Peacekeeping Missions Overseas, Says PM Narendra Modi. "On Thiruvalluvar Day, I pay tributes to the great Thiruvalluvar. His ideals are insightful and practicalthey stand out for their diverse nature and intellectual depth. Sharing a video I took last year of the Thiruvalluvar Statue and Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari," Modi tweeted. Also Read | Alwar Rape Case: No Evidence Found So Far, Less Possibility of Sexual Assault, Says Rajasthan Police. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Jamshedpur, Jan 15 (PTI) Two women and a minor of Sabar tribe, who were tarfficked to Madhya Pradesh , were rescued by East Singhbhum district police and five accused, including a woman were arrested, a senior police officer said here on Saturday. Also Read | Bhupesh Baghel-Led Chhattisgarh Government To Generate 12-15 Lakh New Employment Opportunities in Next Five Years. The women were sold by a resident of Hatiapata village in Ghatsila sub-division of the district in connivance with an associate from Odisha, said senior superintendent of police M Tamil Vanan. Also Read | Illegal Abortion Racket in Maharashtra: One More Skull Found From Kadam Hospital Yard in Wardha, Tally Reaches 12. An FIR had been filed by the father of the Sabar woman stating that she and four others besides a minor girl of the tribe, all residents of Sabar Bustee at Pahadpur village, had been lured by the main accused on the promise of a job at a bangle factory in Madhya Pradesh two months ago. Unable to get any news of his daughter since her departure, the man had approached the police and filed the FIR, the SSP said. Following this, a special police team headed by deputy superintendent of police (Musaboni) Chandrasekhar Azad was sent to Madhya Pradesh on January 6 and the three were rescued during investigation and the five accused were arrested, he said. The Sabar tribe belong to the Munda ethnic group and were classified as one of the 'criminal tribes' under Criminal Tribes Act 1871 and suffer from social stigma in modern times. Vanan said the women were lured away on the pretext of giving them jobs and then forced into flesh trade. They were kept confined in a hotel and their phones were snatched away by the accused before they were sold in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The woman who was arrested has been involved in trafficking for the past 25 years. She hails from East Singhbhum district and lives in Madhya Pradesh, he said. One team each of the district police are still camping in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to trace the two women, who are yet to be rescued, Vanan added. Besides the main accused, all the arrested are residents of Madhya Pradesh. PTI bs (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], January 15 (ANI): Ruling out an alliance with the Samajwadi Party for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar 'Azad' on Saturday criticised Akhilesh Yadav for eyeing 'Dalit vote bank', alleging that former chief minister does not want Dalits in his party. Azad said that he has held several meetings with Yadav in the last six months. Also Read | Bihar Hooch Tragedy: 5 Dead After Consuming Poisonous Liquor in Nalanda. "After all the discussions, in the end, I felt that Akhilesh Yadav does not want Dalits in this alliance, he just wants Dalit vote bank. He humiliated the people of Bahujan Samaj, I tried for 1 month 3 days but the alliance could not happen," Azad said while addressing a press conference on Lucknow today. Azad said his political outfit, Azad Samaj Party, will not form an alliance with Samajwadi party. Also Read | Maruti Suzuki Hikes Vehicle Prices by Up to 4.3% to Offset Rise in Input Costs. Notably, Akhilesh Yadav has stitched an alliance with several smaller parties to bolster the chances of SP returning to power in the upcoming state elections. Azad further said that leaders of backward classes, Dalits and others are supporting Yadav with a belief that he will do social justice. "However, I believe that Akhilesh Yadav does not understand the meaning of social justice. It does not happen with words," Azad said. Taking a dig at Yadav, Azad said his silence over the atrocities on Dalits shows that he is now behaving like Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). "Yesterday after we met, I had left the resposibility of the decision of an alliance on Yadav ji saying that you are my elder brother. I believe he should have called me," Azad said. "We have decided that we will not form an alliance with him," he added. Uttar Pradesh assembly elections will be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7. The polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Lucknow, Jan 15 (PTI) Azad Samaj Party chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad on Saturday said efforts were being made to form a third front of several opposition parties for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls and if it did not materialise, his party would go it alone. He also targeted Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. Also Read | Punjab Assembly Elections 2022: AAP Questions Election Commission After It Changes Law for Registration of New Party. "We thought this is a new Samajwadi Party and there will be some change in it. We can speak about social justice.... We wanted unity of the bahujan and we were banking on him (Akhilesh Yadav), but yesterday we felt that our hopes had been shattered," he told reporters here. "I feel that Akhilesh-ji does not need us. All the best to him...we will fight our own polls," he added. Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022: Yogi Adityanath Thanks PM Narendra Modi, JP Nadda for Making Him Candidate From Gorakhpur. Uttar Pradesh goes to assembly polls in seven phases between February 10 and March 7. Aazad said, "The effort is to unite scattered opposition parties and form a third front. Otherwise, after discussions with the core committee of Azad Samaj Party, we will contest the elections on our own." To a question on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath having food at a Dalit household, he said, "He still considers them (Dalits) as untouchable, hence is trying to prove a point by going and eating there. Why is he not having food at the home of a Brahmin or Thakur. He wants to prove a point that he is giving respect to them by having food with them." (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Phnom Penh [Cambodia], January 15 (ANI/Xinhua): The number of confirmed Omicron cases of the COVID-19 variant in Cambodia has increased to 332 after 45 new cases were reported, the health ministry said on Saturday. It said 29 of the new infections were imported and 16 were locally transmitted. Also Read | ATMs To Get Operational in Afghanistan for First Time Since Taliban Takeover. The southeast Asian country recorded the first case of the Omicron variant on Dec. 14 on a pregnant Cambodian woman returning from the western African country of Ghana. Cambodian health ministry's secretary of state and spokeswoman Or Vandine said more and more Omicron cases had been detected in the community, urging people to act together to prevent a large-scale community transmission. Also Read | Hong Kong To Suspend Flight Transits From Over 100 Countries, Regions Due to Omicron Variant. Cambodia on Friday started rolling out the fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccines to priority groups in capital Phnom Penh in response to the Omicron variant. The country has so far administered at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines to 14.3 million people, or 89.4 percent of its 16-million population, the health ministry said. Of them, 13.7 million, or 85.6 percent, have been fully vaccinated with two required shots. About 4.5 million, or 28 percent, have taken a third booster shot and 20,200 people have received a fourth booster dose, it said. Most of the vaccines used in the country's inoculation campaign are China's Sinovac and Sinopharm. According to the ministry, Cambodia has registered a total of 120,773 cases, with 3,015 deaths and 117,089 recoveries. (ANI/Xinhua) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Espanola, NM (87532) Today A mix of clouds and sun with gusty winds. High around 80F. Winds SSW at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. Low around 45F. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 mph, becoming N and decreasing to 5 to 10 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph. Moscow [Russia], January 15 (ANI/Sputnik): The first six planes with Russian peacekeepers from the forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) arrived at the Severny airfield in the Russian city of Ivanovo from Kazakhstan, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday. "The first six planes with Russian peacekeepers from the Collective Peacekeeping Forces of the CSTO arrived at the Severny airfield (Ivanovo city) from Kazakhstan," the ministry said. Also Read | Freight Train Loots in Los Angeles: Theft Menace on Union Pacific Railroad Route As Parcel Boxes Seen Littered On Railway Line. According to the ministry, after the landing of the last board, solemn events will be held on the airfield to meet Russian paratroopers who have professionally completed the tasks. At the end of the events, the personnel will begin to unload equipment for the departure to the point of permanent deployment. (ANI/Sputnik) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Rome, Jan 15 (AP) Italy's supreme court has faulted prosecutors for withholding evidence benefiting the key suspect in the Vatican's fraud and embezzlement trial in a parallel case in the Italian courts. The Court of Cassation ordered the Tribunal of Review to consider that evidence before deciding whether to uphold an international arrest warrant for Gianluigi Torzi, a London-based Italian broker who is wanted in both Italy and the Vatican for alleged financial crimes. Also Read | Martin Luther King Jr Day 2022: On Birthday of Civil Rights Leader, Twitter Users Share Thoughts on Federal Voting Rights Legislation. The Cassation annulled the warrant in October but the reasons for the decision were only released on Saturday. The court agreed with Torzi's lawyers that Italian prosecutors had failed to turn over his defense evidence to the judge who initially authorized the arrest warrant in March. When Torzi's lawyers appealed the warrant to the Tribunal of Review, the appeals judges should have considered whether Torzi's missing defense materials provided a decisive weight in his favour, the Cassation judges wrote. The Tribunal of Review upheld the arrest warrant in June without making that evaluation. Also Read | Massive Icefish Breeding Colony With 60 Million Nests Discovered in Antarctica. The case in Italy was launched after Vatican prosecutors had already been investigating Torzi for his role in the Vatican's bungled 350 million-euro investment in a London residential property. Vatican prosecutors have accused Torzi of trying to extort the Vatican of 15 million euros to turn over full ownership of the property. Torzi says the case is the fruit of misunderstandings. The Vatican tribunal indicted him in July, but his status in the trial has been in limbo because of the extradition proceedings between Italy and Britain and the legitimacy of the Italian arrest warrant that launched them. The Vatican doesn't have an extradition treaty with Britain. In a statement Saturday, Torzi's lawyer, Marco Franco, said the ruling appears to allow the Tribunal for Review the space to make a new, comprehensive evaluation" of the case. He said Torzi hoped for a more serene attitude by prosecutors toward the search for truth without being deprived of his freedom." The Vatican case has been beset by procedural errors by Vatican prosecutors that resulted in the voiding of several of the charges. Defence lawyers say the errors have deprived their clients of their rights; the Holy See insists those rights are being respected. While Vatican prosecutors have scored some wins, there have been other rulings outside the Vatican that have faulted both the conduct of Vatican prosecutors and Italian prosecutors acting on their behalf. They include rulings that have voided the legitimacy of Vatican-ordered searches in Italy and the Vatican-requested arrest and detention of another Italian suspect. In addition, a British court ruled last year that Vatican prosecutors made "appalling misrepresentations and omissions in their request to seize Torzi's assets, and ordered the money released. (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Islamabad [Pakistan], January 15 (ANI): A 26-year-old Pakistan Army soldier, Sarfaraz Ali, was killed as terrorists attacked a military check post in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's (KP) Bannu district, said Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement on Friday, reported ARY News. The check-post in Bannu's Jani Khel town on January 13-14 night came under attack by terrorists that opened fire on the army troops. Also Read | ATMs To Get Operational in Afghanistan for First Time Since Taliban Takeover. The army troops initiated a prompt response and effectively engaged the terrorists, said the military media wing in a statement. Earlier, the security forces had conducted separate Intelligence Based Operations (IBOs) on the presence of terrorists in Tank, Dera Ismail Khan (DI Khan) and village Kot Kili in South Waziristan district, reported ARY News. Also Read | Hong Kong To Suspend Flight Transits From Over 100 Countries, Regions Due to Omicron Variant. In the incident two terrorists had been killed, three apprehended and one terrorist surrendered to security forces in the operations, said the military's media wing in a statement. "Weapons and huge cache of ammunition including improvised explosive devices and rockets were also recovered from the terrorists," said the ISPR. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Khyber [Pakistan], January 15 (ANI): The size of trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan dropped by 25 per cent after the arrival of the Taliban dispensation in Afghanistan in August, last year. Talking to reporters during a visit to Torkham, Pakhtunkhwa chief collector (customs) Ahmad Raza Khan said Pakistan's exports to Afghanistan had declined by more than 25 per cent during the last six months due to a 'fragile economic situation' in Afghanistan due to the international sanctions imposed after the Taliban's Kabul takeover, according to Dawn. Also Read | Martin Luther King Jr Day 2022: On Birthday of Civil Rights Leader, Twitter Users Share Thoughts on Federal Voting Rights Legislation. The official said that the State Bank of Pakistan had introduced a new policy of exports to Afghanistan on December 13 requiring Afghan traders to show US dollars along with their passports at the time of entry to Pakistan to acquire Form-E for buying and importing Pakistani goods to Afghanistan. "The new SBP trade policy was meant to lure Afghan traders to bring American dollars to Pakistan and thus, increasing Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves to improve its economy," he said. Also Read | Massive Icefish Breeding Colony With 60 Million Nests Discovered in Antarctica. "That with the Afghan banking system nearly on the verge of collapse and their foreign exchange reserves almost dried up, the new trade policy failed to give the much-needed impetus to the bilateral trade," he added. Further, Torkham Custom Clearing Agents Association, Khyber Chamber of Commerce, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Commercial Exporters and Exporters, and Cargo Transport Association boycotted the clearance of commercial goods bound for Afghanistan for the third consecutive day on Friday against the State Bank of Pakistan's new export policy. Officials at Torkham said that the boycott of goods clearance had cost the country's exchequer millions of rupees in the last three days. The protesting traders and transporters said that they won't submit to the new policy as no formal banking was operational in Afghanistan after the Taliban came to power in August last year. They demanded of the federal government to allow them to do business with Afghanistan in Pakistani currency to restore bilateral trade, according to Dawn. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Tokyo [Japan], January 15 (ANI/Sputnik): Three people were injured in a knife attack during entrance exams to Japan's University of Tokyo, national media reported on Saturday. According to Japanese NHK broadcaster, citing the local police, a 17-year-old young man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Also Read | ATMs To Get Operational in Afghanistan for First Time Since Taliban Takeover. The victims reportedly received incised wounds to the back and were taken to hospitals. Two of them were high school students who came that day to take the entrance exam, the media said. Another victim was a 70-year-old man. There is reportedly no threat to the life of the victims. Also Read | Hong Kong To Suspend Flight Transits From Over 100 Countries, Regions Due to Omicron Variant. An investigation is underway. (ANI/Sputnik) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) By Reena Bhardwaj Washington [US], January 15 (ANI): The US Intelligence agencies monitoring Russian cyber operations against Ukraine believe Russia's pattern of activity could signal a ground invasion of Ukraine within the next 30 days, US officials said on Friday. Also Read | China Using its Billions to Buy Political Influence Across the World, Says Report. "We do have information that indicates that Russia is already working actively to create a pretext for a potential invasion, for a move on Ukraine," Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters on Friday. Kirby told reporters, "One could imagine, right, that an attack like that is meant to disrupt capability to try to dissuade action, to try to change the behaviours or the leadership decisions inside Ukraine. I mean, any number of reasons, not to mention just to intimidate." Also Read | Hong Kong International Airport Suspends Passenger Transit Services for 150 Countries Over Omicron Variant. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration was concerned Russia would stage such an attack, saying it was similar to what Moscow did in 2014 by accusing Ukraine of preparing an attack against Russian forces and warned it could happen between mid-January and mid-February. "We are concerned that the Russian government is preparing for an invasion in Ukraine that may result in widespread human rights violations and war crimes should diplomacy fail to meet their objectives," Psaki said. The accusation from the US comes after a week of diplomatic engagement between the US, its European allies and Russia, which ended on Thursday with no major breakthroughs. Moscow hasn't directly committed to engaging in any future dialogue. As part of the false-flag plans, Washington has information indicating that Moscow has prepositioned a group of operatives who are trained in urban warfare and using explosives to carry out "acts of sabotage against Russia's own proxy forces," an official told reporters. The United States information also indicates that Russian influence actors are starting to fabricate Ukrainian provocations on in-state and social media sites to justify a Russian intervention. Russia has massed tens of thousands of troops near Ukraine's border, sparking fears that Moscow may be planning to invade its neighbour in a manner similar to when it annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014. President Biden has warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that Moscow would face serious economic sanctions if Russia were to invade Ukraine. Moscow, however, has repeatedly denied any intentions of invading Ukraine. National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Thursday that the threat of a second invasion was "high" and said the US would have details on "what we see as this potential laying of a pretext" to share with the press. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Chatra, January 15: Police have arrested a man after he allegedly murdered his seven-month pregnant wife at a village in Chatra district of Jharkhand on Thursday, reportedly after she turned down his request to give him money for buying liquor. The accused was arrested and sent to jail on Friday, according to a report in The Times of India. The accused who has been identified as Tileshwar got married to Priya Devi on May 25 last year. According to Priyas brother Naresh Ganjhu, who is a Hazaribag resident, Tileshwar used to consume liquor regularly and beat up Priya. He even sold off household articles to buy booze, Naresh stated. Maharashtra: 46-Year-Old Man Kills Wife Suspecting Her Fidelity in Bhiwandi, Attempts Committing Suicide; Held Naresh further stated that on Thursday, Priya refused to give Tileshwar money for purchasing liquor, following which he thrashed her. He then strangulated Priya to death. The police, after receiving information, arrived at the crime scene and sent the deceased womans body to Chatra Sadar Hospital for postmortem examination. The police managed to apprehend Tileshwar, who had fled after committing the crime. He was booked under relevant provisions. He was sent to jail on Friday. This comes a week after a man killed his 20-year-old son for intervening in a row with his wife in Ratu, Jharkhand. The accused was under influence of alcohol. Jharkhand Shocker: Man Kills Son for Intervening in Row With Wife in Ratu; Absconding The accused identified as Rafiq Khan often fought with his wife. Reportedly, the accused came home intoxicated and started thrashing his wife on Friday evening. However, when their son, Ekram intervened, a heated argument erupted between the two. The situation escalated when the accused stabbed Ekram with a sharp object. Following this, the accused locked himself in the room. The police are yet to arrest the accused. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 15, 2022 07:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). New Delhi, January 15: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya will contest the state Assembly polls from Gorakhpur and Sirathu constituency, respectively. Cabinet Minister and BJP's state election in charge Dharmendra Pradhan and party national general secretary announced the first list of candidates for the polls at the party headquraters in the national capital on Saturday. Pradhan announced the candidates' names for 57 of the 58 seats going to polls in the first phase and 48 of the 55 seats in the second phase. Yogi Adityanath to Contest From Gorakhpur City Seat, Confirms BJP. He said the in the party's Parliamentary board meeting held under the chairmanship of party national President J.P. Nadda and presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, decision to field Adityanath from Gorakhpur and Maurya from Sirathu was taken. Both the leaders are members of the state Legislative Council. The saffron party announced the candidature of Adityanath and Maurya as per their strategy to field veteran party leaders in the polls. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 15, 2022 02:11 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). In a statement, Da Afghanistan Bank said that the decision was taken after a series of talks with commercial banks and the union of banks, reports Khaama Press. Based on the decision, the ATMs of commercial banks in specific areas will be available for customers. GoI's position on the India-Nepal boundary has been communicated to the Nepal Govt; established inter-governmental mechanisms are most appropriate for communication. Mutually agreed boundary issues can be addressed with friendly bilateral relations: Embassy of India, Kathmandu pic.twitter.com/WoB5YT6cMt ANI (@ANI) January 15, 2022 (SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.) On the occasion of Army Day, Bollywood actor Vivek Anand Oberoi paid tribute to the soldiers who dedicated their lives to the nation. Sharing a teaser from his upcoming short film 'Verses of War' on his social media handle, he said: "A poetic tribute to the Indian Army on the Indian Army Day. Presenting the teaser of 'Verses of War'. Releasing this Republic Day exclusively on #FilmsByFnPmedia #indianarmyday #indianarmy #jaihind" Oberoi, who plays an Indian soldier, and Rohit Roy, essaying the character of a Pakistani army officer, will be seen together in a film after 15 years. The short film, which is being released on the FNP Media YouTube channel, is directed by Prasad Kadam. Talking about the film, Vivek Oberoi said 'Verses of War' "salutes those brave and selfless soldiers who keep us safe". He added: "We should never forget the countless heroes who have sacrificed their lives for one breath of our peace." Los Angeles, January 15: The theft menace or train burglaries taking place on the Los Angeles rail route has caused safety concerns as packages and containers were seen scattered near the tracks. In photos and videos shared by people on the micro blogging site Twitter, boxes and packages looted and torn can be seen littered around the railway tracks. Parcel boxes and other damaged boxes were seen as goods were stolen from inside the containers. Reports say that robberies on the railway line had gone up by over 300% in recent times as thieves carry on with their plans with impunity. Keep hearing of train burglaries in LA on the scanner so went to #LincolnHeights to see it all. And theres looted packages as far as the eye can see. Amazon packages, @UPS boxes, unused Covid tests, fishing lures, epi pens. Cargo containers left busted open on trains. @CBSLA pic.twitter.com/JvNF4UVy2K John Schreiber (@johnschreiber) January 13, 2022 Letter from @UnionPacific to @LADAOffice on rise in train robberies. 90 containers breached a day, theft up 356% says UP. UP considering rerouting its trains out of LA county. UP asks DA to be harder on theives. Says theyre back out on the tracks a day after released. @CBSLA pic.twitter.com/SRNFYkPtiq Kristine Lazar (@CBSLAKristine) January 14, 2022 As per the letter sent by the Union Pacific, around 90 containers are breached a day and theft was up by 356%. The Union Pacific is also considering rerouting the trains out of LA county. The department in its reply said that it is committed to ensuring safety of business and the rail network and that the issue is being looked into. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 15, 2022 01:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). Brazil is experiencing an outbreak in cases with the Omicron, as President Jair Bolsonaro continues to downplay the effects of the said variant in the country. On Thursday, Joh Hopkins University revealed that the country's COVID cases amounted to 97,945, which nearly doubled last week's recorded cases of 63,292, Al Jazeera reported. Despite the number released, experts on Thursday said that the country's COVID cases could be much higher than the recorded data, contending the shortage of tests in the country, as well as the unreliable systems for reporting and the public disclosure data, can play a role in downplaying the data. In an interview of Cesar Eduardo Fernandes, the head of Brazilian Medical Association (AMB), with Reuters, the COVID cases in Brazil greatly affects the status of their healthcare facilities. "The situation is worrying and it is possible some services will collapse," Fernandes said, adding that staff absences among the hospitals had already tripled in four weeks since the Omicron wave hit the country. Fernandes also contended that the various is rampant in the country, claiming that if an individual does not know anyone who's got the virus, it means that that individual has "no friends." READ NEXT: Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro Back in Hospital Over Intestinal Obstruction Brazil's Economy Amid Omicron Wave Some sectors of Brazil's economy were also affected by the Omicron waver that hit the country. According to reports, Brazil's National Association of Restaurants claims that 85 percent of their members are suffering from staff absences. This resulted in about 20 percent of their total workforce out. Different airlines such as Airlines Azul SA and Latam Airlines Group canceled their flights as they were also plagued with staff absences. Meanwhile, tourism is also affected in Brazil, as several cities canceled their celebrations due to the surging cases of coronavirus. Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo are among the cities that canceled their famous street parties. In response to the ongoing dilemma in the economic sector, Brazil's Ministry of Health reduced the quarantine period for asymptomatic patients from 10 days to seven days. Brazil's public health officials also hope that the country's vaccination campaign will help alleviate the positive cases in the South American nation. To date, the country recorded at least 67 percent fully vaccinated against coronavirus. Brazil President on Omicron The surge in Omicron cases came after President Jair Bolsonaro continued to downplay the effects of the Omicron variant in Brazil. On Wednesday, the Brazilian president noted that the Omicron variant "has not killed anyone in their state. The president then mentioned a case in the city of Goias, saying that the man died due to his underlying health problem in the lungs which is already existent, and that the virus did not kill the individual. Jair Bolsanoro also called the Omicron variant a "vaccinating virus." "Some even say it is [Omicron] a vaccinating virus. Some smart people and serious people, not aligned to the pharmaceutical industry, say Omicron is welcome and could herald the end [of] the pandemic," Bolsonaro underscored. Instead of enforcing lockdowns and vaccinations, the president of Brazil promoted herd immunity contending that the said phenomenon is a "reality" and an immunized person "has a lot more antibodies than a vaccinated person. Bolsonaro's comment came as the deaths in Brazil amounted to 160 a day, a number lower than the previous surges in Latin America of 3,000 per day. All in all, more than 620,000 people died in Brazil due to COVID-19. READ NEXT: Brazil: 10 Dead, 32 Injured After Cliff Wall Collapses on Tourist Boats in Furnas Lake This article is owned by Latin Post. Written By: Joshua Summers WATCH: How Brazil Tackled the Challenge of COVID-19 - From DW News Bob Saget's friends and colleagues, including his co-stars from "Full House," were among the attendees of his funeral on Friday in Los Angeles. According to the Daily Mail, John Stamos, Candace Cameron Bure, Dave Coulier, Andrea Barber, Jodie Sweetin, and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen went to the funeral to pay their respects to Saget. Other celebrities, namely Jimmy Kimmel, John Mayer, and Dave Chappelle, were also among the stars who attended the Jewish burial ceremony to say their final goodbyes to the beloved actor. They were among the more than 100 guests composed of family, friends, stand-up comedians, and celebrities who attended the private occasion. Los Angeles Times reported that the funeral at Mount Sinai memorial park in Forest Lawn Cemetery is reserved for close friends and family members. According to reports, Bob Saget, 65, was transported to the cemetery in a blue Chevrolet hearse. His family reportedly drove in three black cars driven by Ascot, the Kardashian's favored limo service. Saget's closest friend and co-star in "Full House," John Stamos, took to Twitter on Friday to express his thoughts on Saget's funeral. "Today will be the hardest of my life. God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the thing I can, and wisdom to know the difference," Stamos noted. Today will be the hardest day of my life. God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. John Stamos (@JohnStamos) January 14, 2022 After the service, the guests followed Saget's hearse up to the highest point in the memorial park. The view from the area where Saget's coffin was lowered to the ground reportedly shows the Warner Bros. Studios in the north and Hollywood to the south. READ NEXT: Cardi B Lawsuit: Rapper Reveals She Was "Suicidal" After YouTube Star Tasha K Spread False Rumors About Her Bob Saget's Cause of Death Bob Saget's family is still waiting for the autopsy result that will determine his cause of death. Orange County Chief Medical Examiner Joshua Stephany told CNN on Monday that there was no evidence of drug use or foul play surrounding the death of the "Full House" star. Stephany added that Saget's manner of death is also pending further studies and investigation. The chief medical examiner then noted that the process could take up to 10 to 12 weeks before its completion. Source Claims Bob Saget is 'Healthy' Before Death A source noted that Bob Saget "seemed healthy" before his death, adding that the comedian would not have traveled and been performing had he not been feeling well. An insider earlier told People that Saget talked to his wife Kelly Rizzo in the early hours of Sunday. The source said Saget "sounded really happy" and excited after a great show. On Monday, Rizzo broke her silence on the death of her husband, saying she was "completely shattered and in disbelief," adding that Bob was her "absolute everything." "When the time is right and when the news is not as raw, I look forward to sharing more of Bob with the world," Rizzo said as she requested privacy at the time. Bob Saget, known for his role Danny Tanner in "Full House," was found dead at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Orlando, Florida on Sunday, not long after a two-hour stand-up performance at Ponte Vedra Concert Hall. According to reports, the sheriff's department and the fire department responded to Bob Saget's hotel room at around 4 p.m. E.T., but the actor was declared dead on the scene. READ MORE: Priyanka Chopra Opens Up About Split with Nick Jonas Rumors; Explains Why She Removed 'Jonas' From IG Username This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Joshua Summers WATCH: Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben on Bob Saget's Funeral Service - From extratv An Garda Siochanas Christmas and New Year Road Safety Campaign for 2021 commenced on Friday November 26 and concluded on Tuesday January 4 2022. The campaign primarily focussed on Mandatory Intoxicant Testing i.e. detecting those who drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The campaign also focused on speeding, non-wearing of seatbelts, mobile phone use by drivers, in addition to checking on unaccompanied drivers driving on learner permits. For 2022, Assistant Commissioner Paula Hilman, Roads Policing and Community Engagement Bureau continues to appeal to all road users to prioritise road safety. "As we enter 2022 our thoughts are with the families of the 134 people who lost their lives on our roads during 2021. "An Garda Siochana are committed to reducing deaths on our roads in 2022 and are asking all road users to make this their priority too. While a large majority of the public listen and comply with road safety advice we want all road users to be safe". Assistant Commissioner Paula Hilman said "Over the Christmas period Gardai arrested 914 drivers for Driving While Intoxicated, approximately 1 in 5 (21%) drug driving arrests occurred between 6am and 1pm. 35 Drink and Drug Driving incidents occurred on New Years Day, 12 of the incidents occurred between 6am-1pm, thats a poor start to 2022 for some drivers. "There were 13,950 speed detections over Christmas, while 1,269 FCNs were issued to drivers using mobile phones and 525 FCNs were issued to learner drivers, driving unaccompanied. "These ongoing detections demonstrate that some road users continue to ignore road safety advice putting themselves and other road users at risk. I would appeal to all road users to modify their behaviour, to heed road safety advice in order to reduce collisions, avoid unnecessary deaths and to ensure that our roads are safer in 2022. "Gardai undertook 15,759 breath tests at 5,681 checkpoints over the Christmas period. We are playing our part, and ask all road users to play theirs". Key Statistics from Christmas Campaign* During the period from 26th November 2021 until 4th January 2022. 914 Driving While Intoxicated arrests 13,950 Speeding detections 15,759 Breath Tests carried out 5,681 Checkpoints performed 1,269 FCNs issued for use of Mobile Phones 310 FCNs issued for non-wearing of seatbelts 525 FCNs issued for Learner Drivers Driving Unaccompanied A total of 35 Drink and Drug Driving arrests occurred on New Years Day 12 of these occurred between 6am and 1pm. There were sadly, 19 fatalities on our roads during the period between 26th November 2021 and 4th January 2022. This compares with 10 for the same dates in 2020. In 2021 there were a total of 134 fatalities on Irish roads. This compares with 146 in 2020. Sam Waide, Chief Executive, RSA said "I would like to acknowledge the tremendous enforcement efforts from An Garda Siochana in 2021 and over the Christmas period, in addition to road users behaving safely. "However, it is astonishing to see the numbers of those who persist to drink and drug drive, as it significantly increases the risk of a fatal collision. Inappropriate speed is still an issue and even a 5% reduction in average speed can reduce fatal collisions by 30%**. "It is alarming to think that 28% of all drivers and passengers killed in 2021, in Ireland, were not wearing a seatbelt. These behaviours lead to death and serious injuries on our roads. "I am asking those people who continue to break the rules to reconsider your behaviour, as there is a high likelihood you will be caught, face the prospect of being fined, receive penalty points, or lose your licence". Figures are provisional and subject to change *Key figures provided relate to 26th November 2021 4th January 2022 Film: The King's Man (Running in Theatres). Duration: 133 minutes. Director: Matthew Vaughn. Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Djimon Hounsou, Harris Dickinson. Rhys Ifans, Matthew Goode, Tom Hollander, Daniel Bruhl and Charles Dance. IANS Rating: *** 'The King's Man' is an action-packed period drama filled with humour that is spectacularly and uniquely British. Based on a graphic novel developed by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, this is the third film of the franchise and a prequel to its earlier two films -- 'Kingsman: The Secret Service' (2015) and 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle' (2017). 'The King's Man' therefore is the origin story of 'The Kingsmen', the elite club of British spies operating independently of the government, from their headquarters that fronts as a bespoke tailor's shop on Savile Row in the City of Westminster. Apart from telling us how the organisation was formed, the core of this film's narrative gives us an insight into attempts made to weaken the King of England's power and make the sun set on the British Empire. The film begins with a dramatic prologue. In the wilderness of South Africa, Orlando Oxford (Ralph Fiennes), an aristocrat who regrets his part in plundering Britain's colonies and is now working for the Red Cross, promises his dying wife that he would protect their son Conrad and never let him see war again. But 12 years later, Europe is in turmoil. Against the backdrop of World War I and the Russian Revolution around the corner, the narrative focuses on Conrad, who is keen on joining the war against the wishes of his widowed father. Orlando and his servants Polly Wilkins (Gemma Arterton) and Shola (Djimon Hounsou), with the blessings of King George V, meanwhile, are dragged into an espionage drama that may force the American President to enter the war, thereby strengthening their side. All this forms the crux of the narrative. The plot is fascinating and relatable as it ingeniously weaves in real-life historical moments and figures. Tom Hollander plays three major monarchs -- King George V of Britain, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. They were cousins and grandsons of Queen Victoria. Tom is captivating and entertaining in each character that he portrays. Rhys Ifans is entertaining as the villainous Russian monk Rasputin. He mesmerises the audience with his sunken kohl-laden eyes, bad table manners, and his skill of combining fighting moves with Russian dance spins. Djimon Hounsou as Shola and Gemma Arterton as the plucky housekeeper-turned-spy have relatively little to do. Ralph Fiennes, as the dashing superhero Orlando Oxford, plays his character straight and plain. His stern and strict father performance cum deathly spy when need be, is conventional yet rousing. Compared to the earlier two editions of the franchise, this film is much more robust in terms of narration and tone. Despite being stylishly mounted, the first two editions were satirical and comical in their outlook, and this one seems like a historical epic. Like most origin stories, 'The King's Man', too, suffers from pacing issues. All the minor drawbacks, however, are compensated by marvellous production values, attention to historical details, and brilliantly choreographed action sequences. Overall, 'The King's Man' is an entertaining film that will appeal to history buffs. The European Youth Parliament Ireland will gather in Bundoran as well as online from the 4th to the 6th of February for their annual Connaught Ulster session. This will be the first time the event will be hosted in Donegal and marks EYP Irelands interest in ensuring even those living in the most remote areas can participate in their events. The focus will be on discussing how we can build a European belonging in even the most remote areas and will engage with issues on a European scale. Students will discuss topics such as the protection of minority languages, freedom of movement in the EU, and the escalating conflict in Belarus in a mock parliamentary setting. Discussion will take place in a welcoming environment and EYP Ireland prides itself on being a safe space to develop and express opinions, build intercultural understanding, and develop democratic citizenship skills. Young students from 4th to 6th year from all over the area will attend the three-day educational event which is taking place in a hybrid format this year. Some will be offered the opportunity to progress to a National Session. Volunteers from across the EYP Network will travel to Bundoran to facilitate the events. In order to ensure the safety of participants extensive Covid-19 safety protocols are in place for the event and students will join the event digitally over platforms such as Zoom and Discord. Kate Rogers and Olivia Boland are the organisers who have been working to bring the event together since April 2021. Despite uncertainty and changes over the months of planning, they are excited to realise their vision of bringing the European Youth Parliament Ireland to Bundoran. EYP Ireland has been inspiring young peoples interest and engagement in politics for 25 years. The European Youth Parliament is present in 40 European Countries and organises almost 600 events every year. The EYP network involves close to 35,000 participants every year. The European Youth Parliament Ireland is supported by the Communicating Europe Initiative Students in 4th, 5th or 6th year wishing to participate can sign up on EYP Irelands website www.eyp.ie Local author and poet, Gerry Boland, has announced details of his New Year online writing workshops. Gerry Boland, who ran a popular writing workshop every Saturday in The Dock in Carrick-on-Shannon prior to Covid, has moved his workshops online. Im really enjoying the online courses, says Gerry. I miss the physical meet-ups, of course, but most people have adapted to Zoom and the other online platforms and are reasonably familiar with onscreen meetups. One huge positive is that someone living in Dublin or Cork, London or Berlin, New York or Toronto, can attend one of my courses. That kind of local and international mix brings a whole other dimension to the workshops. I love it! You can sign up to 10 creative writing workshops of two-hours duration over a ten-week period, starting late January, ending early April, hosted and facilitated by poet and author, Gerry Boland, it includes off screen writing time, writing prompts and discussions. There will also be reading and analysis of prose. The course runs on Saturdays and Sundays 10am - 12 noon as well as Monday evenings. Course Fee: 80 Gerry Boland is an author and a poet, with nine published books, the latest being his second collection of poems. Book your place by calling Gerry on 087-6397557 or by email: gerry.boland@gmail.com TATTOO parlours in Limerick have spoken out about new EU regulations which bans the use of certain pigments used by artists. A law agreed by the EU in December 2020 limits the use of certain chemicals in inks used by tattoo artists across the world. Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) have banned the use of 4,000 chemical agents used in tattoo art. The regulation states that some of the chemicals are hazardous and are linked to skin irritation, cancer and reproductive issues. While some tattoo groups and artists are protesting the ban of the pigments, others are saying that the move is not as detrimental to the industry as it would seem. The industry has had two years to adjust to the new rules and find alternatives which one Limerick artist says are readily available. Joanna Cummins is the manager and body piercer at Bullman's Tattoo Studio on Thomas Street and she says that the new rules were not introduced overnight. She said: The industry was made aware of it 24 months in advance. The new legislation resulted in banning two pigments specifically - Blue 15:3 and Green 7 - it's hardly a ban on all colour ink! I don't think this will negatively affect the day-to-day business at our studio, nor will it affect the tattoo industry as a whole in any major way. The new REACH-compliant colour inks are already available on the market, it's just a matter of replacing the old with the new. Joanna went on to say that their studio will always put the health and safety of their clients first. This isn't some kind of a new precedent either - similar changes had happened before in the 1990s when certain dangerous ingredients used in tattoo ink production were banned - resulting in tattoo ink brands coming up with new, safer versions of their products. In Germany an initiative called Save The Pigment has gathered massive support with 176,000 people signing a petition against the ban so far. The petition states that the new law will have a lengthy and negative impact on European tattoo artists and would jeopardise the existence of that sector. Tattoo artists are also concerned that clients could turn to providers abroad or switch to cowboy operators. Al Kinsella, a fine art tattoo artist from Wexford, echoed this sentiment in a video he shared online recently. The artist said that the inks used to replace the banned products will be less investigated and therefore consumers will be more at risk. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. Home Delivery of The Troy Free Press print PLUS full access to LincolnNewsNow.com.com as well as full access to the Electronic Edition of The Troy Free Press. ONLY $19.99 per month for the first 3 months! Only $23.99 per month after promotional period. Or ONLY $37.99 for a full year Only $49.99 per year after promotional period. The terms "A.D." and "B.C." have their roots in Christianity. "A.D." stands for anno domini (Latin for "in the year of the lord"), and it refers specifically to the birth of Jesus Christ. "B.C." stands for "before Christ." The system labels years based on a traditional notion of when Jesus was born with the "A.D." denoting years after his birth and "B.C." designating the years that predate his birth. In English, it is common for "A.D." to precede the year, so that the translation of "A.D. 2022" would read "in the year of our lord 2022." In recent years, an alternative form of B.C./A.D. has gained traction. Many publications use "C.E.," or "common era," and "B.C.E.," or "before common era" in order to make non-Christians more comfortable using the system. Before we talk about how and why the system was invented, let's get some historical context. When was A.D. invented? Artwork depicting the First Council of Nicaea. (Image credit: Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images) In the early Middle Ages, the most important calculation, and thus one of the main motivations for the European study of mathematics, was the problem of when to celebrate Easter. The First Council of Nicaea, in A.D. 325, had decided that Easter would fall on the Sunday following the full moon that follows the spring equinox. Computus (Latin for computation) was the procedure for calculating this most important date, and the computations were set forth in documents known as Easter tables. It was on one such table that, in A.D. 525, a monk named Dionysius Exiguus (sometimes called Dennis the Small) of Scythia Minor introduced the A.D. system, counting the years since the birth of Christ wrote Georges Declercq, a history instructor at Vrije Universiteit Brussel in an article published in the 2002 edition of the journal Sacris Erudiri. Dionysius never said how he determined the date of Jesus' birth , but he may have used surviving writings from early Christians such as Clement of Alexandria or Eusebius of Caesarea to help estimate the date, according to Alden Mosshammer, an emeritus professor of history at University of California at San Diego in his book " The Easter Computus and the Origins of the Christian Era " (Oxford, 2008). Dionysius attempted to set A.D. 1 as the year of Jesus Christ's birth, but was off in his estimation by a few years, with modern estimates placing Christ's birth at around 4 B.C., Live Science previously reported. Anno Diocletiani to Anno Domini Dionysius devised his system to replace the Diocletian system, named after Diocletian who was Roman Emperor from A.D. 284 to A.D. 305. This system used the number of years since Diocletian became the emperor of Rome . The first year in Dionysius' Easter table, "Anno Domini 532," followed the year "Anno Diocletiani 247," according to Johns Hopkins University's Project Muse . Dionysius made the change specifically to do away with the memory of Diocletian, who had harshly persecuted Christians, according to the World History Encyclopedia . Diocletian issued edits that resulted in the killing or imprisonment of many Christians and the burning of their churches and scriptures, wrote E. Glenn Hinson, a retired professor of church history at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, in his book " The Early Church: Origins to the Dawn of the Middle Ages " (Abingdon Press, 2010). The years "before Christ" The Venerable Bede is seen dictating as he translates the last chapter of St. John's gospel into Anglo Saxon. (Image credit: Fine Art Photographic Library/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images) The addition of the B.C. component happened two centuries after Dionysius, when the Venerable Bede of Northumbria published his "Ecclesiastical History of the English People" in 731, wrote Antonia Gransden, who was a reader in history at the University of Nottingham, in her book "Historical Writing in England: c. 500 to c. 1307" (Routledge, 1997). The work brought the A.D. system to the attention of more people and expanded it to include years before A.D. 1. Prior years were numbered to count backward to indicate the number of years an event had occurred "before Christ" or "B.C." No year zero? There was no "year zero" in Bede's updated system, as the concept of the number zero had not appeared in Western Europe. "To Bede, also ignorant of the number zero, the year that came before 1 A.D. was 1 B.C. There was no year zero. After all, to Bede, zero didn't exist," wrote Charles Seife in his book "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" (Penguin Books, 2000). However, zero did exist; our modern conception of zero was first published in A.D. 628 by the Indian scholar Brahmagupta. The idea would not spread to medieval Christian Europe until the 11th to 13th centuries. Spread of A.D. & B.C. The B.C./A.D. system became more popular in the ninth century after Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne adopted the system for dating acts of government throughout Europe. By the 15th century, all of Western Europe had adopted the B.C./A.D. system. The system's inclusion was implicit in the 16th-century introduction of the Gregorian calendar and it later would become an international standard in 1988 when the International Organization for Standardization released ISO 8601 , which describes an internationally accepted way to represent dates and times. Common era and Vulgar era The alternative form of "Before the Common Era" and "Common Era" dates back to 1715, where it is used in an astronomy book interchangeably with "Vulgar Era." At the time, vulgar meant "ordinary," rather than "crude." The term "Vulgar Era" is even older, first appearing in a 1615 book by Johannes Kepler. There are a number of reasons why some individuals and organizations have changed from A.D. to C.E. These include showing sensitivity to non-Christians who use this dating system. They also include the fact that "Anno Domini" is probably inaccurate, since scholars generally believe that Christ was born some years before A.D. 1. Additional resources Read more about the date and time format used by ISO on the organization's website . Mosshammer's book provides a detailed study on Dionysius Exiguus and his computational methods. WebExhibits has an online resource about the Gregorian Calendar, including an easy-to-read history and answers to related questions, such as "What is the origin of the names of the months?" Bibliography Bede, Farmer, D.H, "Ecclesiastical History of the English People," Penguin, 2003 Declercq, G, Dionysius Exiguus and the Introduction of the Christian Era. Sacris Erudiri, 2002 https://www.brepolsonline.net/doi/abs/10.1484/J.SE.2.300491 Gransden, A, "Historical Writing in England: c. 500 to c. 1307," Routledge, 1997 Hinson, G, "The Early Church: Origins to the Dawn of the Middle Ages," Abingdon Press, 2010. https://www.amazon.com/Early-Church-Origins-Dawn-Middle/dp/0687006031 Mosshammer, A. "The Easter Computus and the Origins of the Christian Era," Oxford, 2008. https://www.amazon.com/Early-Church-Origins-Dawn-Middle/dp/0687006031/ Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya will contest the state Assembly polls from Gorakhpur and Sirathu constituency, respectively. Cabinet Minister and BJP's state election in charge Dharmendra Pradhan and party national general secretary announced the first list of candidates for the polls at the party headquraters in the national capital on Saturday. Pradhan announced the candidates' names for 57 of the 58 seats going to polls in the first phase and 48 of the 55 seats in the second phase. He said the in the party's Parliamentary board meeting held under the chairmanship of party national President J.P. Nadda and presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, decision to field Adityanath from Gorakhpur and Maurya from Sirathu was taken. Both the leaders are members of the state Legislative Council. The saffron party announced the candidature of Adityanath and Maurya as per their strategy to field veteran party leaders in the polls. Lena Ann "Lee Ann" Enzinna, age 77 of the City of Tonawanda, April 28, 2022. Lee Ann was a 1962 graduate of Tonawanda High School and a graduate of Buffalo State Teachers College. She had been employed by Roswell Park Cancer Inst. for many years. Daughter of the late Samuel F. Sr. and Lena E Indian Army unveiled its new combat uniform at the parade on the occasion of Army Day on Saturday. The new combat uniform for army personnel is aimed to provide more comfort and sustainability. In a first, the Army Day parade witnessed the new uniform and weapons of different era. The troops will also march donning the same uniform during the Republic Day parade this year. The new uniform is of digital pattern like the troops of the US Army. "The camouflage of the changed uniform is better than its previous one," said a senior Indian Army officer. The Army has always objected over other paramilitary forces wearing combat dress of similar pattern. "Many a times we had flagged it," said the officer. Interestingly, the new combat uniform does not have tuck-in dress and there will be a T-shirt inside. The pattern is a digital disruptive one and more like a pixelated design. The officer said that it has been designed keeping comfort levels in mind. The new combat uniform has been designed in collaboration with the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT). An eight-member team comprising students and professors worked the design of the new uniform. The NIFT team went through four different fabrics, eight different designs and almost 15 patterns before locking it all down. The new uniform has a mix of colours, which include olive green and earthen shades, keeping in mind the different terrains and areas of deployment of troops as well as the extreme weather conditions The new combat uniform has eliminated the need to have different uniforms for different terrains - earlier there were uniforms for jungle warfare, dessert warfare etc. There were reports that the new pattern is based on LTTE uniform. The Indian Army has dismissed this comparison, stating that the uniform is "distinctively different'' from LTTE uniform. The town of Tullamore gathered together on Friday evening as a vigil was held for Ashling Murphy. Gardai are continuing to hunt for the killer of the 23-year-old, who was found dead on Wednesday after going for a run on the banks of the Grand Canal in the Co Offaly town. Thousands of people made their way to Town Park on the edge of Tullamore, pledging to send solidarity and support to Ms Murphys family. During the hour-long vigil, people cried, clutched candles, and quietly clapped as prayers were said and music was played. As the light dimmed on Friday evening, traditional Irish music played by friends and former teachers of Ms Murphy formed the centrepiece of the service. Attracta Brady, who was Ms Murphys first fiddle teacher, played alongside other sombre performers. She described her protege as a fabulous musician. Ms Brady also taught Ms Murphy at the Sacred Heart girls secondary school, where they played together in the traditional music group. The musicians played two tunes at the vigil that Ms Murphy would have performed with the trad group. She was the most beautiful girl inside and out, Ms Brady said. She was a parents dream. She was everything youd want in a daughter. She had integrity, she was honest, she was trustworthy. She was quirky and a little bit cheeky sometimes with the loveliest smile and shed get away with it because she had this beautiful twinkly smile. She was never in bad humour, she was always smiling and she absolutely loved her fiddle. Her parents only told me yesterday that she never had to be told to practice. She was bright and energetic and everybody loved her. Prayers were said for the family, friends, and pupils of Ms Murphy, as well as for all women who have suffered violence. A local priest, Father Joe Gallagher, addressed the vigil before calling for a minutes silence. He told the gathering, which was attended by all the main religious groups in the area: We remember her heartbroken family, her colleagues in work, in music, in sport, in friendship and her young pupils in first class who loved their teacher. This is a time of grief beyond words. We need to be together. We need to support one another in this dark time. We stand together, united with groups all over our country, and indeed beyond, united with women who fear and know the trauma of violence. United in grief, in anger, in shock. In this dark evening we want to hold a light in our hands, to stand together in solidarity with one another to share our tears and deep grief. Time to pray, to reflect, to listen, to be together. Women at the vigil spoke of their anger and fear. Roslyn Kavanagh, who works in Tullamore, said: I feel that this shouldnt happen at all in society. And as a woman, I have felt, in places, insecure and vulnerable and as a woman I should not feel like that. She said the attack prompted her to share her experiences with her husband. He was shocked and annoyed that he knew I felt like that, she said. I feel society needs to put an end to this and stop this. Roslyn was there with her friend Chloe Galvin, who said: I, too, am a young woman in my 20s. I have walked that canal line many a times by myself, with friends and family. It is one thing you never think about being out in daylight: is someone going to attack me? We are taught as young women, on nights out, you stay with your friends. You never leave them, you text them to make sure they get home safe. Now were going to be expected to do that in daylight. Now we have a plan in work that were all going to walk each other to our cars and make sure everyone is okay, and have a group chat (asking), Have you gotten home OK? It shouldnt be like that. The reason why Im here is that it is time for women to make a stand and go, No more, were done. We have to be treated equally to men. Twins Nora Viret and Johanne Viret said their sister was quite friendly with Ms Murphy, and said she was really helpful and really welcoming when they moved from France. Things have changed in the town since the attack, both agreed. They said they were paranoid at all times now. The vigil heard a poem specially written for Ashling by local woman Sinead Cullen, who wrote: There is a light that will shine for you, through every hour, sky black or blue. The newly-published Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill has been criticised for failing to protect childrens health by omitting explicit restrictions on junk food marketing. The Irish Heart Foundation says that the Bill, published today, fails to curb digital marketing of unhealthy food to children, which studies have shown is fuelling the obesity crisis. Longford Foroige crew enjoy Wild Lights at Dublin Zoo A group from Foroiges Big Brother Big Sister Mentoring Programme in Longford recently visited the Wild Lights display at Dublin Zoo. The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media has failed to appreciate the key role junk food marketing plays in eroding childrens health, said Kathryn Reilly, Policy Manager with the charity. The digital marketing strategies used to promote junk food are increasingly integrated, immersive and personalised. In early November, the charity welcomed a recommendation by the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media of a ban on advertising to children online, including ads for alcohol, high fat/salt/sugar foods and gambling. Studies have shown that online junk food marketing to children is fuelling the obesity crisis and it is unfortunate that the Department has not given due regard to public health evidence, or the recommendations of the Oireachtas Joint Committee, with an explicit reference to banning these practices, Ms Reilly said. TDs and Senators from all parties have repeatedly voiced their concerns about the rising levels of childhood overweight and obesity that persist. With the OSMR Bill, the Oireachtas had a once in a decade opportunity to protect childrens health and to be part of momentum across Europe to tackle marketing to children. Up to now, the interests of the food and advertising industries have been put above the health of children in Ireland, and with the failure of the Department to include an explicit ban on junk food marketing online, this will continue. A junk food ad ban in the Bill would have been a seismic shift to put public health above private profits. Neither sections relating to media service codes nor online safety codes make explicit reference to bans on junk food advertising to children. Part 5, section 9, notes media codes will ensure that commercial communications 'protect the interests of children having particular regard to the general public health interests of children'. "Part 11, Section 44 of the Bill states that online safety codes will ensure commercial communications on their services are 'appropriate to protect the interests of users of their services, and in particular the interests of children', but these provisions do not go far enough because they dont adequately reflect the recommendation of the Oireachtas Committee. "These alone will not suffice and children must be explicitly protected from these forms of advertising, and they must be named in the Bill. There have been two Oireachtas reports in the last three years calling for statutory regulation in this area, and there is a clear public demand for this advertising and marketing to stop legislators must now ensure this recommendation is in the Bill as it progresses through the Oireachtas this year. "We will be seeking amendments in this area and hope that the Committee members who made the recommendation, as well as the wider Oireachtas, support them. In her presentation to the committee last June, Ms Reilly warned that 85,000 children across the island will die prematurely because of childhood obesity. President Michael D Higgins has paid tribute following the death of former RTE Western correspondent, Jim Fahy who was a household name in the west and north west. The late Mr Fahy was the first Western news correspondent for RTE, covering the western seaboard up to Donegal, before a latter north west correspondent was appointed. He retired in 2011. He said: The death of broadcaster and documentary maker Jim Fahy will be heard with sadness by viewers of RTE and those in the communities of the west of Ireland to which he brought for decades the television and radio crews of RTE. "Jim was one of Irelands finest broadcasters, a fact attested to by the over forty national and international awards which he won over the course of his outstanding career. For generations of people he was a familiar voice, indelibly associated with the reporting of events across the west of Ireland during his 38 years as RTEs first Western News Correspondent. "What he brought to his work was a high standard of journalism crafted in Tuam in a newspaper atmosphere that was steeped in respect for history. He delivered his reports in a restrained courteous way that reflected all of this and so much more a respect for narrative that saw no tension between accuracy and elegance of form. There were many long pieces he crafted, including an early beautiful piece on the evacuation of the island of Gola. "On the occasion of Jims final day in RTE on 31 December 2011, I suggested that every single thing that happened in the west of Ireland - be it political, cultural or international the first thing people would say to each other was have you contacted Jim Fahy?, thus as a politician serving the people of the west of Ireland I had the pleasure of a long association with him. "Among many other pieces to camera with Jim, one I recall is a documentary on the island of Montserrat for RTE on the strong connections between that island and ours. I had in 1986 presented a documentary in Montserrat for Channel 4 and was later interviewed by Jim for RTE in 2000 for Dust in the Wind, which was a documentary on the devastations of the eruption of the volcano. This interest was indicative of a man with horizons extending beyond the borders of his distinct reporting patch. "His career was also distinguished with a number of what would be regarded as major international documentaries and reports, including his interview with Mother Teresa in Calcutta in 1976, across Africa, Belarus, Haiti and his award winning documentary Stories from the Twin Towers following the 2001 terrorist attack in New York, which won the gold medal for the best 9/11 documentary at the 45th New York Festivals Television Programming Awards in 2002. "It will be as RTEs voice of the west of Ireland that Jim will be most fondly remembered. He himself noted that the highlight of his broadcasting career was the more than 400 programmes he made for the Looking West series between 1977 and 1984, featuring stories from those who had witnessed life in Ireland during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While he might not have been so bold as to say it himself, he has already done that work through an archive for the future generations who will look back at life in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, with his reports providing a permanent record and testament of the people of the west of Ireland throughout those decades. "On behalf of Sabina and myself, I would like to express my sympathies to Jims wife Christina, to his children and to all his wider circle of friends and family. The death of Ashling Murphy must be a watershed moment to end violence against women, a vigil for the late musician and teacher has heard. Thousands of people gathered outside Leinster House in Dublin on Friday to pay their respects to the 23-year old, who was found murdered on Wednesday after going for a run on the banks of the Grand Canal in Tullamore, Co Offaly. Addressing the crowd, director of the National Womens Council of Ireland (NWCI) Orla OConnor said: Its really overwhelming to see all of you gathered here this afternoon in memory of Ashling, in support of her and her friends, and I think, in support of all women in Ireland. Were very conscious this evening just how triggering this must be for so many women who have also experienced physical or sexual violence, and those of you who have also lost people who are close to you and those you love. She was a young woman, she was a teacher, she was a musician, she was a daughter, a sister, a friend to many and a mentor to many. A young woman, with her whole life ahead of her. Shes gone. We come here this afternoon to remember Ashling, to show our support to her devastated family and friends, and were here to support each other as we collectively grieve a womans death. A womans death that should not have happened. I know as well from all of you who have been contacting the National Womens Council that were also here because were angry. Were angry that another womans life has been taken. The death of Ashling Murphy must be a watershed moment to end violence against women, she added. The crowd sings Mary Blacks Only A Womans Heart to close the vigil for Ashling Murphy in Dublin. pic.twitter.com/0LQZmspdTf Cate McCurry (@CateMcCurry) January 14, 2022 Thousands of people filled the streets leading to the gates of Leinster House. Among those who attended included Taoiseach Micheal Martin, Fine Gael TD Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, Labours Ivana Bacik, Rebecca Moynihan, Aodhan O Riordain and former minister Frances Fitzgerald. A wall of silence filled the air as people huddled together clutching candles, flowers, placards and pictures of Ms Murphy. Ms Murphys friend of over 20 years, Grace Corrigan, described her as one of the nicest, kindest, most caring person you will ever possibly meet in your life. She was so happy all of the time, shed lift you up, she added. She was the kind of person where, if she asked you how are you?, she genuinely cared for the answer, and she would repeat it back to you six months later. She was just such a caring, caring person. On behalf of every musician here tonight, every musician all over the country, our deepest, deepest condolences go out to Ray, to Kathleen, her brother Cathal, her best friend Amy and above all, her boyfriend Ryan Casey. My heart is just broken for them all. (She was) just an incredible, beautiful person. This shouldnt have happened to her. They shouldnt be going through that, the Murphys shouldnt. Ashling, we absolutely love you and we will never, ever forget you. People leaving floral tributes to murder victim Ashling Murphy who was killed on Wednesday. A large crowd has gathered outside the Dail for her vigil. pic.twitter.com/HPAfk34eTb Cate McCurry (@CateMcCurry) January 14, 2022 Musicians who knew and played alongside Ms Murphy performed traditional Irish music, many of them struggling to hold back tears. Margaret Martin, the deputy chairperson of the National Womens Council and former director of Womens Aid, said: Ashlings death leaves a hole is so many lives. She was so many things, a beloved daughter, sister, friend, colleague and teacher. Her horrific death has touched us and has triggered much distress and fear and anger. Sadly, alongside Ashling another 243 women have violently been killed since 1996. Today, we also think of their families and friends. Jim McAllister, from Comhaltas a group that promotes Irish traditional music, said: Ashling had a passion and her passion was music. She was a county champion, a provincial champion and an all-Ireland champion. Only ever the best get asked to go on Comhaltas tours, and Ashling was one of those. She was an integral part of the tour of Ireland in 2017. Unfortunately Ashlings lifetime has been far too short. Ciara Brennan, who was among the thousands who attended, said: We are all so devastated for Ashling and wanted to come today to remember her. We need to be here for each other and stand together. I am angry and we are all so angry this happened to an innocent young women. The crowd closed the vigil by singing Mary Blacks Only A Womans Heart. Ensure you get a print copy of the Loudoun Times-Mirror delivered weekly to your home or business! Complete online access is included with all print subscriptions purchased online. Plus, up to four other members of your household can share online access through this subscription with their own, individual linked accounts at no additional charge. (Are you a current advertiser? Ask your sales rep for our special advertiser rate code!) Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. A doctor on board the plane that last November was involved in a serious incident at Palma airport warned the crew that they had to land in at least 15 minutes, or a passenger, who was allegedly suffering from a diabetic crisis, could die. This was confirmed on Thursday in court by the crew of the Royal Air Maroc plane, testifying as witnesses by video conference from Morocco. The crew and the doctor were testifying as part of the investigation into an incident last November which led to Palma airport being closed for four hours, when allegedly several young Moroccans simulated a medical emergency to escape and enter Spain illegally. They are being investigated for alleged crimes of sedition, encouraging illegal immigration and public disorder. On Thursday, the commander, the cabin chief and two stewardesses testified in the case which being investigated by a Palma court. According to sources close to the case, when the plane, which had left Morocco bound for Turkey, was flying over the sea between Alicante and Ibiza, a passenger began to feel unwell and the captain asked over the loudspeaker if there was a doctor on board. At that moment, two people who identified themselves as doctors appeared, one of them a woman, attended to the allegedly ill passenger. The purser of the flight testified that he saw first-hand that the doctor performed a blood glucose test on the patient after he said he was diabetic, and that the test resulted in high blood sugar levels. Therefore, according to these witnesses, the decisions was taken to make an emergency landing in Palma because the doctor informed the crew that it was a critical life-or-death situation. In fact, she warned that they had about 15 minutes to land. Investigators are trying to determine whether the incident was part of an organised plan to enter Europe illegally, orchestrated through a Moroccan Facebook group in which a modus operandi was described that fully coincided with the events that took place at Palma airport. The plan, for which volunteers were sought on the social network, consisted of taking a plane to Turkey and starting to insinuate a medical problem when the aircraft flew over Spain in order to force an emergency landing. The young Moroccans commented on Facebook that they would be taken to a terminal where there would be no police, so they would not be able to prevent them from fleeing. Since the incident, all but two of the 25 Moroccans who managed to flee the plane and the airport have been arrested and are being held in Palma prison. Police are examining the mobile phones carried by those arrested to investigate possible connections between all of them and the Facebook group. One of the Moroccan youths while on the run posted a message on Facebook hours after escaping from the plane stating that he was on the run from the police in Mallorca after leaving the airport. Guys, Im still dizzy in Spain. Police has been chasing us all morning and shooting at us with rubber bullets. My phone is about to turn off, I have 1 percent battery, he posted. 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Slight chance of a rain shower. High around 55F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Mainly clear. Low 37F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. GB1900HA and GB1900HW - 1900th anniversary of Hadrian's Wall This year radio amateurs will be operating special event stations GB1900HA and GB1900HA for the 1900th anniversary of Hadrian's wall The Hadrian's Wall Country site reports: A special event Amateur Radio Station will be active on various days between Hadrians birthday 24th January 2022 and Saturnalia 23rd December 2022. The Ofcom licensed radio station will be communicating with Amateur Radio enthusiasts worldwide, transmitting from various sites including Arbeia Roman Fort in South Shields. On the HF (shortwave) bands, the signals can reach very far indeed, daily to UK and Europe, quite regularly transatlantic communication is possible and sometimes even as far as New Zealand! Part of the hobby involves people all over the world listening for these distant signals and trying to communicate with them using voice or even Morse Code.The radio station will be communicating with other licensed amateur radio stations all over the world, talking to people from all walks of life to tell them all about Hadrians Wall and the 1900th Anniversary of the Wall. We might also be lucky enough to make the first ever radio contact from the former Roman Frontier to a radio station located in the former capital city of the Roman Empire and we will be sure to announce this if it happens! The stations who make a successful contact with the Hadrians Wall event can, on request, receive a QSL card confirming their contact, to keep as a souvenir. Full details of the special event at https://1900.hadrianswallcountry.co.uk/events/hadrians-wall-1900-special-event-amateur-radio-station/ See also the Chronicle newspaper article at https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/hadrians-wall-1900-festival-events-22400486 This unraveling humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan is the reason for the January 11 appeal to the international community by the UN. by Vijay Prashad On January 11, 2022, the United Nations (UN) Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths appealed to the international community to help raise $4.4 billion for Afghanistan in humanitarian aid, calling this effort, the largest ever appeal for a single country for humanitarian assistance. This amount is required in the hope of shoring up collapsing basic services there, said the UN. If this appeal is not met, Griffiths said, then next year [2023] well be asking for $10 billion. The figure of $10 billion is significant. A few days after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in mid-August 2021, the U.S. government announced the seizure of $9.5 billion in Afghan assets that were being held in the U.S. banking system. Under pressure from the United States government, the International Monetary Fund also denied Afghanistan access to $455 million of its share of special drawing rights, the international reserve asset that the IMF provides to its member countries to supplement their original reserves. These two figureswhich constitute Afghanistans monetary reservesamount to around $10 billion, the exact number Griffiths said that the country would need if the United Nations does not immediately get an emergency disbursement for providing humanitarian relief to Afghanistan. A recent analysis by development economist Dr. William Byrd for the United States Institute of Peace, titled, How to Mitigate Afghanistans Economic and Humanitarian Crises, noted that the economic and humanitarian crises being faced by the country are a direct result of the cutoff of $8 billion in annual aid to Afghanistan and the freezing of $9.5 billion of the countrys foreign exchange reserves by the United States. The analysis further noted that the sanctions reliefgiven by the U.S. Treasury Department and the United Nations Security Council on December 22, 2021to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan should also be extended to private business and commercial transactions. Byrd also mentioned the need to find ways to pay salaries of health workers, teachers and other essential service providers to prevent an economic collapse in Afghanistan and suggested using a combination of Afghan revenues and aid funding for this purpose. Meanwhile, the idea of paying salaries directly to the teachers came up in an early December 2021 meeting between the UNs special envoy for Afghanistan Deborah Lyons and Afghanistans Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai. None of these proposals, however, seem to have been taken seriously in Washington, D.C. A Humanitarian Crisis In July 2020, before the pandemic hit the country hard, and long before the Taliban returned to power in Kabul, the Ministry of Economy in Afghanistan had said that 90 percent of the people in the country lived below the international poverty line of $2 a day. Meanwhile, since the beginning of its war in Afghanistan in 2001, the United States government has spent $2.313 trillion on its war efforts, according to figures provided by Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University; but despite spending 20 years in the countrys war, the United States government spent only $145 billion on the reconstruction of the countrys institutions, according to its own estimates. In August, before the Taliban defeated the U.S. military forces, the United States governments Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) published an important report that assessed the money spent by the U.S. on the countrys development. The authors of the report wrote that despite some modest gains, progress has been elusive and the prospects for sustaining this progress are dubious. The report pointed to the lack of development of a coherent strategy by the U.S. government, excessive reliance on foreign aid, and pervasive corruption inside the U.S. contracting process as some of the reasons that eventually led to a troubled reconstruction effort in Afghanistan. This resulted in an enormous waste of resources for the Afghans, who desperately needed these resources to rebuild their country, which had been destroyed by years of war. On December 1, 2021, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) released a vital report on the devastating situation in Afghanistan. In the last decade of the U.S. occupation, the annual per capita income in Afghanistan fell from $650 in 2012 to around $500 in 2020 and is expected to drop to $350 in 2022 if the population increases at the same pace as it has in the recent past. The countrys gross domestic product will contract by 20 percent in 2022, followed by a 30 percent drop in the following years. The following sentences from the UNDP report are worth quoting in full to understand the extent of humanitarian crisis being faced by the people in the country: According to recent estimates, only 5 percent of the population has enough to eat, while the number of those facing acute hunger is now estimated to have reached a record 23 million. Almost 14 million children are likely to face crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity this winter, with 3.5 million children under the age of five expected to suffer from acute malnutrition, and 1 million children risk dying from hunger and low temperatures. Lifelines This unraveling humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan is the reason for the January 11 appeal to the international community by the UN. On December 18, 2021, the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held an emergency meetingcalled for by Saudi Arabiaon Afghanistan in Islamabad, Pakistan. Outside the meeting roomwhich merely produced a statementthe various foreign ministers met with Afghanistans interim Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. While in Islamabad, Muttaqi met with the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West. A senior official with the U.S. delegation told Kamran Yousaf of the Express Tribune (Pakistan), We have worked quietly to enable cash [to come into] the country in larger and larger denominations. A foreign minister at the OIC meeting told me that the OIC states are already working quietly to send humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. Four days later, on December 22, the United States introduced a resolution (2615) in the UN Security Council that urged a humanitarian exception to the harsh sanctions against Afghanistan. During the meeting, which took place for approximately 40 minutes, nobody raised the matter that the U.S., which proposed the resolution, had decided to freeze the $10 billion that belonged to Afghanistan. Nonetheless, the passage of this resolution was widely celebrated since everyone understands the gravity of Afghanistans crisis. Meanwhile, Zhang Jun, Chinas permanent representative to the UN, raised problems relating to the far-reaching effects of such sanctions and urged the council to guide the Taliban to consolidate interim structures, enabling them to maintain security and stability, and to promote reconstruction and recovery. A senior member of the Afghan central bank (Da Afghanistan Bank) told me that much-needed resources are expected to enter the country as part of humanitarian aid being provided by Afghanistans neighbors, particularly from China, Iran and Pakistan (aid from India will come through Iran). Aid has also come in from other neighboring countries, such as Uzbekistan, which sent 3,700 tons of food, fuel and winter clothes, and Turkmenistan, which sent fuel and food. In early January 2022, Muttaqi traveled to Tehran, Iran, to meet with Irans Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and Irans Special Representative for Afghanistan Hassan Kazemi Qomi. While Iran has not recognized the Taliban government as the official government of Afghanistan, it has been in close contact with the government to help the deprived people of Afghanistan to reduce their suffering. Muttaqi has, meanwhile, emphasized that his government wants to engage the major powers over the future of Afghanistan. On January 10, the day before the UN made its most recent appeal for coming to the aid of Afghanistan, a group of charity groups and NGOsorganized by the Zakat Foundation of Americaheld an Afghan Peace and Humanitarian Task Force meeting in Washington. The greatest concern is the humanitarian crisis being faced by the people of Afghanistan, notably the imminent question of starvation in the country, with the roads already closed off due to the harsh winter witnessed in the region. In November 2021, Afghanistans Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai urged the United States to reopen its embassy in Kabul; a few weeks later, he said that the U.S. is responsible for the crisis in Afghanistan, and it should play an active role in repairing the damage it has done to the country. This sums up the present mood in Afghanistan: open to relations with the U.S., but only after it allows the Afghan people access to the nations own money in order to save Afghan lives. This article was produced by Globetrotter. Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian, editor and journalist. He is a writing fellow and chief correspondent at Globetrotter. He is the chief editor of LeftWord Books and the director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. He is a senior non-resident fellow at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China. He has written more than 20 books, including The Darker Nations and The Poorer Nations. His latest book is Washington Bullets, with an introduction by Evo Morales Ayma. Meadville, PA (16335) Today Periods of rain. High 64F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Showers and thundershowers early, then overcast overnight with occasional rain. Low near 55F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. The current version of humanity just isnt up to the task of running this planet or governing it. It is as if the entire species is shooting and asking the tough questions later. by John Stanton He had also gone through a bad divorce, become estranged from his only daughter and been diagnosed with skin cancer, but he insisted that all of that, however painful, was secondary to the sudden realization that it was mathematicsnot nuclear weapons, computers, biological warfare or our climate Armageddonwhich was changing our world to the point where, in a couple of decades at most, we would simply not be able to grasp what being human really meant. We can pull atoms apart, peer back at the first light and predict the end of the universe with just a handful of equations, squiggly lines and arcane symbols that normal people cannot fathom, even though they hold sway over their lives. But it's not just regular folks; even scientists no longer comprehend the world. Take quantum mechanics, the crown jewel of our species, the most accurate, far-ranging and beautiful of all our physical theories. It lies behind the supremacy of our smartphones, behind the Internet, behind the coming promise of godlike computing power. It has completely reshaped our world. We know how to use it, it works as if by some strange miracle, and yet there is not a human soul, alive or dead, who actually gets it. The mind cannot come to grips with its paradoxes and contradictions. It's as if the theory had fallen to earth from another planet, and we simply scamper around it like apes, toying and playing with it, but with no true understanding. ~ When We Cease to Understand the World, Benjamin Labatut **** Karl Nausgaards novel A Morning Star and Insatiability by Stanisaw Ignacy Witkiewicz are two brilliant and vitally important works of literature that should be required reading by students and adults in the Western World. One, Insatiability, written in 1927, and set in the year 2000, is an often prescient work that speaks, in some instance, to our fractured and dystopian times, particularly the loss and creation of new identities. Both speak in their own way to the decline and destruction of the West, although Witkiewicz culminates with a definitive result. Witkiewicz, upon learning of the Soviet Army tanks rolling into Poland killed himself rather than live n a world he had largely predicted in his exceptional novel. Daniel Gerould writing in Science Fiction Studies, November 1979, summarizes the book nicely. This wild, lunatic, and phantasmagoric book has proved to be one of the most prophetic works of 20th-century fiction, not so much in its particular predictions (although some of these are quite uncanny) as in its capturing of the age's sensibility through brief composite portraits of the "psychosocial" environment. The fractured picture that results is that of an incoherent ersatz world which resembles our own. In the Witkacian era of insatiability, everything from genius to revolution, from food to mystical experience, from art to patriotic heroics, is an inauthentic manifestation of pseudo-culture. Change has accelerated so strongly that the distances between generations had diminished to the point of being ridiculous: people just a few years younger than others were apt to refer to the latter as their elders'. Throughout all the media there is systematic falsification of the news, while the government is perceived by all as an organized mafia behind a mafia, causing such a loss of belief in politics that the state becomes regarded as a sport. In the background, the superbly disciplined Chinese communists, after subduing counter-revolutionary Russia, are poised to take over the blandly Bolshevized states of Western Europe and ultimately eliminate the poison of the white man. Murti-Bing pills pushed by the Chinese softens up the already demented and debilitated Europeans so that they can painlessly adjust to the political control which will definitively liberate them from their own madness and despair and turn them into smoothly functioning members of the state machinery. Knausgaards Morning Star, exactly 666 pages in length, concludes with this ominous phrasing: And last night a new star appeared in the sky. It shines above me now. The Morning Star. I know what it means. It means that it has begun. There are any number of ways to interpret those five lines above. I dont want to spoil what comes before; but for me; with much of A Morning Stars focus on the boundary between life and death and the biblical significance of the Morning Star I think that Knausgaard has a both painful and joyous reckoning for Norway and the Western World. This passage strikes me as a clue to the fate of the Western World, the dead, like the sun, descended in the West, the land of the dead being referred to accordingly as the West and the dead as westerners. For what is the West now other than automatons pushing through the daily grind. Knausgaard has the uncanny ability to go from horrifying at points to another form of horror: the excruciating steps involved in making a cup of coffee, working the cellphone, and summoning up the mundane words necessary to be a social human being in meatspace. None of the characters seem certain of anything, particularly the priest who doubts like Thomas. God and myth are largely absent in the Western World now, having undergone an incision and removal in the cultural body by science and capitalism. Knausgaard, via one of his characters, asks if death is dead. In other words with genetic manipulation, synthetic biology might not one day see a humans leading a relatively eternal life. Eternal life after death is something that certainly Christianity proposes. Any yet, it is science that holds out the offer of eternal/extra life, not religion. People believe the scientists, not the priests or gods. Xenobots: The Did That? Late in 2020,reconfigurable organisms or Xenobots were created by the University of Vermont and Tufts University researchers. The Xenobots are about the size of the period located on a computer keyboard. They were created by an evolutionary Artificial Intelligence software program and frog DNA cells. They appear as little Pac-man type cells that developed, unexpectedly, the ability to reproduce. According to Science News, The fact that they were able to do this at such a small scale just makes it even better, because you can start to imagine biomedical application areas. Minuscule xenobots might be able to sculpt tissues for implantation, for instance, or go inside bodies to deliver therapeutics to specific spots. Beyond the possible jobs for the xenobots, the research advances an important science, one that has existential importance for humans, says study coauthor Michael Levin, a developmental biologist at Tufts. That is, the science of trying to anticipate and control the consequences of complex systems, he says. Originally, no one would have predicted any of this, Levin says. These things are routinely doing things that surprise us. With xenobots, researchers can push the limits of the unexpected. This is about a safe way to explore and advance the science of being less surprised by things, Levin says. And so it should be no surprise that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) had a hand in funding the creation of the Xenobot life forms, part of the Pentagons push into Synthetic Biology: a means to enhance human warfighters metabolisms and, henceforth, reduce the cycle time of the kill chain. DishBrain Cyborgs: Would You Like to Play a Game? Big news in 2021! Scientists in the UK and Australia taught human braincells growing in a petri dish to play the legacy video game Pong. According to the authors of In vitro neurons learn and exhibit sentience when embodied in a simulated game-world (writing at bioRXiv)Integrating neurons into digital systems to leverage their innate intelligence may enable performance infeasible with silicon alone, along with providing insight into the cellular origin of intelligence. We developed DishBrain, a system which exhibits natural intelligence by harnessing the inherent adaptive computation of neurons in a structured environment. In vitro neural networks, from human or rodent origins, are integrated with in silico computing via high-density multielectrode array. Some hundreds of years from now, there will be human sized cyborgs created in the public and private genetics/bio-machine laboratories around the world. It is inevitable. What military wouldnt want super human fighting organisms? What Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk billionaire would not want to be biologically modified to live longer? The ethics of it all is a bunch of malarkey. The sanctity of human life? Ha! When the Director of the CDC Rochelle Walensky jumps for joy at the fact that Covid is killing mostly the elderly, you know eugenics will return somewhere in the future.On Good Morning America during an interview, Walensky said this: The overwhelming number of deaths, over 75 percent, occurred in people who had at least four comorbidities, so really these are people who are unwell to begin with, and yes, [this is] really encouraging news in the context of Omicron. Cant you hear it? Sometime, one day in the future, this decision comes down: After all, grandma and grandpa just dont make the cost-benefit analysis cut and so they will have to kill themselves. They did not make the human augmentation life extension program either, so thats it for them. I mean they are part of humanity 1.0, older models, sorry, says the social services cyborg. This is the End The current version of humanity just isnt up to the task of running this planet or governing it. It is as if the entire species is shooting and asking the tough questions later. Take the Xenobot example. Researchers had no clue that the Xenobots would procreate on their own. Its just one small experiment, but over the coming years these surprises are likely to explode into the wild. There will be a Humanity 2.0 for sure: genetically altered, machine augmented, superior to the current model. Humans are well on the way to becoming their own gods at their own peril. They believe in nothing but production and consumption, and the selfishly gratifying sense of being the center of the world. We simply do not know what we are doing nor do we seem to care about outcomes. There is no guide post, no apparent order as 2022 begins. Belief and faith are absent in government, each individual or in something beyond oneself. Order is necessary. Maybe Knausgaard and Witkiewicz are right: the beginning of the end has begun. But maybe the late Roberto Calasso is on to something: We should hardly be surprised, then, looking back to the origins of human thought, if we invariably run into works like rta, asha, maat,me,dike, simati, dao, torah. Their can be no gods, no God, unless connected to those words that indicate an order. Divinity itself is inseparable from those words. What much later came to be understood with the term Science is just our most recent attempt to articulate an order that had already been spoken of with many other names. All endless, open, provisional, unsettled. All indispensable if some form of life was to keep going.The figure of the Messiah is the shadow one glimpses behind the perennial branches of order. The Book of All Books, Roberto Calasso John Stanton can be reached at jstantonarchangel@gmail.com It has been more than 90 years since Martin Luther King Jr., the man who would help define the Civil rights movement in the United States, was born in 1929 and 54 years since his assassination in 1968. Today, that legacy is not taken for granted as members of Owensboros Black community strive to pass that history onto the next generation. Olga McKissic, director of the Western Academy at the H.L. Neblett Center, said Friday that the center, which is designed for Black and biracial males, tries to instill the principles that King spoke of in its students. We talk to our scholars about the importance of what he has done, not just for us but for this country, McKissic said. One of our community service projects is to walk in the Martin Luther King Jr. march; this will be our third year participating in that. McKissic said King, who was assassinated April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, was a visionary who wanted to do the right thing, regardless of how much it hurt him to do so. We make sure that our scholars understand that forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a permanent attitude, she said. We try to make sure that our scholars understand about forgiving and that they understand about brotherhood, that they understand their culture. While the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1964, McKissic said she is concerned that civil rights are moving backwards and not forwards with new voting legislation being debated in Congress. Making it difficult for folks to vote to reach those polls, that is what he was fighting against, she said. McKissic said that she believes the current generation can understand what was going on during the 1960s in the United States because Black citizens continue to experience some of the same things today. What had happened was our next generation was becoming lackadaisical, laid back, relaxed easy going in regards to the experiences and the struggles that my father, my grandfather, mothers and grandmothers have gone through in the past, she said. It was going, we dont have to deal with that right now, but we do. We still have to deal with it because that same narrative is being spoken from a past generation to current generation. For Rhondalyn Randolph, president of the Owensboro Chapter of the NAACP, keeping Kings legacy alive is continuing to tell the story of why he became a prominent civil rights activist and created a legacy that is still celebrated today. That is and should be a constant reminder in our telling of history and historical fact why we should not take for granted our freedoms and our rights, she said. Randolph said that in her own family she promotes reading, and has several books about King and the civil rights movement in her home available to her children and grandchildren. Whenever I have books, they have their books along the lines of history, teaching about history, and making sure they have a reflection of themselves, Randolph said. Within the local community, Randolph said the NAACP is focusing on voting and registering people to vote. A lot of times people dont become active in the political process, she said. They dont understand how voting has a direct impact on our everyday lives. If you dont vote you dont get to have a voice on who represents you on a local or state level. McKissic said it is important to remember that no matter what someones racial background is, everyone is a part of the human race. Martin Luther King was a dreamer, she said. You can kill the dreamer, but you cant kill the dream. Messenger-Inquirer reporter Bobbie Hayse also contributed to this story. Nathan Havenner, Messenger-Inquirer, nhavenner@messenger-inquirer.com, 270-228-2837 Although the resettling process of Afghan refugees into long-term housing in Owensboro has been challenging, it has been one that the International Center is determined to see through and do right, according to volunteer housing coordinator Diane Ford. Ford said she began working with the International center in September, just before refugees arrived in October. Originally, she was just assisting with donations, but ended up working to help secure housing as the refugees arrive. She said it was a feat the center originally thought it was prepared for as it expected to receive around 100 refugees. The center received nearly double its original expectations, however. The weeks leading up to their arrival, we really thought we were going to place everyone into housing, she said. One of the first families that arrived, she said, however, was a family of nine. With a shortage of quality, affordable housing in general, along with some hesitancy from local landlords, finding a home for nine people, she said, was concerning. That particular family, she said, ended up being housed in a log cabin outside city limits. My husband ended up having to climb a ladder into the second-floor window and go through, in a suit and tie, to get that house set up and moved them in because we didnt have the right key to the front door, she said. At that time, I thought, OK, weve got them here and as they arrive, Im going to find places like this; it will all work out, and then they began arriving like 25 or 30 a day. As more refugees began arriving in larger quantities, Ford said it became much more difficult to get them placed and there was some pushback from local landlords that did not feel comfortable renting to individuals who did not have a credit history in the United States, a Social Security card, or a steady job. Even with housing, she said there were other roadblocks, as well. There was just no way we could place them. Even if we did have the housing, we didnt have the manpower to set up that housing; we didnt have the donations, we didnt have the furniture, the bedding, she said. It was just an impossible feat, really. At that point, Ford said, the center decided placing refugees in a hotel might be the best option and eventually were able to work with Comfort Suites in Owensboro. However, the hotel, at the time, and many others nearby, were full with guests in town for a big event, so the first hotel guests had to stay in Henderson before finally being transported back to Owensboro once rooms became available. At one point, Ford said there were 170 refugees in the Comfort Suites hotel. That number has since dwindled as more housing opportunities have become available. Although the hotel stays have been challenging in their own right, as well as costly, Ford said it has also been a blessing in disguise. The silver lining the biggest one, in my opinion, is the sense of community we have created. They really have bonded with each other, created really deep and meaningful friendships and I know I have with every single one of them, she said. Even the staff there, were like one big family, and I dont think we would have had that with them, and they certainly wouldnt have created that with each other so quickly if they hadnt all been placed in one hotel. Creating those connections, she said, will help solidify a more successful integration into the community long-term for refugees. I cant say enough good things about Comfort Suites, she said. Housing in hotels, she said, have been largely possible with donations from local churches. Ford said the International Center is slowly, but surely, working to get the refugees out of the hotel and into more long-term housing, however. In recent weeks, she said the process has moved more quickly than it has in the past three plus months, partially thanks to some persistence with local renters. But they were also discovering other obstacles such as a high-rent market locally and across the country. Theres just a lack of affordable, quality housing, I think, and its not just in Owensboro; its a nationwide affordable housing crisis, she said. COVID did not help that at all with delays in building materials, so even if there were developers who were planning to build more affordable housing, all of that has been stalled and delayed because of COVID. And to add to that challenge, she said, the center did not gradually receive them, Afghan refugees came quickly and without much notice to all involved. It was an emergency evacuation of 160,000 plus people that never expected to leave their country, where normally, a refugee is applying to leave their country and its a multi-year process, she said. For them, it was a last-minute, split-second decision, something that they didnt plan to do, but something that they were forced to do, and most cases, to save their lives and the lives of their families, so this is different. Ford said many refugees have large families they are bringing with them, making housing an even greater challenge. For many renters, she said, there have been misconceptions about certain regulations when it comes to housing. They have every right to have concerns; thats their business, they want to be in compliance and follow regulations, she said. However, she said there was one particular concern that was regularly brought up, regarding whether or not renters were allowed to rent to families that would require more than two individuals to be housed per room, which Ford said is no regulation unless a unit is deemed Section 8 or subsidized housing. Ford said the International Center sought out legal advice regarding housing regulations and board member Susan Montalvo-Gesser was able to draft out a letter for local landlords to plead with them to make exceptions as far as background checks, citing the rigorous vetting refugees have undergone during their stay on military bases prior to their arrival. Additionally, the letter states, background checks and Social Security numbers are not legally required for tenancy. These may be internal policies of a company which are created, in theory, to protect the investment of a property owner, but are not legal requirements. Where other means are available to reduce risk to the landowner, such as alternatives to background checks; these other means should be used to reduce the chance of FHA discrimination and uphold the law, the letter stated. The Afghans, however, have had more extensive background checks than those that could be provided by the standard background checks done by Kentucky landlords. Background checks, she stated, have been performed on behalf of Afghan refugees by the Departments of Homeland Security and Defense, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), and additional Intelligence Community (IC) partners. Since sending out the letter, Ford said there has been a slight shift and refugees have been getting moved into long-term housing more quickly in the past several weeks. Its still taken some convincing but I think people are finally getting to meet them and are coming around, she said. I think people are finally beginning to see what Ive seen all along how wonderful and incredible these people really are, so its making it a little bit easier. Ford said the International Center is also setting refugees up with a network of support, and many renters have been provided with three months of rent payment up front from refugees resettlement funds. There are also funds set up to pay the remainder of a lease, she said, if, for some reason, someone needs to break their lease, whether they need to relocate to be with family members, or some other reason. However, it is a fairly unusual circumstance when that happens, she said. The statistics for refugees are really impressive. Ninety-eight% of them are off of all assistance within six months and they have jobs and it is very rare that anybody defaults on their lease or breaks their lease, she said. What were saying is, make an exception for these people that sacrificed so much to help our governments, our military, otherwise, they dont have a chance. She said the needle has begun moving on getting refugees into housing and out of the hotel. The next big challenge, Ford said, is employment. That, too, however, is beginning to come together. We really are trying to find them employment that fit their skill-sets, she said. Most of them were leading very good lives there professional lives, and so were trying to give them a sense of that here. Many Afghan refugees, she said, have bachelors and even masters degrees, so the challenge there is just getting them set up with companies and jobs that fit their skills in the community. Ford said there have already been job fairs hosted at the hotel, however, and many refugees have already received job offers. While the process to get refugees settled is still ongoing, Ford said it is moving along and will continue to with community support. Everyone involved in the settling process, she said, have been determined to get it right along the way and set refugees and families up with whatever they need, whether it be housing, shelter, employment, medical appointments, or anything else. Theyre a different group of refugees, and therefore, the process has had to be altered and needs to be different to accommodate them and so weve had to take a unique approach to this resettlement, and I think weve done it. Weve made some mistakes along the way but weve learned, she said. Were determined to get it right. They deserve for us to get it right. Christie Netherton, cnetherton@messenger-inquirer.com, 270-691-7360 LANSING - Michigan's State Board of Education today adopted a resolution strongly supporting the recruitment and retention recommendations that the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) has put forth to the state legislature to help strengthen Michigan's teaching profession. "The state legislature has the responsibility to help rebuild the teaching profession in Michigan," said State Board of Education President Dr. Casandra Ulbrich. "They have an opportunity to make a real difference for current and future educators." The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) has provided the legislature with a menu of strategic investment options to respond to the teacher shortage-a major issue facing Michigan schools and school children and, in many cases, schools and school children across the country. In addition, a group of executive directors from leading statewide education organizations co-signed a letter to the legislature with State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice that urged the legislature to act quickly to appropriate necessary funds for strategies to reverse the teacher shortage and rebuild the profession. "The state legislature needs to address this matter strongly, quickly, and straightforwardly in a budget supplemental by March 20 that would begin to put Michigan schools back on a firm foundation for years to come," Dr. Rice said. "There are 68 days until spring. The clock is ticking and we need to act. "To begin to rebuild the profession, we need legislative action now so that we have the spring and summer to begin these efforts and to begin to reduce the teacher shortage," Dr. Rice added. The investment strategies recommended by MDE to the state legislature include: Regulatory relief to permit more out-of-state teachers to apply for Michigan teacher certification. Grants to districts to provide stipends for mentors to support Grow Your Own programs and teachers in the first three years and a competitive grant to an intermediate school district to partner with MDE to develop broad mentoring parameters and virtual training and provide regional training/support to ensure mentor quality. Tuition reimbursement for current college students and support staff members who aspire to become teachers. Student loan repayment for recently certified college graduates who commit to careers in education and for current teachers who are working to pay off college. Grants to districts for Grow Your Own programs for support staff who aspire to be teachers. Grants to districts or directly to student teachers for paid teacher internships to offset potential loss in earnings by candidates. Stipends to student teachers to relocate and pay for housing in high-needs school districts for up to one year. Grants to educator preparation providers to expand Welcome Back Proud Michigan Educator campaign. The grants would offset costs to review transcripts and provide a mechanism to complete updated requirements for individuals who completed a program, or almost completed a program, and need a boost to reach certification. Reimbursement for teacher certificate transfer and testing fees for educators relocating to Michigan. Grants to districts to support Grow Your Own programs for students in grades 6-12 to inspire interest in teaching and scholarships for high school seniors who aspire to and commit to a career in teaching. Revive and strengthen the teacher preparation pipeline in the Upper Peninsula and Northern Lower Peninsula. Expand eligibility for child-care reimbursement to individuals enrolled in teacher preparation programs. In its resolution, the State Board of Education affirmed that "an investment of $300 million to $500 million over five years is necessary to increase the recruitment and retention of high-quality educators from diverse backgrounds; revitalize the profession through support for thousands of teachers and teacher candidates; and provide a sustained investment in these initiatives to ensure that the demand for high quality educators to serve all of Michigan's children would be met more enduringly." The statewide education organizations to co-sign the letter with MDE to the legislature on the urgency of these actions are: AFT Michigan; Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators; Michigan Association of School Boards; Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals; Michigan Association of Superintendents & Administrators; Michigan Education Association; Michigan Elementary & Middle School Principals Association; Michigan School Business Officials; and Middle Cities Education Association. On Tuesday, the Florida Senate filed a bill that would prevent companies and governmental entities from requiring training or instruction on concepts such as racial oppression and discrimination. Senate Bill 148, based on Gov. Ron DeSantis legislative proposal Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (W.O.K.E.) Act, would essentially block certain content about race relations from being taught in schools. But even before DeSantis efforts, South Florida schools saw a share of racially focused content being deemed problematic by various stakeholders. Advertisement Most of the time, that resulted in banning a book or content. In one Broward case, a high schools own yearbook was temporarily banned over a spread about students participation at the Black Lives Matter protests. Heres a look at some of the cases in question. Advertisement A banned book during racial reckoning Last year, fifth graders in a Coral Springs elementary school were assigned to read a book that critics said casts police officers as racist liars. The fictional book Ghost Boys, by Jewell Parker Rhodes, tells the story of a Black 12-year-old Chicago boy with a toy weapon who is gunned down by a racist policeman. The policeman then goes on to lie about the fatal encounter on the witness stand. The story is reminiscent of the 2014 death of Tamir Rice, who died in Cleveland under similar circumstances. The book was published in 2018, two years before the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota, an incident that brought widespread international support to the Black Lives Matter movement. A California school district removed the book in late 2020, according to the National Coalition Against Censorship. In May 2021, local Fraternal Order of Police Director Paul Kempinski wrote to Broward School Board members, asking that the book to be removed from classes. The Broward County school district then suspended reading and assignments related to Ghost Boys as they looked into why teachers were using it. [ RELATED: School drops fictional book about cop who kills a Black child ] During the investigation, the school district determined the book was supplemental and could be considered by teachers addressing the issue of police-community relations. However, the investigation claimed that the teacher involved did not utilize the districts normal vetting process when deciding to have students read the book, the Broward County School Board said at the time. That process should have included determining whether Ghost Boys was appropriate for 10-year-old readers, informing parents about the potential for controversy and giving them a chance to opt out for an alternative assignment, according to the school district. In the end, the district suspended the classs reading, but did not remove the book from potential curriculum. For years, issues surrounding police use of force have formed a fault line in American politics, often with law enforcement and their supporters on one side and Black Lives Matter protesters and civil libertarians on the other. Advertisement A temporarily banned yearbook A month after Ghost Boys was banned, the Broward County School District suspended distribution of West Broward High Schools yearbook to review concerns about a spread showcasing students participation at BLM protests. The yearbook, called The Edge, was reinstated the next week, but only after a disclaimer was inserted explaining that the district did not sponsor any political content. Students were offended. The Edge Yearbook editors and staff are always working hard to provide the students with a book that accurately depicts the year and with the inclusion of the BLM page, we feel we did just that, students from The Edge wrote on Instagram at the time. The statement included a quote from one of the yearbooks editors: The BLM page is intended to give students a voice that is so often taken from them and allow them to discuss how important the BLM movement is to them as it has become a fight for their lives. [ RELATED: High school yearbook temporarily suspended over Black Lives Matter spread ] An official statement from the Broward County School District explained that the district supports and encourages students freedom of expression. The district said the schools administration paused distribution during the first week of yearbook sales to review concerns raised about the editorial content. Advertisement As the yearbook is intended to highlight notable and newsworthy events from that year, student journalists exercised their freedom of speech in documenting the movement, the districts statement said. After the review, the district allowed students to distribute the book with an insert from the schools principal, Brad Fatout. The note reads: Please note that as a governmental agency, the School Board of Broward County must maintain a neutral stance on all political views. As such, any political views expressed in the 2021 West Broward yearbook are not sponsored by the District. Anti-racism resources pulled from a district website Only days later, the School District removed content from the Young Voices Matter page on the Broward school districts website, internet archives show. Internet archives show the Broward County School District's Young Voices Matter web page from September 22, 2020. (Brooke Baitinger) On June 12, 2021 two days after Gov. DeSantis advised the State Board of Education to keep critical race theory out of schools the web page was removed. When it went back up on June 16, resources regarding race and racism were gone. Among the content that the district removed were dozens of resources it categorized as anti-racism, from articles such as The New York Times Magazines The 1619 Project, books such as How To Be An Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and others about affirmative action and white fragility, to a dozen films and TV series such as 13th and When They See Us by Ava DuVernay, among others. Advertisement Internet archives show anti-racism resources that were available on Broward County School District's Young Voices Matter web page in September 2020. (Brooke Baitinger) Its unclear when exactly this happened, but the school district eventually rebranded the web page to Speak Up Speak Out, and removed any mention of bias, racism and oppression. Previously, the web page stated the groups purpose was to serve as a structured forum that would empower students to use their voices to understand, listen, and promote positive change in their communities. Advertisement We believe in the courage of our young people to seek truth and justice in our country and take on our most pressing duties such as reforming our criminal justice system and changing the mindsets of bias, racism, and oppression, a summary on the website had stated as the groups goal. As for the reason behind removing any mention of racism? The state is trying to put a law in place that prohibits us from doing it, said Broward County School Board Member Rosalind Osgood. It takes away the local School Boards authority to address these issues. But we have all of this stuff going around the internet. Kids are on social media and theyre going to discuss it. But when theres no adult guiding them through these conversations, theyre left to interpret it on their own. DeSantis and Critical Race Theory During his State of the State Address on Jan. 11, Floridas governor briefly mentioned the curriculum he vaguely refers to as critical race theory: We should provide parents with recourse so that state standards are enforced, such as Floridas prohibition on infusing subjects with critical race theory in our classrooms. Hes pushing for a law to ban critical race theory from classrooms, but the state has yet to define publicly what CRT is. A news release introducing the law as the Stop W.O.K.E. Act cited examples of CRT in school districts across the country, including Philadelphia, Seattle, San Diego, Cupertino, Springfield, Buffalo and Arizonas Department of Education. The governor has not provided examples of CRT in Florida schools. Critical race theory is an intellectual movement and a framework of legal analysis usually taught in law schools. The idea stresses that racism is rooted within the major institutions of America. The concept has been around since the 1970s but has attracted renewed interest after George Floyds death. Advertisement [ RELATED: What are we teaching our children? Race debate settles in the schools ] DeSantis described how mothers across Florida are standing against what he called divisive ideologies like CRT. Our tax dollars should not be used to teach our kids to hate our country or to hate each other, he said. Osgood, who is Black, said she rejects that notion. She said the conversations are necessary to teach kids to think critically about the world they live in and how others may experience it differently than they do. We live in a diverse population in Broward County. People say critical race theory is teaching Black persons to hate white people, she said. I dont think thats truthful. If we dont have the conversations and address this issue of racism as well as this violence taking place across the nation, were never going to solve the problem. We cant continue to shy away from it, because it hurts all of us. Staff writers Scott Travis and Rafael Olmeda contributed to this report. Brooke Baitinger can be reached at: bbaitinger@sunsentinel.com, 954-422-0857 or on Twitter: @bybbaitinger FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 7, 2022 CONTACT: Lynn Sutfin, 517-241-2112 LANSING, Mich. - Today, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) announced that the federal government has granted Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's request for additional staffing assistance at a fifth Michigan hospital, Henry Ford Hospital in Wyandotte. Under the agreement, a civilian Disaster Medical Assistance Team is being sent to support Henry Ford's doctors and nurses as they treat COVID-19 and other patients. "Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital desperately needs support and resources to provide the critical care that our neighbors deserve. I've heard from members of the community and providers on a daily basis about a system strained to a breaking point, and now they will get the help they need," said Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-12). "These additional health care personnel will help address the rise in COVID-19 cases in Michigan and ensure residents have access to quality, affordable care, I appreciate the Biden Administration's continued assistance and will work closely with federal, state and local partners to ensure that our state's front line health care workers and providers receive the support they need." "I am grateful to our federal partners for providing critical resources and relief to Michigan's hospitals and health care professionals as we face down the Omicron surge together," said Governor Whitmer. "We have been facing this deadly virus for nearly two years and our health care workers have been working tirelessly on the frontlines through it all. Every Michigander can take action right now to protect themselves and their loved ones, and help our hospitals and health care workers do their jobs. I urge Michiganders to get their safe, effective vaccine, their booster shot, and take precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 including testing and masking. We have the tools and I am confident that we can get this done." "As the Omicron variant is quickly spreading and case rates and hospitalizations in our state are accelerating, I am grateful to our federal partners for continuing to provide much-needed relief to Michigan's hospitals and health care personnel," said Elizabeth Hertel, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services director. "The pandemic continues to take a tremendous toll on our health care workers and we are pleading with all Michiganders to do their part to support our state's health care workers by getting vaccinated, wearing a mask in public indoor settings regardless of vaccination status, social distancing and staying home and getting tested regularly." The 30-member team will include advanced practice physicians, ED and ICU nurses, paramedics, pharmacists, and logistics and supply chain personnel. The team will begin treating patients Monday, Jan. 10 and provide support for the next 14 days. Four Department of Defense teams have already been deployed to Michigan and are providing support at Beaumont Hospital - Dearborn, Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, Covenant HealthCare in Saginaw and Mercy Health Muskegon. "We are grateful to the federal government and State of Michigan for bringing this much needed support and relief to our team at Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital," said Bob Riney, President of Healthcare Operations and Chief Operating Officer at Henry Ford Health System. "The resiliency and determination of our team members throughout the pandemic have been awe-inspiring. But our team members are battle wearied and drained emotionally, mentally and physically. This support couldn't have come at a better time for us, as well as the Downriver communities we serve." Michiganders are being asked to carefully consider where they seek health care. A primary care office, virtual visit or urgent care may be the best choice as hospital and emergency departments are experiencing high demand. However, for emergency conditions such as stroke symptoms, chest pain, difficulty breathing, significant injury or uncontrolled bleeding, Michiganders should still seek emergency care. The federal staffing teams come as Michigan hospitals strain due to a spike in COVID-19 patients, the vast majority of whom are unvaccinated. In October, unvaccinated people had 4.3 times the risk of testing positive for COVID-19 and 13.2 times the risk of dying from COVID-19 than people who were fully vaccinated. From Jan. 3 - Dec. 15, 2021, people who were unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated represented: 85.1% of COVID-19 cases, 88.1% of hospitalizations and 85.5% of deaths. As of Jan. 7, more than 4,500 Michiganders are hospitalized for COVID-19. # # # MANISTEE COUNTY Several businesses in Benzie and Mainstee counties are taking advantage of a state program to help train their workforce. The Michigan Department of Labor and Opportunity released the names of businesses that would be reimbursed for training costs for the 2022 fiscal year in December through the Going Pro Talent Fund. On that list were three Benzie County business and one Manistee County business. In Benzie County, Honor Bank, Moore Mechanical and Ironfish Distillery were awarded funds for training. In Manistee County, M R products, known as Mr. Chain, also was awarded training funds. According to Kyle Ray, a business services representative with Northwest Michigan Works, said the Going Pro Talent Fund is the largest monetary training grant the state has to offer. It is the best chance an employer has to get funding to help pay for training for new and current employees, he said. The grant is designed for employer to take what they are doing already or add some training in the coming year to help upscale their current employees skills and hire on new employees and expand their workforce. Ray, who works with Networks Northwest to help businesses in Benzie and Manistee counties apply for the program, said training could be anything that comes with some sort of credentials that can be carried over throughout the life of a workers career, such as college courses or training through organizations such as the Michigan Manufacturing and Technology Center that end with a certificate. Theyre investing in the employee and hopefully company loyalty, Ray said. Ray said the grant awards are reimbursement grants, meaning employers have to front the costs for training. Once everything is finalized at the end of the year and the employer meets the training objectives for the funding, the state will reimburse them for training costs. More Information GOING PRO TALENT FUND AT A GLANCE Several business in Benzie and Manistee counties received Going Pro Talent Funding to help train their current workforce and new hires. Here are the businesses and the amount of training costs the state has agreed to reimburse in the 2022 fiscal year. Benzie County Honor Bank $18,600 Moore Mechanical, $84,000 Ironfish Distillary $19,744 Manistee County M R Productions (Mr. Chain), $28,339 See More Collapse I have constant communication with those employers who are awarded grants to make sure they go through with the training plan, he said. If theyre hiring, we need to know who those new employees are and they need to get the training the employer proposed. At the end of the grant period, in this case Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, we have to do a close out. We finalize everything and submit the paperwork to get reimbursement. Ray said the program has been around in one form or another since 2014. I think it is a necessary program for the state of Michigan, said Ryan Schultz, chief operating officer for Mr. Chain. It directs training people who are working, advances their skillsets and allows us to compete in the United States and globally with a well trained work force. Schultz said training included everything from taking unskilled individuals and turning them into skilled individuals for the companies work force, which could be quality control or injection molding. Training could even turn into an apprenticeship. We work with a registered apprenticeship program though the United States Department of Labor, Schultz said. They become certified apprentices who train in maintenance, logistics, plastic injection supervision or work within our office. Our controller came through that program. Schultz said the business had four certified apprentices either going through the program or who had graduated from it, and it was the second year working with the Going Pro Talent Fund. Deidra Charnes, assistance vice president and human resources manager for Honor Bank, also said it was the second year the business has worked with the program. I have nothing but positive things to say about the program and particularly the support from Networks Northwest in applying to the program and then making sure were reimbursed by it. Charnes said in 2021, the bank was able to train new hires, as well as some current employees, to staff a new help and calling center launched in 2021. She also said some employees also received training in how to train employees. This year, we asked for funding to assist with leadership level training for our emerging leaders, Charnes said. We are training managers who may be new to the position who havent had to manage people before or do things like have difficult discussions. Were able to have 12 individuals going to customized training for that. She also said the bank also would be sending more individuals to training on how to train employees. Well soon be able to have a person at each of our locations with those skills, she said. Ray said businesses looking to apply for the 2023 funds can work with him and Networks Northwest to get started. Usually applications open up in October, he said. We help employers help fill out the application; we help strengthen it. If approved he works with the businesses to make sure the training plan is followed. The fund awards $1,500 for new hire training and $3,000 for certified apprentice training. To learn more about the Going Pro Talent Fund, visit nwm.org/goingpro, call Kyle Ray at 231-342-1242 or email kyle.ray@networksnorthwest.org. The Four Lakes Task Force (FLTF) is entering phase two of removing flood debris from Midland County properties, so the group is back on commissioners' agenda for the new year. The Midland County Board of Commissioners will consider a recent amendment to an existing agreement with FLTF, among other agenda items, at 9 a.m. on Tuesday in the County Services building. Under the memorandum of understanding, FLTF aims to continue providing technical and administrative assistance in removing flood debris from county property, as the delegated authority for both Midland and Gladwin counties. The properties of the project in Midland County include River Trails Heritage Park, located north of the M-30 highway bridge at Edenville; county property adjacent to the west end of Sanford Dam and south of Sanford Lake County Park; and "the adjacent" of a private homeowner. In addition, the Midland Business Alliance Foundation is proposing a revised service agreement with Midland County. Under the agreement, the county would pay $160,000 to the Midland Business Alliance Foundation as payment for services. This amount is a $10,000 increase over last fiscal year. In other business, a $80,000 grant award from a Michigan Supreme Court office was reviewed in a county committee, which recommends grant approval on Tuesday. The grant will support the state's response project to the opioid crisis within Midland County's Adult Drug Court in the 42nd Circuit Court. The term of this agreement began last December and continues through the end of this September. Tuesday's meeting will begin with an update on the well-being of older county residents. The update will be given by the Executive Director, Bob Brown, of the Region VII Area Agency on Aging. The agency's goal is to provide effective and innovative care to improve the well-being of community residents, according to region7aaa.org. The agency is governed by a board of directors appointed by commissioners in Midland County as well as the commissioners of Bay, Saginaw, Huron, Clare, Gladwin, Gratiot, Isabella, Sanilac and Tuscola counties. A majority of board members are persons with an age of 60 years or older. There will be an opportunity for residents to provide comment on board business during Tuesday's meeting, which is located at 220 W. Ellsworth Street. Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced on Friday the biggest ever investment in Michigans bridges, which she said has been made possible by passage of the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The Federal Highway Administration will invest $27.5 billion over five years to build bridges and support tens of thousands of jobs nationwide, according to the Michigan governor's office. Michigan is expected to receive $563.1 million over five years under the new program to repair or replace bridges. U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint, is the Chief Deputy Whip of the House Democratic Caucus. He said the federal funds will repair Michigan bridges in poor condition. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is delivering for Michigan, Kildee said. With this huge federal investment, we are putting Michiganders back to work repairing our states bridges and roads. In Congress, I voted for and helped deliver this much-needed investment to improve our infrastructure. We live in the richest country in the world; it is unacceptable that so many of our bridges are in unsafe condition. Michigan's Department of Transportation expects the funding will replace 24 bridges and help local road agencies repair 129 local bridges. According to the national department of Transportation, Michigan has 1,219 bridges in poor condition. The Michigan Department of Transportation welcomes this historic infusion of resources to back our efforts to repair, replace, or rehabilitate Michigans bridges, said Paul Ajegba, Director of the Michigan Department of Transportation. We will collaborate with our local partners and stay focused on investing these resources where they are needed most, fixing bridges in critical condition in counties across Michigan. We have made meaningful progress over the last couple of years, and I look forward to so much more because of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This federal funding was made available through the Federal Highway Administrations new Bridge Formula Program because of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which was signed into law by President Biden on November 15, 2021. The program represents the largest investment ever made in fixing bridgesdedicating $26.5 billion to states over the five years of the law and $825 million for tribal transportation facilities. The first portion of Michigans $563.1 million award was released Friday. Nationwide, the Bridge Formula Program is expected to help repair approximately 15,000 bridges. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is a once-in-a-generation investment in infrastructure, which will grow the economy, enhance U.S. competitiveness in the world, create good jobs, and make our transportation system more sustainable and equitable. The Federal Highway Administration released the first portion of Bridge Formula Program funding to states for Fiscal Year 2022 in addition to the program guidance. This record amount of funding, made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will allow states and tribal governments to fix the bridges most in need of repair, said Deputy Federal Highway Administrator Stephanie Pollack. It will also modernize them to withstand the effects of climate change and to make them safer for all users, including cyclists and pedestrians. Every state has bridges in poor condition and in need of repair, including bridges with weight restrictions that may force lengthy detours for travelers, school buses, first responders or trucks carrying freight. The Biden-Harris Administration is thrilled to launch this program to fix thousands of bridges across the country the largest investment of its kind in U.S. history, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Modernizing Americas bridges will help improve safety, support economic growth and make peoples lives better in every part of the country in rural, suburban, city, and tribal communities. For a map of bridges, visit infobridge.fhwa.dot.gov and USDOT FY 2022 State Bridges Funding and Condition at arcgis.com. Katy Kildee/Midland Daily News About four years after being condemned, Midland's former Holiday Inn building at the corner of West Wackerly and Eastman is finally down, but the demolition process is still ongoing. The building was condemned in 2018 after multiple safety concerns were found, which later led to a lengthy legal saga to tear it down. Even with the building down, though, the work and legal troubles are not over for the property's owner. Thirty-nine people have applied to become Browards schools superintendent, including its interim superintendent and two Palm Beach County school administrators. A search firm has determined that 15 of those meet the minimum qualifications and recommended the School Board consider eight. Advertisement The new superintendent will permanently replace Robert Runcie, who stepped down in August following his indictment on perjury charges, as the leader of the nations sixth-largest school district. The School Board plans to review the list, compiled by search firm Ray & Associates, on Jan. 24 and possibly hire a new superintendent in February. Advertisement [ RELATED: Cartwright not given permanent job but allowed to apply ] The eight recommended candidates include three South Florida candidates. Vickie Cartwright, who has served as interim superintendent for Broward schools since August, was originally not allowed to apply, but the School Board changed her contract in October to remove that restriction. The other two are Palm Beach County school district administrators: Peter Licata who is a regional superintendent, and Keith Oswald, chief of equity and wellness. Two recommended candidates are also among the applicants for the vacant Miami-Dade superintendent job: Michael Cohen, a superintendent with the York Regional District School Board in Canada, and Rafaela Espinal, an assistant superintendent with New York Public Schools. The other three recommended candidates are James Good, an associate superintendent in central Ohio; Michael Gaal, former deputy chancellor for Washington, D.C., Public Schools; and Quintin Shepherd, superintendent for the Victoria Independent School District in Texas. [ RELATED: Cartwright hired as interim superintendent ] Ray & Associates determined that seven other candidates qualified, but the firm is not recommending them. Materials posted online do not state a reason. Those candidates are: Dion Betts, superintendent of the school district in Chambersburg, Pa.; Jackielyn Manning Campbell, associate superintendent of the Mount Vernon City School District in New York; Scott Martzloff, former superintendent of Williamsville Schools in New York; Matthew McDonald, former superintendent of Baldwinsville School District in New York; Carlos Perez, chief human resources officer in Martin County; Jerri Williams, a charter school administrator in Nevada; and Caprice Young, president of an education group in Los Angeles. The two Palm Beach County candidates, Oswald and Licata, have applied in the past to lead their own district, as well as Sarasota County. Licata was a finalist for superintendent in Hillsborough County. As someone who was born and raised in Broward County, I would be honored to be considered for the title of superintendent, Licata, who grew up in Pompano Beach, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Friday evening. Not for the position, but for the responsibility, of ensuring all children have the opportunities I had growing up here. Advertisement [ RELATED: Runcie agrees to resign ] Cartwright, who formerly served as a superintendent in Wisconsin and an associate superintendent in Orange County, is the candidate backed by the Broward Teachers Union. President Anna Fusco said shes been accessible and has gotten along well with different constituencies during her time in the district. Dr. Cartwright is the leader we need to move our school district forward during these perilous and uncertain times, Fusco wrote in a recommendation letter included in Cartwrights packet. She said Cartwright has a proven capability to quickly become part of the Broward County Public Schools culture and ethos. [ RELATED: Who wants to be be Broward superintendent? List not released ] The winning candidate will lead a school district that has been marred by declining enrollment and student achievement, growing concerns over school safety, a botched school construction program, feuds with the state government and multiple criminal investigations. A yet-to-be-released grand jury report is expected to paint an unflattering picture of the district. Ray & Associates had the applications since Jan. 3 but had not planned to turn them over to the School Board until Tuesday. However, the applications were still public under Florida law. The school district finally posted the list Friday evening following repeated public records requests from the South Florida Sun Sentinel. For a full list of applicants, click here. NEW HAVEN A paraprofessional at Brennan-Rogers Magnet school is accused of bringing a loaded gun to campus. Sonnetta Powell, 31, faces charges of second-degree breach of peace and possession of a weapon on school grounds, police Interim Chief Renee Dominguez said Friday. Powells bail was set at $50,000, she said. Police began investigating at 12:04 p.m. Friday after another school staff member reported the paraprofessional might be in possession of a gun, according to Dominguez. At first, Powell told police the gun was in her vehicle, the chief said, but she later admitted it was on her person. It was registered to her, however you cannot have a weapon on school grounds, Dominguez said. In a press conference following the arrest, Dominguez said the gun was loaded but that Powell did not threaten anyone. She apparently seemed to have been concerned about how some of the students are behaving and she wanted to protect herself, Superintendent of Schools Iline Tracey said during the press conference, a recording of which is available on Mayor Justin Elickers Facebook page. Were thankful that we were able to get (the gun) off her without incident, Dominguez said. meghan.friedmann@hearstmediact.com For the first time, a handful of those who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, have been indicted for sedition, by far the most serious charges against those who attempted to halt the confirmation of President Joe Biden's victory. Yet, despite the significance of the indictments, the move isn't likely to deal a blow to the anti-government militia movement or the participation of military members in its ranks, according to experts. On Thursday, federal prosecutors announced that 11 members of the Oath Keepers, including Stewart Rhodes, a veteran and leader of the group, will face charges tied to allegations that he and other militia members hatched a plan to not only breach the U.S. Capitol but to reinforce their attack with heavily armed "quick reaction forces," or QRFs, that were staged outside Washington, D.C. Read Next: Millions of Tricare Beneficiaries Left Out of COVID-19 Test Reimbursement Plan Of the 11 indicted Thursday, at least five, including Rhodes, are military veterans, according to records kept by the George Washington University Program on Extremism. The over-representation of veterans in that group is by design, according to Jon Lewis, a researcher at the Program on Extremism and an expert on the Oath Keepers. Lewis explained in an interview with Military.com that the intentional recruitment of those with military and law enforcement experience "is highly indicative of the kind of guiding ethos that Stewart Rhodes has attempted to make the Oath Keepers brand." "You can appeal to these individuals who were in the military who washed out like he did through injury, through behavior issues -- with this idea of wrapping themselves in this bastardized version of the American flag; this kind of twisted warped sense of patriotism." According to court documents, Rhodes texted Oath Keepers leaders on Jan. 6, equating the ransacking of the U.S. Capitol to the Stamp Act Riots of 1765. "Next comes our 'Lexington,'" Rhodes wrote, apparently referring to the first military battle of the Revolutionary War. "It's a very targeted idea by Rhodes and by the leadership that these individuals have the training, have the skills, have the background and, in many cases, the willingness to engage in extreme actions, if they perceive it as patriotism," Lewis explained. The Department of Justice has said that the group explicitly focuses on recruiting current and former military members, law enforcement and first-responders. But while the prosecution of Rhodes and many of his fellow Oath Keepers could be a blow to the organization, Lewis says it's not likely to blunt the recruitment of veterans into other militias and extremist organizations. William Braniff, director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), told reporters at an event on extremism in the military last month that his data shows that veterans "were affiliated with no fewer than 120 different organizations around the country [like] local militia groups or local white supremacist groups without a national footprint." Since the events of Jan. 6, the Pentagon has tried to grapple with the issue of extremism in its ranks -- an issue laid bare by the number of people with military experience who were arrested in the weeks and months after the siege. According to data from the Program on Extremism, of the more than 700 people facing federal charges over the Capitol siege, at least 85, or 12%, have some military experience. The vast majority of those, 77, are veterans. Modern-day groups like the Oath Keepers are hardly the first to draw on veterans for their knowledge and experience. Lewis explained historians often "point to the historical failings of this country to properly care for Vietnam veterans that led to susceptibility to seek out brotherhood, kinship, meaning ... in anti-government and white supremacist groups in the '70s, '80s, 90s." After months of study, the Pentagon announced the first round of policy changes aimed at eliminating extremism in the ranks in late December. The 21-page report created new guidelines for activities that are banned for service members by adding more detail and clarity on what constitutes extremist activity, as well as "active participation." Much of the activity and rhetoric that groups like the Oath Keepers espouse could now fall under the new policy, which bans a range of things from advocating terrorism or supporting the overthrow of the government to fundraising for an extremist group. The Department of Defense's watchdog agency also announced it would review how the military has been doing at screening for extremists during the enlistment process. "I think that this is something that will continue to be a significant problem until we see more robust action on this front by the military," Lewis noted. -- Konstantin Toropin can be reached at konstantin.toropin@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @ktoropin. Related: Oath Keeper Militia Members Including 5 Veterans Indicted on Sedition Charges for Jan. 6 Riot Read the original article on Business Insider. A close encounter with a Chinese aircraft carrier has become a point of pride for the crew of a U.S. Navy destroyer, a top U.S. admiral said. In April, the USS Mustin sailed within visual range of the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning and then let the world know about it. The operation was a testament to the "boldness" and skill of U.S. sailors, Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener said at the Surface Navy Association's national symposium. And those sailors have reveled in the condemnation it drew from China, added Kitchener, who serves as the commander of U.S. Navy surface forces and of surface forces in the Pacific. The Mustin was assigned "to mark" the Liaoning as the carrier and its escorts conducted exercises in the South China Sea, Kitchener said, "so they went out there, and they approached the group, and the Chinese" cruiser and destroyer escorts "in the screen came out to meet them." The Mustin's crew "realized that at some point all the Chinese escorts sort of backed off, which told us, 'OK, there's some operating restrictions that they had around the carrier,'" Kitchener added. "Mustin didn't have those," he said. "They proceeded on in, found a good station, and sat alongside taking pictures and doing other things for quite a bit of time." Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener, Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, delivers the keynote address at the 34th Surface Navy Associations (SNA) national symposium in Arlington, Va., Jan. 11, 2022. (Julio Rivera/U.S. Navy) One of those photos, showing the Mustin's commanding officer and executive officer casually observing the Liaoning, quickly spread around the world and was widely interpreted as a message to the Chinese navy. In the weeks that followed, Chinese officials condemned the Mustin, calling its actions "very vile" and accusing the destroyer of endangering Chinese ships and personnel, which US officials denied. "It was a good story in the end. At the time, we had to manage it a little bit," Kitchener said Tuesday, adding that the Mustin's crew had commemorated the encounter on a uniform patch. At the bottom of the patch, alongside the Mustin's initials and hull number, are the words "non grata," Kitchener said. "I said, 'Hey, what does that mean?' And they go, 'Well, sir, that is from the demarche the Chinese sent to our State Department that said, 'Hey, the USS Mustin is no longer welcome in the South China Sea because they're such a pain in the ass,'" he added. The incident was illustrative of "what our sailors are trained to do," Kitchener said, and the response of the Mustin's crew showed they were unified around their mission. Operating close to other forces is not a new experience for the US Navy, but run-ins with Russian and Chinese forces whose conduct the US has at times deemed "unsafe and unprofessional" have increased in recent years amid tensions with each of those countries. Kitchener and other Navy officials have said U.S. forces should expect to encounter those forces more often and closer to U.S. shores. "When we go out now on operations, whether it's East Coast or West Coast, Black Sea, South China Sea, we're there head-to-head with our adversaries," Kitchener said. "They're there. They're present. And we're managing the risk, and our sailors are getting really good at it." STOCKHOLM (AP) A top military chief in Sweden said Friday that there is increased Russian activity in the Baltic Sea which deviates from the normal picture, leading the Scandinavian nations military to raise its preparedness. "We have decided to reposition our troops. It does not have to mean an increased threat, but we always want to adapt to the prevailing situation, Lt. Gen Leif Michael Claesson told The Associated Press. Sweden, which is not part of NATO, has among other things noticed a number of landing craft from Russias northern navy which have been entering the Baltic Sea. Claesson who is the operations manger at the Swedish Armed Forces, said that some of the measures taken by the Swedish military will be visible and others will not be. We will act in different locations in Sweden, in different manners, he said, adding they would be visible on the strategically important Baltic Sea island of Gotland that sits a little more than 186 miles from the Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad. On Thursday, a guard platoon was seen walking in the harbor of the islands main town, Visby, as well as in other ports and in the airport. We will operate in the air, at sea, below the surface and on the ground in different ways and in different geographical locations, he said. Earlier this week, Maj. Gen. Lena Hallin, head of Swedens military intelligence agency MUST, said that we are far from a normal situation for Swedish security today. For some time, developments have been moving in the direction of a serious security policy crisis in Europe, and it has accelerated in recent months, Hallin said. It is an illusion that tensions in Europe would be temporary. She said Russias main objectives are regime stability and strengthening its position as a major power. Preventing NATO enlargement in the vicinity of Russia is a top priority and this is being looked at very long-term. As a current print subscriber, you receive 24/7 access to our website and online e-edition at no additional charge. All you have to do is activate your access. To activate digital access, you will need your account number. You can find your account number on any recent subscription notice or bill. A former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika (retd.), said that he joined politics to be able to contribute his quota as a former security chief towards lasting peace, security and unity of the country. The retired General spoke to reporters on Wednesday at Ovim country home, in Isuikwuato Local Government Area of Abia State. Ihejirika gave insights on how the Nigeria Army under his leadership stemmed the tide of Boko Haram terrorists, and crushed the notorious kidnap kingpin, Osisikankwu terrorising Abia State at that time. He declared that the Nigerian armed forces had made huge sacrifices towards safeguarding the country, and we're still willing to live up to their calling. He said that a lot had been achieved by the Nigerian armed forces, adding that with adequate empowerment and motivation, no task will be too difficult with the personnel. On how to quail the growing insecurity in parts of the country, the former COAS said he had severally volunteered his opinion to the relevant authorities at different fora, but advised the Government to provide security agents with the necessary incentives. I left office at a time Boko Haram was stepping up but we did our best to stem the tide. I have participated in several conferences of the Chief of Army Staff, and others, and I have rendered my advice on what to be done. Recalling how the Army under his watch crushed the notorious Osisikankwu and his gang holding Abia to ransom between 2009 and 2010, Gen. Ihejirika said all that the armed forces needed to quail the insurgency in parts of the country were adequate motivation and equipment. Ukwa West people had virtually gone on exile. Ukwa East had a semblance of life. At a point, banks were using helicopters to ferry money in Aba until the bad boys had the guts to shoot at it. Then, banks deserted Aba. The same military under my command that brought back sanity is still the same, and it is capable. He expressed concern over the incidents of insecurity especially abduction for ransom around Isuikwuato axis but noted that the external perpetrators have some internal collaborators. On the agitation for self-determination by members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Gen. Ihejirika sued for peace and dialogue, while supporting the clamour for a political solution concerning the detained IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. Journalists Moussa Aksar left and Samira Sabou right are seen with their lawyer, Ahamed Mamane. The journalists were recently convicted of violating Niger's 2019 cybercrime law. Photo: Samira Sabou 14.01.2022 LISTEN Nigerien authorities should not contest the appeals of journalists Moussa Aksar and Samira Sabou, and should reform the countrys cybercrime law to ensure it is not used to prosecute the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On January 3, the High Court in Niamey, Nigers capital, convicted Aksar and Sabou of violating the countrys 2019 cybercrime law, according to Ahamed Mamane, the journalists lawyer, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview. The court convicted Sabou, editor of the privately owned Niger Search news website and manager of the privately owned Mides-Niger news website, of defamation by electronic communication, according to Mamane and court documents reviewed by CPJ. Aksar, publication director of the privately owned LEvenement newspaper and chair of the Norbert Zongo Cell for Investigative Journalism in West Africa (CENOZO), a Burkina Faso-based news outlet and investigative journalism organization, was convicted of the same defamation charge and of dissemination of data likely to disturb public order or undermine human dignity, according to those sources. Aksar was given a suspended prison sentence of two months and fined 100,000 West African francs (US$172); Sabou was given a suspended prison sentence of one month and fined 50,000 francs (US$86), according to Mamane and those documents. The journalists appealed the convictions on January 4; Mamane told CPJ that a hearing date for the appeal had not been set. Authorities in Niger should not oppose journalists Moussa Aksar and Samira Sabous appeals of their convictions, and should instead focus on reforming their cybercrime law to ensure journalists are not subject to legal harassment, said Angela Quintal, CPJs Africa program coordinator. Across Africa and the world, laws focused on cybercrime have been leveraged to prosecute journalists for sharing or reporting news online. Its an alarming trend that must be reversed. The charges stem from the journalists connections to a May 2021 report about drug trafficking in Niger, originally published by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Crime, a Switzerland-based organization that tracks organized crime. LEvenement republished that report on its website, and Mides-Niger published a summary of the report, which Sabou also posted on her Facebook page, according to Mamane and Sabou, who also spoke to CPJ by phone. Sabous professional Facebook page, where she frequently posts reporting and commentary, has about 110,000 followers. In a response to that reporting, Nigers Central Office for the Repression of Illicit Trafficking (OCRTIS) defended its work and said the report contained unfounded accusations. Authorities arrested and questioned Sabou over that report in May, and summoned Aksar about it in July, according to a joint statement by the U.N. Special Rapporteurs for human rights defenders and freedom of opinion and expression. In June, the Central Office for the Repression of Illicit Trafficking filed a defamation complaint against the Global Initiative; it withdrew that complaint in December, but Nigers state prosecutor continued the prosecution of the journalists for sharing the reporting, according to multiple reports by the initiative and the withdrawal request letter, which CPJ reviewed. Reached by phone yesterday, Niger state prosecutor Chaibou Moussa Saidou Maiga requested questions on the case sent via messaging app; CPJ sent those questions but received no response. When CPJ called Omar Guero Dan Mallal, a lawyer for the Central Office for the Repression of Illicit Trafficking, he asked CPJ to call back in an hour; when CPJ did so, no one answered. CPJs calls to the organizations director, Boubacar Issaka Oumarou, also went unanswered. Separately, in May 2021, Aksar was convicted of defamation under the cybercrime law and ordered to pay 200,000 West African francs (US$367) in a fine and 1,000,000 francs (US$1,835) in damages over a September 2020 LEvenement report alleging embezzlement at the countrys Ministry of Defense, according to Mamane, as well as news reports and a tweet by the Norbert Zongo Cell for Investigative Journalism in West Africa. Mamane told CPJ that Aksar has appealed that conviction and the next court date is scheduled for March 14. Previously, in June 2020, Sabou was jailed on cybercrime charges following a defamation complaint about a post on her Facebook page about an audit of Nigers military, as CPJ reported at the time. Mamane told CPJ that the case had been sent for review by the Court of Cassation, and a next hearing date had not been set. Shares in France's energy company EDF plummeted on Friday after the government ordered it to sell more cheap nuclear power to rivals to limit a rise in electricity prices and keep the electorate on-side ahead of presidential polls in April. EDF shares were down by about 20 percent at 8.25 euros per share at opening on Friday morning, having hit their lowest levels since September 2020 on Thursday. The nosedive comes as the energy provider which is 80 percent state-owned maintains that the government's decision to boost nuclear output will cost the company up to 8.4 billion euros. With only three months to go before France's presidential elections, President Emmanuel Macron's government is facing mounting public pressure over the rising cost of living. By capping power price increases at 4 percent this year, the government has left investors in EDF to take the hit, rather than individual households. And the Macron administration is anxious to avoid a repeat of the Yellow Vest demonstrations that raged across the country three years ago over fuel price hikes. To add to EDF's woes, the group announced Thursday that it has lowered its nuclear production forecast following technical problems that have forced the utility to extend energy production in a fifth nuclear reactor. Investment analysts say the supply of nuclear power to competitors and increased output will be detrimental to EDFs operating profit by as much as 13 billion euros. Shadow cast by 'Yellow Vest' protests Macron has been wary of the impact Europe's energy crisis is having on living costs in France ahead of presidential polls. And the violent street protests that morphed into a broader anti-government revolt in 2018 remain fresh in the electorate's mind. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told Le Parisien newspaper that without the introduction of the new price capping measures, power bills would jump by more than 35 percent instead of 4 percent on 1 February. Le Maire added that the European Commission has approved the government's plan of action. Timeline for closing old reactors could be affected However the decision to put most of the financial burden on EDF's shoulders comes at a time when the company is already reeling from a series of setbacks in France's nuclear power strategy. Earlier this week, EDF said fuel loading at its new-generation EPR reactor at Flamanville, a project already years late and billions over budget, would be pushed back by up to six months. The company is also coming to terms with technical issues linked to corrosion on tube weldings affecting four of its older reactors. Meanwhile, France's ASN nuclear authority has confirmed that EDF has begun investigating whether corrosion problems exist in other nuclear facilities elsewhere, highlighting the possibility that some reactors may have to be shut down ahead of planned dates for decommissioning. A late-June sentencing date was set Friday for British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell after her conviction last month on charges including sex trafficking and conspiracy relating to the recruitment of teenage girls for financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse. U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan announced the June 28 date even as she waits to resolve defense claims that a new trial should be ordered after a jurors public admissions after the verdict about his childhood sexual abuse. Advertisement [ RELATED: Ghislaine Maxwell to seek new trial after reports of jurors sex abuse ] The juror, who has never been fully publicly identified, told media outlets last week that he told other jurors during a week of deliberations that he was sexually abused as a child and used what he learned about the subject to persuade others to convict Maxwell. Defense lawyers say the revelations warrant a new trial. The juror has retained a lawyer. And Nathan said shell rule at a future date what will happen as a result of the revelations. Advertisement [ RELATED: Ghislaine Maxwell convicted in Jeffrey Epstein sex abuse case ] Maxwell, 60, was convicted after a month-long trial in which prosecutors maintained that she recruited and groomed teenage girls for Epstein to sexually abuse from 1994 to 2004. Maxwell once had a romantic relationship with Epstein, but later became his employee at his five residences, including a Manhattan mansion and a large estate in Palm Beach. Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges in Palm Beach County in July 2008. He admitted he hired local underage girls to provide sex and erotic massages at his home. His sentence has been referred to as a sweetheart deal that allowed him lenient work release while he served about 13 months of an 18-month sentence, followed by a year of house arrest. An investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement focused on former Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischers decision not to aggressively prosecute sex abuse allegations against Epstein over a decade ago; Epsteins generous work release privileges in jail; and allegations that Epstein had sex with young women while under the jails supervision. The investigation found Epstein received differential treatment in jail, but no evidence was uncovered that suggests county officials broke any laws. Epstein killed himself in a New York jail in 2019 as he awaited a sex trafficking trial. Maxwells lawyers argued at trial that she was made into a scapegoat by federal prosecutors after his death. Prosecutors say that theyll drop perjury charges against Maxwell if she is sentenced on schedule. Professor Akwasi Osei, Chief Executive Officer of the Mental Health Authority has called on the authorities to stop prosecuting attempted suicide cases as it is rather a cry for help and not a crime. He argued that majority of the people, who attempted or went through suicide, actually had mental illness and must be supported to come out of their situations instead of punishing them for their conditions. He said In the past, we thought that if you attempted suicide, it was a crime. So, that is why it was coded in the Criminal Offences Act as a crime. But science has advanced and we understand that about 95 per cent of people, who attempt or go through suicide, actually have mental illness out which about 80 per cent is depression. He added that Now, it is like I am shivering because I have malaria so my temperature is going up and you are punishing me for shivering instead of treating me for my shivering, which is a symptom of my malaria. So, I attempt suicide because I have a condition for which I am crying for help and thank God I do not complete it and you say you are punishing me. That is not good enough. So, we need to recognise that it is a cry for help. Professor Osei made the call when making a presentation at a two-day mental health literacy training for editors and reporters in Tamale organised by the Mental Health Authority in collaboration with the Ama Ata Aidoo Centre for Creative Writing at the African University College of Communications. The training was to strengthen the capacity of participants to improve their reportage on as well as promote knowledge about mental health and stimulating favourable attitudes towards persons with mental illness. Professor Osei touched on the aspect of the Criminal Offences Act that criminalised attempted suicide saying it needed to be repealed to stop prosecuting attempted suicide as a crime. He said the Mental Health Authority had begun engaging Parliament on the matter adding hopefully, that aspect of the law would be repealed before the end of this year. He spoke about mental health saying People need to recognise that it is a condition that we all have or that is with us in society. For every five people, one has mental illness, and the remaining four; one will have it before his or her death. This means it is a condition that is widespread but it is preventable. He added that One way of preventing it is that you do not have to go through stress; know how to manage your stress. Relax adequately, eat adequately, sleep adequately, and exercise. Do not let too many things be on your mind. Understand that people have issues. Strategise how you can resolve your issues. By so doing, you are taking care of your mental health and you are preventing a possibility of mental health illness occurring in you. GNA/ A 26-year-old electrician, Gideon Amoh, who defrauded a 17-year-old Senior High School graduate and made away with his GH130.00 has been sentenced to three years imprisonment by the Ofaakor Circuit Court. Amoh and two other accomplices, whose names were given as Black and Wale, both at large, sold a broken floor tile to Mr Bright Krampah, the complainant as an Infinix mobile phone. The accused pleaded guilty to the charge of defrauding by false pretenses and the Court, presided over by Mr Ebenezer Osei Darko, convicted him on his own plea. The Prosecutor, Chief Inspector Charles Annobil, told the Court that the incident happened around 1100 hours on Tuesday, January 11, 2022 at the Kasoa second bus stop. He said Amoh and his two friends under the guise of selling phones approached the complainant who had just arrived from Obuasi. He said a bargained price of GHC130 was arrived at and after the phone and the money had exchanged hands, Wale offered to give the complainant a cover for the phone, but handed him a floor tile concealed in a phone cover. He said Mr Krampah, upon seeing the fake phone, held on to Wale and raised an alarm but Wale managed to escape. Prosecution said Black then told complainant to give him GHC30.00 to assist him trace Wale but he also bolted after taking the money. Chief Inspector Annobil said the complainant upon suspecting that Amoh could also abscond, held on to him and he promised to help the complainant find Wale and Black. After several hours of roaming without success, Amoh also tried to run away, but the complainant shouted for help which led to his arrest. GNA The case involving three Senior High School (SHS) students accused of burning a Bolt driver to death at Sekondi in the Western Region has been adjourned to Friday February 04, 2022. The Prosecutor, Inspector Jennifer Acheampong asked for the adjournment to allow for more time to finish investigations when the case was called on Friday January 14. The court, presided over by Mrs Catherine Obiri Addo also denied a bail application by the Lawyer for the first accused, Joseph Evans Abekah. She, however urged the prosecution to expedite their investigations for speedy continuation of the case. The three SHS boys, Patrick Baidoo, age 19, Joseph Lord Nii Adjei Odiku, 17, and Adolf Eshun, 18 are standing trial for allegedly burning a Bolt driver who is also a Navy officer to death. The first accused, Adolf Eshun, has been charged with abetment of crime to wit robbery, while the other two, Patrick Baidoo and Joseph Lord Nii Adjei Oninku are also facing four charges of conspiracy to commit crime, attempted robbery, causing unlawful damage and murder as well as attempts to commit crime to wit robbery. Eshun is said to have ordered a Bolt for Baidoo and Oninku on Wednesday December 22, 2021 which later emerged that the two burnt the Bolt driver who was identified as AB1 Okyere Boateng, a Naval officer. According to the prosecutor, they poured petrol on the deceased and set him ablaze when he refused to hand over his car keys to them. She said the driver sustained burns on his face and on several parts of his body and later died at the 37 Military hospital in Accra. GNA There are some key personalities who must continue to be at the top of the organizational structure of the NDC if the party wants to wrestle power from the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in December 2024. These people are not only indispensable, they must hold key positions and be seen at the frontline of the NDC in the 2024 onslaught against the NPP. The first person on the list is H. E. John Dramani Mahama and the second person is Hon. Johnson Asiedu Nketia. This pair are the only constant visible front liners of the NDC from 2008 till date. The General, as he is affectionately called has been through the mill as far as Ghanaian politics is concerned, serving as a Member of Parliament for twelve good years and as the general secretary of the NDC for over sixteen years. The good General has therefore become very experienced in political party and elections management. Mr. Asiedu Nketia does not shy away from making his expertise available to the NDC at all times. Data from the 2020 parliamentary election indicates that the magic works of Aseidu Nketia yielded incredible results. The net gains by the NDC in terms of parliamentary seats recaptured were the highest in the region that Aseidu Nketia concentrated his efforts. Aseidu Nketia with help of key personalities like the Bono Regional Chairman and his executives, Dr. Steven Opuni, and others mapped up strategies and literally broke their backs to make the Bono Region record the highest percentage net gain in the 2020 Parliamentary elections (as shown in Figure 1). Figure 1: Gains made by the NDC in the 2020 Election The same data shows that some executives who are currently serving at the top lacked the fortitude to make their influence helpful to the NDC in the election. In fact, some of these executives could only manage abysmal single digit percentage net gains in their regions of origins. These results were particularly not surprising since some of these top guns decided to hide under the cloak of the popularity of H. E. John Dramani Mahama, ever fearful of spreading their own wings independently in search of votes for the NDC. It therefore presupposes that, Mr. Aseidu Nketia has gained the necessary experience, is willing to avail himself with all the experience, works like a bull for the NDC at the apex of the partys structure to help maximize the fortunes of the party. My humble advice to the delegates of the NDC is that, they need to send a signal to all that they are critical thinkers and therefore can distinguish between those who are actually working and those who are pretending to do so. By: Gilbert Ayine Akolgo (Ph.D) The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has emphasised its commitment to the welfare of teachers in the country to promote quality education. A communication team member, Ahmed Agbenyadzi speaking to Kwabena Nyarko Abronoma on Bryt FM's Ebesi Sen political show, insisted that the NDC since independence has an unbeatable track record in terms of increasing salaries of teachers. Commenting on the plight of teachers in the country's fourth republic, the Communicator said the NDC has rolled out many policies and programmes that have positively impacted teaching and learning. He stated, "My brother, the NDC is the only political party in our Ghanaian history since independence and it is a fact that no one can challenge. The Mahama-led NDC increased salaries of teachers by 10%, the highest in Ghana's history." Ahmed Agbenyadzi, who is also the Deputy Youth Organiser for the Akwapim North, added that the NDC believes in education and that influenced the many policies that were put in place during the tenure of the party to make teachers and students feel comfortable. As compared to the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Agbenyadzi accused the NPP of the numerous challenges facing the educational sector which has been a burden on teachers. He blamed the Akufo-Addo led government for poorly implementing the free SHS policy. The situation, according to him, will negatively affect the performance of students considering the challenges that come with it. He, therefore, assured teachers the next NDC government would aggressively roll out improved initiatives that would encourage teachers and positively impact teaching and learning. 14.01.2022 LISTEN The National Labour Commission (NLC) has ordered the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) to call off its ongoing strike. It has also asked the striking workers to return to their duties. This was contained in a statement issued by the NLC today, Friday, January 14, 2022. It follows a meeting between the Commission, CETAG and other disputing parties, with the fallout being that the strike is illegal and must be called off. The National Labour Commission in the exercise of its powers under section 139 of the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651) hereby directs the members of CETAG to immediately call off the ongoing strike and resume work, the NLCs statement said. Following the NLCs ruling that the CETAG is unlawful, the leadership of the Association says it will soon announce its next step after consultations with its lawyers and members. CETAG's National President, Prince Obeng Heman, told Citi News that it will not immediately make a decision but will wait on its lawyers for advice. As a union, we have our legal advisors, and we are proceeding to have a meeting with them. We will decide on the next line of action in the coming hours. We are unable to make a pronouncement immediately, he said. The Executive Secretary of NLC, Ofosu Asamoah, said on Eyewitness News that CETAG had agreed in the meeting to call off their strike. They [CETAG] have actually agreed among themselves for the call off of the strike because they were within the remit of the law, but their issues have been resolved. Members of CETAG began their strike in all 46 public Colleges of Education last Thursday over claims that the government had failed to implement the 2017-2020 conditions of service, as agreed in a Memorandum of Understanding signed between CETAG and the government. They want the government to pay their interim premiums and book and research allowances. ---citinewsroom Former Deputy Organizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mahdi Jibril is set to contest the National Organizer position when nomination opens. Commenting on his intentions with Kwaku Dawuro on Anopa Nkomo on Accra-based Kingdom FM 107.7, he explained that the voice of the people is the voice of the Lord and that he will confirm his candidature at an appropriate time. Although I have not officially considered to contest the position, we all know that the voice of the people is the voice of the Lord and so sometimes you dont ignore calls from your people to contest a position. I am in the process of considering other factors and when all is said and done, I will confirm my candidature or otherwise, he added He said he took the decision after extensive consultation with senior colleagues, comrades, family, and stakeholders of the NDC party. It is imperative that we wrestle the destiny of this country from the clutches of the vulture of an NPP government who have taken hold and are picking it dry. We can therefore not afford to take any chances. This is not a matter of luck of the draw, he said. We need to consciously elect an organizer who has been in the trenches and moved up through the ranks. One who is dedicated to the cause of the party and also in tune with the social democratic principles that form the bedrock of our ideals. To achieve victory in 2024, we need an organiser who is trusted by the hierarchy of the party and grassroots alike. One who can marshal resources and galvanise the rank and file to move in the same direction towards the attainment of a common goal. We need to entrust such responsibilities into the hands of someone who is honest, straightforward and fair in all his dealings, regardless of your standing in the party. We need an organiser with formidable skills who can ensure that whether the party is in opposition (like now) or in power in the not too distant future, we will set the agenda for the rest of the nation to follow, he stated. He called on party foot soldiers, elders and executives to recognise the numerous qualities that he brings on board, knowing his unflinching love for the NDC and unwavering commitment to the grassroots of the party. Paul Amaning, the Eastern Regional New Patriotic Party (NPP) Chairman hopeful, has said the SIM card re-registration will help fight crimes including terrorism. Speaking on Anopa Nkomo on Kingdom FM with Kwame Dawuro he explained the need for the sim card re-registration with the Ghana card. According to him, the registration will not only curb mobile money fraud but all associated crimes. Paul Amaning added that it will help the securities foil crimes and provide them with the right and timely data to track and arrest cybercriminals in the country. He continued, "The re-registration process will help the law enforcement agencies to identify the SIM card owners, track criminals who use phones for illegal activities, curb incidents such as phone theft, hate text messages, mobile fraud activities, inciting violence, and to combat crime such as SIM Box fraud." Paul Amaning mentioned that SIM card re-registration will also enable subscribers to be properly identified for the use of value-added services such as mobile banking, mobile money, and electronic payment services. The Background Ghana enacted the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Registration Regulations, 2011 (L.I. 2006) primarily to reduce mobile phone related crimes such as prank calls, cyber-crime, mobile money fraud and its related issues and general security. Due to crucial nature of SIM registration and its security implications for the country, MNOs have been required to ensure SIMs are registered properly before activation on the mobile network to avoid inconsistencies and fake subscriber identity. It is emerging that since there is no solution in place to integrate all the databases of Card Issuing Agencies for the seamless verification of IDs used for registration of SIMs to be effectively conducted. The Ministry of Communications has noted other deficiencies of the existing SIM card registration regime in Ghana including the sale of pre-registered SIM cards, the use of pre-registered SIM cards and fraudulent registration of SIM cards. The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in collaboration with the African Union (AU) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat have paved way for the third edition of the Intra-African Trade Fair after opening the registration process. The organisers after two successful fairs on the continent hosted in Egypt and South Africa in 2018 and 2021 respectively, are now looking forward to a bigger fair next year, 2023. At a press conference at the secretariat of the AfCFTA in Accra on Friday, January 14, 2022, the organisers announced that although a date for the fair is yet to be finalised, the Ivory Coast remains the selected host nation. While leading the official launch, H.E Tiemoko Moriko, Ambassador of the Republic of Cote dIvoire in Ghana and Togo assured that his country will do everything in its power to be ready for the fair. I want to assure that the Ivorian state is ready and committed to put in place everything to prepare for IATF 2023. My dear country will take all necessary steps to make the trade fair a success so that the objectives of the IATF will be reached. There will be a well-planned atmosphere for this event. Exhibition points, accommodation, security, everything will be well coordinated, H.E Tiemoko Moriko said at the conference. He said for his country Cote dIvoire, the opportunity to host the 2023 IATF is a very important milestone and they will draw success inspirations from countries that have hosted the past events to make the upcoming fair the very best. Delivering an address at the press conference, Chairperson of the IATF 2021 Advisory Council and former Nigeria President, H.E Chief Olusegun Obasanjo said organisers should be proud of the success of the past fair. According to him, the favourable outcome of the 2021 IATF is testament of what the African continent can achieve by working together. We are proud to say that the IATF 2021 turned out to be resoundingly successful week that met and surpassed all our expectations. It epitomized what we can achieve as Africans if we come together, H.E Chief Olusegun Obasanjo noted. Looking forward to the next fair, the former Nigeria President stressed that SMEs are encouraged to participate because they are the backbone of the economies in African countries. Providing an update on the achievements of IATFA2021, Mrs. Kanayo Awani who is Managing Director, Intra-African Trade Initiative at Afreximbank confirmed that the fair in South Africa exposed African businesses to an integrated business of 1.2 billion people. She said in all, there were 1,501 exhibitors out of which 1,287 were on site with the others live from the IATF virtual platform specifically created for the fair. Telling the success story after every fair, she said the stage is set and IATF is now the platform connecting sellers and buyers, investors to integrate the public and private sector while facilitating Intra Africa trade. There remain a great potential for Africa to continue as we move to the 3rd edition. We will very soon announce the date after taking into consideration that calendar of all partners, Mrs. Kanayo Awani shared. For the 2023 IATF, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) wants to see a bigger fair where Africans trade amongst themselves with ease to the satisfaction and benefit of all parties. This is according to AfCFTA Secretary General H.E Wamkele Mene. Speaking at the press conference, he said his outfit aims to reduce the barrier to trade and investments by ensuring all 39 countries onboard will follow through with obligations and requirements. Key components of IATF 2023: 1. Trade exhibition 2. Trade and Investment Forus 3. Creative Africa Nexus 4. B2B, B2G, and B2C 5. IATF virtual 6. Country Days 7. AUYouth Start-Up 8. Africa Automotive show To register for the IATF 2023, apply HERE: About the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) The Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) is organised by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in collaboration with the African Union (AU) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat. IATF provides a platform to promote trade under the AfCFTA by bringing together continental and global buyers and sellers, and enabling stakeholders to share trade, investment and market information as well as trade finance and trade facilitation solutions designed to support intra-African trade and the economic integration of the continent. In addition to establishing business-to-business and business-to-government exchange platforms for business deals and advisory services, IATF also operates Virtual, an interactive online platform that replicates the physical event. IATF focuses on Africas creative economy as well as the automotive industry with dedicated programmes. A conference runs alongside the exhibition and features high-profile speakers and panellists addressing topical issues relating to trade, trade finance, payments, trade facilitation, trade-enabling infrastructure, trade standards, industrialisation, regional value chains and investment. 15.01.2022 LISTEN Economic policy analyst, Mr. Senyo Hosi has bemoaned the poor state of Ghanas constitution, arguing that corruption has gradually become the currency of the countrys democracy. Mr. Hosi who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD) said this while delivering a Constitution Day Public Lecture put together by OneGhana Movement on Friday, January 14, 2022. Speaking on the theme, Avoiding the Impending Death of the 1992 Constitution, a passionate Senyo Hosi said the structure of Ghanas Constitution has created a winner-takes-all system that has ensured an adversarial democracy (an unending NDC vs. NPP war) and not a consensual democracy. According to him, the current system empowers the executive to exclude anyone at will from fair access or include anyone for biased access to public services and opportunities. It has made it possible for the executive to unfairly utilize the powers of the state against any adversary it identifies. With so much power in one arm of government, the reality of Lord Actons views come to play, Power tends to Corrupt and Absolute Power corrupts, absolutely, Senyo Hosi shared. Mr Hosi stressed that the reality now in Ghana is that the democracy being practiced has adopted corruption as its currency with the ordinary Ghanaian left to suffer in poverty. Distinguished guests, the truth that ought to be told is this: corruption is the currency for our democracy, he said at the public lecture. In his proposal to address this, Mr. Senyo Hosi indicated that there is the need for a new democracy, a consensual democracy and not an adversarial democracy. A democracy of a loser-wins-some and not a winner-takes-all; a democracy that makes politics a call and moment of service and not a career of total economic dependence; a democracy that promotes the strengthening of our institutions and reflects the inclusiveness of our people and professionals; a democracy in which being out of government means nothing to your economic sustainability. Ladies and Gentlemen, a democracy that promotes meritocracy. To achieve this, the CBOD CEO recommends an urgent constitutional reform to reflect the democracy the country needs. "The establishment and management of a bipartisan national economic development agenda- One owned by all stakeholders, and re-conscientization of the Ghanaian with the values needed for our social and economic transformation." Read full statement here: CONSTITUTION DAY PUBLIC LECTURE DELIVERED BY SENYO K. HOSI ON 14 TH JANUARY 2022 TOPIC: AVOIDING THE IMPENDING DEATH OF THE 1992 CONSTITUTION Special Guests of Honour, Hon. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Hon. Dr. Dominic Ayine (Representing the Minority Leader), Chairperson of the National Commission for Civic Education, for want of time, I humbly request to ride on existing protocols. I wish to express my most profound gratitude to the UPSA Law School and the board of the OneGhana Movement for the courage in nominating me, a layman, to deliver this years Constitution Day Public lecture. At my last check, my academic bios had no certificates in law at all. I have been content pursuing a career that has had significant impact on the delivery of critical public services and goods, with degrees in Economic Policy Management, Finance, Psychology and Philosophy from the University of Ghana, the only University I can call my own. Ladies and gentlemen, my nomination to deliver this years lecture is no knock on any person who may be considered more qualified, nor a knock on the legal fraternity. It is rather, a definite knock on the hedged-in stereotypical thinking that has long held our public space hostage and validated perceptions of constitution capture, largely by lawyers and politicians. The constitution is no abstract construct analyzable and decodable by a few. It is the codification of what and how We the people seek to live and achieve in the governing of self as a sovereign. A constitution enjoys a special place in the life of any nation. It is the fundamental law of the land serving as the prime document of public policy and impacting all facets of society and life. It is the reflection of the socio-political and socio-economic aspiration of We the People and not a given profession. In the landmark ruling, Tuffour vs Attorney General reported in the 1980 Ghana Law Report, our former Chief Justice, E.N.P. Sowah situates the constitution so effectively when he posits, (I quote), A written Constitution such as ours is not an ordinary Act of Parliament. It embodies the will of a people. It also mirrors their history. Account, therefore, needs to be taken of it as a landmark in a people's search for progress. It contains within it their aspirations and their hopes for a better and fuller life. (End quote). Constitutions organize the basic structures of governance, the distribution of political power, regulation of the intricate relationships between political organs and the relationship between the government and the governed. [1] It is the fundamental basis for determining when and how we live, eat, build our wealth, make meaning of our work and, as Raymond Atuguba explains in his remarkable piece, Ebi Constitution we go chop, the constitution ensures an equitable distribution of our national resources. The constitution is so powerful that it needs all laws to be consistent with it. Inferring from Chief Justice Sowahs ruling captured earlier, every law must match the aspirations and will of the people or simply forget it! Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, All that I have stated about our Constitution represent no veiled attempt to appear to sound legalese, nor impose on you a sense that I belong to the revered and fiercely reclusive class of lawyers. I say these things so eruditely about our Constitution because it is a fact that this Constitution, if you like, is what the Italians term the toto Riina, and the Dogombas, the Kpalinkpaa and the Ewes will say, the Sogbolisa. These remarks, ladies and gentlemen, underscore the importance of the Constitution and how a document, no more than just brilliant pages of calligraphy, rules our lives! It is critical to note that, despite the excessive politicization and partisan fanaticism that engulfs our governance systems today, every president, judge, minister, parliamentarian, soldier, police, public servant, board and committee members of state agencies swear their allegiance to none other than the Constitution. But why so? It is so because the citizenry they are to serve is the object of the constitution. In other words, you, me, and the wellbeing of us as a citizenry is the reason for the constitution. If you care about yourself; you care about your progress and that of your kith and kin, then you should be caring about the constitution. So, in agreement with Raymond Atuguba, Na constitution we for chop. I call on all Ghanaians, from my rice farmers in Adaklu and Weta to the fisherman in Odododido; the market woman in Kejetia; Osei, the mechanic in Suame; Azey, the Takoradi man; Aku, the Kayayo; Iddrisu, the teacher in Tamale and Bro. Kofi, the German Borger from Berekum, to own the constitution and seize their space in shaping the trajectory of the development of the Ghanaian Constitution. The constitution is about us and for all of us! So, as the Akans would say momma menka masem. The Topic Ladies and Gentlemen, When the topic was first suggested, it understandably provoked controversy. How could Ghanas longest-serving constitution, revered for creating the current governance structures, and which has delivered the longest period of uninterrupted political governance, be presented as a document in hopeless atrophy or to put it mildly, a document on its last legs? Some friends have been even more mischievous in casting me as an almost certain person of interest at the National Investigative Bureau (NIB) for the audacity in suggesting the imminent death of the 1992 Constitution. I am hopeful that for an exercise with such tremendous puritanical and noble intentions for the preservation of our Republic, a jail cell will not be my abode tonight. Patrick McGowan in an article published in the Journal of Modern African Studies indicates that sub-Saharan Africa experienced 80 successful coups and 108 failed coup attempts between 1956 and 2001, an average of four a year. This average figure halved in the period from 2001 to 2019 as most African nations turned to democracy. The BBC reports that in 2021 alone, sub-Saharan Africa has seen a resurgence of coups with six (6) in the bag. This unsettling observation demands the question, why? Remi Adekoye, a political analyst and Associate Lecturer at York University in the UK, answers this succinctly in a publication on CNN, he puts it this way, DIFFERENT DECADE, SAME PROBLEMS. Just as was the case in the early post-colonial decades when coups were rampant, Africas 2021 coup leaders justify toppling governments and constitutions with allegations of corruption, mismanagement, social injustice, tyranny, and poverty. These reasons are similar to those advocated by the coups of Ghanas past. We must all be reminded also that just as Ghanas citizens stormed the streets to jubilate after the success of its coups, the 2021 successful sub-Saharan coups have been met with similar jubilations, especially by the youth. The Arab Spring of 2010 should not be lost on us. It is a reminder of the ability of the citizenry to pursue a restoration of their aspirations captured in a constitution whose people are the repository of sovereignty. I call this the Peoples Restoration or the Civilian Coup. The justifications by the uprising youth in the Arab Spring are similar to the military juntas of yesteryears and today. Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, the 1992 constitution effectively captures the essence of its being in the first part of its PREAMBLE. I quote: We, the People of Ghana, IN EXERCISE of our natural and inalienable right to establish a framework of government, which shall secure for ourselves, and posterity the blessings of liberty, equality of opportunity and prosperity (end quote). This shares clearly what the goal of the constitution is. A document to assure the citizenry, its youth and generations unborn, an aspiration for liberty, equality of opportunity and for prosperity. The terrifying portion of this section is the instructive power of the words Shall and Secure. It suggests a demand on the operators of the constitution to ensure certainty in the delivery of the listed blessings, for the constitution to sustain its relevance and meaning. The preamble also defines the values that should guide how We the people and our governments pursue the delivery of the promised blessings. These include Freedom, Justice, Probity, Accountability and Unity. The question we shall be interrogating will be whether and how the 1992 constitution and the actions of its operators deliver on the demand of the blessings and values. I am convinced that if the actors of the constitution enabled by the nature of its framing, deplete hope for We the People to realize the assured blessings of liberty, equality of opportunity and prosperity, the 1992 constitution shall lose its luster and, inevitably, lose its last leg (which is the peoples support) with thousands of youths, who today are about 70% under-employed or unemployed, calling for its demise. Unfortunately, I cannot say it any better, the clock is ticking. Do not be perturbed by my bluntness of the doom I suggest. I assure you of my unreserved belief in democracy, in my opinion, it is the best option we can hope for. I however hold firmly that no governance system is one-size-fits all. Democracy must, however, be adapted to fit our circumstances. I call that a Ghanacracy. In the referred Tuffour vs Attorney General case, Justice Sowah ruled that, and I quote, the constitution is a living organism capable of growth and development, as the body politic of Ghana itself is capable of growth and development (End quote). This tells us that the democracy of any sovereign is sustainable and potent only to the extent of its flexibility to its evolving cultural and developmental circumstances. If our democracy is less Ghanacratic and more Americratic, then we are headed, truly for doom. In this lecture, I shall be arguing that the current framing of the 1992 constitution has enabled its operators to plunge us so easily into a spiral of misgovernance, in a manner that is fast depleting the hope of We the People realizing the promise of liberty, equality of opportunity and prosperity. I shall further argue that this spiral of misgovernance, spurred by the non-conformity to the values of the constitution, is birthing the very environment and justifications for the death of constitutions preceding the 1992 constitution. The lecture shall also argue that at core people seek the operations of governance systems that deliver their aspiration and not necessarily hold an addiction to democracy. The lecture shall share a perspective on the functionality and constraints of the governance institutions key to ensuring the effective performance of governments in pursuit of our aspirations as citizens. In direct response to the topic, this lecture shall proffer revisions and amendments to our governance frame and the 1992 constitution in a bid to avoid what it deems the impending death of the constitution. Success of the 1992 Constitution I would like, at the outset, to reflect briefly on some of the successes of the 1992 constitution. It is, undoubtedly, the bedrock for Ghana being an icon of political stability in Sub-Saharan Africa. We seem to be an oasis of peace in a political region still recovering from the scars of debilitating insurrections that serve as a chilling reminder of an inglorious past. Often, Ghanas reality is projected as an expertly managed transition from the turbulence of military rule to a political culture whose by-products have seen more sustained periods of democratic rule, democratic consolidation and political stability. Recall that within a relatively short period of forty-five years (1957-1992), our nation promulgated and abrogated four constitutions. Within the same period, the military also put in place six constitutive instruments of governance in the form of proclamations. We remember the thorough consultative process built into the search for the 1992 constitution by the Justice D.F. Annan-led National Commission for Democracy and the Committee of Experts. The rigours and inclusiveness of the process and the hindsight of failure furnished by the previous constitutions, combined to crystallize into the current Constitution that has lasted three decades. It is commendable that the leaders of the time found it wise to involve many relevant groupings and professions, including farmers, market women, fisherfolks, hairdressers, teachers, engineers, medics, etc. They realised the essence of a constitution was the people and worked to make its drafting as inclusive as possible. The legal fraternity often highlights article 3(4) of the Constitution in particular, for its magic wand in suppressing the appetite for coups. Permit me to dabble in legalese once again by quoting the provision as follows: All citizens of Ghana shall have the right and duty at all times- To do all in their power to restore this Constitution after it has been suspended, overthrown, or abrogated. Clause 5 of the article, of course, offers non-prosecutorial guarantees to any citizen of the Republic who resists the abrogation of the Constitution. In fact, the provision says, no offence is committed in the process. But Ladies and Gentlemen, I can only partially agree with the widely held view that this singular clause has fiercely served as a disincentive for coups since 1993. First, the claim is an exaggeration. It perceives coups as being only military and forgets that the will of the people can go against its own former will. Second, it belittles the intelligence of our men in uniform who have gone through significant transformation and orientation since the 1980s. However, as the evidence bears out, I unreservedly agree that one legacy of the 1992 Constitution is that it has given us political stability. This is important because it was the most sought-after commodity in the period between 1960 and 1990. Ironically, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen: This is where my difficulties with our current Constitution begins. The delivery of political stability over the past 30 years is no assurance of stability in the next 5,10,20 or 30years. Just in case we may have forgotten there once was a company named Kodak and a phone called Blackberry. It was unthinkable in their prime that an end was certain. But the unthinkable happened because they remained locked up in their success and failed to effectively estimate the future to adapt in time and sustain their relevance. What sure is permanent, is the evolution of change in time. As Justice Sowah rightly pointed in Tuffour vs. the Attorney General [2] , the Constitution contains within it, the aspirations and the hopes of the citizenry for a better and fuller life. I opine that the enduring stability from a constitution lies in its ability to sustain the hope for a better and fuller life, and in our case, the blessings and values promised in the preamble of the 1992 constitution. We cannot take our political stability for granted, so we must ask, Are we delivering on the promises of liberty, equality of opportunity and prosperity? Are we living the values of freedom, probity, accountability, and justice? If not, then the bigger question must be asked, Are we eroding hope that we will deliver? If yes, then for sure the death of the constitution may well be nigh. I will now proceed to share my assessment and position on the above questions. Are we Delivering the Promise of the Blessings? Ladies and gentlemen, let us briefly assess each of the promised blessings from the constitution. I will start with liberty. We have delivered, for example, on the provisions for freedom to form and be part of all legal social and political groupings. To that extent one may assume we have our liberties. But this is misleading. Under the operation of this constitution, we have seen many discriminated against in the access to public goods and services. In the last reigns of President Rawlings, it was public knowledge that getting contracts required most to have party cards. The same was the case under President Kuffour and, interestingly many a Ghanaian businessman held both NDC and NPP cards. I dont think much has changed. Today, when arguments are advanced over issues of policy, we focus on the messenger and not the message. The common refrain is, forget about that guy, he is from this party or that. He is not one of us. Whether we admit it or not, your association with a political grouping or not affects your economic and, in some cases, social liberties. I do not believe we have and are delivering well enough on our promise of liberty. Our liberty is in speak and only in the mundane. We easily exercise political and social power against persons considered non-aligned. Criticize a government fiercely, even if constructively, and see how the machinery of state, from regulators to the security services, EOCO and the GRA, may come after you. Unfortunately, I will not join the wagon of hypocrisy and pretend that we do not live in a town where commonsense has become a matter of NDC and NPP. Even our Members of Parliament who are to represent Us the People lose their liberties to reason on their own, and act in our interest, but rather act as directed by their respective parties, irrespective of whose parochial interest a party is advancing. How many of them are bold and competent enough to hold their own against the stance of their party or their president. If in doubt, ask the Majority and Minority leaders if they can agree to have the e-levy bill passed by a secret vote? Ladies and gentlemen lets look at the issue of equality of opportunity. How can we suggest any success at equality of opportunity when for many of our youth, it is so evident that whom you know has become more important than what you know and who you are in getting employment and access to educational scholarships? We everyday shatter the hope of Kwame Ntim, the plantain farmer in Lolobi, to have his son gainfully employed after selling half of his estate to educate his son at UPSA. Our government sector jobs from ministries to state-owned enterprises have now been overwhelmed by the term Protocol. You need to be well connected politically or socially to stand a good chance. What at all are we teaching these youth with this culture? We are replacing merit and hard work with patronage, privilege, and political fanaticism. What for me is frightening is how this culture is overwhelming our security services. We will soon have, if we already dont, an NDC and NPP silent faction of security services. I have seen first-hand the party caucuses in our state-owned enterprises, regulatory bodies, and educational system. The same is true in contracts for public goods and services. We now have NPP and NDC businessmen and women. Each goes into hibernation when in opposition or repackages themselves as sub-contractors for new Political businesspersons. When we look at the economic inequality indices, it is telling. The Gini index which is used to assess economic inequality shows that inequality has worsened from a 33.4 co-efficient in 1994 to 43.5 as in 2018. Inequality has worsened by about 30% since 1994. I am confident that it will be worse at the next publication. Distinguished guests, It is no surprise that rural-urban migration is increasing. Our urban population has increased from 50.9% in 2010 to 56.7% in 2021. In absolute terms this is an increase of 4.9million people, equivalent to 80% of the total national population increase since 2010. This data tells us this: our decentralization policies are failing and the pursuit of a better and fuller one is not being found in our rural areas. Where is the equality of opportunity? Even in our justice system, there is no equality. Steal a goat and instead of reform, rot in jail. Loot depositors funds in a bank and get to still live large and blow tongues on national television. Snatch a ballot paper, make the front page and rot in jail. Be called honourable, snatch ballot papers at the centre of our democracy, parliament and get hailed as prince of your party. After 3 decades of a constitution that advocates the equality of economic opportunity and demands governments to ensure the full integration of women into the mainstream of the economic development of Ghana, our public sector remains dominated by men who account for 60% of the public sector workforce. Our entire public sector system is everyday being shattered by partisan politics and the disregard for meritocracy. The fastest way to rise through the ranks now is to paint every other person a sympathizer of an opposition party. Woe betides you if the sound of your name confirms it even more. Our public service is riddled with so much disappointment and no meaning of hard work and good service. I serve and work so hard to grow through the ranks only for some less qualified party faithful to be appointed as my boss. I will have to teach him everything and practically do his job to even hold on t0 my current position. How do you expect these public officers to feel and commit their all? We are simply nurturing bitterness; we are promoting political fanaticism in a public and civil service that must not be partisan. Ladies and gentlemen, after 30 years of this constitution, it is unbelievable that we still have schools under trees and yet politicians pride themselves with the status symbol of the latest V8 vehicles. It is obvious that our governance system easily V8 and yet the downtrodden, struggle to elevate. How many of the well-to-do political elite, pontificating over the public education system, educate their wards in our public schools? I am a proud product of Pantang Hospital School. When I left there about 3 decades ago, it was in way better state than I saw in 2021. On my visit, I saw roofs leaking, dirty walls, all science infrastructure gone, with over 70 kids in a class designed for 25. I could not help but weep. These kids will have to compete someday with my kids and the children and Grandchildren of our political and business elite, who school at the premium International Private Schools. Where is the equality of opportunity? If those to lead in the change of our fortunes, do not believe in the system they superintend over, enough to school their offspring there, where is our hope? Can anyone show me which of our past 4th Republican Presidents schooled their children in our Public Universities? These uncomfortable truths speak volumes to the investment of our leaders in the country they lead. When our Presidents, their Vice, our Speakers of Parliament, and many of the political elite are ill, they jump so quickly on the next available flight at the expense of Maame Adzeleys taxes, to get the finest of care, even for routine checkups. When Maame Adzeley is ill, she must contend with the pathetic state of our health facilities and the ever-stretched and wornout medical staff right here in Ghana. The symbolism of the surgical ward at Korle-Bu, Ghanas foremost hospital, is a chilling reminder of the failing hope of many in the capacity of our constitution to deliver goods and services fairly to all. So, tell me, where is the equality of opportunity? Where is the hope of its delivery? Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, lets now look into the promised blessing of prosperity. The Matters of Concern survey undertaken by the National Commission for Civic Education has each time highlighted Employment, Education and Health as the primary matters of concern to Ghanaian citizens. On education, we observe a decrease from 23.4% in 2010 to 20.8% in 2021 in the proportion of our population that has never attended school. This is progress but not what we would have wished for. While we do commend efforts like the FCUBE and Free SHS to promote school enrolment, the real question is about the quality of education. Schooling the population is primarily towards an end of making them economically and socially viable. They must be productive and employable. Reading and writing are key but the foremost concern of the majority of our graduates is to be employed. We look at the employment data and it is frightening. The Ghana Statistical Service reports that the unemployment rate among the youth (15-35yrs) is 19.7% and for young adults (1524yrs), 32.8%. The world bank reports that 50% of the youth are under-employed. Bundling both data, we have almost 70% of our youth unemployed or under-employed. This is dangerous and scary. The youth today cannot be held responsible for this melancholic world we have given them. They are bearing the brunt of our actions and indiscretions over the past 30 years. Ladies and gentlemen, our finances and ability to drive growth through government investments have been dwindling. Despite the many borrowings made by successive governments, the economic productivity of these spendings is yet to be realized. We have grown our public debt from $4.5bn in 1992 to about $60bn as of 2021. Our revenue to GDP ratio remains very disappointing and worrisome. Our wages and interest payments, account for about 95% of our domestic revenue. Tell me, what is really left to invest sustainably in infrastructure and programmes to stimulate a long-term turnaround? What at all is the economic strategy known by the people to turn things around? Sometimes, it all feels like we are living by the day under some autopilot of grace. When a government needs to dip hands into your digital wallet after paying your income taxes, then you know we have a crisis we must solve together. Why are we failing to also discuss cutting down our many expenditures that continue to prove unproductive? How come a country so small and broke, opts to keep a government so big 275 Parliamentarians and over 100 Ministers with only God knows how many staffers and special assistants, with everyone feeling entitled to V8 SUVs and Business class travel. If debt-distressed Ghana was a company with our leaders the sole shareholders, I wonder, would they superintend the waste, inefficiencies, and pillage as we see under the 1992 constitution? We have failed to develop a common economic agenda and rendered the NDPC a white elephant replacing each national development plan with a party manifesto. Rawlings Vision 2020 gave way to Kuffours Vison 2010 and then a 40-year development plan which has also been denounced. This ping- pong we play with our economic policies is heartbreaking. We seem to have forgotten that we are dealing with real lives. The lack of a true national agenda is reflective of the adversarial democracy we have developed from the constitution. It is an NDC vs. NPP war on who gets credit and whose face will be printed on the document. And as the elephant and umbrella fight over the absurdity of ego, you, me and little Amina, that 1o-year-old Class 5 girl in Bunkprugu, will continue to suffer. We have land, good weather, natural and human resources and yet we are hungry and broke! How? Corruption, poor leadership and wastage inspired by the Governance frame of the constitution which yields close to no accountability. Imagine the United Arab Emirates announcing it is offering citizenship for 2 million Ghanaians through a process to be hosted at the Accra Sports Stadium. I do not think I need to tell you about the stampede that is certain to occur. The United Arab Emirates has shared prosperity for all its citizens, even though it is not a democracy. I am sure most of us salivate at the prospect of annual vacations there. Just so we are reminded, that desert called UAE ranks 21st in the world happiness index while Ghana ranks 98th. I opine that people at core seek dignity and prosperity in living fuller lives for themselves and their children much more than an addiction to democracy. Na democracy they go chop? My Verdict: Have we delivered the blessings of the constitution? I conclude, NO. Are we depleting hope that we will deliver? I shall make some notes before I answer. Every time we have been faced with bad governance, we have been patient to see the end of the governments reign in hope that the next will be well. But after trying both NDC and NPP four times each at elections, many are filled with disappointment and have concluded, it is almost the same wine in different bottles. When it feels like there is no end in sight, hope begins to deplete. The recent survey by CDD that showed that over 70% of Ghanaians prefer having MMDCEs elections on a non-partisan basis, is very telling of the sentiments that We the People currently have about our partisan politics. So, my answer, if I may use a friends terminology, Enkoyelapa, it is not going well we are depleting that hope and it is depleting fast. The question arises, why has the separation of powers and the democratic institutions setup by the 1992 constitution failed to ensure the delivery of the promised blessings? The Sham of Separation Ladies and gentlemen, the suggestion that we have separation of powers to serve as a check in governance is almost a sham. It exists in form but not much in practice. We have an everpowerful Presidency that appoints 50% of Ministers from Parliament and has the power to appoint them on boards. In fact, the majority leader is a cabinet minister. The judiciary on the other hand is significantly dependent on the executive for its appointments, thereby creating prospects of political and executive activism. Everybody wants to catch the eye of the President! This incestuous relationship between the Executive, Parliament, and the Judiciary makes it extremely difficult to ensure proper checks and accountability in our governance frame. The Presidency also holds appointing authority over democratic institutions of State like the NCCE, Electoral Commission, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, National Media Commission, etc. The Presidency appoints the leaders and board members of accountability institutions like the Attorney-General and Auditor-Generals Departments, Office of the Special Prosecutor and EOCO. All other support institutions like the security services, Regulatory institutions, State-owned Enterprises and administrative agencies and their boards all through to the MMDAs are mostly subject to the discretion of the president. In most cases, there is no security of tenure and where there is, the economic purse of that institution rests in the bosom of the President through his Minister of Finance. As we saw in the case of Deputy Governor Bawumia, Governor Issahaku and Commissioner Charlotte Osei, the force of the executive can force you out even when you have security of tenure. Either way, the Presidency has a hold on everyone. The President in effect shapes the tune in the exercise of the values of freedom, probity, justice and accountability. Needless to say, our constitution created in a President, for want of a better expression, a Democratic Dictator. Respectfully, while the crafters of the constitution may have considered this structure necessary for a smooth transition from military rule to democracy, it has become the bedrock of our problems. This structure has created a winner-takes-all system that has ensured an adversarial democracy (an unending NDC vs. NPP war) and not a consensual democracy. It empowers the executive to exclude anyone at will from fair access or include anyone for biased access to public services and opportunities. It has made it possible for the executive to unfairly utilize the powers of the state against any adversary it identifies. With so much power in one arm of government, the reality of Lord Actons views come to play, Power tends to Corrupt and Absolute Power corrupts, absolutely. Hence, meritocracy and institutional development have given way to political fanaticism and social corruption. With the stakes so high, party financing has become an entrepreneurial investment, in hope, not for the advancement of philosophical principles for development, but rather opportunities to be included in the economic discretions of the executive, and opportunities to plunder the state. Party financing is high risk and high-risk investments are designed to yield high returns and not regular returns. Who will pay for that premium? You and me. If in doubt, ask successive governments why they have had so much inertia in pursuing and prosecuting culprits of the theft of billions of cedis in petroleum revenue? It is simple: doing so will mean going after their financiers and party faithful. In some cases, the party leaders. Distinguished guests, the truth that ought to be told is this: corruption is the currency for our democracy. The excessive power of the Presidency has created a public service and political environment of yes men. You are cautious not to do otherwise else your place will be lost. Just recall the tsunami in our ministries when there is a change of Government? If a Chief Directors office is now tied to the fortunes of the party in government, where on earth will his allegiance be? The constitution or the Executive? In effect, the power of the executive is imprisoning our public institutions. It has also cowed the private sector who remain cautious of the capacity of the Presidency and its political henchmen to negatively impact their businesses through regulatory bodies, government agencies and negative bias in the access to public services and government procurement. As a result, the formal private sector is wary to be seen as associated with an opposing political personality. Simply put, when you are a politicallyexposed person in opposition, businesses often shy away from you. They will hardly employ you, engage you on their boards or offer you a role as a vendor. In the case of the public sector, you may as well forget it. Will we see Gabby Otchere Darko offered a legal job by the government under the NDC? or Marietta Brew, our very fine former Attorney General, offered legal contracts under the NPP? We havent built that democracy yet. This makes the economic survival of a politician highly risky. Lose your job while your party is in office, and you are close to doomed. Have your party out of office and you are doomed. How then do you survive beyond politics when your salary as a politician barely covers your personal expenses? Corruption, Corruption, Corruption! Ministers and MPs take home a salary of about GHS12,500 to GHS15,000 after statutory, vehicle and caucus deductions. From this balance, they pay their driver, they may pay their rent or mortgage and fend for their families. Have you wondered how they are able to fund the many foot-soldier and community demands on them including school fees, funerals, church harvests, festivals, etc.? Have you ever wondered how some suddenly are able to afford to move their kids to highend private international schools, quickly building and acquiring various houses and properties, and funding travels for their family and other significant associates? I did not say side chicks. What politicians forget is that the people knew them and their lifestyle prior to assuming office. Why such a sudden change after an appointment or election? This unexplained wealth and changes in lifestyle have become less relevant to the taxman, simply because the political class controls the taxman. They are more interested in private men like me. NPP will hesitate to go after the NDC officials on unexplained wealth because there is a silent understanding of live and lets live. It is the way they sustain themselves and the democracy we adore. Do not be fooled, under this constitution, corruption will go nowhere. It is what keeps the wheels of our democracy moving. It is no wonder that the corruption perception index has grown from 33 in 1998 to 43 in 2020. The last Afrobarometer survey for 2019, reported that 53% of the population believe corruption increased in the previous year. To make matters worse over 80% of respondents believe that all three arms of government are totally or partly corrupt. This is dangerous, especially when the Judiciary is seen equally as corrupt. The perception that justice is no more about knowing the law but knowing the judge should frighten us. I raise these issues on corruption so passionately because it is a major driver in the depletion of hope that the promises of the constitution will be delivered. It is the easiest and most resounding excuse to justify the toppling of constitutions, especially when faith in the judiciary and accountability institutions wane so badly. Corruption is so elegant a name that must be reduced to what it is: Stealing, theft! To relate to corruption, one must picture the life of a sachet water hawker. She needs to sell 200 sachets of water carried on her head to make the minimum wage per day. Lets assume she has two children and is only able to sustain them on these. Stealing GHS1m is robbing the livelihood of over 240,000 sachet water hawkers and their children. I must admit, we have largely lost our values, and empathy for one another has become so rare. As the Gas will say, Anaa mor morbor! Corruption is not simply a financial loss to Ghana. It is the theft of livelihoods. It is the destruction of the future of real lives. It is the perpetuation of hopelessness. It is the tradeoff with that hospital that should have saved Mrs Obiri-Yeboah after her caesarean surgery at Sekondi-Takoradi hospital. It comes at the expense of little Komla Folis quality education and his chance to compete with the world in the next ten years. It is the tradeoff with the road network and infrastructure that will propel private sector jobs and give Wombe the dignity of employment and his hope to marry someday. We, sometimes, forget that the common denominator of corruption is the citizenry. We have lost our values and, sometimes, suggest politicians and public officials emanate from space. They are our siblings, congregants, uncles, and neighbours; they actually reflect us. Citizens demand all kinds of things from our party politicians which we are aware they cannot sustain by their legitimate income. Weddings, school fees, funerals and in some weird cases, abortion funds. Corruption used to be in the single-digit thousands of dollars, now we talk of millions. It is getting worse and will only be worse with every change in Government. What on earth do you expect if the politically and economically alienated under the current government take over the reins in 2025? People have been hungry for long. They will recover the lost years and store for the next unforeseeable years. I am not talking just about an opposition waiting for its turn to take over the reins of power, but also alienated members of a ruling party waiting for the turn of their man. I call them internally displace politicians. Either way, Corruption is going nowhere; it will only grow bigger! That is the democracy we have. I am certain that, while we as citizens have failed in our responsibility, we have been moulded by the operation of the 1992 constitution that so heavily depends on the goodness of the heart of man, which is so rare today. So, what constitution do we need? Ironically the superintending mid-wife of the 1992 constitution, Flt Lt. Rawlings, gives us the best answer and I quote We can vote personalities in and out, what we need to do is to establish a situation where even if it were the devil who should come and sit on top of us in Ghana, by virtue of certain procedures and certain practices, the devil can never get away with doing what he wants, he will necessarily do what the people expect of him. Unfortunately, He failed to give us that, but I agree with him. We must limit the dependence on the integrity and personality of our leadership. Just as Barack Obama said, Africa doesnt need strong men, it needs strong institutions. It is so admirable when you see Australias political class in disarray and yet having no impact on the delivery of public service and economic prosperity. That is a country where institutions work! Entertain a presidential election petition in Ghana and the whole public service slips into coma. So, I propose to you a new democracy, a consensual democracy and not an adversarial democracy. A democracy of a loser-wins-some and not a winner-takes-all; a democracy that makes politics a call and moment of service and not a career of total economic dependence; a democracy that promotes the strengthening of our institutions and reflects the inclusiveness of our people and professionals; a democracy in which being out of government means nothing to your economic sustainability. Ladies and Gentlemen, a democracy that promotes meritocracy. This, I believe, may require three broad interventions to enable us to avoid the risk of the death of our constitution. These recommendations are not thought of as sacrosanct; they are aimed at provoking thoughts and debate on options to develop the democracy we need. An urgent constitutional reform to reflect the democracy we need. A consensual democracy. Establishment and Management of a bipartisan national economic development agenda- One owned by all stakeholders. Re-conscientization of the Ghanaian with the values needed for our social and economic transformation. A. Constitutional Reform I recommend what I term a 7D reform of the Constitution some of which are covered in various forms in the Constitutional Review Commission report of 2011. Deepen the separation of powers of the three arms of government Depoliticize our governance and democratic institutions Depoliticize our security services Depoliticize our accountability institutions Depoliticize all state agencies, including SOEs, regulatory bodies and agencies. Democratize our Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies. Democracy Funding a. Deepen the separation of powers of the three arms of government. First, we need to ensure true separation of the Legislature and the Executive. We must enforce full separation of powers and expunge any requirement or option for the executive to appoint any member of the legislature as a minister or member of a board of the enterprises and agencies of the State. The legislature cannot be a player and referee at the same time. To entrench the independence of the Judiciary from the Executive, the authority to appoint members of the judiciary from the lower courts to the appeals court must be made the exclusive preserve of the Judicial Council, which should be required to adopt an open and public evaluation process. Nominations to the supreme court, and for the Chief Justice should equally emanate from the Judicial Council but be subject to the approval of two-thirds of the members of Parliament. I believe this will force consensus and make both majority and minority co-own confidence in the Judiciary. It will also disincentivize potential political activism from the bench, a situation that erodes confidence in the judiciary and the very core of our values, freedom, and justice. I will recommend that the Judicial Council be reconstituted to, in addition to the presidents and institutional nominees, include nominees also from the opposition. The independent institutions must, however, dominate the council and must not be subject to the direct or indirect influence of the Executive. b. Depoliticize our governance and democratic institutions These institutions comprising NCCE, the National Media Commission and especially the Electoral Commission, among others, are core to the sustenance of our democracy. The management of the appointment of the electoral commission has in recent times been fraught with so much mistrust and political polarization. The poor consultative process in the appointment of Charlotte Osei, the infamous manoeuvring to oust her and the equally non-consensual process in appointing Jean Mensah do not augur well for our democratic stability. I shudder to think of what the NDC will do should they assume office with a Jean Mensah in office. This tells us the system is sick- it is not working for We The People I recommend a more consensual process that shall have the President still nominate commissioners for the approval of parliament by a two-thirds majority. I also believe our constitution should place a demand on the Presidency to adopt an open and public process requiring a recruitment process that includes interested persons to apply for the respective roles. The demand for a two-thirds majority shall significantly ensure a process owned by the key political parties and shall eliminate potential partisan activism from aspiring commissioners. c. Depoliticize our security services Similar to the above process, the presidents nominees should be subject to a twothirds approval from parliament. This too shall significantly mitigate potential partisan activism by the respective officers and culture of protocol placements. Finite and secure tenures of say four years, may also be required to ward off executive interferences to their allegiance to the constitution. Their tenor should straddle two administrations. Some may argue that the security services are too sensitive and must be left to the President alone. I can relate to that concern, but allegiance is sworn to the constitution and commitment must be to the people of Ghana and none other. We need systems to urgently curb the growing political polarization of our security services. d. Depoliticize our accountability institutions The office of the Attorney General should be separate from the executive and made totally independent. The authority to nominate the Attorney-General, the Commissioners of CHRAJ and the Office of the Special Prosecutor should be exclusive to the General Legal Council, which should be required to adopt an open and public evaluation process. The nominees should be subject to a two-thirds majority approval of parliament. The GLC, just as proposed for the Judicial Council, should have both the President and the leadership of the minority nominate members onto the Council. There must be a clear fit and proper criteria to guide the nominations. The rest must be institutional representations not directly nor indirectly under the influence of the Presidency. These must dominate the Council. I am confident such a Council shall be truly independent. The Audit Service Board should be reconstituted and dominated by representatives of the relevant professional bodies like the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Institute of Bankers, Ghana Bar Association, and others. Nominees of the Presidency and opposition leadership should also be granted equal seats on the Board compliant with set fit and proper criteria. The Audit Board should be made to nominate AuditorGenerals through an open and public process of hiring. The nominations should also be subject to two-thirds majority approval by parliament. [NB: I recognize the potential for gridlock in the implementation of the requirement for twothird majority approval of parliament in some of the recommendations. I believe as we debate and evaluate the options, we should be able to structure fall back mechanisms on a sector-by-sector basis.] e. Depoliticize all state agencies Similar to the above, Boards of government agencies must be structured to have more institutional representation and with nominees both from the opposition and ruling governing party in varied proportions. The relevant independent institutions or professional bodies must be made to dominate these Boards. The Boards should further be required to appoint their respective CEOs through an open and public process. f. Democratize our MMDAs The jury is out on this. If democracy is a government by the people and for the people, there is no reason why there is no practice of it where governance is closest to the people. The MMDCE elections must happen and happen now. 76% of Ghanaians in a recent survey by CDD demand it and it must be given to them. Partisan politics? The answer is resounding, NO to partisan politics. Over 71% of Ghanaians in the survey say no politics and must remain so. We need a new breath of fresh air from the overbearing cloud and weight of partisan politics that erodes the independence of our leaders. Allow us to vote for persons in their person and hold them personally accountable in their service. We do not want Mayors voted by us and owned by parties whose directing minds sit outside our communities. If I may borrow the words of IC Quaye, then I shall say, on this matter, Agbenaa! Any government confident in the support of its people would make this debate the least of its worry. The beauty of all this is that, delivering on this cry by the people is so simple and costs close to nothing. It requires a simple two-thirds majority vote in parliament. We say we are broke and yet desperate to spend on a referendum just so parties can retain political hold on our MMDAs. This is unconscionable and I cant call this anything else but greed, pejorative to the reasoning of We the People. To ensure the independence of our MMDCEs, we must depoliticize the control over the District Assembly Common Fund. The administrator must have a security of tenure and be answerable to its Board which must be reconstituted to minimize the influence of ruling parties and promote consensus with opposition parties and other stakeholders. The CRC report and its recommendations present a good guide. g. Democracy Funding We claim to love democracy but shy away from funding it. When we fail to fund our democracy, we fail to own it. As noted earlier, party financing is at the root of corruption and the plundering of the State. The role of a politician is so critical for the sustenance of sovereignty. It is a job someone must do. Just as a headless goat is a dead goat so is a politician-less state a dead state. Our parties are arrowheads of our democracy, they are drivers of the policies and decisions that bring to life, our democracy and the fuller lives we desire. They must be well resourced to competently shape the development of our country. They must cease being election machines and become drivers of policy development and management. If we truly love our democracy, then we must put our money where our mouth is. If we leave the financing of our parties to businesspersons, we will be left with no option but to expect more plundering with impunity. Maybe we should be considering the establishment of a Democracy Fund to fund the activities of our political parties. This funding arrangement for the parties, must be accompanied with restrictions on campaign financing and must be effectively monitored by the Electoral Commission. We must also introduce stringent and public accountability systems to ensure compliance. Corruption in Ghana, according to Imani, is estimated at $3bn a year. If we work to eliminate corruption and commit 20% to 30% of this saving to the fund, Ghana will be better off. Funding may be by a set allocation from all domestic revenue due the State, or the introduction of a Democracy tax. Either way, we must pay for the democracy we want. Funding our democracy through a Democracy Fund, will make us better people, sustain good values and build an honest economy. If we decide not to fund it, we will still end up paying dearly for it, but this time through corruption, which destroys our value systems and threatens the democracy we have worked so hard to develop. As a matter of fact, it will cost us more. If I may sound biblical, choose this day how you will pay for your democracy? Millions by a democracy fund or billions by corruption? The democracy fund may be merged with the Independent Constitutional Bodies Fund proposed by the CRC report. I however recommend the inclusion of the Judiciary as beneficiaries of the Fund. I also recommend that the Administrators of the Fund be subject to an open and public process of nomination and a two-thirds majority approval of Parliament. The Administrators must also be accountable to a Board made up of majority relevant independent technocratic institutions and Civil Society groupings with additional and equal representation from the majority and opposition. B. DEVELOPMENT OF A BI-PARTISAN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENDA The CRC report effectively captures the consensus for us to have an independent NDPC and a consensus-based National Development plan based on the directive principles of State policy. I also agree with its recommendation for a more technocratic NPDC. However, I will add that we must, in addition, have an annual public evaluation of a ruling partys conformity and performance with the New National Development Plan. C. RE-CONSCIENTIZATION OF THE GHANAIAN B.R. Ambedkar said I quote However good a constitution may be, if those who are implementing it are not good, it will prove to be bad. However bad a constitution may be if those implementing are good, it will prove to be good. Nelson Mandela also once said, Permanent values in social life cannot be created by people who are indifferent or hostile to the aspirations of a nation. Simply put, we cannot get the best of any constitution with a people without the right values. Our value systems need a total overhaul to promote patriotism, honest-work, excellence, integrity, empathy, service and absolutely the lead values stipulated in the preamble of the constitution: Freedom, Justice, Probity, Accountability and Unity. If we envision a future of phenomenal transformation of our country, then Active Citizenship through Civic Education cannot be ignored. To this end, we ought to resource the National Commission for Civic Education to develop and execute a programme for national value transformation and constitution education, in partnership and consultation with traditional authorities, relevant political parties, the private sector, labour unions and other stakeholders. Like Singapore, these values must run through our education system as a subject from kindergarten through our tertiary education. Distinguished guests, these three broad recommendations, inclusive of the 7D constitution, reform sub-recommendations, are not to replace the CRCs recommendations but to augment them, where applicable. Needless to say, it is time to bring the CRC report to the front burner, revise it, where necessary and deepen our democracy and delivery of the blessings of the constitution. Ladies and Gentlemen, people of Ghana, the future is the future of our youth, our children today and generations unborn. Movements every step of our way should drive a better world for them. I have not come to spew doom but to awaken our consciences to the fact that our stability ought not to be taken for granted. We must guard it so jealously and that requires us to be responsive and futuristic in our adaptations to the evolving culture and developmental needs of our time. It is time to abandon our adversarial democracy and embark on a consensual democracy. The hungry youth cannot wait any longer for us to deliver on the blessing of the constitution. We either evolve or be dissolved. The clock is ticking! Ladies and Gentlemen, my mouth has fallen! God Bless our homeland Ghana. [1] John Hatchard, Muna Ndulu and Peter Slinn: Comparative Constitutionalism and Good Governance in the Commonwealth [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2004] p.3 [2] [1980] GLR 637, SC Protesters gather at the makeshift memorial for 13-year-old Stanley Davis Jr. on Federal Highway in Boynton Beach on Saturday, January 1, 2022. The teen died in a crash, after he left a gas station on his brand-new, red dirt bike - darting off as a police SUV approached. His family and protesters argue the child's death could've been avoided had the officer not followed behind. (Mike Stocker / South Florida Sun Sentinel) Re: Hundreds honor the life, mourn the death of Stanley Davis III, young dirt bike rider from Boynton Beach The death of Stanley Davis lll was a terrible tragedy, and blaming the officer following him is also tragic. Advertisement Anyone riding a motorcycle not equipped with items like rear-view mirrors or brake lights is taking dangerous chances. The real villains here are the parents. Not monitoring their sons driving on city streets instead of insisting that it be on an off-road setting was the main reason he died. It was well within intelligent concern for an officer to carefully intercept the child and inform him of the dangers and temporarily take the bike off the road and admonish his parents for not exercising better parenting. Frank Goodwin, Fort Lauderdale Advertisement Hiding behind Marsys Law Ive been a subscriber for over 20 years and receive your paper daily. Im very disturbed by your reporting on the death of Stanley Davis III during a chase by Boynton Beach police. While I dont condone the actions of this young man, I thought your policy was to not publish names of underage children involved in incidents with law enforcement. Ive noticed you readily publish the names of underage Black children, while withholding the names of white children. What bothers me more about your reports of this incident is that police have not released the name of the officer, citing Marsys Law, a voter-approved amendment that allows crime victims to shield their names and personal information from the public. How is the officer a victim? Why havent you challenged the Boynton Beach police with the obvious misuse of this law? I dont see anything in your reporting to challenge this with the police, or questioning their motives of hiding behind a law intended for victims. James Lawrence, Boca Raton (Editors Note: Sun Sentinel content director for breaking news Kathy Laskowski responds. Providing accurate, relevant and unbiased information is the key to our reporting. Questions posed by this letter are valid, for which we seek answers. At no point do we allow the race of an individual to divert our pursuit of the truth, nor do we let it dictate the publication of identities of victims or perpetrators). Praise for DeSantis Thank you, Sun Sentinel, for accurate statistics of Floridas death rate from the Omicron variant. I credit our governor for having policies in place to manage this pandemic while allowing us to live our lives and work and send children to schools. The writer makes comparisons to the Delta variant and its horrific death toll. Acquired resistance and vaccination rates may be helping, as the writer states. Falling short of the possibility of herd immunity contributing to the low death rate, the writer shows the strength of our state in dealing with this virus. Thank you, Gov. DeSantis, for your hard work in managing this pandemic. Phyllis Trainor, Boynton Beach Advertisement Science vs. stupid Weve been full-time residents of Flori-DUH for almost 25 years, and have seen more than our share of DUHs. Not to be outdone, Gov. DeSantis and Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo have seen fit, despite their total lack of expertise in infectious disease, to create a health crisis. Florida was inundated with visitors from every state and country, from Thanksgiving through the New Year, happily availing themselves of all we offer, especially the freedom to not be masked. As the CDC expected, our numbers are off the charts, hospitals are again overrun, and doctors offices are being decimated by this extremely transmissible strain. DeSantis is a highly educated Navy veteran whose credo is to never leave anyone behind, yet he allowed thousands of Floridians to die in his unbridled quest to emulate Trump and be a presidential candidate. Monoclonal antibodies, nutrition, Vitamin C are you for real? For otherwise healthy people, thats a terrific regimen, but against COVID? If it were that simple, wouldnt the pandemic be gone? Dont be lemmings and follow DeSantis and Ladapo off a cliff. Control your lives, and have consideration for others. Science saves lives, stupid destroys them. Vivian Woda, Delray Beach 15.01.2022 LISTEN The NDC trademark of heartlessness, visionless and stupidity is nothing interesting to write home about. Their fullness of mischief, selfishness, corruption and never-tiring propensity to lie, does often set tongues wagging. It makes them detestable entities unworthy to be called Ghanaians, if not human beings at all. A Ghanaian colleague who works in a different department in the same company, a diehard NDC supporter of course, on his way home after work, met another Ghanaian who is a sympathiser of the NPP coming into work in the evening of Thursday, 13th January 2022. The NDC guy said in a loud voice to the hearing, and in front, of, other white colleagues around, Your NPP government has no money for the 2022 budget! He said this teasingly with a broad smile on his face. He really meant what he said and was very happy that the NPP government of President Nana Akufo-Addo is actually facing the difficulty of getting money to implement the 2022 budget. This is because of the bunch of malicious, short-sighted, partisan and polarized NDC Members of Parliament refusing to approve the budget owing to their populist beliefs to landing them in power by holding steadfastly to their such tactical but nation-wreaking stance. I really pity those NDC members and sympathisers trusting in the sabotage of the NPP government as a politically correct means to gain them power in Ghana. For that reason, if the NPP government cannot get the 2022 budget approved to starve the government of source of revenue to pay public workers and or, carry out developmental projects, they are happy for that. Such is the mentality of little-minded people of whom Ghana is overflowing with, simply owing to the teeming presence of the NDC faithful in the country. If the government cannot raise funds to pay workers, let alone, execute her planned developmental projects, is it not the citizens of Ghana that will become the end sufferers? Are NDC folks also not citizens of Ghana? Or, they are ready to sacrifice their pay and future comfort or welfare to squeeze the NPP out of power to bring in the NDC , the masterminds and orchestrators of create, loot and share judgment debts? No wonder that black people will continue to be at the bottom rung of everything about the development of humanity and nations if the thinking of NDC is what we believe in and aspire to attain. Why should one be happy that their government has been denied sources of income by her political opponents? Is anyone thinking in that way not stupid and unworthy to live? Is the dead not even far better than the living that reasons like that NDC guy who has given me cause to publish this castigating article? Any Ghanaian who for the purpose and determination to win power does reason as the NDC guy under discussion is a big fool that no discerning Ghanaian should ever bother themselves to argue with. However, for the sake of not allowing such idiots to sink Ghana and to continually dent the image of the already denigrated black person, I shall always highlight such incidences and suggest solutions to get us out of such preposterous behaviour. Shame on any Ghanaian that reasons same as the NDC guy who by his views has so much infuriated me to incur this published reaction by the proud and fearless son of Kumawu/Asiampa soil. Rockson Adofo Saturday, 15 January 2022 15.01.2022 LISTEN Anniversaries for detention centres, concentration camps and torture facilities are not the relishable calendar events in the canon of human worth. But not remembering them, when they were used, and how they continue being used, would be unpardonable amnesia. On January 11, 2002, the first prisoners of the absurdly named War on Terror, declared with such confused understanding by US President George W. Bush, began arriving at the newly constructed Camp X-Ray prison at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay. Structurally crude, it was intended as a temporary facility, remote and out of sight. Instead, it became a permanent and singular contribution of US political and legal practice, withering due process and civil liberties along the way. After two decades, 779 prisoners have spent time there, many of whom were low level operatives of minimal importance. Prior to being sent to the camp, the detainees endured abductions, disappearances, and torture in US-operated centres in allied countries. The previous director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Gina Aspel, had more than a nodding acquaintance with this process, having overseen operations at a black site in Thailand specialising in interrogating al-Qaeda suspects. Guantanamo Bay was a mad, cruel experiment about how legal limbos and forged purgatories of the law can function to dehumanise and degrade. It was developed by people supposedly versed in a liberal legal tradition but keen to make exceptions in battling a supposedly novel enemy. The detainees were deemed unlawful enemy combatants as if there was such a thing thereby placing them outside the formal protections of humanitarian law. They were subjected to sleep deprivation, forced feeding, lengthy detainment, beatings, stress positions and an assortment of other torture methods. In 2005, Vice President Dick Cheney sneered at suggestions that the inmates were being mistreated. Theyre living in the tropics. Theyre well fed. Theyve got everything they could possibly want. There wasnt any other nation in the world that would treat people who were determined to kill Americans the way were treating these people. The closure of the facility has been constantly urged with minimal return. It was one of the electoral messages of the presidential campaign in 2007. Barack Obama and his rival, Hillary Clinton, endorsed the idea. As did the Republican contender for the White House, John McCain. As Obama declared at the time, In the dark halls of Abu Ghraib and the detention cells of Guantanamo, we have compromised our most precious values. A joint US-European Union statement from June 15, 2009 noted, with welcome, the decision by President Obama to affect a closure by January 22 the following year. But it also acknowledged what has been a persistent problem: returning detainees to their countries of origin or a third country that might be willing to accept them. In the dying days of the Obama administration, the facility, despite a reduction in the inmate population, remained functional. Congress proved recalcitrant and obstructive on the issue but there was also opposition to the closure from various arms of government, including the Pentagon. Lee Wolosky, formerly Obamas Special Envoy for Guantanamo Closure, could only marvel darkly at this seemingly indestructible piece of legal infrastructure. In large part, he wrote, this mess had been self-inflicted a result of our own decisions to engage in torture, hold detainees indefinitely without charge, set up dysfunctional military commissions and attempt to avoid oversight by the federal courts. In 2016, Donald Trump, the eventual victor of that years presidential contest, repeatedly insisted that he would load it with some bad dudes. In 2018, he signed a new executive order keeping the military prison open, reiterating the line that terrorists were not merely criminals but unlawful enemy combatants. Releasing any such individuals from Guantanamo had been, he observed gravely, a mistake. In the past, we have foolishly released hundred and hundreds of dangerous terrorists only to meet them again on the battlefield, including the ISIS leader, [Abu Bakr] al-Baghdadi, who we captured, who we had, who we released. On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the camps opening, Agnes Callamard, secretary-general of Amnesty International, was yet another voice to urge its closure. President Joe Biden, like President Barack Obama before him, has promised to close it, but so far has failed to do so. She insisted that each detainees case be resolved, be it through transfer and release, or via a regularly constituted federal court without recourse to the death penalty. Despite being an enduring blot on the countrys credibility, the facility remains ingloriously open, a reminder that there are legal provinces where the US is willing to detain people indefinitely, without trial or scrutiny. Thirty-nine men remain, thirteen of whom are in indefinite detention. This is despite the latter having had their transfers out of the facility approved a decade ago. The calls for the military prisons closure reach occasional crescendos, but these eventually diminish before the machinery of stifling bureaucracy. Tragically, there is every risk that the Guantanamo experiment will be replicated rather than abolished. Such creations, once brought into being, can prove deathless. Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: [email protected] Mr. Senyo Hosi 15.01.2022 LISTEN Economic policy analyst, Senyo Hosi has proposed seven reforms that would save the 1992 Constitution from what he described as "impending death." Although the 1992 Constitution has led to a lot of gains in the Fourth Republic, activists and organisations believe some portions of the document have outlived their usefulness. It is as a result of this that advocacy groups including the Economic Fighters League in the last few years have called for the 'death' of the 1992 constitution to pave way for a new one to chart a path for a prosperous Ghana. Delivering a Constitution Day Public Lecture at UPSA on Friday, January 14, 2022, Senyo Hosi has raised issues in the Constitution and why reforms are needed urgently. According to him, the winner-takes-all power syndrome that the Constitution supports has been bad for the country. To make matters worse, he said under the 1992 Constitution, corruption has become the currency of the countrys democracy. Emphasising the urgent steps to avoid an impending doom, Senyo Hosi has recommended what he terms a 7D reform of the Constitution. The 7D reforms: Deepen the separation of powers of the three arms of government Depoliticize our governance and democratic institutions Depoliticize our security services Depoliticize our accountability institutions Depoliticize all state agencies, including SOEs, regulatory bodies and agencies. Democratize our Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies. Democracy Funding Mr. Senyo Hosi who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD) insists that it is time to abandon "our adversarial democracy and embark on a consensual democracy." In concluding his remarks, Senyo Hosi stated, The hungry youth cannot wait any longer for us to deliver on the blessing of the constitution. We either evolve or be dissolved. The clock is ticking. Find below full statement: CONSTITUTION DAY PUBLIC LECTURE DELIVERED BY SENYO K. HOSI ON 14 TH JANUARY 2022 TOPIC: AVOIDING THE IMPENDING DEATH OF THE 1992 CONSTITUTION Special Guests of Honour, Hon. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Hon. Dr. Dominic Ayine (Representing the Minority Leader), Chairperson of the National Commission for Civic Education, for want of time, I humbly request to ride on existing protocols. I wish to express my most profound gratitude to the UPSA Law School and the board of the OneGhana Movement for the courage in nominating me, a layman, to deliver this years Constitution Day Public lecture. At my last check, my academic bios had no certificates in law at all. I have been content pursuing a career that has had significant impact on the delivery of critical public services and goods, with degrees in Economic Policy Management, Finance, Psychology and Philosophy from the University of Ghana, the only University I can call my own. Ladies and gentlemen, my nomination to deliver this years lecture is no knock on any person who may be considered more qualified, nor a knock on the legal fraternity. It is rather, a definite knock on the hedged-in stereotypical thinking that has long held our public space hostage and validated perceptions of constitution capture, largely by lawyers and politicians. The constitution is no abstract construct analyzable and decodable by a few. It is the codification of what and how We the people seek to live and achieve in the governing of self as a sovereign. A constitution enjoys a special place in the life of any nation. It is the fundamental law of the land serving as the prime document of public policy and impacting all facets of society and life. It is the reflection of the socio-political and socio-economic aspiration of We the People and not a given profession. In the landmark ruling, Tuffour vs Attorney General reported in the 1980 Ghana Law Report, our former Chief Justice, E.N.P. Sowah situates the constitution so effectively when he posits, (I quote), A written Constitution such as ours is not an ordinary Act of Parliament. It embodies the will of a people. It also mirrors their history. Account, therefore, needs to be taken of it as a landmark in a people's search for progress. It contains within it their aspirations and their hopes for a better and fuller life. (End quote). Constitutions organize the basic structures of governance, the distribution of political power, regulation of the intricate relationships between political organs and the relationship between the government and the governed. [1] It is the fundamental basis for determining when and how we live, eat, build our wealth, make meaning of our work and, as Raymond Atuguba explains in his remarkable piece, Ebi Constitution we go chop, the constitution ensures an equitable distribution of our national resources. The constitution is so powerful that it needs all laws to be consistent with it. Inferring from Chief Justice Sowahs ruling captured earlier, every law must match the aspirations and will of the people or simply forget it! Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, All that I have stated about our Constitution represent no veiled attempt to appear to sound legalese, nor impose on you a sense that I belong to the revered and fiercely reclusive class of lawyers. I say these things so eruditely about our Constitution because it is a fact that this Constitution, if you like, is what the Italians term the toto Riina, and the Dogombas, the Kpalinkpaa and the Ewes will say, the Sogbolisa. These remarks, ladies and gentlemen, underscore the importance of the Constitution and how a document, no more than just brilliant pages of calligraphy, rules our lives! It is critical to note that, despite the excessive politicization and partisan fanaticism that engulfs our governance systems today, every president, judge, minister, parliamentarian, soldier, police, public servant, board and committee members of state agencies swear their allegiance to none other than the Constitution. But why so? It is so because the citizenry they are to serve is the object of the constitution. In other words, you, me, and the wellbeing of us as a citizenry is the reason for the constitution. If you care about yourself; you care about your progress and that of your kith and kin, then you should be caring about the constitution. So, in agreement with Raymond Atuguba, Na constitution we for chop. I call on all Ghanaians, from my rice farmers in Adaklu and Weta to the fisherman in Odododido; the market woman in Kejetia; Osei, the mechanic in Suame; Azey, the Takoradi man; Aku, the Kayayo; Iddrisu, the teacher in Tamale and Bro. Kofi, the German Borger from Berekum, to own the constitution and seize their space in shaping the trajectory of the development of the Ghanaian Constitution. The constitution is about us and for all of us! So, as the Akans would say momma menka masem. The Topic Ladies and Gentlemen, When the topic was first suggested, it understandably provoked controversy. How could Ghanas longest-serving constitution, revered for creating the current governance structures, and which has delivered the longest period of uninterrupted political governance, be presented as a document in hopeless atrophy or to put it mildly, a document on its last legs? Some friends have been even more mischievous in casting me as an almost certain person of interest at the National Investigative Bureau (NIB) for the audacity in suggesting the imminent death of the 1992 Constitution. I am hopeful that for an exercise with such tremendous puritanical and noble intentions for the preservation of our Republic, a jail cell will not be my abode tonight. Patrick McGowan in an article published in the Journal of Modern African Studies indicates that sub-Saharan Africa experienced 80 successful coups and 108 failed coup attempts between 1956 and 2001, an average of four a year. This average figure halved in the period from 2001 to 2019 as most African nations turned to democracy. The BBC reports that in 2021 alone, sub-Saharan Africa has seen a resurgence of coups with six (6) in the bag. This unsettling observation demands the question, why? Remi Adekoye, a political analyst and Associate Lecturer at York University in the UK, answers this succinctly in a publication on CNN, he puts it this way, DIFFERENT DECADE, SAME PROBLEMS. Just as was the case in the early post-colonial decades when coups were rampant, Africas 2021 coup leaders justify toppling governments and constitutions with allegations of corruption, mismanagement, social injustice, tyranny, and poverty. These reasons are similar to those advocated by the coups of Ghanas past. We must all be reminded also that just as Ghanas citizens stormed the streets to jubilate after the success of its coups, the 2021 successful sub-Saharan coups have been met with similar jubilations, especially by the youth. The Arab Spring of 2010 should not be lost on us. It is a reminder of the ability of the citizenry to pursue a restoration of their aspirations captured in a constitution whose people are the repository of sovereignty. I call this the Peoples Restoration or the Civilian Coup. The justifications by the uprising youth in the Arab Spring are similar to the military juntas of yesteryears and today. Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, the 1992 constitution effectively captures the essence of its being in the first part of its PREAMBLE. I quote: We, the People of Ghana, IN EXERCISE of our natural and inalienable right to establish a framework of government, which shall secure for ourselves, and posterity the blessings of liberty, equality of opportunity and prosperity (end quote). This shares clearly what the goal of the constitution is. A document to assure the citizenry, its youth and generations unborn, an aspiration for liberty, equality of opportunity and for prosperity. The terrifying portion of this section is the instructive power of the words Shall and Secure. It suggests a demand on the operators of the constitution to ensure certainty in the delivery of the listed blessings, for the constitution to sustain its relevance and meaning. The preamble also defines the values that should guide how We the people and our governments pursue the delivery of the promised blessings. These include Freedom, Justice, Probity, Accountability and Unity. The question we shall be interrogating will be whether and how the 1992 constitution and the actions of its operators deliver on the demand of the blessings and values. I am convinced that if the actors of the constitution enabled by the nature of its framing, deplete hope for We the People to realize the assured blessings of liberty, equality of opportunity and prosperity, the 1992 constitution shall lose its luster and, inevitably, lose its last leg (which is the peoples support) with thousands of youths, who today are about 70% under-employed or unemployed, calling for its demise. Unfortunately, I cannot say it any better, the clock is ticking. Do not be perturbed by my bluntness of the doom I suggest. I assure you of my unreserved belief in democracy, in my opinion, it is the best option we can hope for. I however hold firmly that no governance system is one-size-fits all. Democracy must, however, be adapted to fit our circumstances. I call that a Ghanacracy. In the referred Tuffour vs Attorney General case, Justice Sowah ruled that, and I quote, the constitution is a living organism capable of growth and development, as the body politic of Ghana itself is capable of growth and development (End quote). This tells us that the democracy of any sovereign is sustainable and potent only to the extent of its flexibility to its evolving cultural and developmental circumstances. If our democracy is less Ghanacratic and more Americratic, then we are headed, truly for doom. In this lecture, I shall be arguing that the current framing of the 1992 constitution has enabled its operators to plunge us so easily into a spiral of misgovernance, in a manner that is fast depleting the hope of We the People realizing the promise of liberty, equality of opportunity and prosperity. I shall further argue that this spiral of misgovernance, spurred by the non-conformity to the values of the constitution, is birthing the very environment and justifications for the death of constitutions preceding the 1992 constitution. The lecture shall also argue that at core people seek the operations of governance systems that deliver their aspiration and not necessarily hold an addiction to democracy. The lecture shall share a perspective on the functionality and constraints of the governance institutions key to ensuring the effective performance of governments in pursuit of our aspirations as citizens. In direct response to the topic, this lecture shall proffer revisions and amendments to our governance frame and the 1992 constitution in a bid to avoid what it deems the impending death of the constitution. Success of the 1992 Constitution I would like, at the outset, to reflect briefly on some of the successes of the 1992 constitution. It is, undoubtedly, the bedrock for Ghana being an icon of political stability in Sub-Saharan Africa. We seem to be an oasis of peace in a political region still recovering from the scars of debilitating insurrections that serve as a chilling reminder of an inglorious past. Often, Ghanas reality is projected as an expertly managed transition from the turbulence of military rule to a political culture whose by-products have seen more sustained periods of democratic rule, democratic consolidation and political stability. Recall that within a relatively short period of forty-five years (1957-1992), our nation promulgated and abrogated four constitutions. Within the same period, the military also put in place six constitutive instruments of governance in the form of proclamations. We remember the thorough consultative process built into the search for the 1992 constitution by the Justice D.F. Annan-led National Commission for Democracy and the Committee of Experts. The rigours and inclusiveness of the process and the hindsight of failure furnished by the previous constitutions, combined to crystallize into the current Constitution that has lasted three decades. It is commendable that the leaders of the time found it wise to involve many relevant groupings and professions, including farmers, market women, fisherfolks, hairdressers, teachers, engineers, medics, etc. They realised the essence of a constitution was the people and worked to make its drafting as inclusive as possible. The legal fraternity often highlights article 3(4) of the Constitution in particular, for its magic wand in suppressing the appetite for coups. Permit me to dabble in legalese once again by quoting the provision as follows: All citizens of Ghana shall have the right and duty at all times- To do all in their power to restore this Constitution after it has been suspended, overthrown, or abrogated. Clause 5 of the article, of course, offers non-prosecutorial guarantees to any citizen of the Republic who resists the abrogation of the Constitution. In fact, the provision says, no offence is committed in the process. But Ladies and Gentlemen, I can only partially agree with the widely held view that this singular clause has fiercely served as a disincentive for coups since 1993. First, the claim is an exaggeration. It perceives coups as being only military and forgets that the will of the people can go against its own former will. Second, it belittles the intelligence of our men in uniform who have gone through significant transformation and orientation since the 1980s. However, as the evidence bears out, I unreservedly agree that one legacy of the 1992 Constitution is that it has given us political stability. This is important because it was the most sought-after commodity in the period between 1960 and 1990. Ironically, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen: This is where my difficulties with our current Constitution begins. The delivery of political stability over the past 30 years is no assurance of stability in the next 5,10,20 or 30years. Just in case we may have forgotten there once was a company named Kodak and a phone called Blackberry. It was unthinkable in their prime that an end was certain. But the unthinkable happened because they remained locked up in their success and failed to effectively estimate the future to adapt in time and sustain their relevance. What sure is permanent, is the evolution of change in time. As Justice Sowah rightly pointed in Tuffour vs. the Attorney General [2] , the Constitution contains within it, the aspirations and the hopes of the citizenry for a better and fuller life. I opine that the enduring stability from a constitution lies in its ability to sustain the hope for a better and fuller life, and in our case, the blessings and values promised in the preamble of the 1992 constitution. We cannot take our political stability for granted, so we must ask, Are we delivering on the promises of liberty, equality of opportunity and prosperity? Are we living the values of freedom, probity, accountability, and justice? If not, then the bigger question must be asked, Are we eroding hope that we will deliver? If yes, then for sure the death of the constitution may well be nigh. I will now proceed to share my assessment and position on the above questions. Are we Delivering the Promise of the Blessings? Ladies and gentlemen, let us briefly assess each of the promised blessings from the constitution. I will start with liberty. We have delivered, for example, on the provisions for freedom to form and be part of all legal social and political groupings. To that extent one may assume we have our liberties. But this is misleading. Under the operation of this constitution, we have seen many discriminated against in the access to public goods and services. In the last reigns of President Rawlings, it was public knowledge that getting contracts required most to have party cards. The same was the case under President Kuffour and, interestingly many a Ghanaian businessman held both NDC and NPP cards. I dont think much has changed. Today, when arguments are advanced over issues of policy, we focus on the messenger and not the message. The common refrain is, forget about that guy, he is from this party or that. He is not one of us. Whether we admit it or not, your association with a political grouping or not affects your economic and, in some cases, social liberties. I do not believe we have and are delivering well enough on our promise of liberty. Our liberty is in speak and only in the mundane. We easily exercise political and social power against persons considered non-aligned. Criticize a government fiercely, even if constructively, and see how the machinery of state, from regulators to the security services, EOCO and the GRA, may come after you. Unfortunately, I will not join the wagon of hypocrisy and pretend that we do not live in a town where commonsense has become a matter of NDC and NPP. Even our Members of Parliament who are to represent Us the People lose their liberties to reason on their own, and act in our interest, but rather act as directed by their respective parties, irrespective of whose parochial interest a party is advancing. How many of them are bold and competent enough to hold their own against the stance of their party or their president. If in doubt, ask the Majority and Minority leaders if they can agree to have the e-levy bill passed by a secret vote? Ladies and gentlemen lets look at the issue of equality of opportunity. How can we suggest any success at equality of opportunity when for many of our youth, it is so evident that whom you know has become more important than what you know and who you are in getting employment and access to educational scholarships? We everyday shatter the hope of Kwame Ntim, the plantain farmer in Lolobi, to have his son gainfully employed after selling half of his estate to educate his son at UPSA. Our government sector jobs from ministries to state-owned enterprises have now been overwhelmed by the term Protocol. You need to be well connected politically or socially to stand a good chance. What at all are we teaching these youth with this culture? We are replacing merit and hard work with patronage, privilege, and political fanaticism. What for me is frightening is how this culture is overwhelming our security services. We will soon have, if we already dont, an NDC and NPP silent faction of security services. I have seen first-hand the party caucuses in our state-owned enterprises, regulatory bodies, and educational system. The same is true in contracts for public goods and services. We now have NPP and NDC businessmen and women. Each goes into hibernation when in opposition or repackages themselves as sub-contractors for new Political businesspersons. When we look at the economic inequality indices, it is telling. The Gini index which is used to assess economic inequality shows that inequality has worsened from a 33.4 co-efficient in 1994 to 43.5 as in 2018. Inequality has worsened by about 30% since 1994. I am confident that it will be worse at the next publication. Distinguished guests, It is no surprise that rural-urban migration is increasing. Our urban population has increased from 50.9% in 2010 to 56.7% in 2021. In absolute terms this is an increase of 4.9million people, equivalent to 80% of the total national population increase since 2010. This data tells us this: our decentralization policies are failing and the pursuit of a better and fuller one is not being found in our rural areas. Where is the equality of opportunity? Even in our justice system, there is no equality. Steal a goat and instead of reform, rot in jail. Loot depositors funds in a bank and get to still live large and blow tongues on national television. Snatch a ballot paper, make the front page and rot in jail. Be called honourable, snatch ballot papers at the centre of our democracy, parliament and get hailed as prince of your party. After 3 decades of a constitution that advocates the equality of economic opportunity and demands governments to ensure the full integration of women into the mainstream of the economic development of Ghana, our public sector remains dominated by men who account for 60% of the public sector workforce. Our entire public sector system is everyday being shattered by partisan politics and the disregard for meritocracy. The fastest way to rise through the ranks now is to paint every other person a sympathizer of an opposition party. Woe betides you if the sound of your name confirms it even more. Our public service is riddled with so much disappointment and no meaning of hard work and good service. I serve and work so hard to grow through the ranks only for some less qualified party faithful to be appointed as my boss. I will have to teach him everything and practically do his job to even hold on t0 my current position. How do you expect these public officers to feel and commit their all? We are simply nurturing bitterness; we are promoting political fanaticism in a public and civil service that must not be partisan. Ladies and gentlemen, after 30 years of this constitution, it is unbelievable that we still have schools under trees and yet politicians pride themselves with the status symbol of the latest V8 vehicles. It is obvious that our governance system easily V8 and yet the downtrodden, struggle to elevate. How many of the well-to-do political elite, pontificating over the public education system, educate their wards in our public schools? I am a proud product of Pantang Hospital School. When I left there about 3 decades ago, it was in way better state than I saw in 2021. On my visit, I saw roofs leaking, dirty walls, all science infrastructure gone, with over 70 kids in a class designed for 25. I could not help but weep. These kids will have to compete someday with my kids and the children and Grandchildren of our political and business elite, who school at the premium International Private Schools. Where is the equality of opportunity? If those to lead in the change of our fortunes, do not believe in the system they superintend over, enough to school their offspring there, where is our hope? Can anyone show me which of our past 4th Republican Presidents schooled their children in our Public Universities? These uncomfortable truths speak volumes to the investment of our leaders in the country they lead. When our Presidents, their Vice, our Speakers of Parliament, and many of the political elite are ill, they jump so quickly on the next available flight at the expense of Maame Adzeleys taxes, to get the finest of care, even for routine checkups. When Maame Adzeley is ill, she must contend with the pathetic state of our health facilities and the ever-stretched and wornout medical staff right here in Ghana. The symbolism of the surgical ward at Korle-Bu, Ghanas foremost hospital, is a chilling reminder of the failing hope of many in the capacity of our constitution to deliver goods and services fairly to all. So, tell me, where is the equality of opportunity? Where is the hope of its delivery? Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, lets now look into the promised blessing of prosperity. The Matters of Concern survey undertaken by the National Commission for Civic Education has each time highlighted Employment, Education and Health as the primary matters of concern to Ghanaian citizens. On education, we observe a decrease from 23.4% in 2010 to 20.8% in 2021 in the proportion of our population that has never attended school. This is progress but not what we would have wished for. While we do commend efforts like the FCUBE and Free SHS to promote school enrolment, the real question is about the quality of education. Schooling the population is primarily towards an end of making them economically and socially viable. They must be productive and employable. Reading and writing are key but the foremost concern of the majority of our graduates is to be employed. We look at the employment data and it is frightening. The Ghana Statistical Service reports that the unemployment rate among the youth (15-35yrs) is 19.7% and for young adults (1524yrs), 32.8%. The world bank reports that 50% of the youth are under-employed. Bundling both data, we have almost 70% of our youth unemployed or under-employed. This is dangerous and scary. The youth today cannot be held responsible for this melancholic world we have given them. They are bearing the brunt of our actions and indiscretions over the past 30 years. Ladies and gentlemen, our finances and ability to drive growth through government investments have been dwindling. Despite the many borrowings made by successive governments, the economic productivity of these spendings is yet to be realized. We have grown our public debt from $4.5bn in 1992 to about $60bn as of 2021. Our revenue to GDP ratio remains very disappointing and worrisome. Our wages and interest payments, account for about 95% of our domestic revenue. Tell me, what is really left to invest sustainably in infrastructure and programmes to stimulate a long-term turnaround? What at all is the economic strategy known by the people to turn things around? Sometimes, it all feels like we are living by the day under some autopilot of grace. When a government needs to dip hands into your digital wallet after paying your income taxes, then you know we have a crisis we must solve together. Why are we failing to also discuss cutting down our many expenditures that continue to prove unproductive? How come a country so small and broke, opts to keep a government so big 275 Parliamentarians and over 100 Ministers with only God knows how many staffers and special assistants, with everyone feeling entitled to V8 SUVs and Business class travel. If debt-distressed Ghana was a company with our leaders the sole shareholders, I wonder, would they superintend the waste, inefficiencies, and pillage as we see under the 1992 constitution? We have failed to develop a common economic agenda and rendered the NDPC a white elephant replacing each national development plan with a party manifesto. Rawlings Vision 2020 gave way to Kuffours Vison 2010 and then a 40-year development plan which has also been denounced. This ping- pong we play with our economic policies is heartbreaking. We seem to have forgotten that we are dealing with real lives. The lack of a true national agenda is reflective of the adversarial democracy we have developed from the constitution. It is an NDC vs. NPP war on who gets credit and whose face will be printed on the document. And as the elephant and umbrella fight over the absurdity of ego, you, me and little Amina, that 1o-year-old Class 5 girl in Bunkprugu, will continue to suffer. We have land, good weather, natural and human resources and yet we are hungry and broke! How? Corruption, poor leadership and wastage inspired by the Governance frame of the constitution which yields close to no accountability. Imagine the United Arab Emirates announcing it is offering citizenship for 2 million Ghanaians through a process to be hosted at the Accra Sports Stadium. I do not think I need to tell you about the stampede that is certain to occur. The United Arab Emirates has shared prosperity for all its citizens, even though it is not a democracy. I am sure most of us salivate at the prospect of annual vacations there. Just so we are reminded, that desert called UAE ranks 21st in the world happiness index while Ghana ranks 98th. I opine that people at core seek dignity and prosperity in living fuller lives for themselves and their children much more than an addiction to democracy. Na democracy they go chop? My Verdict: Have we delivered the blessings of the constitution? I conclude, NO. Are we depleting hope that we will deliver? I shall make some notes before I answer. Every time we have been faced with bad governance, we have been patient to see the end of the governments reign in hope that the next will be well. But after trying both NDC and NPP four times each at elections, many are filled with disappointment and have concluded, it is almost the same wine in different bottles. When it feels like there is no end in sight, hope begins to deplete. The recent survey by CDD that showed that over 70% of Ghanaians prefer having MMDCEs elections on a non-partisan basis, is very telling of the sentiments that We the People currently have about our partisan politics. So, my answer, if I may use a friends terminology, Enkoyelapa, it is not going well we are depleting that hope and it is depleting fast. The question arises, why has the separation of powers and the democratic institutions setup by the 1992 constitution failed to ensure the delivery of the promised blessings? The Sham of Separation Ladies and gentlemen, the suggestion that we have separation of powers to serve as a check in governance is almost a sham. It exists in form but not much in practice. We have an everpowerful Presidency that appoints 50% of Ministers from Parliament and has the power to appoint them on boards. In fact, the majority leader is a cabinet minister. The judiciary on the other hand is significantly dependent on the executive for its appointments, thereby creating prospects of political and executive activism. Everybody wants to catch the eye of the President! This incestuous relationship between the Executive, Parliament, and the Judiciary makes it extremely difficult to ensure proper checks and accountability in our governance frame. The Presidency also holds appointing authority over democratic institutions of State like the NCCE, Electoral Commission, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, National Media Commission, etc. The Presidency appoints the leaders and board members of accountability institutions like the Attorney-General and Auditor-Generals Departments, Office of the Special Prosecutor and EOCO. All other support institutions like the security services, Regulatory institutions, State-owned Enterprises and administrative agencies and their boards all through to the MMDAs are mostly subject to the discretion of the president. In most cases, there is no security of tenure and where there is, the economic purse of that institution rests in the bosom of the President through his Minister of Finance. As we saw in the case of Deputy Governor Bawumia, Governor Issahaku and Commissioner Charlotte Osei, the force of the executive can force you out even when you have security of tenure. Either way, the Presidency has a hold on everyone. The President in effect shapes the tune in the exercise of the values of freedom, probity, justice and accountability. Needless to say, our constitution created in a President, for want of a better expression, a Democratic Dictator. Respectfully, while the crafters of the constitution may have considered this structure necessary for a smooth transition from military rule to democracy, it has become the bedrock of our problems. This structure has created a winner-takes-all system that has ensured an adversarial democracy (an unending NDC vs. NPP war) and not a consensual democracy. It empowers the executive to exclude anyone at will from fair access or include anyone for biased access to public services and opportunities. It has made it possible for the executive to unfairly utilize the powers of the state against any adversary it identifies. With so much power in one arm of government, the reality of Lord Actons views come to play, Power tends to Corrupt and Absolute Power corrupts, absolutely. Hence, meritocracy and institutional development have given way to political fanaticism and social corruption. With the stakes so high, party financing has become an entrepreneurial investment, in hope, not for the advancement of philosophical principles for development, but rather opportunities to be included in the economic discretions of the executive, and opportunities to plunder the state. Party financing is high risk and high-risk investments are designed to yield high returns and not regular returns. Who will pay for that premium? You and me. If in doubt, ask successive governments why they have had so much inertia in pursuing and prosecuting culprits of the theft of billions of cedis in petroleum revenue? It is simple: doing so will mean going after their financiers and party faithful. In some cases, the party leaders. Distinguished guests, the truth that ought to be told is this: corruption is the currency for our democracy. The excessive power of the Presidency has created a public service and political environment of yes men. You are cautious not to do otherwise else your place will be lost. Just recall the tsunami in our ministries when there is a change of Government? If a Chief Directors office is now tied to the fortunes of the party in government, where on earth will his allegiance be? The constitution or the Executive? In effect, the power of the executive is imprisoning our public institutions. It has also cowed the private sector who remain cautious of the capacity of the Presidency and its political henchmen to negatively impact their businesses through regulatory bodies, government agencies and negative bias in the access to public services and government procurement. As a result, the formal private sector is wary to be seen as associated with an opposing political personality. Simply put, when you are a politicallyexposed person in opposition, businesses often shy away from you. They will hardly employ you, engage you on their boards or offer you a role as a vendor. In the case of the public sector, you may as well forget it. Will we see Gabby Otchere Darko offered a legal job by the government under the NDC? or Marietta Brew, our very fine former Attorney General, offered legal contracts under the NPP? We havent built that democracy yet. This makes the economic survival of a politician highly risky. Lose your job while your party is in office, and you are close to doomed. Have your party out of office and you are doomed. How then do you survive beyond politics when your salary as a politician barely covers your personal expenses? Corruption, Corruption, Corruption! Ministers and MPs take home a salary of about GHS12,500 to GHS15,000 after statutory, vehicle and caucus deductions. From this balance, they pay their driver, they may pay their rent or mortgage and fend for their families. Have you wondered how they are able to fund the many foot-soldier and community demands on them including school fees, funerals, church harvests, festivals, etc.? Have you ever wondered how some suddenly are able to afford to move their kids to highend private international schools, quickly building and acquiring various houses and properties, and funding travels for their family and other significant associates? I did not say side chicks. What politicians forget is that the people knew them and their lifestyle prior to assuming office. Why such a sudden change after an appointment or election? This unexplained wealth and changes in lifestyle have become less relevant to the taxman, simply because the political class controls the taxman. They are more interested in private men like me. NPP will hesitate to go after the NDC officials on unexplained wealth because there is a silent understanding of live and lets live. It is the way they sustain themselves and the democracy we adore. Do not be fooled, under this constitution, corruption will go nowhere. It is what keeps the wheels of our democracy moving. It is no wonder that the corruption perception index has grown from 33 in 1998 to 43 in 2020. The last Afrobarometer survey for 2019, reported that 53% of the population believe corruption increased in the previous year. To make matters worse over 80% of respondents believe that all three arms of government are totally or partly corrupt. This is dangerous, especially when the Judiciary is seen equally as corrupt. The perception that justice is no more about knowing the law but knowing the judge should frighten us. I raise these issues on corruption so passionately because it is a major driver in the depletion of hope that the promises of the constitution will be delivered. It is the easiest and most resounding excuse to justify the toppling of constitutions, especially when faith in the judiciary and accountability institutions wane so badly. Corruption is so elegant a name that must be reduced to what it is: Stealing, theft! To relate to corruption, one must picture the life of a sachet water hawker. She needs to sell 200 sachets of water carried on her head to make the minimum wage per day. Lets assume she has two children and is only able to sustain them on these. Stealing GHS1m is robbing the livelihood of over 240,000 sachet water hawkers and their children. I must admit, we have largely lost our values, and empathy for one another has become so rare. As the Gas will say, Anaa mor morbor! Corruption is not simply a financial loss to Ghana. It is the theft of livelihoods. It is the destruction of the future of real lives. It is the perpetuation of hopelessness. It is the tradeoff with that hospital that should have saved Mrs Obiri-Yeboah after her caesarean surgery at Sekondi-Takoradi hospital. It comes at the expense of little Komla Folis quality education and his chance to compete with the world in the next ten years. It is the tradeoff with the road network and infrastructure that will propel private sector jobs and give Wombe the dignity of employment and his hope to marry someday. We, sometimes, forget that the common denominator of corruption is the citizenry. We have lost our values and, sometimes, suggest politicians and public officials emanate from space. They are our siblings, congregants, uncles, and neighbours; they actually reflect us. Citizens demand all kinds of things from our party politicians which we are aware they cannot sustain by their legitimate income. Weddings, school fees, funerals and in some weird cases, abortion funds. Corruption used to be in the single-digit thousands of dollars, now we talk of millions. It is getting worse and will only be worse with every change in Government. What on earth do you expect if the politically and economically alienated under the current government take over the reins in 2025? People have been hungry for long. They will recover the lost years and store for the next unforeseeable years. I am not talking just about an opposition waiting for its turn to take over the reins of power, but also alienated members of a ruling party waiting for the turn of their man. I call them internally displace politicians. Either way, Corruption is going nowhere; it will only grow bigger! That is the democracy we have. I am certain that, while we as citizens have failed in our responsibility, we have been moulded by the operation of the 1992 constitution that so heavily depends on the goodness of the heart of man, which is so rare today. So, what constitution do we need? Ironically the superintending mid-wife of the 1992 constitution, Flt Lt. Rawlings, gives us the best answer and I quote We can vote personalities in and out, what we need to do is to establish a situation where even if it were the devil who should come and sit on top of us in Ghana, by virtue of certain procedures and certain practices, the devil can never get away with doing what he wants, he will necessarily do what the people expect of him. Unfortunately, He failed to give us that, but I agree with him. We must limit the dependence on the integrity and personality of our leadership. Just as Barack Obama said, Africa doesnt need strong men, it needs strong institutions. It is so admirable when you see Australias political class in disarray and yet having no impact on the delivery of public service and economic prosperity. That is a country where institutions work! Entertain a presidential election petition in Ghana and the whole public service slips into coma. So, I propose to you a new democracy, a consensual democracy and not an adversarial democracy. A democracy of a loser-wins-some and not a winner-takes-all; a democracy that makes politics a call and moment of service and not a career of total economic dependence; a democracy that promotes the strengthening of our institutions and reflects the inclusiveness of our people and professionals; a democracy in which being out of government means nothing to your economic sustainability. Ladies and Gentlemen, a democracy that promotes meritocracy. This, I believe, may require three broad interventions to enable us to avoid the risk of the death of our constitution. These recommendations are not thought of as sacrosanct; they are aimed at provoking thoughts and debate on options to develop the democracy we need. An urgent constitutional reform to reflect the democracy we need. A consensual democracy. Establishment and Management of a bipartisan national economic development agenda- One owned by all stakeholders. Re-conscientization of the Ghanaian with the values needed for our social and economic transformation. A. Constitutional Reform I recommend what I term a 7D reform of the Constitution some of which are covered in various forms in the Constitutional Review Commission report of 2011. Deepen the separation of powers of the three arms of government Depoliticize our governance and democratic institutions Depoliticize our security services Depoliticize our accountability institutions Depoliticize all state agencies, including SOEs, regulatory bodies and agencies. Democratize our Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies. Democracy Funding a. Deepen the separation of powers of the three arms of government. First, we need to ensure true separation of the Legislature and the Executive. We must enforce full separation of powers and expunge any requirement or option for the executive to appoint any member of the legislature as a minister or member of a board of the enterprises and agencies of the State. The legislature cannot be a player and referee at the same time. To entrench the independence of the Judiciary from the Executive, the authority to appoint members of the judiciary from the lower courts to the appeals court must be made the exclusive preserve of the Judicial Council, which should be required to adopt an open and public evaluation process. Nominations to the supreme court, and for the Chief Justice should equally emanate from the Judicial Council but be subject to the approval of two-thirds of the members of Parliament. I believe this will force consensus and make both majority and minority co-own confidence in the Judiciary. It will also disincentivize potential political activism from the bench, a situation that erodes confidence in the judiciary and the very core of our values, freedom, and justice. I will recommend that the Judicial Council be reconstituted to, in addition to the presidents and institutional nominees, include nominees also from the opposition. The independent institutions must, however, dominate the council and must not be subject to the direct or indirect influence of the Executive. b. Depoliticize our governance and democratic institutions These institutions comprising NCCE, the National Media Commission and especially the Electoral Commission, among others, are core to the sustenance of our democracy. The management of the appointment of the electoral commission has in recent times been fraught with so much mistrust and political polarization. The poor consultative process in the appointment of Charlotte Osei, the infamous manoeuvring to oust her and the equally non-consensual process in appointing Jean Mensah do not augur well for our democratic stability. I shudder to think of what the NDC will do should they assume office with a Jean Mensah in office. This tells us the system is sick- it is not working for We The People I recommend a more consensual process that shall have the President still nominate commissioners for the approval of parliament by a two-thirds majority. I also believe our constitution should place a demand on the Presidency to adopt an open and public process requiring a recruitment process that includes interested persons to apply for the respective roles. The demand for a two-thirds majority shall significantly ensure a process owned by the key political parties and shall eliminate potential partisan activism from aspiring commissioners. c. Depoliticize our security services Similar to the above process, the presidents nominees should be subject to a twothirds approval from parliament. This too shall significantly mitigate potential partisan activism by the respective officers and culture of protocol placements. Finite and secure tenures of say four years, may also be required to ward off executive interferences to their allegiance to the constitution. Their tenor should straddle two administrations. Some may argue that the security services are too sensitive and must be left to the President alone. I can relate to that concern, but allegiance is sworn to the constitution and commitment must be to the people of Ghana and none other. We need systems to urgently curb the growing political polarization of our security services. d. Depoliticize our accountability institutions The office of the Attorney General should be separate from the executive and made totally independent. The authority to nominate the Attorney-General, the Commissioners of CHRAJ and the Office of the Special Prosecutor should be exclusive to the General Legal Council, which should be required to adopt an open and public evaluation process. The nominees should be subject to a two-thirds majority approval of parliament. The GLC, just as proposed for the Judicial Council, should have both the President and the leadership of the minority nominate members onto the Council. There must be a clear fit and proper criteria to guide the nominations. The rest must be institutional representations not directly nor indirectly under the influence of the Presidency. These must dominate the Council. I am confident such a Council shall be truly independent. The Audit Service Board should be reconstituted and dominated by representatives of the relevant professional bodies like the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Institute of Bankers, Ghana Bar Association, and others. Nominees of the Presidency and opposition leadership should also be granted equal seats on the Board compliant with set fit and proper criteria. The Audit Board should be made to nominate AuditorGenerals through an open and public process of hiring. The nominations should also be subject to two-thirds majority approval by parliament. [NB: I recognize the potential for gridlock in the implementation of the requirement for twothird majority approval of parliament in some of the recommendations. I believe as we debate and evaluate the options, we should be able to structure fall back mechanisms on a sector-by-sector basis.] e. Depoliticize all state agencies Similar to the above, Boards of government agencies must be structured to have more institutional representation and with nominees both from the opposition and ruling governing party in varied proportions. The relevant independent institutions or professional bodies must be made to dominate these Boards. The Boards should further be required to appoint their respective CEOs through an open and public process. f. Democratize our MMDAs The jury is out on this. If democracy is a government by the people and for the people, there is no reason why there is no practice of it where governance is closest to the people. The MMDCE elections must happen and happen now. 76% of Ghanaians in a recent survey by CDD demand it and it must be given to them. Partisan politics? The answer is resounding, NO to partisan politics. Over 71% of Ghanaians in the survey say no politics and must remain so. We need a new breath of fresh air from the overbearing cloud and weight of partisan politics that erodes the independence of our leaders. Allow us to vote for persons in their person and hold them personally accountable in their service. We do not want Mayors voted by us and owned by parties whose directing minds sit outside our communities. If I may borrow the words of IC Quaye, then I shall say, on this matter, Agbenaa! Any government confident in the support of its people would make this debate the least of its worry. The beauty of all this is that, delivering on this cry by the people is so simple and costs close to nothing. It requires a simple two-thirds majority vote in parliament. We say we are broke and yet desperate to spend on a referendum just so parties can retain political hold on our MMDAs. This is unconscionable and I cant call this anything else but greed, pejorative to the reasoning of We the People. To ensure the independence of our MMDCEs, we must depoliticize the control over the District Assembly Common Fund. The administrator must have a security of tenure and be answerable to its Board which must be reconstituted to minimize the influence of ruling parties and promote consensus with opposition parties and other stakeholders. The CRC report and its recommendations present a good guide. g. Democracy Funding We claim to love democracy but shy away from funding it. When we fail to fund our democracy, we fail to own it. As noted earlier, party financing is at the root of corruption and the plundering of the State. The role of a politician is so critical for the sustenance of sovereignty. It is a job someone must do. Just as a headless goat is a dead goat so is a politician-less state a dead state. Our parties are arrowheads of our democracy, they are drivers of the policies and decisions that bring to life, our democracy and the fuller lives we desire. They must be well resourced to competently shape the development of our country. They must cease being election machines and become drivers of policy development and management. If we truly love our democracy, then we must put our money where our mouth is. If we leave the financing of our parties to businesspersons, we will be left with no option but to expect more plundering with impunity. Maybe we should be considering the establishment of a Democracy Fund to fund the activities of our political parties. This funding arrangement for the parties, must be accompanied with restrictions on campaign financing and must be effectively monitored by the Electoral Commission. We must also introduce stringent and public accountability systems to ensure compliance. Corruption in Ghana, according to Imani, is estimated at $3bn a year. If we work to eliminate corruption and commit 20% to 30% of this saving to the fund, Ghana will be better off. Funding may be by a set allocation from all domestic revenue due the State, or the introduction of a Democracy tax. Either way, we must pay for the democracy we want. Funding our democracy through a Democracy Fund, will make us better people, sustain good values and build an honest economy. If we decide not to fund it, we will still end up paying dearly for it, but this time through corruption, which destroys our value systems and threatens the democracy we have worked so hard to develop. As a matter of fact, it will cost us more. If I may sound biblical, choose this day how you will pay for your democracy? Millions by a democracy fund or billions by corruption? The democracy fund may be merged with the Independent Constitutional Bodies Fund proposed by the CRC report. I however recommend the inclusion of the Judiciary as beneficiaries of the Fund. I also recommend that the Administrators of the Fund be subject to an open and public process of nomination and a two-thirds majority approval of Parliament. The Administrators must also be accountable to a Board made up of majority relevant independent technocratic institutions and Civil Society groupings with additional and equal representation from the majority and opposition. B. DEVELOPMENT OF A BI-PARTISAN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENDA The CRC report effectively captures the consensus for us to have an independent NDPC and a consensus-based National Development plan based on the directive principles of State policy. I also agree with its recommendation for a more technocratic NPDC. However, I will add that we must, in addition, have an annual public evaluation of a ruling partys conformity and performance with the New National Development Plan. C. RE-CONSCIENTIZATION OF THE GHANAIAN B.R. Ambedkar said I quote However good a constitution may be, if those who are implementing it are not good, it will prove to be bad. However bad a constitution may be if those implementing are good, it will prove to be good. Nelson Mandela also once said, Permanent values in social life cannot be created by people who are indifferent or hostile to the aspirations of a nation. Simply put, we cannot get the best of any constitution with a people without the right values. Our value systems need a total overhaul to promote patriotism, honest-work, excellence, integrity, empathy, service and absolutely the lead values stipulated in the preamble of the constitution: Freedom, Justice, Probity, Accountability and Unity. If we envision a future of phenomenal transformation of our country, then Active Citizenship through Civic Education cannot be ignored. To this end, we ought to resource the National Commission for Civic Education to develop and execute a programme for national value transformation and constitution education, in partnership and consultation with traditional authorities, relevant political parties, the private sector, labour unions and other stakeholders. Like Singapore, these values must run through our education system as a subject from kindergarten through our tertiary education. Distinguished guests, these three broad recommendations, inclusive of the 7D constitution, reform sub-recommendations, are not to replace the CRCs recommendations but to augment them, where applicable. Needless to say, it is time to bring the CRC report to the front burner, revise it, where necessary and deepen our democracy and delivery of the blessings of the constitution. Ladies and Gentlemen, people of Ghana, the future is the future of our youth, our children today and generations unborn. Movements every step of our way should drive a better world for them. I have not come to spew doom but to awaken our consciences to the fact that our stability ought not to be taken for granted. We must guard it so jealously and that requires us to be responsive and futuristic in our adaptations to the evolving culture and developmental needs of our time. It is time to abandon our adversarial democracy and embark on a consensual democracy. The hungry youth cannot wait any longer for us to deliver on the blessing of the constitution. We either evolve or be dissolved. The clock is ticking! Ladies and Gentlemen, my mouth has fallen! God Bless our homeland Ghana. [1] John Hatchard, Muna Ndulu and Peter Slinn: Comparative Constitutionalism and Good Governance in the Commonwealth [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2004] p.3 [2] [1980] GLR 637, SC The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has denied setting up an offshore company in the Cayman Islands to hold the 7 percent commercial interest in the Jubilee and TEN blocks acquired from Occidental Petroleum. In a statement, the GNPC explained that to enable the negotiations with Kosmos for the sale of Anadarko WCTP to proceed, Anadarko incorporated a company called Jubilee Oil Holdings Limited (JOHL), in the Cayman Islands. This company was to hold the 7 percent commercial interest in the interim while the parties negotiated and finalised the commercial terms of the transaction. Anadarko Offshore, the Seller, was eventually paid US$164,798,691.00 on 19th October 2021 in full settlement of the acquisition. Anadarko Offshore thereafter assigned JOHL to GNPC, as JOHL holds the 7% commercial interest. The Corporation is currently in the process of transferring JOHL to GNPC Explorco. It was never a ploy by the Corporation to 'live unto itself, not the law and the nation's strategy for its existence' as claimed by ACEP, the statement explained further. The Africa Centre for Energy Policy had said its checks revealed that this company is registered with Dr. K. K. Sarpong, CEO of the GNPC and Freddie Blay, Board Chairman of GNPC as directors. It accused the GNPC of side-stepping the Petroleum Revenue Management Act in the setting up of a subsidiary company to manage the acquired interest. The centre fears that the GNPC is seeking to assign an interest in some of Ghana's oil blocks to Jubilee Oil Holdings, a company registered in the Cayman Islands. Find below GNPCs full response to ACEP Accra, 14th January 2022: The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation's (Corporation) attention has been drawn to comments made by the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) in a press statement on the above subject. The Corporation's response to ACEP's assertions are as follows: ASSERTION 1 The Corporation has not communicated how it intends to finance the US$199 million acquisition, leading to speculations of illegality in breach of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, as amended. RESPONSE The funds used to acquire the 7% Joint Operating Agreement (commercial) interest of Anadarko WCTP Company in Jubilee, DWT and WCTP was advanced by the Ministry of Finance. As communicated to the Ministry of Finance, the advance would be fully repaid with interest by GNPC Explorco or Jubliee Oil Holdings Limited (JOHL) from proceeds of crude sales or funding raised on the debt market. ASSERTION 2 The Corporation has set up an offshore company in the Cayman Islands to hold the 7% commercial interest rather than owning it directly or through a subsidiary in Ghana. This raises the bar on opacity and worsening accountability associated with the Corporation. RESPONSE i. The Corporation has not set up any offshore company. The facts of the matter are as follows: Anadarko Offshore Holding Company LLC (Anadarko Offshore) sought to wind up its operations in Ghana. Its subsidiary, Anadarko WCTP Company (Anadarko WCTP) (an offshore company registered in Cayman Islands that holds Anadarko's interest in Jubilee, Deepwater Tano (DWT) and West Cape Three Points (WCTP)) was to be sold to Kosmos Energy Holdings Ghana Limited (Kosmos). The Corporation expressed an interest in acquiring part of Anadarko WCTP's interest in the DWT and WCTP petroleum agreements and notified the Ministry of Energy. The Parties entered negotiations to determine the Corporation's share, and it concluded with an offer to the Corporation to purchase the 7% commercial interest. To enable the negotiations with Kosmos for the sale of Anadarko WCTP to proceed, Anadarko Offshore incorporated a company, Jubilee Oil Holdings Limited (JOHL), in the Cayman Islands to hold the 7% commercial interest in the interim while the parties negotiated and finalised the commercial terms of the transaction. The parties proceeded to negotiate the commercial terms of the sale and purchase of the 7% commercial interest. The headline purchase price as of 1st April 2021 was quoted as US$199 million. This price was adjusted to US$165 million effective 30th September 2021, following adjustments for cash calls, taxes and other expenses incurred as well as sales made by Anadarko WCTP within the period. Anadarko Offshore, the Seller, was eventually paid US$164,798,691.00 on 19th October 2021 in full settlement of the acquisition. Anadarko Offshore thereafter assigned JOHL to GNPC, as JOHL holds the 7% commercial interest. The Corporation is currently in the process of transferring JOHL to GNPC Explorco. It was never a ploy by the Corporation to 'live unto itself, not the law and the nation's strategy for its existence' as claimed by ACEP. ASSERTION 3 Holding on to the assumption that GNPC owns Jubilee Oil Holding Limited, it is still not enough for the company to transact business in Ghana's oil industry without registering with the Registrar General. RESPONSE The Corporation is in the process of registering JOHL as an external company in Ghana. ASSERTION 4 GNPC at the time of communicating to the public knew that its intention was to assign the interest to a company called Jubilee Oil Holdings, registered in the Cayman Islands, with Dr K.K. Sarpong and Mr. Freddie W. Blay as directors. ACEP's search has not yet ascertained beneficial owners of Jubilee Oil Holdings. It is important to note that the representation of the CEO and Board Chair of GNPC, with their names in the General Registry of Cayman Islands, is not enough proof that GNPC is the owner of the Jubilee Oil Holdings. RESPONSE Anadarko Offshore incorporated JOHL with its own directors. At the time of the sale and purchase, the Corporation was required to nominate two directors to take over after the transfer was effected. The Board of Directors of the Corporation therefore nominated the Board Chairman, Honourable Freddie Blay, and the Chief Executive Officer, Dr. K.K. Sarpong, as initial Board directors to replace the directors of JOHL appointed by Anadarko. The Corporation holds one hundred percent of the shares in JOHL. The beneficial ownership of JOHL can be ascertained by conducting a general search with the Cayman Islands Registry. Further, the Share Purchase Agreement entered into on 13th October 2021, between Anadarko Offshore and Ghana National Petroleum Corporation show that the shares of JOHL belong to the Corporation as the Buyer. ASSERTION 5 The PRMA, since its inception, has suffered many accountability challenges. But for any revenue to be encumbered outside the express dictate of the law will be the final nail in the coffin of the Act, a precedent that will undermine the very existence of the Act. There is no individual, institution or authority clothed with the power to appropriate petroleum revenue outside the PRMA, even if the act can be justified as necessary. RESPONSE The Corporation has always operated within the remit of the laws and regulations of the Petroleum Industry, including the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, as amended, and has no intention of doing otherwise. JOHL was duly incorporated under the law of the Cayman Islands by Anadarko Offshore in line with the legal framework under the governing petroleum agreements. The Corporation is in the process of registering JOHL as an external company in line with Ghanaian law. CONCLUSION The Corporation continues to operate within the remit of the legal framework and has no intention of flouting any legal requirements and procedures. As the Corporation has always indicated, the Corporation welcomes engagement with any stakeholder in its operations. All documents on the transactions are available for scrutiny and inspection. Citinewsroom Friday's hearing at the November 2015 terror trial was devoted to testimony from Adel Haddadi, an Islamic State suspect who was arrested in Austria, and who is accused of having planned to take part in the Paris attacks. Adel Haddadi is either very stupid or very clever. This is the man who claims he joined Islamic State by accident; who worked as a cook for the terrorist organisation; who was chosen for the glory of a suicide mission in Europe at the last minute: who left Syria with the two Iraqi bombers who died at the Stade de France in November 2015; who got lost along the way and was arrested in Greece, then in Austria. Late in Friday's session, one of the lawyers representing bereaved families voiced the question on everybody's lips: "Are you pretending to be naive?" she asked. "I was trapped," explained the accused. "I wanted to sneak away. I didn't want Islamic State to think I was betraying them." And then, in his frequently incomprehensible French: "I have a different brain now. It works better." If he is pretending, Adel Haddadi is very good at it. A tedious, contradictory affair Friday's testimony was a laborious business. Born in Tunisia, Arabic-speaking Haddadi made an effort to answer questions in French. Until the court president, Jean-Louis Peries, told him he would do better to speak his own language and make use of the court interpreter. Things improved, but not much. When Peries asked the accused, for example, to explain a photograph in which Haddadi is seen with another IS fighter, brandishing a Kalashnikov, the answer was less than helpful. "We were in Syria. It was very hot. We went for a swim." "You went swimming with a Kalashnikov?" ironised the tribunal president. Adel Haddadi told the court that he had been advised to join Islamic State by a certain Abou Ali, a member of the Free Syrian Army. This, at a stage in early 2015 when the forces of IS and the FSA were locked in open and merciless opposition. Confusion and contradiction Haddadi frequently explained his actions by saying "I did that, but in my head, I thought the opposite." Thus, the humanitarian cook accepted weapons training. "Because they told me I had to." He agreed to take part in a suicide mission. "But I really wanted to escape." "And why do you think they chose you for a mission that was of such crucial importance for IS?" asked the court president. "Well, I heard them say that I wasn't known to the authorities. And they knew I had trouble refusing. I had a reputation for being helpful." "There's a difference, all the same, between being helpful and committing a suicide attack!" IS also gave Haddadi a phone linked to mission commander Oussama Atar, 4,000 euros to finance the trip, and a cash top-up on his release from jail in Greece. The court will have to decide between the inoffensive, bespectacled adult who never stopped being the kid who got sand kicked in his face, and the man who tried and failed to bring terror to Europe. The two Iraqis who left Syria at the same time were clever enough to complete their mission. They are both dead. Adel Haddadi is still alive. How stupid is that? The trial continues. The District Chief Executive for North Gonja, Hon. Adam Eliasu, has handed over office spaces to three (3) institutions and one accommodation facility making a total of four to enhance administrative and social/physical development. The handing over ceremony was done on Friday, January 14th, 2022 at Daboya in the North Gonja District of the Savannah Region. The state institutions include; The District Health Insurance Scheme, District Agriculture Department, the Rural Enterprise Agency and the Ghana Police Service. District Health Insurance Prior to the handing over of the office complex, residents of the District have relied on Damongo Municipal, Tolon District and in Tamale Metro for health insurance services. This singular effort by the District Chief Executive has brought about deep relief to residents of the District as full time and permanent operations will start soon by rendering the services of health insurance for the people to access health care. Agriculture Department Till now, the District Agric office used to perch in a temporal building but has been handed a permanent one to help deal with challenges facing the sector in the District. The North Gonja District like any other part of the Savannah Region is well endowed with rich arable lands, and so the major economic activities are farming, cattle rearing and trading. Rural Enterprise Agency Hon. Adam Eliasu also handed over a state of the art office space for the REP to facilitate the delivery of their mandate in the District. The rural enterprise agency, formally known as the National Board for Small Scale Enterprise is part of the Ghana Government's efforts to reduce poverty and improve living conditions in the rural areas. Ghana Police Service A furnished two-bedroom accommodation and ancillary facilities were also handed over to the police service in the District to be used by the police commander. This brings to finality the formal upgrade of the Daboya police post to a District police station status. It is expected that the projects will help push services in the District higher and better. The Member of Parliament for Ada Constituency, Comfort Doyoe Ghansah, is appealing for enhanced security for her community following the attack on Radio Ada. Addressing the press after visiting the facility, Comfort Doyoe said there is the need to step up protection for the community to preserve its pride as a tourist destination and to safeguard press freedom. We are pleading with authorities to bring protection to our people. They should bring protection to our lovely community, she said. This is a place that is left for all Ghanaians to come and enjoy when it comes to holidays, and this is the only place that has a serene environment to accommodate visitors. So we dont want anybody to come and mess us up here. Weapon-wielding men numbering about 10 ransacked some of the offices of Radio Ada and beat up two of the staff members on Thursday afternoon. Prior to the raid, they had manhandled some staff members of the station, who had refused to disclose the whereabouts of some senior management members. Later, they stormed one of the station's studios and assaulted the presenter, and vandalized some equipment in there. The management of the radio station has linked that attack to the station's continuous discussions on the Songor Lagoon salt project in the area. By Citi Newsroom WANTED! Mallam Mohammed 15.01.2022 LISTEN One Mallam Mohammed is on the run after impregnating an underage girl he was teaching in an Islamic school at Fadama, in Accra, and taking her to an unauthorised facility for a dangerous abortion. The said Mallam Mohammed has been in an amorous relationship with the girl who is 17 years, from the time she was 13 years, according to the victim's narration. The Tesano Police Station's Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) in Accra is on the heels of the teacher whose wife said she has not seen him for some days now. The 17-year-old girl used to attend an Islamic school in Fadama, Ansarudeen Academy, where the said Mallam Mohammed is a teacher. The orphaned girl, who is in the care of her aunts and grandmother, told her aunties when they suspected that she was pregnant after a denial at first, that it was Mallam Mohammed who was responsible for her pregnancy. One of her aunts, Hajia Rabi, advised that she should not abort the pregnancy but should carry it to full term. Abortion Plans That was however, not to be after Mallam Mohammed allegedly convinced the victim to go for an abortion at a place which looked like a shop. According to Hajia Rabi, Mallam Mohammed took the girl to a shop situated at Abeka near the Fadama Junction for the purported illegal procedure at about 8pm. After the procedure, Mallam Mohammed dumped the girl at the gate of her grandmother's house at Kasoa, leaving her to her fate. The girl experienced some pains, and she was eventually delivered of a five month old foetus, according to one of her aunties. Mallam Mohammed, according to the victim, promised the victim an iPhone 12 Pro Max and some money to start a trading venture. Hajia Rabi disclosed that the Tesano Police after the report was made to them went to Mallam Mohammed's house but did not meet him. His wife told the police that he has not been home for some days now. He was then invited to report to the police through a letter which was left for him through his wife. Out of Police Settlement Meanwhile, some elders in the community have gone to see the girl's grandmother for an out-of-police station settlement of the case. The grandmother is reported to have declined the request, saying that the matter is with the police and she could not do anything about it. When the girl led the police to the said shop where the injection was administered, there were two ladies who she identified. Even though the ladies said they knew her, the man who administered the abortion procedure was not available. Victim's Version Mallam Mohammed was my Islamic school teacher and he started having an affair with me four years ago, the victim narrated, adding he told me that he would marry me to become his second wife. She said, I did not understand him at first. When I later understood him, I rejected the offer but upon drinking a fluid he put in a bottle and gave me, my mind changed and I succumbed to his request. He took me to a certain house, not where his wife lives. He has two houses. One is where his wife and children live and the other was where he took me. Injection Time She added that it was about 8pm and I was afraid. He has been sleeping with me for more than twenty times. After each session he gave me money. He did not give me money when he did not have sex with me. I used the money he gave me to get essential things for myself. My aunties did not know what was going on. When I became pregnant he told me that we should solve it but he did not tell me that it was an abortion. I did not tell my guardian. He said he would come to Kasoa so that we go and see his doctor. When we got there in a taxi, I asked those there about what was happening and they said Mallam Mohammed had told them everything already. I was injected and some tubes inserted in me after which Mallam Mohammed took me back to Kasoa. I started experiencing some pains until the abortion took place. Another Aunt's Version I am Mariam, the victim's aunt. I did not know that she was pregnant until I went to Kasoa last Thursday to visit my mom. When I asked whether she was pregnant she denied it but when I bought a pregnancy kit and tested her it was positive and she admitted that it was Mallam Mohammed who was responsible. She said, On Friday at about 5pm she left the house without our knowledge and so when it was about 9:30pm I called her but she did not pick up the call. Eventually, she responded and said that she was outside and would soon come in. The next morning, after taking her bath she retired to her room and she was distressed and on the verge of collapsing. The place was soaked in blood and the about five-month-old foetus was aborted and I buried it. Mallam Mohammed knew her status as an orphan and took advantage to exploit her sexually from that early age. IGP's Action The victim's family yesterday told DAILY GUIDE that the IGP/Dr. George Akuffo Dampare has personally reached out to them promising to have the victim medically examined and where necessary treated. He has also demanded an expedited investigation and action into the case. According to Hajia Rabi, the IGP came to Tesano Police Station to meet us and to have firsthand information about the situation. DAILY GUIDE has learnt that the medical examination of the girl as directed by the IGP has already commenced. ---Daily Guide The Office of the Speaker of Parliament has questioned the motive behind the withdrawal of five military persons assigned to offer protection to Speaker Alban Bagbin. The office described the move as an attempt to strip the Speaker of protection and believes such as untenable. In a statement cited by this portal, the office said the decision to withdraw the soldiers sets a bad precedent and is even more worrying that the reason is unknown. In a country that takes pride in its democratic institutions and processes, the decision to reduce the number of security personnel assigned to the Speaker detracts from the political gains that Ghana has made, and is a bad precedent. The unknown reason for such a move is puzzling, but the real motive should be obvious to all objective observers of the political scene in Ghana. The office also noted that the development sets the Speaker up for harm. If it is an attempt to gag the Speaker, this move will serve to only widen the gap between the legislature and the other arms of government. It also hints at the possibility of a plot to place the safety and security of the Speaker in harm's way. A letter from the Chief of Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, NP Andoh to the Speaker last week said the five soldiers were attached 'without proper procedure.' The officers, WO1 Jafaru Bunwura, WOII Apugiba Awine David, S/Sgt Agbley Prosper and Sgt. Bonney Prince have been serving Bagbin's office since he became Speaker in January 2021. It is humbly requested that the personnel are withdrawn with effect from 14 January 2022 while efforts are made to regularize their attachment, the letter stated. But Bagbins office in response cautioned the military high command over the decision and urged it to be guided by the overall national interest. Read the Office of the Speaker of Parliaments statement below: RT. HON. SPEAKER, ALBAN S.K. BAGBIN, STRIPPED OFF SECURITY COVER The office of the Rt. Hon. Speaker, Alban S.K. Bagbin, has taken note of the withdrawal of four military officers posted to assist in the protection of the Speaker. The attempt to strip the Speaker off security protection is untenable. In a country that takes pride in its democratic institutions and processes, the decision to reduce the number of security personnel assigned to the Speaker detracts from the political gains that Ghana has made, and is a bad precedent. The unknown reason for such a move is puzzling, but the real motive should be obvious to all objective observers of the political scene in Ghana. If it is an attempt to gag the Speaker, this move will serve to only widen the gap between the legislature and the other arms of government. It also hints at the possibility of a plot to place the safety and security of the Speaker in harm's way. The citizens of this country yearned for an effective separation of powers as well as check and balance, and voted to have a hung Parliament. They are looking for a lot more consultation, consensus building and dialogue. This move contrasts with that and certainly is a bad precedent. In decisions such as these, we must ensure that we are guided by the overall interest of this country and the sustenance of our democracy and its institutions. 15.01.2022 LISTEN Information reaching ModernGhana News reveals that former National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary aspirant for Nkwanta South, Richard Manuribe has escaped death in a car accident. Reports have it that the accident happened at the Nkwanta road in the Oti Region on Saturday, January 15, 2022. Manuribe's vehicle somersaulted twice when a motorcycle veered off its lane into the car's lane. Witnesses rushed to the scene to help overturn the car. The accident was reported to have happened on the Nkwanta to Hohoe road when he was on his way to Accra after attending an event at Nkwanta in the Oti Region. Richard Manuribe did not sustain any major injury. He is currently responding to treatment at the Nkwanta St. Joesph's Hospital. On a recent Saturday afternoon, real estate agent Bonnie Heatzig was escorting her clients, visiting from Washington, D.C., on a tour of luxury properties in Boca Raton. But instead of stepping into her car for the start of the tour, they hopped into her familys boat for a sunny two hour jaunt around Bocas waterways and exclusive waterfront mansions. Advertisement Her clients were all smiles as they chatted about which homes provided the best views and had the most potential to live in. Heatzig is selling the South Florida lifestyle water, sun, fun and what better way to do that than from a boat? Advertisement The executive director of luxury sales at Douglas Elliman in Boca Raton, Heatzig came up with the idea to do boat tours during the pandemic the market was taking off, yet some home showings were being cancelled, and there were safety concerns. So she pivoted to the outdoors, and the water, with the hopes of giving her clients a better idea of how the property looked, and a deeper perspective of what life could be like in South Florida. You get a whole new vantage point from the water, and you can see firsthand the homes proximity to the intracoastal, the inlet and what the views look like, said Heatzig. With a housing market that is showing almost no signs of slowing down, Heatzig said she is doing tours of waterfront homes by boat almost weekly. Touring waterfront homes by boat isnt new, but its a way for Heatzig to really sell the romance of a waterfront property stepping onto your future dock can be more sexy than stepping onto your future driveway. And in a market flooded by out-of-state clients who might be put in a buying mood by the sight of palm trees and yachts, these tours are a crucial way for buyers to not only understand the properties they are looking at, but to also get a grasp of the lifestyle they will be buying in to. Its an experience just to be on the water like that, Heatzig said. It puts everything into perspective. JR Schuble, and his two sons, Justin and Jordan, were on the tour with Heatzig Saturday, as the brothers are in the beginning stages of looking for a property on the water, preferably in the Boca Raton area. JR Schuble, left, and his sons Justin and Jordan look at waterfront properties as luxury real estate agent Bonnie Heatzig takes them on a boat tour on Saturday, January 8, 2022. The jaunts are a way to sell waterfront properties in a housing market that is competitive for both buyers and real estate agents. (Michael Laughlin/Sun Sentinel) Its very South Florida, the brothers said of living by the water. The family, also has a home in Washington D.C., though they arent strangers to the area. Theyve been visiting South Florida for years, as their grandmother had a home in the area. Their parents own property in Boca as well, and they stayed with them during the pandemic. Our friends come down to visit and they dont want to leave, Justin added of the lure of the South Florida. Advertisement Heatzigs tours usually involve either giving prospective buyers a general tour of the waterways so they can get a feel of how they might be able to navigate a boat in certain areas or what sort of back yard views they can expect. Other times, depending on what the client is looking for, they will tour the waters and dock the boats at various properties they want to see and tour the interiors. She starts her tours by educating buyers on the different aspects of living on the water, the neighborhoods, the price points and general sizes of the home, whether there are fixed bridges or drawbridges etc. And the Boca Raton luxury real estate market has been doing well. According to data from Douglas Elliman, the median sale price of a luxury home in Boca Raton was $2,952,500 in the third quarter of 2021. The view from one of Bonnie Heatzig's waterfront property tours in Boca Raton on Saturday, January 8, 2022. She takes clients on the tours as a way to sell waterfront properties in a housing market that is competitive for both buyers and real estate agents. (Michael Laughlin/Sun Sentinel) While a search for a home via land usually involves the best school zones and safety, for prospective waterfront buyers, concerns include the condition of the sea wall, the water frontage and if there are any fixed bridges, noted Josh Dotoli, founder and principal of the Dotoli Group in Fort Lauderdale. Touring the waterways allows potential buyers to get an idea of the backyard views of the home, how much natural light the home can get and how and where they can dock their boats. For boaters, seeing how much frontage there is, and how much dock space they have, allows them to visualize how big a boat can dock there and whether there is enough space to navigate in the water. You are demonstrating the lifestyle. You are buying the backyard, the pool and the view, added Dotoli. Advertisement It also helps with allowing buyers to make quick decisions in a scenario where properties are coming off the market in days, said Kevin Spina of the Keyes Company Spina Group. With how limited the inventory is, its a good tool to help buyers understand quickly what the property looks like, because there is an urgency to get a property under contract. Seeing the home by the water can make the difference in what a client buys, Spina added. Luxury real estate agent Bonnie Heatzig during a tour on Saturday, January 8, 2022. (Michael Laughlin/Sun Sentinel) As for Heatzigs clients, the brothers havent settled on a property yet. Though at the end of the tour, Heatzig popped champagne. Once you are on the water, its hard to come back, Jordan said. Youre paying for a permanent vacation. " 15.01.2022 LISTEN Deputy Minister of Education, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, has explained that the Double Track system of the Free Senior High School policy has not been completely abolished. In a Facebook post on Friday, he explained that double track is not completely abolished. We have eliminated double entry of Form One and Form Two students. What it means is that all Form One and Form Two students will go to school each as one cohort not divided into two, he clarified. He added, "Double Track system has not been abolished as purported by some news portals. What has been eliminated is the Gold/Green double entry of Form 1&2 students. What it means is that all Form 1 students will go to school as one cohort not divided into two (as was formerly done in Green and Gold Tracks). Similarly, all Form 2 students will go to school as one cohort not divided into two. As more school buildings are completed, the entire school population will report to school at the same time as one cohort as it pertains in Single Track schools. "Disregard the screenshots of stories in circulation attributed to me that "Double Track has been abolished". For the purpose of emphasis, Double Track system has not been abolished." He further noted that measures have been put in place by the government to ensure that there is enough infrastructure in schools to guarantee the complete scrapping of the policy. As more school buildings are completed, entire school populations will report to school at the same time as one cohort as it pertains in Single Track schools, he stressed. Agricultural technical and research firm, Esoko, has observed that post-harvest management challenges is derailing gains of the government's flagship Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) programme. It has observed that though the country had been recording high yields in production for some time, boosted by the PFJ programme, challenges found in the transportation, processing and storage value chain were negating the gains. Esoko said that had also contributed to fluctuations in food prices in the country. In an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra, Mr Francis Danso-Adjei, a Content Manager at Esoko, said, when post-harvest management challenges were resolved, the PFJ would contribute immensely to stabilising the prices of food commodities that often fluctuated on the market during off seasons. Mr Danso-Adjei noted that overcoming the post-harvest challenge was a shared responsibility between the private sector and the Government. He, therefore, urged the government to come up with a well-thought out policy and provide the needed funding that would support the private sector to address the challenges. After production what normally happens is that along the [post-harvest] chain, it goes into the hands of traders, aggregators and others, and most of these people in the industry are in the private sector. "So what the government can do is to facilitate the establishment of more warehouses and access to vehicles to enable them [individuals and companies] to buy the produce and find their own storage if they do not have access to the storage from the Government, he said. Meanwhile, Mr Bagbara Tanko, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), has indicated that the Ministry had put in place interventions to address the challenges. He said the interventions included the establishment of warehouses, procurement of harvesters and other handheld machines, as well as rice milling machines for mechanisation purposes. Among others, he indicated that the Ministry imported a total of 8,980 units of various machinery and equipment and distributed between 2019 and 2020 to 927 beneficiaries made up of 33 District Assemblies and individuals. Additionally, there had been the completion of 21 warehouses, which formed part of a total of 80 with the capacity to store up to 80,000 metric tonnes of food items, aimed at ensuring food security in the country. Mr Tanko said he was confident that those interventions would position PFJ to change the narrative. GNA The four military personnel assigned to the Office of the Speaker of Parliament have been immediately withdrawn for regularisation. Major General Nicholas Peter Andoh, the Chief of Staff at the Headquarters of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), in a letter addressed to Mr Alban Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament, said "The under-named military personnel were attached to the Office of the Right Honourable Speaker of Parliament without the proper procedure: 190195 WOI Jafaru Bunwura 193211 WOII Apugiba Awuni David 198083 S/Sgt Agbely Prosper 201021 Sgt Bonney Prince. "It is humbly requested that the personnel are withdrawn with effect from 14 January, 2022, while efforts are made to regularise their attachment." GNA The second ordinary meeting of the eight session of the Tano North Municipal Assembly has been held in Duayaw Nkwanta. The Assembly meeting which was held at the Assemblys conference hall saw dignitaries such as the MCE for Tano North, Hon. Ernest Kwarteng, Hon. Adom Agyei Kenneth, the Presiding Member for Tano North, Mr. Eric Anarfi, Municipal Coordinating Director, the Security Agencies, Heads of Department, Assembly Members. The presiding member of the Assembly, Hon. Adom-Agyei Kenneth in an opening address said, he was delighted once again to welcome all present to the Second Ordinary meeting of the Eighth Session of the Assembly. He urges the Assembly members to contribute their quota to make the meeting a success. He thanked the Finance sub-committee of the Assembly and management for making time to prepare the Assemblys budget for 2022. He indicated that the budget would help to address some of the departmental issues confronting the Municipality. He urged all participants to do their best in the discharge of their duties to ensure the Municipality is developed. The Tano South Municipal Chief Executive, Hon. Ernest Kwarteng in his sessional address extended Christmas wishes from the office of H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the president of the Republic of Ghana to participants. He commended all and sundry for supporting him both spiritually and physically to make his nomination a success. Hon. Kwarteng appealed to Assembly Members to do all they could to ensure peace continues to prevail in their electoral areas. Hon. George Boakye, the Ahafo Regional Minister, who grace the occasion also commended Assembly members, heads of department and Nananom for supporting the Municipal Chief Executive to implement the governments policies and programmes to improve the living standards of the people. He said the sanitation situation in Ahafo Region has improved but urged management of the Assembly to put strategic measures in place to deal with all sanitary issues in the Municipality as enshrined in the local governance Act, 2016 (Act, 936). He hinted that Government in collaboration with Zoomlion has established Waste Management Plant at Goaso to address the sanitation issues in the region and informed all to support government in the implementation of sanitation's policies. He was quick to add that government is working assiduously to create jobs for the teeming youth. Presenting the motorbikes, the Ahafo Regional Minister, Hon. George Boakye said the motorbikes would help Assembly Members work hard to improve development in their electoral areas. He urged Assembly Members to come together as one people for more developmental projects for the Municipality. Hon. Boakye advised them to practice the culture of maintenance so as to prolong the life span of the motorbikes. As part of his intervention to ensure security protection for his constituents, the Member of Parliament for Adentan, Hon Mohammed Adamu Ramadan, on Friday, January 14, 2021, presented five motorbikes to the Adentan/Abokobi Divisional Police Command to assist them combat crime in the Constituency. According to the MP, some residents in recent times have complained about criminal attacks and break-ins at their homes, a situation in his view requires resourcing of the police services to overcome the menace. Hon Ramadan said the motorbikes are his widows mite to enable the police officers to mount surveillance and manoeuvre within the communities all in a bit to enhance general policing. In recent time, residents have complained of so many criminal activities in their homes and communities and I know the police are doing their best. But having had series of interacting with the police, I realized they have serious logistical challenges. So these motorbikes are just something out of my widows mite to help the police for so they can, at least be able to move in between the corners, the communities and to as well strengthen their visibility within the constituency, the lawmaker said. Some of the communities within the Adentan/Abokobi Division includes Adentan, Fafraha, Ashaley-Botwe, Armahia, Ashiyie, Fulani, Oyarifa, Danfa, Ayi-Mensah, Amanfro, Lakeside Estate, New Legon, NanaKrom, among others which due to the poor nature of roads makes it impossible for police vehicles to chases suspects in the area. Break-in of houses and other minor crimes like snatching of ladies bags and phones have surged in some of these communities in recent times, making residents live in fear of not knowing the next break-in of their rooms, especially weekdays when they leave for work and children are in school. The MP who is a member of the Health and the Business Committees of Parliament noted that crime combat is a shared responsibility and would continue to make himself available to support the fight. He further assured the Police Divisional Command of his commitment to supporting them logistically to perform their work and expressed the hope that the motorbikes would go a long way to combat crime for the residents to be able to go about their normal duties without any fear. Hon Ramadan also pledged to contribute to the building of the Divisional Headquarters project which is currently under construction financed by some benevolent residents within the Adentan Municipality. The Divisional Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police, ACP Eric Winful ACP Eric Winful, who received the motorbikes, expressed appreciation to the MP, which according to him will help police the Constituency to reduce the crime rate drastically. He said the major challenge facing the police in the area is mobility but the donation of the bikes would help the police personnel undertake surveillance and other policing activities. While appealing to other stakeholders to support the police as security is a shared responsibility, ACP Winful thanked the MP for the gesture and assured that the bikes would be used effectively to fight crime and related activities in the Command's jurisdiction. The MP was accompanied by the Assembly Woman for Gbentaana Electoral Area, Ms Ella Nongo, the NDC Constituency Chairman Baba Abdallah Zakaria and other executives as well as some staff members from the Office of the MP. Basically, religion is the belief in a God or gods and the authorities that are connected with that belief such as praying or worshipping, which either takes place in church, mosque or temple and the world population is dominated by Religious believers. 85% of the world population are Religious believers and examples of the notable religions in the world include Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, Shinto, Sikhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Hinduism. The word tolerance is one of the powerful values that has kept the world going and it cuts across all spheres of our lives, being it our workplace, school, marital homes and place of abode and the world will extinct the day tolerance fails to exist. Religious tolerance is the ability to appreciate the spiritual values, beliefs and practices which are different from your own. The word Religious intolerance which is the opposite of word, this article seeks to highlight has torn same state or nations apart historically and continues to set nations apart. The question l then ask why wouldn't individual believers, groups or states embrace the concept of Religious tolerance which would facilitate coexisting, rather than going for the opposite which is likely to bring the world to a halt. Historical antecedence had proven that Religious tolerance is the way to go and typical example is the infamous American May 11th incident which claims thousands of lives. It took Religious tolerance from both the dominant Religions of the world to explain to the world that, such evil actions is not found in any books of the Quoran and that the world must rather come together to prevent the prevailing of a future similar evil actions by similar evil groups. Similarly, to our country, Ghana has witnessed peace and stability for years now because of the level of religious tolerance and coexistence between the various Religious believers in Ghana and this is why within the wisdom of the framers of Ghana Constitution, it was acknowledged that the most ancient religions in Ghana that is Traditional, Christianity and Islamic will pray on each year as we observe our 6th March which commemorates our independence day. I, as a Christian, can mention some few quotations in the bible that encourages Religious Tolerance 2 Timothy 4:1-2 Charge you in the patience of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom preach the word, reprove and exhort with complete patience and teaching. Ephesians 2:4 With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another. Roman 14:1-4 Paul was admonishing believers to avoid unnecessary quarrelling over Religious opinion of who is clean or not clean. Religious tolerance is recognized and highly praised in the Quran. Thus al-Rum verse 22 asserts that in diversity and variations are the signs of God for those with vision and those who are wise. This implies that differences must not only be expected, but be tolerated.Quran chapter verse 22 that Among His signs is the creation of heavens and the earth,and the variation in your languages and your colours:verily in are signs for those who know Quran Chapter 49 verse 13 recognizes Tolerance and difference in term of gender, skin, color, language and belief, as well as of that rank, and it asserts that differences are not only inherent and will always be there but they are a blessing from God. Al-Hujurat verse 13 O mankind! We created you from a single(pair) of male and a female,and made you in to nations and tribes,that ye may know each other(not that ye may despise each other).very the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you.And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted(with all things) Yunus verses 99 which seek to convince the Prophet that matters of religious belief are in the hands of God and that any attempt to spread his faith by coercion would be an exercise in futility. Quran Chapter 10 verses 99 If it had been thy Lords will, they would all have believed,-all who are on earth! will thou then compel mankind, against their will to believe! In my concluding remarks, am urging the state Ghana to institute more policies targeting how to further strengthen the already existing co-relationships among the various Religions within the Country. Individuals, politicians or any group that will sort in relying on religion to perpetrate any actions toward self gains to the detriment of the entire nation must be name and shame. In this edition of Aviation This Week, the focus is placed on some of the topical aviation industry stories between January 10 and 15 2022 which are of relevance to Ghanas aviation space. Here are the highlights: Emirates Resumes Passenger Service from Ghana Emirates Airlines has resumed its passenger flight operations from Accra, Ghana to Dubai, UAE as of January 13, 2022. Emirates on December 27, 2021 suspended all passenger operations from Accra due to the increasing number of positive COVID-19 cases recorded amongst passengers upon arrival at Dubai. However, it continued to board passengers from Dubai to Accra. Passengers are now required by Emirates to present a negative PCR test result obtained within 48hours before departure time in addition to a negative RT-PCR test done within 6hours before departure time before they will be allowed to board from Accra. All test results must come with a QR codes for verification. Government Releases List of Approved Testing Labs for Travellers Heading to the UAE With Ghanaians travelling to the United Arab Emirates now required to perform two COVID-19 tests before departure, authorities have released a list of facilities it travellers are expected to conduct their tests. For the first test, travellers could patronize the services of MDS Lancet, Frontiers, Leading, Airport Clinic, or Akai House. The second test which must be conducted at the airport within 6hours before departure time must be at either Frontiers or Leading. Ethiopian Makes Cargo Services More Accessible Ethiopian Airlines has now made its cargo services more accessible to its customers with the creation of an online book system. According to Ethiopian, the platform enables customers to check flight schedules, space availability, freight loadability and make a real-time booking of their shipment conveniently. Air France Introduces new Eco-friendly Amenity Kit Air France has introduced a new amenity kit with a more eco-friendly value for its passengers travelling in business and premium economy classes on its long haul routes. Items in the kit for the premium economy passengers are a toothbrush made of cornstarch, earplugs packaged in kraft paper, a sleep mask and a pair of socks. The kit in the business cabin also has a similar toothbrush and earplugs, and a pen made of cornstarch. In addition to that is a large and soft sleep mask, socks, Clarins cosmetics and toothpaste. Ethiopian Admonishes Customers to Disregard Publications on 75th Anniversary Rewards Ethiopian Airlines has warned its customers and the general public to disregard any publication suggesting it is giving out gifts as a way of celebrating its 75th Anniversary. Ethiopian says such publications should be treated with contempt. Authored: Mark Ofosu || Twitter: M__ofosu Godsway Ablorde, a 27-year old female is in the custody of the Anloga District Police for the murder of Ami Ablorde, a caterer at Woe, near Anloga. The suspect was arrested with the help of members of the Community after she attempted committing suicide moments after setting the deceased ablaze and leaving her with life-threatening burns leading to her death, according to a release from the Volta Regional Police outfit, signed by DSP Effia Tenge to the Ghana News Agency. She said preliminary investigation so far revealed that both suspect and deceased were workers at a Restaurant at Woe, but the management of the facility relieved the suspect of her duties. She said investigations further established that female suspect Godsway Ablorde had the suspicion that her rejection from the restaurant was orchestrated by the deceased and warned the management to also sack the deceased. DSP Tenge said on January 11, 2022, at about 2000 hours, the suspect armed with a gallon containing a mixture of petrol and diesel, and a box of matches, went to the Restaurant and poured the mixture on the deceased and lighted the match. She said the deceased who was then alone at the facility struggled for her life until some good Samaritans rushed her to the Keta Government hospital for medical attention, but she died the next morning at about 0700 hours. The suspect was arraigned before the Anloga Magistrate Court on Thursday and subsequently, remanded to reappear on 24 February 24, 2022, while the investigation continues into the incident. GNA 15.01.2022 LISTEN The Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Abraham Acquaye, Commander of the Nima Divisional Police Command, has asked community leaders to desist from interfering in the investigation and prosecution of rape and domestic abuse cases in the country. That, he said, was to allow the law to take its course on such persons and ensure that justice was brought to the survivors to serve as a deterrent to others. Over the years, community leaders including chiefs, religious leaders, assembly men, and opinion leaders, as well as Members of Parliament, have been accused of shielding perpetrators of rape and defilement at the expense of their victims. ACP Acquaye who was speaking at a stakeholder engagement on domestic violence held for some community leaders in Nima and its environs in the Ablekuma North Municipality, in Accra, said the situation was affecting the prosecution of such cases, as well as emboldening others. The engagement, organised by the International Network of Religious Leaders Living with or personally affected by HIV and AIDS (INERELA Ghana), with funding from the United Nations Women Trust Fund, was to educate the leaders to help eradicate domestic violence in the community. It was attended by Imans, queenmoters, and various leaders from the various communities. Statistics available at the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service indicate that 1,047 girls were defiled, while 305 women were raped in 2020. Also, about 1,500 cases of violence against women are reported to law enforcement agencies annually. ACP Acquaye also cautioned the community leaders against resolving criminal issues, especially murder, at home. He explained that though Section 73 of the Court's Act and Section 64 of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act, allowed for some cases to be resolved by them, criminal cases including rape, defilement, and murder could only be resolved by the law court. He threw a word of caution to them that the Police would not hesitate to come after any community leader who would be found engaging in such illegality. "Very soon, we will be picking on some of you," the Commander warned. ASP Mavis Adjei, DOVVSU Coordinator, Nima Division also noted that the situation was crippling the Unit as it was being rendered redundant. She appealed to the government to resource the Unit to enable it to provide the needed support for persons who found themselves in such unfortunate circumstances. Mrs Mercy Acquah-Hayford, Executive Director, INERELA Ghana, said the phenomenon was bad and urged the community leaders to do more to protect the vulnerable in their communities. She explained that currently, the group was seeking justice for a five-year-old girl who was alleged to have been defiled by a 52-year old Islamic teacher, despite the lack of interest from the survivor's family due to alleged intimidation from the community. Mrs Acquah-Hayfors urged parents to take a keen interest in the welfare of their children to protect them from such predators, adding that they must question their children on the unexplained acquisition of expensive items to ensure that they were not lured with such items. Chief Baba Issah, Chairman, Ayawaso Council of Zongo Chiefs, assured of the chiefs' readiness to partner the Police to bring persons found culpable of such situations to book. Participants at the end of the meeting came up with a communique pledging not to interfere in any violence and its related criminal cases but allow the law to deal with suspects and assist the Police with investigations when the need be. GNA A Security Expert, Mr Richard Kumadoe has urged the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bgabin to get a private security for himself. His comment follows the removal of the military detachment to the Speaker's office. Mr Kumadoe said nothing stops the Speaker from acquiring his personal security if he wants to. Reacting to concerns that the Mr Bagbin may have been exposed to threats following the withdrawal of the officers, while speaking on the News 36O on TV3 Saturday January 15, he said among other things that nothing stops him from getting a private security firm to provide the security. The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) had said that the four soldiers who have been withdrawn from Mr Bagbin were attached to the office without proper procedure. This resulted in the decision to withdraw them while efforts are made to regularise their attachment, a statement said. The under-named military personnel were attached to the Office of the Rt Honourable Speaker of Parliament without the proper procedure, the statement signed by the Chief of Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, NP Andoh to the Speaker said. It is humbly requested that the personnel are withdrawn with effect from 14 January 2022 while efforts are made to regularise their attachment. The Minority in Parliament have however expressed shock at this development. Member of Parliament for Banda and Deputy Minority Whip, Ahmed Ibrahim, claimed that the removal of the soldiers was on the orders of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo. Also speaking on the News 360 on TV3 Saturday January 15, the Member on the Defence Committee said the news of the removal came at a shock to the Minority in Parliament. This came to us a great shock, he said, adding that this is the time we all need to come together to work on security. We are surprised as a minority to hear government withdrawing the military detachment of the speaker. The speaker is number three, even the EC chair is using about ten Military personnel. So if the Speaker duly requested for four and they have been on duty for over one year, the questions is what has changed? It raises security questions. He added It is president Akufo-Addo who has withdrawn the military detachment, he is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. The Minority will meet on Monday. 3news.com Woodville, AL (35768) Today Mainly cloudy. A few peeks of sunshine possible. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 85F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms. Low 64F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%. Corry, PA (16407) Today Rain. High 62F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Rain. Low around 55F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a half an inch. PARK COUNTY, Mont. - The Montana Food Bank Network (MFBN) recently received a donation of 19,800 pounds of hamburger. A collection of producers across the state helped gift the hamburger which was delivered to the MFBN on Jan. 11. A release from statewide non-profit organization, The Producer Partnership, says it facilitated the donation through its mission of farmers and ranchers working to help end hunger in Montana. If the Producer Partnership was going to succeed, it needed an experienced distribution partner familiar with the food business to supply the donated hamburger to all 56 counties in the state. My vision was simply to connect the dots and form a partnership to benefit Montanans in need, Matt Pierson, who established the Producer Partnership said. This is not the first time the organization has donated hamburger to the MFBN. According to Brent Weisgram, VP and COO of the MFBN, before the pandemic, the food bank network spent less than $2.00 per pound for hamburger. The meat was purchased from out-of-state vendors due to the lack of USDA federally inspected beef processors in the state with the capacity to meet the quantity demands needed the release said. Pierson said one of the Producer Partnerships first goals was to provide the Food Bank Network with as much protein as they need. In two years, the release says the organization has collected and donated 95,967 pounds of hamburger to the MFBN. Thats just from picking up cattle, finding a place to get them harvested, paying for the processing and dropping the donations off with our latest project of funding our own processing unit, we will turn out way more beef, added Pierson. It is simply amazing how significant of an impact the Producer Partnership has made for the Montana Food Bank Network in such a short amount of time since we formed this partnership. We are so thankful for the support and generosity we are seeing from everyones contributions working together to achieve such great results. This is so much more than just a single donation; the Producer Partnerships concept has provided the platform for everyone to get involved to help provide a much needed resource to Montana families facing food insecurity. Special thanks to all of the generous ranchers donating their livestock, the donors contributing financially to help cover the processing fees and contributing to make the processing facility a reality, said Weisgram. The historic railway depot that houses the Boone and Crockett Club will get a restored roof and other improvements, thanks to some large grant awards. Were going to bring it back to its original state with clay tile, club development program manager Jodi Bishop said on Friday. It originally had Spanish clay barrel tiles on every surface. At some point, those were replaced by asphalt shingles. Were restoring it to its original look when it was built in 1910. The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust gave $300,000 to support renovation of the former Milwaukee Road Depot, which sits just west of the Beartracks Bridge southern end. That, combined with a $500,000 historic preservation grant from the Montana state government, was enough to start work on the project. Bishop said the total estimated cost would be about $1.4 million. That includes re-pointing the brickwork around the building, repairing windows and gutters, and other exterior maintenance. Bishop said the public visitor gallery of trophy big game displays will remain unchanged. The Boone and Crockett Club was founded in 1887 by Theodore Roosevelt and our organization has played a critical role in conservation ever since, club executive officer Tony Shoonen said. The exterior renovations will have our building looking much as it did when TR visited Missoula in 1911 shortly after the depot was completed. Nationally known architect J. A. Lindstrand designed the depot for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific Railroad. The Mission Style building features a castle-like structure with two observation towers, mission-style parapet walls using brick imported from China, Romanesque windows, and a Spanish-style roof. It is listed on both state and national Register of Historic Places. Lucknow, Jan 15 (UNI) Samajwadi Party President Yogi Adityanath on Saturday made fun of the BJP's decision to field Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur in the Assembly elections, saying the state's ruling party has "sent him home" before the people could do so. Akhilesh Yadav told the media: "I am happy the party has sent him home. Earlier it was said he will contest from Mathura, Prayagraj and Deoband. Yogi is not a member of the BJP. Therefore, he has been sent home. For this we thank the BJP." Adityanath heads the Gorakhnath Math in Gorakhpur. The former Chief Minister also said he will not induct any more BJP Minister or MLA into his party. "Let the BJP decline tickets to as many MLAs it wants. I am not going to induct any member of any political party except one." Two Ministers who quit the Adityanath government and six MLAs who quit the BJP or its ally Apna Dal have been inducted into the Samajwadi Party. He said the Samajwadi Party was doing inclusive politics and so he welcomed leaders from other parties. "We are doing positive politics or rather progressive politics. There is no negativity involved." On female candidates to be fielded by his party, he said that only those who are in a position to win will be given ticket to contest. "We will not give ticket to any candidate who may get defeated." Asked who will be the Deputy Chief Minister if the Samajwadi Party forms a government, he said: "There is no post like Deputy CM." The Election Commission moved after a crowd gathered at the Samajwadi Party headquarters during a virtual rally on Friday, Akhilesh Yadav appealed to all the workers to follow the instructions of the poll panel. "A notice has been pasted at our office today. I appeal to all the workers to stay at home and in their localities and follow the Covid protocol." UNI AB MR December 05, 2020 "Uighurs forced to eat pork" - Horror Stories Told By Chinese Defector Seem To Evolve Al Jazeerah, the propaganda outlet of Qatar, has published a remarkable anti-China propaganda piece which echos claims made by dubious CIA affiliated outlets: Uighurs forced to eat pork as China expands Xinjiang pig farms Former detainees claim that the forcible feeding of pork is most rampant in re-education camps and detention centres. It has been more than two years since Sayragul Sautbay was released from a re-education camp in Chinas westernmost region of Xinjiang. Yet the mother of two still suffers from nightmares and flashbacks from the humiliation and violence she endured while she was detained. Sautbay, a medical doctor and educator who now lives in Sweden, recently published a book in which she detailed her ordeal, including witnessing beatings, alleged sexual abuse and forced sterilisation. In a recent interview with Al Jazeera, she shed more light on other indignities to which the Uighurs and other Muslim minorities were subjected, including the consumption of pork, a meat that is strictly prohibited in Islam. Every Friday, we were forced to eat pork meat, Sautbay said. They have intentionally chosen a day that is holy for the Muslims. And if you reject it, you would get a harsh punishment. When I read the above I remembered that I had previously read about Sayragul Sautbay (or Sauytbay). But the story back than had sounded much different. The woman had moved from China under disputed circumstances but had never been a detainee. She had illegally entered Kazakhstan where she was put in front of a court but only got a mild sentence. Sautbay was then granted asylum in Sweden from where she propagandizes for an CIA affiliated Uighur exile group. Over the years Sautbay has given several interviews. The details of her story continued to change in anti-Chinese directions. In early interviews Sautbay claimed to have been an instructor working in a re-education camp. In later interviews she claims to have been a detainee. In more recent interviews she claims that she had seen torture and violence in the camps. In earlier interviews she had refuted such claims. In one story she claims to have observed mass rape. In older interviews she insisted that she had observed no violence at all. While she now claims that detainees in the camp were forced to eat pork she had earlier claimed that no meat was served in the camps. In July 2018 the U.S. government outlet RFE/RL reported from Sautbay's trial in Kazakhstan: The trial of an ethnic-Kazakh Chinese citizen accused of illegally entering Kazakhstan has taken on implications far beyond whether she will be reunited with her family near Almaty or deported back to China. That's because 41-year-old Sayragul Sauytbay has testified about the existence of a network of "reeducation camps" in western China where she says thousands of ethnic Kazakhs are incarcerated for "political indoctrination." Unlike others who've fled abroad, saying they'd been forced to endure dehumanizing indoctrination at such camps, Sauytbay was not a camp detainee. She was a camp employee. Before crossing into Kazakhstan on April 5, Sauytbay had been the head administrator of a kindergarten -- a position that, together with her membership of the Communist Party, technically made her a Chinese state official. She says Chinese authorities had forced her to train "political ideology" instructors for reeducation camps in western China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. So according to that report Al Jazeerah's 'former detainee' had actually claimed to have been an trainer for "political ideology" instructors for reeducation camps, not a trainer for the detainees. That, she says, gave her access to secret documents about China's state program to "reeducate" Muslims from indigenous minority communities across western China -- mainly Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, ethnic Kyrgyz, and Hui. She says she also witnessed the inner workings of the program while employed at a camp for ethnic Kazakhs in the region's Mongol-Kuro District. A few days after the RFE/RL story the Globe and Mail published an interview with Sayragul Sauytbay. While the basic story she tells is basically the same some significant details differ: It was a place of silence, forced learning and fear. It was called a transformation centre hidden in the mountains of far western China, bereft of any obvious sign indicating its purpose. But it looked and felt like a jail. For months, Sayragul Sauytbay worked inside, teaching Mandarin and propaganda to Muslim detainees swept up in a broad Chinese campaign to eradicate what Beijing calls extremism. Then, facing internment herself, she fled to neighbouring Kazakhstan where she was arrested after China sought her deportation. But her lawyers argued that she could face torture if returned, and on Wednesday, a Kazakh court declined to send her back, giving her a six-month suspended sentence. Sautbay tells how she, a party member, was ordered to teach in a camp: A primary school teacher who became a kindergarten administrator, Ms. Sauytbay was ordered last November to work in a new place. They said I must go. I think if I refused them, I would have ended up being locked in that re-education centre as well, she said. She had been chosen to teach inside the internment camp because she could speak both Kazakh and fluent Mandarin. Often, she was driven to work at night, to a distant place in the mountains of Zhaosu County, on the far western border between China and Kazakhstan. The facility was surrounded by high walls and barbed wire. It looked very, very scary. Just one glimpse would frighten you, she said. Her "access to secret documents" seems to have been more limited than claimed in the RFE/RL piece: Inside were roughly 2,500 people, all of them Muslim, most of them ethnic Kazakhs. None were Han Chinese, the dominant group in China. They were all ethnic minorities, she said, ranging in age from their upper teens to their 70s. She received no explanation for why they were there, nor the purpose of the instruction she was ordered to deliver. They told us nothing, she said. Even as a teacher, the knowledge we had about that place was very limited. They had many of their own highly confidential secrets. Work in the camp had no fixed schedule, each day a mix of teaching and special tasks. The latter might be training students to sing the Chinese national anthem, or Communist standbys such as Without the Communist Party, There Would Be No New China. Mostly, though, she was told to teach Mandarin. Back then her description of the conditions in the camp differs a lot from the "made to eat pork" claims in the recent Al Jazeerah piece: She did not personally see violence, although she did see hunger. Detainees had only three kinds of food: rice soup, vegetable soup and nan bread. There was no meat. There was never enough to eat. People were malnourished, Ms. Sauytbay said. Sautbay's husband version of the story, published in 2018 as part of a longer Washington Post piece, likewise makes no mention of violence or pork eating: Sauytbay, who had a government job in education, had her passport seized by local officials, her husband [Uali Islam] said. ... In 2016, officials asked for the passports of Sauytbays husband and children, and they decided it was time to leave for Kazakhstan. Sauytbay would follow. She said, Im a woman and member of the Communist Party they wont do anything to me. Maybe things will settle down and I can join you, Islam recalled. In early 2017, she told him, she was informed that she was being transferred to what was described to her as an education center. That spring, she arrived to see that it was actually an internment camp housing thousands of Kazakhs. Sauytbay told her husband the education was all about the party. Guards locked everyone in a room, blasted propaganda from speakers and made them sing Communist Party songs. Eventually, Sauytbay fled to Kazakhstan. She said, he recalled, I came here; I saw my children now I can die. After she had gained asylum in Sweden Sautbay joint up with a U.S. financed Uighur organization. Her story then changed dramatically. The party member and language teacher had became a detainee. There was suddenly extensive violence in the camp and people who earlier never got meat were suddenly made to eat pork. In 2019 she told such horror stories for a Haaretz feature: Torture metal nails, fingernails pulled out, electric shocks takes place in the black room. Punishment is a constant. The prisoners are forced to take pills and get injections. Its for disease prevention, the staff tell them, but in reality they are the human subjects of medical experiments. Many of the inmates suffer from cognitive decline. Some of the men become sterile. Women are routinely raped. Such is life in Chinas reeducation camps, as reported in rare testimony provided by Sayragul Sauytbay (pronounced: Say-ra-gul Saut-bay, as in bye), a teacher who escaped from China and was granted asylum in Sweden. Few prisoners have succeeded in getting out of the camps and telling their story. Sauytbays testimony is even more extraordinary, because during her incarceration she was compelled to be a teacher in the camp. China wants to market its camps to the world as places of educational programs and vocational retraining, but Sauytbay is one of the few people who can offer credible, firsthand testimony about what really goes on in the camps. So a year after explicitly claiming to have been an CCP teacher, not a detainee, Sautbay has now morphed in one. Where she earlier saw no violence she now reports of plenty. The circumstances of the Haaretz interview make it obvious that she is shopped around as part of a propaganda campaign: I met with Sauytbay three times, once in a meeting arranged by a Swedish Uyghur association and twice, after she agreed to tell her story to Haaretz, in personal interviews that took place in Stockholm and lasted several hours, all together. Sauytbay spoke only Kazakh, and so we communicated via a translator, but it was apparent that she spoke in a credible way. The Swedish Uyghur association is part of the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress, a CIA affiliated organization that has in recent years gained prominence as part of the U.S. driven anti-China campaign. That such an organization organized the interview and that a translator was minding the correctness of the story is enough to let one doubt the credibility of the tale. But then come details that are so far off from her previous claims that one is sure that these are all outright lies: In November 2017, I was ordered to report to an address in the citys suburbs, to leave a message at a phone number I had been given and to wait for the police. After Sauytbay arrived at the designated place and left the message, four armed men in uniform arrived, again covered her head and bundled her into a vehicle. After an hours journey, she arrived in an unfamiliar place that she soon learned was a reeducation camp, which would become her prison in the months that followed. She was told she had been brought there in order to teach Chinese and was immediately made to sign a document that set forth her duties and the camps rules. In the earlier stories CCP member Sautbay was "often driven to work at night", not abducted and forced to stay in the camp for months. Mindful of her new sponsors Sautbay then contradicts her "no meat" and "no violence" claims from the earlier Globe and Mail interview: There were three meals a day. All the meals included watery rice soup or vegetable soup and a small slice of Chinese bread. Meat was served on Fridays, but it was pork. ... The camps commanders set aside a room for torture, Sauytbay relates, which the inmates dubbed the black room because it was forbidden to talk about it explicitly. There were all kinds of tortures there. Some prisoners were hung on the wall and beaten with electrified truncheons. There were prisoners who were made to sit on a chair of nails. I saw people return from that room covered in blood. Some came back without fingernails. On wonders who wrote the script for this laughable "mass rape" scene for her: Tears stream down Sauytbays face when she tells the grimmest story from her time in the camp. One day, the police told us they were going to check to see whether our reeducation was succeeding, whether we were developing properly. They took 200 inmates outside, men and women, and told one of the women to confess her sins. She stood before us and declared that she had been a bad person, but now that she had learned Chinese she had become a better person. When she was done speaking, the policemen ordered her to disrobe and simply raped her one after the other, in front of everyone. While they were raping her they checked to see how we were reacting. People who turned their head or closed their eyes, and those who looked angry or shocked, were taken away and we never saw them again. It was awful. I will never forget the feeling of helplessness, of not being able to help her. After that happened, it was hard for me to sleep at night. She was also pressed to offer bridges for sale ... In March 2020 Secretary of State Mike Pompous and First Lady Melanie Trump 'honored' Sayragul Sautbay with the State Department's International Women of Courage (IWOC) Award: Sauytbay become one of the first victims in the world to speak publicly about the CCPs repressive campaign against Muslims, igniting a movement against these abuses. Her testimony was among the first evidence that reached the broader international community of the CCPs repressive policy, including both the camps and the coercive methods used against Muslim minorities. At the end of the propaganda onslaught the Haaretz piece closes with an official Chinese comment on Sautbay's stories: Asked to respond to Sayragul Sauytbays description of her experience, the Chinese Embassy in Sweden wrote to Haaretz that her account is total lies and malicious smear attacks against China. Sauytbay, it claimed, never worked in any vocational education and training center in Xinjiang, and has never been detained before leaving China which she did illegally, it added. Furthermore, Sayragul Sauytbay is suspected of credit fraud in China with unpaid debts [of] about 400,000 RMB (approximately $46,000). In Xinjiang in recent years, wrote the embassy, China has been under serious threats of ethnic separatism, religious extremism and violent terrorism. The vocational education and training centers have been established in accordance with the law to eradicate extremism, which is not prison camp. As a result of the centers, according to the Chinese, there has been no terrorist incident in Xinjiang for more than three years. The vocational education and training work in Xinjiang has won the support of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang and positive comments from many countries across the world. Given the multitude of inconsistencies in Sautbay's ever changing stories and the obvious propaganda purpose they have I am inclined to believe the Chinese government's version. Posted by b on December 5, 2020 at 17:13 UTC | Permalink Comments next page next page January 15, 2022 How Moon of Alabama Feeds Chinese Counter-Propaganda During my daily round of skimming various global news site I stumble upon this Global Times report: FM uses slideshow to expose anti-China forces lies on Xinjiang Fabricating reports with numerous loopholes, hiring "actresses" to play as "victims," covering malicious purposes of disturbing China's Xinjiang region with excuses on human rights Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Friday used more than 20 slides to refute disinformation and rumors made by anti-China "scholars," the US and Western media, and the terrorist organization "World Uyghur Congress." I checked the website of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to see if the slideshow is publicly available. Unfortunately that does not seem to be the case. But there is an English language transcript of yesterday's press conference with foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin. bigger Prompted by a planted question from a CGTN journalist Wang Wenbin made a prepared presentation on baseless Xinjiang allegations the U.S. likes to make. This part made me smile (emph. add.): First of all, those who fabricate lies on Xinjiang always camouflage themselves with three cloaks. ... The second is the cloak of victims. They concoct lies by playing the victim or witness. Such fake witnesses abound. We once exposed how Zumrat Dawut and Tursunay Ziawudun lied. Today, I want to give you another example named Sayragul Sauytbay. She sometimes calls herself a teacher at a vocational training center, and sometimes a victim of the detention center. She claims to have witnessed torture and violence at vocational training centers on one occasion, but insisted that she has never seen any acts of violence on the other. She says the detainees were forced to have pork, but asserts that there was no meat at all in another context. In fact, this person has never learned or worked in vocational training centers, but is wanted by the public security authorities for suspected crimes of illegal border-crossing and loan fraud. The so-called testimonies of these individuals contradict themselves and cannot justify anything, only to reveal that the people are not victims or witnesses, but third-stringer actors that give themselves away while changing their playbooks. To my best knowledge the first piece ever that took apart the diverging claims Sayragul Sauytbay made in various interviews was published by Moon of Alabama on December 5 2020. "Uighurs forced to eat pork" - Horror Stories Told By Chinese Defector Seem To Evolve The lies by Tursunay Ziawudun were subject of a follow on piece on this site posted on February 4 2021: Why Do These Uighur Witnesses' Stories Constantly Change? Two months ago we documented astonishing changes over time in the testimony of a Uyghur woman who had claimed to have been incarcerated in China: Over the years [Sayragul] Sautbay has given several interviews. The details of her story continued to change in anti-Chinese directions. In early interviews Sautbay claimed to have been an instructor working in a re-education camp. In later interviews she claims to have been a detainee. In more recent interviews she claims that she had seen torture and violence in the camps. In earlier interviews she had refuted such claims. In one story she claims to have observed mass rape. In older interviews she insisted that she had observed no violence at all. While she now claims that detainees in the camp were forced to eat pork she had earlier claimed that no meat was served in the camps. The changes in her story came after Sautbay had fallen into the hands of a propaganda group .. ... A similar change can be observed in the testimony of another Uyghur woman who currently makes the rounds through the media. Tursunay Ziawudun, a Uyghur woman who last year moved to the United States, now claims to have observed mass rape in Chinese detention camps. ... Moon of Alabama did not publish anything about Zumrat Dawut, the third person the spokesperson mentioned. But a short web search shows that she is a similar fake witness as the other two are. I am sure there are more. It is a bit amusing to see that someone at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs dug up and used content from this site for a press presentation by its spokesperson. Moon of Alabama is not mentioned in it. But that is okay with me. I do not long for becoming a target of an anti-China campaign like those running in Australia, Britain (recommended), Canada and the U.S. itself. This is however a Moon of Alabama donation request week. If some organization with a large budget would like to drop me a few or more Euros, preferable anonymously, it should feel free to do so. Every other reader of this site should of course do the same :-). Posted by b on January 15, 2022 at 13:15 UTC | Permalink Comments This was a breakthrough surgery and brings us one step closer to solving the organ shortage crisis. There are simply not enough donor human hearts available to meet the long list of potential recipients, said Bartley P. Griffith, MD, who surgically transplanted the pig heart into patient D A celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.s birthday will take place Monday in Midland. The Negro Business and Professional Women's Club of Midland, Inc. is planning events that include a luncheon, speakers, youth activities, a parade and evening program. Most of the activities are scheduled for the Martin Luther King Center, 2300 Butternut Lane. 11:30 a.m. luncheon/scholarship fundraiser (speakers Dr. Colby Brownlee and John James) 2 p.m. baking contest 2-4 p.m. youth activities. 5 p.m. Parade 7 p.m. evening program (speakers Dan Corrales and Isaac Garnett) UTPB events The University of Texas Permian Basin has several upcoming events to honor and remember the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. UT Permian Basin will be closed on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. That day there will be A March To Remember sign-making at 4:30 p.m. followed by a showing of the movie Selma at 6 p.m. Sign-making will be in the SAC with a march to the library to watch the movie in Library Lecture Hall 001. The library also has an ongoing display featuring Martin Luther King, Jr. and civil rights books. There is also a campus food drive benefiting the UTPB food pantry from Jan. 17-31. Donations can be dropped off in the SAC, library and Student Success Center. Snack food items including ramen, granola bars, pop tarts and peanut butter are requested. Freddy Windsor has been pumping gas part-time at the South Fourth Street Pocket's in Murray since 2006. Parent company Kentucky Lake Oil recently closed the old station and opened a new one at the corner of South Fourth Street and Glendale Road, where Windsor continues to work Monday through Thursday. Islamabad, Jan 15 (UNI) A nine-member special medical board was constituted by the specialised healthcare and medical education department on Friday with the purpose of examining the medical documents submitted by the physician of Nawaz Sharif to ascertain the health condition of former prime minister. The board has been constituted on the instruction of the federal cabinet and convened by professor of medicine Dr Mohammad Arif Naeem and consists of Prof Dr Ghiasun Nabi Tayyab, Prof Dr Saqib Saeed, Prof Dr Shahid Hameed, Prof Dr Bilal S. Mohydin, Prof Dr Ambareen Hamid, Prof Dr Shafiqur Rehman, Prof Dr Moona Aziz and Dr Khadija Irfan Khwaja. Their main task is to examine the reports submitted by Mr Sharifs physician and render expert medical opinion regarding the the former prime minister's physical condition and his ability to travel back to Pakistan. Nawaz Sharif had left Pakistan for the UK in November 2019 after the Lahore High Court granted him a four-week bail to undergo treatment. The board has been directed to submit its report/expert medical opinion to the specialised healthcare secretary within the next five days. UNI ACL0903 Reverend Terry Garrett, in his 64th year, Surrendered his Soul Tuesday from Tulsa. His Sacred Farewell, 10:00 AM, April 30, 2022, Worship Community Center, and until then, he will rest in Oak Hill Cemetery, Talladega, Alabama. biglowfunerals.com Thousands of children in South Carolina go hungry every day. Research has shown that students who receive nutritious food do better in school, have better attendance and have fewer behavior problems. The Lowcountry Food Bank has been doing its part to fight child hunger for nearly 40 years through a variety of programs, one of which is the Kids Cafe. This program provides healthysupper meals to students in after-school programs. Kara Moore, director of the organizations Child Hunger Program, said many kids have to rely on the free breakfasts and lunches they get at school as the only food they get all day. We want to make sure children dont go hungry when theyre not in school, she said. Kids Cafe works through many different after-school programs. Moore said they will provide food to any structured after-school enrichment program whether its through the school system, recreation departments,churches or other groups. The financial and time investment for our partners is minimal, she said. There is no cost to the local groups to be part of the Kids Cafe. The program is federally funded through the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program and is one of the largest charitable meal service programs in the country. The Lowcountry Food Bank serves 10 coastal counties and Moore says there are currently 14 Kids Cafe programs being servedbut none in Horry County. We want to get the word out to all groups big and small about the availability of the Kids Cafe meal program, she said. Maybe there are some smaller churches that arent aware of the program and we want to reach out to them. Moore said she knows there may already be some active after school meals programs in the area and Lowcountry Food Bank is not trying to duplicate efforts. We just want to fill in the gaps where meals are needed, she said. Everyones goal is to make sure no child goes hungry. In many ways, travel in 2021 was more challenging than it was in 2020. While demand for travel returned, sufficient hospitality staffing often did not, leading to long waits at airports, hotel check-in desks and restaurants. The eye-catching travel deals seen in 2020 mostly faded away, making way for price increases, like soaring rental car prices. Despite social distancing recommendations, travelers often found themselves in bigger crowds than ever. Mobs clamoring around airline customer service counters to rebook canceled flights left people barely six inches apart let alone six feet. This year might bring similar challenges for travelers, but heres a good way to skirt most of them: Travel during shoulder season. The definition of shoulder season varies by destination, but it typically means the period of time between a regions peak season and offseason. This timespan can last months or just weeks. For instance, if a places peak season is summer and its offseason is winter, then the shoulder season would be spring and fall. Alternatively, a place may experience peak travel during a holiday weekend, but demand will drop off the weekend before or after these times can also be considered shoulder season. Here are five reasons why shoulder season is the best time to travel, especially during the pandemic. 1. LOWER PRICES THAN PEAK Airfares averaged 23% cheaper when booked for shoulder season versus peak season travel. Thats according to a NerdWallet analysis conducted in December 2021 of more than 100 airfares taken from the most popular routes in the U.S. across eight major airlines. The same routes were compared for flights booked for peak versus shoulder season days, where peak season flights were those booked for the Monday before or after a major holiday. In contrast, the shoulder season flights were those taken two weeks before or after that date. The difference was starkest around Christmas: Flights averaged 50% cheaper when booked for Monday, Jan. 10 versus Monday, Dec. 27. 2. LESS RESERVATION COMPETITION Those higher flight prices typically stem from supply and demand which means demand is higher during peak season. Increased interest leads to more competition across the board, whether for a hotel room at the price point you want or the chance to nab tickets to that concert. And thats only scratching the surface. Restaurants are more likely to get filled, airplanes to fly with fewer empty seats and wait times to get longer, and the likelihood of a complimentary upgrade diminishes. Book during shoulder season and youll vie with fewer folks for your top experiences. 3. NOT AS MANY CLOSURES While demand is high during peak season, sometimes demand drops so low during offseason that the places you want to visit arent even open. Boat tour operators might board up for the winter, and charming ski town cafes could close for the summer. For example, January in Utahs Zion National Park averages about 16% of the number of visitors that come during peak season in July, and most tourists will have a rough go. Ice forces certain trails to close, some roads become inaccessible to drivers, and the museum and services like shuttle buses arent available. Instead, consider a trip during the September shoulder season, when crowds are at only about 85% of the parks peak but most amenities are available. Plus, youll benefit from mild weather and the emergence of fall colors. Around the world, hotels often take the offseason to do renovations, so the pool might become off-limits. Airlines typically cut back routes, so youll have less flexibility on what day or time you can fly. But the shoulder season is less likely to entail such challenges. Travel before summer crowds arrive and you might be pleasantly surprised with a newly renovated hotel room. Head to the mountains just after the winter holidays to take advantage of still-snowy slopes without as many skiers on them. 4. WEATHER IS PRETTY GOOD The shoulder season likely wont bring the sweltering heat or storms that come with a regions offseason. And in some cases, the weather during shoulder season is actually better than peak season. Summer at Floridas theme parks is often humid and muggy and thats before you add in the crowds of out-of-school kids. During shoulder season, you might forgo sunny summer days on the beach, but youll typically get temperate weather, not to mention a less sweaty smile in that photo with your favorite character. Shoulder season in the Rocky Mountains might not entail the romanticism of white powder snow surrounding a cozy cabin. But, you can pack light and leave the parka at home. 5. UNIQUE, LOCAL EVENTS Tourist hot spots typically want year-round crowds, so they often host events, concerts and other festivities that dont occur at times when crowds would be large anyway. Theme park food festivals are among the most common shoulder season delights. Southern California theme park Knotts Berry Farm typically hosts its annual boysenberry festival from March to April. Hawaii comes alive in the fall with festivals spanning multiple islands, including the annual Waikik i Hoolaulea, which is a giant block party on Oahu, and the Kauai Mokihana Festival, a weeklong celebration of Hawaiian culture. Although some groups have resumed meetings, others schedules may have changed because of pandemic restrictions. It is recommended you contact the group in advance to verify details. Any changes in meeting schedules can be emailed to JJCsocial@myjournalcourier.com. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS 217-370-4002 Jacksonville locations: First Baptist Church, 1701 Mound Ave. Wheelchair-accessible. Club HOW, 638 S. Church St. Monday Closed discussion, 7:30 a.m. at Club HOW. Closed discussion, noon at Club HOW. Closed discussion, 8 p.m. at First Baptist Church. Bowen Group. Closed discussion, 8 p.m. at Club HOW. Tuesday Open discussion, noon at Club HOW. Womens open meeting, 5:30 p.m., First Christian Churchs Fireside Room. VIRGINIA: Closed discussion, 7 p.m. at Grace Lutheran Church, Main and Washington streets. ROODHOUSE: Closed discussion, 12-step/12 traditions, 8 p.m. at Grace Center, 114 W. Palm St. Wednesday Closed discussion, noon at Club HOW. Closed discussion, 8 p.m. at Club HOW. Thursday Closed discussion, 7:30 a.m. at Club HOW. Closed discussion, noon at Club HOW. Closed discussion, 8 p.m. at Club HOW. Newcomers Group. Friday Closed discussion, noon at Club HOW. TGIF Group. Closed discussion, 5:15 p.m., Big Book Study at Club HOW. VIRGINIA: Closed discussion, 8 p.m. at United Methodist Church, 401 E. Broadway Ave. Saturday Open speaker, 8 p.m. at Club HOW. Open meeting, noon at Club HOW. Sunday Closed discussion, 8 p.m. at Club HOW. 12 & 12 Group. Closed discussion, 10 a.m. at Club HOW. (Second Sunday is open) SPRINGFIELD: AA for Women, 10 a.m. at Discovery Club, 313 W. Cook St. AL-ANON Meetings are nonsmoking and open to anyone. The only requirement is that there be a problem of alcohol with a loved one or friend. 217-248-6434. Wednesday Al-Anon, 7:30-8:30 p.m. at Centenary United Methodist Church, 331 E. State St. (use Morgan Street entrance). NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS All meetings are nonsmoking. Not affiliated with any religious organization. Jacksonville locations: First Christian Church, 2106 S. Main St. (enter through far southeast door). 217-883-1975. Lutheran Church for the Deaf, 104 Finley St. (enter through back door). 217-883-1975. Wednesday Open discussion group, 8 p.m. at Lutheran Church for the Deaf. Friday Open discussion group, 7:30 p.m. at First Christian Church. OTHER MEETINGS Monday Addicts Victorious, 7-8 p.m. at Faith Tabernacle, 571 Sandusky St. Use side entrance to church hall. PITTSFIELD: Addicts Victorious, 7-8 p.m. in the basement of Subway in Pittsfield. 1-800-323-1388. Tuesday American Legion Post 279, first Tuesday of every month, 7 p.m. at 903 W. Superior Ave. Wednesday Breastfeeding support group, 6 p.m., Passavant Area Hospital, Meeting Room 2. ROODHOUSE: Women with Hearts of Love (WWHOL), 6-7 p.m. at House of Restoration, 208 W. Franklin St. 217-602-1670. Thursday Jacksonville Area Chess Club, 6-9 p.m. at Jacksonville Public Library. 217-370-0882. Jacksonville Kiwanis Club, noon at Hamiltons. WHITE HALL: Addicts Victorious, teens 5:30-6:30 p.m.; adults 7-8 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of New Life Church, 626 Curtis St. Friday Jacksonville Rotary Club, noon at Hamiltons. PITTSFIELD: Addicts Victorious, 6 p.m. at Assembly of God, 575 Piper St. 800-323-1388. Saturday Jacksonville Amateur Radio Societys Net, 9 p.m. Transmitted on K9JX repeater. K9JX.com. The pandemic is believed to be behind a dip in west-central Illinois high school graduation rates in 2021, but that dip began in some districts well before the pandemic did. According to the Illinois State Board of Education's Illinois Report Card, an online website that tracks school data, several area schools' graduate rates were spiraling as far back as 2016. At Jacksonville High School, 78.1% of its Class of 2016 graduated, according to the report card. With a reported class size of 206, that would mean about 46 students did not graduate within four years. That number rose slightly in 2017, to 78.4%, but has continued to drop since. It fell to 70.9% for the 2017-18 school year, 67.8% in 2018-19, 76.7% in 2019-20 and to 62.9% this past spring. Jacksonville High School Principal Joey Dion said the pandemic likely has had some impact on the rates the past few years. JHS staff membersconstantly evaluate students' progress to make sure they are on track to graduate and to find ways to help them if they are falling behind, Dion said. Attendance, discipline and academics are among things they evaluate. Rates from 2016 to 2021 Numbers represent the percentage number of students who graduate in four years. Illinois 2015-16 - 85.5 2016-17 - 87 2017-18 -86.2 2018-19 - 86.2 2019-20 - 88 2020-21- 86 Jacksonville School District 2015-16 - 78.1 2016-17 - 78.4 2017-18 -70.9 2018-19 - 67.8 2019-20 - 76.7 2020-21- 62.9 Triopia School District 2015-16 - 96.6 2016-17 - 94.4 2017-18 -91.3 2018-19 - 100 2019-20 - 84 2020-21- 90.9 North Greene School District 2015-16 - 86.1 2016-17 - 91.8 2017-18 - 96.2 2018-19 - 82.8 2019-20 - 83.1 2020-21- 81.3 Beardstown School District 2015-16 - 87.2 2016-17 - 90.2 2017-18 - 80.3 2018-19 - 77.4 2019-20 - 72.3 2020-21- 78.8 Waverly School District 2015-16 - 100 2016-17 - 91.3 2017-18 -90.5 2018-19 - 89.3 2019-20 - 91.9 2020-21- 100 Virginia School District 2015-16 - 94.1 2016-17 - 90.5 2017-18 - 95.2 2018-19 - 75 2019-20 - 87.5 2020-21- 80 Meredosia-Chambersburg School District 2015-16 - 69.2 2016-17 - 86.7 2017-18 - 85.7 2018-19 - 75 2019-20 - 57.1 2020-21- 75 Franklin School District 2015-16 - 87.5 2016-17 - 95.7 2017-18 -95.2 2018-19 - 92.3 2019-20 - 100 2020-21- 84 Winchester School District 2015-16 - 92.6 2016-17 - 91.3 2017-18 - 94 2018-19 - 88.7 2019-20 - 100 2020-21- 77.8 Scott-Morgan School District 2015-16 - 94.4 2016-17 - 100 2017-18 -100 2018-19 - 100 2019-20 - 94.7 2020-21- 100 Pikeland School District 2015-16 - 88.2 2016-17 - 87.3 2017-18 - 88.4 2018-19 - 86.1 2019-20 - 87.3 2020-21- 85.2 Griggsville-Perry School District 2015-16 - 78.9 2016-17 - 87.5 2017-18 - 66.7 2018-19 - 69.6 2019-20 - 75.9 2020-21- 62.5 Greenfield 2015-16 - 88.2 2016-17 - 87.1 2017-18 - 92.3 2018-19 - 85.7 2019-20 - 89.3 2020-21- 90.9 Brown County School District 2015-16 -93.6 2016-17 - 81.3 2017-18 -92.5 2018-19 - 85.7 2019-20 - 87.2 2020-21- 82.5 Carrollton School District 2015-16 - 92.2 2016-17 - 90.6 2017-18 - 96 2018-19 - 89.1 2019-20 - 86 2020-21- 79.2 Pleasant Hill School District 2015-16 - 75 2016-17 - 77.3 2017-18 - 84.6 2018-19 - 89.5 2019-20 - 70.8 2020-21- 76.2 See More Collapse "What we're trying to do is have a dialogue with each student and try to figure out how we keep students on track," Dion said. Jacksonville also is trending below the state average, which has been climbing. The state graduation rate for the Class of 2016 was 85.5%. The state rate rose to 87% in 2016-17 and fell to 86.2% in both 2017-18 and 2018-19 before climbing to 88% in 2019-20, when many school years ended with remote learning and socially distanced graduation ceremonies. The state graduation rate fell again in 2021, to 86%. In Greenfield, Superintendent Kevin Bowman said relatively small class sizes mean one or two students failing to graduate can cause a drastic drop in their rates. Still, the district hasn't seen too many drops, he said. "I feel we do a good job and all of our staff try to make an effort to connect with our students and make sure they have the resources necessary in order to graduate," Bowman said. "I think they do a pretty good job an,d if some students don't make it their senior year, they make another attempt at it and go another semester." The district's graduate rate has ranged from 88% to 90% over the years. For the 2015-16 school year, the district had a graduation rate of 88.2%. In 2017-18, the rate was 92.3%. The district saw it biggest drop to in 2018-19, to 85.7% The district since has returned to a 90.9% rate for the 2020-21 school year. A student's academic are impacted by a number of variables, from home life to other commitments, Bowman said, noting that even transferring into the district can throw a student off-track. "Students have a lot more on their plate, they are trying to do more," Bowman said. "It's a struggle and there's a lot more pressure at school." That is one benefit of a small district, he said, point the the staff's ability to connect with students on a personal level and find ways to help them achieve their goals. "I know most students," Bowman said. "The staff is invested and want the kids to be successful." Although the state has a standard for graduation guidelines, districts sometimes have their own requirements. The Illinois State Board of Education requires all students entering the ninth grade between 2016 and 2022 to complete four years of language arts, including one that is writing intensive; two years of writing-intensive courses, one of them the language arts course; three years of math; four years of science, including two which must be laboratory-based; and two years of social science, including one year of U.S history or a combination of U.S. history and American government, as well as a semester of civics. They also must pass both the U.S. and Illinois Constitution tests and earn a combination of elective credits. Many districts also have their own requirements for physical education and specific electives. Dion said Jacksonville School District 117 is looking at ways to reverse the decline in graduation rates and help more students graduate on time. Staff members have developed an early warning system that indicates when a student is falling behind. Staff members then can intervene to help the student get back on track. "Our goal with our early warning system is to try to target those categories, academically, behaviorally, (with attendance) then try and put together the appropriate safety nets to try and keep kids on track," Dion said. Greenfield also has interventions in place. Time is set aside daily for students to receive the help they need, Bowman said. "We have two language arts teachers and two math teachers and, if a student isn't where they need to be, we have a time period set aside for them to go get help," Bowman said. "We also are constantly doing reading and math audits to see where a students starts and where they need to be to make sure they are on track." Other schools that saw a graduation-rate decline include Beardstown, which had an 87.2% rate in 2015-16 and decreased to 78.8% in 2020-21; Carrollton, which fell from 92.2% in 2015-16 to 79.2% in 2020-21; and Griggsville-Perry, which dropped from 78.9% in 2015-16 to 62.5% in 2020-21. Other in the region showed moderate to little decline. Triopia School District averaged in the 90% range over the six-year period, with a 96.6% rate in 2015-16 and a 90.9 % in 2020-21. Scott-Morgan School District stayed above 90%, with 94.4% in 2015-16 and a 100% in 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2020-21. Reporter Rochelle Eiselt contributed to this story. During the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, many of the largest demonstrations were in the South. A series of violent clashes in Illinois in 1966, however, surprised even Martin Luther King himself. The Chicago Freedom Movement, Kings first major initiative outside the South, resulted in several angry confrontations, including one that left King injured. He later remarked that he had never seen anything so hostile and so hateful. Not surprisingly, Chicago was home to the highest concentration of African-American residents in the state, especially on the south and west side. The African-American population of Chicago increased by 300,000 in the 1960s, and Cook County was home to more Blacks than any county in the nation. More Blacks lived in Chicago than in the whole state of Mississippi, where many of the worst moments in the civil rights struggle originated. Periodic race riots stemmed from the unrest, particularly in August 1965, when violence on Chicagos west side caused 80 injuries. The problems in Chicago, considered by some the nations most segregated large city, were closely observed by King, who believed he could work with powerful Mayor Richard Daley to create change. King declared that if we can break the system in Chicago, it can be broken any place in the country. The autocratic Daley, however, proved a formidable challenge. Though lauded for some public policies toward Blacks, the mayor worked for separation, approving huge housing projects in ghettos and supporting segregation in public schools. King arrived in Chicago in January 1966 and promptly moved into a tenement flat on the west side. Over the next months, he organized several marches in white neighborhoods. As part of his End Slums effort, his marchers commandeered a rundown apartment building to demonstrate living conditions for minority tenants with white absentee owners. Protesters harassed the marchers in many instances, including one particularly brutal exchange in August at Marquette Park, where King was struck in the head by a stone. He ruefully said that, I have seen many demonstrations in the South, but I have never seen anything so hostile and so hateful as Ive seen here today. King and Daley finally came to terms on an open-housing agreement, which was viewed as a failure by many blacks in Chicago. King himself later conceded that his Chicago efforts were unsuccessful. The Chicago Freedom Movement was the most notable episode for King in Illinois. He also made a number of speaking appearances around the state during his lifetime, including three speeches at the University of Chicago between 1956 and 1966 and an address at the Illinois Rally for Civil Rights in June 1964 at Soldier Field. In July 1965, he appeared before a large audience on the Winnetka Village Green, north of Chicago. Downstate, King was the featured speaker at a convocation at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington on Feb. 10, 1966. When King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, rioting spread across Illinois, especially in Chicago, where three days of violence killed nine, injured 500, and resulted in 3,000 arrests. Violence also erupted in Evanston, Maywood, Joliet, Aurora, Chicago Heights, East St. Louis, Alton and Carbondale. Today, landmarks named for King are found across the state, including streets in Alton, Springfield, Decatur, Rock Island, East Moline and Chicago. Several schools, including in Urbana, are also named in his honor. Nationwide, more than 116 public schools are named for King, Similarly, a statue of King at the corner of Second and Capitol streets in Springfield is one of many memorials nationwide to the slain civil rights leader. Jacksonville Police THEFTS, BURGLARIES A wallet was reported stolen about 3 p.m. Thursday from someone in the 700 block of Serenity Lane. VANDALISM The windows and tires on a car in the 300 block of Clay Court were damaged about 9:13 p.m. Thursday. Greene County Sheriff ARRESTS, CITATIONS Jamie R. Brown, 53, of Loami was booked into Greene County Jail at 2:41 a.m. Jan. 6 on charges of driving under the influence and driving while license is revoked. Bruce W. Benson, 27, of Roodhouse was booked into Greene County Jail at 9:38 a.m. Jan. 5 on a bail bond violation. Hunter W. Edelen, 18, of Brighton was booked into Greene County Jail at 1:38 a.m. Jan. 1 on charges of driving under the influence and an alcohol transportation violation. Carrollton Police ARRESTS, CITATIONS Brian K. Kieffer, 40, of Brussels was booked into Greene County Jail at 2:18 p.m. Jan. 5 on a Greene County arrest warrant accusing him of theft, forgery and residential burglary and on a Calhoun County warrant accusing him of failing to appear in court. Greenfield Police ARRESTS, CITATIONS Alvin I. Colon Ortiz, 37, of Boynton Beach, Florida, was booked into Greene County Jail at 1:36 a.m. Dec. 29 on an aggravated battery charge. Roodhouse Police ARRESTS, CITATIONS Clifford D. Maxon Jr., 33, of White Hall was booked into Greene County Jail at 12:38 a.m. Thursday on a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. Nathaniel M. Thornton, 30, of Roodhouse was booked into Greene County Jail at 2:17 p.m. Jan. 8 on a charge of possession of methamphetamine. Carrie D. Yaste, 38, of Tennessee was booked into Greene County Jail at 8:44 a.m. Jan. 8 on charges of driving while license is revoked or suspended, improper lane use and possession of methamphetamine. Michael B. Johnson, 27, of St. Ann, Missouri, was booked into Greene County Jail at 7:07 p.m. Dec. 31 on a charge of driving while license is suspended and on warrants from Greene and Macoupin counties accusing him of failing to appear in court. White Hall Police ARRESTS, CITATIONS Jared G. Pinkerton, 27, of White Hall was booked into Greene County Jail at 11:55 a.m. Wednesday on charges of disorderly conduct and battery. Bryon L. Harris, 27, of White Hall was booked into Greene County Jail at 2:24 p.m. Jan. 7 on a Greene County arrest warrant accusing him of burglary and retail theft with a prior conviction. Scott County Sheriff ARRESTS, CITATIONS Casey A. Brown, 41, of Winchester was booked into Greene County Jail at 12:27 p.m. Jan. 6 on a charge of possession of methamphetamine. Compiled by David C.L. Bauer BEARDSTOWN Charles "Ike" Weishaar is counting down the days until his 102nd birthday on Sunday and he recently spent some time reflecting on his life, from his service during World War II to his work in road construction and his lifelong passion for duck hunting and fishing. Born Jan. 16, 1920, in Browning, Weishaar found his love of water and fishing at a young age. His father died when he was 2 and, growing up during the Great Depression, Weishaar honed his hunting skills to provide food for his mother and siblings. "I was fishing in the seventh and eighth grade," he said. "I would go fishing before school." Growing up near the Illinois River, Weishaar recalls simply lying in the water to cool off as a 16-year-old. "That was the hottest year," he said. Fishing and duck hunting were part of his normal routine right up until he was drafted into the Army in October 1942. "I was in the anti-aircraft division and I shot the 90mm [gun]," he said. Military service provided his first real trip away from Schuyler County. Weishaar was attached to the 36th Infantry Division, 409th Anti-aircraft Battery D and found himself in Africa and then involved in the Italian campaign during World War II. His job was to shoot down enemy aircraft, which he did. The American M-2, 90mm gun could fire 27 of its 23-pound shells every minute. After serving overseas for three years, Weishaar was discharged from the Army on Oct. 30, 1945, while in Chicago. He made his way back home to Browning. A few months later, on Feb. 23, 1946, he married Ila Mae Mohlenbruck, who died in 2010. One of Weishaar's first jobs in construction was as foreman during the demolition of Camp Ellis a WWII prisoner-of-war camp in Fulton County. "He was the foreman there," said his daughter, Susan Weishaar, adding that he also worked in road construction and was part of the team that built the Beardstown bridge. Ike Weishaar joined the laborers union in Schuyler County and worked on the first grain elevator in Frederick. He also was a foreman on a high school construction project in Rushville. Through all the changes over the years, Ike Weishaar never lost his love of duck hunting "He hunted for anything on the river," Susan Weishaar said, noting that he didn't just hunt for himself but served as a paid guide for other hunters. In 1953, Ike Weishaar and his brother purchased 40 acres along the river in Cass County and used it as their own hunting grounds and as a place where others could hunt. Eventually, the brothers built a cabin on the land. "Wealthy people from Chicago would come down and pay to hunt," Susan Weishaar said. Ike Weishaar retired in 1984 and dedicated his life to his family, duck hunting and commercial fishing. Today, he lives at Heritage Health in Beardstown, where plans are to celebrate Sunday with family in addition to Susan Weishaar, he has two other children, Marie and Steve Weishaar and staff. Fatal Highway 108 Crash - photo courtesy of @tuolumnecountycode3 View Photos Sonora, CA The CHP Sonora Unit has released the names of the victims in two recent fatal crashes. Both of the accidents involved area highways with one of the victims being a local man riding a motorcycle. The name of the deceased rider involved in fatal crash that occurred on Mono Way at State Route 108 on January 10th was 66-year-old Christopher David Harrison of Tuolumne, disclosed CHP spokesperson Officer Steve Machado. The collision happened at the onramp to the Highway 108 bypass Monday afternoon. Harrisons motorcycle collided with a Jeep at the intersection, as earlier detailed here. Machado updated, Were trying to determine where the vehicles were positioned prior to the crash and see where in the intersection which vehicles entered at which point. Were still interviewing witnesses to determine which if any vehicle had run the red light, or if both vehicles were in the intersection at a red light. The other fatal crash happened on Highway 120 and La Grange Road on Saturday, January 8th. The CHP detailed the victim crossed over the double yellow lines, colliding head-on with another vehicle, as earlier reported here. The deceased has been identified as 36-year-old Chad Michael Baugh of Modesto. They are still awaiting toxicology reports to determine if alcohol or drugs were a factor in this crash, relayed Machado. Jan. 7 Criminal mischief was reported on Jan. 7 at the 210 block of SE 9th St. According to an incident report, responding officers observed two vehicles with windows that appeared to have been damaged by an unknown object. The damage was estimated to cost about $700. Criminal trespass was reported on Jan. 7 at the 200 block of Juanita St. Damage to a vehicle was reported. A 34-year-old man was arrested on Jan. 7 at the 310 block of W. 5th St. when officers were called to the location in reference to shoplifting. Upon arrival, officers talked with a CEFCO employee who said a man stole an item from the store and walked out. The man was located at the 600 block of Denver St. where he was arrested and charged with criminal trespass and with theft. Police were dispatched to the 1000 block of N. I-27 on Jan. 7 in reference to an individual in violation of his parole. 52-year-old John William Hollis was arrested for an out-of-county felony warrant. Plainview police arrested 31-year-old Daniel Caballero Jr. on Jan. 7 at the 1000 block of W. 20th St. during a traffic stop for an out-of-county felony warrant. Caballero was arrested and charged with a warrant out of Austin for possession of a controlled substance. Jan. 8 A 23-year-old man was arrested on Jan. 8 at the 900 block of N. Date St. when police responded to a callout regarding shots fired. Responding officers located a suspect vehicle and conducted a traffic stop at 2502 Wood St. There were no injuries during the incident and the firearm was located. The suspect, Estevan Angel Gonzales, was arrested and transported to the Hale County Jail with charges including deadly conduct, driving while intoxicated, unlawfully carrying a weapon and two felonies evading arrest or detention with a vehicle and tampering/fabricating physical evidence. A stolen vehicle was reported at the 2100 block of E. 5th St. on Jan. 8. A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at the 3400 block of N. Columbia on Jan. 8. A 51-year-old man was arrested on Jan. 8 at the 1500 block of W. 12th St. for an active misdemeanor warrant for obstructing police. A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported on Jan. 8 at the 2600 block of W. 11th St. Jan. 9 Burglary of a building was reported on Jan. 9 at the 2100 block of Dimmitt St. A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at the 3700 block of Olton Road on Jan. 9. A crash resulting in damage to private property was reported at the 2100 block of Dimmitt Road on Jan. 9. Theft from a vehicle was reported at the 1000 block of Smythe St. on Jan. 9. An unknown person took a Michael Kors purse containing personal identifying information along with $3,000 in cash and various cards. Obstruction of police was reported at the 400 block of W. 12th St. on Jan. 9. Police initiated a traffic stop for a defective headlight and it fled from police. It was later found abandoned in an alley along the 2200 block of W. 16th St. Officers conducted a traffic stop at the 1000 block of Quincy St. on Jan. 9. According to the incident report, a vehicle was traveling at an unsafe speed prompting officers to pull the vehicle over. Officers caught a strong odor of marijuana when they approached the vehicle during the stop and conducted a search. A metal pipe containing burnt marijuana was found on the drivers side floorboard. There was also a glass jar and a plastic gum container with marijuana residue in the middle console. The driver was issued a citation for possession of drug paraphernalia. Jan. 10 Criminal mischief was reported at the 100 block of W. 8th St. on Jan. 10. Damaged property was reported. A burglary was reported at the 400 block of Vernon on Jan. 10. An unknown person broke in to a habitation and took property. Theft from a yard was reported at the 2900 block of W. 24th St. A sexual assault was reported on Jan. 10. A female victim was assaulted by a male in a room at the Comfort Suites Hotel. The victim said the told the male to stop but he continued against her consent. Theft from a building was reported at the 500 block of W. 24th St. on Jan. 10. Theft was reported at the 1500 block of N. I-27 on Jan. 10. Shoplifting was reported at the 1500 block of N. I-27 on Jan. 10. A 56-year-old man was arrested and charged with theft. Another theft was reported on Jan. 10 at the 1500 block of N. I-27. (Editors note: This project is a collaboration between the Plainview Herald and Saint Francis Ministries to showcase kids who are cleared for adoption.) Lakisha is a kind and friendly young girl. She is determined and willful, as well as the perfect combination of calm and energetic. The 11-year-old enjoys numerous activities and likes to keep busy. She enjoys things such as playing with Barbie dolls, jumping on the trampoline, and dancing. When shes ready to relax, Lakisha prefers to play video games on her Nintendo DS or put puzzles together. She does well in school and enjoys her classes. Lakisha is looking forward to finding her forever family. Are you ready to explore life with this dynamic girl? --- Lakisha is among the children listed on the Texas Adoption Resource Exchange (TARE) website. Visit https://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Application/TARE/Home.aspx/Default for more details. Saint Francis Ministries is a nonprofit organization and a community-based care provider for the Texas Department of Family Protective Services Region 1. This region includes 41 counties across the Panhandle and South Plains. To learn more about fostering or adopting, those interested are encouraged to attend one of the monthly virtual meetings hosted by Saint Francis Ministries and other child placing agencies. The meetings provide information about how to get started, the basic qualifications and more, in addition to providing opportunity for attendees to ask questions. Those interested can visit Saint Francis Texas on Facebook @SFMtexas to register for the online meetings, which can also be found below: The meetings are scheduled for the second Thursday of the month (Lubbock area https://lubbock-area-foster-care-adoption.eventbrite.com) and the third Thursday of the month (Amarillo area https://amarillo-area-foster-care-adoption.eventbrite.com). For more information, please contact Erin Baxter at (806) 317-5631 or email texasinfo@st-francis.org. Visit Saint Francis Ministries online at https://saintfrancisministries.org. It's been a big month for Camille and Adrian De Los Reyes. The San Antonio business owners operate Filipino food outposts in Leon Valley, Stone Oak, El Camino and now, Westover Hills. Sari-Sari Supper Club is their latest restaurant to hit the scene. On the tails of the couple's imminent appearance on the Cooking Channel, the newest eatery with a communal-dining concept is also planning to kick-off their first of monthly supper club dinners later this month. Robert Irvine's Cheat Day touched down in San Antonio back in August to film at the original Sari-Sari location on Wurzbach. "It was a really surreal experience. I've never done anything quite like that before, but we are just really excited to be featured, to be amongst some of the other restaurants that were featured that are really trying to bring culinary awareness to the city," says Camille De Los Reyes. "We're really excited for Filipino food being out there and being able to use our restaurant to share our culture and our food. That's what's always been really important to us." Madalyn Mendoza, MySA.com Sari-Sari Supper Club will be featured on Season 1 Episode 10 of Robert Irvine's Cheat Day. The episode will air on the Cooking Channel on Sunday, January 16 at 8 p.m. Highlighting comfort food in Pennsylvania, Connecticut and San Antonio, the episode indulges Sari-Sari's five-pound crispy pata, a fried, bone-in pork shoulder, and their sisig chopped pork belly with chili, lime juice, and chipotle served with an egg. More San Antonio eateries will be featured on the show: El Remedio (Tuesday, February 1 at 2:30 p.m.), Paciugo (Monday, January 17 at noon), Baklovah Bakery and Sweets (Tuesday, January 18 at 2:30 p.m). The show follows the host as he travels America to find "the craziest, most indulgent, most deliciously decadent meals to tuck into between gym days." Irvine has hosted and been featured on a variety of Food Network programs, including Dinner:Impossible. Since its soft opening in December, Sari-Sari Supper Club has been open for dinner service Tuesday through Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m. Soon they will be open for lunch. Their official grand opening is expected to be the last weekend of the month, ahead of their first monthly supper club dinner on Sunday, January 30. "Philippine Dream," will include communal-style dining and chef-curated offerings. Find Sari-Sari Supper Club at 10234 State Highway 151. Viewers can watch Sari-Sari's episode using the Cooking Channel Go App. A former Houston Methodist doctor previously suspended for spreading COVID-19 misinformation online is still a licensed physician in the state of Texas despite continuing to promote false claims about vaccines and the virus on her social media. Mary Talley Bowden, an ear, nose and throat specialist who runs a private practice in River Oaks, resigned in November from Houston Methodist shortly after the hospital revoked her privileges for "spreading dangerous misinformation" and sharing "harmful" personal and political opinions about the coronavirus vaccine and treatments. Months later, Bowden has not ceased such posts. She still tweets in support of the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin as a treatment for the coronavirus, despite warnings from public health officials advising people not to take it. In November, Bowden's attorney Steve Mitby told the Washington Post that his client has treated more than 2,000 COVID-19 patients and is "not anti-vaccine." On Monday, however, she tweeted "I can think of no medically valid reason for anyone to get the vaccine now," later celebrating the fact that Twitter had not suspended her account for sharing such information. Bowden has also used her platform to mock and call out local officials, like Texas state Rep. Gene Wu. On Monday in response to County Judge Lina Hidalgo raising the COVID-19 threat level to "Red" in response to increased hospitalizations in the area due to the Omicron-variant, Bowden blamed vaccinated individuals for the surge. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows unvaccinated individuals are more likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19 than those who are vaccinated. Bowden currently operates out of Breathe MD off of Kirby Dr., where she prefers to employ members who are unvaccinated. In a December Instagram post, Bowden announced she had recently hired Jennifer Bridges, a former Houston Methodist nurse who was fired last year for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Bridges allegedly treated Bowden earlier this month for COVID-19, Bowden said in a tweet. Bowden was licensed as a physician in Texas in 2000 and still maintains her specialty certification from the American Board of Otolaryngology, according to Texas Medical Board records. Her records show no history of discipline or medical malpractice investigations, the Houston Chronicle reports. In July, the Federation of State Medical Boards issued a warning that "Physicians who generate and spread COVID-19 vaccine misinformation or disinformation are risking disciplinary action by state medical boards, including the suspension or revocation of their medical license." Yves here. Readers were debating the Chinese governments efforts to simplify its characters, or as other readers argued, impose new and/or fewer meanings on them. I thought this post on alphabet use in the Stans would dovetail with that discussion. By Barkley Rosser, Professor of Economics at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Originally published at EconoSpeak It remains too soon to comment in detail on the current upheaval in Kazakhstan as it is simply impossible to figure out what is happening, with multiple conflicting accounts and claims coming from many sources. Rather I want to comment on a deeper question that has been brought up in connection with this, although not central to it, but one that affects Kazakhstans Central Asian neighbors as well: what alphabet should they use? This is something that is an ongoing issue in several of these nations with changes happening. Prior to 1928 all of what are now the five Central Asian nations that used to be republics of the USSR: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan used some variation of the Arabid alphabet, with Russia conquering the Samarkand and Bukhara khanates only in the late 1800s. This reflected the dominance of Sunni Islam in all these territories culturally and politically. This area was not even part of the USSR when it was first declared on Dec. 30, 1922, having a vague status while nominally under Bolshevik control, but ransacked starting in the 1920s and through most of the 1930s by traditionalist rebels known as Basmachi, a word that actually means bandits. Only in 1928 with Stalins coming to supreme power in the USSR did the efforts to modernize and integrate into the USSR more formally begin in Central Asia. Part of this effort involved eliminating the use of the Arabic alphabet, with initially the Latin alphabet being introduced. This reflected the local ongoing modernization movement associated with pan-Turkism (a part of a broader movement known as pan-Turanism), which sought to unify all the Turkic speaking people under a single political entity, with the push to adopt the Latin alphabet coming out of Turkey, where Kemal Ataturk had replaced the Arabic alphabet with the Latin one as part of a Europeanizing secular modernism. That this movement had spread to Turkic speaking parts of Central Asia made it easier to push it through to adoption (note that in Tajikistan they speak an Iranian-related language, not a Turkic one). Given this connection with the pan-Turkic movement it is not surprising that eventually Stalin became frustrated with this and wanted a greater national unity within the USSR. So in 1940 he imposed the Cyrillic alphabet used in Russia on all the Central Asian republics. At both times there was resistance to the alphabet change, with this even erupting into violence at certain points. Curiously the first place I read about this was in Thomas Pynchons novel, Gravitys Rainbow, where there is much discussion of aspects of ethnicities and their issues and movement during WW II. One might have thought that given how long it had been in place there would be no further changes. But with the fall of the USSR at the end of 1991 and the Central Asian republics becoming independent nations, the issue reappeared, with indeed each alphabet having its own symbolic as well as practical implications. Clearly maintaining Cyrillic implied remaining reasonably closely tied to Russia in various ways, economically and politically. Rising Islamic fundamentalist movements urged a return to Arabic, although that has not happened in any of these five nations, with only Tajikistan having such a movement being sufficiently strong that there has been any serious push for that to happen. The main rival has been the Latin alphabet, offering both a return to links with Turkey, but also with the West, especially the US, but also to some extent an opening to China, where there is much more knowledge and use of the Latin alphabet than the Cyrillic. Two of these five nations have retained Cyrillic with only minor pushes to change, the two smallest: Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, which despite much economic influence now coming from China remain strongly linked to Russia and part of its Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which has sent in troops to Kazakhstan, also a member (the other members are Russia, Belarus, and Armenia). I do note that while it remains a part of the CSTO, Kyrgyzstan is the only one of these five to have actually had more or less democratic governments for periods of time since 1991. Curiously the one that first changed to Latin and has stuck with it almost immediately with independence was Turkmenistan. This is the most isolated of these states, indeed of the former Soviet republics. It is a strict dictatorship run as a personality cult and has stayed out of all alliances, although it does belong to the UN. It is the third largest in size in both population and land area. It manages to maintain its isolated independence due to having major natural gas supplies by the Caspian Sea, exports of which have kept Turkmenistan from needing economic assistance from any outsiders. The largest in population and second in land area is Uzbekistan, which was long ruled by its former Soviet Communist Party Chief, Islam Karimov, who died in 2016 to be replaced by Shakvat Mirziyoyev. The Karimov regime was probably second only to Belarus in maintaining something close to the old Soviet economic system, with Karimov as a full dictator. Since his death his successor has introduced various market reforms, but not much in the way of political liberalization. But Karimov made a move with independence to adopt the Latin alphabet. But this has not been completed and both Latin and Cyrillic are used, although there has been a long run trend to full adoption of the Latin alphabet. it is ironic that while Karimov followed the Soviet economic model, he sought to remain more independent of Russia than say Belarus. But the alphabet issue remains live and not fully resolved. Which brings us to the now troubled Kazakhstan. I note that almost nobody was predicting any kind of political upheaval there. It was one of the few former republics that moved up in its ranking among them on real per capita income, with Kazakhstan long a major exporter of oil and natural gas. Like Uzbekistan it was ruled by its last Soviet Communist Party Chief, Nursultan Nazarbaev, now aged 81. There was lots of corruption and political repression, but that is true in the other Central Asian nations, and Kazakhstan seemed to be doing better than them, with Nazarbaev making deals with both the US and China, while maintaining a primary and close relationship with Russia, not only by being in the CSTO but hosting Russias space base at Baikonur and with Russian troops helping to protect its oil wells in its southwestern areas near the Caspian Sea (second in population in the region, it is the largest in land area and the second largest of the former Soviet republics, with its eastern boundary on the Xinjiang province of China, and it having a Uighur minority population). Kazakhstan has long had a diverse population, with about a quarte being Slavic, mostly Russian, with many of those moving into northern Kazakhstan in the early 1960s as part of Khrushchevs Virgin Lands program. But up until now conflicts between the many groups there have not been a problem. Regarding the alphabet issue, it long continued to use the Cyrillic alphabet. But then in 2017, the current president, Kossym-Jormat Tokayev, who attended a KGB higher academy in the Soviet era and has served as ambassador to both China and the UN, convinced Nazarbaev to make the switch to the Latin alphabet from the Cyrillic one. At the time Russian President Putin expressed unhappiness about this move, which may have had more to do with China than the US, with a major railroad part of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative goes through Kazakhstan. Nazarbaev hand selected Tokayev to succeed him as president in 2019, with Nazarbaev moving upstairs to be Chair of the National Security Council. In the face of the current upheavals, Tokayev has removed Nazarbaev from his position. In any case, the Russian propaganda outlet RT has claimed that Putin has demanded as a condition to send troops in Tokayev should recognize the Russian annexation of Crimea and also readopt the Cyrillic alphabet. It seems that Putin has not insisted on this and has sent troops in even without this change. But this is a sign that this remains an important issue for Putin, and we may yet see pressure on Kazakhstan to revert alphabetically. (Natural News) The annoying common cold may yet turn out to be a blessing if researchers with the Imperial College London are correct. Since the pandemic started, researchers have speculated that coronaviruses could offer some cross-reactive immunity against the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), and growing evidence points to that direction. Recent studies show that recovery from the common flu can also prevent infection from the coronavirus because of higher levels of T cells, now recognized as a layer of protection against COVID-19, present in the body of the recovered person. Scientists involved in a recent study assessed close contacts of those newly diagnosed with COVID-19 to pinpoint when they were first exposed. They found that those who tested negative for COVID-19 had higher cross-reactive T cell levels. Dr. Rhia Kundu, the lead author of the study, said that being exposed to the virus does not always result in infection, and they want to understand why. The team took blood samples from volunteers within days of being exposed to SARS-CoV-2 to allow researchers to determine their T cell levels. Household contacts who did not test positive showed that they had significantly higher levels of pre-existing coronavirus-fighting T cells. Further, the team found out that the high levels of pre-existing T cells created by the body when infected with other human coronaviruses like the common cold can protect people against the COVID-19 infection. (Related: The common cold can protect people against coronavirus, study finds.) T cells induced by common cold can protect against infections Another author, Ajir Lalvani, said that the study provides the clearest evidence that T cells induced by the common cold can play a protective role against infections, adding that the T cells provide protection by attacking proteins within the virus instead of the spike protein on its surface. Lalvani said that the spike protein is under intense immune pressure from vaccine-induced antibodies, which could drive the evolution of vaccine mutants. In contrast, by targeting proteins internally with the protective T cells, the virus mutates less. Lalvani, however, added that they are highly less conserved between the various SARS-CoV-2 variants, including omicron. Further, Lalvani noted that new vaccines that include conserved, internal proteins would induce broadly protective T cell responses that should protect against current and future variants. (Related: Professor says covid is becoming just another cause of the common cold.) The available vaccines have proven to be less effective against the omicron strain, including against severe diseases. While booster shots restore some of the lost protection, early data shows that the boost drops its effectiveness against infection after it is administered into the body, and it is not yet clear whether or not the booster shots could maintain its protection longer. Academics not fully sold on colds against COVID Some academics not involved in the study warn that it could be a mistake to think that anyone who has had a cold caused by a coronavirus is protected against COVID. An associate professor in cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, Dr. Simone Clarke, noted that while the study adds to findings on how the immune system can help fight the virus, it should not be overinterpreted. He noted that it is unlikely that the 150,000 people who have died within a month of testing positive for COVID never had a cold caused by a coronavirus. He said that coronaviruses only account for 10 to 15 percent of colds, and it is a grave mistake for anyone to think that they are protected once they develop a cold. There is no measurement of how much protection the reported effect gives people, he said. A link is only hinted at, it has not been proven conclusively. Watch the video below to learn more about how the common cold could fend off COVID. This video is from the WGON channel on Brighteon.com. Read more about COVID-19 updates at Pandemic.news. Sources include: TheEpochTimes.com Imperial.AC.uk DailyMail.co.uk Brighteon.com (Natural News) Ben Armstrong spoke with former Pfizer scientist Mike Yeadon on the January 10 episode of The Ben Armstrong Show about vaccine manufacturing. They discussed how 90 percent of the reported adverse effects of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines came from less than 10 percent of the released vaccine batches. As Armstrong put it, to have such a massive variation in the effects of the vaccines, the batches are not the same. Remember, this is an experimental vaccine, Armstrong reminded his viewers. Armstrong noted that pharmaceutical companies may have been using placebos and other things, and giving different portions or formulas for their vaccine distribution because Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States all have worse adverse effects compared to other countries that are also using the vaccines. Its like they have different levels of the vaccine that they are giving or something we dont even know. We dont know what theyre doing to vary it, to be honest with you. But this seems to be clear evidence, evidence that the batches are not the same. And thats illegal, by the way. Theyre not allowed to do that, Armstrong noted. In connection to this, Yeadon said that hes stumbled across individuals who had been doing their own analysis of the VAERS database. He said that these people were pulling the vaccine batch or lot numbersand comparing the profile of adverse events by comparing one lot to another of the same manufacturer. (Related: Former Pfizer scientist warns of government, Big Pharma deception regarding the Wuhan coronavirus.) He shared that analysts expected that there will be a scattering of adverse events across all the states and all the lots, but this is not the case. One person found that around 90 percent of adverse events were associated with less than 10 percent of the lots. Yeadon previously noted that more people have died after being given COVID-19 vaccines than the number who have died after being given every other type of vaccine combined in the last 30 years. Furthermore, a large proportion of people who have been vaccinated so far have experienced serious adverse reactions. Manufacturing issues While Yeadon admitted that he is by no means a manufacturing expert, he did work with them and knew that there is a necessary standard to meet anti-adulteration regulations, which require reproducible products from lots quite frequently. Drug manufacturing is performed with exact standards of control, and the active agent is made in batches. Each batch of what is called drug substance is then used to formulate, fill, pack and label the lots of the finished drug products. Testing methods are developed for all the manufacturing steps with standards for results to be considered acceptable. Manufacturing is very strict, but seeing the data, there is no way for the vaccines to be rolled out the way they were. Armstrong pointed out, theyre not even vaccines, gene therapy. Youre not getting equal doses. Basically, according to analysts, they are not the same thing, that the batches are illegally different. If this is true, and if anyone at all draws a lot at random from the VAERS system to examine the outcome and the performance that is the number of people who have reported adverse events, it should be similar from batch to batch. If its very different, its not possible to go from two or three adverse events reported for a given lot, while another has around 5,000 adverse events. If manufacturers only vary the product a little bit, one could excuse it as they were manufacturing as fast as they could. But there should only be a small difference in the performance. If one goes from nothing, effectively, to the worst outcomes ever reported to VAERS, Yeadon said, Im prepared to state and to prove that it means its not the same material in the lots that produced bad side effects. Many may not appreciate the significance of the data, but it does have a big impact. Armstrong noted that it could explain why there are some people who are completely fine, and others are not. Yeadon said that he did shows where he spoke with news programs, showing them how to catch vaccines that were actually placebos, and that they were given to the people. (Related: Former Pfizer VP Mike Yeadon declares covid vaccines are toxic by design theyre weapons to reduce global population.) While a few doses could be accidents, its not the case if hes been going state after state, finding out that manufacturers just gave a whole bunch of people basically sugar water. They admit this is an experimental vaccine. They love to do placebos. They love to keep track of this stuff, so it would make sense, even though this is illegal, he said. Looking at his data, Yeadon noted that there is something wrong with the vaccines, not just in their extreme toxicity, but in their variability. Watch the full January 10 episode of The Ben Armstrong Show below. This video is from The New American channel on Brighteon.com. Follow Pandemic.news for more updates on COVID-19. Sources include: Brighteon.com NotaAkhirZaman.com (Natural News) Shocking new evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic was not only completely avoidable but was actually facilitated by elements within the U.S. government has been brought to light this week by none other than Project Veritas. In a stunning post that was published on Monday, Project Veritas noted that military documents seen by the investigative media organization indicate that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, rejected a funding request by EcoHealth Alliance in March 2018 to conduct gain of function research using bat-borne viruses. Called Project Defuse, the firms request was turned down because DARPA officials determined that it was too dangerous and that it violated a moratorium on such research. EcoHealth, you may recall, received funding from the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, the latter of which has been run by Dr. Anthony Fauci since the early 1980s. Fauci has testified to Congress, under oath, that he never approved gain of function research funding. Project Veritas noted further: The main report regarding the EcoHealth Alliance proposal leaked on the internet a couple of months ago, it has remained unverified until now. Project Veritas has obtained a separate report to the Inspector General of the Department of Defense, written by U.S. Marine Corp Major, Joseph Murphy, a former DARPA Fellow. According to a direct quote from the report: The proposal does not mention or assess potential risks of Gain of Function (GoF) research. Regarding the manner in which the documents were buried, Jared Adams, DARPAs chief of communications, told the investigative journalism organization that it doesnt sound normal to him. Project Veritas noted specifically in its post: Project Veritas has obtained startling never-before-seen documents regarding the origins of COVID-19, gain of function research, vaccines, potential treatments which have been suppressed, and the governments effort to conceal all of this. The documents in question stem from a report at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, better known as DARPA, which were hidden in a top secret shared drive. According to the documents, despite DARPAs rejection of Project Defuse, NIAID, under Fauci, went ahead and funded the research anyway at a Chinese lab in Wuhan, where COVID-19 is suspected to have been developed before it escaped, as well as U.S.-based research sites. Dr. Fauci has repeatedly maintained, under oath, that the NIH and NAIAD have not been involved in gain of function research with the EcoHealth Alliance program. But according to the documents obtained by Project Veritas which outline why EcoHealth Alliances proposal was rejected, DARPA certainly classified the research as gain of function, Project Veritas noted in the post. James OKeefe, founder and CEO of the organization, asked DARPA a fundamental question: Who at DARPA made the decision to bury the original report? They could have raised red flags to the Pentagon, the White House, or Congress, which may have prevented this entire pandemic that has led to the deaths of 5.4 million people worldwide and caused much pain and suffering to many millions more. In an interview with America First host Steve Bannon, Dr. Naomi Wolf, a former adviser to then-President Bill Clinton, declared: The fact that Dr. Fauci grossly perjured himself is hugely apparent. It is the least of the crimes if indeed these are verified documents. I cant overstate this, this is a premeditated kind of manslaughter of millions of people coordinated at the highest levels according to these documents. Treatments that would have saved lives were intentionally or reportedly intentionally suppressed, she continued in an interview that also featured Dr. Robert Malone, inventor of the mRNA vaccine, in response to the Project Veritas bombshells. Malone, meanwhile, called the revelations a smoking gun of historic proportions. It seems obvious that Fauci and EcoHealth Alliance are guilty of mass murder on a scale not seen since Hitler attempted to exterminate the Jewish civilization. Watch: Sources include: ProjectVeritas.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Google is facing rising legal challenges from global regulators who accuse the tech giant of operating an illegal monopoly of its search and digital advertising businesses. One of its most well-known rivals is claiming that the tech giant is manipulating browser extensions to promote its products and curb competitors, adding a new wrinkle to the antitrust debate and increasing calls for new regulation. DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg, whose company provides a competing search engine that promotes privacy protections, said during an interview Tuesday, Jan. 11, that Google is using scheming design features called dark patterns to trick users into quitting opposing products. According to DuckDuckGo, Google for years has used deceptive notifications to bait users into disabling its competitors browser extensions and to deter them from changing their default search engines on its web browser, Chrome. Weinberg added that Google in August 2020 adjusted the prompts to openly bump users away from jumping ship. The changes include calling for users to answer whether they would rather Change back to Google search after adding the DuckDuckGo extension and showing users a larger, highlighted button when giving them the option to Change it back or not. Weinberg noted that the subtle tweaks have produced a big impact. Since Google implemented the changes, DuckDuckGo said it has suffered a 10 percent drop in how many new users it has been able to keep on its services on Chrome. DuckDuckGo added that has translated to hundreds of thousands of new users lost. This is the first time the company is publicly speaking out about how the practice has affected its business, including what it says are millions in potential lost income since Google changed its prompts in 2020. For search engines like us that are trying to actively allow consumers to switch, [or] choose an alternative, theyre making it unreasonably complicated to do so and confusing consumers, Weinberg said. Google spokeswoman Julie Tarallo McAlister said in a statement that Chrome users can directly change their default search settings at any time, but they often fret when they download an extension that unexpectedly changes these settings without their knowledge. This issue has been well-documented for a long time and is why we have long and clear disclosure requirements for extensions and shown users a notification if any extension tries to change their search settings as a way to confirm their intent, McAlister said. The notification appears regardless of the users chosen search provider and that some other browsers have similar policies, McAlister added. Capitol Hill bipartisan antitrust legislation Weinberg said he hopes that by speaking out about Googles tactic, it will bolster calls for bipartisan antitrust legislation under consideration on Capitol Hill to ban major platforms from prioritizing their own products and hurting their rivals. (Related: How to avoid Google surveillance and protect your personal data.) The proposals are just some of the many bills aimed at what U.S. lawmakers say are anti-competitive abuses by companies like Google. But the bills, filed by Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Rep. David Cicilline, boast broad support from Democrats and Republicans, making them among the most threatening for Silicon Valley titans and they are seen as bellwethers for the bigger antitrust effort. Weinberg stated the dip in user retention through their extension on Chrome, which was earlier unreported, is one of the most direct pieces of evidence they have observed about how Googles policies have harmed their business. I think it really helps to make it concrete and show some very specific examples of where things are happening, Weinberg said during a 30-minute video interview. And it is a finding that could also give as fodder for state and federal enforcers as they move ahead with their antitrust lawsuits against the tech giant. The Department of Justice in October 2020 filed a huge lawsuit alleging that Google violated several federal antitrust laws through its search practices. Dozens of state attorneys general in December of that year followed suit by filing a separate antitrust complaint against the tech titan. Google has disputed accusations that it stifles competition, saying that the lawsuits are false. DuckDuckGo update blocks Google Chromes FLoC DuckDuckGo had earlier released an update to its existing Google Chrome browser extension, which it says will prevent a new tracking technology in the browser. The extension blocks Federated Learning of Cohorts or FLoC, a feature Google is testing that tracks Chrome users by distributing them into groups based on their interests and demographics. Google said that it will stop using third-party cookies and block other companies from using them in Chrome. Those cookies are the small files that appear in your browser to let companies know about your online activities as you go from one site to another. Google added that it rolled out FLoC as a way for the Chrome browser to collect the information needed to target consumers with personalized ads once third-party cookies are eliminated. Privacy advocates welcomed the end of third-party cookies because it halts one of the main ways consumers are monitored by a wide brand of companies, but they argued that the move removes one privacy problem by introducing a new one. The group said Google will continue tracking consumers although in a slightly more discreet way, and the change will likely consolidate more data in Googles hands. Watch the video below to know how to protect your privacy from Google. This video is from the Heaven Reigns channel on Brighteon.com. Follow TechGiants.News to know how Google and other Big Tech companies are spying on you. Sources include: ADN.com ConsumerReports.org (Natural News) Senatorial candidate Bianca Gracia and patriot Rod Taylor of Citizens Restoring Liberty movement tackled the election of President Joe Biden and other related issues during the Jan. 7 episode of Steel Truth with Ann Vardersteel on Brighteon.TV. Gracia, named by political strategist and American media executive Steve Bannon as one of the top nine women in the country, expressed confidence that she will emerge triumphant in the senate race of Texas as well as the civil rights case she and lawyer Kelly Sorell filed against Biden. After announcing her last-minute bid, Gracia said she was surprised by the overwhelming positive responses that shes getting. I was expecting some positives. Im kind of known, but I didnt expect the outpouring of support that Im getting. Its amazing. So were good. Were heading in the right direction, said Gracia. Running a grassroots campaign, Gracia said she will fight for the voiceless, medical freedom, election integrity and end censorship. According to her website, Gracia promises to defend the police and the border and protect veterans. Fake, stolen election put Biden in office One raging issue that Gracia discussed during the program was the fake and stolen election that put Biden in office. Assisted by Sorell, they filed a civil rights case, not election fraud, and a judge in Texas expressed willingness to hear it. (Related: Democrats say election audits only valid when Republicans win.) Taking Gracias side, Vandersteel said it is hard to believe that 81 million came out and voted because Biden never left his basement and could not even fill up a high school gymnasium. In contrast, former President Donald Trump has to turn away people because venues can no longer accommodate his supporters. Gracia has affidavits from Latinos in South Texas who witnessed irregularities in polling stations. We know what happened. But I dont want to concentrate on that. I want to talk about the violation of the civil rights, said Gracia, who was glad Sorell went straight to the Supreme Court. Sorell crafted an amendment to the lawsuit that focused on the people and the civil rights that were supposed to protect the votes. Vandersteel said General Tom McEnany described the case as extraordinary, but the question is whether the Supreme Court will bring the evidence of fraud from all 50 states because the case is about violation of civil rights. The states will have to admit that they didnt have a legal election. The Supreme Court will kick it back to the states, said Gracia, adding that a constitutional crisis is in the horizon. According to Gracia, election fraud has been happening for years and both Democrats and Republicans know that cheating is taking place. Answering the call of General Michael Flynn to organize and get involved in local communities, Taylor and his friend Scott Brewster organized Citizens Restoring Liberty in Brandon, Oregon. They set the example and incredibly important not only to Steel Truth. They set the bar high for those engaging in civic duty. They are the real deal, said Vandersteel as she recounted her journey with Taylor. Like Gracia, Taylor believes the election was stolen. He also agreed with Vandersteel about the presence of agent provocateurs during the Trump rally at Washington D.C. Stroke, not protesters, killed police officer during Capitol incident The death of a police officer headlined the news following the Capitol incident, with the mainstream media blaming the protesters who attended the January 6 protest rally. According to the media, Officer Brian Sicknik was beaten to death by protesters using a fire extinguisher. The truth, however, was Sicknik died of stroke. Taylor, who recounted that he even helped the police officer along with three other protesters during the chaotic situation, branded the news story that Sicknik had been beaten to death by people with a fire extinguisher as an absolute lie. Taylor stressed that there was no blood, no injury and that the police officer didnt die that day but two or three days later due to natural causes. What happened was one of the many big lies that the establishment has continued to push to make it look we were the aggressors, said Taylor, adding the Capitol Police and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi must be held accountable for what happened. (Related: Pelosis Capitol Police bill gaslights America.) The Capitol Police, if they really wanted to stop it, they could have called in for support. I didnt see any evidence of that whatsoever. Nancy Pelosi is, you know, is their direct report. Nancy Pelosi is accountable because she does have the number one responsibility to make sure that the Capitol Police are managing any anticipated situation in the correct way, Taylor said. Pelosi, said Taylor, wanted an excuse to be able to shut down Congress, evacuate everybody and then pick up this domestic terrorist narrative thats so silly. Unfortunately, many people believe it. Watch the Jan. 7 episode of Steel Truth with Ann Vandersteel below. Catch new episodes of Steel Truth from Monday to Friday at 9:30-10:30 p.m. on Brighteon.TV. Follow NewsFakes.com for more stories about the lies propagated by mainstream media. Sources include: Brighteon.com BBC.com (Natural News) The United States government is back in the business of studying unidentified flying objects (UFOs) with the establishment of a new Department of Defense investigative office that will study unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAP). But not all UFO believers, or ufologists, are excited about it. The creation of the new office, signed into law just before New Years Day, has already split the association of activists, researchers and pseudo-scientists who are looking for proof that humans are not alone in the universe. Some welcomed the legislation, inserted into Section 1683 of the National Defense Authorization Act, for delivering new resources, accuracy and management to the investigation of a phenomenon and possible national security threat. Our national security efforts rely on aerial supremacy and these phenomena present a challenge to our dominance, said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who led the bipartisan measure. The United States needs a coordinated effort to take control and understand whether these aerial phenomena belong to a foreign government or something else altogether. It has been decades ago since Washington D.C. began learning about UFOs. But the UFO movement has believed for a long time that the government is covering up this historic secret since the feds have clamped down anything about it for several years before it became acceptable for former presidents and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) directors to talk about it publicly. Debates on social media and forums like AboveTopSecret, a hub for ufology and conspiracy theories, have been raging about whether the new agency will finally end the alleged cover-ups or bring about a new revival. This is a subject with a provable history of secrecy, and anything that lacks a new openness about the information is subject to more, possibly inappropriate control, said Ron James, a spokesperson for the Mutual UFO Network, which calls itself the oldest and largest UFO organization in the world. We dont see that this means new resources will be dedicated to the matter. We believe that considerable resources have always been dedicated to the matter at some level inside deep government and industry. Former government insiders Luis Elizondo and Christopher Mellon, who helped revive interests in UAPs by releasing video from military aircraft, hailed Gillibrands amendment. But they are worried that it will be watered down before its final passage and that the Pentagon will eventually bury it. Elizondo denounced the Pentagons decision to put the new UAP bureau under the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security, which he mentioned is the perfect place to put it if we want 70 more years of secrecy on this topic. Activists complain about the lack of private engagement in the new Pentagon office and believe that it will only classify anything that it finds interesting so that its unclassified reports to Congress will just be a little thing. Aliens are here to help Dr. Steven Greer, who describes himself as the worlds expert on UFOs after retiring from the medical profession to hunt for aliens, criticized the belief that UFOs must be treated as a national security threat. Aliens, according to Greer, are here to help us, and the military-industrial complex is lobbying the peril they pose and establishing the U.S. Space Force to prepare for interplanetary war, disputing that movies like Independence Day are part of false stories made by covert groups attempting to create fear of extraterrestrials. (Related: Experts clarify the role of the Pentagons newest UFO task force) Stephen Bassett, the only lobbyist dedicated to the acknowledgement of an extraterrestrial presence by the U.S. government, said that he sees this moment as the completion of everything he and others have been working on. This isnt a new psy-ops program. It is a planned effort to end the truth embargo. While I appreciate those who are skeptical, that group has tried to find the dark side of every development the hidden hand, Bassett explained. Bassett sees the new agency as part of a multiyear plan by a group of insiders to force the government to disclose that it has talked with aliens for decades. This is a sea change brought about by the work of thousands of people and activists over 70 years. But some of these people cant help but see it as a clever black ops mission, Bassett said. Meanwhile, the Pentagon moved swiftly to establish the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group to synchronize efforts across the agency and the U.S. government to detect, identify and attribute objects of interests. The military clarified that its main focus will be on incursions into restricted airspace like military bases, aside from drones and new technologies made by the Russians, Chinese and other nations. US has secret agenda in unexpected UFO disclosure A world leading investigator, however, has alleged that the U.S. has a secret agenda in its unexpected push for UFO disclosure. Nick Pope, a former UFO investigator for the United Kingdoms Ministry of Defense (MoD), said that the world may never know why the Pentagon has done a U-turn after decades of denial on unidentified phenomena. Pope, who investigated UFOs when he worked for the MoD in the 1990s, believes that hidden forces are working behind closed doors. For years, the U.S. government had been like the U.K. is now on this issue very defensive with a policy usually of denial, debunking and commenting as little as possible, Pope said. And now in the last three and a half years, that policy has been flipped 180 degrees. Every time the story is dying down its almost as if the U.S. government itself is throwing gasoline on the fire and stoking the story up. The former UFO investigator stressed that beyond a shadow of a doubt, there is a sort of hidden strategic agenda here that Congress, the media and the public do not yet understand and may never understand. Something is playing out right now, powerful forces are at work behind the scenes, pulling the strings on this. You can understand what is happening U.S. Navy videos, guidance to pilots, classified briefings to Congress, but the why? Nobody knows, Pope said. Pope added that there is a lot of speculation with some people thinking it is factional or it could be events-led. There could be something about the phenomena which is just going to be undeniable very shortly and this is the U.S. government trying to get out ahead of the story and drive the narrative, Pope noted. Watch the video below to know more about UFOs and aliens. This video is from The Outlier channel on Brighteon.com. Follow UFO.news to know more about UFOs, UAPs and aliens. Sources include: NBC.news TheSun.co.uk (Natural News) Exasperated by repeated stonewalling from the FBI and Justice Department, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky, took to Twitter today to remind both institutions that they may be expendable if they refuse to submit to congressional oversight and accountability. (Article by Tony Sifert republished from HeadlineUSA.com) DOJ & FBI are creations of Congress. Congress has the power to dissolve them, Massie wrote, calling to task far-left Attorney General Merrick Garland for the politicized climate. AG Garland must answer my question: Did federal assets encourage protestors to enter the Capitol? Massie continued. DOJ & FBI are creations of Congress. Congress has the power to dissolve them. The idea that they can choose which information to give Congress is an illusion perpetrated by them. AG Garland must answer my question: Did federal assets encourage protestors to enter the Capitol? Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 12, 2022 During testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, apparatchiks from the FBI and DOJ refused to answer questions regarding undercover federal involvement in the Jan. 6 uprising. Sir, I am sure you can appreciate that I cant go into the specifics of sources and methods, FBI Assistant Director Jill Sanborn told Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Senator @tedcruzs Full Questioning Of The FBI At Senate Judiciary Hearing Today About Whether There Were FBI Informants Present On January 6th And Ray Epps How many FBI agents or confidential informants actively participated in the events of January 6th? Who is Ray Epps? pic.twitter.com/Haufq3kym2 The Columbia Bugle (@ColumbiaBugle) January 11, 2022 Sir, I cant answer that question, Sanborn again responded when asked whether Ray Epps is an FBI informant. Senator @tedcruz Going Over The Footage Of Ray Epps On January 5th and 6th Senator Cruz: Ms. Sanborn, was Ray Epps a FED? Jill Sanborn: Sir, I cannot answer that question. pic.twitter.com/yKJSHUr1eL The Columbia Bugle (@ColumbiaBugle) January 11, 2022 Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen responded in a similar way when questioned by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. I simply dont have any information at all, Senator, about [Ray Epps], Olsen told Cotton. .@SenTomCottons Full Questioning Of Matthew Olsen, Assistant AG Of The Justice Departments National Security Division, At Judiciary Hearing Today Sen. Cotton Asks About Ray Epps & Whether The DOJ/FBI Had Any Officers In Plain Clothes At The Capitol On January 6th pic.twitter.com/KRRArzoqsA The Columbia Bugle (@ColumbiaBugle) January 11, 2022 But even as intelligence flacks sought to dodge their own accountability, the DOJ said it is doubling down on its efforts to target conservative political dissidents. Olsen told the committee yesterday that the FBI has formed a domestic terrorism unit in response to an elevated threat from domestic violent extremists, according to the National Review. This group of dedicated attorneys will focus on the domestic terrorism threat, helping to ensure that these cases are handled properly and effectively coordinated across the Department of Justice and across the country, Olsen said. Massie was among the first to bring the name Ray Epps to the publics attention, asking Garland about the suspected false-flag plant during a House Judiciary Committee meeting on Oct. 21 of last year. Massies reminder to the DOJ and FBI was reminiscent of the late Angelo Codevillas call for the abolition of the Deep State. Intelligence officials abuse their positions to discredit opposition to the Democratic Party, of which they are part, Codevilla wrote in in a February 2020 article, amid the Democrats first impeachment trial for then-President Donald Trump. Complicit with the media, they leverage the publics mistaken faith in their superior knowledge, competence, and patriotism to vilify their domestic enemies from behind secrecys shield, Codevilla continued. Read more at: HeadlineUSA.com (Natural News) The Ronald McDonald House in Vancouver, Can., is poised to start evicting families that do not provide proof of Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccination for the sick and dying children. Austin Furgason, the father of a four-year-old child with leukemia who has been receiving treatment there since October, is one such parent who was recently told that unless his son gets jabbed with an abortion-tainted clot shot, the child will have to leave the facility. Furgason shared a video on Twitter (watch below) of his exchange with the manager of the facility, who insists the child must get jabbed to reduce the risk to the entire house. The Ronald McDonald House in Canada will evict all tenants, adults and children over the age of five, who are not vaccinated by the end of January. The father of a young boy with leukemia responds. This is some kind of crazy evil like Ive never seen in my life. pic.twitter.com/MQaoegqSKo The Vigilant Fox (@VigilantFox) January 12, 2022 This doesnt make sense, Furgason immediately responded, explaining that according to government officials, the shots do not prevent the spread of the Fauci Flu. This is fully admitted by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) head Rochelle Walensky, as well as Big Pharma and really everyone else involved in pushing the plandemic narrative. The manager refused to listen, though. Father of sick child says covid cult is far more dangerous than covid This is when Furgason took to Facebook to blow the lid on the corrupt Ronald McDonald House, which no longer exists to save lives but rather seeks to end them with forced medical fascism. All tenants, adults and children over the age of 5 who are not vaccinated are out by the end of January, Furgason wrote. How absolutely wicked and vile. The Covid cult is far more dangerous than Covid, he added. If they will evict families with cancer, what wont they do? True North news obtained a copy of the letter that Furgason received from the Ronald McDonald House explaining that the new vaccine mandate will begin on January 17 and that families already in the House / Family Room will have until January 31 to either receive a minimum one dose or else be forcibly removed. The letter instructs recipients to visit our front desk to scan your BC vaccination passport, confirming proof of vaccination or provide the vaccination card for those under 12 years of age. The new policy applies to everyone five years and older who are working, staying, or visiting our facilities, meaning it includes the family members and friends of sick children. Unless a family is able to prove that it was granted accommodation that has been sought and has been explicitly approved and granted by RMH BC in writing, they are out of the Ronald McDonald House come the first of February. (Related: The Ronald McDonald House is tied to the McDonalds fast food chain, which poisons children and gives them cancer.) The whole point of the Ronald McDonald House, by the way, is to help sick children and their families who live very far from hospitals receive specialized treatment. Soon, Furgason and other families like his will not only be kicked out but have nowhere else to go. Meanwhile, the Ronald McDonald House Charities in British Columbia and Yukon have published a notice on their website explaining that an abundance of sanitizer and kindness will help us ensure the safety of everyone at the House. Fauci Flu fascism is the real virus that is spreading uncontrollably. To keep up with the latest, visit Fascism.news. Sources for this article include: LifeSiteNews.com Twitter.com TNC.news NaturalNews.com (Natural News) A genetically modified (GMO) CRISPR tomato manufactured by Sanatech to contain unnaturally high levels of the sedative substance GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) has been found to provide no health benefits whatsoever and is probably not even safe for consumption, despite currently being sold on a Japanese market. While GABA itself is a known health-promoting nutrient, a lab-manufactured tomato artificially designed to produce more of it against the dictates of nature is not. And new research proves this. Published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, the paper quotes Maarten Jongsma, a molecular cell biologist at Wageningen University & Research in The Netherlands, who says that theres no consensus on the health benefits of consuming GABA in GMO tomatoes. Renger Witkamp, a nutrition scientist also from Wageningen, added that there is scant evidence to suggest that GABA consumed in this way is even capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier and reaching the central nervous system. Sanatech has been careful not to claim that its tomatoes therapeutically lower blood pressure and promote relaxation, the paper explains. Instead, the company implies it, by advertising that consuming GABA, generally, can achieve these effects and that its tomatoes contain high levels of GABA. This has raised some eyebrows in the research community, given the paucity of evidence supporting GABA as a health supplement. John Innes Centre falsely claims that GMO tomatoes can cure cancer Another GMO tomato developed by Cathie Martin at the John Innes Centre in the United Kingdom uses an older-style transgenic genetic modification technology, but is just as risky. That GMO tomato is currently awaiting a regulatory decision from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for approval in the United States. The timeline for this approval is expected around the end of February. Martin is hoping that her purple trans tomatoes will pass the regulatory process with flying colors, even though there is no evidence that they are either safe or nutritious. Martins targeting of the U.S. is no surprise, given the weak regulation of GM crops in that country, reports The Defender. Like Sanatech, Martin plans to initially market her GM tomatoes directly to the public. Nature Biotechnology reports that she has not conducted human intervention studies comparing the health effects of high-anthocyanin and conventional tomatoes and does not plan to make health benefit claims. Both the John Innes Centre and the corporate-controlled media have also been saying, without proof, that GMO tomatoes possess anti-cancer properties. This is in spite of warnings from health organizations that these claims are not backed by scientific evidence. There have been repeated attempts over the years to get GMO tomatoes on store shelves, and we have been warning about them every step of the way. While Martins tomatoes are not necessarily designed with high levels of GABA in mind, like Sanatechs they have never been safety tested in animals or humans, so nobody really knows what they will do in the long term to peoples bodies. I thought this GMO thing was nonsense until I began having painful esophagus and stomach spasms that ejected cornbread made with store bought regular corn meal, wrote a commenter at The Defender. I assumed it was an allergy to corn, but later had some made with non-GMO cornmeal and it had NO bad effects! Then I did my homework and was appalled at what I had been ignoring. I then tried organic celery and found it was sweet instead of bitter and nasty. Apparently that is caused by spray and not being GMO. Be careful of what you ingest. It could have a huge effect on your health. More related news can be found at GMO.news. Sources for this article include: ChildrensHealthDefense.org NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Yesterday, the US Supreme Court proved once again that it will betray the American people at every opportunity in order to forward the governments anti-human agenda that claims they own your body. In a 6-3 decision, SCOTUS struck down the OSHA mandate affecting all employers with 100 or more employees, but the court affirmed the legality of the vaccine mandate for all health care workers, including those in nursing homes, hospitals, clinics and more. This decision means SCOTUS just declared the government owns your body and can force you to take experimental medical injections in direct violation of the Nuremberg Code. Even in striking down the wider OSHA mandate, SCOTUS did not state that your body belongs to you. Instead, they said Congress hasnt yet authorized OSHA to have enough power to force you to take these vaccines. In doing this, SCOTUS left the door wide open for Congress to legislate vaccine mandates and force them into your body, against your will. Justice Roberts voted with the majority in both decisions, meaning he voted against the wider OSHA mandate but voted in favor of the health care mandate. On both issues, the left-wing Marxist justices who seem ripped right out of communist China Breyer, Kagan and Sotomayor voted to grant the federal government total ownership over your body. Only Thomas, Alito, Barrett and Gorsuch reliably defended the right of the individual against the tyranny of the state. This means about half the US Supreme Court even after the Trump appointments believes you are a literal slave to the US government. If you cant control your own body, then you dont own it If you arent allowed to control your own body, then you dont own it. Who owns it? The government owns it, according to SCOTUS, and all they need is to grant themselves sufficient legal authorization to forcibly inject you with absolutely anything they want, even if they have to change the definition of a vaccine in order to do it (which is exactly what they already did). The US government, in other words, is running an actual Nazi-style medical holocaust that is forcing the American people into dangerous medical experiments against their will. That new legalization push by Congress to mandate medical experiments for everyone is right around the corner, by the way, and all they need is the deliberate release of a hemorrhagic fever virus that achieves a high fatality rate. Once the bodies start piling up, the medias mass hysteria will push lawmakers to issue a new round of vaccine mandates that SCOTUS will uphold. Make no mistake: The deliberate, weaponized release of a hemorrhagic fever strain has already been decided and is likely already under way. At that point, with mass panic and high mortality from a new outbreak, not even the Supreme Court will defend your right to say NO to vaccines. You will be 100% owned by the state. If they own your body, then they also, by definition, own the product of your labor and can control your behavior without limits. SCOTUS serves no function other than to more tightly bind the chains around your wrists and ankles as they turn your body over to the state for endless medical experimentation. And yes, SCOTUS also believes the government owns your children, since they said nothing about affirming the rights of parents to reject medical experiments for children. Get full details on this story in todays Situation Update. The part about SCOTUS begins around minute 33. Brighteon.com/82f880f3-c30f-4b80-b5a0-d2eb2239b407 Find a new podcast each day, along with special reports and emergency updates, at: https://www.brighteon.com/channels/hrreport Download my free audiobooks including Survival Nutrition, The Global Reset Survival Guide and The Contagious Mind at: https://Audiobooks.NaturalNews.com/ Also follow me on: Brighteon.social: Brighteon.social/@HealthRanger Telegram: t.me/RealHealthRanger Gettr: GETTR.com/user/healthranger Parler: Parler.com/user/HealthRanger Rumble: Rumble.com/c/HealthRangerReport BitChute: Bitchute.com/channel/9EB8glubb0Ns/ Clouthub: app.clouthub.com/#/users/u/naturalnews/posts (Natural News) The American Trucking Association (ATA) is celebrating the Supreme Courts decision to put a stay on Joe Bidens Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine-or-test mandate for employers. In an announcement, President and CEO Chris Spear called the ruling a tremendous victory on behalf of the trucking industry and workers and employers everywhere. Todays ruling by the Supreme Court validates our claim that OSHA far overstepped its authority in issuing an emergency temporary standard that would interfere with individuals private health care decisions, Spear added. Besides delivering food and goods to keep America running, truckers remain a critical element in the delivery of medical supplies used by the health care industry to fight the plandemic. Thanks to this ruling, our industry will continue to deliver critical goods as our nation recovers from the pandemic and we move our economy forward. With Canadas jab mandate still in place, the U.S. economy is still at risk Previously, the ATA had warned that Bidens jab mandate would devastate the economy by driving logistics to a halt. The Supreme Court has saved the day, at least for now. However, things are still not good at the Canada-United States border, as the Canadian government does not want any truck drivers who are not vaccinated leaving or entering the country. The President of the Private Motor Truck Council (PMTC) of Canada has warned that if this policy remains in place, it will result in a devastating economic collapse for both countries. It is estimated that around 30,000 truckers that deliver goods and services between the Canada-U.S. border have not yet submitted proof of injection paperwork as commanded by the government. Starting on January 15, none of these truckers will be allowed to cross the border in either direction. Beginning January 15, truckers will be required to show proof of vaccination upon entering Canada, reported The Post Millennial. The same mandate for truckers entering the United States from Canada goes into effect on January 22. When Donald Trump was still president, his administration made land and border crossings essential, meaning the government would not interfering with it in any way. Since Bidens installation, that policy has changed. Because the jab mandate was issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) which was created by George W. Bush, by the way it trumps the former presidents policy. Mike Milliam, president of the PMTC, told the Lynnwood Times that the mandate will exacerbate the shortages that are already occurring. Seventy-percent of the $700 billion in trade between Canada and the U.S. is moved by truck, Milliam said. This will have a dramatic effect on supplies and services reaching their destination and getting in the hands of those who need them. One needs to look no further than the recent U.K. fuel shortage, where the military had to be brought in to deliver fuel as a result of a lack of truck drivers. We are already seeing shortages; if these shortages reach critical levels on items such as fuel, food, blood medicine or medical supplies, we will see real, long-lasting damage. Some 120,000 Canadian truck drivers enter the U.S. daily, while about 40,000 U.S. truckers enter into Canada daily. Even if the U.S. mandate goes away for good, Canadas will still likely devastate the economies of both nations. We understand the governments are putting these mandates in place in order to protect our health, Milliam added. If we start seeing shortages of medical supplies in our hospitals because weve mandated drivers to get vaccinated, how much is that going to affect peoples health? The idea may be good in one direction but I dont think weve really looked at its effects on health and safety on the other side. The latest news about WuFlu tyranny can be found at Fascism.news. Sources for this article include: PRNewswire.com ThePostMillennial.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) A history professor denounced totalitarian politicians who paint those opposing Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines as enemies of the state. He also outlined the process of how these politicians villainize people in a Jan. 10 op-ed. Writing for the Brownstone Institute, State University of New York College at Cortland (SUNY Cortland) assistant professor Jared McBrady cited instances of prospective history teachers tackling the issue of totalitarianism in mock lessons. The SUNY Cortland website states that McBradys specialty is on the scholarship of teaching and learning in history, as well as the preparation of history teachers from kindergarten up to university level. Whether coincidence or a reflection of the times, a good number of mock lessons this fall covered the rise of totalitarianism. The purpose of teaching on totalitarianism is to deliver a warning: Heed well the conditions that yielded totalitarianism, so you can recognize and avoid them. McBrady cited a passage from a textbook used in one of the lessons, one which concerned him the most. The passage said: Totalitarian leaders often create enemies of the state to blame for things that go wrong. Often, these groups are easily identified and are subjected to campaigns of terror and violence. They may be forced to live in certain areas or are subjected to rules that apply only to them. According to the history professor, such a process requires othering in which certain groups of people are marginalized as something different. Othered groups become easy scapegoats for a societys problems, McBrady added. Now, some politicians are othering the unvaccinated. These politicians attempt to scapegoat and marginalize this minority group, despite knowing that vaccinated and unvaccinated persons alike can contract and spread COVID-19. Biden, Trudeau, Macron othering the unvaxxed McBrady then cited statements by the leaders of the U.S., France and Canada against their unvaccinated citizens. He pointed out that these leaders employed several practices of othering in the language they used. First, he pointed to President Joe Bidens Sept. 9, 2021 White House press conference where he announced COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Biden took aim at what he called the pandemic of the unvaccinated during the press briefing. He said: Many of us are frustrated with the nearly 80 million Americans who are still not vaccinated. Weve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin. And your refusal has cost all of us. (Related: King Biden blames unvaccinated Americans for COVID vaccine mandate as red states line up around the block to sue.) Second, he referenced Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus Sept. 17, 2021 interview with a Quebec talk show. He dubbed those opposed to the COVID-19 vaccine as misogynists and racists, asking if Canadians would tolerate such people. There is a small, fringe element in this country that is angry; that doesnt believe in science [and] that is lashing out with racist, misogynistic attacks. But the vast majority of Canadians are not represented by them, Trudeau said. Third, he quoted French President Emmanuel Macrons remarks in a Jan. 4, 2022 interview with the Le Parisien newspaper. He called the small minority of unvaccinated French citizens as the worst enemies of democracy and promised to pressure them into vaccination by limiting their freedoms. Macron added: How do we reduce that minority? We reduce it sorry for the expression by pissing them off even more. (Related: French president reveals strategy: Enrage the unvaccinated as much as possible.) Different strategies, same goal McBrady pointed out five particular strategies in the statements that promoted othering the unvaccinated. All three used an us versus them strategy in their wording and blamed the them group for the governments COVID-19 policies. Biden and Macron used words to signal the us group to be angry at the othered group with Biden expressing the frustration of many Americans and Macron wanting to enrage the unvaccinated. Macron and Trudeau both used labels that devalued the unvaccinated in their statements. The French leader called them enemies of democracy, while the Canadian leader called them racists and misogynists. Both leaders also posted questions on how to eliminate the minority, with Trudeau asking if Canadians would tolerate the unvaccinated and Macron asking how they would be reduced. McBrady concluded by saying that his op-ed serves as a warning call for people. We have seen these conditions before, and we have seen where they lead. Turn back now that way leads to darkness, he said. Watch the video below of Paul Joseph Watson explaining why the pandemic of the unvaccinated is an absurd idea. This video is from the Rick Langley channel on Brighteon.com. MedicalTyranny.com has more about politicians worldwide othering the unvaccinated. Sources include: LifeSiteNews.com Brownstone.org Cortland.edu WhiteHouse.gov MSN.com InfoWars.com Brighteon.com (Natural News) The United Kingdom has strict COVID-19 pandemic mandates and requirements, the same as many other Western democracies, to include rules that prevent citizens from fully participating in their own society unless they are fully vaccinated. Thats because, UK citizens are told, its a matter of public health and safety; the only way to end the pandemic is for countries to vaccinate their way out of it. Only, thats not working out so well, and the UK governments own data bear this out, which means that vaccination requirements the world over are doing nothing to end the vaccine, only civil liberties. According to the governments most recent Vaccine Surveillance Report, cases involving the omicron variant have risen dramatically, even as unadjusted vaccine effectiveness against infection (calculated from the raw data) plummets across all age groups in the month ending January 2, 2022, the Daily Sceptic reported. The report added: The (efficacy) revival in some age groups from the third doses has now been almost completely canceled out, as all age groups above 18 years go negative again. Those in their 40s hit a new low of minus-151% (negative vaccine effectiveness means the vaccinated are more likely to be infected than the unvaccinated; a vaccine effectiveness of minus-100% means the vaccinated are twice as likely to be infected as the unvaccinated). There is a sharp drop for under-18s for the first time as well, with unadjusted vaccine effectiveness more than halving in a fortnight, collapsing from 79% to 38% (there was no report last week due to the Christmas holiday). The dramatically declining vaccine efficacy rates shows, again, how pointless vaccine mandates, passports and other requirements are if the objective is to prevent the spread of the virus. Clearly, per the UK governments own surveillance data, tripling and quadrupling down on previous vaccine requirements is not cutting it, and yet, like most other Western bureaucrats, those in the UK continue to pursue the same policies. According to another chart posted by the Daily Sceptic, the proportions of infections among those who are vaccinated and unvaccinated for the aforementioned timeframe (vaccinated includes those who have gotten at least one dose; vaccinated in other charts means at least 14 days after a second dose): The chart shows that almost three-quarters (72 percent) of infections during the four-week reporting period were vaccinated (and of those, 65 percent were double- or triple-vaccinated), while just 22 percent, or fewer than one-quarter, were in the unvaccinated category. That means the claim that continued COVID-19 spread is due to the unvaccinated is an outright lie. In fact, it seems plain that the continued spread of the virus, at least in the UK, is an epidemic of the vaccinated. The omicron variant, while reportedly very easily spread, is far less potent and causes nowhere near the same lethality or hospitalization rates as previous variants. That said, the variant has also had an impact on unadjusted vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization, with sharp declines occurring particularly in the younger age groups with lower booster coverage, the Daily Sceptic reported. Notably, the data show that a decline among 18-29 year-olds is very pronounced, falling to just 50 percent, which means that double jabs are only cutting the risk of hospitalization by half (though keep in mind this is unadjusted vaccine effectiveness based on raw data, not taking into account any potential confounders in either direction), the outlet continued. All of this comes after the UK government, last fall, changed the definition of fully vaccinated to include a booster jab. Its very clear that getting three jabs, getting your booster, will become an important fact and it will make life easier for you in all sorts of ways, Prime Minister Boris Johnson noted during a press conference in mid-November. We will have to adjust our concept of what constitutes a full vaccination to take account of that, and I think that is increasingly obvious. No, what is increasingly obvious is that the vaccines are not effective at preventing the spread of COVID-19, as we were told they would be. Sources include: LifeSiteNews.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) USA Today is following in the footsteps of fellow far-left media outlets like CNN by posting articles in support of leniencies for pedophiles in North America. In a series of now-deleted Tweets, USA Today Life posted links to an article first entitled What the public keeps getting wrong about pedophilia. (Article by republished from TheNationalPulse.com) After people on Twitter responded with disgust and outrage to the borderline pro-pedophilia article, USA Today renamed the article, The complicated research behind pedophilia. Hi @USAToday! Why did you change the headline on your pedophile article? pic.twitter.com/wHhCxslaG6 Jack Posobiec ?? (@JackPosobiec) January 11, 2022 The article was written by Alia E. Dastagir. She quoted Michael Seto, the forensic research director at the Royal Ottowa Health Care Group in Canada, who argued that abusing children is not something that people choose. Setos comments follow the latest spin to stem the publics hatred of people who abuse children, that pedophiles are born pedophiles. Dastagir notes, but does not link to research that suggests that some pedophiles show traits aligned with psychopaths. Dastagir also brought up the work of Allyn Walker, a transgender former-academic at Old Dominion University who argues in favor of destigmatizing sexual attraction to children. Walker resigned after their comments were made public. Dastagir used her article to argue that there is growing support in the field for Walkers point of view. To clarify, Walkers point of view is that pedophiles should be called minor-attracted people (MAPs). Their work is dedicated to pushing dignity for pedophiles upon their students. Walker has also aligned themselves with groups like the Prostatia Foundation, who campaign domestically and internationally to end the bans on child-like sex dolls and sexual imagery of children, amongst other work to support those who sexualize children. The timing of Dastagirs article follows the continued revelations of institutional sex problems at major news outlets such as CNN. To-date, two senior CNN producers have been arrested and charged with sexual crimes against children. Dastagir has written a number of stories in the last months about sexual abuse, including a story of a public rape on a train, and another detailing the consistent rape of a male child at an American summer in the 1950s. In one of the Tweets where she shares the former story, she quotes a source: How have I enabled sexual violence? It is really easy to scrutinize bystanders in this really well-publicized case. Whats harder is to look at our own behavior, said @NBedera. One of the things that we should all be asking ourselves right now is, How have I enabled sexual violence?' https://t.co/z9IlfJZAQi Alia E. Dastagir (@alia_e) October 21, 2021 She has not shared a link to her latest article on her personal Twitter account. USA Today is published out of McLean, Virginia, and is routinely handed out for free in hotels around the United States. It claims a distribution of around 700,000 a day. Read more at: TheNationalPulse.com Fort Polk, LA (71446) Today Thunderstorms likely this morning. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. High 87F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall possibly over one inch.. Tonight A few clouds. Low around 70F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. (Natural News) A new policy in the red state of Utah prioritizes people of color above whites when it comes to accessing treatment for the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19). A 25-year-old whose parents were born in Cuba, for example, can now be offered monoclonal antibodies instead of a 62-year-old white race American simply due to skin color. This progressive guideline can be found on Page 6 of Utahs Monoclonal Antibody Allocation Guidelines document. Some health systems in Texas are doing the same thing by sending non-whites to the front of the line, while whites are told to get to the back of the bus. Certain other factors are also being considered in the prioritization list such as obesity and other preexisting health conditions. Still, a young, healthy non-white person now has priority access over an elderly white person, generally speaking. Monoclonal antibodies are still a passive vaccine Tucker Carlson covered the issue as well (watch below). He calls this collective punishment against white people for the perceived injustices they supposedly inflicted on non-white people. Since Carlson still has a show on Fox News, the segment is extremely sanitized. Carlson contends that there was no treatment available for the Fauci Flu until Donald father of the vaccine Trumps Operation Warp Speed vaccines came along. Carlson seems to support said vaccines, which right off the bat calls into question his perspective on the matter. Even so, he remains one of the prominent voices that many conservatives listen to, and he did address this race-based medicine issue. Carlson first brought up the fact that Joe Bidens regime plotted out a race-based medicine protocol before Hunters dad was even installed into the White House. They then started trying to ration out the injections to non-whites as a first priority, and are now apparently doing the same with monoclonal antibodies. Never in American history, modern history in any case, has the federal government made it official policy to withhold lifesaving medical treatment from Americans on the basis of their skin color, Carlson said. But thats exactly what the CDC did. While it would seem as though the intent of all this is to rile up whites and make them feel as though they are missing out and being discriminated against, it is important to recognize the reverse psychology at play here. Firstly, the so-called vaccines are not something that white people, or any other people for that matter, want injected into them due to the dangers involved. Just because there is race-based discrimination supposedly going on with how they are being administered does not necessarily mean that they are desirable to get. The same goes for monoclonal antibodies, which are called a passive vaccine because of how they work. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. calls its REGEN-COV formula a passive vaccine right on its website. What do we really know about this alternative to the primary vaccines that leads us to believe it is any safer or more effective? This would matter if healthcare mattered, is how one commenter put it. Since it has become mandatory that you agree that if I, with XX chromosomes, claim to be a woman that I am a woman, why cant I magically become a woman of color?' joked another. Everything in that list is fluid,' suggested another, echoing that same point. Just tell them what you are until the proper number appears. In medicine you are supposed to triage medical care based on individual medical need, not based on group identity, wrote yet another about how real medicine works. The latest news about how the Fauci Flu is destroying society can be found at Collapse.news. Sources for this article include: Twitter.com Utah.gov NaturalNews.com Regeneron.com CitizenFreePress.com (Natural News) A tenured professor at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich., opened up the new semester with a bang, revealing that he will not be assigning grades based on merit but rather by chance. Barry Mehler, after taking off his ridiculous HEPA filter-equipped Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) space helmet and mask, told his incoming students that the theatrics are because of the plandemic, which he thinks is really scary. I dont know if you people have noticed, but its dangerous to breathe the air, Mehler scorned. Your civilization is collapsing and life on your planet is going extinct. Mehler went on to state that when his students finally see him in person rather than on Zoom, he will be wearing said helmet and mask at all times because this makes him feel safe against the Fauci Flu. When you see me next week, Ill be wearing this helmet Its got HEPA filters all around it so that all the air that comes in that Im breathing comes in through the HEPA filters. Mehler then proceeded to go on a tirade about how his students are nothing more than vectors of disease in his mind, and that he will not be interacting with them in person ever. (Related: Mehler is clearly suffering from mass formation psychosis and is projecting his mental illness onto his students.) I may have f***ed up my life flatter than hammered s**t, but I stand before you today beholden to no union c***sucker, Mehler said crudely. You people are just vectors of disease to me, and I dont want to be anywhere near you, so keep your f***ing distance. If you want to talk to me, come to my Zoom. You can watch the full video below. (WARNING: It is very vulgar and offensive and should be viewed with caution): The mere idea of covid has caused Branch Covidians to go insane The video gets even more bizarre around the halfway point when Mehler gets even more unhinged, explaining how he grades his students based on the Christian idea of predestination. Citing John Calvin and the early Christian colonists, Mehler bastardized the Bibles message to fit it into his bizarre ideas about how students should not be graded based on the work they produce, but instead at random. The Indians didnt lose because they failed, Mehler said. They tried everything and nothing worked because the universe doesnt give a s*** about justice. Its all predestination, and you all are predestined to lose just like the Indians. Mehler says he could not care less about his students and does not even want to know their names. Instead, he just assigns them random numbers and gives them grades at random. Those who end up with high scores are predestined to pass, he says, while those who fail are predestined to fail. It is as simple as that in Mehlers mind. It doesnt matter if you f***ing go to church or give to charity your actions dont count, Mehler explained, contorting the Christian view of predestination to fit his own perspective on grading. Nobody earns salvation because nobody is that good. And that is why and thats why it is that way in my class. If it was good enough for Calvin, then its good enough for me. If you can stomach it, the full video above will give you a more complete picture of how Branch Covidianism is rotting the brains of its adherents. Mehler, meanwhile, has been put on leave following this video surfacing. The latest news about the meltdown of the world due to plandemic hysteria can be found at Collapse.news. Sources for this article include: YouTu.be NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Rogue elements inside the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) have decided to target and takedown Elmer Stewart Rhodes III, the founder and leader of Oath Keepers. The Oath Keepers are committed to holding public officials accountable and protecting the U.S. Constitution. The organization is comprised of current and former military, law enforcement and first-responder personnel. Their service to the country should be honored, for it plays a vital role in creating a more transparent government, while protecting Americans from all enemies, both foreign and domestic. Oath Keepers leader, Stewart Rhodes, indicted for imaginary crimes For several years, FBI agents have been looking to concoct a conspiracy theory against the Oath Keepers; the FBI has repeatedly tried to infiltrate the organization with informants to build a case against them. Because Stewart Rhodes and the Oath Keepers were present at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, the FBI believes they now have a solid case against them. Rhodes and ten other individuals are being indicted in Federal Court for Seditious Conspiracy. This seditious conspiracy also includes charges against Edward Vallejo (Arizona), Thomas Caldwell (Virginia), Joseph Hackett (Florida), Kenneth Harrelson (Florida), Joshua James (Alabama), Kelly Meggs (Florida), Roberto Minuta (Texas), David Moerschel (Florida), Brian Ulrich (Georgia) and Jessica Watkins (Ohio). They could each face 20 years in federal prison. On January 6th, 2021, the Oath Keepers helped protect Americans from violent counter-protestors during and after the historic protest of the 2020 election. Many Oath Keepers were among the group that entered the Capitol building as Congress proceeded to debate the electoral college results from individual states. During the protest, rogue elements of the FBI were identified as agent provocateurs, and left-wing agitators were spotted vandalizing the Capitol building. For a time, D.C. police stood down and allowed a mob of unarmed Americans into the Capitol. Some protesters entered Congressional offices. An innocent, unarmed woman was shot in the back by Capitol police. The FBI has been harassing innocent Americans for a year now, and some are detained indefinitely in D.C. jail cells a modern day gulag for political prisoners. If the FBI are successful in taking down Oath Keepers, will Americans ever be able to question their government again? During the highly-litigated 2020 election, Stewart Rhodes and the Oath Keepers reviewed evidence and testimony of ballot stuffing, ballot harvesting, change of address ballot fraud, statistical anomalies, breached election security and other issues of election interference and election fraud. They were principally concerned about the illegitimacy of the process and the threat it imposed to the American republic. Because these serious issues were not addressed by the Democratic Party and other members of the Republican Party, the Oath Keepers joined millions of Americans in protest of the validity and process of the 2020 election on January 6th. Rhodes made it clear that he believes the election was conducted illegitimately, that neither Biden nor Trump could be the duly elected as the President of the United States. But now Rhodes is being charged with crimes he did not commit sedition to overthrow the American government. With the Stewart Rhodes indictment, the FBI is sending an unwavering message to all Americans: No one is allowed to question the government or protest the election process not in 2020 and not during the so-called elections that are to come. Why is the FBI targeting the most honorable people who seek a rightful, Constitutional election process? Is the FBI compromised by foreign entities? The FBI indictment alleges that Rhodes coordinated and planned to travel to Washington, D.C. on or around January 6, 2021. According to the FBIs interpretation, Rhodes and his co-conspirators made plans to bring weapons to the area to support an overthrow of the electoral process. This obviously did not occur. In fact, Rhodes has every right to SPEAK out publicly and privately about the illegitimacy of the election process and coordinate travel plans to a well-known, public protest. He has the right to his own CONSCIENCE, to BEAR ARMS and to ASSEMBLE with other Americans in a peaceful manner. He did not commit any acts of violence or try to strip Congressional members of their obligations or responsibilities. In the FBIs official press release, Rhodes and his friends are accused of wearing Oath Keeper insignia on paramilitary clothing and using quick reaction force teams to protect themselves, as they moved in stack formation up the east steps of the Capitol. The FBI concludes that these actions were being used to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power by January 20, 2021. However, the Oath Keepers took no hostages, did not engage in vandalism, or make any direct threats to Congress or to the contested President-elect, let alone impede the transfer of power. As the FBI uses Rhodes communications as evidence against him, is the FBI charging Rhodes for thought crimes, texting crimes and speech crimes? If the FBI is successful in taking down Rhodes, will Americans ever be allowed to challenge corrupt authority again? Will Americans ever be able travel to protests, bear arms or speak up about the crimes they see happening right in front of their face? Future congressional proceedings should be watched over by men and women who understand the proclivity of government corruption. The Oath Keepers should be honored in the Capitol building, in the peoples building, by being the watchdogs over Congressional proceedings. These brave people are the ones fighting for transparency and integrity in the government! These people are the ones fighting for American values and freedom! Learn more about Oath Keepers founder, Stewart Rhodes: Sources include: Justice.gov NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com Brighteon.com Brighteon.com (Natural News) All of a sudden, those running the plandemic are changing their tune about the safety and effectiveness of Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines. Albert Bourla, the king of Pfizer, told CNBC in a recent interview that his companys emergency-authorized injections offer very limited protection, if any. Wait, what? Just a few months ago, Bourla wanted to lock up parents for not injecting their children with the lifesaving medicine, and now he is admitting that they do nothing to protect health? Bourla was of course just talking about the first two mRNA (messenger RNA) shots from Pfizer, which he claims are no longer enough to provide any protection against the Fauci Flu. Now, Bourla wants people to get a third (and eventually a fourth) booster dose to keep the profits flowing. The two doses, theyre not enough for omicron, Bourla told the fake financial news network in the hopes of boosting his companys stock price. The third dose of the current vaccine is providing quite good protection against deaths, and decent protection against hospitalizations. Albert Bourla is a greedy, genocidal maniac This is completely false, as we now know that the boosters are spreading more variants. Nearly every person in the hospital right now with a strange illness took the jabs believing it would help them stay safe. Bourla could not care less about the facts, though. In fact, he wants you hauled off to prison for trying to share them on social media platforms like Twitter. The guy does not believe in informed consent, nor does he believe you should even have a choice in taking his companys injections. Bourla wants Pfizer shots injected into peoples bodies at gunpoint if necessary. Meanwhile, CNBC admitted in another report that new data out of the United Kingdom proves that both the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA injections are not all that effective at preventing infection with omicron. The full inoculation regimen, it turns out, is only about 10 percent effective (whatever that means) at preventing omicron. And this measly 10 percent only occurs 20 weeks after the second dose, we are told. Many can see, based on real-life observation, that everyone who is fully vaccinated and getting boosted is either sick right now or got sick at some point following the shots. Many people got sick the very same day they got shot with symptoms that sound exactly like what the media has been calling covid for the past several years so what is the point? Oh, these cases are milder than they would have been had no shots been given. The only problem is that the healthiest people right now are those who refused the shots and left their immune system alone. Keep in mind that just a few months ago, Bourla was lying all over the television about how Pfizer shots are 100 percent effective. Back in April, for instance, Bourla tweeted the following: Excited to share that updated analysis from our Phase 3 study with BioNTech also showed that our COVID-19 vaccine was 100% effective in preventing #COVID19 cases in South Africa. 100%! Bourla now says that a fourth booster shot from Pfizer will be ready by March, which means more money in his pocket. We [are] already starting manufacturing some of these quantities at risk, Bourla announced. The hope is that we will achieve something that will have way, way better protection particularly against infections, because the protection against the hospitalizations and the severe disease it is reasonable right now, with the current vaccines as long as you are having lets say the third dose. The latest news about Albert Bourla, Pfizer, and the plandemic sham can be found at Fascism.news. Sources for this article include: BigLeaguePolitics.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Western Australian member of parliament (MP) Mark McGowan put on a stunt the other day in which he had an Aborigine elder translate his Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine presentation into Aboriginal-English, which you might say is the Australian equivalent at Ebonics. It almost views like a comedy, but watch below as McGowan speaks short sentences very slowly as if talking to a small child, followed by the Aborigine elder translating the English message into a rougher more street slang version: This is the most racist government initiative Ive ever seen.@MarkMcGowanMP had an indigenous elder translate his message from English to Aboriginal-English. The bloke is sick. pic.twitter.com/VuP7cwPlPe Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) January 11, 2022 The video is also available at Brighteon: This display of racism from this progressive is worse than a segment from a 1970s comedy because MP McGowan actually believes he is doing the right thing, reported The Gateway Pundit (TGP). At least in the US in the 1970s we all knew this was outrageous comedy. McGowan doesnt see it. He looks like he thinks black people cant understand what he is saying. Maybe they do understand but dont want to take the COVID vaccine? How much are these politicians getting paid (bribed?) to push covid jabs on the unwilling? The home of Perth, Western Australia has been in the throes of fascism for quite some time, thanks to McGowans corrupt influence. Back in the fall, McGowan announced that his territorys jab mandate was expanding to include about 75 percent of the states workforce, or around one million people. At the time, it was the most drastic imposition yet to hit Australia. And apparently it is not going so well since McGowan is now creating racist videos in an attempt to fool more people into rolling up their sleeves. Employers will be required to keep a record of the evidence, and authorized officers will run spot checks to ensure compliance is occurring, McGowan stated at the time. The deadline in Western Australia to receive the first two injections is Jan. 31. Some places have already begun checking peoples jab status as of Dec. 31. If relevant, employers that have unvaccinated staff working after the deadline run the risk of being fined up to $100,000, McGowan added. It has been reported that some Aboriginal people in Australia have already been hauled off to Camp Covid for cleansing because they remain unvaccinated. This latest stunt could be McGowans last-ditch effort to convince more of them to willingly get injected, or else worse consequences are on the way for them. This jerk is probably ON THE TAKE, wrote one commenter at TGP. It was just discovered and reported on at Rudy G.s Telegram account that the PM of NZ, Jacinda What the cat dragged in was suddenly in receipt of $25 MILLION!! She reportedly earns $470,000 per year and originally had $800,000 in her bank account. Now its $25 MILLION!! FOLLOW THE MONEY. The vaccines prevent you from becoming seriously ill. Translation: Betta you get the jabbie jabbie or you gwonna be big sick one, joked another about the ridiculousness of McGowans new jab-pushing video. Another wrote that he has never seen something so dumb and insulting as McGowans video, which assumes that Aborigines can only understand their own English dialect and no other forms of English. Poor woman being treated like that, she seemed frightened of him which is what always happens in lawless countries like Australia, wrote another about how the Aborigine elder appeared in the video. When the law is overridden or ignored to suit those in charge as we are seeing in all Western countries then fear followed by revolution are not far behind. More related news can be found at Twisted.news. Sources for this article include: TheGatewayPundit.com Brighteon.com NaturalNews.com After the owner died and the family couldn't find a humane solution locally where animal services are weak, Animal Rescue Corps, a national animal protection group, rescued ten dogs and more than 27 cats from terrible conditions at a Tennessee property today. Animal Rescue Corps rescued all of the animals from the residence. ARC to the Rescue On arrival, ARC officers discovered four large and six little dogs living in small feces-filled kennels, with several roaming free inside the residence. One of the dogs, Hooper, was confined in a tiny wire kennel on the front porch, covered with excrement and newspaper. More than 27 cats were also going wild, exposed to the elements indoors and outdoors. In the home, one dead and rotting dog was discovered. Related Article: Dog Meat Traders in Indonesia to be Prosecuted After Truck With 78 Traumatized Dogs is Intercepted Terrible Living Conditions The animals are suffering from a variety of medical issues, including high ammonia exposure, severe and painful dental disease, overgrown nails, flystrike, fur loss, skin inflammation, ear and eye infections and injuries, and internal and external parasites, due to a lack of veterinary care and unsanitary, inhumane living conditions (including fleas and ticks). There are symptoms of upper respiratory infection in several of the cats. "We're delighted we could respond so fast before the freezing conditions tonight since there is no water or electricity on this property," said Tim Woodward, ARC's Executive Director. They were in terrible need, " he added. After viewing the farm, a local animal advocate contacted ARC for help in preparing this rescue, which was titled Operation Better Days. ARC began organizing tactical equipment and a field crew as soon as the animals arrived and prepping their facilities for them. The Animal Rescue Corps safely extracted every animal. Providing Shelter All animals were brought to ARC's Rescue Operation Center in Lebanon, Tennessee. Before being matched and transferred to reputable shelter and rescue partner organizations where they will be adopted into loving homes, each animal is given a full veterinarian inspection, proper vaccinations, and other required medical procedures. Once the animals have been transferred to these groups, ARC will provide a list of shelter and rescue placement partners on its Facebook page for anyone who wants to foster or adopt. Legislations on Animal Cruelty Most jurisdictions' criminal animal cruelty legislation provides a minimal level of care, including providing food and water to the animal and, in some instances, shelter and veterinary treatment. Some legislation may also mainly handle animal abandonment. In 35 states and the District of Columbia, extreme or repeated animal neglect is a felony in both the United States and Puerto Rico. These laws have been passed for the most part in the last 15 years. Pre-conviction forfeiture, cost-of-care bonds, or liens, which can speed up permanent placement for the animals and ease sheltering expenses for the care of seized animals, show that legislators and society, in general, recognize the severity of animal neglect crimes and the need for harsher penalties to deter future violators. Also Read: Pigs Cut While Still Alive: Hidden Cam Showed Extreme Animal Cruelty in Slaughterhouse For more animal news, don't forget to follow Nature World News! The changing climate has been killing off corals. During the El Nino in 2016, warm water threatened the corals in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). (Photo : Wikimedia Commons) RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - JUNE 02: A man stands on Arpoador rock at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean on June 2, 2017 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. According to the Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN), Rio's average temperature would rise around one degree Celsius between 2015 and 2020 along with a sea level rise of 14 cm. Changes in Rio's climate are projected to be the most dire of all cities in South America, according to UCCRN. U.S. President Donald Trump announced June 1 that he will withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change. Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Environment stated "Brazil is seriously concerned with the negative impact of such decision on the multilateral dialogue and cooperation to respond to global changes." (Photo : Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) Kelp (algae) can be seen in the waters of Monterey Bay, California, September 20, 2018. - Kelp grows from the rocky seabed to the ocean surface and supports the life of fish, sea otters, snails, sea urchins, crabs, and many other creatures. (Photo : Photo credit: EVA HAMBACH/AFP via Getty Images) From deadly flash floods that raced through mountain communities in Europe and submerged subway systems in China and the United States to heat waves and wildfires, the world saw record-breaking climate and weather disasters in 2021. In the Philippines, Typhoon Rai killed over 400 people, and Hurricane Ida inflicted an estimated US$74 billion in damage. Statistical Reports According to statistics provided by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in its annual global climate report on Jan. 13, 2022, it was the sixth warmest year on record for surface temperatures. However, in 2021, ocean temperatures broke new scorching records. While the temperature at the Earth's surface is what humans feel daily, the temperature in the top section of the ocean is a better measure of how extra heat is accumulating on the globe, according to climate scientist Kevin Trenberth. Trenberth, the co-author of a paper released on Jan. 11, 2022, by 23 academics from 14 institutes that studied warming in the world's seas, was interviewed by The Conversation. Related ARticle: Changes in Oceanic Temperature and Current are Direly Affecting Extreme Weather Events Hotter than Ever It is hotter than ever before, and the temperature of the seas has climbed every decade since the 1960s. This unstoppable rise is a vital sign of human-caused climate change. Weather systems become more violent storms and hurricanes as the seas warm and heat supercharges weather systems. This results in more severe rainfall. Human lives and livelihoods, as well as marine life, are at risk as a result. The seas absorb around 93% of the additional energy trapped by rising greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, mainly fossil fuel burning. The upper seas are the main memory of global warming because water stores more heat than land, and huge volumes are. In my new book, "The Changing Flow of Energy Through the Climate System," I go further into depth about this. The study was the first to look at ocean warming in 2021, and the researchers were able to link it to human activity. Unfortunately, global warming is still alive and thriving. Extreme Heat Season Due to year-long La Nina conditions, in which chilly temperatures in the tropical Pacific impact weather patterns worldwide, the global mean surface temperature was the fifth or sixth highest on record in 2021 (depending on the dataset used). Because of El Nino/La Nina and weather events, surface air temperatures fluctuate much more naturally than the ocean. On top of a rising sea, natural variability causes hot patches, known as "marine heat waves," which change from year to year. These hot areas significantly impact marine life from small plankton to fish, aquatic animals, and birds. Hurricanes, for example, are caused by other hot spots that cause additional activity in the atmosphere. General Temperatures While surface temperatures are both a result and a cause of extremes, ocean heat, which energizes weather systems, is the primary source of the processes that generate extremes. Global warming causes more evaporation and dryness on land and higher temperatures, posing a danger of heat waves and wildfires on the ground. In 2021, we saw the effects, particularly in western North America, Russia, Greece, Italy, and Turkey, as a result of heat waves. As well as supplying atmospheric rivers of moisture to land regions, warmer oceans increase the danger of flooding, as seen in the United States. Experiences on the West Coast Extreme Weather Warmer seas provide increased moisture in the atmosphere. Storms, particularly hurricanes, are fueled by this excess moisture. Like the United States, prodigious rainfall witnessed with Hurricane Ida and severe flooding, as has occurred in many locations over the last year, can be the outcome. Storms may grow more violent, larger, and persist longer as well. This year, Australia, as well as New Zealand, have had many big flooding storms. Winter may also bring more snowfalls if temperatures stay below freezing since warmer air stores more moisture. Warm water rests on top of cooler, denser waters in the seas. On the other hand, the oceans warm from the top-down, resulting in higher stratification. This prevents layers from mixing, which would allow the sea to warm to deeper depths and absorb carbon dioxide and oxygen. As a result, all aquatic life is affected. In the top 500 meters of the water, researchers discovered that the temperature has been rising since 1980; the 500-1,000 meter depths have been rising since about 1990; the 1,000-1,500 meter depths have been rising since 1998; the bottom 500 meters have been rising since around 2005. Even when greenhouse gas emissions are stabilized, seas will continue to warm, and sea levels will rise due to the sluggish entry of heat below. Monitoring Changes The need to improve scientists' abilities to monitor changes in the seas is the final topic to consider. Argo, which presently has around 3,900 profiling floats that transmit back data on temperature and salinity from the surface to about 2,000 meters in depth, recorded as they rise up and then sink in ocean basins throughout the world. These robotic, diving, and floating devices need to be replenished regularly, and their insights are vital. Also Read: New Set of Ocean Temperature Data Might Help Scientists Create Better Models and Predictions For more Environmental news updates, don't forget to follow Nature World News! Lead poisoning is affecting the population number of bald eagles, as per scientists at Cornell University's Department of Public and Ecosystem Health. According to the study, birds are consuming up to 6% of the gunshot ammunition used by hunters. Effects of Lead Poisoning on Bald Eagle Populations Bald eagle populations in the Northeast were examined for the study, which was published in the Journal of Wildlife Management. Researchers discovered that field dressing hunters placed eagles at risk by leaving contaminated organs behind after killing their prey, according to CBS News. Owls, crows, coyotes, foxes, fisher, and bears all devour the carcasses, which means they are all at risk of being poisoned by eating them. Cornell University assistant research professor Krysten Schuler, senior author of the study said, scientists haven't collected data on these other species in the same way that they pay attention to eagles. According to Schuler, they are using eagles as a symbol of the problem, but eagles are not the only ones that are feeling the effects. Even if a human eats a game species that has lead shards in lead, they could be poisoned. The study's researchers believed their findings would help hunters and policymakers alike make better decisions about ammunition, such as switching to copper-based bullets. Also Read: Rescued Bald Eagle Gets Treatment As Largest Birds Gather in British Columbia Other Causes of Decline in Bald Eagle Populations A "cushion" that protects the population from misfortunes like natural disasters or the West Nile virus could be undone by the bald eagles' reduced growth rates, according to the researchers. Once threatened by DDT use after WWII, the eagle population began recovering after the 1973 Endangered Species Act was passed. A four-fold increase in population was recorded in just four years, from 2009 to 2021, in the Lower 48 states alone. According to the latest research, the growth rates of females and males of the common bald eagle were found to be 4.2 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively. Even though the eagle population appears to have rebounded, some perturbation may come along that could cause eagles to drop again, Schuler stated. Tracking Bald Eagle Populations New data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) shows an increase in the number of bald eagles in the country. According to CNN's Lauren M. Johnson and Liz Stark, bald eagle populations have doubled since 2009. Only 30,548 nesting pairs were recorded in 2009 out of 72,434 individual bald eagles. An aerial assessment in 2018 and 2019 by migratory bird biologists calculated the current eagle population, CBS says. The surveys tracked eagle breeding places and counted territories. Aerial surveys were not possible in locations where the researchers worked with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and eBird, a citizen science program. In addition to surveys, eBird data was used to determine the bald eagle population's overall size. In the Los Angeles Times' Anna M. Phillips' article, around 180,000 birders reported seeing a bald eagle on eBird. To track bird data, only surveys were employed initially by the USFWS. In an interview with the LA Times, Millsap said that while eBird data has improved estimations, the majority of the rise is due to bald eagle population increases. Since the 1960s, when fewer than 500 nesting pairs remained, bald eagle populations have been steadily rebounding. Between 1870 and 1970, raptor populations plummeted due to habitat loss, hunting, and WWII-era DDT use. Bald eagles were declared endangered in 1967. Related Article: Bald Eagles with Interlocked Talons Crash Land on Minnesota Street For more news, updates about bald eagles and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News! Scientists are baffled by the glowing snow that has appeared in the Russian Arctic. There's nothing new about the fact that some copepod species glow, but land-based light installations are much less prevalent. Glowing Snow in Russian Arctic According to IFLScience, the light-emitting substrate coelenterazine is produced chemically in copepods, allowing them to glow. Its is used as a means of protecting themselves from predators. It is possible for coelenterazine to spread up the food chain, allowing larger species to glow as well. When you survey the landscape with your two dogs and a companion, you may notice an unusual display of blue lights in the snow. Confused? A molecular biologist's illegitimate son also witnessed this while walking at a remote field station on the White Sea shore in Russia. While anyone who's seen the thing might be tempted to flee the enigmatic Arctic lifeforms, Neretin's partner (Russian biologist Vera Emelianenko) thought further study of the phenomenon was needed. With their newfound knowledge, they chose to record the moment a snowball was crushed and observed how its glow grew brighter as it was put under more pressure. Also Read: More Snow Incoming: Storm From Canada Will Make US Northeastern Regions Colder Reasons Why the Snow Glow According to National Geographic, Neretin and Emeliankenko's discovery may be the first documented explanation for luminous snow, which has been observed but not tested by Arctic researchers. It was for this reason that they enlisted photographer Alexander Semenov to capture the eerie bioluminescent snow that they and their dogs were walking through. The photographs, which were shared by Semenov on Facebook, have created an enormous amount of curiosity in the lovely but strange phenomena. A sample of defrosted snow that Emelianenko examined under the microscope revealed the presence of aquatic animals known as copepods. Some have dubbed these tiny crustaceans the wildebeest of the ocean because of their enormous impact on oceanic food webs. They can be found in both freshwater and saltwater habitats. Copepods Found in Luminous Snow A needle jabbed Emeliankenko's slide's tenants as she gazed at the melting ball of snow. Copepods began to light as a result of the intrusion, indicating that they were the source of the snow's blue glow. The fact that they were discovered in the snow is all the more surprising given that they are usually found in the ocean's depths rather than along its shores. It is likely that the copepods were washed ashore by a strong current in the White Sea, according to Russia's Academy of Science in Moscow's expert on Arctic marine zooplankton. As of December 1, tides were particularly high, and again on December 16, which indicates that the tides had pushed the copepods onto land - this species is named Metridia longa. The team behind the discovery plans to explore the mystery of how they ended up in the snow. Semenov told IFLScience that he and his team have already completed a thorough examination and plan to publish a scholarly paper on the subject. Related Article: Heavy Snow Expected as Winter Storm Izzy Set to Ravage Midwest States For more news, updates about snows and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News! RABAT, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The coast guards of Morocco's Royal Navy have rescued 177 illegal immigrants in the South Atlantic, the official Moroccan news agency MAP reported Thursday. The immigrants, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, included 52 women and 20 children, the report cited a military source as saying. They were facing difficulties on board makeshift inflatable boats when they were rescued on Wednesday, the source said. All the immigrants, who were trying to reach the Spanish archipelago of Canary Islands, received the necessary first aid, the source added. Morocco has long been a transit country for African migrants seeking to reach Europe. Some of my fondest memories from when I was a kid come from snow days from school. Getting up early and turning on the news to watch the list of schools at the bottom of the screen. Do we have a one-hour delay? two-hour delay? Are we off? Every time my district would pop up with CLOSED it would be like a mini Christmas morning. With all the other kids in the neighborhood off as well, snow days and weekends are perfect for getting out there and having fun in the snow. This is everything youll need to make sure your kids are ready to have fun this winter. Iconic Round Sled Paricon Flexible Flyer Round Snow Sled, $29.97 Paricon Flexible Flyer Round Snow Sled Toboggan Flexible Flyer amazon.com $20.99 Shop Now Ahhh, this one is bringing back so many fond memories from my elementary school days. If we had a free day, my sisters and I would start gearing up, grab our round snow sleds, and head to the neighbors house (since he had the best hill in the neighborhood!). These sleds are great and you and your kids are sure to make some great memories with these in hand. Theyre great for going down the hill forwards, backwards, or heck, you can even give the rider a spin before going down the hill for a fun experience. Multi-Person Toboggan Joyin 46 Two Rider Snow Sled, $37.99 Joyin 46" Snow Sled JOYIN amazon.com $41.99 Shop Now This one is right up there with the round sled as one of the most essential items to take advantage of this years snowfall. While the round sleds are typically only for single riders, this two-person toboggan makes it possible to take on the slopes with more than one person. Perfect for friends, siblings, or even parents that want to have fun in the snow with their kids, a multi-person sled is a must-have. My parents used to take me and my sisters down the hills in these things and spend the whole day out there with us. Days that Ill never forget! Kids Touchscreen Winter Gloves EEFOW Kids Winter Touch Screen Gloves, $13.35 Kids Cold Weather Fleece Touch Screen Glove EEFOW amazon.com $16.95 Shop Now I gotta say that these werent around when I was a kid enjoying snow days, but neither were smartphones or other touch screen devices so that makes sense! But in this day and age, chances are high that your kids have a smartphone of their own, which is great for keeping in touch. The issue with touch screens is that they typically dont work if youre wearing gloves, especially if they get wet in the snow. But these kids touchscreen gloves enable your kids to text/call you while simultaneously staying warm. A bit techy than other items on here, but something that will come in handy! Snowshoes HRKing Lightweight Terrain Snowshoes Set, $39.99 Lightweight Terrain Showshoes HRking amazon.com $49.99 Shop Now If youre like the vast majority of people out there, then you have probably never actually worn a pair of snowshoes. Most people including myself for much of my early days just throw on some winter boots and trudge along through the snow, as tough as it may be. But snowshoes are an absolute game changer when it comes to playing in the snow. Designed to distribute the wearers weight over a wide surface area, these allow you (or your kids) to walk right on top of the snow. Its seriously crazy how big of a difference snowshoes can make when youre walking through a huge snowfall! Snowball Maker Hey! Play! Snowball Maker with Handles, $9.95 Snowball Maker Tool with Handle Hey! Play! amazon.com $9.95 Shop Now Maaaaan do I wish I had one of these bad boys when I was in school and always getting into snowball fights with my friends. The worst part about snowball fights is making the snowballs! You either make them too big, too small, or too loose, and then theyre hard to throw accurately. With a snowball maker like this one, you can simply hold onto the handles, stick the end into the snow and close the device. It instantly makes perfectly-sized and perfectly round snowballs every time. Your kids will be the kings and queens of the snow forts of the neighborhood with this affordable device. Snowball Launcher Hoopla Toys Snowball Thrower, $14.99 Hoopla Toys Snowball Thrower Hoopla Toys amazon.com $14.99 Shop Now This one goes kind of hand-in-hand with the snowball maker above, but were turning it up a notch. Rather than just relying on your arm to pelt your friends and family with snowballs, check out this snowball launcher from Hoopla Toys. Simply place your snowball into the holder at the end of the launcher, and let it rip. In fact, you can use the launcher to make snowballs in a pinch, but the snowball maker above will do a bit of a better job at that! New Castle, PA (16103) Today A steady rain. The rain will be heavy at times. High 69F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a half an inch.. Tonight Showers and thunderstorms. Low 57F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Help support your local hometown newspaper/website. Independent local news reporting matters. Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription, for as little as $3, so we can continue to provide independent local reporting on our communities. A child receives a polio vaccine in Kampala, Uganda, on Jan. 14, 2022. Uganda on Friday started a three-day nationwide polio immunization exercise targeting over 8.8 million children under the age of five years. (Photo by Nicholas Kajoba/Xinhua) KAMPALA, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Uganda on Friday started a three-day nationwide polio immunization exercise targeting over 8.8 million children under the age of five years. Vaccination officers moved from house to house administering the novel oral polio vaccines (nOPV2). In the capital Kampala, Prossy Bukenya, a community nursing officer told Xinhua that they had vaccinated over 100 children by mid-day Friday in Mutungo. "The exercise is going well. We managed to visit... houses and some lower primary schools. Communities in Mutungo, Bbina villages are supportive and had their children vaccinated," Bukenya said. Michael Owor, who brought his four-year-old son for vaccination, said he supports the exercise, noting that in his extended family there was a child who suffered from polio and became disabled. Owor urged parents and local leaders to support the vaccination exercise. Hanifa Kawooya, minister of state for primary health care, told the official launching Thursday that all children in the targeted age group should be vaccinated. Uganda in August last year reported a polio outbreak in the country after samples from fecal matter collected in the capital Kampala tested positive. The Ministry of Health warned that it was the rare wild polio virus type 2, whose vaccine was withdrawn from the country's routine immunization exercises in 2016. The country was certified polio-free in October 2006 by the World Health Organization after having reported no indigenous polio cases for 10 years. According to the WHO, polio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus that mainly affects children under five years old. The virus is transmitted by the fecal-oral route and by aerosol droplets. A child receives a polio vaccine in Kampala, Uganda, on Jan. 14, 2022. Uganda on Friday started a three-day nationwide polio immunization exercise targeting over 8.8 million children under the age of five years. (Photo by Nicholas Kajoba/Xinhua) A child's finger is marked after receiving a polio vaccine in Kampala, Uganda, on Jan. 14, 2022. Uganda on Friday started a three-day nationwide polio immunization exercise targeting over 8.8 million children under the age of five years. (Photo by Nicholas Kajoba/Xinhua) Champaign, IL (61820) Today Overcast with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly this morning. Morning high of 67F with temps falling to near 55. Winds W at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Overcast. Low 44F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death. Submit Longview, TX (75601) Today Cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 78F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. IV bags hang in the hallways of the ICU at Wyoming Medical Center in Casper. The U.S. Supreme Court left in place a federal order that will require workers at most health care facilities to be vaccinated against COVID-19. HAVANA, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Cuba on Friday sent a team of 50 health professionals from the Henry Reeve Medical Contingent to the Bahamas, local media reported. "It will contribute to reducing the COVID-19 infection rates in the Bahamas, which soared due to the Omicron variant," Deputy Minister of Public Health Regla Angulo was quoted as saying by Cuban state news agency ACN. It is the first medical brigade the country has dispatched overseas this year to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, according to ACN. Founded in 2005 by then Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro, the Henry Reeve Brigade was created to provide health services to Americans after Hurricane Katrina devastated the U.S. city of New Orleans, only to be refused by the George W. Bush administration. Cuba has so far sent 57 medical teams from the Henry Reeve to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic in 40 countries around the world, said ACN. As my kindergartner fumbled with his shoes, I stood at our door sifting through the mental parenting checklist newly lodged in my brain: backpack. Sweatshirt. Snacks. Sunscreen. Water bottle. KN95 mask. Vaccination card. Jesse asked for his cloth mask, and I explained again that if he wore that one he'd need to have on a surgical mask, too, which could make it hard to run around at recess. So I did my best to twist the elastic ear loops on the KN95 into a size that would fit his cherubic face, and we headed out the door. When we got to Will Rogers Learning Community, our school in Santa Monica, California, the entry path was split into two lines by a velvet rope. Kids and parents clustered at the rope entrance examining a paper with large print poised on a music stand. It listed the classes with covid cases, whose kids had to be tested to enter school. Those kids were shunted to the right, into the cafeteria where staff members were helping them stick swabs up their tiny noses. The rest of the kids headed into the building. This is parenting in Southern California in the days of omicron, swimming in an ocean of angst, with currents constantly shifting direction, an awkward soup of fear, determination and gratitude for those doing the hard work of keeping schools working. The messiness is evident in the nation's second-largest school district, Los Angeles Unified, where roughly 520,000 kids started pouring back into schools Jan. 11 for the first time in three weeks. "There is a lot of urgency in keeping schools open," says Manuel Pastor, a sociologist who directs University of Southern California's Equity Research Institute. Indeed, under a California law that took effect in July, Los Angeles can't switch to distance learning unless there is a severe staffing shortage. Yet at the same time, the schools have strengthened safety measures that were already among the strictest in the country, upgrading masking and testing requirements. The push-pull is essential because physical attendance is vitally important to the kids already disadvantaged because they speak other languages at home, or have parents who can't or don't help with their lessons, Pastor said. Yet these same kids are more likely to create risks if they bring the virus home, because their families are more likely to live in crowded homes, their parents are more likely to be essential workers, and they are more likely to have unvaccinated siblings or relatives. "It's kind of the worst of both possible worlds in terms of challenges in remote learning and the challenges with going back to school," he said. Before students could return on Jan. 11, they had to participate in baseline testing, either through a home rapid test a few days before school started which can sometimes give false-negative results or a PCR test at a stationary site. Some 65,000 kids tested positive before school reopened; another 85,000 or so were also absent the first day, partly, perhaps, because of parental fear of the virus. Testing was the easiest part about getting back into school, according to many families. There were 60 locations for students to pick up free tests. The district already had the largest weekly coronavirus testing program in the nation, testing every staff member and student every week. Children in quarantine won't have the option to Zoom into their classrooms, however. Schools have not trained their teachers to simultaneously teach to in-room and online students. Officials say that with the district's modified quarantine rules which call for only students who test positive or have active symptoms of illness to stay home those who are quarantined should be recovering, anyway, and are likely to return in a few days. Even for those who got into school, the transition was not always smooth. On the morning schools reopened their doors, Daily Pass, the app where students upload their test results, crashed. So instead of flashing their phones at the schoolhouse door, kids formed lines around schools and underwent a highly unscientific process to vet their state of infectiousness. Some schools went back to asking screening questions to students and parents. Interim Superintendent Megan Reilly apologized for the Daily Pass glitches. "I knew that today was not going to be a day that we didn't have some bumps along the road," she said at a news conference. Meanwhile, administrative staff members were brought in to substitute for 2,000 or so teachers (out of 25,000) who were out with covid or caring for someone infected with the virus. On Jan. 12, a school board member substituted in a classroom, and another classroom had an LAUSD architect helping out. Jenna Schwartz, an LAUSD parent who co-founded the group Parents Supporting Teachers, said the district is bringing in thousands of staffers to help out.That isn't as bad as it sounds, she said. "The narrative is that bus drivers will be teaching algebra, but the truth is, there are a huge amount of credentialed teachers that work in admin now," she said. "One of the perks of having bureaucracy is that there are a huge amount of people who can fill in." The district's modified quarantine policy says that if there is an exposure in a classroom, students can remain in school while asymptomatic, testing on the fifth day after a suspected exposure. But not every school is implementing that policy, and some schools, like public charters, have leeway to make their own decisions. Paulina Jones' 6-year-old daughter, a kindergartner at Citizens of the World Hollywood charter school, was sent home with the rest of her class for 10 days due to an exposure the first week back in school. That's why Jones was driving to work on Jan. 11, to a construction site where she is a manager, with her daughter in the back seat. Jones fears it's a scenario that will keep happening, over and over. "Half the school is under quarantine right now," she said. Between the long winter break and this quarantine, her daughter has had only one in-person instructional day in a month. And the Zoom instruction just doesn't work for this age group, Jones said. "It's extremely stressful for me to have her at work with me, but it's more beneficial than taking 10 days off of work," she said. "We all have to make hard decisions right now, and I have to support my family." There's a weariness to the waves of illness, Jones said. "If there was an end in sight, I would take time off of work, but there's no end in sight." Pastor said the situation echoes the early days of 2020, but with a noticeable difference: "There's no talk of a shutdown. There's just talk about managing the illness so we don't overwhelm hospitals and health care," he said. "There are going to be a lot of scary moments for parents." The words echoed in my head as I watched Jesse, fitted with his new KN95, teeter as he settled his backpack onto his small frame, then gallop off toward the right lane to enter school. As he disappeared into the school gates, I could hear him chattering to another kid: "I'm ready." This story was produced by KHN, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation. Pell City, AL (35125) Today Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 85F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 65F. Winds light and variable. Sisters Gray and Andrea Koesters honored the life of their father, Willi Hans Koesters, by creating an exhibit of his work at the Bourne-Schweitzer Gallery in New Albany. Daniel Suddeath is the editor of the News and Tribune. He can be reached at 812-206-2130, or by email at daniel.suddeath@newsandtribune.com. (Newser) The husband of Susanville, California's mayor is a corrections officer. It's a place where plenty of people are married to a corrections officer, or one themselves, or the child of one. Roughly 1 out of every 2 adults in the town are employed by the two prisons there, and they're fighting to keep it that way. In a piece for the New York Times, Tim Arango uses Susanville as an example of what "countless rural communities in America" are facing amidst a push to whittle down America's prison population. They're places "that in the back half of the last century welcomed correctional facilities to replace dying industries," and now they're staring down the looming destruction of those jobs. Or, in Susanville's case, fighting back. The town is home to two facilities: the maximum security High Desert facility, and the minimal security California Correctional Center. The latter is the one that Gov. Gavin Newsom has decided should close. Arango writes that instead of trying to woo new industries to replace all those jobs on the chopping block, the town decided to fight the move and sued the state, citing the lack of notice they were given and alleging officials made the decision in violation of environmental codes. The case is progressing, and while it does a local judge did grant a temporary injunction that puts the closure plans on ice. Meanwhile, residents are trying to imagine a new future. Arango talks with one familythe husband is a prison guardwho recently tried and failed to sell their Susanville home. (Read the full story.) Photo taken on Oct. 20, 2021 shows the autumn scenery in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. (Photo by Kalizhan Ospanov/Xinhua) In his message, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said China supports Kazakhstan's efforts to safeguard national security, social stability and people's well-being. BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Friday sent a congratulatory message to Alikhan Smailov on his assuming office as Kazakh prime minister. In his message, Li said China supports Kazakhstan's efforts to safeguard national security, social stability and people's well-being. Li expressed his belief that under the leadership of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and the Kazakh government, Kazakhstan will restore stability and unity as soon as possible, and step towards its development goals. Noting that since the establishment of the diplomatic ties 30 years ago, China-Kazakhstan relations have always maintained high-level development, Li said China is ready to work with the Kazakh side to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, and continuously deepen practical cooperation, so as to lift the China-Kazakhstan permanent comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level for the benefit of both nations and peoples. (Newser) A woman in Japan who thought the man she commissioned as a sperm donor was also from Japan, and educated at an elite university, was distressed to find out that wasn't the casefacts she found out when she was already pregnant and it was too late to have an abortion. Vice reports she had the baby, gave it up for adoption, and is now suing the donor for $2.9 million in a case that's shining a spotlight on Japan's illicit sperm-trade industry. Per the Tokyo Shimbun, the woman, said to be in her 30s, wanted to have a second child, but after finding out her husband had a genetic disease, she decided to seek out a sperm donor online. She found onea man who claimed he was Japanese and a graduate of Kyoto University. The two had sex 10 times before she became pregnant in June 2019, after which she found out the truth: The man was actually Chinese, had attended a different college, and was married. She handed over the baby to a "child welfare facility" after it was born. If you're wondering why the woman actually did the deed with her donor to become pregnant, it could have something to do with the fact that Japan has just a single commercial sperm bank, established earlier this year specifically to tamp down on the sperm donation "black market." Newsweek notes that it's believed about 10,000 children have been born thanks to sperm from an "involved third party." This DIY-style sperm trading typically involves acquiring sperm from unregistered facilities, or by seeking out donors on social media. Initial contact is followed either by an actual sexual interaction, as in the case of the woman now suing, or a sperm delivery to the woman's home, in which she or a helper injects herselfall of which is a risky endeavor. "Not only is this a safety issue, but it can also be criminal and extremely dangerous," Dr. Hiroshi Okada, who heads up the Mirai Life Research Institute, Japan's official sperm bank, tells Japan Insider. "The semen that is handed over may carry infectious agents. We don't know if the sperm belongs to the donor or not. ... Such crazy things are happening." As for the woman in this particular case, her lawyer says she decided to sue her donor last month due to continued suffering from "intense mental distress," which includes an inability to sleep, per TBS News. (Read more sperm donors stories.) (Newser) Earlier this month, a 16-year-old employee of a Burger King in Milwaukee was fatally shot during an attempted robbery. Now comes a startling twist to the case from prosecutors: They say the robbery was staged, and the teen who died was in on it, reports the Kansas City Star. A criminal complaint lays out what allegedly happened, per WISN. Prosecutors say 41-year-old Antoine Edwards cooked up a plan with Niesha Harris-Brazell, who worked at the restaurant with his daughter. Niesha was assigned to work the drive-thru on Jan. 2, and the plan was for Edwards to drive up and demand money at gunpoint. Edwards did exactly that, but prosecutors say Niesha panicked in the moment. When she was slow to hand over the money, they say Edwards began climbing through the drive-thru window. That's when another employee, who wasn't in on the staged robbery, opened fired and accidentally struck Niesha, according to the complaint. Edwards never fired his weapon during the altercation. The employee who shot Niesha, identified as Derrick Ellis, has been charged with being a felon in possession of a weapon. He fled the scene and remains at large, say authorities. Edwards has been charged with murder and contributing to the delinquency of a child where death is a consequence, per the complaint. Investigators say he admitted his role and said his daughter had nothing to do with the planning of the staged robbery. "Although he planned the robbery over the phone by calling his daughter's phone, his daughter immediately handed the phone over to [Niesha], and the plan was made between himself and [Niesha], without input or involvement from his daughter," according to the complaint. His daughter hasn't been charged. (Read more Wisconsin stories.) (Newser) An undersea volcano erupted in spectacular fashion near the Pacific nation of Tonga on Saturday, sending large waves crashing across the shore and people rushing to higher ground. There were no immediate reports of injuries or the extent of the damage as communications with the small nation, home to about 105,000 people, remained problematic. Video posted to social media showed large waves washing ashore in coastal areas, swirling around homes and buildings. New Zealand's military said it was monitoring the situation and remained on standby, ready to assist if asked, per the AP. The volcano is located about 40 miles north of the capital, Nuku'alofa. Satellite images showed a huge eruption, a plume of ash, steam, and gas captured from space rising like a mushroom above the blue Pacific waters. The Tonga Meteorological Services said a tsunami warning was in effect for all of the archipelago, and data from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center showed waves of up to 2.6 feet had been detected. Authorities in the nearby island nations of Fiji and Samoa also issued warnings, telling people to avoid the shoreline due to strong currents and dangerous waves. The Japan Meteorological Agency said there may be a slight swelling of the water along the Japanese coasts, but it's not expected to cause any damage. The Islands Business news site reported that a convoy of police and military troops evacuated Tonga's King Tupou VI from his palace near the shore. He was among the many residents who headed for higher ground. The explosion of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano was the latest in a series of spectacular eruptions. A Twitter user identified as Dr. Faka'iloatonga Taumoefolau posted video showing waves crashing ashore. "Can literally hear the volcano eruption, sounds pretty violent," he wrote, adding in a later post: "Raining ash and tiny pebbles, darkness blanketing the sky." Earlier, the Matangi Tonga news site reported that scientists observed massive explosions, thunder, and lightning near the volcano after it started erupting early Friday. Satellite images showed a 3-mile-wide plume rising into the air to about 12 miles. More than 1,400 miles away in New Zealand, officials were warning of storm surges from the eruption. Late Saturday, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the threat to American Samoa appeared to have passed, although minor sea fluctuations could continue. (Read more Tonga stories.) (Newser) An 11-alarm fire that broke out Friday night at a New Jersey industrial complex continued to burn into Saturday morning, but hundreds of firefighters were able to keep the blaze from reaching the main portion of a chemical plant on-site and had contained the fire as of 7am, Passaic Mayor Hector Lora tells WABC. The fire appears to have started around 8:30pm at a warehouse owned by Majestic Industries, a gaming and hospitality furniture manufacturer, and it soon spread to a nearby building used by Qualco Inc., which produces chlorine pellets for spas and swimming pools. Passaic Fire Chief Patrick Trentacost Sr. said during a Facebook Live stream that once the fire hit Qualco's 100,000-square-foot warehouse, the building's roof and walls went up in flames, reports NBC News. However, although some chlorine tablets burned, firefighters managed to keep the blaze away from the main chlorine plant, Lora noted. "If the fire were to hit the main chemical plant, it would obviously create issues beyond what our immediate resources would be able to resolve," he said. The only person inside the Qualco building when the fire broke out, security guard Justin Johnson, tells CBS New York that he called the fire department after noticing smoke while checking the building's water pressure. "I decided to come back to security office, called the fire department and get them down here," he said. "The alarm system went off already." Johnson doesn't appear to have been hurt. Firefighters worked overnight in frigid temperatures, and Trentacost notes there were multiple reports of slips and falls as water quickly froze on the ground. One firefighter was hospitalized after being hit in the face with debris, but that injury doesn't appear to be serious. "There have been bad fires but this is the worst that I've ever seen," Lora said, per NorthJersey.com. Both Lora and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy are advising local residents to stay inside and keep their windows closed, though the Department of Environmental Protection has said the air is safe to breathe. "Praying for the safety of our first responders on the scene," Murphy tweeted. (Read more New Jersey stories.) (Newser) Things have started to get tense between Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump, starting when the former president appeared to call the Florida governor "gutless" this week for not admitting whether or not he'd received the COVID booster shot. Now, DeSantis is firing back, second-guessing how Trump handled things during the early days of the pandemic. In his appearance Friday on the conservative podcast Ruthless, which was recorded on Thursday, DeSantis said he was surprised in March 2020 when Trump told Americans to stay home to slow the spread of the coronavirus. DeSantis also now says he should've been "much louder" in protesting against the president's move. "I never thought in February, early March, that [coronavirus] would lead to locking down the country," DeSantis said. "I just didn't. I didn't think that was on the radar." He noted that he'd been one of Trump's advisers during those early days, and that he put the blame for the shutdowns on "people like" Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was on Trump's coronavirus response team led by then-VP Mike Pence. CNN notes that, despite his apparent reservations, DeSantis "ultimately followed the White House lead," advised Floridians to stay home, and shut down his own state's schools, gyms, bars, and restaurants. Trump wasn't the only one DeSantis took issue with during his podcast appearance. Per Fox News, the governor also took aim at two Supreme Court justices, Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts, for siding with liberal justices this week in allowing the Biden administration's COVID vaccine mandate for health care workers. "Honestly, Roberts and Kavanaugh did not have a backbone on that decision," DeSantis said. "That's just the bottom line." DeSantis promised to enforce protections in place in his state for nurses affected by the mandate. (Read more Ron DeSantis stories.) (Newser) Ghislaine Maxwell no longer opposes the release of the names of eight men who might have been involved in sex trafficking by a court. Maxwell, the longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein who was convicted on five counts last month in New York, had supported keeping the names secret. Maxwell changed that stance in a court filing by her lawyers on Wednesday, Newsweek reports, saying she's fine to leave the decision up to the court. "Each of the listed Does has counsel who have ably asserted their own respective privacy rights," the filing said. Virginia Giuffre, who currently has a sexual abuse lawsuit against Britain's Prince Andrew in court, has pressed for the names referenced in her 2016 defamation suit against Maxwell to be made public. In calling for the release in 2020, Giuffre aimed a tweet at Maxwell, posting, "You hold all the secrets!" Giuffre's lawyers told the court this week that "generalized aversion to embarrassment and negativity that may come from being associated with Epstein and Maxwell is not enough to warrant continued sealing of information." Maxwell received a sentencing date Friday in her own trial of June 28, per the AP, though her lawyers still are arguing for a new trial. One of the jurors who voted to convict her has publicly said he used his personal experience as a child victim of sexual abuse to convince the panel to find Maxwell guilty. Judge Alison Nathan has not yet ruled on that issue. Prosecutors told the judge this week they'll drop perjury charges against Maxwell if post-trial motions are rejected and sentencing proceeds. (Read more Ghislaine Maxwell stories.) (Newser) Four weeks after a search warrant was issued, Alec Baldwin has complied with it by turning his cellphone over to sheriff's deputies. New Mexico authorities had sought the phone for their investigation of the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on a film set there on Oct. 21. Santa Fe County Sheriff's officials had voiced frustration again on Thursday that Baldwin hadn't given them the phone, the Los Angeles Times reports. New Mexico officials were unable to compel the actor to turn over the iPhone because he'd gone back to New York, where he has several homes. Baldwin, his lawyer, and New Mexico officials had been negotiating for weeks and have agreed on what information can be taken from the phone, which was given to a sheriff's department in New York along with the password, per Deadline. Suffolk County investigators will conduct the search, then pass the information to deputies in New Mexico. "Alec voluntarily provided his phone to the authorities this morning so they can finish their investigation," the actor's lawyer said Friday. "But this matter isnt about his phone, and there are no answers on his phone." Baldwin "did nothing wrong," Aaron Dyer said. The actor's lawyer has said Baldwin has been cooperating with the investigation all along, (Read more Alec Baldwin stories.) Please purchase a subscription read this premium content. If you have a subscription, please sign up for a digital website account or log in. File photo of Alaska Army National Guardsmen from 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment, conducting an aerial site survey via a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter Dec. 3, 2018. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Balinda ONeal Dresel) People line up for COVID-19 testing in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 5, 2022. The United States shattered a single-day record with over 1 million COVID-19 cases on Monday amid the rapid spread of Omicron variant and government decisions to ease prevention and control measures in the country. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua) by Xinhua writer Guo Yage The "anything but China" mindset was in fact born out of America's deep-rooted political plague, as Democrats and Republicans pull whatever strings they have to win the partisan wrangle -- to both sides, badmouthing Beijing seems to be a perfect tactic for political gains. BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Another COVID-19 folly has been put on show in Washington lately: Almost all members of the U.S. House of Representatives were spotted entering the chamber floor wearing Chinese KN95 masks given to them that offers increased protection, the same group of people who have long been scaling up an anti-China campaign. The sight was beheld after a tougher mask mandate issued recently requires House members to wear N95 or KN95 masks on the chamber floor amid a severer pandemic situation in the country. But those politicians were not happy with this. While some jumped to the old "Wuhan lab leak" conspiracy theory for comfort, others leaned on the so-called "China threat" theory in protest against the mandate. For most of them, securing "anything but China" remains the top priority. This "ABC" mindset was in fact born out of America's deep-rooted political plague, as Democrats and Republicans pull whatever strings they have to win the partisan wrangle -- to both sides, badmouthing Beijing seems to be a perfect tactic for political gains. The 57-page "Corona Big Book" disclosed in 2020 advises Republican candidates to address the pandemic by aggressively attacking China, and provides with detailed guidelines on how to tie Democratic candidates to Beijing. This strategic playbook has been given so much attention to by the former U.S. administration that turned a blind eye to an urgent need for timely and effective anti-pandemic measures. Racking its brain for new ways to spread rumors and scapegoat China, the country was left with the most COVID-19 infections and related deaths in the world despite first-class medical technology and facilities as well as top-tier health experts. While those self-dealing Washington politicians were busy taking care of their own political interests, they seemed to feel just fine sacrificing the common interests of those struggling to survive inside the United States and beyond. A man waits for COVID-19 testing in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 5, 2022. The United States shattered a single-day record with over 1 million COVID-19 cases on Monday amid the rapid spread of Omicron variant and government decisions to ease prevention and control measures in the country. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua) During its hard time in the pandemic, the United States had received from China more than 40 billion masks, around 1.2 billion surgical gloves and nearly 1 billion protective gowns, amid other medical supplies, between March 1, 2020 and Feb. 28, 2021. Nevertheless, some U.S. politicians have bitten the hands that were helping them, deliberately distorting China's kindly offers into a political witching. And now the latest scientific advise by House physicians on wearing masks on the chamber floor, with an aim at protecting House members from the highly contagious Omicron variant, was responded with more racist anti-China attacks and triggered a new round of taunts between the two major U.S. political parties. With this absurd logic, it will be no surprise that one day students and consumers in the United States wearing Chinese-made masks will be forbidden to enter schools and grocery stores. "For every single death certificate that has COVID-19 as a primary cause of death, partisanship should be listed as a contributing cause. This pandemic was politicized from day one," said an article by Business Insider in late 2021. Indeed, more and more people around the world have sobered up and realized that for those U.S. decision-makers, lives of the ordinary, national health and science are the last things on their agenda. The nearly 850,000 lives claimed by the virus in the country are a living proof that when leaders fail and political system is in deadlock, people suffer. Playing politics by pointing an accusing finger at China will not save America from the pandemic, but will only turn those U.S. politicians themselves into buffoons on the global stage. This is what the politicians need to wake up to before the pandemic claims even more souls in their homeland. Wisconsin National Guard Challenge Academy Cadet Chloe Halbrooks of Walworth, Wisconsin, graduated from the residential phase of the program Dec. 22, 2021. She said she now sees herself as successful instead of a failure. (Courtesy) From left, Command Chief Warrant Officer 5 Rich Huber, Sgt. 1st Class Robert Jones, Staff Sgt. Vergia Farrow, Col. Alan Gronewold and Command Sgt. Maj. Refugio Rosas poses for a photo in front of the Task Force Phoenix T-wall at Camp Buehring, Kuwait. (Maj. Jason Sweeney) Thanks to the NPPD for letting Bert come out for a ride along! It was a neat experience to see what our amazing police officers do for our community! Can we encourage you to take some time and say thank you to your local police officers. We love making cards and dropping off some goodies for Al Arabiya | Marib The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com The Arab Coalition carried out targeted military strikes against the Iran-backed Houthi militia in the Yemeni city of Marib, killing 250 terrorists and destroying 22 military vehicles, the coalition said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA). The attack took place over 24 hours and involved 36 different targets, SPA added. Simultaneously, the Arab Coalition also held military operations on 12 targets in the Yemeni town of al-Bayda, eliminating 80 terrorist elements and seven military vehicles. Yemens Iran-backed Houthis launched dozens of cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia throughout 2021. The Arab Coalition has been carrying out attacks against legitimate military Houthi targets in Yemen in recent months, warning civilians to not approach or gather around the targeted sites beforehand. BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Over 103,000 suspects involved in more than 62,000 cases of internet-related crimes had been detained amid a crackdown on online crimes in 2021, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) said Friday. During the crackdown, police detained 783 suspects for secretly installing wiretapping or surveillance equipment. Over 2,000 suspects were seized for illegal and criminal acts such as paid deletion of posts and falsifying statistics for online reviews. More than 6.2 million online paid posting accounts and over 1,200 websites were shut down in accordance with laws. And over 1,700 suspects were nabbed for organizing cheating on exams using the internet, the MPS said. A tsunami alert has been issued for many coastal areas in Japan. It came after a massive volcanic eruption in Tonga on Saturday. A tsunami warning is currently in place for the northeastern prefecture of Iwate. Waves up to 3 meters high may be seen in that area. The Japan Meteorological Agency earlier issued a warning for the Amami Islands and the Tokara Islands in the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima. It has since changed the warning to an advisory. A tsunami advisory is also in place in many other regions. A 1.2-meter tsunami was observed on Amami Ohshima Island late on Saturday. A 1.1-meter wave was seen early on Sunday in Iwate Prefecture's Kuji Port. Ninty-centimeter waves have also been observed in other locations along the Pacific coast. Japan Coast Guard patrol boats and planes have been sent to see if coastal areas have been damaged. But officials say no reports of damage have been received so far. Railway and ferry services in some areas will be suspended while the alert is in effect. Even if one tsunami has reached a shore, others could follow. Higher waves may arrive after the initial ones. The meteorological agency is urging people to remain vigilant in the coastal areas, where tsunami alerts have been issued. Local governments have issued evacuation orders for more than 200,000 people living in the coastal areas of seven prefectures. Aomori, Iwate, Chiba and Kagoshima are among those prefectures. Residents are being advised to stay away from beaches and to avoid the mouths of rivers. A video taken in Setouchi Town on Amami-Oshima Island shows many cars trying to get to higher ground. Inside are people evacuating from their homes. The U.S. and Japan are discussing stockpiling munitions in each other's defense facilities across Japan, including islands in Taiwan's vicinity, to prepare for contingencies, Nikkei has learned. The issue of joint usage of facilities was discussed in last week's two-plus-two meeting of foreign and defense ministers. The ministers "committed to increase joint/shared use of U.S. and Japanese facilities, including efforts to strengthen Japan Self-Defense Forces' posture in areas including its southwestern islands," the sides said in a statement after the meeting. Joint use of facilities includes the stockpiling of munitions and shared use of runways, according to a source familiar with the talks. "There was progress on this issue so it was written into the joint statement," the person said. The southwestern islands, or Nansei Islands in Japanese, are a chain that stretches from the southernmost tip of Kyushu to the north of Taiwan. If realized, the allies would have stockpiles of munitions that can quickly be deployed and replenished in Taiwan's immediate neighborhood. The westernmost of the Nansei Islands, Yonaguni, lies 108 km from the east coast of Taiwan. The U.S. military has relied heavily on precision-guided munitions in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as battling groups like the Islamic State. Combined with budget cuts, this has led to a shortage of munitions in the army, navy and air force. HONG KONG, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- A Hong Kong court on Saturday sentenced seven people to up to 40 months in prison for rioting near the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) in November 2019. The District Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) sentenced seven people to imprisonment ranging from 38 to 40 months and two others were sent to a training center. The nine defendants were accused of participating in a riot with other unidentified persons outside the Diocesan Girls' School in Kowloon on Nov. 18, 2019. Two of the defendants were found guilty of possessing offensive weapons or items fit for unlawful purposes. NEW MILFORD The buses are late. Or they only run one way. Or they dont come at all. This school year, New Milford has been plagued by bus staffing shortages through their contracted transportation company, All-Star Transportation, that have caused continuous route and schedule changes. Sometimes, these adjustments occur with little forewarning a driver cannot work one day, and communications have to be sent out to parents to let them know that morning or afternoon routes are canceled or adjusted. This is likely to continue through the rest of the year, according Superintendent Alisha DiCorpo. To combat the ongoing issues, the company and district are trying to implement changes to alert parents sooner and add a second run schedule to get kids where they need to go. Based on my conversations with the transportation provider, this may go on sporadically for the remainder of the year. COVID also plays a factor as it does for all businesses and school districts, DiCorpo wrote in an email to The News-Times. On Friday, DiCorpo announced in another letter that two routes, bus 15 and bus 19, have been eliminated and students on those routes will be consolidated into other existing routes starting Tuesday. All-Star serves districts including Newtown, Brookfield, Torrington and Ansonia. The start of the school year saw interruptions to bus routes in several districts, both in Connecticut and nationwide. Yet, New Milford seems to be one of the few school districts served by All-Star that continues to struggle with weekly, if not daily, interruptions to service. Newtown Superintendent Lorrie Rodrigue said after initial struggles at the start of the year, her district is in a good place currently and have not had many of those same issues in recent weeks. Similarly, in Brookfield, Superintendent John Barile said there have been no route issues or staffing effects to the point that routes have been canceled. DiCorpo said New Milfords continued struggles were due to illness and driver shortages. The company has not responded to The News-Times since September when a reporter first reached out for comment. The New Milford school district recognizes the disruption and challenges to all of our students and families in New Milford, said Board of Education Chairwoman Wendy Faulenbach. This matter has been taken seriously and will continue to be, by working collaboratively with the bus company, the board, and the town. According to its website, the company has had a terminal in New Milford since 2004 and transports 4,500 children daily during the school year. This fiscal year, New Milford shelled out roughly $4.1 million to All-Star as part of its transportation contract, a 3 percent increase from the year before. This is the districts fourth year of a five-year contract. Faulenbach said any service interruptions will always be discussed with the vendor when they occur and during contract negotiations. We understand, All-Star understands, that theres been some servicing issues, and those discussions will take place and continue to take place, she said, but we are all working together. She added that the first priority is making sure services are running for students. Faulenbach said they are telling the company: whatever resources you have, both in New Milford and out of district, we need them. Making changes On Thursday, DiCorpo wrote to families suggesting that interruptions to certain bus routes would persist for the remainder of the year. To address this, All-Star is creating a second run with 30- to 40-minute time frames to make sure children get to and from school if their regular buses cannot run. Second runs will not be available on days with delayed starts or early dismissals. In the mornings, buses going to Schaghticoke Middle School and New Milford High will pick up between 8:45 a.m. and 9:15 a.m., while other schools will run between 9:50 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. In the afternoon, kids at Schaghticoke and the high school will be picked up between 3:45 p.m. and 4 p.m., and other students between 4:30p.m. and 4:45 p.m. The new second run routes will begin Tuesday. While we realize that this is not ideal, we are doing everything to try to get children to and from school, DiCorpo wrote. We are grateful to All-Star for helping us to realize this strategy and for the bus drivers who are taking on the responsibility of the additional routes. She said the district would be working to support families beyond these second runs. The district has started updating its transportation page with altered bus route announcements, including a pop-up on the sites landing page alerting parents to visit the transportation page to check for updates. DiCorpo said the district is in communication with All-Star three times a day, and would be updating the transportation page three times a day as well, to let parents know if morning, afternoon, or the next days bus routes would be interrupted. We will update these daily as needed at 5:30 a.m. for morning bus runs, 11:00 a.m. for afternoon bus runs, and then again at 7:30 p.m. for any new changes for the next day, DiCorpo wrote. Online, district parents frequently update each other on the status of certain buses, sharing information and emails to let others know which buses will be delayed or canceled for the day. Some say they dont always get the notifications from the school. All-Star has been working to fill staffing shortages for several months. A job posting from June says that anyone 21 and older with three years of driving experience can apply. The job pays $17.77 per hour. Mayor Pete Bass has not been involved in any of the busing conversations at the school level, but he has been staying in touch with the schools to support them. Its quite a challenge, he said. Were here to support in whatever way the Board of Education and the superintendent need us to be, Bass said. With the improved communication methods we've worked with All-Star to implement as well as the strategies we will employ between now and June, I believe things have already begun to improve and will continue to do so, DiCorpo wrote. In the past 24 hours, India has recorded 2,68,833 fresh new Covid-19 cases and 402 fatalities. Of the total infections, 6,041 cases are of the highly contagious Omicron variant. Amid the surge in Covid-19 cases, the Election Commission of India held a crucial meeting on allowing election rallies in poll-bound states today. After much deliberation and discussion, EC has extended the ban of political rallies and roadshows in poll-bound states till January 22. However, it has allowed parties to hold indoor meetings with a maximum of 300 persons or 50% capacity of the hall. The crucial meeting comes at a time when the country is witnessing a massive peak in the number of Covid-19 cases. In the past 24 hours, India has recorded 2,68,833 fresh new Covid-19 cases and 402 fatalities. Of the total infections, 6,041 cases are of the highly contagious Omicron variant. The positivity rate now stands at 16.66 percent. Despite Section 144 being imposed in most states amid the surge, some of the politicians continue to give a blind eye to the Covid norms. An FIR was registered against the Samajwadi Party on Friday for violating the election model code of conduct and Covid-19 protocol. The action was taken after a crowd gathered at the SP office for the joining programmed of former BJP Uttar Pradesh ministers Swami Prasad Maurya, Dharam Singh Saini and five other MLAs including Bhagwati Sagar, Vinay Shakya, Roshan Lal Verma, Mukesh Verma and Brajesh Kumar Prajapati who got inducted into the SP. Samajwadi Pary UP chief Naresh Uttam Patel, said that it was a virtual event inside their party office. They didnt call anyone but people came. Meanwhile, a case has also been registered against Uttarakhand Cabinet Minister Dhan Singh Rawat, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Chamoli district president Raghuveer Bisht and 11 others in Chamoli for violation of Section 144, on complaint of flying squad constituted by the Election Commission. As per the complaint, a program was organised at the BJP office in Gopeshwar to take suggestions from the public in the letter box regarding the manifesto and vision document ahead of 2022 assembly elections on Thursday without permission. According to the statement of the Indian Air Force, the cause of the unfortunate accident was attributed to the unexpected change of weather conditions in the valley. The Tri-Services Court of Inquiry constituted to probe the cause of the Mi-17 V5 accident that claimed the lives of late Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and his wife and 12 other military personnel onboard on December 8, has ruled out mechanical failure and said that entry into clouds led to the spatial disorientation of pilot leading to the accident. The tri-services inquiry had submitted its preliminary findings to the Defence Minister last week. The probe ruled out mechanical failure, sabotage or negligence as a cause of the accident. According to the statement of the Indian Air Force, the cause of the unfortunate accident was attributed to the unexpected change of weather conditions in the valley. The inquiry was headed by Air Marshal Manvendra Singh, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Training Command. The inquiry team analysed the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder besides questioning all available witnesses to determine the most probable cause of the accident. The Court of Inquiry has ruled out mechanical failure, sabotage or negligence as a cause of the accident. The accident was a result of entry into clouds due to unexpected change in weather conditions in the valley, said the statement. This led to spatial disorientation of the pilot resulting in Controlled Flight into Terrain. Based on its findings, the Court of Inquiry has made certain recommendations which are being reviewed, it added. The Indian Air Force (IAF) had presented a detailed tri-services inquiry report to Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the Mi-17 chopper crash on December 8. General Rawat was headed to Defence Services Staff College in Wellington to address the faculty and student officers of the Staff Course when his chopper crashed. General Rawats wife Madhulika Rawat, his Defence Adviser Brigadier Lakhbinder Singh Lidder, Staff Officer Lieutenant Colonel Harjinder Singh, Group Captain Varun Singh and nine other armed forces personnel including the Air Force helicopter crew lost their lives in the accident. A Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express train collided with a cement pillar at Valsad in south Gujarat, but no one was wounded as per officials. They believe the pillar was put on the railway track by miscreants in an effort to derail the premium train from Mumbai on Friday evening. The incident occurred at about 7.10 p.m and a complaint has been filed in this regard. In the matter, a Valsad rural police station spokesman stated that a cement pillar built on the railway track near Atul station near Valsad was struck by the Mumbai-Hazrat Nizamuddin August Kranti Rajdhani Express train. The pillar was forced off the railway after being struck by the train. He went on to say that the train continued without any issue, and no passengers were injured. Further, Rajkumar Pandian, Range, IG of Surat, told reporters that the cement pillar had been erected on the railway by some miscreants. After the train collided with the structure, the train manager quickly notified the local station master. It looked to be an effort to derail the train, he claimed, adding that authorities are looking into it. A FIR was filed against unnamed criminals, and attempts are underway to apprehend the perpetrators using technology surveillance and human intelligence. Meanwhile, days before Republic Day, security authorities discovered and defused an improvised explosive device (IED) in Srinagars Nowhatta district on Friday. An IED was also discovered and defused in the national capitals Ghazipur flower market. Police and the CRPF discovered a suspicious bag at Khawaja Bazar Chowk in Srinagars Nowhatta neighborhood, a police officer said. According to him, a bomb disposal team was dispatched to the scene, where they discovered a four to five litre pressure cooker (suspect IED) in the bag. The IED was eventually detonated on the scene by the bomb squad, according to the official. Meanwhile, an abandoned bag containing an IED device was discovered in the morning at Delhis Ghazipur flower market, authorities said, adding that the item was eventually defused. The event occurred just days before the national capitals Republic Day celebrations on January 26. In the run-up to the event, the citys security apparatus is on high alert. At 10.19 a.m., fire officials got information about a suspicious unattended bag that was discovered at the flower market. Officials from the Delhi Polices Special Cell, the NSGs explosives detection and disposal unit, and fire tenders arrived quickly and cordoned off the area. NSG personnel in bomb suits were observed at the location where a bomb disposal container known as a complete containment vessel (TVC) was delivered. The investigation into the case has already commenced. The video footage from 15 CCTV cameras in the area of the market has also been retrieved by the Special Cell. The National Security Group has gathered samples of the device and will perform a forensic study to determine how the IED was put together. The explosion seems to be a nitrate mixture at first glance. Investigators are looking at the route map to see how the IED got to market and who was responsible for putting it. HAMDEN The towns unique kindness campaign has begun. Rabbi Moshe Hecht, co-director of Chabad of Hamden, partnering with local businesses, has launched a kindness initiative using small, plastic arks that hold money. Ark in this case stands for Acts of Random Kindness, and those participating make up the Kindness Coalition. People pick up the yellow, branded arks at participating businesses, for free, and put some coins of bills in them each day. When the ark is full, they simply pass it on to someone in need, or to a charitable organization. There are 12,000 arks out there that will be distributed at Alltown Fresh, Liberty Bank, ShopRite, Ion Bank, Chabad of Hamden and Webster Bank. Although people can fill them with money all at once, Hecht said there would something beautiful in it for everyone if those filling the arks put a little change in each day. I think this is a very important and unique medium in that its not about whats being given, but also that its creating givers, Hecht said. Although the arks can be filled in any manner people wish to, putting money in the ark daily transforms a persons psyche and influences their actions daily. Hecht said the daily act will help develop a habit of giving. The Kindness Coalition is a group of local organizations, where the arks will be distributed in Hamden, that have united to make a positive change. Being a Rabbi, my focus is primarily to encourage our congregants in performing Jewish mitzvot, as well as encouraging all of humankind to make the world a better place, Hecht said. ARK is a novel concept which allows us all to come together as one, putting any differences aside, to positively impact the world. For more information and to find out where to get an ark, visit DailyActOfKindness.org. Although good deeds, or mitzvahs, are central to Judaism, Hecht said there is no religious connection to the ark initiative or to the use of an ark as the container. Anyone can write a check, but thats a one-time thing, he said. Youre doing this daily and thats what I think is fantastic. Hecht said the initiative is modeled after one rolled out by the Jewish community in South Africa that proved successful. SYDNEY, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- A team of researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and St Vincent's Hospital Sydney have found clear biological marker in patients experiencing long COVID. The study, published in the Nature Immunology journal on Friday, used data collected from unvaccinated patients at St Vincent's Hospital who were infected with the Alpha variant during Australia's first wave of the pandemic in early 2020. Dr. Chansavath Phetsouphanh, senior research associate at UNSW's Kirby Institute and co-lead author on the paper said this study describes the long-term impact of COVID-19 on the immune system through analysis in a laboratory setting. "We found that there is a significant and sustained inflammation that indicates prolonged activation of the immune system response detectable for at least eight months following initial infection," said Phetsouphanh. Of the 62 COVID patients involved in the study, 30 percent showed some symptoms of long COVID. They found that patients that presented with long COVID held biomarkers of infection that disappeared in patients who had fully recovered from the disease. "These are biological characteristics which can help us define a medical condition in an accurate and reproducible way," said Phetsouphanh. Interestingly, the study found that the severity of one's experience with COVID-19 showed no link to developing the long-lasting symptoms seen in long COVID. Supporting this finding, one participant in the study Doris Gal gave a first-hand account of her experience of long COVID. "My initial infection was quite mild, however my long COVID symptoms are significant. I've lost the ability to comprehend the way I did before having COVID," said Gal. Proving the biological basis for long COVID will not only open up ways to treat and monitor the condition, but it also, for patients like Gal, confirmed a biological basis of the ongoing impacts of the disease. The researchers said that new studies would need to be conducted to see if the impacts of long COVID are milder or rarer in those who have been vaccinated or with different variants, such as the now dominant Omicron variant. "We will continue our analysis in response to the Omicron wave. In the meantime, with so many unknowns with both COVID and long COVID, we should do everything we can to reduce transmission," said Kirby Institute director, Professor Anthony Kelleher. ANSONIA As the saying goes, if you cant beat em, join em. Such is the case in Ansonia as the lone Democratic member of the citys Board of Aldermen recently switched political allegiances and is now a Republican. By switching Joseph Jeanette, who represents the citys Third Ward, has handed the Ansonia Republicans complete control of the citys legislative body. Jeanette said he switched because he believes Mayor David Cassetti is an indispensable part of the citys economic rebound and the Democratic Party had changed in ways that clashed with his political beliefs. Im a firm believer, if the mayor fails, the city fails. And I dont want that to happen. I think hes doing a good job. Him and the administration, Jeanette said. His switch also means there is no opposing party with any presence on the board. The local Democratic Party ran candidates in November partly on a platform that the board should not be a rubber stamp for Cassettis economic policies. However, Jeanette said his new-found political affiliation would not influence how he votes. Jeanette said he wanted to switch for a while and previously made overtures to the Republican Party. But the decision to change parties was his alone, he said. No one made me switch. This is totally something that I wanted to do. And they accepted me and Im proud to be part of it, he said. His nephew, Garry Farrar who is the former chairman of the Ansonia Democratic Town Committee, also switched parties although he does not occupy any elected office. He made the switch partly due to issues he had with the direction of the party and bickering between members. But, he was also motivated to switch allegiances due in part to the perceived futility of campaigning against an administration thats doing a good job, he said. The losses that we have faced over the past three elections, since Ive been a member of the DTC, are a result of the Republicans doing a good job, he said. I dont think anything that the Democrats have done would necessarily, influence their records. I just think its more of a what the environment that the city is in. Brian Perkins, who recently ran for an alderman seat and is now the interim chair of the Ansonia Democratic Town Committee, said he wished Jeanette and Farrar well, but pointed out the two jumped to the opposition party after Farrar failed in his bid to remain on the DTC. Their departures wont hurt the party Perkins said. The older members didnt get kicked off or alienated. They simply left, he said. Political landscapes change so vastly and constantly that I dont necessarily feel like well be losing anything, but rather gaining new direction and effective messaging. Niagara Falls, NY (14301) Today Periods of rain. High 62F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Cloudy with periods of rain. Low near 50F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a half an inch. Arka Boh lived in Thailand for his first nine years before coming to America to live in Buffalo. Boh scored highly on the civil service test in Lockport and put himself through the Police Academy. If all should go well in the second phase of the hiring process, he will be a Lockport Police officer, the first Burmese-American to hold such a position in Niagara County. (Photography by Benjamin Joe) Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has urged Nigerians with convincing medical evidence of Bola Tinubu, a presidential aspirant to speak out. AC... Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has urged Nigerians with convincing medical evidence of Bola Tinubu, a presidential aspirant to speak out. ACF said Nigerians with Tinubus medical evidence should come out and show that he is not fit to contest the Presidency on health grounds. Spokesman of ACF, Emmanuel Yawe, said the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, should not be allowed to run for the Presidency without providing his medical evidence. The APC National Leader on Monday hinted on vying for the highest political office in the country. The former Lagos State Governor informed President Muhammadu Buhari of his life-long dream which is to run for the Presidency. However, Yawe said Nigerians must be saved from the agony of having a President with health challenges. In a statement, Yawe said: If people have issues or evidence about his (Tinubu) health, let them come out and speak. Let them provide evidence that he is not strong enough to contest for the Presidency or hold the office. The people who have the evidence that Tinubu is not strong enough for the office of Presidency should save us the agony of having a sick President in office. They should speak out. The ACF spokesman pointed out the late former President Umaru YarAdua, who was sick and died in office, created a constitutional crisis. So, if we know that somebody is sick, we should not allow him to take over that office. It is a serious office that will determine the future of millions of citizens. In a complex country like Nigeria, we should not allow somebody that is not medically fit to occupy such an office and mess all of us up. President Muhammadu Buhari is always travelling abroad for medical attention, and Nigerians would be organizing demonstrations to force him back home. It was really embarrassing. We should not allow such things to happen again, Yawe said. Last year, Tinubu had spent months abroad after he had surgery. While recuperating, Buhari visited him in London. In keeping with the tradition of the Armed Forces Remembrance Day, President Muhammadu Buhari, his Vice, Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President, ... In keeping with the tradition of the Armed Forces Remembrance Day, President Muhammadu Buhari, his Vice, Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila and the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed laid wreath in honour of the fallen heroes. Others who had the honour of laying the wreath included the Minister of Defence, Major-General Bashi Magashi, Minister of FCT, Mohammed Bello, Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, Chief of Army Staff, Major General Farouk Yahaya, Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo, Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marahal Ishiaka Oladayo Amao and the Inspector General of Police, Alkali Baba. The colourful ceremony, which is observed every January 15, usually holds at the National Arcade, opposite the Eagle Square, Abuja. The 2022 edition featured parade by the Nigerian Armed Forces. The event holds simultaneously across the 36 States of the federation. Recall that the Armed Forces Remembrance Day is observed on January 15 to commemorate the servicemen of the Nigerian Armed Forces, veterans of world war 1 and 2, as well as the Nigerian civil war. Other dignitaries who graced the event include: Minister of State Health, Mamora, SGF, Boss Mustapha Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige among others. High point of the event was the release of white pigeons symbolising freedom and peace of the nation. RAMALLAH, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of Palestinian protestors were injured on Friday during clashes with Israeli soldiers near two cities in northern West Bank, medics and eyewitnesses said. Palestinian medics said that at least 15 demonstrators were injured by rubber-coated metal gunshots and dozens suffered suffocation after they inhaled the teargas fired by the Israeli soldiers near Nablus and Qalqilya. Palestinian eyewitnesses said the clashes broke out between dozens of demonstrators and Israeli soldiers after the Palestinians organized two weekly protests against recent Israeli settlement expansion and confiscation of lands in the West Bank. They said that the clashes were fierce in the village of Beit Dajan east of Nablus, and that the Palestinians threw stones at the soldiers, who fired rubber gunshots and teargas canisters to disperse them. Meanwhile, six other Palestinians were injured by rubber-coated metal gunshots fired by the Israeli soldiers during a protest in the village of Kafr Qaddum east of Qalqilya. There has been no immediate response from the Israeli army near the two cities in the West Bank. On Friday, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Palestinian people have the right to defend themselves and get their legitimate rights of self-determination and establish their independent Palestinian state on the 1967 border. Israel has occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which are claimed by the Palestinians, since the 1967 Middle East war. President Muhammadu Buhari has asked Nigerians to be fair in assessing how his administration has handled security challenges. Buhar... President Muhammadu Buhari has asked Nigerians to be fair in assessing how his administration has handled security challenges. Buhari spoke on Friday when Tidjani Ali Bin Arabi, grand Khalifa of the Tijjaniyya Islamic Movement world-wide, visited him at the state house. Arabi was accompanied by Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano, and Dahiru Bauchi, a leader of a faction of the movement in Nigeria. According to the president, the federal government is well aware of its responsibility with regards to security and will continue to do its best. Buhari urged Nigerians to be fair to his government in assessing the response to security issues by reflecting on the situation at the time he took over in 2015, and the achievements which mark a decisive break from the past. He cited the successes recorded by his administration in the north-east and the south-south, adding that the situation in the north-west would experience a turnaround for the better. Buhari urged Nigerians to take responsibility and show interest in the affairs of their own security and complement what the government is currently doing. We have done our best and we will continue to do more by pursuing coherent and consistent policies to deal with terrorism, Buhari said. I hope God will listen to our prayers. The president thanked Ganduje for bringing the grand Khalifa to Nigeria. We thank you for inviting them to come to pray for peace and stability in our country. We are grateful that they agreed to come, he said. Earlier, Ganduje said his government invited the Tijjaniyya world leader to Nigeria to lead the faithful in prayers against insecurity. According to NAN, the governor said the visit of the grand Khalifa had also rekindled the old ties between the Tijjaniya and the many cultural and educational institutions in Nigeria. Specifically, Kano state government invited the Grand Khalifa to come to Kano and develop a good relationship between Algeria and the city of Kano, Ganduje said. We invited him and his team to pray for Nigeria for peace, stability and prosperity, and also to pray for peace and stability of Kano state. On strategy to address the almajiri issue, the governor said the state government has introduced free and compulsory primary and secondary education for them. According to him, most of the almajiri children are not indigenes of Kano state but as Nigerians, they are free to live anywhere in this country. We have built many Islamiya schools. We have reformed the almajiri system of education, and also, we have embarked on repatriation of almajiris to their respective states, some even to Republic of Niger, Republic of Cameroon, he said. Following the lifting of the Twitter ban by the Buhari regime on the midnight of January 13, 2022, the All Progressives Congress has urged... Following the lifting of the Twitter ban by the Buhari regime on the midnight of January 13, 2022, the All Progressives Congress has urged its supporters to return to the platform and continue to spread the achievements of the President and the Party. This is as it charged Nigerians to create homegrown social media applications that could rival the micro-blogging platform. National Secretary of the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, John Akpanudoedehe, disclosed this on Friday in a statement titled APC hails President Buhari, Nigerians for standing against Twitter interference. Akpanudoedehe wrote, The All Progressives Congress salutes President Muhammadu Buhari and the patriotic citizens of our nation for standing firm against the interference of Twitter Inc. in Nigerias internal and national security affairs. Mr President indeed stood up for the sovereignty of our nation until Twitter acceded to all six demands of the Federal Government of Nigeria concerning their practises in matters concerning our country. We also applaud Twitter for allowing good reason and common interest prevail by agreeing to open their office in Nigeria. This is a win-win for all parties and will create jobs and gainful opportunities for Nigerians in the global digital space. By also agreeing to enroll Nigeria in its Partner Support and Law Enforcement Portals, the APC said that Twitter had demonstrated its commitment to help Nigeria fight crime and criminals on their platforms who violate both Twitter rules and Nigerias laws. The Party, therefore, applaud the decision by the President to lift the suspension on Twitters activities in Nigeria saying, We encourage our supporters to return to the platform and continue to spread the achievements of President Buhari and our great Party. Still, we should not rest on our oars. Russia has VKontakte, China has Weibo, among several homegrown social media platforms. Nigerians talented in developing social media/software applications are challenged to develop homegrown applications that can rival existing social media platforms and meet the needs of Nigerians. The APC charged operators of social media pages to use their platforms to check divisive and inciting rhetoric, particularly in Nigeria as they have an important responsibility to curb fake news, disinformation, hate speech, among others. Gunmen suspected to be bandits have abducted some students of Federal University of Lafia, Nasarawa State. It was learnt that the students w... Gunmen suspected to be bandits have abducted some students of Federal University of Lafia, Nasarawa State. It was learnt that the students were abducted by the gunmen at the university community in Mararaba campus. Confirming the incident, the Universitys Public Relation Officer, Abubakar Ibrahim, revealed that four students were abducted. He said that the gunmen attacked the university at about 11:30 pm on Thursday and whisked the students to an undisclosed location. The statement read: The authority of the Federal University of Lafia regrets to announce that four students of the institution were kidnapped by unknown gunmen on Thursday, January 13, 2022, at around 11:30 p.m. The unfortunate kidnap incident took place at a community, Mararaba, located close to the university. Ibrahim assured that serious efforts were being taken to ensure quick rescue of the victims. The Vice-Chancellor, who has since visited the area where the students were abducted, also visited the Nasarawa Police command where he formally notified the commissioner of Police about the abduction of the students, the statement added. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Borno State has alleged that most projects executed by the current administration of Governor Babagana... The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Borno State has alleged that most projects executed by the current administration of Governor Babagana Zulum are substandard. The party particularly pointed out that the much talked about N4.3 billion Customs Flyover commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari, just about a month ago, have started showing cracks. But reacting, the Borno State Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon Ali Bukar Dalori, described the allegation as untrue and baseless. A statement signed by the opposition PDP Publicity Secretary in the state, Mr Amos Adziba, alleged that: it received with dismay calls and messages from concerned citizens of Borno State expressing their concern for public safety and wastages of public funds on substandard projects by the Borno State Government over the years. The calls follow reports of the impending collapse of the just concluded Customs Flyover that gulped over N4.3 billion, which was just commissioned by Mr. President last December, 2021. He added that: It is the responsibility of all citizens, which all our party leadership, members, and all citizens of Borno State to activate vigilance and demand for accountability from Governor Zulum-led administration in the state, because vigilance and demand for good governance remain the price we as citizens must pay to safeguard democracy and public safety. Our state have witnessed lots of losses of unquantifiable level over the last one decade and at this stage of recovery, while we still have numerous security challenges to face, we as a state cannot afford to waste such huge public finance on projects that are not well thought of, well designed and well executed within the global best practices standards. Meanwhile, the ruling APC Chairman, Dalori, advised the factional group of PDP of which Mr Amos Adziba paraded himself as Publicity Secretary to face their court cases filed by the genuine PDP Chairman in the state, Hon Mahdi Baderi, which is still pending. He noted that there is no need to join issues with a factional opposition party claimed to be PDP leaders, but for the purpose of clarity, the ruling APC under his chairmanship deem it necessary to keep the general public abreast on campaign of calumny against Governor Zulum by Amos Adziba who claimed to be publicly Secretary of Zanna Gadama led -faction of the PDP in Borno state. Dalori advised The Factional PDP led by Zanna Gadama as Chairman and Amos Adziba as Publicity Secretary to face their court cases, it is unfortunate that this group have chose to create lies against the committed and transparent execution of people oriented projects under the leadership of Governor Babagana Umara Zulum. Since inception of this present administration, Zulum has executed over 600 projects comprising roads and drainage networks, hospitals, schools which have been attested to be in good standard by notable Engineers, and that is why even the President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, NSE, Engr. Babagana Mohammed, FNSE, while on a state visit to Borno applauded Zulums projects after he inspected them recently. The Anambra State Police Command has arrested the commander of the Anambra State Vigilante Group for allegedly torturing a female police o... The Anambra State Police Command has arrested the commander of the Anambra State Vigilante Group for allegedly torturing a female police officer on January 12, 2022. The police spokesman, DSP Ikenga Tochukwu, confirmed the arrest in Awka on Saturday. He said the Commissioner of Police, Echeng Echeng, ordered the arrest of the suspect, whose name was not mentioned, following a report of harassment and torturing of a female police officer at the AVGs Awuda Nnobi security office. He described the act as cowardly and assured members of the public that the command was always ready to protect the women against violence even when the person is not from the security community. He thanked the members of the public especially Ndi Anambra for their advocacy in condemning the act and protecting the female gender. He said, Following a trending video on the social media showing when some members of the Anambra Vigilante Group were seen harassing and torturing a female in their office at Awuda Nnobi. The CP ordered the immediate arrest of the commander and investigation has since commenced. The command, today, wishes to inform the general public, especially Ndi Anambra, that the commander of the AVG has been arrested for allegedly torturing a female police officer on 12th January 2022 at Awuda Nnobi security office and he is in our custody. The National leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has paid a condolence visit to Governor Seyi M... The National leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has paid a condolence visit to Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State. Tinubu paid the visit to the governor on Saturday. The visit was due to the death of three prominent personalities who died recently in the state. They included immediate past Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Jimoh Oyewumi, the Olubadan of Ibadan land, Oba Saliu Akanmu Adetunji and a former governor of the state, Otunba Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala. It was gathered that Oba Oyewumi joined his ancestors on December 12, 2021, at the age of 95. Oba Adetunji on the other hand joined his ancestors on January 2nd 2022 at the age of 93. The former governor, Alao-Akala died on Wednesday at the age of 71. Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos state said that his visit was to commensurate with the people and government of the state over the demise of these personalities. Tinubu, who spoke at the Agodi Government House, said that the traditional rulers and Alao-Akala would be greatly missed. He added that Alao-Akala contributed immensely to the political development and the love radiating within the political arena in the state. Tinubu said, I want to thank you, the governor. It was only last night that I thought of coming here and we are here today. Having lost a former governor of this state, the Olubadan of Ibadanland and Soun of Ogbomoso, it is just for us to go back to the sense of value of people and their lives. With this situation, we share in your loss. You, as the governor on the saddle of power, take responsibility for the situation here. I want to say that we thank God Ibadan has been peaceful and not a den of violence but peaceful. Every other thing that has happened has taught us in the book of religion that we are just passing through and we will leave one day. But no matter how long, it is difficult to absorb the loss easily. Veteran actress and preacher, Eucharia Anunobi, on Saturday told her fans that their social media posts can reveal who they were. She made... Veteran actress and preacher, Eucharia Anunobi, on Saturday told her fans that their social media posts can reveal who they were. She made this known in a video on her Instagram page, where she admonished her followers to be careful of what they post on social media. The preacher, who goes by the title Apostle, described social media as a Curriculum Vitae through which people get jobs online. She said, When are you going to wake up and realise that your social media platform in this clime is the curriculum vitae, through which people can see how stupid or how smart you are? And also a determinant of the jobs to give you or functions to invite you to. So when are you going to wake up to realise that, you fool? Staff members arrange swab samples in Anyang City of central China's Henan Province, Jan. 12, 2022.(Photo by Ma Xiaoran/Xinhua) BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mainland on Friday reported 104 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, the National Health Commission said in its daily report on Saturday. Of the new local cases, 52 were reported in Henan, 39 in Tianjin, eight in Guangdong, four in Shaanxi, and one in Zhejiang, the commission said. Also reported were 61 new imported cases in eight provincial-level regions, according to the commission. Six new suspected cases arriving from outside the mainland were reported in Shanghai, and no new deaths from COVID-19 were reported on the day, it added. The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland had reached 104,745 by Friday, including 3,451 patients still receiving treatment, of whom 11 were in severe condition. A total of 96,658 patients had been discharged from hospitals on the mainland, and 4,636 had died as a result of the virus. A total of 25 asymptomatic cases were newly reported Friday, 23 of whom arrived from outside the mainland. Watertown, NY (13601) Today Cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 66F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Rain likely. Low 53F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a half an inch. Yes. Gov. Hochul chose Mr. Benjamin, and she's stuck with him through the election. No. The state should have the option to remove someone under criminal indictment. Vote View Results Xu Chen (2nd R), the Minister Counselor in the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania, attends the launch of the civil aviation safety oversight systems project in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Jan. 14, 2022. Tanzanian authorities on Friday launched the enhancement of the civil aviation safety oversight systems project financed by the Chinese government for 1 million U.S. dollars grant. (Photo by Herman Emmanuel/Xinhua) DAR ES SALAAM, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian authorities on Friday launched the enhancement of the civil aviation safety oversight systems project financed by the Chinese government for 1 million U.S. dollars grant. The Chinese government through its South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund (SSCAF) provided the grant to finance the project to be implemented for one year by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) through its Technical Cooperation Bureau. Launching the project in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, the Deputy Minister for Works and Transport, Godfrey Kasekenya, said the aviation industry must assure that safety and reliability compliance remained robust and ambitious so that air transport's core value offerings are duly safeguarded. "Aviation is a major contributor to global economic prosperity," said Kasekenya, adding that through providing the only safest rapid worldwide transportation network, aviation is essential for global business, and generates economic growth, creates jobs, and facilitates international trade and tourism. Hamza Johari, the director general of the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA), said the main purpose of the project is to provide technical assistance to Tanzania to enhance its aviation safety oversight system. Barry Kashambo, the ICAO regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa, thanked China for its donation to the ICAO through its South-South Cooperation funding mechanism. He said out of the 4 million U.S. dollars initially donated by China to ICAO, 1 million U.S. dollars has been allocated to Tanzania for the technical assistance project, 2 million U.S. dollars was allocated for the development and conduct of training courses for civil aviation senior and middle managers program that has been completed, and 1 million U.S. dollars will be supporting ICAO efforts to provide capacity-building assistance in the Republic of Congo. Xu Chen, the Minister Counselor in the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania, said through this project, China hoped to help Tanzania strengthen capacity building in civil aviation safety oversight, promote the integration of Tanzania's civil aviation industry with the international standards. Xu added that the project will also train more outstanding aviation professionals for Tanzania and make contribution to the development of Tanzanian civil aviation industry. He said China is willing to support Tanzania in developing its civil aviation industry and promoting its connectivity with other African countries as well as the world, including China. Hamza Johari (Front), the director general of the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA), speaks during the launch of the civil aviation safety oversight systems project in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Jan. 14, 2022. Tanzanian authorities on Friday launched the enhancement of the civil aviation safety oversight systems project financed by the Chinese government for 1 million U.S. dollars grant. (Photo by Herman Emmanuel/Xinhua) Though shes accustomed to reporting on tragedy and hardship for a French cable news channel, TV reporter France de Meurs is thrown off guard by a mishap in her own life and becomes the news, or at least a source of tabloid-worthy scandal and popular outrage, in Bruno Dumonts France. Played by Lea Seydoux, France has an attractive onscreen presence, but shes also known for getting out in the field, reporting on rebel uprisings in North Africa and the dangerous plight of African immigrants trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea in small boats. The film explores both Frances skill in slickly orchestrating news coverage and studio debates, and the ways in which her onscreen image doesnt match her personal life. The drama relies on Seydoux to make Frances overwrought heartache convincing, but the quick spree of misfortunes she encounters feels contrived. The film opens with a press conference by the French president. As a well-known TV journalist, France gets the first question, and she puts him on the spot in a way that thrills social media. Dumont is interested in highlighting the way media figures frame such coverage for their own benefit, suggesting that TV news can easily become more about the personalities on screen than the substance of what theyre discussing. France also stages multiple camera shots with armed rebels in North Africa, generating footage to dramatize her own news report. Dumonts point is more devastating when France interviews a woman whose husband is accused of a horrible crime. After the heart wrenching conversation, France turns to the camera and reenacts all of her questions ignoring that the woman is still there so they can splice closeups of her into the video segment. France is at the top of her profession and has become wealthy getting there. Her husband is a novelist, and they run in elite social circles. But privilege doesnt keep France from running into a man on a scooter while dropping off her son at school. She genuinely takes responsibility for causing the collision and helping the victim and his family. But the event weighs on her conscience, and that leaves her unsettled on set. In Dumonts treatment, it highlights how far removed the TV personalities are from people like the immigrants or farmers in war-torn North Africa. A recuperation retreat in a beautiful spot in the Alps only helps France so much, and even further complicates her life. She returns to the news channel, but her personal life is not back to normal. More misfortunes set her careening from mishap to crisis, exposing fragility in her life offscreen. Seydoux is building on a prolific international career, appearing frequently in French cinema and also starring in Wes Andersons The French Dispatch, the latest Bond film, No Time to Die, and other big Hollywood films. Dumont repeatedly zooms in to closeups of Frances face, and Seydoux finds a grimace or look of despair for each occasion. Blanche Gardin is entertaining as Frances devoted and maneuvering agent. Dumont is effective in skewering cable news, though France actually covers news and is not just a talking head or a political hack. No one can predict what chance will bring them in life, not even celebrities accustomed to smiling for the cameras, but the film relies on a few too many random events to advance the story. What Dumont critiques in the systemic churn of the media industry is different from the unpredictability of Frances personal life, where the hardships are personal and immediate, and her handle on them isnt as steady. France opens Friday, Jan. 14, at Zeitgeist Theatre & Lounge. In French with English subtitles. Familiar scenes are playing out in hospitals across Louisiana as omicron continues to prompt more people to seek care: emergency rooms are slammed with patients and wait times are long; health care workers are out sick with COVID or just burned out; the ones that remain are exhausted and frustrated. Short-staffed hospitals due to the coronavirus are not new in Louisiana. But even as hopes rise that the omicron wave may crest in coming weeks, data show that staff shortages are reaching critical levels, sapping the empathy and energy of health care workers in the midst of the state's fifth major outbreak. In Louisiana, 27% of hospitals are experiencing a critical staff shortage as of Thursday, according to data published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, amid rising COVID infections among doctors and nurses and a long-running shortage of health workers. There haven't been this many Louisiana hospitals at critical staff levels since the delta variant hit the state in August and September. +2 Omicron shows signs of peaking elsewhere. When will it happen in Louisiana? Coronavirus cases continue on a sky-high trajectory in Louisiana, even as scientists are seeing signs of a plateau in the omicron wave in some About 17% of all hospitals in the U.S. reported critical shortages as of Thursday. This is a horrible loop that we find ourselves in again and again, with what seems to be fewer resources, fewer attention and fewer concern in general, said Dr. Jennifer Avegno, head of the New Orleans Health Department, at a news conference this week. Avegno, who also works as an emergency medicine physician at University Medical Center, described patients waiting in hallways, staff outages in the triple digits at some of the states larger hospitals and up to 12 hour waits just to be seen in emergency rooms. Hospitalizations in Louisiana have climbed faster in the past two weeks than any other state an increase of 237% compared to the U.S. average of 79%. Since the start of the year, the number of patients with COVID in hospitals has increased by about 90 per day, for a total of 2,173 statewide. Dr. Josh Denson, associate director of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Tulane University School of Medicine, said that the omicron variant, which studies show is milder on average than earlier mutations, hasn't put as great of a burden on intensive-care units. But he prickles at the characterization that omicron isnt causing severe illness. Is it mild? No, said Denson. I have a handful of people dying in the ICU that have been dying for weeks. Denson estimated that around a quarter of the attending ICU doctors in University Medical Center are out with COVID. Hospitals stopped quarantining for exposures long ago, or else everyone would be out, Denson said. Health news in your inbox Reporter Emily Woodruff shares weekly updates and insights on local health news, including COVID coverage and medical research. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Still, there are glimmers of hope for health care workers. Hoping omicron peaks in Louisiana soon, Gov. John Bel Edwards holds off on statewide mask mandate A day after Louisiana notched a new pandemic record for COVID-19 infections, Gov. John Bel Edwards decided Thursday not to issue a statewide m The latest numbers released by the Louisiana Department of Health on Friday show the weekly count of confirmed cases at 59,689. That's an increase of just 4% compared to last Friday's count, a sign that the fifth wave may be starting to slow its explosive growth statewide. There are more encouraging signs in New Orleans, where the omicron outbreak was first concentrated in Louisiana. Though the weekly case count of 6,443 in the city is still more than twice the totals reported in any week of the pandemic before the omicron variant emerged, it also marks a 33% drop over the all-time high reached seven days ago. There was a different feeling in the emergency room at Ochsner Healths main campus this morning, said Dr. Robert Hart, chief medical officer. They didnt have quite the volume theyve been seeing, said Hart. The beds werent quite as tight. After distrust of low numbers, COVID cases in Louisiana ICE detention centers skyrocket Last week, Omicron, the new extremely contagious variant of COVID-19, seemed to be spreading everywhere in Louisiana but one place. However, i Numbers are looking much better for staffing, too. At the peak, over 1,400 employees were out with COVID during the omicron wave. Now its down to about 900, he said. Still, Hart noted that hospitalizations are not down across all hospitals in Ochsner's system. While the burden is lessening in New Orleans, the north shore and Lafayette are also still seeing increases. And the emotional toll of a fifth surge has left its mark on employees. People were just beginning to breathe a sigh of relief that maybe this is gone, and then have this omicron come back, said Hart. The way it went up so quickly, that was very scary to people. Hospital staff typically see a patients wins as their wins, said Dr. Kara Ward, who specializes in pulmonary critical care and emergency medicine at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. But because the losses have been so vast for COVID patients, health care workers find themselves just trying to make it through their shifts. It's not that we don't care, said Ward. But it's becoming harder to care. Staff writer Jeff Adelson contributed to this report. Louisiana once again posted record-breaking numbers of new coronavirus cases on Friday, though declines in new cases in the New Orleans area offered a glimmer of good news about the ongoing outbreak of the omicron variant in the state. The latest numbers released by the state Department of Health show the weekly count of confirmed cases reaching 59,689 on Friday. That's an increase of just 4% compared to last Friday's count, a sign that the fifth wave may be starting to slow its explosive growth statewide. There are more encouraging signs in New Orleans, where the omicron outbreak was first concentrated in Louisiana. Though the weekly case count of 6,443 in the city is still more than twice the totals reported in any week of the pandemic before the omicron variant emerged, it also marks a 33% drop over the all-time high reached seven days ago. Experts and state health officials have been expecting the state will turn the corner soon, though they've cautioned that predicting a peak is tricky and that the state's hospitals remain stressed. They've said it was likely that the first declines will come in the New Orleans area since it was the first to see cases rise significantly during the current outbreak. +2 Omicron shows signs of peaking elsewhere. When will it happen in Louisiana? Coronavirus cases continue on a sky-high trajectory in Louisiana, even as scientists are seeing signs of a plateau in the omicron wave in some A similar pattern was seen in Jefferson Parish, where 6,807 new confirmed cases were reported over the last seven days. That's 23% less than were reported in the week before. It is not yet clear, however, whether there may be testing and data issues clouding the view. An overarching issue is how many cases in the New Orleans area are actually being reported to the state. At-home testing has become a popular alternative to going to packed urgent cares and pharmacies both in the New Orleans area and around the country. But the vast majority of those test results are not reported to the state and would not be counted as confirmed cases even if they were. However, the trend toward at-home testing began early in the current wave, so would likely not account for this week's decline. There could also be some specific data issues that suggest caution when looking at Friday's numbers. Health news in your inbox Reporter Emily Woodruff shares weekly updates and insights on local health news, including COVID coverage and medical research. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Last Friday, New Orleans reported 2,000 new cases, almost double the number it had reported on each of the preceding three days. That could be a sign of delayed reporting that would skew last week's numbers up and make this week's drop appear larger than it is. Then, this week, the state health department suspended its reporting of parish level numbers on Wednesday and Thursday while it was making adjustments to its data systems. While the cases that would have been reported on those days should be included in its Friday update, it remains unclear whether the changes may have introduced any other delays in reporting. The picture of the pandemic in the New Orleans area should become clearer as more data rolls in next week. At the same time, the number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 in Louisiana continues to rise. There were 2,173 patients hospitalized with the coronavirus on Thursday, the most recent day for which data is available, an increase of 92 over the day before. The number of hospitalized patients has been rising somewhat steadily since the start of the year, with an average of more than 90 additional patients added every day. That's left the state with more patients who have tested positive for the coronavirus than at any point in the pandemic besides the height of the delta wave last summer, when the state reach an all-time high of 3,022 patients. Public health officials have stressed that vaccinated people, particularly those who have received booster shots, are far less likely to require hospitalizations or face severe illness than those without protection. As of Thursday, 74% of the people hospitalized had not completed a vaccination series. The state on Friday also reported eight new deaths that were confirmed to have been caused by the coronavirus and two additional deaths that were likely caused by the disease. That brings the weekly total to 65 confirmed deaths, about 48% more than in the week before and nearly three times as many as were reported two weeks ago. About two thirds of the people who died of the coronavirus in the first week of the year were not fully vaccinated, according to the state Department of Health. The New Orleans jail and the Louisiana prison system are reporting significant COVID-19 outbreaks this week, among both staff and people in custody, with the most reported cases since the surge related to the coronavirus omicron variant began in late 2021. The Orleans Parish Sheriffs Office on Monday reported that 95 detainees at its jail were positive for the virus, about 11% percent of the jail population, as were 68 staff members. That is up from 24 detainees and 49 staffers two weeks earlier. +2 Omicron shows signs of peaking elsewhere. When will it happen in Louisiana? Coronavirus cases continue on a sky-high trajectory in Louisiana, even as scientists are seeing signs of a plateau in the omicron wave in some Throughout Louisiana state prisons, 425 prisoners and 212 staff were positive for the virus, according to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, up from only 24 prisoners and 150 staff last week. The largest outbreak among prisoners is at Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women at St. Gabriel, with 100 reported cases. Allen Correctional Center at Kinder was close behind with 93. Dixon Correctional Institute in Jackson reported 75 prisoner cases, and David Wade Correctional Center in Homer reported 72. The current spike in prisons and the New Orleans city jail is significantly larger than those that occurred during the wave of cases associated with the delta variant last summer. Neither agency is reporting the number of hospitalizations or deaths associated with the virus. It is also unclear how either agency is navigating staff shortages caused by the hundreds of guards who currently have COVID. The New Orleans jail and the Louisiana prison system struggled with serious staffing issues before the recent surge in cases. In April, The Advocate reported that the Department of Public Safety and Corrections more than 400 guard positions were unfilled, a vacancy rate exceeding 35 percent. The Orleans Sheriffs Office has more than 100 vacancies, and lack of staffing at the jail has been raised repeatedly by federal jail monitors who say guard posts are frequently vacant. The Department of Public Safety and Corrections did not respond to multiple questions from The Lens regarding staffing, and whether the surge among employees has affected prison operations. It is also unclear what the current quarantine guidelines are for staff members who have had a COVID exposure. Health news in your inbox Reporter Emily Woodruff shares weekly updates and insights on local health news, including COVID coverage and medical research. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Earlier this month the department suspended visitations at all state prisons for the third time since the pandemic began. +15 Criminal trials are back in New Orleans, but turnover and COVID precautions could snarl pace On Friday evening, Lurline Duncan gathered with loved ones to launch balloons in memory of her son, Gregory Heisser, who was shot to death wit Among staff in prisons, the largest outbreak is at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, which accounts for more than 70 of the current cases. The New Orleans jail has also suspended visitor and volunteer access to the jail, in addition to in-person attorney visits, prompting criticism from the Orleans Public Defenders, who say they need full access to their clients. But on Thursday, Danny Engelberg, chief of trials for the public defenders, also urged the Sheriffs Office to increase COVID precautions in the jail. +2 COVID surge closes, disrupts New Orleans courts as clerks test positive Two courts were closed and one clerks office was operating with a skeleton crew in New Orleans on Thursday as the surge in COVID-19 cases inc As we saw at the start of the pandemic, jails and prisons are tinderboxes for community spread and deadly infection both in the jails and throughout the community, Engelberg said. We urge the sheriff to increase Covid precautions and begin booster efforts immediately. More than half the jail inmates have been vaccinated, the Sheriffs Office says. But in late December, The Times-Picayune reported that none had been given a booster shot, which health officials say reduces the likelihood of infection and severity of illness related to the omicron variant. One person in custody, the office told the newspaper, had requested the booster and would receive it the following week. The Sheriffs Office did not respond to a request from The Lens regarding an update on booster shots. Sheriffs Office employees are required to be vaccinated. That is not the case at the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, where vaccination is optional for employees. Over the summer, a spokesperson for the department said the vaccination rate among staff was around 50 percent, and over 70 percent among prisoners. The department did not respond to a request this week for updated numbers, nor provide any information regarding whether prisoners were offered booster shots. As the calendar turned to the new year, Louisiana's nursing homes confronted a familiar foe: skyrocketing coronavirus cases among residents and staff, worsening an already dire staffing crisis and creating worry among advocates. The explosion in new cases is striking: Louisiana's roughly 270 nursing homes have reported nearly 1,000 new cases among residents in the last two weeks and more than 2,700 new staff cases. Both numbers are more than six times what was reported in the last week of December and represent some of the highest numbers at any time during the pandemic. The case increases are not an outlier. Nursing home infection rates have typically followed case counts in the communities, and the current surge, fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant, is no different. Due to federal guidance on testing and quarantines for positive and exposed staff in homes, the rapid increase has driven a worsening crisis in the workforce, with homes struggling to find enough caregivers to care for residents. "It's very difficult on staffing," said Lisa Gardner of CommCare, which operates 14 homes around the state, including Metairie, the north shore and Baton Rouge. The required frequent testing of employees sometimes identifies asymptomatic positives who must isolate, she said. "We have had record-breaking inquiries for admissions and are limited on the number of people we can care for," Gardner said. Some homes, including those operated by CommCare, have moved to contingency staffing status, in which the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention allows for some quarantines to be shortened if employees are experiencing mild or no symptoms. Across Louisiana, more than 50 homes reported having double-digit numbers of staffers test positive over the week that ended Wednesday. Three of those homes -- Guest House Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation in Caddo Parish, Lake Charles Care Center and Trinity Neurologic Rehabilitation Center in Slidell -- reported more than 20 staffers who had tested positive. Three different homes -- Legacy Nursing and Rehabilitation in Plaquemine, The Summit in Alexandria and Sterling Place in Baton Rouge -- reported the most new resident infections, with 30 or more each. That same situation is confronting homes around the country, according to Dr. David Gifford of the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living, an industry group. Some 230,000 caregivers have left the profession since the beginning of the pandemic in the United States, Gifford noted. Health news in your inbox Reporter Emily Woodruff shares weekly updates and insights on local health news, including COVID coverage and medical research. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up "We cannot weather this storm alone," he said. "We're extremely concerned how this surge will impact our already dire labor crisis as caregivers must isolate if they test positive." In CommCare's homes, most of the positive cases are in vaccinated people and many of them experience mild or no symptoms, Gardner said. Vaccination rates and especially booster rates among staff remain a concern, however. The most recent state data, published Wednesday, shows that an average of 55% of each home's residents are have gotten two shots plus the booster, and another 34% have gotten two shots. Staff booster rates are far lower, however. In the most recent report, only an average of 16% of each home's staff have received the third shot, though 60% have gotten two shots. A Times-Picayune analysis of the state's data shows that an average of 16% of each home's employees have reported receiving the booster. Another 60% have reported getting two shots, the data shows. Boosters have been available in nursing homes since October, and homes have been strongly encouraged to hold vaccination clinics for residents and staff. Denise Bottcher, state director of the Louisiana AARP, worries about the low booster rates among staff. A federal mandate for nursing home staff vaccinations does not include booster shots, she noted. "It remains to be seen what the administration is going to do," Bottcher said. Resident deaths in which COVID was a contributing factor are also up in January, at 10 so far, but the number of deaths has not risen as dramatically as cases. But deaths often come a few weeks after the case counts climb, Bottcher noted. "That's what we will have to wait to see," she said. "Will (the vaccines and boosters) prevent serious illness and death among this medically fragile population?" WASHINGTON The federal website where Americans can request free COVID-19 tests will begin accepting orders on Wednesday as the White House looks to address nationwide shortages, but supplies will be limited to just four free tests per home. Starting on Jan. 19, the website COVIDTests.gov will provide tests at no cost, including no shipping fee, the White House announced Friday. As he faced criticism for low inventory and long lines for testing, President Joe Biden announced last month that the U.S. would purchase 500 million at-home tests to launch the program and on Thursday the president announced that he was doubling the order to 1 billion tests. But Americans shouldn't expect a rapid turn-around on the orders and they will have to plan ahead and request the tests well before they meet federal guidelines for when to use a test. The White House said "tests will typically ship within 7-12 days of ordering" through the U.S. Postal Service, which reports shipping times of 1-3 days for its first-class package service in the continental United States. Health news in your inbox Reporter Emily Woodruff shares weekly updates and insights on local health news, including COVID coverage and medical research. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends at-home testing when experiencing COVID-19 symptoms including fever, cough, sore throat, respiratory symptoms and muscle aches, five days after a potential COVID-19 exposure, or as part of test-to-stay protocols in schools and workplaces. "Certainly if you're going to gather with family, if you're going to a gathering where people are immunocompromised or where they're elderly or where you have people who might be unvaccinated or poorly protected from a vaccine that might be an opportunity you want to test," said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, on Wednesday. Officials emphasized that the federal website is just one way for people to procure COVID-19 tests. Starting on Saturday, private insurance companies will be required to cover the cost of at-home rapid tests, allowing Americans to be reimbursed for tests they purchase at pharmacies and online retailers. That covers up to eight tests per month. The White House said the four-test limit on website orders will be applied to each residential address and will apply to the first tranche of 500 million tests. It estimates that the cost of purchasing and distributing the first block of tests at $4 billion. Officials said they are cognizant that any launch of a website carries some risks and memories of the disastrous roll-out during the Obama administration of Healthcare.gov are still fresh but said they believe they are well-positioned to handle expected demand for tests. The woman whose frozen, dismembered body was found this week in a bus at a suspected meth lab in New Orleans had been beaten and strangled, police said. Investigators disclosed Julia Dardars cause of death in an application for a warrant to arrest the person with whom she had been living: Benjamin Beale, also known as Kelley Kirkpatrick. Police were booking Beale late Friday with second-degree murder. Dardar, 36-year-old mother of two teenaged daughters, was in the process of divorcing her husband when she moved in with Beale in 2021. Her husband reported her missing Dec. 23, three days after a friend said the husband saw Beale driving her car without her. Police went to question Beale twice over the coming days. They said Beale told them Dardar had been in the process of moving out of the house, and that she might have taken her own life or overdosed on illegal substances. Officers say they doubted the story, so they obtained a search warrant and returned Tuesday at midday to Beale's property in the 2300 block of Pauline Street, in the Florida neighborhood. Inside a deep freezer, in a bus that was parked in the backyard, they found a womans headless torso, a head, hands and other body parts. The freezer was connected to the house's electricity. Nearby was a power saw, goggles, plastic garbage bags and a face shield. Police booked Beale, 34, with obstruction of justice and running a methamphetamine laboratory at the house, saying they found ingredients and equipment used to produce the highly addictive drug. Authorities couldnt immediately identify the corpse or determine the cause of death, however, because the remains had to thaw. By Friday that had happened, and they confirmed it was Dardar, as they had suspected all along. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up An autopsy showed she had been strangled and beaten. Investigators obtained a warrant to book Beale with second-degree murder. +5 As dismembered body awaits autopsy, portrait of missing mom emerges: 'Meth is horrible' Two days after New Orleans police found a dismembered torso, human head, hands and other remains in a deep freezer aboard a bus parked outside Beale was initially jailed in lieu of $400,000 bail. That amount will almost certainly increase with the murder charge. Dardars survivors include two daughters, ages 13 and 17. Loved ones remembered the Slidell resident as an artistic person who loved working on cars as a mechanic and doting on her girls, before she developed a meth addiction that precipitated a split from her husband, among other things. One of the things over which Dardar and Beale reportedly bonded was their affinity for Burning Man, the free-form art and music festival held annually in the Nevada desert. Last year, they wrote online that they went to California together to collect a bus that a fellow "burner" had left to Beale in a will. Dardar helped fix the bus before the pair returned to New Orleans some time after Hurricane Ida struck Aug. 29, according to neighbors and some of her writings online. Late Friday, Dardars estranged husband, in a Facebook post, told Beale and another person to burn in hell. No matter who did it, the post read, I hold you two assholes responsible in leading her down this path and not stopping it. Grammy-winning jazz musician Irvin Mayfield and his business partner, Ronald Markham, are now both in federal prison, starting 18-month prison terms for stealing $1.3 million from New Orleans Public Library Foundation. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons confirmed Mayfield, 44, entered Federal Prison Camp Pensacola, a low-security prison in Florida, on Wednesday. Markham, 43, surrendered at the minimum-security detention camp at Pollock, near Alexandria. Mayfield and Markham siphoned money from the librarys charity, which both men chaired, to the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, where they each made six-figure salaries. In 2020, they pleaded guilty to conspiracy and admitted taking the money to pad their salaries and for luxuries for Mayfield, including five-star hotel, stays, limousines, top-shelf liquor and a $15,000 gold-plated trumpet. U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey sentenced them to 18 months on Nov. 3. The sentencing guidelines for their crime called for more than five years in prison, but their guilty plea limited the term to five years, Zainey said. He chose 18 months, saying the longer they are in prison, the less they can do to make restitution for their crime. They must pay back the foundation at least $500 a month. At that rate, it will take 92 years to pay the balance. Both men were also ordered to give 500 hours of free music lessons to children. They also must serve three years of supervised release when they get out of prison. Police jailed a man Friday accused of having a role in a double killing that claimed the life of a recent McDonogh 35 Senior High School graduate and another man, authorities said. Devion Taylor faces two counts of second degree murder in the Jan. 8 killings of Kane Sanders, 18, and Christopher Cornelius, 23. Taylor emerged as the prime suspect in the case after the New Orleans Police Department was notified of a gunshot wound victim who was brought to University Medical Center in a personal vehicle Jan. 8, police said. Taylor arrived at the hospital hours after the homicide, which was reported at Benson and Curran Roads in Little Woods in New Orleans East, police said. On the street in the 7700 block of Benson Street (map), near where the killing took place, police recovered a Gucci wallet with Taylor's I.D. inside. Police said they talked to Taylor's neighbor, who said he gave Taylor a ride to the hospital after he knocked on the neighbor's front door asking for one. Taylor, 19, told detectives he was shot in his left thigh while walking to a convenience store. Police questioned him and conducted a gun residue test about five hours after the homicide. Taylor's test came back negative, and he was released by the hospital, NOPD said. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up After reviewing security footage at the hospital, detectives said they recognized Taylor as the man seen in separate video footage from the scene of the Jan. 8 homicide. Police said Taylor, along with two other people, shot at Sanders and Cornelius, and that he was seen in a video recording running away with a gun. But he dropped his wallet in the process, police said. Two other people remain at-large in the investigation, police said. Taylor's bail hadn't been set as of Friday afternoon, according to NOPD. He would receive mandatory life imprisonment if convicted of murder. Anyone with information regarding this crime is asked to call Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111. Tipsters may be eligible for a cash reward. A French Quarter argument early Saturday ended with a man shot and sent to a hospital, the New Orleans Police Department said. Update: Police identify suspected gunman in French Quarter shooting Officers were summoned to the 900 block of St. Louis Street at 2:08 a.m. "The suspect and victim began to argue [and] the suspect shot the victim multiple times and fled," a preliminary police report said. "The victim was transported to a local hospital." The Police Department did not immediately release more details. Volunteers help citizens register for COVID-19 test at a testing site in Anyang City of central China's Henan Province, Jan. 9, 2022. Anyang City on Thursday reported 58 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, taking the city's total infections to 198. Numerous frontline workers and volunteers have been devoting their time to fighting the epidemic, building stringent lines of defense against the highly transmissible virus and ensuring sufficient food and medicine supplies for its citizens. (Photo by Ma Xiaoran/Xinhua) Workers distribute daily necessities at a goods transferring point in Anyang City of central China's Henan Province, Jan. 14, 2022. Anyang City on Thursday reported 58 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, taking the city's total infections to 198. Numerous frontline workers and volunteers have been devoting their time to fighting the epidemic, building stringent lines of defense against the highly transmissible virus and ensuring sufficient food and medicine supplies for its citizens. (Photo by Ma Xiaoran/Xinhua) Policemen are on duty at a tollgate in Anyang City, central China's Henan Province, Jan. 14, 2022. Anyang City on Thursday reported 58 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, taking the city's total infections to 198. Numerous frontline workers and volunteers have been devoting their time to fighting the epidemic, building stringent lines of defense against the highly transmissible virus and ensuring sufficient food and medicine supplies for its citizens. (Photo by Ma Xiaoran/Xinhua) Staff members arrange swab samples in Anyang City of central China's Henan Province, Jan. 12, 2022. Anyang City on Thursday reported 58 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, taking the city's total infections to 198. Numerous frontline workers and volunteers have been devoting their time to fighting the epidemic, building stringent lines of defense against the highly transmissible virus and ensuring sufficient food and medicine supplies for its citizens. (Photo by Ma Xiaoran/Xinhua) A policeman is on duty at a tollgate in Anyang City, central China's Henan Province, Jan. 14, 2022. Anyang City on Thursday reported 58 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, taking the city's total infections to 198. Numerous frontline workers and volunteers have been devoting their time to fighting the epidemic, building stringent lines of defense against the highly transmissible virus and ensuring sufficient food and medicine supplies for its citizens. (Photo by Ma Xiaoran/Xinhua) Aerial photo taken on Jan. 11, 2022 shows staff members transferring daily necessities at a quarantine site in Anyang Vocational and Technical College in Anyang City, central China's Henan Province. Anyang City on Thursday reported 58 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, taking the city's total infections to 198. Numerous frontline workers and volunteers have been devoting their time to fighting the epidemic, building stringent lines of defense against the highly transmissible virus and ensuring sufficient food and medicine supplies for its citizens. (Photo by Ma Xiaoran/Xinhua) A staff member checks a driver's body temperature at a tollgate in Anyang City, central China's Henan Province, Jan. 14, 2022. Anyang City on Thursday reported 58 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, taking the city's total infections to 198. Numerous frontline workers and volunteers have been devoting their time to fighting the epidemic, building stringent lines of defense against the highly transmissible virus and ensuring sufficient food and medicine supplies for its citizens. (Photo by Ma Xiaoran/Xinhua) Workers distribute daily necessities at a goods transferring point in Anyang City of central China's Henan Province, Jan. 14, 2022. Anyang City on Thursday reported 58 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, taking the city's total infections to 198. Numerous frontline workers and volunteers have been devoting their time to fighting the epidemic, building stringent lines of defense against the highly transmissible virus and ensuring sufficient food and medicine supplies for its citizens. (Photo by Ma Xiaoran/Xinhua) A medical worker takes a swab sample from a little girl at a COVID-19 testing site Anyang City of central China's Henan Province, Jan. 11, 2022. Anyang City on Thursday reported 58 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, taking the city's total infections to 198. Numerous frontline workers and volunteers have been devoting their time to fighting the epidemic, building stringent lines of defense against the highly transmissible virus and ensuring sufficient food and medicine supplies for its citizens. (Photo by Ma Xiaoran/Xinhua) A staff member works at an air-inflated laboratory for COVID-19 nucleic acid testing in Anyang City of central China's Henan Province, Jan. 12, 2022. Anyang City on Thursday reported 58 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, taking the city's total infections to 198. Numerous frontline workers and volunteers have been devoting their time to fighting the epidemic, building stringent lines of defense against the highly transmissible virus and ensuring sufficient food and medicine supplies for its citizens. (Photo by Ma Xiaoran/Xinhua) Aerial photo taken on Jan. 14, 2022 shows policemen being on duty at a tollgate in Anyang City of central China's Henan Province. Anyang City on Thursday reported 58 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, taking the city's total infections to 198. Numerous frontline workers and volunteers have been devoting their time to fighting the epidemic, building stringent lines of defense against the highly transmissible virus and ensuring sufficient food and medicine supplies for its citizens. (Photo by Ma Xiaoran/Xinhua) A volunteer transfers daily necessities at a quarantine site in Anyang City of central China's Henan Province, Jan. 11, 2022. Anyang City on Thursday reported 58 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, taking the city's total infections to 198. Numerous frontline workers and volunteers have been devoting their time to fighting the epidemic, building stringent lines of defense against the highly transmissible virus and ensuring sufficient food and medicine supplies for its citizens. (Photo by Ma Xiaoran/Xinhua) A medical worker takes a swab sample from a citizen at a COVID-19 testing site in Anyang City of central China's Henan Province, Jan. 11, 2022. Anyang City on Thursday reported 58 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, taking the city's total infections to 198. Numerous frontline workers and volunteers have been devoting their time to fighting the epidemic, building stringent lines of defense against the highly transmissible virus and ensuring sufficient food and medicine supplies for its citizens. (Photo by Ma Xiaoran/Xinhua) Two more victims have been identified in the investigation into hundreds of lewd pictures and videos of unconscious men allegedly taken by former Jesuit priest and non-profit director Stephen Sauer. Eight men have now said they did not give Sauer permission to create the illicit images, which were discovered on an external computer hard drive that the 59-year-old shipped to a company for repair, according to authorities. Sauer was rearrested this week and booked with two additional counts of video voyeurism and sexual battery, arrest records said. Sauer, who was being held at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna appeared via Zoom Friday for a bond hearing in Jefferson Parish Magistrate Court. Sauer was executive director of the Arc of Greater New Orleans when Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office detectives arrested him Dec. 13 and accused him of photographing unconscious, possibly drugged, men without their knowledge. Former priest who ran agency for disabled accused of taking explicit pics of unconscious men Stephen Sauer, a former Jesuit priest who served as executive director of the Arc of Greater New Orleans, is accused of taking hundreds of sex Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up The images found on Sauer's hard drive included an undisclosed number of men between the ages of 21 and 48, who were in various stages of undress in Sauer's vehicle and his Metairie residence, authorities said. In some photos, the men's genitals were exposed and being fondled. During Friday's bond hearing, Assistant Jefferson Parish District Attorney Kellie Rish told the court the first new victim, a 29-year-old man, was fully naked in pictures that appeared to be taken in the bedroom of Sauer's Purdue Drive home. The man's buttocks were exposed and his driver's license was in some of the pictures. "The victim identified the photos as being taken of himself, and he advised he didn't consent to being photographed in any way," Rish said. The second new victim, whose age was not available, appeared unconscious in photos taken in Sauer's car and guest bedroom, according to Rish. In one picture, Sauer held the man's eyes open to display dilated pupils. In another, Sauer was holding the man's genitals. Like the other victim, the man identified himself in the images and told investigators he didn't give permission to be touched or photographed, according to Rish. Criminal Commissioner Patricia Joyce set Sauer's total bond at $183,000, including the new charges. She also issued protective orders barring Sauer from contact with the victims and their families. Sauer remains in custody. Alonzo Wiley was a charismatic, fun-loving giver who, relatives say, poured himself into his family, his friends and his business, a barber shop and salon called The Grooming Gallery. It's that generosity that has left those who knew Wiley, 35, puzzled by the news that he was shot and killed Dec. 5 at a Harvey hotel, possibly during a robbery. "It was senseless," Wiley's niece, Azona Wiley, 27, said Thursday. "If someone needed something from him, he would have given it. Even if you robbed him, you didn't have to kill him." Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office investigators arrested Raymond Lee, 36, of New Orleans, on Dec. 28, and booked him with second-degree murder in Alonzo Wiley's death. Wiley's relatives and friends say they don't know Lee and aren't sure how or if he knew Wiley. Authorities have not divulged the evidence that allegedly links Lee to the killing. While the arrest is of some comfort, Azona Wiley said she and her uncle's friends are left with a big question mark. "Why did this happen?" she asked. Alonzo Wiley was born in Bridge City and raised mostly on the west bank. The youngest of five siblings, he was the baby of the family, his sister, Allegra Wiley, 45, said. The family's life was forever altered in 1997 when their mother, Helen Wiley, 37, was shot and killed by her husband, Stafford Robinson. Alonzo Wiley was about 11 at the time and bounced around after her death, living with aunts and other relatives, according to Allegra Wiley. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Alonzo Wiley graduated from John Ehret High School in 1994 and joined the U.S. Navy. He served for about four years before leaving the military and working a series of jobs, including managing a fast food restaurant, Allegra Wiley said. But Alonzo Wiley recently became determined to start his own business and make his own way. He earned an associate's degree from Delgado Community College and began working as a barber, relatives and friends said. He eventually opened The Grooming Gallery on Tulane Avenue in New Orleans. He closed that location after Hurricane Ida and concentrated his efforts on a second location that opened in October on Lapalco Boulevard near Gretna. Alonzo Wiley's eventual goal was to open another Grooming Gallery in Atlanta, and he was making plans to begin scouting locations, according to his niece. He was also mulling over opening a restaurant called Wiley's Wings and Daiquiris. "He really had big dreams," said Terri Davillier, a friend. Azona Wiley said Alonzo Wiley, known as "Zo" or "Zomula," was her favorite uncle. He was determined to be successful, create wealth and leave a legacy for his family. And Alonzo Wiley's "family" was a big one. "He poured so much love into a person, that even his friends became his family," Azona Wiley said. New Orleans police brass on Friday named a new top cop for the French Quarter, after the district's former commander took a job as a police chief in Alaska, according to officials. Capt. Hans Ganthier is moving over to the citys high-profile 8th Police District following a stint leading the New Orleans Police Departments training academy, the agency said in a prepared statement. Ganthier is set to succeed outgoing Capt. Jeffrey Walls, who recently accepted a job as the chief of police in Ketchikan, Alaska, as the supervisor of officers enforcing the law in the Quarter, the Central Business District and other tourist-saturated neighborhoods. French Quarter's top cop set to leave NOPD to become Alaska rain capital's police chief New Orleans Police Department Captain Jeffrey Walls, who has spent five of the last 10 years as commander of the 8th District in the French Qu Before his time atop the academy, Ganthier commanded the NOPDs 1st District which covers Mid-City and Treme for a few years beginning in late 2015. He was the commander of the agencys training academy in 2019 when it reached full compliance with the requirements of the federal reform pact that the NOPD had entered seven years earlier. Capt. Daryl Albert, whos been in charge of the tactical NOPD unit often known as the SWAT team, was selected to take over for Ganthier at the academy, officials added. As a result, 1st District commander Capt. Lejon Roberts will take the reins of the SWAT team. Terry St. Germain had been promoted to captain from the rank of lieutenant, he will now be the new 1st District commander. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up The latest shuffling of leadership at the NOPD came after Walls landed the job in Ketchikan, a city billed as the rain capital of Alaska. The 25-year veteran had spent half of his last decade at the NOPD serving two different stints as commander of the 8th District. Ketchikan, with a population of about 8,200, had committed to pay Walls an annual salary of $132,761 to lead its 26-officer police department, which is roughly a quarter of the size of the hectic 8th District. First, I want to thank Capt. Walls for his excellent service to NOPD and the citizens of New Orleans, Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson said in a statement Friday. The fact that departments around the country are looking to NOPD for their leadership shows they recognize we are leading the way in constitutional policing reforms. Ferguson said Walls departure was a big loss for NOPD, but added that others now had opportunities to further their careers and improve the department by assuming larger leadership roles. Wind-whipped flames are marching across more of New Mexicos tinder-dry mountainsides, forcing the evacuation of area residents and dozens of patients from the state's psychiatric hospital as firefighters scramble to keep new wildfires from growing. The big blaze burning near the community of Las Vegas has charred more than 217 square miles. Residents in neighborhoods on the edge of Las Vegas were told to be ready to leave their homes. It's the biggest wildfire in the U.S. and is moving quickly through groves of ponderosa pine because of hot, dry and windy conditions that make for extreme wildfire danger. Forecasters are warning of extreme fire danger across New Mexico and in western Texas. Montoursville -- PennDOT District 3-0 employees made a positive impact in their communities in 2021. With the pandemic continuing throughout the year, employees used a variety of methods to raise money and seek donations while following the CDC and Pennsylvania Department of Health safety guidelines. Many fundraisers were postponed or canceled again this year due to the pandemic, said District Executive Sandra Tosca, P.E., However, I am pleased that District 3-0 employees dedication to their community was not hampered but motivated by the needs of others as they found ways to continue many charitable events. District 3-0, which includes Bradford, Columbia, Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder, Sullivan, Tioga and Union counties, continued to support the State Employees Combined Appeal (SECA) and pledged over $26,900. In addition to supporting SECA, County Maintenance Office employees embraced several local charities in 2021. District employees held a friendly virtual food fight a competition to see which of the PennDOT units could raise the most money for Footprints of Montgomery, Inc., a Lycoming County food bank. Employees donated over $1,300, which is equivalent to 8,040 pounds of food. The Bill Craver Bikes for Tykes program raised funds to purchase 10 bicycles and six scooters that were donated to local children along with 38 additional toys, two books, and stocking stuffers that were given to Toys for Tots to be distributed to local families. The bicycle drive was named in honor of the late Bill Craver, who served as a PennDOT maintenance worker in Lycoming County until his retirement. Bill was known for his personal donation of a dozen or so bicycles to charity each year. Over 460 bicycles have been donated to local children since the program began in 2011. In December, two employees organized a program that provided Christmas gifts for 15 children in the Families United Network foster care program. PennDOT District 3 was active in their charitable work this past year, despite COVID-19 setbacks in Pennsylvania communities. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. Get Our Free Newsletters Never miss a headline with NorthcentralPa.com newsletters. Sign Up Today! Morning Headlines: Would you like to receive our daily morning newsletter? Afternoon Update: What's happening today? Here's your update! Daily Obits: Get a daily list straight to your email inbox. Lewisburg, Pa. -- Are you looking to participate in community groups this winter? Several libraries are coming together to offer February programming. The Union County Library SystemThe Public Library for Union County, Lewisburg; Herr Memorial Library; Mifflinburg; and West End Library, Laureltonis hosting the following events in February 2022. All programs are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. For additional information, visit the UCLS website at www.UnionCountyLibraries.org. Please note that all three Union County Libraries will be closed Monday, Feb. 21 to observe Presidents Day. The Public Library for Union County Adult programs: Valentines Heart Sign Take-Home Craft: Tuesday, February 8 During Library Hours Decorate your house this Valentine's Day with a cute and easy DIY heart sign. Stop by the library during business hours to pick up popsicle sticks, beads, and directions. Available while supplies last. Mahjong Club: Tuesday, February 1, 8, 15 & 22 - 1:00 p.m. 3:30 p.m. Anyone interested in playing the American version of the ancient Chinese tile game are welcome to socialize and play. Register to attend by calling (570) 523-1172, visiting the library or registering online. Meet Libby the Library Reading App: Monday, February 7 6:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. Learn how to sign up, browse and borrow free eBooks and audiobooks from our digital library using the Libby App. Register to attend by calling (570) 523-1172, visiting the library or registering online. All Things Books Facebook Group: Ongoing Join the Facebook group page where patrons can share what they are currently reading, make recommendations, chat about favorite authors, join in book discussions and more! Find the group at Facebook.com/groups/plucbooks Teen Book Club: Teen Readers Club: Saturday, February 5 12:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. Do you absolutely love books and reading? Then come join other teen readers as they discuss their favorite books and genres! This months the group will chat about These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong. Prior reading not required to join the meeting. For ages 14+. Register to attend by calling (570) 523-1172, visiting the library, or registering online. Children's programs: Baby Storytime: Friday, February 4, 11, 18, & 25 11:00 a.m. 12:00 p.m. A storytime based on the "Mother Goose on the Loose" program, which shows that children learn best through routine and repetition in a nurturing environment. Learn songs, rhymes, fingerplays, and simple ASL signs. For ages 0-2. Register today by calling (570) 523-1172, visiting the library or registering online. Toddler Storytime: Wednesday, February 2, 9, 16, & 23 9:30 a.m. 10:00 a.m. Join Ms. Mary for an in-person storytime with books, songs, rhymes, finger plays, and simple ASL signs. For ages 1-2. Register today by calling (570) 523-1172, visiting the library or registering online. Preschool Storytime: Tuesday, February 1, 8, 15, & 22 10:00 a.m. 11:00 a.m. Sing songs, read books, and learn some simple ASL signs centered around a different theme each week. For ages 3-5. Register today by calling (570) 523-1172, visiting the library or registering online. Valentines Make and Take Craft: February 10, 11, & 12 During Library Hours on February 10 & 11. Between 9:30 and Noon on February 12 Stop by the library and create a special valentine to take home. For ages 6 and up. Valentines Day Program: Monday, February 14 6:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. Celebrate Valentines Day at the library! Play games and enjoy other themed activities. Register to attend by calling (570) 523-1172, visiting the library or registering online. Lego Night: Tuesday, February 22 6:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. Whether you're a great Lego builder or a first timer, this is the place for you! Work on your own creation or build together as a team. The library provides the Legos, while the kids provide the imagination. All materials must stay at the library, so bring a camera to capture your creations. Legos are cleaned after each session. Herr Memorial Library Programs for all ages: Herr Book Nook Sale: Saturday, February 12 9:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m. Bag a book bargain! Fill a bag for a suggested donation of $10. Blind Date with a Book: Month of February During Library Hours The library is hooking you up with a blind date for Valentines Day. Pick up a wrapped mystery book during library hours and discover a new genre, author, or series. For all ages. Love Your Library Coloring Contest: Month of February Show off your coloring skills for the chance to win a gift card! Children and adults can stop by the library to pick up a coloring sheet. Entries are due by Monday, February 28. A winner will be chosen on Tuesday, March 1. One adult winner will receive a gift card to DC Coffee in Mifflinburg and one child winner will receive a gift card to Hoopla's Family Fun Center in Shamokin Dam. Monthly STEM Activity: During Library Hours Pick up a STEM Activity for children and adults at the library. Adult/teen programs: Love Your Library Take-Home Activity Bag: Month of February During Library Hours Strengthen your mind with an adult activity bag. Games and prizes included! The Future Starts Here: Open Hours: Mondays and Thursdays: 10:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m.; Tuesdays and Wednesdays: 10:00 a.m. 3:00 p.m. The Future Starts Here Program helps participants learn basic computer programs like Google Suite, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, and more with FREE one-on-one training from trained library staff. Free financial management training is also available. Enhance your employment opportunities! For more information call the library at (570) 966-0831. Special Stitches Group: Wednesdays 10:00 a.m. 11:00 a.m. Join knitters and crocheters of all skill levels. Please register by calling (570) 966-0831, visiting the library or registering online. Novel Thoughts Book Club: Thursday, February 3 10:30 a.m. 11:30 a.m. First Thursday of the month Join fellow book lovers and discuss The Engineer's Wife by Tracey Enerson Wood. Please register by calling (570) 966-0831, visiting the library or registering online. Video Games and Mini Robots Teen Program: Monday, February 7 3:30 p.m. 5:30 p.m. Make new friends at the teen space while playing video games and making mini moving paper robots. Please register by calling (570) 966-0831, visiting the library or registering online. Love Your Laptop: Monday, February 14 During Library Hours Come to the library and learn the basic features and uses of your laptop. Please register by calling (570) 966-0831, visiting the library or registering online. Anti-Valentines Day Teen Program: Monday, February 14 3:30 p.m. 5:30 p.m. Join other teens for games and activities that are the opposite of Valentine's Day! Please register by calling (570) 966-0831, visiting the library or registering online. Meet Libby the Library Reading App: Thursday, February 17 5:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m. Learn how to sign up, browse and borrow free eBooks and audiobooks from the digital library using the Libby App. Please register by calling (570) 966-0831, visiting the library or registering online. Dungeons and Dragons For Beginners: Monday, February 28 3:30 p.m. 5:30 p.m. Teens learn the basic rules, roles and character design of Dungeons and Dragons. Please register by calling (570) 966-0831, visiting the library or registering online. Children's programs: Toddler/Preschool Discovery Storytime: Wednesdays, February 2, 9, 16, & 23 10:30 a.m. 11:30 a.m. Join a weekly storytime with Ms. Sheila for children 2-5 years of age and their parents/caregivers. Crafts, games, and hands-on activities are provided to reinforce the theme and engage the children in creative play and learning. Register to attend by calling (570) 966-0831, visiting the library or registering online. Game Time: Thursday, February 10 4:00 p.m. 5:30 p.m. Take part in a Mario Kart Tournament and play board games with other kids. Meet in the Teen Space. For children in grades 3-5. Please register by calling (570) 966-0831, visiting the library or registering online. Valentines Craft: Saturday, February 12 10:00 a.m. 11:00 a.m. Make a special Valentines craft at the library. For children in grades K-5. Please register by calling (570) 966-0831, visiting the library or registering online. Engineering Club: Strawbees Building: Thursday, February 24 4:00 p.m. 5:30 p.m., Meets the last Thursday of each month Engineer a creation out of straws and other building materials. For grades 3-5. Register to attend by calling (570) 966-0831, visiting the library or registering online. West End Library Adult programs: Meet Libby the Library Reading App: Thursday, February 3 5:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m. Learn how to sign up, browse and borrow free eBooks and audiobooks from our digital library using the Libby App. Register to attend by calling (570) 922-4773, visiting the library or registering online. Mahjong: Friday, February 4 & 18 1:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. Mahjong is a game of skill, strategy, and calculation and involves a degree of chance. No experience is needed. An instructor is on hand to teach newcomers this tile-based game. Register to attend by calling (570) 922-4773, visiting the library or registering online. West End Readers: Thursday, February 10 6:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m., Second Thursday of the Month Connect with fellow booklovers as they discuss Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich. Each month the group will select and discuss a new book. Register to attend by calling (570) 922-4773, visiting the library or registering online. Learn to Crochet: Saturday, February 12 10:00 a.m. Noon, Second Saturday of the Month Learn to crochet! Bring your own size 7, 8, or 9 crochet hook. There is a good supply of yarn available at the library. If you want to bring your own yarn, please make sure it is 4-ply knitting worsted in a solid color. Register to attend by calling (570) 922-4773, visiting the library or registering online. The Art of Cooking with Friends: Thursday, February 24 6:00 p.m. 8:00 p.m., Fourth Thursday of the Month Celebrate the Chinese New Year with good food and friends! Find a Chinese recipe youve never made before from a cookbook at the library, then prepare a dish to share. Register to attend by calling (570) 922-4773, visiting the library or registering online. Children's programs: Craft of the Month Pizza My Heart Magnet: February During Library Hours Children are welcome to come to the library to pick up a take home Valentine Magnet craft kit. For ages 3-12. Available while supplies last. Preschool Story and Activity Time!: Tuesday, February 1, 8, 15, & 22 - 10:30 a.m. 11:30 a.m. Join each week for an in-person storytime that includes a weekly theme with read-aloud stories, age-appropriate activities and crafts, musical instruments and songs. Adults are offered a take-home paper with theme-related crafts, rhymes, snacks, and suggested "getting ready for kindergarten" activities. For children up to age 5 along with a parent/caregiver. Parents must stay with children during class. Register to attend by visiting the library, calling (570) 922-4773 or registering online. Leap in to Science: Balance Workshop: Tuesday, February 22 10:30 a.m. 11:30 a.m. Children explore the concept of balance by listening to a story, balancing with their bodies, and creating balanced structures on simple teeter-totters. Register to attend by visiting the library, calling (570) 922-4773 or registering online. Reading with Maverick: Saturday, February 26 10:30 a.m. 12:30 p.m. Children are welcome to read their books to the library's certified therapy dog, Maverick. One child is allowed at a time. To sign up for a 15-minute time slot, call the library at (570) 922-4773. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. Get Our Free Newsletters Never miss a headline with NorthcentralPa.com newsletters. Sign Up Today! Morning Headlines: Would you like to receive our daily morning newsletter? Afternoon Update: What's happening today? Here's your update! Daily Obits: Get a daily list straight to your email inbox. Pennsylvania faces a shortage of psychiatrists that children's advocates call "alarming," and they're concerned about the impact it might have on young people whose needs become more intense and could require medication. A June 2020 report found there aren't enough psychiatrists to meet the demand for mental-health assistance in the Commonwealth. Pittsburgh-based psychologist Dan Warner said this means the responsibility of prescribing medication for children with severe mental-health challenges often falls on pediatricians. He said the first step should be talking to a mental-health professional. "Under significant stress, there might be a need to elevate and really look at a biomedical intervention," he said. "Very often, the first line of that is starting with your pediatrician. Those people are not specially trained in the needs of children with mental health issues, and they don't necessarily have the time to do all the kind of work." The most recent Pennsylvania Youth Survey found 38% of students reported feeling sad or depressed most days. One possible solution getting the support of some health professionals is Senate Bill 25. It would allow certain nurse practitioners to have full authority to prescribe medication without requiring them to have a collaborative agreement with a physician. State Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Greene County, who introduced the bill, said it would assist communities hit hardest by the shortage, both rural and urban. "It's very specific," she said. "It would be highly regulated, but it would open the doors to incredibly good health care that is needed right now more than ever, especially mental health care. We've got hundreds of qualified nurse practitioners that could easily jump into that field and fill the void." Terry Clark, president and chief executive of the Pennsylvania Council on Children, Youth and Family Services, which published a position statement on the state's psychiatric shortage, said this expansion can help save children's lives. "Not every child needs a psychiatrist, but for those most vulnerable children who do, they go without the help they need," he said, "thus the reason suicide is growing amongst our adolescent age group." Senate Bill 25 would require a qualified nurse practitioner to have 3,600 hours and three years under a physician's collaborative agreement. The bill passed out of committee in recent months and awaits a vote in the full Senate. According to Bartolotta, it has bipartisan support. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. Get Our Free Newsletters Never miss a headline with NorthcentralPa.com newsletters. Sign Up Today! Morning Headlines: Would you like to receive our daily morning newsletter? Afternoon Update: What's happening today? Here's your update! Daily Obits: Get a daily list straight to your email inbox. Shamokin, Pa. When officer Edward Percel spoke with a man accused of stealing from his employer, he said the man told him he had done something stupid. Timothy Hellenthal admitted to several investigators he completed more than a dozen fraudulent returns from Nov. 14 to Dec. 18 of 2021 at the AutoZone in Coal Township. The approximate totals of the returns were $2,267.83. An investigation by his employer uncovered the theft, which Hellenthal allegedly used different employee codes in an attempt to coverup the theft. Hellenthal was charged with two third-degree felonies that included theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property. Hellenthal, who was released from custody after a Dec. 28 interview with police, is scheduled to appear before Judge John Gembic on Feb. 1 for a preliminary hearing. Docket sheet Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. Get Our Free Newsletters Never miss a headline with NorthcentralPa.com newsletters. Sign Up Today! Morning Headlines: Would you like to receive our daily morning newsletter? Afternoon Update: What's happening today? Here's your update! Daily Obits: Get a daily list straight to your email inbox. With the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Pennsylvania is set to receive $1.6 billion to fix more than 3,000 bridges across the Commonwealth. This record amount of funding, made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will allow states and tribal governments to fix the bridges most in need of repair, Deputy Federal Highway Administrator Stephanie Pollack said. It will also modernize them to withstand the effects of climate change and to make them safer for all users, including cyclists and pedestrians. Every state has bridges in poor condition and in need of repair, including bridges with weight restrictions, that may force lengthy detours for travelers, school buses, first responders, or trucks carrying freight, she added. Nationwide, the Bridge Funding Program is expected to help repair approximately 15,000 bridges. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes an incentive for states to direct the new Bridge Formula Program funds to off-system bridges owned by a county, city, town, or other local agency. While states normally must match federal funding with up to 20 percent state or local funding, the guidance issued today notes that federal funds can be used for 100 percent of the cost of repairing or rehabilitating such locally owned off-system bridges. Of the $1.6 billion dollar sum, $327.2 million will be dedicated to fixing bridges in Pennsylvania for fiscal year 2022, according to an announcement by U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA). Pennsylvania has 3,353 bridges in poor condition, making Pennsylvania the state with the second highest number of bridges in poor condition in the country, according to Casey. For a long time, Pennsylvanians have had to make do with driving over thousands of bridges in poor condition. Now, I am proud to say that this year alone, hundreds of millions of dollars will go towards repairing and upgrading those bridges, which are so vital to the Commonwealth. This investment will better connect communities, stimulate job growth across Pennsylvania and make commutes to work and school much safer. Thanks to the Infrastructure Law, we can expect billions of dollars more that will strengthen our communities and our economy, said Senator Casey. Members of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) also commented on the recent funding through the Infrastructure Law. The passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is the largest federal infrastructure investment in decades, and the largest ever investment for bridges specifically, said Acting Deputy Secretary for Highway Administration Mike Keiser. PennDOT along with our partners are ready to put these dollars to good use in meaningful projects all over the state. Pennsylvania has one of the largest state-maintained highway and bridge networks in the nation, with nearly 40,000 miles of roadway and over 25,400 bridges maintained by PennDOT. That number grows to approximately 120,000 miles of roadway and 32,000 bridges when considering the state and local networks. In addition to the new highway and bridge funds, Pennsylvanians will benefit from new federal funds to support public transportation, airports, and freight and passenger rail. New federal funds are also expected to support the expansion of an electric vehicle (EV) charging network in Pennsylvania. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. Get Our Free Newsletters Never miss a headline with NorthcentralPa.com newsletters. Sign Up Today! Morning Headlines: Would you like to receive our daily morning newsletter? Afternoon Update: What's happening today? Here's your update! Daily Obits: Get a daily list straight to your email inbox. Staff members arrange swab samples in Anyang City of central China's Henan Province, Jan. 12, 2022.(Photo by Ma Xiaoran/Xinhua) BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mainland on Friday reported 104 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, the National Health Commission said in its daily report on Saturday. Of the new local cases, 52 were reported in Henan, 39 in Tianjin, eight in Guangdong, four in Shaanxi, and one in Zhejiang, the commission said. Also reported were 61 new imported cases in eight provincial-level regions, according to the commission. Six new suspected cases arriving from outside the mainland were reported in Shanghai, and no new deaths from COVID-19 were reported on the day, it added. South Williamsport, Pa. Corporal William MacInnis said he observed dark window tint on a purple Dodge Charger as it traveled along US 15 in South Williamsport. MacInnis said he could smell raw marijuana as he approached the drivers side of the vehicle. Police said during the Jan. 6 stop, the driver denied any knowledge of marijuana, but after being asked to step outside the vehicle, he allegedly handed over a glassine baggie of the substance. Along with the marijuana, Dominique Greene, 30, of Ithaca, NY, had $3,250 in cash on him. A passenger, identified as Tyrone Green, 30, of Ithaca, NY, was also in possession of cash and marijuana, according to the report. MacInnis said he radioed for a K9 unit which yielded positive results after a test was conducted. Police discovered 597 grams of marijuana and more cash after a search of the vehicle. Both men were arraigned that night at 10 p.m. and are being held on $100,000 monetary bail at the Lycoming County Prison on similar drug charges. Greene was charged with felony possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance along with misdemeanors that included intentional possession of a controlled substance and use or possession of drug paraphernalia. Green was charged with the same offenses that included conspiracy. Both men will meet with Judge Gary Whiteman on Jan. 24 for a preliminary hearing. Dominique Greene docket sheet Tyrone Green docket sheet Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. Get Our Free Newsletters Never miss a headline with NorthcentralPa.com newsletters. Sign Up Today! Morning Headlines: Would you like to receive our daily morning newsletter? Afternoon Update: What's happening today? Here's your update! Daily Obits: Get a daily list straight to your email inbox. Napoleon, OH (43545) Today Thunderstorms with locally heavy downpours. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 64F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Thunderstorms this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 48F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%. The Federal Cyber Security Authority, Germany's cybersecurity watchdog, has failed to find any evidence that Xiaomi is censoring certain words from its smartphones. In September 2021, Lithuania alleged that Xiaomi smartphones automatically censor words such as "Free Tibet" and "democracy movement". 4 Reviews , News , CPU , GPU , Articles , Columns , Other "or" search relation. 3D Printing , 5G , Accessory , AI , Alder Lake , AMD , Android , Apple , ARM , Audio , Benchmark , Biotech , Business , Camera , Cannon Lake , Cezanne (Zen 3) , Charts , Chinese Tech , Chromebook , Coffee Lake , Comet Lake , Console , Convertible / 2-in-1 , Cryptocurrency , Cyberlaw , Deal , Desktop , E-Mobility , Education , Exclusive , Fail , Foldable , Gadget , Galaxy Note , Galaxy S , Gamecheck , Gaming , Geforce , Google Pixel , GPU , How To , Ice Lake , Intel , Intel Evo , Internet of Things (IoT) , iOS , iPad , iPad Pro , iPhone , Jasper Lake , Lakefield , Laptop , Launch , Leaks / Rumors , Linux / Unix , List , Lucienne (Zen 2) , MacBook , Mini PC , Monitor , MSI , OnePlus , Opinion , Phablet , Radeon , Raptor Lake , Renoir , Review Snippet , Rocket Lake , Ryzen (Zen) , Science , Security , Single-Board Computer (SBC) , Smart Home , Smartphone , Smartwatch , Software , Storage , Tablet , ThinkPad , Thunderbolt , Tiger Lake , Touchscreen , Ultrabook , Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR) , Wearable , Wi-Fi 7 , Windows , Workstation , XPS , Zen 3 (Vermeer) , Zen 4 Ticker Germanys Federal Cyber Security Authority, also known as the BSI, has concluded its investigation of Xiaomi. The investigation by BSI was started last September when Lithuania accused Xiaomi of censoring certain words like Free Tibet from its smartphones. Following the allegation, the BSI started a formal investigation into the matter calling it a technical investigation. At the time, BSI gave no other details about the nature of the inquiry. Now, the BSI has stated that it didnt find any evidence of censorship on Xiaomis part. According to the agency's spokesperson, the BSI was unable to identify any anomalies that would require further investigation or other measures. The move to investigate Xiaomi reflects Germanys increasingly cautious behavior towards Chinese companies owing to security concerns. Following the U.S. ban on Huawei, Germany was also under pressure to ban Huawei and not allow the company to build out its 5G infrastructure. However, Germany allowed the company to build its 5G infrastructure but only after the Chinese firm guaranteed that there would be no security breaches. Buy Xiaomi Mi 10T smartphone on Amazon An unofficial poll by a noted leaker has offered up a damning result for the Exynos 2200 SoC from Samsung. While benchmark results for the chip have shown it holding up well against the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, it was not enough to sway thousands of voters who want to see a Snapdragon-powered Galaxy S22 in Europe. 4 Reviews , News , CPU , GPU , Articles , Columns , Other "or" search relation. 3D Printing , 5G , Accessory , AI , Alder Lake , AMD , Android , Apple , ARM , Audio , Benchmark , Biotech , Business , Camera , Cannon Lake , Cezanne (Zen 3) , Charts , Chinese Tech , Chromebook , Coffee Lake , Comet Lake , Console , Convertible / 2-in-1 , Cryptocurrency , Cyberlaw , Deal , Desktop , E-Mobility , Education , Exclusive , Fail , Foldable , Gadget , Galaxy Note , Galaxy S , Gamecheck , Gaming , Geforce , Google Pixel , GPU , How To , Ice Lake , Intel , Intel Evo , Internet of Things (IoT) , iOS , iPad , iPad Pro , iPhone , Jasper Lake , Lakefield , Laptop , Launch , Leaks / Rumors , Linux / Unix , List , Lucienne (Zen 2) , MacBook , Mini PC , Monitor , MSI , OnePlus , Opinion , Phablet , Radeon , Raptor Lake , Renoir , Review Snippet , Rocket Lake , Ryzen (Zen) , Science , Security , Single-Board Computer (SBC) , Smart Home , Smartphone , Smartwatch , Software , Storage , Tablet , ThinkPad , Thunderbolt , Tiger Lake , Touchscreen , Ultrabook , Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR) , Wearable , Wi-Fi 7 , Windows , Workstation , XPS , Zen 3 (Vermeer) , Zen 4 Ticker Theres barely a month left before Samsung officially unleashes the Galaxy S22 series upon the world, and the smartphone range is currently beset by a flood of rumors mostly concerning the chipsets involved. It has been alleged that Samsungs own Exynos 2200 has been postponed (and possibly even canceled), leaving the South Korean OEM with the option of utilizing Snapdragon processors across the board for the Galaxy S22 or at least for certain models. A poll put together by Ice universe, who has been instrumental in sparking the flurry of rumors about the S22 series, asked this question: For European Samsung users, do you want Galaxy S22 to adopt Exynos or Snapdragon in Europe?. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the overwhelming majority went for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 option, which attracted 81.3% of the vote and left just 18.7% for the Exynos. With 21,285 votes cast, this means 17,305 for the Qualcomm chip and just 3,980 for the Samsung/AMD-designed Exynos 2200. The same source has been stirring the pot again, despite a report claiming Samsung was still going to go ahead with the Exynos 2200 launch but delayed until the Unpacked event taking place on either February 8 or 9. The leaker states Just after canceling the self-developed CPU architecture, it [Samsung] encountered a possibly worse arm X1 architecture. X2 is still very bad. Cortex-X1 cores featured on the Exynos 2100 while the Exynos 2200 apparently gets an X2 CPU core. Buy the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE on Amazon Lithuanias Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis is calling on the European Union to stand up to communist China. On Thursday and Friday, foreign ministers from European Union countries will meet in France. George Bowers is the Senior Pastor of Antioch Church of the Brethren and has authored sixteen books including Blessings Volume 3 which is a collection of these articles. It is available at Four Star Printing, Fort Valley Cafe, and Shenandoah Stuff. He can be reached through www.georgebowersministries.com or at gabowers@shentel.net. WOODSTOCK At its Thursday night meeting, the Shenandoah County School Board heard from Antioch Church Pastor George Bowers and Lutheran past PIPELINE DETAILS: Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline Midwest Carbon Express preliminary route would run between 410th and 420th streets in between Primghar and Paullina. Another pipeline would separate off that one in between Oak Hill Avenue and Olive Avenue and run south through the county to the Little Sioux Corn Processors ethanol plant east of Marcus. Its total length in the county would equal more than 33 miles. The pipeline would be built with high-carbon strength steel. In OBrien County, the diameter of the pipe west of its T-intersection would tentatively be 20 inches, while the diameter for the southern offshoot would be 8 inches. Everything east of the intersection would be 16 inches. The pipeline would be just a portion of the overall Midwest Carbon Express project, which would span five Midwestern states across about 2,000 miles. Its terminal would be North Dakota, where the captured carbon would be permanently stored in underground wells. The company is partnering with 31 biorefinery partners across 20 companies in the Midwest 12 partners of which would be in Iowa. Enhancing the long-term profitability of ethanol and agriculture is the main driver of this project, said Jake Ketzner, Summit vice president of government and public affairs. He noted how three pounds of corn equals about one pound of ethanol, one pound of distillers dried grains and one pound of carbon dioxide emission. The pipeline would sequester the pound of CO2 emission, which in turn would lower an ethanol plants carbon intensity score and let it sell its product on the low-carbon fuel market. Ketzner said places such as California, Oregon, Washington state and parts of Canada have a low-carbon fuel market and several other U.S. states and areas of Canada have pending legislation to expand such a market. We expect that to continue to grow over the years and decades to come. Theres just more of a drive for low-carbon products and fuel, Ketzner said. The Midwest Carbon Express line would have the capacity to store about 12 million tons of CO2, with potential room to grow that by about 3 million tons. Ketzner noted the environmental impact of the 12 million ton figure would translate to removing about 2.6 million cars off the road. On the economic side, pipeline construction would generate about 14,000-17,000 jobs, while about 300-400 operational jobs would be permanent, according to Summit. Sharon Henleys 4-year-old daughter tested positive for COVID-19 Jan. 7. Under Duneland School Corp. protocols, her other daughter was able to go back to school. However, the 9-year-old then tested positive Jan. 12. DSCs COVID-19 dashboard showed 67 active cases throughout the district as of Thursday. There are 43 students and staff members in active quarantine. There have been 821 total cases in the school system since Aug. 5, 2021. The district saw 340 new cases from Jan. 4 to Thursday. The day with the highest number of reported new cases was Jan. 4, the first day of classes, at 102 new cases reported. Last semester, the district reported 398 cases from Aug. 5, 2021 to Dec. 17, 2021, the entirety of the semester. Duneland has 5,844 students enrolled in its district as of spring 2021, according to the Indiana Department of Educations enrollment data. If the number is the same, 5.8% of their students have tested positive this semester. Superintendent said at the school board meeting Monday night that the mandatory mask policy at Duneland schools would be kept in place. The mask policy is mainly due to quarantine guidance from the Indiana Department of Health and federal guidelines. Duneland's academic year began with masks optional. The districts protocol allows students who are vaccinated to attend school, with a mask, even if they are in close contact with an individual who tests positive. Henley was initially unsure about the quarantine policy. Even though her 9-year-old is vaccinated, she decided to keep her daughter home Monday, but then decided to follow Dunelands protocol and sent her to school Tuesday. Her 9-year-old then developed symptoms and was kept home Wednesday. I didnt feel right about (sending her), Henley said. She said she is concerned that her daughter may have infected her classmates due to the protocol. Amber Marie Andrews said her eldest daughter, who does not attend Duneland schools, tested positive Jan. 4, the day classes began for the district. Her other child attended school that week, as she was vaccinated. Andrews said she tested her daily using at-home tests, and eventually her student tested positive Sunday. This week, she has been working independently at home. However, Andrews said the situation has been difficult for the family financially. Jennifer Daviss daughter attends Chesterton High School. In October, her daughter was in close contact with someone who tested positive. Davis initially panicked, asking her how long she interacted with the student and if she was feeling OK. The daughter ultimately returned to school the following day. She said that she is glad schools are remaining open, but her daughter has mentioned that teachers and students are consistently out sick. Substitute teachers are brought in, but Davis is unsure if bringing in a new person is safe. Its a no-win situation, Davis said. Districts in Indiana are also facing a substitute teacher shortage due to the pandemic. Davis thinks the policy for close contacts should require a quarantine regardless of vaccination status, as people who are vaccinated are still testing positive. Jill Yarosz, a parent with three children in Duneland schools, said the quarantine policy does not make sense because it assumes that the environment is consistently masked. However, during lunch periods, students are not distanced and eat near each other. Yarosz is a nurse and at work she sees the pandemic being out of control. I am disappointed in Duneland, Yarosz said. Theyre not taking it seriously enough. Cole Murray, a parent of two boys in the school district, said that although nobody in his family has gotten COVID-19, he is concerned. He said the changing nature of quarantine guidelines from The Centers of Disease Control, who recently shortened the recommended isolation period to five days, makes it difficult for parents to keep up. If one of his children tested positive for COVID-19, he said he would keep the child home until they were consistently testing negative, and then would try to find a N95 mask for them. Despite Murrays concerns about the governments policies, he said Duneland is doing the best it can. Many of the cases, he said, can be attributed to the federal and state governments lack of help to schools. The protocols are as good as they can be with the resources they have, Murray said. Duneland School Corp. does also offer Trojan Virtual Academy for students who are interested in online learning. Other school districts in the area have seen high COVID-19 cases as well. According to their COVID-19 dashboard, Valparaiso Community Schools saw 228 new COVID-19 cases from Dec. 17 to Jan. 6. They have seen 84 additional cases from Jan. 7 to Monday. Portage Township Schools currently has 191 active cases as of Friday, according to its dashboard. The district saw 34 new cases Monday, 16 on Tuesday, 20 on Wednesday and 23 on Thursday. Lake Station Community Schools has 43 active student cases as of Jan. 7. Valparaiso, Portage and Lake Station schools all require masks. Gallery: Valparaiso hosts Chesterton in girls basketball Uploaded-images Chesterton vs Valparaiso girls basketball Valparaiso's Amelia Benjamin talks with coach Candy Wilson. Uploaded-images Chesterton vs Valparaiso girls basketball Chesterton and Valparaiso players battle for a loose ball. Uploaded-images Chesterton vs Valparaiso girls basketball Valparaiso's Kristin Bukata loses the ball on her way to the basket. Uploaded-images Chesterton vs Valparaiso girls basketball Valparaiso's Kristin Bukata looks to pass against Chesterton on Friday. Uploaded-images Chesterton vs Valparaiso girls basketball Valparaiso's Amelia Benjamin attempts two points in the paint. Uploaded-images Chesterton vs Valparaiso girls basketball Valparaiso coach Candy Wilson talks to her team after the first quarter. Uploaded-images Chesterton vs Valparaiso girls basketball Valparaiso's Amelia Benjamin tries to break through a crowd of Chesterton defenders. Uploaded-images Chesterton vs Valparaiso girls basketball Valparaiso's Kristin Bukata is fouled by Chesterton's Liz Pokorney. Uploaded-images Chesterton vs Valparaiso girls basketball Valparaiso's Kristin Bukata brings the ball downcourt against Chesterton on Friday. Uploaded-images Chesterton vs Valparaiso girls basketball Chesterton's Emily Richardson is guarded by Valparaiso's Amelia Benjamin. Uploaded-images Chesterton vs Valparaiso girls basketball Chesterton coach Jack Campbell yells to his team. Uploaded-images Chesterton vs Valparaiso girls basketball Chesterton's Carley Balas gets called for a charging foul against Valparaiso's Kristin Bukata. Uploaded-images Chesterton vs Valparaiso girls basketball Valparaiso's Bolane Ayangade has the ball knocked away from her by Chesterton's Liz Pokorney. Uploaded-images Chesterton vs Valparaiso girls basketball Valparaiso's Kristin Bukata guards Chesterton's Carley Balas. Uploaded-images Chesterton vs Valparaiso girls basketball With a smile on her face, Valparaiso's Bolane Ayangade brings the ball down the court. Uploaded-images Chesterton vs Valparaiso girls basketball Chesterton's Ingrid Hurst manages to keep the ball from Valparaiso's Campbell MacLagan. Uploaded-images Chesterton vs Valparaiso girls basketball Valparaiso's Bolane Ayangade chases Chesterton's Ingrid Hurst down the court on Friday. Uploaded-images Chesterton vs Valparaiso girls basketball Valparaiso's Amelia Benjamin is fouled trying for a basket. Gallery Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 CROWN POINT Natalie Huddleston Schantz has two students at the high school. Her son had COVID-19 symptoms and she got him tested Jan. 4. She did not receive results until Tuesday, which showed he tested positive. By the time he received results, the school encouraged him to return. She sent him to classes Wednesday, but he was symptomatic again on Thursday. She said he was initially marked absent for the days he missed as excused medical. However, it changed to remote present, and she is unsure why that occurred. The district does say that students needs will be met even while in quarantine, whether that is through email, Zoom, phone or another method of communication. The Crown Point School Corp. COVID-19 dashboard states the time it takes to complete contact tracing can result in a delay of data. Because of the time it takes to contact trace, most cases are not added until the day after the positive case is reported to us, the dashboard states. Our nurses are working as quickly as they can. We ask that parents report positive cases to their school as soon as they receive results. Micah Pollak, an associate professor of economics at Indiana University Northwest, tracks COVID-19 data in the district. He tweeted Tuesday that he saw 116 cases of COVID-19 in Crown Point schools reported on the dashboard for the week of Jan. 3 through 7. He said on Wednesday the number increased to 151 for that week. Through Friday, the number reported for the week of Jan. 3-7 is 169, indicating that data from the first week of classes is still being input. The first week back The Crown Point School Corp. sent a letter to parents in the evening Jan. 3 stating masks would be required the first week back, Jan. 4-7. The letter states this cautionary step was because the district was still collecting data regarding positive cases from the previous week in order to have an accurate picture of each buildings status. Pollak kept his daughter from school the first week of classes. He said that Crown Points actions were not enough given the omicron variant, even if they did require masks. Kara Graper has three children in the district. She said her children wear masks at school, but often see others not masking. Graper kept her first-grader home the first week of this semester, as she was not yet fully vaccinated. Graper said parents are receiving poor communication from the district as to what to do. Us parents are just totally flying solo, Graper said. Melissa Houlding, who has a 5-year-old and a 9-year-old in the district, kept her students home until Wednesday. She said she was still hesitant to send them back, but with her perceived lack of elearning options, she was stuck. Her children wear masks at school and are picked up for lunch instead of eating in the cafeteria, but she is still scared. Ed Finn pulled his youngest children out of the district at the beginning of the school year. His son is a senior at Crown Point High School. His son wears an N95 mask at school everyday, but sees other students in the school not wearing masks or wearing them improperly. Finn said his son knows more than 30 kids who are out sick with COVID-19. The dashboard does not provide last weeks numbers for Crown Point High School, but does show the number of close contacts. For the week of Jan. 3-7, the high school had 690 close contacts. The week of Jan. 10-14 has seen 276 close contacts so far. The 2% Rule The district returned to its mask optional policy on Monday. The policy states that if COVID-19 cases rise above 2% of the total buildings population, everybody in that building will be required to wear masks for the next 14 days. The school district did not provide more information on the 2% number for this story. Crown Points policy states students who test positive for COVID-19 will be required to quarantine. Students who come into close contact with someone with COVID-19 are not required to quarantine unless they display symptoms. In keeping with a federal mandate, Crown Point continues to require masks on school buses. Crown Point previously offered a mix of in-person and online instruction during the 2020-21 school year. The district began 2021-22 with a mask optional policy, but reinstated a mandate at the end of August after 900 students and staff were placed in quarantine. The district became mask optional Dec. 6 following the Nov. 22 School Board meeting. A law passed last May requiring local health departments that want to impose health orders that go beyond the state requirement must get approval from their respective legislative bodies. The Lake County Health Department posted a statement Dec. 10 confirming that "all unmasked close contact students and staff shall complete the required quarantine period." However, without the authority to impose stricter mandates, the health department has limited powers. Schwartz said she looks at the dashboard and is confused because she can name more students out than what the number listed said. Pollak said the 2% rule, given the delay in data, can be dangerous. If you have an icy road, you dont wait until 20 cars crash to warn them, Pollak said. He said once the school is at the point of 2% of the building is actively facing COVID-19, it is too late. He also said it does not take into consideration the administration who may go between the schools. Houlding said it does not make sense to base their policy on numbers that are out of date, as it is never clear if they hit the 2% threshold. Finn said it is unclear where the numbers are coming from. I dont understand the failure to lead on this issue, Finn said. Parents' additional concerns The Indiana Department of Health provides guidelines if masks are required in schools or if masks are optional. In districts where masks are not required, if vaccinated students are exposed to COVID-19 and are asymptomatic, they can return to the classroom but are required to wear a mask for 10 days. Unvaccinated students must stay home for five days, then can return with a mask. The CDC recommends universal indoor masking by all individuals in K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status. In Crown Point, individuals who are exposed are not required to quarantine, regardless of vaccination status, if they are asymptomatic. Pollak said even if Crown Point masks, it is not enough. He said that he felt funds from COVID-19 relief spending could go to better ventilation or more nurses in school buildings. Crown Point received $5,600,004.94 in American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) funds between ESSER II and ESSER III. The district also stated that it does not have plans to require the COVID-19 vaccine and will not be hosting vaccination clinics through the school. Houlding said this policy, especially at a reputable school district like Crown Point, is "crazy," given how high cases are in Lake County. According to the Indiana Department of Health, the county has a 33.2% positivity rate in tests administered in the last seven days. There have been 700 new cases since the previous update. There were 6,562 new student cases of COVID-19 in Indiana as of Jan. 10. Crown Point is a laughing stock now, Houlding said. Love 0 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 CROWN POINT A judge sentenced a former police officer Friday to 16 years in prison for fatally shooting a Navy veteran in front of the veteran's wife after the wife and her friend invited him over for drinks. Timothy R. Thomas, 41, was off duty Jan. 3, 2021, when he carried a gun into Nicholas and Jessika Lile's Lowell-area home without telling the Liles he had it and used it to kill Nicholas Lile, 42, in his own basement. Lile did not have a gun. Working as a police officer comes with significant responsibility, Lake Criminal Court Judge Salvador Vasquez said. Officers carry weapons and are trained to use them to protect their communities, he said. "Mr. Thomas failed in that responsibility," Vasquez said. "He failed to do his duty to use his weapon properly and responsibly. He failed to render aid to someone after being shot." Lake County Supervisory Deputy Prosecutor Michelle Jatkiewicz said police officers are trained to render aid, even to people they've just shot. Thomas, who worked as a police officer for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Mishawaka at the time, ran out of the Liles' home without trying to help Nicholas Lile. He called 911, but the first thing he told a dispatcher was, "Help, I've been attacked,"she said. The jury rejected Thomas' claim that he acted in self-defense, Vasquez said. Whatever happened in the Liles' basement, Thomas' actions were not reasonable and the jury found him guilty of aggravated battery, a level 3 felony, the judge said. Thomas also was convicted of a firearm enhancement, which carried a consecutive sentence. Nicholas Lile survived seven deployments to war zones in the Middle East as a U.S. Navy corpsman attached to a Marines battalion. Jessika Lile said Thomas and his attorneys, Ben Murphy and Christopher Cooper, alleged at trial that her husband attacked Thomas because he had post-traumatic stress disorder. "My husband did not suffer from PTSD," Jessika Lile said. "But I do." Jessika Lile said her daughter, who was asleep upstairs when Nicholas Lile was killed, is afraid to sleep in her own bed because the last time she did she awoke to find her father had been killed. When the light hits the basement floor just right, she can still see the spot where her husband's blood caused the flooring to bubble up. She had to clean up the homicide scene after police left, praying all the while that her daughter would not wake up and find her there, she said. Every night, Jessika Lile wakes and feels compelled to check on her daughter, because she's terrified of losing her, she said. "This is the damage that is done when someone you love is killed in front of you," she said. "This is PTSD." Nicholas Lile's mother, Deborah Ulerick, said her son used to call her on his way home from work just to talk, but she will forever feel guilty that the last time he called she told him she had to go because she had company. She thinks about their last Christmas together, their last Steelers game, their last picture together. Her "first worst" was having to mark her son's birthday without him, she said. "I have never known a grief like this," she said. "I will never be able to hug and kiss my son and tell him I love him again." Several of Thomas' family members told Vasquez how Thomas always played Army or police as a boy and, at age 16, came to the aid of a woman whose car was hit by a train and came to rest on its roof in a ditch. He served as a paratrooper in the Army's 501st Infantry and was deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and Cuba. "I am proud to be the mother of an honorable and decorated soldier," Patricia Thomas said. She told the judge she still recalls how scared Thomas was after the shooting. She described him as a gentle man, who cared deeply for his family and spent hours playing with his niece and nephew. Murphy said Thomas deserved some leniency because he was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury in 2013 and received some counseling in 2013 and 2014. Vasquez rejected Murphy's request to find Thomas acted under "strong provocation" or that his actions were induced by Nicholas Lile. "It would be improper to reach that conclusion based on the evidence presented," the judge said. Vasquez said he didn't hear any evidence to show Thomas' character was horrible, but the nature and circumstances of the crime and psychological and emotional impact on Jessika Lile and her daughter warranted a sentence slightly above the advisory level. Love 0 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. MERRILLVILLE A Crown Point woman died after being wounded in an apparent accidental shooting at a gun range, police said. She has been identified as 21-year-old Zooia Pasha, according to a report from the Lake County Coroner's office. Pasha's death is still under investigation by the Merrillville Police Department. Pasha died at 7:59 a.m. Dec. 31 at Franciscan Health Crown Point after she was struck by gunfire. Pasha was pronounced dead after she was taken off of life support, said Assistant Police Chief Kosta Nuses. Nuses said because the investigation is still active, no further information can be released. No charges had been filed relating to the incident. Merrillville police were dispatched at about 6:40 p.m. Dec. 22 to Shoot Point Blank in the 8700 block of Louisiana Street for a report of a gunshot victim, police said. Officers arrived and found a woman had been shot in the head inside the gun range, he said. Two off-duty paramedics, who happened to be in the range, immediately administered first aid for the woman. They continued until on-duty paramedics arrived and took the woman to a hospital, he said. Police reviewed video footage from the range and determined the shooting appeared to be accidental, Nuses said. There was no indication of "malicious intent," he said. Merrillville police said more details will be released as the investigation continues. Love 0 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 3 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. In response to the chronic high-volume conditions in the Region's emergency rooms, hospitals across Northwest Indiana have collaborated to no longer go on bypass until otherwise indicated, officials said. The change was effective as of Thursday, in which four major health care networks have united in this initiative. "The hospitals of Community Healthcare System, Franciscan Health, Methodist Hospitals and Northwest Health are joining forces to create processes to ensure residents of our community have access to emergency services," said Natalie Russell, communications manager for the Indiana Hospital Association. Bypass, also known as diversion, happens when hospitals reach capacity, which causes Emergency Medical Services staff to have to take patients to other facilities. The colossal amount of COVID-19 patients needing emergency care has added to the overload of ER patients, the news release stated. The Indiana Department of Health and the Indiana Hospital Association have expressed their support of the decision. The Indiana Hospital Association applauds the cooperation among Northwest Indiana hospitals to work together for the benefit of the community, said Brian Tabor, president of the Indiana Hospital Association. Indiana hospitals are overwhelmed with the highest number of patients on record and have reached a state of crisis with dwindling capacity left to care for patients. Our emergency departments are seeing 8,500 to 10,000 visits per day, and at any given point there are several hundred patients boarding in emergency departments around the state awaiting open beds. Officials also urged residents to not use emergency departments for COVID-19 testing, and to instead use testing sites or immediate care centers, which can be found at coronavirus.in.gov/covid-19-testing-information/. This will allow for medical staff to be able to care for the most vulnerable patients in need of urgent care. "We also stand united in urging the community to be vaccinated and boosted against this disease," the release said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Michael Parks, a Pulitzer-Prize-winning foreign correspondent for The Los Angeles Times who went on to become the top editor at the paper, one of the nations largest metropolitan dailies, died on Jan. 8 at a hospital in Pasadena, Calif. He was 78. The cause was a heart attack and kidney failure, his son Christopher said. Mr. Parks reported from around the world from 1970 to 1995, first for The Baltimore Sun and then for The Los Angeles Times. In his time abroad, he chronicled some of the most significant geopolitical events in modern history, including the war in Vietnam, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the unraveling of apartheid in South Africa. While he was in Johannesburg for The Times, the white-minority government announced in late 1986 that it was expelling him after he had been documenting the brutal segregationist policy of apartheid for two years. As the country lurched violently toward historic change, Mr. Parks was the fifth correspondent that year to receive an expulsion order. The Times decided to appeal; the story of the Black majoritys rebellion against white rule was too important not to cover. In early 1987, Mr. Parks and editors from Los Angeles met in Cape Town with three government ministers to plead their case. Photo taken on Jan. 15, 2022 shows planes of Air Malta parking at the Malta International Airport in Luqa, Malta. Air Malta, the country's flag carrier, will reduce the number of employees by half as the government plans to make the airline financially viable, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said here on Friday. (Photo by Jonathan Borg/Xinhua) VALLETTA, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Air Malta, the country's flag carrier, will reduce the number of employees by half as the government plans to make the airline financially viable, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said here on Friday. The airline currently has 890 employees, and the plan is to offer around 470 of them jobs in other government sectors with the same conditions and salary. The move, to be completed by this summer, is expected to save the airline around 15 million euros (17.1 million U.S. dollars) per year, Caruana told a press conference. The restructuring plan was unveiled as the government awaits the European Commission's final decision on how much in state aid it can inject into the airline. The plan also foresees the negotiation of new collective agreements to allow the airline more flexibility and to introduce new and sustainable operational practices. Caruana said the cost-cutting plan will see the airline close its ground and baggage handling operations, which alone employ 300 people. Another 110 administrative staff will also be transferred to other government sectors. Air Malta will cut unprofitable routes and will attempt to operate flights that would not land in Malta. Caruana said these changes were needed to save the airline, which has racked up over 258 million euros in operational losses since 2005. "We have made strong arguments with the European Commission that Air Malta has a fighting chance, and we believe that our plan will save the company from bankruptcy," he told the news conference. "We have to be serious about this plan. It could very well be Air Malta's last chance," he added. Plans for Air Malta to fly to airports on other continents, for example to New York or Mumbai in India, have been ditched. Air Malta has had a negative equity since 2011. In 2012, the EU cleared a 130-million-euro state aid restructuring plan for the airline, but it was soon eaten up by the rising costs. The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a major blow, with the airline receiving over 300,000 requests for refunds totaling 32 million euros and issuing 80,000 flight vouchers, equivalent to 12 million euros. Although the Mediterranean island country's economy is heavily dependent on foreign trade and tourism, the Central Bank of Malta has predicted last December that the country's gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by 6.5 percent in 2022 and 5.3 percent in 2023, higher than the previous forecast. (1 euro=1.14 U.S. dollars) Photo taken on Jan. 15, 2022 shows a view of the Malta International Airport in Luqa, Malta. Air Malta, the country's flag carrier, will reduce the number of employees by half as the government plans to make the airline financially viable, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said here on Friday. (Photo by Jonathan Borg/Xinhua) Photo taken on Jan. 15, 2022 shows a plane of Air Malta parking at the Malta International Airport in Luqa, Malta. Air Malta, the country's flag carrier, will reduce the number of employees by half as the government plans to make the airline financially viable, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said here on Friday. (Photo by Jonathan Borg/Xinhua) Photo taken on Jan. 15, 2022 shows a view of the Malta International Airport in Luqa, Malta. Air Malta, the country's flag carrier, will reduce the number of employees by half as the government plans to make the airline financially viable, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said here on Friday. (Photo by Jonathan Borg/Xinhua) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday clarified its stance on various kinds of masks, acknowledging that the cloth masks frequently worn by Americans do not offer as much protection as surgical masks or respirators. While this disparity is widely known to the general public, the update marks the first time the C.D.C. has explicitly addressed the differences. The agencys website also no longer refers to a shortage of respirators. The change comes as infections with the highly contagious Omicron variant continue to soar. Some experts have said that cloth masks are inadequate to protect from the variant, and have urged the C.D.C. to recommend respirators for ordinary citizens. The agency did not go that far. Its updated language now says that a respirator may be considered in certain situations and by certain people when greater protection is needed or desired. The police said Mr. Glynn had been identified on surveillance video bearing a pair of headphones similar to those he had with him during the shooting. He was arrested late on Thursday at a home address in Brooklyn. Mr. Glynn had worked at the same Burger King as the shooting victim between April and December 2020, the police said, but officials had no indication that he and Ms. Bayron-Nieves knew each other. Officials said that he had likely planned to rob a store he was familiar with. Mr. Glynn, who wore a black ski mask, had already taken out $100 from another register before the shooting, the police said. He had four prior arrests, the authorities said, including for criminal possession of a weapon in an incident during which he brandished a knife. In the days after Ms. Bayron-Nieves was killed, residents of East Harlem held several vigils, placing pink and white balloons, bouquets of flowers and more than three dozen candles against the entrance to the Burger King. At one of the memorials, a cousin of Ms. Bayron-Nieves, Kiara Fuentes, described the consequences of an incident that she said was hurting our family so much. My Kristal didnt deserve this. She did not wake up thinking she wasnt going to make it back home, Ms. Fuentes said. Its heartbreaking. This shouldnt be happening to anyone, especially teenagers. Firefighters continued to battle a large blaze on Saturday morning at a chemical plant in Passaic, N.J., more than 14 hours after it erupted, sending towering flames into the sky and clouds of smoke wafting through the region. By 11 a.m., the fire had been downgraded to a four-alarm response from an 11-alarm response, but bitter low temperatures created other problems as firefighters contended with frozen hydrants and hazardous conditions. City officials said that the worst outcome had been avoided so far: The fire did not reach the portion of the plant that houses large amounts of chemical products, and there were no major injuries. Residents were urged to keep their windows shut. The citys mayor said on Saturday morning that the situation did not require them to evacuate the area. But even a deal that funnels some money into a humanitarian trust fund for Afghanistan seems unlikely to shore up Afghanistans central bank, which needs foreign currency to perform its core functions. The bank, which is modeled on the New York Federal Reserve, sets monetary policy and the exchange rate and stabilizes prices by periodically auctioning off dollars to private banks. Longtime civil servants who remained in Kabul have continued to perform the banks core functions, conducting electronic auctions with the cash they have on hand, according to Shah Mehrabi, a member of the Afghan central banks governing board who is also an economics professor at Montgomery College in Maryland. But the bank could soon run out of foreign cash. The entire banking system could fall apart. Mr. Mehrabi has proposed that the Biden administration allow monthly transfers of small amounts of the frozen funds for the sole purpose of auctioning off dollars to private banks. Such auctions are easy to monitor and could be cut off if the money was used for any other purpose, he said. Such an arrangement would bolster the hand of technocrats who have continued to work under the Taliban. It could be conditioned on their independence from the Taliban or on hiring certain technical staff members. Refusing to release any portion of the funds as long as the Taliban are in power would remove the money as a source of leverage. Given the Sept. 11 lawsuit, it may not be possible to free up the funds frozen in New York in time to stave off a crisis. It may be more realistic for funds to be released from the banks in Europe, which hold a smaller but still significant amount of the Afghanistan central banks money. Since commercial banks in Afghanistan are required to keep some reserves in the central bank, hundreds of millions of dollars in the frozen overseas accounts are part of the life savings of Afghan citizens, which should not be rendered inaccessible because the Taliban took over the country. It would not cost American taxpayers a dime to issue letters of comfort to European banks to make it clear that they will not be punished for giving private Afghan citizens access to their money. If this doesnt happen, the world will be treated to the spectacle of Americans and Europeans paying to mitigate a humanitarian disaster caused, in part, by the fact that many Afghans have been cut off from their own money. There are other things the U.S. government can do on the margins to ease the liquidity crisis. Before the Taliban took over, the Afghan central bank inked a contract with a Polish company to print about $8.5 million worth of bank notes. One batch of notes has been delivered, but the rest remain in Poland. That contract should be fulfilled. In the medium term, international agencies are proposing to pay Afghan civil servants directly, bypassing the Taliban-led Ministries of Education and Health. Last month, the World Bank unfroze $280 million in Afghan reconstruction funds that could soon be used for this purpose. Such efforts would certainly help. But they wont make a dent in the human suffering if the banking system collapses. When banks splinter and fail, they exacerbate crises, as happened in Yemen, according to Dave Harden, an expert on the economies of countries in conflict. Reasonable people can disagree about how much aid the United States should give Afghanistan after two heartbreaking decades of blood and treasure. It is tempting to walk away entirely. But self-interest dictates that Americans think clearly about long-term costs. Small efforts now could avoid big problems later such as another mass migration in Europe. They could also preserve a toehold in the country. The war has been lost, but that doesnt mean every institution that Americans worked with is destined to disappear. Theres still time to save Afghanistans central bank. The Supreme Courts decision on Thursday to block the Occupational Safety and Health Administration from requiring large employers to make sure that their workers are either vaccinated against the coronavirus or masked at work and tested weekly was a setback for Americas efforts to stop the pandemic. The six Republican-appointed justices are helping to prolong the pandemic, endanger workers and extend the labor shortage that has disrupted the economy. But the justices may also have opened the door for a more comprehensive rule that will better protect the nations workers, and it is one that OSHA should have issued months ago. The courts decision displays some glaring misunderstandings of the laws governing OSHAs responsibilities. There is no question that the Covid-19 pandemic fits the criteria for the dangerous working conditions the agency was created to address, and that some workers, because of the nature of their jobs, face a higher risk of becoming ill with Covid-19 than the general public. However, the justices, in the courts majority opinion, did acknowledge that Covid-19 actually is a hazard in high-risk workplaces. We do not doubt, for example, that OSHA could regulate researchers who work with the Covid-19 virus. So too could OSHA regulate risks associated with working in particularly crowded or cramped environments. But the danger present in such workplaces differs in both degree and kind from the everyday risk of contracting Covid-19 that all face. WASHINGTON Nearly four dozen states on Friday asked a federal appeals court to reconsider an antitrust lawsuit against Facebook that a judge threw out last year. In June, Judge James E. Boasberg of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia said the states had waited too long after some of the deals under scrutiny were made to file their suit. The plaintiffs, which are led by Attorney General Letitia James of New York and include the District of Columbia and Guam, argued in their appeal that states have more latitude than private plaintiffs for when they file lawsuits. They also argued that it was in the publics interest for the attorneys general to pursue the antitrust complaints against Meta, the parent company of Facebook. The states central claim is that Facebook acquired competitors particularly Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 in a predatory manner, in order to crush competition. They also argue that Facebook harmed rivals like Vine by blocking them from accessing data and tools on its platform. That harmed consumers, who were deprived of more competition and alternative services in social networking, the states claim. Mr. McDaniels sister, Jada McDaniel, said she supported the use of body cameras and believed that the guards might have intentionally engaged her brother behind the stairwell, knowing that it partially obscured what was happening. Ms. McDaniel said she believed that the guards would not have been so aggressive with her brother had they all been wearing cameras. Image Michael McDaniel Credit... Jada McDaniel My brother would still be alive, said Ms. McDaniel, who teaches math and science to fourth graders in Columbus. They would have thought twice. They probably wouldnt have taken him out and abused him the way they did. Theres no way they would have taken him behind the stairwell. Ms. McDaniel said she believed that the guards would also benefit from having more of their interactions on camera. The guards need protection as well, she said. The body camera will catch everything. A new prison agency policy governing body cameras says that cameras may automatically activate when a gun or pepper spray is drawn. The policy says that the cameras must be powered on at all times, meaning that even if guards cannot or do not activate them, video would still be captured and stored for 18 hours. In jails and state and federal prisons across the country, officials have been struggling to hire enough prison guards to fill in for those who have retired, fall ill with Covid-19 or are avoiding dangerous assignments, leaving correctional facilities with high infection rates and not enough staff to handle potentially violent confrontations. In New York, stabbings at the massive jail complex on Rikers Island have surged and gangs have increased their influence in the jail during the pandemic as some prison guards have taken advantage of generous sick leave policies. Some guards wear body cameras at the complex, but not all. In 2019, the sheriff overseeing the jail in Albany County, N.Y., said he was putting body cameras on guards after several inmates who had been transferred from Rikers Island said they had been abused at the Albany jail. The sheriff said at the time that he believed the cameras would have proven that the officers were innocent. Plans to extend the expiration date for the payments, which helped keep millions of children out of poverty, were stymied with the collapse of negotiations over the sprawling domestic policy plan. And additional pandemic-related provisions will expire before the end of the year without congressional action. Thats just about as straightforward as it gets, said Mr. Ryan. If the Democrats cant get on with a tax cut for working families, what are we for? In recent days, Mr. Biden has faced a wave of rising anger from traditional party supporters. Members of some civil rights groups boycotted his voting rights speech in Atlanta to express their disappointment with his push on the issue, while others, including Stacey Abrams, who is running for governor in Georgia, were noticeably absent. Mr. Biden vowed to make a new forceful push for voting right protections, only to see it fizzle the next day. And last week, six of Mr. Bidens former public health advisers went public with their criticisms of his handling of the pandemic, calling on the White House to adopt a strategy geared to the new normal of living with the virus indefinitely. Others have called for the firing of Jeffrey Zients, who leads the White House pandemic response team. There does not seem to be an appreciation for the urgency of the moment, said Tre Easton, a senior adviser for Battle Born Collective, a progressive group that is pushing for overturning the filibuster to enable Democrats to pass a series of their priorities. Its sort of, OK, what comes next? Is there something thats going to happen where voters can say, yes, my life is appreciatively more stable than it was two years ago. White House officials and Democrats insist that their agenda is far from dead and that discussions continue with key lawmakers to pass the bulk of Mr. Bidens domestic plans. Talks over an omnibus package to keep the government open beyond Feb. 18 have quietly resumed, and states are beginning to receive funds from the $1 trillion infrastructure law. There are two issues going on right now in the country. One is voter suppression these subtle laws that make it harder for people to vote, Mr. King said. The other piece is voting administration, where you get into substituting partisan people for nonpartisan administrators, purging voter election boards, allowing election boards to eliminate polling places and also the whole mechanics of counting. He added, Theres a reasonable opportunity here for a bipartisan bill, but my concern is that it will be viewed as a substitute for the Freedom to Vote Act, and thats just not the case. Members of both parties are concerned about the counting and certification of ballots after they have been cast. President Biden was emphatic on the point when he emerged Thursday from a fruitless lunch with Senate Democrats, pleading with them to change the filibuster rules around voting. The state legislative bodies continue to change the law not as to who can vote, but who gets to count the vote, count the vote, count the vote, he said, his voice rising in anger. Its about election subversion. And some academic experts say protecting election administration and vote counting, at this moment, is actually more critical than battling restrictions on early and absentee voting and ballot drop boxes. Ive been saying this for the last year: The No. 1 priority should be ensuring we have a fair vote count, said Richard L. Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine, who has drafted his own prescriptions for safeguarding elections after Election Day. We are in a new level of crisis. I never expected in the contemporary United States that we would have to have legislation around a fair vote count, but we have to have it now. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, has opened the door a crack to changing the Electoral Count Act, which Mr. Trump and his legal advisers speciously claimed gave the vice president the power to unilaterally reject the electors from states deemed contested. BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Friday sent a congratulatory message to Alikhan Smailov on his assuming office as Kazakh prime minister. In his message, Li said China supports Kazakhstan's efforts to safeguard national security, social stability and people's well-being. Li expressed his belief that under the leadership of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and the Kazakh government, Kazakhstan will restore stability and unity as soon as possible, and step towards its development goals. Noting that since the establishment of the diplomatic ties 30 years ago, China-Kazakhstan relations have always maintained high-level development, Li said China is ready to work with the Kazakh side to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, and continuously deepen practical cooperation, so as to lift the China-Kazakhstan permanent comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level for the benefit of both nations and peoples. Government intelligence analysts are still assessing how foreign threats are shifting ahead of this years midterm elections. But a senior intelligence official said that businesses were increasingly conducting campaigns for foreign nations, efforts that include information manipulation and the laundering of disinformation narratives. The growth of those efforts, the senior official said, threatens to make the public more vulnerable to manipulation. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the operations of intelligence agencies, much of whose work is classified. Before the announcement of Mr. Wichmans appointment, some former intelligence officers and Capitol Hill aides had raised questions about whether the Biden administration had done enough to build up an election defense team. Shelby Pierson was appointed as the election threats executive in 2019 after working on security issues surrounding the 2018 midterm elections. But because of President Donald J. Trumps sensitivity to discussions of Russian interference in the elections, the job quickly became fraught. Ms. Pierson led a February 2020 briefing to Congress that accurately reported that Russias election influence campaign was continuing. But Mr. Trumps anger about the briefing ultimately led to the firing of the acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire. The Trump administration subsequently blocked Ms. Pierson from briefing Congress. Ms. Pierson stayed on through the beginning of the Biden administration until the end of her assignment. In September, she took a senior post at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Intelligence officials said that even in the absence of Ms. Pierson, whose exit was reported earlier by The Associated Press, work at coordinating various agencies and submitting reports to Congress had continued. Its crunchtime in the campaign world. With states wrapping up the redistricting process and filing deadlines approaching for candidates, lawmakers are running out of time to decide whether they want to spend another term in Congress and whether they have the energy to run the kind of race that would get them re-elected in their newly drawn districts. In the House, up to 435 members must face the voters every two years; and so far, nearly 40 have opted out. But the announcement on Friday by Representative John Katko of New York, who said he wont seek re-election, is especially newsworthy for what it says about the modern Republican Party. Katko is one of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump, which infuriated the former president. With New Yorks new congressional map in limbo, he chose to retire without even knowing what his new district might look like. He was an influential moderate who was willing to work with Democrats, including his failed attempt to broker a bipartisan committee to investigate the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. In California, one Republican candidates decision to run for re-election is probably the G.O.P.s only chance of holding on to one of its few seats in the state. And in New Jersey, a Democrat who has everything working against him is trying to hold on rather than cede his new district to Republicans. According to the companys website, more than 17 million students and 5,200 districts and schools across the country use its services. Without providing the number of schools that used Illuminate Educations services, the Department of Education said the company had been paid $6 million in the most recent fiscal year. Under the terms of its contracts with schools, Illuminate Education must report its findings to the Education Department, as part of its agreement with the city. A spokeswoman for the department said in a statement that so far there is no confirmation any of our schools information was accessed or taken. A spokeswoman for the New York City Special Commissioner of Investigation, an independent agency with oversight of the citys schools, said the office had not been contacted about the matter. Skedula, which is also known as IO Classroom, can be used with other online tools that teachers rely on, including Google Classroom, in ways that make it easier to post assignments and track grades and attendance. Teachers also use the platform to take notes about students who are struggling in class and who may require the intervention of guidance counselors. The timing of the outage has been a particular problem for many teachers, with the end of first semester quickly approaching and final grades due. This is also a period when teachers typically review their grade books as well as students progress in class. Students who have work they need to make up are now struggling to determine what their outstanding assignments are, said Robyn Katz, who teaches world history to ninth graders at the High School for Public Service in Brooklyn. This is throwing such a wrench into things at such a terrible time, Ms. Katz said. Its just making everything so much more difficult for the kids, for the adults, for the parents, for everybody. A slide show designed to train officers in Portland, Ore., on methods of policing protests concluded with a message that celebrated the use of violence against demonstrators, suggesting they would end up stitched and bandaged, according to records released by the city on Friday. The image was included at the end of a 110-slide training session, apparently from 2018, that detailed the types of protests that officers might encounter, along with analyses of crowd behaviors and police tactics that could be used to maintain order. The concluding slide was of a meme that mocked protesters as dirty hippies, celebrating that officers could christen your heads with hickory, and anoint your faces with pepper spray. It included an image of what appeared to be a police officer in riot gear hitting a protester. The office of Mayor Ted Wheeler, who serves as police commissioner, released the document on Friday, saying it had surfaced as part of a lawsuit related to the racial justice protests that consumed the city in 2020. Mr. Wheeler said that he was disgusted by the slide that mocked protesters and that an investigation had begun. The Portland Police Bureau must reject the harmful and divisive attitude expressed in that slide, he said. Mr. Williams told Townhall that he was frustrated by the error. I have a very high standard for my office, and my service to my constituents and the Commonwealth, he said. I trust this was an honest mistake, he added, and I dont hold it against Legislative Services. The mix-up recalled remarks by President Donald J. Trump on the first day of Black History Month in 2017 in which he referred to Douglass in the present tense, leading some critics to conclude that he believed the abolitionist, who died in 1895, was still alive. Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody whos done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I notice, he said. The error should not distract the public from the general contents of the bill, which would keep conversations about the United States racial history out of classrooms, said Lara Schwartz, a professor of government in the School of Public Affairs at American University in Washington. If this so-called divisive concepts bill became law, all of Virginias students would be the worse for it, and ignorance of our history would not just be a sad punchline it would become more the norm, she said in an email. Critical race theory an advanced academic concept generally not introduced until college is not part of classroom teaching in Virginia. But during the statewide race last year, Mr. Williams, 33, a lawyer who worked on Mr. Trumps failed efforts to overturn the election results in Wisconsin, said he would ban it in schools if he won. MOSCOW Russias main security agency said on Friday that at the request of the United States government it had dismantled REvil, one of the most aggressive ransomware crime groups attacking Western targets, and arrested some of its members. The agency, known as the F.S.B., said the organized crime gang ceased to exist after a sweeping operation that was carried out in 25 locations across five Russian regions. The raids followed multiple requests by the Biden administration for the Kremlin to help shut down such groups. The arrests were announced on the same day that the U.S. government accused Russia of sending saboteurs into Ukraine to create a pretext for invasion, and that hackers shut down dozens of Ukraines government websites an attack that Ukrainian officials suggested had originated in Russia. A senior Biden administration official said the Russian sweep of REvil had no bearing on the building tension over security in Europe and the fate of Ukraine, with Russia massing troops near Ukraines borders and demanding that NATO pull back in Eastern Europe. But it is not clear whether the Kremlin sees this rare example of cooperation between the two countries as unrelated to Ukraine. Sopheap Chak, the executive director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said the timing of the new law was unsettling, given upcoming elections. There is a real risk that the National Internet Gateway will be used to block and censor dissenting opinions online, she said. This will hinder Cambodian citizens ability to make an informed decision on which candidate they deem to be the fittest to rule the country. Mr. Kea Sokun, the rapper, was released in October after serving 12 months in prison. Six months of his original 18-month sentence were suspended to keep him in line, he said, a reminder that he is not legally free yet. Khmer Land, one of the songs that got him arrested, now has more than 4.4 million views on YouTube, and Mr. Kea Sokun is already working on his next album. Im not angry, but I know what happened to me is unfair, he said. The government made an example out of me to scare people who talk about social issues. He said he could have had his sentence reduced if he had apologized, but he refused. I wont say Im sorry, Mr. Kea Sokun said, and I never will. Soth Ban and Meas Molika contributed reporting. But the patients keep arriving, and in droves: More than 15,000 people with Covid-19 have been hospitalized in the city in the past four weeks, the most since the initial surge. About half of all patients in the citys hospitals now have Covid-19. And there are simply not enough nurses to care for them all. Across New York, hospitals generally employ fewer nurses than they did at the start of the pandemic, according to the New York State Nurses Association, a union. Some nurses, burned out by stress, have left the profession; others have taken traveling nurse jobs at considerably higher pay. And the Omicron variants extreme infectiousness has meant many are out sick or in isolation on any given day. Dr. Sylvie de Souza, who runs the Brooklyn Hospital Centers emergency room, said she had enough doctors but had never had so few nurses. Some days, she only had three-quarters of the nurses she needed. On Wednesday, it was closer to half. During the first wave we were able-bodied, she said. But now were exhausted and many are ill. On Wednesday, Dr. de Souza arrived before 8 a.m. and left around 11 p.m., her typical schedule during peak Covid-19 periods. She pitched in wherever she could, at one point filling cups with water and passing them out to patients, some of whose lips were dry and cracked. But the camaraderie that helped sustain hospital workers in early 2020 when, draped in garbage bags for lack of protective equipment, they faced a deadly new pathogen sometimes felt as though it had worn thin. Please, that vanished pretty quickly, said Ms. Williams, who was on maternity leave during the first Covid-19 wave and returned to work in June 2020. In the earlier subway death this year, a man was hit by a train on New Years Day when he jumped down to the tracks to help a man who had been attacked by a group of teenagers and fallen; two of the teenagers were charged with murder. In the pantheon of urban crime, being randomly pushed in front of a subway train occupies a rung of the utmost horror; examples of it are seared into the citys collective memory, going back to the 1980s and 90s, when crime was far more rampant than it is now. For much of the two years of the pandemic, the hollowed-out subway system, once New Yorks beating heart, has become an emblem of a city rocked back on its heels, and the homeless people who have for decades made their home there many of whom are mentally ill or addicted to drugs or both have become the focus of consternation, fear and newspaper headlines. In April 2020, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo held up a front page showing homeless people sprawled across the seats of otherwise empty trains and declared it disgusting. In February 2021, after a man who lived in a homeless shelter stabbed four homeless people in and near subway stations, Mayor Bill de Blasio sent an extra 500 police officers to patrol the system. In May, amid another spate of attacks, Mr. de Blasio sent 250 more officers and said it would bring the number of police personnel patrolling the subway system to the highest level in the police transit bureaus history. And yet crime has persisted, though whether it has increased has been a subject of debate. Transit officials have emphasized that serious crimes in the system are at their lowest in decades, and major felonies were at their lowest combined total in 25 years through November. But ridership has also been much lower, and the rate of violent crimes per million weekday passengers has spiked almost across the board compared with 2019. To the Editor: Re Do We Have the Supreme Court We Deserve?, by Linda Greenhouse (Opinion, Dec. 31): In her valedictory regular column, Ms. Greenhouse states that the Supreme Court is no longer tethered to the policy views of most Americans. This is no doubt true, but it is also true that the Supreme Court has assumed too much power. Judicial review has gotten out of hand. As was perhaps inevitable, the court has become infused with politics, and many of its decisions are political, not legal, in nature. To cite two issues recently before the court, how can anyone reasonably determine whether a federal vaccine mandate or the right to an abortion is permitted by the Constitution? After all, highly respected legal minds differ strongly on both. Quite often there is no right legal answer to the decisions that the Supreme Court is asked to make. Under the circumstances, it seems to me that such matters should be addressed by legislation. In professional sports, unless there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary, the call on the field stands. Similarly, unless a legislative act is clearly forbidden by the Constitution, it should become law. We would be better off being governed by members of Congress, state legislators and presidents accountable to the voters not by unelected justices with lifetime appointments. As voters, we would then have some say over critical public policy decisions. PARIS, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The French national authority of health (HAS) officially approved the Nuvaxovid vaccine for COVID-19 on Friday. "The data from various studies shows the high efficiency of the Nuvaxovid vaccine against the symptomatic forms of COVID-19 (nearly 90 percent), and in particular against severe forms with nearly 100 percent efficiency," HAS said in a statement. Nuvaxovid, manufactured by American biotechnology company Novavax, is suitable for people over the age of 18, with a delay between doses of three weeks, HAS said. The health authority said the Novaxovid vaccine can be used for those who have not received any shots, or cannot receive the mRNA vaccines. The French Ministry of Health has said that the first injections of Nuvaxovid can start in February, and it will receive 3.2 million doses for the first trimester. The first delivery of vaccines will arrive at the end of January. The five COVID-19 vaccines authorized in France are Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen and Nuvaxovid. The French government also allows those who have received two doses of the Chinese vaccines to obtain their health pass, on condition that they should receive a dose of an mRNA vaccine. I made that point toward the end of that last newsletter, but its worth repeating here. Parents have been left trying to make nearly impossible calculations that arent just about whether their kids get a little sick or really sick. (Not-altogether-unrelated P.S.A.: If youre relying on edibles to get you through, make sure you keep them out of reach of tiny hands.) Right now its not easy for policymakers, either. They often lack the tools to adequately manage this seemingly never-ending pandemic. This week, Dr. Aaron Carroll, a pediatrician and the chief health officer of Indiana University, had some sage advice for public health authorities: If were trying to prevent Covid surges and end the pandemic, then we need to center the population in our thinking. Health authorities need to get tools like rapid tests and better masks to as many people as possible, especially those who are more likely to spread disease, even if theyre at low risk themselves. People need to be persuaded or incentivized to vaccinate to protect others. Lets address two other things parents are asking me about: vaccines for the under-5 set, and a new C.D.C. study exploring a potential link between diabetes and Covid in kids. I asked Dr. Sean OLeary, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Colorado, when parents might be able to expect a vaccine for preschoolers, toddlers and babies. In an email, he estimated that it will take another three to five months before this age group has access to a vaccine, based on the pace of prior approvals for older children. He added: There is clearly a lot of demand out there for a vaccine for this age group, we need a vaccine for this age group, but the reality is that even if somehow all of a sudden the vaccine were available tomorrow, it probably wouldnt make any difference with this current wave. You might want to remind your readers that while they anxiously await a Covid vaccine for younger kids, they should double check their childrens vaccination status for routine childhood vaccines, including influenza. A lot of those diseases are more severe in kids than Covid, and we saw a clinically important drop in uptake due to the pandemic. Finally, about that C.D.C. diabetes study: If you read the C.D.C.s tweet about the study, it sounds alarming, and certainly Twitter was aflame with upset parents. But several public health experts pointed out what one described as severe flaws and another said were eye-popping limitations, suggesting that the study should not be taken as definitive. I asked one of those experts, Dr. Jeffrey Flier, a diabetes researcher and a former dean of Harvard Medical School, to explain the studys possible flaws in a way that could help put parents minds at ease. He emailed: In brief: 1. Design of the study had many confounding influences that could easily negate the proposed association once factored in. This seems likely. 2. Even if the association proved true, the risk to any child would be tiny, of a magnitude that would be extremely unlikely to cause alarm. 3. The C.D.C. erred in taking a preliminary and potentially erroneous association and tweeting it to specifically create alarm in parents about the risk of diabetes going up in their children should they get Covid, which has a very low risk of harming their children. I hope this gives you a bit of solace over this long weekend. Paul Carter Harrison, a playwright and scholar who in books, essays and award-winning plays provided a theoretical structure for the Black performing arts, linking works by writers like August Wilson to a deeply rooted structure of African ritual and myth, died on Dec. 27 in Atlanta. He was 85. His daughter, Fonteyn Harrison, confirmed the death, at a retirement home, but said the cause had not been determined. In plays like The Great MacDaddy and books like The Drama of the Nommo: Black Theatre in the African Continuum, both in 1973, Mr. Harrison went beyond the social and political realism of many of his contemporaries, demonstrating how Black American culture is and, he said, must be rooted in African tradition, even as it mixed with white, Eurocentric traditions. The Great MacDaddy, for example, is on the surface a paraphrased retelling of Virgils Aeneid, with the hero setting off across the country to find his fathers secret moonshine recipe. But it is also, and more fundamentally, informed by West African myths about a leader being tested by demons, by departed elders to prove himself worthy. What reigns here is an empire of fear. The repression here doesnt kill directly, but forces you to choose between prison and exile. DANIEL TRIANA, an actor and activist who was detained after recent protests in Cuba, where more than 60 demonstrators were put on trial this week. WASHINGTON A newly disclosed memorandum citing unprecedented meddling by the Trump administration in the 2020 census and circulated among top Census Bureau officials indicates how strongly they sought to resist efforts by the administration to manipulate the count for Republican political gain. The document was shared among three senior executives including Ron S. Jarmin, a deputy director and the agencys day-to-day head. It was written in September 2020 as the administration was pressing the bureau to end the count weeks early so that if President Donald J. Trump lost the election in November, he could receive population estimates used to reapportion the House of Representatives before leaving office. The memo laid out a string of instances of political interference that senior census officials planned to raise with Wilbur Ross, who was then the secretary of the Commerce Department, which oversees the bureau. The issues involved crucial technical aspects of the count, including the privacy of census respondents, the use of estimates to fill in missing population data, pressure to take shortcuts to produce population totals quickly and political pressure on a crash program that was seeking to identify and count unauthorized immigrants. Most of those issues directly affected the population estimates used for reapportionment. In particular, the administration was adamant that for the first time ever the bureau separately tally the number of undocumented immigrants in each state. Mr. Trump had ordered the tally in a July 2020 presidential memorandum, saying he wanted to subtract them from House reapportionment population estimates. Exactly how many hospital workers are unvaccinated is unclear, and even under the new rules, health care workers are often able to get medical or religious exemptions. But the concern remains, particularly among nursing homes and smaller rural hospitals, that the mandate will exacerbate the existing staffing shortages that have crippled much of the country during this latest surge. And many health care executives fear being caught in the cross hairs between states like Florida or Arkansas, which are adamantly opposed to the requirement, and federal officials who say all states are expected to comply. Hospitals dont want to be caught between the federal government and the state government, said Mary Mayhew, president and chief executive of the Florida Hospital Association. The Supreme Court ruling makes clear the authority that CMS has to implement and enforce its vaccine mandate. Dr. Calvin Blount, who has practiced family medicine for more than 20 years in Destin, Fla., said there are still too many unanswered questions about the long-term impact of the vaccine. Now, he is facing a new federal policy that could undermine his practice. More than half of his approximate 420 patients use Medicare. For myself and the majority of my patients, the vaccine is a hell no, said Dr. Blount, 53. Quite honestly, I dont know what is going to happen. We have a federal law that contradicts the state law, and we dont know which side will prevail. If the federal ruling prevails, my options are to get the vaccination, which I am not going to do, or I will be forced to give up my patients who are on Medicare. Despite the court ruling, many nursing homes urged the administration to rethink the requirement and instead allow them the option of testing workers. When we are in the midst of another Covid surge, caregivers in vaccine hesitant communities may walk off the job because of this policy, further threatening access to care for thousands of our nations seniors, said Mark Parkinson, the chief executive of the American Health Care Association, which represents nursing homes, in a statement. FLORENCE, Ariz. Former President Donald J. Trump returned on Saturday to Arizona, a cradle of his political movement, to headline a rally in the desert that was a striking testament to how he has elevated fringe beliefs and the politicians who spread them even as other Republicans openly worry that voters will ultimately punish their party for it. Mr. Trumps favored candidate for governor, Kari Lake, is a first-time office seeker who has threatened to jail the states top elections official. His chosen candidate to replace that elections official, a Democrat, is a state legislator named Mark Finchem, who was with a group of demonstrators outside the Capitol on Jan. 6 as rioters tried to stop the certification of the 2020 election. And one of his most unflinching defenders in Congress is Representative Paul Gosar, who was censured by his colleagues for posting an animated video online that depicted him killing a Democratic congresswoman and assaulting President Biden. All three spoke at Mr. Trumps rally in front of thousands of supporters on Saturday in the town of Florence, outside Phoenix. It was the first stadium-style political event he has held so far in this midterm election year in which he will try to deepen his imprint on Republicans running for office at all levels. The federal voting rights legislation also would have contained funding for election administration processes, including automatic voter registration. Without it, election officials say they will be hamstrung in training staff members and buying needed equipment, running the risk of disruptions. Hundreds of officials from 39 states sent a letter to Mr. Biden on Thursday asking for $5 billion to buy and fortify election infrastructure for the next decade. The letter was organized by a group largely funded by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebooks founder and chief executive. Despite that need, at least 12 states have passed laws preventing nongovernmental groups from financing election administration a wide-reaching legislative response to false right-wing suspicions that $350 million donated for that purpose by another organization with ties to Mr. Zuckerberg was used to increase Democratic turnout. (The money mainly covered administrative expenses, including safety gear for poll workers, and was distributed to both Republican and Democratic jurisdictions.) Some Democrats and civil rights leaders say they fear that the failure of Democrats in Washington to enact a federal voting law could depress turnout among Black voters the same voters the party will spend the coming months working to organize. Voting rights is seen by Black voters as a proxy battle about Black issues, said Mr. Paultre, in Florida. The Democratic Party is going to be blamed. In Texas, whose March 1 primary will be the first of the midterms, some results of the sweeping new voting law passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature last year are already clear. In populous counties such as Harris, Bexar, Williamson and Travis, as many as half of absentee ballot applications have been rejected so far because voters did not comply with new requirements, such as providing a drivers license number or a partial Social Security number. In Harris County the states largest, which includes Houston roughly 16 percent of ballot applications have been rejected because of the new rules, a sevenfold increase over 2018, according to Isabel Longoria, a Democrat who is the countys elections administrator. About one in 10 applications did not satisfy the new identification requirements, she said. In Travis County, home to Austin, about half of applications received have been rejected because of the new rules, officials said. Were now seeing the real-life actual effect of the law, and, ladies and gentlemen, it is voter suppression, said Dana DeBeauvoir, a Democrat who oversees elections there as county clerk. As storms sweep across the United States, officials are having to contend with twin challenges this pandemic winter: too much snow, and not enough drivers to get rid of it. I dont know where everybodys gone, with Covid and everything, said Chris Ferreira, the owner of a towing company in Chelmsford, Mass., who is trying to fill four positions for plow drivers. As far as hiring help, I cant get any, and the price of fuel has jumped up. It has gone up so tremendously it affects all the overhead. He added, Right now, to get tow drivers, we have to pay more money, but we cant charge more money. Snowplow drivers in the United States are usually either permanent employees in state transportation departments, state seasonal hires, or tow truck drivers who also clear snow for private companies that, like Mr. Ferreiras, have government contracts. The schoolteacher had just gotten out of bed when four Myanmar army soldiers pounded on her door. Her electricity payment was overdue, they said, and ordered her to pay it immediately at the government power company office. The teacher, Daw Thida Pyone, asked what would happen if she refused. One soldier pointed his gun at me and said, If you choose your money over your life, then dont go pay the bill, she recounted. She was so frightened she got goose bumps. She grabbed her money and went straight to the payment office, not even taking time to change out of her yellow and pink pajamas. After the Myanmar military seized power in a Feb. 1 coup, millions of people walked off their jobs in protest. Millions also began refusing to pay for electricity, an act of civil disobedience aimed at depriving the junta of a crucial source of revenue. LONDON Ornate English and Bengali typography adorns the signs of Taj Stores, one of the oldest Bangladeshi-run supermarkets in the Brick Lane neighborhood of East London. The signs evoke a part of the areas past, when it became known as Banglatown, and eventually home to the largest Bangladeshi community in Britain. But Brick Lanes future is looking very uncertain, said Jamal Khalique, standing inside a supermarket opened in 1936 by his great-uncle and now run by Mr. Khalique and his two brothers. Modern office buildings of glass and steel and a cluster of apartments and cranes tower above the skyline. New coffee shops, restaurants, food markets and hotels appear in the neighborhood each year. According to one study, the borough of Tower Hamlets, which contains Brick Lane, had the most gentrification in London from 2010 to 2016. In September, a borough committee approved plans under discussion for five years to build a five-story shopping mall in and around a disused parking lot beside a former brewery complex that houses independent shops, galleries, markets, bars and restaurants. MOSCOW, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Russia registered 27,179 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 10,774,304, the official monitoring and response center said Saturday. The nationwide death toll grew by 723 to 320,634, while the number of recoveries increased by 26,584 to 9,835,884. Meanwhile, Moscow, Russia's worst-hit region, reported 6,555 new cases, taking its total to 2,082,224. The Russian capital was followed by Saint Petersburg with 3,314 new cases. The level of herd immunity in the country stands at 63.7 percent, data released on Friday showed. Over 80.1 million Russian citizens had received at least one dose of a vaccine and over 76.5 million of them had been fully vaccinated, according to data released on Friday. The Russian government is formulating measures in urgent response to an upcoming wave of COVID-19 infections caused by the Omicron variant, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said Wednesday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conceded in an announcement on Friday that cloth masks do not protect against the coronavirus as effectively as surgical masks or respirators. In East Asia, a pronouncement like that would not be necessary because it is already common knowledge. The regions mask-wearing customs vary because each country has responded over the years to different sets of epidemiological and environmental threats. But this much is clear: Surgical masks have generally been the public face covering of choice for protection against all manner of epidemics, allergies and pollution. They have also been the go-to mask for those who cover their faces in public, as a courtesy, to prevent others from catching their sniffles. PARIS Marine Le Pen has long used fiery rhetoric and hard-hitting proposals to fight her way to power in France. But for her third presidential bid, she has struck an unusual tone: serenity. On Saturday, Ms. Le Pen, a far-right leader, used social media to kick off the final stretch of her campaign with a 3.5-minute video speech intended to portray her as a credible and composed stateswoman. A large white scarf tied around her neck, she is pictured in the video strolling around the Louvres glass pyramid and speaking in a reassuring tone, her words accompanied by soft piano music. Faced with the dangers that await us and the challenges that lie ahead, Ms. Le Pen said, I call on you to follow the path of reason and of the heart. Her speechs peaceful overtones were a direct response to the violent messaging put forth by Eric Zemmour, another far-right candidate, whose campaign launch video was riddled with clips of crumbling churches, burning cars and violent clashes with the police that projected an image of a chaotic France. Why is Prince Andrew in trouble? Prince Andrews woes are largely the result of his association with Mr. Epstein, who was being held on federal sex trafficking charges when he died, and Ghislaine Maxwell, who was recently found guilty of conspiring with Mr. Epstein to recruit, groom and abuse underage girls. The accusations against Prince Andrew surfaced in 2015 during a federal lawsuit against Mr. Epstein in Florida. One accuser, Ms. Giuffre, claimed that the prince had raped her when she was 17. After a disastrous BBC interview, broadcast in November 2019, in which he tried to explain his friendship with Mr. Epstein and spurred a backlash after characterizing the behavior of the convicted sex offender as unbecoming the prince announced he was indefinitely stepping away from public life. During the interview, the prince said he had no recollection of meeting Ms. Giuffre. But he could not explain a widely published photograph taken in London that showed him with his arm around the girls waist. He told the BBC that he had no memory of the photograph ever being taken. He also made several bizarre claims to deflect his accusers charges, among them that he was medically incapable of sweating. Ms. Giuffre has asserted that the prince was sweating profusely during one of their meetings. In August 2021, Ms. Giuffre filed a lawsuit against Prince Andrew in federal court in Manhattan, repeating her accusations. His lawyers have tried to get the case dismissed, but on Jan. 12 a judge allowed the suit to proceed. What are the next steps in the case against Prince Andrew? If both sides agree to a settlement, which would bring the civil lawsuit to an end, Prince Andrew would likely not have to admit any liability or wrongdoing, but he could face sizable financial costs. Under an agreed-upon scheduling order in the lawsuit, lawyers for Ms. Giuffre and Andrew must complete legal discovery the exchange of documents and the taking of depositions of experts by July 14. If the case goes to trial before a jury, as Prince Andrews lawyers have requested, it could lead to the public airing of tawdry and damaging details about the prince that could further undermine the monarchy. How has the queen reacted? After Januarys ruling in the sexual abuse lawsuit, Buckingham Palace announced that the prince would be relinquishing his military titles and royal charities. In a stinging rebuke, the palace also said the prince would no longer use the title His Royal Highness. The palaces terse statement said that Andrew would continue not to undertake any public duties and that he is defending this case as a private citizen. President Michael D. Higgins has expressed the grief of the nation as he spoke on the death of Ashling Murphy in Tullamore. The 23-year-old teacher was brutally murdered on the canal near Cappincur on Wednesday. People throughout Ireland, in every generation, have been expressing their shock, grief, anger and upset at the horrific murder of Ashling Murphy," the President said. "This morning I spoke to Ashlings family to convey, as President on behalf of the people of Ireland, and on behalf of Sabina and myself as parents, my profound sympathy and sorrow and sense of loss that her tragic death has meant to so many, but what in particular it must mean to her mother Kathleen, father Raymond, sister Amy and brother Cathal. "I sought to convey a sense of how so many parents, families, indeed all of the people of Ireland are thinking of the Murphy family at this very sad time. The loss of Ashling is a loss to all of us, but to her family it is beyond description. "The outpouring of grief at the death of Ashling shows how we have all been very touched, and it is so exemplary for young and old, to read of all Ashlings accomplishments during her short but brilliant and generous life. "Those who knew, studied with her, or as we have heard, loved her as a young gifted teacher, all have borne witness to a life of generous commitment to her local community and to her creativity. As a young, talented and enthusiastic teacher she had already made such a positive impact on her young students and colleagues at school. "To hear them speak of her is such a testament to the joy of sharing, be it in teaching, music or sport, that she conveyed in a way which must have brought much joy to all. She represented the best of her generation, in a life they will recall as inspirational. "It is of crucial importance that we take this opportunity, as so many people have already done in the short time since Ashlings death, to reflect on what needs to be done to eliminate violence against women in all its aspects from our society, and how that work can neither be postponed nor begin too early. "May I suggest to all our people to reflect on all of our actions and attitudes and indeed those we may have been leaving unchallenged amongst those whom we know and do all we can to ensure that the society we live in is one where all of our citizens are free to live their lives, participate fully, in an atmosphere that is unencumbered by risks for their safety. Let us respond to this moment of Ashlings death by committing to the creation of a kinder, more compassionate and empathetic society for all, one that will seek to eliminate all threats of violence against any of our citizens, and commit in particular to bringing an end, at home and abroad, to violence against women in any of its forms. "Suaimhneas siorai da hanam uasal dilis, Ashling," President Higgins concluded. A derelict eyesore in Offaly is set to be demolished after a massive funding boost. Edenderry Fine Gael councillor Noel Cribbin has welcomed the news of over 2.6 million in funding for the demolition of the old Tesco site on JKL Street in the town and the design and consultancy services for a new library and arts performance area and land purchase. Funding of 2.15 has been granted to Offaly County Council under the Rural Regeneration & Development Fund, (RRDF) with Offaly County Council contributing a further 500,000 towards the project. Cllr Cribbin says he has "worked tirelessly over the last number of years to ensure that money was made available to allow the demolition of the building which had become an eyesore on the towns main street, to make way for the development of much-needed amenities in Edenderry." Commenting further on the update Cllr Cribbin said: "I am delighted that this has progressed to a stage where we will soon see activity on the ground around the old Tesco site. Like all such projects, it has taken time and hard work but the results will have benefits for every resident of Edenderry." Outlining the actions he took to make this progress happen, Cllr Cribbin said: "My work on this project started with putting forward the proposal for Offaly County Council to purchase the Tesco site and move our library, following the approval of 1.8 million for our present library to be upgraded. I then contacted the owner of the Tesco site who now resides in the US, and he agreed to come home to negotiate the sale to the council. "On joining Fine Gael in 2018, I sought support for this project and met with Minister Ring in government buildings a meeting which resulted in 100,000 being made available to initiate a feasibility study and resulted in a company being hired to carry out a very successful survey. It was at this stage that the people of Edenderry came on board with over 200 giving their views and suggestions as to how the site might be developed. "A second application by the Council was also successful and resulted in a 700,000 grant to build a new link road, which is now open, between Granary Court and Fairgreen to open up access to backlands, including the Tesco site, William Wallers Store and OPW lands (30 acres) as well as improving connectivity and permeability for Edenderry town. "In total over 3.2 million has been allocated for this project to date which will be a major game changer for Edenderry resulting in a new library and performance area, a new link road and a site of 30 acres opened up for development." Cllr Cribbin also expressed his gratitude to the many people who have supported the progression of the project to date. "I wish to sincerely thank Declan Conlon, former Director of Services at Offaly County Council, Council CEO Anna Marie Delaney and Minister Ring for their full support and Olwen Cummins in forward planning for her great work in putting together the successful applications to draw down up to 3.2 million to date." In relation to the next steps for the project, Cllr. Cribbin said: "The demolition company is on standby to commence the demolition and clearance of the site. It will be a bittersweet day for many people in the town who worked at the site in its various guises, not to mention the thousands who came from all over North Offaly, Kildare and Meath to shop there over the years. "However, for the last 20 years the building has sat vacant and a daily reminder of the economic decline in the town. I am happy to say that is now behind us. Its onwards and upwards for Edenderry with this positive news and the start of many new projects including the new inner relief road, the new 10 million Oaklands college ready to go to planning and now the start of this project which will breathe new life into the town," a delighted Cllr Cribbin concluded. GARDAI investigating the murder of Offaly schoolteacher Ashling Murphy were continuing to examine a house in the county this afternoon. Specialist officers remained at the residence carrying out an intensive search while at the same time, it is understood a property in Dublin was also entered for a similar purpose. The moves came as a line of enquiry involving a new suspect was being vigorously pursued. Gardai believe a bicycle and a male cyclist are critical to making a breakthrough in an investigation which took a significant turn once the former suspect, 39-year-old Tullamore man Radu Floricel, was released on Thursday night. He has been eliminated from the investigation but he told the Tullamore Tribune on Thursday he remains concerned that his name has not been completely cleared in the minds of the public. It is understood the new suspect has been undergoing hospital treatment and it is not yet known when he will be formally interviewed. Images from CCTV of a man on a bicycle, apparently on streets in the town of Tullamore, have been scrutinised closely be gardai. Those images were circulated widely on social messaging apps in the last couple of days. In a statement on Friday, An Garda Siochana said significant progress had been made in the investigation. The gardai were not confirming any specific details for operational reasons but renewed the appeal for any information on a Falcon Storm mountain bike with straight handlebars and distinctive yellow/green front forks (see image below). They appealed to anyone who was in the Cappincur/Grand Canal walk area of Tullamore, before 4pm on Wednesday, January 12, to make contact with them and also asked any motorists who were in Tullamore town centre or the wider approach roads and had any former of video footage (dashcam, CCTV, mobile phone, GoPro Cam etc) to make contact with them. An Garda Siochana said they continue to support Ashling's family at this time and said the Murphy family are appreciative and overwhelmed by the national outpouring of support shown to them. Numerous vigils were held across the county, country and internationally on Friday and Saturday to show solidarity with the family of the 23-year-old primary teacher, musician and sportswoman. There were emotional scenes on Friday evening in the Murphy family home parish of Mountbolus when family members joined the Ballyboy Comhaltas trad group for a performance at a vigil, and also at Cappincur, Tullamore, close to the crime scene, where Ashling's father Ray played the banjo during a rendition of her favourite song, 'Sweet Sixteen'. A vigil took place near the Irish Centre, Camden, London, in Meadows Park, Edinburgh, and another is planned for Vancouver, Canada tomorrow. Tullamore Roman Catholic parish published a special message in memory of Ashling Murphy in this weekend's bulletin. We remember Ashling Murphy, who has been so tragically taken from us. We remember her broken-hearted family, her pupils in Durrow school, her colleagues and friends. The shock and sorrow is beyond words. We remember them in our prayers, the bulletin said. Ashling lived at Blueball, Tullamore, in the parish of Kilcormac Killoughey, and worked as a teacher in Durrow National School, in the parish of Tullamore. She was exercising on the Grand Canal bank in Tullamore after school on Wednesday when she was brutally murdered. THIS week has been a horrific one for Tullamore parish and far beyond, parish priest Fr Joe Gallagher said on Saturday evening as he reflected on the murder of local teacher Ashling Murphy. The shock, the horror, the grief. Really it's beyond words for any of us. We are here this evening as people of faith, we pray together, we come to support one another and to remember Ashling's family, he told churchgoers at Mass in the Church of the Assumption. Ashling Murphy, 23, was murdered last Wednesday afternoon on the bank of the Grand Canal in Tullamore after going there to exercise after a day's teaching at nearby Durrow National School. We remember Ashling who was so violently taken from us in a place we thought was safe. She was only going for a run, said Fr Gallagher. And we remember her broken hearted family. We cannot even begin to understand their pain and we want to reach out to them and carry them through this awful time. And her pupils in First Class, the little ones she loved, and they adored her. And so many of her friends and young people who are coming face to face with the horror of violence and loss. Life can be so cruel, and we don't know why. Fr Gallagher spoke of the prophet who wished to lift his people out of darkness into the light and referred to violence in present-day Ireland. There is so much violence in our society, so much violence against women and children, violence against our older people. It is shocking and so many people are living in fear, sometimes the fear of being in their own homes. And we are capable of so much more, of being so much better. We need a prophet, a vision that we can put into action, so that fear and violence will not be tolerated. The parish priest's homily continued: There is talk of this being a watershed moment. We certainly need to change. We need to imagine a more peaceful and harmonious place where we can live and work and exercise in safety. He said he was also struck by the line blessed are the peacemakers in the beatitudes. This is not a platitude, this is a call to action. Peace and peaceful society just does not happen. We have to be makers of peace and we have to continually work at it. And it is the work of a lifetime and it is an essential part of living our Christian faith. Now is a time for us to be prophetic, to stretch ourselves and work and commit ourselves to a peaceful brighter future. God knows the sheer goodness that is in us and our faith is the strength and the light that will empower us and lead us forward. Prayers were offered for Ashling and her family, her pupils in Durrow School, and her colleagues in sport and music and the congregation joined in a special prayer where victims of violence were remembered and that genuine efforts be made as citizens, governments and churches to create a society where all people need no fear as they live in their homes and walk in their cities, towns and countryside. What's Included With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please call our customer service team at 716-372-3121 or email nfinnerty@oleantimesherald.com. TEGUCIGALPA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- A caravan of Honduran migrants left on Saturday for the United States from the northern city of San Pedro Sula. Dozens of people arrived Friday night at the Metropolitan Transportation Center in the city and set out at dawn on their way to the border with Guatemala. Local media showed images of hundreds of migrants who began their journey on foot, others on buses or hitchhiking. This is the first caravan of this year, with the most recent one forming in March 2021, though it was dissolved by Guatemalan authorities. More Hondurans have been leaving the country over the past year as a result of the progressive lifting of restrictions aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. Most migrants are fleeing poverty and violence in search of better opportunities. (The Center Square) An obscure agency of the U.S. government, whose stated mission is to reduce recidivism and work with criminal justice partners to enhance public safety, will begin tracking all federal employees who file for religious exemptions to President Joe Bidens COVID-19 vaccine mandate on federal workers and contractors. Religious rights group question whether the tracking plan will be used to discriminate against federal employees and contractors of faith. The federal government has no business to create a database of people who file religious exemptions, Liberty Counsel founder and Chairman Mat Staver told The Center Square. Liberty Counsel, a religious freedom legal aid nonprofit, the state of Florida and other groups sued the Biden administration after the president on Sept. 9 issued by executive order a mandate that all federal employees and contractors receive the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment and/or contract with the federal government for services. After Bidens executive order was issued, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force issued guidance to federal agencies on how and when to grant religious or medical exemptions, which are required by law to be reasonably accommodated. It also provided guidance to agencies on how to track documents related to religious exemption requests. Now, the federal government, through the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia (CSOSA), will oversee religious accommodation requests for all federal workers and contractors subjected to Bidens mandate. CSOSA is a part of the executive branch. Formed in 1997, the CSOSA assumed the adult probation function from the Superior Court for the District of Columbia and the parole supervision function from the District of Columbia Board of Parole (which was disbanded). An independent entity within CSOSA that supervises pretrial defendants, the Pretrial Services Agency for the District of Columbia, will now oversee the newly created Employee Religious Exception Request Information System, according to a public notice filed in the Federal Register. The PSA will process religious accommodation requests and store information about every federal employee, volunteer, intern, contractor, and consultant who falls under the mandate and requests a religious exemption. The primary purpose of the secured electronic file repository is to collect, maintain, use, and to the extent appropriate and necessary disseminate employee religious exception request information collected by the agency in the context of the federally mandated COVID-19 vaccination requirement, the notice states. And the PSA will use a secured electronic file repository to log, track, and manage employee religious exception request information while leveraging technology to protect and secure the privacy of the records maintained in the system. Records may include an employees religious affiliation, date of birth, job title, home address, age, where they work, and copies of their accommodation requests and notes and decisions related to them, according to the notice. Unless Bidens federal employee vaccine mandate is struck down by the courts, or CSOSAs proposed rule is halted by a judge, the new tracking system is slated to begin Feb. 10. Unlike other federal agencies public comment periods that often last months, CSOSAs lasts for 28 days. The Federal Register states the new system will be effective upon publication. New or modified routine uses will be effective February 10, 2022. But a federal agency that oversees parolees and works with criminal justice partners now being tasked with tracking religious exemptions is raising red flags for those whove fought against an administration that hasn't been open to those seeking religious exemptions. In a lawsuit challenging Biden's vaccine mandate on members of the U.S. military, a number of Navy SEALS claim they requested religious exemptions, but were outright rejected. They allege their requests were not taken seriously enough. Liberty Counsel argues CSOSAs tracking plan serves no legitimate or lawful purpose and could be misused to discriminate against people of faith. The only possible purpose this could have is to first identity and then to discriminate against people of faith. Knowing who files for religious exemptions serves no legitimate or lawful purpose, Staver told The Center Square. A federal agency compiling a database of people who take their [faith] seriously sets a bad precedent, which is not surprising with the Biden administration that has been hostile to religious freedom. Requests for comment from CSOSA were not immediately returned. Three years after it was formed, CSOSA was certified as a federal executive branch agency in 2000 by former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno. According to its website, the agencys scope doesnt appear to include vaccine mandate enforcement or religious exemption oversight. Its stated mission is to Effectively supervise adults under our jurisdiction to enhance public safety, reduce recidivism, support the fair administration of justice, and promote accountability, inclusion and success through the implementation of evidence-based practices in close collaboration with our criminal justice partners and the community. Its stated goals are to reduce recidivism by targeting criminogenic risk and needs using innovative and evidence-based strategies; integrate offenders into the community by connecting them with resources and interventions; strengthen and promote accountability by ensuring offender compliance and cultivating a culture of continuous measurement and improvement; and support the fair administration of justice by providing timely and accurate information to criminal justice decision-makers. While the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled against Bidens private sector employer vaccine mandate, it hasnt yet accepted challenges to the federal worker mandate. The lawsuits against the mandate continue in their respective jurisdictions. 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. Brisbane Times 16 Jan 2022 The former executive who shot to notoriety for hiking the price of a lifesaving medication has been ordered to pay $US65 million.. Author and historian Timothy Snyder thinks the 2024 campaign could end with the loser claiming power and that could break up the United States. Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, speaks at the close of a study session at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee attended by provincial and ministerial-level officials, Jan. 14, 2022. During the study session, the officials deepened their understanding of the guiding principles of the sixth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, built further consensus and enhanced their sense of responsibility in performing their duties. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling) BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Senior Communist Party of China (CPC) official Wang Huning stressed the importance of promoting Party history education to create a better future at the close of a study session at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee on Friday. Wang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks when addressing the provincial and ministerial-level officials attending the session from Tuesday. Wang called for a long-term and regular mechanism for Party history education to better study and make better use of the historical experience of the Party. He also asked the officials to reflect on Party history education in their work to push forward development and real actions to serve the people, and fully implement the policies of the CPC Central Committee to pursue high-quality development. During the study session, the officials deepened their understanding of the guiding principles of the sixth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, built further consensus and enhanced their sense of responsibility in performing their duties. The raid mainly took place at a warehouse located north of Mexico City. The country is clamping down on food companies that market to children. Ukraine is "99.9%" sure Russia was behind a massive cyber attack against Ukrainian government websites and the hack could signal a new physical invasion will follow, the president's top security official has told Sky News. The US has shared concerns that Russia could preparing for the possibility of a new military assault to justify an invasion of Ukraine, a government official said. Runners across the island of Ireland have stopped to remember Ashling Murphy whose murder has shocked the nation. 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday he plans to make a visit to Japan within the next few months, with the trip's schedule already being discussed with Colombo (AFP) Jan 9, 2022 Cash-strapped Sri Lanka sought to reschedule its huge Chinese debt burden in Sunday talks with visiting foreign minister Wang Yi, the president's office said. The island's tourism-dependent economy has been hammered by the pandemic and its depleted foreign exchange reserves have led to food rationing at supermarkets and shortages of essential goods. Key ally China is Sri Lanka's biggest London (AFP) Jan 14, 2022 Google on Friday agreed to buy a central London building complex for $1 billion, but stressed it remained committed to new hybrid working patterns in the wake of Covid. The tech titan will purchase the Central St Giles office site, where it is a tenant, for the equivalent of 872 million euros. Google said it would give the site a multi-million-pound overhaul for flexible working patterns Activists are taking to the streets across the country in Kill the Bill protests, calling on the House of Lords to reject the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill. Over the last several decades, I've witnessed a lot of change in the fields of machine learning (ML) and computer science. Early approaches, which often fell short, eventually gave rise to modern approaches that have been very successful. Following that long-arc pattern of progress, I think we'll see a number of exciting advances over the next several years, advances that will ultimately benefit the lives of billions of people with greater impact than ever before. In this post, Ill highlight five areas where ML is poised to have such impact. For each, Ill discuss related research (mostly from 2021) and the directions and progress well likely see in the next few years. Trend 1: More Capable, General-Purpose ML Models Researchers are training larger, more capable machine learning models than ever before. For example, just in the last couple of years models in the language domain have grown from billions of parameters trained on tens of billions of tokens of data (e.g., the 11B parameter T5 model), to hundreds of billions or trillions of parameters trained on trillions of tokens of data (e.g., dense models such as OpenAIs 175B parameter GPT-3 model and DeepMinds 280B parameter Gopher model, and sparse models such as Googles 600B parameter GShard model and 1.2T parameter GLaM model). These increases in dataset and model size have led to significant increases in accuracy for a wide variety of language tasks, as shown by across-the-board improvements on standard natural language processing (NLP) benchmark tasks (as predicted by work on neural scaling laws for language models and machine translation models). Many of these advanced models are focused on the single but important modality of written language and have shown state-of-the-art results in language understanding benchmarks and open-ended conversational abilities, even across multiple tasks in a domain. They have also shown exciting capabilities to generalize to new language tasks with relatively little training data, in some cases, with few to no training examples for a new task. A couple of examples include improved long-form question answering, zero-label learning in NLP, and our LaMDA model, which demonstrates a sophisticated ability to carry on open-ended conversations that maintain significant context across multiple turns of dialog. A dialog with LaMDA mimicking a Weddell seal with the preset grounding prompt, Hi Im a weddell seal. Do you have any questions for me? The model largely holds down a dialog in character. (Weddell Seal image cropped from Wikimedia CC licensed image.) Transformer models are also having a major impact in image, video, and speech models, all of which also benefit significantly from scale, as predicted by work on scaling laws for visual transformer models. Transformers for image recognition and for video classification are achieving state-of-the-art results on many benchmarks, and weve also demonstrated that co-training models on both image data and video data can improve performance on video tasks compared with video data alone. Weve developed sparse, axial attention mechanisms for image and video transformers that use computation more efficiently, found better ways of tokenizing images for visual transformer models, and improved our understanding of visual transformer methods by examining how they operate compared with convolutional neural networks. Combining transformer models with convolutional operations has shown significant benefits in visual as well as speech recognition tasks. The outputs of generative models are also substantially improving. This is most apparent in generative models for images, which have made significant strides over the last few years. For example, recent models have demonstrated the ability to create realistic images given just a category (e.g., "irish setter" or "streetcar", if you desire), can "fill in" a low-resolution image to create a natural-looking high-resolution counterpart ("computer, enhance!"), and can even create natural-looking aerial nature scenes of arbitrary length. As another example, images can be converted to a sequence of discrete tokens that can then be synthesized at high fidelity with an autoregressive generative model. Example of a cascade diffusion models that generate novel images from a given category and then use those as the seed to create high-resolution examples: the first model generates a low resolution image, and the rest perform upsampling to the final high resolution image. The SR3 super-resolution diffusion model takes as input a low-resolution image, and builds a corresponding high resolution image from pure noise. Because these are powerful capabilities that come with great responsibility, we carefully vet potential applications of these sorts of models against our AI Principles. Beyond advanced single-modality models, we are also starting to see large-scale multi-modal models. These are some of the most advanced models to date because they can accept multiple different input modalities (e.g., language, images, speech, video) and, in some cases, produce different output modalities, for example, generating images from descriptive sentences or paragraphs, or describing the visual content of images in human languages. This is an exciting direction because like the real world, some things are easier to learn in data that is multimodal (e.g., reading about something and seeing a demonstration is more useful than just reading about it). As such, pairing images and text can help with multi-lingual retrieval tasks, and better understanding of how to pair text and image inputs can yield improved results for image captioning tasks. Similarly, jointly training on visual and textual data can also help improve accuracy and robustness on visual classification tasks, while co-training on image, video, and audio tasks improves generalization performance for all modalities. There are also tantalizing hints that natural language can be used as an input for image manipulation, telling robots how to interact with the world and controlling other software systems, portending potential changes to how user interfaces are developed. Modalities handled by these models will include speech, sounds, images, video, and languages, and may even extend to structured data, knowledge graphs, and time series data. Example of a vision-based robotic manipulation system that is able to generalize to novel tasks. Left: The robot is performing a task described in natural language to the robot as place grapes in ceramic bowl, without the model being trained on that specific task. Right: As on the left, but with the novel task description of place bottle in tray. Often these models are trained using self-supervised learning approaches, where the model learns from observations of raw data that has not been curated or labeled, e.g., language models used in GPT-3 and GLaM, the self-supervised speech model BigSSL, the visual contrastive learning model SimCLR, and the multimodal contrastive model VATT. Self-supervised learning allows a large speech recognition model to match the previous Voice Search automatic speech recognition (ASR) benchmark accuracy while using only 3% of the annotated training data. These trends are exciting because they can substantially reduce the effort required to enable ML for a particular task, and because they make it easier (though by no means trivial) to train models on more representative data that better reflects different subpopulations, regions, languages, or other important dimensions of representation. All of these trends are pointing in the direction of training highly capable general-purpose models that can handle multiple modalities of data and solve thousands or millions of tasks. By building in sparsity, so that the only parts of a model that are activated for a given task are those that have been optimized for it, these multimodal models can be made highly efficient. Over the next few years, we are pursuing this vision in a next-generation architecture and umbrella effort called Pathways. We expect to see substantial progress in this area, as we combine together many ideas that to date have been pursued relatively independently. Pathways: a depiction of a single model we are working towards that can generalize across millions of tasks. Top Trend 2: Continued Efficiency Improvements for ML Improvements in efficiency arising from advances in computer hardware design as well as ML algorithms and meta-learning research are driving greater capabilities in ML models. Many aspects of the ML pipeline, from the hardware on which a model is trained and executed to individual components of the ML architecture, can be optimized for efficiency while maintaining or improving on state-of-the-art performance overall. Each of these different threads can improve efficiency by a significant multiplicative factor, and taken together, can reduce computational costs, including CO 2 equivalent emissions (CO2e), by orders of magnitude compared to just a few years ago. This greater efficiency has enabled a number of critical advances that will continue to dramatically improve the efficiency of machine learning, enabling larger, higher quality ML models to be developed cost effectively and further democratizing access. Im very excited about these directions of research! Continued Improvements in ML Accelerator Performance Each generation of ML accelerator improves on previous generations, enabling faster performance per chip, and often increasing the scale of the overall systems. Last year, we announced our TPUv4 systems, the fourth generation of Googles Tensor Processing Unit, which demonstrated a 2.7x improvement over comparable TPUv3 results in the MLPerf benchmarks. Each TPUv4 chip has ~2x the peak performance per chip versus the TPUv3 chip, and the scale of each TPUv4 pod is 4096 chips (4x that of TPUv3 pods), yielding a performance of approximately 1.1 exaflops per pod (versus ~100 petaflops per TPUv3 pod). Having pods with larger numbers of chips that are connected together with high speed networks improves efficiency for larger models. ML capabilities on mobile devices are also increasing significantly. The Pixel 6 phone features a brand new Google Tensor processor that integrates a powerful ML accelerator to better support important on-device features. Left: TPUv4 board; Center: Part of a TPUv4 pod; Right: Google Tensor chip found in Pixel 6 phones. Our use of ML to accelerate the design of computer chips of all kinds (more on this below) is also paying dividends, particularly to produce better ML accelerators. Continued Improvements in ML Compilation and Optimization of ML Workloads Even when the hardware is unchanged, improvements in compilers and other optimizations in system software for machine learning accelerators can lead to significant improvements in efficiency. For example, A Flexible Approach to Autotuning Multi-pass Machine Learning Compilers shows how to use machine learning to perform auto-tuning of compilation settings to get across-the-board performance improvements of 5-15% (and sometimes as much as 2.4x improvement) for a suite of ML programs on the same underlying hardware. GSPMD describes an automatic parallelization system based on the XLA compiler that is capable of scaling most deep learning network architectures beyond the memory capacity of an accelerator and has been applied to many large models, such as GShard-M4, LaMDA, BigSSL, ViT, MetNet-2, and GLaM, leading to state-of-the-art results across several domains. End-to-end model speedups from using ML-based compiler autotuning on 150 ML models. Included are models that achieve improvements of 5% or more. Bar colors represent relative improvement from optimizing different model components. Human-CreativityDriven Discovery of More Efficient Model Architectures Continued improvements in model architectures give substantial reductions in the amount of computation needed to achieve a given level of accuracy for many problems. For example, the Transformer architecture, which we developed in 2017, was able to improve the state of the art on several NLP and translation benchmarks while simultaneously using 10x to 100x less computation to achieve these results than a variety of other prevalent methods, such as LSTMs and other recurrent architectures. Similarly, the Vision Transformer was able to show improved state-of-the-art results on a number of different image classification tasks despite using 4x to 10x less computation than convolutional neural networks. Machine-Driven Discovery of More Efficient Model Architectures Use of Sparsity Sparsity, where a model has a very large capacity, but only some parts of the model are activated for a given task, example or token, is another important algorithmic advance that can greatly improve efficiency. In 2017, we introduced the sparsely-gated mixture-of-experts layer, which demonstrated better results on a variety of translation benchmarks while using 10x less computation than previous state-of-the-art dense LSTM models. More recently, Switch Transformers, which pair a mixture-of-expertsstyle architecture with the Transformer model architecture, demonstrated a 7x speedup in training time and efficiency over the dense T5-Base Transformer model. The GLaM model showed that transformers and mixture-of-expertstyle layers can be combined to produce a model that exceeds the accuracy of the GPT-3 model on average across 29 benchmarks using 3x less energy for training and 2x less computation for inference. The notion of sparsity can also be applied to reduce the cost of the attention mechanism in the core Transformer architecture. The BigBird sparse attention model consists of global tokens that attend to all parts of an input sequence, local tokens, and a set of random tokens. Theoretically, this can be interpreted as adding a few global tokens on a Watts-Strogatz graph. The use of sparsity in models is clearly an approach with very high potential payoff in terms of computational efficiency, and we are only scratching the surface in terms of research ideas to be tried in this direction. Each of these approaches for improved efficiency can be combined together so that equivalent-accuracy language models trained today in efficient data centers are ~100 times more energy efficient and produce ~650 times less CO 2 e emissions, compared to a baseline Transformer model trained using P100 GPUs in an average U.S. datacenter using an average U.S. energy mix. And this doesnt even account for Googles carbon-neutral, 100% renewable energy offsets. Well have a more detailed blog post analyzing the carbon emissions trends of NLP models soon. Top Trend 3: ML Is Becoming More Personally and Communally Beneficial A host of new experiences are made possible as innovation in ML and silicon hardware (like the Google Tensor processor on the Pixel 6) enable mobile devices to be more capable of continuously and efficiently sensing their surrounding context and environment. These advances have improved accessibility and ease of use, while also boosting computational power, which is critical for popular features like mobile photography, live translation and more. Remarkably, recent technological advances also provide users with a more customized experience while strengthening privacy safeguards. More people than ever rely on their phone cameras to record their daily lives and for artistic expression. The clever application of ML to computational photography has continued to advance the capabilities of phone cameras, making them easier to use, improving performance, and resulting in higher-quality images. Advances, such as improved HDR+, the ability to take pictures in very low light, better handling of portraits, and efforts to make cameras more inclusive so they work for all skin tones, yield better photos that are more true to the photographers vision and to their subjects. Such photos can be further improved using the powerful ML-based tools now available in Google Photos, like cinematic photos, noise and blur reduction, and the Magic Eraser. HDR+ starts from a burst of full-resolution raw images, each underexposed by the same amount (left). The merged image has reduced noise and increased dynamic range, leading to a higher quality final result (right). In addition to using their phones for creative expression, many people rely on them to help communicate with others across languages and modalities in real-time using Live Translate in messaging apps and Live Caption for phone calls. Speech recognition accuracy has continued to make substantial improvements thanks to techniques like self-supervised learning and noisy student training, with marked improvements for accented speech, noisy conditions or environments with overlapping speech, and across many languages. Building on advances in text-to-speech synthesis, people can listen to web pages and articles using our Read Aloud technology on a growing number of platforms, making information more available across barriers of modality and languages. Live speech translations in the Google Translate app have become significantly better by stabilizing the translations that are generated on-the-fly, and high quality, robust and responsible direct speech-to-speech translation provides a much better user experience in communicating with people speaking a different language. New work on combining ML with traditional codec approaches in the Lyra speech codec and the more general SoundStream audio codec enables higher fidelity speech, music, and other sounds to be communicated reliably at much lower bitrate. Everyday interactions are becoming much more natural with features like automatic call screening and ML agents that will wait on hold for you, thanks to advances in Duplex. Even short tasks that users may perform frequently have been improved with tools such as Smart Text Selection, which automatically selects entities like phone numbers or addresses for easy copy and pasting, and grammar correction as you type on Pixel 6 phones. In addition, Screen Attention prevents the phone screen from dimming when you are looking at it and improvements in gaze recognition are opening up new use cases for accessibility and for improved wellness and health. ML is also enabling new methods for ensuring the safety of people and communities. For example, Suspicious Message Alerts warn against possible phishing attacks and Safer Routing detects hard-braking events to suggest alternate routes. Recent work demonstrates the ability of gaze recognition as an important biomarker of mental fatigue. Given the potentially sensitive nature of the data that underlies these new capabilities, it is essential that they are designed to be private by default. Many of them run inside of Android's Private Compute Core an open source, secure environment isolated from the rest of the operating system. Android ensures that data processed in the Private Compute Core is not shared to any apps without the user taking an action. Android also prevents any feature inside the Private Compute Core from having direct access to the network. Instead, features communicate over a small set of open-source APIs to Private Compute Services, which strips out identifying information and makes use of privacy technologies, including federated learning, federated analytics, and private information retrieval, enabling learning while simultaneously ensuring privacy. Federated Reconstruction is a novel partially local federated learning technique in which models are partitioned into global and local parameters. For each round of Federated Reconstruction training: (1) The server sends the current global parameters g to each user i; (2) Each user i freezes g and reconstructs their local parameters l i ; (3) Each user i freezes l i and updates g to produce g i ; (4) Users g i are averaged to produce the global parameters for the next round. These technologies are critical to evolving next-generation computation and interaction paradigms, whereby personal or communal devices can both learn from and contribute to training a collective model of the world without compromising privacy. A federated unsupervised approach to privately learn the kinds of aforementioned general-purpose models with fine-tuning for a given task or context could unlock increasingly intelligent systems that are far more intuitive to interact with more like a social entity than a machine. Broad and equitable access to these intelligent interfaces will only be possible with deep changes to our technology stacks, from the edge to the datacenter, so that they properly support neural computing. Top Trend 4: Growing Impact of ML in Science, Health and Sustainability In recent years, we have seen an increasing impact of ML in the basic sciences, from physics to biology, with a number of exciting practical applications in related realms, such as renewable energy and medicine. Computer vision models have been deployed to address problems at both personal and global scales. They can assist physicians in their regular work, expand our understanding of neural physiology, and also provide better weather forecasts and streamline disaster relief efforts. Other types of ML models are proving critical in addressing climate change by discovering ways to reduce emissions and improving the output of alternative energy sources. Such models can even be leveraged as creative tools for artists! As ML becomes more robust, well-developed, and widely accessible, its potential for high-impact applications in a broad array of real-world domains continues to expand, helping to solve some of our most challenging problems. Large-Scale Application of Computer Vision for New Insights Automated Design Space Exploration Another approach that has yielded excellent results across many fields is to allow an ML algorithm to explore and evaluate a problems design space for possible solutions in an automated way. In one application, a Transformer-based variational autoencoder learns to create aesthetically-pleasing and useful document layouts, and the same approach can be extended to explore possible furniture layouts. Another ML-driven approach automates the exploration of the huge design space of tweaks for computer game rules to improve playability and other attributes of a game, enabling human game designers to create enjoyable games more quickly. A visualization of the Variational Transformer Network (VTN) model, which is able to extract meaningful relationships between the layout elements (paragraphs, tables, images, etc.) in order to generate realistic synthetic documents (e.g., with better alignment and margins). Other ML algorithms have been used to evaluate the design space of computer architectural decisions for ML accelerator chips themselves. Weve also shown that ML can be used to quickly create chip placements for ASIC designs that are better than layouts generated by human experts and can be generated in a matter of hours instead of weeks. This reduces the fixed engineering costs of chips and lowers the barrier to quickly creating specialized hardware for different applications. Weve successfully used this automated placement approach in the design of our upcoming TPU-v5 chip. Such exploratory ML approaches have also been applied to materials discovery. In a collaboration between Google Research and Caltech, several ML models, combined with a modified inkjet printer and a custom-built microscope, were able to rapidly search over hundreds of thousands of possible materials to hone in on 51 previously uncharacterized three-metal oxide materials with promising properties for applications in areas like battery technology and electrolysis of water. These automated design space exploration approaches can help accelerate many scientific fields, especially when the entire experimental loop of generating the experiment and evaluating the result can all be done in an automated or mostly-automated manner. I expect to see this approach applied to good effect in many more areas in the coming years. Application to Health Top Trend 5: Deeper and Broader Understanding of ML As ML is used more broadly across technology products and society more generally, it is imperative that we continue to develop new techniques to ensure that it is applied fairly and equitably, and that it benefits all people and not just select subsets. This is a major focus for our Responsible AI and Human-Centered Technology research group and an area in which we conduct research on a variety of responsibility-related topics. One area of focus is recommendation systems that are based on user activity in online products. Because these recommendation systems are often composed of multiple distinct components, understanding their fairness properties often requires insight into individual components as well as how the individual components behave when combined together. Recent work has helped to better understand these relationships, revealing ways to improve the fairness of both individual components and the overall recommendation system. In addition, when learning from implicit user activity, it is also important for recommendation systems to learn in an unbiased manner, since the straightforward approach of learning from items that were shown to previous users exhibits well-known forms of bias. Without correcting for such biases, for example, items that were shown in more prominent positions to users tend to get recommended to future users more often. As in recommendation systems, surrounding context is important in machine translation. Because most machine translation systems translate individual sentences in isolation, without additional surrounding context, they can often reinforce biases related to gender, age or other areas. In an effort to address some of these issues, we have a long-standing line of research on reducing gender bias in our translation systems, and to help the entire translation community, last year we released a dataset to study gender bias in translation based on translations of Wikipedia biographies. Another common problem in deploying machine learning models is distributional shift: if the statistical distribution of data on which the model was trained is not the same as that of the data the model is given as input, the models behavior can sometimes be unpredictable. In recent work, we employ the Deep Bootstrap framework to compare the real world, where there is finite training data, to an "ideal world", where there is infinite data. Better understanding of how a model behaves in these two regimes (real vs. ideal) can help us develop models that generalize better to new settings and exhibit less bias towards fixed training datasets. Although work on ML algorithms and model development gets significant attention, data collection and dataset curation often gets less. But this is an important area, because the data on which an ML model is trained can be a potential source of bias and fairness issues in downstream applications. Analyzing such data cascades in ML can help identify the many places in the lifecycle of an ML project that can have substantial influence on the outcomes. This research on data cascades has led to evidence-backed guidelines for data collection and evaluation in the revised PAIR Guidebook, aimed at ML developers and designers. Arrows of different color indicate various types of data cascades, each of which typically originate upstream, compound over the ML development process, and manifest downstream. The general goal of better understanding data is an important part of ML research. One thing that can help is finding and investigating anomalous data. We have developed methods to better understand the influence that particular training examples can have on an ML model, since mislabeled data or other similar issues can have outsized impact on the overall model behavior. We have also built the Know Your Data tool to help ML researchers and practitioners better understand properties of their datasets, and last year we created a case study of how to use the Know Your Data tool to explore issues like gender bias and age bias in a dataset. A screenshot from Know Your Data showing the relationship between words that describe attractiveness and gendered words. For example, attractive and male/man/boy co-occur 12 times, but we expect ~60 times by chance (the ratio is 0.2x). On the other hand, attractive and female/woman/girl co-occur 2.62 times more than chance. Understanding dynamics of benchmark dataset usage is also important, given the central role they play in the organization of ML as a field. Although studies of individual datasets have become increasingly common, the dynamics of dataset usage across the field have remained underexplored. In recent work, we published the first large scale empirical analysis of dynamics of dataset creation, adoption, and reuse. This work offers insights into pathways to enable more rigorous evaluations, as well as more equitable and socially informed research. Creating public datasets that are more inclusive and less biased is an important way to help improve the field of ML for everyone. In 2016, we released the Open Images dataset, a collection of ~9 million images annotated with image labels spanning thousands of object categories and bounding box annotations for 600 classes. Last year, we introduced the More Inclusive Annotations for People (MIAP) dataset in the Open Images Extended collection. The collection contains more complete bounding box annotations for the person class hierarchy, and each annotation is labeled with fairness-related attributes, including perceived gender presentation and perceived age range. With the increasing focus on reducing unfair bias as part of responsible AI research, we hope these annotations will encourage researchers already leveraging the Open Images dataset to incorporate fairness analysis in their research. Because we also know that our teams are not the only ones creating datasets that can improve machine learning, we have built Dataset Search to help users discover new and useful datasets, wherever they might be on the Web. Tackling various forms of abusive behavior online, such as toxic language, hate speech, and misinformation, is a core priority for Google. Being able to detect such forms of abuse reliably, efficiently, and at scale is of critical importance both to ensure that our platforms are safe and also to avoid the risk of reproducing such negative traits through language technologies that learn from online discourse in an unsupervised fashion. Google has pioneered work in this space through the Perspective API tool, but the nuances involved in detecting toxicity at scale remains a complex problem. In recent work, in collaboration with various academic partners, we introduced a comprehensive taxonomy to reason about the changing landscape of online hate and harassment. We also investigated how to detect covert forms of toxicity, such as microaggressions, that are often ignored in online abuse interventions, studied how conventional approaches to deal with disagreements in data annotations of such subjective concepts might marginalize minority perspectives, and proposed a new disaggregated modeling approach that uses a multi-task framework to tackle this issue. Furthermore, through qualitative research and network-level content analysis, Googles Jigsaw team, in collaboration with researchers at George Washington University, studied how hate clusters spread disinformation across social media platforms. Another potential concern is that ML language understanding and generation models can sometimes also produce results that are not properly supported by evidence. To confront this problem in question answering, summarization, and dialog, we developed a new framework for measuring whether results can be attributed to specific sources. We released annotation guidelines and demonstrated that they can be reliably used in evaluating candidate models. Interactive analysis and debugging of models remains key to responsible use of ML. We have updated our Language Interpretability Tool with new capabilities and techniques to advance this line of work, including support for image and tabular data, a variety of features carried over from our previous work on the What-If Tool, and built-in support for fairness analysis through the technique of Testing with Concept Activation Vectors. Interpretability and explainability of ML systems more generally is also a key part of our Responsible AI vision; in collaboration with DeepMind, we made headway in understanding the acquisition of human chess concepts in the self-trained AlphaZero chess system. Explore what AlphaZero might have learned about playing chess using this online tool. We are also working hard to broaden the perspective of Responsible AI beyond western contexts. Our recent research examines how various assumptions of conventional algorithmic fairness frameworks based on Western institutions and infrastructures may fail in non-Western contexts and offers a pathway for recontextualizing fairness research in India along several directions. We are actively conducting survey research across several continents to better understand perceptions of and preferences regarding AI. Western framing of algorithmic fairness research tends to focus on only a handful of attributes, thus biases concerning non-Western contexts are largely ignored and empirically under-studied. To address this gap, in collaboration with the University of Michigan, we developed a weakly supervised method to robustly detect lexical biases in broader geo-cultural contexts in NLP models that reflect human judgments of offensive and inoffensive language in those geographic contexts. Furthermore, we have explored applications of ML to contexts valued in the Global South, including developing a proposal for farmer-centered ML research. Through this work, we hope to encourage the field to be thoughtful about how to bring ML-enabled solutions to smallholder farmers in ways that will improve their lives and their communities. Involving community stakeholders at all stages of the ML pipeline is key to our efforts to develop and deploy ML responsibly and keep us focused on tackling the problems that matter most. In this vein, we held a Health Equity Research Summit among external faculty, non-profit organization leads, government and NGO representatives, and other subject matter experts to discuss how to bring more equity into the entire ML ecosystem, from the way we approach problem-solving to how we assess the impact of our efforts. Community-based research methods have also informed our approach to designing for digital wellbeing and addressing racial equity issues in ML systems, including improving our understanding of the experience of Black Americans using ASR systems. We are also listening to the public more broadly to learn how sociotechnical ML systems could help during major life events, such as by supporting family caregiving. As ML models become more capable and have impact in many domains, the protection of the private information used in ML continues to be an important focus for research. Along these lines, some of our recent work addresses privacy in large models, both highlighting that training data can sometimes be extracted from large models and pointing to how privacy can be achieved in large models, e.g., as in differentially private BERT. In addition to the work on federated learning and analytics, mentioned above, we have also been enhancing our toolbox with other principled and practical ML techniques for ensuring differential privacy, for example private clustering, private personalization, private matrix completion, private weighted sampling, private quantiles, private robust learning of halfspaces, and in general, sample-efficient private PAC learning. Moreover, we have been expanding the set of privacy notions that can be tailored to different applications and threat models, including label privacy and user versus item level privacy. A visual illustration of the differentially private clustering algorithm. Top Datasets Recognizing the value of open datasets to the general advancement of ML and related fields of research, we continue to grow our collection of open source datasets and resources and expand our global index of open datasets in Google Dataset Search. This year, we have released a number of datasets and tools across a range of research areas: Research Community Interaction To realize our goal for a more robust and comprehensive understanding of ML and related technologies, we actively engage with the broader research community. In 2021, we published over 750 papers, nearly 600 of which were presented at leading research conferences. Google Research sponsored over 150 conferences, and Google researchers contributed directly by serving on program committees and organizing workshops, tutorials and numerous other activities aimed at collectively advancing the field. To learn more about our contributions to some of the larger research conferences this year, please see our recent conference blog posts. In addition, we hosted 19 virtual workshops (like the 2021 Quantum Summer Symposium), which allowed us to further engage with the academic community by generating new ideas and directions for the research field and advancing research initiatives. In 2021, Google Research also directly supported external research with $59M in funding, including $23M through Research programs to faculty and students, and $20M in university partnerships and outreach. This past year, we introduced new funding and collaboration programs that support academics all over the world who are doing high impact research. We funded 86 early career faculty through our Research Scholar Program to support general advancements in science, and funded 34 faculty through our Award for Inclusion Research Program who are doing research in areas like accessibility, algorithmic fairness, higher education and collaboration, and participatory ML. In addition to the research we are funding, we welcomed 85 faculty and post-docs, globally, through our Visiting Researcher program, to come to Google and partner with us on exciting ideas and shared research challenges. We also selected a group of 74 incredibly talented PhD student researchers to receive Google PhD Fellowships and mentorship as they conduct their research. As part of our ongoing racial equity commitments, making computer science (CS) research more inclusive continues to be a top priority for us. In 2021, we continued expanding our efforts to increase the diversity of Ph.D. graduates in computing. For example, the CS Research Mentorship Program (CSRMP), an initiative by Google Research to support students from historically marginalized groups (HMGs) in computing research pathways, graduated 590 mentees, 83% of whom self-identified as part of an HMG, who were supported by 194 Google mentors our largest group to date! In October, we welcomed 35 institutions globally leading the way to engage 3,400+ students in computing research as part of the 2021 exploreCSR cohort. Since 2018, this program has provided faculty with funding, community, evaluation and connections to Google researchers in order to introduce students from HMGs to the world of CS research. We are excited to expand this program to more international locations in 2022. We also continued our efforts to fund and partner with organizations to develop and support new pathways and approaches to broadening participation in computing research at scale. From working with alliances like the Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (CAHSI) and CMD-IT Diversifying LEAdership in the Professoriate (LEAP) Alliance to partnering with university initiatives like UMBCs Meyerhoff Scholars, Cornell Universitys CSMore, Northeastern Universitys Center for Inclusive Computing, and MITs MEnTorEd Opportunities in Research (METEOR), we are taking a community-based approach to materially increase the representation of marginalized groups in computing research. Other Work In writing these retrospectives, I try to focus on new research work that has happened (mostly) in the past year while also looking ahead. In past years retrospectives, Ive tried to be more comprehensive, but this time I thought it could be more interesting to focus on just a few themes. Weve also done great work in many other research areas that dont fit neatly into these themes. If youre interested, I encourage you to check out our research publications by area below or by year (and if youre interested in quantum computing, our Quantum team recently wrote a retrospective of their work in 2021): Conclusion Research is often a multi-year journey to real-world impact. Early stage research work that happened a few years ago is now having a dramatic impact on Googles products and across the world. Investments in ML hardware accelerators like TPUs and in software frameworks like TensorFlow and JAX have borne fruit. ML models are increasingly prevalent in many different products and features at Google because their power and ease of expression streamline experimentation and productionization of ML models in performance-critical environments. Research into model architectures to create Seq2Seq, Inception, EfficientNet, and Transformer or algorithmic research like batch normalization and distillation is driving progress in the fields of language understanding, vision, speech, and others. Basic capabilities like better language and visual understanding and speech recognition can be transformational, and as a result, these sorts of models are widely deployed for a wide variety of problems in many of our products including Search, Assistant, Ads, Cloud, Gmail, Maps, YouTube, Workspace, Android, Pixel, Nest, and Translate. These are truly exciting times in machine learning and computer science. Continued improvement in computers ability to understand and interact with the world around them through language, vision, and sound opens up entire new frontiers of how computers can help people accomplish things in the world. The many examples of progress along the five themes outlined in this post are waypoints in a long-term journey! Acknowledgements Thanks to Alison Carroll, Alison Lentz, Andrew Carroll, Andrew Tomkins, Avinatan Hassidim, Azalia Mirhoseini, Barak Turovsky, Been Kim, Blaise Aguera y Arcas, Brennan Saeta, Brian Rakowski, Charina Chou, Christian Howard, Claire Cui, Corinna Cortes, Courtney Heldreth, David Patterson, Dipanjan Das, Ed Chi, Eli Collins, Emily Denton, Fernando Pereira, Genevieve Park, Greg Corrado, Ian Tenney, Iz Conroy, James Wexler, Jason Freidenfelds, John Platt, Katherine Chou, Kathy Meier-Hellstern, Kyle Vandenberg, Lauren Wilcox, Lizzie Dorfman, Marian Croak, Martin Abadi, Matthew Flegal, Meredith Morris, Natasha Noy, Negar Saei, Neha Arora, Paul Muret, Paul Natsev, Quoc Le, Ravi Kumar, Rina Panigrahy, Sanjiv Kumar, Sella Nevo, Slav Petrov, Sreenivas Gollapudi, Tom Duerig, Tom Small, Vidhya Navalpakkam, Vincent Vanhoucke, Vinodkumar Prabhakaran, Viren Jain, Yonghui Wu, Yossi Matias, and Zoubin Ghahramani for helpful feedback and contributions to this post, and to the entire Research and Health communities at Google for everyones contributions towards this work. Pope Francis kept his sense of humor after he was caught on camera making an unannounced visit to a Rome record shop this week. #recordstore #recordshop ELDON [mdash] A graveside memorial service, with military honors, will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 14, 2022, at the Eldon Cemetery in Eldon, IA for Charles and Irene Stribling. Family and friends are welcome to attend. Do you appreciate the work we do as the only independent media outlet dedicated to serving OU students, faculty, staff and alumni on campus and around the world for more than 100 years? Then consider helping fund our endeavors. Around the world, communities are grappling with what journalism is worth and how to fund the civic good that robust news organizations can generate. We believe The OU Daily and Crimson Quarterly magazine provide real value to this community both now by covering OU, and tomorrow by helping launch the careers of media professionals. If youre able, please SUPPORT US TODAY FOR AS LITTLE AS $1. You can make a one-time donation or a recurring pledge. Area students received academic honors at Southern New Hampshire University for the Fall 2021 semester. Sheena Averill, Deborah Nuechterlein and Nicole Willette of Freeland as well as Brandi Mason of Midland were named to the president's list. Full-time undergraduate students who have earned a minimum grade-point average of 3.700 and above are named to the president's list. Photo provided Cleveland Manor has received a $50,000 grant from the Consumers Energy Foundation to support the renovation of 105 apartments. The funding will help preserve affordable housing for people age 62 and older living on a limited income. Consumers Energy is committed to helping Michigan residents stay safe and warm in their homes this winter and in all seasons, said Carolyn Bloodworth, secretary/treasurer of the Consumers Energy Foundation. We are happy to support Cleveland Manor and their mission, which is so important to the Midland community. The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Collin Periatt. Thursday, Jan 14 5:07 p.m. Officers responded to a Crash and license violation near James Savage Road and South Saginaw Road. 2:35 p.m. A deputy assisted a Michigan State Police officer with a breaking and entering call. The house was found to be broken into but nothing was missing. 1:29 p.m. A 32-year-old Warren Township man was found to be in possession of a stolen trailer. Contact was made with the 59-year-old owner who confirmed the trailer was stolen. The 32-year-old male was arrested and lodged at the Midland County Jail without incident. 12:38 p.m. Following a traffic stop in Warren Twp, three individuals were arrested and transported to the Midland County Jail. A 34-year-old Warren Twp woman was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, and charges are being requested for violation of the controlled substance act. The driver, a 32-year-old Warren Twp man, was arrested for receiving and concealing stolen property, various larcenies. Charges are being requested for violating the controlled substance act, driving with a suspended license, and a felony in possession of ammunition. The 44-year-old Coleman male passenger was arrested on a probation violation warrant out of Midland County. This investigation is ongoing. Sanford Post Office owner Chet Hunt paid a Gladwin contractor $25,000 to expand the businesss parking lot but no work was done and his letter giving the contractor 30 days to pay the money back was ignored. The 30 days recently passed, and now Hunt is retaining Midland attorney Andrew Thompson of Poznak Dyer Kanar Garchow, PLC, to act on the case. Hunt is seeking a judgment against the contractor. Hunt, 85, of Hawaii, believes he was scammed out of the money, saying he paid the money to Kyle Willman from Straight Edge Concrete in Gladwin in July. Hunt said the contractor said he would begin the next day on work to expand the parking lot at 239 West Saginaw Road. The expansion was to allow more room so trucks could turn around. Hunt said instead, the contractor went on vacation. Then, Willman asked for an advance of $25,000, saying he needed to buy equipment. Hunt said he wired it to the man, despite his traditional rule never to pay contractors in advance. Hunt said he was desperate to get the job done. Hunt said shortly after that, his calls to Willman went to voicemail and his emails were not returned. Calls from the Daily News to Willman were not immediately returned Friday. The only reason Im pursuing this is so no one else gets scammed or does business with this guy, Hunt said. Im seeking a judgment against him, which is worthless because he doesnt have any assets. Drain issue The Sanford Post Office is also in the spotlight lately for a drain issue. There is a drain pipe underneath the structure which Midland County Drain Commissioner Joe Sova said shouldnt be there. However it happened, Sova said, it needs to be rectified. Hunt, who owns 18 post offices with his wife, said he sold the Sanford Post Office prior to the dam breaks. About 85% of the 33,000 U.S. post offices are privately owned. The new owner collected one rent check from the government before the flood. Hunt felt bad after the flood and bought the building back from the man. Sova said he needs to determine why the drain isnt performing to capacity. To do that, he may need to clean it out if there is a partial plugging in the drain. However, because it is below a structure, this could cause damage, which Sova doesnt want to see happen and Hunt definitely doesnt want to see occur. Im fine with them putting a camera inside the drain, Hunt said. But he noted the high-powered jet cleaning doesnt sit well with him. He doesnt want to see more damage to the building. Hunt notes when he bought the building back after the flood, it didnt have insurance on it and had suffered about $100,000 in repairs from the 15 feet of water inside it. Hunt owns property adjacent to the post office and has volunteered that property if the village wants to put a drain pipe there. He said that property is large enough to put a drain in and has enough space for a structure without putting it on top of the drain. Hunt said he never knew there was a drain underneath the building until after the flood. I was completely surprised, he said. It didnt show on the title report. It was never shown on any drain easement. I dont want to have a drain under the building, he added. Between the alleged scam and the drain issue, Hunt said, This has been a nightmare. Meridian Public Schools and The ROCK Center for Youth Development are partnering to provide area students with positive, quality opportunities. The newest opportunity brings The ROCKs engaging and proven after-school program to Meridian Junior High starting on Jan. 24. Meridian Public Schools strives for a future where all students leave high school ready for college and a career. To achieve that vision, they are continuously improving and innovating their academic programs to better meet individual student needs. And they dont stop there. Meridian Superintendent Craig Carmoney recognizes the need for whole child support and the value that a quality out-of-school time program brings to their students and families. Research tells us providing out-of-school time support not only improves academic outcomes but also helps with life skill development, social and emotional learning and enhances the quality of lives for our families. We are proud to partner with a community partner known for these outcomes, Carmoney said. The ROCK will begin providing after school programs at Meridian Junior High starting on Jan. 24. The ROCK will be available immediately after school until 6 p.m. on all full school days with students meeting in the cafeteria. Students must pre-register. Engaged adult mentors, homework support, a meal, games, physical actives, crafts, and more will be available. The program is being launched with generous support from the community including Womens 100 Club, United Way and the Strosacker Foundation. It has always been our goal to provide barrier-free access to our youth and families which includes providing services at low or no cost. We look forward to working together to keep this program accessible, said Ginger Coleman, ROCK Grounded (after-school) director. The vision of The ROCK is that all youth have the opportunity to live their potential. We are honored to be partnering with Meridian Public Schools and their families. Meridian has been an outstanding partner for many years and together we will provide another opportunity for middle school students to thrive, said Beverlee Wenzel, ROCK president and CEO. For more information on The ROCK or to register your student, visit therockc4yd.org. Participation is limited to students enrolled at Meridian Junior High. Paducah, KY (42003) Today Cloudy early with peeks of sunshine expected late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 75F. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 51F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Ann Brown, age 67, of Palestine, Texas, passed away Sunday, May 1, 2022 in Palestine, Texas. Funeral service will be held at 10AM on Friday, May 6, 2022 at Evangelistic Temple. Burial will follow at Tennessee Colony Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 6PM to 8PM on Thursday, May 5, 2022 a This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact the Parsons Sun office at (620) 421-2000 if you have any questions Lost your smartphone? Then all the data that was stored within it is also gone for good. Which is why its a good idea to backup your device as often as you can. And, for that, youre unlikely to find a better option than G Cloud Mobile Backup, especially this week since a 3-year subscription is on sale for just $17.99. G Cloud Mobile Backup is a highly rated service that offers a safe and reliable way to back up your mobile devices. You just sync your phone to your 100GB account and your files will be securely tucked away so you can access them at any time. Its next-level security against all kinds of cyber threats, you can upload everything from call logs to messages to media, and you can even sort your saved data so everything is easy to find. If you have a mobile device, then G Cloud Mobile Backup is a must And particularly so if you have a habit of losing phones or otherwise upgrading every couple of years like most of us tend to do. When you consider the cost of most other cloud backup options, then this one at this price makes a great deal of sense. G Cloud Mobile Backup 100GB Plan: 3-Year Subscription $17.99 See Deal Prices subject to change. Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), an advocacy organisation, has commended the Ghana Education Service (GES) for dismissing staff who were involved in examination malpractices during the 2020 West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). It said the move was a bold statement of zero tolerance for teachers involvement in examination malpractices. Our review of the performance of the Education Sector in 2021 indicates that the MoE made significant gains towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal Four targets that require consolidation, while addressing critical areas of policy deficits, a New Years message from Eduwatch said. Teacher rationalisation In 2021, it said about 44,000 teachers (over 15%) left the basic school system with no replacements and that while the ongoing efforts to recruit some 16,000 teachers was commendable, it did not address the deficit half-way. The Ministry of Education, it said, must ensure the posting of all newly recruited teachers to deprived districts where they were needed, devoid of any protocol considerations. In addition, it said the many districts with surplus teachers should be decongested and teachers reposted to empty classrooms in deprived districts where they are most needed. Eduwatchs foremost priority for 2022 is to support the MoE by monitoring teacher postings and teacher deployment in general, in line with the Ministers vision of one teacher per classroom. Our Every Child Deserves a Teacher Campaign will be launched later this month, it said. Standard Based Curriculum The message, among other things, said the first two years of implementing the Standard Based Curriculum (SBC) had not been the best due to the lack of textbooks and the myriad of planning deficits surrounding the roll-out of the Junior High School (JHS) Curriculum I.E., Common Core Programme (CCP). To rewrite this script, Eduwatch indicated that the ministry must streamline communication on timelines for rolling out the SBC in JHS and SHS to enable proper planning; make textbooks available to all kindergartens and primary schools this term; train teachers in the CCP before roll-out this term and provide textbooks for the CCP in the 2022 academic year. 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. Featured Video The Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL) has called on the Labour Unions to wake up from their slumber and work for the interest of workers. labour union leaders must acknowledge that governments are not willing to give workers what is due them on a silver platter. Mr Abraham Koomson GFL Secretary-General made the call said the mandate of labour unions was not about dues collection from members but served as the voices of the voiceless in the country. If decisions are not favourable to the worker, they should react to it, come together quickly and issue a statement. The power of the worker is through the unions therefore, union leaders must recognize that no worker, no union and if the industries collapse the union is no more, he said. Mr Koomson who was assessing the labour front for 2021 and projecting for 2022 in an interview with the Ghana News Agency asked union leaders to wake up to their responsibilities towards workers welfare. Mr Koomson said trade unions were owned by the workers themselves, therefore, the leaders who were entrusted with the responsibility of championing the workers front must not become partners with employers to cheat the workers. As a worker, you must not just pay dues without thinking about the incentives the union should provide for you. Workers must seek for their welfare while in active service, he said. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video 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. Microsoft announced on Thursday January 13, that it has hired a law firm to review how the company handled sexual harassment allegations against some of its top executives including founder Bill Gates. According to Mail Online, the review will be conducted by Washington, D.C.-based Arent Fox LLP, which the board of directors selected because it has experience in dealing with sexual harassment allegations and has not conducted much work with the company in the past. After the law firm's findings go public, Microsoft will release a report detailing its sexual harassment investigations and if any, actions were taken as a result. The company was hit with sexual harassment allegations against Gates going back to 2000. He stepped down from the company amid an investigation into one of his relationships with a former employee in 2020, and on May 3, 2021, he announced his divorce to his longtime wife, Melinda French Gates. A few weeks later, The New York Times published an expose detailing how Gates sexually harassed several of his employees and remained a loyal friend to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein three years after he was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor. 'Our culture remains our number one priority and the entire board appreciates the critical importance of a safe and inclusive environment for all Microsoft employees,' Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella said in a statement. 'We're committed not just to reviewing the report but learning from the assessment so we can continue to improve the experiences of our employees,' she continued. 'I embrace this comprehensive review as an opportunity to continue to get better.' The move to hire an independent firm to review the company's investigations comes after activist shareholders demanded greater disclosure of the company's handling of sexual harassment issues. A resolution seeking greater transparency passed in November with support from almost 78 percent of the shareholders in November, The New York Times reported. As part of the review, Arent Fox is expected to submit its findings to Microsoft senior management and board members with recommendations on how to improve the culture at the company, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company would then share a summary of the findings with the public in the spring, which would lead to a public release of Microsoft's transparency report detailing the effectiveness of the company's workplace policies related to sexual harassment and gender discrimination. The report will include data on the number of sexual harassment cases Microsoft has investigated, and what the results of those investigations were, and is expected to summarize the results of investigations into Gates and other senior leaders. In a statement, Microsoft executives said the report 'will assess the steps that have been taken to hold employees, including executives, accountable for sexual harassment or gender discrimination.' The firm will also compare Microsoft's sexual harassment and gender discrimination policies against the best practices that have been adopted by other companies. Founder Bill Gates has been accused of soliciting at least two employees while he was running the tech giant, according to The Times. In one of the incidents, in 2007, it was reported that Gates sat through a presentation by a Microsoft employee then promptly emailed her asking for a date. He reportedly wrote: 'If this makes you uncomfortable, pretend it never happened.' Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Peacefmonline.com can authoritatively confirm that the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon Alban S.K. Bagbin has been stripped bare off his military protection; an action which the Speaker is clearly unenthused about. Hitherto, the Speaker had four military personnel attached to his protection outfit. The officers, WO1 Jafaru Bunwura, WOII Apugiba Awine David, S/Sgt Agbley Prosper and Sgt. Bonney Prince have been serving Bagbins office since he became Speaker in January 2021. It is unclear the reason(s) for the withdrawal of these military personnel. But a letter dated 11th January, 2022, cited by Peacefmonline and signed by Major General Nicholas Peter Andoh, the Chief of Staff at the General Headquarters of GAF, ordered the four soldiers to return to base by January 14, 2022, saying they were "attached to the Office of the Right Honourable Speaker of Parliament without the proper procedure." It is humbly requested that the personnel are withdrawn with effect from 14 January 2022 while efforts are made to regularise their attachment, the letter from the GAF Chief of Staff to the Speaker said. Meanwhile the Rt. Hon Bagbin has described the action as "untenable". A statement issued by the Speakers Office questioned the withdrawal of the four military officers saying the action "hints at the possibility of a plot to place the safety and security of the Speaker in harm's way." To him, this is a "bad precedent" and "detracts from the political gains that Ghana has made", and further warned that "if it is an attempt to gag the Speaker, this move will serve to only widen the gap between the legislature and the other arms of government." Read the full statement below: RT. HON. SPEAKER, ALBAN S.K. BAGBIN, STRIPPED OFF SECURITY COVER The office of the Rt. Hon. Speaker, Alban S.K. Bagbin, has taken note of the withdrawal of four military officers posted to assist in the protection of the Speaker. The attempt to strip the Speaker off security protection is untenable. In a country that takes pride in its democratic institutions and processes, the decision to reduce the number of security personnel assigned to the Speaker detracts from the political gains that Ghana has made, and is a bad precedent. The unknown reason for such a move is puzzling, but the real motive should be obvious to all objective observers of the political scene in Ghana. If it is an attempt to gag the Speaker, this move will serve to only widen the gap between the legislature and the other arms of government. It also hints at the possibility of a plot to place the safety and security of the Speaker in harms way. The citizens of this country yearned for an effective separation of powers as well as check and balance, and voted to have a hung Parliament. They are looking for a lot more consultation, consensus building and dialogue. This move contrasts with that and certainly is a bad precedent. In decisions such as these, we must ensure that we are guided by the overall interest of this country and the sustenance of our democracy and its institutions. Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video WHEN we talk about artistes who have pushed contemporary Highlife, one name that should feature prominently is that of Ofori Amponsah. The former protege of Highlife legend Daddy Lumba, has since the early 2000s churned out hit songs including Otoolege, Emmanuella, Asew, Odwo, Alewa and has a discography that will be the envy of many a young artiste. And after 20 years of paying his dues to Ghanaian music, Ofori Amponsah has announced a concert to celebrate his achievements this year. Speaking with Graphic Showbiz about the concert, Ofori Amponsah said he deserved the celebration because he has contributed a lot to the Highlife genre. My impact in Ghanas music industry cannot be dismissed and that is why I intend to celebrate this milestone. For now, the date and venue for the event are not ready but I want my fans and highlife devotees to watch out for the 20th anniversary concert. A lot is going into this concert and I know I am going to have a great show on the day with a number of my colleagues to support me with performances, he stated. According to Ofori Amponsah, he has learnt a lot in his 20-year career which will be brought to bear at the show. At the initial stages of my career, people complained about my poor stage performances but now they can attest to the fact that it has really improved over the years. "My stage craft is top notch now since I took the criticisms in good faith and Ive been rehearsing very often, he said. As we talk now, I have more than 15 songs ready and Im still in the studio recording more to make up for not being too active in the last few years. "The fans have waited for too long but the wait is over and I am ready to serve Ghanaians with good music, he told Graphic Showbiz. Ofori Amponsah also called on Ghanaian musicians to be original and tell the Ghanaian story. We like to do too much foreign stuff which is not really helping our music industry. As we speak now, Nigerians have taken over from us musically because we left our authentic Highlife and are copying other genres, he noted. 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. Featured Video Thank you for reading the Philadelphia Tribune. You have exhausted your free article views for this month. Please press the "subscribe" button below and see our introductory price of $0.10 per week for 10 weeks. Otherwise, we look forward to seeing you next month. Huy Nguyen of Huntington Beach, California is the chip leader at the end of Day 1b of the Mid-States Poker Tour(MSPT) $1,110 Main Event, part of the Showtime Series at San Diegos Sycuan Casino Resort. There were a total of 156 runners for the second of three flights this weekend, and 21 players will move on to Sundays Day 2 finale to compete for a prize pool that looks to burst through the $300,000 guarantee. Nguyen bagged 157 big blinds and he will return for Day 2 in search of his first MSPT Main Event title after making a deep run at the Venetian in October of 2021. That 12th place finish was good for $21,421, and Nguyen will look to improve on that Sunday. Other players moving on to Sundays Day 2 include Scott Subak, Shane Murphy, Eric Liu, and Igor Keselman. Day 1b Leaderboard Place Player Chips Big Blinds 1 Huy Nguyen 628,000 157 2 Scott Subak 415,000 104 3 Eric Liu 349,000 87 4 Christopher Skinner 320,000 80 5 Shane Murphy 299,000 75 6 Igor Keselman 201,000 50 7 Kalvinci Ewing 182,000 46 8 Brett Parise 176,000 44 9 Marlou Heiland 162,000 41 10 Armando Mesina 156,000 39 Day 1b Action Nguyen held the chip lead for most of the later stages of the evening, but he put some space between himself and second-place Subak when he took out Tom Hammers in one of the biggest pots of the night. Liu also dominated the late levels, spiking a flush near the end of the night to move above 300,000. Anthony Pitesa made Day 2 thanks to a late double through Brett Parise, who also qualified for Sundays finale. Christopher Skinner picked up pocket aces late in the day to take out an opponent with big slick. Skinner finished with more than 300,000 on the day after nearing the 400,000 mark just before the last level. Dantram Huynh spiked quad sixes on the river for a big double. Huynh failed to qualify for Day 2, but she will have one more opportunity on Saturdays Day 1c. Players advancing from all three flights will meet on Sunday for the Day 2 finale. Dantram Huynh Day 1c will kick off tomorrow at 3 p.m. PST. Players will start with 25,000 in chips and play 40-minute levels. Registration is open until the beginning of Level 13 and players have unlimited rebuys until that point. Day 1c will play until there is 10:00 left in Level 14, or until 12% of the field remains, whichever comes first. Be sure to keep it here all weekend long for live updates with the PokerNews team from the MSPT Main Event at Sycuan Casino Resort in San Diego. January 7 marked the eve of the second anniversary of the shootdown of Ukrainian International Airlines flight PS752 by Iranian air defense, killing 176 passengers and crew. Irans Foreign Ministry issued a statement of condolences to the families of the victims and to inform the public of actions the government took in the aftermath. Following the air crash, relevant organizations in the Islamic Republic of Iran declared the main cause of the accident and fulfilled their responsibilities and duties with accuracy, transparency and speed, the ministry said. But that and other aspects of the statement are so misleading they leave a false impression about Irans actions. The Ukrainian jet took off on the evening of January 8, 2020, from Tehrans Imam Khomeini International Airport bound for Kyivs Boryspil International Airport. A few minutes after taking off, the jet was hit by two surface-to-air missiles, killing all 176 people on board. Irans military was on alert because tensions with the United States were high. Days earlier, a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad assassinated Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Irans Quds Force. Iran already had retaliated by firing missiles at U.S. bases in Iraq. Some feared war. Those killed on the downed plane included 83 Iranians, 63 Canadians, four Afghans, four Britons, three Germans and nine Ukrainian crew members. In its January 7 statement, Irans Foreign Ministry accused some countries of exploiting the painful incident for political purposes. The statement claimed technical teams had conducted a full investigation and publicly shared their findings. The ministry also said that the necessary criminal investigations were conducted to uphold justice. That leaves a lot out of the story. In fact, on January 9, 2020, the day after the shootdown, Ali Abedzadeh, head of Irans national aviation department, denied that the plane had been hit by a missile, calling such reports illogical rumors. Other Iranian officials claimed a technical problem was the cause. The next day, Iran admitted the plane had been shot down unintentionally. Irans then foreign minister, Javad Zarif, offered condolences to families of the dead but blamed the U.S. Human error at time of crisis caused by US adventurism led to disaster, Zarif said on Twitter. A statement by Irans armed forces also sought to shift responsibility, saying U.S. military activity around Irans borders increased Irans radar activity and aerial defense sensitivity. Iran offered outsiders participation in an investigation. The Tehran Times published a statement by authorities inviting the civil aviation agency of the country which has issued the airworthiness certificate (Ukraine), the owner of the airliner (Ukraine International Airlines), the aircraft manufacturer (Boeing Co.), and the jet engine manufacturer (CFM International). But for six months, Iran stalled in sending the black boxes, flight data and cockpit conversations to international investigators in Ukraine and France. Iran eventually sent the jets black box data recorders to Ukraine and France, but said it would not share them with Boeing in the United States. (Iran had initially said the involvement of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) would be acceptable.) The recordings were examined by an international team from France, Canada and the United States. The recordings revealed up to 19 seconds of conversation recorded after the first missile hit. The second missile hit 25 seconds later. In the first days after the disaster, a team of international experts did join the investigation, but they were closely monitored by Iranian security during initial visits to the wreckage site. For example, in December 2020, the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions said the Ukrainian investigation team arrived at the wreckage site on January 10. The Ukrainian team claimed it was closely monitored and not allowed to take pictures or samples from the site for study. When the team communicated to the Iranian authorities that debris made it clear the plane had been shot down, they were ordered to leave the site. The following day, Iran formally acknowledged a missile strike was the cause, and then-President Hassan Rouhani called it a catastrophic mistake and unforgivable. But the admission did not stop Iranian investigators from dragging their feet. Not until July did the Iran Civil Aviation Organization issue its first report blaming the crew of the missile battery. The report cited misalignment of the anti-aircraft battery, which had been moved, and miscommunications with commanders. But Agnes Callamard, the U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said Irans report contained unexplained contradictions. For instance, other planes took off from the Tehran airport the same night but were not targeted. Inconsistencies in the official explanation and the reckless nature of the mistakes have led many, including myself, to question whether the downing of flight PS752 was intentional, said Callamard. In its December 2020 report, the special rapporteur stated: The Government of Iran denied for three days that the flight had been shot down insisting that the crash was caused by a fire. However, a special, secret investigation was launched on 8 January 2020, which concluded the same day that the flight had been hit by a missile fired as a result of human error. Irans Civilian Aviation Organization, was also apparently aware of this from the outset. During this three-day period, Iranian officials reportedly used bulldozers to collect parts of the plane, which prevented them from being analyzed in situ and looting occurred at the crash site. Allegedly, some personal possessions from the crash site were burned under instruction. In March 2021, Iran published a final report that officially blamed air defense systems. However, several countries and the United Nations investigator involved in the probe criticized the Iranian report. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) said that while Irans explanation of what happened was plausible, it had not provided any evidence to support it. The report does not provide detailed information regarding how the (battery) misalignment occurred, nor what steps were taken to ensure it was properly calibrated, the missile operators training, experience, or proficiency, nor about how or why the required communications with central command were either not followed or were unsuccessful, the TSB said. In addition, the Ukrainian Office of the Prosecutor General said Iran withheld key information. The names and positions of the accused and the actions of each of them are being thoroughly concealed, the office said. In May 2021, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report accusing the Iranian authorities of a campaign to harass the families of the dead an effort bury the truth and squash hope for justice. Based on interviews, the human rights watchdog said Iran security agencies had arbitrarily detained, summoned, abusively interrogated, tortured, and otherwise mistreated victims family members. The agencies also failed to return victims possessions to their relatives and interfered with burial and memorial gatherings in an apparent attempt to curtail efforts for accountability. In November 2021, Global News published a report by the Association of the Families of Flight PS752 suggesting that Iranians had tampered with electronic devices recovered in the wreckage. The fact that these memory/data components are missing is not consistent with damage caused by a sudden and hard impact, the report said. Moreover, the fact that screws were removed and covers pried open strongly suggests that concerted efforts were made to extract these components, rendering a review of data impossible. In late 2020, Iran announced it would pay $150,000 to the families of each of the 176 victims. Irans Foreign Ministry, however, said it only started processing these compensation payments on January 5 of this year. Iran also said court sessions would be held with the presence of the families to hold 10 unnamed people accountable for the shoot down. On the anniversary of the shoot down this month, Ukraine's National Defense and Security Council secretary, Oleksiy Danilov, told the Voice of America that Iran had refused to cooperate with Ukraines investigation. He also asserted that the passenger jet was shot down intentionally. What happened on January 8th, 2020, was a terrorist act committed against a civilian aircraft, Danilov said. On January 11, the United Nations Security Council discussed whether to back an embargo imposed by West African states against Malis military government. Russia and China blocked the move. U.N. ambassadors from the United States, France, the United Kingdom and other countries criticized Malis transitional government for bringing in the Wagner Group, a Russian private military company. Based on their pattern of human rights abuses, and threats against U.N. peacekeepers in other contexts, they could pose a danger to peacekeepers and to the people of Mali, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said. French Ambassador Nicolas De Riviere said the Wagner Group mercenaries are known to threaten civilians, loot resources, violate international law and the sovereignty of states. He added that Malis transitional authorities are using already limited public funds to pay foreign mercenaries instead of supporting the national forces and public services for the benefit of the Malian people. (Polygraph.info has previously reported on the secretive Wagner Groups checkered record in Africa, including multiple alleged rights abuses.) Malian Ambassador Issa Konfourou flatly denied any private mercenary presence, though he claimed Russian trainers were in Mali: Some members of the Security Council accused the Malian government of using a private security company. Those engaging in this false information campaign are fully aware that Mali has no commitment with any private security company. There are no mercenaries present on Malian soil. We have maintained a relationship of a state-to-state cooperation with the Russian Federation. This has been a case since 1960, and it is indeed in furthering this cooperation that Russian trainers are currently present in Mali to advice and train the Malian military personnel on the use of material acquired by Mali from the Russian Federation. That statement is misleading based on voluminous media reports and comments by the Kremlins top diplomat. The Maliactu.net news site reported in April 2019 that Malis Group of Patriots of Mali had been pushing for Russian military intervention in the country since 2017. Reports indicate that the Group of Patriots of Mali works closely with the Russian Embassy in Bamako, Malis capital, and may receive Russian government financial support. The Group organized demonstrations calling for the Russian intervention and has been actively pushing a pro-Russian agenda via its Facebook page. On September 15, 2021, Maliactu.net news site quoted a Malian defense ministry spokesperson as saying that, Malian public opinion is in favor of increased cooperation with Russia given the security situation, but that no decision had been taken on the nature of this cooperation. In late 2019, Agence France-Presse (AFP) spotted a small Wagner team in Mali soon after its then-president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, signed a military cooperation agreement with Russia. In mid-September 2021, African media outlets reported the Malian transitional governments contacts with Wagner and Russian lobbying efforts to sign a contract. [E]nvoys from the Wagner group have been lobbying the Malian transitional authorities for several months, Africa Report noted at the time. Reuters reported on September 13, 2021, that negotiations between Mali and Wagner were close to signature. Citing four security sources, the news agency said that the Wagner Group would be paid about 6 billion CFA francs ($10.8 million) a month for its service. Three days later, Radio France International quoted sources in the French defense ministry as confirming that the Malian government was on the verge of reaching an agreement with the controversial Russian firm. Along with with the media reports, a forum called Russian moves in Mali was launched on Russiandefence.net, a website known to be popular among Russian military service members. Then, in late September and again in November, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Malian government was in talks with a Russian private military company but denied Russian state involvement. Lavrov also said Russia continued to supply the Malian government and armed forces with the necessary hardware, equipment, munitions, and weapons, and train Malian officers at defense military colleges in Russia. As part of its foreign influence effort, the Russian government sponsors scholarships for some 15,000 foreign students annually. Traditionally, a majority of the recipients is selected from African countries, including Mali. In October 2021, the Criticalthreats.org intelligence website reported in its Africa File that Malis government would likely sign a security deal with Kremlin-backed private military contractor Wagner Group. The report said the agreement would not concern countering terrorism, and that Russian mercenaries would be providing security to top Malian government officials, as well as protecting two gold mines and a magnesium mine. On January 6, Malis defense ministry announced the deployment of Russian military personnel to Timbuktu in northern Mali to train the Malian forces, but it did not provide any details, including how many Russian soldiers were in the country. Reuters reported that local residents saw uniformed Russian men were seen driving around town but could not say how many there were. On January 7, Criticalthreats.org reported that Wagner was already on the ground in Mali, and its activities will likely worsen popular grievances and accelerate the deterioration of counterterrorism pressure, allowing Salafi-jihadi groups to strengthen. Based on data gathered from the social media and open-source intelligence, the report concluded: The Wagner Group deployed personnel to Mali in November and December 2021, arriving in the capital, Bamako. Wagner personnel deployed to central and northern Mali in early January 2022. Wagner forces clashed with members of al Qaedas Mali branch, Jamaat Nusrat al Islam wa al Muslimeen (JNIM), in central Malis Mopti region on January 3. Likely Wagner forces occupied a base in Timbuktu on January 6 following the November 30 departure of French Operation Barkhane troops. The Malian government reported that Russian personnel would train Malian troops at the Timbuktu base. Also on January 7, the African news site Modernghana.com, citing sources in the Malian military and government, reported that about 400 Russian military personnel, including both advisors and mercenaries, had arrived in Mali in recent weeks. As of January 7, the European Council of Foreign relations project Mapping Armed Groups in Mali and Sahel reported that Wagner teams were in Timbuktu, Bamako and Djenne. On January 6, France24 reported that, thanks to local and international testimony, it was able to confirm that at least one member of Wagner group was wounded when Islamist insurgents attacked Malian government forces on January 3. On January 13, Cybershafarat.com, which monitors terrorist activities around the world, reported that Islamic State fighters in Mali released a video showing the aftermath of an attack on Malian armed forces. The date and place corresponded with the January 3 attack. The footage showed the remains of a white male killed by a roadside bomb. The jihadists promised, We will make them cry Insha Allah, and claimed the victim was from the Wagner Group, Cybershafarat.com reported. On January 14, Bamako-based Voice of America reporter Annie Risemberg called the Russian Embassy to ask a press officer about the claims that a Russian soldier was killed or wounded. The man who answered the phone replied, No, it's false, there aren't any Russians here; it's false, and then hung up without giving his name. Mali has been wracked by a civil conflict for a decade. United Nations peacekeepers led by France have helped the government fight Tuareg secessionist rebels in the south and radical extremists in the north since 2012. The United Nations said the extension of military rule in Mali is an obstacle to restoring democracy. Insecurity has expanded, the humanitarian situation has deteriorated, more children are of out of school and the country has been affected by an endless cycle of instability, U.N. special representative in Mali El-Ghassim Wane told the Security Council on January 11. Would you like to receive breaking news notifications from The Post and Courier? Sign up to receive news and updates from this site directly to your desktop. Breaking News Columbia Breaking News Greenville Breaking News Myrtle Beach Breaking News Aiken Breaking News N Augusta Breaking News Click on the bell icon to manage your notifications at any time. Success! Please click the 'Allow' button in the 'Show Notifcations' alert in your browser if one is available. Thank you for signing up! Please enable notifications in your browser and reload the page. COLUMBIA There are more than two dozen bills to change South Carolina election laws filed by Statehouse Republicans and Democrats waiting to be acted upon this session. The list includes a pair of Republican-backed efforts to audit the results of the 2020 presidential election, even though Donald Trump won South Carolina by a nearly 300,000-vote landslide. On the Republican side, their 16 bills include provisions impacting everything from voter access to absentee ballots, placing control of elections in the hands of the secretary of state, allowing municipalities to "pool" polling places in high-population precincts and implementing more stringent witness requirements. On the Democratic side, their 16 pieces would expand early voting periods, adopt methods making it easier for the recently incarcerated to vote, allow for same-day voter registration and establish Election Day as a state holiday. Republicans see many of the bills as common-sense reforms to standardize elections across the state at the county level and reduce the potential for fraud, including provisions to verify voters identity and to conduct regular audits. Democrats see it much differently, pointing to South Carolinas election systems already ranked among the most secure in the nation and zero voter fraud convictions in the state since 2008, according to a database compiled by the right-leaning Heritage Foundation. They question Republicans motives for bringing the legislation, including under Trump's unproven "big lie" theory. All of these laws, and all of these proposed laws, are being pushed for the most part, based on this lie that an election was rigged and stolen, said Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg. Currently, state legislatures in 41 states South Carolina included have introduced a combined 262 pieces of legislation to alter how their states administer elections, according to a December report compiled by the left-leaning States United Democracy Center. Changes coming South Carolina has already gotten the ball rolling. A sweeping bill sponsored by House Speaker Jay Lucas has passed both chambers and awaits a final OK before heading to Gov. Henry McMasters desk. The legislation would empower the S.C. Election Commission to investigate breaks in compliance at the county level and increase the General Assembly's oversight over the agency. Members would be appointed by the governor, who would then write a list of election protocols for counties to follow. McMaster has penned a letter in support of the bills passage, noting that while no fraud was found in the 2020 election, millions of Americans held legitimate concerns" about its integrity. The governor has also suggested $3 million in recurring funding under his proposed budget for the Election Commissions Election Integrity and Compliance Audit Program, which his office says will support new auditor positions and improve compliance. Republicans see other opportunities for reform. Groups like the right-leaning Palmetto Promise Institute have expressed support for 20 separate reforms to the states elections systems, many of which are included in bills proposed by the Republican side. The S.C. Republican Party has also passed a resolution supportive of many of the measures as well, including random audits, tighter qualifications to vote absentee and regular purges of the states voter rolls every few years. Republicans, meanwhile, believe themselves to have a mandate to enact some sort of reform following the 2020 election. The question is what kind. There's this balance between these two ideas: the sanctity of the vote and the spirit of the vote, Rep. Jay Jordan, R-Florence, told The Post and Courier. And that's where I think that election integrity sort of springs. We've been looking at and listening to how we can make voting as readily accessible as possible, but also as secure as possible. Voting rights organizations like the League of Women Voters support some tenets of the Republican-backed legislation, including provisions to increase transparency within county election offices and expand oversight of the Election Commission. However, the Leagues main lobbyist in Columbia, Lynn Teague, says much of the language in bills to purge the voter rolls or enact restrictions on absentee balloting could potentially disenfranchise voters. McMaster has already expressed concerns with the security of absentee ballots, telling reporters in early 2021 that while he liked South Carolina's policies, he was concerned with the expansion of absentee ballots outlined in upcoming voter rights legislation from Congress, calling it an "invitation to fraud." In 2020, his administration also brought a case to the U.S. Supreme Court successfully challenging a ruling from a lower court preventing election judges from requiring a witness signature on absentee ballots. "We want fast, fair convenient voting," he said at the time. "But there must be integrity." Reforms from elsewhere wanted here Reforms that could potentially be weighed by lawmakers include signature verification requirements, voter identification, and limitations on how ballots can be delivered by third parties, a measure Republicans say could help prevent efforts at ballot harvesting. Teague said additional restrictions on absentee balloting could potentially prevent some from being able to vote, while measures like ballot purges could cause valid ballots to be disqualified from being counted. A recent study by the left-leaning Brennan Center for Justice found some counties in South Carolina already have purge rates of more than 10 percent between 2016 and 2018. "The only potential problem we have with our voter rolls is that they may be too stringently pruned," Teague said. "Not inadequately." State lawmakers say Democrats and Republicans have found some common ground in the early dialogue around election reform. Provisions like expanding the early voting period have allies on both sides, though differences remain on the conditions under which individuals can actually cast a ballot. A reform bill backed by House Majority Whip Brandon Newton, R-Lancaster, includes a proposal creating a 14-day period where in-person absentee voting is permitted without being required to assert, state, offer, or provide an excuse, justification, or reason, and would establish at least one in-person absentee voting location for every 50,000 registered voters. Other legislation, like a bill sponsored by Rep. Ivory Torrey Thigpen, D-Columbia, would establish a formal early voting period, allowing voters to cast ballots up to a week before Election Day in any election around the state without requiring an absentee ballot to do so. Early voting is currently not allowed under South Carolina law. I think there's a lot more common ground on this issue than people realize, Newton said. I was surprised myself, because I've always been in favor of in-person early voting. I think that's something no one should really have an issue with. If you're Republican, you like it because you have to show a photo ID something we worked hard to pass for years and Democrats have always wanted early voting. So to me, it's good common ground. But others remain skeptical of the aims of other Republican-led reform efforts, particularly as Congress races to enact its own changes to federal election law. While South Carolinas proposals are more restrained than reforms led in states like Georgia or Arizona, several experts in state and federal election law say the potential motivations for those changes could set the stage for a single political party to consolidate power in state and local elections and, potentially, have sway over the final result. There's plenty of existing administrative practice and law on the books already, so it's understandable why Democrats are suspicious, Lawrence Jacobs, founder and director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota, told The Post and Courier. The issue and the confrontation is going to come when the Republicans might try to use some of these new powers to, in any way interfere with election results. But I think something like that is yet to be determined. One area of concern lies with the potential differences between federal election law and state election law. While changes made by Congress would have significant impacts on federal races that cannot be overruled by state lawmakers, state governments have relatively broad authority within the scope of federal law to conduct state and local elections as they see fit, said University of Buffalo law professor James Gardner. Right now, he said, the federal government and the states find themselves in tense opposition with one anothers authority. For Republicans, the argument lies with states being able to conduct their elections as they see fit. For Democrats, the conflict lies with ensuring the broadest access to the ballot, and supporting protections at the federal level to allow that to happen. Historically, both approaches have pluses and minuses. "Our system of federalism can be a really useful constitutional structure, because it fosters decentralization, and decentralization can be a useful thing, Gardner said. It can mean that local populations live under policies that they prefer rather than under national policies. On the other hand, federalism has historically served state practices that are not good, he added. Federalism protected legalized racial discrimination until the 1960s. The Statehouse session just began the week of Jan. 11 and runs until May. Get the SC business stories that matter. Our newsletter catches you up with all the business stories that are shaping Charleston and South Carolina every Monday and Thursday at noon. Get ahead with us - it's free. Georgetown, SC (29440) Today A mix of clouds and sun. High 87F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Some clouds. Low 66F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. MYRTLE BEACH When state Attorney General Alan Wilson announced findings from the states annual report on human trafficking on Jan. 10, he began with a familiar refrain: Horry County again leads South Carolina in the number of reported instances of the crime the third straight year thats happened. Given its proximity to major interstates, a shared border with North Carolina, ocean access and major tourist attractions in Myrtle Beach, it may seem like the coastal county faces unique challenges when it comes to combating the problem. But the leader of a regional task force dedicated to ending human trafficking in Horry County says the 19 reported cases in 2021 actually are evidence that outreach campaigns are working. That means our citizens are doing what were asking them to do: If theyre seeing something, theyre saying something, said Capt. Sherri Smith of the Horry County Sheriffs Office and co-chairwoman of the Coastal Regional Human Trafficking Task Force, which was launched in 2018 to serve Horry and Georgetown counties. Although global human trafficking generates an estimated $150 billion annually, it remains an underreported crime with no way to accurately count its victims, since a majority of them are vulnerable populations including juveniles, the disabled, homeless people, migrant workers and the LGBTQ community. A lot of times they dont want to call law enforcement because they dont trust us, Smith said. Police and others instead encourage trafficking victims or those with information about possible cases to call a national hotline at (888) 373-7888. Operated by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Polaris and funded partially through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the number was contacted 769 times within South Carolina in 2020, up from 531 the year before. Overall, 121 trafficking cases were reported in the state last year, compared with 139 in 2020. But there were more victims: 206 versus 179 in 2020, or a 15 percent jump, Wilson said during a Jan. 10 Statehouse news conference revealing findings from the 2021 Human Trafficking Task Forces annual report. In 2020, the state task force warned of new and ongoing obstacles posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in its ongoing efforts to stamp out human trafficking. Wilson said the most recent figures show the crime remains prevalent despite a slowdown in the economy and extended periods of isolation. We continue to see reports of increased labor and sex trafficking even through the pandemic. The role of families and intimate partners as recruiters became a top method during the pandemic, he said on Jan. 10. Smith said the vast amount of time children spent on their computers last year as schools were forced to close meant predators had more time than ever for online exploitation. Unless you had a parent that was sitting right there knowing what they were doing, they could have their screen up and actually looking at social media. Our kids are online more than ever, and they continue to be, she said. Thats how these predators get to our children. Smith said she unable to comment on whether there are any active trafficking investigations in the Myrtle Beach region, but 52 cases are pending in state courts, and 31 were closed out in 2021. Smith and others on her team are looking for a banner year, anchored by the rollout of a much larger task force covering the entire Pee Dee region and a partnership with Engaging Minds Services, a newly formed Myrtle Beach-based nonprofit working to build a 10-bed safe house in the county for trafficking victims. Founder Shelbia Wiley has spoken openly about her abuse at the hands of a trafficker when she was 9 years old. Clients referred to her facility will stay for two years where theyll get intensive counseling and other support. When youre traumatized, it goes with you for years. Thats why its so important to have counseling for victims, because you need that. (Trafficking) changes the entire course of your life, Wiley said. The $650,000 home is expected to open later this year. Smiths task force uses social media extensively, posting to its Facebook page discussions with law enforcement, faith leaders and others. Wilson himself sat down with the group last year to talk about how the state as a whole is confronting the problem and why South Carolina is in the middle of the fight. When you look at South Carolina, it is nestled between two of the top 20 human trafficking hubs: Charlotte and Atlanta, with the I-85 corridor cutting right through the Upstate and the I-77 corridor out of Columbia, he said in September. GREENVILLE The city of Greenville is in the early stages of working with an economic development advisor to iron out its long-term plan to position the area as a place for entrepreneurs to start and grow businesses. Resonance is an advisor on economic development, real estate and tourism that has aided cities like Tulsa, Okla., and Houston, Texas, in creating economic and destination development strategies. Greenville has joined that charge. In September 2021, the city unveiled its preliminary plans for an economic development initiative titled "From Here You Can Change The World." The campaign emphasizes Greenvilles business resources and local success stories on a local and national level. At a City Council meeting on Jan. 10, Director of Economic Development for the city Merle Johnson told the council that his team had its first meeting with Resonance representatives to "ensure that their scope of work is in line with what we had asked for, and then get them to sign our standard agreement." Johnson said that the "first homework" his team received from the advisors was to form a steering committee, which typically is a group that advises an organization and ensures the completion of projects. "We're currently putting together our recommendation and we'll be sending that to the city manager to get his approval prior to implementation," Johnson told the council in regards to the committee. The advisor suggested the city focus on six areas: economic clustering to include the creation of "innovation districts;" support for small business and entrepreneurship; rise of talent economy; destination development; retention, expansion and redevelopment; and STEM. The city made one of its first initiative-related announcements in early December 2021 with a cancer diagnostics company moving into 2 N. Main St. in Greenville. This announcement aligns with the first intended focus area, economic clustering, as Kiyatec is the first anchor company in the city's "innovation district." Greenvilles strengths, according to the advisor, are its export economy, anchor institutions such as Clemson University, CU-ICAR, USC School of Medicine and Greenville Tech private sector and talent attraction. As of right now, its greatest challenges are its growing economic divide, exacerbated by the pandemic, and growth problems related to housing affordability, land use, hotel occupancy and mobility. The advisor recommended that the plan for Greenville should align with the vision of the city's long-term goals, reaching out to 2040. It also encouraged collaboration and input from residents, businesses and elected officials. The advisor will also create an implementation plan for the city that includes staffing, resourcing, phased approaches, roles for partners and metrics. The project phases will span over the year and include: January: development of project work plan and consultation strategy February to March: demographic and economic assessment April to June: stakeholder and public engagement July to August: strategic plan development and implementation "We've also included an opportunity for the consultants to return in one year to give us an assessment of the strategy and the outcomes," Johnson said. Summerville, SC (29483) Today Sun and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 87F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Some clouds. Low 67F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. SUMMERVILLE In the coming week, Dorchester School District 2 will send Dubose and Oakbrook Middle Schools to temporary virtual learning. Between Jan. 18-24, the two schools will go through remote learning to recover from high COVID quarantine numbers. This is following DD2 officials reporting a spike in COVID cases across the district over the last week. As of Jan. 12, nearly 3,200 students in the district were under quarantine. Around 250 were at Oakbrook Middle School and nearly 300 were at Dubose. "Based on our numbers we have to do something," Superintendent Joseph Pye said. During a Jan. 14 special school board meeting, Pye along with some of his staff updated board members and the public on the severity of the situation in schools. The biggest concern is staffing levels. More than 130 staff members in the district tested positive for COVID-19. Over 100 are under quarantine. Those reports also exclude the number of staff members absent for other reasons like taking care of their own children. As a result, administrative staff, guidance counselors and other staff members have had to step up to watch over classes for absent teachers. Pye said in situations where classes are being monitored by staff members who aren't qualified to teach certain subjects or course levels, it has become a lot like babysitting. "That is not education," he said. Due to difficulty with monitoring, Amanda Santamaria, DD2's nurse coordinator, said a mask mandate would pose a challenge. As a result, students have to go through the 10-day quarantine period versus five days. In order for the district to follow a five-day quarantine period, staff would have to ensure that those students were consistently wearing a mask in school all day. Since that poses a challenge, Santamaria said they've opted to go with 10 days per the guidance from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. DD2 officials have pointed to regulations and guidelines from DHEC as the reason for the quarantines. Rachel Cubbage, the principal of Newington Elementary, said she knows many would like to do away with quarantines. But that's not an option at a public school building right now, she said. At Newington, around 23 percent of Cubbage's teachers are out as of Jan. 14. "When we have that many people out, staffing becomes a chess game," Cubbage said. Some principals, like Jack Mansor at River Oaks Middle School, have had to take up doing contact tracing to help support nursing staff. Kenny Farrell, the principal of Summerville High School, said that they've had situations where Spanish teachers have had to cover AP Calculus courses. "That's not the instruction that we're wanting," he said. Plans for virtual learning The current plan isn't to send the entire district to virtual learning. Now individual grade levels and schools, like Dubose and Oakbrook Middle, will be sent to virtual learning based on their COVID numbers. Additional factors like population and building size will also be considered. Basically, if a high percentage of eighth graders at a school are under quarantine, then that grade level will go to temporary virtual learning. Other grade levels at the school would still be allowed to attend in-person courses. If high numbers are seen at all grade levels, then the entire school will potentially go to virtual learning. Around 30 percent of staff and students being under quarantine at a school will be an indicator that a school might move to remote learning. However, Pye said parents should still wait for district confirmation since factors like school size will also be weighed. The goal is to not uproot the entire district by moving all schools to virtual. It's a plan that most school board members said they supported. Board member Barbara Crosby, who was absent from the meeting, forwarded a comment to her colleagues suggesting a shorter virtual learning period. While the decision to focus on individual and grade levels and schools may be welcomed, Pye said that people shouldn't get comfortable. The entire district could still potentially go under a temporary virtual learning session. "Don't be surprised," he said. "That could be next week if these numbers don't stop." A duck killed by a hunter in Colleton County had a contagious and dangerous bird flu that has not been detected in the wild in the U.S. in five years, officials said. The flu poses a low risk to people but can spread quickly through chicken houses and other poultry businesses. The Eurasian H5 avian influenza was first detected by Clemson University scientists, the school said in a Jan. 14 news release. The bird, an American wigeon, was tested by the university's Veterinary Diagnostic Center in Columbia and confirmed by federal testing. The U.S. Department of Agriculture alerted global health officials. Scattered Eurasian H5 infections have been detected in 2022 from Portugal to Bulgaria and in December, two cases were reported in eastern Canada, officials said. Were asking that anyone involved with poultry or egg production, from large farms all the way down to backyard flocks, review their biosecurity practices to assure the health of their birds, said State Veterinarian Michael J. Neault, who directs Clemson Livestock Poultry Health, which includes the Diagnostic Center. Those practices include thoroughly washing hands before and after handling wild and domesticated birds and using gloves and other protective gear when handling live birds. Farmers should also keep their birds away from areas where geese and ducks roam, clean their cages and coops regularly and buy new birds from reputable sources and keep them away from the rest of the flock for 30 days, the university said. "So far we have no indication that (the flu) has jumped from wild migratory birds to poultry, and we'd very much like to keep it that way," Neault said. The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control is working with Clemson, the S.C. Department of Natural Resources and federal partners about this recent detection of Eurasian H5. DHEC strongly urges anyone who handles birds including hunters and poultry farmers to follow the recommended precautions for protecting themselves from possible exposure and to talk with a doctor if they have any health concerns regarding a possible exposure. The Associated Press contributed to this report. South Carolina residents prepared for unusually foul weather as a winter storm was expected to blanket large swaths of the Upstate, Midlands and Pee Dee regions with ice, sleet and snow beginning early Jan. 16. Gov. Henry McMaster told residents in an afternoon press conference Jan. 15 at the S.C. Emergency Operations Center in Columbia to prepare for power outages and near impassable roads as a winter storm that has already buried large parts of the Midwest in snow quickly travels south. If things unfold as we expect, there will be a lot of power lines going down, and, despite an enormous army of people out there to put them back up, they could be down for two or three days, or maybe longer," he said. The National Weather Service's Columbia office issued an ice storm warning for counties across the upper middle portion of the state through early Jan. 17. One-quarter to one-half inch of ice was forecast to accumulate throughout the day Jan. 16. Combined with wind gusts of up to 30 mph, the NWS said power outages and tree damage are likely. Matt Gropp, a meteorologist for the Columbia office, said the counties of most concern were Lancaster, Chesterfield, Newberry and Fairfield. Counties south of that area, including the city of Columbia, were under a winter weather advisory until 4 p.m. Jan. 16, as freezing rain was forecast to cause up to one-tenth of an inch of ice accumulations and wind gusting up to 35 mph. Finally, a winter storm warning was issued for the Piedmont region of South Carolina from until late Jan. 16. Two to 5 inches of sleet, snow and ice is expected to fall in the South Carolina foothills, with less accumulation elsewhere in the region. If the forecasts hold true, this weekend's ice storm will be the hardest to hit the state since February 2014, when a devastating amount of freezing rain fell across the eastern and southern Midlands, damaging trees and leaving thousands of residents without power for days. Another storm earlier in 2014 caused ice to accumulate on support cables for the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge in Charleston. As the weather warmed, chunks of ice rained down on passing vehicles, forcing officials to close the passage for several days. "It is a pretty rare event to get a widespread ice storm like this," Gropp said. The governor declared a state of emergency Jan. 14, allowing state agencies to coordinate resources ahead of the wintry weather. S.C. Highway Patrol troopers will be monitoring the roadways for hazardous conditions and responding as quickly as possible for calls. S.C. Department of Public Safety Direct Robert Woods said at the Jan. 15 press conference that operations will begin at 5 a.m. Jan. 16, but they are prepared to deploy sooner if necessary. S.C. Transportation Secretary Christy Hall said her staff has poured 1 million gallons of brine material on key roads in preparation of the storm. The state has 300,000 gallons of deicing material and 60,000 tons of salt to break up ice accumulation, she said. "Once this storm starts to move in, driving conditions will become very hazardous," Hall said. "We are recommending you extremely limit your travel, and avoid travel, if at all possible, due to these driving conditions." Anyone who must travel should ensure their vehicle is in good condition, checking the fluids, battery and tires before taking to the roads. Motorists should fully charge their cellphones and pack extra blankets and snacks in case of delays. Maj. Gen. Van McCarty of the S.C. National Guard said his agency has been coordinating with state authorities in advance of the storm, and will have 14 vehicle recovery teams available for assistance. Nanette Edwards of the S.C. Office of Regulatory Staff warned residents that scammers may call during the storm claiming that their utilities will be disconnected unless they pay money. "Please do not send money," she said. "The utilities during inclement weather, they suspend disconnection of services, so please do not respond to such a request." The Lowcountry is expected to be spared the worst of the storm. Meteorologist Michael Stroz of the NWS Charleston office said Lowcountry residents should expect 1 to 2 inches of rainfall into the afternoon Jan. 16. Stroz said forecasts showed a very low probability of ice in northern Dorchester and Berkeley counties. The NWS has issued a gale warning for coastal waters as the storm is expected to cause high winds in the region, Stroz said. The winter storm also caused the governors of Georgia, Virginia and North Carolina to declare states of emergency as it barrels down on the Southeast before heading toward the Eastern Seaboard. By Jan. 14, the fast-moving storm had already dropped heavy snow across a large swath of the Midwest, where travel conditions deteriorated and scores of schools closed or moved to online instruction. Iowa was hit the hardest. Brad Small, a meteorologist with the NWS, said the airport in Des Moines saw more than 14 inches of snow and a big swath of the central and southern Iowa recorded between 9 inches and a foot of snow. In perhaps a preview of the kind of problems east, the Iowa State Patrol had reported that 207 motorists were assisted and 78 crashes had occurred in the four hours between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. Jan. 14, according to the Des Moines Register. And in Chicago, where a mayor once lost a bid for reelection because, in part, of the city's failure to adequately respond to a massive blizzard when he was in office, the streets and sanitation department was on Saturday morning equipping more than 200 trucks with snow plow blades to keep the streets passable during and after the expected storm. Parts of Tennessee could get as much as 6 inches of snow, forecasters said, and northern Mississippi and the Tennessee Valley region of Alabama could receive light snow accumulations. With lows predicted in the 20s across a wide area, any precipitation could freeze, making driving difficult if not hazardous. Travis Wagler said he hadn't seen such a run on supplies at his South Carolina hardware store in at least two winters. "We're selling everything you might expect: sleds, but also salt, shovels and firewood," Wagler said from Abbeville Hardware on Jan. 14. A winter storm watch extended from just north of metro Atlanta to Arkansas in the west and Pennsylvania in the north, covering parts of 10 states including Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. Travel problems could extend into metro Atlanta, where about 2 inches of snow brought traffic to a slip-sliding halt in 2014, an event still known as "Snowmaggedon." Nearly 2,000 flights within the U.S. have already been canceled for Jan. 16 in anticipation of snow and ice in the South, according to the flight tracking site flightaware.com, which tracks flight cancellations worldwide. A major U.S. airport hub for American Airlines Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina led the list of cancellations for U.S. airports. Possible power outages and travel problems could be exacerbated by any coating of ice and winds gusting to 35 mph, the National Weather Service said. "Hopefully, the storm will underdeliver, but it could overdeliver. We just don't know," said Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp as he announced storm preparations. He was taking no chances as he declared a state of emergency and crews began treating major roads and highways in north Georgia. The city of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, had to borrow workers from other departments to help treat roads ahead of the storm because COVID-19 had caused a shortage of workers, spokesman Randy Britton said. Even volunteers pitched in to help as the city stepped up its normal schedule of preparing for winter weather, he said. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed an emergency order and the administration urged people to stay at home once the storm hits. The state highway agency warned that labor shortages meant crews might not respond to problems areas as quickly as normal. The storm, after its expected weekend dip into the Southeast, was then expected to head into the Northeast while dropping snow, sleet and rain around the densely populated Eastern Seaboard. The Associated Press contributed to this report. McCLELLANVILLE Congregants assembled outside the small, wooden building to ask God's strength as they prepare to refurbish the old Bethel AME Church. The building's windows are boarded up and cobwebs have collected beneath the arch over the front porch. The time has come to rescue this historic sanctuary. The Rev. Leondra Stoney, the churchs pastor, said Bethels people also want to be restored. Racial tensions have been high across the nation, Stoney said. Since 1867, when Bethel was founded, African Americans have seen improvements in their daily lives, but problems persist, and Black congregations remain targets of racial violence, she said. Bethel's members have missed being together, she added. The COVID pandemic has kept them away from the church building most of last year. They are hungry for ministry, and this restoration project provides a welcomed opportunity. "As we restore old Bethel, we want to restore the hope, strength and the peace of God," Stoney said. The Black church always has been a safe space, a place of refuge where African Americans, enslaved and free, could express themselves, their faith and their culture without inhibitions. The church is where differing cultural practices meld to form a unique Black worship style, and where communities gather for social, spiritual and political purposes. Because of all this, the Black church has been targeted by white supremacists throughout the history of the United States. Perhaps no one knew this better than Martin Luther King Jr., a pastor's son in Atlanta who grew up to lead his own congregations and then a movement for racial justice. King sometimes was derailed in his public life by bomb threats. He flinched at loud sounds that suggested gunfire. Some churches that lent themselves as venues for civil rights activities were attacked. On June 30, 1974, six years after the assassination of King, his mother Alberta Williams King was murdered at her home church, Ebenezer Baptist in Atlanta, while sitting at the organ. The gunman, a Black Hebrew Israelite who considered civil rights activists and church leaders evil, also killed a deacon of Ebenezer, Edward Boykin. Marginalized communities depend heavily on specific institutions they have worked hard over time to create, according to the Rev. Joseph Darby, pastor of Nichols Chapel AME Church in Charleston and longtime civil rights leader. African Americans, he said, rely on four main pillars: the school, the family, the business district and the church. These make up the essential community infrastructure and provide the mechanisms for self-determination and social and economic advancement. And thats why enemies of Black empowerment attack them, Darby said. He explained how advocates of white supremacy in government and business have, over centuries, systematically neglected Black schools; undermined the Black family unit through slavery, convict leasing, the drug war and mass incarceration; weakened or destroyed Black businesses (recall the Hamburg Massacre of 1876, the destruction of Black Wall Street in Tulsa in 1921, the unrest in Atlanta in 1906, the Rosewood Massacre of 1923, or the several urban rebellions during the 1960s); and, not least, attacked churches. Despite these violent attacks, the Black church has produced important leaders unafraid to speak out against oppression. Leaders like King, to whom the YWCA Greater Charleston pays tribute this weekend. King drew attention to some of the history in 1967 when, in an interview with NBC News, he explained the origins of Black poverty. "America freed the slaves in 1863 through the Emancipation Proclamation of Abraham Lincoln, but gave the slaves no land, nothing in reality, as a matter of fact, to get started on," King said. "At the same time, America was giving away millions of acres of land in the West and the Midwest, which meant that there was a willingness to give the White peasants from Europe an economic base. And yet it refused to give its black peasants from Africa, who came here involuntarily in chains and had worked free for 244 years, any kind of economic base. And so emancipation for the Negro was really freedom to hunger, it was freedom to the winds and rains of heaven, it was freedom without food to eat or land to cultivate, and therefore it was freedom and famine at the same time." In the same interview, King alluded to systematic institutional efforts to disenfranchise Black people. "We havent been able to be people, we havent been men because of all the conditions that weve lived with and the syndrome of deprivation surrounding (these) conditions, whether its in housing, in the economic area, or in schools, or in the vicious credit practices that we face in the ghetto, and all of the problems of closed doors and constant defeats," he said. Historically, the Black church has played an outsized role in affirming the humanity of its congregants. It has always been a sanctuary for religious worship, but it has also provided essential services and information, a place of presumed safety and independence and a base of operations for organizing a response to racial segregation and discrimination. In a society structured by white supremacy and anti-Black racism that explicitly sought to police Black communities and surveil Black communities, religious spaces were some of very few spaces where Black people could gather free of that policing and surveillance, said Matthew Cressler, a College of Charleston professor who teaches courses in African American religion; Black nationalism; and the intersection of race, politics and religion. As a result of that freedom, Black churches became places where a certain modicum of self-determination could be achieved. They became hubs of social, economic, political and recreational activities, and this is why they were targets of White violence over the years, he said. The Dylann Roofs of the world and the Klan understand the role they play, Cressler said, referring to the 2015 Emanuel AME Church shooting and the long history of church burnings. These are foundational institutions. Church burnings The Rev. Nathan Smalls, pastor of Mount Carmel United Methodist Church, said the Charleston church provides a sense of security, a place where Black people can let down their guard. Enemies of racial progress know this and take advantage of a congregations vulnerability, he said. The church is seen as a passive, easy place (full) of people who love you, people who will open their hearts to you. People of ill will, therefore, see that as an opportunity to display hatred on people they perceive as weaker than they are. Late at night about a month ago, a truckload of White men pulled up to Mount Carmel, and one of them walked to the back of the building, then returned, kicked a trash can over and rejoined his companions in the truck. Smalls discovered the next day that nine bricks had been thrown through two old windows, causing about $25,000 in damage. The incident, captured by mounted video cameras, revived fears within the congregation and upset family members whose ancestors had donated the money for the windows more than 50 years ago, Smalls said. Attacks on Black churches are as old as the freedom struggle itself. Two of the most infamous and memorable happened during the enfranchisement phase of the civil rights movement. On Sept. 15, 1963, Klansmen bombed the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., killing four young girls and injuring 22 others. On June 16, 1964, Mt. Zion Methodist Church in Longdale, Miss., was burned down, triggering an investigation by civil rights workers Andrew Goodman, James Cheney and Michael Schwerner. The three young men were soon tracked by the Klan and murdered. Charleston's 2022 MLK Celebration Events Established in 1972, Charleston's annual MLK Celebration has become the largest event in South Carolina honoring the civil rights leader. The theme of the multi-day tribute is We Persist: Paving the Path to Justice. This year's events will be virtual due to the pandemic. See the programs below. Jan. 16 The annual MLK Ecumenical Service is 4 p.m. at Greater St. Luke AME in downtown Charleston. The Rev. Anthony Thompson, pastor of Holy Trinity Reformed Episcopal, will be the keynote speaker. The service will be streamed online. Register at www.ywcagc.org/ecumenical-2022.html to receive the Zoom link for the service. Jan. 17 The annual MLK Parade has been pre-recorded and will air at noon on WCBD News 2. Christine O. Jackson, executive director emeritus of YWCA Greater Charleston, will serve as parade marshal. The event will take place in downtown Charleston, featuring floats, walking groups, motorcycles and bands. In South Carolina, examples of church arson and vandalism are many. In 1822, Hampstead Church located on the corner of Reid and Hanover streets was burned down by a White mob after Denmark Veseys attempted rebellion. Vesey was a founding member. In 1955, white supremacists destroyed St. James AME Church in Lake City. The Rev. Joseph DeLaine was pastor there, and also an active member of the NAACP who helped organize the Briggs v. Elliott school equality case. In 1979, Second Wilson Church in Chester, known to be a meeting place for activists, was set aflame. During an 18-month period between 1995 and 1996, more than 30 Black churches were burned, mostly across the South, including six in South Carolina: Macedonia Baptist Church outside Manning, Mount Zion AME Church in Greeleyville, St. John Baptist Church in Lexington County, Butler Chapel AME Church in Orangeburg, Rosemary Baptist Church in Barnwell, and Effingham Baptist Church in Effingham. The violence led Congress to pass the Church Arson Prevention Act and prompted President Bill Clinton to establish the National Church Arson Task Force, which opened 945 investigations into arsons, bombings, or attempted bombings that have occurred at houses of worship between Jan. 1, 1995 and Aug. 15, 2000, resulting in the arrest of 431 suspects in connection with 342 of these investigations. The 2015 mass shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston can only be properly understood in the context of white supremacy and anti-Black hatred. Nine people were killed. The perpetrator Roof has said he selected Mother Emanuel precisely because of its historic importance and its reputation as a seat of Black culture and faith. Advancing social justice Smalls said his congregation, though shaken by the recent vandalism, will continue with its regular food giveaways and other ministries. Membership has declined in recent decades, and the average age of Mount Carmels worshippers has increased. About 70 percent of them are over 60 years old, Nelson said. When I grew up, church was the centerpiece of the community and all information was disseminated form the church, he said. The pastor usually was the most educated person in the community. He would be the trusted person. Today, he tries to carry on the traditions of the church, offering congregants more than worship opportunities. I make sure every week I remind them about stuff getting your flu shot, wearing your mask, getting vaccinated (for COVID), he said. (A former paramedic, Smalls focuses on health issues.) I believe the church should serve the community; I dont believe the community should serve the church. A majority of Black Americans, 61 percent, report that they attend religious services at least a few times a year, according to a 2021 survey by the Pew Research Center. One-third say they generally go each week. The vast majority of religious African Americans attend Protestant churches, and nearly half of them, 47 percent, say they have listened to sermons that address political topics such as racial inequality, activism, voting and more, Pew reported. That seems to be what most Black people want: 77 percent say Black churches have been helpful in advancing the cause of social justice. But nearly half of Black adults say the influence of the church has waned over the last 50 years, and 41 percent of survey respondents say churches now have too little influence in Black communities. 'We need to do that' Darby said that while the churchs influence has diminished, its role hasnt. Its still a rallying point, still a place of safety and security and, hopefully, advocacy if church is done the way its supposed to be done, he said. During the Jim Crow period, Black people had no access to White institutions, and Black churches were consequently stronger and bigger. Since desegregation, African Americans can choose where and how to worship, and this has, to some degree, diluted the power of traditional churches. The embrace in some circles of the Prosperity Gospel, which emphasizes personal gain over collective spiritual well-being, has compounded the problem, Darby said. On the other hand, recent political turmoil prompted many Black churches to become politically engaged and active again, he said. I think we need to do that. There are too many folks who dont get that, if youre not careful, well lose hard-earned progress. For the church to remain relevant, it must resist the forces working against it and insist on serving the community in a variety of ways, Darby said. Otherwise, those who perceive Black empowerment as a threat will seek to exploit every weakness. You tear up the (African American) support system, you put a big hole in the community, he said. At Bethel AME Church in McClellanville, Stoney concluded her prayer outside the old church as the sun began to set. She spoke about the big project that lay ahead, optimism and faith permeating every word. "The restoration is already done," she said prophetically. Hearts have been warmed, motivation inspired. Members of the church clapped and smiled in agreement, thinking of the work that lies ahead. CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story had the incorrect amount of damage to Mount Carmel AME Church. It was $25,000. ASSISI, Italy From Rome, its a two-hour train ride north to Assisi in central Italys Umbria region. The city, in an area known as the Duchy of Spoleto, was the home of Francesco di Pietro di Bernardone, the 13th century St. Francis, who rejected abundant wealth and social pretention to imitate the humble excellence of Christ. In 1202, Assisi was at war with nearby Perugia when 20-year-old Francesco suited up in shiny new armor and rode off as a cavalryman in defense of his hometown. He was captured on the battlefield and, because his father was rich, held for ransom. A year later he returned from his prison cell a changed man who soon stripped himself literally and figuratively of wealth and privilege to minister to lepers and emulate Jesus. His family thought Francis had lost his mind when he stood naked on a crowded street, handed his expensive clothing to his father a wealthy cloth merchant and settled on a simple tunic of coarse wool to preach the Gospel to humans and animals alike. Francis claimed to have heard directly from Christ, and late in life developed wounds in his hands, feet and side stigmata like those Jesus had suffered on the cross. He was declared a Catholic saint soon after he died at age 44, and legions of pilgrims and others have trekked to Assisi ever since to learn more about his austere ways and those of his order of Franciscan friars. Francis love of nature earned him recognition as the patron saint of animals and the environment. He is credited with using actual sheep and other animals when he set up the first live Nativity creche. Today pets around the world are blessed by Christian priests and pastors alike in October on St. Francis annual feast day. Upon arrival at the 17th century train station at Assisi, we took a three-mile cab ride up the western flank of Monte Subasio and met personal guide Marica Luciani at the fountain in the town plaza near a Catholic church that originally was the Roman Temple of Minerva. Welcome to Assisi, she said. Youre about to take a walking tour like none other. And indeed it was. Ms. Luciani, who teaches English in addition to conducting walking tours, is a fount of information about the history, customs, food and art of Assisi as well as the nearby city of Spoleto and other historic sites in the region. As we walked the narrow streets of the city, Ms. Luciani explained the tradition of two front doors at the street level in the citys oldest stone residences. One door is a typical entrance. But because it was considered a bad omen to remove the body of a dead person through the main entrance, seriously ill people or the recently departed were customarily laid out in the front parlor near a smaller door, through which the coffin was passed, placed on a wagon and removed for burial. Thus the saying that someone is so sick that he or she is at deaths door. Another memorable Assisi image is the cross-like Greek letter Tau typically carved in olive wood and carried in a pocket or purse in remembrance of St. Francis, who adopted this symbol as his own signature. Just outside the huge cathedral that bears his name is a wide lawn with the Latin word Pax (Peace) and the letter Tau beautifully displayed in shrubbery and flowers. Pax Romana was the so-called peace of the Roman Empire under which people of conquered city-states along with those of diverse barbarian tribes worked and slaved whether they liked it or not. Theres a difference between Pax Romana and Pax Tau, and its worth considering in todays troubling times. Romans initially established a Greek-inspired democratic republic with an elected Senate with basic checks and balances on governance. However, as the empire grew, power was ceded to myopic tyrants, massive militaries and mindless bureaucracies that waged continual war along the borders and levied heavy taxes while systematically stripping citizens of their liberty with empty promises of safety, social justice and prosperity. Yet genuine peace never came to the empire. By the time Francis was born, it had divided between the Latin west (Rome) and the Byzantine east (Constantinople). The Western Empire had collapsed from within and the demise of Eastern Empire was soon to follow. Genuine peace, justice, liberty and prosperity were not achieved through narrow mandates, false teachings and empty promises from on high. Genuine peace is more personal. It spreads from the bottom up through the likes of the selfless saint from Assisi and his devoted friars. John M. Burbage is a veteran newspaper journalist, editor, publisher and co-founder of Evening Post Books. He lives in downtown Charleston and on his family farm in Hampton County. He can be reached at jburbage@postandcourier.com. Its never been clear to us whether it was wise or legal for the Biden administration to require all large employers to impose vaccine mandates. What has been clear is that employers have the legal authority to make the decision themselves to require vaccines, not just for public health reasons but also to reduce the costs they would otherwise face when infected employees have to stay out of work, force other employees to quarantine and run up medical bills and thus their medical insurance rates. What has been clear too is that the S.C. Legislature cant block federal requirements and that it shouldnt try to prevent businesses from protecting their employees, their customers and their bottom line from the ravages of COVID-19. The U.S. Supreme Court made it clear Thursday that President Joe Biden didn't have the authority to issue the broad workplace requirement. But neither that ruling nor its other order upholding the president's narrower but more important requirement that hospitals, nursing homes, doctors offices and other organizations that accept Medicare or Medicaid payments require their employees to be vaccinated changed what has been clear all along. Appropriately, both decisions turned on whether current federal law gives the president the legal authority he used to issue each requirement. That was unclear in both cases, as is the question not yet addressed by the high court about the administrations vaccine requirement for federal contractors, which is on hold pending lower court review. What wasnt unclear was whether individuals can be required to be vaccinated in order to keep their jobs; they can. If there was ever a question about whether legislative bodies at the federal, state or local level have the constitutional authority to authorize such requirements, the courts Medicare ruling (Biden v. Missouri) seems to have removed that. That ruling should make it clear to S.C. legislators that they cant stop hospitals and residential care facilities and other medical facilities from obeying federal requirements to protect their medically fragile patients and bottom line by requiring employee vaccinations and masking. Its unfortunate that so many Americans are so adamantly opposed to vaccines that are providing far more protection against severe illness and death than the Trump administration had ever dreamed possible when the former president was acting to speed their development. Its even more unfortunate how much that opposition has been nurtured by culture warriors who seek to divide our nation for their own political, financial or other selfish benefit. We hope the courts decision in National Federation of Independent Businesses v. OSHA will remove some of the political intensity behind anti-vaccine efforts, by getting President Biden out of the picture. The decision does leave room for our Legislature to prohibit other businesses from requiring vaccinations, although we still can't fathom how the same legislators who talk constantly and appropriately about the rights of employers to make broad decisions about hiring and firing could even consider such a thing. Last month, the S.C. House wisely backed off its plan to prohibit businesses from requiring employee vaccinations. But representatives passed an amended version of H.3126 that prohibits local government requirements and allows private-sector employees fired for refusing to get vaccinated to draw unemployment benefits something workers normally cant do when theyre fired for cause. Since employers unemployment insurance taxes are based in part on how many former employees draw those benefits, that means their taxes will go up if they implement a mandate and are forced to fire many unvaccinated workers. The Senate hasnt taken up that bill, and it shouldnt. But on Tuesday, a Senate subcommittee voted to prohibit state and local governments that receive a share of the states federal COVID relief funding for road, high-speed internet access or water and sewer projects from awarding contracts to companies that require their employees to be vaccinated, or even to wear masks. That's not the same as prohibiting businesses from making decisions about workplace rules. But its still a disturbing intrusion into the workplace for the purpose of preventing businesses from protecting their bottom line. Its a provision that should be removed from an otherwise smart approach to that federal funding. 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. I hope some creative developers can rescue the Charleston area. There are many iconic properties that could be redeveloped and relate to times past better than a hospitality complex with clapboard siding like the Old Village where locals would be welcomed. How about restoring Pages Thieves Market as a seafood restaurant? Or how about a neighborhood bar or restaurant that did not serve goofy cocktails? So much fluff and so little time. JIM ROWE Mount Pleasant Keep tenured posts I am very disheartened at recent legislation aiming to cancel tenure protections at state institutions. Academic freedom is a hallmark of any democratic institution, and any representative who tries to remove tenure is essentially placing academic appointments at the behest of big business, personal vendettas, disgruntled voices and deep pocketed lobbyists. Bill H. 4522, sponsored by Rep. Bill Taylor of Aiken and Rep. Lin Bennett of Charleston, is the very definition of governmental overreach. It seems that these legislators would rather push South Carolina back to the era of the Scopes Monkey Trial, rather than ride the wave of innovation and growth in South Carolina, by removing tenure protections from academic appointments at state institutions. Removing tenure will further erode the voice of educated, reasonable people as we determine our future. Lets say a new power plant is proposed for South Carolina. An environmental science professor highlights negative impacts to water quality, air quality and wildlife. The business school determines the project is a bad investment for the state. However, the CEO is a close friend with the local governing officials. In a realm without tenure, whats to stop the company from just canceling the professors appointment and deplatforming the studies? For a group that is so outspoken against cancel culture, these legislators seem to want it codified in our universities. Dr. SANFORD ZEIGLER Charleston ID needed beyond voting In a Dec. 17 address at South Carolina State Universitys winter commencement, President Joe Biden said hes never seen anything like the unrelenting assault on the right to vote. Listening to him rail about having to present a photo ID in order to cast a ballot, youd think it was the 1950s during Jim Crow laws. We can all list multiple occasions where we need to present our photo IDs, so I simply cant understand why Democrats fear the process so much. GEORGE LEET Mount Pleasant Know vaping dangers Vaping, the use of electronic cigarettes, poses significant health risks to young people. According to the 2021 National Youth Tobacco Survey released by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 2 million middle and high schoolers use e-cigarettes, 85% of those students use flavored e-cigarettes and nearly 1 in 4 youths vape daily. While e-cigarettes do not contain tobacco, most contain nicotine derived from tobacco. Nicotine and vapor exposure put a childs dental health at risk by reducing saliva, which causes dry mouth and promotes increased bacteria, tooth decay and chronic bad breath. Other risks include mouth ulcers, tissue inflammation, gum disease, recession and even potential tooth and bone loss. Nicotine exposure during a childs adolescence can also cause addiction and long-term harm to brain development, which can have long-lasting effects on mood, impulse control, attention and learning. E-cigarettes impact respiratory health as well. The vaping aerosol contains metals, volatile compounds and ultrafine particles that can be inhaled deep into growing lungs. Vaping is harmful. Education is vital. Talk with tweens, teens and young adults about the dangers. Reach out to the family dentist or physician for resources in helping your child steer clear of vaping. RON INGE Chief dental officer Delta Dental of South Carolina Columbia It wasn't the fishing trip of a lifetime, and it wasn't meant to be. It was meant to be a winter escape from the chilly Charleston weather and enjoy visiting a place my wife and I had heard about frequently, the Florida Keys. The plan was to pay an obligatory visit to crowded Key West and the famed Southernmost Point buoy (a few years earlier we had visited the easternmost and westernmost points of the Lower 48 in Maine and Washington, respectively). Watch the sun set at Mallory Square. Take a guided kayak tour through the mangroves where we saw Jimmy Buffett's old house, nurse sharks, tropical colored fish and a couple of snakes. Enjoyed the cuisine. The typical tourist experience. The fishing part was just a bonus and made me want to return with more time. As we planned the trip, our son, who regularly vacations in the Keys with his family, insisted that we carry some fishing equipment. So I found room in our tiny travel trailer for a few rods and reels and a tackle box. My son insisted "at the very least you can do some bridge fishing." My interest in bridge fishing was piqued as we traveled south across one of the many bridges and saw a fisherman rearing back on a stout surf fishing outfit, probably hooked to a monster trophy fish, as traffic slowed to watch. After arriving at the KOA in Sugarloaf Key, we took the bikes for a ride toward nearby Cudjoe Key and encountered our first bridge fishermen and I did a little reconnaissance as I visited with Brock Brown, a KOA camp host from upstate New York who was reeling in small gray snapper, also known as mangrove snapper. He was dropping his line down between the main bridge and the pedestrian bridge, using live shrimp for bait. "They have to be 10 inches. We can supplement our grocery bill this way," he said as he measured one which he was able to add to his cooler. Brock showed me some photos of various fish he had caught from that location, including a four-foot barracuda. I was hooked. The next day I drove north toward a tackle store I had noticed earlier with plans to buy fresh shrimp. It was closed. After driving several miles in search of other places to buy bait, I gave up and returned to the campground with other activities on the agenda. But first I checked in at the campground's marina to see what type of bait they kept. I was shocked to learn they had live shrimp and would be getting a new supply the next day. When I got back to our campsite, I shared the news with a couple of neighboring campers who turned out to be visitors from South Carolina, David and Mary Godwin of Pawleys Island. They were preparing to launch their kayaks to fish, and I got a fishing report that evening. David said he went to buy shrimp and the store had almost run out, so he purchased all they had. "We had a great time. We caught a lot of fish, nothing very big, but had a great time," he said. I purchased a couple dozen live shrimp and headed to the bridge. There were several other anglers along with a couple of pelicans scattered across the bridge as I picked a spot. My bridge tackle consisted of lightweight spinning rods and I fished with 1/0 circle hooks on a Carolina rig with a light sinker. I dropped my bait straight down, leaned the rod against the bridge railing an began to bait another rod. But before I could get the shrimp on the hook my first rod began bouncing, indicating a feeding fish. I set the hook and began reeling in one of the aforementioned gray snapper. Over the next couple of hours I managed to catch 15 to 20 fish, mostly gray snapper but a couple of yellowtail snapper (too small to keep) and a fish resembling a small mackerel that finned me and drew blood as I tried to release it. A few of the gray snapper would have met the 10-inch minimum. A man from Texas fishing adjacent to me was catching snapper, and he also caught a feisty jack crevalle and a colorful parrot fish. My bait and my fishing time ran out about the same time, so I packed up my tackle, went back to the camper to shower and get a fishing report from the Godwins, who caught more fish, including a really nice grouper from their kayaks. There was one more thing to check off on our Keys vacation, finding some of the endangered Key deer on Big Pine Key. A 6-point buck that's no taller than a Labrador retriever and probably weighs half as much as the dog is quite the sight. I can understand why so many friends enjoy traveling to the Keys. I'm pretty sure I'll return with better tackle and more time to enjoy the experience. SC Wahoo Series The captain's meeting for the 2022 South Carolina Wahoo Series (scwahooseries.com) will be held from 1-4 p.m. Jan. 29 at Skull Creek Dockside Restaurant, located at 1 Hudson Road, Hilton Head Island. Fish days for the tournament are Feb. 11-April 17, with the awards ceremony April 23. Participants can fish three days, weighing one fish each day, with their two heaviest fish counting toward the aggregate grand prize. First place will pay $40,000. Last year's tournament drew 180 teams and was won by Mas Pescado, a 42-foot Freeman owned and captained by Freeman Boatworks founder Billy Freeman of Mount Pleasant. Mas Pescado's two wahoo weighed 164.8 pounds, topped by an 84.8-pound catch. Including optional tournament levels, Mas Pescado pocketed $72,000. Reel Happy, captained by Mark Huggins of Aynor, finished sixth overall with 129.4 pounds but won $38,000 for catching the tournament's biggest wahoo at 98.2 pounds. SALTT Fishing Seminars The Student Angler League Tournament Trail (salttfishing.com) is holding monthly fishing seminars on the second Tuesday of each month from 6-7 p.m. at Harvest Church, located at 3552 Old Kings Highway, Murrells Inlet. Speakers include charter boat captains and local fishing experts. SALTT also will hold a bass fishing seminar from 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Feb. 19 at J&K Outdoors, located at 1301 Highway 501 East Street in Conway. The seminar is limited to 50 participants and pre-registration is encouraged. Tickets are $11 and every student angler gets a $10 store coupon. Reservations can be made at salttfishing.com/seminar-bass.html. SALTT is a training ground for students in grades 1-12 interested in competitive fishing for redfish or largemouth bass. Three fall and three spring tournaments are scheduled out of Georgetown's Carroll Campbell Boat Landing. SALTT also puts on the annual Brody Bates Youth Redfish Open Scholarship Tournament which will be held April 2 this year out of Buck Hall Landing in McClellanville. America's Boating Club America's Boating Club Charleston will hold boating safety classes Feb. 12 and March 12 at 1376 Orange Grove Road, Charleston. Classes begin at 9 a.m. and end around 4 p.m. Successful participants earn the S.C. Department of Natural Resources Boater Education Card. The cost is $25 for adults and youth 12-18 are free. Call 843-312-2876 or email lynes@tds.net. There have been contradictions about our local government's strategy on COVID-19 testing and limitations for those who have come in close cont Read more More than $5,000 from the latest round of proposed legal fees and expenses in the Archdiocese of Agana's bankruptcy case has been slashed, following inquiries from the U.S. Trustee and U.S. District Court Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood about the billings. This brings the latest combined billings to about $631,873, down from the estimated $637,125 originally submitted by six law firms. Tydingco-Gatewood vacated the hearing initially set for last Friday, and will issue separate orders granting the revised applications. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. In prior hearings, the judge said every penny that's saved from fees and other costs means more for the clergy sex abuse claimants. The archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2019 because of clergy sex abuse lawsuits demanding more than $1 billion in compensation. There are some 270 Guam clergy sex abuse claimants. Of the six law firms that submitted billings for services rendered from Aug. 1 to Nov. 31, 2021, five received reductions, which they accepted, after being questioned by the judge and the U.S. trustee. Only Blank Rome LLP's $23,475 seventh interim application for compensation was approved as is. This brings to about $235,115 the total expected court award to Blank Rome, the archdiocese's special insurance counsel. Stinson LLP, the Minnesota-based counsel for the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, including clergy sex abuse claimants and other creditors, got about $2,310 in reduction, to about $261,557. Total award is estimated at $2.5 million. Elsaesser Anderson Chtd., the Idaho-based counsel for the archdiocese, got a $919.50 reduction, to about $166,298. The court has so far awarded it about $1.37 million, inclusive of the anticipated latest order. Patterson Buchanan Fobes & Leitch, special counsel for the archdiocese, got an expense reduction of about $1,117, to about $136,000. It has so far been awarded an estimated $710,700. Guam-based attorney John Terlaje, counsel for the archdiocese, also got a billing reduction of $825, to about $33,850. He's so far been awarded about $260,200. Hiller Law LLC, special counsel for the Creditors Committee, specifically in the Delaware bankruptcy case of the Boy Scouts of America, got an $80 fee reduction, to about $4,314. This is the first time the law firm has filed a fee application. These are in addition to professional and legal fees that the court awarded to other entities involved in the archdiocese bankruptcy since January 2019. Estimates place the total amount at $6 million. The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi, says 2,195,779 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Lagos as of January 12. Mr Abayomi disclosed this on Saturday through his official Twitter account @ProfAkinAbayomi while giving the states Vaccination Update. According to him, 1,026,144 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were administered as the first dose, while 569,920 of the vaccine were administered as the second dose. Mr Abayomi said that 335,404 Moderna vaccines were administered as the first dose, while 249,699 were administered for the second dose. The commissioner added that 5,664 doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine were given as the first dose, and 8,948 were administered as the second dose. On the booster dose, Mr Abayomi said that 25,145 Pfizer doses and 388 doses of the Moderna vaccine had been administered. Mr Abayomi noted that 3.42 per cent of the targeted population had received two doses of the vaccines. He said that 13,895,199 doses of vaccines need to be administered for the state to achieve its herd immunity target. Mr Abayomi noted that vaccines were safe and effective protection against COVID-19 infection, advising the public to get vaccinated. Also, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that the majority of people admitted to hospitals around the world were unvaccinated. The health agency noted that protecting those most at risk helps to protect health systems and health workers, which are again under increased strain due to the Omicron variant. WHO said that everyone must do their part to protect themselves by getting vaccinated. (NAN) The Igarra community in Edo State, Nigerias South-south, saw an unprecedented burst of economic activities in the first week of January 2022 as people from diverse walks of life and from different parts of the country poured into the quiet community. They were there to celebrate the Director General of Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Asishana Okauru, as he marked his 60th birthday. Perhaps more fascinating was that the week-long activities, organised from January 4 to January 8 to mark the event, were solely for the empowerment of the community; a deviation from the usual partying for such events among Nigerians. For Mr Okauru, these programmes were planned for Igarra because, according to him, the community has helped him tremendously in his progress in life. The connection with my community is grounded well and I think that the fact that I was programmed to do a number of things within an environment that is ethical, played a huge role and as a way of giving back, Mr Okauru told PREMIUM TIMES. I am just trying to tell the youths that this is one way, he added. His wife, Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, the former chairperson of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, said the activities were planned for the community as a means to thank God for the life of a dear husband. Besides the guests who came to support him, his family and community people appeared to have bought into Mr Okaurus vision of giving back to the society. This was demonstrated on the first day of the event, with the crowd seen at his family house dutifully executing diverse roles cooking, sorting accommodation, transporting guests from one location to another. Till late into the night, almost everyone deliberated over the days activities and re-strategised for the next day, a ritual they continued till the last day of the event. There was more. The following day, over 50 residents of the community freely volunteered to serve in several roles to make the events possible. With this passion, the events commenced with donations of rice, oil and other foodstuff to over 500 widows and some other households. Similar donations were made to the general hospital and the primary health centre in the community. On another day, about 300 women sat through different sessions by about six resource persons who taught them how to develop and maintain positive spirit, self-confidence, how to handle gender-based violence, and how to have a balanced life, between family and career. The youth were taught the secrets to success, the importance of making right choices, the importance of education, alternative career options, and how to become a positive influence in the community. They were also taken through the destructive effects of drug, alcohol addiction and gambling. An award-winning photographer, Paul Odijie, through Mr Okaurus invitation, was there to teach the youth how to tell stories with photography. After the training, Mr Okauru donated two cameras to the participants who were divided into two groups. To round off the activities, the elderly and the youth received free medical check-ups by specialists, including surgeons, dentists, and ophthalmologists. There were 62 health workers and the medical mission lasted for two days. There was a thanksgiving ceremony later, with the Ekiti State Governor and the Chairman of the NGF, Kayode Fayemi, and the Commissioner for Health in Edo State, Obehi Akoria, in attendance. Another fascinating attribute about the Okaurus is their devotion to God and inclusivity as they invited both Christian and Muslim leaders to another prayer session. Tributes and prayers for Okauru Jimmy Imo, special adviser and Abuja liaison officer to the Governor of Imo State, said at the event that he is a mentee of Mr Okauru. He thanked Mr Okauru for his mentorship over the years which he said has made him to be where he is today. Mr Okaurus daughter, Shana, said she appreciates her fathers love which she described as gentle, kind and unconditional. Advertisements She said she admires her fathers leadership, optimism, perseverance, and humility and that she cherishes every moment she shares with him. Mr Okaurus Chief of Staff, Ayo Daisa, described him as a philanthropist and humble person with a good heart. His niece and nephew, Ometere and Samuel Onyanna, reminisced the period Mr Okauru stood by them when their mother died. They said they have been inspired by the mans humility and generosity. His profile Mr Okauru was born on January 7, 1962. He has two bachelor degrees one in Economics at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, and the other, a law degree at the University of Ibadan. He also obtained a joint Masters degree in Business Administration and Information Science from North Carolina Central University and another in Public Administration at Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He once worked as a cab operator and a security guard while pursuing different degrees and certifications. Mr Okauru previously worked at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and also as a pioneer director of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, before he became the director general of Nigeria Governors Forum. He had the option of gathering powerful Nigerians, including state governors, to dine and wine with him in Abuja where he works and lives but chose to travel to his Igarra community in Edo to celebrate his birthday in a unique way with his people. Such a mindset, according to family members, friends and co-workers, speaks volumes of the kind of man Mr Okauru is. The former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu has narrated his venture into several businesses and how he made his billions. Mr Kalu, a senator representing Abia North District and the Chief Whip of the Nigerian Senate, has an ambition to run for president in 2023. He is said to be one of the richest politicians from Nigerias South-east. The senator, in an interview with Arise TV on Thursday, said he has been involved in different kinds of businesses, ranging from the sales of palm oil to crude oil export and the importation of sugar. He said he had also been involved in supplies of military equipment to the Nigerian Army and food to soldiers at the battlefronts. Reuben Abati, a renowned writer, was among the Arise TV crew which interviewed the senator. Mr Kalu said he started moving palm oil from the south to the north, specifically to Maiduguri, when he was a student at the University of Maiduguri. When I went to Maiduguri I found out that palm oil is very lucrative in Maiduguri, they dont have it. So whenever I am back in the house for holiday, I will buy palm oil and go back. When I go back on another holiday, I will buy dried fish and sell (them). I started like that, Mr Kalu said in the interview. The senator said he ran into Ibrahim Babangida and Muhammadu Buhari when both were top officers in the army, but he did not disclose how the two men, who later ruled Nigeria, helped him to advance his business interests. He said he was into massive importation of sugar and rice at some point in his life, and that he was a strong competitor with Aliko Dangote, the man who is Africas richest man today. I was one of the largest importers of rice and sugar. For me, making money is an art, Mr Kalu said. Then I started building industries in Aba and Ota. Although he did not talk about this in the Arise TV interview, Mr Kalu has investments in the media he owns the Sun and the Telegraph newspapers. Alleged involvement in N7.65 billion fraud When Arise TV crew asked the senator about his trial for alleged N7.65 billion fraud, he said he was too wealthy to suddenly become a thief in Nigeria. Everybody, even you Reuben (Abati), you know me pre-1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, you know I bankrolled everything, all the money politicians paid during that period, you know I was the one who brought the money in the PDP. So, how can I become a thief suddenly? he said. The senator said the fraud story against him was a creation of the media. He did not, however, want his interviewees to press on with the matter. I am not supposed to talk about matters in court, he said. Mr Kalu was prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission which accused him of diverting money belonging to the Abia State Government when he was the governor. The Guardian newspaper quoted Mr Kalu as telling the court in 2019, during his trial, that he gave the Peoples Democratic Party N500 million when the party was at its formative stage and that he also gave former President Olusegun Obasanjo N100 million when he (Obasanjo) came out of prison in 1998. The senator was sentenced to 12 years in prison in December 2019 but his conviction was later nullified by the Supreme Court and he was eventually released from prison in May 2020. Mr Kalu told Arise TV that his trial was orchestrated by people who were envious of him and wanted him destroyed. A lot of people think I became very successful at (an) early age, why must I have money and power. These people carelessly put me in prison for six months for doing nothing. In a series of publications by PREMIUM TIMES as part of the Pandora Papers project, some former and current Nigerian public office holders were exposed as having secret and suspicious assets kept away in tax havens. The expose triggered calls in Nigeria for further investigation and prosecution of the individuals who have allegedly breached the countrys assets declaration laws and tax regulations. But, like in the case of the previous Panama Papers which, six years ago, uncovered 110 Nigerians holding suspicious assets in tax havens, no politically exposed person (PEP) has been sanctioned or has vacated office due to the revelations. Despite actionable intelligence, no investigation on anti-money laundering, tax evasion and corruption followed, Vaclav Prusa, a consultant at the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), said of the Nigerian governments lethargic disposition towards bringing perpetrators of the Panama Papers to justice. Mr Prusa spoke virtually at a three-day workshop for selected journalists reporting on corruption in Nigeria. Unlike Nigeria, public officials indicted in countries like India, Canada and Iceland were either probed, relieved of their positions or resigned from office. In April 2016, piles of documents listing persons with assets hidden in tax havens, for tax avoidance in home countries, were leaked to journalists who were part of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). For instance, in Iceland, the outrage from protesting citizens forced their prime minister, Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson, implicated in the Panama Papers for tax evasion, to resign. In Canada, 85 Canadians identified in the Panama Papers leak were investigated for tax evasion, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) revealed at the time. Similarly, Armenias top bailiff, Mihran Poghosyan; Spains Minister for Industry and Tourism, Jose Manuel Soria; head of a state-owned bank in Austria, Hypo Landesbank Voralberg; and Uruguayan lawyer and member of FIFAs ethics committee, Juan Pedro Damiani, all lost their jobs. At the event organised by CISLAC in collaboration with the Konrad Adenauer Stiffung (Foundation) in Abuja, anti-corruption campaigners hammered on Nigerias weak efforts in tackling public sector corruption. In his presentation entitled, Transnational Corruption and Nigeria: Asset Recovery, Asset Declaration, Financial Readings, Mr Prusa said that unlike other countries, Nigerian government has neither instituted investigations nor shown any willingness to dismiss public officers/PEPs exposed in the Panama Papers or Paradise Papers. Pandora Papers The Pandora Papers are the latest in a series of mass leaks by journalists across the world; from Luxleaks (2014) to Panama Papers (2016). They were followed by the Paradise Papers (2017) and FinCEN Files (2020). Past and current officials exposed by PREMIUM TIMES in the Pandora Papers series include former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi; acting Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) , Mohammed Bello-Koko; and former minister of aviation and serving senator, Stella Oduah. Others are Governor Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi State, Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State and Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodu. This newspaper also reported the offshore links of the children of former NSA Sambo Dasuki and billionaire Leno Adesanya and a retired senior judge Stella Ogene, who secretly owned an undeclared company which she hid behind to purchase a London property as a serving jurist. Many of the cases raise issues of violations of the code of conduct for public officers relating to assets declaration and operation of foreign bank accounts and companies. They also raise issues of possible violations of tax laws, with many Nigerians and other stakeholders calling on the Nigerian authorities to investigate. Promise to probe In the wake of these revelations, the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) declared its interest in investigating the allegations in a letter to PREMIUM TIMES. The CCB is the Nigerian public agency dealing with issues of corruption, conflict of interest, and abuse of office by public servants. In its October 12 letter to PREMIUM TIMES, the bureau acknowledged that the Pandora Papers project led by the ICIJ has created ripples across the globe. The bureau then sought cooperation to facilitate its investigations and where possible prosecution of Nigerians involved. In a reply, PREMIUM TIMES Editor-in-Chief, Musikilu Mojeed, welcomed the CCBs request. Advertisements The primary motivation for our work is to help the public obtain the information they need to ask questions and make informed decisions and for law enforcement agencies to have the leads they require for necessary actions, Mr Mojeed said in a letter dated October 18. President Muhammadu Buhari, in the wake of the Pandora Papers revelations, reportedly ordered the relevant agencies including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), and the CCB to investigate the named Nigerians suspected to have violated the law with their secret assets. What Nigeria may lose However, going by the Nigerian governments poor record of criminal prosecution of politically exposed persons (PEP), anti-graft experts at the recent gathering in Abuja, raised the alarm on what the country stands to lose, should it fail to investigate the Pandora Papers revelations. For instance, after the 2019 general elections, a former governor of Gombe State and serving senator, Danjuma Goje, who was standing trial over alleged embezzlement of public funds while he was governor, had his trial controversially withdrawn by the Nigerian government in 2019. Fearing that the Nigerian government might trade off the investigation and prosecution of personalities fingered in the Pandora Papers revelations with other political interests, Mr Prusa said, International partners will not cooperate on international asset recovery with Nigeria. In May this year, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, disclosed that the federal government had recovered $700 million in looted funds from foreign countries in four years. This, he said, was made possible through proactive and collaborative efforts of some foreign governments. This strategy may, however, be jeopardized if Nigeria fails to prosecute suspects in the Pandora leaks. The disclosure buttresses Mr Prusas position that inaction on the latest leaks concerning offshore assets of Nigerian officials would undermine international anti-corruption investigations as sharing financial intelligence with Nigerian authorities seems to be pointless. Mr Prusa also said the governments lethargy towards the Pandora Papers leaks is detrimental to the war against corruption in the home front. If no serious investigation, convictions follow the (Pandora) leaks despite actionable intelligence, Nigerias government undermines her own war on corruption. Similarly, Sadiq Radda, Secretary of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), said the governments failure to act, will send wrong signals to others to get engaged in money laundering. Internationally, our image as a country is at stake; we need to do something, otherwise our foreign partners wont take Nigeria seriously, Mr Radda, a professor of law, explained in a telephone interview with this reporter. Itse Sagay, PACAC chairperson, said there was nothing wrong in investing offshore, but added, public officials who invest abroad must declare such assets as failure to do so amounts to a crime. Another lawyer, and member of the Lincolns Inn, London, Daniel Bwala, noted that fighting transnational financial crimes requires sharing of intelligence, which Nigeria cannot afford to be left out of. Wondering why Nigerias anti-graft agencies were yet to take in persons who have been exposed by the Pandora Papers, Mr Bwala said, Governments, especially in Africa are supposed to subject the Pandora Papers revelations to further investigations. If there are infractions by citizens, for instance, of Nigeria, they should be prosecuted, he said. The Executive Director of CISLAC and Head of Transparency International in Nigeria, Auwal Rafsanjani, said Nigeria must probe and prosecute her citizens that have been exposed in the latest leaks (Pandora Papers). Mr Rafsanjani noted that most of Nigerias stolen wealth stashed away in Europe and America could not be repatriated due to governments lackadaisical attitude towards the prosecution of PEP in financial fraud. This is so because conditions for successful repatriation of Nigerias stolen wealth are being violated through re-looting by public officials, he explained. He said the uproar by civil society organisations prevented the Attorney-General of the Federation from ceding a junk of the repatriated loot to Mr Bagudu. Debo Adeniran, the chairperson of the Centre for Anti-corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL), said Nigeria would lose international sympathy in tackling financial sleaze if it fails to prosecute violators of the countrys code of conduct laws as shown by the Pandora Papers expose. Not prosecuting Pandora Papers fraudsters only shows that Nigeria only works to protect the elites of the country, especially its officials who engage in financial transborder crimes, Mr Adediran said. Governments inaction concerning the Pandora Papers may have the same consequences that follow weak enforcement of the law against crimes in general, he said. Mr Adeniran said, This explains why kidnapping for ransom and killings across Nigeria have spiked Also, this is why Internet fraud is on the rise in Nigeria, because the youth see that public officials who steal from government treasury go scot-free. What government must do To avert the anticipated consequences, Mr Prusa suggested immediate policy action that must be taken. Investigate all PEPs named in Pandora Papers and report progress, he said, urging the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to investigate the compliance with Know-Your-Customer policies by Nigerian financial institutions. Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja, in a recent judgement, highlighted the roles of two banks in helping a former chairperson of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), Abdulrasheed Maina, to steal N2 billion in pensioners money. Mr Prusa went on to recommend establishment of cooperation from jurisdictions of new destination for Nigerian corrupt proceeds in the Middle and Far East and old destinations (UK, USA, etc) to freeze, confiscate repatriated Nigerian assets. Politicisation of the implementation of anti-money money laundering policies must stop all PEPs disregarding political affiliation must be investigated. Prevent PEPs exposed in offshore business from political campaigns unless they explain their source of wealth, he added. Four yet-to-be-identified students of the Federal University, Lafia, Nasarawa State, North-central Nigeria, have been reportedly abducted in a community near the university. This is coming merely 24 hours after police in Plateau State claimed to have rescued some students of the state-owned polytechnic located in Barkin Ladi community, who were abducted on Wednesday night by kidnappers. Wednesdays incident came on the same day when the chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Plateau State University chapter, Hassan Zitta, and a former gubernatorial aspirant in the state, Nicholas Nshe, were released by their abductors after spending 11 days in their custody. Nasarawa incident A report by Daily Trust newspaper quoted the public relations officer of the university, Abubakar Ibrahim, confirming the incident. He said the gunmen stormed the students community at about 11:30 p.m on Thursday and whisked away the students. The report quoted Mr Ibrahim as saying that; reads; The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Shehu Abdul Rahman, on behalf of the management of the institution, expressed his profound outrage at the unfortunate development and condemned it in strong terms, and demand for the immediate release of those kidnapped. The spokesperson said the vice-chancellor noted that the kidnapping of students constitutes one of the most serious threats to education in the state in particular and Nigeria as a whole. He said apart from expressing his deep sympathy to the families of the abducted students, the vice-chancellor assured them and their colleagues that no stone would be left unturned to ensure their quick rescue. The vice-chancellor, who has since visited the area where the students were kidnapped, visited the Nasarawa Police command where he formally notified the commissioner of police about the abduction of the students, the report added. He said Mr Rahman urged the students to pay more attention to security-related matters and appealed to them to remain calm and go about their normal activities. He hinted that further measures have been put in place to guarantee adequate safety of lives and property within and outside the institution. From North-west to North-central The last couple of months have seen attention shifted to North-western states of Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Sokoto states, which are becoming the hotbeds for violent attacks by those described as bandits. Just on Thursday, the Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, said insecurity across the North-western states has grown to become an existential threat, following ceaseless attacks on individuals and public institutions by bandits, leading to the loss of many lives. Many students have been abducted in these states, leading to an increasing number of out-of-school children in those states. But with the recent abduction and attempted abduction of students in Plateau and now Nasarawa states, there are fears that the ugly development of mass abduction of students could be escalating in the North-central geopolitical zone of the country. The zone includes Kwara, Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa, the Federal Capital Territory, among others. As of the time of filing this report, efforts to reach the Nasarawa State Police command yielded no positive result. The former governor of Abia State, Orji Kalu, has said that state governors, not President Muhammadu Buhari, should be held responsible for the insecurity across Nigeria. Apart from several years of Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east, the perennial deadly conflict between herders and farmers, and the deadly attacks in the South-east which is linked to the pro-Biafra group, IPOB, there are several cases of killings and abduction-for-ransom in different parts of the country. The issue is not Buhari, the issue is that if every governor is putting their feet down in their state and say you cannot do this thing here, we would not be where we are, Mr Kalu said on Thursday in an interview with Arise TV. Mr Kalu was the governor of Abia State, Nigerias South-east, from 1999 to 2007. PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Kalu recently said he would contest for president on the APC platform if the party zones its presidential ticket to Southern Nigeria. He said at the Arise interview that he successfully fought crime in Abia State when he was the governor because he held regular meetings with security agencies, traditional rulers and the youths, and that he was also able to confront criminals in the state. Mr Kalu, who is a senator representing Abia North District and the Chief Whip of the Nigerian Senate, said the governors ought to know what they should do to check the insecurity in their respective states. If you (governors) dont want them (criminals), they wont be there. Governors need to stand up and fight the war, I am pleading with them, more of those fights lie with the governors, not with Buhari, the senator said. He advised the governors to strengthen their local economies in order to reduce crime in the states, adding that President Buhari cannot fight insecurity in the states when the governors are there. Most of the state governors are not doing well, he said. Continuing, the senator said, Buharis administration has done very well even in fighting banditry, but we dont have enough resources to fight these people. I will rate Buharis administration very highly. If Buhari did not come in maybe we would not have Nigeria by now, the way things were going. Mr Kalus claims are not entirely correct as the governors in Nigeria do not have control over the Nigerian Army, the police and other major security agencies in their states they are controlled by the federal government although a governors action or inaction can trigger insecurity in a state. The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, for instance, has repeatedly blamed Mr Buharis administration for not doing enough to stop the incessant killings in the state. READ ALSO: It is an unfortunate development that what is happening, if the federal government had taken a proactive step, we will not be where we are. In the last two week, over 70 persons just in Makurdi local government area alone. It is not acceptable, Mr Ortom said in April 2021 when 70 people were killed by herders in Benue. Go to Guma, the same killings are taking place, go to Gwer-west, the same killings are taking place. This is not fair. The federal government has refused to take a proactive step to arrest this ugly situation we are witnessing here today. You recall that I alerted the entire nation when Fulanis from 14 countries met in Yola and declared that except we review the prohibition of open grazing law, Benue will not know peace, the governor said. Kalus corruption history Mr Kalu was convicted by a federal high court of stealing funds belonging to Abia State while he was governor but had his conviction upturned by the Supreme Court last year on technicalities. The Supreme Court ordered a retrial of the case, saying the judge who ruled on the matter should not have done so because he had been promoted to a higher court. Some politicians on Saturday gathered in Kano to declare their support for Vice President Yemi Osinbajo for the 2023 presidential race. The gathering, tagged The Kano Declaration, attracted support groups and politicians from across Nigeria. The event, organised by a political organisation New Tribe, took place at Meena Event Centre, Kano. Prominent among those attending are Olusola Adeyeye, a former senator for Osun Central, and a member of the House of Representatives for Tarauni federal constituency of Kano, Hafizu Kawu. The event followed similar one organised by Mr Kawu to urge Mr Osinbajo to contest the presidential election in 2023. Mr Kawu said an Osinbajo presidency would consolidate the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari administration. The National Coordinator of New Tribe, Nonso Nnamani, said Mr Osinbajo will be a detribalised president in the new Nigerian project and urged Nigerians to support him as Mr Buharis successor. We are not looking for the South East President, or North East president or South South President but a president for the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Mr Nnamani said. He said the gathering was also to celebrate the achievements of the President Buhari and to ensure that Nigeria continues on the path of progress. Nigerians cannot afford to derail from the journey already started, a situation that is very likely if we miss the chance to get someone who shares in the incredible passion and patriotism of President Muhammadu Buhari With the visible impact made by the present government and the achievements recorded since 2015, we will likely end up on the wrong side of history if we allow a reversal of this assured journey to a greater Nigeria. We cannot allow that to happen. We are converging and coming onboard as one indivisible entity with our sense of unity and togetherness to declare our support for Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to run for the office of the President in 2023, Mr Nnamani said. Osinbajo will unite us In his address, the former Osun senator, Mr Adeyeye, said the New Tribe entails that, next year by the God Grace, Nigerians will be summoned to make an exceptional judgment, worthy of the time. In Nigeria, leadership with integrity shall provide the answers to the problems that has beset us for far too long. Mr Adeyeye said the vice president has the capacity to unite Nigerians. He has the rare gift exactly needed in the fearful time in which we live. He knows the language of assurance and hope, whatever he said is carefully considered whether in private life or at public fora. He has been the voice of moderation, combining common sense and compassion on issues after issues, Mr Adeyeye said. History enjoins us to search carefully among us for a bold, brave and tireless leader with a resolve to take on the challenges that come our way, a leader with a strong vision for our nations future, one who has the courage to make sometimes unpopular decision.* Mr Adeyeye said the moment speaks for choosing a man who transcends all tribes and is an embodiment of a New Tribe defined not only by our dialect but by our common humanity. This moment requires a man who is able to galvanise the ideas that will unfold the beckoning glory of Nigeria. Mr Osinbajo is the man of the moment for Nigeria. He is well grounded and adequately prepared and is a trusted hand with the right temperament and intellectual firepower best suited for the moment. Let no one deceive us, character matters in human affairs. Let no man tell lies character is the best defining attributes of leadership. Mr Osinbajo has character, the former senator said to the gathering. While the Super Eagles of Nigeria are in no way underrating their next opponents, Sudan, at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations, the players are confident of getting another good result in Saturdays outing. Having won their first game against Egypt, the Super Eagles have raised the expectations of many and the players who spoke to journalists in Cameroon have promised to go all the way against the Falcons of Jediane. Alex Iwobi, a late substitute in the win over Egypt, admits the Eagles cannot afford to be complacent against Sudan after their bright show against the Pharaohs. He said: Personally, Im always ready, no matter what game it is. Obviously, its a big competition. We have already made our mark in the first game but we cant be complacent. We are going to give the same motivation and desire in the first game and hopefully, we can get the result we need. We are really psyched up, especially that first performance but we are not going to rest on our oars. We are going to keep on going. He added: The only assurance I will give is that we are going to give 100 per cent and fight for our country and the result, hopefully, we will get what we want, but we are going to fight for our country. One of the top performers in the win against Egypt, Joe Aribo, also spoke on the readiness of the Eagles to deliver against Sudan. He said: Preparations have been very good. The boys are ready. Weve rested from the last game and we are just ready, we are prepared. We knew it was important for us to stay solid (against Egypt) , stay together as a team, work hard and give that extra 10 per cent. It was really good and a nice feeling for me being my first AFCON game so it was just a really nice experience and most importantly getting the three points. He added: Just like the Egypt game, we want to win every game. We want to take every game as it comes and thats what we are here for to get the victory and put in a good performance. Victory over Sudan will not only assure the Eagles of a place in the Round of 16 but also brings closer the possibility of topping the group and, therefore, retaining the familiar surroundings of Garoua as their second-round venue. The police in Bauchi State have arrested a man for allegedly raping his three-year-old daughter in Kirfi Local Government Area (LGA) of the state. Ahmed Wakil, the commands spokesman, stated this in a statement he made available to journalists on Saturday in Bauchi. He said the arrest was part of the effort to tackle criminality and other offences in the state. On 9/01/2022, one Maryam Abdullahi, aged 24 years, reported that her husband one, Ali Lawan, asked her to bring him a mat to lay down their daughter who was sleeping. She came back to the room and met the daughter lying down unconscious, sweating and vomiting through her mouth, nose and her private part was swollen, she said. Mr Wakil explained that a team of detectives were drafted to the scene, took the victim to the General Hospital, Kirfi, for medical attention and on examination it was found out that the girl has been raped. He said the girls father, who was the suspect, was arrested and would be charged to court. The girl (name withheld) is currently receiving treatment at the hospital. He said apart from the rape case, the police, working with a vigilante group, arrested one Adamu Musa, 27, of Sabon Garin Batal, Tafawa Balewa LGA for kidnapping. He said the command, acting on intelligence, also arrested one Yau Haruna, aged 25, for being in possession of one locally fabricated revolver, with one live ammunition. SP Wakil also said the Commissioner of Police, Umar Sanda, has warned all criminal elements in the state and their cohorts to put an end to their unlawful activities as this police would not relent in apprehending them. He further urged the citizens to support and provide the police with relevant information in order to re-invigorate community policing aimed at reducing crime to the barest minimum in the state. (NAN) Ex-soldiers in Ebonyi have appealed to the state and federal government to improve its welfare and employ their children and some young and strong retired soldiers into service. They made the assertion on Saturday during the 2022 Armed Forces Remembrance Day (AFRD) celebration in Abakaliki. AFRD is observed every January 15 to honour fallen heroes of the Nigerian Armed Forces in various wars and national assignments. Fidelis Ogodo, Chairman of the Nigerian Legion in Ebonyi, decried the current economy, noting that improving on their welfare by employing some of their children would go a long way to alleviate their suffering. Mr Ogodo, who thanked God for sparing their lives in 2021, pledged on behalf of his members, to continue to support government policies aimed at national development. We are happy to be among the living and to be part of the 2022 celebration. God has preserved us. We want the state and federal government to do more on our well-being by employing some of our members, who are still young and strong into service. We need release of arrears of the consequential adjustment of our members pension. Others have been enjoying the benefit but we are yet to have our own, he explained. Margret Luke-Uduagha, President, Military Widows Association, said her children, who graduated from schools were yet to secure jobs. We need government to do more, when comparing the current economy with what we used to have. There is need for increase in the pension, Ms Luke-Uduagha stated. The activities marking the event included the laying of a wreath by Ebonyi Governor, David Umahi, alongside Speaker of State House of Assembly, Francis Nwaifuru among others. (NAN) President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed confidence that the nation will overcome the prevailing insecurity situation soon. The president gave the assurance during a visit on Friday to the State House, Abuja, by the Grand Khalifa (overall head) of the Tijjaniyya Islamic Movement World-Wide, Tidjani Ali Bin Arabi. Mr Arabi was accompanied by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State and Dahiru Bauchi, a Sheikh and the leader of the Tijjaniyya Islamic Movement in Nigeria. According to the president, the federal government is well aware of its responsibility with regard to security and will continue to do its best. Mr Buhari urged Nigerians to be fair to his government in assessing the security issue in the country by reflecting on what was obtained at the time he took over in 2015, and the successes as well as performance which mark a decisive break from the past. He particularly cited the successes recorded by the administration in the northeast and the South-south, adding that the North-west which had given the nation some headache would experience a turnaround for the better. Mr Buhari urged Nigerians to take responsibility and show interest in the affairMr Buhari says the nation will overcome its security challenges of their own security and complement what the government is currently doing. We have done our best and we will continue to do more by pursuing coherent and consistent policies to deal with terrorism. I hope God will listen to our prayers. The president used the opportunity to thank the Kano State governor, who brought the Grand Khalifa to Nigeria. He said: We thank you for inviting them to come to pray for peace and stability in our country. We are grateful that they agreed to come. He joined them in praying that God will give guidance and strength to leaders to be accountable and do right in all things that they do. Earlier, Mr Ganduje had introduced the Khalifa and his delegation, which included the Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero, and Dahiru Usman Bauchi, the leader of the Tijjaniyya Islamic Movement in Nigeria. He said the government of Kano State invited the Tijjaniyya World Leader to the country to lead the faithful in prayer considering the complexities around security in particular. The governor stated that the visit of the Grand Khalifa had also rekindled the old ties between the Tijjaniya and the many cultural and educational institutions in Nigeria The Tijjaniyya leader in the country, Dahiru Bauchi, and the Grand Khalifa, extolled the existing cordial relations between Nigeria and Algeria and prayed for guidance and blessings for the country and its leaders. Also speaking to State House correspondents on the visit by the Grand Khalifa to Nigeria, Mr Ganduje said the Kano State Government invited the Grand Khalifa as part of efforts to develop a good socio-economic relationship between Algeria and the city of Kano. He said: Specifically, Kano State government invited the Grand Khalifa, that is the world leader of Tijanniyya Islamic Movement to come to Kano and develop a good relationship between Algeria and the city of Kano. It is a kind of rekindling the relationship because Kano is an old civilization, with so many Ulama (Islamic scholars) from Algeria hundreds of years ago, who came to Kano to assist the development of Sharia leadership in Kano state. So, inviting this world leader of Tijanniyya Islamic Movement is a welcome development for the people of Kano State and for the people of Nigeria. We invited him and his team to pray for Nigeria for peace, stability and prosperity, and also to pray for peace and stability of Kano state. The governor revealed that the state government had constituted a powerful committee to look into the ways and manner to promote the issues of education, commerce, and agriculture between the state government and Algeria. Advertisements He said: You could recall that Algeria is part of the North Africa Arab countries and for long and many hundreds of years ago, there was trading and communication between the Arab countries and Kano State as a holy city. Trading was through the Sahara by camels. The establishment of Kurmi market in Kano is still there, and in order to rekindle that relationship with modern trading facilities, we think it is very, very important, apart from the religious aspect of it. On strategy or structure to address the almajiri issue, the governor disclosed that the state government has introduced free and compulsory primary and secondary education to check the menace of almajiri system in the state. According to him, most of these almajiris are not indigenes of Kano State but as Nigerians, they are free to live anywhere in this country. But what is important, we have introduced free and compulsory primary and secondary education in Kano state. We have built many Islamiya schools. We have reformed the almajiri system of education. And also, we have embarked on repatriation of almajiris back to their respective states, some even to the Republic of Niger and the Republic of Cameroon. We have established a whole agency that is now evacuating the almajiri to their respective states. And those who are in Kano enjoy the free education facilities. So, that is the effort we are making, he added But as you will know, unless theres a universal legislation, preventing the movement of school-going aged children from one state to another is a problem that will continue to be here for a long time because Kano is a commercial nerve centre of the Northern part of this country and also a commercial nerve centre of some West African countries. So, you can imagine people coming to earn their livelihood. They usually come with children, but we have enacted a law, any parent that does not put his child into school will be prosecuted. (NAN) A police inspector has been shot dead during an attack on a police facility in Imo State, Nigerias South-east. The Punch newspaper reported that gunmen on Friday night attacked the divisional police headquarters in Mgbidi. Another officer sustained injuries in the attack, the paper said. The police in Imo State have confirmed the attack and the killing of the officer, according to the paper. The police spokesperson in the state, Michael Abattam said the gunmen arrived in a white Toyota (Hilux) truck and attempted to enter the police facility while shooting sporadically, but were repelled by gallant officers who fired back. The attackers were suppressed almost immediately, having suffered a huge defeat, with a number of them sustaining various degrees of bullet wounds, they retreated and escaped in the Toyota Hilux vehicle they came with. And were given a hot chase by the police operatives, Mr Abattam said. He said the police have declared a manhunt for the gunmen, whom he said, cannot go far because of the huge damage done to them. The police spokesperson said the Commissioner of Police, Rabiu Hussaini, has commended the officers for their gallantry, and has urged them not to relent in their efforts against crime in the state. He said the commissioner appealed to residents in the state to support the fight against crime by giving credible information about suspected criminals to the police. Imo, just like other states in the South-east, have experienced deadly attacks on police facilities. The attacks are often linked to the outlawed pro-Biafra group, IPOB. A few days ago an Improvised Explosive Device was thrown into a police facility in Imo State by gunmen. No life was lost in the attack, according to the police. Two weeks after an attack on the offices of an online newspaper and TV station, suspected political thugs on Friday attacked a staunch critic of Zamfara Governor Bello Matawalle in Gusau, smashing his car. Shamsu Kasida was beaten up and his car vandalised at an eatery close to the Government House in Gusau. The managing editor of Thunder Blowers TV, Anas Anka, accused the state governor of orchestrating the earlier attack. He said the governor should be held responsible if anything happens to him or his staff. The Coalition for Whistleblower Protection and Press Freedom (CWPPF) condemned the attack and called on Mr Matawalle to ensure fair play. Latest attack The victim of the new attack, Shamsu Kasida, is a staunch social media critic of the governor. He supports Kabir Marafa, one of Mr Matawalles opponents. Both Marafa and Matawalle are in the All Progressives Congress (APC) but Mr Marafa has been protesting the way immediate former governor of the state, Abdulaziz Yari and himself have allegedly been sidelined by the APC National Headquarters. A friend of Mr Kasida, who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES over the phone, Ismaila Salmanu, alleged that the attack was politically motivated. He (Mr Kasida) was standing outside Yandoto Restaurant yesterday when the thugs started beating him. They were carrying dangerous weapons. While they were attacking him, one of them used a cutlass to attack him, he said. Yandoto Restaurant, one of the famous eateries in Gusau, is owned by Mr Marafa and is located on the same road as the Zamfara State Government House. The restaurant is directly facing the states seat of power. Mr Salmanu said the thugs only stopped beating Mr Kasida after some bystanders intervened. But that was after the windscreen of his Honda Accord car glasses had been smashed. Some of our friends that were with Kasida during the attack said the thugs ran into the Zamfara State Government House immediately after attacking him. We have taken him to a private hospital and he has been admitted. He has been badly injured but I cant send his photos to you now, Mr Salmanu said. Another source, who spoke on condition of anonymity said the thugs were led by a notorious thug in the metropolis, Danda Jan Wuya. Mr Matawalles spokesperson, Zailani Bappa, did not respond to calls on the issue but had, during the Thunder Blowers TV case, told PREMIUM TIMES that the State Government would not be responding to accusations by relevance seeking people. The police spokesperson, Mohammed Shehu, also did not respond to calls and SMS on the attack. Bello Bakyasuwa, the spokesperson for Mr Marafa, said they would be addressing journalists on Monday, on the issue. Please bear with me. We are gathering all our facts and speaking to our people who were at the scene of the attack. We will brief newsmen on Monday and I will update you. Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, sent the statement below to PREMIUM TIMES clarifying his recent meeting with former Governor Bola Tinubu. Mr Tinubu recently declared his intention to seek the presidential ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2023 general elections. Mr Fayemi, also of the same political party, is also believed to be nursing a presidential ambition. So when both leaders met shortly after Mr Tinubu made his ambition public, speculations arose that Mr Fayemi may have withdrawn from the race in deference to the former Lagos helmsman. But in his Saturday statement, Mr Fayemi gave insights into what were discussed and not discussed at the meeting. READ FULL STATEMENT BELOW. Re: Tinubu-Fayemi meeting: The spin doctors got it wrong Recently, two notable leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, from the Southwest, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Dr. John Kayode Fayemi had a closed-door meeting where undisclosed issues were discussed. The meeting, which took place on Wednesday 12th January, however had no third party present and had nothing to do with the presidential ambition or otherwise of either of the two political leaders. It was a family meeting of minds. It is therefore disingenuous of the spin doctors who were no where near the venue of the meeting to begin to second guess discussions at the meeting. In a democratic setting like ours with so many issues begging for attention, discussion will go on daily among political leaders at various levels. Political leadership plays an indispensable role in foisting great responsibilities on people, thus both formal and informal discourses cannot be wished away. Creating a fictional social media frenzy out of such meeting where issues of national discourse are discussed would thus amount to an ill wind that blows no one any good. Asiwaju Tinubu is a former two-term Governor of Lagos State and national leader of the APC, while Dr. Fayemi, also a chieftain of the party, is the governor of Ekiti State and current Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum. Meeting between the two leaders, dates as far back as their days in exile, when they were both involved in the struggle to wrest the country away from military jackboots, and has since been a regular occurrence both within and outside the countrys political space. So there should not be any big deal in seeing them meet, except someone has opted to create a mischief out of it. While the details of their recent meeting remain undisclosed, seeing the two of them who are being rumoured as potential presidential aspirants from the southwest together may naturally give way to speculations that the 2023 presidential election could form part of their discussions. This may have been further fuelled by the fact that Asiwaju Tinubu said he had informed President Muhammadu Buhari that he would be coveting the presidential seat in 2023. Dr Fayemi on the other hand; has yet to give any visible sign in that direction. However, both Asiwaju Tinubus declared ambition and Fayemis undeclared ambition have now been taken up and given verve by some spin doctors, particularly those who believe such could rev up their relevance in the eyes of either of the political leaders. What makes the matter worse is that such spin doctors, surreptitiously scrambling for relevance have been weaving, not half truths, but blatant lies into the Tinubu-Fayemi meeting, saying it signposted Dr Fayemi surrendering his undeclared ambition to Asiwaju Tinubus declared one. Specifically, they have been dishing out barefaced and unsubstantiated lies that Dr Fayemi at the closed door meeting debunked the raging rumour of his 2023 presidential ambition and pledged support for the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This, no doubt, is a reckless and untruthful spin. First, since the perpetrators were not present at the meeting and none of the leaders could have divulged what transpired, one wonders from where they got their narrative. Secondly, the spin doctors, were so consumed by their fictional hogwash that they could not consider it an impossibility for Fayemi to drop a rumoured, yet undeclared ambition, even when Asiwaju Tinubu said he was still consulting as to whether to run or not. The story by the spin doctors thus stands logic in the head and stands not only disclaimed but condemned. It must have been sourced from the rumour mill, or as a beer parlour gist. At its best, it is a mere conjecture. If and when Dr Fayemi chooses to declare his interest in running for the 2023 presidential ticket, he would not be embarking on an ego trip that would warrant going into unhealthy contest with Asiwaju Tinubu or anyone else. Fayemi sees Tinubu as his leader in politics and reserves respect for him as a national leader of his party. Neither will he run the race with the intention of using it to negotiate with anyone. Rather he will run because he is convinced it is desirable for him to do so. Perhaps the spin doctors are unmindful of the fact that Fayemi currently remains focused on finishing strong and well the assignment in his hand as two-term governor of Ekiti State. They also fail to realise that there is still a sitting President equally focused on finishing well his second term in office. Neither Fayemi nor Buhari would like to be distracted by such inanity at this juncture. Should Dr Fayemi eventually choose to run in the 2023 Presidential race at all, he would not hide his intention to do so, neither will he involve himself in any clandestine meeting to discuss his chances, since he would have been x-rayed and classified among the preferred aspirants based on his credentials, even before he makes such declaration. The masterminds of such fable are therefore advised to desist from doing so any further as it will not give them any political or social mileage. Rather it will wreak serious havoc on their personality, without reducing the worth of either Asiwaju Tinubu or Governor Fayemi who are respectable and respected leaders in their own rights. Advertisements Signed Yinka Oyebode Chief Press Secretary to the Governor 15- 01- 2021 The Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, has invited all the 36 Governors to a very crucial meeting where pressing national concerns will be discussed. The meeting is fixed for Wednesday, January 19. According to an invitation issued by the Director General of the Forum, Asishana Okauru, on Saturday and sent to all governors, the meeting, the first in 2022, will be an in-person one as opposed to the regular virtual ones. This is to effectively convey the messages of the meeting which are all characterized under Item Two of the agenda titled: matters arising, the NGF official said. A statement by the Head of Media and Public Affairs at the NGF, Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, said the meeting will also deliberate on the Forums intervention programmes. Members, he said, will receive updates from the Nigeria Governors Forums SFTAS team and another on CARES, as well as a few presentations. Mr Bello-Barkindo said the meeting will commence at 8pm at the NGF Secretariat in Abuja. At the end of the meeting, the NGF Chairman, Mr Fayemi, will, accompanied by all the 36 governors, address a press conference, the NGF spokesperson said. The fate of Portugal will serve as a sobering lesson for any country, group of people or even individuals whose idea of wealth building is by conquering, exploiting and impoverishing others, instead of looking inwards to build themselves. In Nigeria, some political leaders want to perpetuate an economic structure that creates the semblance of colonial territories out of other regions. Portugal, the small European nation located on the western tip of the Iberian Peninsula, known to have colonised over 50 countries of the world, spread across Asia, South America and Africa, is in the news again. Except that this time, it is not for her infamous colonial conquests. The good old Portugal is expanding her maritime frontiers in a last-ditch effort to return to global reckoning. If her claim to an additional 2.15 million square kilometres of continental shelf materialises, she will have an oceanic territory of more than 3,877,408 km2. This combined with the land territories will make her the 16th largest country in the world. But it remains to be seen whether that becomes the case or if such claim will just trigger the kind of military stand-off seen in the South China Sea, between China and other nations of the world, including the United States of America. In medieval Europe, the east-west trade routes known as the Silk Road began to open up during the first and second centuries between Greece and China. Moslem traders from Asia also sold spices to traders in Genoa and Venice in the Roman Empire, both of which became rich city-states. Other Europeans wanted to partake in this but the Moslem traders refused to let them in, especially after Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. This difficulty inspired European explorers to seek new routes to Asia, ushering in the age of discovery and exploration. Portugal and Spain, in the 1400s, were the first to start thinking of ways to get around the Moslem merchants by looking for a direct sea route to Asia, sailing East. Dom Henrique of Portugal, later known as Henry the Navigator, founded a navigation school specifically to train sailors and used his own money to pay for expeditions of discovery in the Atlantic Ocean and down the coast of Africa. Christopher Columbus started out on a voyage to discover a sea route to India but instead landed with his crew in the Caribbean, Central and South America. Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian merchant first sponsored by Spain but later Portugal, discovered another place along that way, later named America, after him. Spanish explorer, Hernan Cortez, sailed with a fleet of 11 ships and 600 men to conquer and overthrow Montezuma II, the ninth Aztec emperor of Mexico and took over the land. The Portuguese explorer, Prince Henry the Navigator, was the first European to explore Africa. Even though Portugal established the first European coastal colony of Ceuta in North Africa by 1415, the European exploration of Africa remained limited, since that was not the focus of the voyage. In 1571, the Angola region became the first European territorial colony in Africa. It was not until the 1870s, however, that the exploration of Africa was completed and the general geography of the continent became known. The Portuguese empire has often been criticised for being too exploitative, racist and negligent. At the end of the second world war when most of the British colonies were granted independence, the Portuguese regime continued to maintain an iron grip on its colonies at all cost. Around that time, violent protest erupted in Angola and soon spread to other African countries. Everywhere these European explorers went, they left trails of devastation of the indigenous population, whom they killed, maimed and dispossessed of their land. Today, the Taino people of South America are an endangered specie, while many of the Red Indians in North America are confined to life in reservations. Of course, the voyage and subsequent conquests of the people upended pre-colonial Africa life, which before then had many thriving empires and ancient kingdoms. The Portuguese goal of finding a sea route to Asia in order to get a foothold on the lucrative Asian trade in spice was finally achieved in a voyage commanded by Vasco da Gama, who reached Calicut in western India in 1498. With a population of just a little over 10 million people, making it the 89th most populous country in the world, Portugal wielded an outsized influence in the world as a colonial power. She initiated the Berlin conference of 1884 that led to the partitioning of Africa between thirteen European powers. Portuguese colonies in Africa included Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and the Islands of Cape Verde, and Sao Tome and Principe. The Portuguese empire has often been criticised for being too exploitative, racist and negligent. At the end of the second world war when most of the British colonies were granted independence, the Portuguese regime continued to maintain an iron grip on its colonies at all cost. Around that time, violent protest erupted in Angola and soon spread to other African countries. Even after India got her independence in 1947, Portugal still refused to let go of Goa, maintaining that it was an integral part of its territory. India invaded the city in 1961 and annexed it. By 1970s, Portugal was spending about 40 per cent of its annual budget trying to hold on to its empires. Its young men were conscripted into the military, waging endless wars and dying on foreign soils. With the population becoming war wary, the 43 year-old dictatorship of Antonio de Oliveira Salazar was toppled by army officers, who rushed to end the war and made a commitment to end Portugals colonial occupations. Many factors beyond its control contributed to the demise of the Portuguese empire. A massive earthquake in 1755 destroyed the capital, Lisbon, and disrupted its colonial operations. In 1807, Napoleons French Empire invaded the country and forced the Portuguese royal family to flee Lisbon for Rio de Janeiro, which became, at the time, the capital of the Portuguese empire. The king went back six years later but his son seized the opportunity offered by his exit to declare himself the new emperor of Brazil and went on to liberate the country from Portuguese rule on September 7, 1822. The loss of Brazil was a devastating blow, both economically and politically, and the Portuguese empire never recovered from this. Today, Project Portugal is focusing on expanding her maritime boundaries. Though her current territory on high sea is large and spans from Lisbon, halfway to North America across the Atlantic Ocean, she is trying hard to expand even further. That is the new Portuguese Empire of the 21st century, which is really a long shot, but maybe thats what she ought to have done more than six centuries ago. Of course, it didnt let up without a fight. After Portugal lost Brazil, its crown jewel, it then went back to refocus on Africa and attempted to expand its territories, but that resulted in a serious clash with the British, who also had a similar territorial interest. It had no choice than to back off, in order to avoid confrontation with a superior power. By 1975, all of its African colonies and East Timor in Asia had gotten their independence. In 1999, two years after the British gave up Hong Kong, Portugal returned Macau to China, ending 600 years of the Portuguese empire, spanning America, Asia and Africa. Can anyone remember the last time Portugal came to mind as one of the worlds super powers, a home to certain disruptive technologies or a nation famous for pushing the frontiers of knowledge? Oh well, neither do I. To so many, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, Portugal exists only in the dusty pages of some ugly history books. For a great colonial power of over six centuries, which at some point held land territories across four continents, the sum of which was greater than the famed Roman Empire at its peak, the nations descent into oblivion is quite perplexing. Today, Project Portugal is focusing on expanding her maritime boundaries. Though her current territory on high sea is large and spans from Lisbon, halfway to North America across the Atlantic Ocean, she is trying hard to expand even further. That is the new Portuguese Empire of the 21st century, which is really a long shot, but maybe thats what she ought to have done more than six centuries ago. The fate of Portugal will serve as a sobering lesson for any country, group of people or even individuals whose idea of wealth building is by conquering, exploiting and impoverishing others, instead of looking inwards to build themselves. In Nigeria, some political leaders want to perpetuate an economic structure that creates the semblance of colonial territories out of other regions. They refuse to listen to the voice of reason or entertain any discussion that bothers on restructuring the federation. Such practice is akin to building on quicksand, which is an unsustainable business model. Osmund Agbo, a public affairs analyst is the coordinator of African Center for Transparency and Convener of Save Nigeria Project. Email: Eagleosmund@yahoo.com Current seekers of political offices at the highest levels of government need to take a sip from the wisdom cup of history. Their philosophical understanding of power must have as its kernel the ephemerality and vanity of power; and the transience of life itself. They must rid themselves of the assurances of further power elevation that occupancy of, or incumbency in office gives, and banish the confidence of electoral victory that a large volume of political work propels. A party leader or an incumbent vice-president need not be elected a president. And an incumbent president need not be re-elected as president. In Nigeria, apart from Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, a vice president who became a president, by default, and made a mess of it, Alex Ekwueme, Atiku Abubakar and Namadi Sambo didnt transit to become presidents from the vice presidency. Two of the trio wanted to become president after their vice presidency. One couldnt, before his death. The other hasnt, in spite of his tireless efforts. In the United States of America, since the presidency of George H. W. Bush, the 41st president of the U.S., a two-term vice president who became the president from 1989 to 1993, no incumbent vice president has transited to becoming a president. Not Dan Quayle, Al Gore, Dick Cheney or Joe Biden. Instructively, George H. W Bush, a one term president, was defeated as an incumbent by Bill Clinton, who became the 42nd president of the United States, from being governor of the State of Arkansas, where he had served for 12 years . Instructive also is the fact that after losing the presidential election to George W. Bush, who was the 43rd president of the United States in 2000, Albert Gore (a four-term member of House of Representatives, and two-term senator before becoming a two-term vice president under President Bill Clinton) didnt chase the presidency of the United States any further. He found passion in other endeavours, including teaching as a visiting professor in a university and delving into climate change issues, on the path of which he won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2007. He could have been complaining about his stolen electoral mandate. He could have been perennially accusing the U.S. Supreme Court of judicial robbery in Bush v. Gore. He could have run for the same office of president, thereafter. He never did. He moved on. He found another productive life after power. Presidential power was not his life. Joe Biden, the incumbent president of the United States didnt participate in the Democratic Partys primaries as an incumbent vice president, to attempt to succeed Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States. Hilary Clinton, a former senator and secretary of state, when she ran as aspirant for the second time, and eventually the candidate, was the favourite. Joe Biden ran for office of the president of the United as a former vice president to became the 46th president of the United States. Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikiwe were the leaders of their respective parties, Action Group (AG) and National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) in the First Republic, and the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) and Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP) in the Second Republic. Both statesmen, unarguably, were more qualified politically and academically for the office of president when they ran in 1979 and 1983, than President Alhaji Usman Aliyu Shehu Shagari (May Allah rest his soul ) who became the president. They could not and did not become president. Chief Awolowo, at different times, wanted to become the prime minister and president of Nigeria. In 1959, he left the Western Region, where he had been head of government business and premier for nine years, for the Federal Parliament. From there, he wanted to become the first (independence) prime minister. He did not succeed. A coalition between the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) and the NCNC thwarted that ambition. He became the leader of the Opposition. By 1962, he and the Western Region had run into trouble with an intolerant and authoritarian central government. He was house arrested, charged with treasonable felony and jailed for 10 years. His stalwarts and staunch lieutenants were also jailed. His party was infiltrated, subverted and decimated but the partys resistance campaigns made the Western Region ungovernable for his supplanters. He was only released from jail vide a state pardon in 1966. Unfortunately, his key political opponents and traducers were murdered in the January 15, 1966 abortive military coup. Nobody in a democracy has an entitlement to occupy a political office, outside the framework of democratically held elections. The presidency is not a monarchy, theocracy (papacy), or a hereditary chieftaincy. The dint of hard political work, long partisan sacrifice or occupancy of a political office and alleged brilliant or superlative performance in office are not the critical factors that must perforce bring about a canonisation, coronation and enthronement. Upon his release, he went into a governing collaboration with the military, becoming a civil war time minister of finance and a civilian vice chairman of the military governments federal executive council. He left the government in 1971. Perhaps, to get prepared for when the military would hand over power to civilians and for the resumption of political activities. General Yakubu Gowon had promised to hand over power to civilians in 1975. He reneged. In 1974, he said a handover of power, as promised, was no longer feasible and realistic. In the aftermath of that breach of promise, he was shunted out of power in 1975, after nine years at the helm. During the elongated transition to civil rule programme of General Ibrahim Babangida, he wanted to be president. He was an aspirant. He was humbled by the system of party primaries at that time, by which an aspirant must emerge bottom-up, starting from his ward, local government and constituency. It was from his constituency that he, a former military head of state, was humbled in a disgraceful elimination. Since then, he has avoided partisan politics. He has, through his Nigeria Prays ecumenical project, been rousing Nigerians to prayer. In the Second Republic, Chief Awolowo formed the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), obviously the best organised ideological and cohesive political party of that era. In 1979, at age 70, he contested for the office of the President. He lost. He could not become president. In 1983, at age 74, he contested for the second and last time. He lost. He died four years later at age 78. Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, a great nationalist (although his betrayal of the Zikist Movement was a historical blemish on his nationalist credentials) was, at Nigerias attainment of independence, the governor-general of Nigeria and between 1963 and 1966, the president (and head of state) of Nigeria, under a parliamentary system of government. Before independence, he was the premier of the Eastern Region. In 1979, at the age of 75, he contested for the office of the president (under the then newly adopted presidential system of government) on the platform of his Nigerian Peoples Party. He lost the election. In 1983, at a ripe age of 79, he contested for the second time and lost. He died in 1996 at the age of 92. If he had won the 1979 election and the 1983 ejection, biologically, he could have served out his two terms, without dying in office. Mallam Aminu Kano, leader of the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU), in the First Republic and of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) in the Second Republic, died in 1983 at age 63. His political movement, ideology, philosophy and activism promoted human rights, political freedoms, social justice and women emancipation issues in a Northern Nigeria then plagued by suffocating vestiges of feudalism. He contested for the office of president in 1979. He lost the election. He died before the 1983 elections. While the partisan fights over who should be the candidates of the political parties rage, may we leave you with an admonition. Princes (of the Machiavellian archetype) hardly have friends and supporters. What they do have are instruments. For the instruments fighting on behalf of princes, may you all have a successful internecine combat. Awo, Zik and Aminu Kano were nationalists and patriots. They served Nigeria in many capacities. They laboured and suffered for Nigerias independence. They wanted to be Nigerias president in 1979. They did not succeed. Nigeria became poorer because none of them became president. But Nigeria did not collapse because they couldnt become president. Current seekers of political offices at the highest levels of government need to take a sip from the wisdom cup of history. Their philosophical understanding of power must have as its kernel the ephemerality and vanity of power; and the transience of life itself. They must rid themselves of the assurances of further power elevation that occupancy of, or incumbency in office gives, and banish the confidence of electoral victory that a large volume of political work propels. Nobody in a democracy has an entitlement to occupy a political office, outside the framework of democratically held elections. The presidency is not a monarchy, theocracy (papacy), or a hereditary chieftaincy. The dint of hard political work, long partisan sacrifice or occupancy of a political office and alleged brilliant or superlative performance in office are not the critical factors that must perforce bring about a canonisation, coronation and enthronement. In an ideal democracy, political parties are the vehicles which individuals ride to political power. They are the platforms on which programmes, manifestoes and promises are erected for the consideration of the electorates. If a political party came to power and failed to fulfil its promises, the critical question the electorate must ask itself is whether that political party is worthy of being entrusted with another mandate; whether there are no better alternatives or options to displace that political party. In the dawning presidential election campaigns, while members of a political party can fight to the finish about who amongst their members is the best electable person to be picked as their presidential candidate, the vast majority of our people must focus on who is the best person to be elected as a true leader, who is faithful, loyal and honest; a promise keeper, a builder, re-designer, reorganiser, provider, protector, reconstructor, securer, mover, and improver. The search for a true leader in a nation or country is not the same as the search for a partys candidate. While the partisan fights over who should be the candidates of the political parties rage, may we leave you with an admonition. Princes (of the Machiavellian archetype) hardly have friends and supporters. What they do have are instruments. For the instruments fighting on behalf of princes, may you all have a successful internecine combat. Jiti Ogunye, lawyer, and Principal Counsel, Jiti Ogunye Chambers, is the Legal Adviser to Premium Times. We lost the 20th Century to ignorance and allied disabilities, and we are about three short years to the end of the first quarter of the 21st. Shall we end this century too, still striving heroically to trace ancient cattle grazing routes across impossible distances, still feeling so smug, so secure behind our shield of ignorance and medieval darkness? Shall we continue to beg God to build our country for us, while we the people lie chloroformed by excessive supplication and mindless expectation of illusional miracles? (Random musings on an internet exchange between two compatriots on The Power of Science ) Ours is a tragic case. We are the most unscientific people on earth. Bunmi Fatoye-Matory A ton of thanks to Bunmi Fatoye-Matory and Omowumi Ayodele for their insightful, provocative observations on the Ekitipanupo Internet Forum of January 10. Like these two compatriots, I too have been both saddened and bewildered by the way our people so characteristically throw science and rationality out of the window in their daily lives, as well as their deliberations on matters of grave national importance. In all things domestic and public, personal and political, our dealings are dominated by a disregard for scientific reasoning, and a preference for ostentatious, and often venal religiosity. And how truly ubiquitous our piety has been! Our rulers pray before they pillage the nations treasury; they pray before rigging the electoral polls; they pray while perpetrating these acts; they pray when the deeds are done. Then they give thanks to the Lord for aiding their exploits and prospering their schemes. And we, the people, chorus a sheepish Amen while praying to the Good Lord to keep blessing them with renewed strength. Do you still wonder why the vehicle of Nigerias progress is in reverse gear, throttled, top-speed, towards the Middle Ages by leaders who prey, while the people pray; leaders whose grand superstition has become the alternative science of a country famous for its aversion for logic? Here are the bare, bleeding facts: Nigeria (like all its African counterparts, alas) is still in a prescientific age: Blissfully mis/uninformed, untouched by, even hostile to, the edifying powers of science. We are a people who believe too lazily, too unquestioningly, and, therefore, too dangerously. The so-called school education has not been able to save us from this calamitous malaise. In fact, the more college degrees we acquire, the farther we tend to be from rational, independent thinking, critical cogitation, clarity of thought, and creative skepticism. This is why we are ruled by leaders who are busy looking for 19th century cattle grazing routes at a time their counterparts in saner climes are set on the routes to Mars and Saturn. Nigerias underdevelopment is no surprise, for we do not seem to possess the mindset, vision, values, behaviour, actions, and practices of a people who understand what development really is, the way it is achieved, and how it is sustained. It should have been clear to us by now that miracles never build a nation nor are citizens ever elevated above their dehumanising poverty through a mindless reliance on magic and accidental fiat. Miracles do not build bridges or erect skyscrapers; miracles will not build and secure our national power grid and rescue us from incapacitating outages that have turned Nigeria into a land of interminable darkness. Miracles do not build oil refineries and keep them in regular, unfailing repair. Miracles will not construct the network of roads and rails and air routes Nigeria so sorely needs I have no doubt that the God so frenetically invoked by Nigerians must be tired of a bunch of thoughtless, corrupt, chaotic, disorganised miracle-seekers ever so averse to a positive, creative deployment of their brains, all too ready to surrender their precious HUMAN agency to the whims of a distant, unaccountable supernatural. Our loud prayers must already be a source of noise pollution in Gods kingdom and a menace to the serenity of the creative Ideal. Human civilisation is propelled by the dynamics of science, not superstition; it is enabled by a keen, purposive Spirit of Inquiry, not a regimen of untested/unverifiable Belief. Miracles do not build bridges or erect skyscrapers; miracles will not build and secure our national power grid and rescue us from incapacitating outages that have turned Nigeria into a land of interminable darkness. Miracles do not build oil refineries and keep them in regular, unfailing repair. Miracles will not construct the network of roads and rails and air routes Nigeria so sorely needs to become a mobile, enterprising, and infrastructurally connected country with wheels on the path to modernity and progress. Miracles will not accomplish the fundamental equitable restructuring that is needed to correct Nigerias presently fated federalism. Miracles do not create a buoyant, sustainable economy unburdened by debilitating debts, domestic and foreign. Miracles will not save us from the murderous traffic jams in our lawless, planless cities. Miracles have no place in the classroom and the laboratory where science, in ALL its ramifications, is busy shaping humanitys future and turning formerly awe-inspiring miracles into risible sleight of hand. To bring the case painfully close to the here and now, only science can clip the claws of the rapacious virus that has turned our world upside down in the past two years and littered the global landscape with mass graves and empty homesteads. As history has shown and human experience has vindicated, humanity owes its future to the possibilities of science (though it is our vital responsibility to make sure that this good servant does not transform into a bad (qua deadly) servant). God must be tired of the bunch of delinquent supplicants called Nigerians. S/he has provided us with a land of incredible fecundity, but we have shunned the knowledge needed to transform it into a land of plenty and beneficence, begging him/her, instead, for miracles and specious breakthroughs. The fertile brains in our skulls have turned mushy from underuse. The unforgettable Tai Solarin must be wincing in his grave. That brave man invited the nation to a dialogue about these and related matters some six decades ago. He did all he could to teach us and our rulers how to THINK, rationally and reasonably. He never won the war, though he invested his lofty best in the battle. Ever since, our faith has only become more fickle, our belief more recalcitrantly absurd. We lost the 20th Century to ignorance and allied disabilities, and we are about three short years to the end of the first quarter of the 21st. Shall we end this century too, still striving heroically to trace ancient cattle grazing routes across impossible distances, still feeling so smug, so secure behind our shield of ignorance and medieval darkness? Shall we continue to beg God to build our country for us, while we the people lie chloroformed by excessive supplication and mindless expectation of illusional miracles? God must be tired of the bunch of delinquent supplicants called Nigerians. S/he has provided us with a land of incredible fecundity, but we have shunned the knowledge needed to transform it into a land of plenty and beneficence, begging him/her, instead, for miracles and specious breakthroughs. The fertile brains in our skulls have turned mushy from underuse. Given all our pious proclamations and loud prayer jamborees, given our dangerously illogical habit of leaving it to God while doing little or nothing to transform our parlous situation, it can be justifiably concluded that we are not YET a people in any hurry for development. Oh, let me end this short piece with that much-quoted but never deeply considered Nigerian saying: God helps those who help themselves. Niyi Osundare, one of Africas foremost poets and academics, is Emeritus Distinguished Professor of English, University of New Orleans. Governor Nyesom Wike has accused a divisional police officer in Rivers State of operating an illegal refinery in the state. Mr Wike said the officer heads the police division in Emohua Local Government Area of the state. He demanded his redeployment from Rivers State. He must leave this state. I cant be governor here and the security man owns an illegal refinery. No, it is not possible. The man has to go. Take him to wherever they allow bunkering, Mr Wike said on Friday in Government House, Port Harcourt in a meeting with local council chairmen and heads of security agencies in the state. The Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, Eboka Friday, was at the meeting. The police have yet to comment on the governors allegation and his demand. Mr Wikes remarks were contained in a statement on Friday from his media aide, Kelvin Ebiri. The governor said it was unfortunate and unbelievable for security officials in Nigeria to be involved in illegal bunkering. I cant believe it, he said. He accused the civil defence officer in-charge of vandalisation of oil pipelines in the state of being a saboteur, and demanded his immediate redeployment from Rivers. Mr Wike has repeatedly said that the soot in Port Harcourt and its environs is caused by the operation of illegal refineries in the state, and has vowed to go after their operators. The governor at the Friday meeting ordered the local council chairpersons in the state to go after the operators of illegal refineries. Its total war Ive called you here to tell you that its a total war. It is either we do it or we dont do it. We cannot allow what is going on to continue. Two things our people are dying, its shortening our own revenue. You check from the Federation Account, Akwa Ibom and Delta states are getting more, why? Because, these boys of the cartel have caused so much problems for us. So we will not allow it, Mr Wike said. Now, every council chairman must go and identify where illegal refineries are taking place. If you identify one, you get N2 million. So, go and identify as many as you can. I will pay N2 million for each one. I am going to fight against this. Our people are dying and we owe our people the responsibility to protect them, to save them from death they never caused. So, you must, and youre given 48 hours to go and identify all illegal refineries sites, and those who are in charge of them, the governor said to the council chairmen. An official of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Imo State who resigned his position from the party has accused the Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, of poor performance. Mr Uzodinma is a member of the APC. The official, Tochukwu Ugwumba, who was the APC spokesperson at the local level, Okwuabala Ward in Orlu Local Government Area, announced his resignation on Friday in a letter to the chairman of the party in his ward. He copied the chairman of APC in Imo State in the letter. Mr Ugwumba, a journalist, former editor of a newspaper and member of Hope Uzodinma media group, said in the resignation letter that he was disappointed with Mr Uzodinmas performance in the area of service delivery and good governance. He said, I am ashamed to be identified with the huge deceit, monumental failure in service delivery and anti-government policies as unscrupulous elements have taken over Imo State. He said the governors penchant for frolicking from Abuja to Owerri with chartered jets is telling on Imo state economy. The state governors love for drinking luxury crystal wine while the state is suffering from insecurity, endless verification of workers and pensioners, no motorable roads and unemployment is unfortunate, Mr Ugwumba said. The journalist said he has also resigned from Hope Uzodinma media group and every other group that is supporting the governor. The governors spokesperson, Oguike Nwachukwu, did not respond to calls and a text message seeking comment from him. The Commissioner for Information in the state, Declan Emelumba, too did not respond to calls and a text message from our reporter. Dele Adeleke, an aspirant under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has explained why he is challenging his uncle, Ademola Adeleke, for the partys ticket ahead of the Osun 2022 governorship election. In an interview with Channels Television, Mr Adeleke said he is more competent than his uncle, who was the governorship candidate for PDP in 2018. He also said that being Senator Adelekes nephew should not hamper his aspiration to serve the people of the state. He stated that running for a political office is more about competence than political alliances and, claiming to be the best candidate PDP can produce to challenge the incumbent Governor Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressive Congress (APC). He (Sen. Adeleke) is also aware that Im running, he said, noting that his uncle was shocked when he informed him about his aspiration to jostle for the PDPs governorship ticket. Asked how long he had wanted to pick Osun governorship race, he said he began to nurse the political ambition when he started playing the engine room role in the political space of Osun and beyond. In 2018, Mr Adeleke was the PDPs Returning Officer during the gubernatorial election in the state, PREMIUM TIMES gathered. He had defended his uncle during the polls, challenging the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in courts after the elections. I believe all those have actually prepared me for the political landscape of the state, he said. Call to Service He, however, said his aspiration is as a result of the massive call to service from youth in Osun and different sectors across the state. He also said some stakeholders have charged him not to shy away from this social responsibility. And these calls didnt just start. These calls have been going for long and I have been saying no, he said. The truth is that prosperity is there to judge us. What happens if peradventure I do not throw my hat in the race, PDP doesnt get the opportunity of producing a formidable candidate and the PDP gets to lose this election and Osun State gets worse? He added that he would not be able to live with the reality of having the opportunity to make a difference and shying away from it. Interestingly, Senator Adelekes nephew said he will not step down for him in the political race even though he is pressured to do so. He said his nephew should rather step down for him, considering his old age. It is time for a generation of shift. It is time for those who are fit and able to deliver, he said. The role of leadership or governance, especially in Osun, is a very serious thing. Osun in a Precarious State Moreover, Mr Adeleke, a financial expert, said his decades of experience in the banking industry would save Osun from its current precarious economic state. He said he believes he is more fit to bring better economic fortunes to the state than any other candidate both in PDP and APC. Osun is in a precarious state. Osun is the 10th most indebted state in Nigeria, he said. In 2020, Osun paid the sum of 21.6billion as loan repayment. That is the third-largest loan repayment in this country. In fact, our debt per capita is the highest in Nigeria. He said even Senator Adeleke knows he is fitter and more prepared for the gubernatorial race. How it started In September 2021, Senator Adeleke returned from abroad, publicly declaring his intention to run again for the Osun governorship election. During a welcome party organised for him in Osogbo, the state capital, he urged Governor Oyetola to start preparing his handover notes, saying his days are numbered on the seat. I am back and ready to kick start my campaign, he said. PDP belongs to everyone, I cant stop anyone interested in the partys ticket from contesting it, but l appeal for decency among everyone for peace within the party and the state. He also urged interested parties to be modest with their campaigns in the interest of the state and their party. How its going When Senator Adeleke declared his ambition to run again in 2022, what he did not know was that his nephew was nursing the same ambition. On December 11, 2021, his nephew, among others in the state, picked the partys nomination form, expressing his interest to wear his brothers political shoe. Others who collected the nomination forms of the PDP were Akin Ogunbiyi, Sanya Omirin, Dotun Babayemi, and Fatai Akinbade. Advertisements In a statement issued after purchasing the form, Mr Adeleke said the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration in the state, under the watch of Governor Oyetola, had put the state into debt through misplacement of priorities. This is what the APC represents misplacement of priorities and mismanagement of scarce state resources, he said. The controversy trailing the nomination of the next Olubadan of Ibadanland was on Saturday brought to an end after a closed-door meeting between the Olubadan-in-Council and Governor Seyi Makinde. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting summoned by the governor over the issue of the next Olubadan of Ibadan, was held at the State Government House, Agodi, Ibadan. NAN reports that tongues had been wagging as to who would succeed the late Olubadan of Ibadanland, Saliu Adetunji, who joined his ancestors on Sunday, January 2, at 93 years. The traditional ruler died at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, in the course of an illness. Mr Adetunji died a few weeks after the Soun of Ogbomoso and Asigangan of Igangan joined their ancestors. NAN reports that Mr Adetunji, the 41st Olubadan of Ibadanland, ascended the throne of his forefathers on March 4, 2016. Briefing journalists after the meeting presided over by the governor, Rashidi Ladoja, the Osi Olubadan of Ibadan, said that all matters causing the crisis over the Olubadan stool had been resolved. The governor has been magnanimous to have called this meeting because those of us that said we were not going to meet at all finally met and we have resolved all the matters. I can tell you that by next week there wouldnt be any tension Ibadan again, Mr Ladoja, also a former Governor of Oyo State, said. On the resolution of the meeting, the Osi Olubadan said the parties had resolved on how to settle the pending cases in court. He said none of the council members argued that the Otun Olubadan, Lekan Balogun is not the next Olubadan. All of us agreed on that one because thats our hierarchy. I can tell you that Olubadan-in-Council is one and all is well; we are happy that the matter has been resolved and we are grateful to Governor Seyi Makinde. On when to expect the announcement of the next Olubadan, Mr Ladoja said: We have our procedure; now that everything has been resolved, the council will meet and present the candidate to the governor for assent. We thank all Ibadan indigenes and lovers of Ibadan for their concern. Some of the members of the Olubadan- in-Council, who attended the meeting were Rashidi Ladoja (Osi Olubadan); Tajudeen Ajibola (Osi Balogun); Olufemi Olaifa (Otun Balogun); Amidu Ajibade (Ekaarun Olubadan) and Lateef Gbadamosi, the Ashipa Balogun Olubadan. (NAN) BOCA RATON, Fla., Jan. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- WHAT: HairClub, with our Miami Heat partner, is donating a once-in-a-lifetime all-inclusive suite night and 200 tickets to a deserving selection of community-driven centers and organizations around South Florida. WHO/WHEN: As part of HairClub's commitment to supporting its local community, particularly in the Florida region, HairClub will be donating a suite night on January 17th to The Shop at Miami-Dade County Public Schools for students to have the thrilling chance to root for the Miami Heat as they take on the Toronto Raptors. The Shop at Miami-Dade County Public Schools is a resource for students and families in need, committed to ensuring a successful educational experience for children and youth who are in M-DCPS living in unstable housing. Public Schools is a resource for students and families in need, committed to ensuring a successful educational experience for children and youth who are in M-DCPS living in unstable housing. The organization provides clothing, shoes, backpacks, and more to students and their families. HairClub's partnership with The Shop at Miami-Dade goes beyond suite night, as the brand will be providing Hair Kits for the students' upcoming Prom in March including HairClub products, hot tools, bags, and masks. HairClub and the Miami Heat organization will also be donating 50 tickets EACH to the community centers below on the following days: 1/15 50 upper level tickets to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Miami - In celebration of National Mentoring Month, HairClub and the Miami Heat want to give back to the premier non-profit mentor program that has been serving South Florida communities since 1958. - In celebration of National Mentoring Month, HairClub and the Miami Heat want to give back to the premier non-profit mentor program that has been serving communities since 1958. 1/19 50 upper level tickets to South Florida After School All Stars - Founded in 1992, After School All Stars serves underprivileged youth throughout 13 states, the South Florida division partnering with FIU's College of Arts, Sciences & Education to improve college readiness and bridge the college success pipeline. - Founded in 1992, After School All Stars serves underprivileged youth throughout 13 states, the division partnering with FIU's College of Arts, Sciences & Education to improve college readiness and bridge the college success pipeline. 2/15 50 upper level tickets to FMU Leadership Academy students - In honor of Black History month, HairClub and the Miami Heat are giving tickets to some of South Florida's most impressive collegiate leaders. - In honor of Black History month, HairClub and the Miami Heat are giving tickets to some of most impressive collegiate leaders. 3/9 50 upper level tickets to The Shop as Miami-Dade County Public Schools - HairClub will offer an additional experience to children affiliated with this program and 50 Hair Kits for prom. WHERE: FTX Arena, 601 Biscayne Blvd, Miami, FL 33132 ABOUT HAIRCLUB : For more than 40 years, our hair loss experts have helped over half-a-million clients regrow, replace and restore their hair. And we've worked with the latest technologies to develop total hair solutions that work for anyone, no matter their age, hair type or level of hair loss. But of all our accomplishments over the last four decades, there's one thing we're most proud ofshowing our clients just how much we care about them. HairClub has helped more than 600,000 men and women restore their hair, changing the way they experience life. We've built our company on these successful transformations. They're part of our history. CONTACT: Claire Hayes, [email protected] SOURCE HairClub WHEELING, W.Va., Jan. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- West Virginia has broken new ground in school choice, and families will be celebrating expanded learning opportunities this School Choice Week at an inaugural school fair in Wheeling on Saturday, Jan. 22. The school choice fair will showcase more than a dozen schools and learning organizations, including public schools and private schools. Families can receive information, ask questions, and learn whether they are eligible for the state's new Hope Scholarship program. The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Oglebay Resort's Pine Room and more than 500 community members are expected to attend. The event is free, open to all families, and will feature face painting, a DJ, photo booth, snacks, and additional fun for children. A scavenger hunt at the fair will allow three families to receive $250 scholarships to spend on educational materials for the upcoming school year. Also, during the event, Dynamic Dyslexia and Speech will offer free dyslexia screenings for interested families. The school fair is planned to coincide with the history-making celebration of National School Choice Week 2022, which will feature more than 26,000 school choice events across all 50 states. As part of the celebration, Jan. 22 will be "School Fair Saturday," and will feature school fairs in more than a dozen U.S. cities, simultaneously with the Wheeling event. Another major event taking place in West Virginia during School Choice Week will be a celebratory rally at the Charleston Capitol on Thursday, Jan. 27. "West Virginia has expanded educational options available for the 2022-2023 school year new charter schools and the Hope Scholarship are among them," said Amanda Kieffer, communications director at the Cardinal Institute for West Virginia Policy. "We want to celebrate that by connecting families with educators, so they can find the best educational environment for their children." West Virginia's new Hope Scholarship program is scheduled to begin for the fall 2022 school year, and allows eligible families to use the state portion of their child's education funding to create an individualized learning experience for their child, such as through tutoring, educational therapy, private school, a non-public online program, or extracurricular services. The school fair is being organized by the Cardinal Institute for West Virginia Policy, a nonprofit dedicated to researching, developing, and communicating effective public policies for West Virginia, in partnership with West Virginia Voices for Education Choices, a group of parents, students, teachers, and schools who believe that education choice is vital to the creation of opportunity for all. The Oglebay Resort is located at 465 Lodge Dr. in Wheeling. National School Choice Week shines a spotlight on effective K-12 education options for children, focusing equally on traditional public, charter, magnet, online, private, and home education options. Every January, participants plan tens of thousands of celebrations such as school fairs and open houses to raise awareness about school choice across all 50 states. School Choice Week also develops resources and guides to K-12 education for families. As a not-for-profit effort, the Week is nonpolitical and nonpartisan and does not advocate for legislation. For more information visit schoolchoiceweek.com. SOURCE National School Choice Week ATLANTIC CITY, N.J., Jan. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Casino Association of New Jersey (CANJ) announced today that Atlantic City saw a year of modest growth amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to the December 2021 Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) gaming revenue results report. "Throughout 2021, the Atlantic City casino industry and its many great employees worked diligently to rebuild and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact our industry in the New Year, our outlook remains cautiously optimistic for the upcoming year, as we saw increases from 2020 to 2021, and we anticipate the same for 2022," said Joe Lupo, president of the Casino Association of New Jersey. Atlantic City continued to experience the challenging impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the last quarter of 2021 as the country experienced a new surge, which has continued in 2022. Overall, the land-based casino industry saw a 5 percent decline in revenue in 2021 compared to 2019, which underscores the fact that land-based casinos have not recovered to pre-COVID levels. Despite the pandemic, the Atlantic City casino industry generated nearly $422 million in total state tax revenue from gaming operations in 2021, reinforcing the vital role the industry plays across the state, providing a growing labor market that supports and sustains the local region. Online revenue continued to show positive increases through 2021. While primarily third-party affiliated companies generated those wagers as opposed to operators of Atlantic City's land-based casinos, online gaming revenue continues to produce very meaningful tax funding for the City of Atlantic City, Atlantic County, and the State of New Jersey. The Atlantic City casino industry partnered with regional health care provider AtlantiCare and UNITE HERE Local 54 to safely welcome back more employees and guests as restrictions eased and vaccinations became more widely available to the public. CANJ, AtlantiCare and UNITE HERE Local 54 initiated a partnership that enabled casino employees to access vaccinations as early as March 2021. These efforts continued for both employees and Atlantic City residents throughout the summer to include pop-up vaccination clinics at casinos across the city. "We are grateful for our partnership with the dedicated front-line medical professionals of AtlantiCare, UNITE HERE Local 54, along with the commitment and resilience of our team members. We look forward to continuing to work together in the year ahead, providing a stronger voice powered by transparency as we continue to revitalize our historic seaside destination," added Lupo. The casino industry continues to diversify Atlantic City's offerings, investing hundreds of millions of dollars in redevelopment projects and amenities. These new investments will create world-class attractions, generate additional employment opportunities and attract more visitors to the beachfront resort in the upcoming year. As the pandemic continues to challenge air travel, one-third of the U.S. population can travel to Atlantic City on a tank of gas, which makes the city an even more attractive tourist destination. About the Casino Association of New Jersey The Casino Association of New Jersey (CANJ) is a trade organization that provides a collective voice for the Atlantic City casino industry by facilitating the exchange of information and ideas between our industry, small businesses, Atlantic City stakeholders and the general public. The CANJ consistently advocates for legislation and initiatives that support the ongoing revitalization of Atlantic City into a world-class destination resort. A thriving casino industry drives economic growth, job creation, increased tax revenue for state and local budgets, and prosperity for city residents, hardworking families and businesses which rely on the casinos for their livelihood. Our goals are simple: protect and grow the tens of thousands of jobs the casino industry supports across New Jersey and continue Atlantic City's transformation into a world-class destination resort. For additional information, please visit www.casinosnj.org. SOURCE The Casino Association of New Jersey Key Market Dynamics: Market Driver Market Challenges The rising urbanization and changing consumer lifestyles and increased snacking and indulgence consumption are some of the key market drivers. However, factors such as fluctuating raw material prices 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 & challenges -Read our FREE Sample Report right now! The baked market report is segmented by Product (Bread and rolls, Cakes and pastries, Cookies, and Others) and Geographic (APAC, Europe, North America, South America, and MEA). The baked market share growth by the bread and rolls segment will be significant for revenue generation. The bread and rolls segment of the global baked goods market primarily includes products such as whole wheat bread, sourdough, rye bread, pita bread, focaccia bread, multigrain bread, white rolls, hot dog rolls, and sub rolls. The increasing demand for gluten-free bread and rolls is a major factor driving the growth of the segment. The increase in demand for free-from products such as bread, pies, and cakes is expected to encourage other major vendors to offer such products during the forecast period. The recent innovations in the baking ingredient industry have largely supported the growth of the segment since 2018. View our free sample report for additional insights for the contribution of all segments & regional opportunities in the report. Some Companies Mentioned with their Offerings Associated British Foods Plc - The company offers its bakery products through a variety of brands under the grocery segment. The company offers its bakery products through a variety of brands under the grocery segment. Britannia Industries Ltd. - The company is one of the leading producers of bakery products such as biscuits, bread, and cakes. The company is one of the leading producers of bakery products such as biscuits, bread, and cakes. Campbell Soup Co. - The company offers bakery products such as cookies, bread, baked chips, pretzel, and many more. The company offers bakery products such as cookies, bread, baked chips, pretzel, and many more. Flowers Foods Inc. - The company offers bread, buns, rolls, snack cakes, and tortillas across the world. The company offers bread, buns, rolls, snack cakes, and tortillas across the world. Grupo Bimbo SAB de CV - The company offers fresh and frozen sliced bread, buns, cookies, snack cakes, English muffins, bagels, pre-packaged foods, tortillas, salted snacks, and confectionery products, among others. The company offers fresh and frozen sliced bread, buns, cookies, snack cakes, English muffins, bagels, pre-packaged foods, tortillas, salted snacks, and confectionery products, among others. To gain access to more vendor profiles with their key offerings available with Technavio, Click Here Related Reports: Bakery Premixes Market -The bakery premixes market share should rise by USD 83.01 million from 2021 to 2025 at a CAGR of 5.54%. Download a free sample now! Artisan Bakery Market -The artisan bakery market share is expected to increase by USD 1.06 billion from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 4.32%. Download a free sample now! Baked Goods Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of over 6.12% Market growth 2021-2025 USD 165.49 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 5.43 Regional analysis APAC, Europe, North America, South America, and MEA Performing market contribution APAC at 34% Key consumer countries US, China, Japan, Brazil, and Germany Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled Associated British Foods Plc, Britannia Industries Ltd., Campbell Soup Co., Flowers Foods Inc., Grupo Bimbo SAB de CV, JAB Holding Co. Sarl, Kellogg Co., Mondelez International Inc., Warburtons Ltd., and Yamazaki Baking Co. 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 WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, condemned today's hostage-taking incident at the Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, and said it is in contact with local community leaders to learn more about the attack and provide any assistance possible. SEE: Colleyville synagogue held hostage during livestreamed service; police negotiating with man https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article257360862.html In a statement, CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said: "We strongly condemn the hostage-taking at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. This latest antisemitic attack at a house of worship is an unacceptable act of evil. We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community, and we pray that law enforcement authorities are able to swiftly and safely free the hostages. No cause can justify or excuse this crime. We are in contact with local community leaders to learn more and provide any assistance that we can." CAIR's mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims. La mision de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprension del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos. Become a Fan of CAIR on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/CAIRNational Subscribe to CAIR's Email List https://action.cair.com/a/newsletters Subscribe to CAIR's Twitter Feed http://twitter.com/cairnational Subscribe to CAIR's YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/cairtv Follow CAIR on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cair_national/ Donate to CAIR https://action.cair.com/a/donate Do you like reading CAIR press releases and taking part in our action alerts? You can help contribute to CAIR's work of defending civil rights and empowering American Muslims across the country by making a one-time contribution or becoming a monthly donor. Supporters like you make CAIR's advocacy work possible and defeating Islamophobia an achievable goal. Click here to donate to CAIR. If you would like to join CAIR's media list, please sign up here: https://action.cair.com/a/newsletters For more information, email: [email protected], CC [email protected] CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, [email protected]; CAIR-Dallas Executive Director Faizan Syed, [email protected], 469-290-2909, CAIR-Houston Director of Operations William White, [email protected], 713-838-2247; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Coordinator Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, [email protected] SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) CHARLESTON, S.C., Jan. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Discover your school spirit next week at Charleston's annual education fair to celebrate National School Choice Week. This year's event will be both informative and highly interactive, as each school booth at the fair will feature a school supply. Families will have the opportunity to fill up on free school supplies while exploring the diverse education choices available to them. The fair will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 22 at the Family Life Center of Royal Baptist Church. Simultaneously with the Charleston event, school fairs will be taking place in more than a dozen U.S. cities nationwide, including Las Vegas, Jersey City, and Colorado Springs. The Charleston school fair is free and open to all families, and more than 450 community members are expected to attend. Besides learning about public, private, and homeschool options, families can enjoy face painting, balloon art, music, student performances, and raffle drawings. Coffee and cookies will also be provided. This event is planned to coincide with the celebration of National School Choice Week Jan. 23-29, 2022, which will feature more than 26,000 school choice events across all 50 states. "Education is the one thing that can help equalize individuals in society," said Dr. Shaunette Parker, outreach director at My South Carolina Education. "Having high-quality education options that are accessible to all students, regardless of zip code and socioeconomic status should be a priority in South Carolina. In 2022, we are excited about the growth of new education options and the success of our students." The fair is being planned by My South Carolina Education. The organization seeks to equip parents with understandable information about education choices, so that, armed with good information, they can make the best decisions for their children's future. The Royal Baptist Church Family Life Center is located at 4750 Abraham Ave. in North Charleston. National School Choice Week shines a spotlight on effective K-12 education options for children, focusing equally on traditional public, charter, magnet, online, private, and home education options. Every January, participants plan tens of thousands of celebrations such as school fairs and open houses to raise awareness about school choice across all 50 states. School Choice Week also develops resources and guides to K-12 education for families. As a not-for-profit effort, the Week is nonpolitical and nonpartisan and does not advocate for legislation. For more information visit schoolchoiceweek.com. SOURCE National School Choice Week CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy today said the hazardous wintry precipitation from this weekend's approaching winter storm could cause an estimated 750,000 customers to lose power in North Carolina and South Carolina, based on the storm's current forecasted track, and power outages in some of the hardest-hit areas could last several days. In advance of the storm, which could span two days, Duke Energy has strategically staged more than 10,000 workers power line technicians, damage assessors and vegetation workers across the Carolinas. About 4,100 of those workers are from other companies, some based in Texas and Oklahoma. The more than 10,000 total workers also include Duke Energy crews normally based in Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky who have traveled to the Carolinas to assist North Carolina- and South Carolina-based Duke Energy workers. All crews are ready to begin power restoration as soon as weather conditions safely allow. Ice-buildup on trees and branches that causes them to fall on power lines is usually the main culprit behind power outages during a winter storm. Specifically, ice buildup of a quarter-inch or more is often the threshold amount that causes trees and branches to topple. The heavy weight of significant ice buildup directly on power lines themselves can sometimes cause the lines to fall or sag, as well. Heavy, wet snow of six inches or more also can cause trees and branches to fall on power lines. Duke Energy meteorologists continue to monitor weather conditions and the company is making plans accordingly. Travel conditions could be hazardous and challenging after the storm passes, possibly delaying Duke Energy crews' ability to access hard-hit areas to assess storm damage and begin power restoration. Following the storm, as conditions permit, damage assessment crews will begin assessing extent of damage which can sometimes take 24 hours or more in major storms with widespread damage and hazardous driving conditions. Damage assessments determine the types of crews, equipment and supplies needed to restore power. Power restoration crews will begin working immediately after the storm, but restoration efficiency improves as damage assessment information is available to ensure the right workers and materials are dispatched to each power outage location. Duke Energy will provide estimated power restoration times to customers once damage assessments are completed. The company also will provide regular updates to customers and communities through emails, text messages, outbound phone calls, social media and its website, which includes power outage maps. The company is working closely with state officials in both North Carolina and South Carolina to prepare for the storm. Duke Energy serves 4.3 million customers in the Carolinas 3.5 million in North Carolina; 800,000 in South Carolina. Duke Energy's power restoration process More information about how crews restore power after a major storm restoration process. How customers can prepare Customers can take steps now to prepare for the storm: Ensure an adequate supply of flashlights, batteries, bottled water, non-perishable foods, medicines, etc., as well as the availability of a portable, battery-operated radio, TV or weather radio. Customers should make alternate shelter arrangements as needed if you will be significantly impacted by a loss of power especially families who have special medical needs or elderly members. If a power line falls across a car that you're in, stay in the car. If you MUST get out of the car due to a fire or other immediate life-threatening situation, do your best to jump clear of the car and land on both feet. Be sure that no part of your body is touching the car when your feet touch the ground. Be aware that snow can cause hazardous driving conditions resulting in traffic accidents and downed power poles resulting in isolated outages. If you are driving and encounter emergency responders or other roadside work crews, remember to MOVE OVER. If you use a generator due to a power outage, follow the manufacturer's instructions to ensure safe and proper operation. Operate your generator outside; never operate it inside a building or garage. Don't use grills or other outdoor appliances or equipment indoors for space heating or cooking, as these devices may emit carbon monoxide. Stay away from power lines that have fallen or are sagging. Consider all lines energized as well as trees or limbs in contact with lines. Please report downed power lines to Duke Energy or local emergency services. Be prepared for an emergency by purchasing an emergency preparedness kit from the Red Cross. More tips on what to do before, during and after a storm can be found at duke-energy.com/safety-and-preparedness/storm-safety. A checklist serves as a helpful guide, but it's critical before, during and after a storm to follow the instructions and warnings of emergency management officials in your area. Shelter information If you lose power and need to relocate to a shelter, the Red Cross maintains an update-to-date list of open locations https://www.redcross.org/get-help/disaster-relief-and-recovery-services/find-an-open-shelter.html. Follow CDC recommendations for staying safe and healthy in a public disaster shelter during the COVID-19 pandemic. How to protect refrigerated food during power outages For customers who lose power and have full refrigerators and freezers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends the following: Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature. A refrigerator can keep food cold for about four hours if it is unopened. If the power will be out for more than four hours, use coolers to keep refrigerated food cold. A full freezer will keep the temperature for approximately 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full) if the door remains closed. The FDA offers additional tips for proper food handling and storage before, during and after a power outage at www.fda.gov/food/buy-store-serve-safe-food/food-and-water-safety-during-power-outages-and-floods. Sign up for outage alerts Customers can receive the most up-to-date information about power restoration efforts by enrolling in Outage Alerts. How to report power outages Customers who experience a power outage can report the outage using Duke Energy's automated outage-reporting systems for their respective utility: Customers can report an outage by texting "OUT" to 57801, and also report an outage or view current outages on the Duke Energy mobile app or at www.duke-energy.com/outages. Duke Energy Carolinas: 1.800.POWERON (1.800.769.3766) Duke Energy Progress: 1.800.419.6356 Duke Energy also will provide updates on its social media channels to keep customers informed if significant outages occur: Duke Energy on Twitter: twitter.com/DukeEnergy Duke Energy on Facebook: facebook.com/DukeEnergy View B-roll of storm preparations and winter storm power restoration efforts Duke Energy Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies. Its electric utilities serve 7.9 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 51,000 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas unit serves 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The company employs 27,500 people. Duke Energy is executing an aggressive clean energy strategy to create a smarter energy future for its customers and communities with goals of at least a 50% carbon reduction by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The company is a top U.S. renewable energy provider, on track to own or purchase 16,000 megawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2025. The company also is investing in major electric grid upgrades and expanded battery storage, and exploring zero-emitting power generation technologies such as hydrogen and advanced nuclear. Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2021 "World's Most Admired Companies" list and Forbes' "America's Best Employers" list. More information is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos and videos. Duke Energy's illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. Media contact: 800.559.3853 SOURCE Duke Energy JERSEY CITY, N.J., Jan. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- St. Peter's University in Jersey City will be the spot for the state's first School Choice Week school fair on Saturday, Jan. 22. More than 30 private, public, and online schools spanning preschool through 12th grade will showcase their offerings and bring information to families at the inaugural event, which will be New Jersey's largest gathering during National School Choice Week 2022. Several hundred community members are expected to attend. As parents shop schools at the event, children can enjoy face painting, balloon art, a photobooth, snacks and additional fun. The school choice fair, which is free and open to all families, will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on "School Fair Saturday," Jan. 22. That same day, large school fairs will take place in more than a dozen major cities around the U.S., including Las Vegas and Colorado Springs. These school fairs are planned to coincide with the celebration of National School Choice Week Jan. 23-29, 2022, which will feature more than 26,000 school choice events across all 50 states. "We are really excited to help host New Jersey's first National School Choice Week School Fair," said Steve Looney, a trustee of Excellent Education for Everyone (E3). "This is a great opportunity for parents and kids to meet great schools, learn about exciting, excellent education programs and have fun with other parents and kids!" This event is organized by E3, a research and policy non-profit with the mission of closing gaps in educational achievement in New Jersey, in partnership with the Association of American Educators (AAE) and the New Jersey Public Charter Schools Association (NJPCSA). St. Peter's University is located at 2641 John F. Kennedy Blvd., Jersey City. National School Choice Week shines a spotlight on effective K-12 education options for children, focusing equally on traditional public, charter, magnet, online, private, and home education options. Every January, participants plan tens of thousands of celebrations such as school fairs and open houses to raise awareness about school choice across all 50 states. School Choice Week also develops resources and guides to K-12 education for families. As a not-for-profit effort, the Week is nonpolitical and nonpartisan and does not advocate for legislation. For more information visit schoolchoiceweek.com. SOURCE National School Choice Week Presented, hosted, and sponsored by Foley, the competitions were held in person, in accordance with local current health and safety guidelines, ensuring past event continuity and safety for everyone involved. Tristan Whitfield, a fifth-grader at Paul L. Dunbar Learning Center, won the Dallas competition, and Ronnie Williams, a fourth-grader from James H. Law Elementary, was named the winner in Houston. Dallas student envisions a world of love, not hate Tristan Whitfield , the first-place winner in Dallas, cited the end of segregation and the availability of jobs, property and education for all as progress that would make Dr. King proud, while the election of our first Black president would have exceeded his expectations. He noted that Dr. King believed that people should want to see the betterment of mankind and that he would be looking for continued progress. "Dr. King envisioned a world of love, not hate," said Whitfield. "We must continue to search our own hearts, drive out hate and remember why his dream was even necessary. We must live by Dr. King's quote, 'I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.'" "This year's MLK Jr. Oratory Competition marks the 30th anniversary of the event in Dallas a truly momentous occasion for our law firm," said Michael Newman , Managing Partner of Foley's Dallas office. "We host this competition to encourage our community to commemorate Dr. King's remarkable life and to pay tribute to his enduring legacy. I am astonished by the grace and poise of our student orators and always leave the competition inspired by their messages of hope and calls to action. We appreciate the commitment of the teams at the Dallas Independent School District and my colleagues at Foley, who have made this event a reality for the past three decades." Jaliaha Rodgers, a fifth-grader at JP Starks Math, Science, and Technology Vanguard, placed second in the Dallas competition, while Arianna Garcia, a fifth-grader at L.L. Hotchkiss Elementary School, took home third place. Houston fourth-grader believes Dr. King would be looking for progress, not perfection Houston's first-place winner, Ronnie Williams , imagines that Dr. King would use a tool akin to the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) to rate whether America has approached, met or mastered his goals. Williams applied this rubric to Dr. King's vision for voting, injustice and hate. Williams believes that despite advances since 1965, recent voter restriction laws are a step backward and don't even merit an "approach." Citing Dr. King's quote that "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," Williams feels we are approaching Dr. King's goal of fighting racial injustice. The fourth-grader gives the greatest progress score to fighting hate, seeing it "exposed and expelled live on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and thankfully at my school." On that subject, Williams concluded, "We are not where we ought to be, but thank God we are not where we used to be." "In its 26 years in Houston, the competition has drawn hundreds of talented students, who have composed meaningful, inspiring speeches beyond their years. This year was no exception," said Claude Treece , Foley's chief administrative partner and longtime event chair of the Houston competition. "It was a joy listening to these students as they eloquently embodied Dr. King's vision and delivered powerful speeches on our aspiration of achieving that vision." Xedrick Jabier, a fourth-grader at Crespo Elementary, placed second in the Houston competition, while Marquise Ambers, a fourth-grader from Cornelius Elementary, took home third place. Each local competition began with either virtual or in-school qualifying rounds, followed by semifinals. At every level of the competition, students were evaluated on delivery, stage presence and decorum, content interpretation, and memorization. The final rounds were judged by panels of prominent community and local business leaders. The oratory competition is held each year in conjunction with Martin Luther King Jr. Day to encourage people to remember and pay tribute to the late civil rights leader's legacy. Foley established the event to encourage students to learn more about Dr. King and to help cultivate the writing and speaking skills of elementary school students. The competition was created in Dallas in 1993. The event's success led to the establishment of the Houston competition in 1997 and the Chicago competition in 2020. Both the preliminary and final rounds of the Chicago competition will take place virtually in February this year. To learn more about Foley's MLK Jr. Oratory Competition, click here . ABOUT FOLEY & LARDNER LLP Foley & Lardner LLP looks beyond the law to focus on the constantly evolving demands facing our clients and their industries. With approximately 1,100 lawyers in 25 offices across the United States, Mexico, Europe and Asia, Foley approaches client service by first understanding our clients' priorities, objectives and challenges. We work hard to understand our clients' issues and forge long-term relationships with them to help achieve successful outcomes and solve their legal issues through practical business advice and cutting-edge legal insight. Our clients view us as trusted business advisors because we understand that great legal service is only valuable if it is relevant, practical and beneficial to their businesses. Foley & Lardner LLP 312.832.4500 (office) www.foley.com Media Contact: Joanne Lessner 212.222.7436 [email protected] Foley Contact: Jen Dilworth 214.999.4718 [email protected] SOURCE Lambert & Co. NEW YORK, Jan. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Sugar Sourcing and Intelligence Report, provides key information about the market. For instance, the Sugar Market will grow at a CAGR of 5.51% during 2021-2025. Key Players in the Sugar Sourcing and Procurement Market Include: Cosan Ltd., Tereos Group, and Nordzucker AG Medical Education Market: Drivers The growth in the number of online medical education programs is driving the growth of the medical education market. Traditional physical classrooms are being replaced with online training modules, which provide access to various course materials and online assessments for both instructors as well as learners. These tools enable educators to have easy access to real-time data on students' progress based on test scores and student activities. Moreover, students enrolled in online courses can communicate via discussion forums and chat rooms. Therefore, online medical education programs are becoming highly popular in the medical education market, which is expected to drive the growth of the market during the forecast period. Medical Education Market: Challenges The presence of free and open-source education resources poses a significant threat to the growth of the medical education market. Vendors in the market offer several open-source medical courses that are free of cost. Therefore, students from the economically weaker sections can opt for such free services. The trend of offering free medical education is more prevalent in North America and Europe when compared to other regions. The fees for medical education in these regions when compared to APAC. These factors are likely to negatively impact the growth of the market in focus in terms of revenue generation during the forecast period. Learn about additional drivers and challenges impacting the growth of the medical education market. View Our Free Sample Report Now Medical Education Market: Some Key Vendors and Their Offerings Harvard University : Some of the key medical courses offered by the university through its Harvard Medical School include HMX Physiology, HMX Immunology, HMX Genetics, and HMX Biochemistry. Some of the key medical courses offered by the university through its include HMX Physiology, HMX Immunology, HMX Genetics, and HMX Biochemistry. Johns Hopkins University : Some of the key medical courses offered by the university through its John Hopkins School of Medicine include Biological Chemistry, Immunology, Medical and Biological Illustration, Biomedical Engineering, Molecular Biophysics, and Functional Anatomy and Evolution. Some of the key medical courses offered by the university through its of Medicine include Biological Chemistry, Immunology, Medical and Biological Illustration, Biomedical Engineering, Molecular Biophysics, and Functional Anatomy and Evolution. New York University : Some of the key medical courses offered by the university include Acute Care Surgery, Adrenal Surgery, and Infectious Disease and Immunology. Some of the key medical courses offered by the university include Acute Care Surgery, Adrenal Surgery, and Infectious Disease and Immunology. Stanford University : Some of the key medical courses offered by the university through Stanford Medicine include Biomedical Informatics, Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Genetic Counseling, and Physician Assistant Studies. Some of the key medical courses offered by the university through include Biomedical Informatics, Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Genetic Counseling, and Physician Assistant Studies. University of California : Some of the key medical courses offered by the university through UCSF School of Nursing include Master of Science, Masters Entry Program in Nursing (MEPN), and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP). Get lifetime access to our Technavio Insights. Subscribe now to our most popular "Lite Plan" billed annually at USD 3000. View 3 reports monthly and Download 3 Reports Annually! Medical Education Market: Segmentation Analysis This market research report segments the medical education market by courses (graduate courses, certifications and training, and post-graduate courses), learning method (blended learning and online learning), and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA). North America led the medical education market in 2021, followed by Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA, respectively. During the forecast period, North America is expected to register growth due to factors such as increasing enrollments in distance-learning medical degrees in countries such as the US and Canada. Request a Free Sample Report to learn about the contribution of each segment of the medical education market Some of the key topics covered in the report include: Market Challenges Market Drivers Market Trends Vendor Landscape Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Competitive scenario Related Reports: Education Consulting Market by Type and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2021-2025: The education consulting market share is expected to increase by USD 579.19 million from 2020 to 2025, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 5.01%. Download Free Sample Report The education consulting market share is expected to increase by from 2020 to 2025, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 5.01%. Edtech Market by Sector and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2021-2025: The Edtech market has the potential to grow by USD 112.39 billion from 2020 to 2025, and the market's growth momentum will decelerate at a CAGR of 17.85%. Download Free Sample Medical Education Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 17% Market growth 2021-2025 USD 143.30 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 15.00 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA Performing market contribution North America at 34% Key consumer countries US, UK, Germany, Australia, and Canada Competitive landscape Leading companies, Competitive strategies, Consumer engagement scope Companies profiled All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Grand Canyon University, Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins University, Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, National University of Singapore, New York University, Stanford University, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, The Tamil Nadu Dr.M.G.R. Medical University, The University of Alabama, Universidade Anhembi Morumbi, University of California, University of Cambridge, University of Eastern Finland, University of Liverpool, University of New England, University of Oxford, University of Washington, Western Governors University, Yale University 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 Technavio 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. Contacts 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 JACKSON, Miss., Jan. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A School Choice Roadshow celebrating National School Choice Week will highlight five different schools across Mississippi. On Tuesday, Jan 18 and Wednesday, Jan. 19, the bus tour will make mini-stops at five school stops throughout the state for special student celebrations of choice, including confetti poppers, balloon releases, cookie cakes, a dance performance, and more. The stops will take place at Midtown Public Charter School and Barack Obama Magnet School in Jackson, The 3D School in Petal, Sumrall High School in Sumrall, and Bayou Academy in Cleveland. A video from the tour featuring teacher and parent testimonies and celebration highlights will be released during School Choice Week at facebook.com/EmpowerMississippi . This event is planned to coincide with the history-making celebration of National School Choice Week 2022, which will feature more than 26,000 school choice events across all 50 states. "Every child deserves the opportunity to attend a great school that meets his or her unique needs. We are excited to once again celebrate all the great education options across Mississippi during National School Choice Week," said Grant Callen, CEO of Empower Mississippi. "Different types of schools meet students' needs in different ways, so we celebrate traditional public school, charter school, magnet school, private school, online school, and home school because every child is unique." This celebratory roadshow is organized by Empower Mississippi. Founded in 2014, Empower Mississippi is an independent, nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to removing barriers to opportunity so all Mississippians can flourish. National School Choice Week shines a spotlight on effective K-12 education options for children, focusing equally on traditional public, charter, magnet, online, private, and home education options. Every January, participants plan tens of thousands of celebrations such as school fairs and open houses to raise awareness about school choice across all 50 states. School Choice Week also develops resources and guides to K-12 education for families. As a not-for-profit effort, the Week is nonpolitical and nonpartisan and does not advocate for legislation. For more information visit schoolchoiceweek.com. SOURCE National School Choice Week LANHAM, Md., Jan. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 200 students, parents, and community members are expected to attend the inaugural School Choice Week fair in Prince George's County on Saturday, Jan. 22. The fair will be the region's largest celebration during National School Choice Week 2022. The free event will take place at Equity Now, Inc., and offer families and educators the opportunity to learn about school choice options and BOOST independent schools in the Maryland DMV region through school booths and interactive workshop sessions. Students can enjoy family-friendly activities as parents explore learning options located near them. Guest speakers at the fair will include: Delvin Champagne , founder of PG Parents Alliance for Educational Options, who will discuss parent-led efforts to create more school choice options in Prince George's County , founder of PG Parents Alliance for Educational Options, who will discuss parent-led efforts to create more school choice options in Leroy Nesbitt, Esq , executive director of the Black Student Fund, who will lead an audience discussion on school choice in post-pandemic America executive director of the Black Student Fund, who will lead an audience discussion on school choice in post-pandemic America Jewell Samuels , founder of EDUKeys, who will share advice for parents on applying for financial aid , founder of EDUKeys, who will share advice for parents on applying for financial aid Patricia Potts , co-founder of CONNNECTdmv, who will provide students with tips for a positive school experience Fair doors will be open 2-5 p.m. and families can register for the event, which is free and open to the public, at eventbrite.com/e/prince-georges-county-school-fair-tickets-212501867807 . This event is planned to coincide with the celebration of National School Choice Week 2022, which will feature more than 26,000 school choice events across all 50 states. As part of the celebration, Jan. 22 will be "School Fair Saturday," and will feature school fairs in more than a dozen U.S. cities, simultaneously with the Prince George's County event. "This school fair for Maryland families will bring to light the many school choice options in Maryland and help families access the school of their choice," said Delvin Champagne, founder and executive director of PG Parents Alliance for Educational Options & School Choice. The fair is planned by PG Parents Alliance for Educational Options (PAEO), with support from the Black Student Fund. PAEO is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to maximizing independent school options and opportunities for all families in Prince George's County. The Black Student Fund was established to racially desegregate the independent schools of the national capital area, and strives to assure that all students have equal access to educational opportunities. Equity Now, Inc. is located at 9700 Philadelphia Court, Lanham MD, 20706. For more information, contact PG Parents Alliance for Educational Options at [email protected]. National School Choice Week shines a spotlight on effective K-12 education options for children, focusing equally on traditional public, charter, magnet, online, private, and home education options. Every January, participants plan tens of thousands of celebrations such as school fairs and open houses to raise awareness about school choice across all 50 states. School Choice Week also develops resources and guides to K-12 education for families. As a not-for-profit effort, the Week is nonpolitical and nonpartisan and does not advocate for legislation. For more information visit schoolchoiceweek.com. SOURCE National School Choice Week PALM DESERT, Calif., Jan. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Families are invited to enjoy fresh air, face-painting, and meaningful school support at a school fair in Civic Center Park next week. On Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022, many schools will gather at the park's amphitheater to share information with parents and students about their options. From 11 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., attendees can enjoy a free photobooth station, face painting, a DJ, snacks, raffles, and additional fun. Guest speakers and student performances including a performance of the official School Choice Week Dance will take place throughout the event. The event aims to bring community support to families as they search for the best school for their child. More than 400 parents, students, and educators are expected to attend. The Palm Desert School Choice Fair is planned to coincide with the celebration of National School Choice Week 2022, which will feature more than 26,000 school choice events across all 50 states. Multi-school fairs will be taking place in more than a dozen cities nationwide during the Week, including Colorado Springs, Las Vegas, and Jersey City. "School choice gives families access to the best K-12 education options for their children in California, regardless of their zip code," said Faustina Sevilla, Parent Union ambassador for Riverside County. "Our annual fair is a forum for school districts, public charter schools, and homeschool groups to talk with students and parents, answer their questions, and share what makes their option unique." The Civic Center Park Amphitheater is located at 43900 San Pablo Ave. This event is hosted by Parent Union, a California organization with the mission of engaging, organizing, and training parents, students and community members to defend the constitutional right to a high-quality public education for all students. National School Choice Week shines a spotlight on effective K-12 education options for children, focusing equally on traditional public, charter, magnet, online, private, and home education options. Every January, participants plan tens of thousands of celebrations such as school fairs and open houses to raise awareness about school choice across all 50 states. School Choice Week also develops resources and guides to K-12 education for families. As a not-for-profit effort, the Week is nonpolitical and nonpartisan and does not advocate for legislation. For more information visit schoolchoiceweek.com. SOURCE National School Choice Week LAS VEGAS, Jan. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Imagine a relaxed environment where you can chat with a representative of a school you're interested in, then walk just a few feet and do the same for another school you're considering. At Las Vegas's largest school choice fair, several hundreds of families will have the opportunity to do just that. On Saturday, Jan. 22, more than 75 schools of all types will have booths at the Conference Center of Las Vegas to share information and answer families' questions. The free event will feature fun for all ages, including face painting, a photo booth, snacks and drinks, and a scavenger hunt. The Las Vegas School Fair will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m and is open to all families. More than 1,500 community members are expected to attend. Besides exploring charter, magnet, private, and homeschooling options, families can learn how to access Nevada's Opportunity Scholarship, which provides eligible families up to $8,469 to attend a private school of their choice. This event is planned to coincide with the celebration of National School Choice Week Jan. 23-29, 2022, which will feature more than 26,000 school choice events across all 50 states. As part of the celebration, Jan. 22 will be "School Fair Saturday," and will feature large school fairs in more than a dozen U.S. cities, simultaneously with the Las Vegas event. "Living through a pandemic the last 18+ months created a firestorm in the school systems, forcing parents to reevaluate their family needs, and school choice to become a priority," said Valeria Gurr, director of external affairs for American Federation for Children. "No matter your economic status, educational choices should rest in the hands of parents. Fairs like these arm families in the community with information on options they often aren't privy to." The fair is planned by the Nevada School Choice Coalition, a project of the American Federation for Children. The Conference Center of Las Vegas is located at 6590 Bermuda Rd and parking is free. Families can register in advance for the free event and see photos from the 2019 school fair at nevadaschoolchoice.com/event/las-vegas-school-choice-fair/ . National School Choice Week shines a spotlight on effective K-12 education options for children, focusing equally on traditional public, charter, magnet, online, private, and home education options. Every January, participants plan tens of thousands of celebrations such as school fairs and open houses to raise awareness about school choice across all 50 states. School Choice Week also develops resources and guides to K-12 education for families. As a not-for-profit effort, the Week is nonpolitical and nonpartisan and does not advocate for legislation. For more information visit schoolchoiceweek.com. SOURCE National School Choice Week RALEIGH, N.C., Jan. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Montessori schools, art schools, college prep schools and more will share their mission and values with hundreds of families at Raleigh's charter school fair on Saturday, Jan. 22 for National School Choice Week. All families are invited to join in the celebratory event, which will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Raleigh Convention Center. As parents learn about the region's free public charter offerings, the fair will offer face painting, balloon art, snacks, a photobooth, and additional activities for children. As the application window for many North Carolina charter schools opens in January, the fair is perfectly timed to support families in choosing schools to apply to for the 2022-2023 school year. More than 450 community members are expected to attend. The charter school fair is free and open to the public, and is planned to coincide with the celebration of National School Choice Week Jan. 23-29, 2022, which will feature more than 26,000 school choice events across all 50 states. As part of the celebration, Jan. 22 will be "School Fair Saturday," and will feature large school fairs in more than a dozen major U.S. cities, simultaneously with the Raleigh event. "The 2022 National School Choice Week Charter School Fair celebrates the opportunities for parent choice provided by 204 North Carolina public charter schools," said Rhonda Dillingham, executive director of the North Carolina Association for Public Charter Schools. "With over 126,000 students attending North Carolina charter schools and over 76,000 names on waiting lists, it is clear that there is demand from families for public charter schools as a school choice option." This event is organized by the North Carolina Association for Public Charter Schools, which seeks to advance quality educational opportunities for all North Carolina children by supporting and expanding successful public charter schools. The Raleigh Convention Center is located at 500 S. Salisbury St. The fair will take place in Meeting Room 301/302. For more information, contact Operations Director Lisa Renn at [email protected]. National School Choice Week shines a spotlight on effective K-12 education options for children, focusing equally on traditional public, charter, magnet, online, private, and home education options. Every January, participants plan tens of thousands of celebrations such as school fairs and open houses to raise awareness about school choice across all 50 states. School Choice Week also develops resources and guides to K-12 education for families. As a not-for-profit effort, the Week is nonpolitical and nonpartisan and does not advocate for legislation. For more information visit schoolchoiceweek.com. SOURCE National School Choice Week The latest of these announcements was earlier this week, when StrikeX Technologies Ltd made it public that they have brought on none other than Thomas 'Papa' Smith as the newest member of the StrikeX team. Thomas, also known as 'The Wizard' for his wealth of knowledge and experience with blockchain technology will be fulfilling the role of Blockchain Advisor and will now be working very closely with the rest of the team to optimize the growth and development of the StrikeX eco-system. Thomas is most well-known for his extensive work as the former CBO of the Safemoon project as well as being awarded the prestigious title of Binance's Influencer of the Year 2021, adding such a strong member to what is already an extremely solid team can only mean great things for the future of StrikeX Technologies Ltd. On top of this amazing news, StrikeX Technologies Ltd are pleased to make official their 'Road to $1.00' Giveaway! As they begin on a new journey to the $1 price point, they are looking to reward their community members with huge prizes along the way like trips to New York and Dubai, BUSD & STRX tokens, a Rolex and the grand prize of a Lamborghini! StrikeX Technologies Ltd are setting themselves up to have an incredibly successful year and this is their way of saying thank you to the community for all their patience and support. These recent developments only serve to amplify StrikeX's core message of being 'For the people', bringing in some of the greatest minds of the industry to ensure that they can deliver should fill any prospective investors with confidence. You can find the T&C's of the Giveaway on the StrikeX Medium page. Be sure to keep up with the latest StrikeX updates and announcements via the links below: Website: https://strikex.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/strikexofficial Discord: https://discord.com/invite/tradestrike Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/strikex_official/ Telegram: https://t.me/StrikeXcrypto Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tradestrike YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ_gCf9-Tnr7JeoFiSkl7SQ Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1727248/StrikeX_Giveaway.jpg SOURCE StrikeX Technologies Limited GREEN BAY, Wis., Jan. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Several hundred students will showcase their talents and celebrate the power of education at the legendary Lambeau Stadium on Friday, Jan. 28 during National School Choice Week. The celebration will kick off at 5 p.m. with a pep band performance, photo booth, raffle, and social for students. After a special barbecue buffet at 6 p.m., attendees will hear from guest speakers, enjoy musical and artistic performances, and see the winners of the Hispanics for School Choice Art Contest winners. Former Governor Tommy Thompson, the longest-serving governor in Wisconsin history, will share an inspirational message with students on the impact of educational freedom. The celebration will continue with the presentation of a "Choice Champion" award and a $1,000 scholarship to a student who is participating in the school choice program. This event is planned to coincide with the celebration of National School Choice Week Jan. 23-29, 2022, which will feature more than 26,000 school choice events across all 50 states. The Lambeau Stadium event is the largest celebration taking place in Wisconsin. "Wisconsin families want more educational choice and we're listening," said Nicholas Kelly, President of School Choice Wisconsin. "We plan to build on Wisconsin's pioneering programs to give all families more control over their children's education." Kelly said that former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson will be the keynote speaker for the event. "Governor Thompson is a hero to the school choice movement. Thanks to his leadership, we recently celebrated more than 30 years of parent choice in Wisconsin." This event is planned by School Choice Wisconsin, a non-profit that works to empower parents by developing, supporting and promoting the ideas and policies that create vibrant, quality options in K-12 education in Wisconsin. The Lambeau Stadium is located at 1265 Lombardi Ave. The celebration will be taking place in the Lambeau Field Atrium. National School Choice Week shines a spotlight on effective K-12 education options for children, focusing equally on traditional public, charter, magnet, online, private, and home education options. Every January, participants plan tens of thousands of celebrations such as school fairs and open houses to raise awareness about school choice across all 50 states. School Choice Week also develops resources and guides to K-12 education for families. As a not-for-profit effort, the Week is nonpolitical and nonpartisan and does not advocate for legislation. For more information visit schoolchoiceweek.com. SOURCE National School Choice Week FRANKFORT, Ky., Jan. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Old State Capitol building in Frankfort will feature new faces on Monday, Jan. 24, at 10:30 a.m. as students rally on the Capitol steps in celebration of educational choice. The event, one of Kentucky's most prominent celebrations during National School Choice Week, will feature choice-themed rally cheers and remarks from special guest speakers who have benefitted from school choice. After the rally, students will have the opportunity to tour the Capitol museum and learn about the civics behind the state's educational choice program. The Frankfort Capitol Rally comes on the heels of a tumultuous year for Kentucky education, with a new Education Opportunity Account program passing the legislature but being challenged in court. "It has been incredibly exciting to watch Kentucky join the national movement to put more families in control of their children's education," said Andrew Vandiver, president of EdChoice Kentucky. "Thanks to principled leadership from the Kentucky General Assembly, 2021 was a historic year with the passage of the Education Opportunity Account Act. National School Choice Week 2022 gives us an opportunity to celebrate the successes of parents, students, and educators and an opportunity to raise awareness about the educational options that will soon be available to Kentucky families." The rally is planned to coincide with the history-making celebration of National School Choice Week 2022, which will feature more than 26,000 school choice events across all 50 states. The event is organized by EdChoice KY, a coalition focused on educating the Commonwealth about educational choice programs. The Old State Capitol is located at 300 W. Broadway St. National School Choice Week shines a spotlight on effective K-12 education options for children, focusing equally on traditional public, charter, magnet, online, private, and home education options. Every January, participants plan tens of thousands of celebrations such as school fairs and open houses to raise awareness about school choice across all 50 states. School Choice Week also develops resources and guides to K-12 education for families. As a not-for-profit effort, the Week is nonpolitical and nonpartisan and does not advocate for legislation. For more information visit schoolchoiceweek.com. SOURCE National School Choice Week BOISE, Idaho, Jan. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A virtual event showcasing school choices statewide will bring Idaho families the chance to better understand their K-12 educational options on Saturday, Jan. 22 at 10:00 a.m. MST. More than 400 community members are expected to attend the virtual event, which kicks off School Choice Week in Idaho. Besides highlighting innovative choices throughout Idaho, the virtual event will give families the opportunity to join private chats directly with schools they are interested in or have questions for. Families can register for the free event at: IDchartercoalition.org. This event is planned to coincide with the history-making celebration of National School Choice Week 2022, which will feature more than 26,000 school choice events across all 50 states. In conjunction with the Week, large school fairs will take place in well over a dozen major cities, including Las Vegas, Colorado Springs, and Jersey City. "We believe that parents should have the ability to determine what learning environment best meets their family's needs," said China Gum, one of the main event organizers. "Idaho has so many wonderful schooling options, and the goal of our virtual event is to empower parents to know and navigate those options. When parents are engaged and children are in learning environments that meet their needs, our schools and our communities are strengthened." This event is organized by the Coalition of Idaho Charter School Families. The coalition seeks to be the national leader in providing educational innovation and excellence through the creation of public charter schools that ensure that all students have the opportunity to develop skills and capabilities to have an all-American shot at realizing their dreams. In addition, the coalition works with parents to become advocates for all public school options and protecting their right to select the best education for their child. National School Choice Week shines a spotlight on effective K-12 education options for children, focusing equally on traditional public, charter, magnet, online, private, and home education options. Every January, participants plan tens of thousands of celebrations such as school fairs and open houses to raise awareness about school choice across all 50 states. School Choice Week also develops resources and guides to K-12 education for families. As a not-for-profit effort, the Week is nonpolitical and nonpartisan and does not advocate for legislation. For more information visit schoolchoiceweek.com. SOURCE National School Choice Week Seoul, Jan 15 : US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned North Korea's recent missile tests as a violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions and reaffirmed the "ironclad" security commitment to South Korea, the State Department said. In a phone call with South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, Blinken reaffirmed the bilateral alliance is "the linchpin of peace, security, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond", Yonhap News Agency reported on Saturday citing the Department as saying The phone conversation came shortly after Pyongyang said it fired two tactical guided missiles into the East Sea the previous day, the third missile test this month. On Saturday, North Korea announced its railway-based missile regiment conducted a firing drill a day earlier, with two tactical guided missiles hitting a set target in the East Sea. The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported the unit in North Pyongan Province bordering China staged the drill aimed at "checking and judging the proficiency" in its action procedures. The North's latest saber-rattling came after it warned of a "stronger and certain reaction" to the US' recent imposition of fresh sanctions on six North Koreans involved in the regime's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs. Pyongyang fired what it purports to be a hypersonic missile on January 5 and Tuesday, in an apparent continued quest for the development of new advanced weapons amid a deadlock in nuclear talks with Washington. Washington, Jan 15 : A 14-year-old was arrested in connection with a fatal shooting in the US state of Washington, police said. Officers were called to the crime scene in Renton at around 5.45 p.m. on Wednesday and found a man lying on a sidewalk, reports Xinhua news agency. The 54-year-old victim had suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene, the police said in a statement on Friday. The investigators identified quickly that the alleged shooter was a passenger in a black SUV that had fled the scene. The suspect vehicle was located at a nearby apartment complex Wednesday. Valley SWAT Team served a search warrant Thursday evening at a unit in the complex. The alleged shooter, a 14-year-old Burien resident, was arrested at the apartment, a little more than 25 hours after the shooting, Renton police said. It adding that the teen has been booked into King County Juvenile Detention, and will face charges for both this shooting and another murder that occurred in Renton in 2021. Kampala, Jan 15 : Uganda is set to destroy more than 400,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines after they expired before being administered, a senior official said. Sheila Nduhukire, spokesperson of the National Medical Store, a state-run agency, told Xinhua news agency on Friday that the 400,000 doses of Moderna and 279 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines had already been dispatched to the field. Ministry of Health figures show that as of January 12, 12.2 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines had been administered since the exercise started in March last year. The country is also urging people aged 50 years and above and those with underling conditions to go for a booster dose. Uganda's overall Covid caseload and death toll currently stood at 157,160 and 3,385, respectively. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Ramallah, Jan 15 : Dozens of Palestinian protesters were injured during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank, medics said. Palestinian medics said that at least 15 protesters were injured by rubber-coated metal gunshots and dozens suffered suffocation after they inhaled the teargas fired by the Israeli soldiers near Nablus and Qalqilya cities on Friday, reports Xinhua news agency. According to witnesses, the clashes broke out between dozens of protesters and Israeli soldiers after the Palestinians organised two weekly protests against the Jewish state's settlement expansion plans and confiscation of lands in the West Bank. They said that the clashes were fierce in the village of Beit Dajan east of Nablus, and that the Palestinians threw stones at the soldiers, who fired rubber bullets and teargas canisters to disperse them. Meanwhile, six other Palestinians were injured during a protest in the village of Kafr Qaddum east of Qalqilya. There has been no immediate response from the Israeli army in regards to the clashes. San Francisco, Jan 15 : To take on Apple, Meta is reportedly planning to launch its first smartwatch in two models - a circular and a square one with detachable display. According to LetsGoDigital, the display on both watches will be detachable. The circular watch will have two or a max of three cameras. These sensors are touted to be a telephoto lens, an optical zoom or an ultra-wide sensor, and a macro lens. Expected to be priced around $400, the company aims to release the first version of the watch in the summer of 2022 and is already working on second and third generations for subsequent years. A camera on the front of the watch display exists primarily for video calling, while a 1080p, auto-focus camera on the back can be used for capturing footage when detached from the stainless steel frame on the wrist. The planned device is Meta's first stab at releasing hardware specifically for the wrist, opening up another area of competition with Apple at a time when the two tech giants are already at odds on other fronts. The company is working with the top wireless carriers in the US to support LTE connectivity in the watch, meaning it won't need to be paired with a phone to work, and sell it in their stores, the people familiar with the matter said. The watch is likely to come in white, black, and gold, and Facebook hopes to initially sell volume in the low six figures. Press Release January 15, 2022 De Lima lauds cat lover for organizing 'Donate Meow' drive, shares dreams of an animal-caring populace Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima lauded the admirable efforts of cat lover and animal advocate Sarrie Anne Capacia who continues to devote her time, resources, and heart into adopting and helping stray cats through her "Donate Meow" drive. De Lima, a furparent to six dogs and a number of stray cats she adopted in her detention quarters, said she also dreams of an animal-friendly and animal-caring populace like Capacia. "It is often said that 'we can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.' How we, as a society, embrace these meek and gentle creatures, speaks volumes of our character." "Loving and being loved by our pets humanizes us. They come in different species, breeds and sizes, but each one just as adorable. They teach us what unconditional love is, and how love always just patiently waits by the door for our return," she said. "I sincerely hope that this selfless act, which Ms. Capacia says brings her joy, resonates among the hearts of other Filipinos so we can make this world a home to these creatures. Like Ms. Capacia, I dream of an animal-friendly and animal-caring Philippines. Animals are living creatures too; how we treat them is a test of our humanity," she added. The "Donate Meow" drive is a feeding program for stray cats that was reportedly created in July 2021 by Capacia, who owns 12 cats and a dog. Since its inception, it has already filled the tummies of more than 180 stray cats in many barangays in Manila. Capacia, along with her boyfriend, would take to the streets and feed cats, rain or shine, regularly after work hours. On a personal note, De Lima shared that the reason she is "still able to keep a level head on my psychological bearings even while being unjustly detained" is due to the bonds she has nurtured with her adopted stray cats. "I share the love and fondness of a growing number of Filipinos for our furbabies," she said. "They make these detention quarters feel a little bit cozier despite the coldness of its bare walls and the harshness of the fences that surround me." The lady Senator from Bicol said know first-hand that her feeling is shared by those who have made pets part of their families, especially during these trying times. "This is why many advocacy groups continue to display warmth to animals. Some have even gone viral for their selfless acts of nursing back to life stray cats and dogs, and reuniting the lost ones with their furmalies," she said. "Without love and respect for animals, we are bound not only to lose our humanity but also our shared destiny of a better future and ecosystem with them. Human rights go hand in hand with animal rights. Both must be upheld at all costs," said she. Notably, Capacia, in an interview, called for the stricter implementation of the country's laws against animal cruelty, specifically, the amended "Animal Welfare Act" or Republic Act (RA) 10631, lamenting that people reprimand those who feed stray cats, with some even attempting to poison the food in some places. Last 17 Nov. 2020, De Lima filed Senate Bill No. 1918, or the "Revised Animal Welfare Act," which introduced comprehensive amendments to R.A. 10631 to make it more responsive to the times and strengthen animal protection. Los Angeles, Jan 15 : Two living legends of Hollywood, George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy, will be honoured by the Producers Guild of America with its 2022 Milestone Award at its annual awards night on March 19, reports 'Variety'. Lucas and Kennedy are being recognised both as individuals and for their collective leadership of Lucasfilm, the crucible of the 'Star Wars' franchise that Lucas created in 1971. Likening it to a "rebel base" outside Hollywood, Lucas led the Bay Area-based production banner from its inception until October 2012, when he sold the studio and what 'Variety' calls the banner's golden vault of 'Star Wars' IP to Disney for $4 billion. A veteran who started her career as Steven Spielberg's associate in 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' (1981), Kennedy was a partner in Kennedy/Marshall Co. with producer (and her husband) Frank Marshall for 20 years before she became president of Lucasfilm. Before that, Kennedy and Marshall co-founded the Amblin production banner with Steven Spielberg. "I am very honoured to share this award with George Lucas who has inspired a generation of filmmakers who were coming of age, not only through his storytelling but through technological innovation that unlocked our imagination," Kennedy said. The Producers Guild Awards, according to 'Variety', were postponed earlier this month from their original date of February 26 out of concerns about the surge in Covid-19 infection rates in Los Angeles County. Moscow, Jan 15 : Russia has arrested several members of the well-known hacker group called REvil at the request of the US government after it was established that the infamous group was involved in several high-profile attacks on large American companies. Operational for years, REvil is involved in attacking high-tech companies by introducing malicious software, encrypting information and extorting money for its decryption. According to Russia's Interfax news service, the domestic security agency, the FSB, has arrested numerous members of the REvil hacking group at the request of the US government. The FSB also seized 426 million rubles ($5.6 million) in a raid against 14 members of the group, along with more than $600,000 worth of cryptocurrency and 20 luxury cars. The report, however, said that REvil hackers with Russian citizenship will not be extradited to the US. "The FSB of Russia has established the full composition of the REvil criminal community and the involvement of its members in the illegal circulation of means of payment, and documentation of illegal activities has been carried out," the intelligence service was quoted as saying in the report on Friday. The agency also seized computer equipment and crypto wallets used to commit crimes. "Representatives of the competent US authorities have been informed about the results of the operation," the agency said. The Joe Biden administration has been calling on Russia to crack down on ransomware gangs operating within the country. REvil hackers were linked to the massive ransomware attack against Colonial Pipeline in the US in May 2021. REvil was also behind a cyberattack against meat supplier JBS, also in May, which shut down the company's meat processing plants across the US. The second quarter of 2021 was a vibrant quarter for ransomware, earning its place as a high-profile cyber agenda item for the US administration following the Colonial Pipeline attack, according to a report by McAfee Enterprise. Fuelled by cryptocurrencies, ransomware was involved in 79 per cent of the global cybersecurity incidents in the last 18 months of the pandemic, led by Conti and REvil ransomware attacks, a report from global cyber security firm Sophos showed recently. State-sponsored hackers hit Ukraine this week with a 'massive cyber-attack', shutting down several government websites amid heightened tension with Russia. "It's too early to draw conclusions, but there is a long record of Russian assaults against Ukraine," a spokesperson for the Ukraine Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying. January 15 : Bhediya co-stars Kriti Sanon and Varun Dhawan decided to have some fun at the sets of an advertisement they were shooting together recently. Kriti took to her Instagram handle and shared a fun video clip, wherein the actors were seen wolfing around while waiting for their shot. In the video, Kriti can be seen telling, Varun, I think it is going to be a full moon tonight. In response, Varun imitates the howl of a wolf, which maked Kriti laugh. Sharing the video, captioned it as Just Wolfing around on an ad shoot! tagging Varun Dhawan. Varun Dhawan also shared the same on his Instagram. Image Source: Instagram/kritisanon Bhediya co-stars Kriti Sanon and Varun Dhawan wolfing around at ad shooting The actors refer to their upcoming film Bhediya, in which Varun plays a werewolf. The horror comedy is directed by Amar Kaushik and produced by Dinesh Vijan. Janhvi Kapoor and Flora Saini will reportedly reprise their roles from the previous installments Roohi and Stree. The film is the third instalment in Dinesh Vijan's horror comedy universe. Varun and Kriti had started shooting for the film in March 2021. The film will release theatrically worldwide on November 25, 2022. Varun had shared the first look of the film on Instagram in November, last year. The poster showed him in a fierce avatar with his eyes shining bright in the dark. Sharing his first look from the film, Varun had written, "Bhediya #bheidyafirstlook. In cinemas November 25th, 2022." On the last day of the shooting, Varun had shared a bunch of his pictures, where he was seen standing in front of the mirror in a gym. He captioned the post as, Last day. Filming our last key scenes on #BHEDIYA in the next 24 hrs. Since we are not allowed to put out any stills from the film this was the last time I starred in the mirror and kinda had to say its time to say goodbye to my long hair, beard and the changes my director @amarkaushik has made me make for this character. Although something tells me this is not the end but a new beginning. Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 15 : At a time when Kerala is battling with Covid-19 surge, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday left for the US for his treatment at the Mayo Clinic. Vijayan would return on January 29. He, along with his wife Kamala and personal assistant, arrived at the Cochin airport on Friday night and spent the night at the special room in the airport before boarding the flight in the wee hours to an airport in the Middle East, from where they will board a direct flight to the US. Vijayan is being trolled on social media ever since his travel plans to the US for treatment surfaced. Even the Congress and the BJP took a dig at the "double standards" of the Communist's general apathy towards the US in all issues, other than for medical treatments. The chief minister's travel came a day after the comparison surfaced between the Vijayan government's two terms at the ongoing Thiruvananthapuram district CPI-M meeting which was inaugurated by him. A few of the delegates also criticised his second tenure. January 15 : With Omicron scare increasing by the day, and Maharashtra being one of the worst hit states, shootings of many films have been affected. The Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA) has issued a statement to filmmakers requesting them to adhere to the strict SOPs for shooting, including mandatory negative RT PCR report of all actors and crew members. The IMPPA statement read as, It is most important that anyone doing shooting today or planning to do shooting in the near future has to take all precautions and follow the SOPs issued by the government of Maharashtra while allowing commencement of shooting during the Covid pandemic and which have been followed by producers. In view of the severity of the situation prevailing today, it is the duty of each producer to ensure that adequate safety and security is in place to avoid any spread of the disease which has been with us for quite some time and we all have to take care if we intend to survive. Please note as earlier informed by us work with people who bring negative RT PCR report and who have their insurance for Covid 19 because for short schedule it becomes difficult for producers to arrange insurance While many shoots have been cancelled in the state, a few shoots are still going on. The producers of these films are taking utmost precautions, and adhering to all the statement guidelines. Karan Johar has cancelled the shooting of a song for Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani starring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt. An extensive set was put up for the song sequence, which reportedly will stay in place till the shoot resumes. Shooting of Kuttey has been affected as Arjun Kapoor contacted the virus and is currently under home quarantine. Makers have cancelled the shoot schedule of the film. Filming of Uunchai starring Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani and Parineeti Chopra, which was taking place in Mumbai after the Nepal shoot schedule, has also been cancelled keeping the present situation in mind. Anand Pandits Marathi film Victoria, shooting of which was going on in Mumbai, have been impacted. However, dubbing and post-production work continues, and Ajay Devgn was recently spotted dubbing for one of his films. Shootings for music videos and advertisements are also continuing with all precautions in place. Patna, Jan 15 : As least four persons died and three became critically ill after reportedly consuming spurious liquor in Bihar's Nalanda district on Saturday morning. The family members of the deceased claimed that they had consumed country made liquor on Friday afternoon and their condition deteriorated in the night. Sunil Kumar, a relative of one of the victims, Manna Mishtri (55), said: "After consuming the liquor, he returned home. His health deteriorated around 11 p.m. We immediately took him to Sadar hospital where he died while undergoing treatment around 4 a.m." He added that the country liquor is being manufactured in Choti Pahari area from the past several months. Two other victims have been identified as Bhago Mistri (55) and Dharmendra alias Nageshwar. The fourth person has not been identified yet. The critically ill people are admitted at Sadar hospital. The incident occurred in Choti Pahari locality under Sohsarai police station in Nalanda district which is also the home district of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who has banned liquor in the state. Following the incident, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Shibli Nomani and Sohsarai Station House Officer (SHO) Suresh Prasad reached the spot for investigation. The officers claimed that the death due to liquor consumption will be ascertained after the postmortem which is currently underway. Reportedly, two other persons also died after poisonous liquor consumption in Hargawa village under Manpur police station. Chennai, Jan 15 : The Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) has returned 100 tonnes of jaggery to the suppliers after it turned out to be of poor quality. The jaggery was to be supplied as Pongal gift hampers. TNCSC Managing Director S. Prabhakaran told IANS: "The spoiled jaggery is being sent back. In several districts of the state, the jaggery that was spoiled has been replaced and we have asked the manufacturers to take the spoiled lot and replace them with fresh loads in the district where it has not been replaced yet." The Tamil Nadu government has sanctioned a whopping Rs 1,297 crore to provide Pongal gift hampers to 2.16 crore ration cardholders of the state. There are 21 items in each gift hamper. The TNCSC Managing Director also said that inspections are being carried out at various godowns of suppliers and items like pepper that are of poor quality are being replaced. Shop keepers and merchants of Tamil Nadu said some jaggery was mixed with sugar which has much lesser shelf life due to which the spoiled product reached the end-user. An office-bearer of Tamil Nadu Merchants Association while speaking to IANS on condition of anonymity said, "The government had a good intention to provide gift hampers with 21 items for the people of the state who are using rice ration cards. However, the officials have looked the other way round, or else such a situation wherein a large quantity of jaggery is replaced from the gift hamper does not arise. He said that stringent checks have to be carried out at the godowns of those who are supplying items in Pongal gift hampers." However, the Tamil Nadu Food Safety department maintained that the jaggery that is being supplied is safe for consumption even though the shape of the jaggery is not proper. President, Tamil Nadu Food Grains Manufacturing Association, S.P. Jayaparakasam told IANS: "If we traders had sold such semi-solid shapeless jaggery we would have been taken to task by the Food Safety Department. Similar action must be taken against those responsible. Jaggery laced with Sugar cannot deserve to be called as jaggery." TNCSC Managing Director said that the last batch of Pongal gift hampers was distributed on Thursday and all the cardholders will receive the Pongal gift hampers in a couple of days. Dakshina Kannada : , Jan 15 (IANS) In a shocking incident, a case of son committing rape on his mother has been reported from Kedambadi village in Puttur taluk in Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka. The mother has been hospitalized and the son has been taken into custody, police said on Saturday. According to police, after the sexual assault by the accused, the victim mother fell sick and was admitted to Puttur government hospital. The 58-year-old mother had lodged a complaint with the Puttur Rural police station about the rape. The police have registered a case under IPC sections 362 (2) (n) and 506 against the accused. The police say that mother and the accused lived in the same house. The incident had taken place on January 12. The accused who went to sleep in his room, woke up at 3 a.m. and went to his mother's room and committed the crime. When the mother resisted and screamed, the accused gagged her mouth with a cloth. He had also threatened her that, if she informed anyone about the incident he would kill her. The accused sexually assaulted her again the next morning. Presently, the mother is being treated as an inpatient at Puttur government hospital. The accused is married and his wife is staying in her parents' house. The police are questioning the accused and further investigation is on. New Delhi, Jan 15 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday said that it has attached assets worth Rs 48.21 lakhs of journalist Rajeev Sharma, accused of spying for China, in connection with a Prevention of Money laundering case. Sharma was held by Special Cell for allegedly spying for China in lieu of money. Later, the ED also lodged a case of money laundering on the basis of the FIR lodged by Special Cell. The attached asset is the residential property in the name of Rajeev Sharma at Pitampura, New Delhi. "ED initiated money laundering investigation on the basis of the FIR and charge sheet filed by Delhi Police against Rajeev Sharma under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, and the Official Secrets Act," said an ED official. The ED's investigation under PMLA revealed that Rajeev Sharma had supplied confidential and sensitive information to Chinese Intelligence officers, in exchange for remuneration thereby compromising the security and national interests of the country. During investigation, it was revealed that such remuneration to Rajeev Sharma was being provided by a Mahipalpur based shell company that was run by Chinese nationals namely Zhang Cheng alias Suraj, Zhang Lixia alias Usha and Qing Shi along with a Nepali national Sher Singh alias Raj Bohara. This Chinese company was acting as a conduit for the Chinese Intelligence agencies to provide remuneration for persons like Rajeev Sharma indulged in criminal activities. The remuneration was being paid in cash through carriers as well as through cash deposits. Sharma also received money using the bank account of his friend in order to conceal his involvement in criminal activities. In addition to obtaining remunerations in cash, he also received remuneration in kind in the form of various paid foreign trips which were arranged by the Chinese Intelligence Agents. The probe agency had earlier filed a prosecution complaint (charge sheet) in the present case before Patiala House Courts on which the Court has taken cognisance of the matter. A probe in the matter is underway. Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 15 : Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Saturday informed that 48 more people have tested positive for Omicron taking the state tally to 528. Of the total cases, 365 came from low risk countries, 92 from high risk countries, 61 were primary contacts, while 10 came from other states in the country. There has been a huge spurt in Covid-19 cases in the state and on Friday, the test positivity rate (TPR) rose to 23.69 per cent with 16,338 people turning Covid positive. Following this, fresh Covid protocols have been put in place bringing down the number of people in weddings, funerals to 50 and no gatherings allowed in places where the TPR is above 30 per cent. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) New Delhi, Jan 15 : Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Sunday said that the peak of third Covid-19 wave has already arrived in the capital city and now the cases may soon register a decline. "Covid peak has already arrived in Delhi. Lets see when the cases begin to decline. However, it seems that the cases have begun to slow down in the city", Jain said. Delhi witnessed a slight dip in the daily cases at 24,383 on Friday which is expected to go down further today. The daily Covid cases are expected to reduce by around 4,000 on Friday. "Today, Covid-19 cases in Delhi are expected to be reduced by 4,000. However, positivity rate will be around 30 per cent. The hospital admission rate has not risen for last 5 to 6 days", said Delhi health minister. Talking to media, Jain further said that such a fall indicates that cases are going to be fewer in the coming days. He said that around 85 per cent of total hospital beds are still unoccupied. However, the Covid testing in the city has also slightly been reduced. Delhi recorded around 79,578 Covid tests on Friday which included 61,183 RT-PCR tests and 15,395 Rapid Antigen tests in 24 hours. On being asked, whether less Covid testing can be attributed to the fall in the cases, Jain underlined that Delhi is following the Centre's guidelines on testing. "We have not reduced the testing in Delhi," he said. In an advisory issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research earlier this week, ICMR has said that the contacts of confirmed cases of Covid-19 do not need testing unless identified as high risk based on age and comorbidities. The guidelines also said that asymptomatic individuals in community settings do not need testing. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) New Delhi, Jan 15 : S. Nambi Narayanan, the aerospace engineer discharged in what is known as the ISRO spy case of the 1990s, is now playing the martyr to cover up his own role in the case, says veteran journalist J. Rajasekharan Nair in the sequel to his book on the infamous episode. "Nambi Narayanan was a key figure in the failed operation to illegally transport cryogenic rocket technology from Glavkosmos (a subsidiary of the Russian State Space Corporation Roscomos) to ISRO using clandestine methods under a 1991 agreement between Glavkosmos and ISRO that was cancelled by Russia in 1993 invoking a force majeure," Nair told IANS in an interview. "The operation was jointly planned by ISRO top brass and an influential section in Glavkosmos. The operation was illegal because the 1991 agreement meant to transfer the cryogenic technology was cancelled and the new agreement signed in 1994 January had no clause for technology transfer," Nair said. Glavkosmos, according to him, agreed to supply the material but was not ready for door-to- door delivery. Nambi Narayanan contacted Air India but it refused to carry the material without proper documents. Nambi Narayanan then contacted Ural Airlines "who agreed to take the risk". "Though there are five airports in Moscow (where Glavkosmos is located), airlifting the material from any of these airports, hoodwinking the US eyes, was unthinkable. So the material was transported to Tashkent in Uzbekistan by road travelling more than 3,300 km and from there airlifted to ISRO. It is reliably learnt that Nambi Narayanan was on the first Ural flight," Nair said. "Nambi Narayanan doesn't want these pieces of information (that ISRO had planned an illegal operation and he was a crucial player in it) to become public. Though he had approached different legal forums nearly ten times, never did he pray that the entire matter surrounding the espionage case be proved. Moreover, when a PIL was filed before the Kerala High court for a judicial enquiry into the espionage case, he fought against it. "He wants only that much truth that would keep him afloat in his safe zone to come to the surface and doesn't want the whole matter (for instance, who planted the false and baseless spy story and why) to reach the public domain," Nair maintained. The ISRO spy case, which hit the headlines in 1994, centred around allegations of transfer of cryogenic technology and confidential documents on India's space programme to a foreign country by two scientists (including Nambi Narayanan) and four others, including two Maldivian women. Nambi Narayanan was eventually discharged after a laborious process, awarded compensation of Rs. 50 lakhs by the Supreme Court but accepted Rs.1 crore as an out-of-court settlement from the Kerala government on a Rs 1 crore suit of damages he had sought, and was awarded a Padma Bhushan in 2019. "As the public gropes in the dark about the essence of the ISRO espionage case, a re-evaluation of the case is imperative to see afresh why the espionage story cropped up. It is most essential to re-read the text of the ISRO espionage case through documents, facts, and prudence, and not through the projection of individuals as the good, the bad and the ugly," Nair writes in the book, 'Classified - Hidden Truths In the ISRO Spy Story' (Srishti). The media, in general, he said during the interview, has not discussed the meat of the matter: What was the espionage case and how could IB and Kerala Police say that certain persons in ISRO had leaked cryogenic technology to a foreign country using two semi-literate Maldivian women at a time (1994) when ISRO didn't have the technology? "No journalist bothered to check with ISRO whether they had the cryogenic technology in 1994. Instead, media houses sent journalists to the Maldives to collect information about the two Maldivian women and filed sleazy stories on them. All the accused were presented as morally corrupt persons when morality had nothing to do with the espionage case," Nair said. After the CBI had concluded in 1996 that the case was false and baseless, nobody, not even CBI, asked "how the absurd spy story came from nowhere and why the Director of IB had directed the Kerala Police to register a case under the Indian Official Secrets Act", Nair said "Nobody, not even the CBI asked why was Ural Airlines carrying material to ISRO from Glavkosmos and why the transportation came to an abrupt end in the wake of the espionage story (if the transportation was legal). "Nobody (not even the judiciary) asked the pertinent questions how a case could be filed under the Indian Official Secrets Act without ISRO or the central government filing a written complaint as is unambiguously made clear in Section 13(3) and (5) of the Act," Nair contended. Instead, he said, the media were hailing the police officers who did an illegal act of registering a case under the IOS Act and airing the absurd story that cryogenic rocket technology had been leaked to a foreign country at a time when ISRO didn't have the technology. "Now, when the situation changed, the same media are hailing the old villains as the new heroes and the old heroes are the new villains. So, Nambi Narayanan and other accused are the new heroes; the Kerala Police officers and IB officials are villains. Their discussions are around individuals and are not focused on the central matter. "The espionage case is a techno-legal matter. It was never discussed in that way. It was always discussed from the point of view of persons; not from the POV of facts," Nair maintained. "That is why the case is still confusing. My book attempts to do a post mortem of the case from the techno-legal angle strictly based on facts, documents, and records," he added. ISRO and the Indian government, Nair writes in the book, "need to tell the people to what extent the misfired 'patriotic' adventure has cost ISRO in terms of money, especially when the business from the space market is expected to touch $558 billion by 2026 and up to $1.75 trillion by 2040. "It is high time ISRO and the government of India come clean on the matter. If both parties confirm this operation (under the 1991 agreement) was in the interest of the nation and hence need to be treated as brave acts of 'patriotism', a different picture would emerge. "But then, one needs to deconstruct the very concept of patriotism," Nair concludes the book. (Vishnu Makhijani can be reached at vishnu.makhijani@ians.in) Dar Es Salaam, Jan 15 : At least 62,585 animals have been killed by prolonged drought in Tanzania's northern district of Simanjiro, an official said. Sendeu Laizer, vice-chairman of the Simanjiro district council, told a meeting of councillors in the district that the drought situation in the district was alarming, reports Xinhua news agency. Laizer said out of the 62,585 killed animals, 35,746 were cattle, 15,136 sheep, 10,033 goats and 1,670 donkeys. He said livestock officials are continuing to assess the number of animals killed by drought in all the district's villages. "The prolonged drought is forcing livestock keepers to take refuge to few areas with relative supply of water and grass for grazing," said Laizer. Christopher Ole Sendeka, an MP, said the drought has forced some livestock keepers to graze their animals in neighbouring countries. In Tanzania, drought condition is observed more frequently in the northern and central portion of the country. Droughts are one of the most serious threats to water availability, food security, and local livelihoods in the semi-arid areas of Tanzania. Chennai, April 17 (IANS) Tamil Nadu police has booked seven persons of Mooduvarpatti village in Madurai district for violating the curfew and participating in the burial of a temple bull that won several prizes in the Jallikattu bull taming sport. Image Source: IANS News Chennai, Jan 15 : A 27-year-old man was gored to death by his own bull at the 'Jallikattu' event held at Periya Suriyur in Tamil Nadu's Tiruchi district on Saturday morning. This is the second death caused during the bull-taming competition in the state. Addressing the media, the Jallikattu organisers said that the victim, Meenakshisundaram, was guiding his bull to the entrance of the event when the bull gored him on his thigh. When he started bleeding, he was taken to Tiruchi Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead. At least nine people have been injured till now at the Periya Suriyur Jallikattu and are receiving treatment at various hospitals. The organisers said that 400 bulls and 300 bull tamers are expected to take part in the competition. The district administration has insisted on a Covid negative certificate for the bull owners as well as the tamers. A strong police contingent is present at the Jallikattu venue. On Friday, a 19-year-old youth was gored to death by a bull at the Jallikattu event in Madurai. Kiev, Jan 15 : Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed holding a trilateral meeting with his US and Russian counterparts Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, a senior official here said. Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian President's Office, said that Zelensky has already delivered the proposal to Biden, reports Xinhua news agency. "We are still waiting for a reaction from the Russian side, but our American partners accepted our proposal with interest," Yermak was cited as saying during his talks with former US Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst. According to Yermak, the meeting between the three leaders could be held via a video conference. Recently, Ukraine, the US and some other Western countries have voiced concerns over the alleged Russian military build-up along the country's borders. On January 10, the US and Russia held security talks in Geneva to discuss Ukraine, among other issues. After the talks, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Russia has no plans to attack Ukraine, and there was no reason to fear an escalation of tensions. Film: The King's Man (Running in Theatres). Duration: 133 minutes. Director: Matthew Vaughn. Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Djimon Hounsou, Harris Dickinson. Rhys Ifans, Matthew Goode, Tom Hollander, Daniel Bruhl and Charles Dance. IANS Rating: ***'The King's Man' is an action-packed period drama filled with humour that is spectacularly and uniquely British. Based on a graphic novel developed by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, this is the third film of the franchise and a prequel to its earlier two films -- 'Kingsman: The Secret Service' (2015) and 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle' (2017). 'The King's Man' therefore is the origin story of 'The Kingsmen', the elite club of British spies operating independently of the government, from their headquarters that fronts as a bespoke tailor's shop on Savile Row in the City of Westminster. Apart from telling us how the organisation was formed, the core of this film's narrative gives us an insight into attempts made to weaken the King of England's power and make the sun set on the British Empire. The film begins with a dramatic prologue. In the wilderness of South Africa, Orlando Oxford (Ralph Fiennes), an aristocrat who regrets his part in plundering Britain's colonies and is now working for the Red Cross, promises his dying wife that he would protect their son Conrad and never let him see war again. But 12 years later, Europe is in turmoil. Against the backdrop of World War I and the Russian Revolution around the corner, the narrative focuses on Conrad, who is keen on joining the war against the wishes of his widowed father. Orlando and his servants Polly Wilkins (Gemma Arterton) and Shola (Djimon Hounsou), with the blessings of King George V, meanwhile, are dragged into an espionage drama that may force the American President to enter the war, thereby strengthening their side. All this forms the crux of the narrative. The plot is fascinating and relatable as it ingeniously weaves in real-life historical moments and figures. Tom Hollander plays three major monarchs -- King George V of Britain, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. They were cousins and grandsons of Queen Victoria. Tom is captivating and entertaining in each character that he portrays. Rhys Ifans is entertaining as the villainous Russian monk Rasputin. He mesmerises the audience with his sunken kohl-laden eyes, bad table manners, and his skill of combining fighting moves with Russian dance spins. Djimon Hounsou as Shola and Gemma Arterton as the plucky housekeeper-turned-spy have relatively little to do. Ralph Fiennes, as the dashing superhero Orlando Oxford, plays his character straight and plain. His stern and strict father performance cum deathly spy when need be, is conventional yet rousing. Compared to the earlier two editions of the franchise, this film is much more robust in terms of narration and tone. Despite being stylishly mounted, the first two editions were satirical and comical in their outlook, and this one seems like a historical epic. Like most origin stories, 'The King's Man', too, suffers from pacing issues. All the minor drawbacks, however, are compensated by marvellous production values, attention to historical details, and brilliantly choreographed action sequences. Overall, 'The King's Man' is an entertaining film that will appeal to history buffs. New Delhi, Jan 15 : An increase in China-India trade in 2021, which reached a record high surpassing $125 billion amid bilateral tensions, is just another piece of proof that New Delhi is unable to reduce its dependence on the Chinese market, Beijing's state media claimed. The total amount of trade between China and India in 2021 stood at $125.66 billion, up 43.3 per cent from 2020, said the Global Times report citing statistics released by the General Administration of Customs (GAC). Of which, China's exports to India were $97.52 billion, up 46.2 per cent, while China imported $28.14 billion worth of goods from India, up 34.2 per cent. Analysts attributed the surge in trade to the complementary aspects of the industrial chains of the two countries. For example, about 50-60 per cent of chemicals and other materials used by the Indian pharmaceutical industry, which is a pillar industry, are imported from China. India was China's 15th largest trade partner in 2021, the Global Times quoted the GAC as saying. "Analysts said that the boycott of Made-in-China products will not balance the trade deficit and that boosting India's exports to China is the right choice. Meanwhile, India should not exclude China when it seeks free trade agreements as China is already involved in international free trade mechanisms," the Global Times said. Total trade between China and countries that have signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) - 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand - expanded significantly in 2021. January 15 : A news was making the rounds on Twitter on Friday which suggested that Akshay Kumar would attend the Business Icon Awards 2022 in Lucknow on January 23. Netizens also slammed the actor for taking such a decision amid the pandemic. Taking to Twitter on Friday, the Sooryavanshi actor dismissed the rumours that he is visiting Lucknow for the event. The actor wrote, "As much as I would love to visit Lucknow soon, this news is absolutely untrue."" A Twitter user had written that Akshay will attend an award function in Lucknow. As much as I would love to visit Lucknow soon, this news is absolutely untrue. https://t.co/XfJ6yqo6U2 Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) January 14, 2022 While shootings of many films have been cancelled, some films are still on floors, but the producers of the film are adhering to strict measures keeping the current Covid-19 situation in mind. While the state governments are struggling to control the third wave of the pandemic, several states have issued new SOPs for movie theatres and shootings in the states. Several film releases have been pushed indefinitely, and Shahid Kapoor starrer Jersey was the first one to face the brunt. It was supposed to release in theatres on December 31, last year. The release of Prabhas and Pooja Hegde starrer love story Radhe Shyam was also postponed due to the rise in coronavirus cases in the country. The film was slated to release in theatres on January 14, 2022, coinciding with the festival of Sankranthi. After Delhi government ordered the closure of cinemas halls, more films like RRR and Prithviraj have also postponed their theatrical release dates. Six days prior to the release, the makers of SS Rajamoulis RRR starring Ram Charan, Jr NTR, Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn also decided to delay the film once again amid the surge in the coronavirus cases in the country. Ranveer Singh starrer 83 was the last major Bollywood film to be released in theatres last month before the third wave. The film has been significantly impacted by the Omicron scare. Meanwhile, on the work front, Akshay Kumar has a number of films in the pipeline. This year, the actor will be seen in the historical drama Prithviraj with Manushi Chhillar, action entertainer Bachchan Pandey with Kriti Sanon, and family drama Raksha Bandhan with Bhumi Pednekar. The actor also has Ram Setu, Cindrella, Gorkha, and OMG 2 in the pipeline. Recently, he has also announced a new film titled Selfiee along with Emraan Hashmi. Sharing a teaser on social media, he announce that shooting of the film will commence soon. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Canberra, Jan 15 : Australia's Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Paul Kelly on Saturday said he was optimistic that the country's Omicron Covid-19 wave was close to its peak. Kelly said there were "signs for hope" that the record-breaking wave that has accounted for more than 1 million cases since December 2021 has peaked, reports Xinhua news agency. "In terms of the actual of the Covid-19 pandemic, there are signs for hope," he told reporters in Canberra. "Now the actual forecasting based on actual numbers of cases, particularly in New South Wales but also in Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory, leads me to believe that we are close to the peak of this wave in terms of cases." Australia on Saturday reported more than 100,000 new Covid-19 cases and over 50 deaths, which increased the overall infections and fatalities to 1,632,958 and 2,627, respectively. Kelly on Saturday morning spoke alongside Health Minister Greg Hunt, who announced that Australia has reached a 95 per cent first dose vaccination rate among people aged 16 and older. "But we want to go further. We want to continue to encourage Australians to come forward," Hunt said. Approximately 92.5 per cent of people aged 16 and older have been fully vaccinated. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Baghdad, Jan 15 : Iraqi forces on Saturday thwarted an attack by three drones on an air base near Baghdad, the military said. The attack took place before dawn when the drones approached the southern perimeter of the Balad Air Base, some 90 km north of Baghdad, prompting the Iraqi forces to open fire, the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operation Command said in a statement. Balad Air Base houses the F-16 fighter jets and also a technical team from a US company, reports Xinhua news agency. The latest attack came is the latest in a series of recent drone and rocket attacks that targeted the Green Zone and Iraqi army bases. Imphal, Jan 15 : The Covid-19 cases in poll-bound Manipur have been rising with the positivity rate of the contagious virus increasing from 4.1 per cent to 7.1 per cent for the past five days, officials said on Saturday. Manipur Health and Family Welfare Department's Additional Director Khoirom Sasbeekumar Mangang said that the daily positivity rate of the Covid cases in Manipur has been fluctuating during the past one week. "During the holidays the positivity rate is little less and during the working days the Covid-19 positivity rate is increasing," Mangang, who is the spokesperson of the Health and Family Welfare Department, told IANS. A Manipur Covid Surveillance Officer, Somorjit Ningombam said that all the seven Omicron infected patients, recently found in Manipur, were discharged from the hospital after getting their report negative. On December 26, a 48-year-old man from Manipur, who had recently visited Tanzania, tested positive for Omicron, becoming the first case of the new Covid-19 variant in the entire northeast region. An analysis by the IANS of Manipur's National Health Mission (NHM) reports said that the daily positivity rate of 4.1 per cent on January 10 rose to 7.1 per cent on Friday night. The daily positivity rate increased to 8.6 per cent on January 12. According to the Manipur NHM reports, 57 fresh Covid-19 cases were reported on January 10 and as per the latest report on Friday night, 112 fresh cases registered from among the civilians excluding the security personnel. The NHM report said that 157 security personnel, mostly central armed force troopers, were tested for Covid-19 positive in between January 10 and January 14 night. The elections to the 60-member Manipur Assembly would be held in Manipur in two phases on February 27 and March 3. The counting of votes would take place on March 10. The Election Commission officials in Manipur said that the poll panel after meeting with the officials of the central and state government would decide if the ban imposed by it on public rallies and road shows should continue or to be modified. While announcing the poll schedule for Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur on January 8, the EC had announced an unprecedented step by prohibiting public rallies, road shows and physical campaigning programme till January 15 in view of rising Covid-19 cases. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) New Delhi, Jan 15 : 'Bigg Boss 11' contestant and actor Hiten Tejwani is quite overwhelmed to feature in a patriotic music video, 'Mera Pyara Hindustan', opposite actress Heena Varde. The song was released on Saturday to celebrate Army Day. Tejwani is seen as an Indian Army officer in his debut music video. The song was shot in Ahmedabad. Recounting his experience, Tejwani said he had always been looking forward to getting into the uniform of the Indian Army. "Ever since the song came my way, I was pretty sure I wanted to be a part of it," Tejwani said. "It has always been on my bucket list to portray an Indian soldier on screen. This song is close to my heart and I am sure that the audience will love it as well," he added. The actor went on to say that martyrs should not be remembered only on special days. "We are safe because the soldiers keep us safe throughout the year," he said. "This music video is my salute to all those Indian Army officers and men and their families who have selflessly contributed to safeguarding the lives of their Hindustani brothers and sisters," Tejwani added, Sung by Romy, composed by Kausar Jamot and directed by Mehul Agaj, the music video has been released on the official YouTube channel of the Affix Music Company. New Delhi, Jan 15 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday suggested a virtual catalogue of memories, persons and places associated with the Independence struggle in the 75th year of India's Independence. Referring to a presentation on the theme of 'Vocal for Local and Virtual Tourism' by an entrepreneur from Jaipur during the virtual interaction, Modi appealed to him and his friends, "Coinciding with the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, why not hold a virtual competition for schools and college students from across India?" "The students can compile anything, everything related to the Independence struggle from their district, their towns, some memorial, anything from the history into a virtual creative work. And Start Ups like yours can compile and present them," Modi said, adding, "Then you can invite the country to a virtual tour in the 75th year of Independence?" "You start thinking on these lines. I am sure we can take it forward," the Prime Minister assured. Earlier, the Start Ups had made presentation and shared ideas and inputs on a variety of sectors and areas including robust data collection mechanism in agriculture; making India preferred agri-business hub; boosting healthcare through use of technology; tackling issue of mental health; promoting travel and tourism through innovations like virtual tours; ed-tech and job identification; space sector; connecting offline retail market with digital commerce; increasing manufacturing efficiency; defence exports; promoting green sustainable products and sustainable means of transport, among others. New Delhi, Jan 15 : Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday called for strengthening the joint family system and the tradition of respecting elders, which are the core aspects of India's civilisational values. Naidu underlined the important role played by elders in a family in guiding and advising the younger members, and said, "the intergenerational bonding helps in protecting and promoting the value system". The vice president virtually interacted with the inmates of an elderly home at Swarna Bharat Trust in Nellore on the occasion of the Sankranti festival. He inquired about the inmates' well-being and the amenities available to them and complimented the staff and officials of the Trust for their initiatives. Reflecting on the importance of festivals in Indian culture, Naidu underlined that youth today should understand the significance of festivals like Sankranti in celebrating nature's bounties, bringing families together and ushering in peace and harmony in society. Makar Sakranti is the day that is considered as the transition day of Sun into Capricorn and is celebrated across India under different names like Pongal, Bihu, Sakrant. Besides, the festival is also celebrated in Bangladesh and Nepal. New Delhi, Jan 15 : Google manipulated the advertising marketplace before pocketing the money and giving it to publishers who gave the company preferred access, it has been claimed in a bombshell lawsuit, Daily Mail reported. The damning claims in a Texas lawsuit accuse the search giant of running a digital advertising monopoly that increased the cost to advertisers and harmed ad industry competitors and publishers, the report said. It has been met with fury in the media industry with one publisher calling the system 'utterly dishonest' and a 'betrayal' of advertisers including untold numbers of small businesses struggling through the pandemic. The firm began a secret program called Project Bernanke in 2013 which allegedly rigged the market by dropping the second-highest bids from publishers' advertising auctions, the report said. It used historical data from Google adverts to adjust its clients' bids for online advertising and boost their chances of winning auctions for impressions. That allegedly generated generating hundreds of millions of dollars for the company much of it from small business advertisers. The claims emerged in documents filed in Texas as part of an anti-trust lawsuit which accuses the company of running a monopoly in the digital advertising market. And the findings suggest Google is more dominant that previously thought, and it has maintained its dominance by deceiving publishers and manipulating auctions, the report said. Google is then said to have pooled money taken from this system before allocating it to publishers who gave the firm favoured access, including those who only used Google's ads. This allegedly gave Google and its bidders an unfair advantage and helped them win auctions they would have lost -- something that cost publishers up to 40 per cent of revenue, Daily Mail reported. The California-based firm is thought to have generated nearly 270 million pounds a year from Project Bernanke -- named after former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke for unknown reasons. One major publisher said: 'We suspected Google was running a rigged game but we never imagined they could be so utterly dishonest both to their publisher partners and their advertising clients. "It's a staggering breach of trust and business ethics and has cost publishers and advertisers including all the small mom and pop shops who have struggled through the pandemic, hundreds of millions of dollars," the report said. Use of drugs up, liquor consumption down in Kerala Image Source: IANS News Patna, Jan 15 : At least seven persons in Bihar's Nalanda district have died after allegedly consuming spurious liquor following which the authorities have initiated an action, officials said on Saturday. Nalanda District Magistrate Shashank Shubhankar has said a "combing operation" has started in the area around the Chhoti Pahari locality. Shubhankar said he and district Superintendent of Police, Ashok Mishra will lead the combing operation to check and find if any liquor manufacturing units are functioning in the region. Both Shubhankar and Mishra visited the Chhoti Pahari area on Saturday. "We have taken the statement of the victims' family members. Two of them have claimed that they were having other diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure etc. One of the victims' family claimed that the deceased individual often consumed liquor," Shubhankar said. "We have sent the bodies for post-mortem to ascertain the cause of the death," Shubhankar said. Meanwhile, the family members of the deceased individuals claimed that the deaths have happened due to the consumption of "poisonous liquor". Reacting to the deaths, Prem Ranjan Patel, the spokesperson of the BJP Bihar unit, said: "We have a long-standing demand to review the decision of liquor ban in the state. Liquor is not banned in Bihar. It is available everywhere as the liquor mafias are involved in this... and are supported by the officials in the police and excise department. They are responsible for the failure of liquor ban in Bihar. "The police and excise department only arrest poor people while the actual mafias are beyond the reach of enforcement agencies," he said. Chandigarh, Jan 15 : Facing allegations in connection with drugs money laundering and fake passport racket case, Sukhpal Singh Khaira is the Congress candidate from Bholath in the February 14 assembly polls in Punjab. Firebrand Khaira, whose name got cleared by the party high command in the first list comprising 86 candidates, had joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in December 2015 after resigning from the Congress and was elected from the Bholath assembly seat in Kapurthala in 2017. Khaira, who rose to fame by defeating Akali Dal leader Bibi Jagir Kaur, the first woman to be elected SGPC president, from Bholath in the 2007 assembly elections, had resigned from AAP citing the "dictatorial" attitude of party chief Arvind Kejriwal. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has already named Bibi Jagir Kaur as the party candidate from Bholath. Khaira joined the Congress along with two rebel AAP MLAs -- Jagdev Singh Kamalu and Pirmal Singh Khalsa -- just ahead of the assembly elections. In November last year, the Enforcement Directorate arrested him in connection with a money-laundering case linked to drugs trafficking. Earlier in March, the central probe agency had carried out searches at eight locations linked to Khaira in Chandigarh, and also at the property of his son-in-law in Delhi, in connection with the case. According to sources, the central probe agency has unearthed a Rs 3.5 crore money trail in this connection. However, Khaira, who started his political career as a panchayat member from Ramgarh village in Kapurthala in 1992, had denied any wrongdoing. His counsel had said the raid was conducted because Khaira had supported the ongoing farmers' agitation. In 2019, Khaira floated a new regional political outfit, the Punjabi Ekta Party, and vowed to give a clean alternative to the people of the state. Most parts of India-B'desh frontiers to be fenced by 2022 : BSF Image Source: IANS News Intruder to be handed over to Pak rangers by BSF. Image Source: IANS News Jammu, Jan 15 : One Pakistani intruder who had inadvertently crossed the international border into Samba sector of Jammu will be handed over to the Pakistani rangers, BSF said on Saturday. "One Pak national crossed over inadvertently to India on Balhad border today at about 1300 hrs. He came about 200 mtrs inside India. Our alert troops apprehended him," BSF said. "On preliminary questioning it is found that he crossed inadvertently. He will be handed over back to Pak Rangers on proper receipt through flag meeting after completing formalities." BSF said he belongs to border area of Shakargarh tehsil of Pakistan. On January 5, Sector Commander level meeting was held between Border Security Force (BSF) and Pak Rangers on International Border in Suchetgarh area in which the main emphasis was given by BSF delegation on the infiltration attempts of Pak based anti national elements and recovery of arms and ammunition and narcotics on international border and other issues related to border management. Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 15 : Finally, the detailed project report (DPR) of the controversial project of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has been released. On Saturday it was put out on the website of the Kerala Legislative Assembly, which the Congress led Opposition termed it as nothing but a hotch potch report prepared without any conviction. The DPR runs into 3,776 pages and is in four volumes. If completed the pet project of Vijayan will see a 529.45 km corridor connecting Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod and a high speed train will run this distance in around four hours and it will cost a staggering Rs 63,940 crore. Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan said it was just the other day the Chief Information Commissioner said that the DPR cannot be made public as it contains very secretive information. "Now what happened, where has the secrecy disappeared. This was released just because Anwar Sadath, our legislator two days back served a contempt notice against Vijayan, as in reply to a question in the assembly Vijayan had mentioned that all details including the DPR have been put out and given in a CD format. Such a thing had never happened and realising the contempt notice has meat, Vijayan released it on the website of the assembly. With this it has become very clear, with Vijayan caught on the wrong foot, it was released and there was nothing secretive in this," said Satheesan. Satheesan further added that the French company which prepared the DPR itself has gone on record that this DPR was prepared in a jiffy. Metroman, E. Sreedharan, the legendary engineer who has built numerous mega similar projects, has already termed this project "idiotic" which is ill-conceived, badly planned and very badly handled and now with the DPR out, all eyes are on what he has got to say.. A media critic on condition of anonymity said Vijayan feels that he can remain silent and take all for a ride and none should forget that just a few days back the Kerala High Court had slammed the way this project's land was being acquired and it has now stayed laying of alignment stones for the project. "Vijayan thinks now that he has left on Saturday for US for his treatment and will return only on 29th of this month, all the opposition to the project will die down when he returns. Just look Vijayan's strategy of late, is to keep away from the media and when issues concerned to the leaking Mullaperiyar dam, re-appointment of Kannur University vice-chancellor, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan relinquishing the post of Chancellor and a few others surfaced, he has ducked the media. If he thinks he will be able to go ahead like this, then he is mistaken as he will have to give answers, especially with the Kerala High Court keeping a tab on all controversial issues," said the critic. Mumbai, Jan 15 : Actress Meenakshi Dixit has shared her very special experience of working with two Telugu stars - Akkineni Nagarjuna and Ramya Krishnan in the film 'Bangarraju'. Sharing more details of her character in the Telugu supernatural drama, Meenakshi said, "I am a part of the heaven sequence shot in the film where I am playing a celestial body. It was my first experience and to achieve that look was challenging. The designer and the costume department worked hard on it. I am sure people will appreciate it." She added, "Working with superstar Nagarjuna sir was a stupendous experience as he is a thorough professional. His persona is magical and he showers his affection towards his co-actors. "I have some great memories of having these long conversations on the sets in between the shots. Ramya ma'am has a poise that's infectious, there is so much to learn from her while she delivers her shots." Directed by Kalyan Krishna Kurasala the film 'Bangarraju' was released in theatres on January 14. Mumbai, Jan 15 : Concerned over witnesses turning hostile in the Malegaon-2008 blasts case, the Maharashtra government lawyers shall now remain in the Special NIA Court where the trial is being conducted on a daily basis, Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil said here on Saturday. He told the media persons that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had taken over the case (from the state ATS), but the state government is perturbed at the manner in which several critical witnesses have become hostile in the Special Court. The significant development came two days after the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ally Congress had raised the issue and drawn the attention of the Home Ministry and the ATS. (IANS - January 13 report). Congress state Working President M. Arif Naseem Khan had submitted a memorandum to the Additional Director-General of Police and ATS chief Vineet Agrawal urging necessary measures to monitor the case closely. "We are thankful to Home Minister Walse-Patil for accepting our demand for a team to keep a track on the court proceedings," Khan said in a statement. New Delhi, Jan 15 : The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday extended the ban on the physical rallies and road shows till January 22, however, it has allowed the political parties to hold indoor meetings of maximum of 300 persons or 50 per cent of the capacity of the hall or the prescribed limit set by State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA). The decision came after the Election Commission held separate virtual meetings with the Union Health Secretary, Chief Secretaries and Health Secretaries of Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, as also the Chief Electoral Officers of these five poll bound states. The Commission has decided that there would be no road show, Pad-yatra, cycle, bike or vehicle rally, procession, physical rally of any political parties or candidates (including probable) or any other group related to election shall be allowed till January 22, and the Commission will subsequently review the situation and issue further instructions accordingly after the said date. Earlier after announcing the poll schedule, the EC had banned these activities till January 15. The political parties have been asked to ensure the compliance of COVID appropriate behaviour and guidelines and Model Code of Conduct (MCC) at all occasions during the activities connected with elections, the ECI said, adding that all remaining restrictions as contained in the Revised Broad Guidelines for Conduct of Elections, 2022 issued on January 8, 2022 shall continue to operate. All concerned State and District authorities shall ensure full compliance of these instructions. During the meeting, the Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra along with Election Commissioners Rajiv Kumar and Anup Chandra Pandey accompanied by Secretary General and concerned Deputy Election Commissioners held a comprehensive review of present status and projected trends of COVID pandemic with special focus in the five poll going states. Vaccination status and action plan for expeditiously completing vaccination for first, second and booster dose for eligible persons amongst Frontline workers and polling personnel was also reviewed. The Commission also discussed SDMA's restrictions and state specific extant guidelines regulating the norms of gathering of persons during the period of the pandemic. Chandigarh, Jan 15 : Famed, but controversial gun donning, the 28-year-old Punjabi rapper Sidhu Moosewala is the Congress' novice candidate from Mansa for the February 14 assembly polls. He's the party high command's choice despite sitting Congress legislator Nazar Singh Manshahia hinting rebellion for being ignored. The party on Saturday released its first list of 86 out of 117 candidates, including 58 sitting legislators. Also philanthropist and actor Sonu Sood's sister Malvaika Sood is the party's candidate from Moga. Just days ahead of announcing Moosewala's candidature, Mansa Youth Congress president Chuspinderbir Singh Chahal challenged Moosewala to undergo a dope test. At this, Moosewala, who has more than 10 crore followers, replied he has no time for such malicious allegations. Critics within the Congress were aghast over his candidature. They say on his Instagram account there are several posts where he is carrying guns. Moosewala, who is facing charges of promoting violence and gun culture in his song "Sanju", joined the Congress on December 3, 2021. During the induction ceremony, state party president Navjot Singh Sidhu described Moosewala as a youth icon. "Not only youngsters, people of all age groups like Moosewala. He has a unique style and is a youth icon," Sidhu said. Describing Moosewala as a "big artiste", Chief Minister Charanjit Channi said with his sheer hard work he has won the hearts of millions of people. After joining the party, Moosewala met Rahul Gandhi in Delhi. Moosewala, whose real name is Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, is known for his hit Punjabi tracks like 'Legend', 'Devil', 'Just listen', 'Jatt da Muqabala' and 'Hathyar', among many others. His name also featured in the Billboard Canadian Albums in 2018. "I am not entering politics for status or to earn praise. I want to become a part of the system to transform it. I am joining the Congress to raise the voice of the people. I am joining the Congress as the party has leaders who have come from common families," Moosewala had said on the day he joined politics. He said he is still living in the same house in his village. His father is an ex-serviceman and his mother is a sarpanch. "Residents of my area have expectations from me," he had added. From the Mansa seat, sitting legislator Manshahia was elected on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ticket with over 20,000 votes. In April 2019, he rebelled and joined the Congress. Since the joining of Moosewala into the Congress, elderly Manshahia has been saying that his family is a traditional supporter of the Congress and he's a better claimant for the seat. An insidious, and unseeable, force is out there, able to strike anyone to cause sickness, and in some cases, death. The only way to stay safe is to keep away from almost everyone else -- but that is easier said than done in our urban, inter-connected, and interdependent lives. There is widespread panic as rumours abound and the crisis brings out the best and worst in people. A description of our Covid-hit world? No, pandemics have hit us earlier too -- and are reflected in our literature. Pandemics/plagues have been regular occurrences across human existence -- at the rate of two or three per century, but their dispersal in time and space, their varying impacts, and limitations of memory lead them to be forgotten by future generations. The Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 may be beyond the frame of current human experience, but how many can recall the Asian influenza of 1957 or the swine flu of 2009? Works of literature, spanning from the author of the first modern best-seller to a Nobel Literature laureate and more, offer an insightful record of previous manifestations of life-changing epidemics. Let us see some half-a-dozen odd of these, avoiding speculative thrillers about man-made virulent organisms being set loose or the genre where everyone becomes a mutant/zombie, before answering the obvious question: Why should we want to read about something we are now experiencing first-hand with all its attendant sufferings and disruptions? Among the oldest is 14th-century Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio's 'The Decameron' (c. 1350-53), written as the lethal 'Black Death", which devastated Eurasia, was at its peak. The narrative framework of this collection of 100-odd stories is that ten wealthy young nobles of Florence -- seven women and three men -- leave the city for a secluded villa in the countryside for two weeks, where they spend all their time telling each other these tales. While the stories are usually of love -- romantic, tragic, and erotic, they also deal with the power of fortune, will, lust, ambition, and of clever repartees, and the characters include generous nobles, lecherous clergy, and travelling merchants. However, one effort to steal away from the disease that doesn't go too well can be found in Edgar Allan Poe's story 'The Masque of Red Death' (1845). First published as "'The Mask of Red Death' (1842), it tells how Prince Prospero, ruling over a plague-stricken realm, tries to avoid it by hiding in an abbey, with many other wealthy nobles, Not only that, they also hold a masquerade ball, but amid the revelry, there comes an unbidden guest, and eventually, "... Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all". But, the first account of living amid widespread disease is 'A Journal of the Plague Year: Being Observations or Memorials, Of the most Remarkable Occurrences, As well Publick as Private, which happened in London During the last Great Visitation In 1665' (that was how book titles ran in those days), by Daniel Defoe, known better for 'Robinson Crusoe'. Presented as an eyewitness account of an anonymous resident, who chooses to stay back in the city, the book published in 1722 gives a vivid description of the sufferings of the residents of London ("A casement violently opened just above my head, and a Woman gave three frightful screeches, then cried 'Oh! Death, death, death!'"), as the fatalities rise from week to week. It also analyses how certain groups or individuals fared, the effects on the Church and the government, enlivened with plenty of black humour, verging on the satiric. Organised chronologically, though without chapters and containing plenty of digressions, it is still systematic and well-researched, leading to literary scholars arguing down the ages whether to treat it as an authentic history or fiction. Mary Shelley, better known for 'Frankenstein', also ushered in the dystopian apocalyptic genre of science fiction with 'The Last Man' (1826). Set in the 21st century, it tells how a plague infects and decimates mankind, and how survivors try to will on to live, while fighting other hostile human settlements. But with its characters based on her late husband, the poet Shelley, whose biography she was forbidden to write by his family, and friends such as Lord Byron, it also bemoans the failure of their political ideals, as well as the tragedy of human isolation. While the first modern work on the issue is Jack 'Call of the Wild' London's 'The Scarlet Plague' (1912), set in 2073 -- some six decades after the eponymous plague has denuded the planet of most of its people and reduced the survivors to a rough existence, which shows how the clock of human progress can be turned back -- the definitive work is Albert Camus' 'La Peste/The Plague' (1947). Set in the then French Algerian town of Oran, it depicts an outbreak of plague, the resulting quarantine, and the response of the varied characters -- a doctor, a visiting journalist, a priest, a mysterious visitor, a civic official, and many others -- while giving insights into the nature of suffering and powerlessness of individuals to change their destiny in an absurd existence. At a deeper level, it can be seen as an allegory of the real-life political plague (Nazism) that affected Europe till two years before the publication of the book, but also on Camus' views about the human condition. There are many more, across genres. 'The Andromeda Strain' (1969), the first book by Michael Crichton under his own name, shows a group of American scientists dealing with a lethal extra-terrestrial micro-organism. Connie Willis in 'The Doomsday Book' (1992) brings together time travel and plague and epidemics in the past and the present. And Catherine Ryan Howard's '56 Days' (2021) shows how rather impetuous romantic choices, in the shadow of a pandemic, can have lethal consequences. But now, to answer why we should read books of this ilk. For one, fiction, for those not totally fixated on TV or web-streaming, offers a way of understanding the scope of the crisis, with stories helping to comprehend something that may seem too huge and frightening to process. Two, it shows that our ancestors also faced such crises, and how they tackled them. And finally, they provide reassurance that life continues, and it's up to us to do what we make of it with our choices. (Vikas Datta can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in) Hobart, Jan 15 : Continuing their domination in the series, Australia retained the upper hand on the second day of the fifth and final Ashes Test, despite England's late fightback, here on Saturday. England were bowled out for 188 in their first innings, conceding a lead of 115 runs, but they picked up three Australian wickets -- David Warner (0), Usman Khawaja (11), Marnus Labuschagne (5) in the third session to pull things back. Steven Smith (17 not out) and nightwatchman Scott Boland (3 not out) were at the crease as Australia finished Day 2 at 37-3 in their second innings, leading England by 152 runs. As many as 17 wickets fell in the day at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart as Australia and England wrestled for control. Australia didn't have a good start in their second innings as Stuart Broad sent back David Warner for his second duck in the ongoing Test. Chris Woakes and Mark Wood too got into the act, the former dismissing Marnus Labuschagne and the latter getting the better of Usman Khawaja with a snorter to leave Australia reeling at 37/3. Earlier, resuming the day at 241/6, Mark Wood gave England their first breakthrough of the day. The pacer bowled a short ball to dismiss Mitchell Starc (3), who top-edged the ball, giving a catch to Rory Burns at square leg. Australia skipper Cummins (2) was the next one to get out and it was again a short ball, which brought a wicket for Wood and England. Australia were eight down for 252 but Nathan Lyon played a counter-attacking knock to revive the hosts' innings. The Australian No 10 took on Wood's short-ball and pulled him away, in front of and behind square, for three sixes, quickly pushing the total to 280, when Chris Woakes removed Alex Carey (24). Lyon finished with 31 off 27 and added another 23 for the final wicket with Scott Boland (10 not out) to take Australia to 303 in their first innings. Starting the innings for England, the returning Rory Burns survived a probing first over from Mitchell Starc, with the Australians even not appealing for what Snicko showed was an edge. However, his luck ran out soon enough when he got run out. Crawley played a shot to the covers and called Burns for a quick single. Burns (0) was slow to respond and Marnus Labuschagne nailed a direct hit at the striker's end. Burns's opening partner Crawley (18) enjoyed a more positive start, playing three delectable drives to reach 18 off 20 before he was dismissed by Pat Cummins, leaving England in trouble. Thereafter, Dawid Malan and Joe Root didn't allow the hosts to take any more wickets before dinner. Resuming the second session from 34/2, Root and Malan began well. Malan was handed a reprieve when he edged a ball from Cameron Green that went unspotted by the fielding side. Soon, the boundaries also began flowing as Root picked up a couple off Boland while Malan hit a brace off Green. With runs flowing easily, Australian skipper Cummins was forced to bring Starc and himself into the attack. The left-arm pacer went for 13 in his first over but Cummins ended the 49-run stand by strangling Malan down the legside. After Malan's departure, Cummins got rid of his counterpart with a sharp nip-backer that caught Root on the back-foot and pinged him on the knee-roll for a straightforward LBW decision. England slid further when Ben Stokes played a Starc delivery towards backward point where Nathan Lyon took a stunning catch, leaving the visitors struggling at 85/5. Boland then returned to the attack and got Ollie Pope nicking to the wicket-keeper. Things would have been worse for the visitors had Australia held onto a couple of catches offered by Chris Woakes (36) soon after. Warner and Khawaja shelled the catches to give Woakes reprieves. He made that count to an extent, putting on a 42-run stand with debutant Sam Billings (29) and then adding another 30 runs with Mark Wood (16). Including Woakes, England lost their last three wickets in the space of six runs, conceding a heavy lead. Broad and Woakes then struck early with the ball to send back Warner and Labuschagne and give England a bit of hope. Brief scores: Australia 303 & 37/3 in 19 overs (Steven Smith 17 not out, Usman Khawaja 11; Mark Wood 1-9) vs England 188 (Chris Woakes 36, Joe Root 34; Pat Cummins 4-54, Mitchell Starc 3-53) lead by 152 runs. To jab or not? HCWs scepticism over safety, side-effects of Covid vax (File Photo: Kuntal Chakrabarty/IANS) Image Source: IANS News Chandigarh, Jan 15 : Unvaccinated students would not be allowed to attend the schools in the state when they reopen, Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij said on Saturday. "Children in the age group of 15 to 18 years will not be allowed to enter schools when they reopen. Parents are requested to get their wards vaccinated to ensure their protection from Covid," Vij said in a tweet. This week the government announced that all schools and colleges in the state will be closed till January 26 in view of the increasing cases of Covid-19. Education Minister Kanwar Pal said during this period, online teaching would continue in which schools and colleges would take necessary action by focusing on the preparation of the upcoming examinations. Patna, Jan 15 : The Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), a part of the NDA government in Bihar, has expressed concern over the bitter tussle going on between the Janata Dal (United) and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state. The party has said that the leaders of these two parties are not leaving any opportunity to score political points over each other on issues related to the liquor ban, caste based census, law and order situation or comparison of Samrat Ashoka with Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. "More importantly, the sour relations are a matter of great concern to smaller alliance partners like Hindustani Awam Morcha and VIP," the party said. Danish Rizwan, the chief spokesperson of the HAM said: "Such a practice is actually weakening the alliance that comes under NDA in Bihar. The small leaders and spokespersons are jumping the gun on every single issue to take the upper hand. They are working on the party line but not respecting the alliance pact." "More shockingly, the senior leaders of these two parties are not taking cognizance of the issue," Rizwan said. Abhishek Jha, the youngest spokesperson of the JD(U) targeted Sanjay Jaiswal, the state president of the BJP a few days ago, saying, "Sanjay Jaiswal is criticizing the liquor ban of Bihar. I want to ask him if it is his personal stand or is it a stand of his party? Sanjay Jaiswal should clarify it." Following that tweet, Sanjay Jaiswal had written a long blog on his Facebook page and said that he will go to console the family members of the deceased who were victims of spurious liquor in his home constituency West Champaran. "Consoling victims and giving financial help for the last rites is humanity and not politics. A person from Delhi is going with his family to Darjeeling to celebrate holidays and if he is mistakenly carrying a liquor bottle in his car and is caught by police, he will be put in jail, his car will be put on auction. What was his crime? He is not a criminal. Hence, we demand for the review of liquor ban law in Bihar," Jaiswal said in the Facebook post. Similarly, Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh and Upendra Kushwaha slammed the BJP after Padma Shri Awardee Daya Prakash Sinha compared Samrat Ashoka with Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. The two leaders of the JD(U) demanded that the BJP withdraw the Padma award from Sinha. Sinha on his Wikipedia page, maintained that he is a national convener of the BJP cultural wing. Jaiswal however lodged an FIR against Sinha for using the name of the BJP and comparing Samrat Ashoka with Aurangzeb. Similarly, JD(U) leaders targeted the BJP over the issue of a caste based census. New Delhi, Jan 15 : The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) said on Saturday that it will hit the ground again from February 1 by launching a 'Mission UP' movement if the government does not relent to their demands. Led by SKM leader Rakesh Tikait, a team of farmers would embark on a three-day tour of Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh from January 21 and meet the families of the victims of the October 4 violence. If things are not found to be satisfactory, Tikait and the SKM team will camp there and start the 'Mission UP' from February 1. "There has been no progress. No committee has been formed on Minimum Support Price (MSP). There is only some action on withdrawing cases against farmers in Haryana, but not much progress on that count in other states, including Delhi. There has been no discussion on our demand in connection with power bills," SKM leader Yudhveer Singh told a media conference. "That leaves us with no option but to launch Mission UP from February 1," Singh told the media in the presence of other SKM leaders, including Tikait, after a day-long meeting at the Singhu border campsite on the outskirts of Delhi. SKM, a consortium of 40-odd farmers' organisations, had on December 9 declared to suspend their 15-month-long agitation that had started to protest the three contentious farm laws passed in 2020. Lakhimpur Kheri was the place where on October 4 half-a-dozen people, including farmers and a journalist, were mowed down by a speeding vehicle, allegedly belonging to the son of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Ajay Mishra Teni. The farmers have demanded action against Teni and his son, but no step has been taken yet. The SKM also declared to extend support to the all-India strike by labour organisations on February 23 and 24 as their demands include MSP and also because the labour organisations had supported the farmers' agitation. Another important decision taken in the farmers' review meeting is that the SKM will continue to be an apolitical forum. "Those organisations that have declared to contest polls will not be part of SKM," Tikait said. Scores of organisations from Punjab that were part of SKM have declared to form political party/parties and contest polls in that state. The farmers' demand had included withdrawal of cases lodged against farmers during the course of the agitation and compensation to the families of martyred farmers during the same time. The SKM had declared to hold this review meeting to decide about the future course of action for the agitation that was suspended after the three farm laws were repealed in December first week. Wardha : , Jan 15 (IANS) The police have recovered one more skull of an infant, allegedly aborted at the Kadam Hospital in Arvi town, and raids were carried out at several places, officials said here on Saturday. The case, which has shaken the citizens' collective conscience, first came to light after the Wardha Police arrested a lady medico, Dr Rekha N. Kadam, a nurse, and two others following the secret abortion performed on a 13-year-old girl there on January 4. Interrogation of the accused and investigations led the police to discover a veritable 'grave-yard' of aborted foetuses or unwanted babies, found in the biogas plant of the hospital compound, stunning the people. (IANS - Jan 15). In the ongoing digging work by a team of police officials, another skull of an aborted infant has been recovered, taking the total recoveries to 12 skulls and 54 other bones, all unidentified, besides bloodstained clothes and other evidence. All the recoveries have been sent for forensic analysis to Nagpur, the reports of which are awaited, and further digging is being undertaken in the vicinity. Simultaneously, raids were carried out at the hospital and the home of the prime accused and police have seized several files, medical records and reports and other evidence. Police had also detained another relative of the prime accused (Dr Rekha Kadam) in connection with the probe, a lady senior citizen, but she suddenly took ill and was hospitalised. Investigators and locals say that the hospital had earned a dubious reputation for "all types of abortions" for nearly four decades and people came here from all over Wardha and adjoining districts. Prominent leaders including Shiv Sena's Kishore Tiwari - accorded a MoS status - and Pune-based 'Beti Bachao' proponent Dr Ganesh Rakh have demanded a "thorough probe" into the medical racket, preferably by a SIT, to unravel the true ramifications like female infanticide on the sly besides illegal abortion, and punish all those found guilty. As the probe progresses, the possible role or involvement of some persons in the local health department is expected to come under the scanner for their alleged lapses owing to which the illegalities thrived at the hospital for long, violating the provisions of the stringent Pre-Conception & Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDTA) Act, 1994. Mumbai, Jan 15 : Actor Mohit Raina and Siddhanth Kapoor, who are playing the two most important parts in the upcoming web series 'Bhaukaal 2', say that while it is the responsibility of the society to gift a dream to youngsters, choosing the right hero from a young age is one step towards halting criminal activities. The story of the show is set in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, and revolves around the journey of real-life IPS officer Navniet Sekera (at present an Additional Director General of Police in UP), who takes on the power-drunk Dedha brothers. Mohit told IANS: "I think one of the most important messages that we are trying to send out to the youth of our country is to choose their hero right, and find the right kind of aspiration, because that is the first step towards eradicating crime from the society, especially for youngsters who without realising what they are doing, get trapped in the world of crime. "Our show is based on real-life IPS officer Navniet Sekera. He also intended to do the same for the society. When you are a teenager, your upbringing and the people around you shape your mind. If you grow up watching people who are into drug abuse, power abuse and committing one crime after another, it impacts a young mind negatively. "The cycle of crime continues and youngsters, who with the right exposure could have become assets for our society, turn into criminals. It's like cancer in any society... we have to eradicate that mindset and expose youngsters to the brighter side of life...we have to gift them a dream." Siddhant, who plays a dark character in the show, added: "I think the very idea of different ideology and people can co-exist without anyone to be faced any discrimination is something missing from few sections of our society. From their school days, if children are given the right kind of exposure to make them understand how they can use their talent to live a happy life, where, instead of ruining a life, they actually can save one, it will change everything. "And really I am not giving any 'gyan', but I genuinely believe that life is so much more than brewing hatred in our head ... life is to live, life is to chill!" The 10-episode web series, directed by Jatin Wagle, also features Bidita Bag, Pradeep Nagar, Gulki Joshi, Ajay Chaudhary, Rashmi Rajput and the late Major Bikramjeet Kanwarpal. 'Bhaukaal 2' releases on MX Player on January 20. Mumbai, Jan 15 : Leading actor and Tamil Nadu politician Kamal Haasan is all set to produce a yet-to-be-titled film in association with Sony Pictures Films India (SPFI), the Indian arm of Sony Pictures International Productions. The film, which will mark the 51st production of Kamal Haasan's Raaj Kamal Films International (RKFI), and SPFI's debut foray into Tamil cinema, will star Sivakarthikeyan in the leading role, and will be written and directed by Rajkumar Periasamy. Kamal Haasan said: "The power of a well-told story is transformative, and this story will move, uplift and inspire the audience in many ways. I am very proud to be collaborating with Sony Pictures Films India, actor Sivakarthikeyan and director Rajkumar Periasamy to bring this compelling story to the big screen." Actor Sivakarthikeyan said: "It's a project filled with multiple emotions for me. Kamal Haasan sir is a master craftsman of Indian cinema. Infact, he's an international icon living amidst us. To work on a project in which this iconic legend is the producer, itself is a great feeling for me. Sony Pictures Films India is again a global brand who have their humongous success tag right there along their name." He added: "I'm very happy to be working with them. And all this has become possible today, only due to my friend, director Rajkumar Periasamy and his script. I firmly believe this project is going to be a very important film in my career. I'm personally very excited for this film and looking forward to the shoot." Director Rajkumar Periasamy said: "It's an absolute honour to make this film and tell this special story. I've always been an ardent admirer of Kamal Haasan sir since my childhood and my hero Sivakarthikeyan is a very close friend of mine. So, this project is especially dear to my heart already." Vivek Krishnani, Managing Director, Sony Pictures Films India, said: "We at SPFI are thrilled to be collaborating with the legend, Mr Kamal Haasan, and Raj Kamal Films International for our foray into Tamil cinema." He added: "We are very happy that this film will bring together the best creative team -- Rajkumar Periasamy, for his storytelling and direction, and the supremely talented and versatile Sivakarthikeyan -- which will surely create an unforgettable cinematic experience for the viewers." Meanwhile, RKFI's 50th production, 'Vikram', starring Kamal Haasan, Vijay Sethupathi and Fahadh Faasil, and directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, is scheduled for a summer release this year. Agra, Jan 15 : For the nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh's Agra district, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has dropped five sitting MLAs. A surprise candidate is Agra's former mayor Baby Rani Maurya who last year resigned as the governor of Uttarakhand, to play a more active part on the national scene. Some groups have criticised her candidature saying a former Governor should not have been fielded. Choudhary Babu Lal, a strong Jaat leader has replaced Choudhary Uday Bhan Singh from Fatehpur Sikri, while a recent defector Dharam Pal Singh replaces Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan, from Etmadpur. The BJP, as expected, has not bothered to appease the Dalits or the Muslims. The Agarwal community of Agra has criticised the BJP for not giving a single seat to the Agarwals whose population is estimated to be around 3 lakh in the district. At a meeting on Saturday afternoon in a hotel, half-a-dozen organisations representing the community announced to boycott and oppose the BJP in the coming elections. Their ire is particularly directed against sitting MLA Purushottam Khandelwal who has been given the ticket. Khandelwals constitute a small percentage of Agra's population. Agra north is considered a bastion of the Agarwal community. The Bahujan Samaj Party on Friday announced its candidates for the nine seats of Agra, called the Dalit capital of north India. The BJP won all the nine seats in 2017. Political pundits guesstimate a loss of at least two seats this time, but the BJP election machine is all buoyed up and hopes to steamroll all opposition as the campaign picks up momentum. The Opposition has questioned the BJP on its failure to clean up the Yamuna and build a barrage downstream of the Taj Mahal. Samajwadi Party leaders said the BJP has failed to fulfill its promise of a High Court bench in Agra, as per the recommendation of the Jaswant Singh Commission. For the BJP, the prime worry is a low turn-out of its voters due to the Covid-19 pandemic. "We have mobilised our party workers and geared up th e election machinery which will draw out all our voters. The mood is upbeat," said sitting MLA Purushottam Khandelwal. Kathmandu, Jan 15 : In the wake of the recent boundary issue with Nepal, the government of India has said that outstanding boundary issues with Nepal will be settled through the established mechanisms and channels. The Indian response on Saturday comes amid an outcry in Nepal against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent statement on the expansion of a road via Lipulekh, a territory Nepal has claimed as its own. Nepal's major political parties had expressed concern over Modi's statement and called on the Deuba government to respond to it, however the Deuba government has not made its position yet. While addressing an election rally, Modi on December 30 announced that his government had extended a road to Lipulekh and that there were more plans to extend it further. The Indian government is building a road via Lipulekh to Kailash Mansarovar in the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China. Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had inaugurated the road in the first week of May 2020, creating quite an uproar in Nepal. The Nepal government then on May 20, 2020 unveiled a new map incorporating Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh within the Nepali territory. The new map was endorsed by Parliament unanimously through a constitutional amendment. Almost all political parties in Nepal, including Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's own Nepali Congress, have been demanding that the government speak up on Modi's statement and make its position clear on Lipulekh. On Friday, the ruling Nepali Congress whose President is Deuba issued a statement. Gagan Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma, the two general secretaries of the Congress, jointly met with Prime Minister Deuba and urged him to send a diplomatic note to India protesting against Modi's statement. On Friday evening, both Thapa and Sharma issued a joint statement saying that Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura are integral parts of Nepal and that the Nepali Congress is clear about it. "India should return its army from Kalapani. The construction of the road is a serious issue and objectionable. This should be stopped immediately," the statement added. "The Government of India's position on the India-Nepal boundary is well known, consistent and unambiguous," the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said in a statement on Saturday. "It has been communicated to the Government of Nepal." The statement comes amid preparations by the Nepal government on making its position on Modi's remarks. India had taken umbrage at Nepal's move, calling the publication of the new map in May 2012 as "cartographic assertions". Nepal-India relations then hit a rock-bottom. Bilateral ties came back on track only at the end of last year. But Modi's remarks on Lipulekh once again created a commotion in Nepal. The main opposition CPN-UML criticised the Deuba administration for failing to respond to Modi's claim on Lipulekh. Even Deuba's coalition partners -- Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) and the CPN (Unified Socialist) -- called on the government to make a position. The Indian embassy has said the inter-governmental mechanisms and channels are appropriate for communication. "It is our view that the established inter-governmental mechanisms and channels are most appropriate for communication and dialogue," said the embassy. "Mutually agreed boundary issues that are outstanding can always be addressed in the spirit of our close and friendly bilateral relations." New Delhi, Jan 15 : The Supreme Court has issued a notice on a plea of a school teacher against a Madras High Court order, which upheld his conviction and sentence for sexual assault on his student, under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M.M. Sundresh said: "Applications for exemption from filing c/c of the impugned judgment and official translation are allowed. Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that the statement of the victim under Section 164 of CrPC is not substantive evidence but that alone has been used to convict the petitioner when all the witnesses have turned hostile." It added, "Issue notice on the Special Leave Petition as well as on the prayer for bail." The trial court had convicted the petitioner for the offences under POCSO Act and Section 506(i) of the IPC and sentenced him to seven years' imprisonment. The accused challenged the trial court order in the high court, which upheld his conviction and sentence in October last year. The prosecution had argued that the accused was a teacher in the victim's school. In 2019, it was alleged that the accused, during lunch break, took the victim to a deserted lane close to the school building and committed sexual assault. The accused had argued before the court that the victim's statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 cannot be considered as solid evidence to convict him. The high court noted that in this matter, the victim claimed the accused took her to a lane and committed the sexual assault, which was not penetrative. In October last year, the high court, in a separate matter, had reversed the acquittal of a school teacher in Puducherry, by a trial court, facing charges of sexually assaulting a minor student. The high court had sentenced the accused to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 10,000. "The victim, being a child, who was only about four years at the time of the incident, cannot speak about the occurrence in all the stages by parrot version. It cannot be expected from the victim that she should remember all the incidents and the acts of the accused," the high court had noted in this matter. New Delhi, Jan 15 : Three Army veterans have moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction to constitute a special investigating team (SIT) to probe the alleged hate speeches made at Haridwar and Delhi last month. The petitioners -- Major General S.G. Vombatkere, Colonel P.K. Nair and Major Priyadarshi Chowdhury -- cited the videos circulated on social media where blatant calls for genocide against minority communities were been made. The plea contended that one of the speeches specifically calls upon the police and the army to pick up arms against the minorities. Citing the Delhi event, the plea said that in the video of the event, a gentleman can be seen administering an oath to a group of people to "die for and kill" to make India a "Hindu Rashtra". "The seditious and divisive speeches violate not only the criminal law of the land, but also strike at the core of Article 19 of the Constitution of India. These speeches stained the secular fabric of the nation and also have serious potential to impact public order adversely," read the plea. The plea added, "It is a genuine concern that the unity, cohesiveness and morale of our men and women in the armed forces and the police forces will be seriously affected if such blatant calls for violence against one or the other community in our diverse and plural society are not acted against." The plea contended that hate speeches of such a blatantly unconstitutional and vile character have perhaps not been made so openly since pre-Independence India. "Without mincing words, the utterers of these hate speeches have abused their fundamental right to free speech and expression and used it to tear through the secular fabric of our country by threatening the life of fellow citizens of select communities. Far from being stray and isolated events, these speeches are a part of a series of similar speeches made in the past," read the plea. On January 12, the Supreme Court had sought a reply from the Centre and the Uttarakhand government on a petition -- filed by retired Patna High Court Judge Anjana Prakash and journalist Qurban Ali -- seeking an independent probe into the hate speech incident. Bengaluru, Jan 15 : The Haryana Steelers fought their hearts out but went down 25-28 against Dabang Delhi KC in Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 in Bengaluru on Saturday. The two sides played out a neck-and-neck contest until the Delhi side affected two crucial raids in the dying minutes of the match to pull off a thrilling victory. Dabang Delhi KC got off to a good start and took a 6-3 lead in the opening minutes of the match. However, Meetu pulled off a fantastic raid in the 6th minute and moments later, the Steelers affected a great tackle and got close to Delhi's score. But, the Delhi team carried out a tackle and a raid in the 11th minute and stayed in the lead at 9-6. The Haryana side made a brilliant tackle in the 13th minute and stayed in the contest. The Steelers pulled off a great tackle in the 15th minute, but the Delhi side still held the lead at 10-8. The two sides played out an even contest in the last few minutes of the first half and none of the teams could run away with the match. In the 20th minute, the Steelers pulled off a tackle and levelled the scores at 11-11. Delhi attained the momentum in the opening minutes of the second half and took the lead at 14-12. However, the Steelers carried out a fantastic tackle in the 26th minute and levelled the scores at 15-15. Moments later, Vinay effected a raid as the Steelers took the lead at 16-15. The two teams continued to play out a neck-to-neck contest as the two teams were locked at 18-18 in the 33rd minute. Delhi took the lead at 20-18, but Ashish pulled off a brilliant raid as the Steelers levelled the scores once again. The Haryana side pulled off a fantastic tackle and regained the lead at 22-21 in the 36th minute. Moments later, Kandola pulled off a top-quality raid and handed his team a two-point lead at 23-21. However, the Delhi side fought back and levelled the scores at 23-23. Dabang Delhi KC pulled off a Super Raid in the dying minutes of the match and closed out the victory at 28-25. Hyderabad, Jan 15 : The dreaded manja thread used for kite-flying claimed the life of a man in Telangana's Mancherial district on Saturday. The manja thread cut the throat of the man who was riding a motorcycle with his wife riding pillion. A profusely bleeding Bheemaiah died on the spot. Tragedy struck the couple on Mancherial highway during Sankranti festival. Manja thread got wrapped around Bheemaiah's neck, cutting his throat. The couple fell from the bike. Bheemaiah died on the spot while his wife sustained injuries. On receiving the information, police rushed to the spot and shifted the body for autopsy. Police registered a case and took up investigation. The incident highlights how use of manja or nylon/synthetic thread for kite flying is continuing unabated despite the ban by authorities. The forest department claimed to have taken various measures to implement the ban on use of manja in Kite flying during Sankranti festival. The department constituted mobile squads to check sale and purchase of manja also called Chinese manja. The department is mainly focusing on twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad and surroundings where many people, especially youngsters take to kite flying during Sankranti festival. Similar mobile parties have been formed in the districts by the concerned district forest officers to implement the ban orders. The state government had issued orders in 2016 imposing total ban on manja to save birds as well as for the safety of humans. The environment, forests, science and technology department had issued orders imposing a ban on procuring, stocking, sale and use of manja. The action was taken as use of manja is causing grievous injury to human beings and birds and causing problems for transmission lines and other communication devices and traffic movement. Such material is also causing adverse effects on soil, waterways due to its non biodegradable. The National Green Tribunal on July 11, 2017, imposed a total ban on use of nylon/ synthetic thread in kite flying during Sankranti all over the country. Hyderabad, Jan 15 : Telangana Industry and Commerce Minister K.T. Rama Rao as invite to Tesla CEO Elon Musk to set up shop in the state was hailed by many including actors, leading journalists, entrepreneurs and others. Hours after KTR, as the minister is popularly known, invited Elon Musk to bring the popular electric vehicles to India, several Twitter users heaped praise on him. "Hey Elon, I am the Industry & Commerce Minister of Telangana state in India. Will be happy to partner Tesla in working through the challenges to set shop in India/Telangana. Our state is a champion in sustainability initiatives & a top notch business destination in India," tweeted KTR. His tweet was in response to Elon Musk's tweet on bringing EV to India. His tweet read "Still working through a lot of challenges with the government". Eminent personalities including actors, journalists and industry leaders backed KTR's tweet and supported the idea. "Love this car so much Elon Musk. Feels like hope is around the corner," wrote actor Genelia Deshmukh. "Elon Musk, Come to Hyderabad - India! It will be epic to have you. The Government here in Telangana is terrific too," tweeted actor Vijay Devarakonda. "Elon Musk sir you have best land & infrastructure in Telangana of course best Minister & Administration KTR," said Tollywood director Meher Ramesh. Another film director Gopichand Malineni tweeted "Dear Elon Musk, we would love to have Tesla in Telangana... as we have the best infrastructure and the leading business hub of India." "Hyderabad has just pipped Bengaluru to post in #Tesla race. Full marks to KTR for inviting Elon Musk," said well-known journalist Pankaj Panchauri. Senior journalist Vikram Chandra called it an innovative invite. "An innovative Twitter invite to Elon Musk from KTR after the Tesla head said he was facing "challenges" in dealing with the government. Are we going to see a Tesla factory in Telangana?!" Mumbai, Jan 15 : After the success of his first rap song 'Kheench Te Nach' from 'Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui', Brijesh Shandilya is all set to release 'Toota Dil', a romantic song about a soldier and his beloved, by the end of the month. It will be the first time that Shandilya will feature in a music video. About his new song, Shandilya said: "We had made this song approximately a month ago. Singing a sad romantic song is a completely new experience for me. I have been used to singing party songs and peppy numbers that make people dance." He said he has sung sad romantic songs only during jamming sessions or in private parties, but he has never released such a song commercially. "So my fans and audiences don't know that I even sing sad romantic songs," he added. But why a romantic song about a soldier? "We always associate soldiers with hardships on the borders or with wars, but they too have a romantic life," Shandilya pointed out. "This song is about a soldier and his love story, and how, on his return home, he and his wife have a misunderstanding between them." Mumbai, Jan 15 : Maharashtra experienced a slight lull in new Covid-19 and Omicron cases on Saturday though deaths again increased, health officials said here. After a record high of 46,723 (January 12), the number of daily Covid infectees fell for the second day, from 43,211 on Friday to 42,462 on Saturday. However, the fatalities increased from 19 a day earlier to 23 on Saturday, and the mortality rate fell from 1.98 per cent to 1.97 per cent. After notching a peak of 238 Omicron cases on January 14 the state infections of the variant went down to 125 for the day, sparking concerns among the health authorities. The government is continuing the intensive surveillance of passengers arriving at the three international airports -- Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur -- since December 1. A total of 281,459 travellers have landed here, including 43,106 from the "high risk" countries from where 531 have tested positive and another 604 from other countries, with all their reports sent for genomic sequencing to confirm if they are afflicted by Omicron. Another staggering 4,792 positive samples from field surveys conducted since November 1 have been sent for genomic sequencing with the results of 71 are awaited, the officials said. Omicron has spread extensively across several districts in the state, and out of the 1,730 cases till date, 879 have recovered. Pune district led the state with 693 cases of the variant, followed by 653 in Mumbai, 100 in Thane, 90 in Nagpur, 59 in Sangli, 19 in Kolhapur. 18 each in Raigad and Amravati, 14 in Satara, 11 each in Osmanabad and Akola, 6 each in Palghar and Buldhana, 5 in Aurangabad, 4 in Ahmednagar, 3 each in Nanded, Nashik, Jalna, Gondiya and Latur, 2 each in Solapur, Gadchiroli and Nandurbar, and 1 each in Jalna and Wardha. Of the 42,462 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, Mumbai Metropolitan Region alone accounted for 20,924 infections, while Mumbai city remained at a high, with 10,661 fresh cases. The next is Pune Circle's 11,519 infectees, Nashik Circle 2,917, Nagpur Circle 3,021, Kolhapur Circle 1,388, Latur Circle 1,093, Aurangabad Circle 867 and Akola Circle's 733. The number of people sent to home quarantine shot up hugely - from 19,10,361 on Friday to 22,00,108 now, and another 6,102 have been shunted to institutional quarantine. Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Raigad and Palghar remain at the top with the highest number of 'active cases' currently in the state, with the afflictions shooting up from 261,658 a day before to 264,441 on Saturday, with the recovery rate remaining steady at 94.28 per cent. The state's cumulative figures of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic in March 2020 now stands at 71,70,483 cases and 141,779 deaths, while a total of 67,60,514 patients have fully recovered till date. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Imphal, Jan 15 : Ace athlete Saikhom Mirabai Chanu, who won the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics in Women's 49 kg category in weightlifting in July last year, on Saturday joined as the Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) in Manipur police. Chanu's father Saikhom Kriti Meitei and mother Saikhom Tombi accompanied her when she took charge of the new assignment with in the official uniform. The Manipur government had earlier appointed her as ASP (Sports) after her performance at the Olympics. The 27-years-old Olympian after taking the charge of ASP (Sports) made a courtesy call to Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, who earlier gave her a reward of Rs 1 crore. "Our Nation's pride, Olympian Silver medalist, Mirabai Chanu has taken charge as the Additional Superintendent of Police (Sports), Manipur Police and called on me at my office today," Singh tweeted. She also expressed her happiness after joining as the ASP (Sports). "It is an honour to have joined the Manipur Police as the Additional Superintendent of Police (Sports). I would like to thank the state of Manipur and our Chief Minister N. Biren Singh Sir, for giving me this opportunity to serve the country and its citizens," she tweeted. Tagging the photographs of her parents, Mirabai in another tweet said: "Proud moment for me and my parents who have supported me in every step of my journey as I join office with the Manipur Police as the Additional Superintendent of Police (Sports). Thank you mom and dad for your sacrifices, I feel happy to make you both proud." Bengaluru, Jan 15 : Karnataka has effectively leveraged technology in the Covid battle and about 2.5 lakh healthcare and frontline staff have been trained through online platforms so far, Health and Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar said on Saturday, adding "this is a model to the entire country". Sudhakar inaugurated the virtual training programme being conducted in association with StepOne for about 10,000 medical, dental and Ayush students to train them in home isolation care and addressed the students. During the first wave, it was necessary to provide training to healthcare workers about the new virus, the minister said. "But due to lockdown and other reasons when it was not feasible to conduct physical training we trained about 2.5 lakh healthcare and front line staff though online with the help of RGUHS. Even Central government had appreciated Karnataka's efforts to leverage technology," he said. StepOne has partnered with state govt in mobilising volunteers and doctors and training them in tele-triaging. This has led to effective home isolation care in Karnataka. "Even Niti Aayog has appreciated the home isolation process in Karnataka and the technology deployed for it. Medical students, doctors and faculty of medical colleges have played a great role in home isolation management," said Sudhakar. "We have a process to regularly monitor the health of those under home isolation. We are utilising the services of about 10,000 medical, dental and Ayush students. About 500 experts are supporting the system. During the second wave about 1.33 crore tele-consultations were done including 42.57 lakh doctor consultations. About 36,000 people were provided mental health counseling," he said. Several people seek hospitalisation due to panic, even if they are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic. "If proper counselling is provided though phone, we can reduce unnecessary burden on our health infrastructure," he said. Guwahati, Jan 16 : Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who earlier urged everyone including BJP leaders to move away from the Personal Security Officer culture and also drastically cut his security strength, on Saturday publicly reprimanded the Deputy Commissioner of Nagaon district for blocking the traffic on highway during his visit and directed not to repeat the same during the chief minister's movement. The Chief Minister on his way to an official function suddenly stopped his convoy and alighted from his car at Gumothagaon on National Highway-37 and said: "DC sahab yeh kya natak hai ? Gari kyun rukwaya hai. Koi raja maharaja jaa raha hai kya? Aisa mat karo again. Logo ko kasht ho raha hai. Gari jane do (What is this drama? Why the vehicles have been stopped? Is a king passing through here? This should not happen again. People are suffering a let. Let the vehicles go)." After the Chief Minister's intervention many stranded vehicles including several passenger buses had started moving. Later, Sarma tweeted: "In our state we want to create a culture where DC, SP or any govt servant/public rep-irrespective of background,intellectual capacity or popularity will work only for the people Changing babu mindset is a tough, but we are determined to achieve our goal-Janta hi Janardhan." Sarma had earlier announced to cut down his convoy from a fleet of 22 vehicles to seven to eight while moving in Guwahati. The Assam cabinet in a recent meeting, chaired by Chief Minister, also decided that PSO would be deployed based on core security review and constitutional post. "Over 4,240 PSOs are now being posted with the politicians, in-service and retired officials, businessmen, surrendered militants, tea estate owners and others. Annually, Assam spends Rs 400 crore for the PSOs. This cannot continue," Sarma had said. New Delhi, Jan 16 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that the annual event 'Pariksha Pe Charcha' gives him an opportunity to connect with the dynamic youth of the country. "Personally, 'Pariksha Pe Charcha' is a fantastic learning experience. I get the opportunity to connect with our dynamic youth, understand their challenges and aspirations better," the Prime Minister said in a tweet. 'Pariksha Pe Charcha' is an event where the Prime Minister responds to queries related to examination stress and other related issues during a live programme. The Prime Minister further said that it also gives him the opportunity to discover the emerging trends in the world of education. The first edition of the Prime Minister's interaction programme with school and college students was held at the Talkatora Stadium in Delhi on February 16, 2018. The registration process of the fifth edition of Prime Minister's interaction programme with school students, teachers and parents is currently online and will end on January 20. "Exams are approaching and so is 'Pariksha Pe Charcha 2022'. Let's talk stress-free exams and once again support our brave #ExamWarriors, their parents and teachers. I urge you all to register for this year's #PPC2022," Modi tweeted. New Delhi, Jan 16 : India Meteorological Department (IMD) is looking at conducting a pilot project in 2023 for using drones for weather observations across India. Ever since the Ministry of Civil Aviation notified the liberalised Drone Rules, 2021, in August last year, there have been talks of the immense potential that using drones will have for multiple applications. Although this included talks about observational forecasting by the IMD, it was the Minister for State for Earth Sciences, Jitendra Singh, while speaking at the 147th Foundation Day event of the IMD on Friday, brought the issue to the forefront. He had said that his Ministry will deploy and use drone-based observation technology in a big way for strengthening the localised forecasting, besides adopting the high-resolution models. IMD Director General, Mrutyunjay Mahapatra told IANS: "It is still at a very initial state. We are looking at a pilot study in about a year." The IMD releases 63 balloons everyday uniformly distributed across India. Those reach up to an altitude of four to five km but the equipment that goes with it is lost. "Instead, with drones that can go up to six km vertically, our equipment can be reused," Mohapatra said. Experts welcomed it as a positive development but were also wary of its limitations in terms of endurance and payload but most of them were welcoming of the development as something for which the time is right. Former IMD Director General, K.J. Ramesh pointed out how the US and Israel are already extensively using drones and said that for India, drones can be useful in remote areas such as Ladakh or coastal areas. "Drones of three to four hours of endurance (having) horizontal radial scan range of 40-50 km and vertical range of 4-5 km capability that the Defence Research and Development Organisation developed and are being operated by Indian Navy in naval yards or by the Army in hilly regions will have to be used with meteorological instruments payload," Ramesh said. Terming it as a new vista for technology around the unmanned aerial vehicle to play a significant role in weather data management, Nilamadhab Prusty, Mentor Director, Strategy Centre at the Centre for Development and Disaster Management Support Services, said, "Instrumented drone can perform this role. It can help forecast the air pollution menace." New York, Jan 16 : The number of coronavirus infections among immigrants detained at US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centres has surged by 520 per cent since the start of 2022. On Thursday, 1,766 immigrants were being monitored or isolated at ICE detention facilities due to confirmed coronavirus infections, a more than six-fold jump from January 3, when there were 285 active cases, CBS News reported, citing government statistics. The number of detainees with active Covid-19 cases represents 8 per cent of the 22,000 immigrants ICE is currently holding in its network of 200 detention centres, county jails and for-profit prisons, according to the report. Since the outset of the pandemic, more than 32,000 immigrants have tested positive for the coronavirus while in ICE custody, and ICE has so far reported 11 coronavirus-related deaths of detainees, it added. The recent surge in Covid-19 cases at ICE detention sites came amid the rapid nationwide spread of the Omicron variant, which has been found to be more transmissible than other strains of the virus, Xinhua news agency reported. An anonymous senior ICE official defended the agency's pandemic response, noting that it expected an increase in infections due to the Omicron variant, and requires immigrants to undergo testing and a 14-day quarantine upon entering a detention facility. In a statement released on Friday, ICE said the coronavirus positivity rate in some of its detention facilities "is lower -- in some spots significantly lower -- than the local community because of the stringent testing and quarantine protocols in place." Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Kampala, Jan 16 : Four school children have died in a fire outbreak in the Ugandan capital Kampala, Police has said. Luke Oweyesigyire, Police Spokesperson for the Kampala Metropolitan area, on Saturday told Xinhua that the fire started at around 3 a.m. on Saturday from one of the female students' dormitories at New Crest Junior at Kibedi Day and Boarding Primary School in Kawempe division, a Kampala suburb. "Four of the female students have been confirmed dead while three are seriously injured and rushed to Kyadondo hospital located in Kisowera zone," Oweyesigyire said, noting that investigations have started into the cause of the fire. He added that the owners of the school failed to alert the police after the fire outbreak, which was an act of gross negligence that caused death and injuries, Xinhua news agency reported. "I was sleeping when our teachers came into our dormitory and told us to get out of the dormitory and converge in the compound. Our teachers started to pour water in the dormitory as I saw them pulling out students who were dizzy now," Ibrahim Ssegawa, a primary three student, told Xinhua. Several parents rushed to the scene to collect their children that survived, although police and school authorities blocked them from accessing the place. Mansul Ssentongo, a parent at the school, said he lost his daughter, Husna Nakawuki, a primary three student in the inferno. "I brought my daughter on Monday after the opening of the school. I got a telephone call in the morning from school directors, saying that my daughter had died in the fire outbreak. I am stuck here at the gate of the school because I am not allowed to access the scene," Ssentongo told Xinhua. Schools in Uganda reopened on January 10 after close to two years of partial or full closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic. School fires are common in Ugandan schools although most of them are not fatal. The last fire was in 2018 when at least nine students were killed in a fire that broke out at a high school in central Uganda. Before the 2018 incident, another fatal school fire happened in 2008, killing 19 students at Budo Junior School in the Wakiso district in the central region. Timbunke Airport, Timbunke, Papua New Guinea [ TBE / ] If you are planning to travel to Timbunke or any other city in Papua New Guinea, this airport locator will be a very useful tool. This page gives complete information about the Timbunke Airport along with the airport location map, Time Zone, lattitude and longitude, Current time and date, hotels near the airport etc... Timbunke Airport Map showing the location of this airport in Papua New Guinea. Timbunke Airport IATA Code, ICAO Code, exchange rate etc... is also provided. Timbunke Airport Info: Timbunke Airport IATA Code: TBE Timbunke Airport ICAO Code: Latitude : -4.19566 Longitude : 143.519 City : Timbunke Country : Papua New Guinea World Area Code : 804 Airport Type : Small Timbunke Airport Address / Contact Details : Timbunke (TBE), Papua New Guinea Timezone : Pacific/Port_Moresby Timbunke Airport Timezone : GMT +10:00 hours Current time and date at Timbunke Airport is 03:31:42 AM (+10) on Wednesday, May 4, 2022 Looking for information on Timbunke Airport, Timbunke, Papua New Guinea? Know about Timbunke Airport in detail. Find out the location of Timbunke Airport on Papua New Guinea map and also find out airports near to Timbunke. This airport locator is a very useful tool for travelers to know where is Timbunke Airport located and also provide information like hotels near Timbunke Airport, airlines operating to Timbunke Airport etc... IATA Code and ICAO Code of all airports in Papua New Guinea. Scroll down to know more about Timbunke Airport or Timbunke Airport, Papua New Guinea. Timbunke Airport Map - Location of Timbunke Airport Load Map Papua New Guinea - General Information Country Formal Name Independent State of Papua New Guinea Country Code PG Capital Port Moresby Currency Kina (PGK) 1 PGK = 0.282 USD 1 USD = 3.552 PGK 1 PGK = 0.267 EUR 1 EUR = 3.744 PGK More PGK convertion rates Tel Code +675 Top Level Domain .pg This page provides all the information you need to know about Timbunke Airport, Papua New Guinea. This page is created with the aim of helping travelers and tourists visiting Papua New Guinea or traveling to Timbunke Airport. Details about Timbunke Airport given here include Timbunke Airport Code - IATA Code (3 letter airport codes) and ICAO Code (4 letter airport codes) Coordinates of Timbunke Airport - Latitude and Longitude (Lat and Long) of Timbunke Airport Location of Timbunke Airport - City Name, Country, Country Codes etc... Timbunke Airport Time Zone and Current time at Timbunke Airport Address and contact details of Timbunke Airport along with website address of the airport Clickable Location Map of Timbunke Airport on Google Map. General information about Papua New Guinea where Timbunke Airport is located in the city of Timbunke. General information include capital of Papua New Guinea, currency and conversion rate of Papua New Guinea currency, Telephone Country code, exchange rate against US Dollar and Euro in case of major world currencies etc... TBE - Timbunke Airport IATA Code Budding musicians all around the world are eager to find learning opportunities that can guarantee their entry into the music industry. One place that some of the renowned artists found for themselves almost twenty years ago is The Young Musician Music Institute in Abu Dhabi that offers performance-based musical training certifications. Affiliated with the acclaimed Trinity College of London, The Young Musicians is Abu Dhabis one of the most popular music schools. It has trained and mentored hundreds of students over the years, some of whom have embarked upon successful musical careers worldwide. We believe that performance-based music certification allows the students to polish their skills with hands-on experience of what its like to be an artist. 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The school is affiliated with Trinity College London and has earned a reputation for its practical and performance-based training approach. Contact Locations: G11, Ground Floor, Raha Mall, Abu Dhabi S255, First Floor, Wahda Mall, Abu Dhabi Phone: +971 2 5562080 / 6783550 Email: ym@tymmi.com Website: https://www.tymmi.com/ 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV To help drivers learn more about the new 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV, Carl Black Kennesaw has added information and details regarding the new all-electric pickup truck to its website. The world has been patiently waiting for the release date of the new 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV pickup truck and the wait is finally over. Chevrolet has recently announced when the new 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV pickup truck will be available and along with it, a lot of information about the new all-electric truck. 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Nexla (http://www.nexla.com) announced today that in order to keep its employees and customers safe from the Omicron variant, it will withdraw from participation in the annual National Retail Federation (NRF) Retails Big Show happening January 16-18 in New York City. The NRF is a highly respected retail industry organization and its annual conference is the premier event of the year for leading retailers across the U.S. and globally. The NRF conference has attracted the nations leading retailers (Target, Best Buy, Lowes) and hosted up to 40,000 participants annually prior to the pandemic. With the pandemic spiking participation is expected to fall by nearly 80% to as low as 8,000 attendees. Nexlas CEO Saket Saurabh, formerly of Nvidia, asserts that this withdrawal does not necessarily symbolize more severe turmoil for the already buckling retail sector but an opportunity for much needed radical innovation in the space. Nexla is a Gartner 2021 Cool Vendor award recipient and its customers include Bed, Bath & Beyond, Poshmark, LinkedIn, Freshworks, and Instacart. The company helps retailers integrate, transform, and monitor all of their data (inventory, orders, shipment, delivery, and more) from one single, seamless, unified platform in real time. Nexla helps retailers reduce risks and bottlenecks in order fulfillment, inventory management, and shipping and maximize revenue. 2022 is set to become the biggest retail year in history. But not in the way we expect it, says Saurabh. Here are his insights: NO MORE AMAZON FEARS The days of worrying about Amazon as a dominant competitor are over. In fact, many retailers in 2022 today can assemble comparable types of plug-and-play order fulfillment, AI, delivery, and analytics technologies around their business that Amazon has and offer the same exceptional customer service experience as the Internet behemoth. In short, retailers dont have to be experts in everything anymore. RADICALLY FAST PROGRESS Retail companies made more dramatic progress in two years 2020 and 2021 than they did over the past 20 years. 2022 is positioned to become one of the most innovative years ever. While key retail technologies we see now were available years ago (e.g. real time data and AI, same day delivery, and more), few companies actually adopted it until they absolutely had to during the pandemic. METAVERSE ADOPTION Because of Covid, the in-person shopping and discovery experiences we enjoy were hampered. In 2022, the lure of creating a hyper-personalized shopping experience in the metaverse for customers will become a megatrend that all retailers will start to adopt to build trust, excitement, and community with their customers. The pandemic has pushed retailers past the technological point of no returnand is changing business forever, says Saurabh. As retailers continue to navigate the effects of the pandemic, including hesitant consumers, supply chain and talent shortage woes, they are under increased pressure to expedite their digital transformations and improve their data governance frameworks. About Nexla Nexla is a data operations platform that helps teams create scalable, repeatable, and predictable data flows for any data use case. Nexlas customers include LinkedIn, Poshmark, Instacart, and Freshworks. Analysts, business users, and data engineers across any sector including e-commerce, insurance, travel, and healthcare can use Nexla to integrate, automate and monitor their incoming and outgoing data flows. The end result is predictable and reliable data access inside and outside the organization. To learn more, visit https://www.nexla.com Premier Mortgage Resources, LLC is proud to announce that all employees, including its loan officers, now own stock in the company. This is thanks to its new Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). As the company grows, the value of each employees stock grows with it. The success of our company is based on the incredible talent of our employees, and I wanted to make sure they understand that even more by allowing each and every one of them to own stock in what they have helped build, said Cory Swain, President and CEO of Premier Mortgage Resources, LLC. If you join our company, you are part of our family, which means we want to do everything we can do take care of you and your family. The stock shares are driven by higher volume/more production and reduced expenses and improved profit. No personal employee money is invested in the ESOP program, and they become a participant automatically by meeting certain employment requirements: The two annual calendar entry dates; and Must be over 21 years of age; and Must have worked more than 1,000 hours. Every year an employee is with Premier Mortgage Resources, LLC, they have more shares allocated. We are starting 2022 the right way, by putting our people first because they are the ones delivering the dream of home ownership to people across the country, Swain said. Additionally, Premier Mortgage Resources, LLC, now offers a match to their 401k retirement plan. To learn more about becoming a part of the Premier Mortgage Resources, LLC, team click here: https://pmrloans.com/join-pmr/ About Premier Mortgage Resources, LLC Premier Mortgage Resources, LLC has been helping customers achieve the dream of homeownership since 2005, and is staffed by nearly 200 loan officers. Premier Mortgage Resources, LLC offers a full menu of mortgage products, and is an approved Fannie and Freddie seller servicer and direct lender for FHA, VA and USDA. Premier Mortgage Resources, LLC also provides numerous portfolio products to better serve their customers. In addition, they have a full reverse Mortgage Banking division as well as many delegated Jumbo outlets. For more information, visit pmrloans.com. The unbanked sections of humanity whom the centralized governance has failed or deliberately excluded can now become a part of a powerful and dynamic financial and technological ecosystem. Blockchain pioneer and PayBito Chief, Raj Chowdhury, in an online session spoke to a group of college students in Zimbabwe introducing them to the possibilities of blockchain technology. In an event arranged by a local non-profit to raise technological awareness among college-going students, Chowdhury engaged with the students in an interactive session. He encouraged and answered questions related to the parallel currency system which reserves the potential to redress historical failures. As far back in time as we might travel, he explained, appalling portions of wealth in currency and exchange have been controlled by central banks, ensuring they exercised strict control over the masses and profited off their trust and reliance. Explaining the philosophy behind the emergence of the virtual currency realm, he went on to suggest that the progression of technology has worn off the influence of centralized power making way for a parallel realm to redistribute wealth. The unbanked sections of humanity whom the centralized governance has failed or deliberately excluded can now become a part of a powerful and dynamic financial and technological ecosystem, added Chowdhury. The discussion meandered over to Bitcoin and innovation in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector. When pointed out the environmental hazards brought about by Bitcoins proof-of-work concept, Chowdhury responded, Bitcoin is the foremost application on blockchain that demonstrated decentralization of wealth with resounding success globally. As a first, it does entail certain demerits in its process of validation which is appropriately corrected in the subsequent crypto tokens. The blockchain proponent and keynote speaker finished off describing his journey since the inception of his fintech startup HashCash Consultants. HashCash Consultants is a global blockchain development company. PayBito, a product of HashCash is a global digital currency exchange with users from across the globe. PayBito provides crypto exchange technology architecture to institutional crypto ventures and provides crypto banking and custodial services. It has recently announced its collateralized lending platform gaining traction in the market. The PayBito chief has often been vocal on the industry-wide adoption of blockchain and widespread use of cryptocurrency and its benefits. His organization frequently engages in humanitarian projects solving real-world problems. About Raj Chowdhury: Raj Chowdhury is the Managing Director of Paybito and a Blockchain pioneer. Raj pioneered the first interbank Trade Finance and Remittance implementation of Blockchain Technology between two of the largest global banks. Raj is an eminent voice in the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency space and actively engages with policymakers in this area. He is a contributor to Economic Times, Business World, CNNMoney and advises industry leaders in the adoption of Blockchain. Raj had been a research associate at MITs Microsystems Technology Lab. He is a member of Asha Silicon Valley, a nonprofit committed to education for children in emerging countries. Author of the book 'The Dark Secret of the Silicon Valley', Raj is an investor in blockchain and cryptocurrency companies and an active member of the philanthropic community. Independent booksellers across the U.S. reported having strong sales in 2021, especially in the final months of the year, when nearly every store opted to return to in-store shopping for the holiday season. The well-publicized supply chain issues affected fewer titles than expected. A number of book categories that had driven sales in 2020notably, politicsfell off in popularity last year, booksellers said, while self-help and personal growth continued to gain momentum, fueled by late-in-the-year bestsellers like Brene Browns Atlas of the Heart. Online sales are here to stay, though many booksellers are relieved by the transition back to in-store shopping and the shift away from being virtual fulfillment centers. And much uncertainty remains regarding events. Many booksellers said they plan to do exclusively online events as long as the omicron surge continues, and that they are also committed to hosting outdoor events when the weather permits. Staffingparticularly hiring and retaining employees and keeping them healthyis a top priority for booksellers in 2022. Also of concern is the lack of networking and educational opportunities available because of the continuing cancellation of in-person conferences and conventions, such as the recently canceled in-person edition of Winter Institute. In general, booksellers interviewed by PW noted significant sales gains in 2021 over 2020typically around 10% for the year. Some did much better, such as at Bookends and Beginnings in Evanston, Ill., where owner Nina Barrett reported that sales last year were up 43% over 2020, and up 128% since 2019. The addition of a street-front facade (formerly the entrance to the store was through an alley) and the closing of two Barnes & Nobles were cited as reasons for the sales boom. Independent stores were also helped by a growing awareness of the importance of shopping local. The top nonfiction bestseller at Barretts store was How to Resist Amazon and Why by Danny Caine, the owner of the Raven Bookstore in Lawrence, Kans. It was an impulse purchase at all of our cash registers, Barrett said. Kelly Justice, owner of Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Va., said the shop-local trend resulted in her store having the best December sales in its history, after a slow start to the year due to a delayed return to in-store shopping. Overall, I think customers have become more conscious of where they buy their books and of the impact buying locally from independent stores, as opposed to Amazon, has on their communities, she said. Online sales are here to stay Online sales continued to be important at most bookstores across the country, though for some, it has cooled from the highs of 2020. Barrett at Bookends and Beginnings reported online sales were down 50% from 2020, but only because 2020 was so huge. Online sales in 2020 were up 2,540% over 2019, she said. Online sales were half in 2021 of what they were in 2020, but they are still a substantial part of our business. Its absolutely going to be a permanent part of our business. According to Gretchen West, owner of Valley Bookseller in Stillwater, Minn., a suburb of Minneapolis, web orders were about half of what they were in 2020 but five times what they were before the pandemic hit. She predicted sales in 2022 will be about the same as 2021. At Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Mich., which was closed for in-person shopping from March 2020 to end of May 2021, online orders took on a new importance and represented about 25% of overall sales in 2021. I think because we were closed for a long time, a lot of our customers got comfortable with ordering online, said co-owner Hilary Gustafson. At Village Books and Paper Dreams in Bellingham, Wash., co-owner Sarah Hutton reported that she now has an online team because online sales have become such a critical part of the business. People are used to reserving items ahead now, too, she said. A lot of customers are checking if we have what they want before they come in, making sure its worth the trip. That said, many booksellers were relieved that in-store sales have bounced back. Kate Rattenborg, owner of Dragonfly Books in Decorah, Iowa, where online sales represented a little less than 10% of business last year, was among them. I didnt open my store to become a shipping center, she said. Still, Rattenborgs plans for 2022 include growing both the stores online and B2B businesses. As the pandemic continues, some booksellers have become dependent on online orders. At Capital Books in Sacramento, Calif., probably two-thirds of our orders come from online, said co-owner Ross Rojek. We use Bookmanager. I knew I wanted a good online system, and I agonized for months about that. Once Covid happened, the system started to workour point-of-sale provider went from a few sales a day to tens of thousands, so we spent the last year scrambling. Others have outsourced their online sales altogether. Scout and Morgan in Cambridge, Minn., lets Bookshop.org handle online sales. Its going well, though online sales remain only a small percentage of overall sales, said owner Judith Kissner. We really focus on the in-store customer, rather than becoming a shipping fulfillment center. We let Bookshop deal with online sales and will continue to talk to our customers about Bookshop as an alternative to Amazon. In-person events remain uncertain At Blue Willow Books in Houston, selling onlineparticularly through social mediahas become a norm, said owner Valerie Koehler. Since the start of the pandemic, the store pursued a variety of opportunities and took advantage of the closing of Scholastic and Follett school book fairs to increase its business with local schools. School orders became a significant business for us, said Koehler, who noted that total sales at the store were up 10% in 2021 over the previous year. Part of the success was due to a total commitment to hosting virtual events. We did over 400 last year, including one with some local celebrities, like Brene Brown and President George W. Bush, where we sold 700 copies of his book Out of Many, One. Like many booksellers, Koehler said she had scheduled numerous in-person events for the start of 2022 but is now having doubts. We have a couple planned in February, she added. And if we go ahead with them, they will have to be completely masked and we may limit numbers. We are also still talking about running our TeenBookCon [a popular daylong event for YA authors], which is scheduled for April 9 at a local high school. But if we do, it will likely be a hybrid event. Third Place Books in Seattle is also experimenting with hybrid events, according to managing partner Robert Sindelar. On January 12, we did an event with local author Jonathan Evison for his book Small World, he noted. It was basically a private in-store event for 30 guests, by invitation only, livestreamed. Most of our customers will participate online. We might do some more of those hybrids, as well. Warwicks in La Jolla, Calif., experimented with live events during the pandemic as early as June 2020, when it hosted one with Elin Hilderbrand. The store has again started holding events, albeit irregularly. We dipped our toe, and were trying one a month, said Adrian Newell, head book buyer and operations manager. We used to pack them in here, and now we have a layout and reserved seating, so we can limit the numbers to 4050 people max in store. People are not eager to sit elbow to elbow, and attendance is down 25%35%. Politics falls off, but social justice persists Several categories that drove sales in 2020 saw significant declines in 2021, including political books. Travel books, which had all but died as a category in 2020, had a small resurgence in interest in 2021 but once again trailed off toward the end of the year. Still, Village Books and Paper Dreams Hutton pointed out that local travel books, such as titles on day hikes in Washington, remained popular. For kids, too, she said, people were buying books about exploring your backyard, bird watching for kids, and enrichment activities for when school is not in school. While numerous booksellers cited strong sales of general fiction, science fiction, and graphic novels, a trio of nonfiction titles came up time and time again when booksellers were asked what was selling: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Caste by Isabel Wilkerson, and The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones. Metaphysical and personal growth categories also took off in 2021. Larry Yeaw, buyer for Books Inc. in Alameda, Calif., noted that his store was carrying a lot of tarot. He added that he felt there was a significant number of titles on back order at major publishers, though this didnt pose a problem during the holiday season. Health of staff is a priority The great resignation affecting the retail and service sectors has been well publicized, and its impacting booksellers as well. Were worried about staff burnout, said Sally McPherson, co-owner of Broadway Books in Portland, Ore. The job isnt as fun when youre dealing with a pandemic and supply chain issuesits lost a bit of luster. Weve got a lovely small-but-hardy group. When you operate at a frantic level for so long, you have to ask, How long can this go on? For Suzanne DeGaetano, owner of Macs Backs Books on Coventry in Cleveland, finding people to hire is proving difficult. Just recruiting permanent part-time staff that has the skill sets and versatility necessary for frontline booksellers has been hard, she said. Id love to get back to longer hours, but I need more staff to be able to do that. Fountain Books Justice is trying to prioritize staff well-being in the coming year, and to that end purchased subscriptions to the Headspace meditation app for her five employees. We also shortened our hours, she said. Previously we had been open 362 days a year and did inventory on New Years Day. Now we are closed on Mondays. And you know, our sales have not been impacted at all. All booksellers said much remains uncertain going into 2022. One on the East Coast, who asked to remain anonymous, admitted that he was not sure what to think of the past several years and had no idea what to expect next. The last year was one of incredibly varying emotional and material responses to an incredibly varying and unpredictable set of circumstances, he said. Trying to make sense of it feels impossible. Trying to make sense of the coming year feels equally impossible. Or at least it should, if were being honest with ourselves. In The Shame Machine (Crown, Mar.), data scientist ONeil examines how corporations and institutions exploit shame. How has the weaponization of shame changed in the digital age? Social media incentives us to dunk on each other. But even in an old-fashioned industry like weight loss, its changed. Growing up in the fatphobic 1970s and 80s, the messages about fatphobia were much more direct, more in your face. Nowadays, we have this whole wellness industry where there is a huge amount of language and marketing around pretending were not talking about fat-shaming people, were talking about health. Everything has become a little bit coded, or very coded. Can you give an example? Noom [markets itself] as new agey and non-shaming, but it is in fact the same old fat-shaming. The studies that support it are exactly the same programs of all weight-loss studies, and they all have their little statistical holes. Anyone who doesnt keep up with their logging of food doesnt get put in the study, so only the people who stay with it get included, which is probably a very small percentage of all people. The people who stuck with the program are almost by definition the people who have lost weight, and even then, its only for a short amount of time. As a mathematician, youre trained to spot these kinds of statistical biases. How do you explain them to non-mathematicians? I dont even think of myself as a mathematician so much as a communicator at this point. For me, that is the thing: how do I get this mathematical notion to come across to people that desperately need to understand whats happening? Theres a lot of pseudoscience in all these shaming tacticsif the shaming wasnt enough, youre convinced because youre ashamed to say you dont have a PhD in math. Its sadly, in my opinion, a part of the education of scientistsits expected that we are going to cast this magical wand to intimidate people. Its especially wrong at this moment because we are so desperate to get people to trust science. But why would people trust science if its been cast as a shut-up-and-listen type of magic spell? Do you have recommendations for people stuck in a shame cycle? This is not a self-help book. I personally did not get out of shame, although this book has helped me think through my patterns of shame. At this point, I am so aware and always on the prowl for people trying to shame me or other people, I can almost see it as a visible thing. Shame is powerful in a way that is pre-rationalwe feel shame faster than our brains can think through it. This is why its so successful in getting us to buy stuff or stop asking for our rights, and also why its so powerful to have the ability to spot shame. "I never met her, but Ive always felt like I had this sort of mysterious connection to my grandmother, Diana Abu-Jaber says. She recalls that when she traveled to Jordan on a Fulbright in the 1990s, something odd happened: at one of the Crusader castles, a gatekeeper came up to her with a stern expression on his face. I thought I was in troublethat I had trespassed, which I probably had. And he got real close, and he goes, Anissa? Anissa was the name of Abu-Jabers grandmother, a Palestinian whod emigrated to Jordan with her family to escape famine during World War I. Shed been a contemporary of the guard, who told Abu-Jaber that the two looked alike. Its an event that stayed with the author and eventually inspired a scene that appears in her new novel, Fencing with the King, which is coming from Norton in March. I wrote an essay, an op-ed piece, about it when the Gulf War started, and I was thinking a lot about the connection between the Middle East and America, she says. Shes now 61 and lives in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., but shes speaking via Zoom from her moms house in St. Augustine, where she, her husband, and their 13-year-old daughter are visiting. After the op-ed, Abu-Jaber was busy writing other books: Arabian Jazz, her first novel, which came out in 1993 and won the Oregon Book Award; Crescent (2003), which won the PEN Center USA Award for Literary Fiction; the memoir The Language of Baklava (2005); the novels Origin (2007) and Birds of Paradise (2011); and the memoir Life Without a Recipe, which came out in 2016. She also published a middle grade novel, Silverworld, in 2020. Then, one of her seven uncles threw a party at which he told a story about how her father, who grew up in Jordan, had been fencing partners with King Hussein, and was even reputed to be among the kings favorites. I didnt even know that Dad knew how to fence, Abu-Jaber says. That kind of thing used to happen with Dad a lot, where we would get these surprises. We were at a dude ranch once, and he jumped onto a horse and galloped off, and we were all like, what? She started thinking about how these kinds of stories must exist for so many children of immigrants, whose parents left their country and, to an extent, their past behind. Unless someone really investigates them, they dont get brought forward into the present time, she explains. A lot gets lost that way. Abu-Jabers father moved to the States because, she says, he was angry that someone had turned down his marriage proposal: He wanted to go the U.S. basically to hit it big and make her feel really bad about her life choices. Back in Jordan, his family and the royal family moved in the same circles; hed been a pilot in the kings air force, and, Abu-Jaber says, as I understand it, they plucked some of the pilots out to train them as sparring partners for the king. Yep, Dad was filled with wacky surprises. The idea of being in two places yet not quite of either permeates Fencing with the King. Abu-Jabers father arrived in the U.S. in the late 1950s, she says, and always thought hed move back to Jordan some day. The family actually did that twice, for short periods of time, when she was a kid. But ultimately, it was like hed gotten too Americanized. He was really stuck in between placesspiritually and emotionallyfor most of his life. Thinking about that, along with the need to go back to these old stories and bring them forward into the presentthat was the moment when it really started to come together for me, Abu-Jaber says. Like, what if Dad could go back and duel with the king again? In Fencing with the King, thats exactly what happens. Its 1995. Amani, a 31-year-old poet, has moved in with her parents, Gabe and Francesca, in Syracuse, N.Y. (Abu-Jabers hometown), after divorcing her husband. She cant write, shes been drinking too much, and shes on the outs with the university where she teaches. Then an invite comes in by way of Amanis uncle, an adviser to the king of Jordan, who once fenced with, and fondly remembers, Gabe. The king is turning 60, and hed like Gabe to return to participate in a fencing exhibition, all expenses paid. Though her parents decline, Amani cant get the idea out of her head, and when she finds a mysterious scrap of paper written by her grandmother among her fathers belongingsa poem? a letter?shes compelled to investigate further. She convinces her dad to go with her to Jordan for the celebration. There are definitely parallels between my story and Amanis story, Abu-Jaber says. Her grandmother, like Amanis, was a bookish person. People told me she collected what turned into the first library in Jordan. Her literary background was really important to her, and she was someone who was disinherited. She had left her family. Shed left her land. Shed had to start over again, and she made that life through books. Though the novel started with a deep dive into fencing (including reading about the Three Musketeers), it grew into an exploration of the secrets families keep and why, the trauma of war and losing ones home, and how we treat those experiences. I almost conceived of it like the Rocky storya very direct kind of tale of a person training physically, Abu-Jaber says. And as I worked on it, Amani became much more important, as did her relationship to her grandmother and the mystery of that background. I became really fascinated by this question of how we try to hide things and hide inconvenient truths, and how they always come out. After her last memoir, in which Abu-Jaber grapples with her fathers death, the novel was also a way to bring him to life again, she says, and to go back to Jordan, which I love. She began thinking about how Dad used to go watch Zorro over and over again. He had no choice; that was the only thing that showed at his local movie theater. But he was obsessed with it, and that was his creativity and his joy in his childhood. As Abu-Jaber wrote and revised, a process that took more than four years, she was also teaching writing at Portland State in Oregon, where shes been on the faculty for the past 25 years. But during the early days of the pandemic, she found it extremely hard to concentrate, so she started to write essays about food and life for The Sun Sentinel, which she says helped keep me sane. The pieces, like the note Amani finds by her grandmother, have led to new discoveries and endeavors. She plans to stop teaching so she can commit more time to journalism, her first love. In college, Abu-Jaber had an advice column for the local paper titled Ask Mary Ontario, she says, laughing. It was so bad, but it was so much fun. Its another parallel with Amanis lifecontinuing to evolve with both the past and present in mind. I am super, super excited to see how the next thing goes, says Abu-Jaber, who is also at work on a new novel. Its funny how, at least in my experience, things just kind of fall from the sky, you know? We block ourselves, I think, by holding on to stuff, but were at a point now where we all feel ready to do something new. Jen Doll is the author of the YA novel 'Unclaimed Baggage' (FSG) and the memoir 'Save the Date: The Occasional Mortifications of a Serial Wedding Guest' (Riverhead). DEAL OF THE WEEK Grand Central Buys Liverbirds Memoir Mary Dostal and Sylvia Wiggins, who were members of the Liverbirds, the U.K.s first all-female rock band, sold a memoir to Grand Central Publishing. Karen Kosztolnyik nabbed North American rights, in a deal brokered by Susan Golomb at Writers House on behalf of Jenny Hewson at Londons Luytens & Rubinstein. The band was featured in a short documentary by the New York Times that Grand Central said has been viewed more than 800,000 times to date. Formed in the 1960s, the Liverbirds toured with the Rolling Stones and the Kinks, but, the publisher explained, their ambitions were derailed by dramatic life eventsas well as events that would only clip the wings of ambitious young women. The book, tentatively titled The Liverbirds, is set for 2024. Fusselmans First Novel Goes to Mariner For mid-six figures, Mariner Books Katherine Nintzel preempted Amy Fusselmans debut novel. Mariner said The Means is a tragicomic family saga that portrays contemporary issues of class, motherhood, and self. Fusselman, whose 2018 memoir Idiophone was nominated for the Believer Book Award, was represented by Monika Woods at Triangle House Literary in the world rights agreement. The Means is set for fall 2022. Quill Tree Bows to Shens Queens For HarperCollinss Quill Tree imprint, Jennifer Unger preempted two books by E.L. Shen, the pen name of Elizabeth Lee. Lee, an editor at Penguin Young Readers Group and a former intern at Quill Tree, was represented in the North American rights agreement by Marietta Zacker at Gallt & Zacker. The first book, a YA novel titled The Queens of New York, is, Zacker said, about three inseparable best friends as they navigate first love, grief, racism, and heartbreak during one life-changing summer apart. Queens of New York is slated for summer 2023. Hunter Bidens Ex-wife Sells Memoir Kathleen Buhle, the ex-wife of Hunter Biden, sold a memoir to Crown in a U.S. rights deal. If We Break: A Memoir of Marriage, Addiction, and Healing was acquired by Libby Burton from Rob McQuilkin at Massie & McQuilkin Literary Agents. In it, Crown said, Buhle shares her own story, from her working-class roots on the South Side of Chicago to losing her maiden name and a part of herself in becoming Kathleen Biden, to finding a renewed sense of identity, purpose, and joy after the devastating collapse of her marriage. Buhle is currently CEO of a civic group she founded in Washington, D.C., called The House at 1229. If We Break is slated for June 2022. TikTok Star Keeps House at Element Therapist and TikTok star KC Davis sold How to Keep House While Drowning to Leah Trouwborst at Simon Element for mid-six figures. The book is an expanded edition of Daviss self-published book of the same name. In it, S&S said, she offers a radically gentle cleaning and organizing system that breaks the stress-mess cycle. The book is aimed at those coping with anxiety, depression, ADHD, overwork, or other functional barriers. Jessica Mileo and Kim Witherspoon at InkWell Management represented Davis in the North American rights deal. How to Keep House While Drowning is set for April 2022. CRP Gets Bundy Survivor Book Kara Rota at Chicago Review Press bought A Light in the Dark, by motivational speaker Kathy Kleiner Rubin, in a world English rights deal. Rubin survived an attack by Ted Bundy, and CRP said that in the book she challenges the narrative of the serial killer as a charming, seductive figure and shares her story, along with those of the many women whose lives and stories have been diminished by the Bundy legend. Delia Berrigan at Martin Literary Management represented Rubin. After Heavy Metal first appeared in the U.S. in 1977, the illustrated science fiction magazine quickly stamped its imprint on American popular culture in the form of its gleaming chrome-plated logo. Originally founded in France as Metal Hurlant, the renamed U.S. version, from the publishers of the National Lampoon, offered a mix of sophisticated Euro-comics by such legendary European artists as Enki Bilal, Philippe Druillet, Milo Manara, and the great Moebius. The magazine was an immediate hit, filled with bare-chested fantasy barbarian babes; American standout cartoonists such as Vaughn Bode, Richard Corben, and Bernie Wrightson; and cutting-edge cultural commentary, all put together with high production values. At a time when American newsstand comics were still being printed on newsprint, the glossy Heavy Metal warped the minds of a generation of (mostly male) comics fans looking for stronger, transgressive, more imaginative comics material. Over the next 30 years, Heavy Metal lost some of its luster, as its innovative offerings of European science fiction, steampunk, erotica, and dark fantasy comics material spread in the U.S. market, influencing American superhero comics as well as indie comics publishers. Though the magazine continued publishing on an irregular schedule, the big consumer noise that the brand generated in its early days had mellowed to a dull roar. In 2019, the owners brought in a new creative and publishing team led by CEO Matthew Medney (who is also a popular author) and publisher/chief creative officer David Erwin, along with an editorial and marketing staff of proven comic industry vets, in an effort recapture the old Heavy Metal magic with an ambitious strategy covering publishing, media production, music, and more. But in a scenario worthy of the magazines dystopian science fiction, Heavy Metal announced a big relaunch just in time for a global pandemic that paralyzed retail and distribution and threw the plans of even well-established publishers into chaos. That was a low point, Medney said. Thirty percent of our revenue was gone overnight. We had a big newsstand footprint, and bookstore distribution in channels like Barnes & Noble. That was cut 35% from the pandemic. The company pivoted quickly and began distributing its books, comics, and merchandise direct to consumer, and Heavy Metal online sales grew 65% after an overhaul of its online store in March 2020. It also launched Virus, a creator-owned imprint with the same direct distribution model. Anthology comics in the United States rarely get much traction, but Heavy Metals approach more closely resembles the strategy that manga publishers in Japan, where the anthology is simply the springboard for series that are eventually destined for collected book editions. Currently serialized stories such as Dark Wing (written by Medney), Swamp God by Ron Marz and Armitano, Savage Circus by Brendan Columbus and Alejandro Barrionuevo, and Starward by Steve Orlando and Ivan Shavrin, are all destined to be collected and released as trade books in 2022; along with Segments by Richard Malka and drawn by the recently-deceased legendary European creator (and Heavy Metal mainstay) Juan Gimenez. Once the marketplace stabilized, the new team began to implement its creative master plan. The comics and graphic novels publishing program established a few core characters and concepts as continuing stories, such as Taarna, the warrior queen action hero, written by Stephanie Phillips and drawn by Patrick Zircher and others; Cold, Dead War, a zombie war story penned by George C. Romero with art by German Ponce; and The Rise, another Romero zombie project, this one with art by Diego Yapur, set in the world of Night of the Living Dead, the classic horror film directed by Romeros father. All three initial story arcs are now being collected as trade book collections to be published later this year and distributed to the book trade by Simon & Schuster. The flagship Heavy Metal magazine, which celebrated its 300th issue in the summer of 2020, continues as a monthly full-color anthology title with a focused vision and approach. Were debuting a new story or serial every month, said executive editor Joe Illidge. In the past, these serials went on for 10 or 12 parts. Now were doing tighter installments, maybe six or seven chapters, but each one packed with action, so you get more bang for your buck. The publisher is also venturing into prose book publishing, starting with a title by Medney, a prolific and popular author who has written a number of comics series for Heavy Metal. His sci-fi novel, the galactic saga Beyond Kuiper, was published by the Heavy Metal imprint last summer. The book sold out its 5,000-copy first printing. We wanted to get a sense of how fans would react to a $25 novel, Medney said. Encouraged by the initial results, the publisher released a special edition hardcover of Beyond Kuiper in November. Medney said this is just the first book in a growing Heavy Metal prose catalog that will shortly include a Kuiper sequel, Blake Northcotts sci-fi thriller Arena Mode, and a new, revised edition of cartoonist Bob Fingermans 2010 prose novel Pariah, a dark and comedic zombie tale. At the Virus imprint, the third leg of Heavy Metals publishing plan, creators will retain their copyrights. Under the editorial guidance of Keith Champagne, Virus will release about 20 titles in 2022. Because Heavy Metal has such a big cultural footprint, the teams ambitions extend beyond the bookshelf. Like every other comics publisher, Heavy Metal has ambitions for media production, including developing Arena Mode into its first TV series, and other projects, including animation. The company is also capitalizing on its popularity in the world of music and street art, with veteran producer Tommy Coriale now heading up Heavy Metal Studios and leading initiatives into art, NFTs, and other projects, including podcasts and music. The goal is to extend Heavy Metal beyond the page any way we can, Medney said. Weve been around for 44 years. Heavy Metal inspired Blade Runner, Alien, and so much cutting-edge culture. Its time for us to own what weve given to the genre. This year is a special one for Publishers Weekly. On Jan. 18, 1872, the first issue of The Weekly Trade Circular was published, and one year later the magazine was renamed The Publishers Weekly (the article and the apostrophe were later dropped). To mark this milestone, PW has created a new logo, and we will be unveiling a range of special initiatives over the course of the year. Beginning today, we will be digging into our digital archive each week to look back on important events that we have reported on over the past 150 years. On page 14, youll find the lead story in the first issue of the magazine. Other plans include the publication of a special 150th anniversary issue on April 19, which will present a detailed look at how the industry has changed since our 125th anniversary in 1997. A (hopefully) in-person party is being planned in New York City in late May, during the U.S. Book Show, a virtual event started by PW last year to help plug the void created by the closure of BookExpo. The digital archive and the launch of the U.S. Book Show are just two of the additions made at PW since George Slowik Jr. and his partner, Patrick Turner, bought the magazine in April 2010 from Reed Business Information, following the decision by parent company Reed Elsevier to leave the trade magazine publishing business. PW has a long history of being involved with innovation in the industry. After the creator of the magazine, Frederick Leypoldt, died at age 49 in 1884, a colleague, Richard Rogers Bowker, became an important figure for PW. Bowker was the founder of the R.R. Bowker Co., and after Leypoldts death he became PWs owner. Years later, when PW was still part of Bowker, the company developed Books in Print and created and assigned ISBNs. Another key player in PWs history was Frederic G. Melcher, who joined the magazine in 1918 and helped create the National Association of Publishers and launch such notable book awards as the Newbery and Caldecott medals for childrens books and the Carey-Thomas Awards for distinguished publishing. PW was still part of the company when Bowker was sold to Xerox at the end of 1967. Eighteen years later, PW and its sister publications, Library Journal and School Library Journal, were sold to Britains Reed International and became part of Reeds Cahners trade magazine division in the U.S. Cahners was later rebranded as Reed Business Information and remained PWs home until its rescue by Slowik and Turner. Though PW has gone through numerous owners and expanded well beyond a single print magazine, we still remain dedicated to providing all segments of the book publishing community with the resources they need to succeed. We look forward to continuing to work with you in the years ahead. If you're interested in submitting a Letter to the Editor, click here. Submit TRAVERSE CITY On Friday, Munson Healthcare officials attributed the majority of a decline in beds occupied by COVID-19 inpatients across the networks six hospitals overnight to patients who died from COVID-19. Munson attributed six of the nine-bed decline to COVID-19 related deaths, with two of them at Munson Medical Center. The latest on COVID-19 Continuing coverage of COVID-19 and its impact. If you have a question about the novel coronavirus pandemic and haven't been able to find an a And during the past week, there have been 20 coronavirus-related deaths across all six Munson hospitals, with eight of them at Munson Medical Center. Brian Lawson, Munson Healthcare spokesperson, said the past two to five months have been the worst of the pandemic for Munson, with nearly one third of COVID-19 deaths recorded at in the systems hospitals since the start of the pandemic occurring during the past two months. Half have occurred in the past five months. He attributed the high death rate to the higher positivity rate and the increase of severe illness in the northern Michigan region. I think when you think about the human toll that the pandemic is taking, I think that one of the heartbreaking things about it, is that it is preventable, Lawson said. And thats why we continue to encourage vaccination, because its proven to prevent severe illness. Its been proven to prevent deaths. And the vast majority of the deaths that were seeing are unvaccinated. There were 74 inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients across the networks six hospitals on Friday, with 49 of them in Traverse City. According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, by Wednesday, there were 89,730 cases and 1,609 deaths reported in northern Michigan since the start of the pandemic. The data shows 362 new deaths have been added to the tally for northern Michigan since Dec. 1. The Grand Traverse County Health Department, in conjunction with the National Guard, also recently established a new drive-thru testing site from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, north of Cherry Capitol Airport, at 1320 Airport Access Road in Traverse City. Kevin Klein, Cherry Capitol Airport Director, and Mike Lahey, GTCHD Health Officer, said this was done in an effort to make it more convenient for people to get tested at the airport and to direct symptomatic people out of the airport terminal, where there is another testing site run by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and Honu Management Group. These things, just like vaccinations, they ebb and flow, and as the resources are being made available to the local health department, were not sitting on them, Lahey said. Were pushing them out the door that same 24, 48 hours to get them out in the community. And, all the health care partners we talk to are doing the same. LANSING Officials and policy experts say a data loophole in the states tracking of COVID-19 deaths in small adult foster care homes highlighted in May 2021 by a Record-Eagle investigation contributed to a significant undercount set to be detailed in a forthcoming Auditor General report. The latest on COVID-19 Continuing coverage of COVID-19 and its impact. If you have a question about the novel coronavirus pandemic and haven't been able to find an a State Sen. Curt Vanderwall, Health Policy Committee chair, said an additional 1,600 COVID-19 deaths could be added to the 5,675 total of those residents of Michigans long-term care facilities who died of the disease, if small AFC homes and other facilities not subject to reporting requirements are included. My concern right now is that the report is stating intentionally or unintentionally it looks like we misrepresented or failed to report about 30 percent of the deaths that occurred in our long-term care nursing facilities and AFCs and that is alarming, Vanderwall, R-Ludington, said Thursday of what he expects the Auditor General to report next week. Vanderwall said he would support an investigation by the legislature. The Mackinac Public Policy Center, a conservative-leaning research, policy and legal nonprofit based in Midland, also last year conducted an investigation into COVID-19 deaths among Michigans most vulnerable residents as part of a FOIA lawsuit, information posted on its website shows. Steve Delie, the organizations director of transparency and open government, testified about the data loophole in a June hearing before the state House Oversight Committee, a transcript of his testimony shows. As both we and the Traverse City Record-Eagle have discovered, the state does not track deaths at facilities serving the elderly that have fewer than 12 residents, Delie said during a June 3 hearing. There are 4,596 adult foster care and home for the aged facilities in Michigan 3,474 of those serve fewer than 12 residents. COVID-19 deaths in 76 percent of AFC homes and Homes for the Aged which in 2020 were licensed to serve up to 22,092 people, were not being tracked by DHHS, Delie said. Small AFC homes licensed to care for fewer than 13 residents in Michigan are exempt from reporting positive cases, hospitalizations, deaths and other data to the state Department of Health and Human Services, which requires such information from larger facilities. MDHHS spokesperson Lynn Sutfin previously said the information actually is being tracked, because owners and managers of small AFC homes are required to report any COVID-19 death to their local or district health department. All facilities have an obligation to report COVID-positive residents and/or staff to their Local Health Department, so there are no concerns about underreporting as a result of these facilities not having a requirement to report directly to MDHHS like the larger facilities do, Sutfin said in a Feb. 18, 2021 email. But a direct inquiry by the Record-Eagle to every local health department in the state requesting the death reports Sutfin described, showed that in almost every region these records did not exist. In April the Record-Eagle filed Freedom of Information Act requests with each of the states local or district health departments, asking for COVID-19 death numbers among residents of small AFC homes, between Jan. 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021. Of the 46 health departments queried, 12 didnt respond, 16 denied the request and said the records didnt exist, 11 said they didnt collect the records and suggested asking MDHHS or the states Licensing and Regulatory Affairs office for the information, five said they had no deaths in any small AFC homes and two provided death numbers. Taylor Olsabeck, an epidemiologist with Barry-Eaton District Health Department in Charlotte, was the only local health department respondent of those contacted, who provided facility names along with numbers, in a format similar to what at that time was posted on the states dashboard for larger facilities. Olsabeck as of November works for MDHHSs immunization division and could not be reached for comment Friday. It was following the June hearing of the state House Oversight Committee that Michigans Auditor General Doug Ringler announced his office would review the states accounting of COVID-19 deaths among residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, including small AFCs. A report on that review is expected to be released as early as Monday, Vanderwall said, though DHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel preempted Ringlers analysis with a Dec. 9 letter to him questioning how the yet-to-be-released data was compiled. Hertel in the letter takes issue with early suggestions of an undercount because Ringlers analysis combined numbers from facilities that werent required to report deaths and infections with those that were creates a false impression. The data table in section 2 is misleading and appears to suggest that there was a nearly 30% underreporting, when almost half of this difference can be attributed to facilities not subject to reporting requirements, Hertel said, in a Dec. 9 letter to Ringler released Wednesday. Further, those facilities that were not subject to reporting were beyond the scope of the request from the Legislature, much less the CDC, which set requirements at the federal level, the letter states. Hertel suggested the review should report the death counts in two tables one for facilities subject to reporting (nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities and AFC homes with 13 or more residents) and one for those that are not (AFC homes with 1-6 residents and AFC homes with 7-12 residents). Federal requirements did not compel the state to collect data from smaller facilities, but through the states licensing arm, MDHHS could have contacted these facilities as LARA maintains a publicly searchable, robust database of addresses, contact information and license status. That was a decision by this administration not to, Vanderwall said, of exempting small AFCs from reporting. Our concern, and why we brought it into the (Health Policy) committee is, lets make sure were reporting true data, Vanderwall said. Lets make sure were accurate and forthcoming to the general public. This is an unfortunate way for it to come out but to see the Auditor General working on it tells you that they have some concerns. Vanderwall said he expects the report to be released Monday or Tuesday, and had hopes the results will be used to improve data collection in any facility that served the health and housing needs of vulnerable adults. That appears to be an area of agreement, as Hertel said the same thing in her letter to Ringler. Clearly, our data platforms are outdated as all verification methods identified rely on manual data entry, Hertel said. Additional investment in our state public health data platforms is essential for us to provide this information quickly and transparently to the public. Republicans have repeatedly objected to how Gov. Gretchen Whitmers administration has handled the pandemic, much of which has focused on the Democratic governors policies for long-term care facilities. In April 2020 a regional hub strategy, which paid thousands to more than two dozen nursing homes selected by MDHHS to create dedicated units to isolate residents with COVID-19 and accept COVID-19 patients discharged from hospitals, was roundly criticized, for example. That strategy was decommissioned last year, records show. Traverse City, MI (49684) Today Rain. High 47F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Low 38F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. The MCR-9 gene, which causes bacteria to be resistant to colistin, one of the worlds most important antibiotics, has been detected in sewer water in Georgia, according to researchers from the University of Georgias Center for Food Safety. People gathered in Harmony Parking lot in Brattleboro on Friday, April 22nd for a street festival and parade in celebration of Earth Day. According to Nancy Braus of 350 Brattleboro, the goal was to celebrate the ways in which the community is working towards climate justice and to empower You are the owner of this article. Beckley ARH Interim Community CEO Jill Berry Bowen and Regional Chief Medical Officer David Blaine speak to the media about the current surge of Omicron in the area. They said the entire hospital staff is working overtime and urged the public to get vaccinated and wear masks. Jenny Harnish/The Register-Herald Beckley, WV (25801) Today Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 82F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy overnight with thunderstorms likely. Low near 60F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%. File photoIn October 2020, local stakeholders gathered on a rainy Saturday morning to officially christen Wolf Creek Trails, which included the pictured Corona Trail. The Wolf Creek Park system, which provides miles of hiking, running and biking trails, is one of four initial soft surface trail projects identified by the Fayette Trail Coalition and its partners to meet a growing recreation need in the area. After nearly a year of work, the Fayette Trail Coalition, WVU's Brad and Alys Smith Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative, Plateau Action Network, Fayette County Commission, Town of Fayetteville, City of Oak Hill and New River Bikes have released a proposed soft surface trail plan created by the professional design firm of Applied Trail Research. A competitors antitrust lawsuit against Hartford HealthCare comes as Connecticut already was struggling to explore one of its central issues: What does the purchase of physician practices by hospitals do to competition, costs and care? The lawsuit filed by Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center accuses Hartford HealthCare of buying physician practices with the predatory intent of controlling the referrals that feed patients to its hospitals, surgical centers and other affiliates. The General Assembly last year directed the state Office of Health Strategies to report by Feb. 1, 2023 whether it has sufficient regulatory powers to oversee the mergers and acquisitions of medical practices. In an instant, the politically charged lawsuit brought to the fore what had been the concern of a low-profile working group, whose membership included a variety of stakeholders including a physician from Hartford HealthCare and an executive from a Saint Francis affiliate. Given the sweeping antitrust allegations, the 75-page lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court quickly became required reading in the office of Attorney General William Tong. A spokeswoman acknowledged it was under review. The political sensitivity of the claims was evident in the courtesy calls Saint Francis made to Gov. Ned Lamont, House Speaker Matt Ritter of Hartford and others before declaring war on Hartford Hospital, its cross-town competitor and biggest piece of Hartford HealthCare. Ive always enjoyed working with both of them, and Ill remain committed to helping them both, Ritter said. They employ a lot of people, a lot of Hartford residents. Their workforces reflect the diversity of the city. And you know its hard when two friends are not in agreement on something. Hartford HealthCare says the suit is without merit. Saint Francis says Hartfords predatory practices have taken away its major referrers of cardiac cases and produced a stunning migration of physicians a 25% increase in the Hartford HealthCares staff in just two years. The governors office declined comment, but legislators said the litigation underscores the volatile market dynamics of health care and renews questions about Connecticuts ability to protect competition and preserve the medical practices of sole practitioners and unaffiliated group practices. Victoria L. Veltri, the executive director of the Office of Health Strategy, said she could not comment on the merits of the claims, but the broader issue of the limits on the oversight of mergers and acquisitions of physician groups was central to the mission of the working group. The office is responsible for administering the states primary tool for overseeing the business of medicine, the Certificate of Need program. It is described by OHS as a regulatory process that prevents costly duplication of services, protects access to and continuity of health care services, and ensures Connecticuts residents have a voice regarding health care for their communities. Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, the ranking Senate Republican on the legislatures Public Health Committee, said the litigation will bring an urgency to the states struggle to assess the consolidation of health services and the states role in regulating it. I do think that this lawsuit will be interesting, said Somers, who has a background in bioscience and is married to a physician. I think it will bring to the surface some of these issues that really have to be discussed, because I think the focus should really be patient care and not making it easier for Yale or Hartford to get more patients. Yale New Haven and Hartford HealthCare are the two major hospital systems in Connecticut, the 800-pound gorillas of health care in Connecticut, in the wry view of Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport, who said, At least we have two 800-pound gorillas in Connecticut, not just one. The purchase of physician groups as a feeder of business is not new, even if Saint Francis contends that Hartford HealthCares approach has reached a tipping point capable of destabilizing other hospitals, said Steinberg, the co-chair of the Public Health Committee who formerly worked on the business side of health care. Theres a bigger issue at play here, which is what is the appropriate role of government in terms of interfering with market forces, Steinberg said. Were a small state, diverse in the sense that weve got behemoths and we also have tiny hospitals that struggle each year to even break even. Seven years ago, Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, and Republican Len Fasano of North Haven, then the Senate minority leader, raised similar concerns about the Yale New Havens acquisition of hospitals and physician groups. This is part of this monopoly of medicine, which is awful. And Marty and I tried to stop it from happening here in New Haven, said Fasano, whose father was a family care physician. I think that, unfortunately, by the time we recognized it and worked on it, the die was cast. We were both worried about the issue of physician practices being taken over by the large hospital systems and the loss of physician autonomy at the time, Looney said. Ritter, a former Public Health Committee co-chair, said he remembers the fight as important, albeit one waged by two New Haven area politicians against a New Haven institution. It really hadnt become an ugly issue in Hartford, to be honest, until yesterday, Ritter said. Press Release January 15, 2022 De Lima supports Robredo's plan to pursue holistic and comprehensive drug war, stop 'kill, kill, kill' Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima backs Vice President and Presidential aspirant Leni Robredo's plan to pursue a comprehensive war on drugs, but without the brutal killings that characterized the murderous campaign launched by the current administration, should she win the presidency. De Lima, a social justice and human rights champion, said she believes that Robredo is more than capable of correcting the wrongs and restoring dignity in the enforcement of the drug war with her rights-based and holistic approach on the problem. "VP Leni knows that it is impossible to eradicate the drug problem through violence and killings, not only because other countries that resorted to killings did not succeed, but also because she's seen firsthand how Duterte's bloody drug war that victimized innocent lives has become a dismal failure," she said. "I am confident that with VP Leni's leadership, we can win the fight against illegal drugs because she has the courage, unlike Duterte, to pounce on the real drug lords, their cohorts and protectors. More importantly, she will focus on saving lives and pursuing justice," she added. Robredo reportedly vowed to continue the fight against illegal drugs "with as much vigor" if she becomes president, minus the killings that characterized the campaign launched by the Duterte regime. Last October 2021, Robredo bared that if elected president, her plans and priorities include an anti-illegal drug campaign that focuses on prevention and rehabilitation. It may be recalled that in 2019, Robredo accepted Duterte's dare for her to co-chair the government's task force against illegal drugs despite warning from her allies that it could be a trap. Just less than a month after Robredo was appointed to the anti-drug body, Duterte decided to fire the Vice President from her post despite having submitted "a comprehensive plan" on how to improve and strengthen the campaign against drugs. The lady Senator from Bicol maintained that Robredo has many traits of an effective leader that Duterte lacks. "The traits that VP Leni has that makes her an effective leader include sincerity, decency and professionalism. At sobrang sipag. Sa halos anim na taon, nagbunsod lang ang marahas at madugong polisiya ni Duterte sa pagpatay sa libu-libong maralitang Pilipino, habang malaya pa rin ang totoo at malalaking drug lords," she said. "Kailangan natin ng isang Leni Robredo na hindi inuuna ang kapritso, hindi nanggigipit ng mga kritiko, kundi tunay na magpapanagot sa mga tiwali, kriminal at abusado," she added. Last September 2021, the International Criminal Court (ICC) authorized an official probe into Duterte's bloody drug war but the investigation was temporarily suspended in November of the same year upon the request of the Philippine government. In another suspected incident of the Bihar Hooch tragedy, five people have reportedly died after consuming spurious liquor in Bihar's Nalanda district. While the local people and family members of the deceased people are alleging the deaths due to the consumption of spurious liquor, no official confirmation has been issued by the district administration so far. Also, the police is currently on the spot and is investigating the matter. Apart from that, there are also reports of more people admitted in critical condition to hospitals after consuming poisonous alcohol. The incident which took place in the home district of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has again now turned the spotlight on alcohol prohibition law in Bihar and its implementation by the state government. The suspected death of the five people from Bihar's Nalanda came just two months after several people in different incidents from various districts across the state died after consuming the poisonous liquor. More than 50 people had reportedly died in November after consuming liquor. While eight people had lost their lives in Bihar's West Champaran district in November, earlier five people had died in Muzaffarpur and eight in Gopalganj. Several deaths were also reported from Samastupur. Similarly, in another case of the Bihar Hooch tragedy from West Champaran, 16 people had died after drinking spurious liquor in July last year. Liquor ban in Bihar; CM claims of reduction in crime rate Ever since the Bihar government has banned alcohol use in the state, several incidents of consuming poisonous liquor have surfaced from the state. This has also raised concerns regarding the government's initiatives towards the implementation of its liquor ban law. Meanwhile, CM Nitish Kumar who has claimed of decreasing the crime rate in the state due to a liquor ban has also taken an oath for abstaining from alcohol consumption for the rest of his life. Kumar who was accompanied by several state officials took the oath on November 26, 2021. The state officials also took the pledge at Gyan Bhawan in Patna. The CM further also urged the people to avoid the consumption of alcohol and support the government's prohibition law. Image: Republic UP Elections 2022: BJP candidates for Phase 1 & 2 out; Yogi to contest from Gorakhpur Ahead of the much-anticipated Uttar Pradesh Elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday released its first list of 105 candidates including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy CM KP Maurya. The saffron party has fielded CM Yogi in his Gorakhpur constituency while Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya will fight from the Sirathu seat in Prayagraj. Read more here Akhilesh Yadav mocks Yogi Adityanath for fighting from Gorakhpur in UP elections Hours after the Bharatiya Janata Party unveiled its first list for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday took a jibe at his successor CM Yogi Adityanath who has been named the candidate from Gorakhpur. Taking to his Twitter handle, Yadav underlined how there was confusion with regard to CM Yogi Adityanath fighting the elections from Mathura first, and Ayodhya thereafter, before there was a settlement on his bastion Gorakhpur. Read more here Republic Day celebrations to begin from January 23 to include Netaji's birth anniversary The Indian government on Saturday has informed that Republic Day celebrations will now commence from January 23 every year instead of January 24. News agency ANI citing government sources has informed that the decision has been taken to include the birth anniversary of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose. Earlier, the Modi government had started the celebration of Subhash Chandra Boses birth anniversary as Parakram Divas. This development follows other similar decisions wherein the government has focused on celebrating and commemorating important aspects of India's history and culture. Read more here UP cops arrest SP's Kairana MLA Nahid Hasan in gangster case; Akhilesh Yadav lashes out Adding to the woes of Samajwadi party Supremo Akhilesh Yadav, ahead of the upcoming assembly polls, the UP Police had arrested the SP candidate of Kairana constituency - Nahid Hasan on Saturday. The SP leader has been apprehended by the police under the Gangster Act and is sent to 14-day judicial custody by a Kairana court. Read more here Goa Election | Arvind Kejriwal says Goans fed up of corrupt govt, want change; 'AAP only hope' Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who launched a door-to-door election campaign in the St Andres Assembly constituency in North Goa, on Saturday, said that people are excited to give chance to a new party in the state and have some expectations from AAP. He said that the party will try to fulfil all the expectations when elected to power. Read more here West Bengal: EC reschedules 4 civic body polls to Feb 12 amid rising COVID cases In view of rising novel coronavirus cases, the West Bengal Election Commission has postponed elections to four municipal corporations by three weeks to February 12. According to a notification issued by State's EC, polls to Chandernagore Municipal Corporation, Siliguri Municipal Corporation, Asansol Municipal Corporation and Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation would take place on February 12 instead of January 22. The polling will be held from 7 am to 5 pm, SEC said. Earlier on Saturday, the West Bengal government sent a letter to the SEC, giving its consent to shelve the elections, owing to the pandemic situation. Read more here In Mumbai, Aadhaar number necessary to buy COVID-19 self-RAT kit: Mayor Pednekar Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar, on Saturday, January 15, informed that anyone purchasing self-test kits will now have to provide their Aadhaar card to the chemist to keep a record of the same. As of January 14, Mumbai reported 11,317 fresh COVID cases and nine deaths in the last 24 hours. Read more here 'Mishandling public concerns': Pak Chief Justice slams Imran Khan for religion-influenced governance curbing development Lambasting Pakistans leader Imran Khan for positioning Islam and ideologies in the constitutional dispensation, key decision making, and governance paradigm, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed on Friday said that public related issues and economic challenges facing Islamabad are not being dealt with by the ruling government in true spirit and practicality. Ahmed was speaking at a conference during his book launching ceremony Reading The Constitution of Pakistan -- Article wise discussion, fair comments on the case, law and the history when he launched a scathing attack against the Khan and his ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, according to ANI, that cited Pakistans press reported. Read more here Ram Temple's work under process for second foundation, to be completed by January end A day after a 3D film on the construction of the Ayodhya Ram Temple was released, Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust told the media person that the second phase of its foundation work would be ready by January end. The trust also added that the construction work of Ram Temple in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya is underway in full swing and it goes on 24x7. The main temple is being built in a total area of 2.7 acres while the total built-up area is 57,400 square feet. The temple will be open for devotees to offer prayers by December 2023. Read more here Malegaon Case: Maharashtra govt concerned about hostile witnesses; 'Serious probe needed' With more and more witnesses turning hostile in the Malegaon blast case, the Maharashtra government expressed its concern on Saturday. Speaking to the media, Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil underlined the need for 'seriously' investigating and monitoring the case. In this regard, the NCP leader said that the Maharashtra government, which is already a party in the case, is thinking of appointing an advocate. Read more here A terror alert has been issued at the headquarter of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Nagpur after reports of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists conducting a recce at several locations, including RSS headquarter, surfaced on Friday. As per sources, a sleeper cell of Pakistan-based JeM terror group conducted a recce at sensitive places in the city, following which, a man was nabbed from Jammu and Kashmir and is being interrogated by the Crime Branch. It is feared that the attacks were planned to disrupt Republic Day celebrations. Reacting to the developments, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis called it a serious issue but expressed confidence that the state police and the Central agencies will crackdown on the terror plot. "It is a very serious matter. This kind of recce should not have taken place. But the state police force and the Centre are on alert. There is nothing to worry about," the BJP leader told reporters on Saturday. Terror plot busted in Nagpur The alert was sounded after a terrorist believed to be affiliated with JeM was arrested in Kashmir. During interrogation, he spoke about his group members conducting a reconnaissance of some of the buildings in Nagpur. The JeM operatives reportedly visited Nagpur in July 2021 and stayed in the city for 2-3 days. They conducted recce at RSS HQ and Hedgewar Bhawan in Reshimbagh. There are fears that the attacks could come around Republic Day. After the incident came to light, Nagpur Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar informed that a case has been registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Nagpur Crime Branch has formed a team to locate the terrorists. The crime branch is investigating the matter and law enforcement agencies will keep coordinating, he said. Meanwhile, security has been beefed up at the RSS headquarters at Hedgewar Bhavan in Nagpur. Police has also banned photography and the use of drones around the region. If any drone found is within a two-km radius, it will either be destroyed or seized by the police. In 2006, three JeM terrorists armed with AK-47s and hand grenades were neutralized by security forces when they tried to attack the RSS headquarters. The RSS is the ideological parent of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Image: PTI Amrullah Saleh, the former vice-president of Afghanistan, called the United Nations on Friday to investigate the Afghan crisis in accordance with the 'UN Principles.' He urged UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres not to ignore or dismiss UN resolutions on the Taliban and terrorism. Saleh went on to say that the Taliban has begun diverting a large portion of humanitarian aid to their fighters. Amrullah Saleh, on January 14, posted a tweet in response to Antonio Guterres' address to the media, where the UN chief spoke about how frigid temperatures and frozen assets constitute a deadly combination for Afghanistan. Saleh's tweet read, "Excellency @antonioguterres Talbs have started to divert a big chunk of humanitarian assistance to their fighters. Plz ensure direct access to the Afg ppl. 2ndly the problem isn't just the cold & weak economy. Please don't ignore or belittle UN resolutions on Taliban & terrorism. PRINCIPLES !" Excellency @antonioguterres Talbs hv strted to divert big chunk of humntrin asstnce to their fighters. Plz ensure direct access to the Afg ppl. 2ndly the problm isn't just the cold & weak economy. Please don't ignore or belittle UN resolutions on Taliban & terrorism. PRINCIPLES ! https://t.co/8DVDUr5BW3 Amrullah Saleh (@AmrullahSaleh2) January 14, 2022 On January 13, to avoid economic and social collapse, the UN chief warned that millions of Afghans are on the point of death, calling the international community to support the UN's $5 billion humanitarian appeals, liberate Afghanistan's frozen assets, and restart its banking system. UN urges the international community to "rapidly inject liquidity" into the Afghan economy "Freezing temperatures and frozen assets are a lethal combination for the people of Afghanistan," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters, adding that "rules and conditions that prevent money from being used to save lives and the economy must be suspended in this emergency situation." Freezing temperatures and frozen assets are a lethal combination for the people of Afghanistan. We must do even more to rapidly inject liquidity into the economy and avoid the looming meltdown that would lead to poverty, hunger and destitution for millions. pic.twitter.com/S9IA4VWaDj Antonio Guterres (@antonioguterres) January 13, 2022 When the Taliban seized power in mid-August amid the tumultuous exit of US and NATO troops after 20 years, Afghanistan's aid-dependent economy was already in trouble. The international community froze Afghanistan's assets abroad and blocked economic aid, refusing to deal with the Taliban because of their reputation for cruelty and refusal to educate girls and allow women to work during their 1996-2001 rule. According to the United Nations, 8.7 million Afghans are on the verge of starving, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated it is important to quickly pump more money into the Afghan economy to avoid a meltdown that would result in poverty, hunger, and misery for millions. According to Guterres, the World Bank released $280 million from an Afghanistan reconstruction trust fund it manages to UNICEF and the World Food Program for their operations in the country last month. Image: AP North Korea's recent missile test has escalated concerns among the international community. After Japan condemned the move and expressed grave concerns over the same, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also expressed displeasure over DPRK's action and termed it a violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions. Blinken on Saturday reaffirmed the "ironclad" security commitment to South Korea, according to the US State Department. The US Secretary of State reportedly discussed the matter with the South Korean Foreign Minister over a phone call. As per the department's statement, South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-Yong said the bilateral alliance is "the linchpin of peace, security, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond,". He also "highlighted the importance of continued U.S.-ROK-Japan trilateral cooperation, and stressed that the US' commitment to the defence of the ROK remains ironclad." US raise concern over DPRK's missile tests, reaffirms security commitment to South Korea This came after Pyongyang announced that it launched two short-range ballistic missiles into its eastern sea, its third such missile test held this month. Earlier on Wednesday, the Biden administration imposed severe sanctions on six North Koreans who were involved in the reclusive regime's ballistic missile programs. On the other hand, North Korea warned America of "stronger and certain reactions" to its new sanctions. The statement by Pyongyang's foreign ministry said, as quoted by the Korean Herald, "If the US adopts such a confrontational stance, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will be forced to take a stronger and certain reaction to it." It is pertinent to mention here that shortly after the launch of "newly developed hypersonic missiles," Pyongyang issued a statement citing that the operation "did not target any specific country or force, and it did not cause any harm to the security of neighbouring countries," and called the newly imposed sanctions by the US an "evident provocation and gangster-like logic aimed at intentionally escalating the situation." Seoul's foreign ministry said diplomats from both the US and North Korea discussed ways to resume the Korean peace process, and the Biden administration asked the North Korean administration to accept their efforts to restart talks. Since the Hanoi summit ended without a progressive conclusion, talks over denuclearization between Pyongyang and Washington have been stalled. However, the United States has repeatedly shown interest in starting a dialogue without preconditions, but the North continues to ignore further discussions. Image: AP The Guatemalan village of El Boqueron buried three more members of its community on Friday who were among the 56 migrants killed in a smuggling accident in southern Mexico last month. Six people from the small hamlet in Joyabaj municipality in Guatemala's western mountains died when a people smugglers' semi-trailer truck jammed with migrants overturned on a highway on December 9. After Pedro Ximun's funeral his cousin Tomas Canil, also the community's preacher, said Ximun left because of the lack of work in the village and he "wanted to succeed". Soon after, family and friends of Alicia Huarcas and Wilson Ramos were taking their coffins to the town's cemetery. "We want to cry, but the tears don't come," Ramos's sister Karina says. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Amid tensions between Russia and Ukraine, the Russian Embassy's Deputy Chief of Mission, Roman Babushkin on Friday said that there is no reason for NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) to exist, stating that the institution is not ensuring security in Europe. In an exclusive conversation with Republic TV, Babushkin said, "NATO is trying to resolve its biggest issue of identity because after the Cold War, there's no reason for it to exist. What they are trying to do is give birth to some purposes...NATO is not ensuring security in Europe. It is impossible without Russia." Babushkin said that the expansion of NATO is an existential threat to Russia. "Under the US leadership, it can deploy missiles in the immediate proximity to the Russian borders, conduct military exercises, deploy nuclear weapons in non-nuclear space." "Russia has no reason to invade Ukraine. Our troops in the border are deployed at our own territory due to the nature of escalated activities in Ukraine," Babushkin added. 'Russia has no plans of invading Ukraine': Babushkin Roman Babushkin further said that the President Vladimir Putin's administration has 'no plans' to invade Ukraine as was being claimed by the United States. "Russia has absolutely no plans of invading Ukraine. Our troops at the border area are in our territory and absolutely on legal grounds," said the Russian Embassy's Deputy Chief Of Mission. Watch interview here: US President Joe Biden had earlier said that he would make it 'very, very difficult' for Russia to take military action on Ukraine as US intelligence determined that the Kremlin is planning an invasion that could begin as early as this year. Tensions between Russia and the United States of America - generally considered one of the biggest simmering divides in the world - are at an escalated state. The election of Joe Biden into the White House has seen a significant pick-up in the American rhetoric against Vladimir Putin and Moscow has not backed off from posturing aggressively on the boundaries with Ukraine. As has been the case for decades, the two Cold War rivals have generally refrained from being involved in direct conflict with each other, and this time as well, they're working through their respective coalitions. Babushkin underlined that Russia's defence budget is 20 times less than that of the US, and asked, "Who is in a better position to intimidate?" "The West intimidates itself with the mysterious Russian threats that do not exist. This is the only way how the diversified West can be consolidated and can be kept under the American leadership even at the expense of the economic interest," he told Republic Media Network. Russia-Ukraine tensions Tensions between Russia and Ukraine have been running high for the past few months since Moscow amassed around 100,000 troops near Ukraine's border, rousing fears of an invasion. Meanwhile, Russia has asserted that it has no plans to attack and rejected US' demand to vacate its forces, saying it has the right to deploy them wherever necessary. Moscow has demanded security guarantees from the West that NATO deny membership to Ukraine and other erstwhile Soviet nations, and roll back the alliance's military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe. Washington and its allies have rejected to provide such a pledge but said that they are ready for talks. Image: Republic World In the wake of a massive undersea volcano erupting, New Zealands National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) announced a tsunami warning on Saturday. After a large volcanic eruption took place, New Zealand's emergency management agency issued an advisory and said coastal areas on the north and east coast of the North Island and the Chatham Islands are likely to witness "strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore." Notably, this is one of the largest eruptions of the Tongan volcano in its history, the agency said. So far, there have been no reports of injuries or the scale of the damage caused by the volcano because of the disturbed communications with the island nation. However, videos circulating on social media show huge waves traveling ashore in coastal areas, destroying homes and buildings. Meanwhile, New Zealand military personnel are closely monitoring the situation and are prepared to reach out for rescue and assistance. New Zealand: NEMA issues tsunami warning after volcano eruption in Tonga We have issued a NATIONAL ADVISORY: TSUNAMI ACTIVITY following the Tongan eruption. We expect New Zealand coastal areas on the north and east coast of the North Island and the Chatham Islands to experience strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore. National Emergency Management Agency (@NZcivildefence) January 15, 2022 The images captured by satellite show a huge eruption above the blue Pacific waters. An alert notice was issued for all the archipelago and data from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre recorded waves of 80 centimeters, said the Tonga Meteorological Services. Meanwhile, the local authorities in the island nations of Fiji and Samoa also issued alerts, warning people to not go near the shoreline. Meanwhile, the Japan Meteorological Agency stated there may be a slight surge of water near the Japanese coasts. (Image: AP) Tsunami videos out of Tonga this afternoon following the Volcano Eruption. pic.twitter.com/JTIcEdbpGe Jese Tuisinu (@JTuisinu) January 15, 2022 As per reports, police and military troops evacuated hundreds of residents to safer zones, including Tongas King Tupou VI, who was residing in his palace near the shore. In the series of volcanic eruptions, the explosion of the Hunga Tonga Hunga Haapai volcano was the latest. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said late Saturday that it appears that the threat to American Samoa has passed, and minor sea fluctuations will also soon fade away. Water vapour imagery shows how the #eruption causes a ripple effect across the atmosphere. Absolutely enormous energy. #Tonga pic.twitter.com/POogVjnWit WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) January 15, 2022 Tonga is home to about 105,000 people. The volcanic eruption took place around 64 kilometers (40 miles) north of the capital, Nukualofa. Earlier, in 2014 and 2015, a series of volcanic eruptions occurred in the area, and a small new island was created. However, the eruptions disrupted international air travel to the Pacific archipelago for a few weeks. (With inputs from AP) Taliban on Friday defended the internal unrest situation stressing that they inherited ethnic conflicts and there has been a death of democracy in Afghanistan. The regime witnessed upheaval and internal divide in the northern Faryab province after several Taliban commanders of Pashtun ethnicity were reportedly disarmed. Reacting to the reports of intra-Taliban conflict, spokesman of the Taliban, Inamullah Samangani, in a Twitter post said that the escalating ethnic conflicts in Afghanistan was the biggest achievement of democracy in the country". He, however, reminded that democracy is now dead in Afghanistan and that pro-democracy people are still striving to cause chaos in the region. Taliban have said that the pro-democracy figures attribute the Taliban to a single ethnicity and hence create divergence among the Afghan population. This comes as protests emerged across the northern provinces as people accused the Taliban of ethnic discrimination and atrocities. Demonstrations were witnessed across Faryab just a day after the arrest of a local Pashtun Taliban commander in Balkh province by an Uzbek Taliban. A situation similar to the 1990s However, Taliban are blaming the pro-democracy figures for the ethnic conflicts across the regime. Taliban are largely Pashtun and after taking control of the political power, minorities and ethnic groups are susceptible to threat from the majority Pashtun ethnic Taliban. The situation is similar to what was witnessed in the mid-1990s, and during that time, there emerged an ethnic war within the regime. Uzbeks, Tajiks, and other groups dominate in the north of Afghanistan and oppose the Pashtun Taliban leadership. The ethnic minority fighters in the Talibans own ranks in the countrys north have taken to arms and rebelled against the Taliban. The alliance built by the regime in order to govern Afghanistan has been shattering as the country continues to reel under the aftermath of conflict and from the economic woes of the pandemic. At least four people were killed in the Pashtun and Uzbek Taliban fighting and several others were wounded in clashes, local residents told Afghan news outlets. Now that they have nothing, the so-called democrats are struggling to come up with which ethnic group Talib is good and which is bad, Samangani said, on Twitter. Former CNRP president was arrested in connection to an alleged plot to overthrow the government. Kem Sokha, former leader of the now-banned Cambodia National Rescue Party, is shown in a file photo. The trial on treason charges of Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha will go ahead as scheduled on Jan. 19, with the government refusing to interfere, a government spokesman said on Friday. Options for Kem Sokhas release can be considered once the trial ends, however, spokesman Phay Siphan told RFA. In Cambodia, we can have political solutions only after the cases in court conclude. When Kem Sokhas trial ends, Prime Minister Hun Sen can request amnesty from Cambodias king if he doesnt think the release of the former opposition leader will harm national security and public order, Phay Siphan said. Kem Sokhas lawyers were not available for comment Friday but have previously said they want to see all charges dropped against him. Kem Sokha, then president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was arrested in September 2017 over an alleged plot backed by the United States to overthrow the government of Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for more than 35 years. Cambodias Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP two months later in a move that allowed Hun Sens Cambodian Peoples Party to win all 125 seats in Parliament in a July 2018 election and drew U.S. sanctions and the suspension of trade privileges with the European Union. Speaking to RFA, political analyst Seng Sary said that several options now exist for the government to free Kem Sokha when his trial ends. The court can acquit him of his charges and then politically rehabilitate him, or the court can convict him and then release him on Hun Sens request, he said. Scores of CNRP members and supporters have been incarcerated on charges widely regarded as politically motivated and are caught in a tortuous legal process made slower by COVID-19 restrictions in the country. On Friday, a court in central Cambodias Tboung Khmum province released two CNRP activists after they had served one-year prison terms on charges of incitement. Following their release, Mak Sam An and Prau Chan Thoeun told RFA they were arrested on Jan. 14, 2021, after monitoring the trial of other CNRP activists in Municipal Court in the capital Phnom Penh. I didnt do anything wrong. I just went to listen to the hearing, but they arrested me anyway. The authorities violated my freedom. I cant accept this, Mak Sam Ath said. Am Sam Ath of the Cambodia-based rights group Licadho said the two CNRP members had simply exercised their rights and were unjustly convicted. We urge the authorities and the courts to respect peoples freedoms and implement the laws correctly instead of just charging them however they like. If they dont, the people will criticize the authorities for carrying out politically motivated arrests, he said. Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Richard Finney. This file photo shows North Koreans on their way to work in Jilin province, China. North Korean workers dispatched to China to earn cash for Pyongyang are struggling to make ends meet, with coronavirus lockdowns crimping the job market, sources in China told RFA. Cash-strapped North Korea sends workers to countries like China and Russia to earn foreign currency for the ruling party. The companies that employ them pay much higher salaries than what they could ever hope to earn in North Korea, but their North Korean handlers collect the lions share, leaving them with only a fraction. Under normal circumstances, Pyongyang can earn a lot of money this way. But renewed coronavirus lockdowns in the Chinese border city of Dandong, across the Yalu River border from North Koreas Sinuiju, mean there are many North Korean employees in the city and very little work. These days, just as in large cities like Xian, confirmed coronavirus cases are spiking in the Dandong area, causing a major setback in the production and distribution of products, a Chinese citizen of Korean descent told RFAs Korean Service Jan. 9. Xian, a city of 13 million people in central China, began a lockdown last month as part of a Zero-COVID policy. Other cities, including Dandong, have also begun similar lockdowns. Food processing, garment, and electronics factories, where many of the North Koreans work, have been shut down since early December. The North Korean workers have been hit hard, said the source, who requested anonymity for security reasons. These days, the North Koreans here in Dandong cant even make enough money for their housing, to say nothing of earning foreign currency, the source said. The lockdown is also hurting some Chinese business owners. Sometimes the businesses agree to provide food and lodging. They used to make a lot of money by hiring the North Koreans for peanuts, but now they have to pay for the lodging and meals for these workers even as their factories are shutting down, the source said. Sometimes its the North Korean company that manages the workers that takes the hit. I know a guy who manages the North Korean workers. Hes visiting his Chinese counterparts these days, begging them to offer some work. He says their housing and food is not guaranteed and they need money. He even promised they would work for minimum wage, if they give the workers a job, any job at all, the source said. Under normal circumstances, the North Koreans in China have higher standards of living than they do back home, the source said. They eat much better compared to their home country. They can eat not only rice, but meat, fish, eggs, and all kinds of vegetables. But now since they are not earning money, the quality of their meals has greatly declined, said the source. The Chinese authorities, ahead of the Winter Olympics in early February, have ordered strong quarantine policies. They are shutting down cities limiting movement. This is why the small factories near the border with North Korea are not all in operation. Another Chinese citizen of Korean descent told RFA that North Korean workers used to eat well in cafeterias of the factories where they work. But now all they get are pieces of bread in the morning and cabbage soup with rice for lunch and dinner, said the second source, who requested anonymity to speak freely. These workers leave their homeland and their families behind to work abroad. The one good thing they have is that they can eat better over here. But not these days because they arent able to work, the second source said. In cases where the North Korean human resources company is responsible for housing and feeding the workers, the managers have to cut costs by giving them food of lesser quality. There are an estimated 20,000 to 80,000 North Koreans working in China according to the U.S. State Department's 2021 Trafficking in Person's Report. RFA previously reported that North Korean workers earn approximately U.S. $400, of which only US$100 is paid to individuals, and the rest is deducted sent back to North Korean authorities. North Korean labor exports were supposed to have stopped when United Nations nuclear sanctions froze the issuance of work visas and mandated the repatriation of North Korean nationals working abroad by the end of 2019. But Pyongyang sometimes dispatches workers to China and Russia on short-term student or visitor visas to get around sanctions. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong. Detained Myanmar State Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi (L) and president Win Myint (R) during their first court appearance in Naypyidaw, May 24, 2021. Myanmars junta on Friday leveled five new corruption charges against deposed National League for Democracy (NLD) party chief Aung San Suu Kyi, according to a source close to the secret court where she is being tried, bringing the total number of crimes she stands accused of to 16. The charges, which were also brought against former President Win Myint, are related to the purchase and use of helicopters from the National Disaster Management Fund to carry out disaster prevention activities under the NLD government, the source from the court in the capital Naypyidaw told RFAs Myanmar Service, speaking on condition of anonymity. Aung San Suu Kyis legal team applied to represent her against the new charges on Friday and was told by the court that it would review the request on Jan. 21. During Fridays hearing, the court heard the testimony of Khin Mar Cho, the auditor general of Yangon region, who was presented by junta prosecutors to speak about the corruption charges. Earlier this week, the court sentenced Aung San Suu Kyi to four years in prison for the illegal possession of walkie-talkies and breaking COVID-19 rules, raising to six years the jail time imposed on her in closed-door proceedings. On Dec. 6 Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint received two years for incitement against the military and two years for violating coronavirus restrictions, which junta chief Min Aung Hlaing reduced to two years of house arrest. The former state counselors lawyers have been barred since October by Myanmars military rulers from releasing information or speaking publicly about the two cases being tried. She has rejected all allegations, which her supporters, rights groups and foreign governments have condemned as political. Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint were arrested by the military shortly after its Feb. 1, 2021, coup, which brought down the NLD government. The junta says voter fraud led to the NLDs landslide victory in the countrys November 2020 election but has yet to provide evidence for its claims and has violently suppressed nationwide protests calling for a return to civilian rule, killing 1,469 people and arresting more than 8,600 in the 11 months since, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. In addition to the 16 charges Aung San Suu Kyi faces, the junta has announced plans to sue her for allegedly fixing the ballot in the general election. If she receives the maximum punishment for each of the charges, she will have to serve more than 160 years in prison. A pretext for removal Observers told RFA that the new charges are part of a bid by the junta to remove Aung San Suu Kyi from the countrys political arena. Min Lwin Oo, a Norway-based human rights attorney, said a helicopter is a necessary asset for any leader who hopes to manager their countrys natural disasters. Without that helicopter, she might need to request that the Air Force provide her with transportation, he said. I dont think it is the good reason to file the charges against her. Its a pretext to exclude her from politics permanently. Tint Swe, a former colleague of Aung San Suu Kyis who took part in the countrys 1990 election and now lives in the U.S., called the new charges part of the scheme the military regime has been using to bump up sentences. I see these charges as a pretext by the military regime to remove her from politics and prevent her from becoming an elected official, once and for all, he said. Judging from their actions, we cannot trust their pledge to return to the democracy [through new elections]. I think they are increasing the charges as international pressure mounts to show that they are not bothered by it. Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at New York-based Human Rights Watch, said the accusations formed part of a trend of bogus charges against Aung San Suu Kyi, all with the intent purpose of prosecuting her and making sure that she is never free to contest the power of the military regime. They see it as a justification for their coup. Theyre using this as an example of why they had to get rid of her and so from their perspective the more charges the better, he said. But you know, shes already 76. If they give her 10 years or they give her 100 years of time in detention, its still going to be the same result because shes not going to be able to be freed again and certainly not going to be able to assume her position as the elected leader of Myanmar. Reported and translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung for RFAs Myanmar Service. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Htet Htet Eaindra Aung worked at 7-Day TV in Yangon, Myanmar, but she left that job and is now filing dispatches from the jungle for online news outlets that are challenging the military regime. Htet Htet Eaindra Aung was a news anchor at 7-Day TV in Myanmars commercial capital Yangon when the military junta ousted the democratically elected government and shut down news organizations like hers. Now shes among a group of young journalists trying to help to restore democracy by working remotely, often on the run, for online outlets dedicated to challenging the regimes propaganda. An outspoken critic of the military, Htet Htet Eaindra Aung said she felt that she had to flee Yangon after its crackdown on media. She spoke with RFAs Myanmar Service from the jungle in Kayin state along Myanmars border with Thailand, with only a backpack full of her personal belongings. I cant stand the weather here. It's very cold, she said. There are days when you wake up in the morning without having a good night's sleep. Sometimes I spend the whole night in front of the fire and go back to bed in the afternoon. The jungle camps in Kayah state along Myanmars border with Thailand are very cold, Htet Htet Eaindra says. There are days when you wake up in the morning without having a good night's sleep. Htet Htet Eaindra Aung spent several weeks on the run with refugees fleeing an offensive by the military in the Lay Kay Kaw region an area in adjacent Kayin state under the control of the armed wing of the ethnic Karen National Union. Some 20,000 civilians are estimated to have fled fighting in the area to makeshift camps along the banks of the Thaung Yin (Moei) River and into neighboring Thailand. Each day, Htet Htet Eaindra Aung records a news segment in front of a greenscreen for the online-only news outlets of PVTV and Delta News Agency. At night, she sleeps in a crowded tent in the jungle. She said that she misses being able to work at her own pace and her former carefree lifestyle when there was nothing to worry about. I would work quietly all day in an air-conditioned room. After work, Id take a walk outside. That was my previous life, she said. Htet Htet Eaindra Aung is one of many journalists who left the city for Myanmars jungles amid the deteriorating security situation. Some have left the country to seek political refugee status. Several others have been detained while working inside the country. About 120 journalists have been detained since the coup, according to U.N. ad RFA tallies. While some have since been released, at least 53 others are still being held in various prisons. One photojournalist died while being interrogated and another was fatally shot in an artillery attack carried out by Myanmars armed forces while covering the plight of refugees in Kayin state. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in a report it released in December that Myanmar ranks second only to China as the worlds worst jailor of journalists. After the coup, Htet Htet Eaindra Aung said that she constantly felt anxious and insecure because she had spoken out against the military, making it impossible for her to work or even risk staying in her own home. After the coup, Htet Htet Eaindra Aung says she constantly felt anxious and insecure because she had spoken out against the military, making it impossible for her to work or even risk staying in her own home. Eventually, she decided to leave Yangon to work as a correspondent in the jungle. Eventually, she decided to leave Yangon to work as a correspondent in the jungle. I only have a brother and my father. They never stop me from doing what I want to do, she said. I told my father that I wanted to leave like this and that I might not be able to return home. He said it was fine and that I could decide for myself and not to worry about him. Inconveniences and danger Htet Htet Eaindra Aung, who has a passion for singing and aspires to become an artist, said she was initially excited to experience life in the mountains and believed that working as a reporter in the countrys remote border regions would not be so difficult. However, she told RFA that she misses the convenience of city life in Yangon. I try to be happy here, with nothing in my mind. I carry out my work as required. But in my subconscious mind, I miss Yangon, she said. I often have dreams and in them, Id be walking alone in Yangon without anyone by my side. It should be a fun time in which Im walking around the city happily. But I often feel very bad when I wake up from such dreams. Every day, Htet Htet Eaindra Aung records a news segment in front of a greenscreen for the online-only news outlets of PVTV and Delta News. Life in rural Myanmar isnt only more difficult because of small inconveniences. When fighting between the military and the KNU intensified in Lay Kay Kaw, Htet Htet Eaindra Aung fled the town along with its residents, including infants and the elderly. I was very sad to see a newborn baby while on the run. The baby was only eight days old. Both the baby and the mother were running away from the fighting, she said. I saw elderly people as old as my grandmother trying to flee to safety. Even young people like me cannot stand the cold weather here. How can these elderly people manage? Htet Htet Eaindra Aung said she regularly prays for the release of the countrys detained journalists and the resumption of her career as a reporter following an end to military rule. She also expressed her appreciation for her family, who she said have full confidence in me. Im so very grateful to my father and brother, but I have never said it out loud. If I had a chance, Id like to thank them for this opportunity, she said. Reported by Zin Mar Win for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Le Chi Thanh once worked at a prison, but he was fired after alleging his boss was corrupt. UPDATED at 4:48 P.M. EDT on 2022-04-12 A court in Vietnam Friday sentenced a former police captain to two years in prison for resisting law enforcement, after he argued with police when they towed his car, his lawyer told RFA. Police in the southern economic hub Ho Chi Minh city impounded former Capt. Le Chi Thanhs car on March 2, 2021, for occupying a lane reserved for two-wheeled vehicles. He then got in a heated interaction with the police which he recorded and livestreamed. He was later arrested on April 14. In my opinion that is a really harsh sentence, his lawyer Dang Dinh Manh told RFAs Vietnamese Service. His actions were not exactly resisting against the police officers. The police were going to tow his car to the station, and he merely made suggestions and proposals to protect the condition of the car and keep it safe. So the charge is unjustifiable, Manh said. Le Chi Thanh had been an officer at Han Tan Prison in the southern coastal province of Binh Thuan. He was fired in July 2020 for accusing his supervisor of corruption. Afterwards he became an active social media user, often livestreaming videos that monitored traffic police. While Thanh was detained, he told his lawyer that he was being tortured. They said that he did not address the guards appropriately and tried to harm himself, so they had to put him by himself, Manh said. Thanh is now facing another charge of abusing democracy and freedom to infringe on State interests under article 331 of Vietnams penal code. Human rights activists say that section of the law is often used by authorities to stifle dissent. Translated by An Nguyen. Written in English by Eugene Whong. CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the traffic incident and the arrest both occurred on April 14. The traffic incident was on March 2 and the arrest was on April 14. China has repeated its opposition to U.S. sanctions against Iran while announcing that Beijing and Tehran have launched a 25-year cooperation deal aimed at bolstering economic and political ties. In a meeting on January 14 in the city of Wuxi, in Jiangsu Province, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also backed efforts to revive a 2015 nuclear deal between major powers and Iran. A summary of the meeting between Wang and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was posted on China's Foreign Ministry website on January 15. Wang said the United States was primarily to blame for the ongoing difficulties with Tehran, having unilaterally withdrawn from a 2015 nuclear deal between the major powers and Iran. Under the terms of that deal, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in return for the lifting of international sanctions. The United States reimposed sanctions that badly damaged Iran's economy after withdrawing from the nuclear pact in 2018, saying the terms did not do enough to curb Iran's nuclear activities, ballistic-missile program, and regional influence. A year later, Iran began to gradually breach the accord, rebuilding stockpiles of enriched uranium, refining it to higher fissile purity, and installing advanced centrifuges to speed up output. China and Iran, both subject to U.S. sanctions, signed the 25-year cooperation agreement in March 2021, bringing Iran into China's Belt and Road Initiative, a multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure scheme intended to stretch from East Asia to Europe. The project aims to significantly expand China's economic and political influence and has raised concerns in the United States and elsewhere. The Chinese Foreign Ministry summary said the agreement would deepen Sino-Iranian cooperation in areas including energy, infrastructure, agriculture, health care, and culture, as well as cybersecurity and cooperation with other countries. The announcement of the implementation of the pact comes as talks continue in Vienna on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. A source close to the negotiations said on January 14 that many issues in several areas remain unresolved in indirect talks between Iran and the United States. "In every single part of the [unfinished] paper [outlining a deal], there are issues that are still under consideration," the source told reporters, adding that while negotiations are moving in the right direction, they "do not have all the time in the world. With reporting by Reuters and AFP Negotiators from Europe and Iran returned to their home countries for consultations as talks aimed at renewing the 2015 nuclear deal reached a key juncture point. Iran's IRNA news agency said on January 15 that the negotiators would return to Vienna in two days but that expert discussions would continue through the weekend. The landmark deal, which lifted crippling Western economic sanctions in exchange for curbing Tehran's nuclear ambitions, began to unravel in 2018 after U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew and reimposed the sanctions. That led Iran to later start rolling back its commitments and restarting some uranium enrichment activity, pushing the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, to the verge of complete collapse. Efforts to revive the deal resumed in mid-2021 but then were suspended for around five months as Iran elected a new, ultraconservative government. Along with Iran and the United States, other parties to the deal include Britain, China, France, Germany, and Russia. The main aims of the negotiations are to get the United States to return to the deal and lift its sanctions and for Iran to resume full compliance. On January 14, the European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said that a deal remained possible and that the talks were advancing in a "better atmosphere" than before Christmas. A spokesman for Irans Foreign Ministry, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said last week that efforts by "all parties" to revive the deal had resulted in "good progress." Based on reporting by AFP, IRNA, and AP Two sons-in-law of former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev have been pushed out of top jobs at two major state companies, Kazakh officials said. The announcement, made on January 15 by the countrys sovereign wealth fund, comes in the wake of last weeks unprecedented political turmoil and was the latest indication that the current government of President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev was moving to purge or squeeze members of Nazarbaevs extended family. In a statement, the sovereign wealth fund, called Samruk-Kazyna, said that Kairat Sharipbaev had resigned as chief executive of natural-gas pipeline operator QazaqGaz. Dimash Dosanov, meanwhile, left his position as CEO of state oil pipeline firm KazTransOil. Samruk-Kazyna gave no reasons for their resignations. Both companies play a key role in the country's oil and gas industry, an industry that fueled Kazakhstan's economic growth for decades. Sharipbaev is widely known to be married to Nazarbaevs eldest daughter, Darigha, though neither Sharipbaev nor Darigha Nazarbaeva have ever commented on their relationship. Dosanov is the husband of Nazarbaev's youngest daughter, Aliya. The announcement came just days after Toqaev publicly criticized a lucrative car-recycling company that is owned by Aliya Nazarbaeva, indicating authorities were moving to take control of it. Toqaev has said publicly he wanted Nazarbaev's associates to share their wealth with the public by making regular donations to a new charity foundation. The unrest, which started with a protest in the remote western region of Manghystau over a sharp rise in car fuel prices, exploded into nationwide protests in major cities and towns. The violence was worst in the commercial capital, Almaty. Amid the unrest, Toqaev moved to push Nazarbaev out of his position on the National Security Council, a position Nazarbaev had retained after resigning in 2019 and essentially handing the presidency to Toqaev. Nazarbaev, who had ruled Kazakhstan since the Soviet collapse, has not been seen in public since December 28, and rumors have circulated that he had fled the country or was in ill health. His spokesman has denied that Nazarbaev, 81, had left the country, saying only that he was in the capital, Nur-Sultan. Kazakh officials have said that almost 10,000 people were arrested during the nationwide protests. Prosecutors said on January 15 that 225 people had been killed in total nationwide, including 19 police or security officers. Toqaev has blamed rights activists and independent journalists for "inciting" the protests, which also led to the arrest of several reporters in towns and cities across the country. On January 15, authorities said they had detained a deputy energy minister and several other officials who they believe were responsible for the "unjustified" fuel increase that led to the protests. In related news, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that the Russian troops who had deployed to Kazakhstan during the recent unrest have returned home. The troops, which were requested by Toqaev, were part of a force sent by the Collective Treaty Security Organization, a Russia-led alliance of six former Soviet states. More than 2,000 troops in total were sent to Kazakhstan, mainly Russian soldiers, but also small contingencies from other member states Belarus, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia. The Russian Defense Ministry said on January 15 that all of its planes carrying troops had returned. It was not clear whether troops from other alliance countries remain in Kazakhstan. With reporting by Reuters ORAL, Kazakhstan -- Growing up in the small, remote town of Zhalpaqtal in Kazakhstans oil-rich northwest, Aslan Zhamaliev wasn't interested in politics. After studying telecommunications and working in mobile-phone stores in West Kazakhstan Province, Zhamaliev ended up getting a job in the oil and gas sector -- just like many others in recent years. It was during his work in the oil industry that Zhamaliev, 39, says he began questioning why in a country with enormous natural resources the majority of people earn just enough to buy food. I joined the protests because Im fed up with the government. Its about poverty, but there are many other political and economic issues that anger people. Zhamaliev says his job in the neighboring Atyrau region involved long shifts and hard work. But he was paid about $230 a month, not even half of the official average salary of $570 a month. I'm educated. Im experienced. Why should I work for only $230? Actually, what the employer offered me was even lower -- it was $160 a month, Zhamaliev says. These wages arent enough for anything. Zhamaliev lost his job after falling ill with COVID-19 last year. He was among thousands of Kazakhs who took part in anti-government protests in early January that turned violent after being met by a heavy government clampdown. Dozens were killed, hundreds were injured, and nearly 8,000 people were detained across the country of some 19 million. The unprecedented nationwide demonstrations involving tens of thousands of unhappy Kazakhs began with a peaceful protest against a hike in the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the western town of Zhanaozen on January 2. In Oral, where Zhamaliev now lives, demonstrations started on January 3, initially with about 80 motorists demanding the government cancel the increase in prices for the fuel used by most for their cars. But as the demonstrations grew, so did the demands of the protesters, who began calling for broader political changes. The protests were not just about the gas prices, says Zhamaliev. He said that was just a trigger for people to voice their growing discontent with the countrys political elite who controlled the countrys riches while the rest of the nation lived in poverty. I joined the protests because Im fed up with the government, Zhamaliev says. Its about poverty, but there are many other political and economic issues that anger people. I want to live in a normal, democratic country. Zhamaliev says he believed that political changes in Kazakhstan could happen through the ballot box but was disillusioned after the countrys last two elections -- the presidential vote in 2019 and parliamentary polls in 2021. Zhamaliev joined a local group of independent monitors in both elections. Ahead of the parliamentary elections, Zhamaliev began hanging posters on the streets of Oral, urging people not to vote for the ruling Nur Otan party. After my experience with the elections last year, I couldnt stay indifferent to the [politics] anymore." But he says the elections were "rigged and activists and independent monitors were "threatened, as Nur Otan went on to win the vote and maintain the majority it always held in parliament. The outcome didnt come as a surprise in a country that has no history of free and fair elections. Zhamaliev, meanwhile, was ordered by the Oral city court to pay a fine of $170 for illegally producing and spreading propaganda. After my experience with the elections last year, I couldnt stay indifferent to the [politics] anymore, he says. 'Provocateurs Sent By Authorities' Zhamaliev said he joined the demonstrations in Oral on the city's central Abai Square near the local government headquarters on January 4. He described the crowd as peaceful and well-behaved. He said some people brought tea and food and that everyone cleaned up after themselves. But he said that when the protesters moved toward the government building, a group of aggressive, young people -- most of them drunk, came out of nowhere and tried to provoke the demonstrators. They started dragging people, jumping on them, or trying to take loudspeakers away from the activists. Zhamaliev claims that he saw some of the same young men at a 2021 rally when they tried to interrupt that gathering with similar tactics. Kazakh authorities have accused demonstrators of being responsible for attacking police, setting fire to government buildings, and looting businesses. But Zhamaliev claims the government deliberately tried to incite chaos and conflict among the crowds. I believe that these young people were provocateurs sent by the authorities to provoke fighting among the gathering so that police had a pretext to disperse the protesters, Zhamaliev said. But we tried to avoid them. By the morning of January 5, police had dispersed the demonstrators and detained hundreds of people. 'No Regrets' Zhamaliev says three officers grabbed him on the square and shoved him into a police vehicle. They beat me with batons and fists inside the van, he says. The beating, kicking, and swearing continued after he was taken to a police station, he says. Zhamaliev says he was set free after being forced to sign a letter prepared by police but without even reading it. One officer told me that they would kill me if they see me again [at a protest], Zhamaliev says. But Zhamaliev said that what struck him most were the complaints of the police officers about their own plight while they were beating and swearing at protesters inside the police van. One of them said, I work for $260 a month and I dont see my family because of my work, while people like you complain about your lives, Zhamaliev claims. Local officials said on January 5 that some 360 people were detained in Oral in connection with the unrest. Many of them were later released. The Kazakh government says order has now been restored across the country after the unrest, which it has blamed on foreign-trained terrorists and bandits. But for Zhamaliev, the fight for a better future is far from over. He believes that the people of Kazakhstan will return to the streets. I am not even angry with the officers who beat me. Theyre just some miserable people who by their own admission work for meager wages, Zhamaliev told RFE/RL. But thats their choice. We will continue our political activism. A Moscow court ordered the arrest of three more people allegedly linked to the ransomware group REvil, one day after Russian security agents said they had raided several apartments and seized cash and computer equipment. The news, announced by the Tverskoi District Court on January 15, brings the number of those arrested in the operation to five. Russia's Federal Security Service said the January 14 raids were done at the request of U.S. authorities -- something that U.S. officials confirmed later. It appeared to be a rare demonstration of U.S.-Russian collaboration at a time of soaring tensions between Washington and Moscow. The Moscow court identified the three new men ordered into custody as Mikhail Golovachuk, Ruslan Khansvyarov, and Dmitry Korotayev. In its announcement, the security service, known as the FSB, said that its agents had searched 25 addresses and detained 14 people in all. Among the assets the FSB said it had seized were 20 luxury cars. It wasn't immediately clear when and if the other unnamed individuals detained would be formally arrested. In November, the United States said it was offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of anyone holding a key position in the REvil group. A senior U.S. administration official told reporters that one of the individuals detained was allegedly behind the May ransomware attack against Colonial Pipeline, which caused a major disruption of gasoline supplies up and down the U.S. East Coast. At their first summit meeting in June, U.S. President Joe Biden called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to go after cybercriminals operating from inside Russia who target businesses around the world, especially in the United States. Russia-based hackers are believed to be behind a significant proportion of global ransomware attacks. However, the Kremlin has historically turned a blind eye to their activities as long as they dont target Russian companies and individuals, experts say. The two men ordered arrested on January 14 were identified as Andrei Bessonov and Roman Muromsky. With reporting by Interfax and TASS A top Ukrainian official says a Belarusian intelligence agency is likely behind the hacking of several Ukrainian government websites this week. Serhiy Demedyuk, deputy secretary of Ukraine's national security and defense council, spoke with Reuters on January 15, a day after Ukrainian websites were disabled and defaced with threatening messages. Demedyuk said a group known as UNC1151 was behind the hack. "This is a cyberespionage group affiliated with the special services of the Republic of Belarus," he said in a written comment to Reuters. The cyberattack came as Russia has massed tens of thousands of troops near Ukraine's borders. The crisis, and the threat of a new invasion of Ukraine, brought diplomats from Washington, Moscow, and Europe together for three separate, high-level meetings this past week. Ukrainian and other officials have also suggested that Russia was likely involved in the hack, but provided no proof. Belarus is a close ally of Russia, which has dismissed such fears as "unfounded." Belarusian officials did not respond to a request for comment. "The group specializes in cyberespionage, which is associated with the Russian special services and which, for its attacks, resorts to recruiting or undercover work of its insiders in the right company," Demedyuk told Reuters. The group UNC1151 has been tracked by cyberexperts in the past. In November, the private company Mandiant published a report alleging UNC1151 was behind a campaign to steal government credentials and spread disinformation in Europe. Mandiant said it had "moderate confidence" that Belarus was "at least partially responsible" for the campaign known as Ghostwriter. "We cannot rule out Russian contributions to either UNC1151 or Ghostwriter," Mandiant said. Based on reporting by Reuters Richmond, KY (40475) Today Windy with scattered thunderstorms. Potential for severe thunderstorms. High 81F. Winds SW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Thunderstorms during the evening will give way to cloudy skies after midnight. Low near 55F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Written By Joe Schulz served as the reporter of the Green Laker in 2019 and 2020, before being hired as a reporter for the Commonwealth in October 2020. He is from Oshkosh and graduated from UW-Oshkosh in December 2020 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. | Roanoke Rapids, NC (27870) Today A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 86F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Mostly cloudy with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Low 64F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. Sanford, NC (27330) Today Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 88F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 65F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. London, KY (40741) Today Mostly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 82F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms. Low 58F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Crews are cleaning Tenderloin streets and sidewalks and outreach workers are offering homeless people shelter as part of Mayor London Breeds push to improve conditions in the troubled neighborhood. While some early changes are visible nearly 80 people who are homeless got inside as the result of a new shelter option and a few corners are looking cleaner and cleared of drug dealers and users familiar issues persist generally throughout the Tenderloin. Workers ask those who dont accept shelter, for example, to simply move elsewhere, and not everyone has received an offer. The city also plans to open a drop-in center in U.N. Plaza this week to link people to services such as housing and treatment and hire health care workers to offer long-term help. And a key and controversial piece of Breeds strategy, increasing police presence in the Tenderloin, is rolling out slowly, with arrests of drug dealers remaining flat. Mary Ellen Carroll, director of the Department of Emergency Management, whos spearheading the push, said city workers are doing their jobs with more coordination, transparency and accountability as a result of the initiative. She said she wouldnt expect to see a change in drug use in the Tenderloin at this point because the linkage center hasnt opened yet. She also said housing people doesnt always lead to reduced public drug use. Some of those people are going to come back outside and use, and thats just reality, she said. Breeds initiative and her declaration of a state of emergency in the area came in the wake of residents pressuring her to take action. Critics have questioned whether the plan focuses more on cosmetic changes to street conditions than long-standing root issues in the neighborhood. Breed cautioned residents in a meeting last month that change wouldnt happen overnight, and said in a Tweet on Jan. 6 that its going to take time, but also visited the corner of Turk and Hyde to tout clean sidewalks by a park in a video. Based on Chronicle visits before the initiative and Wednesday, that corner looks much the same. Community ambassadors have been stationed there for months, and their presence often causes drug dealing and use to move to other areas. One block from where the mayor stood, the 300 block of Hyde has been in need of help for years, but residents say more people were pushed there after ambassadors got stationed a street over last year. On visits in December, the corner of Eddy and Hyde streets was so crowded it was almost impassable. Around two dozen men who residents said are drug dealers clustered in front of the ICU Market Deli and Ice Cream while people slumped, needles in slack hands, down the block. The store entrance was so congested that customers didnt come in, said manager Maharn Badani. That shifted about 10 days ago when Public Works, outreach workers and police showed up, he said. On a recent day, cops also hung out on the corner for about two hours, he said. That temporarily deterred dealers, but they still came back at night, he added. Wednesday afternoon, Badani was grateful the path to the store was clearer and new customers were starting to come in. But on the other side of the 300 block of Hyde and up toward Ellis, people were still using or selling drugs and other goods. As part of the operation on that block and the 400 and 600 blocks of Eddy Street from Jan. 5 to 9, Public Works picked up 2 tons of debris, city data shows. Outreach workers placed 20 people into shelter or housing after more than 123 interactions, got one person a taxi to urgent care, and handed out clothes, water, blankets and gift cards. That was a change from a one-day effort on Dec. 20 when outreach workers offered shelter to 110 people on the same block and no one accepted. Carroll attributed success to the opening of the COVA Hotel on Ellis Street as a winter shelter from Dec. 27 through March that offers a private room with a bathroom. An additional 58 people from across the Tenderloin were placed in the hotel since it opened. By comparison, the citys homeless outreach team placed 202 people in the neighborhood in some form of shelter in December. If people dont accept shelter, they are asked to move along, Carroll said. As a result, tent counts have dropped. The initiative has helped some. A month ago, Heather Campbell was sitting on the corner of Eddy and Hyde next to her boyfriend, surrounded by her belongings, tripping out, she said. But 10 days ago, the city offered them a room at the COVA and they took it. Shes been homeless for 13 years and wants permanent housing. Its made a good impact on my life because Im inside, she said Wednesday as she stopped to greet a friend on the block. Im totally cool with it compared to being out here. Clyde Darn, lying in a tent Wednesday, missed his chance to get in the hotel because he was in the hospital the previous week. He said police officers told him four days ago he had to leave, but he doesnt have a place to go. Others already have housing but still use drugs on the street. Jensina Hardy, sitting on a wooden chair holding a crack pipe, said she and her husband are paying $800 for a tiny single-room-occupancy hotel room with no kitchen. She comes to Hyde most days to see her friends, use and buy drugs. Drugs and other issues on the block havent changed much, with daily numbers fluctuating from roughly 10 to 20 incidents of drug activity and 10 to 25 problem behaviors from Jan. 3 to 7. 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. Problem behaviors include someone lying down on the sidewalk or street, walking without regard to traffic, having no attempt at hygiene, inappropriately clothed for the weather, exposed genitalia, hoarding and public defecation. Carroll said police officers were also present keeping drug dealers away while outreach workers offered services. Three residents said theyve also seen some more regular patrols recently one officer walked the block Wednesday and got in a car parked on the corner of Hyde and Ellis but residents said dealers usually just move when police come and return when they leave. Across the Tenderloin last week, police made five drug-related arrests, on par throughout the pandemic where drug arrests range from one to 26 a week, balancing out to an average of 10. One of the goals of the initiative is to cut down on 911 calls to the area. From Jan. 3 to 9 across the Tenderloin, emergency personnel responded to 356 medical calls, with seven deaths and 17 overdoses. Data wasnt available on how many of the overdoses were also deaths. On average in the neighborhood in 2020, three people a week died of overdoses. Some residents take matters into their own hands. Halfway up the 300 block of Hyde, Alex Alvarado stood Wednesday outside the open garage of the apartment building hes managed off and on for 20 years, and lived in for more than four. He washes the street daily, picking up trash and getting people using or dealing drugs to move from the door. He said the citys recent efforts have made a marginal difference, but the street has gone up and down over the years. Long-term, he wants to see the city do more to offer and compel people to get help. Its gotten better during the day, but at night its like a free-for-all, he said. Alvarado twice interrupted himself to ask men lighting up to get away from the buildings doors. The neighbors love me, the druggies not so much, he said. San Francisco Chronicle data reporter Yoohyun Jung contributed to this report. Mallory Moench is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@mallorymoench San Francisco Mayor London Breed did not violate the rights of a political opponent in 2019 by pressuring advertising companies to take down two billboards, one of which showed a cartoon image of the mayor barefoot, smoking a cigar and counting stacks of money, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. Public officials do not violate freedom of expression by denouncing an opponents advertisements or other campaign statements as long as the officials do not threaten to take governmental action against the opponent, said the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The court also said Clear Channel Outdoor and OutFront Media, which had posted the billboards for the campaign of Ellen Zhou, did not violate Zhous rights by removing them. Zhou put up the billboards in October 2019, a month before the election in which Breed easily won a second term with 70% of the vote. One showed a cartoon of a money-counting Breed with her feet on a desk, while the other portrayed the Black mayor driving a bus labeled Werewolves of London Tours alongside cars with smashed windows. Breed and her supporters called the signs racist and offensive, and the advertising companies removed them a few days later. Clear Channel said it reserves the right to remove advertising that offends community standards. Zhous lawsuit accused both the mayor and the advertisers of violating her right to freedom of expression, and also said the companies had breached the terms of their contract with her. U.S. District Judge William Orrick dismissed the suit in May 2020, and the appeals court upheld his ruling Friday. A government official does not violate an opponents rights simply by speaking critically of a billboard or calling for its removal, the three-judge panel said. The court said there was no evidence that Breed had threatened to seek government penalties against either Zhou or the advertisers. The court also noted that First Amendment rights apply only against the government and not against private parties like the advertising companies, which in this case were acting on their own, without coercion or threat of government sanction. And Zhous contract with Clear Channel expressly allowed the company to remove billboards at its discretion, for any reason or none at all, the court 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 panel consisted of Ninth Circuit Judges John Owens and Michelle Friedland and Judge Danny Boggs of the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, temporarily assigned to the San Francisco court. Brian Stretch, a lawyer for Clear Channel, said his client was gratified by the ruling and appreciated the courts diligence and efficiency in resolving the issues, which were submitted to the panel six weeks ago. Other attorneys in the case were not immediately available for comment. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko Vallejo City Council Member Hakeem Brown used his government-issued email address to lash out at constituents last month after losing a vote to create a sanctioned tent encampment in a parking lot. Brown sent the profanity-studded missives to at least three people who wrote to him separately, complaining about his conduct at City Council meetings, about the proposed encampment and about comments Brown made on his personal Facebook page, where he described the encampment controversy as emblematic of racial divisions in Vallejo. He called one Vallejo resident a trick, a colloquialism for someone who solicits sex workers, and taunted another: Lol f you, according to messages obtained by The Chronicle. Lol I will not sit down, Brown wrote in a third email. Not for any of you Karens. Sincerely, Hakeem Brown. Reached by phone Friday, Brown declined to comment and hung up. He did not respond to further requests for comment. Some of my fellow councilmembers and some white citizens in the audience got tired of me bringing up race and the part that racism plays in not addressing homelessness and housing in our community, Brown wrote on his Facebook page on Dec. 22, two days after the council voted 4-2 to reject encampment at 921 Amador St. According to them racism no longer exists in Vallejo and in how councilmembers make their decisions, Brown wrote. He argued that the criticism over the encampment stemmed from white neighbors who did not want to be near the unhoused population. Instead council decided it would be better to put the encampment in a black neighborhood in South Vallejo on a piece of property thats just dirt and no electricity, he wrote on Facebook. A spokesperson for the city said that although the nonprofit associated with Hope Village owns property in South Vallejo, the nonprofit never formally requested to put tents there. Instead, the council opted this month to fund hotel vouchers for people who would have lived in Hope Village. Browns comments angered Annie Wheat, a resident who lives on the same block of the aborted Hope Village site. Wheat moved to Vallejo from Napa a year ago, and said she got involved in city politics for the first time in December, after hearing about the tent village. After Wheat saw Browns Facebook posts, she emailed the mayor, vice mayor, staff and City Council, among others. Claiming an entire group of residents to be racist is bullying and utter nonsense, Wheat wrote. The email went on to accuse Brown of bias toward the project because he had posted its GoFundMe link on Facebook, and to denounce him for inappropriate behavior online and in council meetings. It also cited census demographics showing the neighborhood around 921 Amador St. Church Street is 30% Black and 37% white. Diana Lang, a former campaign volunteer for Brown who was also on the thread, chimed in. She urged city officials to discipline or censure Brown for his ridiculous outbursts and for going after taxpayers while they are speaking at the dais and running out of a meeting before a vote because he didnt like the previous vote. Seventeen minutes after Lang sent the email, records show, Brown responded: Lol f you. He then wrote to Wheat, saying he would not sit down for any Karens, a term for a white woman who summons police or other authority figures to report perceived slights by people of color. 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. Gary Wettstein, a Vallejo resident who emailed Brown on Dec. 9 to voice concerns about the proposed encampment, received a reply from the council member within eight minutes. Lol is this the trick I saw coming out of a fake massage parlor? Stfu Gary. Stop bitching. Wettstein, who characterized himself as an armchair community advocate, said hed cultivated a decent rapport with Brown shortly after the council members election in 2018. The two had met to talk about community policing, Wettstein said, and it sounded like he had some great ideas and was interested in doing the right thing. Vallejo Mayor Robert McConnell, who defeated Brown last year, did not immediately return calls seeking comment Friday. During that election campaign, Brown acknowledged in an open letter to the community that he had been arrested multiple times in the past, saying the cases involved drugs, possession of a firearm, and a scuffle with a domestic partner. He said he served four years in jail. While a city spokesperson was not immediately able to comment on Browns emails or Facebook posts, the citys code of conduct requires appointed and elected officials to refrain from personal attacks, exercise self-control, listen to others respectfully and treat everyone courteously. Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan I used to be in the camp that disagrees with changing the filibuster because changing it sounds great when your party is in power, but not so much when it isnt. I didnt want the instability of veering one way and then another as a society every two to six years. Many new laws need time to determine whether they are effective. But I have changed my mind. Political parties should be judged on the laws they propose and the laws they enact. If they propose bad laws, their members should not be elected. If they fail to enact the new laws they have promised, their members should be voted out of office. The way it works now, however, is that parties are voted out of office not for the laws they proposed and tried to enact, but for the laws they could not enact due to the filibuster and the obstruction of the other party. If the Democrats change or eliminate the filibuster, they may lose the majority in 2022 and 2024 as well, but that may occur anyway. And the Republicans will run roughshod over them. But then the country will have a chance to re-evaluate and decide whether it really likes the policies the Republicans enact. Do they really want a country with more rights for the rich, less for the poor, less for anyone who is not white, less for women? This country is supposed to run on majority rule, not rule by the minority that runs it now under the filibuster. Jay Chafetz, Walnut Creek PG&E policy misguided PG&Es argument that a rising share of electricity infrastructure costs will fall inequitably on those who cant afford or are unable to install rooftop solar panels makes no sense. As battery storage costs decline, homeowners with rooftop arrays and utilities will find it financially feasible to store excess energy for use when sunlight isnt available. This combination will lower the total cost of the grid, according to some studies. A more constant demand for electricity with fewer peaks will decrease the need for backup and excess infrastructure and reduce the cost of the grid. PG&E should focus on making affordable battery storage widely available rather than trying to pay rooftop solar owners less for the energy they produce. Illana Weisman, Walnut Creek Pass universal health Regarding Heath plan sets state further apart (Front Page, Jan. 13): You have missed the big story, which is that AB1400 has just passed the health committee of the California Assembly. AB1400 is CalCare, a single-payer health plan for California to provide universal health care. In 2018, then gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom attracted the support of California nurses as he promised that as governor, he would support single-payer health care legislation. Now, your article shows Newsom supporting a broadening of using private health insurance companies to cover more of the population. This is not what he promised, and his new plan would waste a large percentage of our health care dollars and increase inequity. AB1400 needs to pass. It will cost less and save lives and provide some equity in health care. Judy Ballinger, El Cerrito Keeping streets clean Regarding Activity is picking up for trash devotee (Heather Knight, Jan. 12): Loved the article! My husband and I have been taking walks in our neighborhood, and to keep it interesting, we started using a picker-upper to gather garbage. I cannot believe what we find: cigarette butts, masks, candy wrappers, plastic lids and straws, wads of paper, plastic water bottles, bags of dog poop, Styrofoam peanuts, plastic flossers, soda cans, fast food containers, broken pieces of plastic! When I was growing up we were taught not to litter. What happened? Last October, the Oakland Unified School District became one of the first in California to require students ages 12 and older to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Despite this requirement, more than 6,000 Oakland school district students are still not fully vaccinated, putting them at risk of being removed from in-person instruction at the end of the month. Amid the omicron surge, students and teachers are staging sickouts to protest what they say is a lack of testing, high-quality masks and sick leave for school staff. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle On this episode of the Fifth & Mission podcast, Chronicle education reporter Jill Tucker joins host Cecilia Lei to discuss how the mandate is going, and what the stakes are for the district, as well as families who are choosing to not vaccinate their kids. Photo above: Some Oakland Unified teachers called a sickout on Friday, January 7, saying they don't feel safe teaching. They're calling for two weeks remote learning during the Omicron surge. More Fifth & Mission podcast Listen: COVID pills and Sonoma County's new shutdown strategy Listen: Mayor Breed talks about her Tenderloin plan Almost 100 people showed up at a town hall rally outside City Hall on Friday to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and call attention to the stubborn distance between his dream and the reality for many of San Franciscos Black residents. Organized by Wealth and Disparities in the Black Community, a Bay Area grassroots organization, the three-hour event featured a host of speakers including local politicians, civil rights attorneys, community organizers, city workers and residents hammering home a consensus conclusion: On the eve of the great civil rights leaders 93rd birthday, it hasnt gotten much easier to be Black in San Francisco. The big question is, how are Black San Franciscans faring right now? said Phelicia Jones, the founder of Wealth and Disparities. Id say not too well. African Americans moved in large numbers to San Francisco during World War II to work in shipyard jobs amid segregation, bringing the local Black population from fewer than 5,000 people to 32,000 in 1940, or 5% of the citys population. According to recent city data, Black people still make up only 5% of San Francisco residents, but that's down from 13% in 1970. And today they account for 35% of the citys homeless population. The average income for a Black household is $31,000, compared to $110,000 for white families, and about 19% of Black children live in poverty in the city. We are the very same people who came here fleeing the lash of the South only to face housing discrimination, over-policing and mass incarceration, said Adante Pointer, a civil rights attorney. They unleashed the gates of hell on the community in order to beat back our pride. Supervisor Shamann Walton said the Board of Supervisors is trying to address some of these systemic gaps. The city created a reparations task force in May, and redirected $120 million in local law enforcement funding (around 7% of the sheriff and police budget) to the citys Black neighborhoods starting last year. The funds are earmarked for small-business grants and loans; education and social justice programs for youth; and drug and mass incarceration rehabilitation support, among other services. Weve accomplished some things, weve directed resources to the Black community, Walton said. But even with those steps, theres still a long way to go. Walton said he didnt think it was coincidental that sensationalized news coverage of petty crime was on the rise after the board agreed to shift funds from law enforcement into the Black community. Every step we take forward, they try and hold us back, Walton said. Its not surprising, its not new. The rally comes as Mayor London Breed pursues a controversial strategy to crack down on crime, drug use and public nuisances in the Tenderloin, an area thats home to unhoused people who are disproportionately Black and brown. Supervisor Matt Haney, whose district includes the Tenderloin, said its important to continue Kings fight. 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. Black people continue to face disparities in many sectors of life, whether its education, housing or interacting with law enforcement, he told The Chronicle. This is a time to recommit to the work of civil rights and social justice for every Black resident on our city. Police Officer Domingo Williams said he attended the event to show solidarity with his Black community, and to establish himself as an access point for residents distrustful of his profession. Im here to build trust and I understand itll take a while, and for good reason, Williams said. Black people have every reason to distrust law enforcement. Im here to let people know Im an option and that Im a resource. Other Bay Area residents such as Dellfinia Hardy, Lynn Westry and Ramona Massey, all San Francisco city workers, said they were at the event to show support, and concurred that evening the playing field would be a long-haul effort. Two years isnt enough to fix this, Westry told The Chronicle of the citys investment plan for Black neighborhoods. Yes, funds have been redirected and thats great, but we need to make sure were addressing shifts systemically if we want real change to reach the next generations. Thats what Dr. King would have wanted. Shwanika Narayan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: shwanika.narayan@sfchronicle.com Twitter/Instagram: @shwanika For nearly a decade cross-laminated timber a layered, wooden building material billed as the concrete of the future has been widely used and celebrated across Europe and Canada for its low carbon footprint and handsome woodsy grain. It took a while, but finally San Franciscans can see what the fuss is about. In the citys design-heavy Showplace Square district, developer SKS Partners is putting the final touches on 1 De Haro, a 134,000-square-foot, five-story building that will become headquarters for Samsara, a hardware and cloud-based software company that helps fleets track mileage and other performance indicators. While the neighborhoods light industrial zoning required that the buildings lower floor be concrete, the rest of the structure is made of timber harvested from Forest Stewardship Council-certified black spruce forests in northern Quebec. The cross-laminated timber panels that ended up at 1 De Haro consist of multiple layers of kiln-dried lumber boards stacked together with adhesives. The wood was then fabricated into precise components think erector set before being transported to Stockton by rail, and trucked over the Altamont Pass to San Francisco. The material generates very little waste on-site, and is also fire-resistant and performs well in earthquakes. In addition to being more sustainable than steel or concrete both of which emit a lot of carbon dioxide during their manufacturing CLT is faster to build with because each panel is prefabricated with precision using advanced manufacturing technology. Jana Asenbrennerova/Special to The Chronicle Daniel Kingsley, a partner with SKS, said using CLT was a bit more expensive than concrete but that the speed, green qualities and aesthetics made it well worth it. He said moving from concrete to mass timber reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 1,800 metric tons, the equivalent of 530 cars a year being taken off the road. We decided this was a risk worth taking, said Kingsley. Its better for the environment and we felt it would be better for the tenants. While the buildings curtain wall exterior is similar to other new, tech-oriented buildings in the neighborhood, at dusk you can see the blonde spruce ceilings and beams glowing through the glass skin. That is a a cool thing about mass timber the character changes based on where you are sourcing your wood from, said Matt Covall, architect with Perkins + Will, which designed the building. While the building is the first multistory CLT structure on the West Coast, it definitely wont be the last. Another five-story mixed-use CLT building is under construction in Los Angeles and Perkins + Will, the architect on 1 De Haro, has future projects in South San Francisco and Tahoe. Jana Asenbrennerova/Special to The Chronicle Two San Francisco CLT projects an academic building at the California College of the Arts and a community center at the Sunnydale public housing complex recently won grants through Gov. Gavin Newsoms Mass Timber Building Competition, a contest put on by the state Forest Management Task Force. In Los Angeles, Shawmut Design and Construction is about six months from completing a five-story CLT creative office building at 843 N. Spring St., near Dodgers Stadium. Greg Skalaski, who heads up Shawmuts West Coast operations, said the project is getting a lot of interest from other L.A. builders, although he thinks CLT will mostly be applied to high-end boutique commercial and residential buildings. The warmth of the wood creates a very different feel than a standard office space, he said. If you are looking to fill that creative office space need the type of project that typically attracts the highest rents of the world it is perfect. But Skalaski said he doubts that Californians will see CLT in typical middle-market or affordable multifamily housing construction. The housing crisis is not going to be solved by building really cool spaces, he said. We have to get to an efficient manner of building for every day folks. Traditional concrete podium construction is still a very efficient way to do that. Photos by Jana Asenbrennerova / Special to The Chronicle Ross Edwards, CEO of the San Francisco contractor Build Group, said his company is in talks with a developer interested in doing a high-end 15-story residential CLT project in San Jose. While the estimates have yet to be finalized, he said it will likely cost 20% more than a traditional concrete building. 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 will see at the end of the day if it pencils or not, he said. CLT is trendy right now because its sustainable but how much of that is real and how much is a publicity stunt? Im somewhat of a skeptic because I dont think things are greener that cost more. Edwards questions whether energy and money going into CLT might be better used making existing construction practices more sustainable. Is it really going to be a benefit at this point or should we target more investment into helping the concrete industry get greener? A new report from Grand View Research says the CLT market will grow 13.6% a year over the next seven years, reaching $2.7 billion by 2028. But that growth is likely to come in fits and starts as the industry matures. Already one prominent Silicon Valley company, Katerra, went bankrupt after building a CLT manufacturing facility in Spokane, Wash. That factory was recently acquired by a Canadian company for $50 million. Jana Asenbrennerova/Special to The Chronicle One De Haro architect Peter Pfau of Perkins + Will said the United States CLT industry will be bolstered as new production facilities come online, which will allow West Coast projects to use locally sourced wood. Pfau said tenants are attracted to its biophilic qualities a concept used in the building industry to increase occupants connection to the natural environment. Three different tenants competed to take all of the 1 De Haro building. The beauty of CLT is a market advantage, said Pfau. People just really love the look of it. There is quite a difference between walking into a room with all this beautiful wood and a typical concrete office building. For years San Francisco office tenants have been attracted to historic brick and timber buildings, and developers have sought to replicate that feel by adding reclaimed lumber and brick. You go back 100 years they were building brick and timber buildings in the South of Market, said Kingsley. Back then you cut down a redwood tree and made a column out of it, you made a girder out of it. It wasnt all laminated together but it was the same idea. J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen The summit of Mount Ingalls, the highest point in Plumas County, offers panoramic views of some of Californias finest landmarks: Lassen Peak to the north, the jagged Sierra Buttes to the south, glacial lakes and extensive woodlands in all directions. Its an incredible spot. But getting there is a pain. The summit trailheads are accessible only via long stretches of rocky logging roads that are poorly signed. People sometimes get lost before they even start their treks. Getting to such hard-to-reach, yet spectacular, places in Californias northern Sierra will be a whole lot easier if a newly proposed 600-mile trail network comes to fruition. Its called the Lost Sierra Route, and it would crisscross about 1 million acres of remote mountains, linking 14 towns via a trail system for hikers, mountain bikers, equestrians and dirt-bikers. The experience of traveling it would be less like a one-way backpacking thru-hike, like the lengthy trips many take on the John Muir Trail or Pacific Crest Trail, and more akin to a shorter, choose-your-own-itinerary in an area where the nearest hot shower is never too far away. You could have a multiday adventure but also come into town and stay at a hotel on your next stop more of a European town-to-town style hike that we dont necessarily have in California, said Trinity Stirling, a key architect of the concept. Stirling works as a project coordinator at Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship, a nonprofit group in Quincy that has built 114 miles of new trails and maintained roughly 1,400 miles more in the mountains between Lake Tahoe and Lassen National Park. The Lost Sierra Route would represent the pinnacle of the groups mission, extending from Truckee north to Lake Almanor and passing through Sierra, Plumas and Lassen counties, with short extensions into Butte and Nevada counties as well as Reno. The project is estimated to cost $40.3 million, including planning and construction. Theres no other trail system being proposed in the nation of this size, Stirling said. Provided by Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship The idea comes at a pivotal moment for the region. The area was once at the heart of the Gold Rush and later a major source of timber, but today is largely dependent on tourism. Proponents say a cohesive trail system of this magnitude could help provide a much-needed economic boost for a region reeling from contractions in mining and logging, and more recently besieged by wildfires. This could be a wonderful thing: truly connecting all the communities could help the entire region, said Jan Tew, director of the Lost Sierra Visitors Center in Blairsden. Hundreds of thousands of acres of forest have burned in the area over the past 18 months. The lightning-driven North Complex wildfires of 2020 raged from Oroville up the Sierras western flank to Quincy. Then last summers Dixie Fire swallowed nearly 1 million acres and all but leveled the small town of Greenville. Its been a heavy couple of years, said Stirling, who lives in Quincy. Were hoping this project can uplift this entire region and provide some hope to people who have been through a lot. Provided by Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship, which was founded in 2003, has already had success transforming the tiny Gold Rush town of Downieville, located on historic Highway 49, into a mountain biking destination that hosts world-famous downhill races. In cooperation with the Sierra County Land Trust and Tahoe National Forest, the group has added 60 miles of trails there, many of which are refurbished historic mining trails. Mountain biking has become a cornerstone of Downievilles economy, Stirling said. Now other communities are interested in tapping into outdoor recreation. The group has submitted a preliminary route proposal to the Forest Service showing a huge trail circuit that would pass through four national forests, Tahoe, Plumas, Lassen and Humboldt-Toiyabe, cross the Sierra crest, encompass Lake Almanor and skirt Highway 395 for several miles. While bits of the route would utilize existing trails, more than 90% of it would require laying down fresh paths, primarily on federal forest land. While Stirling expects the route to change somewhat during the approval process, the trail group is confident its vision can be realized, having garnered letters of support from county supervisors, city councils and leadership at Plumas, Tahoe and Lassen national forests. Provided by Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship It is an ambitious proposal, but I think a lot of the right partnerships are coming together that could make much of this a reality hopefully within a reasonable time frame, said Garrett Villanueva, who manages the Forest Services Regional Trail and Travel Management Program in its Pacific Southwest Region, which encompasses California. The trail group and Forest Service are planning to present the concept to the federal Environmental Protection Agency and discuss possible grant funding as early as this spring, Villanueva said. The group is also exploring other grant opportunities for tourism and recreation projects at the state and federal levels. Villanueva said he believes the trail group would best proceed by completing the project in segments gaining approvals, one forest at a time. However, Stirling says the group hasnt given up hope of persuading the Forest Service and potential funders to support the entire project. The details are to be discovered, Villanueva said, but I think the whole thing is exciting. Gregory Thomas is The San Francisco Chronicles editor of lifestyle and outdoors. Email: gthomas@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @GregRThomas Press Release January 15, 2022 Drilon urges Congress 'to not allow election fever get in the way of legislation', seeks passage of Public Service Act, Sim Card Registration Act, Non-Expiration of Franchise bill Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon said Congress should move swiftly in the remaining 10 session days to pass critical laws that can hasten the country's economic recovery, address the proliferation of troll accounts, address franchise woes, and expand protection for solo parents before going on recess again for the 2022 national and local elections. Drilon called on his colleagues both in the Senate and the House of Representatives "to not allow election fever get in the way of legislation." "There's a lot to be done for our country and our people. Even with the elections drawing closer, let us put our 100-percent towards the passage of much-needed laws that our people expect from Congress," Drilon said. Congress is set to return to work on January 17 until February 4. It has about 10 sessions days to work on several measures before it goes on recess for the 2022 national and local elections. The Senate chief fiscalizer cited, for instance, the amendments to the Public Service Act. The measure, which is pending in the bicam, proposes to limit the definition of public utility, while opening up other public services to the market. Drilon, the principal author of the measure, explained that the proposed amendments to the Public Service Law, which was enacted in 1936, will provide a clear definition of public utilities, as he pointed out how the interchangeable use of "public utility" and "public service" has effectively barred foreign entry into the market. "The passage of this measure, along with the newly-signed Republic Act (RA) 11595 or the Amended Retail Trade Act, will set the stage for the country's economic recovery. They will boost the country's chance to return to pre-pandemic economic growth level," Drilon said. Drilon is also the principal author of RA 11595 which lowers the paid-up capital requirement in retail trade to P25 million from its previous limit of $2.5 million or roughly P125 million. The minority leader also said Congress should approve the Sim Card Registration Act and send it immediately to the President for his approval. The bill mandates the ownership registration of all sim cards in the country to "deter the ?proliferation of SIM card, internet or electronic communication-aided crimes, such as, but not limited to terrorism; text scams; unsolicited, indecent or obscene messages; bank fraud; libel; anonymous online defamation; trolling; hate speech, spread of digital disinformation or ?fake news." Drilon inserted a provision in the proposed measure that can unmask trolls and fight the anonymity in cyberspace by requiring real-name and phone number upon creation of social media accounts. "This new provision will prevent anyone from making anonymous accounts online. Section 5 of the proposed measure states that all social media account providers shall require real-name and phone number upon creation of account," Drilon said. Drilon also hopes the Congress can pass the non-expiration of license and franchise bill that he authored and the Senate passed on third reading last month. He also expressed support for the AFP Modernization bill, Teacher Education Excellence Act, Night Shift Differential Pay bill, Judiciary Marshalls Act. All of them are pending in the bicam, he noted. Drilon also said the Congress should prioritize the bill that seeks to increase the age for determining statutory rape. The bill recently hurdled the bicam and will be up for approval by both chambers when it resumes session. "We have a long list of measures that are in advanced stages of legislation. Some of them have been pending in bicam for months. I urge the leadership of both houses of Congress to take a look at it so we can prioritize its passage in the remaining session days," Drilon said. "We must move at lightning speed in the remaining 10 sessions days before the campaign period kicks in," he noted. Resolution 10695 of the Commission on Elections sets the campaign period for candidates for president, vice president and party-list groups, from Feb. 8 to May 7, 2022. At the meeting, the Cabinet member affirmed that coordinated work with regions will be key to guaranteeing an adequate return of school students to classrooms this March. "The urgent thing is to return to face-to-face classes; this is the main issue during the first two months, but we have to continue thinking about administrative reform in the medium term, and there we must focus our attention on the territorial approach," Serna expressed. "It cannot be possible that solutions come to the Ministry of Education (Minedu) and then return to regions with the consequent loss of time," he added. Referring to specific and isolated cases or situations that may arise in regions during the return to school, Serna said the immediate response will be put into practice because regional governments rely on administrative autonomy to respond (to said eventualities) in coordination with the Education Ministry. On the other hand, the Cabinet member pointed out that a modern administration raises three fundamental aspects: e-government, administrative simplification, and multisectorality, so that users are satisfied with an efficient service. Likewise, the high-ranking official indicated that in this multisectoral administration, and for the specific case of the health emergency, the health sector plays an important role. The official went on to add that his portfolio is in permanent coordination with Health Minister Hernando Cevallos "We will take into account the technical aspects of the epidemiological situation determined by the Health Ministry so as to make the best decision," he noted. COVID-19 vaccination Minister Serna argued that under current conditions the entire community should know that the vaccine is important in health emergency situations. In this sense, he pointed out that teachers, parents, and students will have to be vaccinated against COVID-19. "We are in the process of reflecting on the unvaccinated (population) to see what we do about it, we will surely provide an adequate solution to this issue," he added, after reporting that 95% of teachers have already received both doses and that his portfolio is working so that they receive a booster dose. Remarks were made during an event also attended by Prime Minister Mirtha Vasquez , governors, and education sector officials. (END) NDP/MVB During a meeting with regional governors, Education Minister Rosendo Serna called for strengthening the decentralization process for a proper return to face-to-face classes and reiterated that his administration will be guided by a decentralizing and territorial approach.Published: 1/14/2022 La ciudadania tiene derecho a organizarse para exigir al Estado discutir los asuntos publicos. Por eso, desde el Ejecutivo hemos observado la autografa que modifica la Ley 26300, dado que esta atenta contra el derecho fundamental a la participacion politica plena y al referendum. We were the only hikers headed for Ballast Point trail, a secret local trail above the tranquil, outdoorsy outpost of Two Harbors on the northern stretch of the island. It hadnt really been part of the plan to do this hike, but then again, most of what we had expected for this trip had gone awry. More: Search for Calif. college student missing at sea called off. Hunter Lewis had been out on a canoe to set up a treasure hunt for friends and family. He hasnt been seen since. Reports of graffiti in Joshua Tree National Park have exploded during the pandemic. Other national and state parks are also dealing with the problem. Why the air in the Bay Area suddenly got gross. A brown haze has spread across the sky and air quality has deteriorated. Last weeks top story: Cherished Calif. landmark destroyed by storm. Perched on a beach bluff at Spooner's Cove near Montana de Oro State Park in San Luis Obispo County, the arch was a symbol of the Central Coast. California Parklands is curated by California Parks editor Ashley Harrell. Contact her at Ashley.Harrell@sfgate.com. Trudging up the steep, cactus-lined trail to Ballast Point on Catalina Island off Southern California, the views of the Pacific and a pair of scenic harbors below were becoming increasingly epic. This was a good idea, I said, and my partner Steve agreed. We were the only hikers on the lesser-explored local trail above the town of Two Harbors, a tranquil, outdoorsy outpost on the northern stretch of the island. It hadnt really been part of the plan to do this hike, but then again, most of what we had expected for this trip had gone awry. The hike we originally had in mind was much more ambitious. A couple of months prior, I had read about the Trans-Catalina trail, and instantly wanted to do it. Ideally all of it, but at least part of it. The 38.5-mile thru-hike offers stunning views from island mountaintops, beach camping and a chance to spot bison whose ancestors were left behind in 1924 by a Hollywood film crew. The whole thing takes four days to complete, but we only had one weekend, so we settled on the most recommended stretch: Two Harbors to Little Harbor an unspoiled beach on the western side of the island and back. Five miles each way, and a night of primitive beach camping. It was going to be perfect. But upon arrival in Southern California with our tent, sleeping bags and camping stove in tow, the weather forecast showed an oncoming storm, with a 100% chance of rain in Two Harbors. The island gets almost no rain, but when it does, Catalina Island Conservancy actually closes the trails. Ashley Harrell The island is largely composed of clay, which sticks to the bottom of shoes and creates unsafe and slippery conditions on the paths, many of which feature precipitous inclines. Even the roads become mucky, preventing rescue vehicles from traveling to assist injured hikers. We considered canceling the trip, but ultimately realized we had nothing better to do. Any experience on Catalina Island was probably better than no experience on Catalina Island, right? Boarding the Catalina Express ferry from San Pedro, we were relieved that we werent the only passengers, but a bit concerned that everybody else was carrying hiking poles. Crossing the channel took less than an hour, and the weather was cold but clear as we disembarked at Isthmus Cove. To prepare for the hike just in case the weather cooperated we picked up food for the next three days at the well-equipped Two Harbors General Store. We then walked half a mile to our tent cabin in Two Harbors Campground to drop off our backpacks and groceries, before heading over to the Harbor Reef Restaurant for a hot meal and a game of pool. A nearly full moon glowed above us on our return to the tent cabin, and upon arrival, I sensed that something was off. We had left the canvas tent Velcroed shut, but one of the corners had been pried open. In the middle of the floor was a pile of sh-t. What is that! I yelled. Steve turned to look at our grocery bag, which was perched on a cot. We hurried over and were relieved to see that our food remained, but then I noticed something else on the floor. Half a bagel. The bag of eight bagels, Steve confirmed, was gone. What sort of wild animal likes bagels, we wondered. What mammals were even on the island? It turns out there are only a few: shrew, mice, rats, squirrels, feral cats, mule deer, blackbucks, bison and foxes. Ashley Harrell By the size of its turds and reputation for slyness, we determined a fox had stolen our bagels. The creature likely knew we had more food, though, which made us nervous that it might come back as we slept. There were six cots in the tent cabin, and we piled four in front of the entrance. Overnight, a storm came through, pounding our tent and drenching the campground. When I tried to walk down to the beach in the morning, clay stuck to my shoes, creating a platform. There was no way to keep traction, and I knew it wouldnt matter that we lost the bagels, because hiking was impossible. We canceled our campsite at Little Harbor and instead booked two nights at Banning House Lodge, a hilltop hacienda-style home built in 1910. The patio furniture had been tossed about by the storm, but our room was cozy and a common area featured a fireplace, games and striking views of the boat-dotted Catalina Harbor and deep blue Isthmus Cove. Ashley Harrell Ashley Harrell Down the corridor, a pair of hikers we befriended had also changed their itinerary. The mud-covered couple had spent the previous night at Little Harbor, they told us, and rain poured over their tent. They barely managed to slide their way up the road to Two Harbors and instead of staying two more days as planned, they rebooked themselves on the next morning's ferry. We were in no such hurry. Over the next two days, we read books, did puzzles and played Yahtzee by the fire. When the rain finally subsided, we took a double kayak to a secluded cove and snorkeled in a kelp forest. On our final day Christmas Day the terrain seemed a bit more manageable, and we asked around about shorter hikes. The locals all gave the same recommendation: Ballast Point. We picked up the trail right outside Banning House Lodge, on a steeply sloping road. We had tried scaling it the day before and immediately slid back down, our shoes covered in muck. But on Christmas, it was doable with walking sticks. Ashley Harrell Ashley Harrell For the first half mile or so, our trail was also part of the Trans-Catalina trail, and I felt grateful to have conquered even just a small portion of it. Prickly pear cactuses often flanked the path, as did a fencing with peoples names spelled out with barbed wire, and as we climbed, the sun occasionally found its way through the clouds, baking and solidifying the clay beneath our feet. We ascended 900 feet in just over a mile, and the views of a cobalt blue cove to the north and milky turquoise harbor to the west were unreal. We could also see other deserted coves stretching for miles down the southern shoreline, and a chain of shrub-covered mountains unfurled from Catalina Head to the east. The sky was enormous, and so was the multi-hued sea. As we reached a wooden hut at Ballast Point, the sky darkened a bit and in the distance, we could see a storm moving over the Pacific. It was a beautiful thing to behold, and we agreed that the only thing missing from our Catalina trip was a bison. Ashley Harrell Later that afternoon, in the shuttle from Banning House to our ferry, our driver made a detour to where she had seen a bison earlier in the day. She calls him Karl, she said, and sure enough, Karl was still in that same spot, munching grass. Overcome with happiness, I bounded out of the vehicle to take his photo from a safe distance. The trip felt complete, and well definitely be back someday to hike the full Trans-Catalina. ???? Saludamos a la Universidad Nacional San Luis Gonzaga (@UNSLGICA) de Ica por ser la primera universidad que obtiene su licencia institucional como parte del nuevo proceso. ?? Con educacion de calidad en las regiones, aseguramos el desarrollo del pais.#SiempreConElPueblo pic.twitter.com/GqUf6wKkIK Sharon, PA (16146) Today Periods of rain. High 68F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Thunderstorms this evening will give way to steady rain overnight. Low near 55F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Try out LudingtonDailyNews.com for only 99 per month for the first 3 months, $9.99 a month after. Unlimited website access 24/7 Unlimited e-Edition access 24/7 The best local, regional and national news in sports, politics, business and more! With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-Edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime. Page Content The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government recently announced a new workweek for all public-sector employees as follows: The new workweek for the public sector will span 4.5 days from Monday to Friday. The weekend will now be Saturday and Sunday instead of Friday and Saturday. For the last 15 years, the weekend in the UAE has been Friday and Saturday, which is currently the weekend in mostbut not allcountries in the Middle East and North Africa. The UAE is adopting the "international weekend" along with many other Muslim majority countries such as Turkey, Malaysia, Pakistan, Morocco and Indonesia. The Public Sector As of Jan. 1, the new workweek for the public sector is as follows: Monday to Thursday (8-hour workday from 7.30 a.m. to 3.30 p.m.). Friday will be a 4.5-hour workday starting from 7:30 a.m. and ending at 12:00 p.m. to accommodate Muslim prayer timings. Friday prayers will be held at 1.15 p.m. throughout the year. The changes encourage flexible hours and remote work. The Emirate of Sharjah will implement a three-day weekend for the public sector. Some other governmental entities are understood to be considering the implementation of a three-day weekend. The Education Sector The federal and emirate-level government regulators of the education sector have ordered the schools to implement the 4.5 day week and new weekend, with schools ordered to end classes on Friday at 12 p.m. and implement a Saturday to Sunday weekend. In the Emirate of Sharjah, schools will observe the school week from Monday to Thursday and align with the public sector's 3-day weekend. The Banking Sector The UAE Central Bank has issued a circular to banks in the UAE requiring them to maintain a six-day banking week. The current bank holiday of Friday will be moved to Sunday. The Private Sector There is no reduction in work hours for the private sector. The new Labor Law that will come into effect on Feb. 2 maintains the six-day workweek, but removes Friday as the statutory weekend. Private companies have the discretion to maintain a six- or five-day workweek, and to adjust the weekend to Saturday and Sunday. Many private companies will shift their weekend to Saturday and Sunday, but some companies that primarily do business with other Middle East countries plan to maintain the Friday to Saturday weekend to be aligned with their business partners and customers. Private-sector companies should review their current policies and schedules, particularly considering the change to schooling hours that will have an effect on many employees. Amereller is a law firm with an office in Dubai, UAE. 2022 Amereller. All rights reserved. Reposted with permission of Lexology. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! El retorno seguro y equitativo a clases solo sera posible con un enfoque descentralista y multisectorial. Asi lo hemos reafirmado hoy en reunion en @MineduPeru con los gob. regionales Sigamos trabajando no solo para el retorno a clases, sino por una mejor escuela para todos/as! pic.twitter.com/xGdRRyRujA I am aged 70, having retired at 60, and manage my own self-managed super fund (SMSF) pension. When I began the pension, the transfer balance account total was $1,571,950. I understand the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) had a maximum transfer balance cap of $1.6 million. When I noticed that my SMSF total was $1.71 million last June, I transferred $110,000 into an accumulation account to keep within the $1.6 million cap. A search of my personal transfer balance cap on the ATO website reveals that my current personal transfer balance cap is $1,618,000 and my transfer balance account is $1,475,940.15, so that my available cap space is $142,059.85. I believe my transfer of $110,000 was unnecessary. If I have interpreted the ATOs information correctly, should I transfer the $110,000 back to my pension fund account to enjoy the tax-free benefits? M.L. Correct, you need not have transferred money out of your pension account. Let me explain what has happened here. Credit:Michael Mucci When transfer balance caps (TBCs) were introduced in July 2017, you told the ATO you had $1,571,950 in your existing pension and this became your credit in your transfer balance account (TBA), which the ATO keeps for all super pensions. Thus, you used 98.2 per cent of your $1.6 million cap, leaving 1.8 per cent of unused cap. Police are continuing to search the Blue Mountains on Sunday for missing nine-year-old Charlise Mutten, who was last seen on Thursday. Investigators seized a boat they hope will shed light on her disappearance and local police continued to search the area overnight. Nine-year-old Charlise Mutten has been missing from a Mount Wilson property since Thursday, her family say. Credit:NSW Police A police spokeswoman said police helicopters, the dog unit, Police Rescue and crew from the State Emergency Service, the Rural Fire Service and NSW Ambulance resumed their search on Sunday morning, following a full-scale search on Friday and Saturday. Police say the girl was on holidays in the Blue Mountains when she was last seen on a property close to the remote township of Mount Wilson on Thursday, but they were notified she was missing on Friday morning. St Francis, the oldest Catholic Church in Victoria, is popular to visit during the lunch hour of the working week, outside of COVID-19 times. Within the church itself, on the western side, is the Ladye Chapel, a space dedicated to the Virgin Mary. St Francis in Melbournes Lonsdale Street is the oldest Catholic Church in Victoria. Credit:Penny Stephens Among the words that run above the stained-glass windows of the chapel are these: Is there any sorrow like unto my sorrow. The phrase reminds us that while Mary may be Queen of Heaven, she is also a mother who was hurt deeply by the suffering and death of her son on the cross. The Ladye Chapel is a place of great beauty, and of deep peace that is not disturbed by the constant turnover of people popping in to offer a prayer to Our Lady. I happened to be in the chapel one lunchtime. I was ready to leave but a sense that I should stay kept me there. I delayed my departure until I sensed that there was no longer resistance to my leaving and then I headed off, crossing Lonsdale Street and walking back towards the heart of the city along Elizabeth Street. The chapel is a place of great beauty and deep peace. Credit:Penny Stephens Elizabeth Street was packed with people hurrying through the city on their lunchtime break. When I paused at the lights on a small one-way cross street, a little boy, perhaps three or four years of age, came bursting through the crowd behind me and arrived by my side on the edge of the road. He was alone. I immediately, instinctively, put my arm out in front of him, barring his way across the road, asking him where his mother was. The crowd pushed all around us. I looked back behind us and, after a long minute, I saw what I was looking for; the mother, wide-eyed and frantic, fighting forwards through the crowd. She reached us and enfolded the boy, giving voice to her fears and relief. They disappeared and I went on my way. En esa linea ha sido muy auspiciosa la reunion con el Presidente del BID, y proximas citas con el Presidente de la CAF y participacion del jefe de Estado en Foro de Davos. Victoria recorded 25,526 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday and 23 deaths, as the Andrews government announced an extension of the commercial tenancy relief scheme allowing small businesses to defer rent. The scheme was due to end on Sunday after being introduced in the first quarter of 2020, and the extension means deferred rent will automatically roll over for enrolled businesses with a turnover of under $10 million. Businesses also have to have suffered a more than 30 per cent drop in turnover. A woman walks through a near-deserted Southbank in Melbourne on Thursday morning. Credit:Joe Armao Innovation Minister Jaala Pulford said small businesses were facing supply chain challenges, staff shortages and customers concerned about moving around the community given high case numbers and the scheme sought to ease the pressure on those businesses for two months. Thats in recognition of the particularly acute nature of the challenges being experienced by small and family businesses and our desire to support them through this now, Ms Pulford said. We know that our business community, not only is the lifeblood of the Victorian economy, but our small family businesses are the lifeblood of our communities as well. Two prominent bikie gangs have had members charged under Western Australias new unlawful consorting and prohibited insignia act, after they attended a pool party in Scarborough. On January 8 police received a phone call from a member of the public about a group of bikie gang members at the pool area of the Rendezvous Hotel. An image captured by police on a body worn camera of a member of the Rebels bikie gang breaching WAs new prohibited insignia laws. Credit:WA Police The caller said tattoos identifying both the Rebels and the Hells Angels were visible. The Gang Response Team attended and confirmed the group consisted of members of both gangs and their partners, who were celebrating the birthday of one of the Rebels members. Renters are facing a double whammy of rising rents and soaring house prices, combining to make it harder to get a foot on the property ladder. It now costs $50 a week more than it did a year ago to rent the median house in Sydney, Domain figures released last week show, while apartment rents rose $20 a week. Sarah Kings rent increased by $100 a week, making it harder to save for a home deposit. Credit:Wolter Peeters Sarah King was saving hard to buy a home and then her rent shot up by about $100 a week. My husband and I had a really serious savings plan, the 40-year-old said. Weve had to reduce it the last few months since weve moved, because of increasing costs. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Chris Aguero knew hed have to be prepared when his students returned to the classroom earlier this month after the US holiday season. As the latest wave of coronavirus ravaged the country, the Texas principal had no doubt his school - deep in the heart of a state where vaccinations and masks are widely shunned - would be at risk. He was right. Austin Jewish Academy principal Chris Aguero with students at his Texas school. Credit:Drew Anthony Smith By the time Americas 130,000 schools opened their gates to kickstart the new year last week, the seven-day average of daily new cases in the US had hit 480,273 infections. Among them were some of Agueros much-needed teachers. His solution to plug the staff shortages? Ask parents to substitute. Coming back we definitely had a number of teachers and families who had tested positive over the break itself, who were not eligible to return with everybody else on the week of January 4, he told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald this week. Its all about risk assessment for us, so in the absence of not really feeling comfortable bringing in outsiders, whose activities and behaviour we dont really know or cant guarantee, it made sense to turn to our parent community. Advertisement Like many educational leaders around the world, Aguero is now doing what he can to ensure schools remain open and minimise the knock-on effects of the pandemic: staff shortages and burnout; fatigued families juggling work and home life; children desperate to learn and socialise. In Massachusetts, dogs are being trained to sniff out COVID-19 in classrooms, cafeterias and gyms. If the presence of the virus is detected, authorities notify the school nurse who immediately informs those potentially infected. In Washington DC, the local council is giving out rapid antigen tests, with staff and students now required to present a negative result before returning to the classroom. And in Texas, Agueros independent school, which caters for pre-kindergarten to year 8 students, isnt the only one calling on parents to help. Education officials in Hayes County, just south of Austin, recently posted a request on social media and emailed families asking them to consider filling in for teachers. Parents would still have to pass a criminal background check and do a short orientation, but principals can use their discretion to waive a requirement to have at least 30 college hours before a class. President Joe Biden meets with the White House COVID-19 Response Team. Credit:AP Advertisement While the pandemic forces schools to innovate, the vexed debate over whether to keep classrooms open has also exposed new fault lines between teachers, parents and governments - many of them in Democrat-led cities aligned with US President Joe Biden. Having come to office promising to defeat the virus, America under Bidens watch is now in short supply of coronavirus tests, about a third of the country remains unvaccinated, and countless buildings - including schools - are in desperate need of ventilation upgrades. Loading Indeed, even as the President told schools this month that they can and should remain open, data from Burbio, which tracks closures, showed least 5409 schools had cancelled class or switched to virtual learning for at least one day in the first week of January - more than triple the amount at the end of December. Among them were schools in Chicago, the old stomping ground of former US president Barack Obama, where a bitter stand-off over COVID protocols resulted in classes being shut down for five days until they finally resumed on Wednesday. In a stoush that rose to national prominence, the Chicago Teachers Union accused the citys mayor Lori Lightfoot of failing to have an adequate COVID safe plan in place, and presented authorities with a list of demands, including switching to remote learning if the COVID positivity rate exceeded certain metric thresholds. But Lightfoot, a high-profile Democrat, hit back, insisting that schools are not the source of significant spread while warning the union that its decision to walk off the job would harm hundreds of thousands of Chicago families who rely upon (the citys public schools) for the daily needs for their education, for their nutrition, for their safety. Advertisement Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Credit:AP In middle of the battle were thousands of parents: some sympathetic to the teachers cause, others so outraged that they launched legal action over what they claimed was an illegal strike that would exacerbate Americas longstanding inequalities. Remote learning was a catastrophic failure, specifically for black students, Natasha Dunn, a mother of three and a local community activist, told CNN. So while we have people who are fighting to keep schools closed, theres nobody fighting to close the gaps that existed before the pandemic. School closures have been a fixture of the pandemic since March 2020, when all 50 states shifted to remote learning to mitigate the spread of what was then a new virus. But while some closures lasted for a few months, some areas, such as parts of California, continued with remote learning for more than a year. By the start of 2021, as Americans began getting vaccinated and infections began to decline, experts were cautiously forecasting a return to normalcy. Then came Delta, with its first case recorded in the US in March, followed by Omicron in December. As schools reopen in the US, parents are beginning to worry about vaccination, and mask regulations. Credit:AP Advertisement The latest surge has caused a political headache for Biden who is confronting the same challenge many of his counterparts face: balancing the need to keep hospitalisations down, with the need for society to learn to live with the virus. But far from being able to control COVID as Biden once promised, the US is now averaging more than 700,000 new cases a day, as the Omicron variant accelerates the virus spread faster than at any previous point in the pandemic. And while Omicron appears to cause less severe illness than previous strains, hospitalisations have nonetheless increased more than 80 percent over the last two weeks, also surpassing the previous record. With midterm elections this year, where the Democrats risk losing their slim majority in Congress, Republicans can smell blood. On Monday, the partys house minority whip Steve Scalise and fellow Congressman James Comer even wrote to the Democrats House Whip, James Clyburn, calling from an inquiry into Bidens failed response. After acknowledging that were all frustrated as we enter the new year Biden on Thursday announced that his administration would buy an extra 500 million home testing kits and mail them to people - doubling the 500 million committed before Christmas - and would make higher quality masks available for free, although it is not entirely clear how or when. Students at the Austin Jewish Academy with principal Chris Aguero. Credit:Drew Anthony Smith The White House also announced that it would increase the number of tests available to schools by 10 million per month and is urging districts to adopt the CDCs Test To Stay guidelines, which mixes contact tracing and serial testing. Under those rules students who should otherwise quarantine can, with vigilance, remain in school. Advertisement In Alaska, the eruption was heard around 3.30am local time, more than 9500 kilometres from the volcano, the National Weather Service for the Alaska region said on Twitter. In New Zealand, a floating dock was severed and several boats sunk at a marina in Tutukaka, on the countrys north island. A utility vehicle is partially submerged in Santa Cruz, California, on Saturday (Sunday Australian time). Credit:AP A tsunami surge may not appear as a large wave, but rather involves a fast and constant flow of water to low-lying areas over tens of minutes. The marine warning for NSWs coast prompted police and the State Emergency Service to clear Bondi Beach, in Sydneys east, as a precaution overnight, according to a video from the scene. The water at the beach briefly reopened on Sunday morning but then closed again, with swimmers discouraged from entering the water. Lifeguards at Collaroy Beach, in Sydneys north, also removed the red and yellow flags and put up a beach closed sign on Sunday morning. Last night around midnight we were asked to assist the SES with moving people off of the sand at [Bondi Beach] and the promenade nearby, a NSW Police spokeswoman said on Sunday, adding that law enforcement assistance was not requested at any other beaches. People look at a damaged boat in a marina at Tutukaka, New Zealand, Sunday, January 16, 2022. Credit:AP A NSW SES spokesman on Sunday asked for people not to enter the water. Marine threats tsunamis can generate dangerous swells and conditions, so as a precaution were asking people not to go into the water, the spokesman said. With tsunamis, youve always got to be more safe than sorry. Dramatic footage showed waves rolling through coastal Tongan homes as a tsunami warning was issued on Saturday afternoon, prompting residents of the Pacific island nation to flee to higher ground. A police officer patrols main beach as waters recede in front of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Credit:AP Radio New Zealand reported on Saturday that Tonga Geological Services head Taaniela Kula said the eruption had a radius of 260 kilometres. It was about seven times more powerful than the last eruption on December 20 last year and continuing to grow, Kula earlier told RNZ. Locals were scrambling to get to higher ground amid raining ash and pebbles as darkness fell on Saturday evening. The Tonga Meteorological Service issued a warning about 3.10pm AEDT on Saturday for all of Tonga after the violent eruption of the volcanic island Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Haapai, which lies about 65 kilometres north of Nukualofa. It was followed by a 1.2-metre tsunami observed at the capital Nukualofa about 20 minutes later. A couple look at a damaged boat in a marina at Tutukaka, New Zealand, on Sunday. Credit:AP Tsunami warnings were downgraded for Lord Howe and Norfolk islands on Sunday, the Bureau of Meteorology said. Rachel Afeaki-Taumoepeau, who chairs the New Zealand Tonga Business Council, said on Sunday she hoped the relatively low level of the tsunami waves would have allowed most people to get to safety, although she worried about those living on islands closest to the volcano. She said she hadnt yet been able to contact her friends and family in Tonga. We are praying that the damage is just to infrastructure and people were able to get to higher land, she said. Tonga gets its internet via an undersea cable from Suva, Fiji, which presumably was damaged. All internet connectivity with Tonga was lost at about 6.40pm local time, said Doug Madory, director of internet analysis for the network intelligence firm Kentik, making it difficult to obtain reports from the ground. Bondi Beach was open on Sunday morning and then closed again due to a tsunami warning. Credit:Edwina Pickles Southern Cross Cable Network, the company that manages the connection, does not know yet if the cable is cut or just suffering power loss, chief technical officer Dean Veverka said. The Fiji-based Islands Business news site reported that a convoy of police and military troops evacuated Tongas King Tupou VI from his palace near the shore. He was among the many residents who headed for higher ground. A spokeswoman for the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said on Saturday, we are keeping a really close eye on the observations across the South Pacific to see what happens with the waves that have been produced so far, and any further volcanic activity. Significant sea-level variations are likely for hours and even days, and tsunami waves are more powerful than ordinary waves of the same size, the statement said. There will be many waves and the first wave may not be the largest. Collaroy Beach in Sydney was closed due to the tsunami warning on Sunday. Credit:Oscar Colman On social media, some described being able to hear the eruption before the waves began to roll in, crashing through fences and inundating coastal homes. Tongan journalist Mary Fonua told New Zealands 1News on Saturday that the country had had a very frightening hour following a series of huge explosions at the volcanic island. Fonua described seeing this long white wave... coming from the horizon. After about three waves it had come over the road and into our garden, and our car was washing against the front post. A an island created by the underwater Hunga Tonga Hunga Haapai volcano is seen smoking on January 7. Credit:Planet Labs/AP The waves have continued to come in, she said. She was concerned that the waves were heading towards a low-lying settlement housing thousands of people on a narrow peninsula. But she said warnings in recent days, including from police with loudspeakers, had kept people out of the water. The Australian government said it was working to determine the damage and what assistance may be required, while a tsunami warning for coastal NSW and parts of Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania followed warnings for Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island issued more than four hours after the waves began to hit Tonga. Tonga is part of our Pacific family and our thoughts are with the entire community dealing with the impact of the volcanic eruption and tsunami, a spokesperson for the Australian government said. The Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs are monitoring the situation and Australia stands ready to provide support to Tonga if requested. Initial assessments are still underway and DFAT is working to ensure Australians in Tonga are safe and accounted for. Japans meteorological agency issued tsunami warnings in the early hours on Sunday and said waves as high as three metres were expected in the Amami islands in the south. Waves of more than a metre were recorded there earlier. Japanese public broadcaster NHK said no damage or casualties had been reported, interrupting its regular programming to report on the tsunami advisory issued by the countrys meteorological agency spanning the entire eastern coast of the Japanese archipelago. In a briefing, a Japan Meteorological Agency official urged people not to go near the sea until the tsunami advisory and more serious tsunami warnings had been lifted. The warnings - the first in more than five years - covered several specific areas. He said the change in sea levels observed did not follow a familiar pattern of tsunamis following earthquakes. We do not know yet whether these [waves] are actually tsunami, he told the briefing. The scale of the under-sea eruption was captured in dramatic satellite imagery, while surges in atmospheric pressure were detected in Australia and New Zealand likely caused by the gravitational waves generated by the explosion. At 4.54am AEDT on Sunday, the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre said a marine warning remained in place for NSW, covering all coastal areas. It said there was the possibility of dangerous rips, waves and strong ocean currents, and some localised overflow onto the immediate foreshore, forecast to occur from 8.45pm on Saturday night and persist for several hours. While evacuations are not necessary for Marine Threat areas, people in these areas are advised to get out of the water and move away from the immediate waters edge, the warning centre said. The same warning was re-issued for NSW at 11.03am AEDT. Early Sunday morning, the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre also re-issued a warning for parts of the Victorian coast. There was a possibility of dangerous rips, waves and ocean currents. If you are located in the water, or at waters edge along from Lakes Entrance to 60 nautical miles east of Gabo Island including East Gippsland Coast, you are in danger. You should move immediately to higher ground, the statement said. Do not go to the coast to watch the tsunami. Tsunami waves of 83 centimetres were recorded by gauges in the Tongan capital of Nukualofa and two-foot waves were seen at Pago Pago, the capital of American Samoa, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said. Fiji issued a tsunami warning, urging residents to avoid the shorelines due to strong currents and dangerous waves. Jese Tuisinu, a television reporter at Fiji One, posted a video on Twitter showing large waves crashing ashore, with people trying to flee in their cars. It is literally dark in parts of Tonga and people are rushing to safety following the eruption, he said. In New Zealand, the emergency management agency issued an advisory on tsunami activity for the countrys north and east coasts, forecasting strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges along shorelines in those areas. A tsunami advisory was also in effect for the US and Canadian Pacific coast, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Honolulu said. A surge in Ventura Harbour, California, was clearly visible in photos, with floating docks rising to their highest heights. A tsunami warning was in place for Hawaii, but it was cancelled on Sunday morning Australian time. The US National Weather Service said tsunami waves along the Oregon and southern Washington coast were expected imminently. High waves were reported in Alaska and Hawaii earlier. In the San Francisco Bay Area of northern California, small parts of the cities of Berkeley and Albany near the bay were ordered to evacuate. Tsunami expert Andrew Gissing, general manager of Risk Frontiers, said while the volcanos recent activity had resulted in a marine tsunami warning on Friday, the eruption on Saturday seems much bigger and it appeared the waves had hit the central business district. Port-of-Spain:---Caribbean Airlines Boeing 737-8 aircraft took to the skies for the first time today, January 14. The airlines Boeing 9Y-CAL maiden jet service departed the Piarco International Airport destined to the Norman Manley International, Kingston, Jamaica. Earlier today Caribbean Airlines hosted a brief ceremony at the Piarco International Airport to launch the new aircraft, which offers passengers exceptional levels of convenience and comfort. The re-fleeting coincides with the airlines 15th anniversary. Some lucky customers on the inaugural service won an extra 15,000 miles and all customers received bags of goodies and other memorabilia! Caribbean Airlines CEO, Garvin Medera, in commenting said: The introduction of this new aircraft into service, represents Caribbean Airlines initiative to REset Expectations for 2022. The 737-8 is the most technologically advanced aircraft in the world and it brings a range of benefits for Caribbean Airlines, our customers, and the environment. Fuel and maintenance costs are lower, each plane has 10 more seats than its predecessor with a total of 160 seats and the aircraft offers state-of-the-art technology and an upgraded level of comfort in both the business class and economy cabin, including in seat power for mobile devices, a new sky interior, sleek modern seats and much more. Mr. Medera continued: Were really excited about the plans and improvements for the coming year, all done with you in mind. Be sure to stay informed via our social media channels and follow us on #REcalibrate as we REset Expectations in 2022. Customers can follow Caribbean Airlines social media pages and website www.caribbean-airlines.com for the latest information. Somerset, KY (42501) Today Scattered thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High around 80F. Winds SW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Thunderstorms early, then variable clouds overnight with still a chance of showers. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. Low 56F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%. " " A Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) mother interacts with her cub in the Ranthambhore National Park in Rajasthan, India. James Warwick/Getty Images More than 100,000 tigers ranged across Asia a century ago, from the Indian subcontinent to the Russian Far East. Today they are endangered, with only about 4,000 tigers left in the wild. The greatest threats they face are habitat loss and degradation, illegal hunting and declines in their prey. Thanks to focused conservation efforts, tiger numbers have rebounded in some parts of their range. In Nepal, for example, the wild tiger population has nearly doubled from 121 in 2009 to 235 in 2018. But a road-building boom in Asia could undo this progress. Land planners and conservation scientists like me need to know much more about how tigers respond to roads and railways so we can find ways to safeguard these animals. We especially need this information for Nepal, which is one of the least-developed countries in the world but is working to expand its economy and raise people out of poverty. Roads and railways are spreading rapidly through the forests and grasslands where tigers live. Advertisement Expanding Infrastructure in Nepal Little research has been done on how transportation networks threaten tigers, but the few studies that exist show strong effects. In Russia, for example, vehicle collisions caused one in every 12 deaths of tigers monitored from 1992 to 2005. And in China, tigers were five times more likely to occupy areas at least 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) away from roads than they were to be found near roads. In India, one study estimated that widening highways along with unplanned development would increase tiger extinction risk within protected areas by 56 percent over 100 years. The growing network of transportation infrastructure in Asia could therefore be disastrous for tigers. New development projects in Nepal will pass through large tracts of lowland forest that harbor tigers, rhinos and elephants. Nationwide roadways, such as the East-West Highway and the Postal Road, are being upgraded and expanded from two to four lanes to support more fast-moving traffic. Planners are designing new elevated electrified railways that cut across Nepal, which is about the size of Iowa. A "megahighway" is currently under construction from Nepal's capital city, Kathmandu, to Nijgadh, where Nepal's government has sought to build a major international airport for more than 20 years. " " A female Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) walking along a road in India's Ranthambhore National Park. Conservationists are hoping GPS collars will help them track the tigers movements to prevent vehicle collisions. James Warwick/Getty Images Advertisement Highways Pose Growing Threats to Wildlife Better roads can provide much-needed social and economic benefits in Nepal, but the nation is building them faster than scientists can assess how they affect endangered species like tigers. In Banke National Park, 45 of 67 wild animal deaths between July 2018 and July 2019 including key tiger prey like sambar deer were from traffic accidents. Tiger deaths and injuries from vehicle collisions, while still rare, have increased along major roads over the past few years. Before 2019, only one vehicle collision with a tiger had been recorded along the highway in Bardia National Park. In the past two years, five tigers have been hit by vehicles inside national parks three in Bardia and two in Parsa National Park. Vehicle-related deaths make it harder for tigers to move from one population to another, which reduces their genetic diversity. More collisions could elevate tigers' extinction risk. Roads also appear to be a nexus for conflict between people and tigers. A tiger in Bardia National Park recently pulled a passenger off the back of a moving motorcycle driving through the park. The tiger killed and ate the person. In the past year, three tigers have killed nine other people in the same area. Advertisement Revealing Tigers' Hidden Lives To respond to this unprecedented challenge, I am working with colleagues at the Nepal Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, the National Trust for Nature Conservation and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in Nepal. We are placing GPS collars on tigers living near roads to better understand how transportation infrastructure affects tiger biology and ecology. Our initial focus is on Bardia and Parsa national parks, where transportation development could severely hamper tiger recovery. Nepal has long been a world leader in tiger research and conservation. The Smithsonian-Nepal Tiger Ecology Project, an international collaboration that started almost 50 years ago, was one of the first to use radio telemetry collars to track tigers for conservation research. In the past, ecologists would take radio receivers into the field to painstakingly triangulate tigers' locations once or twice a day in natural landscapes. Our new research project builds on this work by using modern tracking technology to unlock new insights about tigers in landscapes that human development is altering. The collars connect to GPS satellites many times daily, providing detailed information on tiger locations. This data can show how tigers move along roads before and after crossing; how much energy they expend near and far away from roads; where and how they hunt near roads; how they respond to vehicle traffic at different times of the day; and what their behavior patterns are near roads as compared with far away from roads. By analyzing hormones in feces deposited by the collared tigers, we can even understand the stress they experience near roads. We already are finding that the East-West Highway bisecting Parsa National Park is blocking the first collared tiger's movements and constraining its territory. Armed with these insights, we can predict a range of impacts on tiger habitats and populations from new transportation projects. " " The GPS collar on this tiger in Nepals Parsa National Park will help scientists understand how the tiger behaves near and away from roads. Neil Carter/(CC BY-ND) Advertisement Creating Tiger-friendly Infrastructure Our collaborator, Hari Bhadra Acharya, former chief warden of Parsa National Park and current lead ecologist with the Nepal government is eager to help make transportation infrastructure more tiger-friendly. For example, we can provide advice on aligning roads and railways to avoid high-priority habitats. We also can target habitat and prey restoration activities in areas that tigers use frequently or are important for reproduction. Planners can design and locate wildlife crossings to help tigers traverse roads and railways. And we can show where to close roads to vehicular traffic at night or enforce speed restrictions to reduce the risk of tigers being killed in traffic. Information from the GPS collars can also help reduce tiger-human conflict and improve law enforcement. For example, we can learn whether roads and railroads disrupt tiger hunting strategies, causing them to hunt domestic livestock or people instead of wild prey. Our data can also help wildlife managers respond more quickly to tiger injury, illness or poaching. Over time, I believe this information will provide evidence-based solutions that can ensure roads work for humans while minimizing harm to tigers and other species at risk. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. You can find the original article here. Neil Carter is an assistant professor of wildlife conservation at the University of Michigan. Welcome To SpoilerTV We bring you a comprehensive and up to date spoiler service on all the major US TV shows and Movies. You can find specific show content by clicking the menu system at the top of the screen. We scour the Internet for spoilers as well as posting our own exclusive spoilers (Scripts, Casting Calls, Set Photos etc) as well as recaps and other fun articles and polls. We hope you enjoy your stay. STAMFORD Student and teacher schedules will look a lot different at all three Stamford high schools next school year, and some educators are not happy about it. The plan is to shift to a block schedule with students taking four classes in the fall followed by four different classes in the spring. Teachers, however, would teach three classes every day using the remaining period to prepare lesson plans, said Amy Beldotti, associate superintendent for teaching and learning. We are one of the only schools in the state of Connecticut thats still running a seven-period schedule, Beldotti said, during a virtual meeting of the Board of Educations Teaching, Learning and Community Committee Tuesday night. Most other schools are running an eight-period schedule, many of those a block schedule. Districts that employ a block schedule include Fairfield, Danbury, New Canaan, Darien, Norwalk, Ridgefield, Bethel and Wilton, Beldotti said. The new schedule, proposed to begin this fall, would allow for longer classes of 90 minutes compared with the 48-minute classes offered at the two biggest high schools. Currently, students at Westhill High School and Stamford High School take seven classes each semester. Often, the classes are designed to be taught over the course of the entire school year, not just per semester, though there are also courses that only last one semester. Students who pass a yearlong class receive one credit, while passing a semester course equals half a credit. The new system would give students a full credit for passing a semester course, and would also give them the chance to gain eight credits during one school year, as opposed to the seven credits they can achieve in the existing model. At the smaller Academy of Information Technology and Engineering, the four-by-four model already exists, but students take eight classes per semester, alternating four classes each day. Beldotti said the district has been working for five years to find the right schedule. One of the drivers for the new move was adjusting to the states requirement that high school students receive 25 credits to graduate, starting with the freshman class of 2019-20. By the next school year, all high school students will need the 25 credits. At Stamford High and Westhill, the requirement for seniors this year is still 20 credits, which was the previous benchmark. Beldotti admitted that the schedule change will be a painful process, but she said it is necessary and will benefit students. We are fairly certain that the current schedule were engaged in is not meeting our students needs, Beldotti said. And, she said, coming to a consensus on the perfect block schedule became less and less likely over the years as educators failed to settle on one ideal choice. We needed to rip off the proverbial Band-Aid, make a decision, and then now come together with our teacher leaders, our department heads, teachers of every course, to figure out the details and the logistics, she said. That hasnt sat well with some teachers, many of whom flooded Board of Education members with emails in the days leading up to the meeting. One constant complaint from educators is that they felt their input was not solicited. Drew Denbaum, an English teacher at Westhill, was one of the teachers who sent in a letter. All we are asking is that you urge administrators to postpone imposing this block schedule on Westhill and Stamford High and involve teachers in the decision-making process, he wrote. In his letter, Denbaum also listed some reasons why he dislikes the block schedule Stamford is hoping to implement. Denbaum wrote that many students do not have the attention span for 90-minute classes, and that missing a day of class would actually equate to missing two days under the current structure. Ann Herz, the head of the world languages department at Westhill, wrote that she was appalled that the block schedule would be created without the input of the high school educators. During the Tuesday meeting, Beldotti listed a number of reasons for the scheduling shift, including providing students more opportunities to gain credits, reducing student workload per semester and allowing for greater flexibility for students to use blocks for internships and other work experiences. Another selling point is that the schedule will lead to fewer transitions times between periods and increased instructional time, Beldotti said. Beldotti mentioned lowering graduation rates and lack of college preparedness among students as reasons to move to the new schedule. Graduation rates were down at all three high schools last year, due in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic which resulted in students spending less time in classrooms with face-to-face instruction. But Beldotti said there are hundreds of students not on track to graduate currently as well. Matthew Forker, principal at Stamford High, spoke during the meeting, and said he was excited to implement the new schedule. Were just happy at this point that a decision has been made, he said, later adding, Weve gone around in circles a long time, for a lot of years. Michael Rinaldi, principal at Westhill, said he has been a proponent for some form of block scheduling from the moment he took the position five years ago, but he said the shift will inevitably have detractors. There will be as many people for a block as against it, that is for certain, he said. Rinaldi said getting buy-in from staff will be critical. It is very important that we organize ourselves and really allow the leaders in our high schools, who understand what it will take, to enact or create the best opportunity for our students, he said. Reactions for board members were mixed. Jennienne Burke, chair of the committee, supported the move, saying it is best for students. Member Andy George asked if it would be prudent to delay the implementation of the block schedule until 2023, to give teachers more time to design curriculum, as well as provide professional development to teachers on the new schedule. Later, member Becky Hamman suggested the same. I am your biggest fan of block scheduling, she said to Beldotti, before saying that she is sensing stress from teachers about what they perceive as mandates versus having conversations. Hamman suggested delaying the implementation of the block schedule at Stamford High and Westhill until 2023, a resolution she said she is planning on bringing to the next board meeting. ignacio.laguarda@stamfordadvocate.com Milton, PA (17847) Today Generally cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. High around 70F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy with periods of rain. Low 53F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. YEREVAN, JANUARY 14, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received the newly elected Mayor of Gyumri Vardges Samsonyan and Deputy Mayors Artur Papikyan and David Arushanyan, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister greeted and congratulated them on their election as Gyumri Mayor and Deputy Mayors. "I am glad that our political forces decided to focus on solving the problems of Gyumri. We must say that the changes that have taken place in Gyumri in the recent years have started to be noticed, of course, needless to say, this is a very important issue for the Government. I hope that this model, which is currently being tested in Gyumri, will finally show its effectiveness, because it is important to show that of course, elections have their place, but after the elections we formulate a common agenda based on our pre-election programs, focus on the implementation of that agenda and implement it. Of course, our compatriots in Gyumri, Shirak Province and the Republic of Armenia in general will benefit from it. You can count on the support of the Government and where the support of the Government will be needed, of course, we will make every effort to finally eliminate the traces of the catastrophic earthquake in Gyumri. Congratulations again and greetings. The newly elected Mayor of Gyumri thanked the Prime Minister for the reception and noted that they will do everything to solve the problems related to Gyumri as soon as possible. "We have numerous programs with the the EBRD related to subsidies, factories. We can appropriate appropriate lands, why not buildings, as a result of which new jobs will be created," Vardges Samsonyan said. The Mayor added that $ 6 million is envisaged for illumination within the framework of the EBRD program. During today's consultation, the possibility of directing these funds to the general improvement, asphalting and lighting of the 58th district of Gyumri was discussed. "There are also funds not related to subsidy programs, which we will try to direct again to street construction works. In the case of implementing the EBRD and subsidy programs, we will have better streets," said the Mayor. Deputy Mayor David Arushanyan, in turn, noted that work planning and automation reforms will start in Gyumri Municipality. "Today we had a meeting in Yerevan Municipality. Yerevans experience is very important for us," the Deputy Mayor said, adding that the cooperation with Yerevans partners successfully continues. During the meeting, issues related to the programs envisaged in Gyumri for the near future in different spheres were discussed. ST. LOUIS Kellie Meehan and her team hear the desperation in the doctors and nurses voices. Their patients need life-saving care that their small hospitals are not equipped or trained to provide. Meehan is the director of nursing logistics at Mercys throughput center for Missouris eastern region. The center is like a traffic control tower for patient transfers. The staff takes calls from hospitals seeking to transfer a patient to a Mercy facility, and they direct the patient to an appropriate unit. Typically, the requests are easily accommodated. Surges in COVID-19 patients during the pandemic have, at times, made the transfers difficult. But this surge is different. Meehan said she is having to do something she never thought she would ever experience in her career: turn down dire cases that could easily be treated. She refers them to other hospital systems, but she knows those hospitals are facing the same capacity crisis. While she and her team dont know what happens after they hang up the phone, she knows people are likely dying every day. What is happening now, unfortunately, is these patients are not getting the care they need, and they are not surviving in some cases, Meehan said. The conversations are heartbreaking, she said, unfathomable for her and for those calling. You get to a place where you feel like you are the one that is determining the outcomes of a patient, and its one of those situations where we know under normal operations, these patients would be fine, there would be no problems, she said. One reason why this surge is different is the hyper-infectious omicron variant. It caused a sharp spike in COVID-19 patients that came fast and furious, tripling hospitalizations in just a few weeks to the highest, by far, in the pandemic. The St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, which includes the major hospitals in the St. Louis area, reported a total of 1,378 COVID-19 patients on Friday more than triple the number six weeks ago and much higher than the 962 seen last winter. Hospitalizations in Missouri hit 3,310 patients on Wednesday, the latest data available, almost 500 higher than last years peak. Across the country, hospitalizations of people with the virus have increased 80% in the last two weeks, also surpassing the previous record. Deaths have increased by 30% to more than 1,600 being announced nearly every day. At the same time, many health care workers have become infected and are having to isolate or quarantine because of exposure. What we are definitely still experiencing is this rise in patients in the population of the hospital, and the decline of co-workers from all capacities throughout the hospital, not just those at the bedside, but every ancillary area and everything that make a facility run, Meehan said. Skilled nursing, rehabilitation and hospice facilities are also dealing with outbreaks, leaving hospitals with nowhere to discharge some patients. Ambulance drivers are also out of commission. Meehan said hospitals are trying to adapt the best they can by canceling elective surgeries, converting units into intensive care units, grouping together patients waiting to be discharged and shuffling staff in ways that still keep patients safe. Staff members are working harder than ever. But its still not enough. Leaders at small hospitals across Missouri and in the Metro East share stories of boarding patients in their emergency rooms for days, losing a patient who likely wouldve survived elsewhere and performing a surgery that staff doesnt typically do. Jon Doolittle, president of the Missouri Hospital Association, said the crisis is difficult for hospital leaders to talk about openly. No one wants to stand up and say, Hey, this tragic thing happened at my facility. But we know things are happening, Doolittle said. Staff and hospitals are dealing with time-critical circumstances where lives are saved or not, and its easy to imagine that when you hurt the ability of the system to provide life-saving care, there are going to be very real consequences. It is uncharted territory for those on both ends of the system, on both ends of their phone calls, Meehan said. My heart goes out to those providers because they took an oath to do no harm, and they are doing everything humanly possible to take care of these patients, but theres just nowhere to go, Meehan said. Its very emotional, she said, her voice shaking. From my perspective, I always think what if that were my mom or my grandma or my loved one? And that is somebodys loved one. Boarding ER patients During the first week of January at HSHS St. Josephs Hospital in Breese, Illinois a 45-minute drive from St. Louis the most staff members ever were out because of COVID-19 and not one bed was available in the 48-bed facility, nor anywhere in HSHSs 15-hospital system. The Breese hospital has just six emergency room beds and two special care beds, a step down from intensive care. We are boarding patients in our ER for days at a time because we were not able to transfer them to St. Louis or our own larger hospitals in our system in Springfield, Illinois, said CEO Chris Klay. Patients were moved into the hallway to free up space for others coming in. Staff worked to move other patients around within the system or put them on a helicopter to facilities far from their families. Patients with cardiac or neurological emergencies are prioritized to get the immediate care they need, but Klay said its not easy. Care of critically ill patients was not compromised, he said. But, he added, Its not without a lot of pushing and pulling to get them into the right environment. HSHS hospitals had more wiggle room this past week, but Klay said the workforce is at its most fragile point in the pandemic. Many staff members continue to test positive for COVID-19. Tomorrow, what will our team look like? Will we have the right team in place to take care of the patients in front of us? That is a question I dont have an answer for, Klay said. At some point, and I hope this day doesnt come, will we want to get a patient to a higher-level of care and its not there? Citizens Memorial Hospital in Bolivar, Missouri, has had to board six to eight patients over the past week in its 12-bed emergency room, CEO Michael Calhoun said. The hospital, which is close to Springfield and just two to three hours from Kansas City, St. Louis or Columbia, never has to board patients. The facilities that are in urban centers are so full, so we call 70 to 100 different hospitals looking for a transfer, and we are calling every day, Calhoun said. The hospital has expanded to 12 intensive care beds, and has about 32 other medical beds. The beds are full, with about 22 occupied by COVID-19 patients, he said. The hospital is having to turn down requests from even smaller hospitals seeking care for their patients. Patients whom Citizens Memorial needs to transfer to higher-level care are typically not COVID-19 patients, Calhoun said. They need a neurologist that can do a procedure we cant do, or a dialysis service or a gastroenterology service we cant provide. Those are the kinds of patients who end up waiting in our ER for beds. Eventually, they find a spot, he said, but its two to three days later. Were good at stabilizing care while they wait, he said, but we do worry that delay could cause a problem. Calhoun is also worried about whats to come, as the omicron surge in outstate Missouri is lagging behind urban areas. The hospital and its affiliated clinics do most of the COVID-19 testing in the area, and its seeing 100 new cases a day as opposed to 30 during previous waves. The hospital was performing more than 100 monoclonal antibody infusions a week, a therapy that helps prevent high-risk individuals who get COVID-19 from ending up in the hospital, Calhoun added. Those medications, however, dont work well against the omicron variant. A new version has been developed, but it is still in short supply. Im nervous, he said, what these next couple weeks are going to look like. Whatever is needed The 24-bed Hermann Area District Hospital, about an 80-minute drive from St. Louis, does not have an intensive care unit but has trained staff able to care for patients on ventilators if necessary, said Dr. Michael Rothermich, the hospitals chief of staff. The hospital has struggled to transfer patients during previous surges in the pandemic, and some who died might have survived at a large facility, Rothermich said. He has seen one such case recently with a patient needing additional respiratory support. With this surge we have already had one patient that we thought might have a better chance of survival if we could get them an ICU bed, but before a bed opened up at another hospital, the patient rapidly declined and has since died, he said. Chances of survival are better in a large hospitals intensive care unit where experienced nurses are monitoring just a couple patients and able to identify early signs of complications, he said. A team of specialists can respond immediately. As long as nothing goes wrong, a patient can recover just as well in our hospital or in a medical/surgical ward at any hospital, Rothermich said. However, when a patient is so sick, they have just been put on a ventilator, there are innumerable things that can go wrong if those problems are not identified quickly and an appropriate rapid intervention take place, the outcome is seldom good. Dr. Harbaksh Sangha is the chief medical officer at Lake Regional Health Hospital in Osage Beach, Missouri. Even with a 35-bed emergency department and 18-bed intensive care unit, the hospital is finding itself boarding as many as 10 patients in its emergency department with nowhere to send them. What has helped, Sangha said, is having unusually high level of expertise for a hospital its size. Staff this past week was unable to transfer a patient with a tumor growing into the airway, so the surgery was done there. Ideally, it shouldve been done in a center with higher expertise, Sangha said. But we are ready for any eventuality. We are doing whatever is needed. Rationing care? At Phelps Health Hospital in Rolla, nearly two hours from St. Louis, the 242-bed facility is full, staff says. About 18% are COVID-19 patients. Unable to transfer patients for days or even a week, the hospital is taking care of more critically ill patients than ever, said Keri Brookshire-Heavin, chief nursing officer. The problem is we are not always capable of taking care of everything like an urban center would be, Brookshire-Heavin said. The patients include those whove had strokes or who have cancer. Staff can stabilize and monitor them, but not do much more, said Dr. Nathan Ratchford, chief medical officer. We dont typically have the specialists to take care of these patients, Ratchford said. They either stay in the emergency room or possibly go to a floor while waiting for a bed in a tertiary facility. Best we can do is stabilize them and support them and give them fluids. The situation wears on staff and frustrates patients and families, they said. Its hard to know how the delays will affect patient outcomes. We can keep patients in a holding pattern until the care they need opens up, but long-term, we dont know the impact that is going to have on their health, Ratchford said. Dr. Ann-Elizabeth Mohart, chief medical officer at Mercy Washington, said they have begun preparing staff for the possibility the region will move into providing crisis standards of care where care is rationed to those likely to benefit most by talking with ethicists, chaplains and other experts in end-of-life care. If we get to the point, we need to be ready mentally, spiritually and psychologically, Mohart said, to support families through the decisions. The hospital staff is already facing having those conversations when they are unable to find a four-hour treatment where a machine purifies blood in patients whose kidneys have failed. Very commonly we get patients who have acute kidney injury and they need hemodialysis, Mohart said. We call the entire region, the entire state, and there is simply not a single hemodialysis bed available. What does staff do? We have an excellent palliative care and chaplain staff who are very trained in, if we are not able to offer treatments to patients, what kind of conversations do we begin to have to have with each other and with patients and families very difficult conversations, Mohart said. The hospital leaders urged every person to get vaccinated against COVID-19, which greatly reduces the chances of ending up critically ill or dying, and to wear a mask in public to help prevent spread of the virus. Every persons life depends on the community working together to lessen the load on hospitals, they say. If you get into a car accident today, there may not be a trauma bed or even a surgical staff or nurse available, Mohart said. If you have a heart attack, a stroke, if you fall and break your hip, anyone who unexpectedly may suddenly need the hospital system, will absolutely be affected by this. Originally posted at 4:22 p.m. Friday, Jan. 14. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. ST. LOUIS While the COVID-19 pandemic is the primary public health crisis, overdose deaths continue to ravage society in increasing numbers with sharp disagreements about how to address the problem. The mortality is substantial, said St. Louis Medical Examiner Michael Graham, whose office has so far confirmed nearly 900 accidental fatal overdoses in the city since Jan. 1, 2020 about 200 more deaths than caused by COVID-19. St. Louis County, by contrast, has recorded about 700 overdose deaths during the same period, compared with more than 2,800 due to COVID-19. The overdose trend has been rising here and other places so long that collective alarm from the death toll seemed to have silenced. Then, in late 2021, a new summit was reached, drawing a barrage of headlines and analysis to come and go: Estimated overdose deaths eclipsed 100,000 for the first time nationwide in a 12-month period, doubling the number of lives lost five years prior. Opioids, particularly synthetic fentanyl, caused 75% percent of the deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ambulances are often scrambling to revive people with naloxone, commonly called Narcan. While many have died in the streets, more are pronounced dead out of public view. Of the nearly 900 who died of fatal overdoses in the city in the past two years, about 750 were pronounced dead at home, in residences or at a hospital, records show. Naloxone continues to be distributed in more communities, but Missouri lawmakers havent encouraged other harm-reduction programs such as safe needle exchanges to help protect people addicted to opioids from getting diseases like HIV and hepatitis C. The opioid epidemic took off in the 1990s. By now, many families have experienced a loss or know of somebody struggling to make it. Studies have been completed. Expert summits have been held. Lawsuits have been filed and settlements announced. And yet a well-established standard of care still has not been adopted in Missouri. People undergoing counseling-based therapy are twice as likely to die from an overdose as those on prescribed methadone or buprenorphine, but debate can heat up even among those who are supposed to know the most. Because methadone and buprenorphine provide a controlled dosage of opioids to keep withdrawal sickness at bay, some argue that patients using the medications arent living drug-free lives. One drug is replacing another. Others say theres no use being drug-free if the patient isnt stabilized and dies managing withdrawals with street fentanyl. In November, a popular online discussion forum for Missouri bureaucrats, treatment providers, researchers and other stakeholders shut down, in part because of disagreements about medication-assisted treatments, including naltrexone. Naltrexone is the third of just three medications the FDA has approved to treat opioid use disorder. We are trying to save 100,000 people from dying, blasted one writer, asking participants to check their egos at the door. Look at the data, wrote another. Nora Bock, a division director at the Missouri Department of Mental Health, which funds treatment providers that contract with the state, ultimately weighed in. We will only weaken ourselves and our ability to help others if we isolate ourselves from public discourse and recess into camps of people that think exactly like us, Bock wrote. There is enough of that already. This is a group rich with knowledge. I hope it maintains a robust following. Agendas The discussion group is back online, but some hesitate to weigh in. People like Percy Menzies sound wounded. They all have an agenda, Menzies, president of Assisted Recovery Centers of America, which has drug treatment clinics in the St. Louis area, said in a recent interview. Meanwhile, he said, there is an absence of consumer advocacy. Unlike the AIDS crisis, which had HIV-positive activists like Larry Kramer pulling stunts to spur the development of numerous medicines, Menzies said, people addicted to opioids are often left stigmatized, without a unified voice in the fight. Sometimes the pressure comes from the top. In addition to his efforts to ensure Missouri would be the last state to create a prescription drug monitoring program, or PDMP, a database to identify the overprescription of addictive opioid painkillers, state Sen. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, said in 2012: If they overdose and kill themselves, it just removes them from the gene pool. Schaaf, a physician, who previously served in the House, is no longer a senator. Last week, he declined to be interviewed but said by text that the comment in question was made late at night, after hours of tiring debate, and taken out of context. Of course having anyone die of a drug overdose is tragic, he texted. Its also tragic that our freedom has been abridged by the PDMP, which has been shown to be ineffective. Sen. Holly Rehder, R-Sikeston, who sponsored the PDMP bill that passed last year, said in an interview last week that the statewide program hasnt yet been launched. She said the freedom argument is absolutely ridiculous. Weve had electronic medical records for years, she said. This is not different. In the current legislative session, Rehder has again filed a syringe exchange bill. She said shes been trying to get the same bill passed since Chad Sabora, of the Missouri Network for Opiate Reform and Recovery, came to her years ago for help. Initially, she said, it seemed like enabling. Then she saw research about syringe exchanges leading to successful treatment. When they used these syringe access programs, they found someone who met them where they are at in life, Rehder said. Many folks who grew up like me, they dont have anyone in their life with knowledge about how to get help. She said her 35-year-old daughter wrestled with a deep addiction for 12 years that started with prescription pain pills. She said her daughter has been in recovery seven years. Shes the best mama I know, Rehder said. It takes control The St. Louis region has driven the opioid epidemic in Missouri for several years. In the city, which has the highest rates, fatal overdoses happen all over in streets, hotel rooms, houses and apartments. It is common to have two or three deaths in one day. On June 3, 2020, there were seven, ages 33 to 68. Sometimes the deaths are grouped in the same area. Dismas House, a federal halfway house at 5025 Cote Brilliante Avenue, had five fatal overdoses since 2020, records show. Four of them died at the facility, another a few blocks away. Four people from an apartment building across the street at 1610 North Kingshighway died during the same timeframe, including one on Aug. 31, 2021, and another the next day. Sam Carter, 38, who lives in the apartment building, said he knew two of the residents who died. He has seen the toll of the opioid epidemic on the broader community, including people nodding off or acting out of their minds near Sherman Park. A few months ago, he said, he used free Narcan to revive a man who was lying next to an auto parts store. I hate to see us as people go through that, said Carter. There should be more help. Carter, who grew up in north St. Louis and has family there, said hes asked people why they risk taking opioids. He said some are on other drugs. Some are depressed. It takes control of them, he said. It becomes them. They arent themselves. While each person has their own reason for using, the Survey of Key Informants Patients program offers a collective voice of what many addicts are going through. The ongoing survey has confirmed changes in the opioid epidemic before they were widely accepted, such as when rural and suburban whites shifted from misusing prescription painkillers to street heroin. Theodore Cicero, a neuropharmacologist at the Washington University School of Medicine, started the current version of the survey in 2008 by asking people to fill out a lengthy and anonymous questionnaire about themselves when they entered drug treatment. The database has since grown to include responses from more than 28,000 people across 49 states. Our unanimous finding is these people are desperately trying to escape their life circumstances, Cicero said. They are not happy with life as it currently is, or their past. Horrible things happened. Cicero, 79, who has been studying addiction since the late 1960s, said its noteworthy to point out that most people wouldnt like opioids if they tried them. For many, he said, its a matter of brain chemistry and genetics. Underlying factors According to survey results, half of respondents who were asked 14,156 out of 28,338 reported being diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, ranging from depression to schizophrenia. Nearly eight out of 10 were prescribed a benzodiazepine at some point in their lifetime, a psychoactive drug typically used to treat anxiety. Survey results signal that past trauma and injury also are factors. About a third of people who were asked reported a history of sexual abuse; 39% said they had a history of chronic pain. About half said they took opioids to avoid or ease withdrawal pain or to escape from current life stressors. Asked about the country surpassing 100,000 overdose deaths, and the St. Louis region driving the epidemic in Missouri, Cicero described a hard reality at play. I am afraid we are almost getting to the point where we just accept this is the way its going to be from now on, he said. We cant do that as a society. Matthew Ellis, an epidemiologist who is the principal investigator of the survey, said each person addicted to opioids usually has a variety of challenges. He said treatment centers and doctors arent equipped to address them alone. Networks need to be built so patients can get all the support they need, he said. Graham, whose medical examiners office in the city recovers many of the people who dont make it, said there have been public meetings about the opioid epidemic and other awareness efforts. People are interested, but obviously its a very complex issue, he said. As long as you have demand and the economics of it that there is potentially a pretty big reward for getting involved in trafficking its really going to be a tough issue. ___ Build your health & fitness knowledge Sign up here to get the latest health & fitness updates in your inbox every week! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. FRIDAY, Jan. 14, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The Biden administration cannot enforce a vaccine-or-testing mandate for large employers, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The 6-3 decision was driven by the conservative majority on the court. The mandate was a crucial component of the White House plan to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic as cases skyrocket due to the omicron variant. President Joe Biden reacted to the decision with dismay. "I am disappointed that the Supreme Court has chosen to block common-sense life-saving requirements for employees at large businesses that were grounded squarely in both science and the law," he said in a statement. "This emergency standard allowed employers to require vaccinations or to permit workers to refuse to be vaccinated, so long as they were tested once a week and wore a mask at work: a very modest burden." Biden said that he will still push companies to help vaccinate their employees. "The Court has ruled that my administration cannot use the authority granted to it by Congress to require this measure, but that does not stop me from using my voice as President to advocate for employers to do the right thing to protect Americans' health and economy," Biden added. "I call on business leaders to immediately join those who have already stepped up -- including one third of Fortune 100 companies -- and institute vaccination requirements to protect their workers, customers, and communities." The Supreme Court did rule 5-4 in favor of another mandate, this one for vaccination of health care workers at hospitals and other health care facilities that participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. "Today's decision by the Supreme Court to uphold the requirement for health care workers will save lives: the lives of patients who seek care in medical facilities, as well as the lives of doctors, nurses, and others who work there," Biden said. "It will cover 10.4 million health care workers at 76,000 medical facilities. We will enforce it." Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange. YEREVAN, JANUARY 14, ARMENPRESS. The EU welcomes the willingness of Armenia and Turkey to work for the normalization of relations between the two countries and the appointment of special envoys for that purpose, ARMENPRESS reports lead spokesperson for the external affairs of the EU Peter Stano announced. The EU welcomes the willingness of both Turkey and Armenia to work on the normalisation of relations between the two countries and the appointment of Special Envoys for this purpose. The first meeting of the Special Envoys this Friday was an important step forward and the European Union encourages both Turkey and Armenia to make further efforts in this regard. Any further concrete steps towards the normalisation of relations would be good news for regional stability and prospects for reconciliation and economic development. The normalisation of relations between Armenia and Turkey is of key importance for the EU in its engagement with both countries. Since 2014, the EU has provided more than EUR 4.5 million to projects aiming to prepare the ground for the normalisation of relations in a number of areas such as economy, culture, education, and communication exchange. The EU stands ready to provide further support to possible additional steps towards normalisation of relations, reads the statement. FARMINGTON, Mo. A sex offender walked away from a halfway house here two days after Christmas and is facing a federal charge of escape, federal court files say. Thomas Lamar Perry, who was due to be released from the Southeast Missouri Behavioral Health halfway house on Feb. 8, also removed a GPS monitoring device, charging documents filed this week say. The device last pinged at a KFC restaurant in Farmington. Perry, then 36, was sentenced in March to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. Perry admitted having sex with a 16-year-old and offering her to two other men for money. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender after his release from prison. Perry had already spent more than a year and a half in jail before his plea and sentencing. He was transferred to the halfway house in October from prison. On Dec. 27 at 5:15 p.m., shortly after he returned to the halfway house from an outing not detailed in charging documents, Perry tested positive twice for alcohol. After he asked staffers if he could step outside for a cigarette, he disappeared, the charging documents say. An employee of Southeast Missouri Behavioral Health declined to comment Friday. Shake off your afternoon slump with the oft-shared and offbeat news of the day, hand-brewed by our online news editors. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. ST. LOUIS The city demolished the house on Cote Brilliante Avenue on Friday, empty for two decades. It was a day late. On Thursday, the home caught fire and collapsed with a St. Louis firefighter inside, killing him. Benjamin Polson, 33, was the first on the force to die fighting a fire in two decades. All indications are the 126-year-old brick home should have been demolished long ago, or at least made it onto the citys demolition list, officials agree. City inspectors visited the property dozens of times, levied more than $4,000 in vacant building and board-up fees and, finally, three years ago, condemned it. But St. Louis has 10,000 vacant properties, dotting block after block in north St. Louis and has demolished fewer than 2,000 over the past five years. And that leaves those still standing an ever-present danger for first responders who can never assume vacant means no ones inside. You can dot your Is and cross your Ts, and at the end of the day, there still can be tragedy, said fire Capt. Garon Mosby, a department spokesman. Officials have wrestled with empty buildings, especially on St. Louis north side, for decades. On one hand, the 100-year-old brick manors represent the history of the city itself, and officials fight to keep them standing. On the other, police say the houses harbor drug use, prostitution and crime. Theyre magnets for the homeless trying to stay warm. And the city often gets stuck boarding windows, cutting grass and catching vermin. Some mayoral administrations have gotten more aggressive, ramping up demolitions from 28 in 2016 to 657 in 2019 and 452 in 2020 but never really made more than a dent. We made progress, with hundreds of buildings down, former Mayor Lyda Krewson told the Post-Dispatch in a text on Friday. And there is much more to do. Only one city neighborhood has more vacant property than Wells-Goodfellow, where Polson died. Wells-Goodfellow has seen the most publicly funded demolitions, 309, since 2017. Empty lots now pock street after street there. The troubled history of 5971 Cote Brilliante, built in 1895 on the far southwestern edge of Wells-Goodfellow, is spelled out in city records. The home was marked vacant by the St. Louis Forestry Division in 2004. City staff visited dozens of times to cut grass, chase rats away and board up windows and doors. Over the years, more than a dozen separate charges were sent to owners, $108 apiece, for mowing. Those, plus vacant building fees, totaled $4,283 and thats not including unpaid property taxes. It was placed on the citys official registry of vacant properties in 2017. On June 24, 2019, the city sent a condemnation letter to the houses owners, listed in records as Lillian Ashford and Bertha Robinson, at a post office box in Fordyce, Arkansas. Three more notices followed. In September last year, with fees piling up and the owners unresponsive, the city sent the case to housing court. At this point, the home could have been tagged for demolition. But the condemnation paperwork never made it to the citys development agency, said Laura Ginn, vacancy strategist at the St. Louis Development Corp. On Thursday, the city condemned the home for a second time and sent a new letter to Ashford and Robinson, this time informing the owners that the building now posed imminent danger. Roof is fire damaged, the letter said. Walls are collapsed. The owners could not be reached for comment. Most of the residents on Cote Brilliante have owned their homes for decades and passed them down to family members, said Katesha Carter, whose grandmother lives on the block. She said neighbors had reached out to Ashford and Robinson, hoping they might take care of the house. It should have been torn down, Carter said on Thursday. It was already kind of in shambles when they were living in it. If no one is there to fix it up or even live in it, then why is it still standing? On Friday, the city demolished the building. By that afternoon, it was just a pile of debris, and the street was largely empty, outside of a few people sorting through the rubble, stacking bricks. Its impossible to demolish all of the unsafe buildings in the city, today, said Ginn, the vacancy strategist. But a middle ground is owners and the city taking better care of the buildings, she said. If we invested in improving property conditions, and keeping structures water and airtight, she said, we will reduce the risk to firefighters when a fire does happen. Katie Kull and Taylor Tiamoyo Harris, of the Post-Dispatch, contributed to this report. Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts: Experts say Viagra isn't a known 'cure' for COVID-19 CLAIM: Viagra can cure COVID-19. THE FACTS: Medical experts told The Associated Press that the use of Viagra to treat COVID-19 is "entirely unproven," and cautioned against its use among COVID patients without further research. A spokesperson for Viatris, which markets Viagra, told the AP that the drug "is not indicated for COVID-19 or related symptoms." Claims that the commonly-used erectile dysfunction drug Viagra could be useful in treating or even "curing" COVID-19 began circulating online after one woman in the U.K. relayed her experience being prescribed the drug while battling the virus. In a Jan. 2 interview with a British tabloid, the 37-year-old woman credited Viagra with opening up her airways after she was hospitalized and placed in a medically-induced coma with severe COVID-19. Her story was discussed during a Fox News segment, further amplifying the claims. Viagra functions by expanding blood vessels, helping increase blood flow. While this makes the drug effective in treating erectile dysfunction, the same properties also led the FDA to approve use of its active ingredient, sildenafil, for treatment of pulmonary hypertension, a type of high blood pressure that affects the lungs. With COVID-19, a hypothesis among some people is that because sildenafil helps relax blood vessels in the lungs, it may help improve oxygen levels among patients experiencing respiratory failure. But Dr. Daniel Culver, a pulmonologist and director of the Interstitial Lung Disease Program at Cleveland Clinic, said there has been no strong evidence the drug has been successful in these cases. "There has never been a survival benefit demonstrated from using any of these drugs for patients in the hospital with respiratory failure," Culver said, adding: "Unless there are large studies demonstrating benefits that are important to patients, like survival or getting out of the hospital sooner, I think it's dangerous to advocate use of sildenafil for COVID at this time." Dr. Ashley Winter, a urologist specializing in sexual dysfunction at Kaiser Permanente in Portland, Oregon, also warns against jumping to conclusions about the drug's effectiveness against COVID. "Just because it dilates blood vessels doesn't mean that it has any antiviral capabilities," Winter said. "If somebody is early on in a COVID infection and they don't have pulmonary hypertension if you don't need to treat that specific symptom associated with being severely ill the Viagra is not going to do anything to your COVID infection." Some social media users cited a Jan. 3 study out of Chile, which evaluated the use of sildenafil for treating blood flow issues in the lungs of 40 COVID patients who were suffering respiratory complications. The researchers found "no statistically significant differences" in the oxygen status of patients who were given sildenafil and those who weren't. The study did find that sildenafil could "have a potential therapeutic role" in preventing invasive ventilation under certain conditions for some COVID-19 patients, but the paper said the findings needed further research. Culver advised readers to "exercise caution" when reviewing the results. "I don't think we can suggest that it was this particular therapy that made a difference," Culver said. "It's possible but it's entirely unproven. And in fact, it's quite risky to use the active agent in Viagra, sildenafil, in patients with respiratory failure." Associated Press Writer Sophia Tulp in Atlanta contributed this report. Vaccines didn't cause increase in deaths and life insurance payouts CLAIM: An increase in death benefits paid out by life insurance providers in the third quarter of 2021 in the United States provides evidence that the COVID-19 vaccines, which became widely available in 2021, led to a spike in deaths. THE FACTS: The claim wrongly attempts to tie COVID-19 vaccines to a surge in deaths in the U.S. that insurance companies reported in 2021. Insurance industry leaders say the delta variant of the coronavirus and deferred medical care during the pandemic, not vaccines, likely contributed to the increase in deaths. Even as millions of people got vaccinated against COVID-19 in 2021, reports of death after vaccination remain extremely rare, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. One blog post circulating widely online this month claims that a rise in deaths in the third quarter of 2021, about six months after COVID-19 vaccines became widely available, "offers further evidence that something is very wrong with these vaccines." Other posts misrepresented comments made by Scott Davison, the CEO of the Indianapolis-based insurance company OneAmerica. Davison said in a press conference in late December that his firm saw a 40% rise in death rates among working-age individuals insured under its group life policy in the third quarter of 2021. Some posts used that statistic to falsely imply vaccines were to blame. But 65% of the excess deaths in the U.S. in the third quarter of 2021 were caused by COVID-19, Davison said in a statement to the AP, citing CDC data. "Based on the data and our analysis, we believe that a significant portion of the remaining excess deaths are driven by deferred medical care and individuals who recover from COVID but later die from the toll COVID has taken on their bodies," Davison said. Catherine Theroux, a spokesperson for the insurance industry-funded research group LIMRA, said the firm doesn't have concrete data through the end of 2021, but CDC data indicates the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus likely contributed to the increase in deaths. The AP reported in December that CDC data indicated 2021 would be the nation's deadliest year on record, with COVID-19 becoming the nation's No. 3 cause of death behind heart disease and cancer. Experts also said U.S. drug overdose deaths, which surpassed 100,000 in a single year from May 2020 to April 2021, would probably affect 2021 death numbers. As deaths increased across the U.S., reports of death after COVID-19 vaccination remained extremely rare. The CDC has identified nine deaths associated with rare blood clots caused by the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, out of more than 17 million doses of that vaccine given. Health officials recommend the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccines for most Americans, since they are highly effective against the virus and do not carry the rare blood clot risk associated with the Johnson & Johnson shot. Whether someone received a COVID-19 vaccine is not a factor in whether a life insurance company will pay their claim. A spokesperson for the CDC did not respond to a request for further comment. Associated Press writer Ali Swenson in New York contributed this report. Washington state isn't changing its quarantine rules CLAIM: The Washington State Board of Health at a Jan. 12 public meeting was scheduled to consider a proposed rule change to allow the involuntary detainment of unvaccinated residents in COVID-19 quarantine camps. THE FACTS: The board was scheduled to discuss changes to the Washington Administrative Code's section on communicable and certain other diseases in accordance with a new law about how the state handles HIV, not COVID-19. The state's quarantine and isolation procedures, which have been in place since 2003 and are similar to rules in several other states, aren't undergoing any changes. Still, fear-inducing articles, videos and social media posts falsely claimed Washington state health officials were preparing to chase down unvaccinated people and force them into COVID-19 quarantine camps. The posts completely misrepresent the state Board of Health's scheduled Wednesday discussion on changing the Washington Administrative Code to align with a new law about HIV, according to Keith Grellner, who chairs the board. Whenever lawmakers in Washington state pass new bills into law, state agencies codify those laws by creating rules and regulations in the Washington Administrative Code. The code has had a section on communicable and certain other diseases since at least 1988, Grellner said. In June 2020, state lawmakers passed a bill "ending statutory HIV/AIDS exceptionalism, reducing HIV-related stigma, defelonizing HIV exposure, and removing barriers to HIV testing," according to the state Board of Health website. As a result, the board must adjust the code to ensure its rules comply with the new law. The section the board has proposed adjusting, WAC 246-100, governs the state's handling of communicable and certain other infectious diseases. COVID-19, as a communicable disease, falls under that category, but the changes that are currently being proposed do not alter the state's handling of the disease, Grellner said. WAC 246-100-040 is a subsection of the code that deals specifically with quarantine and isolation procedures. Social media users claimed the state Board of Health was proposing a change to that section, but both the board and the code reviser's office confirmed to the AP that this section has no proposed changes and has not been altered since it was first introduced in 2003. Grellner said he believes the state has only used its quarantine and isolation procedures with regard to tuberculosis, and rarely at that. He added that the procedures don't give health officials "unilateral" authority to take someone against their will individuals affected would have the right to petition a superior court for release. Some social media users falsely claimed that the state Board of Health's meeting Wednesday would also include a vote to require the COVID-19 vaccine for school-aged children. That's not true, according to the state Board of Health. The board clarified on its website that it would receive a briefing from an advisory group on the topic at the meeting, but it wouldn't take any action on the matter on Wednesday. Some of the online posts sharing false information about the board's meeting also revived the months-old misleading claim that Washington Gov. Jay Inslee's office is hiring a "strike team" to run camps where unvaccinated residents could be forced to quarantine. That claim stems from a real job posting, but not for positions forcing residents to quarantine. Instead, the job postings dealt with a facility where visitors to the state could safely quarantine if they did not have another safe place to go. A press secretary for Inslee confirmed in an email to the AP that the governor has never considered hunting down unvaccinated people to force them to quarantine. Ali Swenson Justice Sotomayor didn't attend dinner with Democratic leadership CLAIM: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor dined with Democratic congressional leadership at a restaurant on Jan. 7. THE FACTS: The claim is based on inaccurate reporting from Politico on Jan. 8, which was eventually corrected. The news outlet erroneously reported that Sotomayor attended the dinner, but later said it had mistakenly identified Iris Weinshall, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumers wife, as Sotomayor. The posts falsely claiming that Sotomayor dined with Democratic politicians on Jan. 7 continued to spread on social media last weekend, despite the source of the claim retracting it. Users pointed out that Sotomayor had attended court remotely earlier in the day, during oral arguments over the Biden administrations COVID-19 vaccine rules for private employers and health care workers. Justice Sotomayor, who participated in yesterdays SCOTUS arguments remotely from her chambers, seen last night at Le Diplomate with Speaker Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Schumer and Sens. Klobuchar and Durban, per Politico, said one Jan. 8 Facebook post. Politico made the false claim in its Playbook newsletter the morning of Jan. 8, linking to a photo that appears to show several of the politicians sitting at a table at a restaurant. But it posted a correction later that day, stating it had erroneously placed Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor dining with Democratic leaders at a Washington restaurant Friday night. The correction goes on to state that its source mistook Iris Weinshall, wife of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, for the justice. A spokesperson for Schumer confirmed to The Associated Press that Sotomayor was not in attendance at the dinner. Sotomayor, who is diabetic, chose to stay in her office at the court and participate remotely during the Jan. 7 arguments over the Biden administrations COVID-19 vaccine rules. During these oral arguments, Sotomayor separately claimed that more than 100,000 children are in serious condition with COVID-19 in the U.S, remarks that also generated significant discussion on social media. But her statement was incorrect. Federal data shows that more than 5,000 minors are currently hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. And between August 2020 and last Friday, when Sotomayor made the claim, fewer than 83,000 kids had been hospitalized with the virus, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The U.S. Supreme Courts public information office did not immediately respond to the APs requests for comment on either issue. Associated Press writers Josh Kelety in Phoenix and Karena Phan in Sacramento, California, contributed this report. Video shows Canadian comedian, not New York Times editor CLAIM: Video shows a New York Times editor, Carlos Tejada, talking about taking the booster shot the same day he died of a heart attack. THE FACTS: The video shows Stewart Reynolds, a comedian from Canada, not Tejada. A humorous video of Reynolds announcing he'd just taken his booster shot and encouraging people to do the same, circulated on Twitter with false claims stating it shows Tejada, the deputy Asia editor of The New York Times, who died of a heart attack in late December. "NYT EDITOR MAKES VIDEO ABOUT TAKING HIS 3RD BOOSTER & DIES THE SAME DAY OF A HEART ATTACK," read the erroneous caption on the video of Reynolds. Reynolds posted the video on Twitter on Dec. 17 with the caption: "HOW MANY SHOTS WILL WE NEED TO GET?" He addressed the false claims on Twitter on Monday: "It was brought to my attention today that one of my videos has been edited into an anti-vaccination clip suggesting that I died after my booster shot and that I'm a NYT editorTo clarify, and as is plainly evident: I am not a NYT editor." Tejada died on Dec. 17 at a hospital in Seoul. His wife Nora Tejada said that he died of a heart attack. Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokesperson for The New York Times, wrote in an email to the AP that Tejada received a COVID-19 booster shot in Seoul on Dec. 17. The hospital in Seoul that Tejada was admitted to declined to comment on his death, citing local medical law. The Associated Press *** 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 Not long after Dave and Jennifer Guyton moved to Hazelwood, they realized their neighbors were organized into two camps: There were those who thought the city of Hazelwood was trying to bankrupt the Robertson Fire Protection District, and those who thought the fire district was bankrupting the city. The dispute has been raging for more than two decades, almost as long as the city has contracted with the fire district to serve an area that Hazelwood had annexed. Over the years, that contract has grown increasingly expensive, and the two parties have ended up in court over an attempt by the city to use its existing department to serve the area where the Guytons live, for significantly less money. The Guytons, concerned about the potential for their property taxes to dramatically rise, decided to do some investigation. We didnt know who to believe, Jennifer says. We came in as outsiders. The Robertson district has one of the highest tax rates in St. Louis County and a fairly low call volume. In their initial investigation, looking at publicly available data comparing fire districts in St. Louis County, the Guytons found that the Robertson fire district spends a lot of money, without a lot show for it at times. For instance, Robertson, they found, has the highest cost per call of all the fire protection districts in St. Louis County, and its more than twice as much as Valley Park, a district with a similar number of firehouses, calls and assessed valuation. The Robertson districts costs for fuel, internet, cellphones and vehicle turnover all appeared to be higher than other fire districts in St. Louis County, in some cases by significant amounts. The Guytons wanted to know where the money was going. With some of their neighbors they formed a nonprofit called Residents of Hazelwood Inc., and they filed some Sunshine Law requests to get answers. I wanted to see the facts, Dave says. The fire district, as too many government bodies often are in Missouri, has been slow to respond to their requests. They got some information from looking at minutes for old meetings. For instance, the district has a program where it sells old equipment including SUVs and ambulances to employees, at apparently significant discounts. The Guytons sought the details: bids, sales records, and the like. They didnt get the records. Thats why earlier this month, Residents of Hazelwood filed an open records lawsuit against the fire district. Plaintiff Residents for Hazelwood, Inc., has requested the defendants (Robertson Fire Protection District, its custodian of records, and its secretary) many times to make available or produce the districts public records pursuant to Missouris freedom of information statutes, the lawsuit, filed by attorney Paul Martin, alleges. The defendants have failed or refused many of these requests, preventing the plaintiff from investigating, assessing, and disclosing the districts expenditure of public funds and their use of district resources. The lawsuit names the district, its fire chief, Maynard Howell, and its board secretary, Michael Conley, as defendants. Chuck Billings, the general counsel for the fire district, declined comment. He said an outside attorney, Dan McLaughlin, is handling the defense. McLaughlin didnt return a phone call seeking comment. The lawsuit notes that the district has a high turnover of vehicles, in which older models are sold to employees, but Sunshine Law requests didnt produce the records from those alleged sales, including the sale of a state-of-the-art ambulance that was, apparently, sold to Howell. The districts practice of internal disposition of surplus property appears to have also resulted in the sale of other equipment to district insiders, including automobiles, computers, iPads, and commercial grade generators, but the plaintiff has not been able to identify the cost of the original equipment, to whom the equipment was sold, the condition of the equipment at the time of sale, or whether the sales were made at fair market value, due to the failure or refusal of the district to produce the requested records, the lawsuit alleges. For the Guytons, the issue is simple. If the Robertson fire district can defend its out-of-whack spending that is causing budget problems for the city of Hazelwood, and high property taxes for its residents, it ought to be able to show residents the paperwork that explains the spending. Wheres the money going? Jennifer asks. Its a good question. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. You know how penguins crowd at the edge of the ice shelf and shove each other until one of them falls into the water, thus allowing the rest of them to see if theres a killer whale or something down there waiting to eat them? This is todays Republican Party. Former President Donald Trump is the whale. I researched this a little, and penguin experts claim this whole notion that penguins cruelly sacrifice each other like that is a myth. (Of course, penguin experts are, by definition, people who like penguins, so what else are they going to say?) But even if penguins really are above this kind of cowardly behavior, Republican officeholders clearly arent. As we witnessed yet again last week. In an ABC interview last Sunday, George Stephanopoulos asked Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, about those in his party who have bought the falsehoods still emanating from TrumpWorld. The former presidents claim that mass vote fraud denied him reelection is baseless nonsense, but polls show a majority of Republican voters believe it. This has caused a kind of party-wide laryngitis among GOP elected officials when asked if Joe Bidens win was legitimate. (Narrator: It was.) So it was refreshing to watch Rounds answer the question as if he is someone who, unlike so many in his party, still inhabits this reality, instead of some wishful-thinking alternate one. The election was fair, as fair as we have seen, he said. We simply did not win the election, as Republicans, for the presidency. And plop! into the icy water he goes. It took Trump all of 24 hours to bite. Senator Mike Rounds of the Great State of South Dakota just went woke on the Fraudulent Presidential Election of 2020, Trump sputtered in a written screed. He made a statement this weekend on ABC Fake News, that despite massive evidence to the contrary, including much of it pouring in from Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and other states, he found the election to be ok just fine. Is he crazy or just stupid? There has, of course, been absolutely zero evidence of significant vote fraud from those states or anywhere else. Trump is just plain making that up, as dozens of judges and countless state election officials of both parties have confirmed. All of Rounds GOP colleagues know this. Whatever else these folks are, they generally arent dumb or delusional, and one or both of those conditions is required to truly believe Trumps big lie of mass voter fraud. Id even bet that many of those fellow Republicans have quietly (very quietly) commended Rounds on his courage. But when it got him rhetorically gobbled up by a deranged ex- president viciously wielding sarcastic quotation marks and Random Capitalization, did his colleagues step up en masse and defend Rounds and the obvious truth that hed spoken? No. For the most part, as usual, they stood in mute terror, penguin-like, waiting for the whale to submerge with his prey. There were precious few exceptions. By mid-week, five Republican senators had made statements defending Rounds and indicating that they, too, accept the validity of the current president of the United States. This was a big enough deal that CNN did a segment on it a whole story, on the fact that 10% of the entire GOP Senate caucus now is willing to publicly acknowledge reality. Someone should poll them about the shape of the Earth. Maybe they can get that number up to 20%. Given the personal nature of Trumps attack (in addition to crazy and stupid, he called Rounds a jerk for having the gall to acknowledge the validity of a national election), youd think there would have been widespread pushback from Senate Republicans. Rounds is reportedly well-liked by his colleagues, and the Senate as an institution historically doesnt tolerate contempt from even sitting presidents, let alone former ones. The problem is, todays Republicans know what happens to anyone in their party who dares defy this particular ex-president and his minions. Theyre still recovering from watching Ted Cruz deliver his boy-parts on a platter to Tucker Carlson. If you missed seeing the Texas senator pathetically seeking absolution from the Fox News host for calling the Jan 6, 2021, Capitol attack domestic terrorism (Narrator: It was) well, lets just say the phrase wince-inducing doesnt quite cover it. Moments like that, and Trumps consistent strategy of scorched-earth assaults on anyone who challenges or even just fails to parrot his big lie, are why most elected Republicans have allowed themselves to be held hostage by a man they know is dangerous to both their party and the country. Many no doubt wish he would just go away. But most arent about to stand up to him. Instead, they huddle silently, their feathers slick with fear, each desperately praying he isnt the next meal. Catch the latest in Opinion Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Amid the spread of the most contagious coronavirus variant yet, major decisions by conservative politicians and judges at the federal and state levels are making it virtually impossible for public health authorities to contain the virus and keep the public safe. This ideological zealotry will cost lives. The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the Biden administrations effort to impose a vaccine mandate in workplaces, which would have dramatically boosted vaccination rates and defused key super-spreader situations. In Missouri, the Parson administrations premature back-to-normal policies make no special sick-leave provisions for infected state workers, incentivizing them to bring the contagion into the office. Its as if conservatives are trying to ensure the coronavirus thrives. President Joe Bidens vaccine mandate for major employers was flexible to the point of drawing criticism from medical experts for not being strong enough. Employees who didnt want to vaccinate had the option of regular testing instead, and there was a religious opt-out. Yet the courts six conservatives on Thursday struck it down as being outside the power of the federal government this despite the fact that the mandate was promulgated under the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, an agency whose entire congressionally approved mission is to ensure safety in the workplace. Under what twisted reinterpretation of conservatism is an agency with that particular function not allowed to address a virus that has killed more than 800,000 Americans to date and has been spread largely through workplaces? The real-world effect of the ruling will be to further the spread of the virus while putting large employers even more in the crosshairs of the culture wars than they already are. Employers who, for sound business reasons, want vaccination mandates for their workforces will have a difficult time imposing their own such rules now in the face of employee pushback and, in some red states, actual mandate prohibitions. In Missouri, meanwhile, Gov. Mike Parsons determination to declare the crisis over and move on puts state employees in a pandemic box. The states current policy requires workers who test positive to quarantine at home, burning their regular sick days or losing pay. That provides a strong incentive for the infected to hide their infections and return to the office, furthering the spread. No wonder hospitals in Missouri and around the country are overwhelmed. But thanks to a separate Supreme Court ruling last week, at least health care workers in facilities that get federal funding now must abide by vaccine mandates though even that no-brainer squeaked by on a 5-4 vote. With astonishing nerve, leading Republicans are actually blaming Biden for the latest viral surge, even as they undermine commonsense pandemic policies in the name of freedom. In reality, theyre protecting the freedom of a deadly virus to spread. YEREVAN, JANUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. More than 1500 servicemen of tank units of the Russian Armed Forces are holding live-fire exercises in the numerous training grounds of the Southern Military District, including in the Russian military base of Armenia, in South Ossetia, Crimea, Dagestan, Adigea, Ingushetia and elsewhere. The tank crews are holding offensive tactical maneuver and firing drills. Tank drivers also held trainings for the selection phase of the Tank Biathlon competition. Tank crews are also developing combat and defensive tactics for nighttime and daytime. The combat harmonizing process of the tank platoons will continue until February 2022, the Russian military said. Impartiality for Nazism? As if to demonstrate how off-the-rails conservatives have gone in trying to micromanage school curriculums and remove anything they deem politically sensitive, an Indiana lawmaker has suggested that lessons about fascism and Nazism should strive to be impartial. Republican state Sen. Scott Baldwin made the comment during a committee hearing about legislation intended to ban critical race theory and other divisive concepts from schools. The Indianapolis Star reports that a history teacher testified to his concern that it would require teachers to be neutral about fascism, when the current default position of teaching is to condemn it. The teacher perhaps thought he was using a hypothetical that even hard-right proponents of the bill would recognize as absurd. He was wrong. Marxism, Nazism, fascism I have no problem with the education system providing instruction on the existence of those isms, Baldwin responded. I believe that weve gone too far when we take a position. We need to be impartial. But teaching racial tolerance is a problem? Baldwin later apologized. The coined bird sings The image of celebrated poet Maya Angelou, a St. Louis native, will be the first to appear on a new line of quarters now being shipped by the U.S. Mint. Angelou, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the 1969 book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, died in 2014 at age 86. The new quarter depicts her with outstretched arms as a bird flies behind her along with a sunburst background. What a fitting tribute to have Dr. Maya Angelou become the first Black woman on the U.S. quarter, former first lady Michelle Obama posted on Instagram. She was a phenomenal woman whose comfort in her own skin made so many of us feel seen in ours. Other path-blazing women to be honored on the new coins will include the first woman astronaut, Sally Ride, and Wilma Mankiller, the first woman to become principal chief of the Cherokee Nation. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen (the first woman Treasury secretary, by the way) praised the new options available with the currencys redesign, presenting a chance to say something about our country with each new issue. Better late than never Louisianas governor last week posthumously pardoned Homer Plessy, a Black man whose 1892 protest of a segregated train added his name to one of the worst Supreme Court rulings in U.S. history. Plessy, 30, boarded a whites-only car on the train in hopes of challenging a state law that required rail companies to provide separate cars for Black and white passengers. The Supreme Court ultimately heard the case, Plessy v. Ferguson, and sided with the state, ruling that segregation in public accommodations was constitutionally valid as long as the law provided for separate but equal amenities. The 7-1 ruling would stand until the court overruled it in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, which outlawed segregation in schools. Plessy was fined $25 for his crime and died in 1925 with the conviction still on his record. Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards signed the pardon in a New Orleans ceremony near the spot where Plessy was arrested. While this pardon has been a long time coming, Edwards said, we can all acknowledge this is a day that should have never had to happen. Drinking urine to keep vaccine police at bay Anti-vaccination activist Christopher Key, who maintains a website denouncing the vaccine police, is now promoting drinking his own urine as a coronavirus cure. Key, who is neither a physician nor a scientist, says in an online video: OK, and I know to a lot of you this sounds crazy, but guys, Gods given us everything we need. It doesnt just sound crazy. It is crazy. Key asserts that the coronavirus vaccine is the worst bioweapon I have ever seen. His remedy? I drink my own urine. Within 24 hours of the posting, urine and #urineIdiot was trending on Twitter. Key also is infamous for telling pharmacists in a Springfield, Missouri, Walmart that they would be executed for their crimes against humanity, and pharmacists were violating the Nuremberg Code by administering coronavirus vaccines. Defying death to save a life A dramatic video released this week demonstrated the extraordinary bravery of Los Angeles first responders after an airplane pilot made an emergency landing last Sunday. The plane landed intact but came to a stop right on a railroad crossing. The pilot was stuck inside, bleeding from multiple injuries sustained during the hard landing. The video shows first responders maneuvering a gurney up to the plane in hopes of pulling the pilot out and rolling him to safety. But time wasnt on their side. The sound of a horn from a rapidly approaching train left first responders with stark choice: abandon the rescue and run for their lives, or continue trying to help the pilot and risking everyones death. They chose the latter. They shoved the gurney out of the way and dragged the man a few feet away with seconds to spare before the train came barreling through at high speed, slicing the plane in half. One rescuer at the scene said he was grateful to be alive after realizing how close they all came to death. The pilot was taken to a hospital to be treated for the injuries he received during the landing miraculously the only injuries anyone at the scene sustained that day. At the end of 2021 Israel ordered three billion dollars worth of CH-53K heavy transport helicopters, and two more KC-46 aerial refueling aircraft. Despite development delays, Israel has long sought to replace its elderly CH-53Ds with latest version; the CH-53K. Israel has 38 of the older CH-53D models and despite refurbishment and upgrades, expected most of them to be unusable by 2030. Development of the CH-53K began in 2007 and its first flight was in 2015. The U.S. Marine Corps received the first production models in 2018. Israel monitored the performance of the 53K for two years and was satisfied with how the new model performed. Development of the CH-53K was delayed by technical problems, as well as not enough money to keep the development on schedule. As more foreign customers, like Germany and Israel, expressed interest, more money was applied to put the CH-53K back on its original schedule. For those who needed a replacement for old CH-53s, there was a lot of enthusiasm for the CH-53K. Although the marines were buying a lot of the new MV-22 tilt-rotor transports, in 2009 they decided to replace some of their elderly CH-53Ds with CH-53Ks, rather than the more expensive MV-22s. The marines still purchased MV-22s but the CH-53K was to cost about 60 percent less than a MV-22. Replacing the marine CH-53Ds means about 190 CH-53Ks will be built. Germany and Israel wanted to replace older CH-53s as well, but the marines had priority in receiving the 53K. While waiting for a suitable replacement, Israel decided in 2008 to refurbish and upgrade its 38 CH-53Ds so that they would last until 2025. The upgrades included much better protection from small anti-aircraft missiles. The 20-ton CH-53 entered service in the mid-1960s, and the first one entered Israeli service in 1968. In a country as small as Israel, the CH-53 was very useful. The CH-53 has a cruising speed of 290 kilometers an hour, and can stay in the air for over three hours per sortie. It can carry up to 55 passengers, or 8 tons of cargo (including artillery slung beneath). Israel considered replacing the CH-53s with the MV-22, but the longer range, and higher speed, of the tilt-rotor aircraft was not a plus. Nor was the higher cost. The CH-53 could still haul more people and cargo. The CH-53K is even better at that with a higher cruising speed of 310 kilometers an hour, and the same passenger capacity of 55, but now has 30 in seats that offer protection from hard landings. While sortie duration is about ten percent less, carrying capacity doubles to 16 tons of cargo (including artillery slung beneath). The first major upgrade and refurbishment of the Israeli CH-53 fleet was in the late 1990s. The more recent refurb includes a nearly complete upgrade or replacement of all the electronics. This made the helicopter more reliable, cheaper to maintain and easier to fly. With rebuilding and careful maintenance, these helicopters can be kept in the air indefinitely, if you are willing to pay growing maintenance costs and fewer of those older CH-53s able to fly. With that in mind Israel expected to have a replacement aircraft by 2025. Israel has ordered twelve CH-53Ks, with an option to get six more. The first twelve are to arrive in 2026. The Marine Corps currently operates a number of different helicopters and for years has been planning to shrink the number of types to save on operational and procurement costs. At first the solution appeared to be 348 new MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. Delays in that program, and a reduction in the number of MV-22s to be built, led to the CH-53K. While the CH-53K is a better cargo hauler, the MV-22 moves twice as fast, and the marines have found that to be a major advantage in combat. Unlike Israel, the American marines often carry out raids or attacks on distant targets that require a helicopter and the element of surprise. The MV-22 supplies that. The CH-53 had its own unique capabilities. For example, it was one of the few heavy lift helicopters that can operate in the high altitudes in Afghanistan, and for that reason they were heavily used there. That additional air time was hard on marines CH-53s, whose average age was fifteen years, and over 3,000 flight hours each. The older helicopters required 44 man- hours of maintenance for each hour in the air. As a result, it cost about $20,000 for each flight hour. These CH-53s were good for about 6,000 flight hours before metal fatigue makes them too dangerous to fly. The CH-53K will get cost per flight hour down to about $10,000 compared to 20 percent more for the MV-22. URMC Brings Next Generation, AI-Powered Ultrasound to New Point-of-Care Settings to Improve Patient Care, Medical Education and Research GUILFORD, Conn. & ROCHESTER, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Butterfly Network, Inc. (NYSE: BFLY), a digital health company transforming care with next generation, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), and the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), upstate New Yorks largest and most comprehensive healthcare system, today announced that the organizations will work together to bring Butterfly Blueprint, a system-wide ultrasound platform, to the URMC enterprise. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220111005339/en/ Butterfly iQ+, the world's first handheld, single probe, whole-body ultrasound system using semiconductor technology - used at the bedside to inform medical decisions and care. (Photo: Business Wire) Our evolving relationship with Butterfly will offer a unique opportunity to leverage URMCs clinical and academic expertise in collaboration with an innovative health technology company to advance the frontiers of bedside decision-making, said Dr. Michael F. Rotondo, CEO of the University of Rochester Medical Faculty Group and Vice Dean for Clinical Affairs at the Universitys School of Medicine and Dentistry. Working together with Butterfly, research teams throughout the University can explore the potential of acquiring image data and deploying artificial intelligence to improve patient care, medical education and clinical management. Validated research has shown that point of care ultrasonography improves initial diagnostic accuracy and can reduce downstream referrals and imaging costs. In addition, the use of bedside imaging as part of the initial assessment within the primary care setting has resulted in a change in diagnosis across 49.4% of patients and a change in care management across 50.9%1. The vast majority of care decisions are made with incomplete information. With Butterfly, seeing is knowing, and the advantage of having an easily accessible, easy to use, AI-enabled imaging tool in the pocket of every practitioner means more informed, better decisions can be made earlier in care, every time, said Dr. Todd Fruchterman, Butterfly Network's President and Chief Executive Officer. The University of Rochester Medical Center is a leader in healthcare excellence; were thrilled to partner with them to transform care decision-making and to demonstrate the power of AI-enabled, point-of-care ultrasound across the enterprise. We believe that the leadership of URMC and other organizations that are committed to advancing medicine through technology, education, and the power of AI, will create a new standard of care. The deployment of innovative ultrasound technology has the potential to redefine the point of care clinical standard and serve as an enhancement to the use of the stethoscope, said Dr. David L. Waldman, Chief Medical IT Development Officer and former Chair of Imaging Sciences at URMC. Enterprise deployment of point of care ultrasound will ultimately enable every clinician, across all departments, to quickly image patients where they are located. URMC officials said they expect to roll out Butterfly Blueprint and begin educating employees this summer, and will begin providing the companys handheld imaging units this fall to second-and third-year medical students, UR Medicine primary care providers, and UR Medicine Home Care nurses. In future planned phases, URMC and Butterfly Network expect to pursue multiple research projects to explore and validate the use of Butterfly Blueprint across the enterprise. Innovative image analysis, AI, and clinical pathways will be major aspects of research. Clinical areas of focus will include education and curriculum for point-of-care ultrasound, the creation of encounter-based workflows, development of best practices for system deployment, infrastructure integration, compliance, quality assurance, and three-dimensional procedural guidance. To learn more about Butterfly technology and to view a demo of Butterfly iQ+, the world's first handheld, single probe whole-body ultrasound system using semiconductor technology please visit: https://www.butterflynetwork.com/. For more information on the University of Rochester Medical Center, visit https://www.urmc.rochester.edu. About the University of Rochester Medical Center One of the nations leading academic medical centers, URMC forms the centerpiece of the University of Rochesters health research, teaching and patient care missions. The Universitys School of Medicine and Dentistry is in the top one-quarter of U.S. medical centers in federal research funding. As upstate New Yorks premier health care delivery network, patients benefit from the Medical Centers robust teaching and biomedical research programs, and its status as a nationally recognized leader in digital health and innovation. The Universitys health care delivery network is anchored by Strong Memorial Hospital, an 886-bed, University-owned teaching hospital designated by the New York State Department of Health as a Level One Regional Trauma and Burn Center and home to Western New Yorks only cardiac transplant program. With more than 26,000 part- and full-time employees, the Medical Center is the largest single component of the Rochester regions leading employer. For more information, visit URMC at https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/. About Butterfly Network Founded by Dr. Jonathan Rothberg in 2011, and recently listed on the New York Stock Exchange through a business combination with Longview Acquisition Corp., Butterfly created the world's first handheld, single probe whole-body ultrasound system using semiconductor technology, the Butterfly iQ+. Butterfly's mission is to democratize medical imaging and contribute to the aspiration of global health equity, making high-quality ultrasound affordable, easy-to-use, globally accessible, and intelligently connected, including for the 4.7 billion people around the world lacking access to ultrasound. Through its proprietary Ultrasound-on-Chip technology, Butterfly is paving the way for earlier detection and remote management of health conditions around the world. The Butterfly iQ+ can be purchased online today by healthcare practitioners in the United States, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Butterfly Blueprint supports healthcare systems by giving them access to new, diagnostically-meaningful clinical information at the bedside while helping to support procedure availability and expediency across care settings. By pairing the worlds first handheld, easy-to-use, whole-body ultrasound probe with intuitive, mobile-first workflow unlocks powerful new uses for ultrasound across the care continuumit does for imaging what the stethoscope did for auscultation. This solution is enabled through a dedicated customer experience team and proven processes that include solution advisory, implementation services, and post-go-live support. The Butterfly iQ+ probe is a prescription device intended for trained healthcare professionals only. Butterfly Network, Inc. Forward Looking Statements This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Butterfly's actual results may differ from its expectations, estimates, and projections and, consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Words such as "expect," "estimate," "project," "budget," "forecast," "anticipate," "intend," 'plan,' "may," "will," "could," "should," "believes," "predicts," "potential," "continue," and similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify such forward- looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, Butterfly's goals and expectations with respect to its strategic partnership with University of Rochester Medical Center, and Butterfly's development and commercialization efforts and business plans under the caption "About Butterfly Network." These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Most of these factors are outside of Butterfly's control and are difficult to predict. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to: the impact of COVID-19 on Butterfly's business; the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of its business combination with Longview Acquisition Corp.; Butterfly's ability to grow and manage growth profitably; the success, cost and timing of Butterfly's product and service development activities; the potential attributes and benefits of Butterfly's products and services; Butterfly's ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval for its products, and any related restrictions and limitations of any approved product; Butterfly's ability to identify, in-license or acquire additional technology; Butterfly's ability to maintain its existing license, manufacture, supply and distribution agreements; Butterfly's ability to compete with other companies currently marketing or engaged in the development of products and services that Butterfly is currently marketing or developing; changes in applicable laws or regulations; the size and growth potential of the markets for Butterfly's products and services, and its ability to serve those markets, either alone or in partnership with others; the pricing of Butterfly's products and services and reimbursement for medical procedures conducted using its products and services; Butterfly's estimates regarding expenses, revenue, capital requirements and needs for additional financing; Butterfly's financial performance; Butterfly's ability to raise financing in the future; and other risks and uncertainties indicated from time to time in Butterfly's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Butterfly cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. Butterfly cautions you not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Butterfly does not undertake or accept any obligation or undertake to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in Butterfly's expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. 1kjr Andersen C, Brodersen J, Davidsen AS, et al Use and impact of point-of-care ultrasonography in general practice: a prospective observational study BMJ Open 2020;10:e037664. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-037664 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220111005339/en/ Butterfly Network Contacts: Media Holly Spring [email protected] or [email protected] 781.888.8219 Investors Agnes Lee 650.677.9138 [email protected] Source: Butterfly Network, Inc. COSTA MESA, Calif., Jan. 13, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Clean Energy Technologies, Inc. (OTCQB: CETY), a carbon neutral focused energy company manufacturing products and solutions in the energy efficiency and environmental sustainability markets, announced today it has entered in to a $825,000.00 USD sales order for the installation of two Clean Cycle waste heat generator system located in Indianapolis. This project is being completed in collaboration with Greenverse Energy Group. Further discussions to finalize terms of the project are in progress, as the project can be scaled with additional generators, modified, or canceled if so required. Greenverse Energy Group is taking advantage of the current available Investment Tax Credit (ITC) benefiting WHP (waste heat to power), showcasing the industrys incentives and investments into clean energy solutions. This solution is just one way we can produce a solid return on investment for our clients while improving the environment, maintain good stewardship, and hedge future electrical cost increases. Current investment tax credits are making these systems extremely appealing for companies in the commercial and industrial sectors, and CETY is planning to increase production of this technology to meet demand. CETYs ability to provide a suite of technology that can tailored to our customers needs allow the company to be positioned in many key commercial and industrial applications. This also allows CETY to capture the surge in interests and investments in clean energy solutions. Our solutions provide valuable resources, savings, and return on investment to our customers. The market is constantly growing, and we will be prepared to capture market share as it does. Said Kam Mahdi CETYs CEO. CETYs product line includes Heat Recovery, Waste Heat to Power, and other similar solutions, offering innovative solutions for commercial, manufacturing, and municipal facilities who benefit by achieving a very attractive ROI and reduction of the environmental carbon footprint. CETY also recently announced a capital injection to continue to expand its efforts in designing, building, and selling these solutions. CETY has many projects scheduled for production in 2022, including the first of four anticipated renewable biomass projects in Ashfield Massachusetts. This $15,000,000 renewable energy processing facility which utilizes their revolutionary high temperature ablative fast pyrolysis reactor (HTAP Biomass Reactor). The Ashfield facility will convert approximately 10,000 tons per year of clean woody feedstock into an estimated 16,500 MWh electricity/year, 1,400 metric tons of biochar and 26,000 MM BTU of heat per year, About Clean Energy Technologies, Inc. (CETY) Headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, Clean Energy Technologies (CETY) delivers power from heat and biomass with zero emission and low cost. CETY designs, produces, and markets clean energy products & solutions focused on energy efficiency and renewable energy. The Company's principal product is the Clean Cycle magnetic bearing heat recovery generator, offered by CETY's subsidiary Clean Energy HRS, or Heat Recovery Solutions. The Clean Cycle system captures waste heat from a variety of sources and turns it into electricity that can be used or sold back to the grid. CETY's proven, reliable technology allows municipal, commercial, and industrial users with heat sources, such as from biomass, industrial processes, or energy production, to boost their overall energy efficiency with no additional fuel, no pollutants, and little ongoing maintenance. CETY's common stock is currently traded on the OTC Market under the symbol CETY. For more information, visit www.cetyinc.com or www.heatrecoverysolutions.com . About Greenverse Energy Group Greenverse Energy Group is part of a family of companies dedicated to improving on-site facility energy efficiency, resiliency, and environmental stewardship. Greenverse is the first step in our total facility energy solution in finding ways to reduce facility energy usage by utilizing high-efficient equipment and controls. For more information, visit www.greenwave-holdings.com. DISCLAIMER This news release may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the United States Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, with respect to achieving corporate objectives, developing additional project interests, the company's analysis of opportunities in the acquisition and development of various project interests and certain other matters. These statements are made under the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements contained herein. Contact: Clean Energy Technologies, Inc. Kam Mahdi, CEO [email protected] Clean Energy Technologies, Inc. 2990 Redhill Avenue Costa Mesa, CA 92626 949.273.4990 main 949.273.4990 fax www.cetyinc.com SOURCE Clean Energy Technologies, Inc. Related Links http://www.cetyinc.com DALLAS, Jan. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Neiman Marcus Group ("NMG" or the "Company") announced today the appointments of two senior leaders to elevated positions to support the organization's growth roadmap, Revolutionizing Luxury Experiences. To support this growth, NMG is continuing to make long-term investments in the business including $90+ million in supply chain to enhance the company's systems and distribution facilities, and $200 million in technology for priorities including the retailer's Connect platform, the acquisition of Stylyze, and new digital labs. "We are fortunate to have such strong talent at our company that we are able to develop and promote to lead all of the critical growth work we are executing," said Geoffroy van Raemdonck, Chief Executive Officer, Neiman Marcus Group. "I am confident in these leaders' ability to drive results, the NMG|Way, that ladder up to the substantial investments we are making in the business over the next three years." Amanda Martin has been named Senior Vice President, Chief Supply Chain Officer. In this new role, Martin will take over responsibility for all supply chain operations, including NMG's multi-year supply chain transformation. In addition to this responsibility, Martin will oversee the retailer's photo studio and customer care divisions. Vijay Karthik has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Chief Technology Officer. Karthik reports to Bob Kupbens, Chief Product & Technology Officer, and is tasked with driving end-to-end customer facing IT development and architecture. Karthik will lead a number of functions including omnichannel engineering, cloud platforms, operations and reliability, and architecture for the luxury retailer. "Vijay has played a pivotal role in leading the strategy and execution of many of our technology efforts," said Kupbens. "This expanded role will allow for more oversight on key initiatives that support our growth roadmap." NMG has a strong culture of nurturing and developing talent. These promotions illustrate the retailer's NMG|Way culture which fosters belonging and operates with a growth mindset. About The Neiman Marcus Group, LLC Neiman Marcus Group is a relationship business that leads with love in everything we do for our customers, associates, brand partners, and communities. Our legacy of innovating and our culture of Belonging guide our roadmap for Revolutionizing Luxury Experiences. As one of the largest multi-brand luxury retailers in the U.S., with the world's most desirable brand partners, we're delivering exceptional products and intelligent services, enabled by our investments in data and technology. Through the expertise of our 9,000+ associates, we deliver and scale a personalized luxury experience across our three channels of in-store, eCommerce, and remote selling. Our NMG|Way culture, powered by our people, combines individual talents into a collective strength to make life extraordinary. Our brands include Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus Last Call, and Horchow. For more information, visit www.neimanmarcusgroup.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/neiman-marcus-group-announces-leadership-promotions-and-new-executive-role-to-lead-organization-through-critical-components-of-growth-roadmap-301461498.html SOURCE Neiman Marcus Holding Company, Inc. (Tribune News Service) Quonset State Airport in North Kingstown will play center stage to a much-missed air show this coming year. But flying fans are likely to notice some differences, including a $24 entrance fee. Always among Rhode Islands most anticipated events, the air show is no longer free. It also has a new name, Ocean State Air Show, and a new manager, AirDotShow, which specializes in livestreaming its shows to online audiences. The Rhode Island National Guard will participate in the event, and the show is expected to once again feature military aircraft such as the F-22. But the arrival of a for-profit management company is a substantial change in the organizational structure of the air show. That change was accepted, only reluctantly, by the organization that previously hosted the show, the National Guard Association of Rhode Island. The association is separate from the Guard in the way that a parent booster club is separate from the high school it supports. A collection of factors, from decreased federal funding and greater burdens on National Guard personnel to far less space for parking at Quonset, made it impossible for both the Association and the Guard to handle the air show as it has in the past, according to National Guard spokesman Capt. Mark A. Incze. There was never a choice between a Rhode Island National Guard Air Show and a for-profit one, Incze said. The choice was for-profit or no air show. The show wasnt held in 2019 due to Guard deployments and it was suspended again in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. As the designated host, AirDotShow has responsibility for booking the flyers who will perform. A representative of the company, which has experience running major aerial events around the country, could not be reached for comment. Performers in the 2022 show, on June 25 and June 26, will include an F-22 from the U.S. Air Combat Command, an AV-8B Harrier from the Marine Corps, as well as a C-130J Hercules and a Black Hawk helicopter, according to posts at OceanStateAirshow.com. A post on the site references a $24 general admission ticket but also talks about a Presidents Day sale in which early purchasers can get 40 percent off the price at the gate. Its not clear if $24 is the price or the reduced price. With approval from the Department of Defense, the Guard itself can still participate in the air show much as it has in the past, not as the host but by flying its own aircraft and by helping in the launch and recovery of other military aircraft, Incze said. The web-site for previous versions of the beloved airshow is still online, including a post that describes parking as absolutely FREE! and mentions the possibility of making a purely voluntary $10 donation at the shows entrance to support Hasbro Childrens Hospital. The outdated web-site says the airshow had given more than $2 million to charities, including more than $1.7 million to Hasbro Childrens Hospital, since it started. The hospitals chief development officer, Ryan P. Whalen, said the hospital has treasured its relationship with the Guard association and thanks it for more than three decades of support. Retired Lt. Gen. Reginald Centracchio had a hand in the show and in the accompanying open house, as it was known, for many years. He said he applauds the decision to try and keep the show alive with help from AirDotShow. The air show is not likely to draw 60,000 to 80,000 people to the airport as it did in the past, but the livestreaming feature has the potential to bring the spectacle to large numbers of people, he said. There are many good points to it, Centracchio said. 2022 www.providencejournal.com. Visit providencejournal.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Stars and Stripes is making stories on the coronavirus pandemic available free of charge. See more stories here. Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter here. Please support our journalism with a subscription. (Tribune News Service) Getting a COVID-19 test will be quicker for anyone in the region thanks to the assistance of the Ohio Army and Air National Guard. As part of Task Force Cardinal, members of the Guard are working at various hospitals across the state including five sites from Springfield to Cincinnati. Across from Dayton Childrens South Campus in Springboro, 20 members of the Army and Air Guard are working to help get people through the drive-through testing station at 3300 W. Tech Road efficiently and quickly, said Capt. Joseph Caplinger of Springfield. A 16-year member of the Ohio Air National Guard, the intelligence officer has been working with hospital staff in the testing process. Eight guard members are from Springfield and others are from other units, a spokesman said. He said the guard members are helping out with traffic control, registration, collecting the samples, testing the samples and other tasks needed by the lab technicians and hospital staff. The techs have been great to work with, Caplinger said. Were glad to be able to help them and theyre taking great care of us as they can. As of Thursday, a physicians order is no longer necessary to obtain a free PCR test. A person can drive to the enormous warehouse, call a number to register their information, pull into the building to get a nasal swap sample, and leave. The results will be sent to them within 24 to 48 hours. The facility is also the home of a regional lab with state of the art equipment to process the tests. Last week, the site was doing about 400 tests a day, but with the guards help, there are enough people to do as many as 1,000 tests a day at the site which is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Caplinger said. Jennifer Nichols, operations manager at Dayton Children Hospital South, said the guard members trained for two days, adding the National Guard has been a blessing. We modified our process a month ago to push more people through, she said. Theyre phenomenal. I cant speak highly enough about them. Spc. Austin Ashcraft of Ross, and Airman 1st Class Gracie Sheets of North Lewisburg, were among the guard members who have been called up to help the hospital personnel. Weve been the techs extra hands, Ashcraft said. Sheets said they helping out wherever they can. Both have served in the guard for about two years and are full-time college students who might have to obtain accommodations while they are on duty with the guard. Ashcraft is studying fire science at Cincinnati State, while Sheets is a general arts student at Clark State and will be taking her courses online this term. Daniel Schouse of Carlisle brought a book to the drive-though testing site because he thought the line would be long. It was quick, he said. I thought Id be here for a while. He came to get a test because his wife had COVID-19 and he was starting to get some symptoms the night before. Schouse, who is vaccinated and boosted, had also had COVID-19 before. (c)2022 Springfield News-Sun, Ohio Visit Springfield News-Sun at www.springfieldnewssun.com Stars and Stripes is making stories on the coronavirus pandemic available free of charge. See more stories here. Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter here. Please support our journalism with a subscription. Passengers at the Phoenix airport had to be funneled into consolidated checkpoints because so many security agents called in sick. In a San Jose, California, courtroom, a federal judge postponed the highly anticipated fraud trial of Theranos Inc.'s former president because jurors can't be brought in to fill out questionnaires. And at supermarkets from coast to coast consumers could soon be paying even more for ground beef as meat-packing plants and slaughterhouses have slowed production because of a lack of government inspectors. Across the country, the coronavirus surge that is claiming record numbers of victims is disrupting a federal civilian workforce of 2 million. That has delayed the processing of tax returns, drug approvals and even foreign travel by diplomats as workers call in sick, quarantine or stay home to care for ill family members. "Communities and transportation systems have been hard hit by increasing Covid infections, and we continue to encourage those who are ill to stay home," R. Carter Langston, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, said in an email. "The safety of our employees and the traveling public remains our top priority." The TSA, which staffs security checkpoints at airports and other transportation hubs, has more than 3,500 employees with active Covid infections. More than 18,000 of the agency's 65,000 employees have tested positive for the illness, according to the agency. The shortage of agents forced the shutdown of two checkpoints at the busiest terminal of Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport earlier this month. The checkpoint "consolidations" at the airport are continuing and additional airports may be affected by worker shortages in the future, said agency said Thursday. A Biden administration official, who was granted anonymity to discuss the government's response, said individual agencies are updating their protocols to reflect the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Government workers continue to deliver on vital agency missions, the official added. A shortage of Agriculture Department inspectors at slaughterhouses and packing facilities at plants in Wisconsin, Nebraska and Texas is slowing production and raising prices, said Paula Schelling-Soldner, chair of the joint council of food inspectors at the American Federation of Government Employees. "The impact is going to be if there is not enough inspectors and the plant employees are also missing, there is going to be a short supply of meat and poultry throughout the entire country," Soldner said. "Just like there was at the beginning of the pandemic." The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service said in a statement that there have been no "widespread production slow-downs or closures" caused by inspector absences. The agency is monitoring the situation and requires employees to wear masks when federal inspectors are present, according to the statement. For cattle and hogs, longer wait times mean higher feed costs and larger animals to process, increasing expenses and reducing efficiency for companies like Tyson Foods Inc., Hormel Foods Corp. and Cargill Inc., according to a Bloomberg Intelligence note published Thursday. The Federal Aviation Administration said traffic volumes at some airports could be reduced and flights delayed during busy periods because so many air traffic controllers have tested positive for the coronavirus, though there have been no widespread disruptions so far. "As we have done from the start of the pandemic, we continue to work with the FAA on protecting the health and safety of our frontline safety professionals," Doug Church, deputy director of public affairs for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said in an email. The Food and Drug Administration announced earlier this month it was postponing much of its inspection work "to ensure the safety of its employees and those of the firms it regulates as the agency further adapts to the evolving Covid-19 pandemic and the spread of the omicron variant." The move to shut down in-person inspections of facilities could delay the approval of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, said Kalah Auchincloss, a former senior FDA official, who now serves as executive vice president for Greenleaf Health, a Washington-based consultancy that counts major drug makers and device manufacturers as clients. "Their level of concern has been very heightened," Auchincloss said. "The longer it drags on the more their concern will be." A previous pause in the agency's inspection activities in 2020 led to nearly 70 missed approval dates, including ones for drugs from companies such as Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Novartis, Auchincloss said. The FDA said it planned to continue "mission-critical work" but had temporarily postponed certain inspection activities through Jan. 19 "with the hopes of restarting these activities as soon as possible." Federal courts in California, Tennessee, Ohio, Washington state and New Jersey have suspended in-person jury trails. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia cited "an alarming explosion" of Covid cases when it suspended trials until Jan. 24. Last week, a federal judge said the trial of the Theranos's former president, Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, which had been scheduled to start in February, would be be delayed because of the surge of Covid cases in California. In another case, the lawyer for a New Jersey doctor accused of health care fraud is using repeated delays caused by the pandemic to get her client's indictment dropped. The first trial date was in June but was postponed several times and is now scheduled for March 1. The judge hasn't ruled on the motion. Ailing postal workers are slowing the delivery of mail in some parts of the country. Troy Fredenburg, national business agent for Region 7 of the National Association of Letter Carriers told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that local staffing was down by 20% and that same mail wasn't going out on time. The Postal Service said in a statement that it "continues to deliver while managing responses to employee availability challenges due to Covid-19 cases." The Internal Revenue Service is already warning of funding cuts and staffing shortages because of the virus will result in delays as returns and refunds are processed. And State Department employees have complained that Covid restrictions at the agency have grounded all but the most essential travel, hampering the ability of diplomats to do their work. "As the omicron variant continues to spread, the department takes a prudent and judicious approach to travel plans, especially for overseas travel," the State Department said. ___ Bloomberg's Susan Decker, Madison Alder, Laurel Calkins, Alan Levin, Mike Dorning, Michael Hirtzer and Justin Sink contributed to this report. (Tribune News Service) A former Haitian politician described by police as driven by his fierce will to kill President Jovenel Moise has been apprehended. John Joel Joseph, a former Haitian senator and one of several assassination suspects who remained at large, is being detained in Jamaica. The Jamaican Constabulary Force Saturday confirmed the arrest to the Miami Herald, but details on where it was made and when remained unclear. Josephs entry into Jamaica was itself a possible immigration violation. This is the second weekend in a row that a wanted suspect in the brazen assassination of Moise has been apprehended. Last weekend, officials in the Dominican Republic arrested Rodolphe Jaar, a convicted drug-trafficker whose Haitian home housed vehicles, weapons and a group of Colombians allegedly tied to the plot in advance of the attack. A former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration informant who once double-crossed the agency by tipping off agents to a 420-kilo cocaine load in 2012 while secretly stealing part of the stash, Jaar remains in the Dominican Republic but is wanted by both Haiti and the United States, which are conducting parallel probes into the killing. Joseph, meanwhile, is the second key suspect to be taken into custody in Jamaica, suggesting that he and others may have used a popular Guns for Ganja criminal route between Haitis southern coast and its English-speaking Caribbean neighbor to escape authorities after months of hiding in Haiti. In October, ex-Colombian soldier Mario Palacios Palacios was arrested in Kingston after being tracked there by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations agents. He was later taken into custody by Jamaican authorities under an immigration violation, and then ordered deported in late December. Palacios is currently in U.S. federal custody, after being detained in Panama earlier this month while on his way back to Colombia. A criminal complaint drafted by the FBI and unsealed in federal court accuses Palacios, 43, of conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping outside the United States, and providing material support resulting in death, knowing that such support would be used to carry out a plot to kill the Haitian president. Moise was at home with his wife and young children when a hit-squad allegedly made up of former Colombian soldiers and accompanied by two Haitian Americans and Haitian National Police officers stormed his Pelerin 5 neighborhood in the hills above Port-au-Prince on July 7, 2021. Heavily armed, they gained access inside the private residence and then into the couples bedroom, where Moise was shot 12 times and his wife, Martine, was wounded and left for dead. Authorities in Haiti arrested 44 individuals, including 18 Colombians commandos, three Haitian Americans as well as a prominent businessman and several police officers. A major manhunt was launched for other alleged key suspects four of whom have been apprehended outside of Haiti since November. A 124-page Haitian police investigative report obtained by the Herald shows that Joseph was heavily involved in the planning leading up to the presidents slaying. He was instrumental in his fierce will to kill the president, the report says. Among police allegations is that he was in contact at least 10 times with another suspect, Cineus Francis Alexis, whose cell phone was transmitting from Petionville at 2:04 a.m. on the night of the attack and later in the vicinity of the National Palace. Police allege that Joseph was in contact with a number of the other suspects as well, and attended meetings about the attack against the president. They contend that one of the jailed Colombian suspects, Jheyner Alberto Carmona Florez, who admitted to taking part in the attack, said during questioning that one such meeting took place at Josephs home, where they were briefed on the operation. Also in attendance were former Colombian military soldier Rivera Garcia, who goes by Capt. Mike; former government functionary Joseph Felix Badio, and Joseph Vincent, one of two Haitian Americans currently jailed in the plot. Joseph also was charged with paying for the rental vehicles that were to be used in the assassination. Joseph, who also goes by Joseph Joel John, had been in hiding in Haiti and was believed to have been under the protection of a local gang prior to surfacing in Jamaica. He is among several suspects for whom Haitian police had issued arrest warrants. Another, who remains at large, is Badio, who had worked in the governments anti-corruption unit and also as a consultant in the justice ministry. 2022 McClatchy Washington Bureau. Visit mcclatchydc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. TOKYO North Korea has begun the new year a lot like the last: a series of missile launches that reveal progress in diversifying and expanding its arsenal with missiles that may be harder detect and defend against. These tests also underscore how Kim Jong Uns regime has been retreating inward making apparent advances on its nuclear capabilities and ballistic weapons while refusing to engage with U.S. and South Korean negotiators seeking to restart denuclearization talks. Since September, North Korea has conducted a series of tests of ballistic missiles despite the multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions that forbid them. On Wednesday, the Biden administration announced fresh sanctions on North Korea. In response, Korea blamed Washington for intentionally escalating tensions and said it may trigger a stronger reaction from North Korea. On Friday, North Korea conducted its latest missile tests. More than four years have passed since Pyongyang tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of reaching the U.S. mainland. Since then, Kims regime has shifted his focus to building a wide range of short- to intermediate-range missiles in range of U.S. allies in the region and at the U.S. forces stationed there a strategy that has allowed Kim to advance his ballistic missile program and signal progress without directly threatening the U.S. homeland or engaging in diplomacy. This is a very effective way of saying, Were still in this game. Were still advancing our capabilities, said S. Paul Choi, principal of Seoul-based consultancy StratWays Group and a former South Korean military officer. The testing of these hypersonic missiles could be a way to signal, Listen, we havent explicitly gone to ICBM, but this is just a reminder that technical expertise continues to exist, and we continue to test it and upgrade it. Heres what to know about North Koreas missile tests and military priorities: New hypersonic missiles On Tuesday, North Korea conducted what it later said was a hypersonic missile, a priority of North Koreas weapons development and a reference to the latest warfare technology being developed by military powers such as the United States, Russia and China. Hypersonic weapons fly fast at low altitudes and are much easier to maneuver than traditional ballistic missiles, making them difficult to track and intercept. It was third test since September of what North Korea described as a hypersonic weapon. North Korea launched two more missiles on Friday, the South Korean and Japanese military said. For the first time in nearly two years, Kim appeared in state media supervising Tuesdays missile test, which may be a signal of how much emphasis Kim is placing on this technology, experts say. Kim had not been photographed attending any of the recent tests since the fall, and his return may indicate that this particular launch carried greater significance for the regime. Theres some disagreement among weapons experts in South Korea and Japan on whether North Koreas latest missile meets the precise technical definitions of a hypersonic weapon. South Korean defense officials say Pyongyangs new missile is detectable by existing defense systems. But there is broad consensus that the latest developments highlight Pyongyangs growing capability to evade existing missile defense systems. And it comes at a politically sensitive in South Korea, where campaigning is heating up ahead of the presidential election in early March, and where candidates are debating South Koreas response to North Korean hypersonic developments. I think Kim Jong Un is very smart to emphasize hypersonics, because it is within the zeitgeist today of what drives concerns about missile capabilities, Choi said. Its the perfect capability right now to inspire debate in South Korea, which weve seen it actually do. Kims missile ambitions In January 2021, Kim unveiled a five-year plan to expand his nuclear arsenal, including preemptive and retaliatory strike capabilities that allow its warheads to accurately hit and extinguish targets within 15,000 kilometers (9,230 miles), which would reach Washington. His must-haves included the development of hypersonics, solid-fuel ICBMs that can be launched from land and sea, spy satellites and reconnaissance drones, and more research and development into advanced military equipment. We ought to augment our nuclear technology and further develop the nuclear weapons to be lighter and smaller ... while continue producing tactical nuclear weapons and super-large nuclear warheads, Kim said in January 2021. Kim appears to be on track. In recent years, there has been a huge growth in the diversity of new missile systems in North Korea. Since the January 2021 announcement, North Korea has introduced seven new missile capabilities according to the plan that Kim announced, according to Ankit Panda, weapons expert and a senior fellow at the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Im expecting that this year will include more missile tests as the North Koreans work to carry out the numerous goals set by Kim Jong Un in January 2021, Panda said. Some of the latest missile technology may also be serving a dual purpose of improving North Koreas IBCMs. The missiles Pyongyang tested this month use the same type of engine that North Korea used for its flight-tested ICBMs in 2017, so presumably, some of the data theyve gained over the course of these recent tests will allow them to generally improve the reliability of their ICBMs, Panda said. Diplomatic standstill Since the collapse of the 2018 summit between Kim and then-president Donald Trump, U.S. and South Korean negotiators have urged North Korea to return to negotiations, assuring that they have no preconditions for the Norths return. But the Biden administration has not shown it is willing to grant the sanctions relief that Kim seeks. The new round of sanctions is likely to fuel North Koreas complaints that the United States has hostile policies toward Pyongyang. Kim claims that his missile tests are solely for defensive purposes - to be able to respond in case of an attack by the United States. With just a few months left in his term, time is running out for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, a willing mediator between North Korea and the United States, to make meaningful diplomatic progress on North Korea. Duyeon Kim, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Securitys Indo-Pacific Security Program, said the recent advances by North Korea highlight the lack of diplomatic progress. The weapons Pyongyang has tested and paraded during Kim Jong Uns rule may not be reliable yet. But they demonstrate the regimes goals, which will be achieved in time in the absence of a diplomatic agreement with the United States that can be completely implemented, regardless of changing administrations in Washington, she said. YEREVAN, JANUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. NATO welcomed the first meeting between the Armenian and Turkish special representatives for normalization. NATO welcomes todays meeting in Moscow between the special envoys of [Armenia and Turkey]. NATO supports the normalisation of their relations, which will help in bringing stability to the region, and we encourage Ankara and Yerevan to make further efforts, NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs & Security Policy and Special Representative for the Caucasus & Central Asia Javier Colomina tweeted on January 14. Britain to upgrade communications on Cyprus military base By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS Associated Press NICOSIA, Cyprus The U.K. will build a new communications facility on one of two bases it maintains on the eastern Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus, a British Defense Ministry spokesman said Friday. The spokesman told the Associated Press that the purpose of the "small-scale infrastructure project" is to "modernize communications infrastructure and increase our resilience." The spokesman, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, gave no further details. The facility will be built at a disused site at Dhekelia Garrison on Cyprus' southeastern corner. The U.K. retained the bases when Cyprus gained independence from British colonial rule in 1960. The bases incorporate a large airfield at RAF Akrotiri and an important electronic intelligence gathering station at Ayios Nicolaos situated around 175 kilometers (109 miles) from Syria's Mediterranean coastline. Britain has been keen in projecting its military strength in the region since it exited the European Union on Feb. 1, 2020, with large naval deployments including its newest aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, from which cutting-edge F-35 jets operate. British warplanes have also flown from RAF Akrotiri to assist in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq. LONDON Stripped of his scarlet tunics and white plumes, his military titles and honorary patronages, and cast aside by his lifelong protector - his mother, his queen - Britain's Prince Andrew now finds himself in the royal wilderness, and courtiers say there is no way back. His friendships with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, both convicted for sexually exploiting teenage girls, have created the biggest crisis for the House of Windsor since the death of Princess Diana. The royal family has stood by Andrew for more than a decade since the first scandalous headlines, while the prince repeatedly denied all accusations. But after a judge in New York ruled this past week that a sexual abuse lawsuit against him can move forward, the palace made clear that he will fight this alone, "as a private citizen." He will remain a prince, yes - ninth in line to the throne. He's still Duke of York, for now. But without the pomp and circumstance, without the military finery he has swaddled himself in. Speeches, ribbon cuttings, parades, trade missions abroad and applause? Officially gone, alongside use of the honorific "His Royal Highness." This is a big year for the British royal family, as Queen Elizabeth II prepares to celebrate an unprecedented 70 years on the throne, her Platinum Jubilee. But Andrew almost certainly won't ride alongside his mother's golden carriage or wave to the adoring crowds from a balcony. As Buckingham Palace pronounced on Thursday, with the queen's approval, "The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties." While Prince Harry and Meghan were freed of constraints on making outside money when they lost their royal titles, Andrew's fall doesn't leave him with much leverage for that. Palace watchers envision a kind of 21st century banishment, an "internal exile" for the 61-year-old duke. He may be allowed to remain at Royal Lodge, where he lives with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson. With 30 rooms, including seven bedrooms, it's hardly a bad place to have to hole up. Even as he lay low there the past couple years, he would continue to drive his $100,000 Range Rover hybrid over to Windsor Castle, just three miles away, to ride horses on the grounds or have lunch with his mum. But Dickie Arbiter, the queen's former private secretary, said he wouldn't expect Andrew return to any public role. Even if the prince were to win the lawsuit, too much damage has been done. "As I see it, there's no way back for him as an active member of the royal family," he said. "There aren't many options left for him." Arbiter added that Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, and his son Prince William would have been involved in the decision to strip Andrew of his titles and patronages. Arbiter speculated that Andrew may soon sell his ski chalet in the Swiss Alps to help fund mounting legal costs. "I can't see the queen digging her hand into her pocket" on this, he said. As far as the lawsuit, legal experts contend that Andrew may have no real choice but to settle the civil case brought against him by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's victims, who says she was trafficked to Andrew on three occasions, starting when she was 17. Going on trial, in the media hothouse of New York City, the experts say, would be too perilous. "The only way Andrew stops contagion to the royal family, which has already started, is by settling," said Mark Stephens, a prominent media lawyer. "He has to throw himself on the judicial hand grenade that was thrown into the middle of the royal family in order to protect the wider royal family." Stephens estimated that a settlement might top $10 million. Amber Melville-Brown, a crisis manager and a partner at Withers law firm in New York and London, said she could see Andrew deciding either way - to settle or go forward with the suit. "With so much lost, Prince Andrew may consider he has nothing to lose but to proceed to trial," to seek total vindication, she said. Or he "may want to do all in his power to cause no further damage to himself, and not further to tarnish the name of the royal family." Nick Goldstone, a legal commentator and head of dispute resolution at Ince law firm in London, noted that while English law relies primarily on written witness statements, U.S. courts tend to involve videotaped depositions. If the lawsuit proceeded toward a fall court date, Andrew could soon find himself being pressed by lawyers, under oath, about the most intimate details of his private life. "A grueling experience that I do not think Andrew would want to experience," Goldstone said. Andrew has claimed he does not recall ever meeting Giuffre. He suggested to the BBC that a 2001 photograph - showing him with his arm around Giuffre's exposed midriff, while Maxwell grins in the background - might be a fake. He said he couldn't have met Giuffre at Maxwell's London townhouse that night, because he took his daughter to a Pizza Express in a suburb that evening. And he said it's impossible that he was the one, as Giuffre claims, who sweated all over her on a nightclub dance floor, since an incident when he was a helicopter pilot in the Falklands War prevented his ability to sweat. "They'll ask about the pizza party," Goldstone said. "They'll seek evidence from his daughter. They'll ask for evidence that he doesn't sweat." Fair game, too, would be questions about how the prince came to earn the nickname "Randy Andy," what his mother the queen advised, and friendships with Epstein and Maxwell. Giuffre's lawyers on Friday told the court they wanted to take testimony from Andrew's former assistant, Robert Olney, as well as a woman who allegedly saw prince in the nightclub. If the case proceeds, the duke's lawyers could also seek testimony to undercut Giuffre's claims or to cast her in a harsh light. Such a strategy has its own risks. Legal experts say Andrew could still try to get the lawsuit thrown out, based on arguments other than what the judge rejected this past week. The prince could also decide to effectively ignore the suit, in which case there could be a "default judgment" against him, with damages awarded by the judge. Nigel Cawthorne, author of "Prince Andrew: Epstein, Maxwell and the Palace," said Andrew could attempt to use the queen's jubilee as justification for settling. "He could say, 'We will settle this, because it's overshadowing my mother's jubilee.' He has the perfect excuse. But the British public will ask, 'Where does the 5 million pound [settlement] come from? Is it out of your pocket?' " Giuffre's attorney, David Boies, told the BBC this past week that the case is not about the money. "I think it's very important to Virginia Giuffre that this matter be resolved in a way that vindicates her and vindicates the other victims," he said. In a 2009 settlement, unsealed this month, Giuffre was awarded $500,000 from Epstein, but he did not admit any guilt. Legal experts suspect she would demand some kind of apology from Andrew. "A purely financial settlement is not anything I think she is interested in," her lawyer said. On Twitter on Thursday, Giuffre thanked her "extraordinary" legal team, writing, "their determination helps me seek justice from those who hurt me and so many others." She continued: "My goal has always been to show that the rich and powerful are not above the law & must be held accountable. I do not walk this path alone, but alongside countless other survivors of sexual abuse & trafficking." Cawthorne suggested that Andrew had a blinkered view of the world, which perhaps helps explain some of the prince's past remarks, such as when he described Epstein's behavior as, simply, "unbecoming." Epstein was a convicted sex offender, who before he died by suicide in 2019 faced additional charges for trafficking dozens of girls and engaging in sex acts with them. Cawthorne said, "If you are born behind palace gates, and by the time you can walk and talk and everyone is bowing and scraping and calling you 'your royal highness,' than you must get a rather distorted view of the world, and you can assume you can get away with anything, and that no one will ever tell you not to." Andrew was stripped of his titles after more than 150 British veterans wrote to the queen, calling her son an embarrassment. Alexander Wardrop, 72, was one of the veterans who signed the letter. "It's simple, it's about honor," said the retired army officer. "There was always one maxim for the British army, that is honor is the most important thing. To act honorably. If under suspicion, you stand up and be accounted, or resign. I don't approve of anecdotal evidence or trial by the press or people who don't have evidence. But when it becomes obvious that something isn't quite right, then you don't run away from it." ___ The Washington Post's Shayna Jacobs in New York contributed to this report. KYIV, Ukraine In the drone's-eye video released by Ukraine's military, a small, blue targeting square hovers over an image on the ground. After several seconds, a large plume of smoke bursts up from the spot. Two people are then seen running away from the site, where Ukraine claims it destroyed a D-30 howitzer used by Russian-backed separatists in the eastern Donbas region. But the strike on Oct. 26 - from a Bayraktar TB2 drone made by NATO-member Turkey - represented more than another clash in nearly eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine. For Russia, it was another signal that Ukraine is boosting its arsenal to potentially change the military balance in the region - and why Moscow is demanding NATO end all defense cooperation with Ukraine and other former Soviet republics such as Georgia. The United States and its NATO allies say that Russia can never dictate its policies. The impasse was clear during high-stakes diplomatic talks in Europe this week between the West and Russia, leaving Russian officials to suggest that future dialogue is pointless. Russia has threatened that it will take "military technical" measures if its requests are rejected. Moscow has denied that its buildup of more than 100,000 troops and military hardware near the Ukrainian border is preparation for an attack on the country, though U.S. intelligence has warned that a multipronged invasion could come as soon as this month. "Russia is seeing a trend where all of these NATO countries are delivering more and more weaponry to Ukraine," said Rob Lee, a Russian military expert and fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. "It's not necessarily that significant yet, but I think they see the trend line, and they don't like where that trend line is going." Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly claimed that NATO could position a long-range missile system in Ukraine before long, though there's no indication that the military alliance has considered such a step. While the U.S.-provided weapons, such as the Javelin antitank missiles, have garnered the most headlines of Ukraine's armory, Kyiv's less-hyped backing from Turkey has raised alarms in Moscow. Not only did the purchase of the Bayraktar TB2 drones come without any apparent conditions on use, but Turkey and Ukraine have agreed to launch a production site of the drones in Ukraine. "I think that, of course, this creates completely different conditions for hostilities," said Serhiy Zgurets, a Ukrainian military expert. "It is an element of emotional and real influence on the enemy." Though Ukraine bought its first Bayraktar TB2 drones in 2019, it had held off on using them for strikes in the Donbas conflict until the front-line village of Hranitne came under heavy shelling on Oct. 26. The drones had been used for reconnaissance flights. The artillery strikes from the separatists in October leveled civilian homes and wounded two Ukrainian armed servicemen, one of whom died. In a statement, Ukraine's Defense Ministry said it first demanded a cease-fire through the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, but "the reaction from the Russian occupation forces was negative." The single drone strike followed. "The Armed Forces of Ukraine will continue to increase tactics and methods of combat use of Bayraktars to deter Russian aggression and protect Ukraine's interests," the statement said. In a December phone conversation between Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Putin brought up the Ukrainians' use of Turkish-made drones, calling it a "destructive" behavior and "provocative activity," according to the Kremlin readout. Turkish Foreign Minister Melvut Cavusoglu has said Ankara can't be blamed for Ukraine's deployment of the weapons. "This is already completely unpleasant news for the Russians, because this is a dramatic increase in combat capabilities," said Oleksiy Arestovych, a Kyiv-based military blogger. "Ukraine is acquiring what is considered a 'game changing app.' " The Bayraktar TB2 drones offer countries stealthy air power at a fraction of the cost of maintaining a traditional air force. They have featured prominently in conflicts in Libya and Syria, but it was perhaps Azerbaijan's use of them in 2020 against Armenia that offered Ukraine an inspiring model. Across 44 days of fighting over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, the drones targeted Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh soldiers and destroyed tanks, artillery and air defense systems. They tilted the scales in the more-than-three-decade conflict for Azerbaijan, which took back some territory under a cease-fire deal with Armenia. While some NATO countries are cautious about weapons sales to Ukraine, Turkey is a "wild card," said Lee, the Russian military expert. Germany, for example, has blocked Ukraine's purchase of defensive weapons through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency, Ukrainian officials have said. Russia and Germany have economic cooperation via the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline that runs through Danish waters to Germany, bypassing existing supply routes through Ukraine. Some Western countries are wary of supplying Ukraine with more weapons because that could be deemed a provocation for Russia, or even serve as a pretext for an attack. "They're afraid," Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said of the Germans. "They constantly stick rods in our tires over this issue." Sinan Ulgen, director of the Istanbul-based Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies, said Turkey's support for Ukraine was a "delicate and difficult balancing act" because of Turkey's relationship with Russia, which has "elements of cooperation but elements of competition and rivalry." It has resulted in a complicated geopolitical relationship between Moscow and Ankara over the past few years. Turkish and Russian soldiers and mercenaries have faced off in armed conflict in Syria and Libya. At the same time, Turkey has purchased a sophisticated air defense system from Russia, a move that angered its NATO partners and resulted in sanctions from the United States. While Erdogan's government has taken a hard line in refusing to recognize Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, it has not followed Europe and the United States in sanctioning Moscow. Turkey also sees in Ukraine an opportunity to expand the growing list of customers for its armed drones and take advantage of Ukraine's defense production capabilities, including its ability to manufacture rocket engines, Ulgen said. At the mention of "Turkish drones," Danilov responded: "They're ours, which we bought. . . . Engines for these drones are being made in our country." But while the drones were a "game-changer" in other battles between countries with less sophisticated military hardware, it's unlikely they would make much of a difference against Russia, Lee said. Russia's Defense Ministry has already posted images of training exercises for how to counter Bayraktar TB2 drones. "If Ukraine gets into a fight with Russia, Russia will destroy them," Lee said. "Russia could shoot them down, or even before that, they can destroy the airfields where TB2s operate, or they can destroy the ground control station." "The TB2s have never faced an integrated air-defense system like the one Russia has," he added. ___ The Washington Post's Kareem Fahim in Istanbul and Mary Ilyushina in Moscow contributed to this report. LEWISTON, Maine (Tribune News Service) An Afghan mother and her two children have a place to live in Lewiston, thanks to Bonnie Titcomb Lewis and Lisa Day. These are people that worked with our military, Lewis said of the woman who has no idea where her husband and oldest son are. Her 2-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son are with her. The family moved into an apartment Lewis and Day worked to get ready Wednesday night. We were here until 10, Lewis said Thursday. Lewis and Day are temporary employees with Maine Immigrant & Refugee Services, a Lewiston agency helping Afghan refugees resettle in the Lewiston and Auburn area. We may not have gotten a lot of our soldiers home without them, Lewis said about the refugees who were taken out of Afghanistan within days of the withdrawal of U.S. troops. We were expecting 100 over the course of eight months, Day said. We had 100 arrive in eight weeks. Community support has pulled through, Day said. I have people calling me left and right. We want to donate, she said callers tell her. One native of Rwanda and three from Somalia helped pick up a used couch donated by an Auburn family Thursday. The four masked young men filled the cab of a U-Haul box van. On the way to pick up the couch, they stopped at a small ethnic store on Lisbon Street so the driver could grab some Sambusa. They do all the work. I just drive the truck, Kusow Omar said while climbing into the drivers seat. Omar is named after his grandfather, Kusow. He tries to tell me that his grandmothers name is Bonnie, Bonnie Titcomb Lewis said. But, Im not buying it. This was a mountain of clothes, Lewis said while hanging donations dropped off at Maine Immigrant & Refugee Services on Bartlett Street. So many people want to contribute, Day said. Everybody is pitching in. A woman from Auburn picked up an Afghan family Wednesday and drove them to Mardens to shop. Her husband lost a $20 bet at work and the money he lost went into a collection he and his hospital colleagues have been saving to help Lewistons new arrivals from Afghanistan. Lewis said she and Day have helped get 10 apartments cleaned and ready in Lewiston for relocated Afghans. She said more apartments are needed and so are gently used couches and bureaus. A local resident bought the pink bed where the 2-year-old girl would sleep Thursday night. Day laid a teddy bear on top. They worked for us, Lewis said about the Afghans coming to Maine. They made a commitment to us. We are doing what we can to fulfill our commitment to them. ___ (c)2022 the Sun Journal (Lewiston, Maine) Visit the Sun Journal at www.sunjournal.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. GRAND RAPIDS (Tribune News Service) Joseph Alfonso, a member of the Michigan State Plumbing Board, non-profit treasurer and U.S. Marine Corps veteran, has filed to run in Michigans new 4th Congressional District. Alfonso, a Democrat who lives in Holland with his wife and daughter, filed with the Federal Elections Commission on Dec. 29, just after new districts were drawn by a state redistricting commission. The new 4th District includes the southern half of Ottawa County, Allegan County, Van Buren County and parts of Berrien, Kalamazoo and Barry counties, including Kalamazoo and Battle Creek. In an interview with The Sentinel Thursday, Alfonso said his run was inspired by seeing others not considered establishment politicians being elected to office. The playbook thats traditionally set for elected office has kind of gone out the window, he said. So its not just just the elites or established-type politicians or career politicians that have been around for so long, most of my lifetime. Alfonso was born to Dominican and Puerto Rican immigrants in the Bronx. His family moved to upstate New York following 9/11. After his time in the Marines, Alfonso and his family settled in Holland. In addition to serving on the State Plumbing Board, Alfonso also currently is the treasurer for a Navigators chapter in Zeeland. Navigators is a gender-inclusive scouting organization. In terms of issues Alfonso would like to address should he be elected, he named water quality, data security and career training. He also said making sure that veterans have opportunities to succeed after their military careers would be a priority. Theres quite a bit of disconnect from veteran job training and veteran experience being translated into the normal civilian sector, he said. Alfonso was honorably discharged. He briefly re-joined the Marines reserve component in Alfonso also pointed to supporting rural communities as a campaign goal. He said in his time on the State Plumbing Board, hes seen firsthand the challenges individuals living in rural communities can face when dealing with service utilities. Much of the area that will encompass the new 4th Congressional District is currently represented by U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R- St. Joseph, who has yet to announce if he will seek re-election in the new district. U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R- Zeeland, has announced he will run in the new district, which still covers his hometown of Zeeland. Previously, Huizenga ran for re-election in a district that stretched from Ottawa County north to Lake County. ___ (c)2022 Holland Sentinel, Mich. Visit Holland Sentinel, Mich. at www.hollandsentinel.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. SAN DIEGO (Tribune News Service) One year ago, the suspected leader of a Sinaloa cartel cell was arrested at a private airport outside Boston, and a month later a massive cache of drugs, cash and ammunition was seized from an Otay Mesa trucking yard. The bust netted a high-profile suspect and a stash worth several million dollars. But perhaps the most valuable assets to come of the whole operation were the cellphones, nearly 40 of them. The seized phones have provided federal investigators a window into the inner workings of the Valenzuela Drug Trafficking Organization, allegedly headed by Jorge Valenzuela Valenzuela, and have led to recent charges against dozens of others, including his sister, a Chula Vista restaurateur. Wuendi Valenzuela Valenzuela, 37, is named as the lead defendant in an indictment against 30 people that alleges a large-scale conspiracy to traffic cocaine within the United States, send U.S. guns and ammunition to Mexico and launder the schemes illicit profits, according to the charges unsealed last month in San Diego federal court. The Valenzuelas have pleaded not guilty and are being held in custody without bail. The siblings are accused of stepping into the void left by another brother, Luis Gabriel Valenzuela Valenzuela, who was the logistics and financial operator of a money laundering network for Sinaloa kingpin Ismael El Mayo Zambada. The brother, who went by the moniker Julian Grimaldi Paredes, was shot to death in 2020 in Jalisco, Mexico. Two years earlier, he had escaped from a prison in Sinaloa, walking out the front door disguised as a prison guard. He had been held there on charges related to a military convoy ambush in which five soldiers were killed in 2016. A few months after the brothers killing, his nephew was fatally shot in a Mexico City hotel. The bloodshed is believed to be part of the ongoing struggle for power over the weakened Sinaloa cartel. A faction of those loyal to Zambada, 74, are battling it out internally with the sons of infamous co-leader Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, who is serving a lifetime prison sentence in the U.S. Another rival organization, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, makes up the third front as it violently jockeys for control. The investigation into the Valenzuela cell is part of a decade-long probe into the Sinaloa cartel and its San Diego ties. Jorge, the cells alleged boss, was under surveillance on Oct. 15, 2020, when he and an associate were seen preparing to board a private jet in Long Beach with eight suitcases, according to a complaint. The pilot peeked in one of the suitcases, finding what appeared to be cellophane-wrapped bricks of drugs. Two weeks later, Jorge was arrested at the Boston-area airport after a flight from San Diego. Meanwhile, federal agents had under surveillance an Otay Mesa truck yard tied to Jorges cross-border trucking companies. On Nov. 20, 2020, agents served a search warrant there and seized a cache that was described as the largest of its kind in the Southern California border district: $3.5 million in cash, 685 kilograms of cocaine, 24 kilograms of fentanyl, about 20,000 rounds of .50-caliber ammunition, 100 rifle magazines and 427 body armor vests, according to court records. The ammo obtained from a business in Oregon and body armor were packaged and loaded into a tractor-trailer, bound for Mexico, investigators said. Agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security Investigations also seized 24 cellphones during the warehouse operation, adding to the 15 that were taken off Jorge during his airport arrest. Jorge largely ran the business from Mexico and San Diego by communicating through encrypted messaging apps such as Threema and WhatsApp, and the tens of thousands of messages, photos, voice memos and videos recovered from the devices helped propel the case forward, according to investigators. The evidence revealed that Jorges sister acted as his right-hand woman, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Sutton in a November court hearing arguing for her detention. Her main role in the organization was to safeguard and take care of the money aspect, Sutton said. Wuendi is accused of receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash at a time from drug- and gun-trafficking and then driving it herself into Mexico, where it would be used to pay corrupt Mexican government officials and members of the organization, Sutton said. She is very trusted, he added. Agents had planned to search her Chula Vista home eventually, but they had to move quicker than anticipated when surveillance including images from a pole camera aimed at her home indicated she and her husband were packing up and moving, Sutton said. They feared she was fleeing to Mexico. She was arrested in a traffic stop on Nov. 2. A search of her home revealed more than $600,000 in cash, most of it in a safe buried at least 6 feet underground in the backyard, the prosecutor said. The U.S. government is seeking forfeiture of the cash and two-story home, as well as jewelry, vehicles and about 30 designer watches including by Rolex, Hublot and Jacob & Co., some of which are valued at $500,000 to $1 million each, Sutton said. Wuendis attorney said she was a law-abiding, long-time Chula Vista resident here on a visa, and that she was not fleeing to Mexico, a place considered especially dangerous for her. As recently as last week she was receiving threats from the same people who killed her brother, attorney Jeremy Warren told the judge. She has no desire to go to Mexico. Warren said the couple owned a Mexican-style seafood restaurant in Chula Vista and food trucks, noting her husband comes from a family of restaurateurs, and that they had made it a success through hard work. Wuendi is charged with conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine although Sutton clarified she is not suspected of personally handling the drugs as well as conspiracy to launder money. Others are accused of procuring firearms and ammunition in the U.S. and then illegally exporting them to Tijuana for use of the criminal organization, according to the indictment. Seven of the 30 defendants in the recent indictment have been arrested in San Diego; the names of the others, apparently still at large, are redacted. 2022 The San Diego Union-Tribune. Visit sandiegouniontribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. A future Russian-Japanese peace treaty must reflect the outlook for cooperation, and not be confined to one phrase about the termination of the state of war, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday while speaking at a news conference devoted to Russian diplomacy in 2021, Tass informs. January 15, 2022, 09:59 Future Russia-Japan peace treaty must reflect outlook for cooperation. Lavrov STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 15, ARTSAKHPRESS: "We are certain that a peace treaty, since it is to be signed not in 1945, but in the 21st century, cannot be confined to just one phrase: The war is over. It should demonstrate in reality the diversity of todays relations and open up new prospects," he said. Lavrov stressed that Russia was keenly interested to have no misunderstandings in relations with Japan regarding what was happening between the two countries. "In part, this concerns the artificial obstructions to investment cooperation. We do know that pressures are being exerted on Japan in this respect. Pressures are being exerted to make Japan join the sanctions. It does join some of these, not all but many. Also, pressures concern security issues," Lavrov said. The Russian foreign minister stressed that the artificial linking of relations with the settlement of peace treaty-related problems did not quite match the interests of Russia and Japan. "The peace treaty problem is our legacy. President Vladimir Putin has stated this to his Japanese counterparts more than once. We are interested in resolving it They agreed to step up this work on the basis of the 1956 Declaration, which says that first and foremost a peace treaty is to be concluded before other issues can be considered. We have handed draft articles of such a peace treaty to our Japanese friends," he said. In November 2018, Putin and the then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a meeting in Singapore agreed to step up peace treaty talks on the basis of the Soviet-Japanese joint declaration of October 19, 1956. "Moscow finds it worrisome Japan has long become an ally of the United States," Lavrov said. "There is the 1960 treaty, by which the Americans have a great freedom of maneuver and action on the Japanese territory. Now, that the United States in its doctrinal documents has come close to declaring us an enemy, or at least an adversary and the main threat alongside China, Japans alliance with a country that regards us as a threat does not quite match the task of creating an optimal climate for our relations," Lavrov said. He drew attention to the rumors Washington was going to deploy in Japan its ground-launched intermediate and shorter-range missiles, which had been outlawed under the INF Treaty the US preferred to quit. "There are many things that require fundamental understanding, because if this is really so, then there will emerge threats to Russia," Lavrov explained. Moscow is determined to conduct a meaningful and open dialogue with Japan, although major disagreements over the international agenda exist between the two countries, he pointed out. "Weve got to make up our mind here, too, to what extent we can cope with these still very serious disagreements on the international agenda. We are determined to make our dialogue more specific, concrete and open," he said. Lavrov underscored the fact that Tokyos stance on the platforms of various international organizations was very similar to that of the Western countries and this, too, required greater clarity, if the two countries really wished to share a closer partnership. He voiced the certainty that if Russia and Japan succeeded in their efforts to establish a "partnership of new quality," then the problems in bilateral relations would be far easier to address. At the same time, he acknowledged that Tokyo remained reluctant to recognize the results of World War II as regards the Kuril Islands and repeatedly resorted to various demarches over Russian military and civilian officials visiting the South Kuril islands. "This aspect remains a hindrance to us, because Japan is adamant in its refusal to recognize World War II results in this respect," he explained. Still, Russia hopes that the remaining issues in relations with Japan will not impede further progress in the bilateral dialogue. "We would prefer to see a situation where these issues and the efforts to settle them should not impede progress there where our interests objectively coincide and where Russia and Japan can pool efforts to enhance their competitive advantages on the world markets," Lavrov said. He remarked it was noteworthy that Moscow and Tokyo in recent years managed to create a system of relations that allowed for discussing outstanding problems. "We have a very warm attitude to the Japanese people. They are our neighbors. We share a dramatic common history, but over the past decade we managed to create a climate that enables us to raise in a very friendly way any questions that still remain and require solution," Lavrov said. For Mike Durant, the objective is still making sure people know who he is rather than what he would do if elected to the U.S. Senate. Speaking Saturday to an overflow crowd of more than 200 people at the Republican Mens Club in Huntsville, Durant spent the majority of his 19-minute address recounting his decorated service in the U.S. Army. And even if you dont know Durants name, you may well know his story that was documented in the 2001 hit movie Black Hawk Down that told of the helicopter he was piloting being shot down in Somalia in 1993. Ive been telling people since I joined the campaign, we need to get the name ID up, Durant said. People need to know who I am. So we talk about Black Hawk Down because people remember, even though its been almost 30 years. While that convenient calling card perhaps makes Durant instantly relatable to those who dont know him, he also made the point that it shortchanges who he is. I had a 22-year career (in the Army), Durant said. And thats one day that went really bad. So it isnt what Im proud of. Its just something that I experienced because I was part of the operation. But every other day of that 22-year career went really, really well. And unfortunately, the one day that went really, really bad is the one that people will remember. Durant is one of three candidates vying for the Republican nomination in the May 24 primary. U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks has served in Congress for six terms, announced his candidacy almost 10 months ago and has the endorsement of former President Donald Trump. Katie Britt, former chief of staff for Sen. Richard Shelby, is running for office for the first time and has been on the campaign trail for seven months and has billboards scattered throughout the state. Durant is the races newcomer, announcing his candidacy in October. Hes sought to boost his ID through a wave of television ads. An independent poll last month in the GOP Senate primary race had Brooks with 31 percent support, followed by Britt at 26 and Durant at 16. The asterisk to those numbers is nearly 22 percent said they were undecided and the 4 percent garnered by businesswoman Jessica Taylor who dropped out of the race and endorsed Durant. Durant also touched on his life after the Army. The president and CEO of Pinnacle Solutions in Huntsville, Durant built the business from the ground up and now has about 500 employees with locations throughout the world. Durant did not address Alabama issues he would tackle if elected to the Senate, instead repeating familiar GOP talking points of opposing vaccine mandates and concern over the issues on the U.S.-Mexican border. He also declared himself an outsider to Washington politics an effort to distinguish himself from his opponents in the race. Durant did not mention Trumps name nor the questions over the results of the 2020 election the former president continues to raise more than 14 months later. There has been no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential race. President Joe Biden, though, received a heavy dose of criticism from Durant particularly over the military withdrawal last year from Afghanistan. If you need a better example of why veterans all over this country that are absolutely beside themselves about this administration, whether were more worried about inclusion and woke culture than we are about mission readiness, whether its about how we withdrew from Afghanistan, Durant said. If you want to get my anger really up, you tell me that Afghanistan was a military failure. Youre liable to get physically assaulted because it was not a military failure. It was a political failure. The U.S. has lost credibility under Biden, Durant said, and that was a motivation for him to run for office. A huge weapon we have as a nation is our credibility, Durant said. People fear us. They know were going to do what we say were going to do until you got somebody like Joe Biden in office. They dont believe a thing he says and they shouldnt believe a thing he says because he doesnt know what hes talking about. And he abandoned our allies, he abandoned our mission. And no one is going to believe at any point in the future that what he says is actually what were going to do as a nation and that makes everything we try to do in the future 10 times harder. Thats why our credibility is so important. And its it has been compromised. 2022 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit al.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. WASHINGTON The Department of Veterans Affairs failed to thoroughly vet medical providers for its community care program, resulting in doctors with revoked or suspended medical licenses being approved to treat veterans, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. The GAO investigated the VAs community care program, which sends veterans to private-sector doctors in certain situations. When vetting doctors to allow them into the program, the VA was cutting corners, the investigation found. The GAO identified 1,600 providers who were ineligible for the program under the VAs policies but had been accepted into it. In some cases, the doctors had criminal records or had previously committed health-care fraud. Our work basically found that they were really cutting corners, said Seto Bagdoyan, director of audits at GAO. They were not performing monthly checks, for example. And even when they did flag someone as ineligible, that individual was not removed in a timely manner. In one instance, the VA approved a doctor who had been convicted of patient abuse and neglect. The doctor also had an expired medical license, had been arrested for assault and had been excluded from participating in other federal health-care programs. Another doctor who was accepted into the program had a revoked medical license and posed a clear and immediate danger to public health and safety, the GAO reported. This individual was somehow deemed eligible for referrals in the program, Bagdoyan said. Both of these examples help illustrate that having ineligible providers poses a risk to veterans health. The VA refers veterans to community care in certain cases, including when they must wait longer than 20 days for an appointment or drive more than 30 minutes to reach their VA health-care provider. The program expanded under the VA Mission Act, a measure approved in 2018. During its investigation, the GAO assessed 800,000 of the approximately 1.2 million providers involved in the community care program. Of the 800,000, the watchdog found 1,600, or 0.2%, shouldnt have been approved. The GAO recommended the VA follow its own regulations for community care doctors without cutting corners. It also suggested the VA improve its systems to automatically flag providers who dont meet the criteria for the program. The VA agreed to implement all the recommendations this year. Bagdoyan said the department was eager to review the providers flagged by the GAO. After the GAOs findings were released Thursday, four lawmakers on the House Committee on Veterans Affairs wrote to Steven Lieberman, deputy to the VA undersecretary for health, urging him to review and deactivate the 1,600 providers. Reps. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., Tracey Mann, R-Kan., Julia Brownley, D-Calif., and Jack Bergman, R-Mich., signed the letter. They asked the VA to update them by Feb. 28 about the actions taken. This put veterans at risk of receiving care from unqualified providers, and it put [the Veterans Health Administration] at risk of making payments to fraudulent providers, the lawmakers wrote. Changes to the SunCommercial's back end processing means the e-edition is getting a facelift. The biggest change is the e-edition, by default, is now presented in Text view. The Ministry of Health is reporting 29 new community cases and 25 new cases identified at the border. Of the new community cases, 11 are in Auckland, two in Northland, one in Bay of Plenty, 14 in Lakes and one in Wellington. There are 29 people in hospital with five in North Shore, eight in Auckland, 12 in Middlemore, and four in Tauranga Hospital. Two are in ICU. On Friday there were 1,459 first dose vaccinations administered, 3,334 second doses, 589 third primary doses and 40,880 booster doses. Today we are reporting 25 people at the border with COVID-19, says a Ministry of Health spokesperson. New Zealand continues to see many border cases arriving from overseas, reflecting the growing number of Omicron cases globally. The seven-day rolling average of border cases is 30. Bay of Plenty There is one case in Western Bay of Plenty to report. The case is linked to a previously reported case and was already isolating when they tested positive. Lakes There are 14 cases to report in Lakes today. The cases are all in Rotorua and 11 of them are linked to previously reported cases. Investigations are underway to determine any links for the unlinked cases. Vaccine The vaccine remains New Zealands key defence against all variants of COVID-19, including Omicron. On Monday, the vaccine will be available for 5 to 11 year olds to get protected against COVID-19. We encourage all parents with children in this age group to take them to get vaccinated. A full list of vaccination centres can be found on the Healthpoint website. The Ministry continues to ask everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated. We are strongly recommending boosters for anyone over the age of 18 who had their second dose of the vaccine at least four months ago. As part of our collective preparations for Omicron please check your details are up to date with your regular healthcare provider and in the COVID-19 Tracer app. COVID-19 vaccine update Vaccines administered to date (percentage of eligible people): 3,987,935 first doses (95%); 3,893,786 second doses (93%); 35,223 third primary doses; 719,966 booster doses Vaccines administered yesterday: 1,459 first doses; 3,334 second doses; 589 third primary doses and 40,880 booster doses. Maori (percentage of eligible people): 505,941 first doses (89%); 474,801 second doses (83%). Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people): 274,184 first doses (96%); 264,680 second doses (92%). Vaccination rates by DHB with active cases (percentage of eligible people) Northland DHB: First doses (89%); second doses (86%) Auckland Metro DHBs: First doses (97%); second doses (95%) Waikato DHB: First doses (94%); second doses (92%) Bay of Plenty DHB: First doses (94%); second doses (91%) Lakes DHB: First doses (92%); second doses (89%) Wairarapa DHB: First doses (96%); second doses (93%) Capital and Coast DHB: First doses (98%); second doses (97%) Hutt Valley DHB: First doses (96%); second doses (94%) Canterbury DHB: First doses (99%); second doses (97%) Hospitalisations Cases in hospital: 29; North Shore: 5; Auckland: 8; Middlemore: 12; Tauranga: 4. Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region wards only): Unvaccinated or not eligible (7 cases / 29.2%); partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose (8 case / 33.3%); fully vaccinated at least 7 days before being reported as a case (8 cases / 33.3%); unknown (1 case / 4.2%). Average age of current hospitalisations: 47 Cases in ICU or HDU: Middlemore: 1; Tauranga: 1 Cases Seven day rolling average of community cases: 25 Seven day rolling average of border cases: 30 Number of new community cases: 29 Number of new cases identified at the border: 25 Location of new community cases: Northland (2), Auckland (11), Bay of Plenty (1), Lakes (14), Wellington (1), Number of community cases (total): 11,281 (in current community outbreak) Cases epidemiologically linked (total): 8,559 Number of active cases (total): 572 (cases identified in the past 21 days and not yet classified as recovered) Confirmed cases (total): 14,626 Contacts Number of active contacts being managed (total): 4,746 Percentage who has received an outbound call from contact tracers (to confirm testing and isolation requirements): 81% Percentage who has returned at least one result: 80% Tests Number of tests total (last 24 hours): 15,173 Tests rolling average (last 7 days): 14,918 Auckland tests total (last 24 hours): 6,977 Wastewater No unexpected results. NZ COVID Tracer Poster scans in the 24 hours to midday yesterday: 2,614,917 Manual diary entries in the 24 hours to midday: 39,795 My Vaccine Pass My vaccine pass downloads total: 4,787,106 My vaccine pass downloads (last 24 hours): 14,384 New cases identified at the border Arrival date From Via Positive test day/reason Managed isolation/quarantine location 4/01/2022 India United Arab Emirates Day 9 / Routine Auckland 5/01/2022 Australia Direct Day 8 / Routine Auckland 5/01/2022 Australia Direct Day 8 / Routine Auckland 5/01/2022 Australia Direct Day 8 / Routine Auckland 5/01/2022 India United Arab Emirates Day 8 / Routine Auckland 7/01/2022 Brazil United Arab Emirates Day 5 / Routine Auckland 7/01/2022 Australia Direct Day 5 / Routine Auckland 7/01/2022 Australia Direct Day 5 / Routine Auckland 7/01/2022 Australia Direct Day 5 / Routine Auckland 7/01/2022 Nepal Singapore Day 5 / Routine Auckland 8/01/2022 Fiji Direct Day 5 / Routine Auckland 8/01/2022 United Kingdom United Arab Emirates Day 5 / Routine Auckland 8/01/2022 Fiji Direct Day 5 / Routine Auckland 8/01/2022 Fiji Direct Day 5 / Routine Auckland 8/01/2022 France United Arab Emirates Day 5 / Routine Auckland 10/01/2022 Singapore Direct Day 3 / Routine Auckland 11/01/2022 United Kingdom United Arab Emirates Day 1 / Routine Auckland 11/01/2022 United States of America Direct Day 2 / Routine Auckland 11/01/2022 Canada United States of America Day 1 / Routine Wellington 11/01/2022 India United Arab Emirates Day 1 / Routine Auckland 11/01/2022 United States of America Direct Day 1 / Routine Auckland 11/01/2022 Australia Direct Day 1 / Routine Auckland 12/01/2022 Australia Direct Day 1 / Routine Auckland 12/01/2022 United States of America Direct Day 0 / Routine Auckland 12/01/2022 Australia Direct Day 1 / Routine Auckland Todays cases We are reporting new community cases in Northland, Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Lakes and Wellington. Regional updates We are continuing to ask anyone in New Zealand with symptoms no matter how mild to get tested, even if youre vaccinated. Please stay at home until you return a negative test result. We are also asking people to regularly check the locations of interest as these are regularly updated and to follow the advice provided. Testing and vaccination centre locations nationwide can be found on the Healthpoint website. Please also continue to check for any updated Locations of Interest and appropriate health advice, updated regularly on the Ministrys website. Northland There are two new cases to report in Kaikohe today. They are from the same household and are in isolation. Investigations are underway to determine how they are linked to the current outbreak. There are currently four active cases in Northland. Auckland There are 11 cases to report in Auckland today. Health and welfare providers are now supporting 850 people in the region to isolate at home, including 180 cases. Auckland MIQ worker An Auckland based MIQ worker returned a positive result for COVID-19 late yesterday afternoon and is currently in isolation. The test was taken as part of routine border worker surveillance testing. Whole genome sequencing is being carried out to determine what variant the infection is and the results will be reported in tomorrows 1pm COVID-19 update. Investigations are underway to determine if the infection originated from the community or the facility. The worker is fully vaccinated and up-to-date with regular testing. Household contacts of the MIQ worker all returned negative tests last night. All Managed Isolation and Quarantine facilities follow very strict Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures developed by the Ministry of Health to manage the risks of spreading COVID-19, and workers in MIQ facilities undergo regular routine testing. Wellington There is one case to report in Wellington City today. The case is a household contact of a previously reported case and was already isolating when they tested positive. With an increasing number of Covid cases in the community, Lakes DHB is urging the general public to get vaccinated and to follow the Covid-19 health advice. There have been 14 new cases of Covid-19 reported in Rotorua on Saturday, taking the number of actives cases in the Lakes DHB region to a total of 41. Of these, 36 are in Rotorua and five in Taupo. Health advice includes to wear a face mask in public, scan everywhere you go, regularly wash your hands, maintain physical distancing, get tested if advised or if you have symptoms, and stay home if you are unwell. Rotorua Mayor, Steve Chadwick, also encourages the community to stay vigilant and get tested if symptomatic. As anticipated, we are beginning to see cases of Covid-19 emerge in our community and this is a very good reminder to remain vigilant in our response to the virus, says Chadwick. Vaccination and following public health advice remains our best defence against COVID-19 and now is a good time for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people to prepare for a situation where they, or a whanau or household member, may get Covid-19 and need to isolate at home. Council is part of cross-sector agency group that has been preparing for a community outbreak and has been able to respond to the emerging cases quickly. The team is working hard to manage the current cases and reduce the risk of further transmission in our community. If you are symptomatic, or if you are concerned you may have been exposed to a case, I strongly encourage you to get tested. The more information we have, the better equipped we are to respond appropriately. While weve been living with Covid-19 for a couple of years now, the situation continues to evolve and new challenges continue to arise. Covid fatigue is evident among us but simply ignoring the risk wont make it go away. I urge everyone to remain vigilant in their effort to protect themselves and those around them from the virus and to continue to be kind and patient with each other as we navigate this complex environment, says Chadwick. A cross-sector agency group has been working together for some months to plan for and provide care in the community for people who have tested positive for Covid, and their whanau, who are self-isolating at home. Cross-sector Care in the Community groups are set up in both Taupo and Rotorua and include Lakes DHB, Ministry of Social Development, councils, local iwi Te Arawa and Ngati Tuwharetoa, Te Arawa Whanau Ora, Police, PHOs (RAPHS and Pinnacle Midland Health Network), and Toi Te Ora Public Health. Other agencies can be called in when necessary to support any response. The cross sector groups ensure a co-ordinated response to planning, resources, welfare support and clinical care of people isolating in the community. If you have symptoms of Covid-19, even if mild, get tested, says a Lakes DHB spokesperson. The Covid testing station in Rotorua is at the Copthorne Hotel, entrance off Ward Ave, 8.30am to 3pm Monday to Sunday. In Taupo the testing station is at 79 Miro St from 8.30am to 3pm Monday to Sunday. The best thing people can do to protect themselves, their whanau and community is to get vaccinated. The Rotorua Covid-19 Immunisation Hub is in the Central Mall, next to Noel Leeming. In Taupo the Immunisation Hub is at Totara Point shops opposite the Hospice Shop. Operating hours for both immunisation hubs are: Tuesday 10am 5.30pm (last appt 5pm) Wednesday 7.30am 4pm (last appt 3.50pm) Thursday 10am 5.30pm (last appt 5pm) Friday 7.30am 4pm (last appt 3.50pm) Saturday 8.30am 4.30pm (last apt 3.50pm) Or check Healthpoint www.healthpoint.co.nz/covid-19/ Information about Covid-19 in the Bay of Plenty and Lakes Districts, and about how to prepare to isolate in the community, is available on Toi Te Ora Public Healths website at https://toiteora.govt.nz/public/covid-19/ On January 12-15, 1990, in parallel with the massacres in Baku, the Azeri perpetrators launched an organized attack on the villages of Manashid, Azat and Kamo of Northern Artsakh in order to complete the policy of ethnic cleansing. January 15, 2022, 11:06 32 years ago on this day..Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 15, ARTSAKHPRESS: In this regard, in an interview with "Artsakhpress", Mher Harutyunyan, Associate Professor, President of "Kachar" Scientific Center "NGO, particularly noted: "The fact that this open act of aggression was ordered and directed from a terrorist center in Baku became clear from the calls for the expulsion of Armenians from Baku and a large-scale armed attack on Artsakh, made at a rally organized by the Azerbaiajni Popular Front on January 11. But the defenders of Northern Artsakh repulsed the Azeri bandits and forced them to flee the battlefield. The enemy preparing for a large-scale war against Artsakh with aggressive attacks on seemingly vulnerable and defenseless Armenian settlements, did not only try to intimidate Armenian citizens by using force, but was also using the occupation forces in combat and developing the elements of aggression tactics. The Armenian side was responding adequately, taking the necessary measures to resist the enemy's aggression and to defend the homeland, said Harutyunyan. A number of people are taking to social media tonight to report what they believe sounded like explosion noises around the Bay of Plenty. Two people have messaged SunLive's Facebook to say they heard what sounded like huge booms. "We and many others heard across the BOP. It shook our door and others houses too. What's happening?" says one reader in Ohauiti. "There was a big one about 20 minutes ago." People from Mamaku, near Rotorua, are also reporting the noise. A number of different posts have appeared on the Mamaku Notice Board Facebook page describing a loud muffled bang "that made the house shake". Some people say it may have been an earthquake, but nothing has been reported by GeoNet so far. SunLive will provide an update when more information comes to light. Know what is going on? Let us know by emailing newsroom@thesun.co.nz A pressure surge from the latest eruption of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcano in Tonga has been observed by New Zealand weather stations across the country this evening. The pressure wave from the Tongan volcano was recorded at weather stations at Cape Reinga, Auckland, Tauranga, Gisborne, Taupo and Wellington between 6.50pm - 7.45pm. Reports of explosions were heard in New Zealand which is over 2000km from Tonga. The shock wave from the Tonga eruption rippled out at about 1000km per hour, and from imagery from WeatherWatch shows that the pressure wave took two-and-a-half hours to reach NZ. SunLive readers reported hearing what sounded like explosion noises A pressure surge from the latest eruption of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcano in Tonga has been observed in our weather stations across the country this evening. Note, times are in UTC, so 0600 is 7pm NZ Time. pic.twitter.com/xqa9KgTXtw MetService (@MetService) January 15, 2022 "Hearing the loud explosion like noises here in South Otago as well," says Amy Blaikie from Clinton. "We can hear them in Hawkes Bay," says Barb Woolley. Trudi Kyd in Paeroa heard it too. " We heard one large explosion around 7.24pm and then a smaller explosion and we live in Paeroa. First one was pretty loud," says Trudi. Mike Jones says he heard it in Manawahe. In Taradale, a couple wondered if it was space junk falling. "The loud booms heard today over the Bay of Plenty were about an hour after a very loud boom heard over Hawke's Bay," says Kathy and John Ross from Taradale. "When I heard the bang I went into the street, where I saw several residents checking it out. The boom was heard and rattled doors in Knightsbridge Napier too. My thinking is that it was caused by falling space junk, or maybe a meteorite breaking up." A SunLive reader also reported experiencing their house rattling and booms in Belk Rd, Tauranga. "No matter how you look at this, the eruptions in Tonga this afternoon/evening are absolutely enormous," says a WeatherWatch spokesperson. "From the speed of the sound shockwave reaching NZ, to the size of the cloud now towering over Tonga and affecting aviation paths." WeatherWatch.co.nz has made some infographics to help better illustrate just how huge and significant this activity today and tonight has been. "The shock wave was also recorded by our official WeatherWatch.co.nz weather station in Auckland, New Zealand," says a WeatherWatch spokesperson. "Some people may have heard the explosion(s) and others may have even felt the explosions in their ear drums." "This spike is incredibly unusual. Air pressure, even when a cyclone moves in, only drops 1 or 2 hPa points per hour. In this case, it's jumped 4hPa and then fallen almost 6hPa all in about 20 minutes," says a WeatherWatch spokesperson. "The only time you might see this is if a tornado passed by a weather station, which can also make your ears pop or put pressure in your ears that you can physically feel. For this to be detected over 2000km away is remarkable and rarely recorded." The New Zealand National Emergency Management Agency has issued a tsunami advisory following the eruption in Tonga. " We expect New Zealand coastal areas on the north and east coast of the North Island and the Chatham Islands to experience strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore following the large volcanic eruption," says a statement from NEMA . " Strong currents and surges can injure and drown people. There is a danger to swimmers, surfers, people fishing, small boats and anyone in or near the water close to shore. "People in or near the sea should move out of the water, off beaches and shore areas and away from harbours, rivers and estuaries until at least 4am on Sunday, January 16. " A tsunami warning has also been in force for all of Tonga following this evening's underwater violent volcanic eruption. The volcano is located about 30 kilometres south-east of Fonuafo'ou island in Tonga. Dramatic footage shows waves rolling through coastal Tongan homes as a tsunami warning has been announced for the Pacific island nation. A tsunami alert was issued in Tonga following the eruption. Photo: @sakakimoana/Twitter . The Tongan Meterological Service issued the warning for all of Tonga on Saturday evening, after ongoing underwater volcanic activity. It comes after Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai erupted again on Friday, sending ash, steam and gas 20 kilometres into the air, Radio New Zealand reported. The volcano was erupting intermittently in late December. Jese Tuisinu, a reporter at Fiji One, posted a video on Twitter showing it was dark in parts of Tonga, and said people were rushing to safety following the eruption. It is literally dark in parts of Tonga and people are rushing to safety following the eruption. pic.twitter.com/7NoP0y9GCo Jese Tuisinu (@JTuisinu) January 15, 2022 The United States has issued a tsunami advisory for American Samoa. The U.S Emergency Alert Twitter page stated a hazardous tsunami had been generated by volcanic activity in Tonga, and monitoring was underway to evaluate the threat. Can literally hear the volcano eruption, sounds pretty violent. pic.twitter.com/gX6z2lSJWf Dr Fakailoatonga Taumoefolau (@sakakimoana) January 15, 2022 Meanwhile, there have been reports on social media from as far away as neighbouring Fiji northwest of Tonga of hearing or feeling the eruption. Dr Frank Ross, who lives in Suva, Fiji over 800km away from Tonga - said there had been "constant, on-and-off booms" for over half an hour that were still ongoing at 7pm NZ time. The house has been shaking, I've figured out that it must have been from this eruption. I went outside, and it sounded like this constant boom, boom, boom in the distance, but there wasn't any thunder ... it must have been massive, he said. It was even shaking a few minutes ago it comes and goes, so it must be a series of eruptions. It's been going on for half an hour or 45 minutes. Radio New Zealand earlier reported that Tonga Geological Services head Taaniela Kula said the eruption had a radius of 260km. It was about seven times more powerful than the last eruption on December 20 last year and continuing to grow, Kula earlier told RNZ. WeatherWatch tweeted infrared satellite imagery showing how clear skies were fast replaced by the giant eruption cloud over Tonga in the past couple hours. Covid-19 response upgrade works that will enhance patient care and improve staff safety have been completed at Tauranga Hospital. The project has seen ward 4C upgraded over the past few months, to establish an environment specifically designed to meet the needs of patients with virus. The work is part of the national pandemic response planning being led by the Ministry of Health. The ward - a section of Tauranga Hospitals Orthopaedic Ward - has been re-purposed to provide additional oxygen supply and improved air management for environments in the ward. Bay of Plenty District Health Board chief medical officer Dr Luke Bradford says the opening of the ward, which has 24 beds, is an essential part of the pandemic response for the region. It means that as we go through the year and we learn to live with Covid-19 in the community as case numbers rise, we will be able to care for those with Covid in a way that keeps them safe, enhances the care of patients and their whanau, and improves safety for staff," says Dr Bradford. Negative pressure rooms can safely manage the care of patients as the contagious fluids in the air does not leave the rooms - instead it is extracted from the rooms by new ventilation systems. Patients with Covid-19 can be managed in separate bays and each part of the ward can be divided from others. Vaccination milestone praised The community effort that saw the Bay of Plenty reach the 90 per cent fully-vaccinated milestone is being recognised and praised. Were gratified to have reached the 90 per cent milestone, says Bay of Plenty District Health Board chief executive officer Pete Chandler. I wish to mihi the community effort to which this success is owed from vaccine providers to iwi to community groups to Bay of Plenty DHB staff thank you. Staff at the Bay of Plenty District Health Boards Tauranga Central COVID-19 community vaccination centre on First Avenue celebrate achieving the 90 per cent fully vaccinated milestone. Photo: Supplied. The milestone means more than 195,000 people have received two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine in the Bay of Plenty. The DHB says it will continue its focus on the vaccine, with booster doses underway, the five to 11-year-old rollout starting on January 17, and a strong commitment to obtaining the same double dose vaccination rate for Maori. The mahi continues until every community across the rohe is offered the same protection against Covid-19, says Chandler. We remain focussed on an equitable rollout. Those eligible can continue to get their first, second or booster vaccine doses at walk-in clinics throughout the Bay of Plenty. For more information visit: www.healthpoint.co.nz/covid-19-vaccination/bay-of-plenty Unlimited website access 24/7 Unlimited e-Edition access 24/7 The best local, regional and national news in sports, politics, business and more! With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-Edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime. Current Print Subscribers will be prompted to either login to their current site user account or to create a new one. A confirmation email will be sent when a new user account is created, which must be confirmed within three days in order to provide uninterrupted online access through your Print Subscription. Once the email address is confirmed please provide your Account Number to activate your Print Subscription Service. Weather Alert ...The Flood Warning continues for the following rivers in Oklahoma... Illinois River near Tahlequah affecting Cherokee County. ...FLOOD WARNING NOW IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT TO LATE TOMORROW EVENING... * WHAT...Minor flooding is forecast. * WHERE...Illinois River near Tahlequah. * WHEN...From late tonight to late tomorrow evening. * IMPACTS...At 11.0 feet, minor flooding occurs from near Hanging Rock downstream towards Tahlequah. Floating the river is too hazardous due to strong turbulence. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - At 8:30 AM CDT Tuesday the stage was 7.4 feet. - Forecast...The river is expected to rise above flood stage just after midnight tonight to a crest of 11.5 feet tomorrow morning. It will then fall below flood stage tomorrow afternoon. - Flood stage is 11.0 feet. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood && Emmy Pakpaha has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Matt Harper (Facebook) A British man was allegedly murdered by his girlfriend in Bali during a video call with his family. Matt Harper, 48, is believed to have been stabbed to death by Indonesian-born Emmy Pakpahan at their home in the tourist hotspot on Thursday. Ms Pakpahan has been arrested on suspicion of murder following the suspected attack, The Sun reported. The father-of-two had been speaking to his step-daughter and ex-wife on a video call at the time of the alleged killing. Matt Harper regularly showed off his fancy lifestyle in Bali on Facebook (Facebook) The hotel boss had been in a relationship with Pakpahan since July last year, friends said. Pakpahan, who is in her 40s, is alleged to have told police that Matt killed himself. She showed officers a video of his body laying on the floor just moments after the suspected attack. She even took footage of herself from outside the apartment, claiming her lover had locked the doors and intentionally harmed himself. In a video posted to social media following the attack, she thanked friends and family for their support. In the bizarre footage, she said: Naturally I am sad. And if you guys dont hear from me, its not because I dont want to answer, I need time to process things. "Please dont believe anything until a statement comes out from the police department. Allin Efashion, who is Mr Harpers ex-girlfriend, told the paper: I was with him before he got with Emmy. He was a perfect gentleman, a caring and lovely man. He was the love of my life. I cant believe hes gone. He texted me just a few days before he died, saying he hated Emmy because she ruined his life and he was sorry for leaving me. He was the best father to his two girls and step-daughter and was loved by many friends in the UK and Bali. May he rest in peace. Mr Harper moved to Bali from Gloucester in February 2020. He got a job with luxury hotel firm Karma and often shared videos and pics on social media of his dream life on the Indonesian island. A Foreign & Commonwealth Office spokesman said: We are in contact with the Indonesian police regarding the death of a British man in Bali, and are supporting the family at this difficult time. Citing rising COVID-19 cases, supply shortages and a lack of staffing, Holy Cross Medical Center in Taos activated Crisis Standards of Care on Friday (Feb. 14). Seminole, FL (33772) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 85F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 70F. Winds light and variable. Two punches of potentially dangerous winter weather are coming to the Cayuga County area this weekend. The National Weather Service has issued wind chill advisories and winter storm watches for much of upstate New York, including all of Cayuga County. In the southern half of the county, a wind chill advisory runs from 7 p.m. Friday through 1 p.m. Saturday. Wind chill values as low as -20 degrees are predicted. Temperatures will begin to rise a little later on Saturday, but a major snow storm is expected to pass through the region starting on Sunday afternoon. For southern Cayuga County, a winter storm watch that includes a prediction of up to 7 inches of snow and wind gusts as high as 35 mph runs from 5 p.m. Sunday until 5 p.m. Monday. "The cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes," NWS based in Binghamton said. "Travel Sunday night and Monday could be very difficult. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commute. ... In addition to the bitterly cold wind chills overnight, temperatures on Saturday are expected to stay in the single digits above zero and then quickly fall back below zero overnight Sunday night. This will be a prolonged period under very cold conditions. This could lead to pipes freezing." For northern Cayuga County, a wind chill advisory runs from 6 p.m. Friday through 1 p.m. Saturday, with a winter storm watch running from 6 p.m. Sunday through 6 p.m. Monday. Wind chills as low as -15 to -20 degrees and up to 9 inches of snow are expected, with wind gusts as high as 35 mph. "Travel could be very difficult to impossible Sunday night through Monday," NWS based in Buffalo said. "The hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commute on Monday. ... This is a potentially dangerous situation to be outdoors. If you must be outside, be sure to cover all exposed skin. ... Begin needed preparations at home or with your vehicle for the upcoming heavy snow. Travel may become difficult, so plan accordingly." For the latest local weather details including NWS alerts, radar and short- and long-range forecasts visit auburnpub.com/weather. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Thank you for Reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and Purchase a Subscription to continue reading. chaksjr BHPian Join Date: Jul 2021 Location: Hosur | TN70 Posts: 80 Thanked: 150 Times First new car for a young professional & his parents This will be my first new thread here so forewarning, I'll try and make it as detailed as possible. Incase you do not want to go through the whole post, the TL;DR is - New car within 10L OTR (Hosur, TN); monthly drive of minimum 1000kms, 95% solo. Involving a daily work commute of 38kms with 28kms of it on the highway. Car will be financed through a bank loan, hence car will be retained at least for the next 6-7 years. Background I am a 26 year old product engineering rookie who has spent all his life in Delhi until October 2021 (and 4 years in Shivamogga for college), and has now moved to Hosur with a work commute to Attibele. We have owned only used cars till date and this will be our first new car. We will undertake about 2-3 road trips each year, mostly to Coimbatore and other places in TN. I plan to take my car on trips with friends to any of the 4 Southern states and Goa a few times a year (if a Goa plan is ever made to not be cancelled). Yearly running can therefore expected to be ~15k kms. What do you want from the vehicle? I am still at early stages of my career hence I would want something which can give me peace of mind ownership along with decent fuel economy. Driving fun is not high on the list, I will reserve that criteria for when I can truly afford an enthusiasts car. Safety is of high importance due to a major part of my daily driving being on the highway. Does not mean that it has to be a 5-star rated GNCAP car, but should have a decent set of active & passive safety features. I am an enthusiastic driver and have an unending love for all things automotive. Though with this being my first purchase, I am trying to be conscious enough to let the head make the decision rather than the heart. Auto or manual? Manual will be manageable due to negligible bumper-to-bumper traffic runs. AMT's are an obvious option but can only determine if I can live with them post TD's. Budget stretches can get me a Honda/Renault/Nissan CVT, will need to discuss with the head's of the household. AMTs and CVTs seem to as reliable as manuals, hence open to all. Purchase timeline and TDs The purchase (I mean the booking) is still a few months away, not before the start of FY22-23. I have not test driven any vehicle yet and only intend to do so when I am actually ready to book one. I will obviously be taking my parents for each TD and getting their opinions on comfort primarily since they are both on the wiser side of 65. Their feedback and likings will play a major role in the choice but I would still love to take opinions from the forum in the meantime. Since the purchase is a few months away, any launches in the next few months fitting into my requirements and budget will be on the list as well, and would like the forum to enlighten me on the same. What have you owned/own currently? As mentioned earlier, we have only owned pre-owned cars till date, detailing them out below - 1. Tata Nano LX (Aug 2012 - Dec 2016) This was a loaner from dad's office and our first ever vehicle. Was driven over 35k kms when it was with us, though mostly by a driver since dad couldn't drive and I used to be away at college. The farthest we took it was onto a Dehradun-Rishikesh trip from Delhi during monsoons. The Nano at home in the WAC, Subroto Park 2. MS Sx4 VXi (Nov 2016 - Feb 2018) Was the first car we actually 'bought'. Had no idea about used car prices at the time and purchased at a very high price of 2.6L. This was a 2008 car which was at 92k kms on the odo at that time. Drove it for about 12k kms before selling it off because it had started to become a money pit. The beige boy in rural Gurugram 3. Toyota Corolla H2 E (Feb 2018 - Sept 2019) My friend had established his pre-owned car business by now and I got the Sx4 sold through him and bought the Corolla. I had driven his 2008 Corolla a lot by now and I was in love with the comfort and more than decent performance of the 1.8L. Considering that it would be a reliable car, purchased this and made the mistake of installing a CNG kit into it. The car was at 78k kms when I got it, drove it for about 25k more before selling it off. I would have removed the CNG kit and kept it if the RC could be renewed. Also spray-painted the alloys matt black over a cold Saturday along with a couple of my friends late in 2018. The ever-reliable T in the fields of Haryana near Asaoti 4. Toyota Etios Liva VX (P) (Sept 2019 - till date) Sold the Corolla through my friend again and bought the Liva from him. If I may be allowed to, his business is called Fidomotus and can be reached via The Liva at home in Hosur on Diwali night, 2021 Have you done any research yet? Yes, yes I have. Post moving to Hosur I have spent a decent amount of time going through carwale, getting a few quotes from dealers, browsing YouTube videos and of course this beloved forum. I created an excel for whatever info I could find. The prices mentioned in my spreadsheet are a little old and directly from carwale, so do not quote me on them. I categorized the EMI's into zones basis financial comfort, pretty self explanatory. The 2L down payment is an approximate assuming that is what I'll get when I sell of the Liva. The actual sale cost will determine the exact down payment. A 6 year EMI is for sure(my bank is willing to offer a max of 6), the rate of interest is an assumption for now at 9%. Can go down and hopefully not up. The above snip shows what sort of features I am desiring in the vehicle(in no particular order). While all are not an absolute need-to-have, it would be good to incorporate as much as possible. I initially considered only petrol's before realizing I am not in the NCR anymore & that my daily highway runs should keep me safe from frequent DPF tantrums. So I am open to diesels as well. I did a quick calculation taking the Altroz (XZ+) as an example, and with a 1000kms run in a month, I will be able to cover up the EMI difference with savings in fuel cost. Below table assuming an FE of 15 for the Petrol and 19 for the Diesel at current fuel prices. I think my finances and requirements have a Maruti written all over it, but I have a fairly wary opinion of the brand (partly due to my experience with the Sx4 and the safety quotient). Though the upcoming Baleno facelift has my attention, will at least TD post its launch. Between an average height hatch and one on steroids, I stand very open to both, although it never harms to have more ground clearance on our roads. From reading through this forum and viewing videos online, I have figured out the below issues with some of my choices. 1. Kiger - the dust ingress and exit from the tail light and lower fog lights. Though I believe Renault is now offering a solution for existing customers and have hopefully added the same from factory for new dispatches. 2. Magnite - some owners have reported rattles very early on in their ownership experiences. 3. Altroz - vibration from the engine bay, solution already available here on the forum. On the flip-side, Prasanna's ownership thread makes me want to just get one! 4. Amaze - wide-spread complaints with respect to the engine mounts (only restricted to the Diesel though, I think) 5. Tiago & Tigor - fuel pump failure if driven frequently on less than half a tank of petrol. Could not find anything specific on the Hyundai's and the Nexon. My current dislikes/likes on any of the options are limited to the features list, and will only truly solidify once I have TDed each of them. With these things in mind, looking forward to suggestions and opinions from the forum. If I have missed out on any options please do let me know. Hello Team-BHP!This will be my first new thread here so forewarning, I'll try and make it as detailed as possible. Incase you do not want to go through the whole post, the TL;DR is -New car within 10L OTR (Hosur, TN); monthly drive of minimum 1000kms, 95% solo. Involving a daily work commute of 38kms with 28kms of it on the highway. Car will be financed through a bank loan, hence car will be retained at least for the next 6-7 years.I am a 26 year old product engineering rookie who has spent all his life in Delhi until October 2021 (and 4 years in Shivamogga for college), and has now moved to Hosur with a work commute to Attibele. We have owned only used cars till date and this will be our first new car.We will undertake about 2-3 road trips each year, mostly to Coimbatore and other places in TN. I plan to take my car on trips with friends to any of the 4 Southern states and Goa a few times a year (if a Goa plan is ever made to not be cancelled). Yearly running can therefore expected to be ~15k kms.I am still at early stages of my career hence I would want something which can give me peace of mind ownership along with decent fuel economy. Driving fun is not high on the list, I will reserve that criteria for when I can truly afford an enthusiasts car. Safety is of high importance due to a major part of my daily driving being on the highway. Does not mean that it has to be a 5-star rated GNCAP car, but should have a decent set of active & passive safety features.I am an enthusiastic driver and have an unending love for all things automotive. Though with this being my first purchase, I am trying to be conscious enough to let the head make the decision rather than the heart.Manual will be manageable due to negligible bumper-to-bumper traffic runs. AMT's are an obvious option but can only determine if I can live with them post TD's. Budget stretches can get me a Honda/Renault/Nissan CVT, will need to discuss with the head's of the household. AMTs and CVTs seem to as reliable as manuals, hence open to all.The purchase (I mean the booking) is still a few months away, not before the start of FY22-23. I have not test driven any vehicle yet and only intend to do so when I am actually ready to book one.I will obviously be taking my parents for each TD and getting their opinions on comfort primarily since they are both on the wiser side of 65. Their feedback and likings will play a major role in the choice but I would still love to take opinions from the forum in the meantime.Since the purchase is a few months away, any launches in the next few months fitting into my requirements and budget will be on the list as well, and would like the forum to enlighten me on the same.As mentioned earlier, we have only owned pre-owned cars till date, detailing them out below -1. Tata Nano LX (Aug 2012 - Dec 2016)This was a loaner from dad's office and our first ever vehicle. Was driven over 35k kms when it was with us, though mostly by a driver since dad couldn't drive and I used to be away at college. The farthest we took it was onto a Dehradun-Rishikesh trip from Delhi during monsoons.The Nano at home in the WAC, Subroto Park2. MS Sx4 VXi (Nov 2016 - Feb 2018)Was the first car we actually 'bought'. Had no idea about used car prices at the time and purchased at a very high price of 2.6L. This was a 2008 car which was at 92k kms on the odo at that time. Drove it for about 12k kms before selling it off because it had started to become a money pit.The beige boy in rural Gurugram3. Toyota Corolla H2 E (Feb 2018 - Sept 2019)My friend had established his pre-owned car business by now and I got the Sx4 sold through him and bought the Corolla. I had driven his 2008 Corolla a lot by now and I was in love with the comfort and more than decent performance of the 1.8L. Considering that it would be a reliable car, purchased this and made the mistake of installing a CNG kit into it. The car was at 78k kms when I got it, drove it for about 25k more before selling it off. I would have removed the CNG kit and kept it if the RC could be renewed. Also spray-painted the alloys matt black over a cold Saturday along with a couple of my friends late in 2018.The ever-reliable T in the fields of Haryana near Asaoti4. Toyota Etios Liva VX (P) (Sept 2019 - till date)Sold the Corolla through my friend again and bought the Liva from him. If I may be allowed to, his business is called Fidomotus and can be reached via www.fidomotus.com [MODS: if I am violating forum rules by mentioning this please let me know]. The Liva was at 72k kms when I bought it and the odo is presently a shade over 95k kms. This would have been much higher if not for the Covid lockdowns and WFH sessions. Except a few new parts in the clutch assembly and the front shocks, have not spent any money on the car barring the usual maintenance. It is currently suffering from a clunky front left suspension (I am suspecting a worn out control arm bush) and a music system which seems to be getting quieter as time goes by. The spray paint treatment has been given to the Liva as well (although gloss black) just a few days before the 2nd Covid wave hit us.The Liva at home in Hosur on Diwali night, 2021Yes, yes I have. Post moving to Hosur I have spent a decent amount of time going through carwale, getting a few quotes from dealers, browsing YouTube videos and of course this beloved forum. I created an excel for whatever info I could find.The prices mentioned in my spreadsheet are a little old and directly from carwale, so do not quote me on them. I categorized the EMI's into zones basis financial comfort, pretty self explanatory. The 2L down payment is an approximate assuming that is what I'll get when I sell of the Liva. The actual sale cost will determine the exact down payment. A 6 year EMI is for sure(my bank is willing to offer a max of 6), the rate of interest is an assumption for now at 9%. Can go down and hopefully not up.The above snip shows what sort of features I am desiring in the vehicle(in no particular order). While all are not an absolute need-to-have, it would be good to incorporate as much as possible.I initially considered only petrol's before realizing I am not in the NCR anymore& that my daily highway runs should keep me safe from frequent DPF tantrums. So I am open to diesels as well. I did a quick calculation taking the Altroz (XZ+) as an example, and with a 1000kms run in a month, I will be able to cover up the EMI difference with savings in fuel cost. Below table assuming an FE of 15 for the Petrol and 19 for the Diesel at current fuel prices.I think my finances and requirements have a Maruti written all over it, but I have a fairly wary opinion of the brand (partly due to my experience with the Sx4 and the safety quotient). Though the upcoming Baleno facelift has my attention, will at least TD post its launch.Between an average height hatch and one on steroids, I stand very open to both, although it never harms to have more ground clearance on our roads.From reading through this forum and viewing videos online, I have figured out the below issues with some of my choices.1. Kiger - the dust ingress and exit from the tail light and lower fog lights. Though I believe Renault is now offering a solution for existing customers and have hopefully added the same from factory for new dispatches.2. Magnite - some owners have reported rattles very early on in their ownership experiences.3. Altroz - vibration from the engine bay, solution already available here on the forum. On the flip-side, Prasanna's ownership thread makes me want to just get one!4. Amaze - wide-spread complaints with respect to the engine mounts (only restricted to the Diesel though, I think)5. Tiago & Tigor - fuel pump failure if driven frequently on less than half a tank of petrol.Could not find anything specific on the Hyundai's and the Nexon.My current dislikes/likes on any of the options are limited to the features list, and will only truly solidify once I have TDed each of them.With these things in mind, looking forward to suggestions and opinions from the forum. If I have missed out on any options please do let me know. Last edited by chaksjr : 13th January 2022 at 21:13 . Reason: Addition of auto/manual paragraph. chiro3110 BHPian Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Asansol Posts: 38 Thanked: 433 Times Experience of an accident | Whose fault was it? I hit my brakes hard as it was most evident I was about to hit him. I had to swerve to the left to save the delivery guy from getting hit. At the end, I was able to stop (my cars bonnet was around the middle of the bike which was on my right) and also I had not breached the traffic lights stop line. In a second I heard a loud thud on my car and when I looked to the left, I see a bike had rammed into my car and apparently the guy fell down as well. I got down from my car to see what happened. By the time I reached the left of my car, some by-standers were helping the guy up and also getting the bike up. The first communication I had with the guy, was about my action of sudden braking followed by asking if he was alright. I saw he had hurt his finger and it was bleeding. In the mean time crowd was starting to swell up in the place. The bike guy, now started to blame me and kept repeating and asking what I did, why I didnt kept going, why I came on left etc. I did not answer anything but just asked if he was alright. Since I saw him bleeding, I started to tell him to come with me and I would take him to the emergency room. One bystander parked his bike, I took him to my car and seated him. In the car I gave some cotton to help him with the wound. I asked him which hospital he wanted to go. We finally agreed and went to a government hospital which was also the closest. I helped him all throughout the process in the emergency room. An X-Ray was done as well. The attending doctor said that the X-Ray is clear, no fractures and its only a laceration and putting stitches also was optional. The doctor brought the stitching kit. Now, the attending doctor was an intern and the bike guy said he doesnt want to get stitched by an intern. He started asking for a senior doctor, or an orthopedic doctor etc. Now, Im not sure how much liability I hold here, but I told him that I can take him to one of best plastic surgeon in the region. He agreed to it. This was doable since my wife worked in his clinic. After we left the hospital I took him to his house, another guy joined him. I then took both of them to the accident spot where his bike was still parked. On the bike, the only things damaged were a small bend on the number plate and the rear view mirrors bolt had come loose. Both were fixed there (by hand). After this they drove off and I went back to my home. Where as on my car, the rear lamp was broken and the rear bumper had damages as well. After I reached home, I started lamenting on all the things that happened. In my own judgement I found that I had braked to save someone and I saved my vehicle as well. It was evident that the bike guy was also coming at a good speed which didnt allow him to stop. I was like, yea, may be I had some fault, but the bike guy was not innocent as well and over that I had tend to him as humanely as possible. The next day, he called me. He asked when I was coming to pick him up to go to the plastic surgeon. I told him that Im not able to pick him (since my family member was in a hospital and I need to tend to them in priority) to take him but instead I had already spoken to the clinic and mentioned that he will be taken care of and the doctor will do consultation (and sutures if required) free of cost but he must arrange his transportation. The bike guy then started to demand reimbursement of cab fares. I found this very unreasonable and then went into an argument as well. I strongly mentioned that he will be taken care of at the clinic and my liability ends here. Some search on Vahaan also concluded that neither the bike belonged to him nor did it have insurance. Also he had put a doctor sticker on the bike when he "claimed" he was a second year medical student. Now, why I wrote in the forum. I wanted to seek your opinion on the incident and like whose fault would you think it actually is (nothing legal, just your opinion and advice) P.S. Later I went to the Nexa service station, they quoted 25k to repair the damages on the car. But thankfully our insurance will cover it wholly. Recently I was involved in a minor accident. I was driving my aunts car (S-Cross 2021) in Kolkata, returning home after a hospital visit. It was about 9 PM in the night and since the night curfew was to begin at 10 PM the roads were mostly empty. I was doing around 50 kmph which is in allowable limits. There was a traffic intersection coming up. When I glanced, it was blinking yellow and in front there was a Zomato delivery bike. With the yellow blink I decided to pass the intersection. Suddenly the delivery guy applied sudden brake and stopped at the traffic light. He was straight in front of me.I hit my brakes hard as it was most evident I was about to hit him. I had to swerve to the left to save the delivery guy from getting hit. At the end, I was able to stop (my cars bonnet was around the middle of the bike which was on my right) and also I had not breached the traffic lights stop line. In a second I heard a loud thud on my car and when I looked to the left, I see a bike had rammed into my car and apparently the guy fell down as well. I got down from my car to see what happened.By the time I reached the left of my car, some by-standers were helping the guy up and also getting the bike up. The first communication I had with the guy, was about my action of sudden braking followed by asking if he was alright. I saw he had hurt his finger and it was bleeding. In the mean time crowd was starting to swell up in the place. The bike guy, now started to blame me and kept repeating and asking what I did, why I didnt kept going, why I came on left etc. I did not answer anything but just asked if he was alright. Since I saw him bleeding, I started to tell him to come with me and I would take him to the emergency room. One bystander parked his bike, I took him to my car and seated him.In the car I gave some cotton to help him with the wound. I asked him which hospital he wanted to go. We finally agreed and went to a government hospital which was also the closest. I helped him all throughout the process in the emergency room. An X-Ray was done as well. The attending doctor said that the X-Ray is clear, no fractures and its only a laceration and putting stitches also was optional. The doctor brought the stitching kit. Now, the attending doctor was an intern and the bike guy said he doesnt want to get stitched by an intern. He started asking for a senior doctor, or an orthopedic doctor etc.Now, Im not sure how much liability I hold here, but I told him that I can take him to one of best plastic surgeon in the region. He agreed to it. This was doable since my wife worked in his clinic. After we left the hospital I took him to his house, another guy joined him. I then took both of them to the accident spot where his bike was still parked. On the bike, the only things damaged were a small bend on the number plate and the rear view mirrors bolt had come loose. Both were fixed there (by hand). After this they drove off and I went back to my home. Where as on my car, the rear lamp was broken and the rear bumper had damages as well.After I reached home, I started lamenting on all the things that happened. In my own judgement I found that I had braked to save someone and I saved my vehicle as well. It was evident that the bike guy was also coming at a good speed which didnt allow him to stop. I was like, yea, may be I had some fault, but the bike guy was not innocent as well and over that I had tend to him as humanely as possible.The next day, he called me. He asked when I was coming to pick him up to go to the plastic surgeon. I told him that Im not able to pick himto take him but instead I had already spoken to the clinic and mentioned that he will be taken care of and the doctor will do consultation (and sutures if required) free of cost but he must arrange his transportation. The bike guy then started to demand reimbursement of cab fares. I found this very unreasonable and then went into an argument as well. I strongly mentioned that he will be taken care of at the clinic and my liability ends here. Some search on Vahaan also concluded that neither the bike belonged to him nor did it have insurance. Also he had put a doctor sticker on the bike when he "claimed" he was a second year medical student.Now, why I wrote in the forum. I wanted to seek your opinion on the incident and like whose fault would you think it actually is (nothing legal, just your opinion and advice)P.S. Later I went to the Nexa service station, they quoted 25k to repair the damages on the car. But thankfully our insurance will cover it wholly. Last edited by chiro3110 : 14th January 2022 at 13:49 . DataNumen Archive Repair includes tools to recover data from corrupt or damaged Zip or SFX archives, RAR archives, Unix TAR archives, and CAB archives. Features: Support for Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Visa/7/8/8.1/10 and Windows Server 2003/2008/2012/2016. Support to repair all subtypes of Zip files and all kinds of self-extracting files. Support to repair all subtypes of RAR archives. Support to repair standard Unix TAR files. Support to repair all version of Microsoft cabinet files, compressed with MSZIP, LZX and Quantum methods. Can be used as a computer forensic tool and electronic discovery (or e-discovery, eDiscovery) tool. Support to repair files on corrupted media, such as floppy disks, Zip disks, CDROMs, etc. Support to repair a batch of corrupt files. Support integration with Windows Explorer, so you can repair a file with the context menu of Windows Explorer easily. Support drag & drop operation. Support command line (DOS prompt) parameters. What's New: LG CLOi service robots are expected to come from South Korea to the United States. These robots are the first commercial service robots to secure UL 3300 certification. South Korean Tech Giant Introduces CLOi Service Robots Although CES is over, there are still a lot of cool and exciting technologies out there. As a matter of fact, the South Korean tech giant LG has just announced that it will be sending its own CLOi service robots over to the United States, according to PRNewswire. The robots will be serving customers and helping out with certain workloads, per the announcement. Almost a year after initially shutting down its smartphone division, the company has been focusing its attention on other things. The company has actually developed a number of automated robots capable of acting as mechanical customer servants. These robots are called the LG CLOi service robots and are considered the world's first commercial service robots that have ever received the UL 3300 certification. CLOi Service Robots Weight Carrying Capacity According to the story by AndroidHeadlines, the robots are designed to travel within buildings, such as restaurants and hotels, in order to provide services to its customers. Among the services that these robots can provide are carrying around and giving certain items to its customers. The CLOi service robots are said to be capable of carrying up to 66lb without ever running into any trouble. Just by looking at the robots, it is easy to tell that they are capable of carrying a lot with three large trays to hold goods as well as a wide bottom. Service Robots in Complex Environments Aside from its ability to carry quite a lot of items, what is also interesting about these robots is how they are capable of working in complex environments with twists, turns, and even moving people. The CLOi is said to be capable of navigating through its surroundings without a problem. Being able to see where it is or even who is around it is very important for CLOi robots. This is why LG gave them a host of different sensors in order to help them be able to identify their surroundings. Read Also: TSMC's Budget for Upgrading Capacity in 2022 Shoots to $44 Billion After Record Profits Service Robots Capabilities The robots use the sensors in tandem in order for them to get a sense of their surroundings. To add, they are also using a combination of 3D cameras, ToF (time of flight) sensors, LIDAR sensors, and bumper sensors.The sensors help the robot adjust their movements in real-time. According to LG, the robot can be expected in retail locations like restaurants, clothing stores, large hotels, and other locations. The South Korean company is predicting that the CLOi service robots should be capable of reducing the load on workers and speed up total productivity. LG launches CLOi service robot after gaining UL certification https://t.co/wP9HVSlnCh #automation pic.twitter.com/akcgwyhxOp The Future of Automation (@AutomationView) January 13, 2022 Related Article: Exynos 2200 Will Launch with Galaxy S22 | What Happened to the Initial Samsung Announcement? This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Urian B. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Microsoft's Bill Gates said that COVID-19 could soon be treated like seasonal flu, at least once the more transmissible Omicron variant cases have already declined after its peak. Microsoft's Bill Gates: COVID-19 Could Be Like Seasonal Flu The co-founder of Microsoft, billionaire Bill Gates, is hopeful that the COVID-19 pandemic is actually nearing its end. As per the news story by Business Insider, it comes as we are already facing the third year of the novel coronavirus pandemic, wherein the number of cases has been record-breaking in the past few days. Despite the dark times that the world is currently facing during the start of the year, Gates is shedding light on how the worst of COVID is about to end this pandemic. The Microsoft co-founder said on his Twitter account that "once Omicron goes through a country, then the rest of the year should see far fewer cases." He said these pronouncements as a response to the chair of global public health of the University of Edinburgh, Devi Sridhar, on his Twitter Q&A. Furthermore, Gates said that by that time "COVID can be treated more like seasonal flu." A more transmissive variant is not likely but we have been surprised a lot during this pandemic. Omicron will create a lot of immunity at least for the next year. @trvrb tracks the genetics really well. We may have to take yearly shots for Covid for some time. Bill Gates (@BillGates) January 11, 2022 COVID-19 Pandemic to Endemic? In turn, the billionaire is hopeful that Omicron's effect in taming the COVID-19 pandemic will turn into an endemic instead, which is essentially like the annual flu that we have been experiencing. Meanwhile, according to the report by Fox Business, the former minister for vaccine deployment of the United Kingdom, Nadhim Zahawi, who is now the secretary of education, shared his hopeful wish for the British nation. Zahawi said that he wishes that the UK "will be one of the first major economies to demonstrate to the world how you transition from pandemic to endemic." On top of that, the Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, is now also telling other leaders in the continent to consider the COVID-19 pandemic as if it is endemic. Read Also: Bill Gates Cancels 2021 Holiday Plans Due to Omicron, Uses Twitter Thread to Promote Vaccine Awareness Bill Gates and COVID Vaccines In the same Twitter Q&A, Gates told Sridhar that the current vaccines that we have against the COVID-19 only "prevent severe disease and death." He further noted that there are two missing key features from the available vaccines out there. First, the Microsoft founder said the current COVID-19 vaccines have yet to prevent breakthrough infections from the virus. What's more, he also noted that the duration of the protection from both severe symptoms and death still appears to be for a limited time only. Gates suggested that COVID-19 vaccines should both "prevent re-infection and have many years of duration." Related Article: Bill Gates Says He's Not Going to Put 'Chips in Arms' After Being a Subject of Misinformation During the Covid-19 Pandemic This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Teejay Boris 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Most fans of Tesla know that its CEO, Elon Musk, is no stranger to talking about cryptocurrency. The CEO recently announced that Dogecoin would be accepted, which has been confirmed on the official website. Based on their policy, only DOGE will be accepted, and the rest of the cryptocurrencies are not for now. Wu Blockchain tweeted that Tesla announced that it would officially be accepting only Dogecoin as they are not capable of receiving nor detecting any other form of digital assets. To add, Tesla's support page details that the company will not be returning any other non-dogecoin digital asset to the senders. Tesla's official website detailed how the company will only accept Dogecoin and that they cannot receive or even detect any other form of digital assets. The website notes that senders should ensure that they are making their purchase with Dogecoin. Breaking: Tesla states that Tesla only accepts Dogecoin in crypto. Tesla cannot receive or detect any other digital assets. https://t.co/AYo6wnBfSB pic.twitter.com/fldtT0F8RY Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) January 14, 2022 Company Clarifies that Non-Dogecoin Digital Assets Won't Be Returned Aside from the recent announcement regarding the type of cryptocurrency they will be accepting, Tesla also said that sending any other digital assets will result in the assets being either lost or destroyed. Also, Tesla cautions that non-Dogecoin digital purchases that will be sent to Tesla won't be returned to those who purchased goods. The website also details risks, noting that customers should be careful when making payments with Dogecoin as hackers and bad actors could try to cause problems with the DOGE network or payment, which, in turn, could affect the sender's transaction. This can result in either lost or stolen DOGE, which Tesla cautions is not responsible for. Dogecoin Network Protocol Remains Open Source The website also mentioned that Dogecoin's network protocols remain open source meaning anyone can use it, copy it, modify it, or even share them. With that, Tesla clarifies that they do not own or even control the Dogecoin network or the software for buyers' Dogecoin wallets. Tesla's website notes that the Dogecoin network protocols and their operating rules can be altered at any given time, like should a fork happen, and the changes can, in turn, affect the value, function, or even the name itself Dogecoin. Once again, Tesla noted that if there is a problem with the Dogecoin network itself and buyers lose their DOGE, Tesla will not be responsible for the stolen digital assets. Tesla also laid down instructions regarding how to purchase products on their website with Dogecoin. Read Also: Ethereum Average Transaction Fees at $46.22 with AVAX Fees at Just $0.000004 Here's How to Buy Tesla Products with Dogecoin: Buyers should have a "Dogecoin wallet" Check out with Dogecoin Payment page will show a wallet "address" which includes both an alphanumeric code and a QR code for users to connect their wallet to Once connected, buyers can now send Dogecoin Tesla notes that it is still the responsibility of the buyer to make sure that Dogecoin is accurately transferred to Tesla's Dogecoin wallet. Related Article: North Korean Hackers Took Advantage of Crypto Boom Stealing $395 Million Across Seven Intrusions This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Urian B. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. SpaceX Cargo Dragon's ISS (International Space Station) departure will not be aired by NASA TV, as stated by the global space agency. "NASA TV will not broadcast the splashdown but the agency will provide updates," said the National Aeronautics and Space Administration via its official website. Recently, NASA TV broadcasted the arrival of Cargo Dragon, the resupply spacecraft of Elon Musk's space agency. However, the international space organization decided not to do it this time. This means that NASA TV will not offer a live stream for the upcoming activity. However, the space agency added that people can still check the launch's updates on its official space station blog site. SpaceX Cargo Dragon's Details: Where to Watch and More According to NASA Gov's latest report, Cargo Dragon is expected to depart from the International Space Station this coming Jan. 1. Also Read: NASA Hubble, TESS Discover Water Vapor on 'Super Neptune,' an Exoplanet 150 Light Years Away The upcoming SpaceX spacecraft departure will start at exactly 10:15 a.m. EST. Although NASA TV will not air the actual event, space fans can still watch the live stream offered by NASA App, which is currently available on smartphones, tablets, and digital media players. Once SpaceX's resupply spacecraft returns to Earth, it will bring some scientific investigations. These include the following: LMM (Light Microscopy Module), a state-of-the-art light imaging microscope. ESA's Cytoskeleton investigation findings. InSPACE-4 physics study's acquired space samples. Other Activities of SpaceX SpaceX was pretty busy with its Starlink launches and other space activities in 2021. Now, it seems like Elon Musk's space agency will still be occupied this 2022. SpaceNews reported that the giant aerospace company sent its third smallsat rideshare mission. This happened on Jan. 13, Thursday, with more than 100 satellites sent outside Earth. In other news, the recent SpaceX Falcon 9 Cape Canaveral landing was expected to create sonic booms. Meanwhile, NASA issued a warning, saying that a large asteroid will pass by Earth. The massive heavenly body, three times the size of the Empire State Building, will pass by the planet on Jan. 18. For more news updates about SpaceX Cargo Dragon departure and other space launches, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: Virgin Orbit Launches Seven Cubesats | First Mission After Recent Merger This article is owned by TechTimes Written by: Griffin Davis 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Adalia Rose, a popular YouTuber with a rare genetic condition, died at the age of 15. Many ffollowers expressed their grief on various social media websites. Because of her unusual appearance, many people tended to make fun of her, especially when she was starting blogging. But, her positive vibe captured the hearts of many netizens. "Adalia Rose Williams was set free from this world. She came into it quietly and left quietly, but her life was far from it," captioned in her Instagram account on its latest post. The IG post also stated that the popular YT influencer touched millions of lives. On the other hand, her family thanked the doctors and nurses who kept her healthy during her days. RIP Adalia Rose According to BBC News' latest report, Rose's rare and fatal genetic condition affects her physical growth. It also prevents her physical features from developing properly, giving her an unusual appearance. Also Read: YouTube Announces Live 24-Hour Interactive Year-End Event Escape2021-BTS, Doja Cat, and MORE USA Today reported that the condition she was suffering from is called Progeria, which is comparable to the popular movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." Medical experts explained that individuals with Progeria only have an average lifespan of 13 years. But, there are some lucky people who reached 20 years old. RIP Adalia Rose...thank you for sharing your life with us. A life with an indelible sense of authenticity and joy every day. pic.twitter.com/BzD57QDYSC Taeler Hendrix (@Taeler_Hendrix) January 13, 2022 Despite her genetic condition, Adalia Rose could still live her life to the fullest, inspiring other people. Many fans thanked her for bringing joy to their lives. How Can You Help Although she is a very popular YouTuber, her family still needs financial help right now. Yliana Dadashi, one of the friends of Rose's family, decided to create a GoFundMe. The accumulated fund will be used for her medical expenses and her funeral. As of the moment, the GoFundMe project has already raised more than $16,000, thanks to the 171 donors. If you want to help, you can click this link or search for "Memorial for Adalia Rose" on the GoFundMe website. Once you are there, you can either donate or share the link to encourage more donors. In other news, Masayuki Uemura, the iconic NES designer, passed away at 78 last December 6, 2021. Meanwhile, R. Kelly's YouTube channels were recently removed. For more news updates about other YouTubers, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: Keanu Reeves Reveals He Does Not Know How NFT, Cryptocurrencies Work; Matrix Star HODLs Coins This article is owned by TechTimes Written by: Griffin Davis 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. It should come as no surprise that New York state once again ranks near the bottom of the Tax Foundations annual Business Tax Climate Index. State legislators created a higher tax bracket with a 7.25% rate for companies making over $5 million. The top marginal individual income tax rate rose from 8.82% to 10.9%. The legislature also reversed the phaseout of the states capital stock tax, reinstating the tax at 0.1875%. Is it any wonder the states economy is recovering at a slower rate than the rest of the country? Through November, private employment in New York was roughly halfway back to pre-pandemic levels. It should also come as no surprise that as the taxes increased, population decreased. E.J. McMahon of the Empire Center for New York State Policy noted recently in a New York Post opinion piece that New Yorks loss was likely beneficial for its neighbors. New Jersey, which saw its annual outflow of population cut in half, and Pennsylvania, which saw its usual migration losses slow to a trickle. Connecticut actually gained people after losing an average of 22,000 per year from 2010 to 2020. New Yorks policies both pandemic and otherwise are helping prompt people to load moving trucks to neighboring states. The state legislative year began in earnest Wednesday with Gov. Kathy Hochuls State of the State speech. Soon, the proposed state budget will be released and the state legislative session will begin. History shows the state Legislature and governors office arent likely to enact policies that will improve the states tax climate or reverse the states population loss. They have yet to learn from the states recent history which means we are doomed to repeat history. Dunkirk Evening Observer Other than its relative brevity, there were few surprises in Gov. Kathy Hochuls State of the State speech last week. Hochul wants to bring back to-go alcohol to help restaurants, tax cuts for small businesses, and promise lots of money for education, environmental issues, health care workers and infrastructure. Those are all broad brush strokes that few can argue against. Its when we start seeing the details that complaints will arise. How will the state pay for tax breaks, tax rebates for low- and middle-income residents and more housing for the poor while also making investments in schools, addiction services and infrastructure while adding another billion dollars to the states environmental bond act that will be on the ballot in November? Hochul alluded to the states outmigration of population as an issue, but wasnt really clear about any plan to help fix the issue. Hochul kept the State of the State short and sweet, with an emphasis on sweet, for a reason. She knows if she wants to give another State of the State she needs to survive what promises to be a bruising primary and general election fight. But warm fuzzies dont tend to make for good policy, so were interested to see the details of her proposals as the state budget is released. Thats where the rubber will meet the road. Jamestown Post-Journal New York Democrats are so intent on locking in one-party rule, theyre blatantly defying what the voters just told them. The latest example: On Monday, the state Senate passed bills that could pave the way for fraudulent ballot harvesting for example, expanding absentee-ballot drop-off locations, making it easier to vote at a second residence and expanding early voting locations. The legislation also moves the voter-registration deadline from 25 days before an election to just 10. So, with early voting up to 12 days prior, itll be possible to register and vote on the same day precisely what New York voters overwhelmingly rejected (56% to 44%) in Novembers referendum. Dems think such measures will lead to more votes for them, cementing their hold on political offices long into the future. They simply dont care if those votes are cast illegally, say, by people mailing or dropping off absentee ballots on behalf of others (harvesting). Yet in November, voters also made their desire to limit such potential fraud and restrict absentee voting clear when they shot down another ballot proposal (55% to 45%) that would have expanded it. Voters also nixed a proposal to weaken the independence of a state redistricting panel, but that didnt stop Gov. Kathy Hochul from signing a law to do just that: If the bipartisan panel cant agree on a single set of maps by Saturday which now seems likely the Democrat-dominated Legislature can impose its own. Dems claim theyre fighting voter-suppression but provide no evidence it even exists. Meanwhile, voters are clearly concerned about fraud: In a statewide poll last year, the states Conservative Party found 78% of voters ranked in-person voting more secure than absentee voting; a strong majority, 57%, said protecting the integrity of elections should be a top priority; and 56% favored a two-party system over one-party, Democratic control. Alas, voters views and election integrity just cant compete with the lure of eternal power for New York Democrats. New York Post Google is now requiring its employees to get their weekly molecular COVID-19 tests before entering the facilities or the offices of the tech giant. Google and Weekly COVID-19 Tests According to a news story by CNBC, the search engine giant issued an online memo to all of its full-time employees on Jan .14, Thursday, which explained the new COVID-19 testing policies of Google. The health chief of Google, Karen DeSalvo, said in the employee memo that those who want to enter the facilities and offices of the tech giant need to present a negative molecular COVID-19 test result first. On top of that, the Google health chief further added that anyone who wants to enter the premises of the tech giant is also required to share their status of vaccination. Not to mention that they are also obliged to wear face masks that are surgical-grade while they are inside the Google offices. Google Requires Weekly COVID Tests Meanwhile, as per the report by The Verge, the spokesperson of the tech giant, Lora Lee Erickson, went on to confirm the memo that CNBC has obtained, saying that there is a new temporary COVID policy that Google is implementing. The spokesperson echoed the employee memo, confirming that "anyone accessing our sites in the US are expected to obtain a recent negative COVID-19 molecular test before coming onsite." The health chief of the tech company also stated in the memo that the new policy in place is in response to the highly transmissible variant of the novel coronavirus. As such, DeSalvo even shared with Google employees that the Omicron variant of COVID has overtaken the Delta variant as the dominant strain in the United States. Read Also: Google Senior VP of Android Tried to Persuade Apple to Adopt Support for RCS Pointing Lack of Support for iMessages Google's Free COVID-19 Test Erickson added that the search engine tech giant offers COVID tests for free. To be more precise, The Verge said in the same report that the American tech firm is providing both of its full-time and contract employees free-at-home PCR-based nasal swab tests. However, some contractor workers claim that the molecular COVID-19 tests, which give away negative or positive results in merely a few minutes, are only being given to its full-time employees. The Alphabet Workers Union previously said on its Twitter account that the contractor employees of Google only get access to the PCR-based swab tests. But the spokesperson of the tech behemoth denies this. Instead, she said that even its contractors could access its on-site molecular testing. Related Article: Google Offers to Remove News Showcase From Search Results Amid Antitrust Investigation in Germany This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Teejay Boris 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Xiaomi has just been cleared from censorship allegations by the German Federal Office for Information Security. This clears the Chinese company from allegations previously brought to light about potential built-in censorship on Xiaomi devices that were made by the cybersecurity watchdog of Lithuania. BSI Announced No Evidence of Censorship According to the story by AndroidHeadlines, the German Federal Office for Information Security or BSI announced that they found no evidence of censorship within the Xiaomi phones. The BSI initially began its investigations after allegations by the Lithuanian cybersecurity watchdog in September regarding built-in censorship for Xiaomi devices. The Lithuanian Defense Ministry previously alleged that the company censored certain terms like "Free Tibet" or even "Long live Taiwan independence" on its phones. Because of this, Margiris Abukevicius, Lithuania's Vice Minister of National Defense, urged users to get rid of their own Xiaomi phones as fast as they could. Xiaomi Expressed Satisfaction in the German Investigation The investigation by the BSI, however, suggests otherwise while providing the much-needed morale boost for the popular Chinese manufacturer. The agency reportedly conducted a thorough investigation over the course of the past few months to find the truth regarding the allegations. Per a BSI spokesperson's statement to Reuters, the BSI was not able to identify any anomalies that would need further investigation or other measures. Xiaomi has since expressed its own satisfaction with the results of the German investigation. Xiaomi Said They Welcome Exchange with Users, Regulators, and Stakeholders Per a statement by a Xiaomi spokesperson, the company is pleased with the results of the investigation conducted by the BSI. The results, according to the statement, confirmed the company's commitment to operate transparently, responsibly, and with customers' privacy and security as their top priority. The spokesperson also noted that they welcome the exchange with users, regulators, and other stakeholders just like the BSI and that the company is committed to constantly improve and innovate. Xiaomi Defends Claims that Data is Sent to Servers Based in Singapore The Lithuanian agency pointed out that Xiaomi could also enable censorship on its own devices remotely. It was then later claimed that Xiaomi redirected encrypted phone usage data to a server that was based in Singapore. Xiaomi, on the other hand, defended its position on sending encrypted data directly to Singapore by noting that they comply with the EU's GDPR framework. Read Also: Exynos 2200 Will Launch with Galaxy S22 | What Happened to the Initial Samsung Announcement? BSI Findings Now Impove the Company's Image in the Region The BSI findings, however, greatly helped the company's image in the region. The Lithuanian Defense Ministry has yet to give any comment regarding the allegations as of press time. The whole Xiaomi incident reportedly came against the backdrop of certain diplomatic tensions that happened between China and Lithuania in 2021. Related Article: Smartphone Prediction in 1953 was Made by Telephone Executive | How Accurate Was It? This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Urian B. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. AT&T and Dish have just won the largest 5G auction in the bunch at the price of $12 billion! In addition, another competiotor, T-Mobile,has also won smaller 5G auctions. FCC Finished Auctioning Off New Slice of 5G Airwaves According to the story by PCMag, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has just recently finished auctioning off a brand new slice of 5G airwaves that are relatively close to the upcoming 5G C-Band. Both AT&T and Dish have spent $12 billion to improve their portfolios. AT&T reportedly won 40MHz in every one of the top 20 markets in the US, among others. This doubles the amount of C-Band 5G spectrum that the company will be able to use in the cities later on in the year. Official List of Which Carriers Won the 5G Auctions The official list of which carriers that won can be found on the FCC website. It should also be noted that the new 3.45-3.55 GHz airwaves are in a slightly different lane compared to the existing 40 MHz of C-Band that AT&T will start to activate this January 19. AT&T will also be turning on 40 MHz in some areas throughout the year. However, details of where and when this will happen have not yet been released. It is safe to say that both Verizon and AT&T will be battling with 5G speeds and buildouts for the next couple of years. Auction Structured with 100 MHz Airwaves with a Single Bidder Getting Just 40 MHz It is important to note that Verizon did not bid in the 3.45-3.55 GHz auction. To add, the auction was structured with 100 MHz airwaves being made available across the country with a single bidder only getting 40 MHz. This means that there were just three winners per location. Without Verizon on board, the winners were usually Dish, AT&T, and either T-Mobile, US Cellular, or even private equity firms. Dish Picked Up 30 to 40 MHz in Most Markets After Winning Auction Dish was the second biggest auction winner after picking up 30-40 MHz in most markets. Along with its earlier 20 MHz of similar CBRS spectrum, this makes for a decent network in some major cities. Although it will not compete with the "Big Three" carriers, 60 MHz is good for a strong smartphone experience. An article by AllNet Insights reports that in Las Vegas, Dish is planning to use 40 MHz. The company is also adding another 30 MHz or even 50 MHz should CBRS be counted. This gives the carrier quite a decent amount of depth. Read Also: Breaking: Harmony Shard 0 Stopped Working for 7 Hours | Multiple Propagation Issues Caused by Heavy Spam Traffic T-Mobile Spent $4 Billion on the Auction to Buy 20 MHz Within Top 20 Metro Areas and More The question regarding Dish now revolves around whether or not the company can build the network. In relation to this, the FCC has asked the company to cover 70% of the US population by the year 2023. Meanwhile, T-Mobile has spent $4 billion on the auction by buying 20 MHz within 12 of the top 20 metro areas and some others. Related Article: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ending the Miner Era for GPUs? Budget-Friendly Anti-Miner Graphics Card This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Urian B. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Google Nest Hub and Google Assistant Smart Displays are used by people to play white noise to help them sleep better. However, earlier this week, the tech giant changed the white noise ambient sound, and there has been a massive backlash from the users because of it. Google Changes White Noise Sound for Nest Hub The report regarding the new sound was first posted on Jan. 12, Wednesday. On Jan. 15, Saturday, the updated white noise sound had been rolled out to all users, according to 9to5Google. A lot of users are now complaining that the new white noise is quieter and muffed. They also noticed the noise loops every 10 minutes instead of the original hourly loop. The ambient sounds can go on for 12 hours if it is not disabled by the sleep timer. The second-generation Google Nest Hub has a great auto-off capability that automatically turns off the ambient sound when the user falls asleep. Also Read: Google Nest Hub to Display Air Quality Index-Indicating Unsafe Levels in Time of Wildfires Since the change, more than 100 complaints have been posted on the Google Nest Community and on Reddit. One user even uploaded the original version of the noise to Google Drive, with some of them asking that the file be uploaded to YouTube Music as an option. Some users are hoping that Google will provide get the original audio back as an option and make it accessible on Google Assistant. Users can leave their feedback about the change in the Google Home app or on the Google Home webpage. Google offers 13 different ambient noises, and users choose the ones that suit them best. Google has relaxing sounds, forest sounds, nature sounds, country night sounds, ocean sounds, water sounds, rain sounds, running water sounds, river sounds, babbling brook sounds, thunderstorm sounds, oscillating fan sounds, fireplace sounds, and white noise. Google Meet on Nest Hub Aside from changing the white noise sound, Google has also made some changes on the Nest Hub screen for Google Meet users, according to Engadget. The Google Workspace was updated in 2021, and the Companion Mode for Nest Hub and other Google Meet hardware has finally rolled out. Companion Mode adds a second screen to Google Meet to support the change towards hybrid working environments. It also gives easier access to different Google Meet controls for those calling in from shared space. In the past, employees who called in from a meeting room usually had to wait in turns for control if they wished to do simple things. The result is that the employees who worked remotely and were summoned into a meeting using their computer or phone were usually more active and visible in meetings than their co-workers at the office, participating in a traditional meeting room set up. However, due to the addition of Companion Mode, employees will soon get access to the features of Google Meet through Nest Hub and other hardware like Lenovo Tap while still being a part of the meeting. While the Nest Hub may not be a common sight in meetings today, the new mode could help the tech giant push for more devices to businesses as they adapt to the working arrangements caused by the pandemic. In order to join a meeting using Companion Mode, you can activate the setting through the green room in Google Meet, or you can use URL: g.co/companion. Among the updates that Google added on Nest Hub was the additional 10 games back in 2020 and the additional app launched on Google Nest Hub that was added last year. Related Article: Google Fuchsia OS Will Finally be Running on the First-Gen Nest Hub - Will it Replace Android? This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Sophie Webster 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The most detailed 3D map of the universe is now being developed by DESI (Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument). This giant space research instrument is currently stationed in the Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory, Arizona. DESI is being used to observe and study the so-called dark energy in the universe. However, it also has other goals, such as creating the most accurate 3D universe map. Recently, the space equipment has already released detailed 3D photos of various galaxies near the Milky Way Galaxy. These HD images and 3D representations clearly show the potential of DESI when it comes to mapping the universe. Most Detailed 3D Map of the Universe According to Science Alert's latest report, DESI has already charted more than 7.5 million galaxies. Every month, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument is able to add around 1 million new mapped galaxies to its database. Also Read: Virgin Orbit Launches Seven Cubesats | First Mission After Recent Merger Now, experts behind DESI estimates that the most 3D map of the universe will be completed around 2026. They added that this computer-generated representation of space would include around 35 million galaxies once it is finished. After that, astronomers and other space experts can use this 3D map to solve more mysteries in space. "There is a lot of beauty to it. In the distribution of the galaxies in the 3D map, there are huge clusters, filaments, and voids," said Julien Guy, an astrophysicist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Other Details of DESI's 3D Universe Map Julien confirmed that the new 3D map of the universe would contain HD representations of the filaments, voids, and huge clusters in space. As of the moment, DESI is using more than 5,000 optical fibers, which are individually positioned by tiny robots within the space equipment. Thanks to this advanced fiber network, DESI can accurately capture the color spectrum images of millions of galaxies. If you want to know more details about the most accurate 3D map of the universe, you can visit this link. In other news, NASA Kepler spacecraft discovered a new exomoon. Meanwhile, NASA TV confirmed that it would not air the upcoming SpaceX Cargo Dragon ISS departure. For more news updates about space and other related topics, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: Largest Object in Milky Way Galaxy Now Detected! Astronomers Explain What Maggie Really Is This article is owned by TechTimes Written by: Griffin Davis 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Telangana government is keen to play host to the world's largest electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla to build its factory in India. The offer comes days after Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the EV maker is working through a lot of challenges with the Centre. Amid Tesla's challenges to set up its EV manufacturing facility in India, the world's largest electric vehicle manufacturer has received offer from the state government of Telangana to start business. KT Rama Rao, Industry & Commerce Minister of Telangana, said his state is happy to partner the EV maker to build its factory in the state. The minister's offer came a day after Elon Musk reacted to Tesla's effort to enter the Indian market to sell its electric cars. Replying to a query on Twitter, Musk had said, Still working through a lot of challenges with the government." Replying to Musk on Twitter, KT Rama Rao wrote, Hey Elon, I am the Industry & Commerce Minister of Telangana state in India. Will be happy to partner Tesla in working through the challenges to set shop in India/Telangana. Our state is a champion in sustainability initiatives & a top notch business destination in India." The challenges Musk referred to is its bid to reduce import duties on electric vehicles in India. In August last year, Musk had raised the concern saying, Tesla wants to launch its cars soon in India, but Indian 'import duties are the highest in the world by far of any large country." That Tesla is serious about launching in India was evident when the EV maker announced In January last year that it has registered itself as Tesla India Motors in Karnataka. Hey Elon, I am the Industry & Commerce Minister of Telangana state in India Will be happy to partner Tesla in working through the challenges to set shop in India/Telangana Our state is a champion in sustainability initiatives & a top notch business destination in India https://t.co/hVpMZyjEIr KTR (@KTRTRS) January 14, 2022 India currently imposes customs duty ranging between 60 per cent to 100 per cent on imported cars. India imposes 100% import duty on fully imported cars with CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight) value over $40,000, while 60% duty is imposed on cars that cost less than the amount. According to Tesla's US website, only one model - the Model 3 Standard Range Plus - is priced below $40,000. If Tesla has to import it Model 3 electric car to India via CBU (completely built unit) route, it is expected to cost roughly around 70 lakh. The effort to make the Centre agree to the proposal is key for Tesla which aims to make its vehicles more affordable for customers in the country. While the Centre wants Tesla to share its plans of production in India first before committing any reduction on import duties, Tesla thinks launching its product at existing tax rates will not be a viable business option for the company. Musk's argument against high import duty on vehicles brought from overseas markets had triggered a debate among carmakers operating in India. While some backed Tesla's proposal, others felt that the Centre should offer equal treatment for Indian carmakers too. First Published Date: Thank you! You've reported this item as a violation of our terms of use. This content was contributed by a user of the site. If you believe this content may be in violation of the terms of use, you may report it. The number of homicides committed in Lafayette Parish rose from 2020 to 2021, driven primarily by a bump in homicides within the city, which follows a continued trend of increased homicides and gun violence nationwide. There were 34 reported homicides investigated by Lafayette law enforcement agencies in 2021, per departments data. The cases include those classified as first-degree murder, second-degree murder and manslaughter. The Lafayette Police Department handled 25 of the cases, four were investigated by the Lafayette Parish Sheriffs Office, two by the Broussard Police Department, one by the Carencro Police Department, one by the Scott Police Police Department and one by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Police Department. +4 Gun violence focus of new task force formed by Sheriff, Lafayette Police The Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office and Lafayette Police Department are launching a special Violent Crime Task Force aimed at addressing gun Parishwide, it was a 47% increase over the 23 homicides investigated in 2020; homicides in the city mirrored the parishwide shift, rising from 17 to 25 homicides, a 48% spike. Lafayette Parishs rise follows with a nationwide trend of increased homicides in 2020 and 2021. In 2020, U.S. law enforcement agencies reported 21,570 murders to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a rise of nearly 30% over the prior year and the largest single-year increase recorded by the FBI. The murder rate continued to rise in 2021, though by not as steep a margin, with incomplete data showing a 7% rise over 2020, per data compiled by New Orleans-based data analytics firm AH Datalytics. The national trend has been seen in other Louisiana cities, including Baton Rouge and New Orleans, which recorded 149 and 218 homicides respectively in 2021, each increasing over 2020 totals, per Advocate and Times Picayune reporting. Griffin out as interim Lafayette Police Chief as LCG begins search for new leadership Interim Lafayette Police Chief Wayne Griffin, on administrative leave after a sexual harassment allegation, will not return to the chief role In Lafayette, law enforcement officials cautioned that while numbers are up, the bulk of the killings were committed by perpetrators known to the victims, either as romantic partners or acquaintances, and residents should not be fearful that randomized violence is becoming more common. Capt. John Mowell with the Lafayette Parish Sheriffs Office and Sgt. Stephen Bajat, leader of the Lafayette Police Departments violent crimes squad, said homicide numbers fluctuate year to year and need to be viewed across time to glean big picture takeaways, such as if the area is seeing a persistent upward trend. [The numbers are] really just a snapshot in time, Mowell said. Bajat said the deaths LPD investigated in 2021 could be grouped into a few categories: 10 involved altercations that escalated, primarily between acquaintances; four occurred during attempted robberies or burglaries; three were domestic incidents; three were drug related; two were overdose deaths; two were mistaken identity shootings and one was an officer-involved incident deemed justifiable. Varied factors may be influencing the homicide rate. Tension tied to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could be a contributing factor, Bajat said, as well as the perceived swiftness with which suspects in their late teens and early 20s, an increasing percentage of the perpetrator pool, are using firearms to resolve disputes. Some of this is unpoliceable unless youre there at that moment. Its difficult, Bajat said. +2 Lafayette's panhandling enforcement challenged in federal court by homeless man A homeless Lafayette man has filed a federal lawsuit against the Lafayette Police Department and officials for allegedly violating his free sp While it can be difficult to prevent all homicides, parish law enforcement agencies have a consistent record of netting arrests in murder and manslaughter incidents and closing cases. Top stories in Acadiana in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Only one of the Lafayette Police Departments 25 cases from 2021 remains open, Bajat said. Out of 93 homicide cases investigated in the city since 2017, three remain open, a 96.7% closure rate, the sergeant reported. The Lafayette Parish Sheriffs Office has seen similar case success, with 100% of the four 2021 homicides investigated by LPSO resulting in arrests or issued warrants, Mowell said. +13 Lafayette family left with questions after fatal shooting of 14-year-old 'Daddy's girl' Brandy and Raymond Garry thought theyd spend the final weeks of summer preparing their 14-year-old daughter Zaria for her first day of high s The law enforcement officials chalked their success up to several factors: knowledgeable and collaborative investigative teams, increased technology such as public and private surveillance systems and assistance from the public. Bajat said when a homicide is reported LPDs entire detective section is briefed and sent into the field to canvass, collect evidence and speak with neighbors and witnesses to develop as many leads as quickly as possible. We pride ourselves on our training and on our experience. These guys know what theyre doing. If there are leads that are going to bring them to an arrest then theyll track down every lead, Bajat said. Technology has been a powerful tool for crime fighting, they said. The proliferation of crime cameras, license plate readers and personal home security cameras has increased the probability that crimes or the suspects will be caught on camera, Bajat said. +9 It hurts: Loved ones remember loving, energetic 16-year-old girl killed in Lafayette shooting My baby was loved, Kysha Mouton sobbed as family, schoolmates and community members crowded East Clinton Street on Friday night to honor her The LPD Sgt. and Mowell said expanding reporting avenues to include anonymous tip lines, mobile apps and link-based evidence submission portals encourages the publics participation in the crime solving process. These newer methods can make people less afraid to report. If you dont have to be seen at the police station or with patrol units at your home, you may be more inclined to share what you know, like the surveillance footage your home camera captured, Bajat said. Every mechanism we have makes it easier for somebody to help us and report something thats going to help either a case thats already happened and is being investigated or, more importantly, prevent a crime from happening, Mowell said. Beyond encouraging reporting, Bajat said engaging the public in education around crime prevention, like the importance of securing weapons and not leaving firearms unattended in unlocked vehicles, can make a difference. While not all homicides can be thwarted, some factors contributing to rising homicide numbers, like increased gun violence, can be the focus of targeted law enforcement action to hopefully reduce fatalities, they said. On Jan. 3, the Lafayette Parish Sheriffs Office and Lafayette Police Department announced a joint task force focused on disrupting violent crime by removing stolen and illegally possessed weapons from the streets and focusing on known violent offenders, among other goals. In 2021, Garber noted the city of Lafayette reported 116 assaults with firearms and 66 batteries with a firearm, while the parish recorded 58 assaults with firearms and 19 batteries involving firearms. The Lafayette Parish School Board officially embarked on its redistricting process Wednesday after 2020 Census results showed population shifts in existing board districts will require representation lines to shift ahead of the boards next election cycle in 2023. The numbers, analyzed by Mike Hefner of Geographic Planning and Demographic Services in Duson, showed population shifts in districts one, three, four, six and nine that fell outside an acceptable range of +/- 5% of the average district population number, calculated at 26,861 people. Districts one, three, four and six saw declines of 10% or more, while district nines population now stands 56% over the accepted average. +2 Lafayette Parish population up 26.9%; Youngsville fastest-growing municipality in the state Lafayette Parish was the only parish in the Acadiana region that grew in population in the past decade and the growth in some areas in the sou Districts three and four are both minority majority districts on Lafayettes northside represented by Elroy Broussard and Tehmi Chassion, respectively. They saw their populations fall 6,129 and 5,374 people below the average district population, respectively, according to documents on the school board agenda. Predictably, the greatest change occurred in the southern portion of Lafayette around the Youngsville area, which in the last 10 years has become the fastest growing municipality in the state, impacting District 9 represented by Donald Aguillard. Hefner said evening out the number of constituents in each district will require boundary adjustments across the board. Top stories in Acadiana in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up +2 Growth in southern Lafayette Parish forces City, Parish Councils to redraw districts The Lafayette City and Parish Council districts must be redrawn before the next election in 2023 in large part because of the population growt Youre going to have a ripple effect. Those districts around [District 9] have to come in to relieve that population, which leaves them high, which means the districts on the other side of them are going to have to come into those middle districts to help relieve that. Its about balancing. Plus, we have to maintain the viability of two majority minority districts, three and four, so its not just a matter of moving lines to get the right numbers, its the right kind of numbers, Hefner said. Hefner was formally hired as the demographer for the boards redistricting work Wednesday, inking a $25,550 contract to handle the design of the new districts, town halls for pubic input, the formal adoption process and reporting to the state and federal governments once district boundaries are agreed upon. Hefner is under contract for similar work around the state. The demographer is also a former Lafayette Parish School Board member, serving as the elected District 5 board member from 1991 to 2010, per Louisiana Secretary of State records. +7 This Lafayette suburb more than doubled its population since 2010. Could it be the next Youngsville? Brody LeBlanc threw out a wide net when he began looking for a home in the Lafayette area over the summer. A physician hired on with Our Lady Hefner said hell present initial mock-ups of district lines that meet all state and federal requirements, then will host workshops for board members and the public to give feedback and recommend adjustments to the district lines until a final version is approved. You have the legal responsibility to adopt, but its really [the publics] plan. Its good to get that input into them, Hefner told the board. A Baton Rouge judge has ruled that the Louisiana State Police was largely within its rights in keeping hidden most of the personnel file of a state trooper involved in the 2019 beating death of Ronald Greene, a Black motorist from Monroe. The records in question, those of Master Trooper Kory York, were sought last year by The Times-Picayune and The Advocate amid a federal investigation into Greenes death, as well as other beatings of Black drivers by troopers. The order issued Thursday by 19th Judicial District Judge Chip Moore orders State Police to back up in writing the agencys claim that some of the records related to York are reasonably anticipated to be the subject of criminal litigation. But assuming the agency can meet that bar and York is said to be under heavy scrutiny by the FBI -- Moores ruling says the records can remain under wraps. Moore also ruled that State Police acted correctly in keeping private most of Yorks personnel file, including items like Yorks annual evaluations and records of any disciplinary actions taken against him. The newspapers sued State Police in July after the agency refused to provide most of the requested materials. Among the newspapers complaints: The agency redacted nearly all of a 2020 disciplinary letter explaining why York was suspended without pay for 50 hours for his role in the Greene incident. York has already served the suspension. Ronald Greene's mother calls State Police head 'besuited Blackface puppet' in open letter In an open letter to Louisiana State Police head Col. Lamar Davis released Thursday, the mother of Ronald Greene reiterated her demands for ju Yorks personnel file was among 15 the newspaper sought to review in a request filed to State Police in March 2021. Lawyers for State Police complained the request was overly burdensome and would amount to some 9,000 pages of records. They offered to provide Yorks records first as a test case for the remainder, and when they did so, the records were largely blacked out. The newspaper, which stipulated that it has no interest in health or tax information relating to any trooper, argued that the redactions were far too broad. The central issue in the case was whether State Police could use the ongoing federal investigation as grounds to deny the release of records. The newspapers did not seek any materials generated as part of the FBI investigation; rather, they sought documents that State Police had produced in an internal probe of York, which was completed by October 2020. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up +5 Louisiana State Police leaders ignored concerns about excessive force, investigator testifies The Louisiana State Police detective in charge of investigating whether troopers used excessive force in the killing of Black motorist Ronald York turned off his body camera before getting to the scene, the State Police probe found. But footage from other troopers cameras showed him dragging Greene, who was prone, by the shackles and swearing at him. Based on the results of that internal investigation, then-State Police Superintendent Kevin Reeves ordered York to serve a 50-hour unpaid suspension. Current Superintendent Lamar Davis has said he would have imposed more severe discipline but that his hands were tied. The newspapers argued that, given that the internal probe and Yorks suspension were complete, the records should be public. That question, according to Moores ruling, must be subjected to a balancing act between the publics right to know and safeguarding a prosecutorial authoritys ability to preserve the integrity of an investigatory file when criminal prosecution is reasonably anticipated. Moore laid out a series of factors to be considered, and ultimately concluded that if State Police had reason to believe charges are coming, the documents may be withheld or redacted. The newspapers filed the original records request in March and filed a lawsuit in July. Moore held a hearing on the matter in August, and after hearing arguments from both sides, said he would review an unredacted copy of Yorks personnel file and determine how much of it should be released. +3 Times-Picayune, Advocate sue Louisiana State Police, ask judge to review record redactions The Times-Picayune and The Advocate filed suit Monday against the Louisiana State Police, asking a judge to review redactions the agencys law Toyota topped the online searches in 47 of the 154 countries in 2021, representing around 31% of all searches.Tesla joined the list for the first time at the seventh position as it was the most searched vehicle brand in Hong Kong, Israel, Macao, Singapore and China last year. When people have to search about their favourite set of wheels or a new ride that they're looking to buy, the first stop mostly is Google. Now-a-days, an online search usually precedes going to a showroom to look at the vehicle physically. More so during the Covid-19 pandemic as carmakers made a signification effort to increase their digital reach. Like every year, even in 2021, various people logged onto the internet to search about various car brands and their models. An analysis of Google Trends data by Australia's Compare the Market, for 154 countries for the top searched vehicle brands last year, shows that Japanese car manufacturer Toyota was overall the most searched car brand around the world. (Also read | Hyundai in India, Toyota mostly elsewhere: Car brands most searched online) Toyota topped the online searches in 47 of the 154 countries, representing around 31% of all searches. However, the searches for Toyota were down 34.8% from the searches it secured in 2020. Yet, the reason why searches for Toyota still remain high is because the company announced Toyota Gazoo Racing in November last year as well as informed that it would start reproducing spare parts for its Corolla Levin and Sprinter Trueno makes. Top 10 most-searched car brands in the world in 2021 Ranking Car brand No. of countries 1 Toyota 47 2 BMW 29 3 Mercedes 23 4 Audi 11 5 Kia 7 6 Hyundai 6 7 Tesla 5 8 Renault 4 9 Ford 4 10 Honda 3 Toyota was followed by BMW and Mercedes-Benz in second and third places respectively. The three carmakers have dominated Google searches around the world for the second consecutive year. Interestingly, on average across the past four years, BMW holds the title of the top searched brand in more countries than any other competitor. This is majorly due to the fact that the OEM was most searched brand in 118 of the countries in 2019. (Also read | Toyota was the most searched car brand in 2021, followed by BMW) Audi, Kia and Hyundai grabbed the fourth, fifth and sixth positions respectively. Hyundai dominated the online search in India where the carmaker made several key announcements and launches in 2021 including Alcazar three-row SUV and the i20 N Line. Tesla joined the list for the first time at the seventh position. The EV maker was the most searched vehicle brand in Hong Kong, Israel, Macao, Singapore and China. In 2021, Tesla offered several vehicles such as Model S, the Cybertruck, Model 3, the Roadster and the Semi truck. Tesla was followed by Renault, Ford and Honda in the eight, ninth and tenth positions respectively. Rankings of Ford dropped by at least three places compared to last year. Meanwhile brands such as Volkswagen, Mitsubishi, Alfa Romeo and Daewoo dropped out of the race and didnt make the list for top searched vehicle brand in any country last year. First Published Date: Purchases made via links on our site may earn us an affiliate commission Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size After an exhausting year fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, many Australians were looking forward to switching off for a summer break. As we all know, the Omicron variant had other ideas. Instead of lying by a pool sipping daiquiris, thousands of people are ill with COVID, caring for someone who is ill with COVID, or isolating after being identified as a close contact. Fortunately, most people dont have to use up their precious annual leave being sick at home because they can switch to sick leave. But how does that work? Credit: You can switch to sick leave when youre on annual leave? Thats right. Under the Fair Work Act, if an employee is sick or injured while on annual leave, the employee can use their paid sick leave entitlement to cover the time off instead of their annual leave. It doesnt matter that the annual leave has already been booked and approved or has already started; the employee still has the right to convert it to sick leave. Advertisement Is this some sort of special pandemic provision? No, its a longstanding rule. It applies if you fall sick with any illness, not just COVID-19. It also applies if you are injured. Loading Does this apply to everyone? The Fair Work Act covers nearly all employees in Australia. The main exceptions are some state and local government employees who fall under various state systems. Pretty much everyone else comes under the national system. It doesnt matter if youre on an award, an individual contract or an enterprise agreement. A spokesperson for the Fair Work Ombudsman says annual leave and sick or carers leave are minimum entitlements under the National Employment Standards. That means an employer cant take these rights away from you even if you agree. But casual employees and contractors miss out because the Fair Work Act says theyre not entitled to annual leave or sick leave. Instead, they may be able to apply for a federal government Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment. The criteria for these payments specifically excludes people who received or will receive any income from paid work, or with any sick or carers leave entitlements. Advertisement Are there any limitations? Under the Fair Work Act, the employer has the right to request the employee provide notice and evidence when taking sick or carers leave while on annual leave (more on that below). How does providing notice of illness work? You wont know youre sick until youre sick, so giving notice could be difficult. Brad Annson, a partner at Gordon Legal and an expert in industrial and employment law, says there is no set notice period. Rather, the Fair Work Act requires employees only to notify their employers as soon as practicable and that depends on the circumstances. If someone was to rapidly fall very ill, it may be that as soon as practicable is a longer period of time, Annson says. Youre entitled to convert leave from annual leave to personal leave from the moment you fall ill, for the duration of your illness, as long as you have leave accrued so it can be retrospective. The Fair Work website states the usual rules for taking sick leave apply let the employer know as soon as possible. Advertisement What about the employers right to request evidence? The employee is required to provide evidence only if the employer formally requires it and this would be set out in the employment agreement. Usually, this would mean a medical certificate from a doctor or a statutory declaration signed by the employee. During a pandemic, this may not be practical if you are legally required to isolate. Requests for medical certificates are an unwanted burden for GPs in the current crisis, says Dr Karen Price, the president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. The health system in its entirety and general practice in particular is completely at a crisis point, and we need to manage that workload very carefully and protect that resource for those people who are unwell, Price says. Adding a bureaucratic or administrative activity into that would be highly undesirable at the moment. Price says people who could be COVID positive should be home in quarantine, not attending GP clinics. They could request a telehealth appointment if necessary, but it would be better if the employer would accept a different form of evidence such as a statutory declaration, or choose to trust their employees. Advertisement Annson says the Fair Work Act stipulates that the employer must accept evidence that a reasonable person would accept. This could include forwarding the text message confirming positive results from a PCR test or showing a photograph of a positive rapid antigen test. He points out the employee could always follow up with a medical certificate or statutory declaration at a later date. You would hope that given the prevalence of COVID-19 at the moment that employees will not require an onerous process for providing evidence, Annson says. Im not ill, but my family member is. What can I do? You can take carers leave if you are needed to help look after a member of your immediate family or household. Carers leave and sick leave technically come out of the same pot of leave entitlements, also called personal leave. Immediate family includes a persons spouse or de facto partner, a child, parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling of either the employee or the employees spouse or de facto partner. A spokesperson for the Fair Work Ombudsman says it could include a current or former spouse or partner that a person does not live with, but this would depend on the individual circumstances. The household includes anyone living at the same residence, even if they are not immediate family. I am a close contact and required to isolate but my family and I are not COVID positive so far. What can I do? Advertisement It was the summer I partied in a house that slid, room by room, into the sea. It was the summer of 1970. We drank beer from kegs and roared encouragement at the waves and there was the sweet scent of illicit dreaming smoke upon the air. Beyond the garden at Tony Wrights home near Portland. Credit:Tony Wright We had waited for this summer night when the moon was full; when the surfers and fishers and the abalone shellers among us knew the moon and the sun and the earth would align to exert a pull on the ocean that produced what the experts call a spring tide. Plans and polls apart The article Omicron now dominant (The Sunday Age, 9/1) summed up the cause of our health dilemma succinctly in the words of AMA President Omar Khorshid: The strategy has been to let it rip. Thats very clear. Governments led by NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet but cheered on by the Prime Minister had decided not to listen to health advice that had held Australia in such good stead through the pandemic. The PMs National Plan was a timeline, not a plan. Victoria should not have signed up to it. Plans are based on assumptions and include contingency strategies when those assumptions are no longer valid, eg, Omicron. The PM has no plans or strategy for anything other than trying to get re-elected. Bob Girdwood, North Melbourne After jet-skis, the hunt I sympathise with regional residents copping the jet-ski invasion (Alarm at the new wild west as jet-ski numbers swell, 9/1). Idyllic waterside homes and tourism areas are now engulfed by jet-ski noise all day. No sooner will this summer pestilence abate than regional waterways will be subjected to the din of shotgun blasts from dawn to dusk. Duck hunting is normally scheduled for autumn and the Andrews government has never cancelled a season, despite long-term decline of native ducks. Those campaigning against jet-skis say they have hit a political wall with state government because the fishing and boating lobby is powerful and has the Premiers ear. The shooting lobby also has his ear. When will the Premier realise that his Boys Own view of the world does not represent female voters or even most male voters? Joan Reilly, Surrey Hills Not a time for jokes Parnell Palme McGuinness (Comment, 9/1) is touting the hackneyed view of treating the virus like the flu and that governments should step aside and let businesses set the agenda. She criticises the government for implementing bureaucratic measures such as testing before getting on a plane. She states she got COVID, but was young and healthy and it was no worse than a hangover. This ignores the impact the virus has on others, particularly in the healthcare system. The toll the virus has taken on doctors, nurses, and paramedics is immense. Hospitals are now at capacity and cancelling elective surgery. Yet Parnell claims this is just populist madness. I have no faith in business to set the agenda as stated in her article. Businesses are complaining of staff shortages and many were quick to rort JobKeeper. I suggest reading what epidemiologists have to say rather than opinion pieces that make light of the virus. Mr Whitcher, whose lawyers are to file a similar writ and who has identified himself in the 1977 photograph, said he was abused by one teacher after initially refusing to open his coat, and that he recently spoke to another former classmate who recalled being physically dragged from his tent to the line. It was [considered] a ritual passage for boys becoming men ... man up and accept it, he said. They took it upon themselves out of arrogance, out of control, while the whole environment was isolated. The friends recall about 10 men either teachers dressed up in military gear or church figures from the area were present during the alleged abuse, either directly involved or watching. Afterwards, the friends recall, the boys felt betrayed and humiliated, but discussing the incident was taboo for the rest of the 10-day camp and when they returned home to their families. None of us wanted to talk about it because it was so shameful, Mr Sheppard said. And I think they [the teachers] knew that too. We were young boys, and they did it just to exploit us sexually. Mr Sheppard alleges he was also abused at cadet camps in 1978 and 1979 when aged 15 and 16. He said he experienced pangs of dread during sleepless nights before each camp. Mr Whitcher said he was so anxious before the 1978 camp he asked if his friends sister, then a registered nurse, could help. She didnt ask why, she may have had her suspicions ... she put a plaster cast on my arm, he said. That was the only exemption you could get to get out of the cadet camp. I was so relieved. I stopped wetting the bed, I was able to function. He gained an exemption through his sporting talents to avoid the 1979 camp. Mr Sheppard, a retired police officer, and Mr Whitcher, an ambulance paramedic educator, said they were ready to recall their ordeals in court if necessary. Shine Lawyers said both men had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health problems directly related to the abuse. Mr Sheppard said the ordeal changed him from a lively boy to a reserved and jumpy teen who became an at times bitter man who considered suicide. Someone needs to speak out over what happened, he said, to address what his writ alleges was a breach of care by his former school to its students. Some teachers on the camps have since died, but Mr Whitcher said he found it galling the school honoured those men for their careers. You think, What a load of shit knowing they were sexual predators ... that got to me and I thought I cant have this ebbing and flowing in my life all the time, he said. It just started a flame in me that hasnt subsided. I want justice for it. Mentone Grammar is yet to file a response to the court and in a statement didnt say whether it would contest the mens allegations. It declined a request for an interview. Acting principal Jarrod ONeill said in the statement: We abhor any past situations that have created any kind of student abuse and want to express our most sincere apologies for any historical failings. We stand ready to provide pastoral support, including assistance with counselling, to any affected student. Mr ONeill said the allegations were being investigated, but it was inappropriate to comment further. Sara Kaurin, a senior associate in abuse law at Shine, said Mr Sheppard and Mr Whitcher hoped the school acknowledged the pain inflicted on them and other former students. Our clients have shown great courage in coming forward to seek compensation for the abuse they suffered, Ms Kaurin said. Since doing so, more former students have contacted us to speak out and seek compensation for themselves, which has only strengthened our clients resolve to seek justice for what happened. WASHINGTON, Jan. 14, 2022 -- A SpaceX Dragon cargo resupply spacecraft is set to depart the International Space Station Friday, Jan. 21. NASA Television, the agency's website, and the NASA app will provide live broadcast of the spacecraft's undocking and departure beginning at 10:15 a.m. EST. Ground controllers at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, will send commands at 10:40 a.m. for Dragon to undock from the space-facing port of the station's Harmony module and fire its thrusters to move a safe distance away from the station. Controllers will command a deorbit burn the following day. After re-entering Earth's atmosphere, the spacecraft will make a parachute-assisted splashdown about 4:25 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 22, off the coast of Florida. NASA TV will not broadcast the splashdown but the agency will provide updates on the space station blog. Dragon will carry back to Earth more than 4,900 pounds of supplies and valuable scientific experiments that were designed to take advantage of the space station's microgravity environment. Splashing down off the coast of Florida enables quick transportation of the experiments to NASA's Space Station Processing Facility at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, allowing researchers to collect data with minimal sample exposure to Earth's gravity. Some of the scientific investigations that Dragon will return to Earth include: Last light: A state-of-the-art light imaging microscope, the Light Microscopy Module (LMM) will return after about 12 years on the station. LMM, sponsored by NASA's Division of Biological and Physical Sciences, made it possible to observe and record the way matter is organized and moves on the microscopic level, and supported ground-breaking colloid research, plant studies, and thermophysics experiments. A state-of-the-art light imaging microscope, the Light Microscopy Module (LMM) will return after about 12 years on the station. LMM, sponsored by NASA's Division of Biological and Physical Sciences, made it possible to observe and record the way matter is organized and moves on the microscopic level, and supported ground-breaking colloid research, plant studies, and thermophysics experiments. Tiny structures, assemble: The InSPACE-4 physics study is returning samples that could provide insight into how to harness nanoparticles to fabricate and manufacture new materials, including medical diagnostics and thermal shields for Earth and space applications. The InSPACE-4 physics study is returning samples that could provide insight into how to harness nanoparticles to fabricate and manufacture new materials, including medical diagnostics and thermal shields for Earth and space applications. Cell signaling in microgravity: The ESA (European Space Agency) investigation Cytoskeleton contributes to understanding of how the human body responds to microgravity. The study could support development of countermeasures to help astronaut crew members maintain optimum health on future space missions. SpaceX's 24th Commercial Resupply Services mission delivered more than 6,500 pounds of research investigations, crew supplies, and vehicle hardware after launching Dec. 21 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy. Learn more about SpaceX missions for NASA at: https://www.nasa.gov/spacex SOURCE NASA Mayor Paul Deasy will be hosting a free N95 mask drive-thru on Sunday from 8 a.m. to noon at the Flagstaff Downtown Public Library. Over the course of the event, Deasy, his wife and other volunteers will distribute roughly 5,000 N95 masks in order to offer some community protection during the current surge of COVID-19 transmission. The mask drive follows a similar dispersal that ended last week, when city hall handed out the last of 5,000 KN95 masks that it procured for community distribution. Demand was high; thousands of masks were handed out in the first few days, and the supply was exhausted much sooner than expected. While Flagstaff City Council elected not to engage city resources for another round of public mask distribution, Sundays supply of N95 masks were donated directly to Deasy from Northern Arizona Healthcare. The mayor asks that these high-quality masks be utilized by high-risk individuals in particular. Those seeking masks on Sunday must enter the Flagstaff Downtown Library parking lot from the Birch Avenue entrance and exit onto Aspen Avenue. Masks will be limited to five per person, and will only be distributed as long as supplies last. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Associate Editor Brent Addleman is an Associate Editor and a veteran journalist with more than 25 years of experience. He has served as editor of newspapers in Pennsylvania and Texas, and has also worked at newspapers in Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Kentucky. Republican Gov. Chris Sununu announces that he is seeking a fourth term as governor of New Hampshire, instead of running for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan, during a news conference, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, in Concord, N.H. Instant unlimited access to all of our E-Editions and content on thechronicleonline.com. The Chronicle E-Edition Newsletter emailed to you each week, the night before the paper hits the street! This subscription is for NEW or RENEWING online subscribers. (The charge will appear as "Country Media Inc." on your credit card statement) Clarion, PA (16214) Today Periods of rain. High 66F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Rain. Low 58F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a half an inch. Leading Italian yacht firm officially makes inroad into Vietnamese market Famous Italian yacht manufacturer Fiart Group has recently signed a co-operation agreement with Saigon Yacht and Marina JSC (SYMC), a company which specialises in providing yacht and marina service solutions in Vietnam. Fiart 39 Seawalker 2021 (Photo: itboat.com) The agreement was reached between businesses from both nations, with the terms of the deal set to open up favourable opportunities for Fiart's high-class yacht products and services which can be directly distributed to the Vietnamese market in the near future. In the press release regarding the event, Fiart highlighted the country as a new market which boasts huge potential for discovery, particularly as the nation features a long coastline and enjoys strong development momentum in terms of port infrastructure and maritime tourism. Furthermore, yacht sales and rentals in 2021 recorded a strong turnover, with this expected to continue to see positive growth in the year ahead. Fiart highly appreciated the important and timely connection role played by the Vietnamese Embassy in Italy and the Honorary Consulate of Vietnam in Naples, where the group's headquarters is located. As part of the signed agreement, Honorary Consul Silvio Vecchione and Counselor Ambassador Nguyen Duc Thanh, on behalf of partners in Vietnam, visited the production facility in order to learn more about product quality, as well as meeting with Fiarts management board. Over the short term, Fiart and SYMC will primarily focus on distributing a number of yachts, such as Seawalker, Classic, and Cetera models, thereby meeting the specific needs of Vietnamese customers in terms of comfort and speed, as well as the typical Italian design style. Two Northern Arizona University researchers were recently awarded Scialog grants as part of an initiative focused on mitigating zoonotic diseases. Jason Ladner and Crystal Hepp are leading projects that use mosquitos, bats and genomic sequencing to learn more about animal-transmitted diseases. Scialog, a combination of science and dialogue, is intended to support research by stimulating intensive interdisciplinary conversation, according to a press release from NAU. Each topic is covered over the course of three years, with projects receiving yearlong grants at $50,000 for each participant. The NAU researchers are part of the Mitigating Zoonotic Threats cohort, which is in its first year. Ladner, a biological sciences department assistant professor, has received Scialog grants for two projects this year, with both involving the PepSeq platform he has been working to develop at the university. The PepSeq platform analyzes blood samples for a number of antigens in a process known as highly multiplex serology. Essentially, it shows an organisms history of virus exposure. Its really important to understand the animal virome -- what are all the viruses that are currently circulating in the animal population -- because those are the ones that are most likely or have the potential to spill over into humans in the future. But it's also a super huge challenge, because the diversity of viruses affecting animals across the globe is gigantic and most of it is still uncharacterized, he said. Ladners first project will use the platform to get a better sense of which viruses can be found in animals. They will be doing so through xenosurveillance, testing samples retrieved from arthropods (mosquitos, in this case) rather than directly from the animal species. Genomes inside a blood sample can be used to determine which species it is from. The project will take place in three stages, beginning by comparing samples of blood taken from lab-raised mosquitos to the blood they were fed. The next step is to take blood samples from animals in captivity, comparing them to mosquitos captured nearby. The last stage will involve a more general study of samples taken from wild-trapped mosquitos. The partner teams for this project are in Kansas and Iowa, so mosquitos for this stage will be from around the country. The goal is to understand not just which viruses are there but to better understand what are the host species that these viruses are infecting and and what is their relative abundance in those hosts? Ladner said. The rarity of infection in a host species in combination with how closely or often the species comes into contact with humans can give a better sense of how likely a given virus is to spill over into the human population. The second project Ladner is involved in will use the same process to study viruses infecting new-world bats. New-world bats (those found in North and South America) have been studied less than those in other parts of the world. The project chose to focus on bats because they have been associated with a variety of diseases transmitted to humans -- some of which are especially severe. Mammals are our most closely related relatives," Ladner said, "so there is a higher probability that a virus that can affect another mammal species will be able to infect humans as well. Bats are actually the second-most specious group of mammals, the first being rodents. So theres actually a lot of diversity in bats, so you would expect also to have a large diversity in viruses. Ladner said both projects hoped to provide insight on critical topics, including for preventing future pandemics. Its really critical to understand the diversity of viruses that are affecting other animals, he said. ...We need complementary approaches in order to really comprehensively understand the viral diversity thats out there. Mosquitos from Maricopa Associate professor of the school of informatics, computing and cyber systems, Hepp is the other researcher leading a Scialog project at NAU this year. Her project also uses xenosurveillance to better understand the risk of virus importation in Maricopa County. What were trying to do is develop a distribution of risk, Hepp said. ...When we have this kind of situation where we see that flaviviruses or alphaviruses are really peaking in other parts of the country, then this understandingcan also guide vector control and public health agencies on locations where mitigation activities should be targeted. It ties in with her other work at NAU that includes public health efforts in Maricopa County. Hepp has previously worked with culex mosquitoes, which are known to transmit diseases such as the West Nile virus and Saint Louis Encephalitis (SLE). The year 2021 actually had one of the biggest outbreaks of West Nile in Arizona, she said. Hepps Scialog project focuses on another mosquito species, aedes aegypti, which can transmit dengue, yellow fever and zika, among other viruses, though though there havent been any Arizona cases that they know of. There are several reasons theyre using Maricopa County for the study: its extensive mosquito surveillance network (over 800 carbon dioxide traps, according to Hepp), the number of migratory species and the prevalence of aedes aegypti in the region. Arizona is just a really good place to be conducting this first study, she said, and Maricopa County with their excellent surveillance systems provides a really attractive test site. ...We know that theres a thriving population of aedes aegypti there, so given the proximity to locations where we know diseases like zika and dengue have been, given the birds, given the bats, it just makes a really good test site. Mosquitos from Maricopa County will be shipped to the lab at NAU and tested to see which viruses they may be carrying and which animals they have bitten. Daryn Erickson, a student at NAU, is responsible for much of the projects lab work. She started working with Hepp as an undergraduate and decided to stay for her PhD program, incorporating mosquito research into her dissertation. She described the process of extracting samples and conducting blood meal analysis for the study, looking at specific genes of interest. Theyve already identified one insect-specific flavivirus present in Maricopa Countys aedes aegypti population. While it cant infect humans, it has the potential to competitively inhibit other flaviviruses that might. The prevalence of West Nile virus in the late 1990s likely inhibited the spread of SLE in the United States, Hepp said as an example. The projects two partner groups, led by Silvie Huijben at Arizona State University and Kezia Manlove at Utah State University, will be doing other kinds of analysis on this data, developing geographic risk models and studying insecticide resistance. These, alongside the results of NAU's research, will be added into the larger risk model the three are planning to create within the year of funding. Hepp said she and Huijben, especially, had been looking for a chance to collaborate. The more we talked during the Scialog meeting, the more we found thatthis is what we think would be important to Arizona. Were in the middle of a pandemic right now, how can we better gauge risk for another? Hepp said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Want to see more like this? Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Adelaide Strikers make it three in a row with victory over Melbourne Stars Jonathan Wells scored a rapid 49-ball 73 to help the Strikers to 155 for 6 before four wickets from Henry Thornton did the damage with the ball Adelaide: Adelaide Strikers 155-6, Melbourne Stars 132-8 Adelaide Strikers won by 23 runs Adelaide Strikers continued their late playoff push with a 23-run victory over Melbourne Stars. The Strikers endured a torrid first half of the 2021-22 Big Bash, losing six of their opening seven match. However, since the New Year, Peter Siddles side have won four out of a possible six matches and are now on a three-match unbeaten streak. Batting first, Matthew Short got the Strikers off to a bright start, scoring 33 runs from 22 balls despite losing his opening partner, Matt Renshaw, for two. Ian Cockbain also chipped in with 17 runs, but it was Jonathan Wells who did the bulk of the scoring. Wells, batting at no.4, smashed 73 runs off just 49 balls and enjoyed a 61-run fourth-wicket stand with Jake Weatherald off 52 balls to advance the Strikers from 42 for 2 to 130 for 3. Jonathan Wells celebrates his half-century [Mark Brake/Getty Images] Weatherald was removed by Sam Rainbird (caught Hilton Cartwright) for 17 (23 balls) in the 18th over. Thomas Kelly and Wells then departed in the final over, the former bowled by Ahmed Daniyal and the latter runout by Beau Webster and Joe Clarke, as the Strikers closed on 155 for 6. In reply, the Stars lost skipper Glenn Maxwell for 16 in the third over, bowled by Thornton, and his wicket triggered a top order collapse, the scoreboard quickly moving from 21 for 0 to 37 for 4. Joe Clarke (bowled Matthew Short), Marcus Stoinis (caught Short, bowled Fawad Ahmed) and Webster (caught Harry Nielsen, bowled Thornton) all departed for single-figure knocks. Cartwright and Joe Burns steadied the ship, adding 42 runs of 45 balls for the fifth wicket before the latter was bowled by Siddle for 25 at the end of the 14th. Holy smokes one of the shots of #BBL11 from Hilton Cartwright! pic.twitter.com/wVdOe2GKiQ KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) January 15, 2022 Jonathan Wells celebrates his half-century [Mark Brake/Getty Images] Accompanied by Hinchliffe, Cartwright put the hammer down, smashing 27 runs off 11 balls as part of a 42-run stand (23 balls) but it was too little, too late. Harry Conway brought the partnership to an end in the 18th over, removing Hinchliffe for 15, before Thornton dismissed Cartwright (49 off 35) and Rainbird in the penultimate over to finish with figures of 4 for 26. Melbourne Stars closed on 132 for 8, 24 runs shy of victory. Adelaide Strikers have moved up to fourth in the table following their third successive victory while Melbourne Stars are sixth, six points off fifth-placed Hobart Hurricanes with two matches remaining. RELATED LINKS (APP OPENS IN EXTERNAL WINDOW) Scorecard Mark Gutman/Daily News Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks Dec. 20, 2021, at Wyoming County Community Hospital in Warsaw. GLOW region officials have joined with seven other counties in sending a letter to Hochul asking her to reconsider a vaccine booster mandate for healthcare workers. Dear EarthTalk: How are bird populations faring in the U.S. and around the world? What are some ways to help them? -- Mark Johnson, Butte, MT Not surprisingly, given the myriad environmental threats they are facing, bird numbers continue to decline rapidly today across North America and beyond. Researchers at Cornells Lab of Ornithology and Canadas National Wildlife Research Centre found in a 2019 analysis that wild bird populations in the continental U.S. and Canada have declined by 29 percent or a total net loss of around three billion birds since 1970. Their landmark study is the first ever to perform a comprehensive assessment of wild bird net population changes across the continent. The study found that population decline was not limited to a few species but a wide range of species across every biome (a large naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat). Population loss in each biome ranged from Grassland bird populations suffering the greatest loss at 53% to eastern forest birds with the lowest loss at 17%. Researchers also found that common birds from just 12 families, such as blackbirds, sparrows and finches, account for over 90% or over 2.5 billion birds of total population decline. Experts believe that habitat loss due to agricultural development and intensification is most likely the driving factor. Amid this concerning data, hope remains for the birds of our world. Over the past few years, organizations such as Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, the National Audubon Society, and the California Waterfowl Association have collaborated to conserve waterfowl habitat (though critics point out that in some cases it is motivated by the self-fulfilling desire to provide more targets for their hunter members). Under the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, these organizations have raised billions of dollars in funds to restore and preserve waterfowl habitat, especially wetlands. Readers can also help protect birds by taking a few simple actions. An easy one is to install window screens or eliminate window reflections with film or paint. (A 2014 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Smithsonian study found that between 365 million and one billion birds die each year across the U.S. as a result of window strikes.) If youre a cat owner, another way to cut down on bird kills is to keep Fluffy from roaming freely outside. The U.S North American Bird Conservation Initiative estimates that our pet felines kill some 2.6 billion birds annually in the U.S. alone. Yet another way to help our avian friends is to provide shelter and nesting areas in your backyard. Planting native plants (instead of grass) will give both local and migratory birds a reason to hang out. Likewise, avoid synthetic pesticides and fertilizers on your land: They not only indirectly harm birds and the insects they like to eat, but can also poison wildlife directly. Shopping organic at the grocery store is another way to reduce the overall load of pesticides and synthetic fertilizer that birds encounter. One additional way to be part of the solution is to join the Audubons Christmas Bird Count, whether youre a beginner birder or expert. From De. 14 through Jan. 5, the initiative promotes counting instead of hunting birds, a fun and simple way to get outdoors while also helping to protect your favorite backyard birds. Audubon has been running the count for 122 years, and collates the data collected by its citizen scientists into an annual report on the state of the birds across the U.S. EarthTalk is produced by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss for the 501(c)3 nonprofit EarthTalk. See more at https://emagazine.com. To donate, visit https://earthtalk.org. Send questions to: question@earthtalk.org. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 This is the temporary subscription pass for users returning from the Vision Data subscription process. Your subscription will be updated within 24 hours, after your information is verified. Please click the button below to get your pass. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, at podium, speaks with members of the media in Philadelphia on Friday, Jan. 14, 2022, to promote a new infrastructure law and a bridge repair funding program. BAINBRIDGE - Zilphia "Zippy" Tobey Furman, 86, passed into heaven following a brief illness with her family by her side. She was born on Jan. 4, 1936. Zippy graduated from Bainbridge High School and lived in Bainbridge for most of her life. She retired from Amphenol Corporation. Zippy enjoye Forests and forest soils are important to climate change because they contain a lot of carbon. Globally, forests contain over 800 gigatons (Gt) of carbon and forest soils, another 1,500 Gt (a Gt is 2.2 trillion pounds). Forests have been headline news in the past few years, some good and some not so good. The not-so-good headlines are the large and severe forest fires that have burned across the American west, Australia, Brazil, Siberia, Southeast Asia, and other parts of the world. The Marshall fire in Boulder County, Colorado, in the final days of 2021 is the latest example of increasingly severe fire behavior. Fortunately, in this case there were few fatalities, but thousands of people lost their homes. In addition to destroying homes, such large fires emit tons of smoke and soot, which impact human health hundreds of miles downwind. You might remember choking on smoke from California fires this past summer. In recent years fires have released between 5 and 7 Gt of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, much of it from forests where thick organic soils were burned. This might seem surprising, but our recent study of hundreds of fires across Alaska and Canada showed that almost 90% of CO2 emissions came from the combustion of organic soils. Some of these fires smolder belowground through the winter months and reignite in the spring. These so-called zombie fires are becoming increasingly common, particularly in peatlands stretching across Alaska, Canada, and Russia. As we would expect, more severe fires arise from an increasingly warmer and drier climate, and recent research indicates the current mega-drought in the western US is the most severe in the past 600 years. Hot and dry conditions cause more extreme fire storm behavior, in which fires create their own weather and inject plumes of CO2 high into the atmosphere. The better headlines have been about forest thinning and fire prevention. Communities in northern Arizona and California have invested millions of dollars in forest thinning operations. This has been mostly around populated areas, but its importance is increasingly recognized across the country and around the world. Recent innovations in the commercial use of small diameter trees and branches are making this more economical, and this strategy helps to avoid emissions from burning slash piles. There have also been good headlines about forest conservation and regrowth. Because deforestation and forest degradation across the tropics and other parts of the world account for about 15% of global CO2 emissions, many countries are focusing on protecting and regrowing their forests. In November 2021, 141 countries at the 26th United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland pledged to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030. If these pledges are implemented, they will not only reduce carbon emissions, but will also ensure production of clean water. This can support sustainable livelihoods for the 25% of the worlds population who rely on forests. Meeting these pledges will also help to conserve biodiversity. This is critical, since forests are home to 80% of the worlds terrestrial biodiversity. Despite the many challenges, this would be a genuine win-win for people and the planet. Of course, we need to "trust and verify." Our team at NAU has been helping NASA develop satellite verification capabilities using data from GEDI (the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation), which is currently operating on the International Space Station. Forests also help reduce additional climate warming by taking 15 Gt of CO2 from the atmosphere each year, while releasing oxygen and water vapor. This ecosystem service that forests provide humanity is very real. Not only do forests keep our atmosphere oxygen rich and sustain fresh water, both of which we all require to survive, they also effectively lock carbon away in woody biomass until it slowly decomposes or is rapidly released by fire. If we can keep forests intact, and not subject to intense wildfires, most of this carbon will stay out of the atmosphere. Not only that, healthy forests will continue to remove massive amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. For all of these reasons, forests are an important resource in our efforts to reduce climate change and maintain a viable planet that sustains us all. Scott Goetz is a Regents Professor of Global Earth Observation and Ecological Informatics in the NAU School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems (SICCS). He is the Science Lead of NASAs Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) and Deputy Principal Investigator of NASAs Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI). Spotlight on Climate is sponsored by the NAU Center for Adaptable Western Landscapes, https://www.cawl.nau.edu, and the Northern Arizona Climate Change Alliance, www.NAZCCA.org/volunteer. Dr. Stefan Sommer, Stefan.Sommer@nau.edu, is with the NAU Center for Adaptable Western Landscapes, https://www.cawl.nau.edu, and the Northern Arizona Climate Change Alliance, www.NAZCCA.org/volunteer. Love 4 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 This safe, inexpensive, and essential vitamin has scientific credentials but remains unused or prohibited Most people know that vitamin C supports the immune system. This finding is backed up by several studies and yet hospitals rarely use it to treat COVID-19. Indeed, a review of 12 studies, including five gold standard randomized controlled trials, shows that this simple vitamin saves lives when given in the right dose. The review, which was published in the journal Life, was carried out and funded by VitaminC4Covid, a consortium of vitamin C experts including Dr. Marcela Vizcaychipi from the Faculty of Medicine at Londons Imperial College, Associate Professor Anitra Carr, who heads the Nutrition in Medicine group at the University of Otago, and Dr. Paul Marik, chief of the Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, Eastern Virginia Medical School. The studies show that COVID-19 patients have depleted vitamin C levels, often to the level found in scurvy. In patients with serious pneumonia, a depleted vitamin C level greatly increases the risk of widespread internal organ damage and death. They need substantial doses of vitamin C to recover and survive. Vizcaychipi, who heads research in intensive care medicine at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in the United Kingdom, has been giving COVID and non-COVID patients in its intensive care units up to 6 grams (6,000 mg) of vitamin C intravenously. The dosage is dependent on the severity of the disease and the amount needed to correct a deficiency, as indicated by vitamin C urine test sticks. Vitamin C is certainly one of multiple factors that contributes to better outcomes and speed of recovery. It should be standard practice. We have not had any safety issues at all, Vizcaychipi says. In the United States, a group of medical doctors, members of the Frontline COVID Critical Care Alliance (www.flccc.net) have more than halved mortality in their ICUs using the MATH+ protocol of steroids (methylprednisolone), vitamin C (ascorbic acid), vitamin B1 (thiamine), vitamin D, and anticoagulants (heparin). This protocol was pioneered by Drs. Paul Marik, Pierre Kory, and Joseph Varon, a critical care expert recognized by the United Nations for his life-saving work. Currently, Marik, director of the intensive care unit at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, is being prohibited from using this safe and effective life-saving protocol by Sentara Health on the false grounds of a lack of evidence. He is suing them. This case is about doctors, having the ability to honor their Hippocratic Oath, to follow evidence-based medicine, and to treat our patients the best we know how. I refuse to watch another patient die from COVID-19 knowing that I was not allowed to give them proven treatments that could have saved their life. According to the review, the 12 clinical trials show that intravenous vitamin C may improve oxygenation parameters, reduce inflammatory markers, decrease days in the hospital, and reduce mortality, particularly in the more severely ill patients. What is remarkable about vitamin C is that its an antioxidant, an anti-viral, and also anti-inflammatory. Its an impressive three-in-one defender. Not one adverse event has been reported in any published vitamin C clinical trials in COVID-19 patients. The review also shows that high doses of oral vitamin C taken upon infection may keep people out of the hospital because it increases their rate of recovery. According to Carr, Oral doses of 8 grams per day have been shown to increase the rate of recovery from symptomatic infection by 70 percent. For more critically ill patients, trials using doses of 6-24g a day intravenously have shown positive benefits in terms of increased survival, and reduced hospital stay, improved oxygenation, or reduced inflammation. It takes 20 oranges to provide a total of only one gram of vitamin C, so these doses require supplementation. The review includes several studies showing that patients with severe respiratory infections have depleted vitamin C status, with the prevalence of deficiency increasing with the severity of the condition. In one study, vitamin C levels predicted who would or wouldnt survive. Plasma levels of vitamin C were reported to be very low in 70 to 80 percent of COVID patients. What is clear is that several grams, not just a glass of orange juice, are needed to correct severe vitamin C deficiency. For over a year, the VitaminC4Covid team has been calling on government advisors to carry out a proper review of the evidence for vitamin C, in order to inform the public and medical profession. Vitamin C is safe, inexpensive, available, and proven to work. You are invited to refer to www.vitaminC4covid.com/recommendations for detailed guidance on what to take for prevention, for early treatment, if severe and hospitalized, and if in the intensive care unit. The ORTHOMOLECULAR MEDICINE NEWS SERVICE is a wire-service-style news feed directed to members of the press, radio and TV news media. Republished from Greenmedinfo.com 3 Women Charged With Beating Airline Security Officer at JFK NEW YORKThree women are facing federal charges of attacking an airline security worker who tried to block them from boarding a flight at New Yorks John F. Kennedy Airport in September because of what prosecutors say was problematic behavior, including a refusal to wear a mask properly. The three were released on $25,000 bond each after arraignment Thursday in federal court in Brooklyn. Two defendants attorneys, Mia Eisner-Grynberg and Jacob Barclay Mitchell, declined to comment Friday; a message was left for the third womans attorney. Prosecutors said in court papers that the women were trying to board a Delta Air Lines flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Sept. 22. They had ordered a total of about nine alcoholic drinks in four hours at airport bars while waiting for a delayed departure, according to prosecutors. When the three arrived at the departure gate, the flight crew decided they shouldnt be allowed on because they were acting belligerent, one wouldnt wear her mask as required by federal regulation, and another appeared disoriented and was having trouble walking, prosecutors said. A Delta security officer and a gate agent approached the trio in the jet bridge and asked them to go back, saying they could get a flight later in the day, according to prosecutors court papers. They said the women refused, one of them hit the security officer in the head with his two-way radio, another punched the gate agent in the face when the agent tried to intervene, and the third stepped on the security officers face as all three kicked and hit him after he fell to the floor. The flight crew eventually pulled him behind some jet bridge doors and held them shut as the women lashed out at the crew, according to prosecutors. The gate agent and the security officer were taken to a hospital and havent returned to work. The extreme and aggressive behavior in connection with our air travel is out of control, Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement. Delta Air Lines Inc. said it would work with authorities to make sure this unacceptable conduct is held to account. Nothing is more important than the safety of our employees and customers, and we have zero tolerance for physical violence on our airports and on our planes, the Atlanta-based airline said in a statement. Airlines reported more than 5,000 episodes involving unruly passengers last year. Airlines and their worker unions have been pushing authorities to be more aggressive about criminal prosecution in severe cases of air rage. 95 Percent of Eligible Australians Over 16 Have Received One Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt has announced that 95 percent of eligible Australians aged over 16 have received a first dose of a vaccine against COVID-19. Hunt said the milestone had gone beyond almost all predictions made at the outset of the pandemic. We have achieved the 95 percent vaccination rate that is often referred to as a full vaccination level but we want to go further, we want to continue to encourage Australians to come forward, Hunt told reporters on Saturday. Just over 92 percent of eligible Australians aged 16 and over have now had two doses of vaccine, while over 52 percent have received a third, booster dose. Vaccines provisionally approved by Australias Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) are Comirnaty (the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine), Vaxzevria (the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine), and Spikevax (the Moderna vaccine), approved for ages 5 and older, 18 and over, and 12 years and over, respectively. Children aged between five and 11 became eligible for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines on Monday, with more than 250,000 getting a first dose so far. Meanwhile, a decision is expected in the coming 10 days on the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine by the TGA. Some 51 million doses of the protein-based vaccine have been ordered by the federal government. Hunt also said there were signs of hope around the almost one million cases of COVID-19 nationwide as the Omicron variant spreads through the population. Chief Medical Officer, Paul Kelly, said the Omicron wave in the states of New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria, and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), were close to the peak. All predictions and now the actual forecasting based on actual numbers of cases, particularly in NSW but also in Victoria and ACT, leads me to believe that we are close to the peak of this wave in terms of cases, he said, noting infections are likely to be going under-reported. However, Kelly noted the situation in Western Australia is another story. When they do start to get cases it will be later on. But for most of the rest of Australia, we are still on that upward curve, we may be plateauing and then there is a downswing of cases after that, he said. Kelly also noted there will be a rise in hospitalisations and deaths in the coming weeks but noted the overall rate of severe disease is extremely low. Actor Alec Baldwin attends the 2019 PEN America Literary Gala at the American Museum of Natural History in New York on May 21, 2019. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) Alec Baldwin Turns Over Cellphone Amid Probe Into Deadly Rust Shooting Alec Baldwin has handed over his cellphone to investigators as part of a probe into the fatal shooting on the movie set Rust in New Mexico. The Santa Fe District Attorneys Office confirmed to multiple news outlets on Friday that Baldwin gave the phone to law enforcement officials in Suffolk County, New York, who will gather information from the phone and provide that to the Santa Fe County Sheriffs Office in New Mexico. The Santa Fe detective leading the probe obtained the search warrant for the actors Apple iPhone in mid-December 2021 to look at text messages, emails, and other relevant information. The detective said she requested the warrant as suspects, victims, and witnesses often make and/or receive telephone calls and/or messages before, during, and/or after the commission of crime(s). It comes after a Thursday news release from the Santa Fe County Sheriffs Office saying Baldwin had not complied with a search warrant requesting he hand over the phone and that a New Mexico prosecutor was now working with the actors lawyer to get it. Baldwins lawyer, Aaron Dyer, later said he had reached a deal with New Mexico authorities to turn in the phone after steps were taken to protect the actors privacy over matters unrelated to the Rust investigation. Mr. Baldwins phone is being turned over this week for review, Dyer said in a statement. Mr. Baldwin has continued to cooperate with the authorities, and any suggestion to the contrary is simply untrue. Last week, Baldwin posted a video on Instagram in which he said he was concerned about protecting his privacy, but that he would comply with the request to hand over his phone. Baldwin is accused of having fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on Oct. 21, 2021, while rehearsing in the movie Rust at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe in northern New Mexico. The film set of Rust, where Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer and wounded a director when he discharged a prop gun, is seen from a distance, in Santa Fe, N.M., on Oct. 23, 2021. (Kevin Mohatt/Reuters) The 63-year-old actor previously said he was given an antique pistol for the rehearsal, and it went off during the rehearsal. The gun fired a live round that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 43, and injured Rust director Joel Souza, 48. In an interview with ABCs George Stephanopoulos that aired Dec. 2, Baldwin, the films producer, said he did not pull the trigger on the gun when it went off. The New Mexico prosecutor overseeing the case has said some people who handled guns on the set may face criminal charges in connection with Hutchinss death. Reuters contributed to this report. COVID-19 rapid at-home test kits rest on a table at a free distribution event for those who received vaccination shots or booster shots, at Union Station, in Los Angeles, Calif., on Jan. 7, 2022. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) Americans Will Be Able to Order At-Home CCP Virus Tests Next Week Starting next week, Americans can begin ordering rapid COVID-19 tests through a new government-sponsored website, though with a limit of four tests per residential address, the Biden administration announced on Friday. The tests will typically be shipped to households via the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) within 7 to 12 days of ordering them on the website: COVIDTests.govwhich will go live next Wednesday. To help ensure Americans have tests on hand if a need arises, the Biden Administration is purchasing 1 billion at-home, rapid COVID-19 tests to give to Americans for free, the White House said in a statement. A half-billion tests will be available for order on Jan. 19 and will be mailed directly to American households, it added. The Biden administration also announced that in order to ensure equity and access for all Americans, there will be a call line available for those who are unable to access the website to place their order. The batch of tests, paid for by taxpayers, is aimed at easing a shortage of COVID-19 tests across the country amid increased demand during the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. American Postal Workers Union President Mark Dimondstein said the union had agreed to allow the USPS to use up to 7,000 temporary workers to label and package the test kits at 43 existing facilities. Many of those are holiday workers being held over for the project. President of the American Postal Workers Union Mark Dimondstein speaks during a House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 24, 2021. (Graeme Jenning/Pool/Getty Images) The kits could be mailed to as many as 160 million U.S. addresses, Dimondstein said. The USPS has already brought in some labeling machines. Were off and running, Dimondstein said. The government expects to pay some $4 billion to cover the first 500 million tests promised by President Joe Biden, a White House official said. In addition, the Biden administration said this week it will up the number of COVID-19 tests it provides to schools to 5 million rapid tests and 5 million lab-based PCR tests each month. The increase in testing comes after the administration has already spent $130 billion from the American Rescue Plan meant to keep schools open, plus an additional $10 billion for testing at schools. Biden has been criticized that his administration has mainly focused on getting people vaccinated, but hasnt done enough to encourage mask-wearing and spur testing. The number of CCP virus cases nationwide has risen substantially over the past few weeks. This weeks data counts a 47 percent increase in cases, with an average of 751,000 per day. Hospitalizations are up 33 percent to 19,800 each day, and there are also 40 percent more COVID-related deaths at 1,600 each day. Reuters contributed to this report. From NTD News Run For Pat can clock up the miles Back Run For Pat @ 2/1 in the 13:25 at Fairyhouse A whole heap of horses line up in the 13:24 Maiden Hurdle, and while there are plenty of numbers, 12 of them were 66/1 plus last night on the Sportsbook, it has no depth. And with Arthur Moore's Whowonthetoss favourite at 11/8 I am keen to take him on with Gordon Elliott's Run For Pat at 2/1. He finished third on his debut at Navan last month, and in terms of jumping it was a rather inauspicious beginning with several scrappy leaps. He produced a couple of better jumps down the far side when the tempo slowed down, but down the straight he was messy and virtually flattened the final flight. However, he wasn't given a hard race and to the eye looked a stayer as he didn't pick up immediately. The ground was also good at Navan, and I doubt that suited as two of his half-brothers in Ballyward and Ifyoucatchmenow liked soft and heavy. Ballyward sadly died as a 7yo but had a big future with Willie Mullins, and he ran in the National Hunt Chase, so there is plenty of stamina in his pedigree. Whowonthetoss has the experience, and while he was in action against Sir Gerhard last time, he was well beaten at Leopardstown and has had four goes. Run For Pat was green on his first start and wasn't given a hard time of things by his jockey, so we should see a better horse today for Elliott, who already has 15 winners at Fairyhouse this season. Luccia can be taken on with Lacey's runner Back Blow Your Wad @ 9/4 in the 16:05 at Warwick A slightly left-field double today, quite a few were in contention for my second pick, and Secret She Keeps was one, but she's too short in the betting in Ireland, while Corach Rambler was another for Warwick's big race, but in the end I have gone for Blow Your Wad in the closing bumper, and I never mind backing a newcomer in a NH Flat race. Over Christmas we had Filanderer winning for the column on his first start at double figures, and this newcomer had been backed on Friday evening. Blow Your Wad was indeed that at the Goffs Landrover Sale last July, fetching 70,000 euros as a 3yo to join owners Jerry Hinds and Ashley Head. The price understable given his dam is a half-sister to the brilliant Champion Hurdle winner Faugheen. Jerry Hinds has had many good horses in his colours and owned one of my all-time favourites Megastar with Gary Moore. What a looker he was. His trainer Tom Lacey has success in the bumper sphere and has held an 18% strike-rate over the last five seasons with 21 winners. Nicky Henderson's Luccia is the favourite, and while it's a bit of cliche to say if Blow Your Wad was trained by Henderson he'd be shorter, it's probably true. I'd rather back him than Luccia at 7/4. The double pays nearly 9/1. David Saint-Jacques collects breath, ambient air, and blood samples aboard the International Space Station in an undated photo obtained by Reuters on Jan. 14, 2022. (NASA Anne McClain/Handout via Reuters) Anemia in Astronauts Could Be a Challenge for Space Missions The next giant leap for humans may be a trip to Mars, but having enough oxygen-carrying red blood cells for the journey might present a challenge, new research suggests. Even space tourists lining up for short trips might have to stay home if they are at risk for anemia, or red blood cell deficiency, researchers said. Astronauts are known to experience space anemia but until now it was thought to be temporary. One NASA study called it a 15-day ailment. Doctors attributed it to destruction of red blood cells, or hemolysis, resulting from fluid shifts as astronauts bodies accommodated to weightlessness and again as they re-accommodated to gravity. In fact, anemia is a primary effect of going to space, said Dr. Guy Trudel of the University of Ottawa, who led a study of 14 astronauts funded by the Canadian Space Agency. As long as you are in space, you are destroying more blood cells than you are making. Normally, the body destroys and replaces nearly 2 million red blood cells per second. Trudels team found astronauts bodies destroyed 3 million red blood cells per second during their six-month missions. We thought we knew about space anemia, and we did not, Trudel said. The astronauts generated extra red cells to compensate for the destroyed ones. But, Trudel asked, how long can the body constantly produce 50 percent more red cells? A roundtrip mission to Mars would take about two years, NASA estimated. If you are on your way to Mars and you cant keep up with the need to produce all those extra red blood cells, you could be in serious trouble, Trudel said. Having fewer red blood cells in space is not a problem when your body is weightless, he added. But after landing on Earth, and potentially on other planets, anemia could affect astronauts energy, endurance and strength. A year after returning to Earth, the astronauts red blood cells had not completely returned to pre-flight levels, his team reported on Friday in Nature Medicine. Trudel also studies the effects of immobility on patients who are bedridden for weeks or months. The new findings mimic what he sees in his patients, he said, which suggests that what happens in space may also be happening in immobile patients. A solution to one could also apply to the other, he said. Sulekha Anand, who researches human physiology at San Jose State University and was not involved in the study, agreed. The findings have implications for understanding the physiological consequences of space flight and anemia in patients on the ground, she said. Trudels team is studying ways to solve the problem, he said. By Harikrishnan Nair New Yorkers Protest Outside of Rep. Ocasio-Cortezs Queens Office in Freezing Cold NEW YORKProtesters held a demonstration outside the Queens office of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Jan. 14. The activists, not representing any one organization, said their purpose was to persuade Ocasio-Cortez, also known as AOC, to introduce legislation in the House of Representatives to stop U.S. military involvement in Yemen. Several of the protesters who participated were senior citizens, giving the illusion of a Woodstock reunion. Alice Sturm Sutter has been participating in anti-war demonstrations since she was 20, during the Vietnam War era. Im here because Im so horrified that were still in the war attacking the people of Yemen, Sutter told The Epoch Times. Sutter sees the situation as a humanitarian catastrophe. People are suffering starvation, cholera, she said. People cannot get food. While Sutters winter coat was adorned with buttons that read Black Lives Matter and Climate Emergency, she puts the blame on both parties, saying the United States has been cozying up to Saudi Arabia (which is at the center of the conflict) in each administration since President Barack Obama was in office. Sutter doesnt think its up to any one party to fix the situation. Id like everyone in Congress to listen to their conscience and to spearhead a resolution, she said. Were appealing to AOC because we think we have some chance of success. However, Ocasio-Cortezs website currently has a notice stating that neither of her New York offices are staffed, due to public health guidance from the House physician. Just less than a year ago, on Feb. 5, President Biden said that the war in Yemen was a disgrace and a humanitarian disaster, agreeing with most of the world, Brian Terrell told The Epoch Times. And he said then that this war had to stop, and the U.S. was going to stop providing weapons to the Saudis. Biden has yet to make good on that promise. Terrell feels the money currently being made in weapons manufacturing is an example of what President Dwight Eisenhower meant when he spoke about the military-industrial complex. The demonstration was organized by Alice Pote, a 30-year-old from Manhattan. Theres ample opportunity and a very clear need based on the situation in Yemen for someone in AOCs position to act, and given all that shes said about opposing war and so on, its pretty outrageous that shes not acting, Pote told The Epoch Times. What are these progressive politicians actually doing? Several speakers used a megaphone to address the demonstrators and passersby, leading chants of Biden, you cant hide; youre supporting genocide and We dont want a photo op; we want this war to stop. This is an extraordinary situation where with very few members of Congress who we think might do something and could do something, Terrell said. I have great hopes in AOC that she might. Biden Admin Threatens to Claw Back COVID-19 Funding From Arizona Over Anti-Mask Mandate Rules The Biden administration has issued a letter to Arizona threatening to take back COVID-19 relief funds sent to the state, saying that Arizonas provisions discourage schools from mandating masks. In a letter (pdf) sent on Jan. 14, the Treasury Department warned the state of Arizona that it has 60 days to remove or redesign the anti-mask-mandate provisions that the Biden administration deems to be inconsistent with the purpose and requirements of the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) program. Failure to do so may result in Treasury initiating an action to recoup SLFRF funds used in violation of the eligible uses, and the department may also withhold funds from the State of Arizonas second tranche installment of SLFRF funds. The Treasury Department takes issue with two of the states programs. The first is Arizonas Education Plus-Up Grant Program, which provides $163 million in funding to schools. However, districts that require masks arent eligible for the grant funds. The second is the COVID-19 Educational Recovery Benefit program, which provides for up to $7,000 for parentsonly if they meet income requirements and if the childs school is isolating, quarantining, or subjecting children to physical COVID-19 constraints in schools, such as requiring the use of masks or providing preferential treatment to vaccinated studentscontrary to the provisions established in Laws 2021, Chapter 404, section 12. The relevant section reads, A school district or charter school may not require a student or teacher to receive a vaccine for COVID-19 or to wear a face covering to participate in in-person instruction. Kathleen Victorino, acting deputy chief compliance officer of the U.S. Treasury Office of Recovery Programs, wrote in the letter that federal guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends universal masking indoors by all students, staff, teachers, and visitors to K12 schools. By discouraging families and school districts from following this guidance, the conditions referenced above undermine efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19, Victorino wrote. Accordingly, these school programs as currently structured are ineligible uses of SLFRF funds. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey criticized the letter. When it comes to education, President [Joe] Biden wants to continue focusing on masks. In Arizona, were going to focus on math and getting kids caught up after a year of learning loss, he wrote on Twitter on Jan. 14. We will respond to this letter, and we will continue to focus on things that matter to Arizonans. Arizona has received about half of the almost $4.2 billion awarded to the state (pdf) under the SLFRF program, a part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The program delivers $350 billion to state, local, and tribal governments across the United States to support COVID-19 response and recovery. A Cambodian woman (R) receives a shot of fourth dose of the Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine at a heath center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Jan. 14, 2022. (Heng Sinith/AP Photo) Cambodia Launches 4th Round of COVID-19 Vaccinations PHNOM PENH, CambodiaCambodia on Friday began a fourth round of vaccinations against COVID-19 in response to the Omicron variant, with high-risk groups among the first to receive the additional boosters. Front-line medical staff and members of the armed forces were among those lining up at hospitals and clinics. Government ministers, including Prime Minister Hun Sen, also received booster doses on Friday. Almost 90 percent of Cambodias 16 million people have had at least one dose, over 85 percent have had a second shot and more than 27 percent have had a third, according to the government. But the Chinese Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines have been found to have less efficacy than others against the Omicron variant, especially with the passage of time, so the fourth round of high-priority vaccinations is using Cambodias more limited supply of Pfizer vaccines. Neighboring Thailand, which like Cambodia was largely reliant on the Chinese vaccines during the early stages of its inoculation program last year, announced last week that fourth doses will be given to medical personnel whose third shot was at least three months ago. Cambodias first case of the Omicron variant was confirmed in mid-December in a 23-year-old woman who returned from Ghana. Cambodia reopened its borders to fully vaccinated travelers on Nov. 15, two weeks earlier than originally planned, in a move aimed at revitalizing the countrys economic and social activity. Restrictions on domestic tourism, schools, and other sectors were also lifted at the start of the month. CDC Advises More Americans to Wear N95 Masks in Updated Guidance The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its mask guidance on Jan. 14, advising more Americans to wear masks such as the N95 or KN95 respirators largely used by health care workers, for the most protection against COVID-19. The federal health agency removed concerns that those kinds of masks are in short supply and should only be used by those in the medical sector. In its update, the CDC underscored that properly fitted N95 and KN95 masks offer the most protection, saying that the shortages are no longer a concern. White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said during a news conference on Jan. 12 that CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky recommends that Americans to wear a well-fitting mask, which can include multiple-layered cloth masks, N95s, K95s, or other types. Jeff Zients, the White Houses COVID-19 response czar, speaks during a press briefing at the White House, in Washington on April 13, 2021. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images) Zients added that N95 masks are currently widely available in the United States and that the government has a strong stockpile of over 750 million masks. One of the first things we did when we entered office was to significantly improve our manufacturing and stockpile of all PPE, he said. Despite the change in the agencys mask recommendation, Walensky said that the CDC continues to advise Americans that any mask is better than no mask. The latest CDC guidance notes that there is a special category of surgical N95 masks that are specially designed for protection against blood splashes and other operating room hazards. Those arent generally available for sale to the public, and should continue to be reserved for health care workers, the agency said. The CDC and health experts have evolved their guidance about masks throughout the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic. In an earlier update, CDC officials said disposable N95 masks could be used in certain situations if supplies allowed, including being near large groups of people for extended periods of time on a train, bus, or airplane; taking care of someone in poor health; or being more susceptible to severe illness. Registered nurse Scott McGieson wears an N95 mask as he walks out of a patients room in the acute care unit of Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, on Jan. 14, 2022. (Elaine Thompson/AP Photo) Compared to more commonly worn surgical masks or cloth face coverings, when worn properly, N95s fit more closely to the face and provide at least a 95 percent protection level against airborne viruses, according to the CDC. Meanwhile KN95s, which work similarly to N95 masks, are regulated by Chinese authorities. They were authorized by the CDC as a suitable alternative for N95s due to shortages during the onset of the pandemic last year, although some have previously raised concerns that the majority of non-certified KN95 masks from China do not meet U.S. standards for effectiveness. Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) sent a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Jan. 11 requesting that masks and other PPE provided to Congress members be domestically produced. Members of Congress should not have to wear masks manufactured by unfriendly regimes. President Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party pose a clear and real threat to our nation, one that must be taken seriously, reads the letter. Last week, President Joe Biden said the government would launch an effort soon to make high-quality masks available to Americans for free. So, next week, well announce how were making high-quality masks available to American people, the American people, for free, said Biden, who wasnt wearing a mask while speaking at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington on Jan. 13. The Biden administration, which has been grappling with a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in recent weeks, is responding by expanding access to COVID-19 tests and sending military medical teams to hospitals, among other initiatives. Danella Perez Schmieloz and The Associated Press contributed to this report. From NTD News Charges Filed Against 4 in Slaying of Off-Duty LA Officer LOS ANGELESFederal prosecutors have charged four people in connection with the robbery and killing of an off-duty Los Angeles police officer and allege the suspects are tied to a street gang, authorities said Thursday. Officer Fernando Arroyos, 27, was fatally shot at about 9:15 p.m. Monday in an unincorporated area of south Los Angeles County. The suspects allegedly targeted him because of two silver chains or necklaces around his neck, authorities said. Authorities have said Arroyos was shopping for a house with his girlfriend when a pickup truck approached. Several suspects got out, there was an argument and gunfire was exchanged between the assailants and the officer. Arroyos was shot once; his girlfriend was not hurt. The U.S. Attorneys Office in Los Angeles announced the charges on Thursday. The sheriffs department was investigating the case, and took the suspects into custody on Wednesday, because the crime occurred in an unincorporated area of the county. The defendants are charged with violent crime in aid of racketeering; they are allegedly connected to the Florencia 13 (F13) gang. The crimes were allegedly committed in furtherance of the gang, authorities said. The violence occurred in the gangs territory, authorities said. The suspects are alleged gang members Luis Alfredo De La Rosa Rios, 29, known as Lil J; Ernesto Cisneros, 22, known as Gonzo and Jesse Contreras, 34, known as Skinny Jack and Flaco. Rios girlfriend, 18-year-old Haylee Marie Grisham, is considered an associate of the gang. Another LAPD officer identified Contreras in surveillance footage because the officer had encountered him and Rios in the truck on Sunday during a traffic stop, authorities said. Rios and Contreras were ordered held without bail Friday and are scheduled to return to federal court on Jan. 28, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office in Los Angeles. Florencia 13 is a Latino street gang founded in the early 1950s and based in the Florence-Firestone neighborhood of South LA, according to a federal affidavit. The violent group controls drug trafficking in the area and is allegedly overseen by the Mexican Mafia. Rios, Cisneros, and Contreras allegedly admitted, in their interviews with law enforcement, that they are members of the gang, and have tattoos related to it, the affidavit states. Authorities also placed people working with law enforcement in jail cells with the suspects to glean more information. Rios, however, allegedly told investigators that the foursome had been looking to make money that nightto rob people of property or cash, according to the affidavit. Grisham told someone in her jail cell that she had allegedly had participated in a robbery earlier that day. Around 9:15 p.m., the group spotted Arroyos and his girlfriend, Rios said, and Contreras allegedly told him to get the chain and handed him a gun. Rios and Cisneros allegedly confronted the couple and pointed the guns at them, authorities said. They allegedly stole items from both, including a black walking stick from the officers girlfriend, and removed the silver chainsone with a sword pendantfrom Arroyos neck. Rios told investigators he saw Cisneros take Arroyos wallet, the affidavit states. Cisneros handed Rios the wallet, and Rios later took $100 out, and threw it on the ground. At some point, a shootout began and Arroyos was struck once. He ran toward an alley and collapsed as Rios and Cisneros fled. Sheriffs deputies, responding to a call for help, loaded Arroyos into their cruiser and rushed him to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. LAPD Chief Michel Moore, at a news conference Thursday night to announce the charges, lamented that the robbery and slaying were over minimal property. Still, he added: I will tell you that those two chains and a wallet mean, Im sure, the world to the family. Rios allegedly admitted to firing at least once and said he believed Cisneros also shot at Arroyos. A bullet grazed Rios ribcage and Cisneros appeared to have broken his leg. Surveillance video shows the pickup truck pulling up at a home near the shooting and Contreras can be seen getting out of the truck, authorities said. He is then seen helping an apparently injured Cisneros out of the truck, according to court documents. All four suspects were in the truck, prosecutors say. The whole group was allegedly at the scene of the robbery and shooting. Sheriff Alex Villanueva said investigators brought the case to Los Angeles County prosecutors but District Attorney George Gascon had previously pledged to stop seeking gang enhancements in prosecutions. Villanueva, during the news conference, said the depravity behind Arroyos slaying should bring harsher punishments, so detectives took the case to federal authorities. Under federal charges, the suspects could face the death penalty, or the minimum sentence of the life in prison without the possibility of parole, because Arroyos was killed during the robbery, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office. A loaded handgun that allegedly belonged to one of the suspects was found at the scene, but Arroyos chains and wallet remain missing. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) shakes hand with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as he welcomes him at a hotel in Ahmadabad, India, on Sept. 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) Chinas CCP vs Indias BJP: Tiananmen Red Flag Propaganda Video at Galwan Signals Rocky 2022 Relationship NEW DELHI, IndiaThe Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began its new year greetings to India with a propaganda video showing its troops at Galwan valley with a red flag from Tiananmen Square. Galwan valley is a large region over 17,800 feet above sea level on both sides of the disputed India-China border and includes the site of a bloody conflict between the two neighbors in June 2020. Chinas national flag rise[s] over Galwan Valley on the New Year Day of 2022, wrote Shen Shiwei, a Chinese overseas stake analyst based in Beijing whose Twitter account is described as Chinese state-affiliated media. This national flag is very special since it once flew over Tiananmen Square in Beijing, wrote Shen. The same video is shared from other Chinese state mouthpieces. The symbolic red flag on the communist side of the Galwan valley was reciprocated with an Indian tri-color on the Indian side of the valley and this exchange began a year of political hyperactivity on both sides, albeit of different natures. The CCP is readying for its 20th Party Congress somewhere in the fall but before that happens India will have witnessed multiple elections to its key national and state-level institutions including presidential elections, by-elections in its House of the People (Lok Sabha), Upper House of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and seven state elections that will significantly impact the next national elections in 2024. The 14th round of military talks between the two countries ended without any positive outcomes on January 12, while 60,000 troops continue to be stationed on either side during the extremely harsh trans-Himalayan winters. While all this is happening on the border, sources in the capital of New Delhi told The Epoch Times that the CCP has a multipronged strategy to make a bigger impact on the political landscape of India. CCP aggression on the border in 2022, among other things, is aimed at discrediting Indias ruling party, the Bhartiya Janta Party, which has stood up to the CCP and adopted assertive policies to combat its aggression. Efforts have been made to support and fund parties and candidates favoring the CCP and using Indian media and social media platforms for its propaganda. Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures as he addresses a public meeting ahead of the Assam Assembly elections, in Bokakhat, India, on March 21, 2021. (Biju Boro/AFP via Getty Images) CCP vs BJP Chandra Mishra, a Varanasi based political strategist who has worked with all major political parties of India across five states and with six Chief Ministers of India, told The Epoch Times over the phone that in the past three years there are developments in Indian politics vis-a-vis the external impact on the Indian politics, specifically of China. During the cold war when the world was divided between two superpowers, the United States and the USSR, the latter played a significant role in Indian politics, and now as the cold war equations change, China wants to take over that role inside India, according to Mishra. China wants to project itself as a superpower, said Mishra, adding that until China gains supremacy in its backyard, in South Asia, it cant take over the world. This control cant be achieved without gaining influence over Indias politics. A New Delhi source with in-depth knowledge on the matter told The Epoch Times on condition of anonymity that the CCP is already meddling in the upcoming elections in India. The Chinese embassy funds anti-BJP candidates in parliamentary elections and they also fund some media to promote anti-BJP propaganda, the source said. Mishra said that the kind of disruption, the kind of interference China is creating around India, all those things are deliberate. China doesnt want to invade India but plans to covertly influence its political and policy-making institutions for its long-term goals. China wants to discredit the power of the ruling class of India. Many things happening on the border, any kind of tensions on the border, will have a direct impact on domestic politics, on the voters, because the narrative of the ruling party is based on nationalism, said Mishra. The BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, became the worlds largest political party in 2015, overtaking the CCP in membership. Mishra said the partys leadership is very much aware of the conflict of interest with an aggressively expansionist CCP that wants to be the unchallenged superpower in the world. He described a serious ideological difference between the two political parties, saying Chinas goal of having monopolistic control over the largest market called India doesnt go well with the BJP that has a strong voter base among the small-time traders in India. After Galwan, when Modi government applied trade restrictions on China, Modi gave the slogan Vocal for Local to appease this community and support it during the pandemic-related economic meltdown. Chinas wish to control the Indian market also conflicts with Modis strong diplomatic clout. Since the BJP gained an absolute majority in the last elections in the Indian parliament, it gained electoral power to take strong decisions that dont gel with the CCP agenda. Mishra defined the other conflict of interest as a geopolitical advantage of India to provide a free base for the U.S. or any anti-China power in a situation of conflict, as well as the global image and ambition of Modi. This year Modi was voted for the third consecutive year as the worlds most popular leader with a 70 percent approval rating among 13 world leaders in the polls conducted by the Morning Consult Political Intelligence. The fans of Modi ji at home view him as someone deserving a Nobel Prize, like Obama, said Mishra, adding that Modis visit to the United States was like a film to the Indian audience, especially when the U.S. had [previously] declined him a Visa. Modi is the only Indian leader who gets so much global attention despite the strong Hindu image of his party. In this view, Chinese leadership sees a threat in Modi. Immediately after the Galwan conflict in June 2020, pro-Chinese handles with the help of a few small-time politicians as well as Chinese bots, spearheaded a misinformation campaign on social media to support the China narrative, according to the Law and Society Alliance, a New Delhi based think tank. In its report, Mapping Chinese Footprints and Influence Operations in India, the think tank said Twitter hashtags like #ChinaComesModiRuns by pro-Chinese handles became one of the most trending hashtags with more than 40,000 tweets at the time. Chinese Leader Xi Jinping attends the commemoration of the 110th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 9, 2021. (Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images) Will Xi Attack? Theres also a lot more happening on the India-China border that call for attention, say analysts. Chinas new land border law became applicable on Jan. 1 and on Dec. 29, China gave standardized names for 15 places in Arunachal Pradesh, a state in India that China claims and that incidentally is also ruled by the BJP. Frank Lehberger, a sinologist specializing in CCP politics and a senior fellow at the Indian think tank Usanas Foundation, told The Epoch Times that the insurgents in Indias northeast are supported by China, and any terrorist activities in that region build criticism and erode popular support for the Indian government. However, despite all symbolic gestures of aggression on the border, Chinese leader Xi Jinping will not carry out any large-scale invasion against India or Taiwan in 2022 because in Chinas current political atmosphere hes vulnerable, Lehberger said. In 2022, Xi Jinpings paramount concern is making it safely to and past the 20th Central Committee, so until December 2022 he will not engage in major military action anywhere outside China, he said. Of Course, unforeseen accidents can still happen, but Xis foremost goal is to make it alive to the Congress and become CCP boss for life, which is still not guaranteed. Lehberger also said that the Red flag at Galwan Valley from Tiananmen Square was quasi-religious because the Square with the adjacent Imperial Palace, where the Peoples Republic of China was proclaimed in 1949, is widely understood by ordinary Chinese as being the focal point, the CCPs symbolic seat of power. According to the ruling ideology, any particular red flag that has flown at this focal point is imbibed with some inspirational powers thought to arouse fervent feelings of loyalty and patriotism. He said the red flag at Galwan is mostly a gesture by the CCP toward its Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) due to leaderships belief that its soldiers lack sufficient patriotic fervor. The incident is also used to create a public opinion and war perception in India. Pointing at the annual training and mobilization order signed by Xi on Jan. 4 for the entire PLA, Lehberger said that unlike previous orders, the 2022 one is highly personalized, with Xi Jinping writing, I command This is unusual because the order launches training activities for the entire PLA and the CCP leadership is still supposed to be collective. So this order Nr. 1 in 2022 is a reflection of Xis increasingly dictatorial ambitions that even exhibit some non-communist and outright fascist traits, he said adding that for the BJP and India to understand the CCPs behavior, it needs to understand whats happening inside the CCP. Chinas Real Estate Crisis Sheds Light on More Debt Problems Credit crunch hitting commercial paper and municipal bonds News Analysis Chinas real estate sector defaults are now spreading to other parts of the economy, with commercial paper and local government debts set to become the next crises. Shanghai Commercial Paper Exchange reported that companies controlled by real estate developersShimao Group Holdings, Kaisa Group Holdings, and Greenland Grouphave been consistently overdue on commercial paper payments. Commercial paper is a short-term debt instrument, frequently used by companies in China. The number of delinquent firms in China increased by 26 percent in December. In total, 484 companies were overdue on at least three commercial paper payments in the final quarter of 2021. The sharp increase in defaults demonstrates a lack of liquidity in the market. The list of defaults has now expanded from real estate companies to materials suppliers and construction companies, suggesting that the real estate sector crisis is beginning to drag down other types of companies as well. Minsheng Bank, considered the worlds worst performing bank, is one of the largest lenders to troubled real estate giant, Evergrande. The banks foray into real estate financing has put it on the wrong side of Chinas current credit crisis. The banks stock dropped by 31 percent over the past year, making it the worst performer in the Bloomberg World Banks Index. Bloomberg posits that Minshengs woes are the result of Chinese leader Xi Jinpings crackdown on the real estate sector, which accounts for approximately 30 percent of the Chinese economy. New home prices are falling and land sales are predicted to decrease by 20 percent in 2022. Meanwhile, local governments, which normally earn a significant income from the sale of land, are suffering. These declines are caused by a combination of credit unavailability and a loss of confidence in the sector. Additionally, with prices down, and fewer homes being sold, the revenues of developers are decreasing. Xis three red lines policy is reducing the flow of cheap credit to the real estate sector, preventing companies from taking additional loans or floating new bonds. As a result, developers are running out of cash to meet debt service payments. Evergrande announced on Jan. 10 that it had given up its headquarters building in Shenzhen, moving to a less expensive property, to cut costs. Onshore bondholders have also given their approval for a delayed payment. With the entire real estate sector in distress, other developers are scrambling to renegotiate and avoid default on their debt. Shimao Group will be holding online meetings with its creditors on Jan. 17, to discuss altering repayment terms. The company said last week that it missed $101 million in trust loan payments. The companys bond rating has been downgraded to junk status by S&P. The S&P called Shimaos liquidity weak, forecasting that it will worsen. This underscores the shortage of liquidity in the Chinese real estate sector. Similarly, another real estate developer, Yuzhou Group, is short of cash to make interest payments. The company recently announced an exchange offer, for the maturity of $582 million of its 2022 dollar bonds. It will also be discussing restructuring of an additional $4.5 billion worth of bonds, in order to avoid default. At the close of markets, in the first week of January, bonds of Chinese real estate developers were generally down. Sunac and Agile dropped 22.6 percent and 13.3 percent, respectively; while Shimao lost 9.4 percent of value. A yuan denominated bond from Yuzhou plummeted 21.8 percent, leading to trading being temporarily halted. Reuters predicts that the next casualty of Chinas debt crisis will be the municipal bond sector. A document from the state cabinet suggested that distressed local government finance vehicles (LGFV) should be allowed to crash. In 2020, LGFVs, used by local governments to keep debt off of their balance sheets, had reached a total of $8 trillion, which is more than half of Chinas GDP. LGFVs are now the largest issuers of offshore bonds, $31 billion of which will come due in 2022. Companies outside of the real estate industry, as well as banks and local governments, are now feeling the pinch, suggesting that a general slowdown and cash crunch are spilling over into the rest of the economy. Bloomberg says that this should serve as a warning for foreign companies investing in China. Goldman Sachs has lowered its China 2022 growth forecast to 4.3 percent. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Icons of the WeChat and Weibo apps are seen on a smartphone on Dec. 5, 2013. (Petar Kujundzic/Reuters) Chinese Economist Banned From Social Media for His Birth Boosting Suggestions A renowned Chinese economist has been banned from posting on his Twitter-like Weibo and WeChat accounts since Jan. 12, days after publishing his birth rate boosting suggestions. Ren Zeping, a former member of Chinas economic think tank and once chief economist of deeply indebted property giant Evergrande, suggested that the Chinese government print 2 trillion yuan (roughly $314 billion) every year as a way to boost the declining birth rate in the country. A line on his account page says: Due to violations of relevant laws and regulations, the user is currently banned from posting. But there is no explanation as to what laws and regulations he is deemed to have violated. On Jan. 10, Ren published a report on his Weibo account, stating that, based on a survey hed done, a major solution to Chinas declining birth rate was to reduce the cost of childbearing and raising children. Ren said in his report that his suggestion was a most pragmatic and effective way to address this issue. According to Ren, the Chinese government should establish a birth rate boosting fund with the Central Bank printing $314 billion every year for the fund in the coming decade. By doing so, China could expect an increase of 50 million children in the next ten years, solving the problems of an aging population and a low birth rate. On the next day, Ren posted two comments on his birth boosting suggestions. However, all the relevant posts were removed at 11 p.m., Jan. 12. Rens Weibo account had 3.57 million followers before it was banned. China Censors Online Information The Chinese regime has tightened its grip on the domestic internet system. On Dec. 14, 2021, the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) Cyberspace Administration Office summoned senior management and chief editor of Weibo for a talk in response to the recently repeated occurrence of publishing and transmission of information prohibited by laws and regulations on Weibo and by its users, and it fined Weibos operator $472,000 for those violations. From January to November 2021, the CCPs internet watchdog fined Weibos operator 44 times for a total amount of $2.25 million, according to a December report of the CCPs mouthpiece Xinhua News Agency. Rens ban will last two weeks, according to Reuters, citing the state-run Securities Times newspaper. The 21st Century Business Herald, a Chinese state-run financial outlet, cited an anonymous source in its report on Jan. 12, claiming that Rens views may be more likely to provoke public sentiment and receive some echoes, the consequences of which are believed to be something the authorities dont want to see. Netizens believe that Rens ban has to do with his birth rate boosting suggestions, as Chinas population control policies have always been a sensitive topic in China; and its aging population due to mandatory family planning policies will be a final blow to the Chinese economy. In the implementation of these policies, local authorities are widely involved in using forced abortions, involuntary sterilizations, and crippling financial penalties to control the number of births. Netizens Support Free Speech Hours after Rens account was banned on Jan. 12, the #RenZepingBanned topic on Weibo received over 2.5 million reads. Many comments followed the hashtag. A netizen from Nanjing, capital city of Chinas east coast Jiangsu Province, commented: Why treat a scholar in such a way? Whose interests have been harmed [by Rens suggestions]? The scholar only explains the importance of the issue. An unnamed netizen from Chinas southwestern Yunnan Province said: This much of speech freedom should be available. A netizen named Fourth-generation Fighter from Chinas eastern Anhui Province said: It is unacceptable not to allow people to speak. You can refuse to accept his words if they are wrong. A netizen named 1tSK1 from Sichuan, Chinas southwestern province, said: Even when I absolutely disagree with his words, I will die to defend his freedom of speech. The Chinese edition of The Epoch Times reached out to Ren via his Weibo account on Jan. 14 and received the message: The other partys account is abnormal, and [your message] cannot be sent. Sophia Lam contributed to the article. A vehicle drives past unfinished residential buildings at Evergrande Oasis, a housing complex developed by Evergrande Group, in Luoyang, China, on Sept. 16, 2021. (Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters) Chinese Land Sales Falls Significantly, Deepening Local Government Debt Stress Chinese government land sales fell significantly through 2021, reversing a six-year streak of gains, as a cash crunch gripped the countrys most indebted developers and worsening local governments debt stress. Land sales in 2021 declined over 20 percent on average from a year earlier, with a deeper fall in the main development force of second- and third-tier cities, where sales shrank 25 percent, according to a report released Wednesday by China Real Estate Information Corp (CRIC), which tracks auctions across 300 Chinese cities. Municipal governments in China have been under heavy economic stress, not only exacerbated by dramatic defaults of homebuilders such as Evergrande, but weighted down by sluggish land sales. Land sales account for an estimated one-third of cities fiscal revenue, according to S&P Global Ratings. The economy of once coal boomtown Hegang, Harbin Province, has been on the ropes for years. On December 23, officials announced the city has frozen hiring and begun fiscal restructuring. In Shaoyang, Hunan province, officials have auctioned off Evergrande projects in bids to raise money, claiming that neither the government nor Evergrande had money. Faced with slowing home sales, limited funding options, and rising borrowing costs, many Chinese developers opted out of refilling their land banks last year. While Beijing is fine-tuning its crackdown on the real estate industry and called on banks to help ensure the sectors steady and healthy development, it has thus far had little effect for market momentum to revive. Chinese developer Shimao, holding an investment-grade credit rating until a couple of months ago, had put its projects up for sale last week to avoid default. In December, two major defaults occurred among Chinas debt-ridden developers, with Evergrande and Kaisa both missing bond repayments totaling about $500 million. Land-related development has driven growth in the past but may have fostered debt-fueled investments for those financing vehicles. As S&P Global Ratings estimated, the outstanding debt from Chinas local government financing vehicles (LGFVs) amounted to 43 trillion yuan ($7 trillion) at the end of June 2021, equivalent to nearly half of Chinas gross domestic product, with $1.6 trillion of debt maturing this year. The funds are not included in official balance sheets but are treated in the same way as a government liability by financial markets. Goldman Sachs reckoned that the total debt of local government financing vehicles rose to about 53 trillion yuan ($8.2 trillion) at the end of 2020, larger than the amount of official outstanding government debt. These LGFVs are companies set up by governments that raise funds and pay for various projects. They were created during the global financial crisis of 2008 to let local officials evade a central ban on direct borrowing by local governments, enabling municipalities to raise debt quickly for economic stimulation. Many of them hold assets of dubious quality: highways to nowhere, empty airports and hotels, sprawling shopping districts, and amusement parks. In Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province, 14 billion yuan ($2.2 billion) of LGFV bonds are coming due this year, accounting for almost half of the citys 2021 fiscal revenue, said S&P. In an April document, the Chinese regime suggested that LGFVs should be allowed to go bankrupt if they lose their ability to pay. One of the backers of an initiative aiming to cap property taxes in Montana is asking the state Supreme Court to reverse a lower courts block on collecting signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot. Bozeman attorney Matthew Monforton, a former state GOP lawmaker, made the emergency filing Friday. It came a day after Lewis and Clark District Court Judge Michael McMahon granted a request blocking signature gathering. That came from groups that sued to challenge the state Attorney General and Secretary of State approving the initiative for the signature-gathering process to qualify for the ballot. The proposed Constitutional Initiative 121 would cap the rate of property tax growth in Montana. Monforton and state Auditor Troy Downing submitted the proposed constitutional initiative to the Secretary of States office. They were named as defendants in the initial lawsuit, along with the Attorney General and Secretary of State. Backers of initiatives must gather a set amount of signatures to get on the ballot after the language of their proposal is approved by the Attorney General and Secretary of State. The lawsuit was filed by the Montana Federation of Public Employees, the Montana Farmers Union and two Montana citizens. It alleges that Montanas Attorney General Austin Knudsen and Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen did not complete requirements of House Bill 651, passed by the Legislature and signed into law last year. HB 651, brought by Rep. Marta Bertoglio, R-Clancy, inserts the Legislature into the initiative process and expands the role of the attorney general. The law restricts the secretary of state from approving a ballot initiative for signature gathering until a legislative interim committee weighs in via a vote, which must appear on the signature-gathering petition. The law further requires the attorney general to analyze and include a warning should the initiative have a negative effect on business. The lawsuit notes that neither the legislative vote nor business impact analysis took place with CI 121. Including that information would help voters make an informed decision when deciding whether to sign, the lawsuit states. Spokespeople for Jacobsen and Knudsen said Thursday that HB 651 applies only to statutory initiatives and did not change Montanas code concerning constitutional initiatives. Our shared understanding with Legislative Services Division is that there is no requirement for interim committee review for Constitutional Initiatives, Jacobsen spokesperson Richie Melby said in an email. Knudsen spokesperson Kyler Nierson said the attorney general reached the same conclusion during legal review of the bill. The Attorney Generals Office fulfilled its legal obligation to review the measure, he said in an email. Attorney General Knudsen is committed to the rule of law and is not going to exceed the authority that the legislature delegated. As stated in the legal sufficiency review, the law gives the attorney general the power to make a significant material harm finding for statutory initiatives but does not do so for constitutional initiatives. In his request to the states high court, Monforton wrote that hundreds of Montanans have downloaded a form he posted to a website promoting the initiative gather signatures and are circulating it. Every day that passes while the district courts unlawful injunction remains in effect is a day that Monforton, the sponsor of CI-121, cannot enlist the aid of Montana voters to petition their government Monforton wrote. Every day that goes by without signature-gathering is a day that cannot be reclaimed. Requiring this matter to drag on indefinitely the district court will likely prove fatal to Monfortons efforts to successfully obtain an adequate number of signatures to qualify CI-121 for the ballot. Monforton also argued the state supreme court has exclusive jurisdiction to review the legal sufficiency determinations related to ballot initiatives. He also said that opponents cannot challenge the legal sufficiency determination until the Secretary of State certifies the initiative to the governor, which wont happen until July 15, if enough signatures are gathered. The district court has absolutely no authority to issue this order, Monforton wrote. As a result, thousands of Montanans are being denied an opportunity to exercise their constitutional right to petition their government for a redress of grievances. Monforton also wrote the district court gave him absolutely no notice before issuing the temporary restraining order. The petition states that property tax revenue under the initiative will go down by $24 million in 2025, $34 million in 2026 and $29 million in 2027. CI-121 will also have an undetermined impact on local government and school district tax revenue, subject to legislative action, the statement reads. A district court hearing is set for Jan. 24. The state Supreme Court did not take action on Monforton's filing Friday. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Holly Michels Head of the Montana State News Bureau State Bureau reporter for Lee Newspapers of Montana. Follow Holly Michels 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 The entrance to the General Electric Aviation in Lynn, Mass., on March 31, 2020. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images) Companies Drop, Keep, or Reinstate Vaccination Requirement for Employees After SCOTUS Ruling Companies are reviewing their vaccination requirements after the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruling, with some dropping them, some sticking with them, and some reinstating them. A General Electric Co. spokesperson said on Friday that it will stop requiring the U.S. employees to be vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Epoch Times reached out to General Electric for comment. COVID-19 is the disease caused by CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which started in Wuhan, China, and spread to the world. The pandemic has cost over 5.5 million lives and infected over 300 million people globally. General Electric is a Boston-based maker of jet engines, wind turbines, and medical scanners. It had about 56,000 employees in the United States at the beginning of 2021. The companys decision came after the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) on Thursday blocked the Biden administrations vaccine mandates for private businesses while upholding the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)s vaccine mandate for health care workers. However, another vaccine mandate on federal contractors imposed by the White House may affect General Electric. The federal contractor vaccine mandate is currently suspended while litigation is proceeding. Companies took different approaches after the ruling, some choosing to stick with vaccine mandates at the company level. Citigroup Inc., a company with around 65,000 employees, is still urging the U.S. employees to meet the vaccination mandate deadlineJan. 14. Going into the last day [of the deadline], we expect the number of employees who have not complied will decrease even further. Our goal has always been to keep everyone at Citi, and we sincerely hope all of our colleagues take action to comply, Citigroup human resource chief Sara Wechter said in a LinkedIn post. Wechter said the company had reached 99 percent compliance with the vaccine mandate on Jan. 14. Members of the Supreme Court pose for a group photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on April 23, 2021. (Erin Schaff/Pool/Getty Images) In the Jan. 13 ruling, SCOTUS upheld the CMS vaccine mandate for health care workers. Around 10.4 million health care workers at 76,000 medical facilities will be affected by the ruling. Americas highest court also let stand two controversial parts of the CMS vaccine mandates: no testing opt-out and no recognition of natural immunity. Some health care providers started to reinstate vaccine mandates after the ruling. Cleveland Clinic, a medical center in Cleveland, Ohio, said on Thursday that it will bring back its vaccine mandate. In accordance with this federal mandate, we are requiring all of our employees and those who provide services with our facilities in those states to receive their first dose of an mRNA vaccine or their one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine by January 27, 2022, and the second dose by February 28, 2022. Those who do not receive their vaccinations and who do not have an approved exemption will be placed on an unpaid leave of absence, the medical center said in a statement. DC COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate to Shop, Dine Goes Into Effect Shoppers and diners 12 and older in the nations capital now must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination under new rules that took effect on Jan. 15. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowsers executive orders, announced last month, force people entering a range of indoor venues to prove theyve gotten a COVID-19 vaccine by presenting the paper card people get when receiving a shot, a record of the card, or a verification application. The mandate applies to people entering restaurants, nightclubs, and coffee shops; movie theaters, bowling alleys, and venues hosting concerts; gyms, fitness studios, and any facilities used for group fitness classes; and venues for indoor events and meetings. Bowser, a Democrat, said the mandate was a way to ensure hospitals in the city dont get overwhelmed amid a spike in COVID-19 cases. Republicans urged Bowser to rescind the mandate before it took effect, arguing that it would disproportionately harm businesses in the District of Columbia and drive people to spend their money in nearby locales. Everyone Ive talked to says, Oh, Ill just go to Virginia. Its so close, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) told NTD, sister media outlet of The Epoch Times. Bowser and her administration have defended the mandate, saying it will lead to more people getting vaccinated and make indoor establishments safer. So there are two reasons why we have the vaccine requirement: one, to encourage more people to get vaccinated, and two, to make sure that we have safer environments when we all gather together, John Falcicchio, Washingtons deputy mayor for planning and economic development, told reporters on Jan. 14. He appeared at Dauphines restaurant, where one of the partners expressed his support for the vaccination requirements. Were leaning into the mayors vaccine mandate and really stressing to people that its safe to come in the restaurants. Were going to do everything we can to make it a safe experience for you, he said. In this image from video, John Falcicchio, Washingtons deputy mayor for planning and economic development, holds a press conference at Dauphines restaurant on Jan. 14, 2022. (The Epoch Times via DC Mayors Office) Neither were questioned on their statements, which clash with studies and data from the UK, South Africa, and elsewhere that suggest the vaccines dont protect people against getting infected by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19, especially following the emergence of the Omicron variant of the virus. The new rule makes people show theyve gotten one dose of a vaccine; on Feb. 15, people must prove theyve been fully vaccinated with two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer jab or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson. Adults have to show identification along with proof of vaccination. Kathy Hollinger, president and CEO of the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington, called the forcing of businesses to check vaccination status burdensome and said that our bigger issue is the policing of everything and the layering mandates of having to have a small business police various mandates. At the same time, she expressed gratitude that the city wasnt trying to force so-called non-essential businesses to curb service or shut their doors like earlier in the pandemic. Some establishments signaled they wont comply with the mandate. As has always been the case for us, everyone is welcome. This rule applies yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Hopefully well see you Jan. 16, The Big Board pub and burger restaurant said on Twitter. This illustration photo shows a person reading the One America Network website on a smartphone in front of a DirecTV logo in Los Angeles, Jan. 14, 2022. (Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images) DirecTV Plans to Drop OAN Satellite television provider DirecTV plans to decline renewing its contract with One America News (OAN) network, according to media reports and statements from groups that pushed for OAN to be dropped. Bloomberg was first to report the news. DirecTV and OAN did not respond to requests for comment from The Epoch Times. OAN is one of three television networks favored by former President Donald Trump. Left-wing organizations and politicians have long pushed AT&T, the majority owner of DirecTV, to drop OANs channels from the satellite providers lineup. Media Matters for America, GLAAD (formerly known as the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), Greenpeace USA, and several other groups sent a letter to the CEOs of AT&T and DirecTV in November last year urging them to cut ties with OAN. We call on you to do the right thing and demand that DIRECTV take all available means to end its relationship with OANN, so that its customers are no longer forced to subsidize hate and disinformation, the letter (pdf) said. The groups took issue with OANs coverage of election integrity and COVID-19, alleging that the news network promoted misinformation on both topics. Chanel Rion, OANs chief White House correspondent, responded to the news on Twitter. With moves like this, DirectTV will have to become state-owned to survive, Rion said. In the age of streaming, Cable is on its dying breathBlockbuster on the eve of Netflix. They would have better luck in Pyongyang. Liberal groups celebrated DirecTVs decision. DirecTV made the responsible decision to drop OAN. OAN is a cauldron of misinformation and extremism, Media Matters President Angelo Carusone said in a statement. In March last year, OAN attorney Eric Early wrote to Reps. Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.) and Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.) demanding that they publicly retract their letters after the lawmakers pressed 12 cable, satellite, and streaming companies to explain why they continue to offer their services to OAN, Fox News, and Newsmax. As government officials, you are interfering with the national cable news marketplace by dictating winners and losers. You are encouraging viewpoint discrimination designed to harm national media news voices that report unfavorably on your agendas and that may oppose you and your political beliefs, Early alleged in the letter. You are effectively demanding that three center-to-right national media outlets be removed to suit your own political desires. (L-R) Christy Carlson Romano of "Kim Possible" and "Even Stevens" and Albert Lawrence speak at the Disney+ Pavilion at Disneys D23 EXPO 2019 in Anaheim, Calif., on Nov. 12, 2019. (Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Disney+) Disney to Celebrate 100th Anniversary Early at D23 Expo 2022 ANAHEIM, Calif.Disney is kicking off its 100th anniversary early with the annual D23 Expo fan event scheduled for Sept. 9 to 11. The weekend event, to be held at the Anaheim Convention Center, will celebrate Disneys 100th anniversary ahead of 2023 by hosting 50 shows, presentations, and panels, according to MiceChat. The history of the expo stems from the original D23 Fan Club established in 2009. D23 was created with the intention to bring more magic into Disney fans experience by providing exclusive content and special event offerings, according to the fan clubs official website. One must be a D23 member to purchase tickets for this years expo. Prospective expo participants can join the fan club for freewith the option of upgrading to a paid membership for additional benefits and expo discounts. Leading up to the three-day convention, Disney fanatics can participate in the Mousequerade costume contest open for entry between Feb. 28 to April 1. Participants are encouraged to create a unique costume either individually or in groups. Ten finalists will be selected to show off their designs at the September expo. In the past, D23 participants have been surprised by the appearances of their favorite Disney celebrities while also being the first to hear about upcoming Disney projects. D23 stands for Disney 1923, the year when the Walt Disney Company arrived in California, according to the D23 website. Tickets for the event will go on sale Jan. 20. The logo of China Evergrande Group is seen on the property developer's headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China, on Sept. 26, 2021. (Aly Song/Reuters) Evergrande Faces Huge Debt Maturity as Sales Fall by Nearly 40 Percent in 2021 Evergrandes sales in 2021 fell by nearly 40 percent, and the crisis is still brewing. At the beginning of 2022, Evergrande withdrew its lease and moved out of its Shenzhen headquarters. Evergrande faces huge debt maturities in 2022, including a total of $3.5 billion in bonds due in March and April. At present, Evergrande is negotiating with creditors to postpone the payment of a maturing domestic bond for six months. On Jan. 10, 2022, reporters from Brokerage China, a Chinese media outlet, visited the headquarters of Evergrande in Shenzhen and found that one of the two Evergrande Group advertising signs originally on the building had almost been removed. The interior of the building was empty. An office leasing agent in Shenzhen was quoted by Jiemian News as saying that the 43-story building, which Evergrande used to occupy, has been rerented for about 230 yuan ($36.2) per square meter per month. According to an insider of Excellence Group, a property management company, although Evergrande has withdrawn its lease, it still owes the rent. Some employees from Evergrandes Shenzhen headquarters have moved back to its Guangzhou headquarters, while others remain in Shenzhen and are moving to the companys own office building, Evergrande Tianjing, according to Guancha.cn, citing sources familiar with the matter. On the evening of Jan. 10, Evergrande Group announced on its official website that in order to save costs, the company had canceled the lease of Excellence Houhai Finance Center in December 2021 and moved to its own property in Shenzhen. The move of Evergrandes Shenzhen headquarters has led to the departure of several employees, Securities Times reported. It was also reported that Evergrande will sell the groups buildings in Hong Kong and Guangzhou, but there is no further information on it. Sales Fell Nearly 40 Percent in 2021 In a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Jan. 4, 2022, Evergrande pointed out that the contract sales amount in 2021 was 443.02 billion yuan ($70 billion), far below the target of 750 billion yuan ($118 billion) and a significant decrease of about 39 percent compared to the sales amount of 723.25 billion yuan in 2020. According to Citis latest report, Evergrandes sales in December 2021 fell by 99 percent year on year and only achieved 59 percent of its sales target for the year. Due to the expected impact of property tax and other policies, sales will remain weak in Q1 2022. Based on Evergrandes public sales data, in the 71 days from Oct. 20 to Dec. 31, 2021, the company only achieved cumulative sales of 720 million yuan. Facing Huge Debt Maturity With Delayed Payment of Domestic Bonds Evergrande Real Estate Groups 2020 public offering of corporate bonds (Phase I) 20 Evergrande 01 to qualified investors was completed on Jan. 8, 2020, with an issue size of 4.5 billion yuan, a coupon rate of 6.98 percent, and a maturity of 3 years. A coupon rate option for the issuer and a resale option for investors at the end of the second year were attached. The bond will be suspended from trading on Jan. 6. The first bond holders meeting in 2022 was held from Jan. 7 to 13, and 20 Evergrande 01 will face the pressure of payment of 4.5 billion yuan on Jan. 8. The purpose of the Evergrande Real Estate meeting is to review and adjust the payment schedule and postpone the payment period from Jan. 8 to July 8. According to Evergrandes announcement, the arrangement is in view of the current operating situation and the company is seeking investor support for a six-month delay in the date of the bond sale and interest payment. The delay was expected given that the company is under pressure to prioritize wages [] and apartments, Reuters quoted a bondholder as saying. Chinas property developers owe 1.1 trillion yuan in wages to migrant workers and construction workers, which may have to be paid by Jan. 31, 2022, according to a Nomura report. In October 2021, Evergrande barely fulfilled its obligations on two U.S. dollar-denominated bonds before defaulting. However, on Dec. 3, 2021, Evergrande defaulted on one of its U.S. dollar-denominated debts by failing to meet its repayment obligations before the expiry of the 30-day grace period. In addition, interest payments on two of Evergrandes bonds due on Dec. 28, 2021, totaling about $250 million, were not made as scheduled. The two debts have entered a 30-day grace period and will be in formal default if they are not paid by the end of the grace period. On Dec. 7, 2021, S&P concluded that Evergrandes default appeared inevitable. The company faces significant debt maturities in 2022, including a total of $3.5 billion in bonds due in March and April. Evergrande has struggled to restart projects due to difficulties securing new sources of financing. That will continue to weigh on contract sales, the most important source of cash flow for any Chinese developer. In addition, Evergrandes asset sales so far have not been enough to cover its huge amount of maturing debt. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies to a congressional panel in Washington on Jan. 11, 2022. (Greg Nash/Pool/AFP via Getty Images) Faucis Financial Disclosures Made Public by Senator Dr. Anthony Faucis two most recent financial disclosures have been made available for public perusal by a senator. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) obtained and published the documents (pdf), which cover the years 2020 and 2019. The forms show Faucis investments are in market funds, as are those of his wife. They also show he is worth millions of dollars. Lawrence Tabak, now the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), signed off on the forms in May 2021, about a month after they were filed. He said Fauci had complied with applicable laws and regulations. Faucis 2021 disclosure is due later this year. Fauci must file disclosures for himself and immediate family members per the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, but the disclosures had not been readily accessible. Fauci directs the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which is part of the NIH. A NIAID spokesperson had told The Epoch Times that the forms could only be released if a specific document were filled out requesting them. The document states that the forms would only be available through the mail or in-person, not online. The agency had not responded when asked how long it would take to deliver the documents to a requester. Marshall got the results in two days after writing to Fauci on Jan. 12 following a contentious Senate hearing during which he confronted the doctor over the forms. Marshall noted that several federal officials, including Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida, recently stepped down over their failure to properly report their financial trades, and said there was an air of appearance that maybe some shenanigans are going on with Fauci, who regularly learns of matters before the general public before adding, I assume thats not the case. Fauci insisted the forms were public knowledge and have been for decades. Hes directed the institute since 1984. After publishing the forms, Marshall accused Fauci of lying about them. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) questions Biden administration officials during a Senate panel hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 11, 2022. (Greg Nash/Pool via Reuters) Just like he has misled the American people about sending taxpayers dollars to Wuhan, China to fund gain-of-function research, about masks, testing, and more, Dr. Fauci was completely dishonest about his financial disclosures being open to the publicits no wonder he is the least trusted bureaucrat in America, Marshall said in a statement. At the end of the day, Dr. Fauci must be held accountable to all Americans who have been suing and requesting for this information but dont have the power of a Senate office to ask for it. For these reasons, I will be introducing the FAUCI Act so financial disclosures like these are made public and are easily accessible online to every American, he added. NIAID has not responded to recent requests for comment on the disclosures. The act, Marshalls office says, would require disclosures filed by officials like Fauci to be made available on the website of the Office of Government Ethics. Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services, the parent agency of NIH, last year asking for disclosure documents filed by Fauci. The organization filed on behalf of OpenTheBooks.com, which said its attempts to obtain the documents were stonewalled by government officials. No one is above the law including Dr. Anthony Fauci. It shouldnt take a subpoena or a lawsuit to force open basic employment documents that executive-level federal bureaucrats are required by law to file, Adam Andrzejewski, CEO of the website, said at the time. In a recent filing in the case, government lawyers said they were working on producing the requested records, including trying to figure out Faucis current job description. The court ordered the parties to file a joint status report by Feb. 10. A Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldier guards the entrance to the PLA Hong Kong Garrison headquarters in the Central Business District in Hong Kong, on Aug. 29, 2019. (Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters) Former Xinjiang Commander to Lead Chinas Hong Kong Garrison: An Ominous Sign for Global Freedom China is expanding its genocidal policies to Hong Kong, with no protest from the worlds democracies News Analysis On Jan. 9, an ill wind blew into the Fragrant Harbor. Peng Jingtang, a blood-thirsty paramilitary chief from Xinjiang, was appointed by Chinas dictator Xi Jinping to lead Chinese troops in Hong Kong. For years, Peng led the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) crackdown in Xinjiangwhere there is an ongoing genocide. From 2018, Major General Peng was chief of staff of the Peoples Armed Police (PAP) in the region. He was also the overall deputy chief of staff of the PAP. The PAP is primarily charged with countering riots and protests. But Peng led counterterrorism efforts in Xinjiang, where there is little terrorism other than that imposed by the CCP itself. In Xinjiang, the CCP uses the excuse of Uyghur terrorism to enforce its Han bigotry on the territory through a network of concentration camps, reeducation centers, and factories in which forced laborers are subjected to slave-like conditions, including torture, rape, mass surveillance, forced abortion, and state-imposed birth control. In 2019, Peng bragged to the state-controlled Global Times newspaper that his paramilitary police squad had fired as many shots of ammo in Xinjiang in 2018 as all other security forces combined over the prior three years. Xi likely honored Pengs squad in 2021 for killing 91 terrorists. Now Peng will lead the Chinese militarys Hong Kong garrison, which seeks to put the fear of the CCP into any Hongkongers who might wish for a return to the freedoms of what could be called the inter-imperial years, between Britains control of the city and that of Beijing. Pengs appointment follows that of Zheng Yanxiong, a CCP official who became the first director of Chinas Hong Kong Office for Safeguarding National Security. Zheng was previously an official in Chinas southern Guangdong Province, where he suppressed newspapers and imprisoned villagers who opposed land grabs by CCP officials in the area. One protest leader died in police custody. Relatives carry a picture of Xue Jinbo, the village leader who died in police custody, in Wukan, Guangdong Province, China, on Dec. 16, 2011. After Zhengs appointment in July 2020, the Hong Kong regime imposed a violent crackdown on the citys free press, including Apple Daily and Stand News. Chinas offices in Hong Kong do not operate according to Hong Kong law, which is a violation of Chinas 1984 treaty with Britain that ensured an independent Hong Kong legal system, free speech, press freedoms, and other civil liberties after handover of the city to Beijings control in 1997. Those freedoms should have lasted, according to the treaty lodged with the United Nations, for 50 years until at least 2047. All of that is gone now, as is any shred of credibility that Beijings solemn treaty promises might previously have had. After massive Hong Kong street protests of Beijings illegal control in 2019, the CCP imposed the National Security Law that not only resulted in the intimidation, imprisonment, and exile of democracy advocates, but had global extraterritorial effect, illegalizing any support anywhere for Hong Kong independence, for example. Yet, independence should be a right for any territory under the control of a genocidal, and therefore illegal, regime. That includes any part of mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong today. The failure of the world to at least morally support independence and democracy movements in China today is a failure of our morality and democratic ethics. Electoral candidates in Hong Kong who do not demonstrate loyalty to Beijing are not allowed to stand for election to Hong Kongs Legislative Council. The CCP only permits Beijing loyalists or patriots to hold office in the city, giving the lie to ludicrous CCP claims that communist China is anything close to a real democracy. The dual appointments of Peng and Zheng in Hong Kong add more to the mountain of evidence that Beijings intentions in Hong Kong are anything but honorable. The world should finally recognize that the CCP is more of a terrorist, fascist, or mafia organization, than a legitimate source of governance for Hong Kong or China more generally. The sooner the world faces these unfortunate realities, the sooner we will find effective strategies to defend ourselves. These should include much tougher economic and diplomatic sanctions on the CCP, support for the independence of regions subject to genocide, bans on trade with territories controlled by genocidal organizations, and bans on CCP international travel, including to free world cities like New York, Paris, Geneva, and Rome. To break from business as usual with China, we must free our minds of the illusion that the CCP is a legitimate political party. The Chinese people deserve democracy and their independence from the totalitarian CCP. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Hong Kong Bans Transit Flights From Over 150 Countries HONG KONGHong Kong International Airport said it will ban transit passengers from 150 countries and territories starting Sunday, tightening stringent travel controls. Authorities also said Friday they will extend social distancing restrictions, including a ban on dining in after 6 p.m., by another two weeks over the Lunar New Year holidays to Feb. 3. Large-scale events, such as Lunar New Year fairs held annually in Hong Kong, will be canceled. The transit ban and extension of distancing rules come as the city grapples with an Omicron outbreak of the coronavirus, with most of the cases traced to two crew members of Cathay Pacific who had broken isolation rules and dined at restaurants and bars in the city before testing positive. Over the past two weeks, authorities have locked down multiple residential buildings across the city and mass-tested thousands as they sought to stamp out Omicron infections. Were worried that there may be asymptomatic Hong Kong carriers who are still missed in the community, said Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam during a news conference Friday. So our assessment on this basis is that there is still a risk of an outbreak, she said. Airline passengers who have stayed in over 150 places deemed high risk in the last 21 days, including the United States and Britain, will be banned from transiting in Hong Kong from Jan. 16 to Feb. 15, according to a notice posted by the airport. Over 50 local infections have been reported in the community since the end of 2021. Prior to that, Hong Kong went three months with no community transmissions and had been in talks with the mainland to resume quarantine-exempted travel with the rest of China. Last week, Hong Kong imposed a two-week ban on incoming flights from the United States, Canada, Australia, France, Britain, India, Pakistan, and the Philippines. The city last week banned dining in after 6 p.m. and ordered venues such as museums, cinemas, gyms, and libraries to close for at least two weeks. Diamond Alvarez looking at camera, in a still from an undated video. (Courtesy of Anna Machado via AP/Screenshot via NTD) Houston Girl, 16, Fatally Shot as She Walked Dog Like she did most days, 16-year-old Diamond Alvarez walked her familys dog Peanut in her southwest Houston neighborhood on Tuesday evening. Since it was already dark, her mother, Anna Machado, told her to only stay out 20 minutes and then return home. But Diamond never came back as she was fatally shot around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday a couple of blocks away on the side of a street near a grassy field where all the neighborhood children play. Her family found her body by the greenspace after Peanut ran home without Diamond. Machado tried to revive her daughter by performing CPR, but it was too late. I tried and I tried and I tried and, and I seen her that it was nothing else I could do, I just started telling her how much I loved her. And Im always here,' Machado said. Houston police on Thursday continued looking for who shot Diamond multiple times. Police say that witnesses reported hearing multiple gunshots and then the sound of tires squealing as a possibly dark vehicle fled the scene. Investigators have not commented on a possible motive for the shooting. Machado said when her brother heard the gunshots, she twice phoned Diamond, but the calls went straight to voicemail. Thursday afternoon, Machado and other family members and friends gathered at a makeshift memorial with candles, stuffed animals, and balloons set up near where her body was found and fondly remembered Diamond as a happy person who worked hard, loved school and dreamed of being a beautician one day. And she didnt get to graduate, Machado said of her daughter, who was a sophomore in high school. She didnt get her diploma. She didnt get to be a mother, wedding, kids, nothing. Diamonds uncle, Roberto Mejia, said Diamond brought joy to everyone she met. We just cant believe that something so horrible would happen to a sweet person like that, Mejia said. Diamonds family has set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for her funeral expenses. Diamonds family remained hopeful that police would find her killer. If someone knows, come out and speak up. Who would want someone to be out there like that, that dangerous? she said. Im not getting my daughter back. But at least you know hell pay. Illegal Marijuana Grows Continue to Threaten Legal Cannabis Industry When Proposition 64 was passed in 2016 and legalized recreational marijuana use, many Californians celebrated. But five years later, cannabis business leaders are sounding the alarm on taxes hampering the industry, and experts say illegal marijuana grows ran by drug cartels are popping up across the state. These trespass[ing] illegal cannabis growers, a majority of them being from cartel groups out of Mexico, are all over California, Ret. Spec Ops Lt. John Nores Jr. told The Epoch Times. The problem was how we regulated. Proposition 64 allowed adults 21 and over to purchase and possess marijuana for recreational use. Previously, only medical marijuana was legal, but the illegal trade was flourishing. With the new law came new taxes: one levied on cultivation and the other on retail sales. Customers pay an 8.5 percent sales tax on recreational marijuana, not medical, while retailers pay a 15 percent excise tax when purchasing from distributors. As of Jan. 1, the California Tax and Fee Administration raised the cultivation tax by 5 percent to $161 per pound. But a pound no longer sells for $1,200. The price dropped to $300, but the tax remains the same. Proponents also promised to allocate revenue from the taxes toward youth programs, treatment, enforcement, research, and preventing damage to the environment caused by illegal marijuana operations. Critics of the proposition say those programs didnt come to fruition on a sustainable level. Gov. Gavin Newsom said this week at a press conference unveiling the 2022 budget that his goal for the cannabis industry is to look at tax policy to stabilize the market. And at the same time, it is also my goal to get these municipalities to wake up to the opportunities to get rid of the illegal market, the illicit market, and provide support in a regulatory framework for the legal market, he said. While Prop. 64 legalized marijuana statewide, the law leaves it up to municipalities on whether they will allow retail marijuana transactions. As of 2021, an estimated 182 cities and 31 counties have permitted some form of legal marijuana business. But the illicit market has continued to flourish. According to a study by Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytic, illegal spending was $8.7 billion in 2019. Mike Moussalli, CEO of Se7enLeaf, a cannabis manufacturing and distributing company in Costa Mesa, said the illicit market has a huge dominating presence, and he estimated its share at nearly 80 percent of the overall market of cannabis in California. The taxation and cost of doing business for legal cannabis is extremely high, he told The Epoch Times in a previous interview. Essentially, that cost gets passed along to the consumer. And at the end of the day, a consumers like, Well, why am I paying 35 percent more for a product when I can just buy it over here? Nores co-developed the Marijuana Enforcement Team within the California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife in 2013. His team identifies illegal cannabis grows across the state and aids law enforcement in bringing them down. With over 25 years of investigating environmental crime and wildlife resource destruction, Nores said cartels put toxic poisons into illegal marijuana grows that harm the environment and end up in waterways. Unfortunately, when Prop. 64 was enacted, it was kind of heartbreaking because illegal cannabis production now went down to a misdemeanor from a felony and went from a misdemeanor to an infraction for a juvenile grower, Nores said. He said reducing the sentencing devalues crime, which in turn, attracts more illegal growers. To fix the problem of Prop. 64, he said, lawmakers would need to reverse the reduction of the sentences. So, when you make it a misdemeanor, and cannabis is now regulated in the state of California, you dont have a lot of incentive to prosecute those cases, he said. The cartel-run illicit farms come with its dangers. Cartels are often armed and violent. The cartels will also steal water for both their indoor and outdoor marijuana farms, he said, affecting residents in the area who already suffer water shortages due to drought regulations. One of the largest marijuana busts occurred in the Antelope Valley last year, where law enforcement officials searched more than 200 locations and seized approximately 375,000 illegal unregulated marijuana plants worth $1 billion. Theres so much violence, and how much human trafficking, and how much forced labor are inside these gross sites within these cartel groups, and its mind blowing, Nores said. And [its] because we dont have a strong deterrence to keep them from doing an easy black-market profit. A report in the police journal Behind the Badge in 2018 detailed efforts made by the Anaheim Police Department to starve illegal dispensariesfirst by cutting electricity and later by red-tagging entrances, making it a misdemeanor to go inside. Despite their best efforts, APD officers and city officials say illegal dispensaries keep popping up like mushrooms in Anaheimeven after the businesses have been red-tagged, the report noted. Over 70 percent of municipalities ban recreational marijuana sales, and another 5 percent of counties have no licensed dispensary, according to a study by the Cato Institute. The study also noted that because the industry is overly regulated, it results in less regulation of illegal operations and thwarts the distribution of safer products. Last summer, Bob Groesbeck, co-CEO of Planet 13 Dispensary, opened the largest cannabis store in California in Santa Ana. Even though his superstore has over 16,000 square feet of retail space, he told The Epoch Times at the time his biggest competitors would be illegal operators. Thats who were fighting against every day. Theyre producing product, selling it, and they pay no taxes. They pay substandard wages to their employees, and theyre not accountable, Groesbeck told said. They should be shut down immediately because theyre playing by a different set of rules. A U.S. District Court judge sided with bison advocates this week by ordering the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to revisit its decision regarding a denial of evidence submitted in an attempt to have Yellowstone National Parks bison protected under the Endangered Species Act. In a 33-page memorandum opinion, District of Columbia Judge Randolph D. Moss said he had no view on the ESA issue. Rather, he said the Fish and Wildlife Service had applied the wrong standard and failed to address a significant aspect of the question before it when it last denied the petitioners arguments. It is concerning, to be sure, that over seven years have now passed since the 2014 petition was filed, Moss wrote. But it remains unclear whether sufficient basis exists to proceed to the next stage of the ESA process, and in light of the substantial amount of work done to date, the Service should be able to answer that question promptly. Although the judge set no deadline for the Fish and Wildlife Service response, he did require the parties to file a joint status report within 90 days to update the court. Since 2014, Buffalo Field Campaign and Western Watersheds Project have been fighting to have Yellowstones bison declared endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The request is based on an argument that Yellowstone contains two genetically distinct subpopulations, the Central and Northern herds, which are often separated geographically but do intermix. To back up the claim, they pointed out that only 22 indigenous bison remained in Central Yellowstone in 1902. Meanwhile, the Northern herd is descended from 18 females from northern Montana and three bulls from Texas introduced in 1902. The Central herd tends to remain around the Madison River while the Northern herd is found along the Yellowstone and Lamar rivers. Under an agreement with the state of Montana, in an attempt to avoid bison infected with the disease brucellosis from passing it to livestock, the state and National Park Service agreed in 2000 to allow the slaughter of bison and bison hunting to reduce the parks bison population. The theory was that fewer bison would mean fewer would wander out of the park in winter when they might come into contact with cattle and spread brucellosis. Since that agreement was forged, however, the Central bison herds population has declined. To support a demand for boosting the bison population, the conservation groups cited a 2014 study that found the two herds were genetically distinct. So rather than set a limit of 3,000 bison for the entire park, they argued the population should be 3,000 bison for each herd. The Fish and Wildlife Service, which implements the Endangered Species Act, dismissed the study and instead touted a different one that examined the bisons mitochondrial DNA. This study did not support the claims of distinct bison populations. Therefore, no change to existing management was warranted, the agency argued. The Fish and Wildlife Service had also said the petitioners failed to adequately account for mixing between the central and northern herds. Ignoring this suggests that the substructure of two distinct lineages in two distinct herds may not be sustained over time. Judge Moss said the USFWSs 2019 finding offers no analysis of why, in the Services view, it chose one study over the other. The agency failed to articulate . . . a rational connection between the facts found and the choice made. Whether the issue will get more attention now that Martha Williams, the former director of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, is on track to become the new director of the USFWS is uncertain. When Montana congressman Ryan Zinke was appointed to lead the Department of Interior, the USFWS denied the bison ESA petition. At the same time, he was urging the Park Service to manage Yellowstone's bison more like livestock. Love 8 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 1 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Thwarted by cloud cover while trying to capture a lunar eclipse on film, a Washington photographer ended up with something incredibly magical. He turned his camera toward the ocean and snapped neon green bioluminescent fungus glowing on nearby driftwood, and the resulting images are spectacular. Photographer Mathew Nichols, 28, who works in forest restoration by day, traveled to his local Kalaloch Beach in Forks, Washington, on Nov. 19, 2021, to see the eclipse. Noticing the cloud cover, he drew on his knowledge of bioluminescent algae and changed track. The green bioluminescent fungus glowing on Kalaloch Beach, Olympic National Park, Washington. (Courtesy of Mathew Nichols Photography) I knew I should point my camera toward the ocean during the peak of the eclipse, Nichols, a father of two, told The Epoch Times. The moons light would be blocked out completely, and to see bioluminescence, there has to be almost no light pollution. Once I started taking the shots, I noticed there was no blue glow on the surf, but to my surprise, a green glow on the beach. I immediately walked straight towards the glow to inspect. Initially, I thought maybe someone left their lantern on the beach. Upon arrival, Nichols saw a large log of driftwood glowing bright green and realized that he had found the bioluminescent fungus. Fascinated by this encounter, Nichols immediately wanted to learn more. Unfortunately, the moon was around full, and it would be a couple of weeks until I could get time at night with no moon in the sky to look for more. Once the time came, I started scouring nearby beaches, finding more and more glowing logs, Nichols said. The green bioluminescent fungus glowing on Ruby Beach, Washington. (Courtesy of Mathew Nichols Photography) The ocean algae, or phytoplankton, requires agitation to glow, said Nichols; it is a defense mechanism these microorganisms use to ward off predators. Meanwhile, the bioluminescent fungus, or foxfire, clings to wood washed up from the ocean. On Dec. 6, 2021, Nichols went to one of his favorite spots, a coastal waterfall at Third Beach, La Push, in hopes of capturing the amazing phenomenon again. After a challenging 45-minute hike through lush forest in the dark, at low tide, Nichols got as close to the waterfall as he could by the light of the moon. He found the perfect angle, capturing starfish and a glowing log facing the waterfall on camera, as well as an unexpected surprise. I noticed a bobcat about 300 feet in front of me, he recalled. When I shone my light at it, it darted toward the ocean it was hunting in the surf, trying to catch some fish for dinner. [As] it attacked the water, it was disrupting the bioluminescent algae, causing the water to glow bright blue. Shocked to discover that the algae could survive the 36-degree Fahrenheit December temperatures, Nichols adjusted his camera and snapped away for the incredible shots of the waves. I was ecstatic! he recalled. The adrenaline kept me warm that night. The green bioluminescent fungus and blue algae on La Push, Washington. (Courtesy of Mathew Nichols Photography) Nichols moved from Kansas to Forks, Washington, with his wife, Maleah, 26, and daughters, Aurora, 5, and Luna, 4, in 2018. He has only owned a real camera since April 2021, claiming he was first inspired by Comet NEOWISEduring the summer of 2020to catch the once-in-a-lifetime sight on camera. However, he only possessed a phone camera at that time. Thus, he took his phone to the beach during the meteor shower to practice taking photos so that he could capture the comet when the time came, unaware that what he was going to find that night would change his life forever. Turning his phone toward the ocean, he encountered bioluminescent algae, and a fascination was born. Today, he is considered a local expert in the field. The green bioluminescent fungus glowing on Kalaloch Beach, Olympic National Park, Washington. (Courtesy of Mathew Nichols Photography) Nichols also runs a Facebook group for other enthusiasts, Bioluminescence Experience: PNW, and has received a lot of support for his photos. Many fans have his photos printed and hung on their walls, said Nichols, who has also produced a color-coded calendar highlighting the best days of the year to search for bioluminescence. He currently showcases his photography on Facebook and Instagram. Speaking to The Epoch Times, Nichols shared his best tips for other photographers hoping to catch this phenomenon on film. The most important thing to consider is that there must be little to no light pollution, he said. This means you must plan around the moon phases also, you must let your eyes adjust to the darkness. Flashlights, cellphones, or any artificial lights will seriously dampen your experience. Low tide is a great time to experience it, because once you walk close to the ocean, your footprints glow blue from the algae and you can cause a whole tide pool to light up, vibrant blue, by agitating the water. The blue algae on La Push, Washington. (Courtesy of Mathew Nichols Photography) Additionally, said Nichols, a tripod for long-exposure and plenty of patience is key. He prefers a Sony A7iii camera with a 20mm f1.8 Sony lens for most shots, stacks images to reduce noise, and edits in Adobe Lightroom to tone down the glow to make it more true to life. Nichols believes that bioluminescence exists on the U.S. coastline countrywide, but insists that anyone venturing out to see the glow under cover of darkness should take the proper precaution such as resting beforehand, packing for an overnight stay, and always putting safety first. Mathew Nichols with his family. (Courtesy of Mathew Nichols Photography) Bioluminescence has changed my life forever, said Nichols. It is just so incredible to witness the closest thing to magic nature provides us with. When I first started, there was no information on Google showing that these things can be experienced where I live, so who knows what else there is to find in the darkness of the nights? 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 Residents shop at a supermarket in Canberra, Australia, on Aug. 12, 2021. (Rohan Thomson / AFP via Getty Images) Independent Aussie Grocers Keep Shelves Stocked While Australias major supermarket chains may have experienced stock shortages due to COVID-19 delays, Sydney and Melbourne produce markets are reporting plentiful supply with distribution largely unaffected. The spread of the virus and isolation of many workers has seen shelves empty at big supermarkets along the east coast in recent weeks. National cabinet this week agreed to relax close contact isolation rules in a bid to resolve the growing crisis. But Jason Cooper, CEO of Fresh State who represents wholesalers at the Melbourne Markets, says the pandemic has provided a win for independent players and lessons for major retailers. He insists there simply havent been the same challenges for the independents because they march to a different beat. The independent retailers predominantly get their produce out of the central market system and we dont have supply issues, he says. For whatever reasons there are different distribution processes within the industry. Was it through good luck or good management? I dont know but certainly the pandemic has shown up some challenges for (the supermarkets) and its probably something they need to go back and consider for the future. More than 5,000 businesses including independent greengrocers and supermarkets buy from produce markets for distribution across Victoria and Australia. Cooper says with a bigger pool to choose from, any shortages can usually be covered by another grower. We have a different distribution model, were not reliant on one particular system or one group of employees, he says. Effectively there are 500 independent businesses that operate out of the Melbourne markets. Because youve got a couple of thousand retailers that come in, it minimises the risk to the supply chain because once theyve bought the produce theyre putting it on their own trucks and taking it out to their stores. Its a similar story at the Sydney Markets according to wholesale agent Shaun McInerney. More than 700 businesses operate stalls and their customers include the independent supermarkets. The product still goes in and out every day and thats why the independents have been able to keep their shelves full, he tells AAP. Some of the major retailers would have struggled because a lot of the eggs are in one basket, there are only a limited number of people who supply to them directly. McInerney, who also sits on the Sydney Markets board, says local independent stores have still been getting the produce they need, although he concedes prices can be higher. Shopping at your independents is vital to keep diversity in retail which equals diversity in the growing base, he says. Woolworths and Coles recently cut some supplier orders specifically because of supply chain issues. Yet the latter says its committed to collaborating with farmers. Our network includes more than 830 stores across the country, says a company spokesman. And with increased demand from customers staying home and cooking their own meals, the volume of fresh produce Coles requires would not be possible to secure from wholesale markets. Woolworths says cutting orders was a short term solution and they are beginning to be restored, with shelves filling up again. Weve been able to start increasing some of our fruit and vegetable orders again and well continue to monitor the situation with our supply partners. Agriculture Minister David Littleproud says one of the upsides of the crisis is that it has shone a light on the mistreatment of farmers. This is really an evolution of farmers having just had a gutful of the big supermarkets doing them over and theyve been continually doing them over, promising them the world, he told Sky News. They go and make big capital investments in buying new farms and then they dont have the contracts at the end of it; the supermarkets walk away from them. Littleproud says hes seeing a real change whereby people are concerned about the provenance of their food and want it to be more local. And I think this is the exciting thing for our agricultural sectorthat they dont have to just play in the big supermarket sand pit anymore. Vincent Brancatisano is a farm produce agent and wholesaler at the Melbourne Markets and says consumers need to be aware they have options. They dont just have to flock to the major chains all the time there are lots of independent operators out there that have access to as much produce as they want every day. By Liv Casben The Federal Reserve building is seen in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 22, 2008. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Investing Secrets of the Federal Reserve Commentary Ive been in this business for over two decades. As a financial adviser, I built custom portfolios for clients. I grew that skill into my own advisory firm. I even ran a hedge fund. I think its fair to say that Ive seen pretty deep into the other swamp called professional Wall Street. And Im pretty sure I have an idea. Like so many people mistakenly think, real investing success has nothing to do with studying stock fundamentals, economic indicators, or tracking price charts. All you have to do to get incredibly rich on Wall Street? Be the person who makes policy. But isnt that illegal insider trading? The short answer is, no. As proof, Id offer some recent antics by members of the Federal Reserve. Foxes, Meet the Henhouse Last October, Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan was caught with his hand in the cookie jar, so to speak, when it was revealed he was actively trading at the onset of the pandemic lockdowns. To the tune of some 27 transactions valued at over $1 million each. According to the Wall Street Journal (emphasis mine), Kaplan was trading stocks like Apple, Alibaba, Amazon, Delta Airlines, Google, and Oracle. These are all stocks that he, as a former Goldman Sachs executive, surely knew would react bullishly to the massive quantitative easing the Fed deployed during the depths of the Covid crisis. Every former Goldman Sachs executive knows that. As a result of the embarrassing disclosure, Kaplan announced that he would step down from his position. But he wasnt the only Fed president heading for greener pastures. Also submitting an early resignation was Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren. His official reason for leaving involved health issues hes been dealing with for some time. It didnt mention the real estate trusts he was buying and selling in the face of the Feds monthly $40 billion mortgage-backed security purchases. According to Business Day, Rosengrens disclosure listed stakes in four separate real estate investment trusts and disclosed multiple purchases and sales in those and other securities. Those investments raised eyebrows because he has publicly warned about the risks in commercial real estate. I bring these indiscretions up because this week, Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida announced hed be leaving his post two weeks early due to even more indiscretions on his part. Again from the Journal, Vice Chairman of the Fed Richard Clarida moved between $1 million and $5 million out of one mutual fund and into two other funds on Feb. 27, 2020, which was the day before Fed Chairman Jerome Powell issued a statement signaling a potential interest-rate cut due to concerns over the budding pandemic. (Just an aside: Do you know whats been more difficult to uncover? How much money these guys actually made.) As a result of all this nonsense, The Federal Reserve is launching a review of its internal rules governing the financial activities of its officials in the wake of news last week that the leaders of the Dallas and Boston regional Fed banks actively traded in financial markets. Its most reassuring to know the fox is on duty at the henhouse. Time for a Change If these kinds of revelations arent making your head explode, youre not really paying attention. Actions like these go far beyond simple insider trading. These men wield far too much power and influence. A statement from the Fed can affect more than individual stocksthey can move entire markets. Its entirely possible, likely even, that these trades were all perfectly legal according to the letter of the law. Thats why I believe the law needs to be changed. IMHO, nothing short of a blind trust requirement should be the rule at the federal level. No stocks. No ETFs. No futures. No options. No nothing! In fact, Id go even further and mandate they put all their investable wealth into a basic savings account and see how they like earning 0.10 percent annually. That might force them to rethink their monetary policies, too. These are just the latest, egregious examples of how Wall Street is stacked against the little guy. And its why we work so hard to get our readers the insights theyd otherwise never hear. And until these kinds of restrictions are in place, the playing field will never be level for main street investors. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (R) and Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison hold signed documents during their video signing ceremony of the bilateral reciprocal access agreement at Kishida's official residence in Tokyo on Jan. 6, 2022. (Issei Kato/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Japan-Australia Defense: The RAA Is SignedNow What? Commentary The Australian and Japanese prime ministers met virtually on Jan. 6 and signed a Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) that makes it easier for each nations troops to operate in each others country. As important, it strengthens the political and psychological groundwork for increased military cooperation between the two nations. The Good News Its the first such agreement Japan has signed with a country besides the United States. And it took a while. An agreement in principle was reached in November 2020 between Japans then-Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrisonafter six years of negotiating. It took another 14 months to finalize the deal. The door is now open wide in both directions for practically any initiative the two sides desire. One should remember, however, that the Japanese and Australian militaries are not strangers. Japanese forces have been training in Australia since the early 2010s, to include sending ships and troops to Talisman Saber and other exercises. Japanese ships have also exercised alongside the Australian Navy in the Indian Ocean Malabar Exercise and in the South China Sea. Individual Australian Defense Force personnel have been assigned to Japan for decades. And Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) aircraft have used U.S. bases in Japan (under United Nations auspices) in recent years while enforcing North Korea sanctions. And in September 2019, a detachment of Australian F18s conducted a first-ever joint combat exercise with the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) in Japan. A decade ago, most observers considered a Japan-Australia RAA and all the above activities to be impossible. Chinese threats, pressure, and saber rattling do indeed have a silver lining. Military Opportunities Now that the deal has been signed, the important thing is what both sides make of it. Are there some easy things to move things forward? An Australian Army liaison officer is now assigned to the Japanese Armys Ground Combat Command (GCC) in Japan. But thats not so useful. It will be better to see an Australian Liaison Officer or two assigned to Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) headquarters in Tokyo. The right officers, doing some pushing and persuadingand with some help from the U.S. Marines and U.S. Navycan move the Australia-Japan defense relationship forward on a far broader front than just army to army. And when the Americans and Japanese finally establish a joint headquarters in Japan (hopefully before hell has frozen over), the Australians should be an integral part of it. Another helpful initiative would be deploying a RAAF squadron to Japan on long-term deployment and, vice versa, a JASDF squadron to Australia. Bringing the Australian Army and Navy to exercise in Japan is also easy. Besides the favorable optics of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and Australian Defense Force (ADF) operating together, the JSDF benefits from deeper exposure to another military and different ways of doing things. And both benefit from the psychological and political ties that come of deeper military-to-military relations. The JSDF absolutely needs opportunities for realistic training to better professionalize itself. It cant do this in Japan owing to limited training areas and excessive local restrictions. Australia offers excellent opportunities for all three JSDF services to train by themselves, together, and with other militaries. Australias Northern Territory, in particular, is the best place in the entire hemisphere for the sort of unrestrained, combined arms training that Japan desperately needs. JSDFs only other alternative is to make the trip to Southern Californiaand even then, U.S. training facilities are not as good as those in the Northern Territory. Heres one idea: combine Japanese and Australian amphibious forces into a joint task force to master the complex air/sea/ground coordination that is part and parcel of amphibious operationsbut also applicable to a range of military operations. Japans Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) escort ship Kurama sails through smoke during a fleet review off Sagami Bay, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, on Oct. 18, 2015. Thirty-six MSDF vessels and navy ships from Australia, India, France, South Korea and the United States participated in the fleet review. (Toru Yamanaka/AFP via Getty Images) Send a Japanese amphibious shipeven an older landing ship tank (LST)and a battalion of Japanese Marines from the new Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade (ARDB) down to Australia for six months, and operate out of Darwin as well as over in Queensland with Australias amphibious force. Its a good way to give Japans ARDB some real experience outside Japan, in an unfamiliar environment and with foreign forces. Thats how a military improves. Australias amphibious force can also use the practice. And maybe operate the Australian-Japanese task force up into Southeast Asia or throughout Oceania, with HA/DR training and response as one of its missions. Thats urgently needed as the Chinese regimes influence steadily expands in the region. This is all far preferable to the canned exercises in Kyushu or Hokkaidowith commissars at JSDF headquarters in Ichigaya nearby to keep the training as safe (in other words, unrealistic) as possiblewhile cowering in fear that somebody might complain the training is too noisy or scary. But isnt the Talisman Saber exercise enough? Maybe just make it bigger? No. Talisman Saber is a good exercise, but for the participants such exercises can become like a piano player who practices only one song. He might play it perfectly, but its still just one song. Political and Psychological Opportunities The RAA is politically important. Rather than giving in to Beijings threats and bullying, two of Asias key democracies deepen defense tieswith the potential for creating real operational capabilitiesand employing them around the region. The RAA agreement also belies Beijings shrill claims that regional nations dislike Japan because of World War II and fear a remilitarized Japan. The Australians have as much reason as anyone to hold a grudge, but theyve long since recognized that todays Japan isnt 1930s-1940s Japan. Take away Korea and China, and thats the feeling throughout most of the Indo-Pacific, if one looks closely. Defense Web of Democracies The RAA is also good news for the Americans. For starters, U.S. forces are overstretched regionally and worldwide. Whatever the JSDF does in, or with, Australia feeds into the United States desperate (though unstated) need for a more capable JSDF. That means, a JSDF capable of fighting in its own right, and also as an ally. And this is no less beneficial to Australiawhich is game but not big enough to defend itself against an angry Peoples Republic of China (PRC). A U.S. Navy Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) heads across the Pacific Ocean toward Sydney, Australia, during events marking the start of Talisman Saber 2017a biennial joint military exercise between the United States and Australiaon July 29, 2017. (Jason Reed/Reuters) As important, increased Japan-Australia activities break down the hub and spoke nature of the U.S. presence in the Pacific. Thats a construct that has American forces operating too often bilaterally with Asia/Pacific nations (for example, the spokes). The spokes need to operate togethercreating a more durable webwithout the Americans driving things. Doing so improves capabilities and also deepens the previously mentioned psychological and political ties that come of military-to-military engagements between like-minded nations. This doesnt mean the Americans are excluded or unnecessary, but rather it bolsters the U.S. presence as part of a more complex and stronger web of defense relationships. It should be seen as cross-bracing rather than as a replacement or a hedge. The web approach is particularly important as, given the countries involved are democracies where policies can change with elections, the more there are overlapping defense relationships, the more likely the region as a whole can continue to build its defense posture even if the government changes in one of the partners. Reasons for Cautious Pessimism Beijing is of course displeased with the RAA and will use its levers to try to stifle it before it can fully form. Japans once powerful pro-PRC constituencies in political, official, and business worlds are quiescent for now, but that can change. Given this, one wonders if Prime Minister Fumio Kishidas administration might put a brake on attempts to do more with Australia on the military front. Something similar may even play out in Australia should the Labor Party win the next election. Laborites say they wont, but one wonders. Also, hopefully, the Japanese government doesnt see the RAA as meaning Japan needs to do less defense-wise. Kishida needs to allow the JSDF to up its game considerably. Japans military still needs more money (for training and personnel) and to meet recruiting targets that it has missed by 25 percent annually for years. The JSDF is still not ready to fight a warneeding among other things, a joint capability (which it doesnt have). Bottom Line? Too often it seems that signing an agreement is an end in itself. So heres an idea. A year from now, lets hold another press conference and see what has actually been accomplished out of the RAAand what the Japanese and the Australians are doing with each otherthat could only have happened because of the RAA. Sometimes its good to keep score. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Residents drop mail-in ballots in a ballot box outside of the Tippecanoe branch library in Milwaukee, Wis., on Oct. 20, 2020. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) Judge Rules Absentee Ballot Drop Boxes Not Allowed in Wisconsin A County Judge ruled Thursday that drop boxes could not be used to collect absentee ballots under Wisconsin law. The use of the boxes, as described in guidance issued by the Wisconsin Elections Commission, is not permitted under Wisconsin law, Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Michael Bohren said in his ruling. Bohren agreed with the plaintiff attorneys argument that state law only allows two ways for absentee ballots to be returned: by mail or in-person at the local clerks office. When returned in person, only the person who cast the vote may do that, Bohren said. Under this order, ballot harvesting or events such as Democracy in the Park, in which election officials collected absentee ballots at more than 200 city parks in 2020, would be prohibited. The commission issued the guidance in March (pdf) and August (pdf) 2020 to allow election clerks to put out drop boxes, adding a family member or another person may also return the ballot on behalf of the voter. The ruling will almost certainly be appealed. If it stands, it will affect the spring primary election scheduled on Feb. 15 for state offices such as the court of appeals judges and circuit court judges. The spring general is on April 5. Riley Vetterkind, public information officer for the Wisconsin Elections Commission, told The Epoch Times via email that staff and commissioners plan to review the courts order and consult with legal counsel in the coming days. When asked how many drop boxes were used during the 2020 election, Vetterkind said the commission didnt keep the statistics. Republicans and conservatives have been pushing against the ballot drop boxes since the 2020 election, citing fraud concerns. Meanwhile, Democrats and the left claim the drop boxes are important to ensure more voter turnout, especially during the pandemic, and Republicans are trying to suppress voters. The Republican-led state legislature passed bills last year to restrict ballot drop boxes, but Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed the proposals. During the hearing, Luke Berg, deputy counsel of the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, which is representing the plaintiffs, said that by the logic of Elections Commissions guidance, a shoebox in the park would be legal for accepting ballots. The Elections Commissions attorney Steven Kilpatrick called the assertion a ridiculous argument. The Associated Press contributed to this report. I am of the opinion that we will find our conventional military back in Afghanistan [within] 18 months. In this episode of Kashs Corner, Kash Patel and Jan Jekielek turn to national security and dive into the mounting debacle in Afghanistan, the push for a new Iran deal amid sanctions and death threats from Iran, and Russias recent maneuverings around Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Kash Patel: Hey everybody. And welcome back to Kashs Korner. Jan Jekielek: Kash, I think we need to go back to talking a little bit about some important national security issues that basically are not being talked about much now because of Omicron, and because of a lot of things that are taking the forefront in the news cycle. Weve talked about this before. Weve talked about the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban taking over. Now, weve been hearing about the Talibans intent to put, what was it, 2000 suicide bombers at the Afghani embassy in Washington, D.C. in response to a contingent of 2000 soldiers. We also have the Iran talks, which have been ongoing. Iran doesnt seem to have been holding fast to the terms of the deal, so to speak. Lets jump into this. What are things looking like in this? Mr. Patel: Yes. I think generally speaking, Im glad were back on foreign policy. Its probably more of my bread and butter than the norm. But a year into the Biden Administration, basically, were almost exactly at a year. You have to look back and evaluate, has America gotten stronger, gotten weaker in its diplomatic relationships with Russia, China, Iran, Afghanistan, the Taliban, and things like that? Those are the big relationships that you monitor and spend time and energy in. At least we did when I was in the administration under President Trump. And I think, unfortunately the answer for us is that, across the board, from a national security perspective, our relationships with those countries are weaker. They are taking more advantage of us as Americans generally speaking. And when we do engage in these diplomatic negotiations, or talks, or what have you, its almost just theater and theres no substance to it. And that doesnt And I understand in foreign diplomacy you have to have a certain stage of theater, but you also have to have a certain stage of action. And I havent seen the action. So I think were going to talk about Iran. I think Russias another good example. And I think with the Taliban and it just recently came out which is a third example. So, we can hop around the world and talk about our relationships, because the Biden Administration has recently directly engaged Iran, directly engaged Russia, directly or indirectly engaging the Taliban in Afghanistan. Mr. Jekielek: Well, why dont we start with Iran actually, because from what I understand, Iran intends to basically give retribution for the killing of Soleimani. Mr. Patel: Yes. Mr. Jekielek: And theyre sanctioning people, and that sanctioning means something different for them than it does for Americans. Mr. Patel: Yes. So yes, lets take on Qassem Soleimani first, and then well get back into the whole JCPOA and Iran nuclear program deal. Quick reminder, Qassem Soleimani was the head of the Quds Force. What is the Quds Force? It is basically the elite special forces unit for Irans IRGC, their revolutionary guard corps. Who do they work for? The Ayatollah. And so Qassem Soleimani, over the years, had built up quite the arsenal of terrorists that he would deploy through either Iran or Irans proxies around the world against Americans. And just a reminder, Qassem Soleimani was responsible for more casualties for U.S. soldiers than any one person in U.S. history. Thats how bad he was. And President Trump decided to take, I thought, the courageous action in taking him out almost two years ago, almost two years ago to the day or the week. And if you recall, when that happened, obviously it was a massive global event. And what I remember, I was at the White House at the time, we were getting calls from across the globe. Our partners across the globe were cheering that action, because they agreed with our position on who Soleimani was and how big of a threat he was, not just to America, but to England, to France, to Paris, to everybody. And so, we also have to remind people that this was on the heels of we had killed Baghdadi three months before that. So the number one terrorist in the world was killed on October 31st. And then fast forward to January, a few months later, and Qassem Soleimani was taken out, the head of the largest state sponsor of terror. So thats the landscape back then. And of course, Iran came out and publicly said there was going to be retribution against America. Im talking back then. But I think highlighting this shows the difference in security posture that we have. Back then Iran voiced their outrage. And if you recall, they launched a couple of, what we call, indirect fire rockets near and around a U.S. Army position, a U.S. military position that thankfully didnt strike actual soldiers but hit some structures and caused a few people to have some very mild head injuries. And that was it. They knew, I think, Iran knew that if they actually killed or caused an actual casualty to an American soldier, that President Trump would have unleashed the rest of the capability we have against Iranimmediately. And I think Iran knew that. And so Iran wanted to save face for us taking out the head of their terrorism program. And so they use their propaganda machine to say, look, we launched rockets against an American position. Fast forward to this past week, what happened? Jake Sullivan, the current national security advisor, did go out on the record and say we will protect against any retribution for those who did serve in a prior administration and those who are serving, which is the right thing to say, I have to admit. The problem that we have is why is Iran, all of sudden, two years after the death of Soleimani, issuing 51 new sanctions against Americans who were supposedly involved in the strike against Soleimani? Not just that, they issued effectively a kill order for all those same people. And they said, publicly, not only are we going to just do it if you come near Iran, they said, were going to come to American soil and take out those individuals responsible for Soleimanis death. That is a drastic escalation against America by, I would say, our biggest enemy when it comes to terrorism. And we dont really have a response to that. I just dont think the way weve handled it, a message saying were going to protect Americans who served and are currently serving, is a step in that direction. But this takes us into, I think, the next thing were going to talk about with Iran was the whole nuclear deal and all that stuff. I think its all intertwined. Mr. Jekielek: Well, its deeply connected, because from what we can see, the Biden Administration is deeply committed to enacting the JCPOA in some form, even as it was canceled under the administration youre a part of. Mr. Patel: Yes. So quick history, JCPOA commonly referred to as the Iran agreement, or the Iran nuclear agreement, executed and signed off under the Obama Administration. And at the time, and since then, Ive deeply disagreed with us entering that agreement. The goal of the agreement, I will say, was to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, which is the goal, every Democrat and Republican shares when it comes to Iran. Its the how do we get them to do that, was the disagreement. Obama thought that by giving them billions in cash, that we had seized from them and frozen from them, would, I dont know, muster some goodwill. I didnt think it was a good approach. It proved not to be a good approach. And what they said in that agreement was not just America signed on it, but I think England and a couple other of our biggest allies all signed on it with Iran, France and a couple other people. And they said, you, Iran, cannot go past X in terms of weapons grade production of nuclear material. So you have to get a fissionable material thats 90 percent to hit the weapons grade mark, and back then they were at like 20. And then they couldnt hit certain amount of other percentages, as it relates to their nuclear weapons program without getting to details. But we now know, looking back, that they never abided by those agreements anyway, even when they entered the JCPOA. So thats why I think President Trump came in and said, you, Iran, are not letting the UN, and the global community of inspectors for nuclear weapons, come into a fordo and look, and examine, that facility to see is it active? If its not active, whats there? What kind of nuclear weapons are there? What kind of nuclear materials [are] there? We were blocked out. So I think President Trump, rightly so said, Were out. Why are we in an agreement thats supposed to prevent you from getting nuclear weapons, and nuclear material, when youre breaking the purpose of that agreement? And so that caused a big uproar, I think, in the public as to weve withdrawn from JCPOA and Iran is now definitely going to get a nuclear weapon. And I disagree with that, because we actually, under Trumps Administration, were extremely harsh on Iran. We levied more sanctions against them than any previous administration. We crippled their currency, literally, to the point where they added a zero, just as a number. This is how bad it got. It got so devalued because of our sanctions during the Trump Administration, they literally just took a zero and said, well just help our currency regrow by adding a zero, which as you and I know, you cant do that. But thats how bad it got. And so we knew it was working, it was crippling their government. What else were we doing? We were wiping out the Qassem Soleimanis of the world, and we were wiping out Iranian proxies and other terrorists related to Irans IRGC in Yemen, and around Somalia, in Iraq. So, we were taking them on around the region, and thats what you have to do with Iran. But they then said, well, were going to march ahead with a nuclear program that gets us to a nuclear weapon. We just didnt let them, and they didnt succeed. So, when you have a change in administration, then President Trumps out and President Biden has come in and said, he wants, as youve said, come in with a form of the JCPOA, the Iran nuclear agreement. I think thats catastrophic for U.S. national security because they, Iran, already showed that, even when they signed onto such an agreement, they broke it anyway. So, what are we going to do, reward them by propping them back up on the world stage, giving their currency value again for continuing to produce nuclear material towards a nuclear weapon? I just dont see that as the appropriate national security approach for Iran. Were basically rewarding them for their conduct. And Im personally offended that when they issue these sanctions, they Iran, against Americans, American citizens, and death orders, kill orders, against these folks. In light of that, were going to continue to engage diplomatically with Iran and go to, I think the talks are in Vienna or wherever they are. I think thats absurd. I mean, we didnt do that under President Trump, and I think it highlights the weaker position that America is now in, because Iran is just saying, were going to do whatever we want. Were going to issue these death threats. Were going to sanction all these people. Were going to publicly say, were coming after Americans on American soil. And were going to do whatever it takes to get a nuclear weapons program. So why would we offer them an out? Why would we offer them the ability to come back into this so-called program? Its mind boggling to me. And the only other thing we havent talked about is the snap back provisions, but thats getting into the weeds. We can do it really quick. Mr. Jekielek: Well, no. The thing that strikes me here is, again, also that this is obviously these sanctions, as I said, sanctions seem to mean something very different for the Iranian regime than for the Americans. But most Americans probably dont even know that those orders were issued at this point. Mr. Patel: Yes. Mr. Jekielek: Because were so consumed with these other things, but also not a ton of media coverage of this. Mr. Patel: No, almost none. Thats why I wanted to focus on our show today on that, because a lot of people on that list, everybody on that list, is someone I serve with. Some of them are my friends. I dont want kill orders out against them for doing the national security job of America. This administration shouldnt want that either. But we cant give Iran a leg up after theyve taken such a posture against us, and thats what I was talking about earlier when I think we have weakened our national security posture. This is one example with Iran. And I think the Biden Administration has And well do snapback really quick. What is snapback? Snapback sanctions meant, when the JCPOA was signed, there were United Nations provisions on sanctions against Iran that were withdrawn. That is the UN had these pretty harsh sanctions on Iran from a number of different countries. And snapback was, if Iran violated the JCPOA, it would automatically snapback to the prior landscape. That is, all the sanctions that the UN had in place beforehand would automatically come back into place. I dont think thats realistic. So, I think when people talk snapback now, theyve already violated the JCPOA, so I just dont understand the logic. Were going to put them back in the JCPOA, and then have them violate it again, and then try to do snapback? I just think this is political theater when it comes to national security, especially as it relates to Iran. And were giving them, and this goes back to what were saying, the theme we were saying at the beginning of the show, their propaganda machine is going 100 miles an hour, and they are out messaging America when it comes to their position in the world. And I dont recall a time when we did that under the Trump Administration. Mr. Jekielek: A quick comment on the effectiveness of the sanctions. And there are a number of people [who] say this, and I think its true. The sanctions can be really tough on the Iranian regime, but theyre also incredibly tough on the Iranian people, as well. And people take issues with this. Mr. Patel: I think thats a great point. And Im glad you brought this up, Jan, because what I should have led with is, we, under the Trump Administration, and we, as America, should not be out to take out all of Iran, because most of the people in Iran are citizens in Iran that disagree with the Ayatollah and the Quds Force. It just so happens that the Quds Force and the Ayatollah run the country. So, when you issue these crippling sanctions, yes, unfortunately they have an impact on the everyday citizenry who doesnt necessarily agree with their leadership. And as we know, and as you know, in Iran only a minority of that population actually agrees with what the Ayatollah is doing in, and how Iran is run, and the Quds Force, and the IRGC. And so thats the unfortunate reality is when you issue sanctions, when you devalue their currency, or when you do something against Iran, youre always cognizant of what you are doing with the everyday people there too. And that becomes a very difficult balancing act because you have to weigh Americas national security interest by the ruling faction versus how are you going to impact the everyday citizens. At least us, under President Trump, we weighed those two every time we took action against Iran. But we always, and I think rightly so, erred on the side of protecting American national security interests. And sometimes that was, actually, every time that was a really difficult decision. Mr. Jekielek: I cant help thinking about the Taliban saying, were going to put 2000 suicide bombers, basically. It feels like a very similar type of thing almost, in terms of messaging, if were talking about propaganda. Mr. Patel: Yes. Mr. Jekielek: Because, of course, this is very much a lot about messaging. I dont think that those 2000 are going to show up there. Mr. Patel: Sure. No, youre totally right. 2000 Mujahideen are not going to show up in Washington, D.C. at the Afghan embassy. Its never going to happen. But it is what we were talking about, its an easy propaganda win that the world will look at and say, is the Taliban really telling the Americans that these soldiers, these mercenaries, are going to come in here and stand guard? They just didnt say those things under the Trump Administration, because the posture we took against Afghanistan and the Taliban was so completely different. We made it a priority to wipe out Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. We made it a priority to have the Taliban come to the negotiating table with the Afghan government. And this is one of the most important things that I dont think people have realized. Since the transfer of administrations from Trump to Biden, the people that are now leading the Taliban are five individuals that used to be in Guantanamo Bay, known terrorists that we let out. So, the leadership structure of the Taliban has changed. With putting aside the whole Afghan withdrawal and the catastrophe that that was, the Taliban has come in and said, we, the Taliban, are the government of Afghanistan. Why are they saying that? The United States has bankrolled the Afghan Its a law passed by Congress. They have funded the government of Afghanistan every year for the last, at least, a decade. The Taliban are now coming in on the world stage saying, we, the Taliban, are the government. You, the U.S., per your law, have to give us those billions of dollars. Now, thankfully, to date, that Taliban has not been recognized as the government of Afghanistan. And Im not sure where its going to go, but if we do end up giving them the billions that, by law, we have to give the Afghan government, were going to be funding terrorism. Because look at what the Talibans doing in Afghanistan, and again, this is not getting coverage either. Theyre going back, theyre reverting back to the old ways of how they treat women, of how they treat people who are not in the Taliban. Quick vignette, bath houses, who cares? Why is that important? Well, in Afghanistan, if you dont allow the women to use the bath houses in the country, thats one of the only ways you stay warm in Afghanistan during the winter. And people dont realize this, but Afghanistan gets really cold. It has nasty winters and snow. People dont realize its not just a desert, its very far north in terms of the geography of the earth, and it has some harsh winters. And thats just one example. They have also, lately, the Taliban has been implementing a string of bombings killing people. And to me, the most important thing, as an American, is we still have American citizens on the ground in Afghanistan that cant get outthat havent gotten out. And you have these great programs, like Project Dynamo and others, that have gone in and done the work of what I believe the government should have done. And the roadblocks theyve run into are shocking. The U.S. government has told some of these private groups that youre not allowed to go in and get these individuals, these American citizens out. If you do, were going to interfere, or were going to look at you and your operation. And the Department of Justice has gone so far as to say that if you move American citizens across a border, technically thats human trafficking, we might prosecute you. I mean, can you imagine this? These groups are charitable organizations, former military guys in the DOD that I served with, that are just trying to get American citizens out. Thats all theyre trying to do. And theyre trying to get other people out, not just Americans, just people who are now targets of the Taliban and move them to a third country. And its been almost impossible. And the fact that we still have American citizens there, I think is tragic. So, this goes back to our point, hows the Taliban gained so much, at least, posture power on the world stage? Doing the same thing Irans doing. Theyre using their propaganda machine. Theyre dictating to America for the first time in a long time, what their position is versus what ours is. And I dont see a response. Im not saying we should go back into Afghanistan, but we should at least get our people out. And we should also, at least, prevent some of these atrocities that are happening from happening. And no ones covering them. Its again, to your point, no ones covering Iran. No ones covering the Taliban going out there and slaughtering Afghans. Its not like, since we left, Afghanistan is just this peaceful place. In my opinion, I think its gotten worse. And what happens when you let the Taliban, that is now run by terrorists, who comes back? Al Qaeda, thats their homeland. [Narration]: We reached out to the Department of Defense for comment, but they did not immediately respond. Mr. Jekielek: And so when you said something, we should at least prevent some of these atrocities from happening. How would you do that? Because that does sound like saying you do want America to go back in there somehow? Or is there some other method youre imagining? Mr. Patel: No, I think there is a combination. Unfortunately, Im of the opinion that we will find our conventional military back in Afghanistan inside 18 months. Just because its not going to go well with the Taliban increasing in power. What you could do, especially for supposedly taking on these diplomatic negotiations that this administration is supposedly entertaining with the Taliban, is you could say we know you, the Taliban, need money. I mean, we do this with the world over. If you want our American dollars, it comes with all of these attachments, all of these strings: wipe out some of the leadership that has direct ties to terrorism and our terrorist themselves, tell them to stop killing people that are not on their side or their team, for lack of a better word, and give us access so that we can get our citizens and our allies citizens out of Afghanistan should they want to leave? Thats an option because Afghanistan, their number one money maker, unfortunately, is the opiate trade, which is illegal. So, they have that funding coming in, but they dont have any other capital. They dont have a bank reserve. They dont have trade going out of the country thats bringing in billions of dollars. They dont have a tourism industry. They dont have anything like that. So, they solely rely on the west for funds, and at a certain point theyre going to run out of money. So, you could do it that way, on a diplomatic front. But I just dont see us posturing against the Taliban. I dont see this administration taking a hard stance against them. I dont see us going to Britain, going to France, going to wherever, pick a country, and saying, we cannot have you, the Taliban, act like this. I havent seen it. Its not even talked about in this administration. Since the catastrophic withdrawal, or the evacuation as I call it, with Biden, weve almost stopped talking about Afghanistan and whats going on. Mr. Jekielek: Yes. Speaking of these strong postures, you mentioned Russia, you mentioned China earlier, which are likewise taking very aggressive postures, whether its to Taiwan and, of course, thats intimately connected by law with the United States. And of course, Russia, which is making all sorts of very disturbing moves. Mr. Patel: Lets just talk about Russia, because theyve actually been engaging in diplomatic talks with the U.S. just last week. We had our deputy secretary of state meet with their deputy foreign minister in, I want to say, Geneva or one of the fancy European countries. And thats good, Im not saying we shouldnt do that. We should do that. But Putin, unfortunately, I think has taken advantage of this administration to the detriment of the American people. He knows he can expend minimal amounts of money, use his propaganda machine, and posture a position that makes him look like hes in a superior position to the United States. Hes doing this troop movements in Crimea, and now hes talking about the whole situation in Kazakhstan. Which, really quick, for people that dont know, Kazakhstan basically sits under Russia, geographically, massive country, lots of gas and production there. Mr. Jekielek: Former Soviet Republic. Mr. Patel: Yes, former Soviet Republic. So, Putins now saying hes going to move troops over to Kazakhstan. The Premier there just got either resigned or kicked out, I cant remember, but their governments having some serious problems in Kazakhstan. Why does that matter? Who cares? Because Putins taking the region and basically showing the rest of the world with It doesnt cost him a lot of money, him Putin, to move a few thousand troops here, or to put out some propaganda against Kazakhstan that makes Russia look good and doesnt make us look good. Mr. Jekielek: Well, I mean, and frankly support There were legitimate protests against the Kazakh government and Putins involvement essentially prevents those from taking their course. And of course, theres a lot of discussion about what thats all about, but Putins basically taken his position. Im the guy in charge here. Mr. Patel: Yes. And look, these talks that the deputy secretary of state was having with the deputy foreign minister of Russia, involved troop movements from Russia to the Ukraine. And what the deputy secretary of state rightly said was the United States will not allow an invasion of Russian forces into the Ukraine. Now, thats the right position to take. You dont want Russia invading Ukraine. But I think the Russians are sitting there saying, if we do it, what are you guys going to do? You, the U.S.? And I dont think were postured to do much of anything. What are going to do to send troops over to the Ukraine, American soldiers? I think Putin I dont think hes going to invade the Ukraine, but I think hes using this situation, again, to his advantage. Hes saying he might. Hes putting troops around the Ukraine. And what are we doing? The world is fixated on that dance between Russia and the U.S. and foreign policy. And its another scenario where were, unfortunately I think, losing our global power position, because Putins like, Im going to do whatever I want, whether its Ukraine, or Kazakhstan, or what have you, Im going to do whatever I want. And you mentioned China. So I dont think well get into the weeds on China stuff, but just a couple months ago, China Putting aside Taiwan, China was in the South China Sea taking target practice at American dummy ships that they had built. They were literally shooting at, not our actual ships, I want to be clear. But the Chinese government, the CCP, had made dummy ships with U.S. flags and U.S. insignia on them, and were shooting them. Because, I think, Xi Jinping has taken a similar approach to Putin. Its great propaganda from their perspective. It costs them almost nothing. And it makes the American position in the world look weakened. We didnt do anything in response to it. We havent done anything in response to, and I know we talked about this on a previous show, the Winter Olympics being in a country where theres three levels of genocide there. And so, its almost as if were just looking the other way at some of these, and going to the microphone every now and then, and saying, thats bad, dont do it. That has a purpose, but if theres no teeth behind it, thats what I think is the difference between this administration and the prior administration of Trump. When we said stuff, it was backed by action that we took. For example, in Afghanistan, when President Trump said, You the Taliban, have to eliminate your ties with Al Qaeda. They knew he meant it because we went on a serious manhunt to wipe out Al Qaeda and ISIS. And they knew that if they tied themselves to Al Qaeda, they would be at the receiving end of that action. And similarly in Iran, President Trump was very harsh on Iran between economic sanctions and actions we took again. The IRGC and the Quds Force, not just around Iran, but in Iraq, in Yemen, places where Iran operates against American interests. Most people dont know that, but they move outside of Iran with their proxy forces and attack our interest there. But we ended up killing, for example, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian peninsulas emir, because he was one of the number one targets on our terrorism list, and just couldnt allow The guys name was Qasim al-Raymi. And we knew that if we took him out, that would show the world and Iran that were going to come after you. So thats the difference in saying were going to do X and backing it up with actual action versus just taking this diplomatic posture, putting it in the media, and then Xi Jinping, Putin, the Ayatollah, the new head of the Quds Force. I dont think theyre taking us that seriously. And for the first time, theyre dictating their positions to America. Mr. Jekielek: I think I get a sense of what you would do, but what is Kash Patels prescription here? Mr. Patel: I think, in short, one, we have to educate the American public that these things were happening. We have to talk about whats happening with Iran, with Russia, with China and things like that. And then once you do that and you actually get the news out there of the facts about how, and the Taliban, then you start encouraging your government to act appropriately, or, at least, what I think is appropriate, which is not what were doing right now. So, it takes time. Its a plan you have to put together and you roll it out over the course of 12, 18 months. I just dont think we have any of those plans in place under this administration. So, step one, hopefully people start paying more attention to how the Taliban is treating people in Afghanistan, what Xi Jinpings doing in China against American interest, what Putins doing for very little money against American interest, and what Iran has just recently done, very publicly, against American citizens in America. And thats how you have to move the needle. You have to educate enough people, get them to pay attention to and talk about it, so that it starts becoming an issue, and not just Congress, but over in the executive branch where they can take action. Mr. Jekielek: Well, Kash, I think its time for the shout-out. Mr. Patel: Yep. So, todays shout-out, Jan, goes to Andy Ostertag. Thanks so much for your comments on our board at Kashs Korner, and thank you everybody else for submitting your comments. Jan and I read him every week and we really enjoy it, and we will see you next week on Kashs Korner. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. Kazakhstans President Orders Brutal Murder of Protesters Vladimir Putins Russian-led security alliance entry into Kazakhstan is a glimpse of the coming invasion and war directed toward Ukraine Commentary Vladimir Putin believes that the greatest tragedy in the post-World War II era was the collapse of the former Soviet Union 30 years ago. Putin blames the collapse of the Soviet Union on the United States and its western alliance, but hes wrong. In the end, the communist government, after 75 years of existence, collapsed as a result of its failed socialistic economic system and Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachevs unwillingness to murder and purge hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of its citizens, in the same way Joseph Stalin did to consolidate and hold power before and after the Second World War. Those of us that recognize the brutality of the Soviet Union and the danger of communism understand that over 60 million victims were murdered as Vladimir Lenin and later Stalin crushed dissent to build what they described as a bright, beautiful socialist future. The brutal road to the eventual economic collapse of the Soviet Union was built on working and starving millions to death. It buried millions it tortured to death or summarily executed untold numbers of innocent and unarmed men, women, and children, persons that Lenin and Stalin declared to be enemies of the people. The Russian public was brainwashed into believing that the purge victims were standing in the way of achieving a collectivist utopia. Perhaps one reason for Putins nostalgia for the Soviet Union is his closed-minded attitude toward reading the works of articulate critics of life in the not-so-great, late Soviet Union. Putin has proclaimed in the past that he could not read a book written by Soviet critics and defectors because, as he said, I dont read books by people who have betrayed the Motherland. One book he should have read was written by a well-known Russian sociologist, Pitirim Sorokin, who lived through the early years of the Soviet Union in Leningrad, now named St. Petersburg, before moving to the United States. Sorokin published his diary as a book that revealed what it was like to live in this nightmare that Vladimir Putin looks back on with such reverence and longing. The machine of the Red Terror works incessantly. Every day and every night, in Petrograd, Moscow, and all over the country, the mountain of the dead grows higher. Everywhere, people are shot, mutilated, wiped out of existence. Every night we hear the rattle of trucks bearing new victims. Every night we hear the rifle fire of executions, and often some of us hear from the ditches, where the bodies are flung, faint groans and cries of those who did not die at once under the guns. People living near these places begin to move away. They cannot sleep. Getting up in the morning, no man or woman knows whether he will be free that night. Leaving ones home, one never knows whether he will return. Sometimes a neighborhood is surrounded, and everyone caught out of his house without a certificate is arrested. Life these last days depends entirely on luck. Putin has been doing his best to restore the horror of the former Soviet Union by murdering and jailing his political opponents, outlawing the existence of any competing political parties, and annihilating the free press. His invasion of Georgia to install an authoritarian dictatorship and constant promotion and assistance to establish and maintain authoritarianism in other former Soviet Republics continues today with his intervention in Kazakhstan to prop up its dictatorship. This is leading toward the establishment of the same repressive, murderous Soviet regimes in the Russian sphere of influence that have absolutely no respect for human rights. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev gave a televised speech this past week that is evidence of Putins authoritarian goals. In his speech, Tokayev proudly announced that he had ordered the police and army to shoot protesters without warning and intended to ruthlessly crush any of his political opponents to restore order after days of unrest triggered by a fuel-price increase and growing discontentment with him and his government. In resorting to such brutality, Tokayev claims his government has restored order against a counterterrorism operation and will continue to do so until the full liquidation of armed militants. The fact that many of those who will be shot and killed are not armed doesnt matter to him or Putin. Tokayev went on to say in his televised speech, without blinking an eye, Law enforcement agencies and the army were given an order by me to shoot at terrorists to kill without warning. The Kazakh did all this after the arrival of Russian troops to support his unpopular government. Mr. Tokayev is taking the same approach encouraged by Russias Putin that both Lenin and Stalin used in dealing with resistance to their brutal authoritarianism. Lenin and Stalin routinely blamed peaceful protests on violent domestic and foreign bandits and terrorists, activists and mass media for inciting protests. Calls for talks made by the international community of nations to prevent the unfolding violence and needless bloodshed have been labeled by Tokayev as nonsense. What talks can there be with criminals, killers? While providing no evidence, Tokayev claims that foreign involvement in the unrest sounds as homicidal as Lenin and Stalin were saying: That is why they need to be liquidated. And that will be done in the nearest time. Keep in mind the protests that set all this in motion are tied to the countys socialistic economic system and the fuel-price increases that took effect on Jan. 1, 2022. Russians and other troops from its regional security alliance had begun arriving to help strategic guard buildings, according to Tokayev, for a limited period of time. According to a Russian military spokesperson, Russian and Kazakh forces had taken control of the major Kazakh Almaty airport. All of this must be striking a tremendous amount of fear in the Ukrainian people and their government leadership. Putin has amassed an estimated 100,000 troops on the border with Ukraine. While Putin is demanding that the United States and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies forswear any expansion east toward Russias borders, reconstituting the Soviet Union is Putins ultimate goal. Asked this past Sunday if this was Putins goal by Jake Tapper of CNN, Secretary of State Antony Blinken didnt hesitate to say yes. Given Putins personal history and rise to power, there should be no doubt that murdering hundreds of thousands of people might be acceptable to him to seize and maintain control of Ukraine and other former Soviet Republics. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Empty boxes lie scattered near the railroad tracks after ongoing train robberies in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles on Jan. 14, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) LA County Cargo Trains Raided by Thieves, 160 Percent Increase in Rail Thefts Thieves are raiding cargo trains carrying packages in Los Angeles County and littering the railroad with thousands of opened, discarded boxes. The issue of abandoned stolen goods went viral with nearly 50,000 likes and 40,000 combined shares on Twitter on Jan. 14 after CBS 2 photojournalist John Schreiber posted videos of thousands of discarded packages littering the ground outside Union Pacifics LA Transportation Center, in the neighborhood of Lincoln Heights, about three miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles. Missing a package? Shipment delayed? Maybe your package is among the thousands we found discarded along the tracks, Schreiber wrote on Twitter. This is but one area thieves have targeted trains. Empty boxes lay scattered near the railroad tracks after ongoing train robberies in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles on Jan. 14, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) Some of the opened and discarded packages included unused at-home COVID-19 test kits and EpiPens, Schreiber said. In one Twitter post, Schrieber showed an opened package, which was destined for Washington, that came up as delayed when Schreiber typed in its United Parcel Service (UPS) tracking number. Rail thefts have increased about 160 percent in LA County over the past year, Union Pacific spokesperson Robynn Tysver told The Epoch Times in a statement. Cargo trains arriving often slow down or come to a stop before entering Union Pacific facilities. As the trains idle, according to Schrieber, thieves loot the containers, often targeting UPS bags headed to residential areas in pursuit of valuable merchandise. Union Pacific railroads have their own police enforcement and are not under the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles Police Department. Tysver said that during the peak holiday shopping season, Union Pacific increased the number of special agents onsite and arrested more than 100 train looters. Additionally, he said, the company has spent about $5 million on claims, losses, and damages due to rail thefts just in the last year. However, Union Pacific has not been contacted for any court proceedings, Tysver said. Tysver was referring to a lack of court proceedings for arrested looters, due, he said, to the policies of LA County District Attorney George Gascon, including classifying such crimes as misdemeanors or petty offenses. According to Tysver, this has led to an increase in rail thefts because there are no longer consequences for many crimes. While criminals are being caught and arrested, charges are reduced to a misdemeanor or petty offense and the person is back on the streets in less than 24 hours after paying a nominal fine, Tysver said. In fact, criminals boast to our officers that there is no consequence. Empty boxes lay scattered near the railroad tracks after ongoing train robberies in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles on Jan. 14, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) The company sent a letter to Gascon in December, urging him to reconsider the policies. While we understand the well-intended social justice goals of the policy, we need our justice system to support our partnership efforts with local law enforcement, hold these criminals accountable, and most important, help protect our employees and the critical local and national rail network, the letter reads. Gascon is currently the subject of two recall campaigns, which have both cited his policies on crime as key factors for seeking his removal from office. Union Pacific didnt specify whether the railroad will help identify and replace lost items. A spokesperson for Gascon didnt respond to a request for comment by press deadline. Empty boxes lie scattered near the railroad tracks after ongoing train robberies in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles on Jan. 14, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) LA District Attorney Not Consulted in LAPD Officer Shooting Case: Advisor Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascons office claims it was not consulted by the sheriffs department before federal charges were filed in the robbery and shooting death of an LA police officer this week. The Los Angeles County sheriff filed federal racketeering charges Jan. 13 in the death of Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Officer Fernando Arroyos instead of what he said would have been lesser charges by the countys district attorney. We support the federal authorities taking the case and will be in communication with all the parties involved, Alex Bastian, special advisor to Gascon, told The Epoch Times. It was indicated to us that the case was referred to the federal authorities, who filed charges. As such, we did not have an opportunity to review the case. LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said during a press conference that the department spoke with Gascons office and the response about charges in the case was not satisfactory to the gravity of the situation. I believe their plan was to prosecute a simple murder with no gun enhancements, no gang enhancements. Nothing, Villanueva said. That really did not cover the gravity of this crime, so we definitely want to thank our federal partners for stepping up and giving us a different array. Los Angeles police Officer Fernando Arroyos, 27, was shot and killed on Jan. 11 while housing hunting with his wife. Four gang members have been charged in his death, a case that federal authorities are investigating. (Courtesy of Los Angeles Police Department) The charges are covered by the California Penal Code, Villanueva said.The tools are there, but we need to have someone who is willing to use them, Villanueva said. We dont have that, so thankfully we have our federal partners that are making up the difference Were going to use any tool at our disposal thats going to work and bring justice to these individuals. Four gang-related suspects are expected to face a federal judge this month. Luis Alfredo De La Rosa Rios, 29, Ernesto Cisneros, 22, Jesse Contreras, 35, and Haylee Marie Grisham, 18, were arrested by sheriffs deputies after an intensive search, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office. Rios and Contreras appeared in court Jan. 14 and were ordered to be held without bond. Their arraignment is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 3. A preliminary hearing is set for 11:30 a.m. Jan. 28 for Cisneros and Grisham, according to U.S. Attorneys Office spokesman Thom Mrozek. The suspects potentially face the death penalty and a minimum sentence of life in federal prison without the possibility of parole because Arroyos was allegedly murdered during a robbery, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office. Federal prosecutors filed charges in the case Jan. 13 against three members of the Los Angeles Florencia 13 street gang and one associate member. The gang has faced past federal prosecutions, including two major racketeering cases, the U.S. Attorneys Office of the Central District of California said in a release. Charges include violating the federal racketeering statute for their suspected roles, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office. The countys district attorney faces a possible second recall effort and has drawn criticism from several cities for his policies that critics say favor criminals. Gascon has eliminated cash bail for low-income suspects and his policies include not prosecuting suspects for some misdemeanor crimes and seeking reduced sentences related to hate, guns, and gangs. LAPD Chief Michel Moore said he agrees with the federal charges. The [Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act] standards of the federal government are specifically for this type of case, regardless of whether this involves an off-duty officer or not, Moore said. The officers death is the latest violent crime in LA, which has seen several armed robberies, smash-and-grab burglaries, and murders in the past few weeks, including the murder of a 24-year-old Pacific Palisades woman who was shot to death at work by a suspected burglar Jan. 13. A 41-year-old Taco Bell employee was also killed on Jan. 10 after a squabble over a counterfeit $20 bill, according to the LAPD. It was unfathomable that a simple robbery of a wallet and two chains would escalate into a murder, Moore said. The full and complete authority and weight of the federal government is deserved and warranted, Moore said. And regardless of what the district attorneys would do or not Im glad this is going federally. Los Angeles police chief Michel Moore speaks during a vigil with members of professional associations and the interfaith community at Los Angeles Police Department headquarters in Los Angeles, on June 5, 2020. (Mark J. Terrill/ File/AP Photo) The suspected gangs involved in the case have operated in the Newton area since Moore worked there in the 1980s, and they commit street robberies to further their gang initiatives, Moore said. The complaint alleges that Arroyos and his girlfriend were house hunting on Jan. 10 in the area of East 87th Street in Los Angeles when a black Nissan pickup truck approached them. They were reportedly confronted by Rios and Cisneros when they pointed guns at the off-duty officer, according to police. The two are suspected of stealing Arroyos wallet and jewelry before allegedly shooting him during the ensuing exchange of gunfire. Arroyos collapsed in an alley and the suspects fled, police said. Sheriffs deputies responded to the scene where they found community members giving Arroyos first aid. Deputies assessed his gunshot injuries and made the decision to immediately transport him by patrol vehicle to St. Francis hospital where we later learned he did not survive his injuries, Sheriffs Department Homicide Bureau Cpt. Joe Mendoza told reporters during a press conference. Officers were alerted to the location of potential suspects 10 minutes after the initial shooting when someone called police to report a gunshot victim about a mile away near Junction Street an East 60th, according to Mendoza. The sheriffs department is asking for the publics help in finding Arroyos black bi-fold wallet containing his identification, and two silver chains, one with a sword pendant. Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriffs Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. The COVID-19 Moderna Vaccination prepared at Lestonnac Free Clinic in Orange, Calif., on March 9, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) Maine Health Workers Latest to Take Vaccine Mandate to Supreme Court Maine health care workers opposed to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate are hoping the U.S. Supreme Court will take the same position a Texas federal court recently took on the Department of Defenses obligation to approve religious exemptions for active-duty veterans. In a brief filed on Jan. 11 on behalf of 2,000 health workers in the Pine Tree State, the national civil liberties organization Liberty Counsel argued that its discriminatory for hospitals to grant medical exemptions but not religious ones to health care workers opposed to taking the COVID shot. The folks that are getting medical exemptions comparably pose the same exact risk to the purported interest of the statewhich is to slow down the spread of COVID-19, Harry Mihet, chief litigation counsel for the Liberty Counsel, told The Epoch Times. The virus doesnt know whether a person is unvaccinated because of a religious reason or because of a medical reason. Its the same argument that won a small group of U.S. Navy SEALs a victory in their argument before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texasthat the military was engaging in unconstitutional double standards by granting nonsecular exemptions and not granting religious ones. The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., in a file photo. (Mark Thomas/Pixabay) Judge Reed OConnor agreed, writing in his order that No matter how small the number of secular exemptions by comparison, any favorable treatmentin this case, deployability without medical disqualificationdefeats neutrality. The Pentagon had argued that it was justified in granting medical exemptions while denying religious exemption requests because the number of medical exemption requests was smaller. In Maine, Gov. Janet Mills ordered that health care workers be barred from obtaining a religious exemption from the vaccine while still allowing them to obtain medical exemptions. The state, in defending the removal of the exemption, argued that religious exceptions were a moot point because the mandates didnt apply to any specific religious group and were exclusively intended to protect against health care workers exposing patients to the virus. Liberty Counsel filed its Supreme Court brief on the same day Mills asked for the dispatch of 169 members of the Maine National Guard to fill critical staff shortages at hospitals around Maine. Mills blamed the critical shortage on the unvaccinated. I wish we did not have to take this step, but the rise in hospitalizationscaused primarily by those who are not vaccinatedis stretching the capacity of our healthcare system thin, jeopardizing care for Maine people, and putting increased strain on our already exhausted health care workers, Mills said in a lengthy statement on the call for help to the National Guard. Steve Michaud, president of the Maine Hospital Association, issued a statement calling Millss decision to call in the National Guard welcome news to the states beleaguered hospitals. We are in the midst of the most difficult time of the entire pandemic for hospitals, said Michaud. Maine Gov. Janet Mills in 2019. (Rebecca Hammel/U.S. Senate/Public Domain) Mihet said the shortage was, if anything, caused by the firing of what he estimated to be thousands of Maine health care workers for not complying with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. He pointed out that Mills has never provided any statistics to support her allegations that the unvaccinated are spreading COVID-19, adding that its more likely to be those who have had shotsgiven the governors own promotion of Maine having one of the highest vaccinated populations in the United States. This is a crisis of the governors making, he told The Epoch Times. According to the latest Maine CDC figures, 76 percent of the states population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Vermont and Rhode Island are the only two states that have slightly higher vaccination rates. Maine also has a high number of health care workers vaccinated against the virus. According to state CDC figures, 91.6 percent of hospital workers and 85.8 percent of nursing home employees were vaccinated by the end of September 2021. Maine, New York, and Rhode Island are the only three states that dont allow religious exemptions for health care workers from the COVID-19 vaccine. The northern New England state has the oldest population in the United States. Of its 1.3 million residents, 21.8 percent are over the age of 65. The states hospitals have been hit especially hard by a shortage of health care workers. Two of its largest hospitals shut down or substantially scaled back their emergency room and urgent care services due to a lack of staffing to cope with the influx of COVID patients, most of whom were 65 and over. Central Maine Healthcare, in announcing the closure of its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, specifically cited the resignation of health care workers over the vaccine mandate as the reason. In northern Maine, several towns have recently reported a shortage of ambulance drivers and EMTs. Adding to the shortage is a recent record-breaking number of COVID-related hospitalizations. Maine CDC recently reported the total number of cases at 159,498. The Republican members of Montana's Congressional delegation and the state's governor evangelized to a crowd of more than 300 in the Capitol rotunda Friday afternoon, congratulating each other on recent anti-abortion strides made in Montana and across the country and urging continued support from their base. While speaking to the crowd, Rep. Matt Rosendale called abortion rights the "plague that was placed upon this country." In Montana last year, lawmakers passed four laws that limited access to abortion in the state. Three of those are now on hold while a lawsuit against them, filed by Planned Parenthood of Montana, plays out. The laws on hold would ban abortions after 20 weeks gestational age; require a woman to be informed of the option to view an ultrasound before an abortion; and require informed consent before a drug-induced abortion and block providing the medication through the mail. There was another law in the challenge, to prohibit health insurance plans sold in the federal exchange in Montana from covering abortion care, but it was not part of Planned Parenthoods preliminary injunction request. Similar legislation had been passed by the states GOP-majority Legislature in years past but was vetoed by Democratic governors. In 2020, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte won election; he campaigned on limiting access to abortion. "Thank you for standing up for life in your communities," Gianforte said Friday. Sen. Steve Daines, who was late to the rally due to travel delays, told the crowd the Roe v. Wade decision would likely be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court this summer when it considers Mississippi's ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. "But the second important part of that case of course is it's going to return the power back to the states," Daines said. While the U.S. Supreme Court weighs the abortion case that carries the potential to overturn its previous landmark decision, Montanas own state Constitution has been found previously to protect abortion access here. In a 1999 unanimous opinion, the state Supreme Court found that privacy protections in Montana's Constitution extended to protect those seeking an abortion from government intrusion. While the decision has held for more than two decades, it could be challenged by legislation brought by lawmakers in the coming years. Daines defended the ban in Mississippi, urging the crowd to look at illustrations of 15-week-old fetuses on the internet. "Imagine if the NASA scientists were studying Mars lander images and they saw that 15-week-old baby, do you think they would say that is life? Of course they would," he said. After Texas blocked nearly all abortions in that state with their six-week ban, advocates in Montana said the U.S. Supreme Court allowing that law to take effect could spur those in Montana to try doing the same here. Planned Parenthood of Montana President and CEO Martha Stahl said last year that she expects legislators who have brought bills seeking to restrict access to abortions to bring more legislation if Texas' law stands. "If that is the case, I truly believe we will see legislatures around the country passing similar laws and trying to do the same thing in other places," Stahl said in September. Some GOP lawmakers in Montana have already said they would like to see Roe v. Wade reversed. During the most recent session, Republican Rep. Lola Sheldon-Galloway, of Great Falls, told a committee she felt the federal high court made a mistake nearly 50 years ago. "This is knowledge that the Supreme Court did not know as they made their decision, Roe v. Wade, on Jan. 22, 1973," Sheldon-Galloway said. "I feel it is time that laws catch up with the science of the 21st century." Matt Britton, a lawyer for anti-abortion organization 40 Days for Life, also spoke Friday. Britton told those in attendance he and others with the organization prayed in front of an abortion clinic for so long that God turned the skin of a woman seeking an abortion that day to steel so that it could not be pierced by "the abortionist's needle." He said she converted to Christianity later that day. Britton said he was confident in the overturning of Roe v. Wade and "its hateful progeny." "We need to pray that the Supreme Court, 6-3, are on the side of life," he said. "But we know, thanks to President Trump and Amy Coney Barrett, that we have a 5-4 solid majority for life." Also in attendance of the March for Life were Carroll College student group Students for Life, Helena Area Knights of Columbus, Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen, Helena Fertility Care and Pro-Life Helena, which hosted the event. Following the oration, attendees conducted a silent prayer walk from the Capitol to the state Supreme Court. Holly Michels of the Montana State News Bureau contributed to this story. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 9 A nurse administers a CCP virus vaccine to a health and care staff member at the NHS Louisa Jordan Hospital in Glasgow, Scotland, on Jan. 23, 2021. (Jane Barlow/PA) No Payment for Health Care Staff Sacked Over CCP Virus Vaccine Mandate: NHS England Unvaccinated health care staff who will lose their jobs due to the CCP virus vaccine mandate in England wont be entitled to an exit payment, an official document shows. Guidance for the implementation of Vaccination as a Condition of Deployment (VCOD), published on Friday by NHS England, said that staff terminated due to the legislation change will not qualify for any redundancy entitlements, including payments, whether statutory or contractual. Under the governments new law, which was backed by parliament, all adult workers who face patients or service users in health care settings will have to be fully vaccinated by April 1, or face redeployment or dismissal. This includes doctors, nurses, volunteers, as well as ancillary staff such as porters, cleaners, or receptionists. Workers who are medically exempt from vaccination or involved in a medical trial are exempt from the rule. To keep their current jobs, frontline health care staff will have to get their first doses of the vaccine against the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus by Feb. 3 to allow a recommended eight-week gap between the two doses. The VCOD told health care employers they should start inviting unvaccinated staff to meetings from Feb. 4 and inform them that a potential outcome may be dismissal, but noted the process is not a redundancy. It is important to note this is not a redundancy exercise. In the context of the regulations, there is no diminishment or cessation of work of a particular kind, the 24-page document (pdf) says. Employers will not be concerned with finding suitable alternative employment and there will be no redundancy entitlements, including payments, whether statutory or contractual, triggered by this process. The document added the redeployment or dismissal of workers is determined by the introduction of the regulations and an individuals decision to remain unvaccinated. Employers were told to engage and work in collaboration with their trade union or staff side representatives, as to the formal measures being taken in respect of redeployment processes and potential dismissals of staff due to VCOD. Alternative options potentially available to an unvaccinated staff membersuch as any possible adjustments to their current role, restrictions to duties, or redeployment opportunities availableshould also be explored, the document says. Apart from permanent exemptions, Englands COVID-19 medical exemptions are also given on a temporary basis to people who have a short-term medical condition or test positive for COVID-19, as well as pregnant women. Although pregnant women are urged to get vaccinated by the governments information campaigns, they are exempt from vaccination-based rules until 16 weeks after giving birth. Health care employers are told that while unvaccinated pregnant staff are not required to be redeployed by law when theyre exempt, they may be temporarily redeployed based on mutual agreement following the outcome of applicable risk assessments or on the advice of occupational health. The NHS document comes after leading midwives called for an immediate delay to plans for mandatory COVID-19 jabs for frontline health workers. The Royal College of Midwives said that the policy could have a significant impact on maternity services, arguing this week that current staff absences are at their highest level since the pandemic began. The college said there are chronic understaffing issues in the sector with an estimated shortfall of around 2,000 midwives, adding that it feared the policy will see staff levels fall further still. NHS national medical director Professor Stephen Powis said: The NHS has always been clear that the life-saving COVID vaccination is the best protection against the virus, and while it is currently a recommendation for health and care staff to be vaccinated, it will soon become a legal requirement. The overwhelming majority of staff in NHS organisations, nine in ten, have already had their second jab, and NHS employers will continue to support and encourage staff who have not yet been vaccinated to take up the offer of the 1st and 2nd doses ahead of the April 1, when regulations come into effect. PA news agency quoted a Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) as saying health and social care workers are responsible for looking after some of the most vulnerable people in society, many of whom are more likely to suffer serious health consequences if exposed to the virus. The spokesperson added: This is about patient safety, and ensuring people in hospital or care have as much protection as possible. Vaccinations remain our best defence against COVID-19. According to data from NHS England, by Jan. 9, around 94 percent of NHS Trust health care workers in the NHS Electronic Staff Record had received at least one dose of a CCP virus vaccine, 91 percent had been double-jabbed, and 76 percent were triple-jabbed. The data set suggested that 81,626 staff were unvaccinated as of Jan. 9. An estimated 15 percent of all staff are not on the frontline. Government ministers previously said the definition of fully vaccinated will be changed to include a third dose when all adults have had a reasonable chance to get a booster shot. Its unclear whether health care workplaces will be affected if and when the rule changes. The DHSC didnt respond to The Epoch Times request for comment. England is currently the only nation in the UK that has mandated CCP virus vaccines for health and social care workers following a public consultation on mandating CCP virus and flu vaccines. A similar consultation has been launched in Northern Ireland. PA contributed to this report. A missile test from railway in North Pyongan Province, North Korea, on Jan. 14, 2022. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP) North Korea State Media Says Country Fired 2 Missiles From a Train North Korea fired two tactical guided missiles eastward on Friday as part of a drill involving the railway-borne missile regiment, state-run media said, after Pyongyang warned of a stronger reaction to new U.S. sanctions. The regiment received a firepower mission from the General Staff on short notice on Friday morning, before launching two tactical guided missiles that precisely strike the set target in the East Sea of Korea, state media Korean Central News Agency reported on Saturday. According to the authoritarian regimes mouthpiece, the drill was aimed at checking the alert posture of the regiment and bolstering their ability to discharge firepower mission. South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said on Friday that two suspected ballistic missiles were launched from North Pyongan Province and traveled about 430 kilometers (267 miles) at an altitude of 36 kilometers. The first missile was launched at around 2:41 p.m. on Friday, followed by the second missile at 2:52 p.m., the JCS stated. A missile test from railway in North Pyongan Province, North Korea, on Jan. 14, 2022. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP) Japans Defense Ministry also said to have detected a possible ballistic missile launch from North Korea, which flew about 400 kilometers (248 miles) at an altitude of 50 kilometers and landed outside of Japans exclusive economic zone. This marks the third reported missile launch by Pyongyang this month. North Korea previously claimed it launched two hypersonic missiles on Jan. 5 and Jan. 11, respectively, the second of which was fired under the watch of its leader Kim Jong-un. The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on six North Koreans, one Russian, and a Russian firm it said were responsible for procuring goods for North Koreas weapons programs, an action that follows a series of North Korean missile launches, including two since last week. In response, North Koreas Foreign Affairs Ministry issued a statement ahead of the latest missile launch berating the United States for imposing sanctions on Pyongyang and warning of a stronger reaction if Washington maintains its confrontational stance. The ministry said in a statement carried by KCNA that Pyongyangs recent weapon development was to modernize national defense capability, not to target a specific country or endanger the security of neighboring countries. North Korea argued that strengthening national defense capability is a legitimate right of a sovereign state, claiming that the sanctions imposed by the United States amounted to provocation and gangster logic. The nuclear-armed nation also criticized President Joe Bidens administration for pursuing a policy that isolates and suffocates Pyongyang while calling for diplomacy and dialogue to advance denuclearization. Denuclearization talks between the United States and North Korea have been stalled since 2019 due to disagreements over sanctions relief in exchange for limited denuclearization steps. North Korea accused the United States of pursuing hostile policies, which Washington denied and stated that it is willing to engage in dialogue with North Korea without preconditions. Reuters contributed to this report. In this file image from video, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes talks to The Epoch Times. (The Epoch Times) Oath Keepers Founder Pleads Not Guilty to Sedition in US Capitol Breach The founder of the Oath Keepers group pleaded not guilty to seditious conspiracy on Friday, several days after he was indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington. Stewart Rhodes, 56, made a brief initial appearance in federal court in Plano, Texas. He was in the custody of U.S. Marshals, wearing handcuffs and leg irons. Rhodes and 10 members of the Oath Keepers were charged this week for allegedly conspiring to attack the U.S. Capitol and prevent the certification of electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election. Authorities said Rhodes, of Granbury, Texas, and certain co-conspirators planned to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power by January 20, 2021. They coordinated travel across the country to enter Washington, D.C., equipped themselves with a variety of weapons, donned combat and tactical gear, and were prepared to answer Rhodess call to take up arms at Rhodess direction, according to court documents. Rhodes did not enter the U.S. Capitol but some members of his group, which is primarily comprised of former and current law enforcement and military members, did, including some who were charged nearly a year ago, according to filings. James Lee Bright, a lawyer for Rhodes, told reporters Rhodes intends to fight the charges. He believes he will be found not guilty, Bright said. While the government plans to push for the court to keep Rhodes detained while he awaits trial, lawyers for the defendant will make the case thats not necessary. He has no reason to flee. He has no passport. He has nowhere to go, Bright said. Rhodes faces up to 20 years in prison, as do others charged with seditious conspiracy. The federal courthouse in Plano, Texas, where Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, made his first appearance in court on Jan. 14, 2022. (Jake Bleiberg/AP Photo) Both Rhodes and Edward Vallejo, the only other person who had not previously been charged, were arrested on Thursday. Vallejo, 63, also appeared Friday in a courtroom to face the charge. He was ordered to appear in court again in Phoenix next week in a hearing that will feature arguments by his lawyers and prosecutors as to whether he should be held pending trial. A lawyer for Vallejo indicated he planned to enter a not guilty plea at a future hearing while prosecutors confirmed the Department of Justice will ask for pretrial detention. Rhodes, a former paratrooper in the U.S. Army who graduated from Yale Law School, told The Epoch Times last year that the Oath Keepers were in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, to protect speakers, events, and also rank and file Trump supporters were being attacked by Antifa when they try to walk back to their hotel or to the metro subway stops. Now what happened is, unfortunately, some of our guys got swept up the same way 500 other Trump supporters got swept up in it and walked up the steps and through open doors that were already open, walk around inside, took some selfies, and walk back out. Thats all they did, he claimed. Ive said that it was a mistake to go inside, but I dont think its a crime. Joseph Hanneman, Roman Balmakov, and Reuters contributed to this report. 45 Percent of COVID-Related Hospitalizations in Ontario Not Due to COVID: Chief Medical Officer Ontario is planning to change the way it reports COVID-19-related deaths in order to identify possible incidental cases so that a more accurate mortality rate from the virus can be ascertained. Ontarios Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kieran Moore said approximately 45 percent of COVID-related hospital admissions are incidental, meaning that these patients were admitted for other reasons but tested positive for the virus when screened. The same goes for 20 percent of patients in intensive care. We know roughly 45 percent of admissions to hospital are incidental to being diagnosed with COVID-19. In the intensive care unit, roughly 20 percent are incidentally testing positive. It may be that some of these deaths are incidentally correlated to COVID-19, Moore said at a press conference on Jan. 13. Moore said distinguishing between patients who are admitted to hospital for COVID-19 versus those admitted for other reasons but tested positive will help identify the incidental cases. It may be that some of these deaths are incidentally correlated to COVID-19, so were trying to get the public better data and a better analysis to understand the true mortality associated with both Omicron and Delta as we go forward, he said. We just recently met with the chief coroners office. Well be sending memos out to hospital partners to ensure that death is documented appropriately if its associated with or caused by COVID-19, to further clarify for the public the cause of death. Moore was asked by a reporter what caused the recent rise in COVID-19 related deaths in the province, whether the deaths are due to Delta or Omicron, and if there are particular trends suggesting that the deaths are linked to a persons vaccination status or age group. Were trying to do the same analysis and get you the answers for the questions you just posed. Many will be from the previous Delta wave that had severe virulence and higher death rates than Omicron, he said. But what were also seeing is, because Omicron is affecting so many people at once because of its high transmissibility, we will have a higher number of deaths associated with it, but a very small proportion of overall total cases. On Jan. 7, Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliotts office said it was evaluating whether the way COVID-19 deaths are reported needed to be updated in light of the highly transmissible Omicron variant. Some U.S. states have also begun differentiating between those who were admitted to hospital for COVID-19 and admissions for other reasons. The office of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Jan. 3 that the state would be separating out hospitalizations for COVID-19 versus those with the disease. On Jan. 7, Hochuls office said nearly half of the patients currently in New York hospitals with COVID-19 were admitted for reasons other than the disease. Forty-three percent of the 11,548 hospitalized patients didnt have COVID-19 listed as one of the reasons for admission. Think of all the other reasons people end up at a hospitalits an overdose, its a car accident, a heart attack, Hochul said at a press conference, adding that its important to know the percentage of patients in each category as the number of hospitalizations rise. I just want to always be honest with New Yorkers about how bad this is, she said. Yes, the sheer numbers of people infected are high, but I want to see whether or not the hospitalizations correlate with that. And Im anticipating to see that at least a certain percentage overall are not related to being treated for COVID. Officials in New Jersey said on Jan. 10 that the majority of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the state were actually admitted for reasons other than the virus. Of the 6,075 people with COVID-19 who were hospitalized, just 2,963 were admitted for the disease, New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said during a briefing. We have a fair number of what Ive started to call COVID incidental, or incidental COVID, meaning you went in because you broke your leg, but everyones getting tested and it turns out youve got COVID. You didnt even know it, Gov. Phil Murphy said. Previously during the pandemic, Canadian provinces and U.S. states largely neglected to distinguish COVID-19 hospitalizations from incidental COVID-19. However, after large numbers of people began testing positive after the emergence of the Omicron variant, including those who have been vaccinatedsome of whom have required hospital carea growing number of officials in the United States have started making clear that not all COVID-19 hospitalizations are the same. Massachusetts is among the other states planning to soon make such data public. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on Jan. 9 that some hospitals her agency has spoken to have up to four in 10 COVID-19 patients who are being admitted for other reasons. Rep Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference CPAC held at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, Texas, on July 9, 2021. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images) Organization Challenges Rep. Cawthorns Candidacy Using Constitutional Amendment Written to Keep Confederates Out of Congress A non-profit organization is using a post-Civil War constitutional amendment to delegitimize Rep. Madison Cawthorns (R-N.C.) candidacy for office in the upcoming primaries based on allegations of his involvement in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol breach. Free Speech For People (FSFP) represents several North Carolina voters invoking section three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution called the disqualification clause that states no person who has engaged in an insurrection or rebellion against the U.S. government can be a representative in Congress. The challenge, filed with the North Carolina State Board of Elections, alleges that there is reasonable suspicion that Cawthorn was involved in the breach. There have been multiple conflicting narratives about what took place on Jan. 6, including what the FBIs role was in it. Dr. Andy Jackson with the John Locke Foundationan independent research institute in North Carolina that examines issues around freedom, personal responsibility, and limited constitutional governmenttold The Epoch Times that the amendment was ratified after the Civil War to prevent those from southern states who had served in or supported the confederacy from holding positions in Congress. In its press release, Ron Fein, legal director of Free Speech For People, said Cawthorn coordinated and aided what Fein described as an insurrection. North Carolinas candidacy-challenge statute gives a registered voter the authority to challenge a candidate based on reasonable suspicion or belief that the candidate does not meet the constitutional or statutory qualifications for the office, including residency. Former Associate Justice and Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, Robert Orr and James Exum, respectively, will be serving as special counsel to the FSFP. Once filed, the burden of proof, according to state law, falls on Cawthorn to counter the complaint. The challengers intend to depose Cawthorn and members of his staffsomething that the U.S. House January 6 Select Committee has not yet done, the press release stated. FSFP cites tweets from Cawthorn as evidence of his involvement, such as one in which he states that the future of this Republic hinges on the actions of a solitary few . . . Its time to fight. FSFP relies on an article from Rolling Stone based on two anonymous sources who alleged they were involved in pro-Trump rallies and had witnessed multiple members of Congress involved in a conspiracy to overturn the election results through violence. Rolling Stone said the two anonymous sourceswho the magazine said were also sharing their information with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 breachnamed former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows as a key conspirator, as well as Cawthorn, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). Cawthorn, who currently represents the 11th congressional district, a seat previously held by Meadows, has disputed the results of the 2020 election and voted against certifying President Joe Biden. Cawthorns spokesperson Luke Ball responded to the challenge on Twitter stating, Over 245,000 patriots from Western North Carolina Elected Congressman Cawthorn to serve them in Washington. A dozen activists who are comically interpreting and twisting the 14th Amendment for political gain will not distract him from that service. FSFP is requesting that the state Board of Elections appoints a multi-county board to hear the challenge and that the challengers be authorized to depose Cawthorn, as well as be authorized to issue subpoenas to Cawthorn and others who have relevant evidence. A spokesperson for the state Board of Elections told The Epoch Times that after redistricting lawsuits are resolved, the board, according to state law, will name a five-member panel of county boards of elections members to hear the challenges. Appeals to the state boards decision would be filed with the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Preliminary Injunction In December, the North Carolina Supreme Court ordered a preliminary injunction for the March primaries and suspended candidate filings until two lawsuits alleging gerrymandering of redistricted maps are settled. After being upheld in the trial court, the plaintiffs appealed the ruling. Jackson explained that as a part of its preliminary injunction, the court wrote that any appeals would skip the Court of Appeals and go straight to the North Carolina Supreme Court, which has a 43 Democratic majority, although Chief Justice Paul Newby is a Republican. In November, Cawthorn announced his run for the 13th congressional district, a district currently represented by Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.). Throughout 2021, Cawthorn was frequently seen at local school board meetings and freedom rallies in his district, siding with parents who oppose mask mandates and critical race theory being taught in school. U.S. Senate Budd, a Republican backed by former President Donald Trump, announced his candidacy for Sen. Richard Burrs (R-N.C.) seat after Burr said he would not seek reelection in 2022. Budd was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives who signed an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, which was a lawsuit filed in the U.S. Supreme Court contesting the 2020 presidential election. Other Republicans eyeing Burrs seat are former North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory and former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker, a Republican. Also in the running for Burrs seat is former Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court Cheri Beasley, a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination. Other Republicans eyeing Burrs seat are former North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory and former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker, a Republican. Also in the running for Burrs seat is former Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court Cheri Beasley, a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination. The U.S. Senate currently has 48 Democrats, 2 independents, and 50 Republicans, with Vice President Kamala Harris as president of the Senate having the authority to break a tie on a partisan vote on which the two IndependentsAngus King (I-Maine) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)will typically caucus with Democrats. Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana answers questions during a Reuters interview at the military headquarters of Camp Aquinaldo in Quezon city, metro Manila, Philippines, on Feb. 9, 2017. (Romeo Ranoco/Reuters) Philippines Acquires Indias Anti-Ship Missile System for $375 Million The Philippines has agreed to buy the BrahMos anti-ship missile system jointly developed by India and Russia worth $375 million, its Defense Secretary said on Friday, in a move seen as a response to Chinas assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea. Philippines Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana released a document on Friday announcing Manilas approval of a $375 million deal with the Indo-Russian defense corporation BrahMos Aerospace to acquire an anti-ship missile system. BrahMos Aerospace is a joint venture between Indias Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Russias NPO Mashinostroyenia, which was established in 1998. As head of procuring entity (HOPE), I recently signed the Notice of Award for the Philippine Navy shore-based anti-ship missile acquisition project, Lorenzana said on Facebook. Negotiated with the government of India, it includes the delivery of three batteries, training for operators and maintainers as well as the necessary Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) package, he added. The BrahMos missile system contract was conceptualized in 2017, but it was delayed due to budget allocation and the coronavirus pandemic. The new anti-ship system aims to deter foreign vessels from encroaching on the countrys 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone. The Coastal Defense Regiment of the Philippine Marines will be the primary employer of this modern strategic defense capability of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Lorenzana noted. In 2018, the Philippines bought Israeli-made Spike ER missiles, its first-ever ship-borne missile systems for maritime deterrence, which are worth $11.6 million. Manilas latest missile system acquisition was perceived as a means of bolstering its ability to defend sovereign claims in the South China Sea. The Philippine government had previously lodged a diplomatic protest against Chinas repeated disruptive acts toward Philippine authorities patrolling the disputed sea. Territorial disputes in the South China Sea are ongoing, with Beijing continuing to pursue its claims to 90 percent of the seas based on its so-called nine-dash line. The Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague dismissed Beijings claims to much of the South China Sea in 2016, in favor of the Philippines and other nations in the region. It ruled that Chinas claims had no legal basis, but Beijing refused to abide by the verdict. Meanwhile, Indias DRDO on Tuesday announced that it had successfully test-launched an advanced version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from Indias new stealth-guided missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam. Advanced sea to sea variant of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was tested from INS Visakhapatnam today. Missile hit the designated target ship precisely, it said on Twitter. Reuters contributed to this report. America was not built on fear, President Harry Truman once said. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to get the job done. When we examine the last part of that quotationan unbeatable determination to get the job donewe may recollect some of the enormous tasks undertaken by Americans in the past century: the building of the Hoover Dam, the winning of World War II, and the Apollo flights to the moon. Certainly, we can all take pride in those grand accomplishments. They came at a great cost of effort, money, and in the case of the war, of lives. Those involved in these endeavors deserve our everlasting gratitude for what they achieved. But what about our everyday workers, the unnoticed men and women who toil at various jobs? The loan officer at our bank; the guy who builds brick walls; the mechanic who comes home with grease under his fingernails; the library janitor who cleans the restrooms, empties the trash, and pushes a mop; the nurse at the hospital; the stay-at-home mom: What distinguishes some of these folks and millions of others from their fellow co-workers? Pride and initiative. I once happened to observe a volunteer at our public library shelving books. As she moved the cart down the fiction section, she not only inserted each novel into its proper place, but took the time to straighten all the books, arranging them so that their spines touched the edge of the shelf until they stood side by side like companies of soldiers on a parade ground. Thats taking pride in your work. The attorney who reviews her clients defense in the solitude of her office multiple times in preparation for a trial, the chef who aims to serve his customers the most mouthwatering meal theyve ever tasted, the homeschooling mom who keeps looking for better ways to teach her fifth-grade daughter mathematics: These people seek to give their best. They take pride in what they do. Theyre also the ones who generally go above and beyond the call of their duties, showing initiative in the tasks demanded of them. In his wildly popular 1899 essay, A Message to Garcia, Elbert Hubbard told the story of Lt. Andrew Rowan and his mission to Gen. Garcia during the SpanishAmerican War. Summoned to the White House to carry a message to Garcia, Rowan asked no questionsWho is Garcia? Where is he? How long do I have to find him?but instead simply took the packet, headed for Cuba, spent three weeks in the jungles looking for his man, and delivered the presidents message. Thats initiative. And thats the sort of get-up-and-go that marks great workers today. The software salesman who phones his client even when all hope of a sale seems lost is carrying a message to Garcia. The McDonalds employee who makes certain the kitchen is mopped and the sinks are scrubbed is showing enterprise and drive. Heres the thing: No matter what our job, no matter how seemingly insignificant are our duties or obligations may be, taking pride in our work and showing initiative speaks of who we are to others. Theyre signs not only of our abilities and our desires to do a job the right way, but are also indicative of the importance we place on work itself. At the end of Alfred Lord Tennysons poem Ulysses, he wrote, To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. Those words sum up the pride and initiative many workers bring to their tasks today. And those are the folks who keep this country running. Rare Spinal Cord Condition Flagged as Potential Adverse Effect of COVID-19 Vaccines: EU Drug Regulator The European Unions drug regulator has indicated that a change to the product information for COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson has been recommended to include a warning of a rare spinal cord condition called transverse myelitis. TM is a rare condition that involves inflammation of one or both sides of the spinal cord. Symptoms can include weakness in the limbs, and tingling, numbness, pain or loss of pain sensation, or issues with bladder and bowel function. The Pharmacovigilance and Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC), the European Medicines Agencys (EMA) committee that assesses the safety of human medicines, recommended the change on Jan. 14 after concluding that a causal link between the two vaccines and TM is at least a reasonable possibility. It recommends changing the product information for the COVID-19 shotsAstraZenecas Vaxzevria and Johnson & Johnsons Janssento include a warning of very rare cases of transverse myelitis (TM) reported following vaccination. TM will also be added as an adverse reaction with an unknown frequency to the vaccine profile. A vial of Johnson & Johnsons COVID-19 vaccine sits at a vaccination clinic in Los Angeles, Calif., on Dec. 15, 2021. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images) The committee, over three days of meetings, reviewed information on globally reported cases for both vaccines, including data from the scientific literature as well as information from the European database for suspected vaccine side effects. The PRAC said it considered that a total of 38 TM cases were reported globally25 with Vaxzevria, 13 with Janssen. These numbers refer to suspected and not adjudicated cases of TM. This is out of 1.391 billion doses for Vaxzevria and 33,584,049 doses for Janssen that have been estimated to have been administered globally, it said. Health care professionals should be alert to signs and symptoms of TM, allowing early diagnosis, supportive care, and treatment, the EMA announced. People receiving either of these vaccines are advised to seek immediate medical attention if they develop symptoms of the condition. The risk-benefit profile of both vaccines remains unchanged, the EMA noted. In December 2021, the EMA recommended a booster dose of the Janssen vaccine to be considered at least two months after the first dose in people aged 18 and above. The PRAC on Jan. 14 also recommended that the product information for AstraZenecas Vaxzevria be revised to note that fewer events of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia (TTS) have been reported after the second dose compared to the first. TTS is a rare and severe blood clotting with low platelets disorder. It was added as a rare side effect to the Vaxzevria shot in June 2021. Data reported to the UK government up to Aug. 4, 2021, estimates an overall incidence of TTS of around 14.9 per million after first or unknown doses of Vaxzevria. A study published in the journal Science Advances on Dec. 1, 2021, suggested that an adenovirus vector in AstraZenecas vaccine, if modified, could significantly reduce the threat of TTS. People are seen on Wall Street outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, on March 19, 2021. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters) Regulators Tell Exchanges to Get Ready for Hybrid Working LONDONGlobal securities regulators began reviewing on Thursday whether to toughen up operational resilience at exchanges and other market infrastructure in light of the extreme trading volatility in 2020 when economies went into lockdown amid the pandemic. While much trading is already electronic, the curbs led to the New York Stock Exchange and London Metal Exchange temporarily closing their floors at a time when trading in markets was at its most volatile since Black Monday in 1987 in the United States. Current resilience requirements for exchanges, clearing houses, and settlement systems worked well, but there are opportunities for further improvements, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) said in a statement. There is a need for greater automation and less dependence on physical documents and manual processes to better accommodate people working from home, said IOSCO, which groups market regulators from the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Business continuity plans of some firms did not anticipate how to deal with access to primary and back up sites not being available for a prolonged period, IOSCO added in a paper out to public consultation. Many businesses are expected to return to a hybrid mix of employees splitting their time between the office and home, which raises similar challenges as full time remote working, IOSCO said. As large scale remote and hybrid working are new for many regulated entities, the risks and controls are still being evaluated and tested, it said. Market infrastructure firms should re-evaluate and update their business continuity plans, IOSCO said. Report Shows More Officers Dying in the Line of Duty Last year was a deadly year for police officers. A report by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund shows 458 officers died in 2021, a 55 percent jump compared to 2020 and the most since 1930. COVID-19 was the leading cause of death, followed by gunfire, and traffic accidents. National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund CEO Marcia Ferranto said 62 officers died by gunfire, including 5 in Illinois. When you look at what is happening on around the country today, there is no mistake that crime is up, Ferranto said. The most recent Illinois police officer to die by gunfire was Bradley police officer Marlene Rittmanic, who was gunned down on Dec. 30, 2021, at a hotel. A man with an extensive police record is accused of murder in the case. Jim Kaitschuk, executive director of the Illinois Sheriffs Association, is concerned about several new criminal justice reform laws in Illinois, especially the ending of cash bail. Now you are talking about subjecting that statewide, Kaitschuck said. I think it was Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart who reported the other day indicating he was aware of 90 murder suspects that are on electronic monitors. Murder suspects. Thats crazy. The NLEOMF report shows ambush-style murders of police officers were up more than 300 percent from six in 2020 to 19 in 2021. There were 58 officers killed in traffic-related incidents in 2021, with 27 being struck-by fatalities. Despite Scotts Law in Illinois which requires motorists to move over when passing a vehicle on the side of the road, many of these fatal struck-by crashes occurred while officers were investigating motor vehicle crashes or assisting motorists. Struck-by fatalities represent an increase of 93 percent over this time last year. The average officer was 48 when he or she died, the report states. The youngest officer was 21, while the oldest was 79. Of the 458 officers who died, 417 were men and 41 were women. The average officer left behind two children. By Kevin Bessler A Wyoming man has been charged with entering the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, federal court filings show. Andrew Galloway faces four charges in Washington, including entering the Capitol, demonstrating in a capitol building and disorderly conduct. He has pleaded not guilty, court records show. An affidavit in the case includes stills from a since-deleted TikTok, YouTube videos and images from Jan. 6, appearing to show Galloway wearing a knit hat and scarf with TRUMP written on them in white letters. The affidavit states FBI officers interviewed Galloway at his home outside of Cody, where he identified himself in the videos and did not dispute that he was there at the time. Court documents state he told investigators that he did not enter the Capitol, but was outside. Investigators also used Galloways Wyoming drivers license to match his image to the surveillance footage. Court filings show he was arrested in Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday. He was released from custody this week on a personal recognizance bond, filings state, which means he wont have to pay bond unless he fails to show up for court appearances. The conditions of his bond state he should stay away from Washington, D.C., except for attendance at required hearings and appearances. The FBI reportedly received a tip about Galloways participation and identified him in surveillance footage from Jan. 6, 2021. According to court documents, Galloway could be seen in the footage wearing the Trump hat, entering the Capitol twice through breached windows. One video obtained by investigators shows Galloway saying, Yeah, that was us today; no that wasnt antifa, court documents state. Cell phone data from Galloways number also reportedly confirmed his presence in the area on Jan. 6, authorities say. A screenshot from a TikTok including in the criminal complain against Galloway purports to show him on Jan. 6. It says in its caption that Galloway is associated with Wyoming company Powderkeg Patriots Apparel. A 2020 Wyoming Secretary of State business filing shows Galloway listed as the companys agent, with a Cody address. The companys website lists a mailing address in Glenrock. On Wednesday, one day after Galloway's arrest, the company said in a social media post that it was temporarily closed due to unforeseen circumstances. The Star-Tribune called a phone number associated with the company, but no one answered Friday. A hearing has been set in Galloways case for Feb. 22 in D.C. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Approved | 1h 52min | Comedy, Romance Usually when Ive watched romantic comedies, Ive never gotten into them (at least the American ones). They seem either too schmaltzy or simply not funny. The few that are enjoyable have been older classics, such as 1941s The Philadelphia Story and 1945s Christmas in Connecticut. Not only are these films well-crafted, but they also have a certain innocent charm and are bereft of any gratuitous indecencies. But one romantic comedy from that bygone era slipped under my cinematic radaruntil now. The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) was originally written for the stage by award-winning playwrights George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. Directed by William Keighley, the film is a hilarious tale of what can happen when one entrenched world collides with another. When the film begins, highfalutin radio personality and lecturer Sheridan Whiteside (Monty Woolley) is dragging his secretary Maggie Cutler (Bette Davis) along on a speaking tour leading up to Christmas. One of their stops is in a small Midwestern town in Ohio. Although Sheridan considers Midwesterners beneath him (he considers them barbarians), the speaking engagement is part of a publicity push that will garner more radio listeners. Snobby Sheridan Whiteside (Monty Woolley) and his secretary Maggie Cutler (Bette Davis) ride a train into town, in The Man Who Came to Dinner. (Warner Bros.) During their short stay, Sheridan and Maggie are scheduled to dine with Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Stanley (Grant Mitchell and Billie Burke), a prominent family from the town. From the moment Sheridan meets his hosts at the train station, his acerbic tongue casts forth barrages of snobby remarks and thinly veiled insults. But the Stanley familys Midwestern values, primarily those of Mrs. Stanley, downplay Sheridans elitism as crude attempts at humor, and the couple try to remain congenial. When the hosts and their guests arrive at the Stanley familys home, Sheridan slips on the icy stairs leading up to the front door and injures himself. Furious, he blames his fall on the Stanleys and threatens to sue them for $150,000. However, instead of going to the local hospital, Sheridan insists that a doctor visit him, and he sets up shop in the Stanley home. The injured radio personality immediately begins to make demands on the family and takes over the house, holding his threatened lawsuit over their heads unless they do what he bids them. Soon, Sheridan is maneuvering himself around in a wheelchair, adorned in gaudy robeseither ordering people around or being an obnoxious thorn in the side of his hosts. Maggie Cutler (Bette Davis) knows that Sheridan Whiteside (Monty Woolley) is milking his injury for all its worth, in The Man Who Came to Dinner. (Warner Bros.) From there, a number of subplots develop, including a burgeoning romance between Maggie and local newspaperman and playwright Bert Jefferson (Richard Travis). As everything unfolds, visitors arrive to engage with the core group of characters. These interruptions typically consist of someone suddenly showing up at the Stanley home (mainly the living room, where most of the action takes place), delivering some taut bits of comedy, and exiting just as rapidly. The wit in this film is delivered in sudden bursts, so you have to be quick on your comedic toes in order to catch everything. Romance is in the air between Bert Jefferson (Richard Travis) and Maggie Cutler (Bette Davis), in The Man Who Came to Dinner. (Warner Bros.) Kaufman and Harts original stage play could have been mishandled here, as it can sometimes be tricky to adapt such fast-moving theater dialogue (along with some great physical comedy) to the silver screen. But fortunately, Keighley was not only a film director but also a Broadway director with years of experience as a stage actor as well. Additionally, the skilled cast has fantastic comedic timing with the dialogue that is delivered in bursts. Those viewers who favor slower-paced speech rhythms may not enjoy this movie as much. The incomparable Bette Davis stars in a secondary role here, which was unusual for A-list actors in Hollywoods Golden Ageespecially since she was at the height of her powers at the time. Nonetheless, she handles her role with more than ample aplomb. Jimmy Durante (C) stars as one of the surprise guests visiting the Stanleys home. (Warner Bros.) Monty Woolley, whom Ive seen only in a couple of similar roles, such as the snooty upper-crust ex-officer Col. William G. Smollett in Since You Went Away, fully disappears into his role as a brainy big-city elitist. And its no wonder, since he also starred in the original stage play of The Man Who Came to Dinner, which ran from 1939 through 1941. Simply put, those who appreciate quick-witted humor and an interestingly satirical clash of two different worldsthe sophisticated and the down homeshould definitely check out this classic. The Man Who Came to Dinner Director: William Keighley Starring: Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, Monty Woolley Running Time: 1 hour, 52 minutes Not Rated Release Date: Jan. 1, 1942 Rated: 4.5 stars out of 5 RSV More Prevalent Than COVID-19 in Colorado Children: Chief Medical Officer The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is affecting children in Colorado more than COVID-19, according to a chief medical officer of Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children. RSV is very contagious and very prevalent in the school system as well as throughout daycare centers and in homes, Dr. Reginald Washington told FOX31 KDVR-TV on Jan. 12, adding that COVID is increasing in its prevalence and impacting children the second most, with the adenovirus being third. RSV is a common respiratory virus that causes cold-like symptoms in people of all ages. Doctors say that the virus is so common that many children will have been infected with it before they are two years old. RSV is mild in most children and goes away in a week or two but for somewho are immunocompromised or have a lung or heart diseaseit can be quite severe. RSV outbreaks usually occur from the fall through the spring, but an increase in RSV cases across the Southern parts of the United States prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to issue a health advisory in June 2021. Other countries also experienced a spike in RSV out of season. Public Health England, responsible for improving and protecting the countrys health and wellbeing, issued a notice encouraging parents to look out for symptoms of severe infection in at-risk children in July 2021. The agency says the increase was a result of the various restrictions in place [during the winter of 2020] to reduce the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), there were far fewer infections in younger people that many will not have developed immunity. Doctors in Queensland, Australia saw a significant rise in RSV cases in children between January and April of last year. Summer in Australia began Dec. 1, 2020, and ended on Feb. 28, 2021. The northeastern state recorded a total of 378 RSV cases in 2021 compared to 88 cases for all of 2019 and 70 cases in 2020. Dr. Damian Roland, honorary professor of pediatric emergency medicine at Leicester University said that regardless of the disease, the focus should be on the signs and symptoms of the child, and not making parents afraid of the illness. From [the] parent point of view [it] doesnt matter if [the] child has RSV, #COVID19 or [an]other virus. Decision making should be on their wellness not the disease, Roland said on Twitter on Jan. 12. He added, My comment is we are creating fear in parents of particular diseases rather than how their child is. If your child has fever but is well & drinking the cause of that fever is irrelevant (but please get a COVID test as per national policy). Dr. Lynora Saxinger, infectious diseases expert and associate professor at the University of Alberta listed the symptoms that parents should be aware of and when to bring their child to the doctor or call Emergency Medical Services. Listen. Red flag symptoms for KIDS with virus infection: (Both RSV which is generally tough at this time of year, and has come back after a year off, and COVID19): my colleagues are seeing BOTH viruses causing croupeven in older kids, Saxinger wrote on Twitter on Jan. 12. Listen red flag symptoms for KIDS with virus infection: (Both RSV which is generally tough at this time of year, and has come back after a year off, and COVID19): my colleagues are seeing BOTH viruses causing croup- even in older kids. Respiratory viruses usually 1/ pic.twitter.com/XTc31Jmaph Dr. Lynora Saxinger *answers DM not mentions (@AntibioticDoc) January 12, 2022 RSV causes an estimated 33.1 million acute lower respiratory tract infections worldwide and 3.2 million hospitalizations in children under 5 years, according to The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. The CDC says that there is currently no specific treatment for infection with RSV, but the World Health Organization (WHO) says that a vaccine may be available in the near future. Fortunately, several vaccine candidates are now in the human testing phase targeting young children, older adults, and pregnant women, and an effective safe vaccine is likely to be available in the near future, the WHO said. Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov addresses the 76th Session of the U.N. General Assembly at U.N. headquarters on Sept. 25, 2021. (Eduardo Munoz/Getty Images) Russia Demands US, NATO Response Next Week on Ukraine MOSCOWRussia on Friday strongly reaffirmed its demand that NATO doesnt expand eastward despite the rejection of that by the military alliance amid a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that Moscow wouldnt wait indefinitely for the Western response, saying he expects the United States and NATO to provide a written answer next week. Lavrov described Moscows demands for binding guarantees that NATO will not embrace Ukraine or any other ex-Soviet nations, or station its forces and weapons there as essential for the progress of diplomatic efforts to defuse soaring tensions over Ukraine. He argued that NATOs deployments and drills near Russias borders pose a security challenge that must be addressed immediately. Amid the tensions, Ukraine sustained a massive cyberattack Friday, which hit websites of multiple government agencies. This weeks negotiations in Geneva and a related NATO-Russia meeting in Brussels were held amid a significant Russian troop buildup near Ukraine that the West fears might be a prelude to an invasion. Russia, which annexed Ukraines Crimean Peninsula in 2014, has denied having plans to attack its neighbor but warned the West that NATOs expansion to Ukraine and other ex-Soviet nations is a red line that mustnt be crossed. Washington and its allies firmly rejected Moscows demand for security guarantees precluding NATOs expansion, but Russia and the West agreed to leave the door open to possible further talks on arms control and confidence-building measures intended to reduce the potential for hostilities. Lavrov said that those issues are secondary in respect to Moscows main demand for the non-expansion of NATO and the non-deployment of its weapons near the Russian territory, emphasizing that the Russian proposals represent a package, not a menu. They must understand that the key to everything is the guarantee that NATO will not expand eastward, Lavrov said. He countered the United States and NATOs argument that Russia doesnt have veto power to prevent other nations from joining the alliance by pointing to international agreements emphasizing that the security of some states mustnt be achieved at the expense of others. Russias top diplomat warned that if our proposals are rejected we will make a decision on how to ensure our security in a reliable way, citing President Vladimir Putins warning that Moscow will take unspecified military-technical measures if the West stonewalls its demands. Lavrovs deputy, Sergei Ryabkov, who led the Russian delegation at the talks in Geneva, said Thursday that he would neither confirm nor exclude the possibility of Russia sending military assets to Cuba and Venezuela if the United States and its allies dont curtail their military activities on Russias doorstep. U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan dismissed the statements about a possible Russian deployment to Cuba and Venezuela as bluster in the public commentary. The negotiations took place as an estimated 100,000 Russian troops with tanks and other heavy weapons are massed near Ukraines eastern border. The United States and its allies urged Russia to deescalate by pulling troops back to their permanent bases, but Moscow has rebuffed the demand, saying its free to deploy forces on its territory wherever it deems necessary. Lavrov called the Western demand absurd, noting that while they are demanding that we pull troops on our own territory back to their barracks, the United States and British troops are deployed to the Baltics. The Russian Defense Ministry said Friday that troops stationed in eastern Siberia and the far east region have been scrambled for movement across the country as part of snap drills to check their readiness to perform their tasks after redeployment to a large distance. The ministry noted that a special attention will be given to the assessment of the countrys transport infrastructure to ensure the movement of troops, adding that the troops will conduct drills involving firing live ammunition after the redeployment. Russia seized the Crimean Peninsula after the ouster of Ukraines Moscow-friendly leader and in 2014 also threw its weight behind a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine. More than 14,000 people have been killed in nearly eight years of fighting between the Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces in the countrys industrial heartland called Donbas. Ukraines military intelligence said Friday that separatist forces have launched drills involving firing live ammunition that are overseen by Russian military officers. Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of deploying its troops to Donbas to back separatistsaccusations that Moscow has denied. A military vehicle of Russian peacekeepers of Collective Security Treaty Organization gets ready to be loaded onto a Russian military plane starting to withdraw its troops at an airport outside Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Jan. 13, 2022. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP) Russian Troops Return Home From Kazakhstan MOSCOWRussias defense ministry says the troops that were deployed to Kazakhstan as violent demonstrations shook the country have returned home. The troops were part of a force sent as peacekeepers by the Collective Treaty Security Organization, a Russia-led military alliance of six former Soviet states. The CSTO approved the force of more than 2,000 on Jan. 5 at the request of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that all of its planes carrying troops had returned. It was not clear whether troops from other CSTO countries remain in Kazakhstan. Russian peacekeepers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization guard an area in Kazakhstan, on Jan. 12, 2022. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP) The demonstrations started on Jan. 2 to protest a sharp rise in fuel prices. They spread quickly from the western part of the Central Asian nation to more populous areas, eventually reaching its largest city of Almaty, and grew into violence within several days. But something changed over the course of a weekgroups of armed men appeared in Almaty, with some seen riding in cars without license plates or with their faces covered. Marchers at the peaceful protests say these men began urging them to storm government buildings, promising to give them guns. Clashes with police soon broke out, and by the night of Jan. 5, Almaty was in chaos. City Hall was burning, as were cars and buses; stores were looted; and attempts were made to storm the presidential residence. Gunshots were heard in the streets, the internet was blacked out, and even the airport was briefly seized. Riot police prepare to block protesters in the center of Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Jan. 5, 2022. (Vladimir Tretyakov/NUR.KZ via AP) Dozens of people were killed in clashes with the countrys security forces, who opened fire on Jan. 6. Alongside dozens of protesters who died, at least 12 officers also were reported killed. The next day, Tokayev announced he had given security forces shoot-to-kill orders to halt the violent unrest, saying: We intend to act with maximum severity regarding lawbreakers. Tokayev has blamed the unrest on what he called terrorists who received foreign training and support. But nearly two weeks after the events that led to scores of deaths and about 16,000 arrests, the government has not presented any evidence to support its allegation of outside involvement. It remains unclear whether these more violent actors were individuals taking advantage of the mayhem to loot and vandalize stores, or if they were part of organized groups with larger political motives. Protesters, however, say their rallies were somehow undermined, leading to the crackdown by security forces. Tokayev has said authorities didnt use force at peaceful demonstrations. Although the protests began over the higher price of fuel, the scope and the agenda of the demonstrations expanded quickly. Large crowds rallied in major cities, venting their frustration with worsening living conditions and inequality under the authoritarian government that has maintained a tight grip on power for over three decades in the energy-rich nation of 19 million. Supreme Courts Left-Leaning Justices Prefer Bureaucracy to Democracy Commentary Much attention is being given to the Supreme Courts reining in of the Biden administrations overreach in its mixed rulings on Jan. 13, which blocked the Occupational Safety and Health Administrations (OSHA) vaccine mandates on private companies with over 100 employees but allowed the mandates that apply to health care workers at facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding. What shouldnt be overlooked, however, was the chilling peek into the mindset of the left that was provided in the Democratic-appointed justices dissents. OSHA was established in 1970 to keep workplaces free of hazards such as toxic chemicals, harmful noise levels, mechanical dangers, dangerous extremes of temperature, and unsanitary conditions. It wasnt intended to address an infectious disease spreading through the general population, and OSHAs legislative architects couldnt have foreseen COVID. But the left wants bureaucracies to have maximum leeway and minimum democratic accountability. They want maximumif not exclusivefederal involvement and direction, and a minimum state and local self-governmental role. As Justice Neil Gorsuch noted in his concurrence, If Congress could hand off all its legislative powers to unelected agency officials, it would dash the whole scheme of our Constitution and enable intrusions into the private lives and freedoms of Americans by bare edict rather than only with the consent of their elected representatives. But in their dissent, Justice Stephen Breyer, appointed by President Bill Clinton, and Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, both placed on the high court by President Barack Obama, said of their six colleagues in the majority, Acting outside of its competence and without legal basis, the Court displaces the judgments of the Government officials given the responsibility to respond to workplace health emergencies. At work here is the judicial doctrine of Chevron deference, dating from a 1984 Supreme Court ruling on environmental regulations. Liberal Justice John Paul Stevenss decision stated that if the statute is silent or ambiguous with respect to the specific issue, the question for the court is whether the agencys answer is based on a permissible construction of the statutein other words, extreme deference to federal agencies judgments of the extent of their powers. Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan complained about the majoritys use of the term vaccine mandate because President Joe Bidens OSHA order gives businesses the option of requiring their employees to wear masks, which isnt very far removed from touting life in prison because the warden provides a menu with two culinary options for the inmates at every meal. To these three justices, the benefit of the doubt always favors governmental intrusion into Americans lives. They contend that nothing in the Acts text supports the majoritys limitation on OSHAs regulatory authority. And for the Supreme Court to restrain such intrusion substitutes judicial diktat for reasoned policymaking. What of the outrage and resentment of the workers who have made the decision to refuse a new vaccine, who feel their rights trampled, and who are even willing to leave their jobs? The employers principally argue that the Standard will disrupt their businesses by prompting hundreds of thousands of employees to leave their jobs, the three justices noted. But OSHA expressly considered that claim, and found it exaggerated. According to OSHA, employers that have implemented vaccine mandates have found that far fewer employees actually quit their jobs than threaten to do so. The obvious implication is that if governmental bureaucracy is forceful enough, popular resistance can be mostly thwarted. The justices bias toward and trust in the judgment of the bureaucracies is staggering. They remark that as long as the pandemic continues, so too does the risk that mutations will produce yet more variantsjust as OSHA predicted before the rise of Omicron. So OSHA is, apparently, a medical authority. The choice in the eyes of Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan isnt between governmental regulation and personal liberty but between the various sectors of the federal government leviathan. Underlying everything else in this dispute is a single, simple question: Who decides how much protection, and of what kind, American workers need from COVID19? An agency with expertise in workplace health and safety, acting as Congress and the President authorized? Or a court, lacking any knowledge of how to safeguard workplaces, and insulated from responsibility for any damage it causes? This would be hilarious in light of the long history of judicial imperialism, were it not so sinister. In 1973s Roe v. Wade case, for instance, the Supreme Court unilaterally decided that it had enough knowledge of obstetrics, existential philosophy, and religion that it could impose regulatory guidelines upon every womans pregnancy and throw out the democratically approved abortion laws of all 50 states. The agency has thoroughly evaluated the risks that the disease poses to workers across all sectors of the economy informed by a half-century of experience and expertise in handling workplace health and safety issues, the three justices argue. Apply this to an individual patient. Imagine a government bureaucrat informing you that the agency has thoroughly evaluated the risks [of] the disease you have contracted, and that it has decided on your course of surgery and medicinal treatment, rather than allowing you your own personal choice. The justices also contend that Bidens OSHA mandates have the virtue of political accountability, for OSHA is responsible to the President, and the President is responsible toand can be held to account bythe American public. How so? With three years left in this presidency, Joe Bidens approval numbers are at rock bottom, and far from constraining him, public disapproval seems to embolden him to test and flagrantly even exceed the boundaries of his legal powers. The three assert that [w]hen we are wise, we know not to displace the judgments of experts. Their confidence and pride in the supposed ability of a powerful government bureaucracy to regulate our lives with positive outcomes should terrify both business owners and those employed by them. As Justice Clarence Thomas stated in his dissent on the 54 ruling that allowed the Biden vaccine mandate to be imposed on government health workers, joined by Justices Alito, Gorsuch, and Barrett, the Government proposes to find virtually unlimited vaccination power, over millions of healthcare workers within regulations pertaining to other matters. The mandate requires millions of healthcare workers to choose between losing their livelihoods and acquiescing to a vaccine they have rejected for months. As Thomas and the three others noted, the mandates fall squarely within a States police power, and, until now, only rarely have been a tool of the Federal Government. If Congress had wanted to grant CMS [the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] authority to impose a nationwide vaccine mandate, and consequently alter the state-federal balance, it would have said so clearly. It did not. Alito, in a separate dissent joined by Thomas, Gorsuch, and Barrett, stressed the absence of democratic accountability, noting that [u]nder our Constitution, the authority to make laws that impose obligations on the American people is conferred on Congress, whose Members are elected by the people. Elected representatives solicit the views of their constituents, listen to their complaints and requests, and make a great effort to accommodate their concerns. Today, however, most federal law is not made by Congress. It comes in the form of rules issued by unelected administrators. To Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan, the experts within federal agencies, and not the voters, are the ones whose views count. Todays decision will ripple through administrative agencies future decision-making, Alito warned. The Executive Branch already touches nearly every aspect of Americans lives. In concluding that CMS had good cause to avoid notice-and-comment rulemaking, the Court shifts the presumption against compliance with procedural strictures from the unelected agency to the people they regulate. Neither CMS nor the Court articulates a limiting principle for why, after an unexplained and unjustified delay, an agency can regulate first and listen later, and then put more than 10 million healthcare workers to the choice of their jobs or an irreversible medical treatment. That the left-leaning justices have little shame in utilizing politicized, incendiary rhetoric in the public eye in service to optimum federal power was at its most blatant in Sotomayors false assertion during oral arguments on Jan. 7 that we have over 100,000 children, which weve never had before, in serious condition, and many on ventilators and that Omicron is as deadly as Delta. Even sympathetic media outlets swiftly pushed back, with The Washington Posts fact-checker bestowing four Pinocchios. Not to be outdone, Kagan asserted that workers have to get vaccinated so that youre not transmitting the disease, despite the vaccinated transmitting and contracting Omicron like crazy; and Breyer contended that there were 750 million new casesover twice the population of the United States. It all serves as a grave reminder that had Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and President Donald Trump not prevented what would have been a 72 left-leaning majority in the Supreme Court (assuming Chief Justice John Roberts would often vote left of center), there would now be no check on the federal governments control over individuals and businesses, in sharp defiance of the constitutional foundations of Americas freedoms. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson presents COVID-19 restrictions during a news conference in Stockholm, Sweden, on Jan. 10, 2022. (TT News Agency/Marko Saavala via Reuters) Swedens Prime Minister Andersson Tests Positive for COVID-19 Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson has tested positive for COVID-19, her office confirmed on Friday. The Swedish leader had taken part in a debate in Parliament with other party leaders earlier this week and at least two other top politicians have also tested positive since. According to her office speaking to Swedish media Andersson is currently fine while follows governmental recommendations and continues her work from home. Following Wednesdays debate in the 349-seat Riksdagen, Center Party leader Annie Loof and Per Bolund, head of the small Green Party, also tested positive. Other party leaders who took part in the debate, have all tested negative, Swedish broadcaster SVT said. For most of the pandemic, Sweden stood out among European nations for its comparatively hands-off response. The Scandinavian country never went into a lockdown or closed businesses. Authorities have emphasized individual responsibility instead of governmental health measures. The Great Social Experiment: Chinas Draconian Lockdowns and the Loss of Human Agency Commentary Do lockdowns actually work? The answer appears to be a rather resounding no. The argument in favor of lockdownsboth from a scientific and medical standpointcarries very little weight. Not only are lockdowns ineffective, they are unnecessarily cruel. This cruelty comes in many forms: economically, psychologically, spiritually, and existentially. Human beings are social creatures. We are not designed to cut ourselves off from society. Extended hibernation is necessary for many animals, but its detrimental to human beings. The cure, as they say, should never be worse than the disease. Lockdowns, especially mass lockdowns, pose a far graver threat to society than Omicron, a variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. But try telling this to the tyrants in Beijing. In Xian, a large city and capital of Shaanxi Province in central China, millions of people now find themselves placed in restrictive lockdowns. The city, once called Changan or Eternal Peace, has become an Eternal Prison. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to reports, has reportedly set up brutal, eerie-looking quarantine camps throughout the city, just weeks before the country hosts the Winter Olympics. Why has the CCP locked down the city? All in the hope of achieving zero COVID. China is now the last major country to pursue this rather ridiculous goal. I say ridiculous because the idea of zero COVID is just not realistic. We must learn to live with the disease. To quote Jeremy Farrar, an infectious disease physician, the key question facing society is this: How do we move on, rationally and emotionally, from a state of acute [emergency] to a state of transition to endemicity? Although the transition period is going to be very bumpy, its necessary. Human beings cannot live in a perpetual state of fear. Just like the common cold, COVID-19, it seems, is here to stay. Governments must learn to adapt. People need to move on with their lives. Again, though, try telling this to the tyrants in Beijing, who appear to be doubling down on the most misguided of zero COVID strategies. Whats the endgame here? A sort of slow-motion self-destruction? Perhaps. Not surprisingly, Chinas economy appears to be taking a hit. Analysts at Goldman Sachs recently cut Chinas 2022 growth forecast to 4.3 percent, from 4.8 percent previously. But, I argue, the ideological myopia of the CCP is far more concerning than the actual slow-motion economic suicide thats now occurring. Workers labor at a construction site in Shanghai, China on July 12, 2021. (Aly Song/Reuters) An Isolated China Of course, many Westerners, especially in the United States, will read this and say, So what if China, our biggest rival, self-destructs. However, as China becomes more isolated, it becomes more dangerous. The idea of a globalized China, Im sure, fails to fill many readers with a sense of joy. But an isolated China would be much more dangerous. A more isolated China wouldnt necessarily mean a China that disappears from the rader; a country that size and that powerful doesnt just disappear, nor does it just fade away into obscurity. It goes out with a bangand that bang would have a global impact. A more isolated China would become an increasingly desperate onemore willing to engage in serious acts of subterfuge and deceit. We already have one Hermit Kingdom; we dont need a second. Also, a more isolated China would result in even more brutal acts being carried out on innocent people throughout the country. Its of utmost importance that we separate the Chinese people from the CCP. The cruelty being inflicted on tens of millions of innocent Chinese people is as inhumane as it is unnecessary. These people, powerless in the extreme, are not representative of the oppressors in Beijingwe should never forget this. In the aforementioned Xian, as the journalist Nicole Hao recently noted, Chinese authorities sealed residents homes, but didnt arrange for a reliable food supply. These people, locked down for roughly three weeks, are lacking in food and are on the edge of mental breakdown. Theres a perverse, social experiment being carried out in Xian, and innocent people are losing their minds. Some, sadly, will lose their lives. Some wonder if Hell is a real placeit is. Millions of people already live in it, and many of these people are situated in China. Theres a lesson to be learned here. Lockdowns are not the answer. They never were. Human beings are not farm animals. We should not be sealed off from society. Our every move should not be monitored. We deserve the right to make our own informed decisions. We deserve to be free. Whats occurring in China is brutal, but its not necessarily surprising. In many ways, the Chinese people have always been prisoners, regularly subjected to cruel and unusual punishments. Now, though, the people of Xian are literal prisoners, quite literally sealed off from society. When will they be freed? A week from now, a month, a year? Sadly, we dont know. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Mary Holland (R) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (C) and Kevin Jenkins (L) speak at Broadway Rally For Freedom in Manhattan, New York, on Oct. 16, 2021. (Enrico Trigoso/The Epoch Times) The Supreme Court Dodged the Central Matter: R.F. Kennedy Jr. on the OSHA/CMS Mandate Ruling The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the Biden administrations OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act) vaccine mandate directed at private businesses be halted but allowed the CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) vaccine mandate to stay in place. Attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been on the front lines fighting for medical freedom and recently authored the best-selling book The Real Anthony Fauci, has mixed feelings about the courts decision, and believes that they dodged the central issue. The blockage of the OSHA mandate is encouraging to him, but the ruling on the CMS vaccine mandate, which will continue to be litigated, is a disappointment. I think the most troubling thing is that the Supreme Court dodged the central matter, which is the Nuremberg issue, Kennedy told The Epoch Times. The Nuremberg Code is an international research ethics code that came into being during the trials of the Nazi war criminals after World War II. Its central ideas are voluntary consent and the prohibition of unnecessary, risky, or random experimentation on human beings. Can the governments power force Americans to participate in a medical experiment? he asked rhetorically. These are EUA (Emergency Use Authorization) vaccines, theres no question theyre experimental. And can a government force people to take experimental products against their will? That should be the central question that were asking ourselves in a constitutional democracy. And it was the central concern during the Nuremberg trials. Its a disappointment that the Court would dodge that. View of the judges bench in Nuremberg International Military Tribunal (IMT) court taken in September 1946, during the war crimes trial of nazi leaders during World War II. (AFP/Getty Images) Kennedy also believes that the Supreme Court is opening the doors to state and congressional powers to intervene in what should be a civil right. Clearly, the Supreme Court is inviting the states and Congress to regulate in this space and apparently to cancel out the clear civil right that we have to not participate in medical experimentation. The preservation of the CMS mandate, which could affect more than 17 million health care workers, is incongruous to him. Numerous health care workers all over the country have been pressured, with threats of termination, to take the jabs, and many of them thought it preferable to lose their employment. Its ironic. Were forcing health care workers who know what is good for them, whove devoted their lives to public health, to submit to a zero-liability medical intervention that they, based upon their experience and judgment believe it to be dangerous, Kennedy said. A technician fills a syringe with a Janssen COVID-19 vaccine in Fort Knox, Kentucky, on Sept. 9, 2021. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images) Top 10 Xian Incidents That Tell the Facts Behind Zero-COVID Policy Since China imposed lockdowns on CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus (coronavirus) stricken regions in an attempt to achieve zero-COVID, numerous real-life stories have emerged, giving a glimpse of whats exactly taking place behind the harsh measures of the successful containment policy. Despite the censored and controlled information and media, many Chinese reports from the city of Xian, the new epicenter, give hints about the tragedies that are taking place. 1. Migrants Risk Their Lives to Leave Xian Three migrant workers risked their lives in hazardous weather conditions and getting caught by police for breaking the containment policy, and took their individual journeys to flee Xian. The expensive quarantine charges and deadly isolation measures forced them to climb mountains, run on a shared bike, or swim in freezing cold water. In the end, they were all caught by the police. They had the same destination: their hometowns. The Chinese migrant workers dont share any social status in the city. They had no house, no money, and no job when the city imposed the strictest containment measure. Going home was their only hope. Under totalitarian governance, their freedom of movement is forbidden. A netizen commented: The closure of the city means an abrupt and painful survival mode of daily life for city dwellers; to the migrants with no permanent housing and no money, its the end of the world. What are better ways than to flee the city? 2. The Chaotic Quarantine Policy Xian resident Sun Hui asked to be quarantined outside his home because he had a fever for days, and bled from his nose and mouth. Previously, his coworkers at the office had been confirmed infected and he suspected that he was also infected with the virus. But the official never responded to his request. After his wife was confirmed infected and all six members of the family tested positive, he was finally removed from home with the help of his community chat group five days later. A netizen commented: Those who asked to be isolated could not get it; those who should not have been isolated were forced to do so. Its outrageous! 3. A Relay of Free Grocery Delivery Local pandemic prevention workers formed a short distance relay on the streets of Xian. On Dec. 31, 2021, Xian Live, a Chinese social media Weibo account, released a video recording of a team of 28 workers in full protection suits spread out on a sidewalk of half of a block to hand-deliver bags of food to a nearby apartment building. Each person was within an arms reach of the next person. The video said that its free groceries distributed by the government. The video went viral on the Chinese Internet and attracted more than 27,000 comments condemning the so-called effort of the government. A netizen commented: You know theres something thats called a wheel. Stop torturing those who are trying to do their job. 4. Man Dies After Being Rejected by 3 Hospitals A 39-year-old man, Li Hai (pseudonym), died on the last day of 2021, a Chinese media reported. A Xian hospital stated that it was sudden death, aortic dissection. Four hours before his death, Li had sudden chest tightness. He tried to call the emergency hotline, but the line never went through. He called a friend to help make the call, but was notified that the hospital would not admit him without a negative nucleic acid test result within 48 hours when the line finally went through. On the way to the hospital, he did the test and was confirmed negative. The ambulance drove him to two hospitals, only to find both were closed because of the pandemic. The third hospital refused to accept him due to lack of facilities. When the ambulance finally arrived at a hospital 4 miles away, he had no signs of breathing or heartbeat. After more than 1.5 hours of resuscitation, he was pronounced dead. A netizen commented: In this ridiculous city, a death is not a death if its not from the virus. When society claims success in zero-COVID, Xians government wins. 5. Beaten for Going out to Buy Steamed Buns On Jan. 1, an online video recorded how a man in white clothes with a bag of steamed buns was attacked by a group of people by the gate of a community apartment. A man in black seemed to snatch his cell phone from behind and an immediate attack followed. In the video, someone was heard saying, Do you want to die? while the beating was taking place. The mans steamed buns were scattered on the ground. A netizen commented: Even the most minute power will always get maximized. Look at them, they treat ordinary people like dirt. 6. Miscarriage Caused by Delayed Treatment for 2 Hours On the evening of New Years Day, a pregnant woman lost her baby because a hospital rejected her on the grounds that her nucleic acid test result had just expired four hours prior. She was kept outside the hospital with abdominal pain for more than two hours when it was sub-zero degrees. The hospital finally admitted her into the ER when she was bleeding heavily after 10 p.m., but the fetus had died. A netizen commented: Even a screenwriter cant come up with such a tragedy. This is not about fighting the pandemic, this is killing in disguise! 7. I Lost My Father Forever At noon on Jan. 2, a womans father had a heartache, so she sought help from local hospitals. The on-call doctor agreed to treat her father, but hospital security rejected her because they came from the medium risk region, despite having proof of a negative test. She called the police hotline (110), which claimed its not within their service category; she called the first-aid ambulance (120), it took a very long time to finally get through, and then she was informed it would take time to arrange an ambulance. The waiting time was uncertain. During the citys lockdown, no civilian vehicles are allowed on the street; she went onto the street to finally find a police car driving by, but the police said its not within his duty; finally, an enthusiastic netizen helped to locate a hospital that would receive patients, but it was already 10:11 p.m., and eight hours had gone by since her father was complaining of heartache. In the hospital, she was forbidden to go inside because only one family member was allowed into the hospital during the pandemic. On the phone, the doctor informed her that its too late, nothing was going to help her father. She could hear her mothers crying on the other end of the phone. She begged security to let her in because her father was dying, but she was turned down, while still trying to comfort her mother who was inside the hospital that the doctor was doing his best to save her father. She tried to fight her way in, until someone approached her and said they would need permission from the leader. She was finally allowed to go in 10 minutes later. But her father never got to see her for the last time. She said on her Weibo post: I rarely call him dad, its always: did you eat? got you some tea leaves, or bought you some clothes. But that night, I was crying out loud and calling him daddy the whole time. A netizen commented: Its terrible when ones life doesnt get the due respect and the protection he deserves. Why would the 110 say thats not their job? Thats what weve been told since we were young that 110 is what to call for help. This is what we get? 8. Collapse of the QR Code Check-in System Xian launched another round of city-wide nucleic acid tests on Jan. 4, but it also experienced another collapse of the QR code check-in system needed for the test, according to a local report. The system showed only the date and time, but the test result was not available. A netizen commented: The brain of the Xian leaders doesnt really work, but their system is good at collapsing. 9. Brushing Butter on Fences to Prevent Residents from Climbing Over Local news on Jan. 5 reported how local pandemic prevention personnel in a community brushed butter on fences to prevent residents from climbing over. In a video, the worker explained while doing his job, Why brush butter on? Those who try to climb over at night will quit doing it when they grab the fence, since we cant see them at night. The news drew many viewers comments. While some agreed with it, others questioned if the measures helped to resolve problems during the city lockdown, and criticized the community management as bad and vicious. A netizens comment: Dont just butter it. Why not get electrical wire, just like Auschwitz, to get a job well done! You guys are not good at delivering food to people who are isolated at home, but good at engaging in crooked activities. 10. Say the Magic Word A recording was taking place while community staff were delivering vegetables to local residents in Xian. In the video, a resident was receiving a bag of veggies from two men in protective suits. When the man seemed to hold onto the bag and not to let go, a voice was heard saying, Say something. The resident asked, What? That word, the voice said. Then the resident said, Thanks to the government, thanks to the government. A netizen commented: Without completing the whole act, dont even think about getting the free food. Lamas are watching the Cham dance during the Gedong festival at the Ganden Sumtsenling Monastery in Shangri-La, southwestern China's Yunnan Province, on Jan. 5, 2016. (Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images) US Expresses Concern Over the Chinese Regimes Demolition of Buddha Statue The State Department voiced concerns on Jan. 13 over the Chinese regimes demolition of Buddha statues and other actions against Tibetan Buddhists. The statement comes days after reports that a 30-foot-tall Buddha statue was destroyed in western China, marking the second being targeted in recent weeks. Last December, monks and Tibetans living nearby were forced to witness a 99-foot-tall bronze statue they revered being torn down. We are very troubled by reports of escalating PRC actions against Tibetan Buddhists, including authorities destroying Buddha statues, removing prayer wheels, and burning prayer flags, said the State Departments Office of International Religious Freedom in a statement on Jan. 13. The committee urged the regime to respect the right of Tibetans to practice their beliefs freely. Over the years, the communist regime has been accused of suppressing Tibetan religion and culture. In the Garze region of western Sichuan Province, where a significant number of Tibetans live, local authorities reportedly demolished another Buddha statue and a three-story temple that housed it, Radio Free Asia reported on Jan. 10, citing commercial satellite imagery. The Tibetan government-in-exile, formally known as the Tibetan Central Administration, said that the Tibetans who objected to the demolition were beaten and arrested, citing unnamed sources. The move comes after local officials dismantled a 99-foot-tall Buddha statue, destroying 45 prayer wheels that monks use to express their sincere devotion to buddhas, and removing and burning down prayer flags. Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns attend a sit-in solidarity rally against the Chinese Communist Partys rule on Tibet, in the Indian capital city of New Delhi on Feb. 2, 2013. (Raveendran/AFP via Getty Images) Kelsang Gyaltsen, representative of the exiled government in Taiwan, told The Epoch Times in a previous interview that recent actions taken by the communist regime were parts of the campaign to eradicate Tibetan religion and culture from China. In Tibet, temples have already replaced photos of Tibetans spiritual leader, Dalai Lama, with the portraits of the communist partys leader. The 14th Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959, after the regimes troops opened fire to crush an uprising in the Himalayan region. Nicole Hao contributed to this report. A sign of the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, on April 24, 2020. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images) WHO Recommends 2 New Drugs as COVID-19 Treatments The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended two new drugs to treat COVID-19baricitinib and sotrovimab. Baricitinib, an oral drug, is strongly recommended for people with severe or critical COVID-19, to be given with cortico steroids, the WHO announced. Baricitinib is part of a class of drugs called Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, which suppress the overstimulation of the immune system. The drug is also used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. The WHOs Guideline Development Group found moderate certainty evidence that baricitinib improved survival and reduced the need for ventilation, with no observed increase in adverse effects. Sotrovimab is conditionally recommended for people with mild or moderate COVID-19 but at high risk of hospitalization. This includes people who are older, immunocompromised, having underlying conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and obesity, and those unvaccinated, stated the United Nations agency. Sotrovimab is administered as a single intravenous infusion over 30 minutes. It is a monoclonal antibody drug, and can be used as an alternative to casirivimab-imdevimab, another monoclonal antibody that the WHO recommended in September 2021. Monoclonal antibodies are lab-created proteins designed to act like human antibodies in the immune system. Studies are ongoing on the effectiveness of monoclonal antibodies against Omicron but early laboratory studies show that sotrovimab retains its activity, the agency stated. The recommendation on Jan. 14 is the eighth update of the agencys living guidelines on therapeutics and COVID-19, published in the British Medical Journal, and is based on evidence from seven trials encompassing over 4,000 patients with COVID-19 ranging from non-severe to critical. The panel of experts behind the guidelines also reviewed information regarding two other drugs for severe and critical COVID-19JAK inhibitors ruxolitinib and tofacitinib. They determined that evidence from small trials failed to show benefit and suggested a possible increase in serious side effects with tofacitinib. The WHO has since made a conditional recommendation against their use. Humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) applauded the new WHO recommendation for baricitinib. In a statement, the group urged governments to take steps to make sure that patent protections do not stand in the way of access to this treatment. MSF noted that U.S. pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly filed and obtained patents widely, including in Brazil, Russia, South Africa, and Indonesia, therefore blocking the production of affordable versions of baricitinib. Despite the fact that baricitinib is already approved for other conditions like rheumatoid arthritisand generic versions are already available in India and Bangladesh at much lower prices than those being charged by Eli Lillybaricitinib will not be widely available to treat COVID-19 as long as the company continues to block the generic production in most places, MSF stated. An Indian manufacturer priced baricitinib at $5.50 per treatment course of 4mg once per day for 14 days, and the lowest listed price in Bangladesh (pdf) is $6.70. This is nearly 400 times less than Eli Lillys exorbitant listed price in July of $2,326 per treatment course. LAPD officers search for a suspect in Los Angeles on May 7, 2018. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) Woman Found Fatally Stabbed in Hancock Park Store LOS ANGELESA woman was killed Thursday afternoon in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles, and police found her body inside a boutique furniture store on La Brea Avenue. Brianna Kupfer, 24, of Pacific Palisades was found inside the store in the 300 block of North La Brea Avenue about 1:50 p.m. Thursday, the Los Angeles Police Department reported. She died at the scene. Police said Kupfer was working alone at the time of the attack. The officers met with the reporting party, a customer who had entered the store and discovered the victim deceased on the floor, police said in a statement. Detectives have determined the suspect was not known to the victim and was a random walk-in to the store, police said. The suspect attacked the victim with a knife and fled the scene through the back door. A motive for the crime was not known, police said. The suspect was last seen on video surveillance, northbound in the alley to the rear of the crime scene, police said. The man was described as Black, of unknown age, tall and thin, and he was wearing a dark hoodie, sunglasses, a white N-95 mask, dark skinny jeans, and dark shoes. He was carrying a dark backpack. Based on evidence discovered by detectives, the suspect is believed to be homeless, police said. Anyone with information on this attack should contact West Bureau Homicide investigators at 213-382-9470; 877-LAPD-247; or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS. Medical staff put on protective equipment before attending to COVID-19 coronavirus patients at the Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan, China, on March 16, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Wuhan COVID-19 Whistleblower Accuses Chinese Eye Hospital of Bribery Ai Fen, a chief doctor at the Emergency Department of Wuhan Central Hospital, has recently posted online allegations of bribery against a Chinese eye hospital. Ai was among the first to alert colleagues about the new COVID-19 disease that was spreading in Wuhan in late 2019. She has received attention again for her bravery in speaking up again against bribery of a large medical group in China. In the past week, she published online lists of nearly 500 peopledoctors, nurses, government employees, and military recruitment officerswho are allegedly involved in receiving referral fees from Aier Eye Hospital. She rejected a reconciliation offer of money from the hospital and now shes under pressure from all sides. Even administrators of Weiboa popular Facebook-like Chinese social media outletwanted to delete her posts, Ai told the Chinese edition of The Epoch Times on Jan. 10. Alleged Bribery of Aier Eye Hospital The lists Ai has posted online are seemingly related to Aier Eye Hospital in Suqian city of Chinas eastern-central coastal province of Jiangsu, as reported by Jinrongjie, a Chinese financial news portal, on Jan. 10. The alleged amount of bribery paid by the Suqian Aier Eye Hospital to the people on the lists is $126,000 in total during the three years of 2017, 2018, and 2019. Details of the people on the lists include their names, workplaces, phone numbers, bank details, transfer date and amount, names of patients, surgery dates, etc., according to the report. Aier Eye Hospital is Chinas leading ophthalmology hospital group with branches in mainland China, Asia, Europe, and North America, according to the companys website. Ai told The Epoch Times in the interview that certain employees of Aier Eye Hospital had sent the lists to her. She had contacted some people on the lists, and some of them had confirmed to her the authenticity of the information, Ai said. Anyone referring patients to Aier Eye Hospital for operations can get money [for the referral], Ai said, I came to know the practice of all-staff marketing of the eye hospital long ago. On Jan. 9, Suqian Aier Eye Hospital issued an urgent statement, which seems to be a response to Ais online posts. It claimed that the online allegations of the hospitals irregularities had been rectified as early as 2019 and that the non-compliant staff had been dealt with seriously and the management team had been replaced. The statement was posted on a Chinese state-run medical online portal on Jan. 10, and it does not include details of its punitive measures and the staffers involved. A government document of 2020 reveals that Hengshui Aier Eye Hospital in Chinas central Hebei Province was also involved in paying doctors of other hospitals for referring patients to Hengshui Aier Eye Hospital. According to the Hengshui market supervising body, it began to investigate the case in September 2019, and due to the complexity of the case and the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, it made its final conclusion nearly one year later in May 2020 and issued the eye hospital an administrative penalty of less than $30,000 as the hospital had actively cooperated with the investigation. Bribery Allegations Involving Government Staffers and Leaders Ai told The Epoch Times that she was under pressure from many sides, but she did not reveal more details. A source provided two recordings to the RFA (Radio Free Asia) Chinese-language edition, which recorded an intermediary surnamed Zhang who proposed $472,000 to Ai for private reconciliation. According to RFA, the intermediary repeatedly emphasized that it was people from the National Health Commission (NHC) that hoped Aier Eye Hospital would pay to settle the issue. The intermediary also threatened Ai that investigations had been done to Ais family and her financial status and that there could be counterattacks against her, reported the RFA. Some journalists told Ai that they had been notified not to interview her, according to RFA. The RFA disclosed in the report that the majority of the people on these kickback lists are health care workers at local medical institutions and military officers responsible for recruiting. But the source rejected to disclose to the RFA the names of the NHC leaders who were ordered to pressure Ai. According to Ais Weibo posts, Luo Guangming, CEO of Jingzhou Aier Eye Hospital in Chinas central Hubei Province is a brother of Luo Guanghui, who is the CCPs party chief of the peoples congress of Huangshi City in Hubei Province. There are local shields, large and small, behind each local Aier Eye Hospital, with the largest shields even occupying key positions in the local government. These shields designate people to be directly involved in the operation and management of the hospital, reads an online post by Ai. Ai wrote that, in addition to the way of paying commissions, another form of bribery at Aier Eye Hospital is to give or sell partner stock options to family members of or designated people by relevant leaders. With the protection from those leaders, the hospital makes a good profit and buys back the shares at premium prices. The Epoch Times has reached out to Aier Eye Hospitals headquarters and Suqian branch respectively for comments. Gao Miao and Sophia Lam have contributed to the article. NORWALK Nearly six decades after his death and 14 years after his remains were identified, officials are still searching for the relatives of a Norwalk soldier. U.S. Army Maj. Larry Alan Thorne enlisted in the armed forces in 1954 while residing in Connecticut and died during a clandestine mission in Laos in 1965, Norwalk Advisory Military and Veterans Liaison Committee Chairman Jeff DeWitt wrote on his website dedicated to service members from Norwalk. Thornes remains werent returned to U.S. officials until 2002 and identified in 2008, leaving him out of Norwalks remembrance ceremonies and monuments for decades, DeWitt said. However, in 2021, Thorne was finally added to the citys plaque at Calf Pasture Beach dedicated to residents who died during the Vietnam War. Thorne was one of two names added, above U.S. Air Force Capt. Joseph Brown. We had the Vietnam War plaque at Calf Pasture Beach updated with two names of those fellas who were MIA (missing in action) when the plaque was put up in 1971, DeWitt said. I understand if they werent aware at that time, leaving them off. In 1971, there was still the possibility they were POW (prisoners of war) somewhere in the country of Vietnam. Despite naming Norwalk as his hometown at the time of his enlistment, no relatives of Thorne have been identified. Two books were written about Thornes life, but DeWitt said neither of the authors responded to inquiries about people who may have known him. Born Lauri Alan Torni, Thorne was raised in Finland and served with the Finnish and German armies against the Soviet Union. During World War II, Thorne was sent to Germany in 1941 to train with the Waffen-SS, but shortly thereafter returned home to serve Finland once again, DeWitt said. In 1950, Thorne moved to the Norwalk for a period of time before heading overseas, DeWitt said. Born in Finland, he went into the Finnish army, then transferred to the SS because apparently they were the best trained army in the world, and then decided that wasnt for him, DeWitt said. He jumped on a container ship, went to Mobile, Ala., jumped off the container ship and landed somewhere in Norwalk. Thorne worked as a carpenter and driver around New York City before becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen and enlisting in the army, according to DeWitt. In 1967, Thorne received a posthumous Distinguished Flying Cross award for his service in a mission against the Viet Cong. Major Thorne was operations officer responsible for launching a small, combined reconnaissance patrol on an extremely hazardous mission into a suspected Viet Cong stronghold, the award citation read. Due to the extreme hazards attending this mission, including weather and enemy action, Major Thorne volunteered to accompany submission aircraft during the introduction of the patrol in place of the assigned individual. Thorne remained with one aircraft in the area to receive an initial report from the ground, a mandatory report. If the patrol was confronted by a superior force, Thorne would have had to land and extricate his men under fire, according to the citation. This was done with total disregard for the inherent dangers and with selfless concern for the ground forces. In so doing, he exposed himself to extreme personal danger, which ultimately led to his disappearance and the loss of his aircraft, the citation read. He had, however, guaranteed the safe introduction of the patrol into the area, the successful accomplishment of this mission and had positioned himself to react to any immediate calls for assistance from the patrol. Due to Thornes efforts, the mission was accomplished successfully and contributed to the overall mission of interdicting Viet Cong activities within the area, according to the citation. Thorne was a Green Beret with the U.S. and was known as the man who served under three flags, for his service in Europe and the U.S. In the years since biographies were written, Thornes name was added to the citys war monuments and he was buried in Arlington Cemetery. Only one story of a Thorne relative arose in Norwalk, however. Donna Cole and her husband, the late David Cole, served on the Norwalk Veterans Memorial Committee during the 2000s. The committee hosted about five essay contests, one of which centered on Norwalk veterans, Cole said. One of two winning entries detailed Thornes life, who the essayist said was a great-uncle. Basically, she wrote a beautiful story about her uncle and was one of the essay winners, Cole said. My husband, at that time, was in charge of it and he said, I didnt realize Larry was from Norwalk. They served at Fort Bragg together when they were both in the service before they went to Vietnam. Though Cole has lost track of the essay, written by a sixth-grader at All Saints Catholic School around 2005, she hopes to track the essay down soon and flesh out Thornes past. From the Coles understanding, Thorne lived in Norwalk with his brother before heading overseas, after which his family moved from the city to Wilton. My husband always called him a real soldiers soldier, Cole said. At the time of his enlistment, Thorne used a Norwalk address, which is the hometown listed under his profile on the Vietnam Veteran Memorial Fund associated with the Vietnam War Wall memorial in Washington, D.C. Thorne is honored on the Vietnam War memorial on panel 2E, line 126 of the wall. Anyone who knows Thorne or his family members is urged to contact DeWitt at mvlc@norwalkct.org. abigail.brone@hearstmediact.com 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. Goshen Winter Market 10-noon in the expansion parking lot on St. Louis St. Outdoors. Tri Township Library Book Sale 9 a.m. - noon at the Tri Township Library, 209 South Main St., Troy. Book donations are accepted during the book sale and on Tuesdays from 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. Sponsored by the Friends of the Library. Beginner Knitting Group with Greta 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. via Zoom through the Glen Carbon Library. Experience how easy it can be learning to knit through a structured, interactive social knitting group. Perfect for true beginners or those looking for an easy refresh project. Different intermediate skills will be introduced on a project-by-project basis. Set up as a 2-day class with homework in between. Registration Required. Monday, Jan. 17 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. 36th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration 10 a.m. at Mt. Joy Church, 327 Olive St., Edwardsville. The event will also be streamed live on the Mt. Joy Facebook page. The program is free and open to the public. Hosted by Granite City High School Senior Martaja Hill. Main speaker Dustin Jumper will speak on The Dilemma and the Challenge of Growth. Tuesday, Jan. 18 Glen Carbon Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting Canceled The next regularly scheduled meeting will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 15. Cribbage Club 6 p.m. at Camelot Bowling Alley, 801 Beltline Road, Collinsville. Beginners welcome, free to attend. Contact Phil (618) 288-7910 or Susan at (618)978-1664 for more information. 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 Watershed Cairns: Water Marked with Art 6:30 p.m. virtual event. The National Great Rivers Research and Education Center will kick off 2022 with a virtual Neighbor Nights event, featuring the work of artists Libby Reuter and Joshua Rowan and their "Watershed Cairns: Water Marked with Art" project. Reuter and Rowan, with a van full of glass, travel backroads in river watershed areas, where they create and photograph cairns made from thrift-store glassware. Registration is required. Sign up at https://conta.cc/3mQQTmu. The link will be emailed prior to the event. For more information contact Jen Young at 618-468-2785 or jenryoung@lc.edu. Toddler Time 10 a.m. at the Edwardsville Public Library. Ages 0-2. Theyve got the books, bops and bubbles. Bring your babies and toddlers to share stories and songs with Miss Kristen and all the Story Time friends. Registration Required. Teen Magnet Letters Take-Home Kits Available at the Edwardsville Public Library during open hours. Registration required. Leave notes for your friends on the fridge or your locker with your own set of letter magnets. Teens who register can pick up their kids at the library from Jan. 18 - Jan. 22. Thursday, Jan. 20 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 Gateway Wedding Show 5-9 p.m. at the Gateway Convention Center, 1 Gateway Drive, Collinsville. Free admission. The Gateway Wedding Show features different vendors that can help couples and event planners personalize their upcoming special event. The show will feature area wedding and event vendors, food and beverage sampling, a wedding decoration showroom, live fashion show, prize giveaways and more. For information regarding show details and free ticket registration visit www.gatewayweddingshow.com. Preschooler Story Time 10 a.m. at the Edwardsville Public Library, 112 S Kansas St. If youre ready for a story, clap your hands. Ms. Megan will be sharing fun tales & tunes, and dont forget, bubbles. Ages three - five. Registration required. EPL Book Club 6:30 p.m. at the Edwardsville Public Library. Good books. Good company. Good talk. Untamed Shore by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Teen Magnet Letters Take-Home Kits Available at the Edwardsville Public Library during open hours. Registration required. Leave notes for your friends on the fridge or your locker with your own set of letter magnets. Teens who register can pick up their kids at the library from Jan. 18 - Jan. 22. Adult Zumba with Aimee 6 - 7 p.m. through the Glen Carbon Library. This program has been changed to a virtual program for January due to Covid-19 positivity rates in the area. Log in to Zoom for a fun night of Zumba from the comfort of your own home with a Zumba Fitness instructor. Registration required. Friday, Jan. 21 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 Medicare Q&A with Jon Bergmann 6 - 7 p.m. at Glen Carbon Library in the Youth Room. Bring your questions on how to register and what is covered when you sign up for Medicare. Please wear a mask. Requires Registration. Saturday, Jan. 22 Watershed Discovery Day 10 a.m. - noon at the Watershed Nature Center, 1591 Tower Ave. Edwardsville. Join the Watershed for a celebration of winter birds in the region. This free community event for families will feature hands-on activities, story time by local author Jennifer Ward, a bird feeder craft, eagle cam observation station, birding information from Wild Birds Unlimited, hot cocoa & cookies and a scavenger hunt around the Watershed's trails. The first 100 children will receive a stuffed Eagle through Phillips 66 Wood River Refinery. Coloring for Grown-Ups 1 - 3 p.m. at the Edwardsville Public Library. Join them for a relaxing and fun afternoon session of coloring. The library will provide colored pencils and adult coloring books along with refreshments. Teen Magnet Letters Take-Home Kits Available at the Edwardsville Public Library during open hours. Registration required. Leave notes for your friends on the fridge or your locker with your own set of letter magnets. Teens who register can pick up their kids at the library from Jan. 18 - Jan. 22. STEM Activity Kits 2 p.m. at the Glen Carbon Library. Registration required. Do you enjoy exploring science, technology, engineering and math in fun and crafty ways? Then register for a to-go STEM kit. Once a month, the library will dive deep into a project for the whole family. Tuesday, Jan. 25 True Crime Book Club 6:30 p.m. at the Edwardsville Public Library. Join other armchair detectives to discuss the shocking details and events found in this popular non-fiction subgenre. I'll Be Gone in the Dark, by Michelle McNamara. Pasta Dinner Every Tuesday 4-8 p.m. Dine-in or Carryout at the Edwardsville American Legion Post 199, 58 South State Rt. Edwardsville. Pasta of the week served with salad. 618-656-9774 Wednesday, Jan. 26 Percy Jackson Book Club 4 - 5 p.m. at the Edwardsville Public Library. Grades 6-12. This month theyre reading Book 4, The Battle of the Labyrinth." Once you register, stop by the Youth Desk to get your free copy of the book. Registration Required. 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. Virtual Evening Flow Yoga with Anne 5:30 6:15 p.m. at Glen Carbon Library via Zoom. A Slow Flow mixed levels practice that will lead you through a series of yoga poses that focus on strengthening, lengthening, and stretching. Requires Registration Tai Chi Class 7 p.m. at Main Street Community Center, 1003 North Main St. The Southern Illinois Tai Chi Association of Edwardsville will begin a new class session of Tai Chi. $100 for a fourth month session. Contact Terry Staebel at 618-939-4731 to register or for further information. Thursday, Jan. 27 Movie Matinees 12 p.m. at The Edwardsville Public Library. The library hosts Movie Matinees for adults in their meeting room. Bring a brown bag lunch and theyll provide drinks and popcorn. The library is not able to publicize movie titles. Call (618) 692-7556 for details. 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. Preschooler Story Time 10 a.m. at the Edwardsville Public Library, 112 S Kansas St. If youre ready for a story, clap your hands. Ms. Megan will be sharing fun tales & tunes, and dont forget, bubbles. Ages three - five. Registration required. Chicken Dinner Every Thursday 4-8 p.m. Dine-in or Carryout at the Edwardsville American Legion Post 199, 58 South State Rt. 157, Edwardsville. Two or four pieces of chicken and vegetables, mashed potatoes and gravy and a biscuit. 618-656-9774 Adult Zumba with Aimee 6 - 7 p.m. through the Glen Carbon Library. This program has been changed to a virtual program for January due to Covid-19 positivity rates in the area. Log in to Zoom for a fun night of Zumba from the comfort of your own home with a Zumba Fitness instructor. Registration required. Friday, Jan. 28 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 Saturday, Jan. 29 74th Annual Sausage Supper 1 - 7 p.m. at Salem United Church of Christ, 1117 West North St., Alhambra. Drive thru only. Fresh homemade pork sausage, sauerkraut, potatoes, green beans and applesauce. $12 donation. Meat sales preorders can be picked up on Thursday, Jan. 27 from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 29 from 9 a.m. - noon. For order forms go to salemuccalh.org or call 618-488-3216. Beginner Knitting Group with Greta 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. via Zoom through the Glen Carbon Library. Experience how easy it can be learning to knit through a structured, interactive social knitting group. Perfect for true beginners or those looking for an easy refresh project. Different intermediate skills will be introduced on a project-by-project basis. Set up as a 2-day class with homework in between. Registration Required. Ongoing Events Al-Anon For information call 618-463-2429. For more information, visit SIAFG.org and District-18.org. 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. Take Home Crafts Pick up a take-home craft bag at the Edwardsville Public Library with all the materials to make the project. A new craft will be available each month at the Youth Desk. EDWARDSVILLE - After one week of online learning, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is returning to in-person classes, and some SIUE faculty and staff members, as well as some students, are not happy with the decision. On Jan. 6, SIUE announced that it would shift courses online for the first week of the spring semester, starting on Jan. 10 and extending through Jan. 17 (the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday). On Wednesday, though, it was announced that on-ground classes for the SIU System campuses in Edwardsville and Carbondale will resume beginning Tuesday, Jan. 18. In response to that announcement, the three Illinois Education Association (IEA) unions issued a joint press release on Friday morning regarding the decision. The three unions the SIUE Faculty Association, the non-tenure track Faculty Association and the Professional Staff Association represent more than 850 faculty and staff on the campus. The press release noted that the SIU Board and System President Dan Mahoney have mandated that all classes be returned to face-to-face, although the COVID rate on campus continues to climb. The Board and President are putting students, faculty, and staff at risk at a time when the positivity rate, both on campus and in the community in which we live and work, has never been higher, said President Ed Navarre, representing 400 tenure-line faculty. We cant help but feel that we are being treated as expendable. The statement added that the seven-day average for COVID-19 positivity rate among students and employees at SIUE jumped to 13% before most students even returned to campus. According to SIUEs mitigation plan, a campus positivity rate of 8% automatically triggers restrictions. However, students and employees who are symptomatic are excluded from campus data because they are required to test off campus, the statement read. Additionally, the mitigation plan does not consider the positivity rate in the surrounding community, which has skyrocketed to 24%, giving the Metro East a higher positivity rate than the Chicago area. We had only two days notice to completely overhaul the first week of classes, and now in the middle of the first week, we get two days notice to shift everything back, Navarre said. This is not how quality, thoughtful teaching is done, and it is certainly not how faculty and staff want to do things at SIUE. Michele Lorenzini, president of the Non-Tenure Track Faculty Association, also expressed disappointment with the decision to return to on-ground classes. The Board and Presidents mandate is not well-organized, Lorenzini said. For example, there is no mechanism for mandatory campus testing to be enforced. Also, faculty wont know by Tuesday which students were not tested, or tested positive, and are not allowed in the classroom. The administration promised to provide KN95 masks to all faculty, too, but those masks wont be here by Tuesday. Meanwhile, offices are required to de-densify, indicating that they know the infection rate is too high to safely be on campus. Yet all the classrooms have been returned to full capacity, so faculty and students will not have social distancing. Beginning Jan. 18, SIUE will require all students, staff, and faculty to test each week, regardless of vaccination status, if they will be living, working, studying or engaging with campus during that week. We anticipate that we will continue this practice until the Omicron surge has subsided, a campus message released on Wednesday read. With the shift to on-ground and hybrid instruction, SIUE will expand its multi-layer approach to safety: Weekly testing expectations are broadening to include all campus community members who engage on-ground De-densification of office spaces continues to be encouraged, to the extent possible, while ensuring critical student support Students, faculty and staff are strongly encouraged to wear more protective masks. SIUE has ordered an additional supply of masks with improved protection (level-3 surgical and KN95) that will be distributed to campus, once received SIUE community members are strongly encouraged to complete a primary series of the COVID vaccine and receive a booster. The SIUE union press release also noted that the highest positivity rates in Madison County are among 12- to 39-year-olds. While the campus has an approximately 80% vaccination rate, the booster is not required, the statement read. Additionally, the SIUE campus includes the Head Start program, serving students who are too young to be vaccinated. President Kim McClellan represents 200 members, both grant-funded employees at the East St. Louis center and Head Start program, and counselors and advisors on the Edwardsville campus. McClellan, likewise, spoke against the decision to reinstate in-person learning. Jeopardizing student-facing staff during a pandemic goes against the University's stated values of wisdom and integrity, McClellan said. McClellan also discussed what she felt was a lack of guidance in the system-wide mandate for the Pre-K-12 population at the East St Louis Center. The community we serve includes families, students, and staff from among the most vulnerable populations, McClellan said. The mandate is silent about how we should keep trying to keep staff and students safe with such limited resources and options. Navarre mentioned the Edwardsville School District as an example of how schools in the Metro East are struggling to deal with rising COVID numbers. We look at how difficult things are in the District 7 schools in our community, Navarre said. So many people are sick and this variant spreads so quickly. We want our SIUE community to be as safe as possible, so were uncertain why these decisions from the Board and President in Carbondale put our community in danger. "SIUE's eventual decision to shift to remote learning on January 10 was the responsible one, Lorenzini added. The SIU System's decision to go back on-ground en masse January 18 defies all of the data." Some SIUE students, meanwhile, have started a petition to give SIUE more options for safe learning. As of 4 p.m. Friday, the petition had 732 signatures. After only one week of online learning, SIUE is reinstating in-person classes despite a nationwide COVID resurgence, the petition read. We as a student body understand both sides of the issue as some of our classmates have had to put their academic careers on hold for quite some time due to this ongoing global pandemic. The petition noted the current wave of COVID is more difficult to detect within the first days of infection, making a negative test less of a buffer than it was previously. Testing inaccuracies combined with the fact that certain classes have the potential to exceed 200 students poses the potential to spread the virus quickly and with devastating consequences; the petition read. SIUE must consider that COVID is not ending anytime soon and provide its students with long-term solutions that give them the option to continue learning while also feeling safe. A judge has denied North Dakota's request for an order forcing the federal government to hold oil lease sales. The Bureau of Land Management is planning to hold such a sale in the first quarter of 2022 after canceling all sales last year. U.S. District Judge Daniel Traynor ruled against the state Friday in part because a U.S. Justice Department attorney offered an assurance earlier in the week that the bureau plans to hold the sale imminently. The dispute arose after President Joe Biden early last year issued an executive order pausing oil leasing on federal lands while a review of the leasing program could take place. A number of oil- and gas-producing states sued the federal government to try to force lease sales to resume. They scored an early victory in June 2021 when a federal judge in Louisiana issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the federal government from enforcing the president's pause. The Louisiana judge's ruling applies nationwide. Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem filed a separate suit in U.S. District Court in North Dakota seeking additional relief that would force the federal government to hold the lease sales canceled in the state during 2021, along with future sales. Traynor wrote in his order that he agreed with the federal government's assessment that the state had made "a premature request" better dealt with later after the parties have a chance to provide more information to the court. "This preliminary injunction in the Louisiana case provides North Dakota with the protection it needs at this early stage," Traynor wrote. The federal government has appealed the Louisiana ruling. Traynor said North Dakota could try to raise its concerns again if that case is overturned or the scope of the injunction changes. Stenehjem said in a statement that his office "will be closely following the actions of the federal government agencies as they now proceed with the promised lease sales in February and thereafter." "We are fully prepared to hold their feet to the fire and will not hesitate to bring the matter before the Court again as the circumstances warrant," he said. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday afternoon. A lawyer for the department at a hearing earlier this week offered a different explanation for why lease sales were canceled in North Dakota last year, saying that the bureau needed to revisit the way it conducts environmental analyses following unrelated court rulings tied to leasing. A date has not yet been announced for the upcoming lease sale. It is expected to include 15 parcels of land in North Dakota. Oil companies can bid on the parcels to secure a lease, which then gives them 10 years to develop the federal minerals. A company must also secure a separate permit from the federal government before drilling for oil. Reach Amy R. Sisk at 701-250-8252 or amy.sisk@bismarcktribune.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Ebonyi Network of Civil Society Organisations has formally elected a 9-member executive to pilot its affairs in the State for the next two years. The election was part of outcome of the network's bimonthly review meeting held on Friday in Abakaliki, the State capital. The meeting was sponsored by the Development and Integrity Intervention Goals Foundation. The election was conducted by an appointed 3-man independent Ad-hoc panel led by the Ebonyi State Citizen Engagement and Capacity Building Specialist, USAID- State Accountability, Transparency, and Effectiveness (State2State) project, Ibiam Azu Agwu. The election produced Mr Oliver Aja Chima of Development and Integrity Intervention Goals (DIG) foundation as the Network's coordinator, and Mrs Goodness Mgbaja of the Civil Resource Development and Documentation Centre (CIRDDOC) as Deputy coordinator. Ohaka Adimoha of Methodist Care Ministry emerged as the Secretary while Oswald Agwu of Gracefield Development Initiative of Nigeria (GDIN), was elected as the Public Relations Officer. Others elected were Ibiam Iroh of Youth Initiative for Health, Environment and Community Development ((YHEHCOD) as Financial Secretary, and Lorieth Nwafor of Initiative for Social Change in Africa (VOFCA) as Treasurer. While Paul Nwankwo of Humanity Foundation emerged as the Resource Mobilization Officer, Augustine Onwe of Youthhub Africa, and Barr. Nkem Chukwu of Health for the Society, Justice and Peace Initiative), were elected as the Program Action Officer and Legal Adviser, respectively. Meanwhile, the office of the State Chairman of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPAD) was allotted a chance as permanent special executive member in the Network. Inaugurating the Executive members, the Leader of the electoral panel, Ibiam Azu Agwu admonished all members of the Network to be open to new knowledge. He informed that there were many grant opportunities that would open from the USAID, World Bank, African Development Bank, the United Nations, among other donors in 2022. He further encouraged the Network to explore untapped avenues for social impact, work as a team in order to present a stronger platform for donor funding while not losing focus on their divergent organizational goals for betterment of society. Oliver Aja Chima in an acceptance speech, pledged that the new executives would work assiduously to justify the confidence reposed in them by members of the network. He solicited the unreserved support of all member CSOs, assuring that he would run an all inclusive administration. The Ebonyi State Network of Civil Society Organisations was birthed in 2021, resulting from a capacity building workshop organised for NGOs/CSOs in the State by State2State. Since then, the network has been under the care of an interim management committee with Oliver Aja Chima as the acting Coordinator. The review meeting featured progress report by DIG on its sub grantee health project with USAID -Integrated Health Program, IHP in the State. The network also reviewed its 2022 work plan, as well as its draft constitution. Faith Toyota and Ford Franchise/Dealership in Westminster, State of Vermont, United States of America is a unique and historical car dealership shop. It is a legacy investment in the automobile industry in the United States of America because there are only 1,500 Toyota and Lexus dealerships in United States of America. Out of which 30 are owned and operated by African Americans (blacks). This multi-million dollar automobile shop is owned by a Nigerian diaspora from Imo State, Southeast of Nigeria. Mr Faith Mba (Founder/President, Faith Toyota-Ford Vermont, USA) Mr Faith Mba is a Nigerian that emigrated to United States of America barely seventeen years ago. He left the shores of Nigeria in 2002 to The Netherlands. After two years stay in Holland, he relocated to The United States of America. According to Autonew.com , (the leading source of news about the global automotive industry), Mr Faith Mbas journey to owning a Toyota-Ford dealerships in Vermont spanned three continents, beginning at a street market in Nigeria where he hawked women's clothing with his mother. He worked for a few years in the Netherlands, where he had his first stint in automobile industry, customer service and public relations. Mr Mba also utilized the opportunity while in Holland to develope his proficiency in both Dutch and German languages. In 2004, he relocated to the North-Eastern town of Spofford, New Hampshire to join his wife. His inherent abilities enhanced his adaptability in his new environment. It was here that Mba, knowing where his passion lies, secured a job in a Kia and Ford dealership shop in the town as a trainee paid salesman. Mr Faith Mba (Founder/President, Faith Toyota-Ford Vermont, USA) His venture into the automotive industry as a trainee staff was greeted with scepticism at least from his new American family. However, he was focussed and convinced that he was in the right occupational environment. He reminisces on his mothers prophetic counsel that if he pursued a career in sales, life will go well for him which fired up his conviction. In addition, his Nigerian ethnic group, Igbo are exceptionally gifted in making a living out of trade and commerce. Equipped with his inner assurances, he started to develop a vision to become a prominent player someday in the automotive industry. Faith was eventually promoted to a manager within few years of working in the Company due to his prodigy in the job. Mba continued to work his way up, eventually working as finance director at Toyota and Ford in Greenfield, Mass. He later accepted a position as finance director at a car dealership in Boston, commuting 228 miles (367 Kilometers) a day, before deciding to open his own business. "America is a wonderful place, and if you work hard and stay focused you will reap success," said Mba. "You don't have to own a business, but you must have a good work ethic with whatever you do." His growth in the automotive industry was not a smooth ride being a black immigrant with strong accent, not everyone wanted to do business with him. He faced the tough reality as he recalled one instance while working at a Ford store in Brattleboro, Vermont, when a man came to check out a pickup. The man brought his mother to co-sign, Mba said, so he was ready to buy. Mba greeted them and retrieved the vehicle, but after a test drive, they abruptly left. The manager was upset, thinking Mba had blown the deal. Then the phone rang. The man said he wanted the truck but didn't want to buy from "the Black guy." Instead of turning him away, the store had another salesperson handle the deal. The buyer's wife apologized, as did Mba's manager. The unpleasant experience instead of being an impediment to his vision, invigorated, stimulated and emboldened him to stay focussed. "The issue of acceptance was there at the beginning," he said, "but you have to find a way to fight through." In 2016, Mba acquired Ford motor Company dealership in Brattleboro near New Hampshire. In 2018, he acquired a dualed Toyota-Ford showroom Westminster, Vermont and sold his single-point Ford store. He is currently constructing a 40,000-square-foot (12,200 square meters) facility to comfortably house his Ford and Toyota franchises. Mr Mba is happily married and grooming his 14-year-old son, who works in the office twice a week, to take over the business in the future. "Don't look for that perfect dealership, don't look for that perfect city," Mba said. "We cannot have everything at the same time. You can grow to make it perfect, you can grow to make it your home. Take that faith and run with it. Follow your instincts and look for a place where you can grow.", Faith advises prospective automotive industry investors especially the minority group. Faith Toyota and Ford dealerships in Westminster has severally surpassed it's sales projection. With staff strength of 100 permanent workers and about 50 part-time workers, Faith Toyota and Ford is an American dream come true. Remarkably, Mba is giving back to the Community that welcomed him and gave him the opportunity to be what he is today. He has created numerous jobs for the Community and established window of job opportunities for them. "The people are very friendly and very nice, and the community has been great," said Mba. "I've made sure that all of our employees are locals that live in Vermont or New Hampshire. We are still looking for more people because sales are so impressive, and service is so busy that we need more mechanics." Mba has gone out of his way to engage with the community by volunteering Faith's Toyota-Ford as a United Way sponsor, and has been welcomed by the Brattleboro Chamber of Commerce. Back in Nigeria, he is constructing a public Primary School in his village in Imo State. He has other outreach projects he intend to execute in Nigeria in the coming days. The ongoing ordeal of the State Publicity Secretary of the opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) in the hands of the Engr. Dave Umahi led state administration has brought into sharp focus, the Ebonyi State Cybercrimes Law. Chapter IV of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) provides for the fundamental human rights of all citizens of Nigeria. The provision covers: the Right to Life, the Right to Dignity of Human Person, the Right to Personal Liberty, the Right to Fair Hearing, the Right to Private and Family Life, the Right to Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion, the Right to Freedom of Expression. Fundamentally, every Nigerian has a right of expression of thought as a free citizen like in other climes where Nigeria borrowed its democratic system. In making laws for the federation or any part thereof by the legislature, the people are given consideration on the impact of such law (s). It is for this reason that one of the key elements in lawmaking process is public hearing during which members of the legislature invite their constituents to make input in proposals/bills that could become law for which the people are expected to be obligated to. The legislature is the only institution in a democracy that is owned wholly by the people and members cannot act on their own without the people. Like the fundamental human rights of citizens, the media all over the world is respected by all governments especially in a democracy as the watchdog of the people. The media has responsibility to inform and educate the people on the activities of government and provoke thoughts and reactions to policies and programmes of government. The Media is the bridge between government and the people and any leader who does not appreciate the work of the media cannot be a good public office holder. The importance of the media is the reason why the United Nations educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) proposed a special day to support and reflect on the work of media organizations and professionals to be known as World Press Freedom Day, ostensibly to hold government to account over their commitment to press freedom and allow the press to reflect on professional ethics. The proposal was formally adopted on May 3, 1993 by the United Nations General Assembly as World Press Freedom Day. As one of the American Founding Fathers James Madison, had stated, if men were angels, no government would be necessary and if angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal control on government would be necessary. Since men are not angels and angels are not governing men, it has become imperative for oversight of government and part of the oversight is the monitoring of governments activities and reporting to the people whose mandate the government hold. The main responsibility of the press is to inform the public about government activities, criticize those activities/actors where necessary and stimulate debate by the people to help the government. In fact, the real stimulus of any democratic government is criticism especially from the opposing group. It ceases to be a democracy when freedom of expression is no longer tolerated. It is only a military government that does not allow press freedom. Nigerians are still conversant with challenges the Nigerian press faced in 1984 when General Muhammadu Buhari was a military President. Then came Decree No 4 of 1984. The decree was to punish authors of alleged false statements against the military administration of the day. Section 1, sub-sections (i), (ii) and (iii) of the law provided that: Any person who publishes in any form, whether written or otherwise, any message, rumour, report or statement, being a message, rumour, statement or report, which is false in any material particular or which brings or is calculated to bring the Federal Military Government or the Government of a state or public officer to ridicule or disrepute, shall be guilty of an offence under this Decree There is no need to recount the agony many Nigerian Journalists passed through under this decree. That was why when recently the National Assembly attempted to amend the Press Council Act of 1953 and introduced some new clauses whereby Journalists and Media houses could be fined N250,000 and N10m respectively by the Nigerian Press Council (NPC) under the control of the executive, for infractions, the media practitioners and many Nigerians rose up against such proposed clauses in the amendment. Chief Olusegun Osoba a veteran Journalist and former Governor of Ogun State described the proposal as a terrible draconian law. As he puts it, It is a terrible draconian law. It has never happened in the history of Nigeria that a law as sweeping as this will be proposed. Not even under the military was this done. Recently, a member of the National Assembly proposed a bill on the regulation of the social media. The Bill titled The Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulation Bill 2020 got to a second reading before it was suspended because of the outcry and many opposing arguments by the Nigerian public. The first attempt to regulate the social media was in 2015 when a bill to that effect was introduced in the House of Representatives but it failed due to similar outcry of Nigerians. However, the Cybercrime law was enacted. A Hate Speech bill was later introduced again in the Senate which originally stipulated a death penalty for anyone convicted of a hate speech. Following myriads of outcry and agitations by human rights groups the death penalty clause was removed. The main reason why many Nigerians had opportunity to rise in opposition against some of the proposed bills in the National Assembly perceived to infringe on the freedom of the people was because the National legislature made the bills public. They recognized that the Legislature is the Peoples House and the occupants are tenants with Nigerans as landlords. It is a normal legislative procedure in the consideration of any bill to subject such bill to public hearing to elicit feedback from the people. In that case when the bill eventually becomes law, the people will be subject to its obligations. In the case of Ebonyi State Cybercrimes Law, it would appear that many Ebonyians woke up one day to the implementation of the said law. The first time one heard of the law was when one Godfrey Chikwere was arrested for an opinion, he expressed in his Facebook handle. A Commissioner of Information in the administration of Governor David Umahi was invited to one of the Good Morning Nigeria, a Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) programme, and a question was thrown to him about the arrest of the young man. The Commissioner claimed on national television that there was a Cybercrimes Law and it was passed by the State House of Assembly. Recently, an alleged copy of the law surfaced online with details. The law titled Ebonyi State Cybercrimes (Prohibition) Law 2021 was purportedly signed by Governor David Umahi on 27th September, 2021. Section 5 of the Law provides that; Any person who knowingly or intentionally sends or circulates a message or other matter by any means of computer systems or networks or social media that (a) is grossly offensive, pornographic or of an indeed, obscene, or menacing character or causes any such message or matter to be so sent (b) knows to be false, for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, il-will or needless anxiety to another or general public commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of Three Million Naira (N3, 000, 000) or imprisonment of not less than 5 years or both While many Ebonyians and Nigerians would not wish to return or be reminded of decree no 4 of 1984 in a democracy, the question remains as to how does the Ebonyi State House of Assembly process bills. If Ebonyians were privy to the cybercrimes bill whether introduced by the executive or private member, many would have known the sponsor of the bill and rationale for it or at the minimum participate in the public hearing (if there was any one). Any legislature that can process and pass a bill that impact in the life of its citizens without recourse to the people cannot be a legislature representing the people whose mandate they carry. Press freedom and/or freedom of expression of the people are basic contents and critical to the development of democracy. Yes, there is no absolute freedom because man himself is constantly in chains, but there are constitutional guarantees and regulations and this should be respected. It ceases to be a democratic system when citizens and watchdogs of the society are kept in chains and hounded for holding opposing views especially when the agents of the political actors hold similar views and walk free. A seeming draconian piece of legislation to suppress opposing views in legislative cover cannot promote democracy. It ceases to be a democracy when it becomes: If you think you have the pen, we have koboko Uhuo is a Journalist and Political Scientist. Rivers State Governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike, has urged the State Police Commissioner, Eboka Friday, to redeploy out of the state a particular Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Emohua Local Government Area of the state who he alleged operates an illegal refinery in the area. This is as the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Host Communities, Dumnamene Dekor, has commended Governor Wike for his proactive measures in tackling the activities of illegal refining of crude oil products popularly called Kpo-fire in the state. Governor Wike made the demand yesterday, at a meeting with the local government council chairmen and heads of the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air force, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Police, the Department of State Services and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps at Government House, Port Harcourt. The governor frowned at security agencies for the role some of their personnel have played in aiding and providing cover to the operators of the illegal refineries in the state. He said: Its unfortunate for this country how security people will be involved in illegal bunkering. I cant believe it. Mr. CP, I thank you for transferring the DPO in Rumuji, who owns a refinery. But the man must leave here, not transferred. He must leave this state. I cant be governor here and security man owns an illegal refinery. No, it is not possiblethe man has to go. Take him to wherever they allow bunkering. He directed the CP to immediately arrest Chief W. J. Wocha, Fubara Ohaka, and Chief Promise Ezekwe, who have been fingered for operating illegal refineries deep inside the forest of Ibaa community in Emohua Local Government Area. The governor further urged the Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Rivers State command, to immediately transfer its personnel in charge of vandalism of pipelines in the state. Transfer the man, and tell him to leave. He is a complete saboteur. I mean, how can security men be the ones involved in this. What kind of country are we? He urged the Department of State Service (DSS) to profile persons involved in the heinous illegal refining business and make the list available to him. He assured to act on the list. He also issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the 23 LGA chairmen to provide a comprehensive list of illegal refineries and their operators within their jurisdiction. The governor challenged the council chairmen to prove that they are not complicit in the obnoxious business that has continued to threaten the health of Rivers people and the national economy. Wike stated that as a responsible government, it will be unwise for them to fold their hands and do nothing to safeguard residents of the state from the death that is forced upon them by criminal minded operators of artisanal refineries. Now, every council chairman must go and identify where illegal refineries are taking place. If you identify one, you get N2 million. So, go and identify as many as you can. I will pay N2m for each one. And I am going to fight against this. Our people are dying and we owe our people the responsibility to protect them, to save them from death they never caused. So, you must, and youre given 48 hours to go and identify all illegal refineries sites, and those who are in charge of them. The governor emphasised that any of the council chairmen who is afraid to join in the fight against the criminals operating the illegal refineries should be ready to resign. According to the governor, part of their social contract with their people is also to protect them and stop any illegal economic practices in their domains. Ive called you here to tell you that its a total war. It is either we do it or we dont do it. We cannot allow what is going on to continue. Two things; our people are dying, two, its shortening our own revenue. You check from Federation Account, Akwa Ibom and Delta States are getting more, why? Because, these boys of the cartel have caused so much problems for us. So we will not allow it. Meanwhile, Dekor also lauded the governor for declaring those behind the illegal business wanted and personally visiting sites of the illegal business in Ikwerre and Emohua Local Government Areas of the state. The lawmaker who is representing Khana/Gokana in the House of Representatives made the commendation while addressing a cross section of Rivers youths in Abuja. He said the proactive steps taken by Wike to declare those behind the illegal business, apprehending many others and his visit to some sites of the illegal business would drastically reduce the menace of soot in the state. You all know that the state has been battling the challenge of soot worsened by the illegal business of refining petroleum products, popularly called kpo-fire. You are also aware of the agony, pains and sicknesses associated with the environmental hazard which has regularly contaminated the air in our dear state with devastating health implications. But thank God for the swift intervention of the governor and the successes recorded so far. You will recall, His Excellency has in his New Year broadcast promised to tackle head-on illegal crude oil refining activities in the state for the collective health survival of Rivers people. It is in view of this that I want to thank the governor for his prompt action taken towards addressing this ugly trend, he said. Dekor called on all community leaders to join the state governor in the struggle to bring an end to illegal crude oil refining activities in their localities to end the menace of soot in Rivers State by reporting those behind the illegal business in their communities to the law enforcement agencies. The federal lawmaker also appealed to his constituents not to indulge in illegal crude oil refining activities, warning that anyone caught would be made to face the full weight of the law. He said the noticeable blanket of soot in the skies across the state and in homes and on clothes are largely due to the upsurge in illegal bunkering business in the Niger Delta of which Rivers State appears to be one of the epicenters. Dekor also frowned on the seeming reluctance of the federal government and the relevant agencies in working to mitigate the menace of soot in the Niger Delta and urged them to wake up to their responsibilities to protect the lives of the people and those living in the region and the environment. President Muhammadu Buhari and other top government officials on Saturday, honoured the nations fallen and living heroes. The event, which involved laying of wreaths at the National Arcade in Abuja, was the climax of the main activities lined up to celebrate the 2022 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration (AFRDC). First to lay the wreath was the President, followed by the Vice President, the Senate President, Speaker, House of Representatives and Chief Justice of Nigeria. In another order, the Minister of Defence, retired Maj.-Gen. Bashir Magashi and his Federal Capital Territory counterpart, Malam Mohammed Bello, laid the wreaths. Thereafter, the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor; the Chiefs of Army, Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Isiaka Amao and Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Adm. Awwal Gambo, performed the exercise. Other dignitaries, who also performed the wreath-laying ceremony are members of the diplomatic corps and their representatives as well as Nigerian Legion and widows of late officer/soldiers represented by Hajia Aisha Lemu. Buhari, thereafter, signed the anniversary register and released the ceremonial pigeon as a symbol of national peace. The celebration started with series of activities including Jummaat prayer on Jan. 7, at National Mosque and Interdenominational Christian service on Jan. 9. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that AFRDC is celebrated globally to recognise and appreciate the sacrifices made by their citizens for the cause of peace. In Nigeria, Jan. 15, is set aside annually to honour fallen heroes who laid down their lives in service to humanity during the first and second world wars, Nigerian civil war, peace support and various internal security operations. The event is also used to honour veterans still alive and as a medium for soliciting financial, moral and material support for the families of the fallen heroes. Govt mulls easing virus curbs BANGKOK: The Public Health Ministry will propose easing COVID-19 curbs in light of the diminishing threat posed by the viruss Omicron variant. By Bangkok Post Saturday 15 January 2022, 10:01AM Tourists relax on a beach on Koh Samui in Surat Thani. Photo: Supapong Chaolan / Bangkok Post Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said that even though new daily cases linked with Omicron have increased since New Year, the number of people with severe symptoms on ventilators or in intensive care units is still low, reports the Bangkok Post. Also, the daily fatalities have not exceeded 20 for a while, he said. This is a reason to be confident, for even though Omicron is highly transmissible it is still less severe than the Delta variant, Mr Anutin said. In light of the positive trend, the Public Health Ministry will ask the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) to ease as many containment measures as possible quickly. But if there are still threats to public health, the ministry will also propose measures for the publics safety, Mr Anutin said. He also said that vaccinations are crucial to protecting the public against the worst effects of the virus, and those who are not vaccinated have been urged to get their shots quickly. Mr Anutin added that children aged 5-12 can now get Pfizer vaccines following the manufacturers confirmation. Next month, there will be enough Pfizer vaccines registered for children in this age bracket, he said. He further said that the ministry has instructed the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation to ensure sufficient supplies of favipiravir pills for treatment of infected patients. We cannot afford to be complacent or let our guard down. We have to prepare just in case, the minister said. Dr Kiattiphum Wongrajit, permanent secretary for public health, said that containment measures have proved to be effective with rates of fatalities and severe cases declining, with this aided by cooperation from the public. Currently the situation has stabilised, but we still need to maintain strict precautions, Dr Kiattiphum said. Over the last 14 days, new cases increased quickly in the first week. But caseloads have currently stabilised and are in a declining trend. Severe case numbers continue to go down. The ministry recently raised the alert to Level 4, Dr Kiattiphum continued, urging people to follow universal prevention measures, avoid at-risk premises and delay [interprovincial travel]. But we will consider lowering the alert level in light of the situation starting to ease. He said the ministry is also considering reducing the 14-day quarantine period for at-risk groups to seven days to enable people to resume their normal lives quickly. He noted that treatment of infected patients lasts about 10 days while the quarantine period lasts longer. However, the ministry is waiting for experts to come up with clear measures before deciding to reduce the quarantine period, he said. But in principle, at-risk people who came into contact with infected people would be quarantined for seven days and undergo two antigen tests on day 5 and 6. If the results come back negative, they would be allowed to get back to work, but would still have to undergo another test on day 9 or 10, Dr Kiattiphum said. Dr Somsak Akksilp, director-general of the Department of Medical Services, said that there were 46,873 hospital beds available for COVID-19 patients nationwide as of Thursday. Since most patients infected with Omicron have mild or no symptoms, they will be looked after mainly at home and in community isolation facilities. Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the Department of Disease Control, on Friday insisted that the Public Health Ministry was not trying to contradict a warning on Tuesday by the World Health Organization (WHO) against treating COVID-19 as an endemic illness like flu, rather than as a pandemic. Dr Opas said the ministry had only explained to the public how the COVID-19 pandemic could be downgraded to endemic status and given necessary steps to achieve the aim. We expect that if everybody cooperates, it should become endemic within this year, not today or tomorrow, Dr Opas said. Legal Matters: Former employees working against you Information and intellectual property are valuable assets for many businesses. As employees change jobs, which many have done in the past 18 months, they create significant challenges for businesses in protecting their information and competitive advantages. By The Phuket News Saturday 15 January 2022, 11:00AM Non-Competition An employee owes a duty of non-competition, meaning the employee should not compete with their employer during their period of employment. This includes a duty not to divert (e.g., stealing business or holding back business) and should not take any conflicting work. Unless the contract is clear, potential conflict may be hard to prove, as its based on the risk of conflict or damage to the employers business. Though there are a few exceptions, unless there is a specific agreement these obligations largely disappear once the employee leaves the business. The ex-employee may work for a competitor and may compete directly with his or her former employer. Nonetheless, there are some protections employers have once an employee leaves the business. Confidentiality Unlike the duty of non-competition, the duty of confidentiality normally survives the termination of the employment. During and after employment, the employee must keep confidential information and trade secrets obtained through his or her employment. Confidential information can relate either to the conduct of a business or its structure, and may include the identity of its suppliers, customer lists, pricing, marketing techniques, and trade secret formulas. The obligation does not extend to all information that is acquired during employment. For example, while an employee may not copy a written customer list, it is unclear if the ex-employee can use information about customers learned through day-to-day contact. The employer should mark sensitive information as confidential and take other steps to reinforce the confidential status of particularly sensitive information, such as limiting access to this information. This will help prevent the unwitting disclosure of sensitive information and potentially assist in a lawsuit for breach. Markings and warnings will help identify which information should have been kept confidential. Intellectual Property An employer owns the intellectual property created by an employee during employment if that employee has been hired for research or innovation. An employee is obligated to transfer the invention if it is the result of the work the employee is paid to do. To avoid the uncertain position concerning the ownership of inventions, and to avoid arguments regarding developments outside an employees scope of work, employers should put in place a written agreement covering the ownership of intellectual property. These types of agreements are typically called Invention and Trade Secret Agreements. There are several gaps in the rights provided to employers under general Thai law. To protect sensitive information and intellectual property, the employer should require all incoming employees to sign an agreement dealing with confidentiality, inventions, and trade secrets. Electronic Communications Emails and the internet present a significant threat to an employers confidential information through improper activities. As a result, monitoring may be necessary to maintain the employers IT systems and ensure there is no improper use. Although in Thailand the courts have not specifically addressed the legality of employers monitoring their employees computer use, it appears likely that employers may monitor email. However, this should be explained in a policy to which the employee has agreed and consented to. The forthcoming Personal Data Protection Act also applies to the personal information of employees, customers, and others. Employers should be aware of the impact the legislation has on their obligations to employees and have proper consent documents and policies which sets out the scope of monitoring. Conclusion A well-constructed employment agreement including specific references to trade secrets, confidentiality, and competition Is crucial in todays highly competitive industry. Basic housekeeping requires disclosure and consent to practices that will monitor employees use of computers and internet, and capture personal data, as well as set out guidance on public disclosure practices. Without these specific provisions, general employment laws in Thailand provide little relief for an employer who finds themselves in conflict with their former staff. By Dr Paul Crosio / Silk Legal Paul Crosio is a Partner at Silk Legal & founding partner of Silk Advisory. He is a practicing Australian lawyer with over two decades of corporate experience in turn-around management in Thailand and abroad. Living long-term in microgravity affects every aspect of the human body and the eyes are no exception. A study recently delivered aboard the SpaceX Cargo Dragon vehicle and under way today at the orbital lab is exploring how visual function is impacted by extended space missions. Three NASA astronauts, Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn, and Kayla Barron were on duty throughout the day contributing to the investigation that may protect astronaut's vision and improve eye treatments on Earth. Marshburn first started his day in the Tranquility module strengthening cables on the advanced resistive exercise device. Chari, toward the end of his work shift, cleaned the Veggie space botany facility before uninstalling and packing a spacecraft atmosphere monitor for return to the ground. Microbe collections continued for the third day this week as ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer swabbed station surfaces and stowed the samples for later analysis. The German astronaut also serviced the Mochii electron-scanning microscope, set up a computer for Earth observations, and worked on the Cytoskeleton human cell experiment. NASA Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei was on duty Thursday afternoon in the U.S. Destiny laboratory module conducting life support maintenance. The three-time station visitor worked on the fluid servicer system that removes gas bubbles and cleans fluid lines throughout the orbital lab. Vande Hei also joined cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov helping the Russian duo install lights, batteries and video gear on their Orlan spacesuit helmets. The pair started the day with a physical fitness test to prepare for a spacewalk planned for Jan. 19. They will spend about seven hours in the vacuum of space configuring both the Prichal and Nauka modules. On-Orbit Status Report Payloads: AstroPi: After moving an AstroPi from Columbus to a Node 2 window, the focus and aperture were adjusted for the 5mm camera lens. This was performed during ISS orbital day to make sure the camera was viewing the Earth. Two augmented Raspberry Pi computers (called AstroPis) were originally flown to the ISS as part of ESA Astronaut Tim Peake's mission. The computers are both equipped with the mighty Sense HAT (Hardware Attached on Top) that measures the environment inside the space station, detects how the station moves through space, and picks up the Earth's magnetic field. Each AstroPi is also equipped with different kinds of cameras: one has an infrared camera, and the other has a standard visible spectrum camera. Cytoskeleton: Two Experiment Containers (ECs) were removed from Biolab and transferred to cold stowage. In vitro cultures of mammalian cells react specifically to microgravity, but there is no solid scientific evidence available about how and why. The Involvement of Rho family GTPases in gravity perception and reaction (Cytoskeleton) investigation attempts to acquire new information about the events that are happening inside a mammalian cell, with the working hypothesis that the microgravity environment affects the function of RhoGTPases and the cellular signaling that they control. RhoGTPases are signaling molecules residing under the Rho family of proteins, known to be involved as "molecular switches", in the control of cell proliferation, apoptosis (programmed cell death), gene expression (flow of genetic information from gene to protein), and cytoskeletal organization. Food Physiology: Several crewmembers participated in a diet briefing with the science team. The Integrated Impact of Diet on Human Immune Response, the Gut Microbiota, and Nutritional Status During Adaptation to Spaceflight (Food Physiology) experiment is designed to characterize the key effects of an enhanced spaceflight diet on immune function, the gut microbiome, and nutritional status indicators. These factors are interlinked, but diet is the only one that can be easily and meaningfully altered on Earth or during flight. This investigation aims to document the effect of dietary improvements on human physiology and the ability of those improvements to enhance adaptation to spaceflight. Mochii: In a continuation of the Mochii checkout activities started earlier this week, sample four and a metal coater were loaded into the Mochii hardware. Mochii is a miniature scanning electron microscope (SEM) with spectroscopy which will be used to conduct real-time, on-site imaging and compositional measurements of particles on the ISS. Such particles can cause vehicle and equipment malfunctions and threaten crew health, but currently, samples must be returned to Earth for analysis, leaving crew and vehicle at risk. Mochii also provides a powerful new analysis platform to support novel microgravity science and engineering. Nanoracks Main Frame Alpha (MFA): The crew retrieved NanoRacks Module-96 from cold stowage and inserted it into MFA. Module-96 is a 1.5U (10cm x 10cm x 15cm) experiment module which studies the antibiotic resistance of biofilm microorganisms commonly found in the spaceflight environment. Nanoracks Mainframe Alpha is an EXPRESS Rack sub-facility designed to provide thermal control, power, and data management to individual Nanoracks Module experiments. The modules themselves are designed to a very limited and specific form factor that fits inside Mainframe Alpha, so Mainframe Alpha supports a wide variety of science that can change on each mission. Rhodium Probiotics: The crew transferred one of the Rhodium science chambers from on-board ambient stowage to cold stowage. Each of the science chambers houses nine cryotubes containing experiment cultures. Swinburne Youth Space Innovation Challenge 2021: Microgravity Production of a Probiotic Yoghurt Using Active Bacterial Cultures (Rhodium Probiotic Challenge) tests methods for producing yoghurt in space. Yoghurts and other probiotic foods, important components of a healthy diet, depend on living microbial cultures that could experience changes in microgravity. Results could help support the health of crew members on future space missions and improve production of yoghurt on Earth. Rodent Research-18 (RR-18): In a continuation of the RR-18 experiment, the habitats were restocked and the access unit was cleaned. Astronauts returning from space can experience eye problems, along with headaches and blurred vision. Scientists suspect environmental conditions during spaceflight lead to oxidative stress that adversely affects the eye structure and function. Space Flight Environment Induces Remodeling of Vascular Network and Glia-vascular Communication in Mouse Retina (Rodent Research-18) investigates how spaceflight affects visual function, examining changes in the vascular system of the retina, tissue remodeling and cell-cell interactions in mice. Systems: Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) Straighten Upper Stop Cable: To help the crew maintain muscle mass, ARED provides resistance training with piston-driven vacuum cylinders and a flywheel system. This week, the team observed that the upper stop cable was out of alignment, and today, the crew was able to make the necessary adjustments for the equipment to function nominally. Internal Thermal Control System (ITCS) Fluid System Servicer (FSS) Setup and Refill of the Lab Low Temperature Loop (LTL) Pump Package Assembly (PPA) accumulator: Today, the crew used the FSS to refill the Lab LTL PPA accumulator with coolant in accordance with regular maintenance operations for proper rack cooling. After FSS operations were complete, the FSS Fluid Control Pump Assembly (FCPA) and Jumpers were drained and purged. Russian Segment (RS) Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) #51 Preparations: With RS EVA #51 scheduled for Wednesday, January 19th, Mark assisted with installing helmet lights, a Li-Ion Rechargeable EVA Battery Assembly (LREBA), an HD EMU Camera Assembly (HECA) power cable, and other hardware onto the Russian ORLAN EVA suits. The crew will continue to help with preparations for the upcoming RS EVA into next week. Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Recycle Tank Drain: As part of normal operations, the crew connected the drain of the installed Recycle Tank to a Brine EDV container using the Brine Transfer Hose. The ground then controlled the drain process remotely using the Urine Transfer System (UTS). The brine in the filled EDV will be pumped into the Brine Processor Assembly (BPA) within the next few days. Once this is completed, the crew will reconfigure the Recycle Tank for daily operations. Completed Task List Activities: Countermeasures System (CMS) Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation and Stabilization (CEVIS) Time Update Today's Ground Activities: All activities are complete unless otherwise noted. Fluid System Servicer (FSS) Refill Support Payload Rack Officer (PRO) PL MDM File Commanding Video Distribution Subsystem (VDS) External High Definition Camera (EHDC) survey of SpX-24 before undock Look Ahead Plan Friday, January 14 (GMT 14) Payloads: Advanced Nanostep insert APEX-07 hardware deact EasyMotion/CEVIS ExHAM HXP (Handhold Experiment Platform) sample detach and stow Mochii MT-3 sample collect POLAR transfer SAMS Wired sensor deployment for 4BCO2 SQuARE setup Systems: Cargo Dragon Transfer Health Maintenance System (HMS) Spaceflight Cognitive Assessment Tool for Windows (WinSCAT) Test In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Full Fill Lab Low Temperature Loop (LTL) Gas Trap Plug Replacement Saturday, January 15 (GMT 15) Payloads: HRF urine setup POLAR4 desiccant swap Rhodium Probiotic SQuARE Systems: Crew off-duty Sunday, January 16 (GMT 16) Payloads: HRF blood/saliva setup, urine collection SQuARE Systems: Crew off-duty Today's Planned Activities: All activities are complete unless otherwise noted. ARED Straighten Upper Stop Cable Mochii Metal Coating Portable CO2 Monitor Power On and Deploy Health Maintenance System (HMS) ISS Food Intake Tracker (ISS FIT) Microbial Tracking-3 Environmental Sample Collection ARED Upper Stop Cable Tension Cap Align Treadmill 2 (T2) Exercise Video Equipment Setup Microbial Tracking-3 Sample MELFI Insert AstroPi MkII interactive test Treadmill 2 (T2) Exercise Video Equipment Stow AstroPi Vis setup in Node 2 Install EHIP Light (and secure with Wire Ties), LREBA, HECA Power Cable, HECA/ERCA hardware on ORLAN suits - assistance AstroPi Camera Lens adjustment Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Recycle Tank Drain, Fill Internal Thermal Control System (ITCS) Fluid System Servicer (FSS) Setup and Refill of the Lab Low Temperature Loop (LTL) Pump Package Assembly (PPA) accumulator EVA Lower Torso Assembly (LTA) Repair P/L Iceberg Sample Removal Nanoracks Mainframe Alpha Module Install Internal Thermal Control System (ITCS) Fluid System Servicer (FSS) Teardown and Stow APEX-07 Clean and Dry ARIS Cargo Transfer Bag Audit HRF Rack 1 PC Software Integrated Build Load Installation Preparation Cold Stowage Double Coldbag Icebrick Stow Food Physiology Crew Diet Briefing Personal CO2 Monitor - IPad Collection and Stow Environmental Health System (EHS) Personal CO2 Monitor Charging LSG Primary Crew Restraint Fold Rhodium Australia Probiotic Challenge Transfer 2 to Cold Stow LSG Work Volume Stow Rhodium Australia Probiotic Challenge MELFI Sample Insertion Fluid System Servicer (FSS) Restow Spacecraft Atmosphere Monitor Locker Removal from EXPRESS Rack and Pack for Return Cytoskeleton EC Deinstallation Cytoskeleton Polar Sample Insertion Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. A Montana man is dead after two semitrailers collided at an intersection in McKenzie County. Allen Emly, 60, of Fairview, was driving an empty side-dump truck that failed to stop at a stop sign at the intersection of two rural roads about 6 miles north of Cartwright, according to the Highway Patrol. Emly's rig collided with a tanker truck around noon Friday, in what the patrol said were good seasonal driving conditions. He was taken to a hospital in Sidney, Montana, where he died of his injuries. The 50-year-old man driving the other semi wasn't hurt. Shawn Flowers, of Washington, Kansas, was hauling about 7,000 gallons of saltwater, none of which were released into the environment. The patrol is continuing to investigate. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 4 Angry 0 More Russians check out of Phuket hotel after testing positive PHUKET: A husband-and-wife Russian couple have been reported as checking out of their hotel in Patong early in order to avoid staying in Hotel Isolation for 10 days after the wife tested positive for COVID-19. COVID-19corruptionhealthtourismpolicepatong By Eakkapop Thongtub Saturday 15 January 2022, 05:34PM Images: via Patong Police Patong Police reported that the couple left their hotel, the Holiday Inn Express on Haad Patong Rd, before midday today (Jan 15). Officers visited the hotel, where they were told that the woman, Olga Tribshtok, 35, had tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday. The couple had originally checked into the hotel on Jan 5 and were booked to stay today (Jan 15). The couple went to Bangkok Hospital Siriroj to be tested yesterday, hotel staff told police. A copy of Ms Tribshtoks positive test results was provided. Today, both Ms Tribshtok and her husband, Sergei Iaroshenko, 35, checked out of the hotel before noon. Hotel staff have no idea where the couple might now be staying, said the report. The hotel was unaware that Ms Tribshtok had tested positive until staff at the hospital contacted the hotel to inform them at 1:38pm, the report added. Police are now looking for the couple. The Phuket Provincial Public Health Office (PPHO) has been notified, the report concluded. Phuket officials push local pineapples as Chinese New Year gifts PHUKET: Phuket officials have joined a community enterprise campaign to promote sweets made from locally grown pineapples as gifts for Chinese New Year. The campaign aims to help struggling local residents make an income as the economic crisis from the pandemic continues. COVID-19economics By The Phuket News Saturday 15 January 2022, 10:00AM The campaign, held annually and now in its seventh year, is called Ong Lai Po Pi Peng Aaan, or Phuket pineapple brings fortune. Joining the promotion push are leading Phuket officials and business figures, including rewat Areerob, President of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organisation (PPAO or OrBorJor) and Thanusak Phungdej, among others. The campaign was launched by Pracharath Rak Samakkee Phuket Co Ltd, the Phuket-based social enterprise formed under the national project Pracharath Rak Samakkee Social Enterprise (Thailand) Company Ltd, which provides an online platform for small vendors sell their goods, services and produce (see here). Ong Lai is the name of a pineapple called by ethnic Chinese in Phuket (Peranankan). Southern Thais call the Phuket Pineapple, which was originally introduced to the island from Penang, Ya Nat, explained the press launch, posted online by the Phuket office of the Public Relations Department (PR Phuket). Supporting the drive is Signature of Phuket, a local initiative to support Phuket businesses and communities. Phuket pineapples, popular for being big, crispy, sweet and fragrant, are also referred to locally as good for health and beauty, a representative of Signature of Phuket told The Phuket News. Besides being a favorite food and fruit, Ong Lai is also used to pay homage to the gods on the Chinese New Year because Ong Lai also means good fortune, the representative added. We are joined together from all sectors. The campaign aims to help create an identity for Phuket and generate income for the community. The money [from the campaign] goes back to the community/pineapple growers, every baht, the representative added. Each gift box contains two pineapples, and costs B99. Home delivery costs B50 extra per box. The gift boxes are available until Jan 30. To order, people transfer payment to: Account name: Ms Kwannapatsorn Chantalay Bank: Siam Commercial Bank Account No: 4068027375 Anyone interested can order via Signature of Phukets Facebook page or call 081-2624799 until Jan 30. Thailand to make COVID-19 pill: Anutin BANGKOK: Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has announced that Thailand will move ahead with its plans to develop the COVID-19 antiviral pill molnupiravir. COVID-19Coronavirushealth By The Phuket News Saturday 15 January 2022, 08:30AM Photo: Merck / handout The move was to counter COVID-19 infections amid the rising Omicron outbreak, Anutin said yesterday (Jan 14), reported the Bangkok Post, citing a Reuters report. For molnupiravir, the Government Pharmaceutical Organization has plans to co-develop [this drug] with the Chulabhorn Research Institute," Mr Anutin told a news conference, said the report. A committee will research and produce the reactants, which will be additional support for future events, he added. Molnupiravir was developed by pharmaceutical firm Merck, based in New Jersey, and biotechnology company Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, based in Miami, Florida. The pill caused much excitement last year, as it opened the door to providing protection from COVID-19 without injections. It was also heralded as a way to help protect children from COVID-19. However, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Nov 30 only narrowly voted to recommend the drug candidates emergency approval by 13 to 10. The agencys lengthy deliberations could signal uncertainties about the antivirals efficacy and safety: full trial data submitted to the FDA suggest that molnupiravir is less effective than originally thought, dampening scientists hopes that the relatively cheap and easy-to-administer treatment might change the course of the pandemic, reported respected science journal Nature. As recently as Tuesday this week, Dean Li, president of Merck Research Laboratories, said that molnupiravir would likely be effective against Omicron, and any other variant of COVID-19. "Were very confident that it will effect Omicron ... This mechanism in molecule (will) work for Omicron, and I would imagine against any variant that comes up," he said, according to Reuters. Thailand has ordered 50,000 courses of molnupiravir from Merck and was still in discussion with Pfizer for 50,000 courses of its drug Paxlovid, noted the report by Reuters. Meanwhile, other Southeast Asian nations are also planning to make versions of the drug, including Bangladesh and India, the report added. In Indonesia, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on Friday the country also planned to develop molnupiravir in partnership with pharmaceutical company PT Amarox Pharma Global starting in April or May, reported Reuters. Indonesia approved molnupiravir for emergency use this week and 400,000 pills have arrived in the country, the report added. In the Press Corps of the Indiana Statehouse in downtown Indianapolis, in an office lovingly called "the Shack," the journalism majors of Franklin College's Pulliam School of Journalism work alongside the best reporters in the state, digging into the behind-the-scenes stories of Indiana politics. We're a student newsroom, but our work doesn't sit on a professor's desk. We create content five days a week for this website and 35 professional media partners around the state. From The Straits Times: Over 100 virus cases have been reported in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou since last week, as China battles to contain multiple local outbreaks of the Delta and Omicron variants. Parts of the city were abruptly placed under lockdown last Wednesday (Jan 5) when a woman surnamed Wang was having dinner at her blind date's house. "Just after I arrived in Zhengzhou, there was an outbreak and his community was put under lockdown and I could not leave," Wang told Shanghai-based outlet The Paper on Tuesday (Jan 11), adding that she went there for a week-long trip to meet potential suitors. "I'm getting old now, my family introduced me to 10 matches The fifth date wanted to show off his cooking skills and invited me over to his house for dinner." EAST ALTON I finally got to Mr. Panchos Mexican Restaurant at Eastgate Plaza and Im so glad. Its super delicious and its different, with its own signature. Ive had items that are on other restaurants menus that are on Mr. Panchos menu, such as tacos, burritos, enchiladas, etc., but Mr. Panchos tastes even better and like something Ive never before ate. As usual, I typically order a couple things; I save a dish for later. I ordered Texas tacos and also enchiladas Mexicanas from the festive restaurant at 119 Eastgate Plaza, in East Alton. The Texas tacos come with pico de gallo, but no individual onions, which I love, but my friend Charlie, with whom I split the dish, does NOT. The order comes with three tacos in flour tortilla with lettuce, pico de gallo and cheese, with a choice of carne asada, chorizo, grilled chicken or carnitas. I chose chorizo, my fave taco filling. The other wonderful dish I got at Mr. Panchos was enchiladas Mexicanas, which is three enchiladas one chicken, one beef, one cheese with rice and beans, but also garnished with pico de gallo, sour cream and avocado salad included, no need to order on the side at extra costs. The tacos are conveniently wrapped in foil for an easy to-go and eat-out meal. I took my tacos to the Fuller dome at the Western Illinois Rail Park (Watco), 435 N. Old Saint Louis Road, also in East Alton. It might seem like a strange place to have lunch or dinner, but Ive always admired R. Buckminster Fuller. When I went on a road trip to Los Angeles, I was lucky to be able to stop at the giant Barringer Meteor Crater in Arizona, and, along the way, discovered a smaller version of the East Alton Fuller dome. In the dome 37 miles from Flagstaff, the first business established was a Texaco gas station, in 1938, in Meteor City, never the name of a town. It was a trading post. My curiosity piqued about Fuller in 2005 when I started working in Madison County, home of the Center for Spirituality and Sustainability at Southern Illinois University. The centers vision is to preserve the Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome in Edwardsville as the physical embodiment of Fullers philosophy; Fuller is considered by many to be the father of the modern sustainability movement. Madison County also is home to the Watco Co. LLCs dome, the second geodesic dome designed by Fuller and built by the Union Tank Car Co., after the success of the first Union Tank Car Dome in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Wood River landmark was closed in September 2019, yet, when I visited the dome, as its known by locals, the doors were wide open. Train cars were parked inside. The Buckminster Dome House, at 815 S. Illinois Ave., in Saluki Plaza, in Carbondale is commonly referred to as the Bucky Dome by locals. This geodesic dome is one of Fullers most enduring legacies. Fuller favored a systems approach to problem solving, and coined the term synergy to capture the principle that when one is engaged in cooperative action, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The geodesic dome, based on a natural pattern of interlocking triangles, is a structure that is considered one of the strongest and most efficient known to humankind. The dome was used as a prototype for all other dome homes that followed and is open for tours. EDWARDSVILLE The Madison County Historical Society, which was founded on Dec. 7, 1921, is recognizing 2022 as its centennial. The Illinois State Historical Society recently recognized the MCHS as an Illinois Centennial Organization, stating the MCHS has contributed to the civic and economic heritage of the State of Illinois for one hundred years. Last month, for the first time in 97 years, the county cut public funding of the society. In a Sept. 15 meeting, the county voted unanimously to end the county's lease of the museum and library and to give the society $300,000. Over the past few years, several county board members have questioned whether the county should be in the museum business. Annually, the county budgets $250,000 for the society. The museum, located at 715 N. Main St., is the former residence of Dr. John Weir. The Madison County Archival Library is still open to the public and located at 801 N. Main St. Several years ago, the society hired an outside contractor to replace the roof, and since that time, the museum roof has experienced enough leaking that the building cant be open to the public. We couldve had at least a part of the museum open by now if it wasnt for the roof, Cindy Reinhardt said. Theres so much we cant move forward with until we get the roof fixed. Reinhardt, a local historian, is one of the directors of the MCHS. She handles all public relations matters for the organization and deals with memberships, all while also being the editor of the newsletter. Im absolutely passionate about the work done at the historical society, Reinhardt said. Ive personally used the collection so many times and I know the people there and dedicated to preserving Madison County history. With the public funding being cut, a primary part of what the society is relying on are memberships, which go toward keeping the Archival Library open. The staff has since been cut back to two qualified volunteers who are consistently working on projects. We preserve the information, as well as photographs, documents, artifacts and all kinds of these things, Reinhardt said. If we werent there, theres nowhere else for those things to be preserved. There are costs that go along to that preservation, and to keep the lights on and building heated. One such piece of documentation that is preserved is the guardianship index, which shows records that cant be found anywhere else and is one of a kind, as Reinhardt said. There are six different levels of membership, and they each include a historical newsletter that is published six times a year. In the past, the newsletter has won awards from the Illinois State Historical Society. Members also receive discounts at the MCHS gift shop and are notified of special events happening. The important thing is that youre supporting the preservation of Madison County history, Reinhardt said. Before COVID, the special events happened more frequently, but the speaker series has been able to adjust to an online format. For 2022, theres more in-person events, including Route 66 tours that use a guiding app, and workshops. Memberships start as little as $35 and go as high as $1,000. The capital campaign has different levels as well, but more so focuses on creating a new museum experience with interactive technology and hands-on educational exhibits. One such interactive exhibit the society is looking at is an interactive map that shows migration patterns across Madison County and the way different immigrant groups have moved around over the years. A grant is in the works to get that exhibit paid for. The one-time donation levels range from a brick sponsor to a gallery sponsor depending on the donation amount. Reinhardt says no matter how long youve been in the area, being connected with history is important. Even if you havent been here long, youre a part of Madison County history, Reinhardt said. It doesnt matter how long youve been here. Youre a part of this story. For more information about the museum or library, contact (618)-656-7569 or email library@madcohistory.org. JACKSONVILLE An informational meeting about a 1,418-mile carbon-capture pipeline proposed an hour north of Alton that could be built across the region drew a good-size crowd Thursday in Jacksonville. The Heartland Greenway system would go through Brown, Scott, Morgan and Sangamon counties. A separate line would tap into the system near the Adams-Schuyler counties line, carrying captured carbon dioxide through Henry, Knox, McDonough and Schuyler counties. The pipeline would carry carbon dioxide up to 15 metric/tons a year from South Dakota to a permanent sequestration site in Christian County, east of Jacksonville. It would have 20 receipt points, all ethanol and fertilizer processors. Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, Navigator CO2 vice president of government and public affairs, spoke during Thursday's presentation. "What we want to make sure is that landowners feel like they are being treated uniformly across that footprint," Burns-Thompson said. The company will return to communities along the pipeline to discuss ag-related issues, including ag-mitigation agreements, she said, noting that residents will have several opportunities for in-person discussion. Lindsay McQueen, manager at Cass-Morgan Farm Bureau, said it's a different type of pipeline, one area residents aren't yet familiar with. "It's a learning curve for all of us," she said. Cass-Morgan Farm Bureau also will have a meeting at 1 p.m. March 1 at Prairieland FS, 1132 Veterans Drive, to provide more information about the project, McQueen said. Betty Niemann, of Jacksonville attended Thursday's presentation and said the pipeline is an interesting concept, but not one with which she agrees. The project would impact farmers and landowners by selling land to investors who would use the land to profit, Niemann said. There also are questions about the effects of putting a lot of liquefied, pressurized CO2 into Illinois farmland, she said. The next step after the informational presentations in various communities involves working with landowners to get voluntary survey permissions so Navigator CO2 crews can take a more detailed look at the land, its environmental attributes and cultural aspects that determine if it is suited to pipeline construction. Landowners can take a look at the maps and see the half-mile corridor, though the pipeline will not be a half-mile wide, Burns-Thompson said. "We are seeking a 50-foot easement," she said. There also will be conversations with landowners on the future use of the land so the company can work with communities to determine where within the half-mile corridor would be the best spot for the 50-foot easement, Burns-Thompson said. Eviction proceedings against New York State renters will resume this month after state officials allowed an almost two-year-old ban on residential evictions to expire. The moratorium, which went into effect in March 2020, has been credited with keeping tens of thousands of vulnerable people housed amid a protracted economic and public health crisis. But the measure also strained landlords finances, business groups say. 'Deluge' of eviction cases expected as moratorium nears its end Gov. Kathy Hochul could extend the current moratorium, but she has not yet signaled that she will. Balancing the needs of those two constituencies will now return to the housing court system, which expects to be deluged with eviction filings in coming days. Many such cases end in settlements, not evictions, and other statewide protections for tenants still exist. But in a county where half of all households spent more than 30 percent of their income on rent even before the pandemic, advocates are warning of a potential crisis. We know this was never meant to be a long-term solution, said Teresa Watson, the housing justice organizer for PUSH Buffalo, which advocates on behalf of tenants. But ripping away the Band-Aid that is the eviction moratorium before there has been any substantial change to support tenants is only going to make matters worse. Those effects may take weeks, or even months, to materialize in full. Landlords cannot evict tenants without a court-issued warrant, and the expected spike in cases is likely to cause backlogs in the court system. Tenant advocates have scrambled to educate renters on their rights in an eviction proceeding. Already, Watson said, PUSH has received reports of Buffalo landlords pressuring tenants to self-evict or falsely claiming that the end of the moratorium means tenants must move at once. Community leaders, organizations reveal their wish lists for Mayor Brown's fifth term Brown said recently he would press for more development, small business growth and infrastructure improvements across the city. Tenants who applied for aid through a state rent relief program also cant be evicted while their application is pending, or for a year after receiving assistance. But that program, which pays up to 15 months of missed rental payments directly to landlords, has largely exhausted its funding. On Thursday, Gov. Kathy Hochul and governors from four other states sent a letter to the federal treasury department, requesting more funding for state rent relief programs. The harsh reality is that there are still too many New Yorkers in need of housing assistance, Hochul said in a statement announcing the request. Hochul and other state officials have not publicly shown an interest in passing new eviction protections or extending the moratorium further. State lawmakers returned to their districts this week without advancing good cause eviction legislation, which would limit the circumstances in which landlords can evict renters. Hochul also did not mention evictions in her Jan. 5 state of the state address, though she did commit to creating or preserving 100,000 affordable housing units in the next five years. Landlords have lobbied hard against both good cause eviction and the moratorium, which many renters abused, said Lisa Damiani, the executive director of the WNY Property Owners Coalition, a local advocacy group. Loss of income due to the ban has caused tremendous harm, a group of landlords from Buffalo, Kenmore, Amherst, Hamburg, Grand Island and Tonawanda argued in a November lawsuit. Judge dismisses lawsuit filed by WNY landlords over eviction moratorium The landlords called the moratorium unconstitutional, saying it prevents them from meaningfully challenging a tenant's claimed hardship. National data suggest that the worst losses have been concentrated among a minority of landlords: For the median property-owner, total rental revenues declined only three percent between 2019 and 2020, according to JP Morgan. But even marginal losses can be destabilizing for non-professional landlords or landlords with smaller cash reserves. Statewide, 591,000 New York households owe more than $1.9 billion in back rent, according to the National Equity Atlas, a project affiliated with the University of Southern California. Across the country where only New York and New Mexico maintained eviction moratoria into 2022, following the end of a national eviction ban last August 5.8 million households are behind on rent. So far, however, a feared national eviction crisis has not yet occurred. A December report by Princeton Universitys Eviction Lab, which monitors eviction filings in 31 cities and six states, found that while filings increased after the end of the national moratorium, they still fell below pre-pandemic levels. These findings are not predictive, the report cautioned. Nonetheless, its authors wrote, its encouraging that we did not see an immediate spike in cases and that filings remain considerably below historical average." The Buffalo News: Good Morning, Buffalo The smart way to start your day. We sift through all the news to give you a concise, informative look at the top headlines and must-read stories every weekday. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. BAE Systems revealed the full extent of its contribution to the economy as the UK's defence industry comes under siege from foreign bidders. The contractor supported 143,000 British jobs and generated more than 10billion for UK GDP in 2020, according to research by Oxford Economics. This is the equivalent of 0.5 per cent of the entire British economy. Centre of attention: BAE Systems supported 143,000 British jobs and generated more than 10billion for UK GDP in 2020 The company employs 35,300 people in the UK with more than 40 per cent of its staff based in deprived local authorities. Britain's biggest defence group and many of its rivals have been credited with playing a key role in the levelling-up agenda. But the wider defence and aerospace industry has been targeted by a raft of foreign buyers with firms including Cobham, Ultra Electronics and Meggitt falling prey to bidders in multi-billion pound deals. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng will face a major test of his approach to takeovers in sensitive industries next week when he is presented with a report by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into the 2.6billion swoop on Ultra Electronics by private equity giant Advent International. Kwarteng ordered the CMA to investigate the deal last year. Politicians and experts have urged the Business Secretary to block or place tight restrictions on the Ultra tie-up because the company makes critical equipment such as submarine-hunting sonobuoys that could be key to ensuring Britain's security in the seas in the coming years. Tory grandee Lord Heseltine, former head of the Royal Navy Admiral Lord West and Defence Committee chairman Tobias Ellwood are among those who have criticised the Ultra deal. Ministers were handed powers to intervene in foreign takeovers earlier this month. The National Security and Investment (NSI) Act forces the Government to scrutinise deals in 17 sensitive industries. This includes energy, artificial intelligence, nuclear, space and advanced robotics. The takeover of artificial intelligence specialist Blue Prism was waved through by shareholders this week, likely becoming one of the first deals to be called in under the act. Ultra's investigation began under previous legislation, the Enterprise Act of 2002, so it will not be considered under the NSI laws. BAE is one of just two companies along with Rolls-Royce that cannot be sold to foreign bidders because the Government owns a so-called 'golden share'. The 18billion company has 50 sites in the UK and a worldwide workforce of around 90,000. It exported 3.9billion of goods and services in 2020 equivalent to 0.7 per cent of all UK exports. Charles Woodburn, BAE Systems chief executive, said: 'The investment we make in highly skilled jobs, research and development and our extensive supply chain supports thousands of companies and tens of thousands of people and the communities in which they live.' Minister for defence procurement Jeremy Quinn said BAE was 'helping us level up the country by supporting tens of thousands of jobs'. The former boss of Unilever has this weekend waded into a row over the Government's plans to give the police new powers to clamp down on demonstrators. Paul Polman, 65, says he has 'profound concerns' over Home Secretary Priti Patel's Policing Bill, adding that it 'threatens the right to peaceful protest'. He called on peers in a House of Lords vote on Monday to throw out parts of the bill, which he says restrict people's 'most fundamental rights' to stand up for their beliefs. Speaking out: Paul Polman says he has 'profound concerns' over Home Secretary Priti Patel's Policing Bill, adding that it 'threatens the right to peaceful protest' The Dutch industrialist was at the helm of the FTSE consumer goods giant for a decade, during which time it gained a reputation as one of the most woke businesses in Britain. His intervention into UK politics is highly unusual for a former captain of industry. It came just days after Unilever was savaged by leading shareholder Terry Smith for putting wokery ahead of profits. Deborah Meaden, the Dragons' Den star and entrepreneur, is also campaigning against the proposed clampdown, claiming it is 'bad for business'. The bill was prompted by public frustration at the toppling of statues and disruptive protests by Insulate Britain, BLM and other groups. Its opponents include the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Muslim Council of Britain, the Church of England and other faith leaders who have urged the Government to 'think again'. Faith leaders argue the bill could criminalise a range of religious activities including street preaching and chanting. 'Kill the Bill' demonstrations are planned across Britain today ahead of the vote in the Lords. A letter signed by Polman, Meaden and 200 business owners calls on the Lords to amend the bill, removing any 'anti-protest' provisions. Polman, who earned a total of around 70m in his time at the head of Unilever, said: 'No enlightened business should support disproportionate infringements on this right. Would Unilever have, on its own, woken up to the plastics crisis, if our consumers and employees had not demanded we take notice? The honest answer is no, we would not. 'Companies benefit from having channels through which civil society can make itself heard.' Woke warriers: Paul Polman and Deborah Meaden Polman and Meaden are opposing the law change which would set start and finish times for protests, as well as noise limits. It also threatens up to 10 years in jail for damage to memorials. Critics say the bill is an attack on the right to protest and that it effectively criminalises any demonstration that police deem to be causing disruption. Campaigners also argue it would give the police the power to stop and search anybody they thought was attending a protest. Meaden argued the right to protest is an 'essential part' of business and that it spurs innovation. The Government argues the bill will uphold the right to peaceful protest while giving police the power to stop disruption and violence. The letter of protest has not been signed by Unilever. However, it has been endorsed by one of its best-known brands, Ben & Jerry's. The ice-cream maker has already attacked Patel on Twitter in 2020 over migrant boats crossing the Channel. And its refusal to sell its wares in the 'Occupied Palestinian Territory' was cited by Terry Smith as one instance of 'ludicrous' woke behaviour. All eyes will be on AIM-listed pharma firm Clinigen next Tuesday when investors vote on its 1.2billion takeover by private equity shark Triton Investment Management. The 883p per share cash offer needs to win the backing of at least 75 per cent of voting shareholders. However, the bid is under pressure by notorious activist Elliott Management. The US hedge fund Clinigen's largest shareholder with a 10.5 per cent stake has been pushing for Triton to raise its offer on the grounds that the current deal undervalues the group. Other activist funds, Sparta Capital and Carlson Capital, are also thought to be aiming for a higher offer, despite the bid securing the unanimous backing of Clinigen's board. Triton's swoop is also supported by shareholder advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis. The bid was a 41 per cent premium to Clinigen's share price at the start of December, before the offer period began. However, as of Friday's close the shares were trading at 905p, suggesting some investors believe a higher offer could emerge. The takeover vote follows a difficult period for Clinigen, which posted a shock profit warning last June and has also changed its chairman and finance director. Its woes have been blamed on the pandemic. Opponents of the deal are thought to be concerned that the acquisition will be rushed through before the company bounces back from the effects of Covid-19. Tifton, GA (31794) Today Sun and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 89F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 65F. Winds light and variable. The jury, the prosecutor and the judge all were convinced that Joseph H. Belstadt killed Mandy Steingasser in 1993, which is why he is going to prison. But at his sentencing Friday afternoon, Belstadt's lawyer entered a loud dissent. This is not justice. Justice is not locking up an innocent man for the rest of his life, defense attorney Michele G. Bergevin said as Belstadt was sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison for killing the 17-year-old Steingasser. She was last seen alive in the early hours of Sept. 19, 1993. Two witnesses said they saw her entering Belstadts car. On Oct. 25, 1993, her partially decomposed body was found in a ravine in what was then called Bond Lake County Park in Lewiston. An autopsy concluded she had been strangled, and a skull fracture was found in front of her left ear. For 28 years he evaded justice for that crime, Niagara County District Attorney Brian D. Seaman told reporters. We put the evidence before a jury, and they found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Belstadt wasn't arrested until 2018, after newly processed forensic evidence enabled prosecutors to obtain a murder indictment from a grand jury. I would like to say to Mandys family and friends how sorry I am for the pain theyve gone through, but I am not the person who killed Mandy, Belstadt said. Ive been saying that since day one, and thats not going to change. I did not kill Mandy Steingasser. Wyoming County Judge Michael M. Mohun disagreed. Joe Belstadt has walked free longer than Mandy Steingasser was alive. He will walk free no longer, said Mohun, who was temporarily assigned to Niagara County for the trial in Niagara Falls. "It was a horrendous and violent crime. He fractured this girl's skull and strangled her with her own bra," Seaman said. "That kind of calls for the maximum sentence." During the time Joe Belstadt has been living his life, my daughter did not, Loraine Steingasser, the victims mother, tearfully told the judge. She blasted Belstadt, 46, of the Town of Tonawanda, for the lies you told your family. But as Belstadt was led from the courtroom, one of his supporters said, He didnt do it. After 10 hours of deliberation over two days, the jury convicted Belstadt, of second-degree murder on Nov. 16, finishing a trial that began Oct. 25. Friday, attorneys on both sides spoke of the volume of letters sent on behalf of the victim and the defendant. Seaman cited one from a Steingasser relative who wrote of having to explain why Aunt Loraine doesnt have any children. Thats why she sometimes cries at Christmas. Joe Belstadt is a gem. He is a very caring person, Bergevin said, drawing some murmurs and chuckles from the courtroom crowd of about 60. She spoke of how Belstadt lived with and cared for his grandmother, whose car he was driving when he admittedly picked up Steingasser near the corner of Fifth Avenue and Oliver Street in North Tonawanda between 1 and 1:30 a.m. Sept. 19, 1993. Two mushroom hunters found the body 36 days later in a ravine in the Meyers Lake area of the remote Lewiston park. Steingassers bra was knotted around her neck. But the evidence that was most convincing, a juror told The Buffalo News after the trial, was the discovery of two of Steingasser's pubic hairs on the floor of Belstadt's car, and three fibers from the rug of that car stuck to her corpse. Police had that evidence since the fall of 1993, when they seized Belstadt's car and thoroughly vacuumed it. But not until 2017 had DNA and other forensic technology evolved to the point that the hairs could be identified as Steingasser's. During Fridays sentencing, Loraine Steingasser sat next to Niagara County Judge Caroline A. Wojtaszek, who as district attorney used the new forensic findings to obtain a grand jury murder indictment against Belstadt. Wojtaszek was the lead prosecutor at Belstadts first trial, in March 2020, which was aborted after one day of testimony because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Bergevin argued, correctly, that none of Belstadt's DNA was found on the body. In fact, the only DNA found on the body was that of Steingasser's ex-boyfriend, found in Steingasser's panties even after they, and the body, had been exposed to the weather for five weeks. The ex-boyfriend, Christopher Palesh, testified that he left North Tonawanda to move to Florida on Sept. 17, 1993. Bergevin challenged his story and attempted to offer him as an alternative killer. Belstadt, then an 18-year-old North Tonawanda resident, put himself on police radar by going to North Tonawanda Police Headquarters the day after Steingasser was reported missing. He said he gave Steingasser a ride in his car to a church at Oliver Street and First Avenue, where he said a man was waiting for her on the church steps. Belstadt told police he left for Canada after dropping Steingasser off, and testimony from friends showed he enlisted some of them to tell police that. But it wasn't true, as Belstadt admitted to police a few days later. He gave police a revised statement that said after leaving Steingasser at the church, he went to a doughnut shop and then home. Seaman told the jury he doesn't know where Steingasser was killed. He said it might have been at Meyers Lake or somewhere in North Tonawanda, perhaps at the old Roblin Steel plant. We love you, Joe, relatives shouted outside the Angelo DelSignore Civic Building in Niagara Falls as three court officers led Belstadt across snow-covered Cedar Avenue to a Niagara County Sheriffs Office vehicle for a ride back to the County Jail. Soon, he will be shipped to state prison to await the results of his appeal. I think this case will be upheld on appeal because it was done properly, Seaman predicted. He saluted the North Tonawanda police, the Sheriffs Office and its forensic lab team for sticking with the case for so many years. But Bergevin said the long delay in prosecuting the matter, and the refusal of Wojtaszeks predecessors to prosecute a case that almost entirely comprised circumstantial evidence, are arguments in favor of an appeal. This was a wrongful conviction, and this will not end here, Bergevin vowed. I will not forget my commitment to make this wrong right. Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Princeton, KY (42445) Today Cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 77F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 50F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Kingsport, TN (37660) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 85F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Low 63F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Former Sheriff Timothy B. Howard decided not to run for another term. But he continues to work for the Erie County Sheriffs Office. On paper, hes a clerk making around $46,000 a year. Howard was reached Friday morning at home, where he said he is isolating after testing positive for Covid-19. He said that in his new job he helps complete background checks on pistol-permit applicants and can work from his residence. I like doing it, to help with the backlog that has existed for 10 years, said Howard, who has spoken at rallies championing the Second Amendment. He still has his county-issued take-home vehicle but might be returning it in a few days, a Sheriff's Office spokesman said. Howard was hired by the fellow Republican he endorsed for sheriff, John C. Garcia, who narrowly won last years election. County payroll records indicate the new job began Jan. 1, the same day Howard relinquished the title of sheriff and Garcia took over. Garcia, in a written statement, described an aspect of the job that Howard did not mention. The new sheriff said he's keeping the old one around because he needs his institutional memory, for up to six months. During the last 24 years, Garcia explained, the Sheriffs Office entered into agreements with federal, state and local agencies. "In order to fulfill my promise to the voters of performing a top-to-bottom assessment of the office, it is imperative that we obtain the reasoning behind the aforementioned agreements and that we do so without delay," Garcia said. "Former Sheriff Howard is in a temporary, nonsupervisory assignment that will last between three and six months. The position is designed for the sole purpose of assisting with my administrations transition while we contemporaneously contend with the pandemic, manpower shortages, the opiate epidemic, the surge in violence and beyond." Howard was a Sheriff's Office employee through those 24 years, first as a high-ranking aide to then-Sheriff Patrick Gallivan and then as sheriff himself. Thirty-two inmates died while he was at the helm. The U.S. Justice Department took him to court to improve inmate conditions, and a state watchdog agency called the county jails among New York's worst-run. Late in his tenure he signed a consent order admitting he did not adequately investigate reports of sexual contact between his staff and inmates. The union representing road deputies filed a grievance over the departmental badges he would give to friends who had not gone through police training. When he testified for a civil lawsuit last April, Howard said he would spend one day a week in the office and never went into the adjacent Holding Center, which he oversaw. He remains popular in some quarters. On Jan. 7, Howard was toasted in Orchard Park at a $45-a-person retirement party, even though he was not retiring. "I would definitely say I was disappointed," Legislature Chairwoman April Baskin, D-Buffalo, said of her reaction to the news that Howard remains with the office. While she clashed with Howard many times, she said Garcia has the right to hire whomever he wants. Still, she said: "I look forward to the day that Erie County doesn't have Tim Howard involved in our criminal justice system." His new county post is considered a full-time job, and he has begun his first year as supervisor of the Town of Wales, a part-time post that will pay him $33,362 this year, the town budget shows. Howard, 71, can continue to draw the government pension earned during his years with the State Police. Howard has worn multiple hats before. After winning re-election in 2013, he took a part-time job with M&T Bank. He worked alongside other moonlighting Sheriffs Office employees to help the bank detect money-laundering and comply with federal regulations. The work was honest, honorable and fulfilling," he told The Buffalo News at the time. During last years campaign, Garcia said the office needed a transformation in order to become a modern law enforcement agency. He promised a new approach, but has kept Howard and many of his aides on the payroll. While Thomas Diina was removed as jail management superintendent, he occupies a newly created post of chief of community reintegration. Undersheriff John W. Greenan returned to his former job as chief of administration. Scott Patronik continued as chief of technology. Christa Cutrona remained as director of correctional health. The Buffalo News: Good Morning, Buffalo The smart way to start your day. We sift through all the news to give you a concise, informative look at the top headlines and must-read stories every weekday. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Its been just over one year since I helped to produce a globally televised KISS concert in Dubai on New Years Eve 2020. We brought people from all over the world to collaborate with people from the local community to create a diverse and unforgettable experience that won awards for its video production value. Theres no hotter format than video right now, and studies show that 33 percent of all online activity is spent watching them. As appealing as they can be to consume, creating fresh content can be a struggle for many businesses to maintain. All too often the creative process can be mystified, but in truth, its all about putting the right environment and team together so ideas can flow freely. Video production in particular requires individuals with different skill sets to come together to produce something that any sole individual would be hard-pressed to create on their own. Productions call for an experienced team of videographers, editors and more just to get out of the gate, let alone turn in a quality product. While diverse skills are widely regarded as necessary, its become more evident that diverse worker backgrounds boost the overall creative potential of a project as well. Diversity has emerged as a key component of creativity by business leaders around the world, and by embracing it in the workplace, the rate and quality of creative output trends upwards. 1. A diverse crew has more experiences to draw upon Studies show that teams with diverse members are 70 percent more likely to capture new markets with their projects. The reasoning follows that by having more diverse members able to add their personal input, the overall well of experiences to draw upon is both wider and deeper than a team composed of similar individuals. This trend is reflected by industry leaders, as Google releases annual reports on their internal diversity metrics, and shares insights on how hiring from a wider pool of candidates have positively affected their business. Rates of hiring minorities have steadily climbed year over year, and they have outlined concrete diversity goals to be met by 2025. Google cites this as one of the contributing factors for their impressive 61.58 percent, year-over-year growth rate. While each production and business has its own specific needs in terms of team member abilities, one thing they all have in common is benefiting from multiple perspectives being present throughout the creative process. Related: Why Diversity In the Workforce Is Imperative 2. It causes reflections, which leads to innovation When working with diverse team members, individuals cant help but reflect on the different circumstances that surround each colleague. These internal team dynamics encourage an innovative thought process as the members must compromise and work with one another throughout production. The end result from all the back and forth is a more creatively fueled project thats likely to appeal to a wider demographic. A recent phone call with Bereket Taffese, co-founder and CEO of Gebeya Media, helped illustrate this concept first-hand: While our studio HQ is based in Ethiopia, our team and clients are located around the world. Every day we work to incorporate the thoughts and concerns of so many backgrounds race, age and cultural values. By bringing about such different viewpoints all under one roof for a project, we find an increase in innovative and creative ideas. Continued Tafesse, We incorporate these insights into our video projects, and feel like the final product benefits from us doing so. When you are working towards putting forth inspiring video content. You need all hands on deck to reflect and see how they can best contribute. Putting together teams from diverse backgrounds creates a unique mix, one thats unique from any other, and ultimately a more interesting piece of content for the viewer to enjoy. Related: How Diversity Helped Bring My Company Together 3. Diversity increases empathy and trust between team members Trust is a necessary foundational block for any creative team to function, and it can be built by honest communication. Once colleagues empathize with the conditions and lives of one another, they are more likely to share their ideas and concerns. Cohesive cooperation, an increase in focus, and higher levels of creativity are psychologically linked to trust, so instilling this from day one in any effort is vital to overcome differences in an individual's mindset. With video production in particular each part of the team must have trust in areas beyond their immediate reach, and in the creative vision as a whole. Once the initial reservations are overcome between team members, the diversity of the teams skills and background becomes one of its most powerful assets. From the top-level down this sentiment is shared, as 91 percent of CEOs believe empathy directly leads to better financial performance. This is why so many industries go to great lengths to ensure that their teams communicate effectively and empathize with departments beyond their own. Its a bonus to the bottom line of a company, but also to the creative potential of a project. Creativity and diversity are intertwined far more deeply than one might imagine at first glance. Ensuring productions receive feedback from different points of view is a trend unlikely to change in the foreseeable future as it consistently yields such positive results. Video productions in particular creatively soar from receiving this kind of input, but all creative projects can benefit from teams that make an effort to hear from diverse sources. Copyright 2022 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved NISKAYUNA Tom Rosczak was home Monday when he saw a postman slip on the ice and take a spill onto the ground. The mail carrier got right back up and made it to Toms house, where he gave him a clump of mail and said hed return tomorrow. Rosczak waited, but there was no mail the next day. His wife put out a letter for pickup Tuesdaycome Wednesday, it was still there, untouched. Rosczak said they decided to leave the outgoing letter there as bait and see what happened. No one came by and grabbed the letter, he said, nor did he receive any mail between Tuesday and Wednesday. Usually you get something, a piece of junk or something, he said with wonder in his voice. The letter wasnt picked up until Thursday, according to Rosczak. Rosczak and his wife know their street doesnt have a dedicated mailman like many others and are used to seeing different carriers regularly. Theyre also accustomed to getting mail at all times of the day, whether it be 9 a.m. or 9 p.m., but to not get mail delivered for several days seemed off to him. It's the craziest thing, he said. It's just really wacky here. So Rosczak pulled out his Fred Flintstone flip phone and sent off a message to a friend, a local mailman, asking what was going on at the post office. The mailmans reply was brutally honest. Rosczak said his friend told him the Niskayuna post office was a s#*t show, and perfect storm of coronavirus illnesses and ice-related injuries that made it so there werent enough workers to deliver the routes. Some routes haven't been delivered since Monday," Rosczak read from the Wednesday message he received. A spokesperson from the United States Postal Service (USPS) told the Times Union "today we have employees on every route making deliveries in Niskayuna," in an email. Regarding labor shortages due to illness or ice-related injuries, the USPS email said, "were thankful for the incredible flexibility our workforce has shown throughout the coronavirus pandemic, which continues to present unprecedented challenges and occasionally impacts employee availability in some locations." But to Rosczak, the issue might be resonating with others around the state. He said his sister-in-law in Pennsylvania didnt get any mail at all last week. When she went to her local post office to get to the bottom of things, she found they were short-staffed too, he said. The USPS said it is taking several actions to continue service to customers, including authorizing overtime so employees can deliver the mail, extending deliveries into the evening and on Sundays, using additional carriers from nearby offices, adjusting routes and hiring more personnel. According to the spokesperson, there are multiple openings for city carrier assistants in Albany and over 100 vacant positions available across the state. Rosczak understands plenty is going on but wishes the post office would let residents know whats going on and what to expect. I dont think thats unreasonable, he said. Director, teacher, actor, colleague, friend. Rhinebeck locals are mourning Kevin Archambault, the artistic director for the Center for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck and beloved member of the local theater community, who passed away Monday, Jan. 10, at the age of 45. He had been diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer in October 2020. In a heartfelt video shot before his death and shared via the Centers Facebook page after his passing, Archambault tearfully spoke about his love for both the Center and the essential role it plays in the community. I was blessed with an amazing God-given family, he said in the video. But this chosen family within these walls has been just as great a blessing. The video has been viewed more than 50,000 times and has received 180 comments from locals expressing shock, sadness, and fond memories of the exuberant artistic energy and kindness Archambault infused into his local theater productions and classes. Everyone knew who Kevin was, Terese Ohnsorg said over email. She played Mrs. Darling in Archambaults 2014 production of Peter Pan. He had a charisma that went beyond his good looks. He exuded positivity and energy. Its hard to believe hes gone. Juliet Izon of Milan fondly recalled the week-long summer classes her daughter took with Archambault, for which he shaped the vision for childrens productions of The Wizard of Oz and a revue of Disney songs, for example. All the kids adored him. He was so patient and so passionate. Its such a huge loss for the local theater community, Izon said. Related: Notable Hudson Valley deaths in 2022 Archambault grew up in Colorado, where he attended the Denver School of the Arts, and went on to work on more than 60 productions while part of the Austin Musical Theater Company. He moved to New York in 2001 and, later, to the Hudson Valley, his obituary stated. After auditioning for a play at the Center, he became staff and went on to work on 34 productions there, plus more elsewhere in the local area. It had always been my intent for him to succeed me, and we worked tirelessly together to ensure that he knew everything there was to know, said Lou Trapani, Managing Director of the Center, where Archambault served as Trapanis assistant artistic and managing director before becoming artistic director. Kevin was a consummate pro, always on top of his game, and each rehearsal was a master class in acting/directing. Audiences gravitated to him like flowers to the sun, bending to catch his every move, hear his every word. To say that he was a star is an understatement. Downtime is the best time Make the most of your Hudson Valley weekend, every week with our newsletter. Olivia Michaels, the Centers media director, shared a lengthy remembrance of Archambault on the Centers Facebook page and, when asked for comment, referred to that social post. I am devastated. Like every single person Kevin ever met, he had a huge impact on me and my life. As a staff, this loss is indescribable, Michaels wrote. All of us have connections with Kevin outside of our work We are a family and we are truly in mourning. He changed my life, Cheyenne See, a teacher and facilities manager at the Center, said via email. She first met Archambault when she was a student at Dutchess Community College (DCC), where she auditioned and won the role of Maureen in Archambaults 2013 production of Rent. Archambault was a theater professor at the school. His trust, his patience, his guidance, and his pure and absolutely immeasurable JOY for making theater hooked me immediately, See shared on Facebook. A week after rehearsals began, I changed my major to Musical Theater Performance. I catch myself thinking of him as the son my old self never had, Trapani said. Kevin always called me Daddy Lou, and I shall miss my dear boy. More than I can say. SARATOGA SPRINGS The Figgs, a mainstay on the area's indie-rock scene since being formed in the Spa City in the late 1980s, will headline a Jan. 20 benefit concert at Caffe Lena. The concert is being organized in honor of the prolific local musician and theater artist Josh Chambers, who died in February 2021 at age 45 of a cerebral hemorrhage while working on an album in California. Proceeds will benefit Caffe Lena, one of Chambers' favorite venues, and a video of him performing four songs from a 2010 concert at the venerable Phila Street coffeehouse will be shown during the concert. There will also be a video tribute to Chambers from actor Jon Bernthal, who founded the theater troupe Fovea Floods with Chambers when they were students at Skidmore College in the late 1990s before going on to success in TV and film, including as the title character in "The Punisher" series. Also scheduled to perform are Dave Bengle, who with Chambers was in the band Throwdown Bouquet, which played its final gig at Caffe Lena in 1998, and popular area band The Radio Junkies. Officially titled The Figgs Celebrate Josh Chambers, the concert starts at 7 p.m. and will be streamed on caffelena.tv. Tickets are $25. Among those working on Chambers' last album when he died was Pete Hayes, drummer of The Figgs. A Washington County native, Chambers spent almost two decades living and working in New York, Los Angeles and elsewhere before returning in recent years to the Saratoga that welcomed his first artistic successes. He possessed a creative fecundity and superabundance of gifts across multiple disciplines that awed collaborators and audiences alike. A playwright, actor, director, composer, lyricist, guitarist, pianist, collage artist, music producer and sound engineer, among other hats he wore, Chambers output included an estimated 750 songs. Read the Times Union's obituary of him from last February. Another tribute to Chambers' life and work was released on the Spotify and Apple Music platforms in November. It was created by Jeff Knight, a longtime close friend whose family was hosting Chambers at their California home and working with him on an album of his original music when he became ill. Chambers died Feb. 12 after being in a coma for three weeks following unexplained bleeding in his brain. Called "Gods of the Underground," the album nods to Chambers' theater background by being structured as a play, with 14 songs over nearly two hours titled as a prologue, three acts with scenes, intermission and epilogue. Each song is credited to Knight and Chambers; though Knight wrote all of the music and lyrics and created posters for the songs, he said he considers the album a collaboration between the two because Knight included Chambers' voice throughout, using voicemails and audio recordings in which Chambers reads poetry or simply muses about life. "Every song is about him in some way, and there are a lot of homages to his music, poetry, lyrics, song titles and art throughout the entire album," Knight said. Knight said he doubted he would be able to travel to Saratoga for the Caffe Lena show, and because the songs on "Gods of the Underground" are heavily produced with studio effects and meant to be experienced as to be part of the whole, they're largely unsuited to being performed singly in concert. Instead, Knight said, the album and concert are related tributes to one of the Capital Region's most gifted and prolific artists of recent years, each suggestive in its way of only part of the output of a talented man gone far too soon. SCHENECTADY A house fire on 6th Avenue early Saturday morning claimed the life of a 4-year-old girl, city fire officials said. The child, whose name was not released, was taken to the hospital and later died, Assistant Fire Chief Dan Mareno said. The fire was reported at 3:20 a.m. at 1132 6th Avenue. Mareno said three adults lived on the first floor of the residence, and another family of two adults and four children lived on the second floor. When the firefighters arrived, a child was reported to still be on the second floor. Once located, they immediately started to treat the child medically and rapidly transport (her) to Ellis Hospital, where unfortunately the child did pass away," Mareno said. The girl's father suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to Ellis for treatment. No other residents or firefighters were injured. The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote. The fire was under control in 20 minutes, and was officially declared completely extinguished in 30 minutes. The cause is being investigated. Volunteers from the Northeast New York chapter of the American Red Cross were at the scene to assist the families, totaling eight people, with resources. The Red Cross provided health services, counseling services, and financial assistance for necessities such as shelter, food, and clothing to four adults and four children, ages one, six, seven, and nine. The Capital Area Council of Churches will honor the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. on Saturday as it also marks 50 years of awarding scholarships in honor of the slain civil rights leader with a virtual ceremony on Saturday. More than 100 Capital Region churches have worked together over the years to raise the scholarship money and the MLK celebration serves as a fundraiser for the awards as well. Jordyn Hunter, 18, is a 2021 scholarship recipient, and is in the middle of her freshman year at Spelman College, a historically Black liberal arts college for women in Atlanta, Ga. She said the award has helped her afford college. My school is a very expensive school so it helped me pay for books and go towards housing, Hunter said. Last year, the council raised $16,000, and awarded four $4,000 scholarships, with the funds intended to be split between both semesters during a student's first year of college. I would recommend this scholarship to seniors in high school because it is really helpful, Hunter added. When you go to college you need as many scholarships as possible and with the Martin Luther King, Jr. scholarship, they gave us a great sum of money and they check in on you to make sure youre OK. The Capital Area Council of Churches (CACC) has given over 200 scholarships to area students since the scholarship program began in 1973. Its really a miracle that we raised the money, said the Rev. Antonio Booth, CACC member and co-chair of the MLK Interfaith Scholarship Program. The whole purpose of this day is to remember Martin Luther King, Jr. We celebrate it on his actual birthday, no matter what day it falls on. We decided to include the students to not only remember him, but also to remember his legacy. The scholarship is just a portion of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Interfaith Celebration. Bruce France, executive director of the scholarship program since 2019, explained the council's impact on the community of up-and-coming young professionals in the Capital Region. Its a wonderful program," France said. "Its a lot of people getting together to honor Dr. Kings legacy and to support kids who are going off to college. I couldnt be prouder to be a part of it. The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote. CACC is volunteer based, with some members who have committed time to the organization since its founding in 1941. According to the CACC website, to be eligible for the MLK scholarship a high school senior must meet the following criteria: live, worship, or attend school in Albany or southern Rensselaer counties; be active in their school and faith community; understand and plan to apply the teachings of King; show evidence of academic potential and financial need; and must be accepted at an accredited college/university. Nyasha Jones, 17, a member of Macedonia Baptist Church in Albany, was another recipient of the scholarship last year. She currently attends Fordham University in the Bronx and is a math major who finished her first semester with straight As. When asked about the significance of the scholarship in cultivating leadership in the Capital Region, Jones said, It was a good way to identify talented youth in our community who also have a passion for leadership and learning about leaders like Martin Luther King who came before us. This year's MLK celebration and scholarship fundraiser, featuring speaker the Rev. Michael-Aaron Poindexter of Macedonia Baptist Church, will be streamed on Saturday, Jan. 15, at 7 p.m. on the CACC YouTube channel and Facebook page. HALFMOON A federal judge will allow longtime NXIVM president Nancy Salzman to delay the start of her three-and-a-half year prison sentence for another month. Senior U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis on Friday approved a request made earlier in the day by Salzman attorney Robert Soloway, who highlighted a COVID-19 outbreak at the West Virginia federal prison camp where he said Salzman is headed. "To be clear, until late into this week, Ms. Salzman had no intention of seeking a delay in surrender," Soloway said in a letter to the judge, adding that his client is now "very fearful of surrendering into a facility that is in the throes of a failed response to a COVID surge and is reportedly unsafe." The judge will allow Salzman to report to prison on Feb. 21. She had been ordered to report by Jan. 19. Salzman and Raniere co-founded NXIVM, also known as Executive Success Programs (ESP), in 1998. Photos of the faces of Raniere, known as "Vanguard," and Salzman, known as "Prefect," greeted students of NXIVM as they walked in the doors of the cult-like personal growth company at 455 New Karner Road. Salzman was arrested in 2018, months after Raniere was picked up in a Mexican fishing village, far from the Knox Woods townhouse complex in Halfmoon where he and more than two-dozen NXIVM members resided. In March 2019, Salzman pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy. She was the first of five NXIVM defendants including Raniere and her daughter, Lauren, who became the government's star witness to be convicted in the racketeering case led by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn that toppled the the organization's leadership. Salzman admitted, among other crimes, that she tried to obtain names and passwords of email accounts of perceived NXIVM "enemies," including journalists, in files kept in her basement on Oregon Trail in Halfmoon. But Friday, to boost his argument, Salzman's attorney highlighted the work of journalists who reported on skyrocketing COVID-19 rates at the Alderson federal prison camp in West Virginia, a 677-inmate women's facility "News reports, and other reliable information coming to her counsels the instant request to seek postponement," he told the judge. Soloway said a consultant named Jennifer Myers, who operates a women-focused prison business, "maintains personal contact with her clients inside Alderson" and "strongly urges Ms. Salzman to seek delay in surrender for her personal safety until the surge at Alderson abates, even if her desire is to get it [her sentence] begun to move toward its completion. Soloway said Salzman put her affairs in order and planned to drive with one of her daughters to Alderson. He said Salzman had received permission to leave a day early to arrive earlier and placed her elderly mother in a New Jersey assisted living facility. "Mostly, at this point, she simply wants to begin her incarceration to start counting the days off until it concludes," Soloway said. Soloway said Salzman would like to join her elderly mother for a medical appointment on the same day she is expected to report to prison. He said his client does not trust the facility. At Salzman's sentencing in September, victims of NXIVM spoke of their distrust in the notorious company and its leaders. The judge sentenced Salzman to the three-and-a-half year term, imposed a $150,000 fine and required her to be on three years of supervised release following her prison term. In 20 years at Ranieres side, you left trauma and destruction in your wake, Garaufis told Salzman. The guilty plea included admission of underlying acts, including one in which Salzman doctored tapes to be used as evidence in a civil lawsuit in New Jersey against cult expert Rick Ross and others. The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote. When given a chance to speak, Salzman said she has changed drastically in the past three years and rejects Raniere, a onetime lover whom she she now regards him as a predator. Court filings revealed that Salzman, like many women in Raniere's circle, was subjected to his cruel criticism and shunning. Raniere, 61, was convicted at trial of all counts, including sex trafficking, forced labor conspiracy and racketeering charged with underlying acts of possessing child pornography, child exploitation and identity theft. He is serving a 120-year sentence in an Arizona prison. NXIVM's former operations director, Clare Bronfman, the Seagram fortune heiress, is serving six years and nine months for conspiring to harbor or conceal illegal immigrants for financial gain, and fraudulent use of identification. Ex-actress Allison Mack, a former high-ranking NXIVM member and first-line member of Dominus Obsequious Sororium (DOS), Raniere's secret "master/slave" club, and who cooperated with prosecutors, is serving three years in prison. She and Lauren Salzman, also a former DOS first-line member, pleaded guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy. Lauren Salzman and NXIVM bookeeper Kathy Russell, who pleaded guilty to visa fraud, received probation. New York State is "turning the corner" on the surge in positive cases of Covid-19 due to the Omicron variant, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday during a news conference from the University at Albany. The seven-day average of cases declined from 90,000 statewide a week ago to 49,027 cases on Thursday, she said. "You heard it here first. I've been waiting to say that, turning the corner," said Hochul. The governor called it "a very positive trend" that she expected to continue. "I want to thank New Yorkers. Thank you for hanging in there with us through 2020, 2021 (and), hopefully, not too much of 2022," she said. "It's because you got vaccinated, you're wearing your masks kind of griping a little bit about it; I hear it, even in my own household sometimes, but you've all done the right thing. And that is why we'll be at the forefront of the states seeing a long-awaited, much-anticipated decline," Hochul added. The Covid-19 positivity rate across the state is also declining, she said. Hospitalizations and deaths resulting from Covid-19 are also on the decline, which the governor called lagging indicators of a downward trend in positive cases of the virus. There was a decline of 245 hospitalizations from Thursday to Friday, down to about 12,000, according to Hochul. "That's still too high. I mean, 12,000 is not something that we're saying is a positive news story. It's still very high, but this will eventually catch up with the trend that's just beginning," said Hochul, who also said 177 people died of Covid. The governor said there is a discrepancy between upstate and downstate hospitalization rates. It could be due to simple timing. New York City was the first area of the state to experience a pronounced spike in Omicron cases. Western New York and other regions have seen it as well, but it began a week or so after New York City's surge. "Upstate is still not out of the woods yet. Downstate numbers are trending down," she said. However, Western New York's numbers appear to be flattening out, said Hochul. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz told The Buffalo News on Thursday that some new data from the past few days show Erie County may finally be at or over its peak with regard to Omicron cases. The county has stopped seeing a huge surge in new cases from week to week, though at-home testing may affect county numbers, he said. A closer look at recent hospitalization numbers also suggests the number of patients hospitalized for Covid-related illnesses is no longer growing, he said. "I hope we're peaking," he said. "I've got to hope we're peaking after everything we've seen." What Covid-19 hospitalization numbers do and don't tell us In recent days, new data has been shared indicating that while many more patients are testing positive for Covid-19, that doesn't mean that they are hospitalized because they have Covid-19. He also noted, however, that about seven residents a day are still dying from Covid-19 and overall hospitalization numbers are still high. The governor said high positivity rates in areas around the state that don't have high vaccination rates is a bad combination. She added that hospital capacity must also be constantly monitored. Hochul said that elective surgeries had to be suspended on a two-week basis at hospitals in the Finger Lakes and Mohawk Valley regions. "We evaluate it every Thursday and decide what we're going to do," said Hochul. The Buffalo News: Good Morning, Buffalo The smart way to start your day. We sift through all the news to give you a concise, informative look at the top headlines and must-read stories every weekday. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Harold McNeil Follow Harold McNeil 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 Wendy Liberatore/Times Union SALEM -- Deputies in Washington County have identified a couple found dead in their home on County Route 64 and do not suspect foul play. The bodies of Deborah Moffitt, 73, and David Moffitt, 67, whose home is in the hamlet of Shushan, were discovered on Monday after a neighbor called police for a welfare check. Investigators for Sheriff Jeffrey J. Murphy and the county Department of Social Services went to the home. ALBANY In an unprecedented shakeup, cannabis company Ascend Wellness Holdings is asking a New York court to force medical marijuana license holder MedMen to hand over its operations in the state. MedMen, a multistate cannabis firm, committed to giving up an 86.7 percent stake in its New York business last year, in exchange for about $73 million from competitor Ascend Wellness some of which has already been paid. But in early January, newly minted Chief Executive Michael Serruya sent notice to the investor that MedMen was pulling out of the deal. In a complaint filed in state Supreme Court on Thursday, a lawyer representing Ascend Wellness and its New York subsidiary claimed the termination of the deal was in breach of the agreement signed last February, and that the buyers were irreparably harmed by MedMen's abrupt withdrawal. The complaint detailed how MedMen had been in a dire financial situation when it agreed to give up control of its New York business and, notably, its medical cannabis license one of only 10 active licenses to grow and sell marijuana in the state. Apparently, after receiving badly needed funds from (Ascend Wellness) and asking state regulators to approve the transaction, MedMen has had a change of heart, the filing said. MedMen has since bounced back, and its footprint in New York has gained significant value with the states subsequent legalization of cannabis for recreational use and expansion of its medical program. The Ascend Wellness complaint also accused MedMen New York of improperly jeopardizing its assets while the deal was still pending, including paying a $500,000 dividend to its parent company. The complaint also alleges that MedMen is putting its New York subsidiary in danger of being partially taken over by private lender Hankey Capital, as collateral for an as-yet unpaid loan. MedMen representatives have declined to comment on the lawsuit or the status of their agreement with Ascend Wellness. Their last public statement on the deal, dated Jan. 3, announced its termination. In a letter filed as an exhibit in the case, MedMens Serruya told Ascend Wellness representatives that conditional approval for the deal granted by the Cannabis Control Board on Dec. 16 did not satisfy the conditions of the companies agreement. The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote. However, the Office of Cannabis Management had notified lawyers for both companies by email prior to the end of the year that their deal could go through. MedMen has been mum on its future plans for New York since Jan. 3. But it has continued to build on its footprint in other states, announcing an expansion of its brand portfolio in California. Due to the federal prohibition of marijuana, even multistate cannabis operators are required to sell products in the state where they are grown, leading to supply chains that are more self-contained than those of similar industries. A protracted court case between MedMen and Ascend Wellness has the potential to affect the limited supply of medical-grade, legally grown cannabis in New York, just as regulators contemplate releasing rules and license applications for the states nascent adult-use industry. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. stands with other civil rights leaders on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., April 3, 1968, a day before he was assassinated at approximately the same place. From left are Hosea Williams, Jesse Jackson, King and Ralph Abernathy. Workers at three more Buffalo-area Starbucks stores will get to vote on whether to join a union. The National Labor Relations Board gave the green light for union elections at Starbucks stores at Walden Avenue and Anderson Road in Cheektowaga; Sheridan Drive and North Bailey Avenue in Amherst; and Transit and French roads in Depew. The NLRB said ballots will be mailed to workers Jan. 31 and must be returned by Feb. 22. The agency is scheduled to count the ballots Feb. 23. The votes will be counted separately for each of the three stores. The Cheektowaga and Depew stores each have 31 workers listed as eligible to vote, while the Amherst store has 41 workers eligible to vote. The new round of elections comes after a Starbucks store on Elmwood Avenue made history in December, when it became the first company-owned Starbucks store in the United States to vote in favor of union representation. The NLRB later confirmed Starbucks Workers United also won an election at a store on Genesee Street in Cheektowaga. The outcome of voting at a third area store, on Camp Road in Hamburg, is unresolved. The union vote at the Elmwood Avenue store has sparked election drives by workers at Starbucks stores in several other states. The push has attracted national attention, given Starbucks' prominence as a chain with about 9,000 U.S. stores. And the campaigns for elections involve retail workers, a segment of the working population not typically represented by unions. Starbucks Workers United and the company have been at odds over the election process in Buffalo. The union wanted to conduct elections on a store-by-store basis, while Starbucks has called for allowing workers at all 20 Buffalo-area Starbucks to cast ballots, in a single, combined vote. The NLRB sided with the union in the dispute. The labor board was clear in October that we had the right to vote in individual store elections," said Rachel Cohen, a shift supervisor at the Amherst store. "Starbucks knew this but unfortunately decided to once again try to delay the vote in a desperate attempt to stop us from organizing." Starbucks has said it believes all of its employees in the Buffalo market "deserve the right to vote," challenging the idea of selected stores holding union elections. Matt Glynn The Buffalo News: Good Morning, Buffalo The smart way to start your day. We sift through all the news to give you a concise, informative look at the top headlines and must-read stories every weekday. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Tonight we take a peek at Kansas City pandemic contradictions and questions that NOBODY is asking. Here's our main dilemma and something for foodies to consider . . . LOCAL LEADERS & NEWS TELL US THAT COVID IS DIRE BUT CONTINUE TO PROMOTE KANSAS CITY RESTAURANT WEEK!!! ISN'T THAT A BIT OF A CONTRADICTION?!? To be fair, takeout or drive-thru is probably the best option and there are precautions in place . . . Restaurant rules TOTALLY MAKE SENSE and we're really happy that COVID can be easily thwarted in a seated position or with a mouth full of food. Nevertheless . . . Tonight a local health department tells us that that situation is "dire" despite the highly publicized kick-off of Kansas City Restaurant Week. Here's the most important passage of a local health note sent out late Friday . . . Jackson County the situation we are in is dire. Our COVID-19 weekly case rate has reached the highest its ever been (1203 cases per 100k people) and is still rapidly rising. Thats more than double the record high from before this surge. Nearly every area hospital is close to or beyond capacity, and we are seeing more hospitalizations than ever before. This high volume is threatening standards of care and leading to longer wait times and decreased bed availability. High rates of infection and illness are also causing major disruptions in schools and other critical infrastructure areas like public safety. Hospitals around the region are in crisis due to staffing issues and high COVID-19 hospitalization rates. We have reached a point where our health care facilities are canceling or moving important surgeries. Even non-COVID emergency patients are having to wait hours for care in the ER. In times of medical emergency, delays can be a matter of life or death for patients, and we are seeing this right now. "Everyone in Jackson County needs reliable access to emergency medical care and that means we all need to respond to the crisis evolving in front of us. Hospitals arent alone in being affected by this surge; long-term care facilities, schools, and emergency services are all facing disruptions. Take precautions during this time of extremely high community transmission: wear a mask in public, maintain social distance when possible, avoid high-risk activities, and stay home when you are sick . . ." This is good advice and we don't dispute it. However . . . NONE OF THE DIRE WARNINGS ARE VERY APPETIZING AND DON'T EXACTLY ENCOURAGE A NIGHT OUT FOR RESTAURANT WEEK!!! Nevertheless . . . We simply share info and let readers make their own decisions. Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news links . . . Dish & Drink KC: Prepare your stomach for the 13th annual KC Restaurant Week Chewology, a restaurant with a creative focus on Taiwanese street food, serves handmade dumplings, noodle soup, bao, and other cuisine. // Photo by Pilson Photo Co-op For the foodies who have been intensely watching their calendars, the best weekend of the year is finally near-Kansas City Restaurant Week. Jackson County Health Department in letter: Covid-19 situation is "dire" JACKSON COUNTY, MO (KCTV) --- In a letter to the community released on Friday, Jackson County health officials say the Covid-19 situation they are facing is "dire." The health department said the case rate is the county is the highest it's ever been and they are "seeing more hospitalizations than ever before." Everything diners need to know about Kansas City Restaurant Week 2022 KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City Restaurant Week is back once again for 10 days of dining deals. Just like last year, the nation continues to struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic, but organizers said the 13th annual event will go on as planned. Portion of proceeds from 2022 KC Restaurant Week to benefit Guadalupe Centers KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City Restaurant Week isn't only about supporting local restaurants; this year 10% of all proceeds will benefit the Guadalupe Centers in Kansas City. "This is the best support I can have," said Ram Goswemi when asked what the Guadalupe Centers mean to him. Kansas City businesses hope Restaurant Week 2022 gives them a much needed boost KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV)- It's been a roller coaster for the restaurant industry the last two years. More than 100 bars and restaurants closed their doors due to the pandemic in the Kansas City metro. For those that survived, the 2022 restaurant week is more welcome than ever. Kansas City Restaurant Week begins amid COVID-19 concerns Kansas City Restaurant Week kicked off Friday night, but there are concerns as COVID-19 cases climb. KC Restaurant Week 2022: 'Keep Living Our Lives' The long lines that formed at Fannie's West African Cuisine on Troost Avenue during last year's KC Restaurant Week were "overwhelming." Owner Fannie Gibson, a native of Liberia, recalled some diners drove three or four hours from "places far away in Missouri I had never heard of." "It was beautiful! You decide . . . The fight against the pandemic proves harder than anyone believed and the latest news features locals struggling valiantly amid ongoing political debate and dwindling resources. Check TKC news gathering . . . KC-area COVID-19 testing center 'paused' for additional staff training, education after complaints A COVID-19 testing company with a site in the Kansas City area says it is "pausing" operations for additional staff and training and education after issues were raised about both the local, and a number of national locations. KC doctors worried about number of COVID deaths, long-hauler symptoms KANSAS CITY, Kan. - The number of COVID-19 patients at the University of Kansas Health System dropped from Wednesday to Thursday. Doctors said it's too soon to tell if this is the start to a downward trend or just a blip. I-Team: What parents should expect when taking their child to the emergency room as COVID cases surge KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The past year has been rough for parents like Dani Allen. Allen lives in Greenwood, Missouri, with her husband and son, Knox, who is 18 months old. The ongoing pandemic and staffing shortages have led to long waits at emergency rooms and urgent cares across the Kansas City area. Students, staff to wear masks in Independence schools beginning Jan. 18 INDEPENDENCE, MO (KCTV) --- Beginning Jan. 18, students and staff in the Independence School District will be required to wear a mask. The temporarily requirement will begin on Jan. 18 and will be applied universally. Local school districts caution parents of possible temporary closures KANSAS CITY, Kan. - This week, school districts in Bonner Springs, Eudora and De Soto all announced plans to close Friday due to overwhelming staff and student absences due to illnesses. Now closures could soon be affecting more schools in the Kansas City metro. What should you do while waiting for COVID test results? KC experts explain KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Testing supply challenges lead to the obvious question: If you have to wait four, five or six days to get tested, how much is the information from that test worth anyway? Public health leaders are stressing that the results are still important and that the actions of the person awaiting that test is paramount. City of Independence asks for public's help as city employees battle COVID-19 KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The city of Independence is asking for the public's help and understanding as COVID-19 cases decimate the city's workforce. A tweet from the city Friday evening stated 25% of the snow plowing crews are out sick and power restoration crews are down 15%. COVID testing company under investigation halts operations BLUE SPRINGS, MO. - A controversial COVID-19 testing center announced it's temporarily halting operations. The announcement comes after multiple states have launched investigations into the company's operations after receiving dozens of customer complaints. Earlier this week, FOX4 Problem Solvers visited one of the company's testing sites in Blue Springs. More calls, less staff causing strain on metro EMS crews KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) - The call volume for emergency medical service in the Kansas City region is up more than 15% from just a few months ago according to the Mid-America Regional Council. This at a time when staffing at fire departments and EMS agencies is down due to sickness and quarantine. Organ transplants up partially due to COVID-19, wife says husband was proud donor KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A Kansas man died from COVID-19 but donated his kidneys saving two lives in the process. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Midwest Transplant Network said it's one of the reasons they are seeing an increase in donations. Developing . . . Like it or not, pandemic numbers are reaching record highs and greatest impact confronts local schools. In this post we focus on scary absenteeism, staffing shortages and a Winter warning . . . Real talk. Schools are likely going to shut down over COVID, this is just a preview. Check the TKC collection . . . Local school district short 300 teachers, mechanics driving buses due to COVID-19 Officials with the North Kansas City School District say COVID-19 hit the district hard Friday.According to Superintendent Daniel Clemens, the district is short 300 teachers due to COVID-19.Not only that, but officials were only able to employ 100 substitutes to replace those teachers.Similar shortages are being seen across the area, and across the nation as the omicron variant of COVID-19 fuels cause surges."I want to thank everyone who has pitched in to help keep our schools open," Clemens said in a statement on Twitter.In addition, parents reported buses to pick students up for school were running late Friday. Shawnee Mission district latest metro district to warn families about potential closings OVERLAND PARK, KS (KCTV) --- The Shawnee Mission School District on Friday warned parents that school closings are possible due to staffing shortages created by Covid-19. In a letter to parents, the district said it has been "able to manage challenges up to this point," but as cases increase, the district could close individual schools for a day. Over 600 staffers out sick, Olathe is close to canceling school: "This is uncharted territory." OLATHE, KS (KCTV) -- The Olathe School District is experience mass sickness among its staffers and is about 65 absences away from needing to cancel classes, the district's superintendent said at Thursday night's Board meeting. The district has been averaging over 500 staff absences every day. North Kansas City missing 300 teachers Friday due to COVID-19 KANSAS CITY, Mo. - North Kansas City schools had 300 teachers absent on Friday. Superintendent Daniel Clemens posted the news on Twitter. @NKCSchools is short 300 teachers due to COVID-19 today. We were able to get 100 substitutes. COVID-19 has hit our substitutes hard as well. Johnson County mayors review COVID protocols as cases spike, schools close JOHNSON COUNTY, Kan. - Friday morning, officials from the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment (JCDHE) met virtually with county mayors to review data on COVID-19 infection rates and hospitalizations. Mayors frustrated by inconsistency on masks in Johnson County, Kansas JOHNSON COUNTY, KS (KCTV) -- Three Johnson County cities will implement mask mandates starting next week. Prairie Village, Mission and Roeland Park in Johnson County all voted to require masks in public settings at their individual city council meetings. The ordinances, all similar to each other, require masks for everyone above the age of 5 inside public spaces. Kansas City school districts see higher absence rates as COVID-19 cases surge Across the Kansas City area, student absences are higher than normal as COVID-19 cases surge. KSHB 41 News reached out to multiple school districts across the area to see what their student attendance rates were after about a week of school being in session. Hospitals raise morgue capacity concerns, schools close MISSION, Kan. (AP) - Nursing homes are facing COVID-19 outbreak, schools are closing and hospitals in the Kansas City area are seeing so many deaths that they are raising alarms about morgue capacity. The problems come as Kansas yet again shattered its record for new confirmed and probable cases. Developing . . . Right now we offer tribute to pr0n hottie Siri as her promo inspires our peek at pop culture, community news and top headlines. Check TKC news gathering . . . Let's French This Cowtown!!! A guide to exploring Kansas City's French influences and history This story was first published in KCUR's Creative Adventure newsletter. You can sign up to receive stories like this in your inbox every Tuesday. A few hundred years ago, rather than "hello" or "howdy," many folks living in and around the Kansas City area would have greeted each other with a hearty "bonjour." Rock Chalk Cash Coming Soon Kansans have more help to pay their home heating bills Kansans now have double the amount of help to pay their home heating bills. It's through the Low Income Energy Assistance Program. Show-Me Shoot Out Hope Missouri lawmakers consider bill cracking down on celebratory gunfire KANSAS CITY, Mo. - There's a renewed effort to get legislation passed in Missouri that would crack down on celebratory gunfire. State Rep. Mark Sharp of Kansas City has introduced called "Blair's Law." The legislation is named after Blair Shanahan Lane, who was struck and killed by celebratory gunfire during Fourth of July celebrations in 2011. Building Back Heartland Kansas, Missouri getting millions to help repair thousands of bridges in poor condition by: Laura McMillan Posted: / Updated: WICHITA, Kan. - Over the next five years, Kansas and Missouri will see millions of dollars go toward repairing bridges in poor condition. Kansas is getting $225 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to repair and upgrade more than 1,000 bridges deemed to be in poor condition. COVID Money Funds Big Guv Here's how Kansas City spent $32 million in CARES Act money Kansas City CARES Act funds funneled from Jackson, Platte and Clay counties shows the city spent the most money on payroll, public health expenses and economic support for nonprofits, businesses and other outside entities. Pr0n Flick Offers Inside Look Adult Time Debuts Pilot for New Series 'Peach Cake' MONTREAL - Adult Time has introduced the pilot episode for a new anal-focused series, "Peach Cake," conceived by co-producers Michael Vegas and Siouxsie Q with director Bree Mills. The series "celebrates confidence and curiosity while pairing hot models together in unscripted encounters so fans can worship their very best assets," a rep explained. Lowering Bar For Low Poll Prez Biden's bad week and the unreality of great expectations subscribe to The NPR Politics Podcast podcast The bad news keeps on coming for President Biden. He ended 2021 at a low point in his presidency, hoping to turn it around in the new year. But things have only gotten worse. His spending and voting rights plans are at congressional dead ends. Outrage After Po-Po Beat Down Gag Reel Exposed Portland police investigate 'dirty hippy' meme in training document making light of violence against protesters The Portland Police Bureau is conducting an internal investigation into a training presentation for dealing with mass protests that included a meme describing violence against protesters that begins, "And the Lord said... Woe be unto you, dirty hippy." Supreme Vaxx Postscript DeSantis: Kavanaugh and Roberts lacked 'backbone' on vaccine mandate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Supreme Court justices John Roberts and Brian Kavanaugh lacked "backbone" for not striking down the Biden administration's health care worker vaccine mandate. In two decisions Thursday, the nation's top court struck down the Biden administration's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for large businesses, but upheld its mandate for most healthcare workers. MAGA Makes Case To Voters Trump to make election claims center stage in Arizona Former will address the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol at a campaign rally in Arizona on Saturday, setting the tone for his wing of the GOP going into the midterm cycle. The issues of election security and the 2022 election results will likely take center stage as his Democratic foes dig into the issue of voting rights. Rocketman Sparks Concern North Korea is testing hypersonic weapons. Should the West be worried? The U.S., Russia and China all have them. And now, North Korea claims to as well: hypersonic weapons. These aerial vehicles go a step further than the kind of ballistic missiles that Pyongyang has periodically tested over the years. They can fly fast and maneuver in ways that make them extremely difficult to detect and destroy. Brit COVID Hypocrisy Revealed PM Johnson's staff held 'wine-time' gatherings in lockdown -UK's Mirror LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Staff at Boris Johnson's residence held gatherings dubbed "wine-time Fridays" during pandemic lockdowns, with the British prime minister regularly witnessing gatherings and encouraging staff to "let off steam", the Mirror newspaper reported on Friday. Celeb Slice Of Life Here's Why Kim's Low-Key Pizza Date With Pete Is Actually Way More Meaningful Than You Might Have Thought Pete and Kim who were first romantically linked in October ditched the typical celeb hot spots that LA has to offer, and opted for a chill dinner at a budget-friendly pizza chain. Hoping Legend Rallies Chris Evert opens up about her stage 1C ovarian cancer diagnosis It was short, simple and yet so damn complicated. I got a text on Dec. 7. "I can't talk right now, but the pathology report came back today and revealed I have a malignant tumor in my fallopian tube; going in for more surgery next week then chemo ... f--- me..." Harsh Words Exchanged In Hottie Sister Fight Jamie Lynn Spears Shares Pointed Message After Sister Britney Calls Her 'Scum Person' The Sweet Magnolias actress, 30, posted an Instagram Story Friday that reads, "Nobody trashes your name more than someone who's afraid you'll tell people the truth." "Jamie Lynn... congrats babe! You've stooped to a whole new level of LOW... I've never been around you ever with a knife or would I ever even think to do such!!!" LOCAL LUCKY BASTARD STAYS WINNING!!! Man, recently retired, wins $1 million from Powerball purchased in Kansas City JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Law enforcement officers from around the state want clarification on a new law that makes federal gun law "invalid." The Second Amendment Preservation Act, better known as SAPA, took effect at the end of August. It nullifies federal gun laws and allows police departments to be sued up to $50,000 for violating someone's Second Amendment rights. Show-Me Risque Tags Missouri rejected these naughty requests for license plates in 2021 JNearly 400 requests failed to make the cut, due to state requirements that such personalized plates not include obscene, profane, patently offensive or contemptuous of a racial or ethnic group, offensive to good taste or decency, or would present an unreasonable danger to the health or safety of the applicant, or other users of streets and highways, or of the public in any location where the vehicle with such a license plate may be found. Upper Crust Comes To Cowtown Pizza Tascio promises to bring real deal New York pies to KC Borger, who is well-known to Kansas City pizza geeks as the founder of Il Lazzarone did get around to planning that New York-style joint, which should open at 1111 Burlington in North Kansas City at the end of next week. Artsy Talk Emerges Five Things You Should Know About the Nelson-Atkins Museum's New Podcast - In Kansas City It's basically a Kansas City requirement to snap at least one photo of yourself posing in front of the shuttlecocks on the lawn of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, right? The museum is a staple to what it means to be a Kansas Citian-but do you ever wonder how the museum shaped the Kansas City... KATIE COUNTS INCHES!!! How much snow? Much of the metro saw at least three inches fall TOMORROW FOR KANSAS CITY BUT TODAY THE FOCUS IS ON THE SNOW AS IT CONTINUES TO FALL ACROSS THE METRO. KATIE: YES, IT IS REAYLL REDUCING THE VISIBILITY IN SOME AREAS. THE WIND BLOWING IT SIDEWAYS. IT'S REALLY A RAW WINTERY MORNING RITGH NOW, AND THE ROADS HAVE BEEN PRETTY NASTY AS WELL. Alok - Sky High (feat. Nono) is the song of the day and this is the OPEN THREAD for right now. The New York Times places the US COVID death count 849K so far. No matter what readers might believe, there is no denying that the global pandemic is real and it has caused massive death and suffering. Thankfully, there has been progress in mitigating the impact of the virus. Nevertheless . . . As pandemic stats spike locally we notice an inordinate amount of reporting on a morbid facet of the plague: A question about where to store the bodies. Don't get it twisted, TKC adores dark humor and this journalistic topic brings to mind a 90s classic rock anthem. However . . . Even during the worst parts of the pandemic in 2020/21 morgue space wasn't an issue locally and a reasonable person doesn't have to deny the seriousness of the pandemic in order to dispute this narrative and possibly realize this news item is flavored with a great deal of theatricality. In fairness and for the sake of public health discussion, we share the MSM side of the story . . . Hospitals in the Kansas City area are now talking to the medical examiner and county health officials about how to handle the excessive death. Already they have sought help tracking down more ventilators. They are running out of morgue capacity, said. Dr. Sanmi Areola, director of the health department in Johnson County, the states most populous county. It does not take being an expert in public health to know that things are pretty bad." The county has been looking for new testing sites and expanding hours at exiting ones. The positivity rate now tops 30%. Quite frankly the numbers we are getting in are exceeding all capacity at all levels," said Dr. Elizabeth Holzschuh, director of epidemiology at the county's Department of Health and Environment. She noted that since the beginning of the year, more than 30 county residents have died of COVID-19, with the vast majority of them unvaccinated. Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news link . . . Just a bit of math to finish Friday . . . So many local justify property taxes for the sake of schools . . . However . . . Whilst KCPS enrollment has declined nearly 80% in 40 years . . . Property taxes have continually spiked. There's a plan for another increase in assessments very soon. Even during the pandemic, courthouse officials warned that a 2023 property tax spike was inevitable. And so . . . An improvement in accreditation should be reason for celebration and maybe a discount. But probably not. Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news links . . . KCPS' restored accreditation is welcomed news for KCMO real estate market KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Another sector that will feel the effects of Kansas City Public Schools' full accreditation is Kansas City real estate, impacting home buyers and sellers. Kate Bender is a KCPS parent of two, and her family has a new house. Jackson County Executive congratulates KCPS on receiving full accreditation status January 11, 2022 KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Jackson County Executive Frank White, Jr. has issued the following statement regarding today's announcement that Kansas City Public Schools (KCPS) has received full accreditation: "Today, I am thrilled to congratulate Superintendent Dr. Mark Bedell, School Board members and the entire KCPS community on this well-deserved achievement. Five things to know about KCPS getting full accreditation Delivered every Tuesday and Thursday morning A donation to The Beacon goes beyond the newsroom. We amplify community voices, share resources and investigate systems, not just symptoms. The Beacon in your inbox. In-depth reporting delivered every Tuesday and Thursday morning. Kansas City Public Schools is fully accredited for the first time in a decade. Business, economic leaders celebrate KCPS accreditation KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Local business leaders are optimistic for what the future holds for the city's economy following Kansas City Public Schools restored full accreditation. "It's critical for this city and for the city's future to have a thriving public school system. Developing . . . Kansas City journalists politely ignored some of the biggest news in Missouri and the tragic fact that Mayor Q's recent trip to Jefferson City at the outset of the latest Missouri legislative session was an unmitigated disaster according to insiders. The mayor was unwelcomed by the GOP super majority and his team didn't do a great job of rallying support from Democratic Party colleagues. Don't worry . . . It gets worse . . . The visit had exceptionally dire consequences for Kansas City finances. Here's the upshot . . . COMING SOON!!! ANOTHER LAWSUIT OVER KANSAS CITY POLICE FUNDING!!! THIS TIME MAYOR Q WILL FIGHT THE MISSOURI GOP OVER BUDGET CALCULATIONS!!! Remember that insiders warned us about this last year. Now . . . The funding fight is moving into high gear. A refresher from this week's headlines for those who missed it . . . Missouri lawmakers hear proposal to increase minimum Kansas City police funding Money line: Senate Joint Resolution 38, a companion piece of legislation, would fix that by bringing the proposed change to the ballot this year. What it would simply ask voters is whether or not they think the legislature should have the ability to require minimum funding by municipalities for police departments to keep cities from defunding the police, MO State Sen. Luetkemeyer said. Luetkemeyer said the bill could clear the judiciary committee in the next week and then would head to the full Senate. Now here's what local reporting didn't mention . . . ALREADY MAYOR Q'S TEAM PROMISES LEGAL ACTION AGAINST ANY MISSOURI POLICE FUNDING MANDATES!!! However . . . The only problem with that is: Mayor Q already lost his first funding fight against police last year. Moreover . . . If funding questions go to the ballot . . . Mayor Q doesn't stand a chance in a statewide election wherein every Show-Me State right wing voter can "back the badge" at zero cost. Here's an update from insiders: "Mayor Quinton Lucas backed himself into a corner against KCPD. He's getting horrible advice and the lawsuit threats aren't helping him. His current political crisis is simply a result of his arrogance. He doesn't seem to believe that his political opponents also know the law. More importantly, they're ready to make their case to voters. We'll hear a lot of complaining about "local control" but most voters in Kansas City aren't really enthusiastic about that option. The Mayor's fight against police leadership has seen one mistake after another and he doesn't seem to be learning from his failures . . ." And so . . After nearly a year of unproductive fighting with police and a subsequent spike in violence, we're at the outset of yet another legal battle over "defunding police" while Kansas City's crime crisis persists. Developing . . . BLANFORD [mdash] Eric Todd Vandevender, 60, of Blanford and formerly of Cayuga, passed away at 7:55 a.m. EDT Saturday, April 16, 2022 at Clinton Gardens in Clinton, Indiana. Eric was born on May 6, 1961 in Danville, Illinois, the son of the late Floyd A. and Irma Jean (Weir) Vandevender. Sur Mark Bennett has reported and analyzed news from the Wabash Valley and beyond since Larry Bird wore Sycamore blue. That role with the Tribune-Star has taken him from Rome to Alaska and many points in between, but Terre Haute suits him best. Follow Mark Bennett 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 Instant unlimited access to all of our content on triplicate.com. The Triplicate's E-Edition Newsletter emailed to you each week, the night before the paper hits the street! This subscription is for NEW or RENEWING online subscribers. (The charge will appear as "Country Media Inc." on your credit card statement) Im a pickle weirdo. Not so much in the sense that I would ever make a houseguest take a shot of specialty brine or anything, I just find myself eating many pickles many days a week. And yes, a lot of those times Im standing over the sink in my bathrobe with a pickle in one hand and my phone in the other but this isnt a story about my filthy morning habits or sodium-rich blood, its about a delicious new product from one of my favorite pickle brands. Pickle de Gallo Salsa Pickle de Gallo Grillo's Target Shop Now Like all of the tastiest sauces, sodas, and condiments out there, Grillos distinctly tasty flavor comes courtesy of a 100-year-old pickle recipe from the founders grandfather. At least, thats the media-friendly version of the story that best resonates with pickle-lovers. After falling short of his dream of designing sneakers for Nike, Founder and Travis Grillo had what he described as his lightbulb moment when the idea of selling his grandfathers prized pickles for a living flashed into his head. From a small pickle cart in Boston Commons to Grillos Pickles in 7,000 stores (and counting) across the U.S., its safe to stay theres something special about these pickles. Recently, the salty New England brand released a new product called Grillo's Fresh Thick & Chunky Pickle de Gallo Salsa; a pico de gallo salsa fresca made with pickles. Grillos recently sent over six tubs of their enticing new Pickle de Gallo Salsa for me to try. As a salsa lover and pickle enthusiast, I knew I couldnt say no. Armed with the only tortilla chip worth eating (Tostitos Scoops! Dont @ me) I set out on a culinary journey that helped me redefine salsa. Ill start off by saying this: salsa purists may be a bit peeved; there are no tomatoes to be found in any of the three flavors (mild, medium, and hot) of Pickle de Gallo Salsa. It smells like pickles at first, but its within that second huff that the soul of salsa apparates within the nose of the beholder. Made with honest-to-goodness real ingredients like cucumbers, brine (water, white vinegar, and salt), yellow onion, red bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, habaneros, and garlic, Pickle de Gallo honors its namesake beyond the delicious pun for a traditional pico de gallo-style Salsa Fresca made entirely sans tomatoes. If youre worried itll taste like relish; dont. It doesnt. Visually, yes, its more similar to relish than your conventional salsa, but I found the bright smattering of green, white, red, and orange painted a picture of a complex, enlightened condiment I wish Id thought of first. Herbaceous and brine-y, the spice of the peppers hit you before the first bite makes it past your tongue for a delightful albeit unexpected taste that truly challenges the way you think about this traditional Mexican condiment. Good salsa relies on a couple of core ingredients to deliver the tangy zip of flavor needed to emphasize the salt from chips or whatever youre using to dip. My friends, I am proud to report that Pickle de Gallo has the zip for dip. Theres a real partnership that comes to life with each ingredient; the garlic accentuates the peppers which fraternizes with the onions, which makes sweet passionate love with the crunchy pickle pieces a la Miranda and Che from And Just Like That Like any new take on a classic condiment, you gotta go into Pickle de Gallo salsa with an open mind. Its not salsa, but its not not salsa. With a flavor that leaves you wanting more (and more and more), its hard not to find a snack that doesnt go great dipped (or topped) with Pickle de Gallo: chips, pretzels, tortillas, burgers, hot dogs the skys the limit. (BPT) - As the weather heats up and pandemic FOGO (fear of going out) continues to fade adventure seekers, families and travel enthusiasts alike are trading in their winter jackets for hiking boots and bathing suits and getting ready to get back outdoors. In the latest weekly edition of Rewind Robert Smith recalls the year 1979 and the special accomplishment that a young Canadian horseman turned in that season. His 443 trips to the winner's circle was not only tops in Canada but also led the sport for all of North America. If you're still wondering who that man was then read on. The year of 1979 was a big one for young Ronnie Waples. His rise to stardom had been sure and steady but this year things all seemed to fit in place for the 35-year-old who hailed from a place called Ebenezer. He had spent his formative years working for his cousins Keith and Murray Waples, starting when he was just 16, and had learned his lessons well. By about 1971 Ron went on his own and as most people know that journey is still ongoing. Today it even includes talking about the "old days" with old "gaffers" like yours truly. A big turning point in his career took place a few years earlier back in 1966 when the young sulky sitter won his first ever race. Driving a horse named Ferndale Prince in the rather unlikely and far away spot known as Sunnydale Raceway in North Bay, Ont., the 22-year-old scored a two-heat victory. The purse was $150, a rather far cry from some that he would compete for in the years ahead. That first year of sulky sitting saw him make just 14 trips behind the gate but he did collect six wins! Ronnie got his first driving victory as a result of a somewhat impromptu scenario. The Rennick Bros., who owned the Northern Ontario track, contacted the Waples stable to see if they could supply some much needed entrants as they were short of horses for their race days. As it turned out Ron and his cousin Murray, who was his employer at the time, decided to truck a few horses to North Bay. When two from their contingent were entered in the same race young Ronnie suited up and luckily scored his first lifetime win. Onward To 1979 The 1979 season for Waples was climaxed in mid-December when the talented teamster thrilled a huge Saturday afternoon crowd at Greenwood with an outstanding driving display reminiscent of a number of others he had showcased throughout the long season. As he headed into the weekend he was just five short of his goal of 400 Canadian wins. On Friday night he picked up two victories to leave him just three shy of the magic 400 he was shooting for. His wins on the Friday card came in the 6th behind El McCloud and the 9th with T R Elmar. Floras Pride N is shown in rein to Ronnie Waples as she scored win number 400 for the young teamster in 1979 (Photo courtesy of the Standardbred) Floras Pride N is shown in rein to Ronnie Waples as she scored win number 400 for the young teamster in 1979 (Photo courtesy of the Standardbred) The Saturday afternoon gathering was filled with promise as a number of headline events were scheduled and included many of the track's top performers spread throughout. On tap was the Free For All Handicap, the third leg of the popular Valedictory Pacing series and a Fillies and Mares Open Handicap Pace. The big attraction for the big crowd of course was the possibility that Waples might go over the 400 mark. By the third race Ronnie was in high gear as he earned his first victory of the afternoon with an exciting 2:00 score in the Free For All with Holland, owned by The Waples Stable Inc. It was by the narrowest of margins that Holland slipped into the lead by a fraction of a nose ahead of Armbro Turk (Fred Gillis) to take the biggest share of the $12,000 purse. He was now at 398. Waples was right back in the next race to score number 399, driving Sea Mac Paul in an event for $4,000 claimers. No complicated math was needed to figure out the new magic number. The Fillies and Mares Open Handicap turned out to be the magical race for Ronnie as he scored his much anticipated 400th win on Canadian soil. Floras Pride N was the winning mare as she nosed out Captivating Girl driven by Wm. Wellwood with Southgate Pride third with Doug Brown in the sulky. Time for the record setting mile was 2:01. The proud owners of the winning miss were Dr. David and Patricia Goodrow of Milton, Ont. Floras Pride N (6) shows a half length margin to give Ronnie Waples his 400th win of the 1979 season at Greenwood in front of a standing room only Saturday afternoon crowd on December 15th. (Photo courtesy of the Standardbred) Floras Pride N (6) shows a half length margin to give Ronnie Waples his 400th win of the 1979 season at Greenwood in front of a standing room only Saturday afternoon crowd on December 15th. (Photo courtesy of the Standardbred) Ron Waples (left) is met in the Greenwood winner's circle by Ontario Jockey Club Racing Director Ed Bradley following his 400th win of the 1979 season (Photo courtesy of the Standardbred) Ron Waples (left) is met in the Greenwood winner's circle by Ontario Jockey Club Racing Director Ed Bradley following his 400th win of the 1979 season (Photo courtesy of the Standardbred) Following such an achievement one might think that a bit of time off might be in order; but not this Mr. Waples. "I'd like to come right back out and win the next race," he said shortly after the race while he was still in the winner's circle. He did not win any more races that afternoon but he soon headed for his next assignment. He immediately headed for the airport where he flew to Kingston Park Raceway to drive in 10 races on Saturday evening. The challenge at hand was a matchup with four drivers from Blue Bonnets at Kingston. His traveling companions were three other pretty well-known horsemen of the day as well and all Jockey Club regulars. Be sure to see today's quiz question below as to who this trio of drivers were. Closing Note: Ronnie has brought a lot more to the sport of harness racing than a pile of records and memorable wins. His many quips and quotes, his witty sayings and his homespun humor have become his trademark. His willingness to share an old story or just retelling how he remembered something is always good for a laugh. In a recent conversation Ron shared an interesting memory with me which I don't think he would object at me sharing with today's reading audience. After a lengthy career filled with world class horses of both gaits and wins in nearly every major event in the sport, he spoke about one memorable horse in a very special way. His very first horse as an owner was an older pacing gelding named Black Silver, purchased for the princely sum of $500 from Retta Herrington back in 1965. Ronnie said "He was a nice $1,000 claimer but to me he was Niatross." Stats courtesy USTA Stats courtesy USTA Quote For The Week: "To succeed in life you need three things: A wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone" from entertainer Reba McEntire. Who Is It? Can you identify the three good-looking gentlemen in this photo? At least one of them should be pretty easy. Who Else is it? On the right is Dr. Wm. Ward of the California Racing Assoc. shown presenting a stopwatch to the meeting's leading driver for 1972 at Bay Meadows in San Mateo, Cal. Can you correctly identify the driver? (Harness Horse photo) TRIVIA QUESTION: Drivers At Kingston? Can you name the three Toronto-based drivers who accompanied Ronnie Waples that evening back in 1979 to take on the Montreal drivers? The one clue I will offer is that despite the passage of over 42 years they are all still with us and at least one of them is still driving in races. Let us know your answers. (PS: Unfortunately I do not know who the Blue Bonnets drivers were that night in Kingston.) By Jeff Murphy, January 14, 2022 WARRENSBURG, MO Members of the United States Air Force who want to further their education have two new pathways to obtain a Bachelor of Science in Environmental, Safety and Risk Management (ESRM) from the University of Central Missouri . These opportunities are made possible through UCMs selection as a partner in the Air University Associate to Baccalaureate Cooperative (AU-ABC) with the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF). UCM was informed in December 2021 that its application has been accepted to add these offerings for eligible military personnel. This is unique in that the faculty were able to create a CAT I and CAT III pathway for this program, said Courtney Swoboda, director of Military and Veteran Services at UCM. With the CAT I pathway Airmen who have a CCAF Associate in Applied Science (AAS) in Occupational Safety, Fire Science, Emergency Management, Public Health Technology, and Bioenvironmental Engineering Technology can complete their degree in 60 hours or less at UCM. The CAT III pathway is designed for individuals within any Air Force Specialty Code (career field). They are eligible to complete their baccalaureate degree by earning 66 hours of credit from UCM. These opportunities became effective this semester. Air Force members can earn their baccalaureate degree completely and conveniently online and at the active military tuition rate, which provides a savings for military members seeking undergraduate credit. The Community College of the Air Force AU-ABC provides an opportunity to transfer credits earned toward an associate degree to a number of partner institutions nationwide that will enable them to obtain a bachelors degree. Opportunities in Environmental, Safety and Risk Management follow the universitys announcement in August 2021 that it was approved to offer a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice through the AU-ABC. The ESRM program was designed specifically for individuals with an earned associate degree. We are very excited to provide a quality, cost-effective, degree-completion program that is regionally accredited, said Leigh Ann Blunt, professor of safety sciences who serves as ESRM program coordinator. We are proud to be an approved AU-ABC program and further expand the availability of this program to our members of the military. Blunt noted that an additional benefit of UCMs ESRM program is that individuals who earn this degree are eligible to receive the Graduate Safety Practitioner (GSP) designation through the Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BSCP). Widely recognized, our program also positions students for opportunities to seek graduate education without limiting their options, she added. Recognizing the challenges of balancing military service, family and education, the online program accommodates full- and part-time students. Half-semester courses also are offered, according to Blunt. Courtney Irvine, UCMs site coordinator at Whiteman Air Force Base, noted that the university continues to look for opportunities to enable Air Force members to apply their CCAF credit toward a UCM degree. While UCM offers many different types of academic programs, the Bachelor of Science in Environmental, Safety and Risk Management aligns well with the needs of service members, particularly meeting the online requirements for individuals who may be mobile. With Whiteman situated less than 10 miles east of the university, UCM already offers in-person graduate classes for military personnel. By partnering with Air University and the United States Air Force, UCM is helping Airmen to maximize their military education and training and therefore achieve their educational goals more efficiently. UCM is a Military Friendly institution that offers a military tuition package, active duty military tuition rate, and military in-state rates. This is in addition to facilities such as the Military and Veterans Success Center, which provides computer stations, meeting space and personnel ready to service active duty military and veterans. Individuals who want to learn more, including obtaining addition information about the AU-ABC, can check out UCMs Military and Veterans Services website. They can also call 660-543-8776 or email vets@ucmo.edu. Over the past day, January 14, the Russian-occupation troops launched two attacks, using weapons prohibited under the Minsk agreements once, in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area in eastern Ukraine. Outside Vodiane (94km south of Donetsk), Russian mercenaries opened fire from 82mm mortars and tripod-mounted man-portable antitank guns. Near Prychepylivka (50km north-west of Luhansk), the enemy fired grenade machine guns and small arms, the press center of JFO Headquarters posted on Facebook. The Joint Forces reported no casualties. The Ukrainian troops returned fire without resorting to weapons banned under the Minsk agreements and forced the enemy to cease shelling. As of 07:00, January 15, no ceasefire violations by the Russian-occupation forces were recorded. The service members of the Joint Forces control the situation and continue to repel and deter the armed aggression of the Russian Federation. ol In January-November 2021, compared to the same period in 2020, Ukraines imports of goods increased by 33.8% to $64.87 billion, exports by 38.2% to $61.27 billion. In January-November 2021, the export of goods from Ukraine totaled $61266.9 million, up 38.2% compared to the same period of 2020. The import of goods to Ukraine totaled $64874.2 million, up 33.8% compared to January-November 2020. Accordingly, Ukraine's foreign trade balance was negative, standing at $3607.3 million (in January-November 2020, this figure was also negative, at $4158.0 million), the State Statistics Service of Ukraine informs. In January-November 2021, foreign trade operations were conducted with partners from 235 countries. Over the first 11 months of 2021, Ukraine exported the most goods to China (worth $7.34 billion, up 16.2% compared to January-November 2020), Poland (worth $4.87 billion, up 64.6%), and Turkey (worth $3.61 billion, up 70.5%). In January-November 2021, Ukraines major exports were ferrous metals (worth $12.61 billion, up 80.8% compared to January-November 2020), cereals (worth $10.74 billion, up 25.8%), animal and vegetable fats and oils (worth $6.08 billion, up 18.2%). In January-November 2021, Ukraine imported goods mostly from China (worth $9.65 billion, up 30.2% compared to the same period in 2020), Germany (worth $5.69 billion, up 18.2%), and the Russian Federation (worth $5.35 billion, up 31.4%). Ukraines major imports were machinery, equipment and mechanisms (worth $12.66 billion, up 23.2% compared to January-November 2020), mineral fuels, oil and products of its distillation (worth $12.61 billion, up 75.3%), chemicals and related products (worth $8.59 billion, up 31.8%). ol "Statements" in Polish that have been published on the websites of Ukrainian government agencies knocked out as a result of a massive cyberattack are another attempt to worsen relations between the two countries. Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Lukasz Jasina said this in a post on his Twitter account, Ukrinform reports. "We interpret the publication of 'statements' in Polish as another attempt to destabilize Polish-Ukrainian relations," Jasina wrote, adding the hashtag #StandWithUkraine. In another post, he stressed that the Polish Foreign Ministry was concerned to hear reports of a cyberattack against the websites of Ukraine's government agencies, including the website of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. "We strongly condemn any actions that result in the spread of disinformation and obstruction of activity of state institutions," the tweet said. On the night of January 13 to 14, hackers launched a massive cyberattack against Ukrainian government websites, including the websites of the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, the Ministry of Veterans, the Environment Ministry, the State Emergency Service and the State Treasury Service, and the Diia public services portal. Hackers also posted on the websites anti-Ukrainian messages in Ukrainian, Russian and Polish. Polish media outlets said that grammatical and stylistic errors in the Polish-language message indicate that it was not written by Poles. The State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection, together with the SBU State Security Service and cyber police, is gathering digital evidence and investigating the incident. op The Ukrainian side initiated a meeting of the presidents of Ukraine, the United States, and Russia on the security situation in the region through video conferencing. "President Zelensky invited President Biden and we think it may work out to hold a trilateral meeting, possibly through video conferencing, between presidents Biden, Zelensky, and Putin," Head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak said during an online conversation organized by the Atlantic Council on January 14, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. He noted that Kyiv was expecting Russias reaction to the proposal, while the United States called the proposal interesting. In this context, Yermak praised the readiness of the United States to take an active part in efforts to resolve the security situation around Ukraine. He called Washington's position "very correct", stating that they were ready to join any existing negotiating format for the settlement in Ukraine but would continue their bilateral contacts with the Russians. ol The foreign ministers of France and Germany intend to visit the demarcation line in the conflict zone in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France Jean-Yves Le Drian said at a press conference in the French city of Brest on January 14, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. Europe will make its utmost efforts in all fora [to de-escalate tensions], either in the Normandy format, where France and Germany will press on to ensure that the Minsk Agreements are met. Annalena Baerbock [German foreign minister] and I discussed this topic and agreed to visit Ukraine shortly. Baerbock will visit Ukraine on Monday. We, France and Germany, will jointly visit the demarcation line and Kyiv. As the EU High Representative did during his visit to Ukraine, we will reaffirm the European stance," said the French minister. He noted that the meeting of European ministers in the Gymnich format, which had just ended in Brest and was dedicated to resolving tensions over Ukraine and European security, was probably one of the most important informal meetings in the EU's political history. "On issues related to Russia and Ukraine, I noticed yesterday the determination and unity of all those present [ministers] in terms of three major points. First, re-confirmation of a decisive firm stance with regard to any new threat to the territorial integrity of Ukraine in the context of the commitments made at the Councils meeting on December 16. Any military aggression against Ukraine will have huge and severe repercussions as was firmly underlined by all the participants in this meeting," said Jean-Yves Le Drian. He also stressed that the EU ministers were united in the need to maintain a dialogue with Russia. "There was also clear convergence on continuing the demanding dialogue with Russia and determination to do so. And we will not, of course, accept ultimatums. We have a clear commitment in terms of the European stance," the French official added. As reported, numerous diplomatic events were held in Europe this week to discuss European security issues and de-escalate tensions around Ukraine, which have been provoked by Russian military build-up along its borders. These include a two-day informal meeting of EU defense ministers (January 12-13), which was continued in the format of an informal meeting of European foreign ministers on January 13-14, 2022. Both meetings were initiated by the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the city of Brest, France. ol Moscow may resort to military provocation to justify a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. According to Ukrinform, this was announced at a briefing in the White House. Press Secretary Jen Psaki stressed that Moscow would carry out such a special operation if the United States and Europe failed to prevent escalation through diplomacy. So, as you all have heard us say many times, we are concerned that the Russian government is preparing for an invasion in Ukraine that may result in widespread human rights violations and war crimes should diplomacy fail to meet their objectives, Psaki said. We have information that indicates Russia has already pre-positioned a group of operatives to conduct a false-flag operation in Eastern Ukraine. The operatives are trained in urban warfare and in using explosives to carry out acts of sabotage against Russias own proxy forces, the White Houses Spokesperson said. As noted, the Russian military plans to begin these activities several weeks before a military invasion, which could begin between mid-January and mid-February. Our information also indicates that Russian influence actors are already starting to fabricate Ukrainian provocations in state and social media to justify a Russian intervention and sow divisions in Ukraine, Psaki added. For example, Russian officials and influence actors are emphasizing narratives about the deterioration of human rights in Ukraine and the increased militancy of Ukrainian leaders. This is all the spreading of misinformation. As reported, Russia demanded that the North Atlantic Alliance, in particular, must deprive Ukraine and Georgia of their NATO membership prospects, officially announced at the Bucharest Summit in 2008. Instead, after recent talks with the Russians this week, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO would not abandon its open door policy for other nations. Numerous diplomatic events have taken place in Europe this week to discuss European security and reduce tensions over Ukraine as a result of the build-up of Russian troops near Ukraine's borders and its temporarily occupied territories. However, negotiations between Western countries and Russia ended as expected without change. ol The United States and NATO are ready to meet again with Russia within the framework of a diplomatic dialogue on the de-escalation of tensions around Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to discuss next steps following the January 12 NATO-Russia Council. The United States and NATO are ready to meet again with Russia and are committed to pursuing continued diplomacy and reciprocal dialogue, the U.S. Department of State informs. As noted, the United States and its NATO Allies are united on the diplomatic path forward and urge Russia to take immediate action to deescalate its ongoing aggression against Ukraine. As reported, Russia demanded that the North Atlantic Alliance, in particular, must deprive Ukraine and Georgia of their NATO membership prospects, officially announced at the Bucharest Summit in 2008. Instead, after recent talks with the Russians this week, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO would not abandon its open door policy for other nations. Numerous diplomatic events have taken place in Europe this week to discuss European security and reduce tensions over Ukraine as a result of the build-up of Russian troops near Ukraine's borders and its temporarily occupied territories. However, negotiations between Western countries and Russia ended as expected without change. ol Jennifer Ann Hancock was born Nov. 20, 1956, in Atlanta, to William Roy and Martha Jones Hancock. She went home to be with the Lord on Tuesday, April 26, 2022, in Gray. She was preceded in death by her father, William Roy Hancock, and her brother, Timothy Roy Hancock, as well as grandparents Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Saturday banned serving the inflight meal in line with the directives of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) to stem the spread of Omicron, a new variant of coronavirus, from January 17 ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Jan, 2022 ) :Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Saturday banned serving the inflight meal in line with the directives of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) to stem the spread of Omicron, a new variant of coronavirus, from January 17. "Amid rising Omicron cases across the country, the NCOC bans serving meals/snacks onboard domestic flights and public transport effective from January 17," the authority said on its Twitter handle. The Apex Committee Friday again expressed concerns over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and vowed that Pakistan would not abandon Afghans in their time of need ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Jan, 2022 ) :The Apex Committee Friday again expressed concerns over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and vowed that Pakistan would not abandon Afghans in their time of need. It renewed its appeal to the international community and relief agencies to provide aid at this critical juncture to avert economic collapse and to save precious lives in Afghanistan. Prime Minister Imran Khan directed the authorities concerned to explore bilateral cooperation with friendly countries as well to stave off humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan by exporting qualified and trained manpower especially in medical, IT, Finance and accounting. He also directed to extend cooperation in the fields of railways, minerals, pharmaceuticals and media to help in Afghanistan's rehabilitation and development. Earlier the Apex Committee was updated on the progress made on relief of in-kind humanitarian assistance worth Rs. five billion which comprised of food commodities including 50,000 MT of wheat, emergency medical supplies, winter shelters and other supplies. The Apex Committee was informed that Afghanistan was at the verge of hunger and crisis situation during this harsh winter. The crisis made it difficult for the people to get enough food and shelter. The committee resolved to stand together with Afghan people and urged relief agencies to take immediate action. The meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Information Minister Ch Fawad Hussain, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Advisor on Commerce Abdul Razzak Dawood, National Security Advisor Dr Moeed Yousaf, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and senior civil and military officers. ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Jan, 2022 ) :Pakistan Navy Diver Abdul Rehman LCD(T) in a daring night diving search and rescue operation, recovered the dead body of a lady drowned at Rawal Lake. The search operation, in the ice cold waters of Lake was conducted immediately on receiving call for assistance from Islamabad Police and Capital Development Authority (CDA), said a Pakistan Navy media release. Later, the body of the deceased lady was handed over to the family. Pakistan Navy diver's prompt and quick response was a manifestation of organizational professionalism and dedication, it added. Earlier, Pakistan Navy Diving teams also stationed at Sailing club locality have performed various successful search and rescue operations in Northern areas and at Mangla Dam. It mentioned that the basic aim of deputing Pakistan Navy diving team at Rawal Lake near the sailing club is to provide assistance to civil authorities and counter any emergency situations. (@FahadShabbir) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Labor, Parliamentary Affairs and Human Rights, Shaukat Yousafzai has annulled the screening test setup by the Public Service Commission for Provincial Management Service Examinations and directed authorities to submit report promptly to the Provincial Cabinet and Assembly PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Jan, 2022 ) :Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Labor, Parliamentary Affairs and Human Rights, Shaukat Yousafzai has annulled the screening test setup by the Public Service Commission for Provincial Management Service Examinations and directed authorities to submit report promptly to the Provincial Cabinet and Assembly. According to a statement issued here, these orders were given in a meeting on Friday chaired by Provincial Minister for Labor and Parliamentary Affairs Shaukat Yousafzai on PMS Exam Screening Test. Provincial Assembly members Khushdil Khan,Zubair Khan Alai, Nighat Orakzai attended the meeting. Zubair Khan Special secretary establishment,Special Secretary Regulation Ahmed Saeed Turk and Chief Legislation Officer Shagufta Naveed were also present. Officials of the meeting briefed the Provincial Minister about the Inquiry Report and discussed in detail about Rules 10B of the Public Service Commission. He termed the screening test for the competitive examination as illegal and directed the Commission to take written examination from candidates who have been excluded from the screening test. The members of assembly discussed in detail the proceedings of the Standing Committee of the Assembly regarding this issue ti minister labour. Shaukat Yousafzai directed to take immediate action against the recommendations of the screening test and the assisting it and directed to submit the report to the Cabinet and the Assembly. The minister Ordered to stop recruitment through screening test. The Labor Minister directed the Public Service Commission officials to present their annual report in the assembly and directed to abolish screening test in future. (@ChaudhryMAli88) WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th January, 2022) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a telephone call with his South Korean counterpart Chung Eui-yong condemned North Korea's recent missile launches as violations of United Nations Security Council resolutions, State Department spokesperson Ned price said. "Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with Republic of Korea (ROK) Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong," Price said in a press release on Friday. "Secretary Blinken reaffirmed that the US-ROK Alliance is the linchpin of peace, security, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. Secretary Blinken condemned the DPRK's recent ballistic missile launches, which were in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions." The first six planes with Russian peacekeepers from the forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) arrived at the Severny airfield in the Russian city of Ivanovo from Kazakhstan, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th January, 2022) The first six planes with Russian peacekeepers from the forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) arrived at the Severny airfield in the Russian city of Ivanovo from Kazakhstan, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday. "The first six planes with Russian peacekeepers from the Collective Peacekeeping Forces of the CSTO arrived at the Severny airfield (Ivanovo city) from Kazakhstan," the ministry said. According to the ministry, after the landing of the last board, solemn events will be held on the airfield to meet Russian paratroopers who have professionally completed the tasks. At the end of the events, the personnel will begin to unload equipment for the departure to the point of permanent deployment. WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th January, 2022) US Assistant Secretary Molly Phee and US Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa David Satterfield will visit Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Ethiopia from January 17-20 to support and promote the democratic principles in the countries, the United States Department of State said on Saturday. "Assistant Secretary Molly Phee and newly appointed Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa David Satterfield will travel to Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Ethiopia from January 17 to 20, 2022," the department said in a statement. The officials are scheduled to meet with pro-democracy activists, civil society, military leaders, and political figures in the capital of Sudan, Khartoum. "While in Riyadh, Assistant Secretary Phee and Special Envoy Satterfield will attend a meeting of the Friends of Sudan, intended to marshal international support for the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission to Sudan (UNITAMS) in its efforts to facilitate a renewed civilian-led transition to democracy," the statement added. The US officials also intend to urge the Ethiopian government to end the hostilities, release all political prisoners and lay the groundwork for an inclusive national dialogue. Jan. 15-Feb. 27 Chautauqua Lake Ice Fishing Derby hosted by Chautauqua Reel Outdoors, Lakewood. Enter any time through Feb. 12. Fish categories are walleye, crappie, yellow perch, sunfish, white perch, silver bass. Based on length. All electronic submissions for fish catches. Entry is $25. Call 763-2947 for more info. Open water catches are eligible. Jan. 16 Niagara Region 3D Winter League continues at Wood and Brook Sportsmens Club, 13712 Genesee St., Crittenden. Sign in time from 7:30 a.m. to noon. Other participating clubs include Erie County Conservation, Alden Rod and Gun, Double T and Allied Sportsmen. 14 weeks. Wood and Brook contact is Marty at 870-2653. New shooters and walk-on shooters are welcome. Jan. 16 WNY Winter 3D Archery League continues at Evans Rod and Gun Club, 864 Cain Road, Angola, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. $10 per week for 13 weeks. 3-6 person teams. There are classes for kids with a 20-yard maximum to open shooters with a 50-yard maximum. All targets are at known distances and range finders are allowed. The hosting clubs are Collins, West Falls, Evans and Glen Coe. Contact is Jerry Gorski at 698-3008. Jan. 16 Winter trap league continues at Allied Sportsmen, 12846 Clinton St., Alden, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is a scratch league, 300 birds. There will be open and league shooting every Tuesday, including nonmembers, from 6 to 8 p.m. For more info, contact Jim at 683-2224. Jan. 17 Niagara County Fisheries Development Board monthly meeting at Maxwell Station in Olcott, starting at 6 p.m. Jan. 18 Double Tap Action Pistol Shoot at Allied Sportsmen, 12846 Clinton St., Alden. First and third Tuesday each month through March at 6:15 p.m. For more info, contact Fred Weymer at 359-2475. Jan. 20 Southtowns Walleye Association monthly meeting at 5895 Southwestern Blvd., Hamburg, starting at 6 p.m. Jan. 20 Indoor 3D Archery League (14 weeks) continues at Allied Sportsmen, 12846 Clinton St., Alden, at 6:30 p.m. First line is 6:45 p.m. and second line is at 7:30 p.m. Shoot any night or all 14 weeks. Cost is $10 per night. If questions, call John Floriano at 725-5822 or Kevin Ulrich at 430-1059. Jan. 21 SPOT Shoot/League continues at Allied Sportsmen, 12846 Clinton St., Alden, at 6:45 p.m. You can shoot a single spot, a 3-spot, or a 5-spot target for whatever practice you are looking for on the 15-position range. Cost is $10 each night for 14 weeks. If questions, call John Floriano at 725-5822 or Kevin Ulrich at 430-1059. Jan. 21 Ten X Shooting Club junior shooting program continues for ages 9 to 20. Club is located at 853 Ransom Road, Lancaster. First-time shooters arrive at 6 p.m. for instruction. Shooting at 6:30 p.m. Air rifles for 9 and up; .22lr for ages 12-20. Everything is provided by the club. Cost is $5 per night. If shooting .22lr, an additional $5 or bring your own ammo. Membership not required. For more info, visit tenxshootingclub.com. Jan. 22 Gorgeous Gulls at Devils Hole, sponsored by Buffalo Audubon, from 10 a.m. to noon. Register at buffaloaudubon.salsalabs.org/GorgeousGullsatDevilsHole/index.html and call 585-457-3228 for more info. Jan. 23 WNY Winter 3D Archery League continues at Collins Conservation Club, 2633 Conger Road, Collins, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. $10 per week for 13 weeks. 3-6 person teams. There are classes for kids with a 20-yard maximum to open shooters with a 50-yard maximum. All targets are at known distances and range finders are allowed. The hosting clubs are Collins, West Falls, Evans and Glen Coe. Contact is Chris Hogan at 628-4023. Jan. 23 Niagara Region 3D Winter Archery League continues at Erie County Conservation Club, 13319 Miller Road, Chaffee. Sign in from 7:30 a.m. to noon. Other participating clubs include Wood and Brook Sportsmens Club, Alden Rod and Gun, Double T and Allied Sportsmen. 14 weeks long. Contact is Marty at 870-2653 or John at 725-5822. New shooters and walk-on shooters welcome. Jan. 23 Winter trap league continues at Allied Sportsmen, 12846 Clinton St., Alden, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is a scratch league, 300 birds. There will be open and league shooting every Tuesday, including nonmembers, from 6 to 8 p.m. For more info, contact Jim at 683-2224. Jan. 23 Winter trap league continues at Alden Rod and Gun Club, 12 County Line Road, Alden. Scratch league, shooting every other Sunday. 250 birds shot by March 6; 300 bird league. For more info, call Tom Ess at 431-9292. Jan. 23 Indoor 3-D Archery League continues at Alden Rod and Gun Club, 12 County Line Road, Alden. Noon to 3 p.m. every other Sunday. A total of 24 arrows each week. For more info, call Phil Williams at 553-7445. Jan. 25 38th annual Indoor Precision Pistol League at Allied Sportsmen, 12846 Clinton St., Alden. Held every second and fourth Tuesday through March. Cost to shoot is $10 per week. For more information, contact John Floriano at 725-5822. Jan. 27 Indoor 3D Archery League (14 weeks) continues at Allied Sportsmen, 12846 Clinton St., Alden, at 6:30 p.m. First line is 6:45 p.m. and second line is at 7:30 p.m. Shoot any night or all 14 weeks. Cost is $10 per night. If questions, call John Floriano at 725-5822 or Kevin Ulrich at 430-1059. Jan. 27 Erie County Federation of Sportsmens Clubs monthly meeting at the Elma Conservation Club, 600 Creek Road, Elma, starting at 7 p.m. for delegates. Board meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 28 SPOT Shoot/League continues at Allied Sportsmen, 12846 Clinton St., Alden, at 6:45 p.m. You can shoot a single spot, a 3-spot or a 5-spot target for whatever practice you are looking for on the 15-position range. Cost is $10 each night for 14 weeks. If questions, call John Floriano at 725-5822 or Kevin Ulrich at 430-1059. Jan. 29-30 15th annual WNY International Rabbit Derby to benefit local charities and families. For more information, contact Rick Giermata at 602-5017. Jan. 29 Niagara Falls Gulls at Goat Island with naturalist Tom Kerr and sponsored by Buffalo Audubon from 10 a.m. to noon. Register at buffaloaudubon.salsalabs.org/NiagaraFallsGullsatGoatIsland/index.html and call 585-457-3228 for more info. Jan. 30 WNY Winter 3D Archery League continues at Glen Coe Conservation, 9869 Foote Road, Glenwood, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. $10 per week for 13 weeks. 3-6 person teams. There are classes for kids with a 20-yard maximum to open shooters with a 50-yard maximum. All targets are at known distances and range finders are allowed. The hosting clubs are Collins, West Falls, Evans and Glen Coe. Contact Pat Abramo at 438-8601. Jan. 30 Niagara Region 3D Winter Archery League continues at Alden Rod and Gun Club, 12 County Line Road, Alden. Sign in from 7:30 a.m. to noon. Other participating clubs include Wood and Brook Sportsmens Club, Erie County Conservation, Alden Rod and Gun, Double T and Allied Sportsmen. 14 weeks long. Contact is Marty at 870-2653 or John at 725-5822. New shooters and walk-on shooters welcome. Jan. 30 Winter trap league continues at Allied Sportsmen, 12846 Clinton St., Alden, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is a scratch league, 300 birds. There will be open and league shooting every Tuesday, including nonmembers, from 6 to 8 p.m. For more info, contact Jim at 683-2224. Canceled Feb. 17-20 Greater Niagara Fishing and Outdoor Expo at the Conference and Event Center Niagara Falls. Go to niagarafishingexpo.com for more information. Submit calendar items to billhiltsjr@gmail.com at least three weeks in advance. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Meeting in Yangon for their General Assembly, the Bishops of Myanmar express deep concern over the escalation of fighting between the Tatmadaw and rebel forces, and urge all parties to facilitate access to humanitarian relief. By Lisa Zengarini As violence continues to escalate in Myanmar, Burmese Bishops have urged all parties involved to allow and facilitate access to humanitarian relief, to stop targeting civilians, and to respect the integrity of churches, hospitals, and schools. Human dignity and the right to life should never be compromised, the Bishops write in a joint statement released on Friday. We appeal for the respect of life, of the sacredness of sanctuaries in places of worship, and of the integrity of hospitals and schools. All those who try to help people must be protected. Thousands of displaced Fighting between the military junta and rebel forces in Kayah, Chin, and Karen States has intensified dramatically in the last weeks, killing civilians indiscriminately and displacing thousands of people. Churches have also been damaged in the fighting. The latest incident occurred in a parish church in the diocese of Loikaw which was hit by an airstrike. Concern for the escalation The local Catholic Church and humanitarian organizations, such as Unicef, have voiced their concern over the escalation, also condemning the killing of children. Last week, at least four children were killed and many others were seriously wounded in different incidents. Read also 14/01/2022 Myanmar: Mandalay Church calls on Catholics to pray for peace Following an escalation of violence in Myanmar, local Church leaders ask Catholics in the southeast Asian nation for unity and prayers. In their statement, the Catholic Bishops of Myanmar, gathered in Yangon for their General Assembly from 11-14 January, say they are deeply saddened by the current situation in the conflict areas involving innocent people and in particular of internally displaced persons, children, women, the elderly and the sick, regardless of race and faith. "Thousands are on the run and many are dying of hunger, the statement remarks. Helping the displaced and praying for peace The Bishops also express gratitude to all the priests and religious engaged in giving shelter to those fleeing the fighting. "This nation will be healed by these gestures," they say, encouraging all Catholic dioceses to promote peace in the country through all possible efforts, especially prayer. Our service will reach every person in this country, regardless of race or religion, the Bishops say. Read also 27/12/2021 Cardinal Bo: Myanmar is a war zone Myanmars Cardinal Charles Bo launches an appeal to the countrys military to stop the violence, and calls on the democracy movement and ethnic armed groups to strive for peace. ... Over 1,400 dead since the coup Since the military coup on 1 February 2021, over 1,400 people have been killed, including at least 50 children, and more than 10,000 people have been detained. Among them are also Catholic priests and Protestant pastors. Many cases of torture have been reported during the military crackdowns on the pro-democracy movement. Memorial held for Ashling Murphy, who was murdered while out jogging Vigils are held throughout Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland on Friday calling for an end to violence against women following the murder of a young teacher. By Vatican News staff reporter Another womans life was cut tragically short by violence this week, leaving the Irish nation in shock. Ashling Murphy, a 23-year-old teacher, was killed in Tullamore in the Irish midlands on Wednesday while out jogging. Police say the attack was likely random and that the perpetrator is still at large. Watershed moment Aislings murder is being seen as a watershed moment" in the call to stamp out violence against women. Many Irish towns and cities came to a standstill on Friday to remember a young woman and talented musician. Among the 100 vigils organized the length and breadth of Ireland and Northern Ireland was one held outside the Irish parliament in Dublin, where a minute's silence was held at 4.30 p.m., close to the time Ms. Murphy was attacked. Those paying tribute to the young teacher included Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheal Martin who said the government has been working over the last year on a national strategy on domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence, the centrepiece of which is zero tolerance for violence against women. Violence and abuse Aisling Murphys name will now be added to the long list of women who have died as a result of violence. Last year, the killing of 33-year-old marketing executive, Sarah Everard made headlines in Britain when she was kidnapped and murdered by a serving police officer. Her death sparked widespread debate about women's safety and violence against women in the UK. And during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, reports of domestic abuse increased globally. Pope Francis plea Just over two weeks ago while celebrating Mass on New Years Day, Pope Francis called for an end to violence against women. In a homily centred around motherhood and women, the Pope said, Since mothers bestow life, and women keep the world [together], let us all make greater efforts to promote mothers and to protect women. He added, How much violence is directed against women! Enough. To hurt a woman is to insult God, who from a woman took on our humanity not through an angel, not directly, but through a woman. KAYLEE SUGIMOTO is a News and Features Reporter for The Vidette. Contract Sugimoto at ksugim1@ilstu.edu. Follow Sugimoto on Twitter at @kayleesugimoto1 IF YOU SUPPORT THE VIDETTE MISSION of providing a training laboratory for Illinois State University student journalists to learn and sharpen viable, valuable and marketable skills in all phases of digital media, please contribute to this most important cause. Thank you. A 46-year-old mother living in Madrid, Spain, was found guilty by the court and arrested for attempting to escape to Portugal in order to prevent her children from getting vaccinated against COVID-19. Although the court was prepared to release the woman on bail, it ruled that she would not be allowed to have any contact with her children after it came to light that the woman forbade her kids from going to school or visiting their father once she took them away. Even before the pandemic began, the woman, identified as Christine M.C., and her ex-husband David had argued about vaccinating their kids. The boys, Diego and Hugo, who are aged 14 and 12 years old respectively, have not yet completed the full vaccination schedule for polio and tetanus. Christine had been one of the first people to take a stand against the Spanish governments COVID-19 vaccination policy. She strongly believed that the vaccine could cause long-term negative health consequences for her children. After the ex-couple could not agree which parent had the right to decide about vaccinating their children, they approached the court. The court sided with the husband. David soon received a letter from his ex-wife which stated that she planned to remove their children from school. After Nov. 4, David could not meet his kids. He eventually filed a police complaint. Christine had taken residence in her boyfriends home in Jerez de la Frontera, near the school the kids had been going to. She then tried to move to Portugal with the two boys. However, Christine turned herself to the police on Jan. 5. A judge put her in custody and handed the kids to the father. In court, Christines lawyer defended her actions by saying that she was just trying to protect her children from the potential side effects of the vaccination. Last December, countries all over the European Union began vaccinating children between the ages of 5 to 11. In Spain, the vaccination campaign for five to 11-year-olds began on Dec. 15. According to a report by The Local, 964,000 kids between five and 11 years old were vaccinated with their first dose as of Jan. 3. That accounted for 29 percent of the 3.3 million children in the demographic. The media outlet calculated the rate of vaccination for the age group to be progressing at the rate of one percent per day on average. A survey by market research company Appinio in mid-December revealed that 74 percent of parents were ready to have their children vaccinated; 12 percent of parents were against the inoculation; 13.7 percent were undecided. There are regional variations in vaccinating kids. The northern region of Cantabria has a 43 percent rate in this regard while in the Balearic Islands, the progress was much slower with just 15 percent of the kids being inoculated. In July last year, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) had authorized Modernas COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 12 to 17. In November, the Pfizer vaccine was approved for kids between five and 11 years old. Regulators in both the EU and the U.S. have cautioned that Pfizer and Moderna vaccines seem to be linked to rare reactions like heart inflammation and chest pain in young adults and teens. The U.S. military is expanding its presence in the Pacific to counter Chinas threats of expansion. However, the department that is spending the most time in the region is not from the Pentagon but the U.S. Coast Guard that comes under the Department of Homeland Security. The U.S. Coast Guard has a long history in the Pacific. Vice Adm. Michael McAllister, commander of the Coast Guards Pacific Area, said the department has served the Pacific region for more than 150 years. Seven decades ago, the Activities Far East coast guard command was set up, strengthening American presence in the area. What we do, its not big in numbers, but its, I think, pretty significant in contribution. We get access. We can go places, Adm. Karl Schultz, commandant of the Coast Guard, said at a Navy League event in December. He pointed to the example of the Coast Guards Legend-class cutter USCGC Munro that was deployed in the Indo-Pacific region for 102 days and returned in October. During its deployment, the cutter participated in drills with allies in the South China Sea and the East China Sea. It also passed through the Taiwan Strait, which attracted criticism from the Chinese communist regime. The U.S. Navy collaborates with the U.S. Coast Guard when planning operations in the region. For instance, the Munro deployment was controlled by the Navys Japan-based 7th fleet. The 7th Fleet spokesperson Lt. Mark Langford said the Navy worked with the Coast Guard to plan out the cutters schedule, operational goals, objectives, and priorities. He insisted that the Coast Guard brings in unique capabilities that complement the Navys capabilities, which include humanitarian assistance, marine environmental response, and expertise in search and rescue. Many former and current officials often claim that the Coast Guard is a sought-after ally in the Pacific because of its conduct. When we show up, were greeted with open arms because the mission set is so critical to these countries that we want to be good partners to At the end of the day, we try to model a type of behavior that keeps commerce open, peacefully resolves disputes, protects valuable resources, and counters illicit activities, Randall Schriver said at an event hosted by Carnegie Endowment in September. Schriver was the assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs during the Trump administration. U.S. Coast Guard activity in waters that often see Chinese marine presence sends a warning signal to Beijing that Washington intends to keep these regions free. In an interview with VOA in Nov. 2020, Alan Chong, associate professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said that Beijing tends to send its Coast Guard across waters for military purposes. Its done under the pretext of humanitarian rescue while keeping its naval assets away from disputed areas. The Chinese are not putting up their grey ships up front So, I think the U.S. is also learning from China that they dont want to put their navy in front of the militia. Its asymmetric, so they might as well put up their coast guard, Eduardo Araral, associate professor at the National University of Singapores public policy school, told VOA. Communist China is also sending ships to waters near U.S. territory to show off its naval prowess. In September, Chinas most advanced warship sailed near the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) close to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. UK spy agency MI5 has issued a warning about a Chinese spy who has infiltrated the parliament with the aim of influencing the politics in the United Kingdom. The alert was made public by former leader of the Conservative Party Ian Duncan Smith. According to the Security Service Interference Alert that was sent to the parliament, the Chinese spy, Christine Ching Kui Lee, is accused of having knowingly engaged in political interference activities on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the United Front Work Department (UFWD). Lee has been arranging donations to politicians and political parties. The alert warned anyone coming into contact with Lee to be mindful of her affiliations with Beijing. Lee, 58, owns a law firm that has offices in Birmingham and London. We judge that the UFWD is seeking to covertly interfere in UK politics through establishing links with established and aspiring parliamentarians across the political spectrum. The UFWD seeks to cultivate relationships with influential figures in order to ensure the UK political landscape is favorable to the CCPs agenda and to challenge those that raise concerns about CCP activity, such as human rights, the MI5 alert said. Lee has claimed that her involvement with the UK parliament was aimed at representing the UK Chinese population and increasing diversity. The MI5 pointed out that Lees work was undertaken in covert coordination with the UFWD. Most of the funding for her activities was provided by citizens living in China and Hong Kong. Lee has extensive engagement with many UK politicians, including an All-Party Parliamentary Group called the Chinese in Britain that is now disbanded. Among the many recipients of Lees donation is Sir Ed Davey, the leader of liberal democrats. When he was the energy secretary, Davey received 5,000 ($6,839) as a donation. Barry Gardiner of the Labor party received more than 420,000 ($574,488) from Lee over a course of five years, a significant amount considering that Lee has only made over 700,000 ($957,481) in donations. In an interview with Sky News, Gardner stated that he had informed MI5 of the contributions. The donations were used to fund researchers in his office. Steps were taken to ensure she had no role in either the appointment or management of those researchers They are also aware that I have not benefited personally from those donations in any way. She ceased funding any workers in my office in June 2020, Gardner said. The Chinese Embassy has strongly denied any involvement in the case, with a spokesperson insisting that Beijing has always adhered to the principle of non-interference when it comes to the internal affairs of other nations. We have no need and never seek to buy influence in any foreign parliament. We firmly oppose the trick of smearing and intimidation against the Chinese community in the UK, the statement said. Labor Party called the infiltration an extremely serious affair. The partys shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper condemned Beijings attempt to infiltrate Britains democratic process in the strongest terms. Tobias Ellwood, who presently chairs the Commons Defense Committee, stated that such grey-zone interference is to be anticipated from China. However, he wants the government to approach the matter with a sense of urgency. Ian Duncan Smith called the incident a matter of grave concern and wants Lee to be deported from the country. In a tweet, he criticized the government for not taking quick action against lee. How can it be that an agent of a foreign despotic and despicable power engaged in political interference on behalf of the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party can have nothing done to them, no further action, other than theyre not allowed in @UKParliament? Smith said. U.S. Department of State spokesperson Ned Price released a statement on Jan. 14 calling on Beijing to immediately grant Chinese human rights activist Guo Feixiong permission to travel to the U.S. to be reunited with his family following the death of his wife Zhang Qing on Jan. 10. We offer our condolences following the passing of Zhang Qing, wife of Chinese human rights activist and defender Guo Feixiong (also known as Yang Maodong), Price said. Peoples Republic of China (PRC) authorities have subjected Guo to years of mistreatment, imprisonment, routine harassment and surveillance, and denied foreign travel for his peaceful advocacy on behalf of the Chinese people. Zhang Qing had battled cancer for over a year before succumbing to her ailment. Zhangs dying wish was to be reunited with her husband after being separated from him since Guos most recent arrest and prison sentence in 2013. Guo is a prominent activist who played a major role in the Chinese human rights movement during the early 2000s and served more than a decade in prison in two sentences between 2006 and 2019. He has been detained for nearly a year since he attempted to board a plane in Shanghai hoping to be reunited with his ailing wife in the U.S. Politically motivated exit bans Price called out Beijing on its use of arbitrary detentions and politically motivated exit bans to punish and torment dissidents. The PRC must stop punishing individuals for exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms, he urged. US State Department spokesman Ned Price holds a press briefing on Afghanistan at the State Department in Washington, DC, August 16, 2021. (Image: KEVIN LAMARQUE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Guo made every effort to be reunited with his wife and their son and daughter. However, authorities in China continually denied him the right to leave the country on grounds of endangering national security. Guo was blocked from boarding a flight to the U.S. from Shanghai Pudong International Airport in January and told that an active travel ban against him was still in place. He then announced an indefinite hunger strike and appealed to the international community to help him reunite with his wife. However, on Dec. 5, Guo disappeared after posting an open letter on Nov. 29 appealing to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to let him join his wife in the U.S. He has not been heard of or seen since then. According to ChinaAid news, on Jan. 14, police in the Guangzhou Domestic Security Division released information claiming that Guo Feixiong had been formally arrested. The polic added that Yang Maodong (Guo Feixiong) has been on a hunger strike for a month, and it is impossible to go abroad. Earlier on Dec. 2, 2021, the U.S. State Department called on Chinese authorities to release Guo Feixiong so he could help care for his wife. A State Department spokesman told The Epoch Times in an email that we are deeply concerned about Chinese human rights activist Guo Feixiong (aka Yang Maodong) being detained and restricted from leaving the country. According to NGO Front Line Defenders, Guo Feixiong provided legal assistance and organizational support to residents in the Taishi village of Guangdong in 2005. Guo also defended Falun Gong practitioners and other disenfranchised groups in China. Guo participated in the student demonstrations that took place in Tiananmen square in 1989 and was also a vital participant in the countrys pro-democracy groups. China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi has announced that Beijing will soon appoint a special envoy for the Horn of Africa. Wang's announcement during a visit to Kenya on Thursday comes as the U.S. envoy to the Horn heads to Ethiopia, which has been struggling with over a year of war. The region has also seen setbacks from a coup in Sudan and an election stand-off in Somalia. The visiting Chinese top diplomat said his country will appoint a special envoy to lead the peace process in the Horn of Africa. Speaking in the coastal Kenyan city of Mombasa, Wang said his country will support the people of the Horn of Africa in finding peace. He said it was important to have a consultation on equal footing and to put the destiny of this region firmly in its own peoples hands. He suggested countries in the region might convene a conference on the peace of the Horn of Africa. He added that in order to discuss this matter in depth, to share political consensus and to coordinate actions, China will appoint a special envoy to provide the necessary support for this process. The plan to appoint a special envoy for a war-torn region is seen as part of Chinas ambitious plan to play a role in the regions politics and security. The announcement comes as U.S. special envoy for the region Jeffrey Feltman is expected to visit Ethiopia in a renewed effort to end that countrys conflict. China is among the countries suspected of supplying military hardware to the Ethiopian government, including drones. Nasongo Muliro, an international relations lecturer at the Technical University in Kenya, said China is turning from economic issues to military matters. Special representatives are not purely for trade. They do a lot of peace and security matters But once China starts flexing its military power and having bases, then we may go to proxy wars," Muliro said. The U.S. Department of Defense, in its annual report to Congress on China's military activities, said Beijing wants to establish military bases in Kenya and Tanzania, a claim denied by China. Ethiopia is facing political instability after the government launched an offensive against rebels in the Tigray region in November 2020. The conflict has led to millions of people being displaced and tens of thousands dead. The 14-month-old war threatens to split the country. Kenyas Foreign Minister Raychelle Omamo said Wang and Kenyan officials also discussed trade issues during the foreign ministers two-day visit. We signed an MOU (memorandum of understanding) and the establishment of a working group will look into the issues of tariff and non-tariff barriers to Kenya-China trade and to fast-track and increase exports from Kenya to China. Both sides also concluded and signed two protocols to facilitate bilateral trade, particularly in the export of avocados and aquatic products from Kenya to China, Omamo said. The Chinese delegation visited the Kipevu oil terminal in Mombasa, which cost $400 million to build. Chinese money accounts for 67% of Kenyas external debt, and many Kenyans fear the country may lose control of key facilities like the Mombasa port if Kenya fails to repay the loans. There are calls for Prince Andrew to lose his police protection and his dukedom while he awaits a civil trial accused of sexual assault. After the Queen removed his military titles and royal patronages, the Labour MP for York Central, Rachael Maskell, tweeted that it was "untenable" for him to "cling on to his title another day longer". Ms Maskell said: "This association with York must end. There's a very serious allegation made against this man of privilege and entitlement. I'm working with agencies to tackle sexual violence and misogyny." Darryl Smalley, a senior member of City of York Council, also said the dukedom was no longer appropriate. Given there is little chance of the Queen's second son returning to royal duties, Graham Smith, head of Republic, which campaigns for an elected head of state, said Andrew should pay for protection out of his own pocket. Andrew is "no longer in any real sense a member of the royal household", Mr Smith said, and "lots of celebrities and other high-profile people pay for their own security". Security minister Damian Hinds refused to confirm whether the duke will still receive taxpayer-funded security during a radio interview. Prince Charles, who discussed the removal of his brother's privileges with the Queen and Prince William, refused to comment when approached by Sky News on Friday. Visiting Haddo House and Country Park in the north east of Scotland to meet people who had helped clear up after Storm Arwen, Sky correspondent James Matthews asked him for his view on Andrew's position. The heir to the throne did not comment. Andrew's position became more serious earlier this week when a judge rejected his attempt to have the sexual assault lawsuit against him thrown out. His accuser, Virginia Giuffre, has thanked the judge and said she will "continue to expose the truth". She tweeted: "My goal has always been to show that the rich and powerful are not above the law and must be held accountable." Story continues Andrew "has to settle", media lawyer Mark Stephens said. He added: "His position is bad, he's reputationally done - particularly now the Royal Family have essentially pushed him into a locked and unheated turret in Balmoral. "And the only thing he can do is throw himself on the grenade Judge Lewis A Kaplan threw into the family and take the hit for the wider family. That means we won't be talking about his trial rather the Queen's Platinum Jubilee." The duke has strenuously denied the allegations against him. A source close to him has said: "This is a marathon not a sprint and the duke will continue to defend himself against these claims." Music Time in Africa is VOAs longest running English language program. Since 1965, this award-winning program has featured pan African music that spans all genres and generations. Ethnomusicologist and Host Heather Maxwell keeps you up to date on whats happening in African music with exclusive interviews, cultural information, and of course, great music -- including rare recordings from the Leo Sarkisian Library of African Music. Malawi's government Tuesday announced a goal to eliminate malaria, a leading cause of death in the country, by 2030. The mosquito-spread parasitic disease accounts for about 15% of Malawi's hospital admissions. Speaking during a televised launch of a nationwide anti-malaria initiative known as 'Zero Malaria Starts with Me' campaign, President Lazarus Chakwera said statistics on malaria infection in the country are worrying. He said malaria contributed about 36% of all out-patient department cases and 15% of all hospital admissions in Malawi. "This creates a lot of work for our health workers and pressure on drugs in our public health facilities. And additionally, malaria remains the leading cause of death in Malawi claiming six lives every day," said Chakwera. President Chakwera said last year, Malawi registered 6.9 million malaria cases more than a third of the total population -- and lost 2,500 lives because of the disease. It killed more Malawians than any other disease, including COVID-19. The Malawi leader said his administration is committed to do whatever it takes to create a malaria-free country. "And admittedly this commitment cannot be governments alone. Malaria is a collective problem that demands collective strategy," said Chakwera. "By collective strategy I am referring to private sector players and development partners who need to put money where their mouth is and join their resources to ours so we finance this fight together. Chakwera announced what he called ten commandments' which would help in preventing and cure the disease. These include, clearing all breeding grounds for mosquitoes, timely taking of prescribed malaria medication and sleeping under a mosquito net. "My administration will distribute 9,258,645 mosquito nets in 25 districts, and also indoor residual spraying in the districts of Nkhata-bay, Nkhota-kota, Balaka and Mangochi," said Chakwera. "Currently only 55% of Malawians sleep under mosquito nets, and we need to get to a 100% to prevail. The initiative is part of the global campaign to end Malaria by 2030. The U.S. Presidents Malaria Initiative, launched in 2005, is among the financiers of the campaign. The programs team leader in Malawi, Monica Batista, explained how malaria personally affected her. "When I first started working for malaria, it was not a personal issue for me," said Batista . "That all changed just six months ago when I lost a dear friend to malaria. Now the fight against malaria is personal for me. I understand what it feels like to lose a loved one to this preventable disease. She said the U.S. government has for the past 15 years contributed about $270 million towards malaria prevention and control activities in Malawi. "The strides we have made against malaria, though significant, are delicate and incomplete," said Batista. "To defeat malaria, we will need a more concerted effort among the private sector, the public sector and civil society together as a whole. She said the launch of Zero Malaria Starts with Me campaign serves as a call to action. Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera says he will take steps to mitigate the steep rise of fertilizer prices which have doubled in the last year. He says about 80 percent of Malawi farmers can no longer afford to buy fertilizer. Farmers in Malawi say the rise in fertilizer prices is likely to affect production in this agro-based southern Africa country. Jacob Nyirongo is Chief Executive Officer for Farmers Union of Malawi. Most farmers in Malawi are poor and its quite a struggle for farmers to access fertilizer even at the prices that they were like last year. So, the increase that we have seen this year means it is pushing more farmers to a bracket where most farmers wont be able to access fertilizer," he said. Fertilizer prices have hit an all-time high in Malawi with a bag weighing 50 kilogram now selling between $40 and $50 dollars. This is almost double the prices of last year. Agriculture experts say this would likely lead to higher costs for government subsidized fertilizers under the Affordable Inputs Program, in which ultra-poor farmers buy at $6 dollars per 50 kilograms bag. But in his national televised address Saturday, President Chakwera vowed the keep the prices low. He said the price hike is the result of actions by a cartel, which he did not name, and accused it of trying to undermine his Affordable Inputs Program. He says But what I want you to know is that I and my government cannot allow someone to kill agriculture in this country. Whether one likes it or not, farmers will buy fertilizer at a cheaper price this year. He, however, said the prices might be slightly higher than last years but not as exorbitant as they are now. But the Fertilizer Importers Association in Malawi, a group of fertilizer importers justifies the current price rise. Speaking in Malawi Parliament Wednesday, the group said the rise is dictated by the international market which is facing the rise in fertilizers raw materials like phosphate. In response to the rise in fertilizer prices, the Ministry of Agriculture announced in July that it has trimmed the number of beneficiaries of the subsidized farm input program this year from 3.7 million to 2.7 million. But Chakwera has reversed that decision. I will not allow anyone to remove any family or village from the list of beneficiaries of the cheap fertilizer. This is taking the government for granted. If there are people I vowed to fight for, they are the farmers, he said. Dr. Betchani Tchereni is a lecturer in Economics at Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences. He says farmers should do organic farming which largely relies on manure. This organic way of farming is the way to go. We just need to propagate it to make sure that everyone understands the best way of doing it. Once we do that, I think issues of biodiversity will come in and I am very sure that at the end of the day, we are going to benefit as a country economically and also in terms of our own health, he said. But Farmers Unions Nyirongo, also an agronomist, says manure cannot stand alone. So what we have seen as farmers is that if you use manure, you improve the health of the soil. And you enable the soil to utilize the fertilizer that you apply to a crop. So, if for example, you combine manure with inorganic fertilizer, you get the best yield, he said. Nyirongo says for now, farmers are keeping their fingers crossed on President Chakweras pledge to help control the overpricing of fertilizer. Malawi had nearly 7 million malaria cases last year, more than a third of the population, with 2,500 lives lost to the mosquito-borne disease. However, one village has become a model for how to eradicate malaria and in June was honored as the first ever to have zero malaria cases for a whole year. Margret Kachere, a resident of Mwikala village in Machinga district, recounted a day in 2009 when her family of five children was about to lose its second-born child to malaria. That day her body was too hot, and she would often faint, she said. I took her to a traditional healer, but it did not help. It was so terrible that one could not sleep. This forced me to take her to the hospital the following day, where she got help after (being) diagnosed with malaria. Kacheres family members are among thousands in Mwikala who have long been affected by malaria, largely because of beliefs and misconceptions about the use of mosquito nets as a preventive measure. We believed that if one sleeps under a mosquito net they would suffer from loss of libido, Kachere said. And also that if one sleeps under the net would die soon because the net symbolizes a coffin. So, we were afraid to sleep under the mosquito net. But the community-driven anti-malaria campaign, which started in 2016, has changed that. Now, Mwikala, home to more than 12,000 people, has become a model village for combating malaria. In June of this year, Malawis president, Lazarus Chakwera, honored the villages chief for reducing malaria infection and for recording zero cases since 2017. Chakwera spoke during the televised launch of the nationwide anti-malaria campaign in Machinga district. What this village has done has given me hope that if everyone follows what they do, the campaign to make Malawi free from malaria is possible, he said. Malaria is the No. 1 killer disease in Malawi and accounts for 36% of all hospital outpatients and 15% of hospital admissions. Last year alone, malaria killed 2,500 people in Malawi, more than any other disease, including COVID-19. The villages owes its award to a group of community volunteers who taught the villagers about malaria prevention measures. Their activities include drama, community health talks and door-to-door campaigns. This has forced people from surrounding villages to learn about the measures. Additionally, the village chief augmented the campaign by creating laws requiring villagers to use mosquito nets. I have introduced the bylaws to prevent people from abusing mosquito nets, said Yasin Mustapha, a senior chief for Mwikala village. Some people would sell the free mosquito nets to fishermen. So, anyone disobeying the bylaws would pay a fine of $6. I use the money (to) buy a mosquito net, and I give it to those who dont have (one). The success has inspired Mwikala community volunteers, who say that funds permitting, they will take their anti-malaria campaign to nearby villages or beyond. Taiwan has pledged $1 billion to Lithuania in its latest move to counter Chinas pressure on the small Baltic nation the first European Union member to allow Taipei to use its name on a de facto embassy. Taiwans promise made Tuesday will help fund joint projects in half a dozen sectors and comes after a January 5 agreement to invest $200 million in Lithuanian industry. The combined $1.2 billion investment aims to counter Chinas increasing pressure on Vilnius since November 18, when Lithuanian authorities allowed Taiwan to open a representative office in its capital under the name Taiwan instead of Taipei. That gesture upset China, which views Taiwan as part of its territory. In the past two months, China has recalled its ambassador from Vilnius while ordering Lithuanias ambassador to leave Beijing, and it has implemented an embargo against Lithuania, boycotting all of its exports as well as any EU products that use Lithuanian-made components. In a press conference Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin called the $1.2 billion investment the Taiwan authorities attempts to expand space for Taiwan independence activities with dollar diplomacy. China sees Taiwan eventually returning to its control, even though many Taiwanese perceive themselves as a self-governing nation. None of us thought the trade volume between Lithuania and China was that large, so we figured China wouldnt use economic sanctions against them, Chang Fu-chang, an associate professor with the Graduate Institute of European Studies at Tamkang University in Taiwan, told VOA Mandarin. But we were wrong. Bor Yunchang, an economics professor at the Chinese Culture University in Taipei, is pessimistic about Taiwans investments. He told VOA Mandarin: Any investment made for political gains will be on thin ice. It just cant be as effective in connecting the two countries as capital flows among private sectors. Chinas revenge In most European countries and the United States, Taiwan uses Taipei, the name of its capital, for its foreign offices that are embassies in all but their official designation. Lithuanias move came as many governments are exploring expanded ties with Taiwan, a high-tech industry powerhouse, even as Beijings increasingly assertive foreign and military policy in the region has caused uneasiness worldwide. Taiwans presence in Vilnius is its first new representative office in Europe since the Taipei Representative Office opened in Bratislava, Slovakia, in 2003. When the office opened, Chinas Foreign Ministry accused Lithuania of undermining Chinese sovereignty and territorial integrity" and told Vilnius to correct the mistakes immediately. This development is really striking, Timothy Heath, a senior defense analyst at the Rand Corporation, told VOAs Russian Service, referring to the Vilnius office. It is the first time a European country has expressed formal recognition of Taiwan in decades. Its a pretty big development, and understandably China is very angry at this change. Relations between the two countries were fraying before Taiwans newest office opened. In August, Beijing stopped approving new permits for Lithuanian food exports to China and halted direct freight train service to Lithuania. Then, in November, China began pressuring companies in the EU to stop using Lithuanian components. Mantas Adomenas, Lithuania's vice minister for foreign affairs, told Reuters in December that China had been sending messages to multinationals that if they use parts and supplies from Lithuania, they will no longer be allowed to sell to the Chinese market or get supplies there," In a videoconference with Taiwans National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-Hsin on Tuesday, Ausrine Armonaite, Lithuanias minister of the economy and innovation, said Vilnius was already seeing companies cancel contracts with Lithuanian providers because of pressure from Beijing. I think China is very worried that Lithuania is setting a precedent and more countries in Europe could follow Lithuanias example. I think this is the reason why China has reacted so harshly, said Heath. Future unclear Chang of Taiwans Tamkang University said Chinas targeting of multinational companies in EU member states outside Lithuania is particularly effective because the enterprises value the lucrative Chinese market. He said Lithuanias biggest trading partners include two other Baltic countries Estonia and Latvia and Russia and the EU. Chang added that while Taiwan has stepped up its efforts in developing trade relations with Vilnius, Lithuanias export structure is unlikely to change in the short term. There are also different opinions among Lithuanias leaders over their nations trade policy with China. In early January, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said it had been a mistake to allow use of the Taiwan designation. Chang said external pressure and internal disputes are hampering efforts by the Lithuanian government to obtain public support for its policy on China and Taiwan. Within the government, diverging views of the president and the prime minister have triggered a confrontation between pro-China and anti-China factions, he added. So the big question is how long can the Lithuanian government stand by Taiwan, Chang told VOA Mandarin. That $1.2 billion isnt a big amount, so, long term, its hard to say where the economic relationship between the two countries will be. Heath of the Rand Corporation said that many countries are taking a wait and see attitude on whether they might want to consider the path Lithuania has taken. I think in the near term, the EU recognizes the importance of the trade relations with China. The larger countries France, Germany, Italy are not in a rush to destabilize their trade relationship with China, he told VOA Mandarin. Heath continued: Nevertheless, I think countries in Europe and around the world are watching closely: What happens to Lithuania? Does it back off its relationship with Taiwan? Or does it maintain it? Whatever it decides, many countries in the world will be watching carefully and thinking about what that might mean for their own relationship with Taiwan. VOA Russian Service reporter Vadim Allen contributed to this report originated by the VOA Mandarin Service. Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly will visit Kyiv next week to reaffirm support for Ukrainian sovereignty and reinforce efforts to deter "aggressive actions" by Russia, Ottawa said Saturday. Moscow has stationed more than 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine, and the United States said Friday it feared Russia was preparing a pretext to invade if diplomacy failed to meet its objectives. Canada, with a sizeable and politically influential population of Ukrainian ethnic descent, has taken a hard line with Moscow since the annexation of Crimea in 2014. "The amassing of Russian troops and equipment in and around Ukraine jeopardizes security in the entire region. These aggressive actions must be deterred," Joly said in a statement. "Canada will work with its international partners to uphold the rules-based international order." Joly will meet Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal and travel to the west of the country to speak to a 200-strong Canadian training mission that has been there since 2015. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and "emphasized that any military incursion into Ukraine would have serious consequences, including coordinated sanctions," Trudeau's office said. Canada has imposed punitive measures on more than 440 individuals and entities over the annexation of Crimea. Joly, who starts a week-long trip to Europe Sunday, will visit Brussels to see NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. She also will go to Paris for talks with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, the statement said. Chinese technology and expertise is making it possible for Venezuela and Cuba to exercise suffocating control over digital communications in the two countries, according to insider accounts and several international investigations. Venezuela and Cuba do more to block internet access than any other governments in Latin America, according to the U.S.-based advocacy group Freedom House, which has documented what it describes as "digital authoritarianism" in the region since 2018. Whoever believes that privacy exists in Venezuela through email communications, Twitter, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram is wrong. All these tools are totally subject to government intervention, said Anthony Daquin, former adviser on computer security matters to the Ministry of Justice of Venezuela. Daquin participated between 2002 and 2008 in delegations sent by former President Hugo Chavez to China to learn how Beijing uses software to identify Chinese citizens, and to implement a similar system in Venezuela. Key to those efforts was the introduction in 2016 of the carnet de la patria or homeland card, developed by the Chinese company ZTE. While theoretically voluntary, possession of the cards is required to access a vast range of goods and services, ranging from doctors appointments to government pensions. The cards were presented as a way to make public services and supply chains more efficient, but critics denounced them as a form of citizen control." Daquin said China's role in recent years has been to provide technology and technical assistance to help the Venezuelan government process large amounts of data and monitor people whom the government considers enemies of the state. "They have television camera systems, fingerprints, facial recognition, word algorithm systems for the internet and conversations, he said. Daquin said one of the few means that Venezuelans have to communicate electronically free from government monitoring is the encrypted messaging platform Signal, which the government has found it very costly to control. The former adviser said Venezuelas digital surveillance structure is divided into five rings, with "Ring 5 being the most trusted, 100 percent Chinese personnel supervising. According to Daquin, the government receives daily reports from the monitors that become the basis for decisions on media censorship, internet shutdowns and arbitrary arrests. US accusations against Chinese companies Several Chinese technology companies are active in Venezuela, including ZTE, Huawei and the China National Electronics Import & Export Corp. (CEIEC). The latter was sanctioned in 2020 by the U.S. Treasury Department on the grounds that its work in Venezuela had helped the government of President Nicolas Maduro "restrict internet service" and "conduct digital surveillance and cyber operations against political opponents." The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee also issued an alert in 2020. In a report, Big Brother, China Digital Authoritarianism, it accused Chinese telecommunications companies of facilitating "digital authoritarianism around the world and cited Venezuela as a case study. Specifically, the committee mentions the existence of a team of ZTE employees working within the facilities of the state telecommunications company CANTV, which manages the homeland card database. The document cites an investigation by the Reuters news agency, which reported it was told by CANTV employees that the card system allows them to monitor a vast range of information about individuals, including "birthdays, family information, employment and income, property owned, medical history, state benefits received, presence on social media, membership of a political party and whether a person voted." "Maduro takes full advantage of Chinese hardware and services in his effort to control Venezuelan citizens," the report says. Sophisticated and simple internet blockades The Maduro governments efforts to block access to the internet by domestic opponents are very crude," according to Luis Carlos Diaz, president of the Venezuelan chapter of the Internet Society, a U.S.-based nonprofit that advocates for open development of the internet. He said it takes nothing more than a phone call from a government official to the operator of a web portal to have a website or social media outlet blocked for a time. However, in 2019, Venezuela blocked The Onion Router, or TOR, one of the most sophisticated systems used globally to allow internet users to remain anonymous and bypass censorship. The platform directs messages through a worldwide network of servers so the origin of a message cannot be identified. Diaz said that, unlike other recurrent blockades in Venezuela, the TOR hack did require a higher level of knowledge. "There, we raised alerts because it was excessively serious, he told VOA. It meant that the Venezuelan government was using technology like the one used in China to block users who had TOR, a tool used to circumvent censorship." The TOR blockade lasted a week, and Diaz said he doubts that the Venezuelan government did it by itself, because it lacks the highly trained people needed for such a complex operation. Chinas role in Cuba The internet infrastructure in Cuba was also built with equipment acquired from Chinese companies. The Swedish organization Qurium, in a report published at the beginning of 2020, said it had detected Huawei eSight network management software on the Cuban internet. The purpose of the software is to help filter web searches, according to this organization. Cuban dissidents say the only way to access pages censored by the government on the island is through a virtual private network or VPN, which tricks the system into believing that the user is in another country. This "is the only way to enter any controlled website," said journalist Luz Escobar, who converts web content into PDF format or newsletters and sends those by email to users of 14yMedio, an independent digital news outlet that is blocked from uploading its content to the internet. In Cuba, however, few people master this technique," she said. Internet censorship in Cuba was investigated in 2017 by the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI), a volunteer-based organization that monitors internet censorship around the world. The group said it was able to determine that a Chinese company had developed software for public Wi-Fi portals on the island "because they left comments in the source code in Chinese. "We also found a wide use of Huawei equipment," said Arturo Filasto, a project leader at OONI who had traveled to Cuba and tested various Wi-Fi connection points provided by the government. Voice of America asked for comments from the three government entities in question Cuba, Venezuela and China but did not receive responses from any of them before publication. China continues to tutor countries with an "authoritarian tendency" In a 2019 report on internet censorship, Freedom House said Venezuelan officials, along with representatives from 36 other countries including Saudi Arabia and Syria, participated in Chinese government training and seminars on new media and information management. China has organized forums such as the World Internet Conference in 2017 "where it imparts its norms to authoritarian-leaning governments," the report concluded. Justin Sherman, an information security expert at the Atlantic Council's Cyber Statecraft Initiative, told VOA that Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE have "been involved all over the world, not just in Venezuela, in creating programs of internet censorship surveillance for governments, intelligence services and police agencies. Sherman said it is not clear whether Chinese companies sell their surveillance technology to authoritarian governments solely for profit. The thesis of the 2020 Senate Relations Committee report is that there is an interest in China to go beyond the sale of its technology services to extend its policy of "digital authoritarianism in the world. This article originated in VOAs Latin America Division. A previous version of this article incorrectly identified the year in which Freedom House released its report on internet censorship criticizing Venezuela and 36 other countries. It was released in 2019. One case of the omicron variant of the coronavirus has been detected in Beijinga rare breach of the citys strict containment measuresas Chinese authorities battle outbreaks elsewhere before the February opening of the Winter Olympics in Bejing and the start of the lunar new year. A locally transmitted omicron infection was discovered in Beijings Haidaian district Saturday morning, Beijings disease prevention and control official Pang Xinghuo said at a news conference. Pang said other occupants in the patients residential building and an office building were being tested and that access to 17 locations linked to the patient had been restricted. Officials in the southern city of Zhuhai suspended the citys bus service after uncovering seven cases of the highly contagious variant and advised residents to stay home. Authorities in China are also trying to contain a series of outbreaks, including from the omicron variant, in the port city of Tianjin, the central city of Anyang and in other smaller cities, keeping millions of people in lockdown across the country. Additionally, Chinas National Health Commission spokesman, Mi Feng, warned Saturday that China is facing "severe" challenges before the February 1 beginning of the lunar new year amid the spread of omicron and delta variants. "The lunar new year travel rush is about to start," Mi noted. "The migration and gathering of people will increase significantly." In the next week or two, Americans will begin receiving free rapid home coronavirus tests from the U.S. government. Residents will have to request the tests on a designated website. The tests have been almost impossible to find in stores. Indias health ministry on Saturday said it had recorded 268,833 new COVID cases, which is 4,631 more cases than were recorded on Friday. The Russian government on Friday delayed approving unpopular legislation that would have restricted access to public places without proof of COVID-19 vaccination, amid a surge in new infections. The Associated Press reports the bill would have required Russians seeking to enter certain public places to have a QR code either confirming vaccination, recent recovery from COVID-19 or a medical exemption from immunization. Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said the measure was pulled due to uncertainty regarding its effectiveness as it was drawn up in response to the delta variant of the virus that causes COVID-19. The omicron variant is currently driving a surge in new infections in the country. She said 783 omicron variant cases have been confirmed across Russia. Moscow officials reported 729 confirmed omicron cases in the capital since December 20. Meanwhile, a French court suspended an outdoor mask requirement in the streets of Paris. The requirement had been imposed December 31 in an effort to suppress the spread of the omicron variant. A court in Versailles on Wednesday suspended a similar outdoor masking requirement for the Yvelines region. The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Saturday that 323.7 million COVID cases have been recorded and 5.5 million deaths. The center said 9.6 billion vaccines have been administered. Some information is from Agence France-Presse. The government of Ethiopia has sent a letter to the World Health Organization, accusing its Ethiopian director-general of misconduct after his sharp criticism of the war and humanitarian crisis in the country. Ethiopia nominated Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to be the head of the U.N. health agency four years ago, but says he has not lived up to the integrity and professional expectations required from his office, accusing him of interfering in Ethiopias internal affairs, according to a press release issued late Thursday. Through his acts, (Tedros) spread harmful misinformation and compromised WHOs reputation, independence and credibility, Ethiopias ministry of foreign affairs said. WHO had no immediate response to the claims. Tedros, an ethnic Tigrayan, has repeatedly deplored the situation in his home country and called for humanitarian access to the conflict-ridden region of Ethiopia. Nowhere in the world are we witnessing hell like Tigray, said Tedros at a media briefing Wednesday. He cited a missive WHO had received recently from a physician in the region, who said health authorities had run out of basic medicines for diseases including diabetes in June and were now using expired stocks and intravenous fluids. Health officials in the Tigray capital have described the same to The Associated Press. Tedros condemned Ethiopias blockade of international access to Tigray, saying that WHO had not been allowed to send any supplies to the region since July, noting the U.N. agency had access to Syria and Yemen even during their worst conflicts. He said there should be unfettered humanitarian access to Tigray and said that just respecting the constitutional order would bring this problem into a peaceful conclusion. He continued: Of course, I am from that region and from the northern part of Ethiopia. But I am saying this without any bias. The Ethiopian government said Tedros was using his office to advance his political interest at the expense of Ethiopia and said he continues to be an active member of the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front; Tedros was foreign minister and health minister when the TPLF dominated the countrys ruling coalition. The TPLF, the political party that runs the Tigray region, has been clashing with Ethiopian federal forces since the countrys Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister accused the heavily armed regional government of attacking a military base. Each government regards the other as illegitimate after a months-long falling-out amid political reforms. On Friday, the U.N. World Food Program warned its food assistance in northern Ethiopia is about to grind to a halt because intense fighting has blocked the passage of fuel and food. No WFP convoys have reached the Tigray capital since mid-December, it said in a statement, and the last of WFPs cereals, pulses and oil will be distributed next week. Stocks of nutritionally fortified food to treat malnourished children and women are depleted, it said. Were now having to choose who goes hungry to prevent another from starving, said Michael Dunford, WFPs regional director for Eastern Africa, calling for safe humanitarian corridors on all routes across northern Ethiopia. The WFP says nearly 10 million people need food assistance. In a separate statement on the war, the U.N human rights office said at least 108 civilians have reportedly been killed in Tigray this year by airstrikes allegedly carried out by the Ethiopian air force. It warned of possible war crimes. The airstrikes have continued despite a shift in the war in recent weeks, with the Tigray forces retreating into their region and Ethiopian forces saying they wouldnt pursue them further there. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has spoken of reconciliation and national dialogue. In September, France, Germany and other European countries nominated Tedros for a second term as WHOs director-general, the first time any candidate was not supported by his or her home country. Tedros is expected to be confirmed for another five-year term in May, as he is running unopposed. Under Tedros, WHO came under withering criticism from the U.S. Trump administration over allegations of grievous missteps in responding to COVID-19 and for allegedly colluding with China in the early phases of the outbreak. Tedros has been a leading voice urging rich countries and vaccine makers to do more to improve access to COVID shots in the developing world a call that has largely gone unheeded. Last year, WHO faced mounting pressure over revelations from an AP investigation and an independent panel that found senior management were informed of sexual abuse allegations during the agencys response to an Ebola outbreak in Congo. The World Food Program warns Ethiopia is on the edge of a humanitarian disaster as escalating fighting in the north is preventing the delivery of needed food from reaching millions of people in battle-scarred Tigray province. The last time a food convoy was able to reach Tigrays capital, Mekelle, was mid-December. Millions of acutely hungry people in this war-torn province have been deprived of food since then. In a blunt warning to the warring parties and international community, World Food Program spokesman Tomson Phiri says his agencys humanitarian operation in northern Ethiopia is about to grind to a halt. He says intense fighting in the region is blocking the passage of fuel and food. Stocks of nutritionally fortified food for the treatment of malnourished children and women are now exhausted, and the last of WFPs cereals, pulses and oil will be distributed next week," said Phiri. "Because of fighting, food distributions are at an all-time low. WFP aid workers on the ground tell me that warehouses are completely empty. Fighting erupted between Ethiopian government troops and Tigrayan forces in November 2020. Conditions have seriously deteriorated since then. The World Food Program says 9.4 million people in northern Ethiopia now require humanitarian food aid, an increase of 2.7 million from just four months ago. In Tigray alone, the United Nations says 5.2 million people depend on international assistance to survive. It says 400,000 people are living in famine-like conditions and another 2 million are on the verge of famine. The WFP aims to provide food aid for 2.1 million people in Tigray and for an additional 1.1 million people in the Amhara and Afar regions. However, money is in short supply. The U.N. food agency is urgently appealing for $337 million to carry out its emergency food assistance program in Northern Ethiopia over the next six months. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - December 31, 2021) - High Fusion Inc. (CSE: FUZN) ("High Fusion" or the "Company") announced that, as requested by the Company, it has been granted a Management Cease Trade Order ("MCTO") today by the Ontario Securities Commission ("OSC") as a result of its December 16, 2021 announcement that it would be late in filing its interim financial statements for the three month period ended October 31, 2021 and related Management's Discussion & Analysis, and CEO and CFO certification of filings (collectively, the "Q1 2022 Filings"). The late filing is due to the complexity associated with consolidating the purchase of the assets and business of OutCo Labs Inc. completed on August 31, 2021. In order to complete the process, the Issuer will establish a timetable with its audit committee with the aim of completing specific tasks in the process on a daily basis. As a result of this delay in filing, the OSC, the principal regulator of the Company, today issued a MCTO, which imposed restrictions on all trading in and all acquisitions of securities of the Company, whether direct or indirect, by the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer of the Company. The MCTO will not affect the ability of persons who are not insiders of the Company to trade its securities. The Company intends to satisfy the provisions of the Alternative Information Guidelines as set out in National Policy 12-203 so long as the Q1 2022 Filings are outstanding. This includes the issuance of further by-weekly default status reports, each of which will be issued in the form of a press release. A general cease trade order may be issued if the Company fails to file such default status reports on a timely basis. About High Fusion Inc. High Fusion Inc. (formerly Nutritional High International Inc.) is focused on developing and manufacturing branded products in the cannabis industry with a specific focus on flower, pro-rolls, vapes, edibles and oil extracts for medical and adult recreational use. The Company operates and controls licenses in California, Colorado and Oregon. Story continues High Fusion has manufacturing, retail and grow operations in California through its acquisition of the business of OutCo and owns and operates oil extraction and edible manufacturing facilities in Colorado and Oregon. The Company's brand portfolio includes its award winning FLI edibles and vape product, along with a number of new brands including Red Octopus and Dubbi Brothers in addition to the OutCo and Thrive brands recently acquired. Neural Therapeutics Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of High Fusion focused on ethnobotanical drug-discovery and development company. Neural Therapeutics is focused on developing products and conducting research on the psychoactive cacti plants with the primary objective to find where the historical use in traditional medicine has proven to be effective and capitalize on the opportunities that can be applied in modern medical and natural health product markets. For updates on the Company's activities and highlights of the Company's press releases and other media coverage, please visit www.high-fusion.com. For further information, please contact: High Fusion Inc. Robert Wilson, Chief Financial Officer 416-666-4005 Email: rwilson@nutritionalhigh.com Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information: NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR OTC MARKETS GROUP INC., NOR THEIR REGULATIONS SERVICES PROVIDERS HAVE REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. This news release may contain forward-looking statements and information based on current expectations. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements. Risks that may have an impact on the ability for these events to be achieved include completion of the Q1 2022 Filings. Although such statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be correct. We assume no responsibility to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. The Company's securities have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or applicable state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold to, or for the account or benefit of, persons in the United States or "U.S. Persons", as such term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act, absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in the United States or any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law. Some of the risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking information expressed in this press release include, but are not limited to: obtaining and maintaining regulatory approvals including acquiring and renewing U.S. state, local or other licenses, the uncertainty of existing protection from U.S. federal or other prosecution, regulatory or political change such as changes in applicable laws and regulations, including U.S. state-law legalization, market and general economic conditions of the cannabis sector or otherwise.. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/108863 A key European diplomat believes there is still a chance to defuse the growing political crisis in Mali that has seen the countrys interim military government clash repeatedly in recent days with both its neighbors and members of the international community. Emanuela Del Re, the European Union's special representative for the Sahel, criticized Malis current rulers for provoking countries in the region and Europe by postponing elections for five years and for bringing in Russian mercenaries to help with security. But in an interview Friday with VOA, Del Re said she thinks the coup leaders will eventually have no choice but to relent. I think that despite, of course, the fact that the government is so firm in saying that they want this long transition because probably they want to stay in power for a long time, the pressure will be so strong that at one point they will have to come to a compromise, she said. Del Re praised sanctions targeting Mali adopted earlier this week by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the EU, describing them as coherent and consequential, and called on the international community to maintain the pressure on the interim government. Brussels meeting At the same time, though, she and other European officials are continuing to talk to Malian officials and expect Mali to take part in a meeting scheduled for later this month in Brussels. The European Union wants to be coherent with this approach of the sanctions it wants to be firm in this sense, Del Re told VOA. At the same time, it wants to also keep the doors open for negotiation. I am sure that there will negotiations. There will be a dialogue, she added. Thousands of supporters of Malis military government took to the streets Friday in the capital, Bamako, railing against the ECOWAS sanctions as unjust. "These illegal and illegitimate measures have three objectives: to destabilize the institutions, to destabilize the Malian army and to destabilize Mali, Prime Minister Choguel Maiga told the crowd. But what they must not forget is that Mali is a lock, Mali is a dam. If Mali blows, and God help us, it will not blow, but if that happens, no one will have peace in ECOWAS," he added. Many of the protesters praised the military government for standing up to France, while others waived Malian flags and some even waived Russian flags. The presence of Russian flags is likely to increase concern in the West, with European countries and the United States repeatedly warning the military government against bringing in mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a paramilitary company with ties to the Kremlin. We have seen what they have done in the Central African Republic, the predatory behavior and the violations of human rights, so we have made clear that we are completely against their intervention in Mali, a European official told reporters Friday, requesting anonymity to discuss the sensitive subject when asked about reports that several hundred mercenaries are now in Mali. According to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, Malis military government has committed to paying Wagner $11 million per month $132 million a year for the services of 1,000 mercenaries, an amount equal to more than 20% of Malis yearly defense expenditures. Malis government has denied reports it is using Russian mercenaries, but the move appears to be having an impact on other international forces sent to the country to help fight against terrorists linked to Islamic State and al-Qaida. Sweden to withdraw Swedens foreign minister said Friday that her country will withdraw from the Takuba Task Force, a European special forces mission to Mali, and that it may withdraw a couple hundred troops serving in Mali under the United Nations. We now know that there is Wagner Group, Swedens Ann Linde told reporters in Brest, France, following a meeting of EU foreign ministers. If they have a stronger and stronger impact, then it will be not possible to continue with those large number of troops from us. Other European officials cautioned that additional troops could be pulled if the situation worsens and warned there could be regional implications. It cannot be accepted for its part for the risk of having a domino effect, Del Re told VOA. The countries of the region, the countries of the G-5, for instance, they fear that this could be an example that might somehow give the idea of copying the situation to other countries. Despite these complications, Del Re and other European officials insist they have no intention of abandoning Mali or its neighbors in the Sahel. What we are worried about very much is the population of Mali, because they are already in such a condition, Del Re told VOA. They don't deserve this situation. Annie Risemberg contributed to this report from Bamako. Denmark's former defense minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen said on Friday he has been charged with violating a section of the penal code which includes treason for leaking state secrets. Frederiksen, who served as defense minister from 2016-19, was charged with the rarely used section 109 of the code, which carries a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison, although it was not clear exactly what he was accused of. Section 109 covers any "person who discloses or imparts any information on secret negotiations, deliberations or resolutions of the state or its rights in relation to foreign states. A statement published by Frederiksen on Friday did not specify what the charges against him referred to or whether the charges related to his time as a minister. "I have spoken out as a member of parliament on a political issue, and I have nothing further to add at present. But I could never dream of doing anything that could harm Denmark or Denmark's interests," Frederiksen said in a statement. It was not clear which comments Frederiksen referred to in his statement. The state prosecutors office and the Ministry of Defense declined to comment on Frederiksen's statement. The news come after the head of Denmark's foreign intelligence unit last month was detained, charged under the same section of the law over his suspected involvement in a case of "highly classified" information leaks. Lars Findsen has denied wrongdoing, describing the accusation as "completely insane. With Russian troops massing and the specter of war looming over the trenches of eastern Ukraine, soldiers in the dugouts have found solace in the unlikely companionship of stray cats and dogs. In a muddy and freezing trench near the town of Avdiivka, 21-year-old Ukrainian soldier Mykyta was petting a dog adopted by the troops as he explained how she had become a valued asset on the frontline. "She immediately barks or growls if the enemy is planning an attack. It's safer and calmer with her no wonder they say that a dog is man's best friend," he told AFP, declining to give his last name over security concerns. More than two million Ukrainians were displaced from their homes and many pets were abandoned after fighting broke out in 2014 between pro-Moscow separatists and Kyiv's army. The conflict, which has claimed 13,000 lives, has simmered in recent years with only sporadic reports of escalations and military deaths in eastern Ukraine. But that has changed recently with Kyiv's Western allies accusing Russia of building up tens of thousands of troops around Ukraine's borders in preparation for a possible invasion. Those tensions are at the center of intensive negotiations this week between the United States, NATO and Russia in Geneva and Brussels, with both sides accusing the other of ratcheting up tensions. "The animals aren't to blame the war is," said 49-year-old soldier Volodymyr, who also declined to give his last name citing security concerns. An AFP journalist said around 15 cats and several dogs had taken up residence together with the soldiers in Volodymyr's section of the trenches. "They were abandoned. They had to fend for themselves. We have to feed them," Volodymyr said, pouring leftover soup for the cats. 'Talisman' puppy After spending months on the frontline with their adopted strays, some soldiers have ended up taking their new comrades home, away from the fighting. In the basement of a bombed-damaged house where he sleeps while at the front, 29-year-old soldier Dmytro, meanwhile, is full of praise for his black hunting cat, Chernukha. "When winter came, field mice were running around the dugouts," Dmytro said. "She caught them all," within two months, the young soldier with a shaved head told AFP proudly. But it wasn't the first time a pet had intervened during the war, he said. Dmytro told AFP that in 2014 he befriended a one-month-old puppy near the then-flashpoint town of Slavyansk. He said the dog soon became a "mini-talisman" among his fellow soldiers. Minutes before one bout of shelling began, he remembered, the dog hid. "We very quickly took the same measure as the dog," Dmytro said with a smile on his face. We "grabbed bulletproof vests, helmets" and "ran." With tensions higher now over fears Russia could invade, soldiers say the animals have been a particular boon, helping them relax and bringing respite to their daily routine. "You come back to the post, lie down on the bed, and here comes Chernukha," Dmytro said. The cat "lies on your stomach and looks at you as if she wants to be petted." "It's a sedative," he said. A former Haitian lawmaker who is a suspect in the assassination of the country's president has been arrested in Jamaica, Jamaican authorities said Saturday. Ex-senator Jean Joel Joseph, wanted in the July 7, 2021, killing of president Jovenel Moise, was arrested Friday evening, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) said in a statement. The JCF "can confirm that a Haitian national; Jean Joel Joseph and three other members (of) his family were arrested in Jamaica on immigration-related charges," the statement said. Jamaican investigators contacted Haitian authorities who said Joseph was "wanted in Haiti as a suspect in the alleged assassination of the Haitian President in 2021," it added. Joseph was arrested at a house in St. Elizabeth, a parish in the southwest of the island. A Jamaican police source told AFP that Joseph is "being detained at the moment." The source said Jamaican police acted in conjunction with "international law enforcement partners" and that "joint investigations" had been under way. Moise, who was unpopular in Haiti, was killed and his wife was seriously wounded when a commando of around 20 men burst into the presidential residence and shot them in July. Dozens of suspects had been arrested previously over Moise's murder, but much about the assassination remains murky, especially who ordered it. An arrest warrant was issued for Joseph right after the killing, with authorities describing him as "armed and dangerous." Joseph was an opposition senator and fierce critic of the president. More than 40 people, including more than a dozen Colombians and some Americans of Haitian origin, have been arrested in connection with the assassination. The killing deepened an already dramatic crisis in Haiti, which is suffering from a lack of security, soaring gang violence and a spate of kidnappings. Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who has in effect been running the country since Moise's death, told AFP this month that he too had been targeted in an assassination attempt, during national day celebrations. Earlier this month, U.S. authorities charged a retired Colombian soldier in connection with Moise's killing. The Justice Department said 43-year-old Mario Palacios, along with others, "participated in a plot to kidnap or kill the Haitian President." U.S. prosecutors said the plot against Moise "initially focused on conducting a kidnapping of the president as part of a purported arrest operation," but it "ultimately resulted in a plot to kill." The U.S. Congress on Thursday ordered a probe into Moise's assassination. The Senate voted unanimously Thursday to order the State Department to issue a report within 180 days that would provide a "detailed description" of the circumstances surrounding Moise's killing. Freelance journalist Sajad Gul was at home in Shahgund, a village in north Kashmir's Bandipora district, when the army came for him. It was about 10 p.m. on January 5. The journalists family told local media that Gul received a phone call asking him to come outside. The next thing the family heard, he had been taken to a police station and accused of serious anti-national crimes. Gul, 26, contributes to the news website Kashmir Walla and studies at Central University of Kashmir. Fahad Shah, editor at The Kashmir Walla, described the arrest as a brazen violation of freedom of press [that] threatens the very core of people's rights. Effect on coverage Shah said that cases like the one against Gul, in which reporters or media outlets are accused of sharing or posting anti-national sentiment, are increasing in Kashmir, and that the threat of legal action is having an impact in a region where journalism plays a significant role. Its not an isolated problem. Lawsuits against media are on the rise across India, with a growing trend of judicial harassment and intimidation against those who do not toe the line of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, said Daniel Bastard, the Asia-Pacific lead for media watchdog Reporters Without Borders. In Kashmir, Bastard said, that pattern can mean that every journalist who is critical of the government risks being deemed anti-national or anti-Indian. Some may start to self-censor to avoid harassment. Neither the Jammu and Kashmir Home Department nor Indias Ministry of Information and Broadcasting responded to VOAs email requesting comment. In Guls case, his arrest appears linked to a video he posted to Twitter of a protest over the killing of a local militant commander, The Kashmir Walla reported. A police statement said Gul uploaded the objectionable videos with anti-national slogans." He is charged with criminal conspiracy, assertions prejudicial to national integration a complaint usually referring to comments deemed against the sovereignty and integrity of India and making or sharing statements to promote enmity and hatred. Police in Kashmir did not respond to VOAs email requesting comment. Sensitive to criticism The current administration in India appears prickly about criticism, said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch. But, she said, the best way for a government to prevent tensions is to act swiftly when credible and fair investigations find evidence of human rights abuses. Journalists play a crucial role in exposing shortcomings, and a rights-respecting government should rely on that information to address needs, Ganguly said. Unfortunately, the government is selective about what it believes exacerbates tension or conflict, Ganguly said, quickly punishing peaceful critics, including by accusing them under draconian counterterrorism laws. Bastard of RSF shared a similar view, telling VOA, Censoring journalists who try to cover their fellow citizens' situation is actually the best way to create frustration among the population, and hence to promote enmity. This is all the more true in a region with a strong history of separatism like Jammu and Kashmir. Intimidating calls Being summoned is always disturbing, Kashmir Walla editor Shah told VOA. It is intimidating to be at a police station where you are asked about your personal and professional life, Shah said. You are asked to give details of your life, even ID documents, bank details, et cetera, at times. And mostly, you are treated as a suspect for something which you don't even know. And then it stays on your head like a sword that if you do something that is not liked you will be in trouble. Shah has been arrested, questioned and summonsed several times. His media outlet, too, has run into legal issues. It is currently fighting a false-news case in the High Court. Srinagar photojournalist Mukhtar Zahoor, who contributes to outlets including the BBC and Al Jazeera, says he was left confused by a police raid on his home last October. They check my phone, my contacts, and images in the cellphone. It was a traumatic experience, he said. Police detained Zahoor and questioned him about his movements on September 1, the day that a veteran separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, died. At that time, authorities had suspended communications and sealed off the roads around Geelanis home in a move some believed was an attempt to limit coverage of the death. They had all information about my location on that day and the route I took. Even the Wi-Fi connection of my phone that I shared with my friend, Zahoor said. When asked how the raid has affected his work, Zahoor didnt hesitate: I am observing self-censorship. In some cases, journalists find themselves called by members of the police and army. Quratulain Rehbar, a female freelancer from Pulwama, said she was contacted by both in December after covering a protest. I was getting calls for verification, and they would call repeatedly. Both army and police started calling my family as well, Rehbar said, still sounding distressed. Crackdown viewed as arbitrary The Vienna-based International Press Institute has flagged what it says appears to be a largely arbitrary crackdown on the press. We have seen numerous examples of the harassment and intimidation of journalists in what we believe to be an effort by the authorities to control the flow of news and information, IPI Deputy Director Scott Griffen told VOA. The Kashmir Press Club has urged authorities to improve the environment for journalists. The threats, summonses and arrests of the media persons have effectively restrained independent and investigative reporting from the region, the club said in a statement that also condemned Guls arrest. For Gul, the arrest is not a first. Just over a year ago, Jammu and Kashmir police accused him of participating in an illegal demonstration that he was reporting on. And he has frequently tweeted about how police harassment affects his work, studies and health. For now, he is in custody. His editor Shah told VOA, We have filed for bail plea in the court and will contest these charges through court. Kosovo's parliament on Saturday passed a resolution banning ethnic Serbs from voting on Kosovan soil in Serbia's national referendum on constitutional amendments. Serbia will hold a referendum on Sunday on amendments to the constitution that would change how judges and prosecutors are elected, a move the government says is aimed at securing an independent judiciary, a condition for EU membership. Kosovo's independence backersthe United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and the EU missionurged Prime Minister Albin Kurti to allow Serbs in Kosovo to vote in the referendum. But in an extraordinary session on Saturday afternoon, 76 out of 120 deputies voted in favor of a declaration banning Serbia from opening polling centers in Kosovo. Kurti told parliament that establishing polling stations in majority Serb areas of Kosovo would be against the constitution, and that ethnic Serbs could vote by mail or in Belgrade's government liaison office in Pristina. "Kosovo is an independent and sovereign state and should be treated as such," Kurti said. Serbia, which still considers Kosovo part of its territory, has been organizing elections for its ethnic kin since the Kosovo War ended in 1999. Serbia refuses to recognize Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence but has pledged to normalize relations with its former breakaway province before joining the EU. The head of Serbian Office for Cooperation with Kosovo said the ban was aimed at "annulling political and civic rights of Serbs [in Kosovo]." "Kurti and his extremists should not think that in the future they will succeed in banning Serbs in Kosovo from voting, notably in April 3 elections," Petar Petkovic said in a statement. Serbia is holding presidential and parliamentary elections on April 3. Early on Saturday, Kosovo police confiscated two trucks of the Serbian election commission transporting ballot papers as they crossed the border at Merdare to head towards Serb-majority areas. "We call on the Kosovo government to allow Serbs in Kosovo to exercise their right to vote in elections and electoral processes in accordance with this established practice," Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom, United States and the EU said in their joint statement Friday. After several airlines discontinued service to Mali due to new regional sanctions, the countrys government has responded with its own economic threat. Malis military government Friday gave airlines 72 hours, starting Jan. 15, to confirm their service to Mali with the countrys National Civil Aviation Agency or lose their time slots. In a statement, Transport Minister Madina Sissoko, said that if airlines did not respond by the 72-hour deadline, their time slots will be allocated to other airlines. Regional airlines such as Air Cote dIvoire and Air Burkina, the national carriers of Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso, halted service to Mali after Economic Community of West African States sanctions were imposed following a special summit January 9 in Accra, Ghana. The bloc, known as ECOWAS, had threatened sanctions if Malis military government did not hold elections next month as previously agreed. Malis leaders last month announced a plan to hold the next presidential elections in 2026. The sanctions include border closures between Mali and ECOWAS countries and the blockage of transport of goods between the countries, except for such essentials as food and medicine. Frances national carrier, Air France, also halted flights to Mali this week, according to a Wednesday statement from the Malian Transport Ministry, after France backed the ECOWAS sanctions. An unprecedented, experimental attempt to feed manatees facing starvation in Florida has started slowly but wildlife officials expressed optimism Thursday that it will work as cold weather drives the marine mammals toward warmer waters. A feeding station established along the state's east coast has yet to entice wild manatees with romaine lettuce even though the animals will eat it in captivity, officials said on a news conference held remotely. Water pollution from agricultural, urban and other sources has triggered algae blooms that have decimated seagrass beds on which manatees depend, leading to a record 1,101 manatee deaths largely from starvation in 2021. The typical five-year average is about 625 deaths. That brought about the lettuce feeding program, part of a joint manatee death response group led by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It remains a violation of state and federal law for people to feed manatees on their own. "We have not documented animals foraging on the lettuce," said Ron Mezich, chief of the joint effort's provisioning branch. "We know manatees will eat lettuce." During winter months, hundreds of manatees tend to congregate in warmer waters from natural springs and power plant discharges. Because this winter has been unusually mild in Florida so far, the animals have been more dispersed. "They're moving, but they are not being pressed by cold temperatures yet," said Tom Reinert, south regional director for the FWC. "We expect that to happen." In addition to the feeding experiment, officials are working with a number of facilities to rehabilitate distressed manatees that are found alive. These include Florida zoos, the SeaWorld theme park and marine aquariums. There were 159 rescued manatees in 2021, some of which require lengthy care and some that have been returned to the wild, officials said. "Our facilities are at or near capacity," said Andy Garrett, chief of rescue and recovery. "These animals need long-term care. It's been a huge amount of work to date." There are a minimum of 7,520 manatees in Florida waters currently, according to state statistics. The slow-moving, round-tailed mammals have rebounded enough to list them as a threatened species rather than endangered, although a push is on to restore the endangered tag given the starvation deaths. Officials are also using $8 million in state money on several projects aimed at restoring manatee habitat and planting new seagrass beds, but that is a slow process and won't ultimately solve the problem until the polluted waters are improved. People can report any manatee they see that might be distressed by calling a wildlife hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922). Other ways to help are donating money through a state-sponsored fund or purchasing a Save the Manatee vehicle license plate. That's better than feeding manatees personally, which does more harm than good because the animals will associate humans with food, according to officials. People and manatees have struggled to coexist for decades. "This is a very serious situation," Reinert said. "Use your dollars and not heads of lettuce." North Koreas latest launch involved a pair of missiles fired from a train, North Korean state media reported, offering details about what was already its third launch this year. Pictures posted by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) showed a pair of dark green missiles emerging from a rail-based launch platform in a mountainous area filled with exhaust plumes. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who was at the test earlier this week, apparently did not attend the Friday launch, according to the KCNA report. The drill was meant to test the response time and alert posture of the countrys railway-borne missile regiment, which received only short notice ahead of the launch, it said. The launch involved two tactical guided missiles, which accurately hit their targets in the sea off Koreas east coast, it said. Earlier, South Korea, which closely tracks the Norths launches, said the missiles traveled about 430 kilometers. It was North Koreas second reported railway-based missile test since September. The train-based launch system gives North Korea another option for launching and protecting its rapidly expanding missile arsenal. North Korea has tested four missiles, during three separate launches, within the past 10 days. That pace is reminiscent of 2017, when U.S.-North Korea relations were at a low point. The previous two tests involved what North Korea claims are hypersonic missiles. Although defense analysts say North Korea may be overstating its capabilities in this area, such weapons are likely more difficult for U.S. missile defenses to detect and intercept. Firmer US response The United States this week imposed unilateral sanctions on five North Koreans it alleged were helping procure supplies for Pyongyangs weapons program. Speaking at a background briefing Friday, a U.S. official said Washington also wants the U.N. Security Council to extend sanctions against the five North Koreans. China and Russia are permanent members of the Security Council and would have to approve such measures. Both have recently called for North Korea sanctions to be relaxed, rather than expanded. The U.S. has also offered a tougher rhetorical response to the recent North Korean launches. In a telephone call Friday with South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the launches, which he had previously described as profoundly destabilizing and meant in part to get attention. North Korean response Hours before its latest launch, North Koreas Foreign Ministry lashed out at Washington, accusing the United States of intentionally escalating the situation with unilateral sanctions. If the U.S. adopts such a confrontational stance, the DPRK will be forced to take stronger and certain reaction to it, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, according to state media, which used an abbreviation of North Koreas official name, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. Under President Joe Biden, the United States has repeatedly offered to hold nuclear talks with North Korea anywhere, anytime. North Korea has ignored or rejected the offers, saying Washington must first provide more concessions and drop what it calls a hostile policy. North Korea walked away from talks with the United States in 2019, after the two sides could not agree on a deal to relax U.S. sanctions in exchange for steps by North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. Bigger tests coming? Duyeon Kim, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said it is obvious that North Korea is angry and protesting the U.S. sanctions. We should expect Pyongyang to protest through a show of force, which serves a dual purpose of perfecting its nuclear weapons technology through tests to achieve Kim Jong Un's goals he set out last year, Kim told VOA. Washington is right to, and should, penalize any provocation that violates U.N. Security Council resolutions and threatens the region, she added in an email. North Korea has several possible motivations for testing missiles, including shoring up domestic political support, ensuring the performance of new weapons, demonstrating deterrence and provoking the United States and its allies. However, since it resumed missile tests following the breakdown of talks in 2019, North Korea has refrained from any nuclear tests or long-range missile tests that would risk a firmer U.S. response. Analysts have said North Korea may be unwilling to conduct more provocative tests ahead of the Winter Olympics, to be hosted next month by China, North Koreas ally. North Korea is moderating its behavior since keeping the trust and alliance of China is important to them. North Korea will not push tensions with the United States beyond a certain level before the Olympics, said Lim Eul-chul at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul. The trial on treason charges of Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha will go ahead as scheduled on Jan. 19, with the government refusing to interfere, a government spokesperson said Friday. Options for Kem Sokhas release can be considered once the trial ends, however, spokesperson Phay Siphan told RFA. In Cambodia, we can have political solutions only after the cases in court conclude. When Kem Sokhas trial ends, Prime Minister Hun Sen can request amnesty from Cambodias king if he doesnt think the release of the former opposition leader will harm national security and public order, Phay Siphan said. Kem Sokhas lawyers were not available for comment Friday but have previously said they want to see all charges dropped against him. Kem Sokha, then president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, was arrested in September 2017 in connection with an alleged plot said to be backed by the United States to overthrow the government of Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for more than 35 years. Cambodias Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP two months later in a move that allowed Hun Sens Cambodian Peoples Party to win all 125 seats in Parliament in a July 2018 election and drew U.S. sanctions and the suspension of trade privileges with the European Union. Speaking to RFA, political analyst Seng Sary said that several options now exist for the government to free Kem Sokha when his trial ends. The court can acquit him of his charges and then politically rehabilitate him, or the court can convict him and then release him on Hun Sens request, he said. Scores of CNRP members and supporters have been incarcerated on charges widely regarded as politically motivated and are caught in a tortuous legal process made slower by COVID-19 restrictions in the country. Friday, a court in central Cambodias Tboung Khmum province released two CNRP activists after they had served one-year prison terms on charges of incitement. Following their release, Mak Sam An and Prau Chan Thoeun told RFA they were arrested on Jan. 14, 2021, after monitoring the trial of other CNRP activists in Municipal Court in the capital, Phnom Penh. I didnt do anything wrong. I just went to listen to the hearing, but they arrested me anyway. The authorities violated my freedom. I cant accept this, Mak Sam Ath said. Am Sam Ath of the Cambodia-based rights group Licadho said the two CNRP members had simply exercised their rights and were unjustly convicted. We urge the authorities and the courts to respect peoples freedoms and implement the laws correctly instead of just charging them however they like. If they dont, the people will criticize the authorities for carrying out politically motivated arrests, he said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 14) Money sent home by Filipinos abroad again rose in November 2021, just in time for the Christmas holiday spending, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed Friday. The central bank said personal remittances from overseas Filipinos amounted to $2.77 billion, 4.8% higher than the $2.643 billion posted in November 2020. The November figure brought the cumulative remittances to $31.586 billion in the first 11 months of last year, a 5.3% increase from $29.988 billion in the comparable period in 2020. "The increase in personal remittances in November was due to remittances sent by land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more, which grew by 6.3% to $2.137 billion from $2.01 billion in the same month last year, and sea- and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year, which rose by 1% to $581 million from $575 million a year ago," the BSP said. The US registered the highest share of overall remittances at 40.7% in the January-November period. It was followed by Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Taiwan, Qatar, and South Korea. "The combined remittances from these top ten countries accounted for 78.9% of total cash remittances during the period," the BSP said. To match the festive spirit of South America's first Olympics, officials from Brazil, the host country for the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro, boasted that the medals hung around the necks of athletes on the winners' podium were also a victory for the environment: The gold was produced free of mercury and the silver recycled from thrown away X-ray plates and mirrors. Five years on, the refiner that provided the gold for the medals, Marsam, is processing gold ultimately purchased by hundreds of well-known publicly traded U.S. companies among them Microsoft, Tesla and Amazon that are legally required to responsibly source metals in an industry long plagued by environmental and labor concerns. But a comprehensive review of public records by The Associated Press found that the Sao Paulo-based company processes gold for, and shared ownership links to, an intermediary accused by Brazilian prosecutors of buying gold mined illegally on Indigenous lands and other areas deep in the Amazon rainforest. The AP previously reported in this series that the scale of prospecting for gold on Indigenous lands has exploded in recent years and involves carving illegal landing strips in the forest for unauthorized airplanes to ferry in heavy equipment, fuel and backhoes to tear at the earth in search of the precious metal. Weak government oversight enabled by President Jair Bolsonaro, the son of a prospector himself, has only exacerbated the problem of illegal gold mining in protected areas. Critics also fault an international certification program used by manufacturers to show they aren't using minerals that come from conflict zones, saying it is an exercise in greenwashing. "There is no real traceability as long as the industry relies on self-regulation," said Mark Pieth, a professor of criminal law at the University of Basel in Switzerland and author of the 2018 book "Gold Laundering." "People know where the gold comes from, but they don't bother to go very far back into the supply chain because they know they will come into contact with all kinds of criminal activity." Much like brown and black tributaries that feed the Amazon River, gold illegally mined in the rainforest mixes into the supply chain and melds with clean gold to become almost indistinguishable. Nuggets are spirited out of the jungle in prospectors' dusty pockets to the nearest city where they are sold to financial brokers. All that's required to transform the raw ore into a tradable asset regulated by the central bank is a handwritten document attesting to the specific point in the rainforest where the gold was extracted. The fewer questions asked, the better. At many of those brokers' Amazon outposts the financial system's front door the gold becomes the property of Dirceu Frederico Sobrinho, known universally by just his first name. For four decades, Dirceu has embodied the up-by-your-bootstraps myth of the Brazilian garimpeiro, or prospector. The son of a vegetable grocer who sold his produce near an infamous open-pit mine so packed with prospectors among them Bolsonaro's father they looked like swarming ants, he caught the gold bug in the mid-1980s and began dispatching planeloads of raw ore from a remote Amazon town. He secured his first concession in 1990, one year after the nation rolled out a permitting regime to regulate prospecting. Today, from a high rise on Sao Paulo's busiest avenue, he is a major player in Brazil's gold rush, with 173 prospecting areas either registered to his name or with pending requests, according to Brazil's mining regulator's registry. In the same building is the headquarters of the nation's gold association, Anoro, which he leads. Dirceu, until last year, was also a partner in Marsam. But even with gold jewelry dangling from his fingers and wrist, Dirceu still proudly boasts his everyman garimpeiro roots. "You don't motivate someone to go into the forest if they're not chasing after a dream," he said in a rare interview from his corner office studded with a giant jade eagle. "Whoever deals in gold has that: They dream, they believe, they like it." "We have a saying among the garimpeiros: 'I'm a pawn, but I'm a pawn for gold,'" he adds. At the center of Dirceu's empire is F.D'Gold, Brazil's largest buyer of gold from prospecting sites, with purchases last year totaling more than 2 billion reais ($361 million) from 252 wildcat sites, according to data from the mining regulator. Only two international firms that run industrial-sized gold mines paid more in royalties in 2021, a sign of how once artisanal prospecting has become big business in Brazil at least for some. In August, federal prosecutors filed a civil suit against F.D'Gold and two other brokers seeking the immediate suspension of all activities and payment of 10 billion reais ($1.8 billion) in social and environmental damages. The complaint alleges the companies failed to take actions that would have prevented the illegal extraction of a combined 4.3 metric tons from protected areas and Indigenous territories, where mining is not allowed. Dirceu said his company complies with all laws and has implemented extra controls, but he acknowledged that determining the exact origin of the gold it obtains is "impossible" at present. He has proposed an industry-wide digital registry to improve transparency. The ongoing suit is the result of a study published in July by the Federal University of Minas Gerais which found that as much as 28% of Brazil's gold produced in 2019 and 2020 was potentially mined illegally. To reach that conclusion, researchers combed through 17,400 government-registered transactions by F.D'Gold and other buyers to pinpoint the location where the gold was purportedly mined. In many cases, the given location wasn't an authorized site or, when cross-checked with satellite images, showed none of the hallmarks of mining activity deforestation, stagnant ponds of waste meaning the gold originated elsewhere. Dirceu's name and those of F.D'Gold and his mining company Ouro Roxo have popped up repeatedly over the years in numerous criminal investigations. He has been charged but never convicted. A decade ago, federal prosecutors in Amazon's Amapa state accused his company of knowingly purchasing illegal gold from a national park that was later transformed into gold bars. The charges were dismissed in 2017 after a federal judge in Brasilia ruled that F.D'Gold made the purchases legally, as evidenced by the invoices. Separate money laundering charges against Dirceu were also dismissed, due to lack of evidence. Dirceu has denied wrongdoing. Whatever its origin, all the raw ore purchased by F.D'Gold ends up at Marsam. F.D'Gold accounts for more than one-third of the gold Marsam processes, according to Andre Nunes, an external consultant for Marsam. After almost two years as a partner in the Sao Paulo-based refiner, Dirceu stepped down last year and his daughter, Sarah Almeida Westphal, assumed management responsibilities. It was part of an effort to put different family members in charge of their own businesses, which function as separate legal entities, said Nunes, who previously worked for F.D'Gold. "As much as it's the same family, it's important that each monkey has its own branch," he said. But the federal tax authority's corporate registry shows Dirceu and Westphal remain partners in a machine rental and air cargo venture based in the Amazonian city of Itaituba, the national epicenter of prospecting. And Westphal could be seen working on a computer at F.D'Gold's office on the day the AP interviewed Dirceu. From Marsam, the gold travels far and wide. More than 300 publicly traded companies list Marsam as a refiner in responsible mining disclosures they are required to file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The refiner has been virtually the only supplier to Brazil's mint over the past decade, according to data provided to the AP through a freedom of information request. "Why do they want our bars? Because they're accepted all over the world," said Nunes, who is also a member of Marsam's six-person compliance committee. Enabling such robust sales around the world is a seal of approval from the Responsible Minerals Initiative, or RMI. The certification program, run by a Virginia-based coalition of manufacturers, emerged with the passage a decade ago of legislation in the U.S. requiring companies to disclose their use of conflict minerals fueling civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Later, its standards were supplemented by tougher guidelines developed by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development or OECD Marsam is one of just two refiners in Brazil certified as compliant with RMI's standards for responsible sourcing of gold, having successfully completed two independent audits. The last one was performed in 2018 by UL Responsible Sourcing, an Illinois-based consultancy. But its ties to Dirceu's family and its strategic positioning at the pinch point between the Amazon rainforest and global commerce raises questions about its previously unexamined role in the processing and sale of gold allegedly sourced from off-limit areas. Marsam hasn't been accused by prosecutors of any wrongdoing and insists that it only refines gold, not sell it, on behalf of third-party exporters and domestic vendors. The company in 2016 introduced a supply chain policy, which it has updated over the years, requiring it to seek out information from suppliers whenever they are publicly linked to illicit activities. They are also expected to analyze a mandatory declaration of origin form submitted by each client. No such risks were identified in the most recent RMI report and Marsam was moved to a lower risk category requiring an audit once every three years. Critics say one problem is that the OECD's guidelines that RMI measures companies against pay scant attention to environmental crimes or the rights of Indigenous communities. Instead, they are geared toward risks stemming from civil wars and criminal networks. In Latin America, only Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela where drug cartels or guerrilla insurgencies are active are classified as conflict-affected and high-risk areas deserving greater scrutiny for sourcing practices. But the influx of illegal miners into Indigenous territories has been on the rise in recent years in Brazil sometimes ending in bloodshed. In May, hundreds of prospectors raided a Munduruku village, setting houses on fire, including one that belonged to a prominent anti-mining activist. The attack followed clashes farther north in Roraima state, where miners in motorboats and carrying automatic weapons repeatedly threatened a riverside Yanomami settlement. In one incident, two children, ages 1 and 5, drowned when a shooting sent people scattering into the woods. In their suits against F.D'Gold and the two other brokers, prosecutors blame expanding mining activity for the illegal clearing in 2019 and 2020 of some 5,000 hectares of once pristine rainforest located on Indigenous territories as well as exacerbating "internal rifts that may be irreconcilable." Experts say these kinds of activities barely register in corporate boardrooms where sourcing decisions are made and given the seal of approval by international certification programs. "Certification connotes a degree of certitude that isn't at all possible in the gold industry, especially in Brazil," said David Soud, an analyst at I.R. Consilium, which recently prepared a report for the OECD on illegal gold flows from neighboring Venezuela. "The result is a lot of blind spots that can easily be exploited by bad actors." Some of those blind spots are created by Brazil's own weak oversight. Under Brazilian law, securities brokers like F.D'Gold can't be held responsible if the prospector whose ore they buy lies about its provenance. Nor is there any effective way to track the information provided at the point of sale. It's a system that inhibits tracking and accountability at best, and at worst enables willful ignorance as a means to launder illegal gold, according to wildcat mining experts including Larissa Rodrigues of the environmental think tank Choices Institute. For starters, experts say there need to be electronic invoices feeding a database that allows information to be verified. "The supply chain is absorbing gold that doesn't come from that chain. We know this happens," said Rodrigues. "It's a fact that fraud exists, but you can't prosecute because you can't prove it." Dirceu didn't deny the possibility that F.D'Gold has unwittingly bought dirty gold. But he insists F.D'Gold, as an entity regulated by Brazil's powerful central bank, follows the law and goes beyond what is required such as hiring in 2020 two companies to monitor through satellite imagery the sources of its gold. "The moment we had knowledge this could be happening, we hired them," he said. As president of the nation's gold association, he claims to have been pushing since at least 2017 a plan to create a digital profile of every participant in the supply chain, complete with the garimpeiro's photo, fingerprints and ID number. "Digitalization and automation is the start of traceability," he said. "The more legality, the more security there will be for our activities." Yet for all the apparent industry goodwill, and the support of Brazil's tax authority, the proposal remains just that an idea that hasn't even been taken up by Congress. In the past two decades, the central bank hasn't revoked authorization for any company that purchases gold. For its part, Marsam says it uses its "best efforts" to identify the origin of the metals it refines. That includes requiring clients to sign affidavits attesting to the metal's legality, demanding original invoices and conducting client visits to verify they have systems in place to prevent fraud. But it doesn't visit the mines themselves something that RMI requires of refiners operating only in high-risk jurisdictions. "We have to be diligent, but not do work that isn't ours," Nunes said. Asked when was the last time Marsam suspended a client it suspects of trading in dirty gold he shook his head, struggling to recall. "I don't remember it ever happening," Nunes said before finally harkening back to one instance more than a decade ago. RMI wouldn't discuss prosecutors' allegations against F.D'Gold, despite its close affiliation with Marsam, citing confidentiality agreements to encourage refiners to participate in its grievance process. In a statement, it said that it takes all allegations "very seriously" and works with companies to address concerns. As part of that process, refiners are expected to trace activities all the way back to the mine whenever red flags are detected. If they don't then address the concerns, they will be removed from the conformant list. A 2018 report by the OECD found that while RMI's standards are aligned with its guidelines there are significant gaps in the way RMI and other industry initiatives carry out audits, relying more on a refiner's policies and procedures than its due diligence efforts. RMI-approved auditors also demonstrated a lack of basic technical skills and familiarity with the OECD guidelines, the study found. "There was also an observed absence of curiosity, professional skepticism and critical analysis," according to the report. RMI said it has since strengthened implementation efforts and is awaiting the outcome of a new assessment being conducted for the European Union. Additional analysis in 2017 by Kumi, a London-based consulting firm that advises the OECD, found that only 5% of 314 end-user companies then registered with RMI, most of them U.S. based, had policies on sourcing conflict materials that were in line with the OECD guidelines. "End-user companies set the tone for what happens in their supply chains," said Andrew Britton, managing director of Kumi, which is conducting a new assessment of certifiers now for the European Commission. "It's really important that companies' due diligence on their supply chains really probes into potential risks and is not simply a box-ticking exercise." While land grabbing by ranchers, loggers and prospectors is hardly new in the Amazon, never before has Brazil had a president as outspokenly favorable to such interests. Bolsonaro campaigned for the nation's top job with promises of unearthing the Amazon's vast mineral wealth, and his support for prospectors has encouraged a modern-day gold rush. Bolsonaro's father prospected for gold at Serra Pelada, where Dirceu first saw gold mining, and the president sometimes draws on his upbringing to rally support from prospectors. While campaigning, he aired videos in the Amazon region in which he boasted of sometimes pulling over at jungle stream and pulling a pan from a car to try his luck. "Interest in the Amazon isn't about the Indians or the damn trees; it's the ore," he told a group of prospectors at the presidential palace in 2019, vowing to deploy the armed forces to allow their operations to continue unfettered. Then in May 2021, he attacked environmentalists for trying to criminalize prospecting. "It's really cool how people in suits and ties guess about everything that happens in the countryside," he said sarcastically. Beyond the rhetoric, Bolsonaro's administration recently introduced legislation that would open up Indigenous territories to mining something federal prosecutors have called unconstitutional and activists warn would wreak vast social and environmental damages. Dirceu said he opposes allowing mining of Indigenous lands unless local people support the activity and are given first priority to pursue it themselves. But even as he fashions himself a reformer from the inside, he's also benefitted from the current free-for-all. For one, he doesn't even consider prospectors working without a permit to be illegal just irregular. Given persistent efforts to deregulate gold extraction, calls by Dirceu and the gold association to increase accountability over the gold supply chain "ring hollow," said Robert Muggah, who oversees an initiative on environmental crime in the Amazon at think tank Igarape Institute. Soon, Dirceu may stand to profit even more. Recently, F.D'Gold received approval to begin exporting directly. Dirceu said the company is currently seeking clients abroad and hopes to begin shipments soon. If he succeeds, it means that, for the first time, someone will have a hand in the entirety of Brazil's gold supply chain: from the Amazon where the gold is mined, to the outposts where it is first sold, to the planes that bring the ore to his daughter's refinery in Sao Paulo and, finally, into the hands of foreign buyers. "It's really important to understand that the nature of gold extraction in countries like Brazil is linked, ineluctably, to the global markets," said Muggah. An undersea volcano erupted in spectacular fashion Saturday near the Pacific nation of Tonga, sending tsunami waves crashing across the shore and people rushing to higher ground. The eruption cut the internet to Tonga, leaving friends and family members around the world on Sunday anxiously trying to find out if there were any injuries and the extent of the damage. Satellite images showed a huge eruption, with a plume of ash, steam and gas rising like a mushroom above the blue Pacific waters. A sonic boom could be heard as far away as Alaska. Tsunami advisories were issued for most of the Pacific Rim, including Hawaii, Alaska and the U.S. Pacific coast. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated the eruption caused the equivalent of magnitude 5.8 earthquake. Scientists said tsunamis generated by volcanoes rather than earthquakes are relatively rare. The Tonga Meteorological Services said a tsunami warning was declared for all of the archipelago, and data from the Pacific tsunami center said waves of 80 centimeters (2.7 feet) were detected. Internet out Rachel Afeaki-Taumoepeau, who chairs the New Zealand Tonga Business Council, said she hoped the relatively low level of the tsunami waves would have allowed most people to get to safety, although she worried about those living on islands closest to the volcano. She said she hadn't yet been able to contact her friends and family in Tonga. "We are praying that the damage is just to infrastructure and people were able to get to higher land," she said. Tonga gets its internet via an undersea cable from Suva, Fiji, which presumably was damaged. All internet connectivity with Tonga was lost about 6:40 p.m. local time, said Doug Madory, director of internet analysis for the network intelligence firm Kentik. Southern Cross Cable Network, the company that manages the connection, does not know yet "if the cable is cut or just suffering power loss," chief technical officer Dean Veverka said. The Fiji-based Islands Business news site reported that a convoy of police and military troops evacuated Tonga's King Tupou VI from his palace near the shore. He was among the many residents who headed for higher ground. On Tonga, home to about 105,000 people, video posted to social media showed large waves washing ashore in coastal areas, swirling around homes, a church and other buildings. A Twitter user identified as Dr. Faka'iloatonga Taumoefolau posted video showing waves crashing ashore. "Can literally hear the volcano eruption, sounds pretty violent," he wrote, adding in a later post: "Raining ash and tiny pebbles, darkness blanketing the sky." The explosion of the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai volcano was the latest in a series of dramatic eruptions. Earth imaging company Planet Labs PBC had watched the island in recent days after a new volcanic vent began erupting in late December. Satellite images captured by the company show how drastically the volcano had shaped the area, creating a growing island off Tonga. "The surface area of the island appears to have expanded by nearly 45% due to ashfall," Planet Labs said days before the latest activity. Tsunami alert lifted for Hawaii In Hawaii, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reported waves that measured half a meter (1.6 feet) in Nawiliwili, Kauai and 80 centimeters (2.7 feet) in Hanalei. The National Weather Service said there were reports of boats getting pushed up in docks, but the hazard diminished as the morning went on. "We are relieved that there is no reported damage and only minor flooding throughout the islands," the tsunami center said, describing the situation in Hawaii. The tsunami advisory for the islands was lifted about 11 hours after the eruption more than 4,828 kilometers (3,000 miles) away. Residents in Hawaii, Alaska and along the U.S. Pacific coast had been advised to move away from the coastline to higher ground and to pay attention to specific instructions from their local emergency management officials, said Dave Snider, tsunami warning coordinator for the National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska. "We don't issue an advisory for this length of coastline as we've done but it really isn't an everyday experience," Snider said. The first waves to hit the continental United States measured about 33 centimeters (1 foot) in Nikolski, Alaska, and 59 centimeters (1.9 feet) in Adak, Alaska. A wave of about 79 centimeters (2.6 feet) was observed in Monterey, California, according to the U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center. Beaches and piers were closed across Southern California as a precaution. The National Weather Service tweeted there were "no significant concerns about inundation." Strong rip currents were possible, however, and officials warned people to stay out of the water. On California's central coast, the National Weather Service reported tsunami waves up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) and flooding in beach parking lots at Port San Luis. About 200 miles (320 km) down the coast, the waves were much smaller at Southern California's Seal Beach, according to Michael Pless, the owner of M&M Surf School. "The waves are looking pretty flat," Pless said. "We're hoping they reopen the beach in a couple hours." Crowds gathered at the Santa Cruz Harbor in California to watch the rising and falling water strain boat ties on docks. Law enforcement tried to clear people away when big surges started at around 7:30 a.m. About an hour later, a surge went over the back lip of the harbor, filling a parking lot and low-lying streets and setting some cars afloat. In 2011 after the Japanese earthquake a series of surges cost $20 million of damage in the harbor. American Samoa, Fiji alerts canceled Residents of American Samoa were alerted of a tsunami warning by local broadcasters as well as church bells that rang territory-wide Saturday. An outdoor siren warning system was out of service. Those living along the shoreline quickly moved to higher ground. As night fell, there were no reports of any damage, and the Hawaii-based tsunami center canceled the alert. Authorities in the nearby island nations of Fiji and Samoa also issued warnings, telling people to avoid the shoreline because of strong currents and dangerous waves. In New Zealand, officials warned of possible storm surges. Not the first eruption The Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai volcano is located about 64 kilometers (40 miles) north of the capital, Nuku'alofa. In late 2014 and early 2015, a series of eruptions in the area created a small new island and disrupted international air travel to the Pacific archipelago for several days. The Matangi Tonga news site reported that scientists observed massive explosions, thunder and lightning near the volcano after it started erupting early Friday. Satellite images showed a 5-kilometer-wide (3-mile) plume rising into the air to about 20 kilometers (12 miles). There is not a significant difference between volcanoes underwater and on land, and underwater volcanoes become bigger as they erupt, at some point usually breaching the surface, said Hans Schwaiger, a research geophysicist with the Alaska Volcano Observatory. With underwater volcanoes, however, the water can add to the explosivity of the eruption as it hits the lava, Schwaiger added. Kyiv believes a hacker group linked to Belarusian intelligence carried out a cyberattack that hit Ukrainian government websites this week and used malware similar to that used by a group tied to Russian intelligence, a senior Ukrainian security official said. Serhiy Demedyuk, deputy secretary of the national security and defense council, told Reuters that Ukraine blamed Friday's attack - which defaced government websites with threatening messages - on a group known as UNC1151, and that it was cover for more destructive actions behind the scenes. His comments offer the first detailed analysis by Kyiv on the suspected culprits behind the cyberattack on dozens of websites. Officials on Friday said Russia was probably involved but gave no details. Belarus is a close ally of Russia. The cyberattack splashed websites with a warning to "be afraid and expect the worst" at a time when Russia has massed troops near Ukraine's borders, and Kyiv and Washington fear Moscow is planning a new military assault on Ukraine. Russia has dismissed such fears as "unfounded." The office of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Demedyuk's remarks. Russia's foreign ministry also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his remarks. It has previously denied involvement in cyberattacks, including against Ukraine. "The defacement of the sites was just a cover for more destructive actions that were taking place behind the scenes and the consequences of which we will feel in the near future," Demedyuk said in written comments. In a reference to UNC1151, he said: "This is a cyber-espionage group affiliated with the special services of the Republic of Belarus." 'Track Record' Demedyuk, who used to be the head of Ukraine's cyber police, said the group had a track record of targeting Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Ukraine and had spread narratives decrying the NATO alliance's presence in Europe. "The malicious software used to encrypt some government servers is very similar in its characteristics to that used by the ATP-29 group," he said, referring to a group suspected of involvement in hacking the Democratic National Committee before the 2016 U.S. presidential election. "The group specializes in cyber espionage, which is associated with the Russian special services [Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation] and which, for its attacks, resorts to recruiting or undercover work of its insiders in the right company," Demedyuk said. The messages left on the Ukrainian websites Friday were in three languages: Ukrainian, Russian and Polish. They referred to Volhynia and Eastern Galicia, where mass killings were carried out in Nazi German-occupied Poland by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). The episode remains a point of contention between Poland and Ukraine. Demedyuk suggested the hackers had used Google Translate for the Polish translation. "It is obvious that they did not succeed in misleading anyone with this primitive method, but still this is evidence that the attackers 'played' on the Polish-Ukrainian relations [which are only getting stronger every day]," he said. The U.N. human rights office condemns the rise of hate speech in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, warning it could incite violence between Serbian and Muslim ethnic groups that fought a devastating war following the breakup of Yugoslavia. Religious holiday celebrations in the autonomous Serb Republic of Srpska last weekend unleashed a torrent of nationalistic rhetoric and hate speech targeting certain communities. U.N. human rights officials say individuals in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Serbia glorified atrocity crimes and convicted war criminals, including Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. U.N. human rights spokeswoman Liz Throssell calls the incidents an affront to survivors, including those who returned to their homes after the conflict. The failure to prevent and sanction such acts, which fuel a climate of extreme anxiety, fear, and insecurity in some communities, is a major obstacle to trust-building and reconciliation," said Throssell. "As we have repeatedly highlighted, the rise in hate speech, the denial of genocide and other atrocity crimes and the glorification of war criminals in the Western Balkans highlight the failure to comprehensively address the past. About 100,000 people were killed in the Bosnian war between 1992 and 1995. More than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were murdered in July 1995 in the Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide. The killings were perpetrated under the command of Ratko Mladic, who led the Army of Republika Srpska. Elections are due to take place in Serbia in April and later in October in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Throssell warns failure to prevent and sanction inflammatory hate speech will exacerbate the already extremely tense political environment. We stress once again the need for the authorities in Serbia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina to abide by their international human rights obligations to ensure the rights to truth, justice, and reparation," said Throssell. "They should also adopt measures to prevent recurrence and to promote further reconciliation efforts. We call on them to condemn and refrain from any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred. She says all perpetrators and instigators of such acts must be held accountable. The U.N. human rights office is calling on political and religious leaders to speak out against intolerance and discriminatory instances of hate speech. Alec Baldwin has handed his cellphone to authorities as they investigate the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the Rust movie set, almost a month after a warrant was issued for the device. The U.S. actor was holding a Colt gun during a rehearsal for the Western being filmed in New Mexico in October when it discharged a live round, killing Halyna Hutchins. Police are investigating why live ammunition was present on set, and requested Baldwin's phone in mid-December on the grounds "there may be evidence on the phone" that could be "material and relevant to this investigation." Baldwin's iPhone was turned over to law enforcement in New York state's Suffolk County, where he has a home. They will gather information off the device and provide their findings to New Mexico officials, a Santa Fe Sheriff's Office spokesperson told AFP. The sheriff's office has not yet received the data to be retrieved off Baldwin's phone, said the spokesperson. Investigators have said they wanted to view text messages and emails sent to and from Baldwin -- a producer and actor on Rust -- regarding the project. The search warrant for his phone said Baldwin had exchanged emails with the film's armorer about the type of gun to be used in the scene. Correspondence with Baldwin's lawyer and his wife contained on the phone will not be handed over, under an agreement between Baldwin and the Santa Fe district attorney. The sheriff's office earlier said negotiations over "jurisdictional concerns" had held up the transfer of the phone. Baldwin posted a rambling video over the weekend in which he insisted claims he was not complying with the investigation were "a lie." Prosecutors have not yet filed criminal charges over the tragedy and have refused to rule out charges against anyone involved, including Baldwin. Baldwin has said he was told the gun contained no live ammunition, had been instructed by Hutchins to point the gun in her direction, and did not pull the trigger. The U.S. special envoy for the Horn of Africa will visit Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Ethiopia next week amid ongoing crises in the two African nations, the State Department announced Friday. David Satterfield and Assistant Secretary of State Molly Phee will travel to Riyadh, Khartoum and Addis Ababa from Jan. 17-20. In Riyadh, the pair will meet with the Friends of Sudan, a group calling for the restoration of the country's transitional government following a military coup in October. The meeting aims to "marshal international support" for the U.N. mission to "facilitate a renewed civilian-led transition to democracy" in Sudan, according to the statement. Satterfield and Phee will then travel to Khartoum, where they will meet with pro-democracy activists, women's and youth groups, civil organizations and military and political figures. "Their message will be clear: the United States is committed to freedom, peace, and justice for the Sudanese people," the statement read. In Ethiopia, the pair will talk with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to seek a resolution to the deepening civil war. "They will encourage government officials to seize the current opening for peace by ending the air strikes and other hostilities," the statement read. They will also ask for the establishment of a cease-fire, the release of political prisoners and the restoration of humanitarian access. Satterfield, the former US ambassador to Turkey, was appointed to replace Jeffrey Feltman as special envoy Jan. 6. Feltman quit just as he visited Ethiopia in a bid to encourage peace talks to end more than a year of war following the withdrawal of Tigrayan rebels. The Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, which last year threatened to march on Addis Ababa, by December had withdrawn to its stronghold, and the government has not pursued the rebels further on the ground. Feltman had also sought to tackle the crisis in Sudan, but he was treated unceremoniously in October when Sudan's military ruler, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, carried out a coup just after the U.S. envoy had left the country. Feltman's resignation came days after Sudan's civilian prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok, quit, leaving Burhan as the undisputed leader of the country despite Western calls to preserve a democratic transition launched in 2019. A flurry of security talks in Europe this week aimed at defusing the crisis over Russian troops massed at the border with Ukraine have ended with no breakthrough. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan says Washington and its allies are now "ready for any contingency" to deal with Moscow's actions, as Ukraine suffered a massive cyberattack on government websites overnight. VOA's Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports. Analysts are portraying this weeks visit to China by U.S. presidential envoy John Kerry as a diplomatic embarrassment, with Chinese leaders giving no ground on Kerrys appeal for cooperation on climate change and offering him only video meetings with senior officials. The Taliban got a better reception when a delegation from the Afghan insurgent group met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on July 28, noted Anders Corr, a longtime China observer and publisher of the Journal of Political Risk. The chilly treatment of Kerry reflects how much an increasingly assertive Chinas approach to Washington has changed in just a few months. U.S. President Joe Bidens appointment of Kerry, a former secretary of state and former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as a special envoy for climate issues was initially greeted in China as an opportunity in which to engage with a new U.S. administration. Under Bidens predecessor, President Donald Trump, U.S. policies toward Beijing were seen by some as overly hawkish, and by others as rightfully assertive. The climate issue could be our new ping pong diplomacy, hopefully suggested an article in the Global Times, a branch of Chinas state media conglomerate. The constructive attitude continued during Kerrys initial visit to Shanghai in April, which concluded with a joint statement listing several concrete steps to reduce carbon emissions and pledges of cooperation between the sides to tackle the climate crisis. But any goodwill apparent at that time had dissipated amid mounting competition for global influence and what some see as Beijings growing arrogance following Americas chaotic exit from Afghanistan by the time Kerry arrived in Tianjin a seaport city east of Beijing for his latest meetings this week. Senior officials, including Wang, Vice Premier Han Zheng and Yang Jiechi, the state councilor in charge of foreign affairs, met with Kerry only by video conference while a relatively junior climate negotiator was dispatched to Tianjin for face-to-face talks. The treatment amounted to a diplomatic snub, Corr said, comparing it to widely circulated photographs of Taliban political commission leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar meeting in person with Wang just weeks before. Not to mention the drab photo backdrop, video calls from principals, and public lecturing [by the Chinese side]. The whole affair is a joke at the U.S. expense, Corr said, adding the Chinese Communist Party is laughing its [expletive] off. You can quote me on that. Clash on climate issue If the optics were an embarrassment for Kerry, the substance of the meetings did not go any better. During his video call with the American envoy, Wang lectured Kerry and rejected his argument that the climate issue is so important that it should transcend politics. Kerry told reporters after his meetings that the talks had been very constructive and that he had been very direct in telling the Chinese that their construction of new coal plants was hindering global efforts to deal with climate change. He also said he had urged his interlocutors not to let other stresses in the relationship between the worlds biggest economies to stand in the way of cooperation on what he called the climate crisis. However, Chinas foreign ministry reported that Wang told Kerry that Washington was guilty of a "major strategic miscalculation toward China" and that the climate issue could not be decoupled from other diplomatic issues. What China is saying is that they have no intention to collaborate with the U.S. on climate issues if they dont get what they want, said June Teufel Dreyer, professor of political science at the University of Miami, in a phone interview on Friday. What Beijing wants, Dreyer said, is concessions with regard to Taiwan, the South China Sea, freedom of navigation and a host of other issues. But she does not think the Biden administration is in a position to give ground on any of those areas. She noted that sagging poll ratings after the chaotic U.S. exit from Afghanistan and bipartisan demands in Washington for a tough approach to China have limited the administrations options in the run-up to critical congressional elections next year. 2022 is just around the corner, she said. The Biden administration and the Democratic Party cant afford another foreign policy setback. Dreyer said she doesnt know what Kerrys objectives were in Tianjin, but he seems to have come home empty-handed. As a taxpayer, if theres no result, I dont see why U.S. officials have to go on these trips; it costs a lot of money, she said. And if the Chinese side used the occasion to humiliate America, thats doubly bad. Plans are underway for a large communal memorial service Sunday for victims of New York City's deadliest fire in more than three decades. Seventeen people, including eight children, were killed when a fire broke out on January 9 at a high rise residential building in the working class Fordham Heights neighborhood in the Bronx, a New York borough with a large African and Latino community. Funerals were held Wednesday at a mosque in the neighborhood of Harlem for 12-year-old Seydou Toure and his sister, five-year-old Haouwa Mahamadou. Community leaders are preparing to memorialize the remaining 15 victims, all of whom had ties to the west African country of Gambia, on Sunday, one week after the tragic blaze. The large-scale funeral will be held at the Islamic Cultural Center in the Bronx, according to Imam Musa Kabba of Masjid-Ur-Rahmah. He said the mosque is where some of the victims' families have been gathering to grieve. Kabba also said funeral plans have been complicated by the difficult task of identifying the dead and contacting next of kin. Community activists have been pleading for more help for survivors who have had trouble getting services, including financial assistance, advocates said at a recent news conference. The Gambian Youth Organization, a Bronx-based group that has raised more than $1 million through an online campaign, is among a number of organizations raising money for those affected by the fire. Robert Agyemang, New York Director of African Communities Together, said in an interview with VOA, This kind of tragedy isnt something one organization should be left to deal with on their own, adding that his organization follows their lead in reference to the other groups. Were helping with gathering of materials. Were helping with interpretation needs for when they need to get resources from the city that have been promised by the mayor, resources from the state that have been promised by the governor, and all these other entities that we do interact with on a normal basis, Agyemang said. We, African communities work with the city on several projects and weve been in communication with this city, as well to try to ensure that especially the Gambian families have been taken care of and make sure they have all the resources they need, Agyemang added. Some of the families have been struggling to decide whether to bury their loved ones in their homeland of Gambia or in the United States. The Gambian government said it is ready help in any way it can, including accommodating requests to repatriate the deceased, according to Alhagie Ebou Cham, president of the United Gambians Association and an honorary consul for Gambia. Meantime, investigators are trying to determine why safety doors did not close when the fire erupted, allowing heavy smoke to rise through the 19-story tower and kill the victims. The citys medical examiner's office said all the victims suffocated from the thick smoke in the building, where officials say a malfunctioning electrical space heater started the fire. Many people managed to escape, but others died as they tried to make their way down the stairs. New Yorks deadly fire and a January 5 blaze that killed 12 relatives in a Philadelphia rowhouse duplex, where officials said none of six smoke detectors were working, are the worst residential fires in either city in years. Housing advocates say it is not a coincidence the two fires occurred in housing meant for low-income residents. "The first thought when I read the news was, I'm certain, based on the building and location, that this was low-income housing," Jenna Collins, a housing attorney at Community Legal Services in Philadelphia, said of the fire in New York. "I was even less surprised to hear reports now that it was a space heater that caused that fire," she noted, saying it is not unusual for residential properties either owned or subsidized by the government to have inadequate heating during the winter. Soaring real estate prices have pushed low-income Americans even further away from the dream of home ownership, while available government-owned or subsidized housing in some cities plagued by poor maintenance conditions increases the chance of disaster. "This is housing that's been, for the most, neglected," said Lena Afridi, acting executive director of the Pratt Center for Community Development in New York. "People live where they can afford to live, in both cases, and people settled for places that might not be safe because that might be preferable to homelessness. But that should not be the dichotomy we set up." Afridi said she believed a lack of maintenance contributed to the fire, citing reports that residents relied on heaters to keep warm and that they ignored the fire alarm because they had previously heard so many false alarms. U.S. President Joe Biden has proposed investing billions of dollars in affordable housing in his Build Back Better proposal, but the massive spending bill has reached an impasse in a Congress divided along party lines. Jackson Mvunganyi of VOAs English to Africa service contributed to this report. Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse and The Associated Press. Only three times before has Buckingham Palace pressed what for the British monarchy is the nuclear button and transformed a royal into a mere private citizen. After a 90-minute meeting with his mother, Britains Queen Elizabeth, followed by a terse public communique, Prince Andrewwho is battling a civil sex case trial in the U.S. over allegations of sexual assaultlast week became the fourth member of the Windsor family to be stripped of the right to be styled a Royal Highness. The first to suffer the humiliation was the former King Edward VIII after abdicating the throne in 1936 to marry an American divorcee. Edwards demotion was an act of punishment, say royal historians. Andrews, though, is being seen as a ruthless move of self-protection by a monarchy that has decided it cant wait to see if Andrew, also known as the Duke of York, will be able to clear his name in court. The queen reportedly made the decision after discussions with her eldest son, and heir apparent, Prince Charles, whos third in line of succession, and his son, Prince William. Andrew is ninth in line. Charles ignored reporters Friday when they shouted questions at him about Andrew and the decision to demote him. The removal last week of HRH status is another stage in the queens endeavor to distance Britains monarchy as far away from Andrew, age 61, as she canfor both political and legal reasonsas he defends himself against sex abuse allegations leveled against him by Virginia Giuffre. Giuffre claims Andrew committed sexual assault and battery upon her on three occasions in 2001. Andrew vehemently denies the allegations. The 38-year-old Giuffre, formerly Virginia Roberts, says she was trafficked by the late, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein to have sex with Andrew when she was 17 years old, allegations Andrew says are not true. Andrew remained an Epstein friend after the financier was convicted of child abuse offenses. Court documents released Saturday reveal that one line of defense being considered by Andrews lawyers in the forthcoming New York trial is to argue that Giuffre may suffer from false memories. Brutal, tweeted royal commentator Peter Hunt on the release of the two-sentence communique announcing Andrew's military titles and royal patronages have been returned to the queen, and that he will stop using His Royal Highness title. The move came after a New York court ruled midweek a civil action over sexual assault allegations can proceed and likely will be heard in a few months. The second sentence of the statement from Buckingham Palace read, The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen. The Windsors have shown that when the institution is under threat, dynastic preservation trumps flesh and blood, Hunt added. Other royal commentators said the demotion is a clear sign the queen has lost patience with Andrew, who often is described by Britain's tabloid press as the favorite of her four children. The decision must have been personally painful for the elderly queen, who this year will be celebrating her platinum jubilee on the throne, according to Valentine Low, a reporter with The Times of London. The most important thing for the queen, however, is the preservation of the monarchy. She takes her role and the concept of royal duty incredibly seriously. She believes that she is there to serve the country and the rest of the royal family are there to back her up in this role. Nothing else matters, he wrote. Low noted, To strip Andrew of his military affiliations and to tell him that he was no longer to use his HRH style in any official capacity was, therefore, a very hard decision for her to take. He said, She would know that Andrew, who served as a helicopter pilot in the Falklands conflict, took his military roles very seriously. He is also someone who does not hesitate to stand on his royal dignity. The move was in some ways inevitable and a case of bowing to public opinion, say other observers. Some question whether the queen should have moved earlier. More than 100 Royal Navy, British Army and RAF veterans wrote to the queen to demand Andrew be removed from the honorary military positions, including that of colonel of the Grenadier Guards. Last year, she ordered Prince Harry, her second-born grandson, to give back his military titles and stop using the HRH title after moving to California with his American wife Meghan Markle and wanting to have a half-in, half-out" arrangement with Buckingham Palace. Palace insiders say the Royal family is determined to ensure that Andrews legal battles dont overshadow the queens platinum jubilee. But there may, too, have been a legal motivation behind Andrews demotion. It could be a signal to Giuffres legal team that the royal family wont assist in paying Andrews legal costs or contribute to any out-of-court settlement, if one is negotiated, a former palace official told VOA. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15) Unvaccinated people wanting to travel to and from Metro Manila will be barred from taking domestic flights beginning Monday, Jan. 17, with the implementation of the controversial "no vaccination, no ride" policy. In separate statements, Philippine Airlines (PAL) and AirAsia Philippines said they would only fly fully immunized travelers for as long as the capital region is under Alert Level 3 or higher. "Effective January 17, 2022, airlines are only allowed to accept fully vaccinated passengers for carriage on our domestic flights to and from Manila," PAL said in a statement, citing the Department of Transportation's (DOTr) new order. Based on an issued mandate from the DOTr, individuals can be considered fully inoculated two weeks after completing their COVID vaccine. Passengers must present their vaccination cards, either physical or digital copies. A government-issued identification card with their picture and address is also a requirement. But there are exemptions. Non-vaccinated passengers with the essential purpose of travel, such as persons with medical conditions that prevent full COVID-19 vaccination, will still be allowed to take the flight. They only need to present a signed medical certificate with the name and contact details of their physician. Persons who will provide essential goods and services will also be permitted to fly. Both local airlines have expressed support for the new policy, saying the move would help lessen the spread of COVID-19 and ensure that every passenger is protected against the virus. "AirAsia Philippines considers this initiative from the DOTr as an effective tool to encourage every Filipino to take the shot, and get an added layer of protection against any emerging COVID-19 variant," Ricky Isla, AirAsia Philippines CEO, said in a statement. AirAsia Philippines and PAL urged their guests to check their flight status. If the new order prevents guests from traveling, PAL said they may also opt to convert their tickets to travel credits, rebook or reroute, or ask for a refund. "We seek your kind understanding, as we are required to comply with government directives for the safety of all travelers and our communities," the flag carrier said. The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. Tunisian police used a water cannon to disperse hundreds of protesters trying to reach central Tunis, Jan. 14, 2022, to demonstrate against the president in defiance of COVID-19 restrictions. (Reuters) On 10 January 2022, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) decided to close land and air borders between member-countries and Mali and to freeze assets of the Republic of Mali in ECOWAS Central Banks, as sanctions in response to the announcement by the transitional authorities to postpone the presidential election to the end of 2026. Mali responded by closing its borders to all countries that support the sanctions announced by ECOWAS, with the exception of Guinea. France being one of those countries, the transitional authorities cancelled the military agreements that Mali had with France in the framework of the Barkhane Operation. Consequently, on 11 January 2022, Mali denounced the violation of its airspace by a French military aircraft flying in from the Ivory Coast, without authorization [1]. Barkhane Operation commander Major General Laurent Michon, who had evidently not been briefed about the political consequences of his own governments actions, expressed his bewilderment in a letter he sent to the chief of staff of the Malian armed forces [2]. The Barkhane Operation had been deployed to fight against jihadist terrorists. However, despite the impressive feats carried out by the French military, jihadism has continued to grow stronger. This catastrophic outcome as compared to the stated objectives is in line with the strategy of the United States, which has decided to double its financial support for the French operation. On 8 October, Malian Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga publicly accused France of training the terrorists she claims to be fighting. He then recalled that France had prevented the Malian armed forces from entering the enclave of Kidal, a jihadist stronghold [3]. In short, the Mali transitional government has decided to turn to a Russian private military company, referred to by Western governments and media as the Wagner Group. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star Letitia Wright. Photo: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images Update, Friday January 14 at 8:03 p.m.: Shuris set to go back to set. Per The Hollywood Reporter, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will resume production next week, now that lead actress Letitia Wright has recovered from the severe injury she suffered while filming last August. Wright returned to London to heal, and the movie was eventually put on pause in November. The return to production was reportedly also delayed due to positive COVID-19 cases among the crew and cast, including Lupita Nyongo. According to THR, the movie will now shoot for about four weeks in Atlanta. Despite the delay, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is currently still sticking to its November 11, 2022 release date. Original story follows. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is currently on pause as its lead actress Letitia Wright recovers from an on-set injury from late August this year. Resuming the role of Shuri, Black Panther TChallas younger sister, the actress was injured performing a scene involving a stunt rig on location in Boston. Since then, Wright has been in London for recovery while production continued in Atlanta. Per The Hollywood Reporter, director Ryan Coogler was able to film all the scenes that Shuri was not in. The film will reportedly shut down the week of Thanksgiving to restart production in early 2022. Marvel Studios initially stated it would not halt production, however the release date for the movie was recently pushed from July 8, 2022, to November 11, 2022. Letitia has been recovering in London since September from injuries sustained on the set of Black Panther 2 and is looking forward to returning to work early 2022, a representative for Wright told THR. Letitia kindly asks that you keep her in your prayers. Last month, Wright denied making anti-vaccination comments on the Black Panther 2 set. In December of 2020, the actress received backlash for sharing a video that questioned the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine on Twitter. THR claimed that she also shared these views on the Black Panther set. It saddens me to have to address the reports published by The Hollywood Reporter on October 6th 2021, Wright said in a since-deleted Instagram post on October 12. The report spoke about my conduct on the set of Black Panther 2. I honestly assert that this was completely untrue. Starting January 15, many Americans can get home Covid-19 tests at no cost through their private insurance. They can obtain the tests from pharmacies, retailers and online vendors. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15) There is already a community transmission of the highly infectious Omicron variant within Metro Manila, the Department of Health confirmed. "Dito sa [Here in the] National Capital Region, we are seeing community transmission nitong [of this] Omicron variant," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Saturday. Vergeire said despite delays in their overall genome sequencing run, "we have already determined that there are local cases" of Omicron. She also said the variant's signature characteristics can be seen in the current trends in NCR. "'Yung mabilis na pagkalat, 'yung very steep rise in the number of cases as [days pass], 'yung doubling time na every two days na napakabilis ito po lahat ay characteristics ng Omicron variant," she noted. [Translation: The rapid transmission, very steep rise in the number of cases as days pass, and quicker doubling time of two days these are all characteristics of the Omicron variant.] Aside from Metro Manila, the DOH spokesperson said other regions, which are also seeing an increase in infections, may be experiencing the same. ""Yun pong regions na ito, nakikita na natin ang parehong [characteristics] sa NCR nung nag-umpisa po tayo," she pointed out. [Translation: We are seeing the same characteristics in these regions as what we have seen in the NCR when this spike began.] "Mukhang talagang dadating ang panahon na madi-displace na po (ang Delta variant) at magiging Omicron ang dominant dito sa ating bansa kung magtutuloy-tuloy ang ganitong klaseng transmission," Vergeire added. [Translation: It is really likely that Omicron will displace Delta and become the dominant variant here in the country if this kind of transmission continues.] Health Secretary Francisco Duque earlier said more cases have tested positive for Omicron than Delta in their latest genome sequencing run. As of Jan. 6, the department has confirmed 43 Omicron infections. The Philippines on Friday has logged over 3.1 million COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began, with the number of people currently infected at an all-time high of 265,509. Decatur, IL (62521) Today Cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 66F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Cloudy. Low near 45F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 15) For the third straight day, the country reached new record highs in its single-day tally of new COVID-19 cases and number of currently sick people. The Department of Health (DOH) on Saturday announced 39,004 new infections, raising the total to 3,168,379. Active cases also hit a new all-time high of 280,813 - which is 8.9% of the COVID-19 count. The DOH said 98% or 38,271 of the newly confirmed cases were detected within the last 14 days. Metro Manila remains the top contributing region with 18,142, followed by Calabarzon with 9,172, and Central Luzon with 3,325. Among the active cases, 267,185 are considered mild; 8,928 have no symptoms; 2,925 are moderate; 1,472 are severe; and 303 are critical, according to the DOH. The country's positivity rate - or percentage of tested people who yielded positive results - was slightly down at 47.1% based on 78,774 tests reported on Jan. 13. A rate of above 20% is "critical" while below 3% indicates there is adequate testing, according to US nonprofit Covid Act Now. The World Health Organization suggests a positivity rate of below 5% for an area that has controlled the infection. Meanwhile, the death toll climbed to 52,858 - or 1.67% of the case count - after 43 more people lost their lives to the disease. Of the new deaths, 38 occurred in January and one each in March, May, August, September, and October 2021. The number of recoveries jumped to 2,834,708 - or 89.5% of the case total - after 23,613 individuals got better. The DOH said it reclassified 10 recoveries into deaths after validation and deleted 134 duplicate cases, including 83 survivors. Three cases were also removed from the tally after they were found to have tested negative for COVID-19. The total excludes data from eight laboratories that failed to submit their reports on time, the agency added. Those laboratories contributed an average of 2.2% of tested samples and 2.2% of positive individuals in the last 14 days. Florence mayor condemns assault on Canadian woman. A police investigation is underway after a taxi driver in Florence attacked a female Canadian tourist in the early hours of Friday 14 January. The assault occurred on Via Tornabuoni, in the historic centre of the Tuscan capital, following an argument over the fare, reports Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. Witnesses filmed the taxi driver shouting at the woman before kicking and slapping her forcefully as she pleaded with bystanders to call the police. The driver is a 53-year-old Florentine, according to Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano, and the woman he assaulted is aged 33. The quarrel reportedly began inside the car, after the woman suggested the fare was excessive, with the driver allegedly ripping down the vehicle's anti-covid curtain to spit in her face. In a post on social media the woman showed a picture of her bruised legs along with the message: "We need to make Florence safe for women and students to walk home at night or to take taxis. What happened to me is really fucked up. And I hope that by sharing my story we can come together to put an end to violence against women." The man works with the 4242 So.Co.Ta taxi driver cooperative which has condemned his actions "unreservedly" and launched disciplinary proceedings against him, reports Italian news agency ANSA. The mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, condemned the "brutal assault", describing it on Twitter as "outrageous and deplorable". Noting that the driver's licence has been suspended, Nardella said: "I expect a thorough investigation and an exemplary penalty for this person, unworthy of carrying out a public service", adding: "This is not Florence." Fauci joined Rome university via video link from Washington. Rome's La Sapienza University has awarded an honorary doctorate to Anthony Fauci, the US infectious diseases expert and covid advisor to President Biden. The recognition was given to the American immunologist for his "fundamental role" in the study of infectious and immune-mediated diseases. La Sapienza said the honour was awarded "with particular regard to the first pioneering studies on HIV infections and the development of measures to contain transmission and effective therapies against AIDS." Participating via video link from Washington, Fauci received the honorary doctorate in Advances in infectious diseases, microbiology, legal medicine and public health sciences during a ceremony hosted by the university on 13 January. The event's opening address was given by Thomas D. Smitham, Charge D'affaires at the US embassy to Italy and was followed by a speech from the university's rector Antonella Polimeni. Highlighting Fauci's "strong and competent contribution in the fight against the covid pandemic", Polimeni said: "I would like to emphasise in particular the impact and contribution of Fauci at a global level," added the rector. "His clear and at the same time simple communication has made him one of the most listened to scientific voices not only by the public but also by political decision makers." "I'm a second generation Italian-American", said Fauci, who delivered a keynote lecture entitled COVID-19: Lessons Learned and Remaining Challenge, telling the audience: "If my parents and grandparents were alive today, they would be proud to know that the country they came from has bestowed this honour on their son and grandson." Fauci's grandparents immigrated to the US from Italy in the late 19th century. His paternal grandparents came from Sciacca, in the Agrigento province of Sicily. His maternal grandmother was from Naples and his maternal grandfather from Avellino. Founded by Pope Boniface VIII in 1303, La Sapienza is the largest university in Europe and one of the oldest in the world. The university recently made international headlines when Giorgio Parisi, a professor of Quantum Theories at La Sapienza, won the Nobel Physics Prize. Placeholder while article actions load As I write these lines, talks between Moscow and the West appear to have stalled, and the world waits with bated breath whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will order the 100,000 troops hes massed near Ukraine to attack that country. In this moment of peril, its worth dusting off three old concepts in international-relations theory to take stock of the strategic situation. One concept is called escalation dominance. It was coined during the Cold War by a think-tanker named Herman Kahn, who inspired the title character in the black comedy Dr. Strangelove. The idea is that in any conflict, the side thats in a better position to raise the stakes because it knows it would win, could bear the costs more easily, or wants something more intensely has a strategic advantage. Its adversary will come under ever greater pressure to pull out and settle. Putin has so far clearly enjoyed escalation dominance in the conflicts over Ukraine and the wider region. Hes made clear that this former Soviet Republic which he doesnt consider a proper nation but a branch of a greater Russian realm is worth more to him than it will ever be to the U.S., NATO or the European Union. He would up the ante in blood and the West wouldnt match it. Advertisement As a former ambassador to Russia from New Zealand has observed, this means that Putin can dial up and down the pressure as he sees fit. The West will never be the first to climb another rung on the escalation ladder (to stick with Kahns metaphors); it merely follows where Putin goes. The Wests interest always lies in getting him to climb down. So Putin is in a pretty place up there on his ladder. He could use that strategic advantage to achieve his objectives, provided hes clear about what those are. One frightening scenario is that he may not be. Some of the Wests negotiators, after the talks in Geneva, Brussels and Vienna this week, got the impression that even his own emissaries dont know whether Putin wants a compromise or merely a pretext for an invasion. His overarching objective is to create a sphere of influence across the former territories of the Soviet Union and the adjoining buffer states in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and beyond. But he covets this zone less to deter a NATO attack on Russia (which he knows isnt a risk) and more to prevent any neighboring country from becoming a vibrant, liberal and pro-Western democracy. Advertisement Any success of that sort would only remind Russians what theyre missing and thereby undermine his own rule, which is the only thing he cares about. In effect, he needs to create a belt of failed states around Russia to stay in power. In this light, his maximalist demands in two draft treaties with the U.S. and NATO, published last month, do and dont make sense. They do, because they ask for what would amount to that sphere of influence he wants NATO never again to expand and even to withdraw from Eastern Europe. They dont, because he knows that the West can never agree to any of this NATO might as well tear up its charter and dissolve itself. The question for me is whether Putin, in a lapse of tactical discipline, accidentally forfeited his escalation dominance. After all, he can dominate only as long as hes the one deciding whether to climb up or down the ladder. Advertisement Owing to something called audience costs, Putin may have lost that freedom to choose. The audience he cares about is his own countrys domestic population. Even though Russians cant choose their leader freely, they must fear and respect him enough for him to hold on to power indefinitely. Now imagine Putin simply dropping his demands to freeze and shrink NATO and then withdrawing his huge invasion force from the Ukrainian border. The West would of course give him something to brag about an agreement that both sides wont maneuver in a certain geography, or something of that sort. But how could he explain to Russians such a huge climbdown from the ladder? Hed look like a loser. And thats what he cant afford. So theres a real risk that Putin has become trapped in path dependence. This concept originally had nothing to do with international relations. It describes situations in which our decisions now are constrained by other decisions made in the past. For example, we have QWERTY keyboards (or software standards, railway gauges, welfare systems, you name it) not because theyre best suited for the task today, but because legacies led to dependencies. Advertisement My fear is that Putin, with his many acts of aggression from cyberattacks to disinformation campaigns and more has by now gone far enough down a path to make him depend on it. During the first rounds of escalation, he may have been dominant. Now he may feel that, because of what hes already done, he has no option but to go all the way to war. More From This Writer and Others at Bloomberg Opinion: Nord Stream 2 Will Overshadow U.S.-German Relations for Years: Andreas Kluth Russias Winter Generals Have Yet to Show Up at the Gas War: Javier Blas Putin Is Only Pretending to Be Crazy on Ukraine: Eli Lake This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Andreas Kluth is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. He was previously editor in chief of Handelsblatt Global and a writer for the Economist. Hes the author of Hannibal and Me. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion 2022 Bloomberg L.P. GiftOutline Gift Article Placeholder while article actions load In the shadow of Thursdays Supreme Court ruling against a sweeping federal vaccine mandate, another crucial legal battle is playing out: a fight about whether and how much to dismantle the regulatory apparatus of the U.S. government. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight The latest skirmish unfolded in a concurrence to the mandate decision by Justice Neil Gorsuch, who has emerged as the point man of an attack on existing constitutional doctrine governing administrative agencies like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, Gorsuch seized the opportunity to advance his cause through the legal challenge to OSHAs authority to regulate vaccine requirements. The fight over reining in the administrative state is different from the headline-grabbing dispute over Covid-19 vaccines. With respect to vaccines, the court issued two decisions, one allowing the government to require most health-care workers to get shots, and another rejecting a similar requirement for some 80 million employees of big companies. Advertisement In those cases, the court split three ways. The three liberals would have allowed both mandates to take effect. Four conservatives would have blocked both mandates. And the courts two more centrist conservatives, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, split the difference and carried the day: They upheld the health-care workers mandate while striking down the OSHA-focused one for companies with more than 100 employees. In the 6-3 OSHA decision, Gorsuch wrote a separate concurrence with a separate purpose. He didnt just reject the claim by the administration of President Joe Biden that a workplace mandate could be imposed under OSHAs power to regulate occupational safety, as the majority did. He said something fundamental about the Constitution and what it allows Congress to do when allocating power to any administrative agency. According to Gorsuch, the right question to ask, in considering whether an agency has power to do something, is not merely whether Congress has passed a statute that authorizes it. The right question is whether the Constitution allows Congress to delegate broad power at all. Advertisement The traditional Supreme Court answer to that question has two parts. First, the court said in 1928 that when Congress delegates power to an agency, it must articulate an intelligible principle to limit the agencys actions. Second, in a 1935 decision striking down a key part of President Franklin Roosevelts New Deal, the court added, Congress is not permitted to abdicate or to transfer to others the essential legislative functions with which it is thus vested. For more than three-quarters of a century, the justices have interpreted their own words generously, to maximize the powers that Congress is allowed to give to the agencies that regulate the air we breathe, the water we drink and the safety of our workplaces, among many other functions. The court has treated almost any words used by Congress as satisfying the intelligible-principle requirement. And the justices have allowed Congress to delegate enormous lawmaking powers without saying that the delegation counted as an impermissible transfer of essential legislative functions. Gorsuch, Alito and Thomas want to give new vitality and force to these two requirements, to scale back radically what Congress is constitutionally permitted to allow agencies to do. The key line of the Gorsuch opinion reads: If the statutory subsection the agency cites really did endow OSHA with the power it asserts, that law would likely constitute an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority. Advertisement The statute the administration cited to justify the vaccine mandate said that OSHA has the power to issue emergency regulations if the agency determines both that employees are exposed to great danger from toxic or physically harmful substances and that the regulations are necessary to protect the employees. Under ordinary application of the Supreme Courts precedents, this delegation is business as usual. Hundreds and probably thousands of statutes delegate power to agencies in similar terms. Gorsuch was saying that, if the statute really intended to let OSHA interpret the Covid virus as a physically harmful substance and the vaccine mandate as necessary, then the law wouldnt count as providing an intelligible principle. Rather, it would be an unconstitutional delegation of Congresss essential legislative functions. Quoting the 1935 New Deal ruling, he wrote that such authority would turn OSHA into a roving commission to inquire into evils and upon discovery correct them. Advertisement Gorsuch did not go so far as to say that Congress does not have the authority to establish OSHA at all. That would be the most extreme version of the attack on the administrative state. Gorsuch does not seem inclined to make it, at least not yet. Yet Gorsuch is trying to constitutionalize ordinary administrative law decisions by transforming quotidian questions about whether Congress meant to give a certain power to a given agency into existential questions about whether Congress could do so even if it chooses. The effect of the transformation, if it got five votes, would be to vastly increase the power of the courts to overturn agency regulations. That, in turn, would put the agencies in fear of their own continued existence each time they regulated aggressively. Its noteworthy that Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who joined the conservatives who wanted to reject the health-care workers mandate, didnt join the Gorsuch concurrence in the OSHA case. That omission means that, for the moment, Gorsuchs team has three members, not four. The best explanation is that Barrett, who clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia, is committed to Scalias theory of administrative law, which did not contemplate Gorsuchs extreme views. Advertisement But Gorsuch wants to be the intellectual leader of the conservative wing of the court and is seeking to wear Scalias mantle. He cited a 1980 essay by Scalia in his concurrence, one published in the journal of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. Gorsuchs fight against the administrative state is just getting started. More From Other Writers at Bloomberg Opinion: No, Supreme Court, States Alone Cant Manage Pandemics: Timothy L. OBrien Biden Vaccine Mandate Is Dishonest and Unlawful: Ramesh Ponnuru Get Ready, Supreme Court Fans. Brush Up on Your Chevron Doctrine: Noah Feldman This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and host of the podcast Deep Background. He is a professor of law at Harvard University and was a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter. His books include The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion 2022 Bloomberg L.P. GiftOutline Gift Article Placeholder while article actions load Playing very different editions of the circle game, Yuri Long and Jon Malis conduct a sly duet at Photoworks at Glen Echo Park. Long takes the outside route, with pictures of the moon over Washington. Malis goes inside, in two senses of the word, by photographing his own lighting gear, which is mostly round. Both produce images of luminous orbs that have more in common when photographed than they do in actuality. The moon is hardly unexplored pictorial material, but Longs Lun.r.001: Lunar Daylight discovers fresh aspects. The artists views move from Full Pink Moon the only picture mounted on a lightbox for maximum luminosity to such barely-there crescents as Razors Edge and Tangerine Slice. As the title of the latter image hints, color plays a significant role in these photos. The moons change hue, however, less than the skies that hold them. Long, who is the special collections librarian at the National Gallery of Art, began his project to observe the 50th anniversary of the 1969 moon landing. He then continued shooting into the covid era, seeking what his statement calls proof of continuity amid the pandemic. What his pictures exhibit, however, is less constancy than the incredible wealth of variety in a single, if admittedly cosmic, subject. Advertisement Malis titled his show The Hand of God, which also sounds cosmic. But the phrase is just a wry photographers term for manipulating the brightness of areas of a photographic print. Rather than illustrate that technique, Malis pictures such devices as spotlights and reflectors in black-and-white close-ups. Malis, who teaches at Loyola University in Baltimore, offers pictures that are both playfully self-referential and starkly beautiful. Like Longs moons, Maliss gadgets are similar yet divergent. The circle has long served as a symbol of infinity, and these photos suggest the near-limitless possibilities of an elemental form. Yuri Long: Lun.r.001: Lunar Daylight and Jon Malis: The Hand of God Through Jan. 18 at Photoworks, Glen Echo Park, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo, Md. Mary Early Linea XI, Mary Earlys installation at Art Enables, is an empty box drawn in midair with thin bars made of beeswax, fastened into longer strips and suspended vertically. Just as important to the piece, however, is something that has been there since the former butcher shop was erected in the 1920s: a sloping floor. The D.C. artists temporary, site-specific artworks take their cues from existing architectural spaces, and in this room the slanting concrete underfoot is the distinguishing aspect. Advertisement Or, at least, the angled floor attracts notice now that Early has highlighted it. Visitors to previous shows in the rectangular chamber may have perceived the tilt barely, if at all. But because each of the artists handmade beeswax lengths hangs the same distance from the ceiling, the incline beneath the geometric grouping becomes more conspicuous. Rather than disrupt an orderly interior, Early uses a methodical construction to call attention to the spaces eccentricity. The waxs yellowness contrasts the white walls and gray floor, but only slightly. This distinction is even stronger in the shows only other work, a conceptual drawing in which yellow lines, rendered in wax crayon, appear to float on an expanse of watery black ink. As in the actual installation, the lines appear implacable while the setting wobbles. Ever so gently, the temporary redefines the permanent. Mary Early: Linea XI Through Jan. 29 at Art Enables, 2204 Rhode Island Ave. NE. New. Now. In a Cecilia Kim video, honey drips down a wooden cabinet. Nearby, Samera Paz slumps in black-and-white Depressive Episode photographs. At the back of the gallery is Matthew Russos thicket of toylike sculptures, made mostly of brightly painted paper pulp. The latest contingent of Hamiltonian Artists Fellows is, as usual, a diverse lot. The five artists, four from Washington and one from Richmond, will be fellows for two years, during which Hamiltonian will try to further their careers. Most of the quintet address issues of personal identity, but the group includes two who are more concerned with form: Russo, who also offers paintings of curved shapes on grids, and Ara Koh, whose ceramics include free-standing pieces as well as painting-like abstractions that layer textured clay on wooden panels. Kyrae Dawaun is the only fellow primarily showing paintings, although his most satisfying entry is charcoal sketches on newsprint. Where Dawaun contemplates archetypes, Paz ponders her own history, notably by pairing snapshots of her youth with photos of herself in the same place or situation, roughly two decades later. Advertisement Foodstuffs, including salt, honey and butter, evoke family memories for the Seoul-born Kim. Of her three videos, the magnum opus is Salt Dreams, with narration and on-screen text that alternates between Korean and English. The references are individual, but the emotions they evoke are more expansive. New. Now. Through Jan. 29 at Hamiltonian Artists, 1353 U St. NW. Jane Kell Earth and sky are clearly distinguished in the typical Jane Kell landscape, but details of both are soft, smeary and almost vaporous. Specific locations are not identifiable; they could be in Kells native Britain or in the Washington area, where she was artist in residence at Amy Kaslow Gallery last year. That venue is showing Abstract Light, a selection of 18 oils and eight sketches executed in gouache, watercolor, pastel and pencil. Advertisement Among the paintings are two nonrepresentational ones Blue Abstract and Orange Abstract that are among the shows most striking entries. These, too, take inspiration from real things, but not natural ones. Theyre modeled on the sculpture of Barbara Hepworth (1903-1975), whose style resembles that of her friend, artist Henry Moore. Rendered in paint and pastel rather than stone or metal, Kells abstracts emulate Hepworths juxtaposition of curving solids and open voids. Even without those two sculpture-derived paintings, Kells affinity for blue and orange would be apparent. For a set of landscape pictures, Abstract Light is remarkably short on green. In Indigo, sunlight-dyed orange clouds stack in an azure sky; in Flatlands, an orange field glows beneath a baby-blue firmament. Kells compositions are studies in two varieties of light, warm and cool. Jane Kell: Abstract Light Through Jan. 30 at Amy Kaslow Gallery, 4300 Fordham Rd. NW. GiftOutline Gift Article Placeholder while article actions load Theres pivoting, and then theres whiplash. A couple of weeks ago, the 38th annual Sundance Film Festival was ready to launch on Jan. 20 as a nine-day hybrid event, welcoming filmmakers and audiences back to Park City, Utah, for the first time in two years while also making films available online to movie lovers around the world. For those planning to attend in person, it promised to be a party and a reunion a happy return to standing in snowy admission lines, swapping buzz on shuttle buses and finding the movie that might change your life. On Jan. 5, however, amid increasing concerns about the rapidly spreading omicron variant, a last-minute decision was made to cancel the physical event and, as in 2021, go fully virtual. It cant be easy slamming the brakes on a festival that in the recent past has brought more than 120,000 filmgoers to a small ski-resort town in the Wasatch Mountains, and patrons who bought the $750 festival package which provides a set number of tickets for features, plus other films have been crying foul since learning that no refunds would be forthcoming. (The full festival pass offered in 2021 was $350.) Advertisement In an email to The Post on Thursday, a Sundance spokesperson said of the current ticket policy, We rely heavily on the festival to continue our mission-centered work. This is one of the reasons why our hybrid products are set up as non-refundable. We need to be able to continue to champion the essential storytellers of this generation. Amid filmmakers, festivalgoers, publicists and volunteers canceling their travel plans, and Park Citys hospitality industry kissing goodbye to some $80 million in revenue, the Sundance staff has had to turn this legendary indie-movie battleship around within the space of 15 days. Only one film to date has backed out of its Sundance berth: Final Cut, a zombie movie about zombies attacking a zombie movie that director Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) has said he wanted to premiere before a live audience. The week has been full of craziness, says festival director Tabitha Jackson. Putting on the Sundance Film Festival in any year is trying to make the impossible possible, and this was just another iteration of that. [The move to an all-virtual festival] came with disappointment, but we also need to respect the infrastructure of Park City and where we are in this pandemic. Advertisement A British-born filmmaker and film programmer, Jackson, 51, was tapped as the festivals director in 2020, replacing the much-loved Park City veteran John Cooper; she is only the third person to lead the storied event, as well as the first woman, person of color and person born outside the United States. But while last years Sundance, Jacksons first in the drivers seat, was the first that didnt happen in a physical space, she had ideas about taking the festival online even before covid-19 reared its viral head. It was a twinkle in my eye, and I thought, this is probably going to be a five- or 10-year plan to do this, says Jackson. But the pandemic both accelerated things at some considerable speed and made things that werent previously conceivable necessary. It helps that Sundance 2021 worked a lot of bugs out of its virtual screening software. Sundance 2022 will make more than 80 feature films available through its streaming platform at festival.sundance.org, along with Zoom Q&As and other live events. While that number is lower than the average 120 titles in pre-pandemic years, its about 10 more than the 2021 festival and, more important, it strikes a balance that Jackson feels offers choice without becoming overwhelming. Heres her pitch: After the last two years, after youve read all your Proust and youve made all your sourdough starters and youve finished watching the entire Internet, an infusion of new work by makers you havent heard of, titles you dont know, casts yet to be discovered, is an incredibly exciting and necessary injection into the culture. Advertisement Even the New Frontiers section, traditionally devoted to virtual reality, performance art and experimental technologies, will be available online via a spaceship in which festivalgoers avatars will interact with each other and the shows. Jackson has a philosophy about all of this, and its not so much forward-thinking as of-the-moment. I try not to use the word virtual, she says. One of the things I learned last year was that gathering together at a moment in time even if its not a moment in place brings with it an energy, a response to the work, a response to each other, which are real and powerful. She cites a Zoom Q&A after last years screening of the intense school-shooting drama Mass, where the director and actor were in tears. It was just an incredible electric moment. There was nothing virtual about that. Then, too, theres something to be said for bringing Sundance down from the mountains to the people who cant afford to skip work for a week to fly to Utah. For the second year, the festival has arranged to simulcast some films at art house satellite screens in such cities as Seattle, San Diego, Baltimore and Winston-Salem, which, along with at-home streaming, will lead to what Jackson describes as a more democratic and authentic representation of audiences. The challenge will be retaining and fine-tuning this mix in years to come, after Sundance returns to its physical footprint. Festivals are all about balance, says Jackson. So how do we balance the in-person with the online, the IRL with the URL? At its core, of course, Sundance is about the movies and the people who make them, as well as the thrill of discovery for critics and paying audiences alike. Launched in 1978 in Salt Lake City as the Utah/US Film Festival, Sundance was the brainchild of actor Robert Redford; the head of his production company, Sterling Van Wagenen; and the Utah Film Commission. The event moved to Park City in 1981 and was taken over by Redfords Sundance Institute in 1984. The following years lineup arguably serves as the starting gun for the American independent film movement, with debut or breakthrough films from the Coen brothers (Blood Simple), Jim Jarmusch (Stranger Than Paradise), Wim Wenders (Paris, Texas) and Sally Potter (The Gold Diggers). Advertisement In the following two decades, as Redford continued to serve as the public face of Sundance while leaving the day-to-day management to festival director Geoffrey Gilmore (now running the Tribeca Film Festival), Sundance helped radically remake the landscape of the film industry by offering an alternative to Hollywood studio fare and giving voice to an increasingly diverse multiplicity of voices. Its the festival that brought us Sex, Lies, and Videotape in 1989, Reservoir Dogs in 1992, Little Miss Sunshine in 2006 and Summer of Soul in 2021, and that helped launch the careers of (just to name a few) Steven Soderbergh, Quentin Tarantino, Richard Linklater (Slacker), Darren Aronofsky (Pi), Lisa Cholodenko (High Art), Lee Daniels (Precious), Debra Granik (Winters Bone), Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station) and Lee Isaac Chung (Minari). Independent cinema had always existed in the United States, but with Sundance, it became a market force and a cultural zeitgeist that continues to this day. (Redford, who announced his retirement from acting with 2018s The Old Man and the Gun, has ceased any active involvement with the festival, saying in a 2020 interview, Its gotten so big; its beyond my control.) In recent years, as the major studios have retreated into the commercial safe harbor of franchise filmmaking, festivals like Sundance, Telluride and Toronto have become critical points on the indie-film rollout calendar, showcases for an entire alternate ecosystem of film distribution. Has Sundance become too much of a marketplace? We do need to pay attention to the sales aspect of the festival, acknowledges Jackson. We do not need to chase it or program to it. When a film makes a sale [here], it indicates that the industry thinks that this work can connect with audiences. Ultimately, thats where the power comes from in the work when it connects, when it resonates, when it creates change. And the work continues to come. Sundance programmers were concerned this year about a coronavirus-related drop-off in film submissions that never happened. Says Jackson: We had no right to expect that anybody would have completed their work during a pandemic and so it was the old cliche: Would it be feast or famine? This year was an absolute feast, and we had to leave a huge amount of films, great films, on the table, which is good news for the culture and other festivals. She points to three movies as examples of the diversity and adventurousness of this years Sundance. Nanny, a drama about a Senegalese caregiver in New York City, is a psychological thriller, but [director Nikyatu Jusu is] also grappling with very real social issues of labor rights, the interactions between different classes, different ethnicities, privileged children. Mariama Diallos Master is a drama about Black students on a White campus that tips into supernatural territory. And theres a comedy called Emergency, which is a fantastic rip-roaring ride wrestling with some of the most difficult things to talk about at the moment young men of color being put in situations that could be perceived as absolutely egregious for them or by them and how these societal roles play out. Its notable that more movies than usual this year fall into genres of suspense, comedy, thriller and horror. In Dual, a young woman (Karen Gillan) does battle with her own clone; in You Wont Be Alone, Noomi Rapace (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) plays a 19th-century witch who takes over the body of a peasant. Something in the Dirt, from cult filmmakers Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, finds the paranormal in a Los Angeles apartment building. Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul is a broad farce set in a Southern Baptist megachurch. At the same time, some Sundance entries deal with the actual past in ways that comment presciently on the actual present: There are two films, a documentary and a star-studded drama, about the Janes, the anonymous women in 1960s Chicago who ran an underground railroad for then-illegal abortions. Advertisement Jackson feels this isnt by accident. It does, on many days, feel that were living in a horror film. I also think that with genre work, if you are a woman, if you are a filmmaker of color, genre can often be a good way of getting in and getting the funding. Even if youre not a known name or have a known track record, you have more chance of getting someone to take a bet on you because you might be the next Get Out. Even so, the movies of Sundance 2022 seem to have an unusually high number of ghosts in them a woman visited by the shade of her mother in Chiles The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future, for instance, or an enslaved person escaping from a plantation and surfacing in 1973 America in Alice. There are a lot of ghosts and theres a lot of loss, agrees Jackson. I think filmmakers have been grappling with loss and grief, and this [festival] is a spectrum of the ways in which theyre doing it. This is absolutely a program of its moment. GiftOutline Gift Article "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Placeholder while article actions load For as long as Jay Maharath can remember, hes showered at night a habit instilled in him at a young age by his Asian parents, who didnt want traces of the outdoors dirtying up their home. Though always having to wash at the end of the day was bothersome when he was a child, Maharath, who is Laotian American, said hes grown to appreciate the night shower. It just feels, to be honest, a bit cleaner, said Maharath, 26, of Hanover, Md. Once you go outside, especially here in the summer right now, youre dealing with all these kinds of bugs, youre dealing with the dust, youre dealing with the dirt. It also serves another function, he said. Being able to shower at night lets me calm down a little bit, and then its like I can get into the mode of actually being able to sleep. Zaid Al-Hamdan is more concerned about waking up. A former night showerer who switched about 10 years ago, he said he noticed an immediate improvement in his mood and productivity after making the change. Advertisement Its made a world of a difference, said Al-Hamdan, 28, an entrepreneur alternately based in D.C. and Doha, Qatar. Beyond starting the day feeling clean, Al-Hamdan said, stepping under the shower spray just shocks you and wakes you up. When I go into the office, Im more prepared to work as soon as I walk in, he said. I dont spend 30 minutes waking up and just drinking coffee after coffee. The right time to shower is an age-old debate. Although sleep experts say there is some evidence that a nightly rinse at the right temperature could help if youre struggling to fall asleep and a morning shower may be beneficial for waking you up, dermatologists say skin health and hygiene depend much more on how, not when, youre showering. When you prefer to shower is not a scientific decision, said Mona Gohara, an associate clinical professor of dermatology at Yale School of Medicine. This is a personal decision. Advertisement The benefit of the skin really comes from what youre using in the shower, what you do right after the shower, Gohara said. You could be showering in the morning or you could be showering at night and using crappy products and ruining your skin. Anecdotally, dermatologists say, many people seem to be showering less during the coronavirus pandemic part of a larger trend of embracing minimalism in daily routines. This actually dovetails with some of their guidance about washing and shampooing. Time of day aside, here are the factors to consider when you shower. Temperature, shower length matter There are few things more soothing than a long, hot shower. But for some people, especially those who have drier skin or skin conditions such as eczema, prolonged exposure to hot water can often do more harm than good, dermatologists say. Advertisement For one thing, its relaxing effect can encourage people to take longer showers or baths, said Ivy Lee, a Los Angeles-based dermatologist, which can actually draw out and dehydrate the skin. Thats because when youre opening up that skin barrier and creating that permeability, it really just decreases [the skins] ability to hold on to water, Lee said. Lee and other dermatologists recommend shorter showers of no more than 10 minutes, using warm or room-temperature water or even cold water which is less drying to skin. Water temperature and timing are also important factors to consider if youre a night showerer who hopes it will help you sleep, said Phyllis Zee, chief of sleep medicine at Northwestern Universitys Feinberg School of Medicine. For best results, Zee recommends taking a warm shower between one and two hours before going to bed. Advertisement This would warm up your hands, feet and head, causing heat to dissipate from more central parts of your body, such as your chest or abdominal area, and helping to decrease your body temperature, Zee said. Because the body naturally begins to cool down as it approaches bedtime, this may help you fall asleep, she said. But showering at extreme temperatures right before bed could be a problem, said Rachel Salas, a sleep neurologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Sleep and Wellness. If you take a shower close to bedtime and its a very hot or cold shower, that temperature can negatively affect your sleep, because what youre doing is youre making your body temperature so different from baseline. Less is more For skin health and hygiene, when and how often you shower should depend on your skin type and activity levels, said Chad Prather, a clinical assistant professor in the dermatology department at Louisiana State University. If you have drier skin or arent doing many activities that may result in sweating or exposures to dirt, other irritants or germs, you could shower less frequently. Advertisement Gohara said she generally recommends people wash their bodies once a day, or twice at the most. For those with conditions such as eczema, even showering once a day might be too much, she said. The less is more approach should also be applied during the shower, said Jules Lipoff, an assistant professor of clinical dermatology at the University of Pennsylvanias Perelman School of Medicine. Though Lipoff and other experts noted that indulging in a long shower or bath can be important for mental health, much of what people do when they bathe is certainly not medically or hygienically necessary. When it comes to bathing, Prather said, he encourages people to focus on the three Ps pits, privates and piggies. Your armpits, groin and rear area, and feet are the only parts of the body that emit bad odors, Gohara said. Advertisement Hair-washing, Prather said, can be more variable. Not everyone has to wash hair every day, he said, and its important to find the routine that fits your lifestyle. Lee added: It really depends on hair texture and also what that balance and equilibrium is for an individual. If your hair is brittle, has a coarser texture or you notice split ends, that may be a sign that youre washing too frequently and stripping the natural moisture, Lee said. Alternatively, not washing your hair enough can lead to a greasy appearance, as well as more buildup on the scalp and dandruff. When washing your hair, Prather suggests focusing shampoo on your scalp. Washing your hair should feel like youre giving yourself a scalp massage, he said. But if you use conditioner, he said, make sure to work that through the length of your hair. Pick body-friendly products According to the Food and Drug Administration, there are very few true soaps (made with a combination of fats or oils and an alkali, such as lye) on the market today, as most body cleansers liquid and bar forms are synthetic detergents, which are less irritating to the skin. Advertisement The dermatologists suggested looking for a soap or body wash described as a gentle cleanser and sulfate-free shampoos. One sign you may be using something too harsh is if you emerge from the shower feeling squeaky clean, Gohara said. When you feel like your face is tight, that is basically your skin barrier giving you an SOS, like, You destroyed me. Lipoff also cautioned against using antibacterial cleansers, which tend to be more drying, too. Its not necessarily healthier and in our interest to reduce bacteria all the time, he said, though he added that in a pandemic when people are worried about infections, it can be a tricky balance. Resist the urge to scrub Dermatologists also caution against scrubbing too vigorously or over-exfoliating in the shower. Scrubbing is like synonymous with cleansing, and thats a really big fallacy, Gohara said. I always tell my patients that scrubbing is for your appliances, not your skin. Advertisement Consider soaping yourself with only your hands, and if you want to use an applicator, try a soft shower pouf or cotton washcloth, she said. Traditional loofahs would probably be too abrasive. Similarly, some exfoliating products and tools can be very irritating to the skin, Lee said. Though there may be cosmetic benefits to removing your dead skin cells with manual or chemical exfoliants, your skin will naturally exfoliate, she said. If you do choose to exfoliate and dont have any existing skin conditions, avoid doing it more than once a week and take a gentle approach, experts said. Gritty washes or scrubs can lead to little microtraumas and exacerbation of dryness and problems with the skin, Prather said. Don't forget aftercare Once you get out of the shower, dont do the classic towel shimmy and rub your skin, Gohara and other experts said. Pat yourself dry and focus on moisturizing. Gohara suggests moisturizing immediately post-shower in the bathroom, because the skin is still damp and you can capitalize on the ambient humidity. Although there are many types of moisturizers including ointments, creams and lotions Lee recommends using a fragrance-free moisturizing cream, which can lock in more moisture than lighter-weight lotions that have a higher water content. Skin health really starts in the shower, Gohara said. Maintaining the integrity of the skin barrier is important, and showering can either make that or break that, depending on what youre doing. GiftOutline Gift Article Placeholder while article actions load The Justice Departments decision to charge Oath Keepers with seditious conspiracy last week makes clear that prosecutors consider the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol part of an organized assault to prevent the peaceful transfer of presidential power. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight But so far the department does not appear to be directly investigating the person whose desperate bid to stay in office motivated the mayhem former president Donald Trump either for potentially inciting a riot or for what some observers see as a related pressure campaign to overturn the results of the election. The House select committee on Jan. 6 is investigating both matters, separate from the Justice Department, and has aggressively pursued information about Trump and those closest to him. But FBI agents have not, for example, sought to interview or gather materials from some of Trumps most loyal lieutenants about their strategy sessions at the Willard hotel on how to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to participants in those meetings or their representatives. Advertisement The department has not reached out to the Georgia secretary of states office about Trump urging its leader to find enough votes to reverse his defeat, a person familiar with the office said, even as a local district attorney investigates that matter. The Trump campaign has not received requests for documents or interviews from the FBI or Justice Department related to Jan. 6 or the effort to overturn the election results, and federal prosecutors have not sought to interview those with knowledge of Trumps consideration of a plan to install an attorney general more amenable to his unfounded claims of massive voter fraud, according to people familiar with the matter who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing case. The Justice Department inspector general is investigating the aborted plan and could ultimately ask prosecutors to consider whether crimes were committed. Attorney General Merrick Garland has vowed to hold accountable all those responsible for the Jan. 6 riot whether they were at the Capitol or committed related crimes. The actions we have taken thus far will not be our last, Garland said in a Jan. 5 speech marking the anniversary of the Capitol breach. Advertisement But some legal analysts say they worry Garland might be moving too cautiously. The other shoe has yet to drop that is: When will the Justice Department promptly and exhaustively investigate the part of the coup attempt that I believe came perilously close to ending American constitutional democracy, basically, without a drop of blood? said Harvard Law School Professor Laurence Tribe, a constitutional scholar and outspoken Trump critic. A spokesman for the D.C. U.S. attorneys office, which is leading the criminal investigation, declined to comment. A spokesman for Garland pointed to the recent speech, in which the attorney general said the department would follow the facts and must speak through our work. A spokesman for Trump did not respond to requests for comment. A difficult case Most analysts even those who want more aggressive action acknowledge that building a viable criminal case against the former president would be challenging. Advertisement Investigators might consider exploring whether the president criminally incited the crowd that ultimately marched to and stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 when he said at the rally preceding the riot: And if you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore. But such speech could be considered protected by the First Amendment, and Trump is hardly the first politician to call on his supporters to fight. While Trump told the crowd to march to the Capitol and vowed to join them even though he had no plans to do so there is no evidence that he knew they planned to storm the building. Investigators might also consider whether Trumps pressure on Georgias secretary of state to find votes for him combined with other legal and legislative maneuvering to prevent his loss from being finalized was part of a criminal conspiracy to impede government functioning. But if Trump genuinely believed the election was stolen from him, experts say, it would be hard to construe his contesting the outcome as a crime. Advertisement We better be real careful that we dont start taking political and emotional comments by public figures and try to turn them into the stuff of criminal prosecutions, former federal prosecutor James Trusty said. Almost from the investigations outset, Justice Department officials have debated how to proceed in the sprawling and politically sensitive case. At first, according to people familiar with the matter, a few prosecutors in the D.C. U.S. attorneys office wanted to use subpoenas and search warrants to go after records of some rally organizers or speakers. But the FBI, Justice Department officials and Michael R. Sherwin who was appointed as the acting D.C. U.S. attorney during the Trump administration and continued to lead the probe after stepping down from that post resisted the idea, arguing that they would be trampling on demonstrators First Amendment rights, the people said. Advertisement Instead, the Justice Department decided to investigate those who were caught on video committing crimes and see whether they could connect them to higher-level targets. Prosecutors have so far charged more than 725 people in connection with the attack, and FBI agents are seeking about 200 more. Although most were not part of planned conspiracies or members of far-right groups, the department has alleged some more sophisticated plots. Perhaps most significantly, the FBI on Thursday arrested founder and leader of the extremist group Oath Keepers Stewart Rhodes, charging him and 10 others with seditious conspiracy. It is the first time prosecutors brought sedition charges in the investigation, even though the D.C. U.S. attorneys office prepared a memo almost a year ago detailing how such a case could be made. Prosecutors alleged that Rhodes and his associates planned to stop the transfer of power to President Biden and armed themselves with weapons and combat gear as they came to Washington from across the country. Analysts said prosecutors will surely use the serious charge to try to persuade Oath Keepers to cooperate in the investigation. Advertisement The indictment suggests Rhodes was mindful of what Trump was saying on Jan. 6, although Rhodes appeared to be frustrated by it. All I see Trump doing is complaining. I see no intent by him to do anything. So the patriots are taking it into their own hands. Theyve had enough, he wrote to a group chat that day, according to the indictment. Jonathan Moseley, who has been representing Rhodes, said his client had been scheduled to testify before the Jan. 6 House committee next month but now wouldnt be doing so. Theyre not going to get their interview or their documents, he said. This is sort of a collision between these two inquiries. Moseley said he has no indication of whether the Justice Department investigation is headed toward Trump but said Rhodess arrest was notable because he had not been inside the Capitol. Advertisement That line has been crossed, Moseley said. Harry Litman, a former deputy assistant attorney general, said the indictment of Rhodes, who maintains he is innocent, was a significant step. But whether they can do the hop, skip and jump from there to the Oval Office remains to be seen, Litman said. Rob Jenkins, a defense attorney representing multiple people linked to the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, another far-right group, said prosecutors have been pretty aggressive in seeking out information . . . that points to others involvement and culpability. They are interested, he said, in preplanning, and participation in those preplanning on the part of the individuals who may not have come to D.C. on Jan 6 but were certainly part of the planned effort. That includes both leaders in the groups and people who spoke at the rally on Jan. 6, including close Trump allies Rudolph W. Giuliani and Roger Stone, he said. Advertisement There was a lot of talk, Jenkins said. But I havent seen anything that would make them criminally liable. Stanley Brand, a former U.S. House counsel who now represents some Jan. 6 witnesses and defendants, said the approach is standard. Like all Department of Justice investigations, they begin at the lower rungs, he said. But the difference here is the lower rungs are as wide as the ocean, and theres no evidence yet of them investigating much above that. Pressure to do more Critical to any investigation would be gleaning Trumps intentions, analysts said. Did his failure to immediately and forcefully tell rioters to stand down once they attacked police and breached the Capitol indicate that he meant his words to spark violence? Did he already know he had lost when he pressured Vice President Mike Pence to reject electoral votes on the House floor or when he urged Georgias secretary of state to find Trump votes? The key in pretty much all these crimes would be proving corrupt intent, because Trump is going to come in and say, when he was pressuring Pence, I was told by my advisers that he had this legal authority, and I was just repeating that. And that could be difficult to overcome, former federal prosecutor Randall Eliason said. Many of those whose conduct might be at issue in a Trump-focused probe said they had yet to be contacted by federal prosecutors. Some seemed skeptical there was cause to do so. A person directly involved in planning the rally, for example, said they had received no FBI or Justice Department requests, despite having spent six hours taking questions about the matter before the House committee that is separately investigating the riot. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect their privacy. A Pence aide said the former vice presidents office had received no FBI or Justice Department outreach. At least 11 former campaign and White House aides including seven who have been in touch with the Jan. 6 House committee said they had received no inquiries from the Justice Department. Former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik, who was among those at the Willard hotel command center where Trump allies plotted strategy to bring about a second Trump term, told The Washington Post he had no DOJ contact. I wasnt involved in January 6. I dont know anything about the Capitol, and nobodys contacted me about it, he said. John Eastman a lawyer who spoke at the rally on Jan. 6 and had outlined scenarios for denying Biden the presidency in a meeting days earlier with Trump and Pence said he had not heard from the Justice Department, either. If other rally speakers were contacted by the department, he said, they really would be going after peoples perfectly valid, constitutionally protected First Amendment rights. That the Justice Department has yet to turn its attention directly to Trump and his close allies does not mean it never will, and analysts note that much could be happening in secret. Investigators could seek communication records of those at the Willard hotel from phone or email providers, for example, in such a way that those whose records are at issue never found out. Eliason said prosecutors also might have good reason for waiting to seek interviews with high-profile, politically connected officials. If you just go in and talk to them cold in the first month of the investigation, theyre not going to tell you anything, he said. The department, though, has faced pressure to do more, including the possibility of criminal referrals from the House committee. Last month, Tribe and two former federal prosecutors wrote a New York Times opinion piece saying Garlands place in history would be determined by his handling of the Jan. 6 investigation. That means dissuading future coup plotters by holding the leaders of the insurrection fully accountable for their attempt to overthrow the government, the group wrote. But he cannot do so without a robust criminal investigation of those at the top, from the people who planned, assisted or funded the attempt to overturn the Electoral College vote to those who organized or encouraged the mob attack on the Capitol. On Thursday, Michigans attorney general told MSNBC she had called on federal prosecutors to investigate a group of Republicans who submitted a fake certificate claiming they were the states presidential electors. The state had been looking into the matter for months, and state officials have been interviewed about it by counsel to the congressional Jan. 6 committee. But there has been no outreach from the Justice Department, state officials said. Garlands public vow to hold accountable all those responsible for Jan. 6 allayed the concerns of some who had been pushing for more aggressive investigation. Donald Ayer, a former deputy attorney general who co-wrote the New York Times column with Tribe, said he still felt it was very important that the Justice Department be focused on investigating the upper-level people, as well as the people who were present on Capitol Hill that day, people that organized it, people that funded it. Of Garland, he added: Im prepared to wait and see what he does, believing that hes going to do what he said hes going to do. Tribe said he remained somewhat disappointed in Garlands caution, though he was heartened by the indictment of Rhodes. Its a virtuous characteristic in an attorney general, and it will serve him well if contrary to current appearances he manages to come to a conclusion in time, Tribe said. But the very great danger, and it grows with every passing hour, is that the clock will run out. Devlin Barrett and Spencer S. Hsu contributed to this report. GiftOutline Gift Article By Azernews By Ayya Lmahamad Azerbaijan's Small and Medium Business Development Agency and Ukraine's Investment Attraction Office (Ukraine Invest) have signed a memorandum of cooperation on January 14 in Kyiv. The document was signed by SMBs Development Agency's Chairman Orkhan Mammadov and Ukraine Invest's CEO Sergey Tsivkach. The memorandum envisages cooperation between the businessmen of the two countries to promote mutual investment activity, exchange of information on potential investment projects and other spheres, exchange of experience in rendering services to SMBs, and the process of organizing mutual promotional events for businessmen. Earlier, as part of his visit to Ukraine, the chairman of Azerbaijan's Small and Medium Business Development Agency Board, Orkhan Mammadov, held various meetings with Ukrainian officials. Moreover, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is on an official visit to Ukraine on January 14. Following the expanded meeting in Kyiv, a ceremony of signing Azerbaijan-Ukraine documents was held in the presence of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Azerbaijan and Ukraine are cooperating in different spheres of the economy. Ukraine was Azerbaijan's second-largest trade partner among the CIS countries with a trade turnover amounting to $771.5 million in 2020. In addition, the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $866.4 million in January-November 2021, with exports accounting for $446.9 million and imports for $419.4 million. Additionally, Ukraine was among the countries to voice support to Azerbaijan over its just position and its territorial integrity during the 44-day Second Karabakh War with Armenia in 2020. Ukrainian companies expressed their interest in reconstructing Azerbaijans liberated territories. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 14) The OCTA Research group said it is "definitely possible" that the country's daily COVID-19 cases could reach 40,000 within the next few days. This projection comes after the Department of Health reported another record-high 37,207 new infections on Friday. "37,207 new cases today, within error of our blind projected range (35 to 37). This is obviously another new high in cases, and 40k is definitely possible within the next few days," OCTA Research fellow Guido David tweeted. In an interview with CNN Philippines, he made the same projection "if the plateauing in the NCR [National Capital Region] or the peak may be slightly delayed." In another tweet, David said NCR, Baguio City, Naga City, Angeles City, Santiago, Dagupan, and Lucena are currently at critical risk. But he noted a decline is possible by next week in Metro Manila and in parts of Calabarzon where the surge started early, while the number of cases in other provinces may still go up until the end of January, then start to decline sometime in February. Acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles earlier announced that Metro Manila the epicenter of the local coronavirus outbreak will remain under Alert Level 3 until Jan. 31. Terri Evans, 47, is the CEO and founder of Dockside Delivery. (Taylor Glascock for The Post) Black businesses closed at twice the rate of other businesses at the start of the pandemic. Then Black entrepreneurship surged. Placeholder while article actions load 6 feared dead in blast, fire at Ottawa building Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Six people were feared dead after an explosion and fire at a commercial building in Ottawa, police said Friday, as authorities searched for missing employees. Three men were hospitalized after the blast Thursday in the Canadian capitals Nepean area, and authorities were searching for five other people, Ottawa police said. They said they didnt expect to find survivors among the four men and a woman. One of the hospitalized men succumbed to his injuries. Another remained in serious condition, police said, and the third man had been released. CBC news reported that the site of the blast belongs to Eastway Tank Pump & Meter, a maker of custom tank trucks. Investigations were underway. Reuters Catholic dioceses will hear abuse allegations Spains Catholic Church will set up local commissions to hear complaints from victims of abuse after holding talks in Rome with Pope Francis on Friday about allegations over eight decades detailed in a Spanish newspaper. Advertisement El Pais in December published a three-year investigation that it said uncovered potential abuse by 251 priests and some laypeople from religious institutions against at least 1,237 victims from 1943 to 2018. It said its correspondent gave a 385-page dossier to the pope on Dec. 2 while the papal entourage and journalists were flying from Rome to Cyprus. Cardinal Juan Jose Omella, president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, discussed sex abuse issues with Francis at the Vatican and said each diocese would set up a commission to receive accusations and then investigate. The Spanish church has rejected suggestions it set up an independent investigation body as has been done in France. Reuters Bad weather caused crash that killed India's military chief: An air force helicopter crash that killed India's military chief and 13 other people was caused by an unexpected change in weather that disoriented the pilot, a military court said in preliminary findings. The helicopter was flying through a valley last month with Gen. Bipin Rawat, his wife and 12 other army and air force personnel on board when a change in weather led the pilot to fly into clouds, the court of inquiry said. "This led to spatial disorientation of the pilot resulting in controlled flight into terrain," the court said. The court ruled out mechanical failure, sabotage and negligence. Rawat, 63, his wife and 11 others were killed on impact. The lone survivor, air force Capt. Varun Singh, died later in treatment. Advertisement A shocked Ireland holds vigils for slain woman: Thousands fell silent at candlelight vigils in towns and cities across Ireland in memory of a young jogger killed in broad daylight, in what campaigners called a "watershed moment" in the call to end violence against women. Ashling Murphy, 23, was killed in her native Tullamore in the Irish Midlands on Wednesday while exercising on a popular canal walkway. Police say that the attack on the teacher was probably random and that the killer is still at large. The killing has shocked the country, and about 100 vigils were held in Ireland and Northern Ireland, including outside the Irish Parliament in Dublin, where a minute's silence was held. Malians demonstrate against regional sanctions: Thousands demonstrated in the Malian capital, Bamako, against sanctions imposed by neighboring countries on the transitional military government for trying to extend its hold on power. People poured into Independence Square, holding up signs saying "Down with ECOWAS" and "Down with France," to protest restrictions imposed by the Economic Community of West African States and backed by former colonial power France. A military junta seized power in a 2020 coup and initially agreed to hold elections this February. It has since backtracked and recently proposed a date of December 2025. The move drew international condemnation, but many Malians continue to support interim president Assimi Goita, a colonel whose overthrow of Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was widely popular. Congo parliament leader resigns over 'bullying': The vice president of Congo's parliament, Jean-Marc Kabund, resigned over what he described as "bullying, humiliation and torture." Kabund, a top ally of President Felix Tshisekedi, quit two days after CCTV footage shared on social media appeared to show members of Tshisekedi's Republican Guard raiding Kabund's house and detaining one man. Spokespeople for the government and the guard, an arm of the country's military, could not be reached for comment. A leading figure behind Tshisekedi's rise to power, Kabund's decision to quit highlights emerging fault lines in the country's leadership, and could spell uncertainty for the future of the ruling Sacred Union coalition ahead of the 2023 presidential election, political analysts said. From news services GiftOutline Gift Article Placeholder while article actions load In her Jan. 9 op-ed, Bidens biggest worry, Karen Tumulty highlighted implicit dangers in the decline of democracy throughout the world. We should all remind ourselves of a sociopolitical truism: You are either effectively engaged in some form of democratic self-government or you are governed by someone else, where the governing few might account for your concerns and needs, but only to the extent that your concerns coincide with theirs. Thomas Jefferson noted that successful democracy requires a properly educated voting citizenry; he might have added that one has to make use of the education and apply it in ones political life and activities. Bob Holmstrom, Leesburg Karen Tumulty rightly focused on the presidents concern for Americans to stand for the rule of law, to preserve the flame of democracy, to keep the promise of America alive. Traditionally, its where weve stood as Congress has worked to solve our problems. However, for 40 years, many Americans have become disillusioned by Congresss failure to address their mounting worries during our postindustrial digital age. Their angst has centered on the broad socioeconomic inequities that were allowed to fester even as their livelihoods began to vanish in the 1980s. Advertisement With Congress unable to agree on how to help students and workers meet 21st-century demands for higher-skilled labor, it may have been inevitable for someone such as former president Donald Trump to churn up frustration and channel peoples ire against scapegoats such as illegal immigrants. With disinformation streaming from unscrupulous commentators and dishonest politicians, this sense of victimization was further stoked by Mr. Trump into a reason for overturning the 2020 presidential election and attacking the Capitol. It remains to be seen if this misguided fury will lessen, given that many states already have reacted to suppress our voting rights and undercut the integrity of our vote-counting and vote-certifying systems to support the former presidents false election claims. Congress must act to help educate us, train us and expand our job opportunities; to protect our voting rights; and to prevent the subversion of our democracy. Failure is not an option. Dale Pappas, Bethesda GiftOutline Gift Article Placeholder while article actions load Regarding the Jan. 10 news article Kazakhstan officials say 164 are dead in protests, country now stabilized : Kazakhstans recent unprecedented violence has had a traumatic impact on our people and threatened to undermine the basic functions of government. But the Jan. 10 article on Kazakhstan left readers with the impression that Kazakhstans government has been targeting peaceful protesters. The demonstration against rising fuel prices started peacefully, and the government took no action to stop it. Moreover, authorities immediately reacted with concrete measures to address public concerns, capping the price of liquefied petroleum gas, gasoline, utilities and basic foodstuffs as well as engaging in a constructive dialogue with the protesters. However, the violence that swept the country in the days after forced us to respond. Our security forces have been engaging with violent mobs who were committing increasingly brazen acts of terrorism. According to the latest data, 18 law enforcement officers were killed and 748 police officers were injured. About 1,000 private citizens were injured and up to 400 were hospitalized. More than 450 vehicles were burned, including police cars, ambulances and firetrucks. Businesses suffered: A total of 1,300 shops and trade facilities, cafes and restaurants were destroyed. Advertisement It is the right of every government to secure the country and its people. Though peaceful protests, including protests of government policy, are allowed, violence will not be tolerated. The government will respond forcefully but proportionally to restore the peace Kazakhs deserve. Kazakhstan has repeatedly expressed its commitment to the rule of law. All actions taken or supported are and will be in accordance with our constitution, our laws and our international commitments. Yerzhan Ashikbayev, Washington The writer is Kazakhstans ambassador to the United States. GiftOutline Gift Article Placeholder while article actions load The Jan. 8 Metro article Housing disparity riles Md. suburb reported on the first group meeting of four candidates for Montgomery County executive. All claimed concern for affordable housing, but none mentioned the countys Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit program, born out of a 1973 ordinance and a national model of what is now called inclusionary zoning. Private rental housing developments are required to provide 12.5 to 15 percent of units for renters at 65 percent of the area median income (currently $127,800). These units can be managed by the owner or granted to a nonprofit houser or the Housing Opportunities Commission. This makes the county almost uniquely dependent on private developments as an essential part of affordable-housing policy, not an inimical or irrelevant part of making the county an affordable place to live for more people who work here. Advertisement Ralph Bennett, Silver Spring The writer is co-chair of the Affordable Housing Conference of Montgomery County. As a resident of Montgomery County and supporter of County Executive Marc Elrich (D), I was surprised by his outdated views on affordable housing in the county, particularly in the face of an acute housing shortage and demographic changes involving the influx of Blacks and Latinos to our county. There is an urgent need for a paradigm shift to change the countys zoning regulations and land-use laws. This would lead to achieving the required number of affordable-housing units in the county. Unequivocally, the appropriate housing policy for the county must address the question of affordable housing supply to meet the accommodation needs of the existing and incoming Blacks and Latinos. Advertisement Mr. Elrichs effort to preserve Montgomerys existing supply of affordable housing and disburse millions of dollars in rental relief is a flawed strategy that is designed at maintaining and keeping the lid on the new construction of affordable housing in the county. If Montgomery County is welcoming to all people, regardless of your income, color, gender and race, its housing policy must reflect an element of inclusivity by giving room for more affordable housing in the county. Montgomery County and the next county executive must be prepared to tackle the difficult issue of affordable housing that is hidden within the web of racial and social inequalities in one of the most progressive counties in the United States. Joel Ademisoye, Gaithersburg GiftOutline Gift Article Placeholder while article actions load The Jan. 10 Metro article Classes virtual this week at 11 Montgomery schools missed many of the Montgomery County Public Schools failures. Unlike Prince Georges County, which went virtual temporarily during this coronavirus surge, MCPS is forcing kids to be physically in school. It should offer a virtual option, or at least do what is needed to keep them safe in school, but it is not. Unlike D.C., MCPS did not require kids to test for the coronavirus before returning. It distributed tests and asked students to use them; relying on the honor system is insufficient. It is distributing KN95 masks for students, although at least one school gave kids the adult size. However, it does not require they be worn; any mask is fine, even ones that do not protect against the omicron variant. Rules about attire in schools can extend to lifesaving masks. Koblenz, Germany (CNN) -- When Anwar Raslan was sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity, he appeared nonplussed. Elsewhere in the courtroom, the former Syrian colonel's victims rejoiced. Amid cheers, they shook hands and embraced. Social distancing rules were briefly forgotten. Raslan, a bespectacled 58-year-old, barely flinched. The court in Koblenz delivered this historic verdict on Thursday morning. And scores of Syrian activists -- mostly relatives of people who have been forcibly disappeared or killed by the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad -- poured into this tiny German city to witness it. The ruling concluded a nearly two-year trial, the first to hold a member of Assad's regime accountable for crimes against humanity. As part of the same trial, Eyad al-Gharib, a more junior officer, was convicted last February of aiding and abetting torture and deprivation of liberty as crimes against humanity. He was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. Raslan -- who defected from the regime at the end of 2012 and fled to Germany -- has denied all the charges against him. Outside the court on Thursday, a group of women held a vigil for their disappeared relatives as they waited for Raslan's sentencing. News of the judgment then arrived through a German activist who read out a text message from inside the courthouse: The panel of judges had found that Raslan was complicit in at least 4,000 cases of torture, 27 murders and two cases of sexual violence. A pregnant pause hung in the air as the news sank in. Some activists started to quietly weep. "I cry because of my relationship with the survivors," said Joumana Seif, a Syrian lawyer, human rights activist and part of the legal team that represented 17 plaintiffs at the trial. "The Syrians deserve justice. We deserve so much more than the situation we are in." The courthouse is perched on the banks of the junction where the Rhine and Moselle rivers meet. It's a world away from the notorious Damascus detention facility at the center of the trial, where Raslan headed the intelligence division from 2011 to 2012. Former prisoners of Branch 251, as it is known, recounted how they were in overcrowded cells and took turns sleeping because of the lack of space. They were deprived of adequate food and medicine, and were tortured. Some were raped and sexually assaulted. Many died. It was part of the Assad regime's labyrinth of prison systems where more than 100,000 are believed to have disappeared and tens of thousands have perished since 2011. "I'm happy because this is a victory for justice," said Anwar al-Bounni, a Syrian human rights lawyer and former political prisoner, outside the courthouse. "I'm happy because it's a victory for the victims sitting inside," Bounni added, his booming voice choked with emotion as he gestured toward the courthouse. "I'm happy because it's a victory for Syrians back home who couldn't come here. It's also a victory for Syrians who didn't survive." At this bittersweet gathering in Germany, several Syrians repeatedly acknowledged that, for now, accountability could only be delivered far away from their homeland, where the justice system has been thoroughly undermined by the autocratic regime. Not even the International Criminal Court at The Hague could try the Assad regime for the countless war crimes and crimes against humanity of which it is widely accused, because Syria is not a party to that court. Syria could be investigated by the ICC if the United Nations Security Council refers it, but Assad's allies -- Russia and China -- have struck down previous motions to do so. Closer to home, justice appears ever more remote. Assad's regional foes -- namely the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia -- have repaired diplomatic ties with the regime, moves that are believed to mark the beginning of the end of the Syrian President's isolation. Yet in Koblenz, the torturer and the survivors have traded places. Raslan arrived at court shackled. His victims were free and now driving proceedings against their tormentor and -- by extension -- against the Assad regime. The court heard the survivors draw on their personal testimonies and copious amounts of incriminating evidence collected by activists and advocates since the start of Syria's 2011 uprising. In addition to finding Raslan personally guilty, the court also ruled that the Assad regime "systematically" committed crimes against humanity. Yet it was a single legal mechanism that made this possible. The Principle of Universal Jurisdiction gives courts jurisdiction over grave violations of international law even if they happened outside of the state to which the court belongs to, and regardless of the nationalities of the parties involved. As a result, survivors undertook what they said was the first step in a "long road to justice." More trials are underway against Assad officers who sought refuge in Europe from Syria's war. Some activists call it a "tactical war," with the ultimate goal of bringing the Assad government to its knees. Even if that ambitious goal isn't met, Thursday's judgment, they said, will at least let them sleep a little easier. Branch 251 Wassim Mukdad's apartment mirrors the way he describes his life in exile. Arab lutes -- known as oud -- line the walls of an office overlooking a quiet Berlin street. His library is a mix of Arabic and German books. "One of the good things about living abroad is you can pick and choose what you want to take from Arab culture and from Western culture," he quipped, his hands draped over his vintage three-piece suit. Against the backdrop of his new life lurks Mukdad's dark history in Syria, where he says he was imprisoned for his anti-regime activism three times, and jailed a fourth time by al Qaeda-linked fighters. His second stint in detention was in Branch 251, where he believes Raslan was in the room directing his interrogation sessions. Like all his fellow prisoners, Mukdad was blindfolded throughout his torture. "(Raslan) ordered directly to a man next to me ... 'making him lay on his belly and raise his feet in the air,'" said Mukdad. "Once my answers didn't suit (Raslan), the other man on command starts to hit until he says stop." Mukdad said he told his interrogator he was a doctor, fearing his torturers would break his fingers if he confessed to being a musician. Syrian cartoonist and dissident, Ali Farzat, had come to mind, Mukdad said. Farzat's tormentors smashed his fingers. They said it was stop him from drawing political cartoons, Farzat later said. "It was like hell," Mukdad says of his imprisonment in Branch 251. "How did humanity come up with this?" Throughout the trial in Koblenz, Raslan rarely spoke. His statements -- in which he tried to present himself as a conscientious objector to the regime's practices -- were read out by his defense team. He spoke only when the judges asked him a question, which rarely happened. When it did, his answers were monosyllabic. Some Syrian lawyers and plaintiffs speculated that he didn't want his victims to recognize his voice from their interrogation sessions in detention. Several plaintiffs said they had seen his face previously but, except for one survivor, said they had only seen him in his office. Raslan and his defense team have not explained why the former colonel has refused to speak in the trial and the Raslan defense team has repeatedly declined CNN's requests for comment. "Every one of us was blindfolded. They didn't want us to see, but they cannot prevent us from hearing (the interrogator)," said Mukdad. "But now he has prevented us from hearing him." Unlike his co-defendant Gharib, Raslan appeared to make no effort to hide his face during the hearings. "He stood tall and looked arrogant," recalled Seif. "He would look each of the plaintiffs in the eye, one after the other, as if to say 'who do you think you are?'" "Over the past two years in court Raslan has been sitting in his chair doing nothing with his face and writing," said Human Rights Watch Assistant Counsel Whitney-Martina Nosakhare, who attended all of the trial sessions. "When the judge read out the verdict, he had no reaction in his face." "This is an intense moment. Being sentenced to life in prison is a huge deal. It's not something that you lightly brush off," Nosakhare added. "But he made us believe it was something that he didn't care about." 'Convicted in lieu of the Syrian regime' Raslan's lawyers said they will appeal his sentencing, and experts expect his case to remain in the courts for years to come. After the verdict was read, defense lawyer Yorck Fratzky continued to deny that Raslan was personally guilty of the charges. "The defense does not make a secret of being discontent with the verdict," Fratzky said in a press briefing after the trial concluded. "We see that Raslan has been convicted in lieu of the Syrian regime." This contention, that Raslan served as a scapegoat, resonates with some Syrians, even those actively opposed to the Assad regime. Some liken the Koblenz trial to crumbs offered by the international community in the absence of political change in Syria. "My main concern is that politically these trials are used as an alternative for states in the international community to actually do something," says Berlin-based activist Wafa Mustafa, who says her father -- Ali Mustafa -- was forcibly disappeared by the regime in 2013. Wafa still supports the trial, though, and has gone to Koblenz several times, carrying her father's framed photograph. "I carry him to places I know he would like to go to," she said, flashing a wide smile of defiant optimism. "But I fear that they are using this trial as an alternative to their failure to actually deal ... with the fact that a war criminal like Assad is still in power after ten years." Similar concerns appear to have tempered celebrations in the aftermath of the verdict. Asked how she feels about the sentencing, Yasmen Almashan gestures to a photo collage of five of her six brothers. All of them, she says, were disappeared or killed. "Wasn't this the least we could do for them?" she asked. One of the plaintiffs, Ruham Hawash, looked visibly shaken after she emerged from the hours-long judgment session. The court had read out each of the plaintiffs' testimonies. Hawash doesn't want to remember her experience in Branch 251, she said, let alone have it recited aloud. "I don't want to speak about my torture, I only want to speak about the trial," she said. "In the past I used to say that I was imprisoned and tortured and my freedom was taken away from me and the story had a sad ending," said Hawash. "Today I can say that I was imprisoned, and tortured and my freedom was taken away from me but that I helped to bring those officials to this trial. "There's a big difference between these two stories. It's no longer a sad story. There was closure." Asked what she plans to do now that the trial is over, she shrugged, her feet shifting as she spoke. "I don't know what's next. Probably a new phase in my life," she said. "I'm ready to move on." This story was first published on CNN.com, "Syrian torture survivors finally came face to face with their tormentor. But the reckoning took place far from home" Washington, IN (47501) Today Windy with a mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 78F. Winds WSW at 20 to 30 mph.. Tonight Mainly cloudy. Low 49F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph. Trusted local news has never been more important, but providing the information you need, information that can change sometimes minute-by-minute, requires a partnership with you, our readers. Please consider making a contribution today to support this vital resource that you and countless others depend on. Not too far from where the new Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) stands alongside Lake Victoria on Yorta Yorta land, the local Rumbalara Football Club has its regular training and matches. Most locals know of the Indigenous footy club, as did Lin Onus, the late Yorta Yorta artist, whose work is the subject of a retrospective as the centrepiece of the museums launch program. While putting together Lin Onus: The Land Within, SAMs artistic director/CEO Rebecca Coates and Indigenous curator Belinda Briggs were drawn to one painting, in particular, showing Rumbalara players on the field. It is called Time and it is undated but the boofy hair-dos on the players suggest late 70s. Lin Onus, 3/4 Time. Courtesy of the Koorie Heritage Trust Collection and courtesy the Lin Onus Estate. Credit:Graham Baring Briggs, a Yorta Yorta woman, has been able to positively identify one of the players in the painting: her father. The figure walking off-field is noticeable because his elbow seems to be at an odd angle. As she explains, when he was a youngster, her dad broke his arm and it never healed correctly so it always had its own way of poking out. Happily, it didnt stop him playing footy. In Shepparton, connections are everywhere and the new SAM is helping to deepen the ties. No doubt, other locals will play guess-who-that-is with this painting, and they might also notice that the dramatic lozenges of colour on the gallery walls are actually Rumbalara team colours. It is tempting to wonder if the refusal to co-operate has to do with Angier herself. Her biography of Primo Levi was much criticised for its intrusive, over-confident psychologising, and for having too much Angier in it: to a lesser extent, her Sebald work has some of the same problems. She dramatises her interviews with her sources; she writes in the presumptuous subjunctive mood (He would have thought) and hovers solicitously over the young Sebald as he arrives in Fribourg (I imagine lending him the 1928 Baedeker guide to Switzerland). And although she follows the consensus that Sebalds life was deeply affected by three events the Holocaust, the allied bombing of German cities, and the death of his adored grandfather she has some theories of her own about his personality. On the basis of his adolescent shyness with girls, for example nothing unusual in a Catholic in the 1950s, one might think along with a passage from an unpublished novel where the author-surrogate is propositioned by a man, and the recurrence of gay-ish themes, Angier wonders if Sebald was secretly frightened of being homosexual. Biographers alchemy turns what can only be surmise into a fact; thankfully, however, Angier doesnt then try to make it the key to everything. Although Angier writes with warmth, not hostility she might be annoying sometimes, but never odious her response to some of Sebalds idiosyncrasies can seem a little over-invested. He liked to spin tall tales, especially when he was young, and appears to have regarded interviews, like his books, as an opportunity to blur the lines between fact and fiction. Angier herself once interviewed him, and sounds personally aggrieved by this. Still, despite the occasional gotcha tone, Angiers findings do sharpen our sense of the art, the transformative processes behind all writing. It is intriguing to learn that the models for Henry Selwyn and Cosmo Solomon in The Emigrants were not Jewish, and that in The Rings of Saturn some of the apparently real characters who share the page with Kurt Waldheim and the Empress Tzu-hsi never existed at all. We are almost a quarter-way through the 21st century time enough to check on how we are doing. Were we justified in striding into the New Millennium, as I did, with exuberance and optimism? My partner and I bragged we were now global citizens as we each celebrated the new century from iconic global locations, me watching fireworks at the Sydney Opera House, and him, studying in China, from the Great Wall. My brother, who managed an office building in Adelaide, had to work. Just in case. But Y2K did not happen, and we all breathed a collective sigh of relief that the doomsayers were wrong. All was well with the world. And so it seemed as we trained ourselves to use 20 instead of 19 when recording dates. Before the end of the first year, the Serbian despot Slobadan Milosevic had been ousted by popular demand; this was followed by what would become known as the colour revolutions in Georgia and then Ukraine, where millions marched to demand democracy replace dictatorships. Sydney welcomes in the new millenium. Credit:Andrew Taylor Before the decade was over, even the peoples of North Africa and the Middle East were clamouring for an end to repressive government, first in Tunisia and Algeria, then, in what was labelled The Arab Spring, in Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Syria and Bahrain. Democracy seemed to be breaking out all over. We breasted the new century confident the recently adopted Kyoto Protocol was going to see developed nations comply with mandatory targets to reduce greenhouse emissions. In 2006, Kyotos second year of enforcement, former US vice-president Al Gores film An Inconvenient Truth was a global hit and a massively influential educational resource on what lay in store for the world if we failed to act urgently to address climate change. Alec Baldwin has surrendered his mobile phone to authorities as part of the investigation into a fatal shooting on a New Mexico film set last fall, a law enforcement official said. Santa Fe County Sheriffs Office spokesman Juan Rios said Baldwins phone was turned over Friday to law enforcement officials in Suffolk County, New York, who will gather the information from the phone and provide it to Santa Fe County investigators, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. Sheriffs office investigators in December obtained a search warrant for the phones contents in their investigation into the October 11 shooting on the Rust film set at Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe. Baldwin was an actor and co-producer, and the search warrant for his phone sought text messages, images, videos, calls or any other information related to the movie. (CNN) US House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said publicly and privately in the days following the deadly riots at the US Capitol that US President Donald Trump admitted personally bearing some responsibility for the attack one of several reasons why the select committee on January 6 wants to hear from the House's top Republican. McCarthy shared the details of his conversation with Trump in a little-noticed local radio interview done a week after the insurrection, in which McCarthy said he supported a committee to investigate the attack and supported censuring then-President Trump. While McCarthy made similar comments about supporting censure and a bipartisan commission in other places around the same time, the radio interview in which McCarthy has harsh words for Trump and strongly condemns the violent attack provides yet another example of how the California Republican has shifted his tone in the year since the insurrection. "I say he has responsibility," McCarthy said on KERN, a local radio station in Bakersfield, California, on January 12 of last year. "He told me personally that he does have some responsibility. I think a lot of people do." McCarthy shared a similar account last year with House Republicans during a private conference call a day earlier, according to multiple sources on the call. That call was reported on at the time, but CNN obtained a more detailed readout of the call on Thursday. "Let me be clear to you and I have been very clear to the President. He bears responsibility for his words and actions. No if ands or buts," McCarthy told House Republicans on January 11, 2021, according to the readout obtained by CNN from a source listening to the call. "I asked him personally today if he holds responsibility for what happened. If he feels bad about what happened. He told me he does have some responsibility for what happened. But he needs to acknowledge that." Trump has never publicly accepted any responsibility for the attack and McCarthy said on Thursday during a press conference he couldn't remember telling House Republicans last year that Trump took responsibility for the attack. In the local radio interview, McCarthy said he urged the President throughout a phone call during the Capitol attack to call in the National Guard and go on television to call off the rioters. "I spoke to the President during the riot," McCarthy said. "I was the first person to call him. I told him to go on national TV, tell these people to stop it. He said he didn't know what was happening. We went to the news then to work through that. I asked the president, he has a responsibility. You know what the President does, but you know what? All of us do." "I called the President, told him, bring the national guard, go on television," he added later. The details of McCarthy's call with Trump and whether Trump has ever admitted any culpability for the riots have been a subject of interest for the House select committee investigating the January 6 riot, saying it's key to understanding the former President's state of mind during the Capitol attack and in the weeks after. McCarthy declined this week to cooperate with the committee, which wants to question him about his communications with Trump, White House staff and others in the week after the January 6 attack. McCarthy says he has nothing relevant to offer the panel since he's already publicly revealed he had a phone call with Trump on January 6. The committee also wants to know why McCarthy has since changed his tune, and whether Trump or any of his associates asked McCarthy to change his tone about the President's role in the attack and their private conversations. CNN previously reported about an expletive-laced phone call between McCarthy and Trump while the Capitol was under attack on January 6, where Trump said the rioters cared more about the 2020 presidential election results than McCarthy did. In his radio interview, McCarthy strongly supported censuring Trump as an alternative to impeachment which he strongly opposed and said he supported a bipartisan committee to investigate the causes of the attack. McCarthy also said he brought up the idea of censure with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. "What I proposed which I think history will say, I'm right because it's the right thing to do, I believe," McCarthy said. "Have a bipartisan commission and get all your facts, actually work through the grand jury to find out at the end, instead of predetermining, whether someone's guilty or not." "The one thing about impeachment, why would you run it through so fast? I say let's put a bipartisan commission, let's learn all the facts," he added. Hoyer confirmed that McCarthy floated censure as an alternative to impeachment but called it a "relatively passing conversation." "I didn't take it as a profound, sort of long, thought-out strategy," Hoyer said Thursday. "He was looking at options because at that point, he was holding the president responsible." On Thursday, McCarthy defended his decision not to cooperate with the select committee despite previously voicing support for a bipartisan commission and also saying he'd cooperate with any investigation. McCarthy said he made those comments before Speaker Nancy Pelosi decided to "play politics" with the select committee by vetoing two picks, Rep. Jim Jordan and Jim Banks. McCarthy said in the local radio interview that Trump didn't tell the crowd to attack the Capitol, but still bore responsibility for telling them Vice President Mike Pence could throw out electors. Trump repeatedly raised the notion Pence could delay or obstruct the Electoral College certification. "Did he tell the crowd to hang him? What he said Mike Pence could do, he could not do," McCarthy said. McCarthy also remarked in the interview how the attack seemed planned out, undermining a narrative that has since taken hold in the GOP that the riot was just a spontaneous protest that got out of hand. "So if you say the speech caused it, these people are already planned for it," McCarthy said during the radio interview. "People had, had real worked out plan. They scaled walls. They brought ropes." This story was first published on CNN.com "In days after January 6, McCarthy said Trump admitted bearing some responsibility for Capitol attack" London: Lawyers for Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre have filed their initial requests for witnesses in her lawsuit accusing the British royal of sexually abusing her at age 17. Documents filed on Saturday (AEDT) show that the princes legal team is seeking witness accounts from her husband, Robert Giuffre, and her psychologist, Dr Judith Lightfoot, as part of the civil case filed in the US. Giuffres lawyers, meanwhile, are seeking witness accounts from the princes former assistant and a woman who claims to have seen him at a London nightclub with her during the time in question. The lawsuit cleared a hurdle after a judge earlier this week refused Andrews request to have it dismissed. Salisbury, MD (21801) Today A mix of clouds and sun. High 71F. Winds E at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Cloudy with occasional rain showers. Low 54F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%. (CNN) -- The British government had been directing investors towards the law firm run by a woman accused by the country's own intelligence service of political interference on behalf of China for years, documents from its trade department show. On Thursday Britain's domestic counter-intelligence service, MI5, issued an "interference alert" about a "potential threat" posed by Christine Ching Kui Lee, a lawyer with offices in China and the UK. The alert said Lee "acted covertly" with the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party to interfere in UK politics by cultivating links with parliamentarians "across the political spectrum" and facilitating donations "on behalf of foreign nationals," MI5 said. Lee's firm was advertised on a website of the Department of International Trade (DIT) as recently as Friday, before being taken offline. In a statement a DIT spokesperson told CNN: "The department has no record of any relationship with Christine Lee." CNN has contacted Lee for comment but has not received a reply. On Friday, China's Foreign Ministry denied that Lee was a Chinese "agent" and said Beijing "has no need and will not engage in so-called interference activities." "We urge relevant British officials to refrain from making groundless remarks or hyping up the 'China threat' theory for ulterior political purposes," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said. A CNN analysis of Britain's parliamentary register, by which lawmakers record donations, shows Lee gave at least 461,000 ($639,000) to Barry Gardiner, an elected member of the opposition Labour party between 2014 and 2020, mostly through funding of his staff. Her son even worked in his office and had a parliamentary pass. Lee also donated 5,000 ($6,800) to the leader of the Liberal Democrat party Sir Ed Davey in 2013. It is not illegal for Lee to make the donations as the UK does not yet have a foreign agents registration act like the United States, nor is it illegal for a British citizen or foreign national working in the UK to be affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party. Lee is listed as a British national in the UK's corporate registry. In a statement to CNN, Gardiner said he had not benefited personally from Lee's donations in any way. The money had been properly reported and its source verified. "I will continue to work closely with our security services in this and all other matters that relate to the security of our country," Gardiner said. Davey told CNN his local association had accepted the donation, that it was reported properly, and that "this was the first time he had been given cause to be concerned." "The government must make it a national security priority to protect the UK's democracy from threats and interference by foreign actors," Davey said. Lee's services advertised on UK government portal The payments were made through Lee's eponymous law firm Christine Lee & Co Solicitors, which since at least 2016 has been included in the directory of the "UK Advisory Network" -- a list of business services compiled by what is now the Department for International Trade to, as the directory says, "provide an accessible route" "to foreign investors setting up in the UK." A preface to the directory says it is "facilitated by invitation from the UK government" and that "members go through a robust vetting procedure to join." "The Network provides a forum for feedback to the government on issues affecting the business environment and ultimately informs efforts to make the UK even more business friendly," it says. Lee's services could still be accessed through the Department of International Trade on Friday via a government portal recently revamped to attract overseas investment for UK projects. The advertisement for Lee's firm on the UK's great.gov website offered the first hour of legal advice for free, as did the other firms listed. A disclaimer on the site said the department does not "endorse the character, goods, services or ability of the members of the directory" and that there is no legal relationship between the department and the service providers listed. The Department of International Trade said in response to CNN it had to do a "fair amount of digging" on the matter and that the great.gov.uk page was no longer live, although the site was up on the web until the close of business on Friday. "This case shows is an abject failure of government vetting, and shows extraordinary naivety on the part of the government when it comes to the purpose of these kinds of institutions and individuals," said Luke de Pulford of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, which is pushing for tougher rules on China. To have somebody who MI5 published an alert about "advertising their services on the government website truly is remarkable and needs to be dealt with as soon as it possibly can be," he said. Photographed with prime ministers Lee, a former legal adviser to China's embassy in London, has been active in political circles for 15 years. She first set up the British Chinese project in 2006 to encourage British citizens with Chinese ancestry to vote in the UK. From 2011 onwards she was involved in a now-defunct All Party Parliamentary Group called Chinese in Britain. She has been photographed with former Conservative Prime Ministers David Cameron and Theresa May. The latter even gave her an award two years ago for her work with Britain's Chinese community. According to the UK's Companies House register, Lee has a web of property, legal, cultural and educational ventures under her name. A copy of a letter sent by the Lords Speaker in the House of Lords, the UK's upper chamber, and obtained by CNN said Lee has facilitated donations "on behalf of foreign nationals based in Hong Kong and China. This facilitation was done to covertly mask the origins of the payments." "This is clearly unacceptable and steps are being taken to ensure it ceases." the letter reads. The Home Office launched a consultation last year on new legislation designed to shore up safeguards against hostile state action. Parliamentary sources told CNN the bill is expected be presented to the House of Commons during the early part of this year. When CNN visited the London office of Lee's law firm, in the heart of Soho, it appeared to have been shuttered for some time with the windows thick with dust. It was empty with a notice in the window saying it had closed because of the pandemic. Emails and calls to the contact details provided in the sign went unanswered. In a piece written for the UK's Daily Mail in 2020, the firm said: "Christine Lee & Co is proud of its record of public service and the support it has provided to the democratic process. We have never sought to influence any politician improperly or to seek any favours in return for the support that we have provided." Ian Duncan Smith, the former leader of the ruling Conservative party and a fervent critic of China, raised the alarm about Lee in Parliament on Thursday, saying MI5 had warned the House Speaker Lindsay Hoyle that "an agent of the Chinese government" had been actively working to "subvert" the process of parliament. "This is a matter of grave concern," he said. This story was first published on CNN.com, "UK government promoted firm at center of alleged Chinese influence operation for years" When Dynamic Life Therapy and Wellness owner Sharee Jedlicka opened the physical therapy clinic 11 years ago, she said she wanted to integrate health and wellness activities with therapy. Jedlicka said she noticed back then, patients who were undergoing physical therapy for a given injury would not necessarily be prepared to go back to their respected gyms. But by opening Dynamic Life Therapy, the clinic could be a progression into helping folks return to their normal routines, she added. Over the past decade, the clinic held fitness classes like restorative yoga courses and physical, occupational and massage therapy. To begin the New Year, Dynamic Life Therapy 3763 39th Ave. in Columbus - has started holding Hatha yoga classes on Wednesdays to help beginners and those yearning to deepen their yoga practice. The class which began on Jan. 5 - is from 11 a.m. to noon on Wednesdays. One class costs $12. The course is focused on posture, breathing and meditation. Jedlicka said the New Year is no question a busy time of year for the clinic as folks want to start a new routine. It is a popular time, Jedlicka said. So we do our classes in sessions for that reason. We do a session in January and February and run it through the spring. Well have a little break in May then we have a summer and fall session. Thats because of peoples schedules. So if someone wants to start something new, they can start in January. Instructor Aude Boucly who teaches the Wednesday Hatha yoga classes said there are several benefits with yoga that help both body and mind. The first benefit is in the body (like) flexibility and makes the body stronger, Boucly said. You feel better quickly in your mind too. You feel more relaxed. It helps you feel more confident in yourself because the body is stronger. The mind little by little comes stronger too. It helps you know yourself better." Boucly has taught yoga for nine years, including the past year in Columbus. She has also been an instructor in Mexico and her home country of France. I like to offer many options for people to practice yoga, she said. Here we have a lot of props to help people. Boucly said for someone to feel successful with yoga they need to practice with a teacher regularly. She added the lack of flexibility shouldnt deter individuals from trying the exercise. Jedlicka said yoga is a breathing, movement-based type of exercise. She added it is quite beneficial coming out of occupational or physical therapy where you learn to reuse your body in a way. Its very beneficial to do an exercise class where you are paying close attention to all of your body parts, as well as your breathwork, Jedlicka said. She added breathwork helps individuals be aware of - for example - holding their breath due to pain. Jedlicka said if there is one tip she would give people when it comes to such exercise is to monitor their breathing. Youll find that if you injure yourself or you have an injury that you are trying to work around, youll try to compensate by holding your breath a lot, she said. You need to be aware of your body and how you are compensating. If youre unsure how to get out of the pattern, sometimes you need help from a physical therapist or fitness class. For more information about this yoga class and others offered at Dynamic Life Therapy, call the clinic at 402-606-4492. Andrew Kiser is a reporter for The Columbus Telegram. Reach him via email at andrew.kiser@lee.net. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. BRANFORD - There has been an overwhelming response to the call out by the BHcare Clothing Bank for coats and other items of clothing, according to coordinator Joan McFarlane-Nwagboli said. And, while she said a heartfelt thank you to area residents, she outlined some guidelines for donating used clothing. Please call the Clothing Bank at 203-483-2643 before dropping off any donation. Any clothes donated should be clean, mended and repaired. Items should be inspected for rips or tears, missing buttons, and broken zippers. We dont have seamstresses to do repairs and those in need may not have the resources to do repairs, she said. Clothing should be free of pet hair, lint and tissues. Shoes should be donated in pairs and tied together. For sheets and towels that are permanently stained or badly worn, wash and give to animal shelters who can always use them. Always ask yourself before donating: Would I or my family wear whats in the bag? If the answer is no, then put it in one of the donation bins around town. McFarlane-Nwagboli added, We are so grateful for the outpouring of personal care items, new socks, underwear, and gloves, as well as the new and gently used coats and jackets. BHcare Clothing Bank is in the Patricia C. Andriole Volunteer Services Building, 30 Harrison Ave. Branford. Lisa Reisman The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV. Thank you for reading the Herald-Whig You have reached our free-content limit. If you are a current subscriber, please log in to continue viewing content or purchase a subscription by clicking the Subscribe button below. Thank you for supporting independent Journalism. Students who want to serve their country as officers in the military can apply to the U.S. Military Academy, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy, the Coast Guard Academy, or the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. Applicants need excellent grades, solid test scores, and with the exception of the Coast Guard Academy, a nomination from their senator or representative. As Nebraskas senior senator, I have had the privilege of nominating hundreds of qualified young men and women over the years. My staff and I carefully review Nebraska students applications to see if they are a good fit, and I then nominate many of them. At the service academies of the U.S. military, young men and women are transformed into Americas future leaders. Graduates have a guaranteed job for at least five years, and after that time, they can choose to remain in the military or pursue other opportunities. Many go on to successful careers in business, medicine, law, and other fields. In fact, if you look at which schools prepare their students to earn the highest starting salaries, service academies are at the top of the list. Graduates of the Naval Academy, for example, earn a median starting salary of nearly $80,000. There are other benefits, too. At many private universities, expenses like tuition and room and board can cost more than $70,000 a year. But at service academies, your education is completely free, and the military pays for students to pursue summer internships, learn new languages, and travel around the world. Those who attend even receive a monthly stipend. This year, I was proud to nominate 27 exceptional Nebraskans to the service academy of their choice. These young men and women are from all over the state of Nebraska and expressed an interest in many different fields of study, from engineering to the sciences. Students can ask for a nomination to a single school if they are certain about where they would like to attend, but many applicants arent sure which academy would be their preference. Students can receive a nomination to more than one if they choose this year, I nominated several students to four different academies. This nomination is important, but it is just one step in a rigorous process. These students will go through the same application process as students who want to attend traditional colleges, and only the most qualified applicants will gain admission. If you or someone you know are interested in attending a service academy, please reach out to my office. Applications open as early as February of your junior year of high school, and aspiring military academy students are encouraged to get a head start by applying early. The U.S. militarys service academies arent for everyone, but they offer opportunities that students cant find anywhere else. The skills future officers learn there will be invaluable no matter what they choose to do with their lives. It was an honor to nominate 27 outstanding young Nebraskans for the class of 2026. I look forward to nominating even more students next year. Deb Fischer is a U.S. senator for Nebraska. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 City of Winchester Department of Public Works employee Charles Shifflett will be behind the wheel of his snowplow and salt spreader-equipped truck on Sunday when a winter storm hits the area. The forecast is calling for up to 15 inches of snow. LONDON (AP) Lawyers for Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre have filed their initial requests for witnesses in her lawsuit accusing the British royal of sexually abusing her at age 17. FILE - Virginia Giuffre speaks during a news conference outside a Manhattan court in New York, Aug. 27, 2019. A judge has given the green light to a lawsuit against Prince Andrew by an American woman who says he sexually abused her when she was 17. U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan wrote in an opinion Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022 that Andrew's lawyers failed to successfully challenge the constitutionality of the lawsuit Virginia Giuffre filed against him in August. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File) LONDON (AP) Lawyers for Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre have filed their initial requests for witnesses in her lawsuit accusing the British royal of sexually abusing her at age 17. Recently released documents show that the prince's legal team is seeking witness accounts from her husband, Robert Giuffre, and her psychologist, Judith Lightfoot, as part of the civil case filed in the U.S. Giuffre's lawyers, meanwhile, are seeking witness accounts from the prince's former assistant and a woman who claims to have seen him at a London nightclub with her during the time in question. The lawsuit cleared a hurdle after a judge earlier this week refused Andrew's request to have it dismissed. Giuffre sued Andrew, 61, in August, saying she was coerced into sexual encounters with him in 2001 by Epstein and his longtime companion, Ghislaine Maxwell. Giuffre said she was sexually abused by Andrew at Maxwells London home, at Epsteins New York mansion and at Epstein's estate in the U.S. Virgin Islands. FILE Prince Andrew, foreground, walks in the procession ahead of Britain Prince Philip's funeral at Windsor Castle, Windsor, England, April 17, 2021. U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan gave the green light Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022 to a lawsuit against Prince Andrew by Virginia Giuffre, who says he sexually abused her when she was 17.(Victoria Jones/Pool via AP, File) The prince has strenuously denied Giuffres allegations, telling the BBC in 2019 that sex with Giuffre didnt happen and that he had no recollection of meeting her. Recently released documents show that Andrew's lawyers argue Giuffre may suffer from false memories," and say she should be questioned about theory of false memories" along with other matters discussed during her sessions with Giuffre and any prescriptions she wrote for her. Shelley Cook | Uplift A weekly review of funny, uplifting news in Winnipeg and around the globe that is delivered to your inbox each Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Andrew's lawyers want Robert Giuffre to be questioned about the circumstances under which the couple met around 2002 and their household finances. They want the testimony from the two, who are both Australian residents, by April 29 or as soon as possible after that. FILE - In this Sunday, April 11, 2021 file photo, Britain's Prince Andrew speaks during a television interview at the Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge, Windsor. U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan gave the green light Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022 to a lawsuit against Prince Andrew by Virginia Giuffre, who says he sexually abused her when she was 17. (Steve Parsons/Pool Photo via AP, file) Giuffre's lawyers, meanwhile, have filed similar requests for Andrew's side. They want testimony from his former assistant Robert Olney, whose name they say appeared in Epstein's phone book under Duke of York," which they say indicates he knew about Andrew's travel to Epstein's properties. Her lawyers are also seeking testimony from Shukri Walker, who they say has been quoted in news reports talking about how she saw Andrew at the London nightclub Tramp during the time period in question with a young woman who might have been Giuffre. The AP does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they choose to come forward publicly, as Giuffre has. ___ Follow all AP stories about Prince Andrew at https://apnews.com/hub/prince-andrew. When April Schneiders children returned to in-person classrooms this year, she thought they were leaving behind the struggles from more than a year of remote learning. No more problems with borrowed tablets. No more days of missed lessons because her kids couldnt connect to their virtual schooling. Abigail Schneider, 8, center, completes a level of her learning game with her mother April in her bedroom, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. "I'm determined to push and push to get them the things that help them," said April Schneider. "I have to go above and beyond to make sure whatever requirements they need they get." (AP Photo/John Minchillo) When April Schneiders children returned to in-person classrooms this year, she thought they were leaving behind the struggles from more than a year of remote learning. No more problems with borrowed tablets. No more days of missed lessons because her kids couldnt connect to their virtual schooling. But coronavirus cases in her childrens New York City classrooms, and the subsequent quarantines, sent her kids back to learning from home. Without personal devices for each child, Schneider said they were largely left to do nothing while stuck at home. So there you go again, with no computer, and youre back to square one as if COVID just begun all over again in a smaller form, Schneider said. As more families pivot back to remote learning amid quarantines and school closures, reliable, consistent access to devices and home internet remains elusive for many students who need them to keep up with their schoolwork. Home internet access for students has improved since the onset of the pandemic with help from philanthropy, federal relief funding and other efforts but obstacles linger, including a lack of devices, slow speeds and financial hurdles. Concerns around the digital divide have shifted toward families that are underconnected and able to access the internet only sporadically, said Vikki Katz, a communication professor at Rutgers University. Its about whether or not you can withstand the disruptions of these quick pivots in ways that dont derail your learning, she said. In two studies, one conducted in 2015 and another in 2021, Katz and other researchers surveyed low-income families with young children. While rates of home internet access and computer ownership are up significantly, the proportion of lower-income families whose internet access is unreliable or insufficient remained roughly the same. A year into the pandemic, more than half the families Katz surveyed reported that their childrens ability to tune into online classes had been disrupted in some way. Racial and income divides persist in home internet access, according to data from the Pew Research Center. One survey conducted in April of 2020 found that during the initial school closures, 59% of lower-income families faced digital barriers, such as having to log on from a smartphone, not having a device or having to use a public network because their home network was not reliable enough. About 34% of households making less than $30,000 reported having trouble paying for their home internet bill, as did 25% of those making between $30,000 and $50,000. Compared to white households, Black and Latino families were less likely to have access to broadband and a computer at home. For Schneiders children, not having enough working devices at home during the previous school year for remote learning meant missing assignments and classes. The kids struggled to focus on their work, even if they received paper assignments. During quarantine periods this year, she said, they were largely unable to participate in any instruction at all. Without the equipment ... their experience was that they were more off than on, Schneider said. As soon as they said school was going to back up ... I just had to take my chances and send them. They needed not to be out of school any longer. Even before the pandemic sent most schools to some form of remote learning, classrooms have increasingly embraced the role of technology in teaching, creating a homework gap between those who do and do not have access to internet and devices at home. Roughly 2.9 million school children lived in households without internet access, according to pre-pandemic Census data, and about 2.1 million lived in households without a laptop or desktop computer. Some families are frustrated more hasn't been done to close the gap. When her grandchildrens Pittsburgh school moved to online learning in March of 2020, Janice Myers and her four grandchildren shared a single laptop. One month, she struggled to afford the internet bill on her fixed retirement income. She tried to access the companys $10 monthly rate designed to keep low-income kids connected during the pandemic, but said she was told she did not qualify because she was an existing customer. Shelley Cook | Uplift A weekly review of funny, uplifting news in Winnipeg and around the globe that is delivered to your inbox each Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. This school year, the children were adjusting well to in-person learning until a quarantine sent them home for a week, Myers said. Around Thanksgiving, the school shut down in-person classes again, this time for nearly three weeks. Both times, the school did not send the children home with tablets, leaving them with little instruction except a thin packet of worksheets, she said. To my mind, you had an entire school year to learn how to be better prepared, and how to be proactive and how to incorporate a Plan B at the drop of a hat, she said. There was no reason why every student, when they returned to school, didnt receive or keep their laptop. Among the districts using some of their federal relief money to boost home internet access is California's Chula Vista Elementary School District, which is incorporating the cost of hotspots and other internet services into the budget for the next three years. It gives priority for internet hot spots to kids who have the most trouble connecting to school, such as foster children and youth experiencing housing instability. Assistant superintendent Matthew Tessier said the district found many low-income families may have internet access through a wireless phone, but faced limits like data caps and set monthly minutes. Those caps often made connecting kids to homework and online resources a challenge even before the pandemic. Identifying which kids are in greater need and having devices ready to go can help minimize the impact of disruptions to learning, Katz said. All these conversations we keep having about learning loss, whether or not we should use that term, places the responsibility and the blame for what kids have learned on the students and the family ... instead of recognizing that this is still the schools responsibility to bridge this gap when they send kids home, Katz said. WASHINGTON (AP) Concerned but not giving up, President Joe Biden is anxiously pushing ahead to prod people to get COVID-19 shots after the Supreme Court put a halt to the administration's sweeping vaccinate-or-test plan for large employers. President Joe Biden begins to speak about the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law at the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House Campus in Washington, Friday, Jan. 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) WASHINGTON (AP) Concerned but not giving up, President Joe Biden is anxiously pushing ahead to prod people to get COVID-19 shots after the Supreme Court put a halt to the administration's sweeping vaccinate-or-test plan for large employers. At a time when hospitals are being overrun and record numbers of people are getting infected with the omicron variant, the administration hopes states and companies will order their own vaccinate-or-test requirements. And if the presidential bully pulpit still counts for persuasion, Biden intends to use it. While some in the business community cheered the defeat of the mandate, Biden insisted the administration effort has not been for naught. The high court's ruling Thursday "does not stop me from using my voice as president to advocate for employers to do the right thing to protect Americans health and economy, he said. The court's conservative majority all-but-struck down the Occupational Safety and Health Administrations requirement that employers with 100 or more employees require their workers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or tested weekly. However, it did leave in place a vaccination requirement for health care workers. Meanwhile, the White House announced Friday that the federal website where Americans can request their own free COVID-19 tests will begin accepting orders next Wednesday. Those tests could provide motivation for some people to seek vaccination, and the administration is looking to address nationwide shortages. Supplies will be limited to just four free tests per home. On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that OSHA appeared to overstep its congressional authority to implement occupational standards, saying, Although COVID19 is a risk that occurs in many workplaces, it is not an occupational hazard in most. The mandate was announced last September, accompanied by biting criticism from Biden for the roughly 80 million American adults who hadnt yet gotten shots. Weve been patient. But our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us, he said. The unvaccinated minority, he said, can cause a lot of damage, and they are. President Joe Biden speaks about the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law at the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House Campus in Washington, Friday, Jan. 14, 2022, as Mitch Landrieu, Senior Advisor & Infrastructure Act Implementation Coordinator, looks on. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) In a statement after the Supreme Court ruling, Biden expressed disappointment with the outcome but said the mandates have already had their desired effect on reducing the number of unvaccinated adults. Today, that number is down to under 35 million, he said of the unvaccinated. Had my administration not put vaccination requirements in place, we would be now experiencing a higher death toll from COVID-19 and even more hospitalizations. While the court left open the possibility for the U.S. to pursue more targeted mandates, White House officials said there were no immediate plans to seek a redo of the regulation. Its now up to the states and individual employers to put in place vaccination requirements, said White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday. The United States is already "languishing, with a 60% vaccination rate, near the bottom of peer nations, said Lawrence Gostin, a public health law expert at Georgetown University. The OSHA rule was truly the presidents last best shot at significantly boosting the vaccination rate, Gostin said. But the court, in a very highly partisan way, intentionally tried to handcuff the president in doing what he needs to do. Many large businesses that had already put in place vaccination-or-testing requirements indicated they had no plans to reverse course. But smaller companies said they were breathing a sigh of relief, fearing worker shortages if the OSHA rule had been allowed to go into force. The Supreme Court decision has taken a little bit of a burden of worry off of our shoulders, said Kyle Caraway, marketing director at Doolittle Trailer Manufacturing, which joined a lawsuit by the Missouri attorney general challenging Bidens policy. About 90% of the 175 employees at the Holts Summit, Missouri-based company had indicated they would refuse to comply with a vaccination requirement, he said. It became apparent to us that our team was going to shrink greatly overnight if that vaccine mandate went into place, said Caraway, who counted himself among those opposing Bidens policy. Halting production could have forced the company to consider shuttering our doors, he said. The Service Employees International Union, which represents more than 2 million workers, said the court decision was a relief for health care workers but leaves others without critical protections. In blocking the vaccine-or-test rule for large employers, the court has placed millions of other essential workers further at risk, caving to corporations that are trying to rig the rules against workers permanently, the union said. The union called on Congress and states to pass laws requiring vaccinations, masks and paid sick leave. Workers also need better access to testing and protective equipment, the union said. The renewed debate over vaccination mandates comes as a record number of Americans are hospitalized with COVID-19, the country is averaging nearly 800,000 new cases and 1,700 deaths a day and resistance to vaccines remains a problem, most notably in deeply conservative states like Mississippi, Alabama, Wyoming and Idaho where less than half the population is fully vaccinated. Hospitals nationwide are suffering chronic staffing shortages and being bombarded with people showing up at emergency rooms in need of virus tests. National Guard troops have been activated in dozens of states to help out at medical centers, nursing homes and testing sites. A hospital on the edge of the Kansas City area had to borrow ventilators from the state of Missouris stockpile and hunt for more high-flow oxygen machines, and the largest county in Kansas said Friday that its running out of morgue space again. Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Gostin predicted the courts action would have grave influence on other federal agencies efforts to protect public health, by ruling that OSHA cant regulate something that would have a huge economic impact without explicit authorization from Congress. And he said states wont be able to make up for the rulings impact. If COVID has taught us anything, its taught us that states cant deal with big, bold problems, cant prevent a pathogen from going from Florida to New York," he said. "These are national problems requiring federal solutions. Psaki said the White House would work with businesses to promote the benefits of vaccination-or-testing requirements and that Biden would highlight successful programs. The Court has ruled that my administration cannot use the authority granted to it by Congress to require this measure," Biden said. So "I call on business leaders to immediately join those who have already stepped up including one third of Fortune 100 companies and institute vaccination requirements to protect their workers, customers, and communities. ___ David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri, and Lindsay Tanner in Chicago contributed. REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) About $7 million worth of surplus personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies, purchased by a Northern California county earlier in the coronavirus pandemic, was damaged in recent rainstorms after it was left outside for months, officials said Friday. REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) About $7 million worth of surplus personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies, purchased by a Northern California county earlier in the coronavirus pandemic, was damaged in recent rainstorms after it was left outside for months, officials said Friday. San Mateo County officials acknowledged the disaster following a KGO news report, published Thursday, that showed video of scores of sodden boxes outside the San Mateo Event Center in the San Francisco Bay Area. San Mateo County, south of San Francisco, is among the wealthiest counties in the nation. Workers are inspecting the damaged boxes to see if the items inside many of them individually wrapped will still be usable. The undamaged goods will be donated to a nonprofit. Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The county plans to hire an investigator to figure out how the items were left outside since mid-September, when they were moved to an outdoor fenced-in area to make room for an event at the center. The boxes should have been brought back indoors once the event was over, according to Fridays statement from County Manager Mike Callagy. It clearly is a mistake by the county, Callagy told KGO in an interview. The equipment in the boxes included PPE like non-medical-grade isolation gowns, sterile gowns, face shields and goggles as well as cleaning supplies such as bleach and mop buckets and handles, the statement said. The county's supply of gloves and masks including N95 and KN95 respirators are stored indoors. Callagy's statement said the county purchased the items early in the pandemic when PPE was becoming scarce nationwide so that local first responders and medical providers would have what they needed. The demand for the equipment has decreased as the pandemic has continued. MILAN (AP) Nino Cerruti, the Italian fashion designer credited with revolutionizing menswear in the 1960s and who gave Giorgio Armani his first fashion break, has died, Italian media reported Saturday. He was 91. MILAN (AP) Nino Cerruti, the Italian fashion designer credited with revolutionizing menswear in the 1960s and who gave Giorgio Armani his first fashion break, has died, Italian media reported Saturday. He was 91. Cerruti died in northwestern Italy, where his family has operated a textile company since 1881, the Italian news agency LaPresse reported. The Italian daily Corriere said he had been hospitalized for hip surgery. Cerutti inherited the family business, based in the city of Biella in the Piedmont region, at age 20 upon his fathers death in 1950. He launched his first menswear company, Hitman, in 1957 near Milan, dedicated to creating sartorial elegance on an industrial scale and becoming part of the nascent mens ready-to-wear sector. Armani was hired as a young talent at the Hitman factory in the mid-1960s. Armani recalled Cerruti as a creative entrepreneur with an acute eye, a true curiosity, the ability to dare, adding that his gentle way of being authoritative, even authoritarian" would be missed. Even if our contacts thinned with the years, I have always considered him one of the people who has had a real and positive influence on my life, Armani said in a statement. From him, I learned not only the taste for sartorial softness, but also the importance of a well-rounded vision, as a designer and as an entrepreneur. In 1967, Cerruti founded the luxury menswear fashion house Cerruti 1881 in Paris, then the international fashion capital, while maintaining production in Italy. The softened silhouette, use of colors and the attention to both innovative design and tradition won clients like French film star Jean-Paul Belmondo. Shelley Cook | Uplift A weekly review of funny, uplifting news in Winnipeg and around the globe that is delivered to your inbox each Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Soon, Cerruti was in demand in Hollywood, with his designs worn on and off screen by such stars as Michael Douglas in Basic Instinct, Richard Gere in Pretty Woman, and Tom Hanks in Philadelphia." Cerutti also launched a womenswear line as well as perfumes, watches, accessories and leather goods. He also at one point was the designer for the Ferrari Formula 1 team. Cerruti sold the company in the early 2000s, giving up also the design role. But he never severed ties with the fashion house, even as he turned his focus to the textile business, taking a front-row seat at Paris runway shows. News of his death spread through the fashion world during Milan Fashion Week menswear previews. Carlo Capasa, president of Italys fashion chamber, remembered Cerruti as a great innovator who was also one of Italys chicest men. He was the first to understand the importance of creativity in menswear and to give space to a young designer of immense talent like Giorgio Armani, changing the very criteria of how to dress, Capasa said. He was one of the first to have a strong international presence, representing to the world that unique combination of creativity and quality that came to characterize and still characterizes Italian fashion. COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) A duck killed by a hunter in South Carolina had a contagious and dangerous bird flu that has not been detected in the wild in the U.S. in five years, officials said. COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) A duck killed by a hunter in South Carolina had a contagious and dangerous bird flu that has not been detected in the wild in the U.S. in five years, officials said. The flu poses a low risk to people but can spread quickly through chicken houses and other poultry businesses. Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The Eurasian H5 avian influenza was first detected by Clemson University scientists and confirmed by federal testing, the school said in a news release. The U.S. Department of Agriculture alerted global health officials. Scattered Eurasian H5 infections have been detected in 2022 from Portugal to Bulgaria and in December, two cases were reported in eastern Canada, officials said. Anyone who has poultry, including backyard farms, needs to review their practices to keep birds safe from disease, said State Veterinarian Michael J. Neault, who runs Clemson University's Livestock Poultry Health program. Those practices include thoroughly washing hands before and after handling wild and domesticated birds and using gloves and other protective gear when handling live birds. Farmers should also keep their birds away from areas where geese and ducks roam, clean their cages and coops regularly and buy new birds from reputable sources and keep them away from the rest of the flock for 30 days, the university said. So far we have no indication that (the flu) has jumped from wild migratory birds to poultry and wed very much like to keep it that way, Neault said in a statement. The U.S. Marshals Service has announced that a fugitive wanted in connection with a shooting in Reading was apprehended in East Pennsboro Township. Justin Santiago, 18, was arrested without incident Thursday afternoon on the 200 block of Enola Street, according to the marshals. Santiago had been charged with second-degree murder and other offenses related to a fatal shooting in Reading on Dec. 10, according to the marshals. Santiago was turned over the East Pennsboro Township Police Department for booking and arraignment, according to the marshals. The U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force for the Middle District of Pennsylvania is a joint federal, state, county, and local task force comprised of personnel from 21 agencies in the area. IQALUIT, Nunavut - Iqaluit resident Kinguatsiaq Kinguatsiaq says he smelled fuel in his water a couple of days ago but assumed it must be something else. Members of the Iqaluit Fire Department in Nunavut assist with flushing the city's water pipes on Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021. The City says it's investigating after receiving more than 20 complaints from residents who say they smell fuel in their tap water again. The city was under a do-not-consume order for two months last fall after fuel was found in the drinking water. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dustin Patar IQALUIT, Nunavut - Iqaluit resident Kinguatsiaq Kinguatsiaq says he smelled fuel in his water a couple of days ago but assumed it must be something else. "I figured I was wrong because I thought the situation had been resolved," he said. "This morning I really noticed it when I was running my tap water. It was strong." The City of Iqaluit said in a statement Friday that trace amounts of fuel were detected in the Nunavut capital's water supply earlier in the week, just over a month after a do-not-consume order on the city's water was lifted. Iqaluit's some 8,000 people spent nearly two months under the order last fall after fuel was found in the water. Kinguatsiaq said he's concerned about his children drinking the water. No one in his family got sick, but both he and his son had bad headaches. "The city should be really reliable for this because it's risking my health and other people's. Our trust is on them," he said. "They could have resolved this when it happened the first time." Iqaluit Mayor Kenny Bell told The Canadian Press that the water is safe to drink. "It's within or better than Canadian national standards," he said. He said that as of 3 p.m. Friday, the city's water system didn't detect hydrocarbons even though it had detected traces of fuel earlier in the week. Residents of Iqaluit collect river water through holes carved into the ice near Iqaluit, Nunavut., on Friday, Jan 14, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dustin Patar Bell said the levels detected earlier in the week were too low to set off the monitoring system's alarm. He said the city had warned people that they still might smell residual fuel even after the do-not-consume order was lifted. "This is something that we told people was likely going to happen," Bell said. "That's why we have procedures in place to make sure that it's not a new source or a continuation of an old source." Bell also said Qikiqtaaluk Environmental had not yet completed the cleaning of the water treatment plant and had left for Christmas holidays. "There's still a lot of environmental cleanup that needs to be done in the plant," Bell said. "Obviously people should be concerned. We all want the pristine water we're used to." With temperatures in the minus thirties, some residents have started drilling holes in the ice at the Sylvia Grinnell River outside of the city to get water. Nunavut's health department has not said the tap water is unsafe to drink. The city previously said the source of the fuel contamination last fall came from a historic underground fuel tank, which was dug up shortly after the do-not-consume order was put in place. The city said an initial review of data from its real-time monitoring station this week indicates fuel entered the water on Monday and Wednesday. It said there have been no measurements above low-alarm thresholds, but the city is proactively opening distribution valves to flush the water. The city said in a release that it believes there may have been leftover hydrocarbons that got into the water supply again. It is asking residents to remove aerators from their taps and to run the water on cold for 20 minutes before 6 p.m. Friday. The city is also asking residents to report fuel smells to its water hotline so that staff can collect water samples. Lizzie Kownirk, another Iqaluit resident, said she started smelling fuel in her tap water Thursday night. Kownirk said she was happy about how quickly the city responded to new reports of fuel in the water. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. "The city called me that they were going to look into it and get water samples from my building. They said they would get back to me with the results." Kownirk also said she trusts the city and felt reassured, but still doesn't want to drink the water as long as it smells like fuel. Workers can't enter people's homes to test the tap water, however, because the territory is still under a COVID-19 lockdown order. Instead, samples are being taken at the nearest site to homes that report fuel smells. "The City continues to proactively screen for petroleum hydrocarbons and (has) increased its weekly laboratory sampling efforts of water produced by the water treatment plant and throughout the distribution system," the city said in the release. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 14, 2022. OTTAWA - The Department of National Defence says proceedings have been launched against more than 900 Canadian Armed Forces members for refusing to get vaccinated, though none have yet been forced to hang up their uniforms. Acting Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre arrives on Parliament Hill before a cabinet meeting in Ottawa on Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021. The Department of National Defence says formal proceedings have been launched against more than 1,000 members of the Canadian Armed Forces for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick OTTAWA - The Department of National Defence says proceedings have been launched against more than 900 Canadian Armed Forces members for refusing to get vaccinated, though none have yet been forced to hang up their uniforms. Chief of the defence staff Gen. Wayne Eyre ordered all military personnel be fully vaccinated by mid-October, saying the measure was intended to protect the military during the pandemic. The deadline was later extended to mid-December. While most Armed Forces members complied with the order, with the Defence Department reporting a 98.3 per cent vaccination rate among Canadian troops, hundreds of others did not. Those soldiers are now facing the possibility of release from the military. According to the Defence Departments latest statistics, by the end of December, more than 830 Armed Forces members had received formal warnings, orders to attend counselling and probation for refusing to get jabbed. Formal reviews had been launched against another 100 unvaccinated troops who continued to defy the vaccination order even after those other remedial measures had been exhausted. The launch of such reviews is usually the first step toward forcing service members from the military, though Defence Department spokesman Daniel Le Bouthillier said the first forced releases arent expected until the end of the month. Forty-four full-time members of the Armed Forces have opted to voluntarily leave the military rather than get vaccinated, Le Bouthillier added. The number of part-time reservists who have chosen to leave wasnt immediately available. For those few who are unable to be vaccinated, each case will be assessed to determine whether and what accommodation is reasonable, Le Bouthillier said in a statement. The accommodations will take into account the health and safety of the defence team while focusing on continuing to achieve the Canadian Armed Forces mission. While Eyre has made getting the COVID-19 vaccine a requirement for continuing to serve in uniform, the loss of any troops would further exacerbate the Canadian militarys personnel shortfall. The federal Liberal government has authorized the Armed Forces to have 68,000 regular-force members and 29,000 reservists, but it is short several thousand on both counts as recruiting has dried up during the pandemic. The shortfall coincides with the military having faced unprecedented demands over the past two years as it has conducted numerous missions abroad while helping provinces with the COVID-19 pandemic and a growing number of natural disasters. Eyre in an interview in November acknowledged the Canadian Armed Forces is a fragile organization right now because of our numbers being down, because of the (operational) tempo, because of this crisis in (sexual) misconduct. Shelley Cook | Uplift A weekly review of funny, uplifting news in Winnipeg and around the globe that is delivered to your inbox each Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Several Armed Forces members tried to challenge the vaccine requirement in Federal Court last month, where they asked Justice Janet Fuhrer to intervene and stop the military from forcing them to get their shots. But continuing a string of legal defeats for federal employees fighting vaccine requirements, Fuhrer dismissed their arguments. The applicants have failed to demonstrate that their interests outweigh the public interest in ensuring the readiness, health and safety of the Forces, the defence team, and the vulnerable groups they may be called on to serve, Fuhrer wrote in her decision. She added: If the requested injunction were issued, material harm to the public interest would ensue, in terms of increased health risks to CAF members and the public they serve. Edmonton lawyer Catherine Christensen, who represented four of the military members challenging the vaccine requirement, said she was preparing to file a lawsuit on behalf of her clients. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 14, 2022. Montreal police say a 17-year-old boy is dead following a shooting Thursday evening in the city's Plateau-Mont-Royal borough. The Montreal police logo is seen on a police car in Montreal on Wednesday, July 8, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson Montreal police say a 17-year-old boy is dead following a shooting Thursday evening in the city's Plateau-Mont-Royal borough. Late Friday, police said they were still looking for a suspect after the victim was shot at least once near the corner of Rivard and Roy Streets. Police said 911 calls alerted them to the gunshots and they found the teen with injuries to his upper body. He was transported to hospital in critical condition where he died. Friends of the victim and politicians identified him on social media as Amir Benayad, a member of the city's Algerian community. Const. Jean-Pierre Brabant said the victim of the first homicide recorded in the city in 2022 was not known to police. Police spoke to witnesses and were looking for surveillance video from the area. Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Quebec Public Security Minister Genevieve Guilbault offered her condolences on Twitter to the family of the victim. She said what is happening in Montreal is "worrying." Dedicated police units, she added, are working to reduce gun violence in the city and across Quebec. Mayor Valerie Plante said on Twitter, "My heart goes out to the family, loved ones and friends of this young man." He is the fifth young person to die violently in less than a year in Montreal. In early December, Hani Ouahdi, 20, was gunned down in a car in the city's east-end Anjou district. In mid-November, Thomas Trudel, 16, was shot in the city's St-Michel borough as he walked home from a park. Jannai Dopwell-Bailey, 16, died after being stabbed outside his school in October. Two people have been arrested in his death. And last February, Meriem Boundaoui, 15, of La Prairie, Que., was killed in a drive-by shooting in the St-Leonard borough. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 14, 2022. OTTAWA - When news of the first cases of COVID-19 began cropping up in Canada in early 2020, Linda Silas was one of the first to ring alarm bells about the lack of proper personal protective equipment for health workers. A nurse administers a COVID-19 vaccine at a mass vaccination clinic in Mississauga, Ont., Friday, Dec. 24, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young OTTAWA - When news of the first cases of COVID-19 began cropping up in Canada in early 2020, Linda Silas was one of the first to ring alarm bells about the lack of proper personal protective equipment for health workers. While early indications showed the virus was spread by droplets that settled on surfaces, Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses, urged health authorities to learn from the SARS outbreak of 2003 and take the highest level of precaution. Now she knows she was right the virus is airborne but she is still desperately calling for more protective equipment for nurses two years later. Regional unions across the country report that nurses who have requested fit-tested respirators still can't get them in some cases, despite the Omicron variant being far more transmissible than previous variants. The shortage of healthy nurses to address the massive wave of the Omicron variant has meant hospitals and other health institutions have deployed nurses with confirmed cases of COVID-19, and still some are not offered appropriate masks, she said. "These vulnerable patients might have a COVID positive staff treating them, and without the proper PPE it's plain dangerous," she said. Canada's chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, describes the spread of COVID-19 as a cloud of smoke coming from someone's mouth and nose. She and other medical officers have suggested the public use more effective masks to protect themselves. Silas said often in places such as vaccine clinics, members of the public seem better outfitted with the proper protective equipment than the health workers. "It's a mishmash, and it's a fight," Silas said in an interview with The Canadian Press. "In long-term care it's a real fight, in community care it's a real fight and in acute care it depends where you work." Different hospitals seem to be taking different approaches when it comes to providing PPE to nurses, which doesn't make sense, she said, "because the science is the science." Canada's supply chain is likely to blame, said University of Windsor professor Anne Snowdon, a registered nurse who studies health systems and supply chains. "The problem has always been the supply chain. The outcome of the limitations of our supply chain is not being able to access those protective products that are so important in terms of reducing the risk of transmission of this virus to our workforce, and also to our patients," Snowdon said in an interview with The Canadian Press. The scarce supply of PPE may have been more understandable in the early days of the pandemic, but critics like Silas question how Canada could still be in a similar situation in many parts of the health system. The answer, Snowdon said, is that the infrastructure was so poor to begin with. "We're building the bridges we're driving over," she said. Tam said hospital outbreaks are happening, with both health workers and patients contracting the highly contagious virus in acute care settings like hospitals. "It really does continue to stress the need for good infection prevention control practices, but it's been very, very difficult," Tam said at a briefing Friday. "This is such a transmissible virus that we have to up our game everywhere, including mask wearing, ventilation and everything else in order to reduce those risks. Health care setting-related outbreaks are something that we should do everything to try and minimize." In other sectors, like construction, essential workers would not be in the same situation, Silas said, because they would have the right to refuse to work in unsafe conditions. But health workers can't do the same without the ethical guilt of abandoning patients. It's the same guilt that has nurses working 16 to 24-hour shifts, or taking on large patient loads, she said. "It's that ethical guilt that presses on the health-care workforce." In Quebec, unions representing nurses also expressed concern that N95 masks are not automatically given to nurses by their employers. They said this was particularly important as the province has ruled that some nurses who have tested positive for COVID-19 but have no symptoms can go to work to treat patients with the virus. Julie Bouchard, president of the Federation Interprofessionnelle de la Sante du Quebec, a Quebec union representing nurses and respiratory therapists, said she was worried that N95s were not available to all nurses in Quebec to protect them from the Omicron variant. Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Faced with a much more contagious variant, we stepped up our interventions to remind the government and CNESST (Quebec's workplace safety body) that it was their responsibility to apply the precautionary principle and to implement all the necessary measures, starting with access to the N95 mask, for all caregivers to protect them and their vulnerable patients," she said. "However, the government is still slow to comply with the CNESST directives, as well as to ensure that the N95s are available in the field." NDP health spokesman Daniel Blaikie called on the federal government to give nurses a pandemic pay bonus to recognize their key role in fighting the Omicron wave. The NDP said, though health policy is determined by provinces, "hero pay" for nurses would be possible if the Liberal government wished to bring it in. It said during the first COVID-19 wave the federal government introduced a fund to help provinces and territories offer a danger bonus to essential workers such as nurses. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 14, 2022. Over an agonizing 30 minutes, Catherine Gagnon watched the life drain out of Ruby, her eight-year-old dog, as she struggled to free the pooch from a legal wildlife trap. Over an agonizing 30 minutes, Catherine Gagnon watched the life drain out of Ruby, her eight-year-old dog, as she struggled to free the pooch from a legal wildlife trap. Now she hopes one of several updates to Winnipegs responsible pet ownership bylaw, which would ban the outdoor use of body-hold traps, will prevent others from losing their furry loved ones the same way. (Ruby) did not die peacefully. She most certainly did not die humanely, Gagnon told councils protection committee Friday. No living, feeling, breathing being domestic or wild deserves to die so horrifically. Gagnons dog died just over a year ago on Jan. 23, about 800 metres north of city limits in the Rural Municipality of Rosser. Gagnon was previously unaware such traps were allowed within and outside city limits. Without the proposed ban, Gagnon fears other pets and possibly even children could be killed or injured by the traps. Rubys (death) has left a hole in my heart. She was a family member. I pray that not another (being) suffers her fate, she said. Winnipegger Andreina Holliday also hopes to prevent others from enduring the pain of losing their dogs in the sudden, painful way she did. Hollidays small pets, Tango and Rocky, were at Pooches Playhouse canine daycare on May 7 and were fatally attacked by a larger dog. Holliday told the Free Press shes glad the city is proposing minimum play space requirements and staff-to-dog ratios for dog daycares but believes higher standards and fines are needed. She said the city should ensure the businesses maintain ratios of one staff member for 15 dogs, instead of the currently proposed ratio of one for 20 large dogs or one for 25 small ones. I think that we can do better, considering how difficult it would be for one person to safely break up a dog fight, she said. She also believes canine daycares should be required to provide at least 50 to 60 square feet of open, dedicated play space per dog, depending on size. The city is proposing to set the minimum at 20 square feet per small dog and 35 square feet for larger breeds. Shes also calling for steeper penalties facilities that break the rules. The current proposal includes a $250 fine, but Holliday believes the death or serious injury of a dog should trigger the closure of the facility involved until a review ensures its safe to reopen. The fines are so minimal that theres no real financial consequences to these businesses. Its really a slap on the wrist, she said. During the meeting, a lawyer with the advocacy group Animal Justice said there is widespread support to ban the outdoor use of many wildlife traps, though wording on the ban should be clarified to encompass leg-hold and other types, as well. They all cause prolonged suffering, said Kaitlyn Mitchell. Nikki Sherwin, the owner of Woofs n Wags dog daycare, said she fully supports the new standards under consideration. The call to separate dogs by size would be a major step forward, she said. This is integral to the safety of dogs. A small dog should never be in a group of larger dogs, she said. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The proposed rules would also set fines for leaving pets inside hot or cold vehicles and feeding wildlife on private property (except for bird feeders). They would also impose new limits on breeders. Coun. Sherri Rollins, who leads the protection committee, said she hopes the changes prevent the kinds of pet losses discussed during Fridays meeting. I hope that those who have experienced losses that came to committee today, when they see the bylaw, that they feel that their loss wasnt in vain and council did act, said Rollins. The committee approved the changes; a final council vote on the proposed bylaw revision is still required. Joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga OTTAWA Canadas top doctor says Manitoba cant rely on individuals to avoid catching COVID-19 unless theyre given adequate equipment and social supports. OTTAWA Canadas top doctor says Manitoba cant rely on individuals to avoid catching COVID-19 unless theyre given adequate equipment and social supports. Getting equitable access to layers of protection is always a concern, Dr. Theresa Tam, Canadas chief public health officer, said Friday, in response to questions from the Free Press. On Wednesday, Premier Heather Stefanson announced a drastic shift in Manitobas COVID-19 focus, away from trying to contain cases toward avoiding deaths and severe outcomes. This virus is running throughout our community and its up to Manitobans to look after themselves, Stefanson said, arguing current restrictions put enough strain on business and mental health. We must all learn to live with this virus; there must be a balance. Tam said that only works if people have adequate social supports, as well as masks and rapid tests. Were also concerned about the distribution of rapid tests to those who may have needs but cant access (them), Tam said. Distributing good, high-quality masks, for example, to populations experiencing equity disparities is actually important. Tam said non-profits like the Red Cross are helping to meet that need, while provinces have a role to supply that equipment, as does Ottawa on First Nations reserves. She said those who cant work from home need help to stay safe. Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Its also extremely important (to) make sure that they have everything that they need to protect themselves, Tam said. On Ottawas part, Tam said social supports for people who have lost their income due to COVID-19 are meant to help prevent people from falling through the cracks. At the federal level, one of our roles is trying to assess and level the playing field as much as we can. Throughout her term, including before the COVID-19 pandemic, Tam has focused on health equity and social determinants, which means mitigating historical and current factors that lead to more illness. That includes overcrowded housing on First Nations reserves, the lack of fresh and affordable food in low-income areas, and health services that arent easily accessed by public transit. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca Jayme-Lea Sinclairs grief has turned to anger and disgust. On Friday, Winnipeg police said one of the two men accused in the slaying of her common-law husband last month is now wanted in connection with another deadly shooting that took place just two weeks earlier. Her partner, 35-year-old Anthony Sinclair, was gunned down on the way to the corner shop on the evening of Dec. 9 near the intersection of Stella Avenue and McGregor Street. He later died in hospital and Sinclair believes his killing was random. Thunder Lightning Fontaine, 22, of Winnipeg is also accused in the Nov. 24 homicide of Angus John Maple. (Supplied) Thunder Lightning Fontaine, 22, of Winnipeg already wanted for Sinclairs killing is now accused in the homicide of Angus John Maple, 40, who was shot Nov. 24 in an apartment on the 300 block of Mountain Avenue. Maple also died in hospital. "(Im) disgusted because I dont understand how somebody can take somebody elses life like that and it seems that this had been random too, from my understanding," Jayme-Lea said Saturday. "Angry that that this guy was still out there." But she said she was thankful to homicide detectives for pursuing the case. Alex Arumeul Genaille, 23 of Winnipeg, was arrested in Sinclairs death this week and charged with second-degree murder and multiple firearms offences. (Supplied) Alex Arumeul Genaille, 23 of Winnipeg, was arrested in Sinclairs death this week and charged with second-degree murder and multiple firearms offences. "It lets me know theyre still working on it, for that Im thankful. Hopefully (Fontaine) will get caught." Fontaine and Genaille had previous criminal convictions. Court records show both have been identified as low-functioning, with troubled backgrounds and a history of addictions and methamphetamine use. The Sinclairs had two sons together and raised Anthonys three boys from another relationship. Now, Jayme-Lea is on her own with the kids. "Its my oldest sons birthday on Monday but even my oldest doesnt feel like celebrating. Nothing is the same without Tony," she said. Jayme-Lea and Anthony Sinclair with two of their sons, Isaiah (left) and Daylan (right). Anthony Sinclair was shot on the evening of Dec. 9 near the intersection of Stella Avenue and McGregor Street. He later died in hospital. (Supplied) Anthony was fiercely protective, worrying about her safety in what sometimes felt like an unsafe neighbourhood making this incident all the more devastating, she previously told the Free Press. "I have no words for (the accused) right now Im waiting for my chance to say something to him in the court process," she said. Its unusual for a suspect to be accused in more than one killing, Winnipeg police Const. Jay Murray told the Free Press. "Its certainly rare for us to see somebody thats been charged with two different homicides," he said. The most recent example Murray could recall was John Paul Ostamas, who was convicted in 2017 of three counts of second-degree murder for beating three homeless men to death in downtown Winnipeg over the course of two weeks in 2015. Murray said its too early to say whether the killings of Maple and Sinclair are connected. "They certainly are by means of the suspect weve identified," he said. Police have not yet released a suspected motive in either homicide. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Police say the weapon used in the killings is worrisome. "The concern, I think, is escalated by the fact we believe a firearm was used in both of these homicides," Murray said. Police describe Fontaine as Indigenous, about 58" tall and 170-180 pounds with a thin build. He has a tattoo of a teardrop below his right eye and the letters "D.N.G." above it. Homicide investigators have obtained Canada-wide warrants for Fontaine for first-degree murder in Maples death, second-degree murder in Sinclairs death, and four counts of possessing a firearm contrary to a prohibition order. Police are asking the public not to approach the suspect and call 911 if hes spotted. Anyone with information about the homicides can call 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-8477. erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca OTTAWA Manitoba should brace for a quadrupling of its daily COVID-19 hospitalizations, which are already abnormally high, according to fresh federal modelling. OTTAWA Manitoba should brace for a quadrupling of its daily COVID-19 hospitalizations, which are already abnormally high, according to fresh federal modelling. "Im terrified. I dont know what else to say," said Dr. Doug Eyolfson, ahead of his shift on the ICU ward at Grace Hospital in Winnipeg. In modelling released Friday morning, the Public Health Agency of Canada predicts a peak of roughly 200 daily hospitalizations this month in Manitoba. So far, the highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in a single day has been 58 (logged Jan. 10). Over the last week, there was an average of 42 inpatient admissions related to COVID-19 each day. One month ago, the daily average stood at 14. "How can we have those numbers of people needing hospital admission, and not have someone die because we cant provide proper care for them? Despite everyones best efforts, its absolutely unmanageable," said Eyolfson, a former Liberal MP. Many novel coronavirus patients require weeks of care. In the past seven days, there has been a 56 per cent jump in the cumulative number in hospital with COVID-19. The result is a system thats been overflowing for weeks, according to dozens of Winnipeg doctors. "As it is, when new patients need to be admitted, we dont know where to put them," Eyolfson said. "The emergency department is full and people are on stretchers in the hallways." He echoed colleagues urging Manitoba to come up with a triage protocol, which would dictate how to decide who wont get life-saving care when resources are stretched too thin. "The province refuses to triage protocol, and leaves the decisions and the risks and the moral injury up to the physicians," said Eyolfson, adding people are already dying due to postponed surgeries and diagnostic tests amid the pandemic. "Were already triaging, although its not obvious." Dr. Eric Jacobsohn, a physician in the cardiac surgical ICU at St. Boniface Hospital, said the last few days have brought a "tremendous uptick" in the number of intensive-care patients being admitted. "It would not be surprising if heart surgery has to be curtailed in the next week due to the increasing need for ICU beds," he said in an interview Thursday. Jacobsohn said heart-surgery patients often need an ICU bed to recover, but those are increasingly being taken up by COVID-19 patients who have already maxed out the non-ICU ward at St. B. "The hospitals are full; we do not have staff to expand," he said. "The next week will clearly tell whether or not we are going to be able to cope or whether some other, radical plans are going to be needed to care for the COVID patients that require ICU care." The number of people being treated in Manitoba hospitals with COVID-19 topped 500 on Friday, as the province reported five more deaths due to the disease. According to the provinces pandemic online dashboard, 517 people were in hospital with COVID-19 as of Friday morning; 45 were in ICUs. On Jan. 12, Health Minister Audrey Gordon said shes instructed her team to find every alternative to airlifting patients out of the province (as it did in during the pandemics third wave), but wouldnt rule out the possibility. "It is our role as leadership to ensure Manitobans receive care in their home province, and that is the No.1 priority," Gordon told reporters. The minister added shed made no preliminary calls to other provinces or U.S. states to see if any could take patients. "Were able to assist our Manitobans with the care they need here at home, so there is no need to have those discussions," Gordon said. Thats news to Eyolfson, who said he has no clue what to do when there are more intensive care patients than staff can handle. "How will we do that, if that happens tomorrow when Im on duty?" he said Friday. "We dont know what these contingency plans are." Canadas chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, presented Fridays federal modelling, which suggested daily cases could peak around 7,000 in Manitoba. That would be more than double the highest number to date, although recent figures are hard to assess with the rationing of PCR testing. Manitoba officials said Jan. 5 the number of cases are likely eight to 10 times whats being detected in lab testing, and the province hasnt provided an updated metric. Tam said she didnt have a sense of how many cases in Canada are going undetected, adding that it likely varies by region. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. "Canada could see a sharp peak and decline in cases in the coming weeks (but) even the downside of this curve will be considerable," she said. The strain on hospitals could be at a level unseen in Canada, while the impact on various workplaces alone in the coming weeks could be jarring, Tam added. "With several weeks of very intense activity expected to come, we need to do our best now to limit the size of the Omicron surge in order to maintain the health system and critical functions of society." The Omicron variant is about three times more transmissible than Delta, and generally causes less severe infections. But because its so contagious, Omicron is set to cause an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 deaths in Canada this month. with files from Katie May and Danielle Da Silva dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca Three University of Winnipeg Collegiate instructors are suing the university and the provincial government after they were forced to take unpaid leave over the schools COVID-19 vaccination policy. Three University of Winnipeg Collegiate instructors are suing the university and the provincial government after they were forced to take unpaid leave over the schools COVID-19 vaccination policy. In a statement of claim filed Monday, instructors Renise Mlodzinski, Evan Maltman and Kyle Du Val allege they were placed on involuntary leave last September after the university enacted a policy requiring everyone working or attending classes on campus to provide proof they are fully vaccinated against the virus. Three University of Winnipeg instructors are suing the school and province after they were forced to take unpaid leave becuase of the schools COVID-19 vaccination policy. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press) The policy describes vaccination as "the single most effective public health measure to reduce the spread of COVID-19" and "essential" to the universitys response to the pandemic. All three instructors, (the statement of claim) says, applied for vaccine exemptions on religious grounds, which the university rejected. The instructors argue "autonomy" over their own personal health issues takes priority over "reduction or elimination of the associated risks to life." "There is neither a moral obligation to vaccinate, nor a sound ethical basis to mandate vaccination under any circumstances, even for hypothetical vaccines that are medically risk free," alleges the statement of claim. "Under the present circumstances, when the science clearly demonstrates that the so-called vaccines do not provide either complete sterilizing immunity nor prevent the fully vaccinated from infecting others, the grossly unethical nature of vaccine mandates" becomes even more clear. An Alberta lawyer representing the three instructors did not respond to a request for comment Friday. The statement of claim details alleged health risks associated with the vaccines, charging that they are "experimental in nature" and have not been subject to rigorous testing. Requiring the instructors to undergo vaccination for COVID19 against their wishes makes the university guilty of assault, they claim. All three instructors, it says, applied for vaccine exemptions on religious grounds, which the university rejected. In forcing the instructors to go on leave, the university is "removing caring professionals from public service in a random and disruptive manner that will irreparably harm students," the statement of claim alleges. Requiring the instructors to undergo vaccination for COVID-19 against their wishes makes the university guilty of assault, they claim. "To the extent the policy seeks to coerce employees to be vaccinated against their will, without informed consent, the policy amounts to an expressed intention to engage in a conspiracy to commit assault," the claim alleges. "There is no more basic right to security of the person than to have control and physical autonomy over ones own body." They claim they have suffered damages that include psychological trauma, threats and assaults, posttraumatic stress disorder and loss of income and employment opportunities. The statement of claim alleges the province and chief medical officer Dr. Brent Roussin, a named defendant in the lawsuit, have perpetuated a "false sense of security" that vaccinated people will be protected from infection. "The rhetoric has resulted in a large portion of Manitobans believing that if they are fully vaccinated they are safe from the virus and cannot become infected or infect others," says the statement of claim. "Omicron has exploded this mythology." The instructors allege once they were placed on unpaid leave, their vaccination status was "immediately apparent," and they were subjected to "vilification and extreme ill will." Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. They claim they have suffered damages that include psychological trauma, threats and assaults, post-traumatic stress disorder and loss of income and employment opportunities. A spokesperson for the province declined to respond directly to questions about the lawsuit, writing in an email: "Manitoba takes the health and (well-being) of all Manitobans into account when it drafts public health orders and relies on all Manitobans to do what is right." dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service will explore options to boost its staffing levels, as COVID-19 infections continue to deplete its ranks. The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service will explore options to boost its staffing levels, as COVID-19 infections continue to deplete its ranks. On Friday, city councils protection committee ordered the service to produce a plan meant to help mitigate sudden staff shortages. Last week, city officials noted WFPS was strained but stable, with 85 active cases among its staff and plenty of overtime being used to fill shifts. RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES WFPS Chief Christian Schmidt. Coun. Sherri Rollins, who leads the protection committee, said theres a critical need for such a plan as the pandemic drags on and the Omicron variant fuels a massive surge in infections. "Its been a long pandemic. Its time to adjust (staffing) and look critically at the organization and (understand) the point at which your staff just simply burn out because it has been months and months of overtime," said Rollins. The plan would set out a strategy to quickly increase the number of full-time staff available. The options to achieve that could include an expansion of the emergency paramedics in the community program (that addresses low priority, non-emergent calls), enhancing the EPIC 9 program (that handles the triage of less urgent 911 calls), and possible training changes that might free up more staff. The WFPS is also expected to provide the potential cost of options and consult with Shared Health, for which Winnipeg is contracted to provide ambulance services. On Friday, the committee voted unanimously to call for the report. Coun. Markus Chambers said its critical the city find ways to ensure adequate shift coverage for the emergency service that avoid excessive overtime. "(We) have to look at the human side of it in the fact that eventually our staff will burn out and were asking more and more of them with no end in sight," he said. WFPS Chief Christian Schmidt told the committee 74 members of the service were off work due to active cases of COVID-19, as of Thursday. That dropped to 69 employees, or 4.5 per cent of the workforce, by Friday evening. Schmidt said absentee levels appeared about normal for four days this week, but the service is concerned about a recent major spike between Christmas and New Years Day. He said the city could transfer staff from administrative positions to front-line posts while other staffing options are explored. But that change would have a limited effect, since less than one per cent of the services employees work in executive level administrative positions, he noted. Schmidt said members of recruit classes for new firefighters and paramedics could also be called into service early, though that option hasnt yet been pursued. Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. "We are very fortunate (existing) staff answered the calls and were setting aside personal matters and coming in to cover the shifts (over the holidays) because, had that not been the case, we very likely would have found ourselves in a situation where wed be looking at having to place units out of service." In an interview, the WFPS chief told the Free Press some wait times appear to be on the rise due to the current staff shortage. While exact data is still being collected, Schmidt said times appear to have grown longer for low-priority calls. "The simple fact that were seeing more calls that are held in the dispatch queue, thats a big signal that the system is under pressure and so we need to be responding to that," he said. The report on options to increase staff numbers is expected in June. joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga A quarterly academic report for the first marking period of the 2021-22 school year indicates that Mechanicsburg Area School Districts secondary-level students are largely holding their own despite spending much of the past two school years in virtual instruction. Figures presented to the Mechanicsburg Area School Board Tuesday night by Assistant to the Superintendent Andrew Bitz showed that more than 90% of the districts middle school students passed the majority of their courses for the first quarter of this school year, while nearly 89% of all district high school students did the same. Our teachers continue to work extremely hard to meet the needs of our students. The staff wants to help our students grow as learners, Superintendent Mark Leidy said Wednesday. They understand the circumstances of the pandemic have impacted all of our students in different ways, and they continue to offer outstanding instruction and support. With the onset of Gov. Tom Wolfs pandemic orders in March 2020, all district buildings remained closed for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year, with remote instruction implemented for students later that spring. The district began the 2020-21 school year using a hybrid instruction model, with the high school, middle school and elementary levels running on weekly class schedule rotations that alternated between A/B student groups (based on the alphabet) in each building. In November 2020, Mechanicsburg resumed its in-person kindergarten instruction four days each week. In March 2021, in-person classes in the districts four primary-grade buildings were increased from two to four days per week in March 2021, followed by an increase for in-person instruction for Elmwood Academy students in grades 4-5 to four days per week in April 2021. The districts secondary grades remained on a hybrid schedule for the duration of that school year. At virtual school board meetings last year, parents spoke of remote students struggling against dropped or failing grades, depression and isolation, and even hating school. In response, the district developed new remedial academic options for the summer of 2021. Eligible elementary level students received free visits from a Summer Academic Support team of skilled educators at their summer activities. Likewise, the districts high school and middle school summer programs were modified in 2021 to meet those pupils remedial needs. Students at all grade levels also remain eligible for in-school remedial instruction on an as-needed basis. Results presented Tuesday for the first marking period of this years in-school instruction for secondary grade levels appear promising. A total of 88.61% of the districts high school students passed all 1 or 0.5 credit courses, compared to 88.4% with hybrid instruction for the same period in 2020-21, and 85.1% for the pre-pandemic initial marking period of 2019-20 At the middle school, 93% of sixth-graders passed at least four of five core classes for the first marking period this year, up from 89% for this grade level in the same period last year, and 97% for the same time span in 2019-20. Seventh-graders scored at 94% in passing five of six core classes for this years first marking period, compared to 89% for the same period last year and 93% for 2019-20. Eighth-graders showed perhaps the most marked differences in their percentages of passing classes over the past three school years as instruction varied between remote and in-person due to the pandemic. This year, 93% of the middle schools eighth-graders passed at least four of their five core classes during this period. Only 73% did the same at this level when hybrid instruction remained in place during 2020-21. For the same period in 2019-20, this level ranked at 93% during pre-pandemic conditions. COVID-19 cases In other news, Leidy reported Wednesday that in the first six school days since district students returned from winter break, the district has begun actively monitoring 458 individuals as positives for COVID-19 exposures or symptoms and a total of 168 COVID-19 positive individuals that includes 34 staff members. As a reference, we had 261 cases from the first day of school (this year) through Dec. 1. We had 236 total for all of last school year, he said. Leidy said last month that hes concerned about the districts quarantine numbers and wants to see the state Department of Health change its basis for mandating school quarantines. He and other superintendents from districts within the Capital Area Intermediate Unit recently joined a coalition led by the CAIU for this purpose. Right now, its based on a persons proximity to another person whos (COVID-19) positive, Leidy said previously. Were trying to get the state to move it from close-contact quarantine basis to symptomatic quarantine basis. In other words, a person wouldnt be required to quarantine unless theyre showing symptoms. This week, he said the CDCs recent reduction of its mandated length of COVID related quarantine and isolation from 10 days to five days will make a significant difference in our ability to keep students and staff and school. New positions The board approved job descriptions Tuesday for two positions that will be created in the districts business office. As a growing district, this is what we need to add to our staff to support our buildings and classrooms, and the districts systems, said Greg Longwell, the districts chief financial officer. The assistant business manager/controller will be responsible for daily management of the districts business office, and maintaining and producing timely monthly and yearly financial reports for the district and such affiliated organizations as the Wildcat Foundation and its booster clubs. Other responsibilities include implementing and overseeing internal control for all finance matters, as well as assisting Longwell in the districts budget process and benchmarking of various financial measures. The supervisor of accounting services will be responsible for organizing and maintaining district accounting, payroll and purchasing functions, and overseeing daily operations related to employee benefits, accounts receivable, student activity, agency, trust and food service accounting. This position also is responsible for supervising the districts business office support staff,. Longwell said the district plans to advertise for potential candidates to for these jobs. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 THE Access to Information Act (ATIA) is an important mechanism for promoting transparency, accountability and trust in government. It is used by parliamentarians, journalists, lobbyists, businesses, non-profits, researchers and regular citizens to obtain information about government actions and inactions. Opinion THE Access to Information Act (ATIA) is an important mechanism for promoting transparency, accountability and trust in government. It is used by parliamentarians, journalists, lobbyists, businesses, non-profits, researchers and regular citizens to obtain information about government actions and inactions. The effectiveness of the law depends greatly on its detailed provisions, which provide the foundation for promoting and protecting the publics right to know. However, it also depends on an understanding of, and a commitment to, its principles by both politicians and public servants. Because the ATIA operates within an overlapping political and administrative environment, there are inherent incentives for secrecy. Cynically, it can be argued that the dynamic of Parliament is mainly about blaming; this leads ministers to use various blame-avoidance tactics to blunt opposition criticism, including withholding information that might be politically damaging. Public servants recognize this, and they have their own reasons such as the potential loss of authority and damage to their careers for protecting sensitive information. The ATIA must work against these fundamental, powerful forces. As part of their successful 2015 election campaign, the Trudeau Liberals promised to strengthen the act. At the time, the Harper Conservative government was notorious for political interference in the operation of the act, leading to excessive secrecy and prolonged delays processing ATIA requests. Once in power, the Liberals launched a review, but the process to strengthen the law has been low-key, slow and cautious. They must fulfil their promise, and there is an identified agenda of necessary reforms. The first stage of the governments review process concluded with Bill C-58, which introduced important practical improvements to the ATIA, such as the elimination of fees beyond the initial $5 application fee, a stronger role for the information commissioner, and new requirements for proactive publication of government documents. It also introduced a mandatory review of the law every five years. In June 2020, the minister responsible for the ATIA (the secretary to the Treasury Board) announced a broader review of the access system, which involved a consultation exercise. An interim report released last December identified multiple themes and concerns, only a few of which can be covered here. There were calls for more proactive disclosure of information; fewer, less restrictive exemptions from the disclosure principle; more timely release of documents; and additional resources (money, staff and technology) to improve fulfillment of the publics right to know. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. After discussions with the departments identified as least compliant with the ATIA, the information commissioner (an independent officer of Parliament who oversees the law) concluded the right of access was not well understood and given priority, that the pandemic had placed an enormous strain on archaic information systems manned by public servants working remotely, and that recruiting and retaining ATIA professionals was a serious problem. It is past time for the Liberal government to announce a bold redesign of the ATIA system. First, Parliament needs to amend the ATIA in many ways, including the creation of a duty to document, authority for the information commission to oversee the exclusion of cabinet confidences, limiting the exemption that protects advice from the public service by requiring disclosure of background information, removing the blanket protection for third-party information, and the inclusion of a public interest override clause (found in some provincial statutes) that would guide the application of exemptions and be overseen by the information commissioner. Second, administrative reforms are needed, such as changes to the categories for classifying documents as top secret or confidential, holding senior public servants accountable for complying with the ATIA rules, upgrading the status of ATIA co-ordinators within departments, making greater use of information technology, and showing greater respect for the recommendations of the information commissioner. A broken access system which involves ritualistic compliance does not serve Canadians well. The system can be fixed, but it will require deep legislative and administrative changes. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau abandoned electoral reform; he should not be allowed to break his promise to reform the ATIA. Paul G. Thomas is professor emeritus of political studies at the University of Manitoba. He once served on a national task force on ATIA and as an advisor to the information commissioner. Two questions about recent events in Kazakhstan. First, was last weeks slaughterhouse battle between 20,000 bandits and the regimes police in Almaty, the countrys biggest city, really just a quarrel among thieves? And second, why did Russian troops get involved? Opinion Two questions about recent events in Kazakhstan. First, was last weeks slaughterhouse battle between 20,000 bandits and the regimes police in Almaty, the countrys biggest city, really just a quarrel among thieves? And second, why did Russian troops get involved? Kazakhstan is a kleptocracy: a state where corrupt politicians enrich themselves secretly through kickbacks, bribes and special favours, or simply direct state funds to themselves and their associates. They often export much of their profits to foreign nations. (Wikipedia definition) A special Chatham House report last month found the family and associates of Nursultan Nazarbayev, Communist ruler of Soviet Kazakhstan and then president of independent Kazakhstan for 35 years, bought 34 properties in London and southern England for US$720 million in just the four years 1998-2002. Everybody in Kazakhstan knows they are ruled by thieves. The Russians who were doing well stayed after independence and the rest left. Kazakhs who are doing well dont mind the thieves-in-office either but most Kazakhs arent doing very well. They arent all dirt poor the protests this time were initially about a doubling in the price of fuel for cars but a recent KPMG report says that 162 people own half the countrys wealth. Nobody likes that sort of thing. So the peaceful protests that began on Jan. 2 quickly spread to every corner of the country and then things went crazy in Almaty. On Wednesday, Jan. 5, well-organized groups of people unknown to the protesters joined the crowds and began attacking official buildings. Equally strange is the fact that on that same Wednesday, the police left key buildings in Almaty unprotected. The presidential palace was burned, the airport was seized, people were killed but were they the right people? President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev sounded convinced of it. Abroad there are calls for talks for a peaceful resolution, he said on television. What idiocy! What kind of negotiation can you have with criminals? We are dealing with armed and well-prepared bandits, both local and foreign, who should be destroyed. We must kill them. Tokayev was as good as his word. The shooting was over by Jan. 7, and police and troops certainly did kill a lot of people. On Jan. 9 they announced 164 killed and more than 8,000 arrested, including a substantial number of foreign nationals. But there were a couple of loose ends in the script. On the same Wednesday the violence started, President Tokayev dismissed retired president-almost-for-life Nazarbayev from his remaining job as head of the State Council. Nazarbayev resigned the presidency three years ago because of his age (he is 81), but everybody assumed he was really still in charge, and still grooming his daughter Dariga for the job. (The protesters shouted Old man, go!) Then suddenly Tokayev asks for help from Russias President Vladimir Putin and Nazarbayev is completely out of the government. Two thousand Russian troops fly in within a day. They dont shoot any civilians, but once they are on the ground, Tokayev orders the arrest of the countrys former intelligence chief, Karim Massimov, on suspicion of treason. Massimov was Nazarbayevs closest adviser. Would Tokayev have dared to arrest him before the Russians arrived? I cant help joining up the dots, and it looks like a coup to me. Maybe a failed coup attempt in which Nazarbayevas people were trying to take power back from an over-mighty Toakyev who wanted to be the real boss, not just a place-holder for Dariga Nazarbayeva. Or maybe a move by Tokayev himself to sideline the Old Man and his ambitious daughter. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Tokayev admitted himself on Monday that the protests were really a coup attempt, but he didnt say who was behind it. My guess is that he was. That he didnt actually start the protests, but that he saw an opportunity in them. He needed Russian support to move against the Old Man, and he needed an excuse to invite the Russians in, so he sent his thugs in to turn the protests violent and create that excuse. Or maybe nothing of the sort happened, and this is just another mundane tale of the rich and powerful crushing the little people. Im allowed one conspiracy theory a year, and Im getting it in early. Either way, I know what Russias motive was. Most people forget the Soviet Union was just one more European colonial empire. The only differences were that it was a land empire, and that it decolonized a generation after the others. Putin grew up in that empire, he still mourns its demise, and hell take any chance he gets to restore Russias dominant influence there. Theres no coherent strategy here. Putin is tough and he can be nasty, but hes really a romantic, not a would-be world conqueror. Gwynne Dyers new book is The Shortest History of War. And so, at last, after nearly two years of restrictions and sacrifice and frustration and bewilderment at what government did, didnt do and might have done, this is where we have arrived: And so, at last, after nearly two years of restrictions and sacrifice and frustration and bewilderment at what government did, didnt do and might have done, this is where we have arrived: Were on our own. We have to look after ourselves. Government cant protect us from COVID-19s latest iteration. Its up to Manitobans to look after themselves: premier MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES We must learn to live with the virus says Premier Heather Stefanson. Posted: 7:00 PM Jan. 12, 2022 As the Omicron variant roars across the province, Manitobas premier has conceded the public and not the government must be responsible for limiting its spread. This virus is running throughout our community and its up to Manitobans to look after themselves, Premier Heather Stefanson told reporters Wednesday. Read Full Story Flanked by her minister of health and supported by two senior public-health officials, Premier Heather Stefanson on Wednesday told Manitobans to accept that all of us are eventually going to be exposed to COVID-19, so the best we can expect from her government is an earnest effort to "balance" the health impacts of the virus against the financial and social impacts of imposing measures aimed at limiting its spread. "We must learn to live with this virus," the premier intoned, repeating a phrase often voiced by the provinces chief public health officer, but imbuing it with an air of resignation that led one opposition leader to conclude the Stefanson government has "thrown in the towel" on trying to fight the Omicron surge. Ms. Stefanson restated that stricter public-health restrictions will not be imposed, despite the dizzying daily case-number reports and the fact the provinces abandonment of reliable testing, reporting and contact tracing means whatever numbers are released publicly are only a fraction of actual Omicron-infection rates. When asked if public-health officials had recommended stricter measures than have been imposed, Manitobas deputy chief public health officers first attempt to reply was interrupted by the premier, who then essentially evaded the question. A second query to the health expert elicited a cautiously framed non-answer whose clear subtext was an implied affirmative. Ms. Stefanson then cemented the provinces position on public-health expertise at this stage of the pandemic: "At the end of the day, well be taking advice from public health, but well be taking advice from other Manitobans moving forward." The Omicron horse is out of the barn, it seems, and whats left for Manitobas government is to stand there and watch it run. Its at full gallop in other jurisdictions, as well, but where provinces such as Ontario and Quebec have imposed additional restrictions in an effort to slow its pace, Manitoba seems inclined to simply let the horse tire itself out. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson The province will continue to encourage vaccinations, because they remain our best way out of the COVID-19 catastrophe. Getting those shots will remain up to us, however, as Ms. Stefansons government maintains owing, one assumes, to careful political calculus that imposing a more forceful vaccine mandate remains on the "wont do" side of the pandemic-response ledger. The premier also reasserted that Manitoba schools will return fully to in-person learning on Monday. That declaration was followed Thursday by a briefing by Education Minister Cliff Cullen and chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin in which Manitobans were told schools will no longer inform parents about close COVID-19 contacts in their kids classrooms, opting instead to provide recurring reports on absenteeism and recommending that schools employ rapid antigen testing or cut down on higher-risk activities at times of high spread. "We need to not frame this as abandoning anything," Dr. Roussin insisted. "Its shifting our approach." As the person who has been the face of Manitobas pandemic response for two years and a consistent voice of reason, reassurance and rational explanation, it would be comforting to take his statement at face value. That would only be possible, however, if one had not seen the calamitous abdication of responsibility that was the previous days briefing. One can only wonder if Dr. Roussin feels as if hes on his own, too. When I catch up, via FaceTime, with Jeff Gunn, hes lounging in the sunshine at a campground in El Calafate, Argentina. When I catch up, via FaceTime, with Jeff Gunn, hes lounging in the sunshine at a campground in El Calafate, Argentina. Hes also rocking a COVID-era/overland-trip mane extraordinaire of beyond-shoulder-length blond hair. Jeff and Lois Gunn completed their 30,000-kilometre trek at one of the ends of the road (Fin de Camino), south of Punta Arenas, Chile. The retired Kelowna CIBC banker and his wife Lois, a retired City of Kelowna staffer, are elated, having just completed a life mission, a milestone, an incredible journey. The odyssey was the 30,000-kilometre Pan American Highway from the northernmost point of continental North America to the southernmost point of continental South America in a pop-up truck camper. At times we wondered if we would ever be able to do it all, especially with the 18-month interruption of COVID, says Jeff. But we made it. We got to the bottom (of South America) and were feeling great. We love long road journeys and the Pan American is the most famous of them all. The Gunns have always been fans of long road trips. For their honeymoon in 1985, they spent five months tooling around Europe in one of those retro Volkswagen Kombi vans. Jeff Gunn photo A highlight for Lois and Jeff Gunn along the Pan American Highway was a stop at the salt flats in Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia. In 2003, they pulled their two kids out of school to backpack and camp around South America for three months between Rio de Janeiro and Venezuela. When the couple retired in early 2019, they finally had the time and opportunity to go big and drive the entire Pan American Highway, the network of roads spanning the length of the two continents, which the Guinness Book of World Records declared the longest motorable road on the planet. While the Pan American is 30,000 km, the Gunns have actually covered 43,000 km on their pilgrimage by adding on numerous detours. The extra mileage started right off the bat in May 2019 when the couple drove the 5,500 clicks to the Arctic Circle to start the Pan American near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Those following the Pan American are called overlanders, a term inspired by those in Land Rovers with rooftop tents who travel long distances over land. The Gunns pop-up truck camper is a little bigger than a Land Rover with rooftop tent, but not by much. It was custom-made with an extending roof and pop-up queen-size bed, minuscule kitchen with fridge, stove, sink and dinette for two, and a tiny bathroom thats little more than a toilet. The Gunns have learned to live with only the essentials, ensure to put everything away right after they use it and try not to get on each others nerves in confined spaces. Lois is a trooper. We both love travelling this way, says Jeff. Weve had the odd disagreement. But when were not driving or sleeping, were enjoying the unlimited spaces of the outdoors. And when we want to stretch out or have some luxury we check into a hotel for the night. From Alaska, the Pan American hugs the Pacific Coast pretty closely all the way through Canada and the U.S. to Lands End at the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula at Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. From there they had to take a ferry to Mazatlan to continue on the Pan American through Mexico and Central America to Panama. Since there are 106 km with no road connecting North and South America, which is call the Darien Gap, theres another ferry from southeast Panama to northwest Colombia. The Pan American continues in South America through Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Chile before ending in one of two places Fin de Camino (which translated from Spanish means end of the road) just south of Punta Arenas, Chile or Ushuaia, Argentina. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The trek was completed in two distinct parts. From May 2019 to March 2020, pre-pandemic, the couple made it from the Arctic Circle to Santiago, Chile before the world shut down and they had to put their truck in storage and fly home to Kelowna. In November 2021, when Chile reopened to travellers who are fully vaccinated, the Gunns returned to finish the last bit from Chile into Argentina. They plan to amble around South and Central America for four or five more months before ending up in Buenos Aires, from where theyll ship their truck so they can fly home to Kelowna. The Gunns are chronicling their trip at OneEndlessRoad.com. smacnaull@nowmediagroup.ca LANSING Michigan's attorney general is asking federal prosecutors to open a criminal investigation into 16 Republicans who submitted false certificates stating they were the state's presidential electors despite Joe Biden's 154,000-vote victory in 2020. Dana Nessel, a Democrat, disclosed Thursday that her office had been evaluating charges for nearly a year but decided to refer the matter to the U.S. attorney in western Michigan. Under state law, I think clearly you have forgery of a public record, which is a 14-year offense, and election law forgery, which is a five-year offense," she told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. But the Justice Department, she said, is best suited to probe and potentially prosecute. The spokesperson for the U.S. attorneys office declined to comment Friday. Nessel alleged a coordinated effort among Republican parties in several states including Michigan to push so-called alternate slates of electors with fake documents. She said she wants federal authorities to make an evaluation for possible charges. Obviously this is part of a much bigger conspiracy, Nessel said. American Oversight, a watchdog group, last March obtained certificates submitted by Republicans in seven states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. New Mexico and Pennsylvania Republicans added a caveat saying it was done in case they were later recognized as duly elected, qualified electors. New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas, a Democrat, announced he was referring his state's case to federal authorities as well even as review under state law is ongoing. Election laws are the foundation of our democracy and must be respected, he said. On Jan. 8, 2021, the Office of the Federal Register which coordinates certain functions of the Electoral College between states and Congress notified Michigan's elections director and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's chief lawyer in an email that it received unofficial, signed certificates from GOP electors who had not been appointed by the Democratic governor. The group includes Republican National Committeewoman Kathy Berden and Meshawn Maddock, co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party. State GOP spokesperson Gustavo Portela accused Nessel of sitting on the information for a year and playing political games with people's lives and livelihoods for the sake of scoring political points ahead of an election." The Associated Press left messages seeking comment from Berden and Maddock on Friday. Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's office last month gave the email to a U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. When Michigan's electors cast 16 votes for Biden in December 2020 following the certification of his 2.8 percentage point win, a separate group that included some Republican state House members tried to enter the state Capitol with Donald Trump's Electoral College candidates. They were turned away by state police but claimed in the certificates that they met in the State Capitol. The invalid certificates also were mailed to the U.S. Senate, Benson, and the federal court for western Michigan. Two Republicans did not sign the documents and were replaced. There are complaints pending in Wisconsin alleging that GOP electors in that state committed fraud by submitting the false paperwork. Biden won Wisconsin by just under 21,000 votes, a result that has withstood recounts, lawsuits and investigations into fraud. Complaints have been filed with the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission and the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office. Neither has announced publicly about any action taken in response. Another complaint against Andrew Hitt, an attorney who was chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party at the time, has been filed with the agency that handles complaints against lawyers. In Pennsylvania, Trump electors signed the documents in an office of a Republican marketing consultant two blocks from the state Capitol. The state Republican Party said then that the Trump electors met at the request of the campaign and described it as a conditional vote." Bernie Comfort, Trumps Pennsylvania chairperson, said it was procedural in case the election was overturned. She claimed it was in no way an effort to usurp or contest the will of the Pennsylvania voters, even though Trump and his allies were pressuring lawmakers and courts at the time to do just that. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 [For China Daily] The Peony Pavilion, a Kunqu Opera production, remains a romantic favorite for a new generation. In 2003, the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theater of Jiangsu worked with Chinese-American writer Kenneth Hsienyung Pai to produce the "youth version" of a Kunqu Opera production, The Peony Pavilion. After its premiere in Taiwan in 2004, his version of The Peony Pavilion has clocked in about 400 performances across the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao, as well as in countries such as Greece, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States. It has been performed in front of a combined worldwide audience of about 800,000. With a new cast, stage set, costumes and music, the production has become so popular that Pai's name has become synonymous with The Peony Pavilion. Thanks to the shows staged at universities across the country at that time, Kunqu Opera has witnessed a surge of popularity, especially among younger people. Yu Jiulin and Shen Fengying, who play hero Liu Mengmei and heroine Du Liniang, respectively, were unknown performers then, but have since both established a large and devoted fan base among Kunqu Opera lovers. On Saturday, Yu and Shen will perform the "youth version" of The Peony Pavilion at Tianqiao Performing Arts Center in Beijing, as part of the ongoing 22nd Meet in Beijing International Arts Festival. This time, they'll perform a two-hour-long version of the opera. [For China Daily] "I can still recall vividly the first time we performed it," says Yu. "I was a young actor and it was the first time that I performed a complete version of The Peony Pavilion. The feedback from the audience was very warm and they gave us waves and waves of applause." Yu, who joined the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theater of Jiangsu in 1998, was trained by veteran Kunqu Opera master Wang Shiyu. Yu has been the recipient of numerous national awards, including the top award for the sector, the China Theater Plum Blossom Award, and is currently the vice-president of the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theater of Jiangsu. The "youth version" of The Peony Pavilion has become a popular part of the theater's repertoire, according to Yu. "For me and Shen, it means a lot to us personally, since we've been performing it for nearly 20 years. It's an important play for us," he says. The Peony Pavilion is a classic Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) play by eminent playwright Tang Xianzu. It originally consisted of 55 scenes that would be performed over several days. The story recounts how Du Liniang falls asleep after she visits the beautiful peony pavilion of her home and dreams of Liu Mengmei, a young scholar she has never met. She wakes in despair and asks the Flower Goddess to find her love. Unable to find him, Du dies of a broken heart. Liu turns out to be a real person, who discovers a portrait of Du and falls in love with her. He finally meets his love after Du returns to life again. Pai once described the actor Yu as "handsome and scholarly" and the actress Shen "having a pair of telling eyes". In the "youth version", the 55 scenes have been rearranged into 27, combining classical Kunqu Opera traditions and modern art forms. The full "youth version" runs for three evenings, three hours each night. [For China Daily] "In such a beautiful dream, it is possible for a young audience to sit there for nine hours with such a beautiful love story," Pai said. The 2004 version of The Peony Pavilion has been called the youth edition because the performers were younger and it targeted younger audiences, according to Shen. "Everything was new onstage, especially the music, which involved more instruments," recalls Shen, who, like Yu, joined the theater in 1998 and won a China Theater Plum Blossom Award. She was trained by the late Kunqu Opera master Zhang Jiqing who died on Jan 6 at the age of 83. "The story of The Peony Pavilion explores a permanent theme in people's lives: the pursuit of love, which is timeless," says Shen. "I am glad that many people have seen and enjoyed the beauty of Kunqu Opera by watching us perform the 'youth version' of The Peony Pavilion." Shen Fengying (L) and Yu Jiulin from Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theater of Jiangsu will play heroine Du Liniang and hero Liu Mengmei in the "youth version" of The Peony Pavilion at Tianqiao Performing Arts Center in Beijing on Saturday. [For China Daily] "We are not as young as we were in 2004 but we have gained more experience as Kunqu Opera performers, which allows us to better express the subtle feelings of the characters," she adds. With a history of about 600 years, Kunqu Opera is considered China's oldest opera form and one of its most influential theatrical traditions. Like many traditional art forms, it was once on the verge of extinction. In 2001, Kunqu Opera was listed as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, which helped the ancient art form to receive more protection and survive. In January 2021, Yu and Shen performed the full "youth version" of The Peony Pavilion in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, to a sold-out theater. (Source: China Daily) Weather Alert ...LAKE WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING TO 5 PM CDT THIS AFTERNOON... * WHAT...Southwest winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 35 mph expected. * WHERE...Southwest Indiana, southeast Missouri, western Kentucky and southern Illinois. * WHEN...From 9 AM this morning to 5 PM CDT this afternoon. * IMPACTS...Strong winds and rough waves on area lakes will create hazardous conditions for small craft. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Boaters on area lakes should use extra caution since strong winds and rough waves can overturn small craft. && An area man is facing several felony charges this week following investigations that began in August. Joshua Logan Hammers, 22, of Farmington, was charged on Thursday in St. Francois County with first-degree promoting child pornography and five counts of possession of child pornography. A probable cause statement from the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) Digital Forensics Investigative Unit states that an investigator was provided information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that on Feb. 27, the Facebook account of Hammers received a video of child pornography from another user via the Facebook messenger application. The report states investigators also received information from the NCMEC that on Aug. 10, the Google account of jhammers983 had uploaded seven videos of child pornography into its Google Photos storage. Through this investigation, police reportedly found Hammers had used both the suspect Facebook and Google accounts. On Wednesday, MSHP investigators executed a St. Francois County search warrant at Hammers' Hyler Drive apartment in Farmington. The man was then interviewed and reportedly admitted to viewing child pornography on the internet while at his apartment. He also allegedly admitted to using the Google account and uploading reported videos of child pornography to his Google Photos storage. The report states that a search of Hammers cell phone revealed several hundred videos of children engaged in sex acts, and numerous videos were of prepubescent children as young as infants. Hammers was booked at the St. Francois County Jail, and a $250,000 cash-only bond was set in the case. If released on bond, the man is ordered to comply with pre-trial monitoring service, must have GPS installed prior to release, and be prohibited from having a computer, cell phone, or other electronic devices with the capability of media storage or internet access. The Division of Drug and Crime Control investigation is ongoing, according to a press release issued by the MSHP on Friday. The Patrol noted that investigators were assisted by the Farmington Police Department in this investigation. The Division of Drug and Crime Control encourages internet users to promptly report to MSHP or local law enforcement anyone who attempts to engage in unwanted, inappropriate, or sexualized communications with children. The Digital Forensics Investigative Unit is partially funded by the Missouri Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The Missouri Digital Forensic Center is a joint effort of the Missouri Department of Public Safety, Missouri Department of Social Services, and the Missouri National Guard Counterdrug Program and is coordinated by the MSHP. Bobby Radford is a reporter for the Daily Journal. He can be reached at bradford@dailyjournalonline.com Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 2 Angry 21 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. By Trend The Caspian Sea has a huge potential for wind energy, Deputy Energy Minister of Azerbaijan Elnur Soltanov told Trend in an interview. In the interview, the Deputy Minister spoke about the current capacities of Azerbaijans energy sector, the construction of wind and solar power plants, as well as the work being done to modernize the electricity sector. "Foreign investments attracted in the field of renewable energy will bring big dividends to our Azerbaijan. Also, in the future, it is planned to implement large projects in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan, in particular, in Eastern Zangazur," Soltanov said. In particular, during the interview, the details of the solar power plant project to be built in Jabrayil together with bp were discussed. At the same time, speaking about the potential of wind energy in the Caspian Sea, the Deputy Minister of Energy said that serious work is underway in this direction. Also, issues on meeting the needs of citizens for electricity after installing solar and wind panels were raised. Trend presents the interview: A sex offender walked away from a halfway house in Farmington two days after Christmas and is facing a federal charge of escape, federal court files say. Thomas Lamar Perry, who was due to be released from the Southeast Missouri Behavioral Health halfway house on Feb. 8, also removed a GPS monitoring device, charging documents filed this week say. The device last pinged at a KFC restaurant in Farmington. Perry, then 36, was sentenced in March to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. Perry admitted having sex with a 16-year-old and offering her to two other men for money. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender after his release from prison. Perry had already spent more than a year and a half in jail before his plea and sentencing. He was transferred to the halfway house in October from prison. On Dec. 27 at 5:15 p.m., shortly after he returned to the halfway house from an outing not detailed in charging documents, Perry tested positive twice for alcohol. After he asked staffers if he could step outside for a cigarette, he disappeared, the charging documents say. An employee of Southeast Missouri Behavioral Health declined to comment Friday. Love 0 Funny 5 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 11 Students wear masks on campus at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome) This week, students at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina received an email from the university administration warning that faculty may be sharing information opposed to the universitys current COVID safety protocols. The email was sent in response to an open letter, written by a professor in the Sustainable Development program, condemning the reckless attitude of the administration in their drive to fully reopen the university to in-person instruction. The letter, when released, was circulated widely on social media and found broad support among students and faculty who share the same concerns. The professor, who previously worked at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently conducts research in the realm of public health, called out the administration for its negligence towards the health of students and faculty. He wrote, In so many ways, the Appalachian State administration has failed us throughout this pandemic and now, despite a month of warning that we could face another major covid surge, they have done virtually nothing to set us up for a safe, undisrupted semester. There are many things they could do, including requiring vaccines and boosters, providing better masks, better testing and tracing, clearer and more thorough quarantine requirements, clearer guidelines and support for faculty for dealing with student sickness and prolonged absences, and possibly beginning online temporarily to ensure an orderly semester. It seems extremely unlikely, however, that the university will make any policy changes that protect us beyond the CDCs minimal guidelines. The Chancellor even refused to meet with faculty to discuss these measures and told the Faculty Senate that the universitys safety officers would never take questions again. Given this leadership vacuum, the only hope left is us. You and me. Students and faculty. If Apps leaders are no more capable of delivering a safe, undisturbed, high quality learning environment now than they were two years ago, then its up to us to become our own leaders In response, the administration lashed out, deeming the letters information false and even harmful: Dear Students, It has come to our attention that some faculty might be sharing misinformation about university COVID safety protocols, procedures and decision-making that are inaccurate and potentially harmful. Please be aware that the definitive source for COVID safety protocols is the universitys COVID website. Last week, you received four official university email messages that detailed COVID safety protocols for the Spring semester. The administration, to keep revenue flowing, is coming into direct conflict with science and the concern of students and staff with their drive to return to pre-pandemic conditions, no matter the cost to public health. In this it is following the lead of the Biden administration, which has demanded since taking office that K-12 schools and universities remain open, no matter the cost to public health and human life. More broadly, the negligence of the administration, and developing concern of faculty and the student body can only be understood within the context of the current public health crisis, with first the Delta and now Omicron variants of COVID-19 surging across North Carolina, the United States, and the globe. The state, where 1,975,543 have tested positive for the virus so far, and 19,850 have passed away since March 2020, is now being engulfed by a tidal wave of infections. According to the News and Observer, this week has seen both single day case counts, as well as hospitalizations, break all previous records during the past two years of the pandemic. On January 13 alone, 44,833 new cases were confirmed in North Carolina, and hospitalizations rose to 4,275, a total that has more than doubled in the last month. The state positivity rate is now 30.1 percent, six times the 5 percent goal state officials have deemed safe. On Wednesday, more than two dozen hospitals released a joint statement calling for aid in response to the sharp rise in hospitalizations across the state. Your personal decisions about how to coexist with the virus directly affect the health and well-being of your family and community. According to the CDC, 99 percent of all new COVID-19 cases in the Southeast were attributed to the Omicron variant as of January 8. Though no official data is available from the university, as the administration has purposefully postponed publishing official numbers until January 18, the AppHealthCare dashboard reported 538 new cases over the last five days in Watauga County, where ASU is located. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 8,124 cumulative cases have been recorded, and 44 people have died across the county. Yet what is the administration doing to keep the university, as well as the broader Watauga County population safe as numbers rise? In lock step with the policies being pursued by the Biden administration, they offer only vaccines and masks, while scrapping all other safety measures and pushing for a return to normal. In a revealing statement made on Friday, university officials declared that they expect to see a rise in cases in the January 18 report, Tuesdays data update will show an increase in case counts over the low numbers reported at the end of last semester, which was prior to the surge in Omicron variant cases. We expect to continue seeing an increase in cases; however, we also expect to continue seeing milder cases, as our vaccination rates continue to increase, and as those eligible continue getting boosted. A similar message was heard at North Carolina State University this past week, where the same policies are in place. On January 11, Dr. Meagan Kittle, a professor at NC State tweeted that the universitys Student Health Services was overwhelmed with more than 500 cases each day. In subsequent tweets she reported: The Director of Student Health says, Our public health colleagues no longer talk about *if* We are going to get Omicron. We talk about *when* we are going to get it. It's just that contagious, and its everywhere I think the COVID dashboard here is doomed. Provost stated plainly today, We will keep the dashboard with case counts, for now. But frankly the UNC System isnt interested in the numbers. They are no longer relevant, referring to how contagious but relatively mild Omicron is. The reference to mild Omicron is disingenuous. In fact, there is little hard evidence to back up the claim that Omicron is less dangerous than previous COVID-19 variants. Nonetheless, the claim that Omicron is mild is being used as a screen to justify the rejection of health and safety precautions such as remote learning. While it is true that young people are less likely to become severely ill or die from COVID than older age groups, they are not immune, and the Omicron variant has led to a surge of breakthrough infections among all age groups. In fact, at this very moment, more young people are hospitalized from this variant than at any point in the pandemic thus far. According to CDC data, a record number of youth aged 1829 are currently hospitalized, standing at a seven-day average of 1,433 new patients. At Appalachian State, all measures must be taken to prevent countless students and staff from falling ill, possibly putting them, as well as their loved ones lives at risk. One student, 19-year-old Chad Dorrill, has already died due to the administrations reckless actions. In the fight for safe campuses and workplaces alike, it must be made abundantly clear to all students and university staff: a vaccination alone strategy is not sufficient to keep COVID-19 in check. The growing opposition among educators and students must become part of an international movement of workers and youth to close schools and nonessential workplaces as part of a global strategy to eliminate the virus. In this struggle, Appalachian State staff will not be alone. Everywhere, students, staff, faculty and teachers are beginning to fight back, including thousands of students in Chicago, Seattle and Portland this week. On Thursday in France, teachers launched a one day strike to keep schools safe, and on Tuesday, thousands of New York City Public Schools students walked out in opposition to the unsafe reopening of schools. At the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, thousands of students, staff and faculty are once again engaged in a struggle to close the campus for in-person learning, where they also are in direct opposition to the administrations reckless policies. The World Socialist Web Site, the Socialist Equality Party and International Youth and Students for Social Equality are actively assisting workers, teachers and faculty in these efforts by helping form rank-and-file committees, independent of the trade unions and the Democratic Party. Appalachian State students, faculty and staff must begin to organize against the dangerous conditions caused by the reopening of the university and join the growing fight for a scientific policy to eliminate and eradicate COVID-19! For those interested in more information about the International Youth and Students for Social Equality, the youth section of the Socialist Equality Party, click here. In recent days, numerous figures in the Australian political establishment have declared that the current surge of the Omicron variant will peak around the end of the month. Like their assertions that Omicron is mild, these claims are being refuted by unprecedented infections, hospitalisations and deaths. Liverpool Hospital [Credit: Sydney South West Area Health Service] Australias Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly claimed yesterday that infections in New South Wales (NSW) are close to peaking if not already. NSW Health Deputy Secretary Susan Pearce said the authority was increasingly confident that case numbers would begin to decline in the state next week. Queensland Chief Health Officer John Gerrard also claimed that cases in that state would peak soon, stating: Our modelling has suggested that Queensland in general is two weeks behind NSW. There is no scientific basis for these claims. They are instead part of the profit-driven campaign to railroad workers back into unsafe workplaces, and teachers and students back into schools, further escalating the crisis. A warning of what this murderous campaign looks like has been provided by experiences at the Teys meatworks in South Australia. COVID-19 positive workers were instructed to attend work last Monday, with the blessing of the state health department, on the grounds that they were essential and rigorous safety measures would be in place. Within days, 140 of the factorys 400 workers had contracted the virus and the site was closed on Thursday for supposed deep cleaning. But it is set to open again on Monday with COVID-19 positive workers still forced to work. Silent on the issue throughout the week, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), clearly responding to widespread outrage, has now issued mealy-mouthed criticisms of the bad and dangerous precedent. The union, however, will do nothing. The reality is, the ACTU is working together with the federal government to force close contacts back to work, the logical extension of which is exactly the situation that has taken place at Teys. Certainly any reduction in infection numbers will not be the result of an intervention by any Australian government or health authority. Far from acting to suppress the rising infection numbers, state, territory and federal governments, Labor and Liberal-National alike, have repealed public health measures on an almost daily basis. The definition of close contacts has been altered to exclude workplace transmissions, and even household contacts are being forced back to work in an increasing number of industries. Less than a quarter of the adult population have received booster shots, while the vaccine rollout to children aged 5 to 11 began only on Monday. NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said yesterday that, according to modelling, the state may see around 50 percent of the population impacted in this first wave of Omicron. According to the official figure of around 658,000 cases in NSW, which has a population of more than 8 million, since the start of December, this would suggest the state is far from reaching a peak. The complete breakdown of the countrys testing and contact tracing infrastructure means the real number of cases is unknown. With polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing now limited to household close contacts and people with symptoms, and rapid antigen tests (RATs) still in short supply, daily case numbers are almost meaningless. Self-reported positive RAT results are now included in official figures in most states, however, it is entirely unclear how much duplication there is between RAT and PCR tests, and how many RAT tests are going unreported. Because there is no requirement to report negative RAT results, it is impossible to gauge what percentage of people are testing positive. Australia-wide almost 28 percent of PCR tests this week were positive. What is clear is that hospitalisations, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and deaths are rising around the country. Today, more than 4,600 people across Australia are hospitalised for COVID-19, an increase of almost 50 percent in the past week. ICU numbers have swelled by almost one third to 385, and 112 patients are on ventilators. Fifty-three Australians died from COVID-19, bringing the total for the past seven days to 286. Yesterday, NSW reported 29 COVID-19 deaths, the states highest daily toll during the pandemic, the fifth time in six days that grim record was broken. At the same press conference in which this figure was reported, Premier Dominic Perrottet proudly proclaimed the states ICU and hospitalisation rates to be better than the best-case scenario we released last week. In Victoria, hospitals are so overwhelmed that the state has announced plans to house COVID-19 patients in hotels from next week. Australian Medical Association President Omar Khorshid spoke out against this plan, stating: If they still require care, they should be in a health facility and these hotels are not health facilities. Contrary to the pronouncements from state and federal leaders and health authorities that health systems are coping with the surge of COVID-19, growing numbers of health workers are taking to social media to expose the immense pressure they are coming under. An anonymous Victorian COVID doctor wrote on Reddit yesterday: Today I quit, I cant do it anymore, you can only take so much for so long. The doctor continued: Im having to watch people with heart attacks, strokes, surgical needs, cancers, motor vehicle accidents, burns, etc, all wait in accident and emergency for a bed. Ive started to see the unnecessary deaths pile up, started to see people have bad outcomes that didnt need to be as bad if they had gotten onto the wards quicker. Many are dying of COVID, many are the ones who are actually doing the correct things. The doctor criticised the Andrews Labor government for: Lowering isolation requirements, reopening venues, to keep the workforce going, despite all scientific evidence contradicting their actions. Workers are going down all over, but theyre worried about the economy and not the people. Another Reddit post, from a Sydney doctor, described the terrible risk posed to immune-compromised people, such as the cancer patients she treats, by the reckless let it rip policies of Australian governments. She wrote: Most of [my patients] have done the right thing. Gotten vaccinated. Stayed home. Wore a mask at every appointment. Despite everything they try they are getting COVID-19. Maybe the daughter that picks up groceries for them has it. Maybe the nurse who comes to the house to give them antibiotics. Its everywhere and its unavoidable. She continued: None of the decisions being made right now are science-based, they are political. Its because someone decided we are all going to get COVID-19 anyway, so why not all at once? The doctor explained that, with hospitals at breaking point, it was a struggle to organise sotrovimab for my patients, a crucial monoclonal antibody treatment for COVID. She wrote: [C]annot find a bed or a chair or a nurse to give the drug. I find doctors with haunted looks who have not taken their mask off for a sip of water in 12 hours. The doctor reported that her husband, who works in a Sydney emergency department, had seen at least three people die this week who should not have died. These deaths were not from COVID-19, but were caused by delays in receiving treatment because the health system is overwhelmed. One was a man with diarrhoea, she explained. The family called 3 times for an ambulance and were told each time they could not spare an ambulance to get to them. They didnt say why but we all know why. Its the same reason there are no apples on the shelves. According to data released yesterday by the Australian Department of Health, there are currently 1,107 COVID-19 outbreaks in aged care facilities around the country. More than 3,200 residents and at least 3,806 staff are infected, and there have been 37 COVID-19 deaths in aged care in the first two weeks of 2022. Paul Sadler, CEO of Aged and Community Services Australia, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation up to 50 percent of workers in the sector were currently infected with COVID-19 or in isolation. Sadler also reported critical shortages of rapid antigen tests and personal protective equipment. Up until Tuesday, just 1,700 of the 2,700 federally funded aged care facilities in Australia had been attended by the private contractors engaged to administer booster shots. Fewer than 200 facilities have been vaccinated since December 25. The working class must reject the latest propaganda claims by Australias Labor and Liberal-National governments that COVID-19 will somehow go away of its own accord, as their own policies ensure ever greater infections. The unions have demonstrated that they are entirely on board with the campaign to force workers exposed to the virus back to work. This means workers must take matters into their own hands and form independent rank-and-file safety committees in every workplace to ensure safe working conditions for all. This includes demanding the immediate closure of facilities, with full compensation for workers, when COVID-19 outbreaks occur, and fighting for the elimination of the virus through lockdown and other public health measures. The World Socialist Web Site urges BNSF workers to contact us with your comments. Workers for freight carrier BNSF Railway are deciding whether to strike in opposition to a new attendance policy that the company introduced unilaterally during ongoing national negotiations. The Hi-Viz attendance policy, which is scheduled to take effect on February 1, establishes a points-based system that can be used to penalize employees who take time off from work for almost any reason. BNSF engine [Credit: Wikipedia/Augy8400] Many BNSF workers, who have stayed on the job during the pandemic, do not have predictable schedules or assigned days off. Besides increasing stress and overwork, these conditions make it practically impossible for workers to schedule necessary personal appointments or plan their leisure time. Under these circumstances, the implementation of the points-based attendance policy would force many employees to report to work even if they are sick, thus promoting the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. It also would make it difficult for employees to avoid working while they are fatigued, which would in turn increase the risk of accidents. BNSF argues that the new attendance policy is necessary to improve crew availability so that the company can remain competitive. Many companies such as Amazon, Walmart, Smithfield Foods and FedEx already use points-based attendance policies. Other railroads and terminal operators such as CSX Intermodal Terminals have adopted them, as well. Under these policies, workers are given points for each time they miss work, arrive late or leave early. After they receive a certain number of points, they are subject to discipline, including termination. Companies routinely use these policies to punish workers for taking time off to which they are legally entitled. For example, workers can receive points for taking paid sick time, pregnancy-related absences or time off as a reasonable accommodation. Workers also get points for absences protected by laws such as the Family and Medical Leave Act or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Companies that implement these policies often withhold information about workers rights to time off, or provide false or misleading information. When workers are not given set schedules, points-based attendance polices can be a sword of Damocles hanging over their heads. BNSF, which operates the largest freight network in North America, has 32,500 miles of track in 28 states. In a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company reported that it had approximately 35,225 employees as of December 31, 2020. It reported a net income of $5.2 billion for the same year. BNSFs parent company is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, which is chaired by billionaire investor Warren Buffett. BNSF and its competitor the Union Pacific Railroad have a duopoly on transcontinental freight rail lines in the Western United States. There is going to be some blowback and some fallout from this new policy they put out, said a BNSF conductor from Illinois in a video posted on YouTube. Although companies claim that such policies are for the workers benefit, they really are enacted for the companys benefit, he said. Theyre already making millions and billions of dollars. Well, they want more. The worker emphasized that such attendance policies raise concerns about safety, citing the toll that unpredictable schedules and overwork take on mental and physical health. Not only BNSF, but other railroads are adopting these policies. Theyre just getting out of control, and nobodys keeping the company in check, said the worker. More than 17,000 BNSF workersthat is, nearly half of the companys workforceare members of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation union-Transportation Division (SMART-TD) or the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET). Under pressure from workers who oppose the new attendance policy, officials of the two unions wrote to SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson and BLET National President Dennis Pierce, who gave them permission to poll their members about a possible strike. The Railway Labor Act (RLA), first passed in 1926, severely limits the disputes over which railway workers can strike and the circumstances under which a strike can be called. The law only allows strikes over major disputes, which it defines as those concerning the drafting or modification of the collective bargaining agreement between the parties. In a press release, Ferguson and Pierce claimed that the new attendance policy violates agreements that are currently in place, which would seem to qualify as grounds for a major dispute. The RLA also requires unions to exhaust lengthy negotiation and mediation procedures before they may call a strike. Bargaining over major disputes is governed by what is known as the Section 6 process. SMART-TD officials claim that the introduction of the new attendance policy violates the Section 6 process, as well as other aspects of the RLA. But the union bureaucrats are being compelled to float the possibility of a strike because of the scale of workers opposition to the new attendance policy. Like the other trade unions, SMART-TD and BLET have long since become agents of the companies. SMART-TD is a member union of the AFL-CIO, which has responded to the pandemic by suppressing workers struggles, sending them back to unsafe workplaces and propping up the Democratic Party. BLET is a division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a thoroughly corrupt organization with connections to organized crime and the American state. BNSF workers are in a powerful position. Because the company transports such a high volume of freight, a strike could cause a serious disruption in the supply chain. Should workers vote to strike, the union bureaucrats, whose six-figure salaries depend on their services to management, will use every tactic possible to minimize the strikes impact, isolate it and end it as quickly as possible. They will do everything in their power to reduce the tremendous leverage that these workers have. In the event of a strike, BNSF workers also would face opposition from President Joe Biden. His oft-proclaimed support for the trade unions is based on his acknowledgment of these organizations value in controlling workers opposition. Given the supply-chain crisis that a BNSF strike could cause, Biden could invoke the TaftHartley Act or the RLA to force workers back to their jobs and guarantee the continued generation of profit. BNSF workers cannot fight punitive attendance policies, irregular schedules or overwork while they remain trapped within the confines of the trade unions. To make real gains, they must break from SMART-TD and BLET and form rank-and-file committees. These committees, which must be independent of both capitalist political parties, will formulate demands democratically based on workers objective needs. Beyond the fulfillment of these needs, the goal of these committees must be to eliminate the source of workers exploitation: the capitalist system. Hundreds of Boston public school students walked out of classes Friday morning to protest the state of Massachusetts policy that all classes must be held in person. The lack of a remote option for students comes as the state sees a dramatic rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Organizers said students left their classes across 11 Boston high schools at around 10:30 a.m. Boston Public Schools (BPS) officials estimated that about 600 students participated in the walkout, while organizers said other students stayed home in protest. Boston Latin School [Source: www.bls.org] The protest was organized by the Boston Student Advisory Council (BSAC), which is demanding the district go remote for two weeks and that these days be counted towards the states mandate of 180 days of in-person learning. This proposal has been rejected by Republican Governor Charlie Baker and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). Fridays walkout was sparked by a Change.org petition begun by Boston Latin School senior William Hu which had gathered more than 8,000 signatures as of Friday afternoon. Students, parents and teachersfrom Boston and other state districtsare among the signatories. Forcing students to attend in-person learning simply isnt safe. In packed conditions such as the hallway, lunchrooms and auditoriums, and given the alarming infection rate of the new Omicron variant, schools have become a literal COVID-19 breeding ground, the petition reads. Students every day are testing positive all around Massachusetts, posing a significant health risk to themselves as well as their loved ones. Some schools dont even strictly enforce a mask-wearing policy. Not to forget that students often live with vulnerable loved ones, to which bringing COVID home is essentially a death sentence. Hu says that even before the winter break he had seen the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases rise to 30 among his class of 370 students. A student walking out at Boston Latin School told NBC Boston, Theyre just pushing us in the auditorium or in the dining halls and its just very unsafe for us. Another said, I feel like Id rather be safe, especially because I live with people who are immunocompromised, than risk going to school every day. Students at New Mission High School chanted and held signs saying that there weren't enough available teachers to keep school running well. BPS reported over 1,000 staff absences last week, but insisted that not all of these employees were out sick. COVID-19 case numbers continue to remain at record levels in Massachusetts, with the seven-day average reaching 22,978 cases per day on January 13. Hospitalizations continue to rise at a rate of nearly 100 patients per day, reaching 3,180 hospitalized patients as of January 12, according to state data. Particularly troubling is the rate of hospitalized patients who are fully vaccinated (with at least two doses). Since the state began releasing data on fully vaccinated hospitalizations, the percent of fully vaccinated patients has remained relatively steady, at close to 33 percent of all hospitalized cases. With the new Omicron surge, however, the percent of fully vaccinated hospitalized patients has steadily increased to about 50 percent, with 1,505 of the 3,180 hospitalized patients reported to be among the fully vaccinated. Despite these figures, DESE continues to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, which have reduced the times for quarantine and isolation from 10 days to 5 days for those testing positive, or for unvaccinated people who have come into contact with someone infected with COVID-19. A fully vaccinated student or staff member exposed to COVID-19 does not need to quarantine or isolate. A test is not required to return to school under any of these circumstances. Boston students held an online webinar after the walkout to discuss the issues they face in the schools. Many commenters expressed their support for the action as well as their outrage at the conditions they confront in the pandemic. One attendee reported: Yesterday, DESE reported 41,063 student infections for the previous week, another record total. The pool tests found 7,735 positives, and the positivity rate for pool tests was 20.1 percent. Yesterdays numbers should be a red flashing light because under the old rules, a 20 percent positivity rate would have locked down buildings, no doubt about it. I hope youve asked Governor Baker and [DESE] Commissioner Riley, how high must the positivity rate reach before they say, Okay, thats high enough? Dont let them squirm out of answering. Rashelle stated: My mother was forced to give up her job with BPS due to the lack of precautions that have been taken. She was forced to make the choice of work or keeping her husband, who was severely immunocompromised, safe. I truly appreciate the activism from BSAC! Safety should always come first. A teacher commented: I do not work within Boston Public Schools. However, I am a teacher in a high school outside of Boston. I fully support what you guys are doing. I am here today because I am hoping that your voices are heard. At the high school I work at, the COVID guidelines are very poor. Some of the classrooms do not have windows or any type of ventilations, masks are supposed to be worn, but students refuse to pull up their mask when asked. Our cafeteria is over capacity with 500 students. We have hundreds of cases and some of my classes have had two students. How do you recommend I go about these safety issues? I am afraid to use my voice because I do not want to lose my job. It is just completely unsafe and I am honestly afraid to work and afraid for my students and family. Another teacher wrote: Teacher here18 teachers out daily for the past two weeks with only 35 employees in the school. We are spread so thin. Aware and fearful of the growing anger among students, parents and teachers over unsafe schools, BPS has been holding a series of online COVID-19 Protocol Community Meetings. At the most recent meeting, on Thursday, a speaker from the International Youth and Students for Social Equality said: Parents and students have a right to be nervous about the present situation in the schools. The Biden administration and the CDC are really lying about the coronavirus. With the Omicron variant, the cases are five or six times greater than theyve ever been. Students are walking out to demand that schools go remote. This is happening in New York, here in Boston, in Oakland, California and other cities. Teachers in Chicago have been demanding that schools go remote. Teachers in France have gone on strike across the country demanding these measures. Its very clear from this meeting that there are no mitigations within the schools that will stop the spread of the virus. Its the most transmissible virus that weve seen. Its spread through the air and will linger for hours via very small particles, aerosols. We have to see that the situation in the schools is part of a larger strategy to keep the economy going no matter the cost in human lives and sickness. We have at least a thousand children dead so far in the US from COVID. There are reports of long-term COVID in children and the risk of diabetes. Going remote has to be part of the discussion and to fight the policies of the governmentherd immunity and letting it rip through the community as fast as possible. He urged those at the webinar to visit wsws.org for information about the Global Workers Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic being organized by the World Socialist Web Site. Teachers at Westmount High School in Montreal demonstrated against the Quebec government's reckless decision to reopen schools in the midst of the pandemic's second wave (Photo: Robert Green) The provincial governments in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia want to force millions of children, teachers, and support staff into classrooms on January 17, before the peak of the Omicron-driven fifth wave of the pandemic has even been reached. The World Socialist Web Site urges educators and all workers to resist this homicidal decision, which will produce hundreds of thousands of infections and thousands of additional hospitalizations, and deaths. They should prepare mass walkouts and strike action to close schools to in-person learning as part of a global strategy to eliminate COVID-19. The imminent reopening of schools in Canadas most populous provinces, Ontario and Quebec, follows on from the decision of British Columbias New Democratic Party and Albertas United Conservative Party governments to resume in-classroom education last Monday. The reopening of schools in western Canada has already triggered powerful resistance from educators. Four teachers at Armstrong Elementary School near Vernon, British Columbia, filed unsafe work claims this past week, citing poor classroom conditions and an inadequate supply of masks, forcing the school to close for two days. Teacher absence rates in the BC Interior rose sharply this week, no doubt due to a combination of increased COVID infections and opposition to the reckless reopening of schools. In Alberta, the Calgary Board of Education reported a shortage of 681 teachers, with 208 remaining unfilled on the first day of class. In Edmonton, 454 teachers and 252 teaching assistants were absent on the first day. While many of these absences are undoubtedly related to COVID-19 infections, many other educators are manifestly voting with their feet. Public anger among parents and education workers has been at the boiling point in response to the nakedly pro-business justification for sending children back to crowded and poorly ventilated classrooms that are primed for spreading the virus. Governments total disregard for children, education workers, and their families has struck a raw nerve within the working class, which is rapidly moving into open struggle against these herd immunity policies. As one Twitter user, Mat Wright (@matpVI), from Nanaimo, British Columbia, tweeted, This is not Public Healthits Public Death. Do better DBH [BC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry] is setting up generations for the harm of Long COVID. With the blessing and encouragement of the Justin Trudeau-led federal Liberal government, the provinces are determined to keep schools open in the midst of an unprecedented tsunami of infection and spiralling hospitalization and death counts so that parents are freed from childcare responsibilities and can go to work producing profits for corporate Canada. Government officials and public health officers argue ever more openly that mass infection is a positive good because it will produce herd immunity. In truth, allowing the virus to spread so rapidly has brought the health care system to the point of collapse, forcing hospitals to ration care at the expense of patients health and lives, while creating perfect conditions for it to mutate, potentially producing even more virulent variants. The only conclusion one can draw upon reviewing the school reopening rules is that the provincial governments in Toronto and Quebec City want as many educators and students to get infected as possible. The Ontario government announced earlier this month it will no longer collect or report cases among students and staff. The authorities in Quebec are similarly scaling back case recording, and it remains unclear whether they will continue to report cases in schools publicly. Parents in Ontario and Quebec will no longer be notified of outbreaks in their kids classes. If an infection is recorded in a school, students in the same class will no longer be sent into quarantine. The Ontario government claimed public health authorities have said a notification will be issued to parents only if over 30 percent of staff or students are absent. A memo from the Ontario Ministry of Education to school boards cynically declared that in the event of high rates of expected absenteeism among staff, schools could combine classes and assign students to different classes to ensure supervision. In other words, the Ministry is ordering schools to create superspreader events by increasing already large class sizes of 25 or 30 students to 40, 50, or 60 in poorly ventilated rooms. In Quebec, where the government admits very large numbers of school staff will be stricken with COVID-19, schools are being ordered to develop contingency plans to bring in parents with absolutely no teacher training to keep an eye on classrooms. This proposal alone explodes the lying character of the ruling elites claims that schools must be kept open to in-person learning for the sake of kids education and mental health. The dirty truth is that the political establishment and corporate-controlled media view schools as warehouses where students are supervised by anyone who can keep an eye on them while their parents produce profits at work for big business. The Coalition Avenir Quebec government is also refusing to provide N95 masks to teachers and justifying this with the lying claim that surgical masks are just as good. Teachers may also be ordered to run two classes at once with the support of a parent in the event of staff shortages. This murderous class war agenda threatens a health care catastrophe far worse than anything yet seen since the pandemic began. If the ruling class has its way, pediatric hospitalizations and deaths will surge, and countless children will suffer from the still poorly understood effects of Long COVID. Cases of COVID-19 caused by the Omicron variant have been shown to cause more severe illness among children. Due to federal government foot-dragging on approving vaccinations for children, the majority of Canadas children are either unvaccinated or have only received one dose of the vaccine, rendering them more susceptible to the disease. Even before schools reopen, the situation in Ontario and Quebec is dire. In Ontario, hospitalizations and ICU admissions sit at 3,814 and 527, respectively, a steep jump from the week prior. The same figures for Quebec are 3,085 and 275. Ontario recorded 46 deaths on January 12, and Quebec 62 deaths on January 11, both highs for the current wave that approach the peaks of previous waves, when a far lower proportion of the population was vaccinated. Rejecting all calls for remote learning, the trade unions have responded to the homicidal reopening plans by complaining that they were not involved in drafting the rules for keeping schools open. At the same time, they have made clear that they will do absolutely nothing to mobilize their members to protect their health and very lives. This is in keeping with the unions role throughout the pandemic, which has been to spearhead the back-to-school push by the ruling elite and sabotaging all opposition to dangerous in-person learning by educators and workers. They are once again working to police a return to school, even though this will mean infection, the crippling effects of Long COVID, and death for many of their members. In Alberta, three public sector unions, including the Alberta Teachers Association, issued an open letter to hard-right United Conservative Party Premier Jason Kenney this week pleading for him to impose what they called circuit breaker measures. These measures are anything but the lockdown needed to halt the virus spread. The unions explicitly ruled out closing schools, saying children should be sent home for remote learning only as a last resort if all else fails. Also exempted were the manufacturing and resource extraction sectors despite numerous outbreaks. Predictably, the Kenney government immediately dismissed this appeal with a wave of its hand. The working class around the world is entering into open confrontation with the government purveyors of mass illness and death and their trade union lackeys. A walkout by thousands of Chicago teachers, outraged at being sent into class as the Omicron variant broke daily infection records, led to the closure of schools for several days until the Chicago Teachers Union negotiated a miserable agreement with a Democratic Party city government that sent teachers back to work before they even had a chance to vote on it. Across the United States, both education workers and students have staged walkouts and sickouts to demonstrate that they will not be led like lambs to slaughter for the sake of corporate profits. A one-day national strike of teachers in France on Thursday was animated by the same sentiment. Educators in Ontario, Quebec, and across Canada must join this movement, and seek to make it the spearhead of a much broader mobilization of the working class. What the first two years of the pandemic have demonstrated is that the struggle against the virus is a political strugglea struggle against big business and their political hirelings who in pursuit of their own selfish economic and geopolitical interests seek at every point to block the science-based measures needed to save lives. Mass walkouts and strikes must be prepared to close all schools to in-person learning as part of a Zero COVID strategy that includes the shutdown of all nonessential production with full wages paid to all workers, and a comprehensive program of public health measures to stamp out transmission of the virus and care for the sick. We strongly appeal to all teachers wishing to fight for this program to contact the Cross-Canada Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee at cersc.csppb@gmail.com and make plans to attend its next public meeting on Sunday, January 23 at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Thousands of Chicago Public School (CPS) students walked out across more than 30 schools to protest the unsafe return to classrooms enforced by Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot. The walkouts included high school students as well as seventh and eighth graders. The students joined students in California, New York and Massachusetts who walked out this week to protest in-person learning, which is fueling a massive spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. CPS students protest outside of CPS headquarters [Credit: WSWS Media] As the Biden administration demands that everyone live with the virus, including forcing workers to work sick and forcing children to attend school where they will get sick, social anger is breaking to the surface. CPS students chanted of the Democratic mayor, Lori Lightfoot is guilty as hell! Schools are currently the top source of spread of the virus, with over 41 percent of cases linked to schools, according to the Illinois Department of Public Healths contact tracing data. In Chicago, 196 people are being hospitalized, and 21 are dying every day. The test positivity is very high, at 17.7 percent, officially. After walking out at individual schools across the city, hundreds of students gathered at the CPS headquarters downtown to protest in the early afternoon. The walkouts have also received the support of teachers and parents who opposed the agreement between CPS and the Chicago Teachers Union to reopen schools to in-person learning, in defiance of overwhelming opposition among educators. We want our voices to be heard, one student walking out of high school told the WSWS. We understand that the teachers are looking out for us... we want to take part in that and support them. Another student said, A lot of people are getting sick. A lot of people are dying. One Roberto Clemente Community Academy student told the WSWS. I dont think we should be in school. Theres a lot of people getting sick and a lot of teachers missing. We should stay home and do it online. It would be better for us. On Monday, the CTU ended the collective action of 25,000 teachers who voted overwhelmingly to stop unsafe in-person learning in the school district and teach remotely. Teachers were sent back to schools before they even had a chance to vote on the agreement, and students returned to schools one day later. The CTU claimed the agreement passed with 55.4 percent of teachers voting in favor. More than 20 percent of teachers abstained from voting on the deal. A senior at John Marshall Harlan Community Academy told the WSWS: Our main objective is to demand safer schools. We were told to return to schools Wednesday with no safer conditions, conditions existing the same as before. We all deserve to be safe just as well as the executives who made these decisions who work remotely from home. Its tyrannical, hypocritical and unfair. On Friday, Illinoiss Democratic Party governor, J.B. Pritzker, wrote in a letter to the states teachers unions that he intends to veto a proposal that would grant school employees extra sick leave related to COVID-19 infection, either for employees themselves or their families. While Lightfoot and the Democratic Party have promoted the reopening of schools by claiming it is for the students, many students pointed to the bigger crisis: getting COVID in schools. Another Clemente student said, They are lying! Its a scam They are making people feel more scared by being in school. The mental health thing is a lie, another student added. Being at school builds up anxiety because a lot of people have COVID and dont know they have it. Jared, a senior at Benito Juarez High School, said, Im protesting because CPS has decided not to enable remote learning in this time of need. We need to secure the safety and rightful education of all students. We have to be safe and secure before we can focus on our mental health. On the walkouts in New York City and Boston, Jared said, We can get the motion going around the country. If we can stick together and dont budge, we can definitely go through with this. At the same time, testing in the city of Chicago and across the country is a complete disaster. Students, parents, teachers and workers across the city have struggled to find testing locations for either PCR or antigen tests in a timely manner. There remains widespread opposition and anger to the CTU-CPS deal from parents, students and teachers. While school administrators are claiming that schools will be deep cleaned and will be safe for everyone to return to by Tuesday, school staff are exposing this as a lie. Mary, a custodian at CPS, shared her support on Facebook for the student walkouts. I'm glad they are walking out. The schools are not ready for the children. The custodian workers do not have enough time to clean all the rooms that are expected to be clean in a couple hours. They need to have an overnight shift. I worked for a cleaning company. I quit because there was so much to do in one school and one building in eight hours, but you still need more time and they need to hire more people to clean. You still have schools that do not have ventilation. Why did they vote to let these children back in the school? I dont agree with it at all. Jenny, a CPS parent, wrote in support of the student walkouts, As a parent of a high school student at Lane Tech, I agree!!! Wishing I could post a pic here of the hallways. Its an indoor Lollapalooza everyday, referring to the music festival superspreader event the city of Chicago hosted last August. Autoworkers in Illinois and Missouri, who face infected workplaces each day, responded enthusiastically to the student walkouts in Chicago and across the country. An autoworker at General Motors Wentzville Assembly plant, near St. Louis, said: I think the kids are right. Its their lives, health and future. A Kansas City autoworker from the Ford assembly plant said, I think the students are correct. How do we all unite? Its going to take everybody. Everybody is going to have to do a mass walkout. Some workers dont have a union, and the unions that are there are not being upfront with their people. We all need a mass walkout, organizing, saying Ive had enough. About conditions at KCAP, he said, Ten people died at KCAP since Christmas from COVID. Heard it from a retired union committeeman. The union did not say anything about it from the plant. Theyre protecting the company. He denounced the medical experts who have falsified the science to keep workers on the job and getting sick: Its for economics. They dont want to shut down, but I think theyre not going to have any other choice. A lot of people who are positive are going to work because they have to pay their bills, theyre in a hell of a crunch. Fauci and Walensky are on the side of the elite class and the rich people. They dont want people staying at home. World Socialist Web Site reporters spoke with Socialist Equality Party (SEP) electoral members this week about the Global Workers Inquest into COVID-19. Initiated by the WSWS on November 21, the inquest will investigate the origins, causes and consequences of the pandemic and expose the political and economic forces responsible for allowing its uncontrolled transmission. Discovery of Omicron, just one day later, demonstrated the necessity for the inquest. Let it rip policies embraced by governments everywhere has seen the highly infectious variant rapidly spread throughout the world. In Australia there has been a massive surge in case numbers, with more cases in the first two weeks of 2022 than the total for the previous two years. Electoral members speak about Omicrons surge across the country and the importance of the Workers Inquest. They have joined the SEP to support the campaign to defeat anti-democratic electoral laws designed to silence mounting popular opposition to the major political parties. Support the SEPs campaign against the laws and sign up as an electoral member today. **** Gina, 27, is a customer service representative and a part-time TAFE student in Sydney. I thought the Dr Jimenezs testimonial was an indictment of organisations like the CDC and the WHO. We put so much faith in these organisations to provide guidance and protecting us against disease, but it seems that they have no interest in eradicating COVID-19. Gina If the virus is airborne, then going into an office, or a factory, or crossing a border as a truck driver is incredibly dangerous. Were told that its too expensive to find alternatives, its too expensive to provide workers with adequate masks. These public health organisations are incredibly corrupt, she said. There is a huge risk for governments if the truth comes out about how COVID is spread. They dont want it to become common knowledge that the virus is airborne and is very transmissible because it would highlight the fact that a lot infrastructure would have to be updated in order for the working class to work safely. It isnt something that these governments want to spend money on. The measures put in place to manage COVID are not sufficient. The WHO refused to take down their Tweet about the virus being spread via droplets. It was a good point made by Dr Jimenez about WHO singing from the rooftops that it was spread by droplets, and then whispering about it being airborne, she stated. The Workers Inquest is critical because its clear that the governments and health organisations dont want to provide the evidence about how it spreads, and what we need to do to keep safe. Only the WSWS is providing this information to the working class. We need to hold governments accountable for their murderous policy. What the government is practising feels like eugenicsthe old, disabledthey dont get to live anymore. All governments think about is how do we make this a financial gain rather than how do we protect a society from the deadly virus. In one Inquest testimonial, the point was made that Astra Zeneca is not an effective vaccine against the new Omicron variant, but this was all young people were offered in Australia for a long time. We were not told that it was not safe. I feel like the confusion was purposeful. How could it not be? It makes no sense to be this confused about something and to not have a proper plan in place. The WSWS has not just done one video on the virus, it has posted a multitude of interviews, with professors, epidemiologists, doctors, you name it, worldwide, to provide us with a 360-degree view. I learnt from one of the videos that we could eradicate the virus if we had a two-month lockdown. We dont have to live with the virus but can actually eradicate it. We have a choice, she said. The number one next step to ending this pandemic is creating rank-and-file committees in workplaces. We must have safe workplaces, or we wont return to work. The ruling class has made billions from the misery of workers over the past two years. We need the unification of the working class against the capitalist class thats actively tried to kill us. Once we are unified, we can step up, take action and hold these people accountable for the people theyve killed, Gina said. Anna is an aged care nurse and originally from the Philippines. She works in a privately owned nursing home where she contracted COVID-19 last year. The facility has just recorded another outbreak. Its just getting worse now and weve had some positive cases. Three residents are positive, but I dont know how many staff because management is not disclosing it, she said. PCR test results take so long, up to five days which means some of the staff could be positive and still working. One staff member told me their test came back invalid because it was at the pathology lab for so long. Im wondering why there are no restrictions. The government has removed the restrictions even though case numbers have gone so high. I dont know what is going on. Does that mean everybody has to get it? How about the old people who are sick? Nothing has been imposed [to protect them], which is a bad thing. In December, before school finished, I had two PCR tests because my daughters classmates family, the whole of them, got infected with virus. The principal asked us to have tests and said that if youre negative, pass on the word, she said. Anna has had to independently source a booster shot because it was not provided at work. As with the first and second vaccinations, the homes staff were told if there were any boosters left over from vaccinating the residents, they would be given to staff. None eventuated. It is not good that the union says nothing. They are supposed to be here to help. I dont know what they are doing. Mark, who is currently on the disability pension, said: The immediate situation is that the health system has broken down. Ive been trying to book an appointment for a booster but the whole system is chaotic. Mark The implications are that the pandemic is now an ongoing thing, which really raises the question of a solution to the problem and that what must be done to end the pandemic. I havent seen a crisis of these proportions before in Australia, but the governments policy is to allow the virus to spread and for everybody to get it, he said. What happens to people who to get Long COVID? What will be done to care for them, which raises questions about the gradual reduction of spending on health care in general. The government is intent on neglecting the problems that it has created. What actual money will be going to health care? The government is not prepared to spend the many millions of dollars needed to care for those who have been infected, he said. Its not in the interest of governments and the capitalists to defend health when it impinges on their profits, which means the working class has to really think about what theyre going to do, and then act on those decisions. The unions are not doing anything about this crisis. A few weeks ago, my sister-in-law took her child to hospital in Adelaide and the nurse virtually begged her to contact the government because the hospital system was collapsing. I agree with the Socialist Equality Party that the unions have been turned into a tool of the state, Mark added. An administrative law judge ruled on January 7 that Google must turn over to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) a series of documents concerning a secret management program set up to prevent employees from organizing and engaging in workplace activism. The Google logo displayed at their offices in Granary Square, in London [Credit: AP Photo/Alastair Grant] Judge Paul Bogas was appointed by the NLRB as a special master to review documents connected with a program called Project Vivian that was run by senior executives at the giant tech company between late 2018 and early 2020. The documents deal specifically with the relationship between Googlealong with its parent company Alphabet, Inc.and IRI Consultants, a firm known for corporate anti-union strategies. The campaign by Google management was a response to worker protests and organizing efforts that began in 2018. Judge Bogass ruling says that Google cannot use attorney-client privilege as a means of concealing documents that were subpoenaed by the NLRB in a case that was filed by the agency in December 2020. The case involved the illegal firing and surveillance of employees who were involved in campaigns to change company policies and efforts to organize other workers. In his decision, the judge called Googles attempt to block the release of 180 documents a broad assertion that is to put it charitably, an overreach. In all, Bogas has ordered the Silicon Valley tech corporation to turn over 1,500 documents connected with its communications with IRI Consultants that Google had logged as privileged. The judge said Googles argument that it has the right to withhold these documents was not persuasive because the relationship with IRI Consultants involved communications and messaging and was not legal advice. In one of the documents the company claimed was protected by attorney-client confidentiality, Michael Pfyl, Googles director of employment law, described the mission of Project Vivian as to engage employees more positively and convince them that unions suck. Showing that Google executives viewed their efforts as trend-setting in the tech industry, the judge also described evidence in the documents that a Google attorney proposed to find a respected voice to publish an OpEd outlining what a unionized tech workplace would look like, and counseling employees of FB (Facebook), MSFT(Microsoft), Amazon, and google (sic) not to do it. Bogass report also showed that Kara Silverstein, Googles human resources director, said that she liked the idea of the OpEd but that it should be executed so that there would be no fingerprints and not Google specific. The documents show that the decision to hire IRI Consultants was not made by company lawyers but by executives such as Silverstein and Danielle Brown, Googles vice president of employee engagement. IRI Consultants was founded in 1979 and has offices in 31 US states and specializes in corporate labor relations and employee communications. Among the services the firm provides is Union Vulnerability Assessments and Labor Campaigns. A feature blog post on the firms website is titled The Resurgence of Labors Biggest ThreatThe Strike. The NLRB case stems from the firing by Google of three employees in 2019 for their organizing activities. On May 5, 2021, the NLRB ruled that Sophie Waldman, Rebecca Rivers and Paul Duke were released by the company in retaliation for their activism. In December 2020, the agency ruled that Google illegally spied on and then terminated employees Laurence Berland and Kathryn Spiers, also in 2019. The company has maintained that the terminations were disciplinary actions taken against employees who abused their privileged access to internal systems, such as our security tools or colleagues calendars. The workers have maintained that the documents they accessed to conduct their organizing activities were accessible to all engineers within the firm and only later classified by management as need to know. As reported previously here on the WSWS, a group of Google engineers announced the formation of the Alphabet Workers Union on January 4, 2021. The union, which was set up with the support of the Communications Workers of America, has not yet held an official NLRB election at Google workplaces, and it has not been recognized as a bargaining agent by the company. As we have explained in relation to the union organizing drive at Amazon, Googles current opposition to the unionization drive by AFL-CIO-affiliated organizations is a tactical question for the corporation. At this moment, having an official labor union inside the $1.8 trillion corporation cuts across the current financial and strategic plans of Google and Alphabet, Inc. However, under conditions where tech workers and engineers begin to put forward their own demands, the company would quickly adapt to such a situation and move to utilize a union for its own purposes. For its part, the Communications Workers of America and the AFL-CIO would willingly collaborate with the tech monopolies to suppress the demands of Google workers in exchange for automatic dues collection and expansion of the audience within which to push for their right-wing orientation to Democratic Party politics and economic nationalism. Google employees and employees throughout Silicon Valley and the high-tech industries must learn the lessons of the past struggles of workers who have been trapped inside unions, such as the CWA in the telecommunications industry. For decades, workers at Verizon, AT&T and other corporations in the telecom sector have been betrayed by the CWA and, even when they have gone on strike, their struggles have been isolated and shut down. Workers have been told that they have no choice but to accept the destruction of their jobs, wages, benefits and working conditions as demanded by the corporations. Google workers have every right to fight the victimization by the company and demand that their rights be defended. However, even if a victory in the cases before the NLRB result in the approval of a union, the task facing workers remains the same: the necessity to build rank-and-file organizations of struggle that are independent of both the corporations and the unions based on the development of a socialist political movement of the entire working class, aimed at transforming the tech giants into public utilities. The US federal government will no longer require hospitals to report the number of people who die from COVID-19 every day, according to new guidelines from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). On January 6, the HHS published updated guidelines on which information hospitals provide to the agency. The guidelines note the retirement of fields which are no longer required to be reported, among which is Previous days COVID-19 deaths. The guidelines note, This field has been made inactive for the federal data collection. Hospitals no longer need to report these data elements to the federal government. This change goes into effect February 2. President Joe Biden speaks at the White House. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) The move by the Biden administration to weaken the reporting of COVID-19 deaths has direct precedents in the Trump administration. The House COVID Subcommittees 2021 year-end report said Trump Administration officials purposefully weakened CDCs coronavirus testing guidance in August 2020 to obscure how rapidly the virus was spreading across the country. A document issued issued Jan 6 by the US Health and Human Services tells hospitals they are no longer required to report daily COVID-19 deaths to the federal government starting Feb 2. Although the new HHS guidelines were issued on January 6, they were not made known until publicized by Dr. Jorge A. Caballero, a medical doctor and Clinical Instructor at Stanford university, on Twitter. On Friday afternoon, Dr. Caballero wrote, Id love to understand why the federal government will no longer require hospitals to report the daily number of #COVID19 deaths as of February 2nd Caballero retweeted a response by this reporter noting that the same day the HHS published the updated guidance, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a former Biden administration COVID-19 advisor and advocate of eugenics, published an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) calling on governments to retire the reporting of deaths from COVID-19. Emanuels call for a new normal was hailed with an editorial in the Washington Post and a lead interview on NBCs Meet the Press, the most prominent of the US Sunday talk-shows. Although hospitals will still report to state health authorities, and via the states to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), many states, led by Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, are themselves moving to shut down daily COVID-19 reporting, or have already done so. The CDC has been in discussions with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists about a directive that would direct states to limit daily case reporting, according to a report published December 30 in the New York Times. States led by far-right Republicans are already slashing testing and reporting. Tennessee, run by the far-right governor Bill Lee, who refused to recognize the election of US president Joe Biden, has already stopped daily case reporting, switching to a once-per-week system of reporting tests. Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo said last month that the state intended to unwind the testing mentality. Ladapo reports to DeSantis, a right-wing ideologue who also refused to acknowledge the outcome of the 2020 election. Even more states plan to end daily reporting of cases, with many that are still doing daily reporting eager to make the shift in the coming months, Marcelle Layton, chief medical officer at the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, told the Times. After WSWS reporters verified that Caballero was correctly summarizing the HHS guidance, our report summarizing his findings was shared more than 6,000 times and viewed by more than two million people on Twitter. Commenters responded with outrage. The US government doesnt want us to know how many of us are dying, wrote Chris Richards, in a comment that received 1,500 likes. Thousands of commenters voiced their outrage that, after promising to follow the science, the Biden administration has taken an action that smacks of the Trump administrations efforts to cover up the pandemic. The day before, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki was asked, as the virus is setting records for infection, whether things need to change. Psaki replied, We could certainly propose legislation to see if people support bunny rabbits and ice cream, but that wouldnt be very rewarding for the American people, prompting widespread outrage at the Biden administrations indifference to mass death. Responding to Caballeros tweet, Sarah Lovenheim, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the US Department of Health And Human services, replied, COVID mortality data remains publicly accessible. The data remains publicly accessible here and as there is new analysis, it becomes publicly available, too, linking to data from the CDC compiled from state reporting. To this, Dr. Caballero replied, Theres no other source of daily in-hospital #COVID19 deaths at the state/national level. All other data sources are derivatives of *this* specific field. This field is *not* found in any other publicly available dataset. This field is used to estimate total COVID deaths + more. Responding to the claims by Dr. Caballero and the WSWS, Erin Kissane, a journalist at the Atlantic and co-founder of the COVID Tracking Project, which shut down on March 7 last year, replied hospitals no longer reporting covid deaths to daily HHS doesnt mean that all covid deaths dont have to be reported to local/state health authorities, who report them to CDC. Were still counting deaths. Likewise BNO Newsroom tweeted, Contrary to some tweets, the U.S. is not ending daily reporting on deaths from COVID-19. Health departments will continue to provide updates as usual. BNO confirmed to this journalist that it was replying to our tweet, but gave no further clarification in response to our inquiries. Replying to these and other claims, Caballero wrote, I, for one, care to have a secondary data source that can be used to double-check #COVID19 deaths reported by states with a 20-month track record of unscrupulous policies and questionable data management. Regardless of the claims by Kissane and BNO, the reporting by Caballero and the WSWS stands. On February 2, hospitals will no longer be required to report COVID-19 deaths directly to the federal government, and such data will depend on state governments that are themselves moving to shut down reporting. There is no public health justification for the limiting of data reporting in the midst of a raging pandemic which is currently setting records for infections and hospitalizations. Just like under Trump, the efforts by the federal and state governments to limit reporting on COVID-19 is driven by a political effort to cover up mass infection and death. A former Charlottesville deacon has once again been granted bond after being indicted on additional charges related to a series of sexual crimes against a minor. Richard Trey Coe, 35, was indicted last month on eight new charges following a Charlottesville Circuit Court grand jury hearing. The charges were sealed until Coe was arrested again on Jan. 5. Coe is a businessman who also served as a deacon at Trinity Presbyterian Church. Church officials said in May that his arrest is not related to Coes church position, the church itself or a church function. It appears his connection to the church has been severed in the wake of the charges. The new charges against Coe include four counts of rape of a victim aged less than 13, one count of strangulation and three counts of sexual battery. The charges relate to incidents occurring in 2012, according to court documents. The charges appear to be in addition to five charges for which Coe was previously released on bond. All the charges result from incidents ranging between 2012 and 2016. On Friday, Coe appeared virtually in Charlottesville Circuit Court for a bond hearing, his yellow facemask obscuring any emotion from where he sat in the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail. About three dozen people gathered in the socially-distanced courtroom, the majority seated on the same side as the prosecution. Coes attorney, Chris Leibig, said that his client had been stringent in complying with bond conditions following the first set of charges in May. Though he was allowed to leave his home for work, Leibig said Coe had remained at home and was always in the presence of at least one family member. Id say he has been over-compliant, choosing to always be at home with someone else even though that isnt a condition of his bond, Leibig said. His wife wont even leave him home alone to walk the dog. Leibig also criticized the alleged victims account of events, which he characterized as dubious at best, and claimed the charges resulted from recovered memories extracted during therapy. To characterize this as a he said, she said case is giving the commonwealth far too much emphasis for their evidence, he said. Areshini Pather, deputy commonwealths attorney for Charlottesville, took issue with the characterization, describing the girls account of events as being typical for children who experience traumatic abuse. I would point out that every one of her claims is consistent with how a child who has experienced sexual abuse reacts, Pather said. This is a textbook example of how childhood sexual abuse cases happen. The girl was between the ages of eight and 11 when the charged incidents occurred, Pather said, and there is often delayed reporting in situations when a child is that young. Evidence obtained via a second forensic interview with the girl had not been presented to the court during the May bond hearing, Pather said. According to Pather, during this second forensic interview the girl said Coe had been violent with her, pushing her against a wall, putting a knife to her throat and telling her I will kill you. It would be so easy to kill you. There is tension built into this case, Pather said. There is tension because the victim was expected to stay silent and never talk about what happened to her. This was not an isolated event, but a systemic, repeated series of violent events. Pather also argued that Coe had not complied with an order requiring him to be supervised by Offender Aid and Restoration and argued that a large reason he was granted bond was to work at his laundry business, which has been closed since October. During rebuttal, Leibig pointed to an interview exchange with a member of the city commonwealths attorneys office which appeared to confirm that Coe was not required to be supervised by OAR. He also argued that Coes laundry business was only closed temporarily. Following arguments, Judge Claude Worrell told the parties that cases like this are difficult because the court must weigh both the likelihood of compliance by the accused and the safety of the community. Ultimately Worrell granted Coes bond, adding conditions that he must not consume alcohol or illegal drugs during his release. As previously, Coe will be required to wear a GPS ankle monitor but will be monitored by jail officials instead of a private firm. Coes five day trial is expected to begin on May 27. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. According to the most recent federal data, an estimated 1,254 people currently held in US immigrant detention centers have tested positive for COVID-19, an increase of 340 percent from a week earlier. Children who tested positive for COVID-19 sit in the ground at the Donna Department of Homeland Security holding facility, the main detention center for unaccompanied children in the Rio Grande Valley run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in Donna, Texas, Tuesday, March 30, 2021 [Credit: AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills, Pool] Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is presently detaining 22,142 people, of which 285 were in isolation or being monitored after testing positive for coronavirus as of January 3. This figure jumped by more than four times after multiple outbreaks were reported at ICE jails in Texas and Arizona, according to ICEs website. The Karnes County Residential Center in Karnes City, Texas, reported the largest outbreak with 135 people testing positive. The La Palma Correctional Facility in Eloy, Arizona, and the South Texas Family Residential Center also reported 95 and 50 confirmed cases, respectively. In 2020, researchers using ICEs detainee population data from its 111 facilities determined that once COVID-19 enters a facility, 72 percent of the detainees would be infected within three months, based on optimistic circumstances. Using estimates based on higher transmissibility, researchers found that the entire inmate population would be infected within the same time period. Given that the Omicron variant is more contagious than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus, it is likely that the recent surge in infections is related. However, authorities have not commented on how many cases are indeed the result of Omicron infections. Since the start of 2022, the number of infections among immigrants detained by ICE has increased by 520 percent bringing the total to 1,776 immigrants being monitored or isolated due to the virus. The number of infected is currently 8 percent of the total number of detained immigrants being held by ICE. According to ICEs data, more than 32,000 immigrants have been infected in detention centers since the start of the pandemic in early 2020 with 11 coronavirus-related deaths. Unpublished ICE data obtained by CBS News revealed that 48,246 detainees received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. The agency began to offer a booster shot in late November and as of January 5, 671 detainees have received it. Most immigrants in ICE custody do not stay long enough to warrant a booster shot because the average stay is about a month, according to ICE. The agency has not revealed how many immigrants in custody are currently vaccinated but did say that the number of detainees who have received at least one dose has more than doubled since August 2021. However, the 48,246 vaccinated detainees only account for one-third of the 141,000 immigrants who have entered ICE custody after July 2021, when the agency received its first allotment of federal vaccines for detainees. Prior to this, ICE relied on state and local vaccine distributors to inoculate a limited number of immigrant detainees. According to ICE records, 37.6 percent of immigrants offered the vaccine have refused it. Public health advocates point out that skepticism of vaccines and miseducation have prompted some to refuse the vaccine. In addition, lawyers across the country have fought for some detainees to be released on health grounds, with conditions ranging from inflammatory bowel syndrome and diabetes to post-traumatic stress syndrome, all of which have been denied by ICE because of detainees criminal histories. It was revealed by documents provided to lawyers in a federal court case that there were 5,200 immigrants in ICE detention since late December whose health issues or age put them at a higher risk of becoming very sick or dying if they contracted COVID-19. Around 76 percent of ICEs 22,000 detainees do not have criminal records and many have been transferred from custody. While the Biden administration has publicly backed away from some of the more nakedly cruel immigration practices of the Trump era, conditions and medical services at ICE jails and facilities remain poor. A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General report from September 2021 found that inspected ICE facilities did not follow all coronavirus mitigation rules. Meanwhile, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has not been systematically providing coronavirus testing or vaccination to immigrants in its custody by arguing that its facilities are designed only for short-term custody. Not until last month did CBP begin offering vaccines to a limited number of migrants in the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) or Remain in Mexico policy started by Trump and recently resumed by Biden, which forces migrants to wait in Mexico for their asylum hearings. Mexican health workers protest; sign reads, I'm COVID-19 positive and they ordered me to work [Credit: Facebook] With the onset of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the contagion curve is skyrocketing in Mexico. In the week from January 4th to the 11th, new cases more than doubled, from 15,184 to 33,626. On January 13, 44,187 new cases were reported, along with 190 deaths, which lag two to three weeks behind infection. The case counts this week exceed the daily maximum registered in previous COVID peaks. And this is only the beginning of the new wave, which is growing exponentially. With the current figures, Mexico officially exceeds 4.2 million cases and 300,000 deaths from the coronavirus since the onset of the pandemic. This number is indisputably a gross underestimation. Mexican data tracking excess deaths in 2021 from the pandemic (relative to 2015-2019) suggests that the actual death toll from the coronavirus pandemic was between 455 and 655 thousand as of December 31, 2021. But even the official lower number places Mexico fourth in the world in deaths, trailing only the United States, India and Brazil, countries with much larger populations. No restrictive measures have been implemented in Mexico in two years, not even travel restrictions. No negative COVID-19 test has been required to enter the country. This has allowed waves of tourists to visit the beaches of the Caribbean and Baja California Sur and infect at will. The latter state currently has the highest rate of infection. This week, the states of Jalisco and Baja California Sur announced for the first time that as of Friday, January 15 they will require proof of vaccination or a recent COVID negative PCR test result to enter bars or restaurants. But this requirement likely will be observed more in the breach. Baja in fact stopped short of mandating the policy, noting that showing proof of vaccination would be at the discretion of individual business owners, which was always the case. Mexico has entrusted its entire strategy against the pandemic to immunization, a case of too little, too late. It claims to have employed Chinese, Russian and Cuban vaccines, in addition to the European and American ones, to vaccinate 80 million Mexicans to date, or about 88 percent of adults, but a significant portion of them have not been fully vaccinated. Only in recent weeks has a booster dose been started for people over 65 and for hospital staff, and only last week for educational staff in limited areas. In November, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (popularly known as AMLO) lied in stating that Mexico had one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, when in fact it was then in 90th place. On November 20, he commemorated three years of his rule on the 111th anniversary of the start of the Mexican Revolution with a massive congregation in the Zocalo (central plaza) of Mexico City, a space where social distancing was impossible. Nothing was said about wearing masks. With the Omicron exploding in the current wave, AMLO and health officials are going out of their way to downplay its risk to the population. On Monday, Lopez Obrador announced that he had contracted COVID for the second time. But, calling it Covidcito or little COVID, all he asked of people was to isolate themselves if they have symptoms. Hugo Lopez Gatell, Mexicos deputy health minister, absurdly compared the Omicron strain to the common cold, only advising people to stay at home as they would with a cold. Health Secretary Jorge Alcocer gave false assurances that there has been a 91 percent drop in hospitalizations relative to previous pandemic highs, and said not to worry, even as hospitals begin to fill up. But as the magazine Proceso reported this week, Mexicos National Health Care System has a deficit of 300,000 health care workers. The current upsurge in the pandemic, much like the previous ones, puts increasing pressure on this system, which relies on contingent workers paid low wages and lacks necessary safety equipment. On top of that, many health workers have yet to receive vaccine booster shots and have themselves become ill from COVID-19. This week Favian Valdez, one of the leaders of the newly formed National Union of Mexican Nursing (Union Nacional de Enfermeria Mexicana, UNEM), explained the hospital situation to Proceso: Once again we are sent into battle with no weapons. Federal Hospitals and the 32 state health systems, claiming lack of resources, refuse to give us adequate protective equipment. That is how they send us to help those patients affected by omicron. Valdez indicated that health workers are not being provided basic equipment such as KN95 or N95 masks. He pointed out that many patients enter hospitals without knowing they are infected by the coronavirus: and doctors and nurses have to treat them with totally inadequate equipment. Valdez summed up the situation: With this new variant all three levels of hospital care will be overwhelmed. Health personnel will once again have to bear that weight. This is not just for the workers that have had to carry the entire load, despite extremely low wages and that have gotten ill; many have died attending COVID patients. As the number of COVID cases expands exponentially, the Seven Seas, the first cruise ship to dock in the Pacific Coast port of Acapulco in two years arrived, carrying 460 passengers and 445 crew members. Acapulco tourist authorities celebrated the event with champagne, as passengers and crew members came ashore, following perfunctory questioning as to whether they had been ill, and a recommendation to wear masks. Acapulco Tourism director Santos Ramirez indicated that 14 more giant cruise ships were expected soon, with a goal of 90 ships a year. According to Acapulco Mayor Abelina Lopez: Today we fulfilled the promise of cruise ships; this first is one from the Regent shipping firm. This is the step that Acapulco must take; this way we will be able to re-start the economy, declared the mayor. New York Times headquarters, 2019 (Photo: Ajay Suresh/Wikipedia) China stands alone in the world for its Zero-COVID strategy. As a direct result of the policies it has adopted, millions of lives have been saved. Only four people have died of COVID-19 in China since April 17, 2020. More than 800,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the United States since that date. The Zero-COVID policy of China demonstrates that the staggering worldwide death toll of the past two yearsofficial numbers show nearly six million deadwas entirely preventable. The policy adopted by the major capitalist governments, Washington foremost, has been one of social murder, letting the pandemic rip through the population because the necessary public health measures to prevent its spread would infringe on the production of profit. This policy is directly responsible for both mass death and the emergence of new variants, such as Delta and Omicron, as the pandemic has been allowed to spread and mutate. Far from being treated as a model for public health, China has become the focus of sustained and vicious, even unhinged, attacks. The saving of lives has been turned by the western media into something monstrous, an authoritarian trampling on the rights and lives of the Chinese people. An article on the front page of the New York Times on January 13 was among the most vile yet published in this campaign against China. Originally published online under the headline, The Army of Millions Who Enforce Chinas Zero-COVID Policy, at All Costs, the article compared Chinas public health measures to the Holocaust, with health care workers functioning like Nazis. The author of the article was Li Yuan, a New York Times correspondent based in Hong Kong with a regular column, The New New World. Focused on an ongoing lockdown in the city of Xian, Li wrote, For the officials, virus control comes first. The peoples lives, well-being and dignity come much later. It is a lie breathtaking in its enormity. What do peoples lives, well-being and dignity mean to the American capitalist class and the Biden administration? By repudiating virus control, they compel the working class to live with mass death. The milestone of over one million COVID deaths looms. There is an element of apocalyptic unreality to American social life. It is becoming impossible even to grieve. The dead are no longer given faces or names in the media, just numbers, and soon even those numbers will not be reported. The policy of social murder adopted by Washington and followed around the globe has left China encircled by the pandemic. The immense achievement of eliminating the virus must be repeated again and again in its border cities, as new cases and variants are carried into China from the pandemic-ridden wider world. The city of Xian in northwestern China has over the past month had to take aggressive measures to contain and eliminate the most serious outbreak of COVID-19 in China since April 2020. It is these events which the Times singled out as authoritarian. The citys thirteen million residents were placed in strict lockdown, mass testing and contact tracing were deployed throughout the city, and the infected and exposed were isolated in specially constructed facilities. The lockdown is a massive disruption of everyday life, requiring real sacrifices, as everyone strains to a common end: the prevention of the spread of the pandemic. Since the lockdown in Xian began in late December, the entire city has undergone mass testing for COVID-19 every few days. More than 45,000 residents volunteered to arrange the delivery of food and other basic necessities. The paramount concern is locating unconnected cases as these indicate a wider, as yet undetected transmission of the virus. In early January the last unconnected infection was detected. From a peak of 180 new cases per day, the number of new cases was down to six as of yesterday. It appears that Xian will soon be reopening, neighborhood by neighborhood, as the virus is eliminated. Over the course of the outbreak, more than 2,000 cases were isolated. No one has died. Over the course of the lockdown there have been abuses and several tragedies. Food shortages strained the delivery system and in a few instances led to desperate hunger. A pregnant woman miscarried when she was denied care until she could provide a negative COVID-19 test. A man from a medium risk district was denied care and died of a heart attack. The tragedies of Xianthe stillborn baby and the heart-attack victimare the subject of fervent national discussion on social media. Countless comparable tragedies occur every day in the United States, deaths in overcrowded hospital waiting rooms, miscarriages of mothers denied maternal care. These things go unreported. The Times saves all of its moral outrage for China. The Times seized on these events to present the Zero-COVID policy of China as repressive and inhuman. Li wrote that there was a ruthlessness to the single-minded pursuit of a zero-COVID policy. Ordinary health care workers were imbued with this spirit of authoritarianism and became the agents of repression. A vast army of community workers, she stated, carry out the policy with zeal and in the process they became the enablers of authoritarian policy. Each of these lines drips with the self-satisfied moralism of the upper middle class mobilized in service to the geopolitical interests of US imperialism. In Lis account the health care workers, their sleepless careworn faces bearing the nearly permanent imprint of an N95 mask, are the agents of authoritarianism. They represent a culture that does not value individual lives or dignity. There is a long, racist history behind such claims. It was the foundational myth of the yellow peril, the lie of nineteenth century imperialism that China and the countries of the Orient represented a racial threat to the Western world. The Times did not stop there, however. Li compares Chinas Zero-COVID policy to the Holocaust. She cites philosopher Hannah Arendts phrase the banality of evil, which Arendt used to describe Adolph Eichmann, a leading Nazi. Arendt saw in Eichmann a man of bureaucratic mentality, lacking critical thought, who simply carried out what he was instructed to do. Eichmanns motivations were in fact driven by historical and social factors of far greater complexity than Arendts quasi-psychological explanation. The Times adopts Arendts phrase, coined to describe one of the greatest criminals in human history, and applies it to the health care workers of Xian. This is beyond repugnant. Many of the health care workers, the medical and nursing staff of Xian, gave up going home and stayed on their posts because of the difficulties of lockdown and the needs of the population. The Times compares them to Nazis, just following orders in imposing an authoritarian regime. The articles imagery, in a calculated fashion, underlined this idea. Images of faceless health care workers line up shoulder to shoulder, in an article with the headline word army. Workers spray canisters of disinfectant fog in a manner menacingly suggestive of gas. Li attempts to attribute the phrase banality of evil to Chinese opinion, claiming that Arendt is being widely cited by intellectuals in the country in reference to the authoritarianism of Zero-COVID. She cites as evidence of this a post from user @IWillNotResistIt on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. Weibo is more widely used than Twitter. It has more than half a billion active users every month. Li cherry-picked a quotation from a random user with 87 followers and wrenched it out of context. The user @IwillNotResistIt followed the line about the banality of evil with this roughly translated passage: All the frontline workers, including the staff at the epidemic prevention site in the last video, are really hardworking and they shouldnt be blamed. Think about the suffocating feeling of wearing protective clothing and N95 all day long, not to mention the work. These were written as part of a larger discussion on Chinese social media, critical of the failures of Xian, calling for compassion. They were not written to demand an end to Zero-COVID, but rather to insist upon its proper implementation. The Chinese government is authoritarian, but it is not a totalitarian dictatorship. Under intense pressure from the imperialist powers and international capital to roll back its Zero-COVID policy, it confronts in the Chinese working class an immense barrier, as there is massive popular support for the public health measures that defend their lives. The slanderous, historically malignant comparison to the Nazis originates entirely with the New York Times, and not with Chinese public opinion. The equating of public health measures with Nazis and the Holocaust is not new. This is the much repeated argument of the far right and fascists in the United States and Europe about vaccine mandates, masks and quarantine. It is with these social forces that the Times is solidarizing itself. On the same day that the Times published its slanderous attack on China, the Anti-Defamation League issued a statement, Its never appropriate to compare requirements for public health with the tactics of Nazi Germany. As weve said too many times to count, minimizing the Holocaust in this way is deeply offensive and harmful. They were not writing in reference to the New York Times, but to fascistic Congressional Republicans who compared vaccine mandates to Nazi Germany. There is an almost unhinged level of desperation in the rhetoric of the New York Times about China. It expresses the desperation in the American ruling class and in particular the Biden White House. This has increased drastically over the past year and finds expression in Lis own articles. On January 4, 2021, shortly before Biden took office, Li wrote an article for the Times in which she characterized life in China, While many countries are still reeling from Covid-19, Chinawhere the pandemic originatedhas become one of the safest places in the world. The country reported fewer than 100,000 infections for all of 2020. The United States has been reporting more than that every day since early November. Li continued, China resembles what normal was like in the pre-pandemic world. Restaurants are packed. Hotels are full. Long lines form outside luxury brands stores. Instead of Zoom calls, people are meeting face to face to talk business or celebrate the new year. A year later, only one person has died from COVID-19 in China, but Li speaks of the banality of evil and authoritarianism. She has received her marching orders. This is not about developments in China, but about the crisis in the United States, where the ruling class has demonstrated an utter contempt for human life. The death toll will go up, but so will the stock market and that is all that matters. The success of Chinas Zero-COVID policy, the very fact that it has prioritized human lives, is a demonstration to the working class that there is an alternative to mass death. For the ruling elite, this is intolerable. It is this that drives their hysterical slanders against the scientific public health measures that are now only being implemented in China. The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) encourages high school youth to contact us today to organize opposition to the deadly school reopening. Over 1,200 students in the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD), located in the San Francisco Bay Area, have pledged to strike this coming Tuesday as part of a growing wave of wildcat rebellions of teachers and students opposed to the deadly reopening of schools. Skyline High School [Credit: Oakland Unified School District, ousd.org] OUSD met with student leaders Friday to tell them that they had purchased N95 masks and outdoor seating area structures, two of the demands of the petition. The Oakland Student Strike Twitter and Instagram page, however, released a statement which declared, students will strike starting Tuesday, January 18th, because schools are still not safe without COVID testing. Striking Oakland students will join tens of thousands of teachers and students from Chicago, Portland, New York City, Los Angeles, Massachusetts and recently France, in taking a stand against the policy of mass infection and herd immunity that is being shoved onto families. Millions of students, teachers and families worldwide are opposed to the policy, promoted by the Biden administration and other capitalist governments, based on the insistence that workers must learn to live with the virus. The fact that thousands of people are dying daily of the virus in the United States is a matter of indifference to the Democratic and Republican parties, as both serve the banks and corporations that demand that nothing be done to stop the spread of the virus that interferes with corporate profits. The World Socialist Web Site spoke to dozens of Oakland students and teachers at a mass meeting Wednesday, urging them to attend the upcoming meeting of the West Coast Rank-and-File Safety Committee on Sunday at noon. The WSWS also conducted interviews with Oakland student leaders and teachers. Nick, a student at Skyline High School, described conditions in his school. We have 20-plus teachers out because of the pandemic at the moment. And most of the classrooms are half empty, and when they arent, its very uncomfortable. We are missing substitutes, so the teachers that arent sick have to sub more classes. Asked if he thought his school was a healthy learning environment, Nick said, No. As much as I want to say yes, its a no. We dont have proper masks. We barely have enough cleaning supplies. And we dont make enough room for students to socially distance themselves at all. We are put back in the system we were in before and its still (excuse my language) s**t. ... We dont have temperature checks, which I think is more than needed [School] right now still isnt safe. As much as I love coming to school and seeing my friends and teachers, it isnt worth it. Nick added, Most of my friends at the moment are sick at home or at home because their families are sick. Blue is a student at Fremont High School in OUSD. Students at Fremont staged a sickout Wednesday and have played a leading role in the now 1,200 student-strong petition to strike next week. Blue told the WSWS that the district should have implemented basic safety measures long ago. Now, they said the situation is so hard because so many COVID cases are rising. We see all our friends being pulled out of class, and then we get an email a few hours later or sometimes a few minutes later even saying that weve been in contact with someone with COVID. Blue emphasized that the sickouts and protests were student-led and denounced efforts in the mainstream media, most recently the far-right publication Breitbart, to discredit the students by claiming they were puppets of teachers. Its very upsetting that they think we dont have the intellectual capacity to understand concepts of whats affecting us, Blue said. Blue sharply criticized the attitude being promoted by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky that the killing of people who are unwell to begin with by COVID-19 is encouraging news. I have seen a lot of arguments that say, well, only people with illnesses and disabilities are dying, and Ive said this many times. This is straight up eugenics, and its disgusting. If you use that argument, youre a monster. Youre using the same arguments Nazis have used in the past. She was already dying, and I just sped up the process of being murdered. You have to be very cold-blooded to use that argument. One of those people is my baby sister. Youre saying my baby sister deserves to die. The student explained more about their sister who was struck with COVID during the holidays. My baby sister is premature, she is tube fed, has weak lungs and a weak heart. We took her to the hospital, but they said they could not take her because she wasnt sick enough and there were so many kids and babies sick from COVID that they didnt have any more room for her and couldnt take her in. Luckily, she got better, but she could have very easily died. Its not the hospitals fault. I would never blame the hospitals, but who is at fault are the people who are spreading COVID and [the] people in power that dont want to help us. The WSWS also spoke to Thomas, a teacher in OUSD. Ive been teaching for 15 years in different countries and states. Ive never had two weeks like this. Ive never been more afraid for my students. This is the first time Ive gone to work legitimately scared. Speaking to my students today, I dont think anything is being hidden from them. They see how poorly things are going this month. Grade school kids are naive, because of their age, but middle and high schools they know it, they get whats happening. I got directly exposed on Monday from one of my students whom Im working directly with. He asked if I had to quarantine for 10 days and stay home. No, the policy is I have to go to school until I see symptoms. It just doesnt make sense. It doesnt match to any medical advice for any virus. Thomas explained that most students dont have the right mask and that teachers cannot ventilate their classrooms because the air quality is frequently poor in Oakland. Our district is not giving us any support. Our school board this summer, during the pandemic, getting ready to return to in-person instruction in August, they didnt even meet! They had no meetings this summer. Pretty insulting to know that they dont even show up to the bargaining table, they dont even have meetings over the summer so that we could avoid all of this. We could have had the right masks, the right filtration, and ventilation. We could have had it all. He explained that the school board, in line with the government, was risking our health to achieve herd immunity, all so that the economy does better. He continued, I think a lot of students in Oakland have personal experience with losing loved ones. [The students] are seeing the impact, because there are a lot of people who couldnt go on to Zoom for work last year. A lot of the students families were those who never got to take a break, and they were the ones getting sick. Thomas also noted, I dont see our union being there for us right now. The WSWS spoke to Hector, a teacher in the Fremont School District, south of Oakland. I am in full support of the Oakland students and teachers in standing up for themselves and their families. In our district, cases have also been rising. There has been only a message of schools are the safest and best places for students to be coming from administration, the governor and the union. There hasnt even been talk of a one-week shutdown during the worst of Omicron. Schools are a known vector of the virus and will only intensify the situation in hospitals, which this past Monday have hit record numbers across the country. He continued, Each school is a sinking ship as more and more teachers and students get sick. When students go home sick, teachers are forced to try and provide individual learning plans and keep up with the classroom. There is no reference from local, state and federal officials to the earlier calls to shelter in place and keep only essential workers on the job. Now everyone is essential because the corporations, governments and unions have all signed on to the mantra of keeping kids in schools so parents will continue to go to work to increase record profits. Hector went on to describe the situation at his school: After winter break, we received one N95 mask that doesnt fit many of us as its a one-size approach. Our classrooms have 30-34 students in them. Parents have started keeping students home for fear of them getting COVID. Teachers are getting called to cover on their prep periods because there are no subs. Everyone is exhausted and fed up. He wanted to let Oakland high school teachers and students know: Your actions as students and teachers are inspiring and will no doubt lead to further walkouts in the coming weeks in schools around the Bay Area, the state and the country as we fight for our survival and a future safe learning environment free from the virus. Dont think for a minute that your action isnt important, you are fighting to save lives. The World Socialist Web Site and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality encourage youth and teachers to get in touch with us today to share the conditions in your school and learn more about joining the developing opposition of teachers and students around the country and world. Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin. Being the Ricardos Aaron Sorkins Being the Ricardos focuses on a week in the lives of comic performers Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz and their hit television series I Love Lucy, broadcast from 1951 to 1957. Sorkin (writer-creator of The West Wing, writer of Social Network, director of The Trial of the Chicago 7) is a capable, liberal-minded screenwriter and director. His new film indicates that he knows a great deal about the inner workingsand pitfallsof network television production, but it also exposes an ignorance or a willful dishonesty in relation to big historical questions. Being the Ricardos begins and ends with events connected to the Hollywood Red Scare of the late 1940s and early 1950s, during which left-wing actors, writers, directors and producers were hounded out of the film industry by the hundreds. Many others were silenced, or openly renounced their previous views. This was scoundrel time. As Sorkins movie opens, the cast and crew of I Love Lucy learn that gossip columnist and smear artist Walter Winchell has made an obvious reference to Lucille Ball on his weekly radio broadcast: The House Committee on Un-American Activities [HUAC] is holding secret sessions in California. The most popular of all television stars was confronted with her membership in the Communist Party. Of course, Lucy (Nicole Kidman) knows he is talking about her, and not, as she jokingly suggests, Imogene Coca (a comic actress on the then popular Your Show of Shows with Sid Caesar). Sorkin takes artistic liberties with the timeline in order to pack a number of crises into the same few days. Winchells show was actually aired in September 1953, but the new film places the events a year earlier, during the second season of I Love Lucy. At the time, the situation comedy was the most popular television program in the US, with an astonishing 67.3 percent of all households with television sets tuning in (the highest ever average rating for any single season of a television show). Nicole Kidman I Love Lucy introduced a number of innovations, such as the use of three cameras, which allowed it to be performed in front of a live audience. Desi Arnaz persuaded famed cinematographer and film director Austrian-born Karl Freund to be the cinematographer for I Love Lucy. Freund and his production team are credited with the flat lighting system, eliminating shadows and making it possible for the use of various cameras without having to stop between shots. The cross-cultural marriage between Ball and Arnaz, a Cuban emigre, was also unusual for the day and caused some nervousness at CBS. Although most of Being the Ricardos avoids directly addressing Winchells claims, hovering in the air throughout the week is the possibility of Balls career being destroyed by any connection to communism. Sorkin plays with the date of the events presumably because he wants to introduce the issue of Balls pregnancy with her second child, which occurred in 1952. US television, like Hollywood filmmaking, did not allow that condition to be seen or talked about. Arnaz (Javier Bardem) insists that Lucy be visibly pregnant on the show, much to the chagrin of head writer Jess Oppenheimer (Tony Hale), convinced that the network will never allow such a thing. (In the end, when Lucy Goes to the Hospitalto have her babyaired in January 1953, 74 percent of American households with television sets watched it, making it one of the most widely watched shows in history.) Also loaded into the weeks drama is the matter of the truth or non-truth of reports about Arnazs philandering, which were appearing in scandal sheets of the day. The series scriptwritersOppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll Jr.appear in two guises, as their younger selves in 1952, played by Hale, Alia Shawkat and Jake Lacy, respectively. Then, as older people, they function as a kind of Greek chorus narrating (and interpreting) the earlier events, now played by John Rubinstein, Linda Lavin and Ronny Cox, respectively. Again, Sorkin understands something about television production. His script effectively captures the inevitable internecine rivalriesbetween Lucy and Vivian Vance (Nina Arianda), for exampleand squabbling among cast and crew members. A number of the segments featuring the scriptwriters in the 1950s are sharp and revealing. J.K. Simmons as the gruff William Frawley is an empathetic presence. The cast of I Love Lucy in Being the Ricardos Being the Ricardos accurately points to the heavy-handed interventions of network bosses and corporate sponsors. Sorkin knows firsthand the insecurities of the writers and actors. All of this is fine and even amusingly done at times, including the black-and-white flashback of Lucys madcap grape-stomping episode in Italy. Kidman, Bardem and Arianda create reasonable facsimiles of their real-life counterparts. In regard to the secondary and tertiary issues that arise during the week in question, the film presents a well-formed picture. However, when it comes to the questions that truly count, the life-and-death matter of the Hollywood blacklist and of anti-communism in America, the film falls apart and fails its audience completely. Objections to HUACs activities and features of the anti-red hysteria are raised by various cast members. Vance points to the absurd fact that when seven-year-old actor Rusty Hamer, a cast member on Make Room for Daddy (Danny Thomas sitcom), signed his contractor the guardian, whoever signs the contract for himhe had to sign a loyalty pledge. Did anyone know that? This is a fleeting reference. It is impossible to discuss the film seriously without referring to its conclusion, so let the reader beware. Just prior to the actual filming of the weeks episode of I Love Lucy, a blaring newspaper headline appears (Lucy: You can see that headline from outer space) proclaiming, LUCILLE BALL A RED. In the films denouement, Arnaz, in front of a studio audience, takes a phone call from FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who assures the cast, crew and audience that Ball has been cleared of all charges. Arnaz did in fact appear before the audience and quip that The only thing red about Lucy is her hair, and even that is not legitimate (a line not used in the movie), but the phone call to Hoover, one of the most villainous public figures in American history, is an astonishing embellishment. We, along with those present in the theater in 1952, are expected to experience immense relief that the FBI has given Ball a clean political bill of health. The moment is shameful, set in the midst of the Hoover-FBI terror campaign against political opposition, including the execution of the Rosenbergs. Javier Bardem in Being the Ricardos Kinetically gifted Lucille Ball (19111989) was the daughter of a telephone lineman, who died from typhoid fever when she was not yet four. Her childhood was emotionally and economically difficult. Balls grandfather, Fred Hunt, a retired railway worker and a fervent socialist, played a large role in her upbringing in the Jamestown, New York area. According to an obviously disapproving Ball biographer, Stefan Kanfer (Ball of Fire), Hunts favorite philosopher was Eugene V. Debs, and he was forever booming the virtues of that fighter against economic injusticea man baptised in Socialism. In the mid-1930s, on the invitation of Ball, by this time an aspiring film actress, Hunt moved to California with the rest of her family members. He was by now a supporter of the Communist Party. Kanfer writes that Hunts favorite periodical was the CPs Daily Worker: Seated behind a desk, Fred Hunt gave political lectures to his new friends, the milkman, the trash collector, and various retirees he met on his Ogden Drive constitutionals. Overhearing the talks, his granddaughter was amused to see that the old mans radical leanings had been brought to Los Angeles intact. In any event, Ball listed her party affiliation as Communist when she registered to vote in 1936 and 1938. In 1936, she sponsored a Communist Party candidate, signing a certificate that stated: I am registered as affiliated with the Communist Party. The same year, according to records of the California Secretary of State, the Communist Party of California appointed her to the states Central Committee. Former CP member, writer Rena Vale, who later became an anti-Communist investigator for various government bodies in Sacramento and Washington D.C., claimed that Ball had allowed her home to host new party members classes. Unlike those forced to appear before HUAC in public and be humiliated or browbeaten, Ball was one of those friendly testifiers who was able to meet with committee investigators in private as a means of making a deal to save her career. She met with William Wheeler, a HUAC investigator, on September 4, 1953. In The Inquisition in HollywoodPolitics in the Film Community, 193060, authors Larry Ceplair and Steven Englund write that Lucille Ball donned her famous personathe scatterbrained Lucy Ricardoin order to wriggle out of damaging allegations about her political sympathies. Ball was spared a recital of names by her obvious apoliticism and obsequiousnessshe swore that she was never a member of the Party but had registered as a Communist voter in 1936 to please her Socialist grandfather. She also swore that she had not cast a vote for a Communist candidate. And wriggle she did in her testimony: I have never done anything for Communists, to my knowledge, at any time. I have never contributed money or attended a meeting or ever had anything to do with people connected with it, if to my knowledge they were. I am not a Communist now. I never have been. I never wanted to be. Nothing in the world could ever change my mind. At no time in my life have I ever been in sympathy with anything that even faintly resembled it. I was always opposed to how my grandfather felt about any other way this country should be run. I thought things were just fine the way they were. No doubt much of this was untrue. Ball was known to be a Communist Party sympathizer and a reader of the Daily Worker in the 1930s. Her views, along with those of many others in the film community, might well have changed by the early 1950s. When she sold her soul to the devil in 1953, however, it inevitably meant that her art would never develop beyond a certain point. There is humor, even today, in I Love Lucy, there is also a great deal of regressive and conformist nonsense, which the forceful, energetic Lucille Ball of The Big Street (1942), The Dark Corner (1946) or Lured (1947) would not have had time for. The pressures on popular actors in particular were enormous during the Cold War, and the Stalinists own Popular Front-pro-Roosevelt politics had rendered the Hollywood Left entirely unprepared for the onslaught. This does not make the wriggling any more attractive. There are other historical and ideological issues. Desi Arnaz (19171986) came from an extremely privileged background. Kanfer writes that he was the only son of a prominent and moneyed Cuban politician. Desiderio II was not only the mayor of Santiago, a major port city; he also owned three large ranches with scores of employees. Desis maternal grandfather was a cofounder of the Bacardi Rum company. However, in 1933, a mass uprising of the Cuban working class and rural poor led to the ouster of the hated Machado dictatorship, with power ultimately falling into the hands of political forces under the thumb of the military led by Fulgencio Batista, a future US-backed strongman. Politicians who had been close to the president were marked for execution or imprisonment, and their lands were confiscated. Desiderio II was placed under arrest and jailed, but in the chaos of la revolucion, Desi and his mother, uncle, and cousin escaped the newly empowered Batista police force. (Kanfer) Sorkin has Arnaz, in answer to Balls question as to why he came to Hollywood, assert: The Bolsheviks burned my house down. He is also given an opportunity later to denounce Lucys Grandpa Fred and his views. (Arnaz once declared that his wife has never been a Communist, and whats more, she hates every Communist in Hollywood.) As with the Hoover episode, Sorkin and, here, Bardem are incapable of shedding a critical light on these processes and conceptions. It would be perfectly possible from an artistic standpoint to present Arnaz sympathetically as a human being, while rejecting his social views, i.e., to dramatize and work through the contradiction. Unfortunately, the talented Bardem plays this right-wing anticommunist in an entirely convincing manner, leaving his personal qualms to come out merely in interviews. Bardem told NPR, for example, that he was far from sharing Arnazs politics: He [Arnaz] was a person who supported Nixon, for example. He was very against communism, as you can imagine. My family comes from a different background. My uncle [filmmaker Juan Antonio Bardem] was a very important figure of the Communist Party in Spain. My mom She was very active in the Communist Party. Its not that Im a communist, but Ive been very outspoken against the extreme right that is raising up in Europe and especially in Spain And still, I adore him [Arnaz] and I loved him. We dont have to cancel each other. We have to try to understand each other. And once I understood Desi Arnaz, I was madly in love. This is not an artistically serious or principled approach. The unnecessary idealization of Arnaz on screen simply creates confusion. Sorkin has talents, but he works within a film community still dominated and held back by anticommunism. Various reviews and news articles refer to Ball having been slandered by being called a communist! Capitalism, already hated by the vast majority of the worlds population, is in the process of discrediting itself with tens and hundreds of millions more. Writers and directors like Sorkin are either out of step or apologists for the existing social order. The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) encourages high school youth to contact us today to share the conditions in your school. Get involved in the fight against unsafe school reopenings! As infections rise throughout Seattle and Washington state, students and teachers have initiated sickouts at two high schools in defiance of the local, state and federal governments policy of mass infection and death. Students at Franklin High School in Seattle, Washington, initiated a walkout on Friday, calling for increased safety measures and for remote learning as Omicron rips through the schools and the community. Many schools throughout the Seattle area and the Pacific Northwest have closed this week as the rampant spread of COVID-19 caused major staffing shortages. Franklin High School in Seattle [Source: Wikimedia Commons] Franklin High School has the highest infection rate in the entire school district, with Roosevelt High School trailing behind, according to the Seattle Public Schools (SPS) COVID-19 Dashboard. It recorded 52 cases in the first week of school alone, an undercount of the real rate of infection as testing sites are overwhelmed throughout the city. The students at Franklin High School are demanding that schools implement safety measures or they will not return, with many students calling for remote learning and the closure of schools until it is actually safe to return. The list of demands on the Change.org petition calls on the district to: Provide N95 masks for all Perform weekly required COVID-19 testing at school Continue contact tracing Provide COVID-19 vaccines, including booster shots, available at school Update the districts COVID-19 dashboard daily Provide one mental health therapist for every 30 students There is broad support for the action of the high school students throughout the state, with more than 800 people signing the petition as of Friday afternoon. One student at Kamiak High School in Mukilteo, north of Seattle, told the World Socialist Web Site, At school, weve had children test positive in the library. Its unfair quite honestly. When we look at the chart for COVID cases in our county, weve had up to 3 times more COVID cases compared to the initial outbreak when we went into lockdown. The numbers are growing, and our measly precautions are not preventing sickness. Human life should be above all. The Franklin High School students said they decided to join the movement initiated by students nationally for the closure of unsafe schools and other COVID-19 safety protocols, such as those actions taken by high school students in Chicago, Boston and other cities across the US. Alongside the walkout of high school students, teachers at Chief Sealth International High School in Seattle also staged a sickout Friday in response to the rise in infections at the school and the lack of safety protocols. They are calling for the district to provide KN95 and N95 masks, weekly on-site testing, the hiring of more staff and increased funding for mental health resources. If these conditions are not met, they call for the closure of schools and for remote learning options. Rebecca Neil, a Chief Sealth International High School science teacher, said in an online post, the system is broken and Seattle Public Schools has failed to provide necessary protections on so many levels. So much of what we are facing was preventable with strategic planning and preparation, and [the] Seattle Public Schools district leadership failed to act. In response to the action by the teachers, the school administration decided to fully close the high school for the day Friday, with no remote instruction. The growing militancy of educators and youth comes in response to the unprecedented surge of the Omicron variant and the intransigence of the states Democratic politicians, who are following the Biden administrations lead in implementing a herd immunity strategy of mass infection and death. Washington states Democratic Governor Jay Inslee said at a press conference on Thursday that hospitalization rates will continue to go up, acknowledging that the hospital system in the state is already in crisis and that the emergency rooms are full. Inslee has called out 100 National Guard troops in order to help the hospitals deal with the unprecedented crisis, while insisting that SPS schools remain in-person. The school district is scheduled to return to in-person classes on Tuesday, sending over 50,000 students and staff into overcrowded, poorly ventilated buildings where COVID-19 will spread like wildfire. The walkouts in Seattle are part of a broader struggle by high school students, parents and educators against the deadly policy of mass infection and for the closure of unsafe school. Protests have broken out in New York City; Chicago, Illinois; Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Portland, Oregon; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and a growing number of cities across the US. The IYSSE and the WSWS call on students and educators to join the growing resistance against the unsafe reopening of schools across the country and internationally. Educators, parents and students across the South can reach out to the Southern Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee today to report on conditions in your schools and link up with educators across the region. On Wednesday, at least 760 teachers and school staff in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, called out sick to protest the alarming spread of COVID-19 and the districts refusal to offer virtual learning. While the district tried to downplay the sickout, saying there were no more absences than usual, district office employees were forced to stand in for absent staff in several schools. Students in algebra class at Barbara Coleman Senior High School in Miami Lakes, Florida on August 23, 2021 [Credit: AP Photo/Marta Lavandier] Needs have gone on deaf ears, Baton Rouge teacher Rhonda Matthews told BRProud.com. Matthews said that the current surge is too much for teachers and students to handle in the classroom. Sito Narcisse, East Baton Rouge Schools Superintendent, dismissed the teachers concerns. In a statement released the day of the sickout, he claimed that the district has been able to hear and address the concerns of those willing to speak with myself and executive staff. The sickout followed a press conference by the East Baton Rouge Parish Association of Educators (EBRPAE), an affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA), in which the local union requested a return to virtual learning. Although the EBRPAE sponsored the event, their demands fall short of what is actually required to keep teachers and students safe, as they suggest a return to in-person once the test positivity rate falls to 10 percent, which is still extremely high. No doubt, the union faced immense pressure from rank-and-file educators. But no illusions can be placed in the local EBRPAE to wage a serious struggle for its members. Along with the NEA and its counterpart the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the EBRPAE has played an essential role in facilitating the reopening of schools during the pandemic. Additionally, two other unions in the district, the East Baton Rouge Federation of Teachers (EBRFT) and the East Baton Rouge Association of Professional Educators, openly attacked the sick-out. EBRFT President Angela Reams-Brown attempted to shame angry teachers in an interview with local press. She mawkishly begged teachers to consider fictional little Mary who is homeless and little Johnny whose mother works at Walmart. She claimed the sick-out harmed students and parents, expressing no concern for the harm COVID-19 causes to her members or their students. The sickout comes as COVID-19 cases have exploded across the state. At least seven schools in Baton Rouge have had to close in the first two weeks of the semester. In New Orleans, the school district recorded 2,233 active cases, shattering previous records. Omicron is stressing the healthcare system to the brink, said Dr. Joe Kantner, the states health officer, with some ICUs operating with 10 percent fewer staff due to infections among nurses. Louisiana reported record-breaking increases in new infections every day last week, reaching 17,592 on January 12. Across the South, the health system faces severe staffing shortages and is nearing ICU capacity. Child cases have skyrocketed, as pediatric hospitalizations have reached record levels nationally. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) reported over 580,000 new cases among children across the US last week, including nearly 160,000 in the South alone. Governors and school boards across the region have nevertheless doubled-down on keeping schools open for in-person learning. Texas Like their counterparts across the US, from New York to Oakland, students in Round Rock Independent School District outside Austin have circulated a petition and plan to walkout on January 20 if their demands for increased COVID-19 safety measures are not met. The students demand that the district provide KN95 or higher quality masks to all students, rapid or PCR tests, contact tracing, and outdoor spaces to eat, even during inclement weather. The petition, started by high school students, has received over 600 signatures, including from hundreds of middle school students. The district admitted that due to the Omicron surge, it may reach a point where there are not enough substitutes or volunteers to keep the buildings open. Texas reported a seven-day average of over 56,000 cases on January 13, more than tripling the previous peak of 15,000 during the Delta surge, which likewise coincided with classes reconvening in September. Pediatric hospitalizations have already surpassed the Delta surge, reaching 279 last week, a third of whom are younger than 5 years old. Alabama In Alabama, at least 69 children were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Thursday, breaking Tuesdays record of 60. The steep increase in Alabamas pediatric hospitalizations gives the lie to the Biden administrations claim that Omicron does not significantly affect children. According to Dr. GiGi Youngblood of Childrens Hospital in Birmingham, Omicron appears to affect children more severely than Delta. In an interview with CBS 42 on January 6, Dr. Youngblood said her hospital is seeing kids get sicker than they have historically with COVID-19. She went on to exhort parents not to bring children to the hospitals unless they are dehydrated or struggling to breathe, because effective medicines and staff are in such short supply. The statewide test positivity rate, at 41 percent, is among the highest nationwide. The Alabama Department of Public Health now reports over 10,000 new cases daily. Alabamas ICUs were operating with a narrow margin of available beds before Omicron, and some regions are now reporting negative ICU bed availability. Birmingham only has 28 out of 514 ICU beds available. Dr. Donald Williamson, president of the Alabama Hospital Association, told Al.com on January 12 that due to unreported positive home tests, the states numbers are a significant under-count. He noted that hospitalizations havent quite doubled in a week, but were headed that way. In response to the rapid spread of the virus, multiple Alabama school districts, including Mobile, Selma and Montgomery, have made plans to go virtual for a single week, an entirely inadequate measure. Some schools are picking up the poorly-enforced mask mandates they abandoned in the fall, while masking remains piecemeal throughout the states schools. Arkansas Arkansas has not reported pediatric hospitalizations at the same level as other Deep South states, but emergency rooms and urgent care centers are seeing record numbers of pediatric COVID-19 patients. Healthcare workers expect the reopening of schools to fuel spikes in hospitalizations throughout January and February. Dr. Joel Tumlinson, Physician in Outbreak Response at the Arkansas Department of Health, told thv11.com that rising pediatric COVID-19 infections should not surprise anyone. Arkansas reported nearly 11,000 new cases on January 12. Given the rising number, Tumlinson says, ...theres no reason to think that kids cant catch it too. They do catch it at just about the same rate as adults. Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson has repeated well-worn admonitions to hold the line, downplaying the inevitable death and disability Omicron will engender in Arkansas. At least fourteen school districts have had to switch to remote instruction following the surge in cases, including Little Rock, Fayetteville, Farmington, and Greenville, though these fleeting transitions last for as little as two days and will do nothing to stop transmission. Georgia With a seven-day average of over 20,000 daily new cases, Georgia stands in the midst of a health crisis. On January 5, Governor Kemp announced the deployment of approximately 200 National Guard personnel to assist thinly-stretched healthcare facilities with testing, logistical support and other needs. The governors call-up of guardsmen is in response to a sharp and sudden shortage of medical staff caused by infections among healthcare workers. The state adheres to the CDCs unscientific 5-day quarantine rule adjustment, meaning that the shortage will continue and healthcare workers will be forced to return to work while sick and infect others. Highlighting the staffing shortages in schools, principals wash dishes and district administrators act as substitute teachers in many Atlanta-area schools, while bus drivers are forced to take on extra routes. The unofficial tracker, School Personnel Lost to COVID, has recorded 71 educators and school staff in Georgia who have died of COVID-19 since July 2021. Mississippi Mississippi reported 16,484 cases between January 79, and pediatricians say that school children are leading the surge. In the first week of school after the holidays, 10,711 students and almost 900 staff were quarantined due to COVID-19 exposure. This week, nearly 4,000 Mississippi students are out of school. Child hospitalizations are rising again, with 17 children on Tuesday at Mississippis only pediatric hospital and four of those requiring intensive care. Across the state, 1,544 teachers and staff tested positive between January 3 and 7, the highest number in the pandemic to date. Multiple districts, including the 7,000 students of Vicksburg Warren District, have enacted temporary closures. Since the start of 2022, over 5,000 students and 1,800 staff have tested positive. It is against the backdrop of the alarming spread of COVID-19 in schools, the record infections and hospitalizations of children, and the open repudiation of science and public health by the Democratic and Republican parties and the media, that the growth of opposition from the working class and youth is taking place. To bring this opposition into a unified movement requires building up an organizational framework to lead a mass struggle of the working class against the pandemic policies of the ruling elites. The Southern Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committees, a regional group of educators, parents and workers committed to the fight against the pandemic, held a well-attended meeting last weekend, with participation from throughout the South. The meeting outlined a program of action for educators to demand remote instruction, the allocation of resources for workers and families, and a global initiative to eliminate COVID-19 worldwide. We encourage all educators, parents and students to read the statement and reach out to us to get involved. The strike by 250 refuse collectors in San Diego and Chula Vista, California against waste disposal monopoly Republic Services is now in its 29th day. This week, refuse collectors in Western Washington joined the strike in solidarity. [Source: Facebook, Teamsters Local Union No. 542] Despite claims by Republic Services management that its Blue Crews of strikebreakers were bringing trash collection back to normal in Chula Vista, since the strike began, refuse cans and bins have not been picked up consistently, particularly for businesses and apartment buildings. On Tuesday, January 11, Chula Vistas city manager Maria Kachadoorian declared a public health emergency caused by uncollected refuse, citing pest infestations and contamination of streets and drains. City employees and volunteers will be assigned trash collection duties; supplementing the work of nonunion scab crews contracted by Republic. At the meeting last Tuesday city officials pressured Republic Services to settle the strike. Without the labor of the sanitation workers, your multi-million-dollar corporation would not be worth a dime, declared Chula Vista Mayor Mary Casillas Salas. The Phoenix-based firm, partially owned by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, reportedly made $1.2 billion last year. In contrast, many Republic workers are forced to work 60-hour weeks to make ends meet. Republic refuses to consider even the spineless wage demands made by the Teamster negotiators, of $0.50 per hour in the first year of the contract. Under an agreement signed between Chula Vista and Republic in 2014, granting the firm a 10-year refuse collection franchise, the company is not being held at fault in the face of uncontrollable circumstances, such as natural disasters or insurrections, including strikes. The agreement limits the citys options but allows it to charge Republic for the cost of trash removal in emergencies. Behind the wording of this contract are the political connections that exist between the Chula Vista City Council and Republic Services. According to a report in San Diegos La Prensa daily, every one of the city council members has received and accepted political contributions from Republic Services. In 2015, Steve Miesen, a Republic Services division director and shareholder, was simultaneously appointed to the city council to occupy for two years the vacancy left when Mary Salas resigned from her seat, after being elected mayor. At the time Miesen was also President of the Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce. Miesens appointment created a great deal of controversy, and the city ended up spending more than $150,000 defending its decision. It was City Attorney Glen Googins who defended Miesens appointment. At the city council meeting, Teamster representatives urged the city council to force Republic Services to give in to the workers wage demands. At the same time Teamster organizer Salvador Abrica indicated that strikers receive weekly strike pay of between $250 and $350, a pittance compared to what they normally make and what it takes to live in San Diego and Chula Vista. This starvation strike pay plays into the companys tactic of encouraging workers to cross the picket lines. Silva Sylvia, a strikers wife, initiated on Wednesday a campaign to raise funds to meet the shortfall in strike pay. The GoFundMe campaign raised $9,000 on its first day from more than 100 strike supporters with a goal of $20,000, with scores of workers expressing their solidarity. Pickets in support of the strike have appeared in Seattle, Washington, and other cities in western Washington state. In response to the presence of pickets from the San Diego strike, four days ago over 300 Republic Services workers serving Seattle, Bellevue, Lynwood and Kent in Washington state went on a work stoppage in solidarity with their San Diego comrades. Workers are ready to fight and understand the need for unity, as evinced by the solidarity shown by Republic workers elsewhere and countless other examples by teachers, students and health care workers worldwide. What is required now is a network of organized and independent rank-and-file committees where workers take direct control over their future and mobilize in a political fight against a decrepit and murderous system that cares nothing about the health, hygiene and welfare of humanity. Please contact the World Socialist Web Site to join such committees. On Thursday and Friday, hours after a series of negotiations over Ukraine between Russia and NATO failed, the US intelligence apparatus and media have launched a massive campaign aimed at preparing public opinion for a military escalation of the conflict. The talks had been set to fail from the beginning since both NATO and the United States made clear that Russian proposals on NATO expansion were non-starters after Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly begged NATO to give Russia something, at least something. On Friday, CNN carried a report, based on an unnamed United States intelligence official, claiming that the US had uncovered a covert group of Russian operatives preparing to carry out a false flag operation in eastern Ukraine in order to justify a supposedly pending invasion. SSO fighters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during training [Credit: Wikipedia/ArmyInform] As with all war propaganda pieces that rely on leaks from the US intelligence, the sources remained anonymous, no other evidence for the claims made was provided, and little was revealed about the exact nature of the allegedly impending attack. This allows the US to pin the blame on Russia for any escalation that may occur in eastern Ukraine in the coming weeks and months. The New York Times followed up the initial CNN story with a piece by David Sanger, a longtime insider of the US intelligence and military apparatus and author of countless pieces of war propaganda. Sanger quoted several Biden administration officials who fully endorsed the intelligence leaks. Russia is laying the groundwork to have the option of fabricating a pretext for invasion, White House Press Secretary Jan Psaki said, including through sabotage activities and information operations, by accusing Ukraine of preparing an imminent attack against Russian forces in eastern Ukraine. The Kremlin has rejected the veracity of the reports with Press Secretary Dmitri Peskov stating, So far all these statements have been unfounded and have not been confirmed by anything. Over the past months, NATO, with the US taking the lead, has pushed for an escalation of tensions with Russia, including through the deployment of military ships to the Black Sea and announcements that it would provide further military assistance to Ukraine. In response, Russia has sent tens of thousands of troops to its border with Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin recently warned that in Ukraine, Russia has no way further to retreat. He explicitly indicated that the Kremlin oligarchy fears a repetition of the Yugoslavia scenario on a much grander scale in Russia: that is, the disintegration of the country through a combination of bombing raids and civil war, fueled by the promotion of various nationalist, separatist and religious forces by the imperialist powers. Within this context, the current outpouring of war propaganda reports has a highly calculated and provocative character. They are designed to enflame what is already an explosive situation. The false flag reports were preceded on Thursday by a Yahoo report, which revealed that the CIA is overseeing a secret intensive training program in the U.S. for elite Ukrainian special operations forces and other intelligence personnel. The report was based on claims by five former intelligence and National Security officials, who again remained anonymous. While the sources claimed the program was defensive in nature, it is clearly intended to prepare and assist Ukrainian paramilitary forces in fighting Russian troops. One former CIA official plainly stated, The United States is training an insurgency in order to kill Russians. On Friday, the New York Times quoted at length James Stavridis, a retired four-star Navy admiral who previously served as the Supreme Allied Commander at NATO. Pointing to the US support for the muhajedeen in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union in the late 1970s and 1980s, Stavridis said, The level of military support for Ukraine would make our efforts in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union look puny by comparison. As noted by the WSWS such a campaign falls in line with a policy recently expressed by Democratic Senator Chris Murphy who stated, Ukraine can become the next Afghanistan for Russia if it chooses to move further. These threats have to be taken as a serious warning by the international working class. US imperialism has a long record of false flag operations, which it has orchestrated and helped carry out in various parts of the globe, including in Vietnam, Iraq and Syria. The death toll of these imperialist interventions numbers in the millions. In fact, a false flag operation played a role in the 2014 US- and EU-backed coup against elected Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. As has since been shown by Canadian Political Science Professor Ivan Katchanovski, US-aligned forces carried out a false flag operation by opening fire on Maidan protesters. The shootings, which were falsely blamed on the Yanukovych regime, were the immediate precursor for its violent overthrow. The coup resulted in an ongoing civil war in eastern Ukraine that has killed over 14,000 people over the past eight years. Since 2014, the United States has given Ukraine another $2.5 billion in military assistance. Far-right and neo-Nazi forces played the central role in both the coup and the ensuing civil war, enjoying the direct support and protection from the Ukrainian state. The imperialist buildup of far-right paramilitary forces in Ukraine has a long history. German imperialism could count on the support of fascist forces during its occupation of Ukraine in World War II. In the immediate years following the world war, the CIA and other US intelligence agencies supported the remnants of the collaborationist Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and its armed offshoot, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). The US Armys Counterintelligence Corps (CIC) in Munich protected infamous OUN leader Stepan Bandera from arrest by the Soviets. That Bandera was an anti-Semite and Nazi collaborator and that the UPA carried out the massacre of Jews and Poles during World War II were of little importance to the CIA, which was hoping to employ Ukrainian nationalists in order to help them roll back the Soviet Union. It is on these forces that any US-backed insurgency in Ukraine will primarily rely. Both the false flag and CIA insurgency reports come on the heels of another propaganda effort, designed to portray Ukrainian far-right forces as supposed freedom fighters against Russia, a trope that was pioneered by the Ukrainian far right itself during and after World War II. Earlier in December the New York Times published a story titled Training Civilians, Ukraine Nurtures a Resistance in Waiting. In his glowing portrayal of volunteer brigades, the author, Andrew E. Kramer, failed to mention the role of the countrys far-right paramilitary groups, such as the Azov Battalion and Right Sector, in leading such volunteer efforts in a clear attempt to conceal and whitewash their political and social background. Meanwhile, the government of President Voldymyr Zelensky, while corroborating the false flag claims of the United States, has made a last-ditch effort at negotiations with Russia and the US. According to Zelensky administration head Andriy Yermak, Zelensky proposed three-way talks between himself, Biden and Putin in a telephone call with Biden. Speaking with the Atlantic Council, a hawkish think tank in Washington D.C., Yermak acknowledged that he was not sure the United States even supported such a meeting. Russian Press Secretary Dmitri Peskov has stated Moscow had not heard anything yet from the United States regarding Zelenskys proposed three-way party talks. The crisis over Ukraine is a direct outcome of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the US drive to encircle and prepare for war against Russia in the last three decades. Ridden by internal crisis and terrified by the prospect of an emerging movement of the working class against its criminal response to the pandemic, the US ruling class, in particular, is seeking to divert the enormous social tensions outward. The Russian oligarchy has no answer to the war drive except a combination of desperate diplomatic maneuvers that are aimed at achieving a deal with the imperialist powers, on the one hand, and the promotion of nationalism and preparations for war at home, on the other. The only force capable of stopping the threat of a catastrophic war is the working class, armed with an international socialist political program and leadership. Registered nurse Estella Wilmarth tends to a patient in the acute care unit of Harborview Medical Center, Friday, Jan. 14, 2022, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) The number of inpatient beds in use for COVID-19 continues to climb in the United States, a byproduct of the Biden administrations learn to live with the virus policy that has unfathomably enriched the financial markets while coronavirus infections spread at unprecedented rates among the population. Yesterday, the Department of Health and Human Services reported 157,272 people in hospitals across the country for COVID-19, accounting for one in four hospitalized patients. Of these, 25,173 are being treated in intensive care units, representing 37 percent of all ICU admissions. The daily average in admissions has reached a pandemic high of 148,782, an 80 percent jump from just two weeks ago. Hospitals in almost half the country are quickly approaching their capacity. In 18 states, at least 85 percent of adult ICUs are in use. Across 24 states, 80 percent of staffed inpatient beds are filled. Previously hard-hit states like Wisconsin and Michigan face a new onslaught of ill patients accessing their health facilities while the South is re-emerging as an epicenter of the Omicron surge. Despite attempts by the Biden administration to downplay the dangers posed by Omicron, the pressure on health systems is creating a severe health crisis caused by staff shortages to which the federal government has no serious response outside of promising that it would deploy 1,000 military medical personnel. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court dealt a blow on Thursday to the presidents vaccine-only initiative by striking down a national vaccine-or-test requirement for large US businesses. According to the New York Times metrics, more than 2,224 deaths from COVID-19 were recorded on January 13. The daily average in deaths is 1,873, twice as high as at the end of November 2021. These trends are expected to continue with the astonishing spread of infections. The average in new cases has reached over 800,000 per day, an unprecedented pandemic high. On January 13, more than 889,000 new cases were reported, and more than nine million cases have been logged since the New Year. At the present rate, the US can expect to have documented 70 million COVID cases before next weekend. The cumulative death toll has reached 870,000. However, according to the Economist, excess deaths are now over 1.1 million. In historical terms, the scale of death is reaching the proportions of death that occurred in the population during the 1918 influenza pandemic. According to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, the national positivity rate has reached 26 percent, underscoring the massive undercounting and the scale of infection that continues to run rampant across the country. The District of Columbia and Colorado, Kansas and Pennsylvania report a seven-day average of 100 percent positivity on COVID-19 tests. As Kaiser Family Foundations state COVID-19 data from January 12 demonstrates, the impact on health systems affects every region in the country. Presently, the District of Columbia boasts the highest rate of COVID-19 admissions in the country, with 1,215 admissions per million population. Though D.C. public officials are spinning the statistics and celebrating a downturn in the peak of cases, hospitalizations continue to plague the region. One in four hospital workers are quarantining or isolating after testing positive for COVID-19. Health systems rely on traveling nurses at twice the rates than before the pandemic, paying $160 to $200 per hour for each nurse. Notably, D.C. was one of the first and hardest-hit regions during the initial Omicron wave, providing an indication of what other states and regions can expect. As the surge ripples across the country, the impact on health systems will be compounded by the exhaustion of even the reserve of traveling nurses who are also becoming infected in droves. In California, where more than 13,000 COVID-19 patients are admitted to hospitals, legal maneuvers are being employed to force infected health care workers to continue returning to their place of employment. If they resist by staying home, they are being threatened with disciplinary actions or told they would lose personal time off for not showing up. These measures, too, will be adopted by other states as they face similar predicaments. The demand for health care workers to remain on the job regardless of their infection status leads to many patients who were not COVID-positive becoming infected at hospitals. However, there is no federal database that is publicly tracking each hospital in this particular metrichospital-acquired COVID-19. According to KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Webber, there has been a wave of liability shield laws enacted by state legislatures across the country to protect hospitals from being held responsible for in-hospital infections. The reality on the ground, Webber reported, is that many families who have lost a loved one they cant use a lawsuit as a way of getting hospitals to improve their infection control practices and has left them with no recourse to use their loved ones death to cause change at the hospital. The change in isolation policies due to staffing crises brings these dangers to the forefront. These are also a significant source of fear and frustration among health care workers who risk sickening the patients they have taken an oath to protect. The majority of patients admitted to hospitals are COVID-negative. They are being treated for serious conditions like heart attacks or kidney failure and must spend several days in the hospital for tests and treatments. They have significant comorbidities that threaten them if they become infected despite their vaccination status. For instance, between April and September 2020, more than 10,000 patients, a vast undercount, acquired COVID-19 during their admission to a hospital. Twenty-one percent of them died, and most of them were over 65. Florida, which is facing a catastrophic spike in infections, has 11,552 in patient beds for COVID-19, or 516 per million. According to the Florida Hospital Association, COVID-19 hospitalizations have risen 361 percent in the last two weeks. The Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Florida, has seen a ten-fold increase in COVID-19 patients, pushing the 206-bed hospitals capacity over 120 percent. In Texas, where a record 74,254 people were confirmed positive Thursday, almost 2,160 people were admitted to hospital on January 12, bringing their total to 11,764 or 401 COVID-19 admissions per million population. Children make up 4 percent of all these admissions. There are over 2,200 people in the ICUs leaving only 315 adult ICU beds left. John Henderson, the president and CEO of the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals, told Vox, Ideally, everybody would take this thing seriously and follow the steps that we know work, which is primarily get vaccinated and boosted, but also be smart about gatherings and wear a mask. But in Texas, especially rural Texas, people have prioritized getting back to normal. On some level, I understand that. But the virus is in charge, and until we get control of the virus, we cant get back to normal. Indeed, the virus has taken over, not because of any unique qualities, but as a deliberate policy enforced by political leaders to ensure that profit-making is functioning at whatever cost to the population. They are seeking to shift the blame for repeated COVID surges onto the backs of the population as a whole. This is part and parcel of deflecting all responsibility for any public health measure that would stem the tide of infections. They refuse to provide a respite for health systems that have faced a repeated deluge of patients for nearly two years, pushing health care workers to the brink of human capabilities. The trends in hospitalizations are moving from the coasts and large cities towards the Midwest and more rural regions where health systems have faced decades of cutbacks and staffing shortages, which will be compounded by the sudden acceleration of patients seeking immediate life-saving treatment. These populations are also chronically debilitated by years of overwork and daily stresses that have seen life expectancy stall and now plummet. As a trigger event in history, the pandemic has exposed the rot and decay at the root of the capitalist system. COVID-19 is a disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. However, every COVID-19 infection bears the mark of social relations that threaten the working classs livelihood. The policy of the ruling elite and their political representatives is reactionary and opportunistic all down the line. The false notion that herd immunity could be achieved, that vaccines by themselves would bring a swift end to the pandemic and the idea that the virus will soon be endemic are all political constructs that place the demands of the financial markets ahead of the life and well-being of the population. Ahead of another winter storm likely to cause power outages, Dominion Energy is rethinking how it provides estimates for restoration and lawmakers are eyeing long-term solutions. The National Weather Service on Friday issued a winter storm watch for the region that will take effect Sunday afternoon. The service is predicting as much as five and eight inches of snow plus a quarter inch of ice with wind gusts between 35 and 45 miles per hour. Luis Rosa, a forecaster with the weather service, said the snow will be heavy and wet, similar to the Jan. 3 storm, which brought down trees and power lines. The big difference is more wind, which could create more problems, Rosa said. The snow will likely begin falling Sunday afternoon and then turn to ice or freezing rain by the evening. Motorists are encouraged to stay off the roads Sunday. If they do travel, have a full tank of gas in the car along with snacks, water, a cell phone charger, warm blankets and any medications. Dominion and other utility companies say they have replenished supplies and are prepared for this round of winter weather. In the aftermath of the Jan. 3 storm, which caused week-long outages for some people and wreaked havoc on the electrical grid, customers called for more clarity about how Dominion Energy the largest utility company in the area provides estimates for when power would be restored. The estimates, based on a formula and past experience, were often inaccurate and changed daily, delaying response efforts from local governments including Albemarle County. Customers also relied on those estimates in order to make contingency plans. Our community is resilient, but one of the reasons that our community is resilient is that our community is good at problem solving, Albemarle County executive Jeff Richardson said earlier this week. You can't solve a problem if you don't have good information. Richardson said he plans to ask Dominion for more detailed and specific information about restoration times in order to better inform emergency response plans. We have to work with the community to get better information out sooner in these types of events, Richardson said. For this storm, Dominion spokesman Rayhan Daudani said the company will hold off on estimates until it has better information about the extent of the damages. That means customers should expect to wait a bit longer for an estimate, but that estimate should be more accurate. The customers told us they wanted a realistic estimate, not to have to wonder whether what they were being told was going to change on a daily basis, Daudani said. Patrol crews will survey the damage as soon as its safe to do so, he said. That initial survey will inform the restoration estimates. Bad information is worse than no information, Daudani said. I think we can get good information before we make an estimate. It may mean that we're a little more conservative with those estimates, but I think it's going to ultimately give the customer better information so they can plan appropriately. Parts and materials have been restocked and emergency crews will be ready for quicker response to outages, Daudani said. Staffing will be similar to the Jan. 3 storm when more than 4,800 Dominion Energy crews, support staff and contractors responded along with 900 people from other energy companies. In a change from the previous storm, crews will be pre-staged near areas expected to experience the worst of the storm, he said. They're going to be in the right spots, he said. We've already got meals and lodging in those areas, so that they can be deployed in advance. And as soon as the impact hits, we can respond, safely and quickly as we can. Del. Sally Hudson, D-Charlottesville, worked during the last storm to provide more information about the outages to customers and is now eyeing long-term, legislative solutions. She said the General Assembly needs better data on power outages in Virginia. Shes supporting House Bill 414 that would require each electrical utility to provide a plan for monitoring and reporting electric service reliability with the State Corporation Commission. The bill also would require an annual report from the utilities. Currently, utilities arent required to provide information that we need to diagnose the problem, she said. Hudson said that legislature should be cautious about calls for the universal undergrounding of power lines. Those investments can be much more expensive than people anticipate, she said. Those costs fall on the ratepayers to the tune of thousands of dollars per customer, depending on where youre talking about. Hudson added Dominions current contracts provide a strong incentive for the company to invest in large capital projects. Because they earn a capital rate of return on those investments, which means they sidestep solutions that can be more effective and less expensive, like tree trimming, Hudson said. Hudson also is sponsoring House Bill 588, which would give the State Corporation Commission the power to regulate the rates of publicly traded electric utilities such as Dominion. Under the bill, the commission could adjust rates, provide the utility the opportunity to recover costs and earn its authorized rate of return. We need to put regulators back in their proper place, Hudson said. That's all sort of preamble for talking about the third part of this project, which is also a long term priority of mine, [and that] is breaking the cycle of corruption between the General Assembly and the utilities. As part of that effort, Hudson is the chief co-patron on House Bill 71, which would ban contributions from public utilities to state candidates. She said Dominion is the largest donor to both parties. General Assembly members should not be taking money from companies that they have the sole power to regulate, Hudson said. As the community continues to recover from the Jan. 3 storm, Hudson said its important for people not to understate that storms intensity and damage, which knocked the power out for thousands of people and took down thousands of trees. We can't normalize the kind of storm we saw. We got a foot of heavy, freezing snow 12 hours after it was 70 degrees. That does a lot of damage, she said. If our climate crisis is going to continue spurring these really chaotic weather events, then any serious plan for resiliency has to respond to that. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The case of 13-year-old Yasmin from North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) shows the growing opposition to government pandemic policies. Because the courageous pupil from Hagen opposes participating in unsafe in-person teaching in a crowded classroom, amid the raging spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, she has been protesting in the cold outside the school since the beginning of the week, refusing to be infected. The Heinrich-Heine-Realschule in the city of Hagen supports Yasmin despite massive pressure from the authorities and announced in a tweet: With an unusual action, our student Yasmin wants to draw attention to how high the coronavirus infection risk currently is in school buildings and classrooms in NRW. In freezing temperatures on Thursday morning, Yasmin, who suffers from asthma, told the local newspaper Westfalenpost: Ill hold out here as long as I have to. Many young people had followed all the hygiene rules during the pandemic and lost their youth, the newspaper quotes the schoolgirl. All without any grumbling. Now, however, we are being dragged to school like lambs to the slaughter so that we are all infected. Because of Yasmins underlying medical conditions, infection with coronavirus poses a life-threatening danger to her, despite having had a booster vaccination. She is cold, but she will not enter the school building until it is confirmed that no infections take place there. There are many children like me. She was looking for fellow campaigners for her cause, the seventh grader said. In the meantime, at the insistence of the district authorities, the school administration has asked Yasmin to move into the vacant room of a substitute teacher, where she can take part in lessons using her laptop. The Youth Welfare Office had previously threatened the teenager with taking her into care if she continued her protest. The images of the pupil being coerced into dangerous lessonswho instead sits stoically at her desk in the cold and refuses to be infectedhave elicited an overwhelming wave of solidarity and sympathy on social media. Another tweet from Heinrich-Heine-Realschule defending Yasmin against the Youth Welfare Offices threat went viral and was shared many thousands of times. Under the trending hashtag #SolidaritywithYasmin, parents, students and teachers are defending the teenager against the attempts of the media and the authorities to intimidate her. The fact that the young girl has to draw attention to herself in this way at all because of compulsory school attendance is an indictment of politics, writes Verena A. on Facebook. To go through with it at that age demonstrates a strong character that I miss in many adults. They too should have fought more for their rights and those of their children for almost two years. No child should have to catch the virus in jam-packed schools without any social distancingwhether vaccinated or not. Teacher Dorothea S. from Lunen rejects the hypocritical indignation with which many media outlets and commentators have reacted to the pupil holding out in the cold. Remember: cold in the classroom with coronavirus aerosols is good, cold outside without coronavirus is a threat to childrens well-being. Another lesson learned. So, it makes a difference whether you freeze to death outside or inside, or whether you do it voluntarily or through compulsion. Dorothea goes on to point out the dangers posed to children, particularly by the highly contagious and vaccine-resistant Omicron variant of coronavirus: I think it is absolutely irresponsible. We know that coronavirus damages the organs even in mild cases. The risk of diabetes after an infection is also said to be increased, even in children, according to one study. And parents who exercise their fundamental right to protect their children are criminalised, fined and accused of endangering the welfare of their children. We will have serious problems in a few years when a whole generation has serious health issues. I see my basic rights violated. My husband and I are high-risk patients and, even if we are vaccinated and boosted, we want to avoid infection at all costsbut that is not possible if our children are subjected to forced infection. Its a scandal! It would be a cool action if other children would join Yasmin outside in solidarity, Karoline, a political and media scientist who lives with her daughter in NRW, told the World Socialist Web Site: From the political side, any kind of caution and desire to prevent infection at all costs is framed as being hysterical or pathologically fearfulespecially when it comes to children. However, current figures show that the concerns are justified, with COVID hospitalising far more children than common childhood illnessesnot to mention Long COVID. Thus, those who do not want to be infected are pressured to deviate from their position. Meanwhile, politicians are denying children the protection against infection that science demands. On the one hand, in-person teaching is presented as child protection, on the other hand, politicians are not willing to protect those very children from the potentially deadly or medically dangerous virus through appropriate infection protections. It becomes obvious that this is a bogus argument: Many politicians have meanwhile said that schools should be kept open so that parents can go to work, and children are looked after. The shop should be kept running and children are thrown under the bus. The worst thing is that parents are being fined for protecting their children and not sending them into the classroom. They are threatened with having their children taken awaywhile distance learning is technically possible and is being successfully implemented in many countries. If it were really about the welfare of children, those who want to protect themselves would be given the opportunity to do so: Distance learning would be made possible and, on the other hand, balanced out with recreational opportunities realised in small bubbles, as has already been successfully practised by some families during the school closures. Existing problems such as family violence, psychological problems, etc., would be targetedinstead of promoting face-to-face teaching as a magic cure that doesnt exist. The widespread solidarity with courageous student Yasmin comes alongside a growing international strike movement of teachers, students and workers. On Thursday, tens of thousands of teachers across France went on strike for coronavirus protections and safe education. According to reports, 75 percent of all teachers participated in the strike and 50 percent of schools remained completely closed. Meanwhile, in the US, a large working class movement against mass deaths from coronavirus is emerging after teachers in Chicago voted overwhelmingly against face-to-face teaching and thousands of students in the Brooklyn borough of New York spontaneously walked out. In Germany, too, more and more students, parents and teachers see themselves as part of this global movement. Karina N. from Rhineland-Palatinate, for example, told WSWS: A single child of 13 has shown more courage and brains than a whole government. This little girl was immediately admired by my daughter, and I wish her many, many followers. The fact that she is now threatened with being taken into care is the height of impudence. Where are we living? What about free will, self-development, the right to personal integrity, the right to education, the right to health? My vote goes to the gal who is simply right and to all the teachers in the US and all over the world who are striking and showing responsibility by pleading for distance learning. For them, its not about simply looking after children, theyre concerned with safety, health, equality and education. In a Twitter message to the WSWS, Eva calls on students and teachers to join Yasmin and the strikers in France and the US in a mass strike movement for safe education in Germany, too: If we live in times when a girl, Greta [Thunberg]-like draws attention to the unacceptable and inhumane herd immunity policy of the education ministers through a strong declaration and the state reacts to this by wanting to take her into care, then this must be the inevitable start for thousands of students to sit down in front of schools starting tomorrow and join her! If the politicians, like Roman emperors, preach abstinence while sipping wine, the consequence can only be strikes, as in France. The [right-wing demonstrators] on the streets must be outnumbered by tens of thousands of striking pupils and teachers. France and the USA have started, Austria is about to. Germany must now follow suit! Next Tuesday at 7 p.m., the Network of Action Committees for Safe Education in Germany is organising an online emergency meeting for school and workplace closures, to organise and advance resistance to the policy of deliberate mass infection. The meeting will discuss the global opposition to this murderous policy and the need for a global elimination strategy to eradicate COVID-19. Weather Alert ...The National Weather Service in Indianapolis IN has issued a Flood Warning for the following rivers in Indiana... White River at Elliston and Edwardsport. Wabash River at Montezuma. .Multiple rounds of rain over the last few days including today will lead to minor flooding along lower portions of the White River and upper portions on the Wabash River. Additional rainfall later this week should keep portions of the White and Wabash above flood stage through Saturday. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Motorists should not attempt to drive around barricades or drive cars through flooded areas. Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles. Additional information is available at www.weather.gov/ind. This statement will be updated within the next 12 to 24 hours. && ...FLOOD WARNING IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT TO SUNDAY EVENING... * WHAT...Minor flooding is forecast. * WHERE...Wabash River at Montezuma. * WHEN...From late tonight to Sunday evening. * IMPACTS...At 18.0 feet, Montezuma agricultural levee is overtopped. Fourteen hundred acres of low bottomlands flood. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - At 10:45 AM EDT Tuesday the stage was 9.1 feet. - Forecast...The river will oscillate around flood stage with a maximum value of 16.4 feet early Saturday morning. - Flood stage is 14.0 feet. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood && Attorney Gen.-elect Jason Miyares notified about 30 staff members in the office - 17 of them attorneys - that they won't have jobs in his administration. Miyares, a Republican, will be sworn in on Saturday to replace Democratic Attorney General Mark Herring, whom Miyares defeated in the November election. Miyares spokeswoman Victoria LaCivita said the 30 staff members were told Friday that Miyares would be moving in a different direction. "During the campaign, it was made clear that now Attorney General-elect Miyares and Attorney General Herring have very different visions for the office," she said by email for this story. "We are restructuring the office, as every incoming AG has done in the past." She declined to provide the breakdown of which divisions the attorneys work in, saying it was multiple divisions across the office. While it's routine for lawyers at the top of the office to be replaced when one political party loses control, the number of lawyers fired surprised the outgoing Herring administration. These are dedicated and professional public servants who do important work, like investigate wrongful convictions, protect Virginians civil rights, help to ensure free and fair elections, and prevent human trafficking and opioid abuse," Herring spokeswoman Charlotte Gomer said by email. "Their absence will be a significant loss to the mission of the Office of Attorney General. Among those let go is Helen Hardiman, an assistant attorney general who focuses on investigating and litigating against housing discrimination in the Office of Civil Rights. Hardiman said she received an email from D.J. Jordan, Miyares' chief of staff, telling her that her tenure ends at noon Saturday. When state housing boards find discrimination, they refer cases to her to file and maintain lawsuits. My biggest heartburn right now is I have 20 court cases. That includes a trial scheduled in March. She just began investigating dangerous conditions in Richmond's largest Latino neighborhood, at The Communities at Southwood apartments. The investigation stemmed from an investigation by The Richmond Times-Dispatch, whose reporters spent months to find homes rife with mold, rat and roach infestations and other maintenance issues the landlord is legally responsible for repairing. Tenants told The Times-Dispatch that management ignored requests or failed to address problems brought to their attention. Hardiman has worked in the attorney general's office since September 2019 and said she was not expecting to be let go by the new administration. I expected some personnel changes, which likely come with any change of administration," she said. "I am not a political appointee. I dont have a political job. She spent Friday scrambling to make sure someone in the office could cover her cases. "I dont want those people who have been discriminated against to be left hanging," she said. "I also felt like a cursory email with 24 hour notice was unprofessional. And Im disappointed that the new administration seems to be signaling that they care less about civil rights issues like fair housing than the current administration." Asked if the investigation of The Communities at Southwood would continue, Miyares spokeswoman LaCivita replied: "Just because personnel changes have been made does not mean their work will not be picked up. As the Attorney General Elect has said, when he gets into his office he and his team will look at every lawsuit, investigation and opinion with a fresh perspective." By Ike Parrish Reporter With multiple fatal accidents every year on Route 522 in Orange County, VDOT and law enforcement are working to improve safety for the dangerously linear stretch of Zachary Taylor Highway. DMV crash data statistics show that there were three fatal crashes in 2021 as of August 31 and two fatal crashes in 2020 on Route 522 within Orange County. In all of Orange County there were five fatal crashes in 2021 (as of August 31) and seven fatal crashes in 2020. The numbers illustrate the hazardous nature of Route 522. The highway saw its highest concentration of accidents in 2021 at the intersections of Route 617, 636 and 629. I would say 522 and Route 20 are probably the two most dangerous roads in the county, said Sheriff Mark Amos. To enhance safety on Orange Countys portion of 522, VDOT made improvements to intersection of Route 522 and Route 636, River Road, near the countys Culpeper border, earlier this year. We added pavement, improved the drainage and added pavement markings and that was to improve the geometry of the intersection to improve sight distance, said VDOT Resident Engineer Alan Saunders. VDOT plans also to make improvements to Route 522 intersections at Route 663, True Blue Road, north of Unionville, and Route 650, Independence Road, south of the Route 20-522 intersection. We plan to use county safety and operational improvement funds to try to open up the intersections, Saunders said. Unfortunately, all the vegetation, the trees and the fence lines, are all on private property. Theyre off the right of way, so we have to have permission from the property owners to do that. Clearing vegetation around the fence lines would improve sight distance at both intersections, Saunders said. While VDOT and law enforcement do what they can to ensure safety on roadways, Saunders urges the traveling public to take certain measures to reduce vehicle accidents. We need the traveling public to put their phones down, to wear their seatbelts and to adhere to the regulatory speed limits and until they begin to do that, overall, the safety isnt going to significantly improve, Saunders said. Saunders said that the statistics show the key culprits in roadway accidents are speed, distracted driving and lack of seatbelts. Statistics show that 10% of drivers do not wear seatbelts and that 50% of all fatalities in driving accidents are due to the driver or passenger not wearing a seatbelt, he said. Its an alarming statistic because vehicles are safer than theyve ever been, yet we continue to see this alarming trend in fatalities, said Saunders. Local law enforcement and state police monitor safety on Route 522 with regular patrols. State Police monitors Route 522 through routine patrols and selective enforcement, said Division II public information officer for the Virginia State Police, Sgt. Brent Coffey. Routine patrol is our day-to-day patrolling on Route 522 in Culpeper and Orange counties. Selective enforcement is when we receive special funding from the DMV to perform concentrated efforts in certain areas for certain violations of law, such as speeding and seatbelt violations. To increase safety, Sheriff Amos said local law enforcement runs radar for speeding vehicles as well as enforcing any traffic infraction on Orange Countys share of Route 522. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Kerrville, TX (78028) Today Mostly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 86F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 69F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Marcelo Bielsa believes Leeds have made a great decision by starting talks with star player Raphinha over an improved contract. Raphinha, Leeds stand-out performer since they returned to the Premier League, has been linked with some of Europes biggest clubs, including Liverpool, Manchester United and Bayern Munich. The 25-year-old Brazilian signed a four-year contract when joining Leeds from Rennes for 17million in October 2020 and talks between his agent Deco and the Yorkshire club about a better deal are ongoing. Bielsa, whose side return to West Ham in the Premier League on Sunday, said: I think its a great decision. Raphinha is the best player in the team in all the senses. Physically hes the best, technically hes at the level of the best, his interpretation of the game is very good, very wise. Hes in the group of such a powerful nation in Brazil, he shines in the Premier League and he has the attention of all the big clubs in the world. Raphinhas electrifying form for Leeds has been rewarded with four senior appearances for Brazil. He scored twice on his full debut for Tites side in a 4-1 World Cup qualifying win against Uruguay last autumn. Bielsa said: All of those things are something you guys know as much as me, nothing that Im saying is new. As a result the decision of the club can only be valued. Leeds return to the London Stadium seven days after a 2-0 defeat to West Ham saw them exit the FA Cup at the first hurdle for the fourth season running under Bielsa. They could be boosted by the possible returns of Patrick Bamford (hip), Rodrigo (heel) and Pascal Struijk (foot), but their squad remains threadbare with eight other first-team players ruled out. Kalvin Phillips, skipper Liam Cooper, Joe Gelhardt, Jamie Shackleton, Charlie Cresswell and Sam Greenwood remain unavailable, while Diego Llorente and Tyler Roberts are suspended. The latter is also nursing a calf strain. Leeds are eight points clear of the bottom three, while David Moyes high-flying Hammers are bidding to consolidate in the top four. MAYFIELD, Ky. A candle factory destroyed by a tornado last month is laying off 250 employees who cannot be transferred to a second facility. But a spokesman for Mayfield Consumer Products said Friday evening the company is "committed to the rehiring of everyone and to meeting or exceeding the employment levels it had prior to the tornado." Mayfield Consumer Products filed a notice this week with Kentucky's Office of Employer and Apprenticeship Services, stating the closure of its plant after the Dec. 10 storm affected 501 people. The company was working to open a new factory about 10 miles away in Hickory, Kentucky, when the tornado struck. It plans to get the site "up and running as soon as practical," according to the notice. It should have shut down: Inside frantic hours before candle factory was destroyed by tornado About half of the Mayfield plant's employees will transfer there, according to a list included with the notice. Those not offered a transfer are expected to be permanently laid off, the document states. However, Bob Ferguson, a candle factory spokesman, told The Courier Journal in a statement the company will offer positions to everyone who received a termination notice. "The company is absolutely committed to standing up new manufacturing facilities in Mayfield, doing it as promptly as it can," Ferguson said, mentioning that "outreach" to the employees who received notices this week is "ongoing." "We hope they all come back," Ferguson added. Megan Wilder, who began working at the Mayfield factory about a month before the tornado, said she was surprised to receive a message from a co-worker asking if she'd received a letter about her employment status. The co-worker had been terminated with no option for rehiring. When Wilder checked her status on the company's internal website, she learned she'd been let go as well. "I was not given a phone call, nothing," Wilder said. " I just got online and it said you don't have a job anymore." Story continues Tornado resources: How Kentucky tornado victims can apply for Disaster Unemployment Assistance Wilder worked in general production at the factory and said she'd hoped to be transferred so she could maintain an income while seeking another job. She recently qualified for disaster unemployment benefits and will receive about $170 per week just enough to pay rent, she said. Alaina Smith, a supervisor at the Mayfield factory, said she received a call from the company Thursday letting her know it would resume production Jan. 24 at the Hickory plant. The company will begin with a day shift but intends to increase to three shifts by February, she said. Rescue teams search for people among the remains of the candle factory in Mayfield, Ky. After a deadly tornado ripped through the small community. Dec. 11, 2021 MCP came under fire after its Mayfield factory collapsed with 110 people inside during the tornado. Nine people died, including a deputy jailer assigned to supervise people in the jail's custody who were employed by the factory as part of a work program. Several survivors have since filed a lawsuit against the company, accusing it of showing a "flagrant indifference" to workers' safety. Sheila Weisenberger, who is living with family in Murray, said she received a letter Thursday informing her she would be laid off and that the company "didn't know" if a new spot would open for her. Related: Why Kentucky law will make it hard for candle factory workers hurt in tornado to win lawsuit Weisenberger said she was injured at the factory the night of the tornado and has since received workers compensation. But apart from $1,000 given to all non-contracted employees by MCP, Weisenberger said the company has not provided injured workers other financial support, despite making it sound like more would be available. We havent seen any of it, she said. This story has been updated. Reach reporter Bailey Loosemore at bloosemore@courier-journal.com, 502-582-4646 or on Twitter @bloosemore. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Mayfield candle factory may lay off employees following KY tornado TAUNTON A crowd of more than 150 rallied on the Green Thursday, demanding pay raises for health care workers at Morton Hospital. Nurses and health care professionals with the Massachusetts Nurses Association have been in contract negotiations with the hospital since October. Union members argued that Morton salaries lag behind those of Boston hospitals so badly that local nurses are choosing not to work in Taunton. Registered nurse Teresa Ferreira has worked at Morton for 31 years. "I want to stay here the rest of my career," said Ferreira. "Our pay scale is lagging behind." Registered Nurse Maurya Muise speaks at a Massachusetts Nurses Association rally for Morton Hospital nurses on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022 on Taunton Green. Heidi Taylor, president of the hospital, countered that Morton has "pulled out all the stops" to attract and keep local nurses. "[W]e are proud of our relentless efforts to recruit top local talent to our community hospital over the past several months," Taylor said in a letter to the editor sent to the Gazette Friday morning. Safety concerns: Morton nurses sounded alarm over security for a year before random stabbing Registered nurse Allison Gomes, an East Taunton native with 23 years of service at Morton, said that during negotiations of recent contracts, the most experienced nurses those at the highest step for salary have pushed for safety improvements instead of pay increases. But she said now is the time for pay increases. "Young ones out of school are going to Boston," Gomes said. From left: Morton Hospital registered nurses Allison Gomes, Debbie Nearhoof and Gina Tardo participate in a Massachusetts Nurses Association rally for Morton Hospital nurses on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022 on Taunton Green. A major talking point among union members was the hospital's use of "traveling nurses." These nurses choose to take short-term jobs at health care facilities across the country. The union, in a pre-rally press statement, said there were 190 jobs open at Morton. "[T]he number of national 'travel nurses' who are temporarily filling some vacancies is costing the hospital exorbitant amounts of money when competitive wages could help stabilize the flow of local community healthcare workers who are deciding to work elsewhere," the MNA said. Story continues Jenn Roderiques, a registered nurse with 21 years of service at the hospital, said use of traveling nurses spiked along with COVID. "They're coming and going," said Roderiques, recently named the vice-chairperson of Morton's MNA bargaining unit. "We're vested." Jenn Roderiques, a registered nurse who has worked at Morton for 21 years, speaks at a Massachusetts Nurses Association rally for Morton Hospital nurses on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022 on Taunton Green. Tiago Cardoso, a 2003 graduate of Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School in Taunton, has worked at Morton for 10 years. He wants to stay at his hometown hospital instead of taking work in Boston for higher pay. "If I wanted to, it would be easy," Cardoso said of taking a nursing job in Boston. "We have a staffing crisis in the middle of COVID. People are leaving for monetary reasons." Several local politicians attended the rally, including State Sen. Marc Pacheco (D-Taunton), State Rep. Carol Doherty (D-Taunton), and Taunton city councilors John McCaul, Phil Duarte, Barry Sanders and Larry Quintal. All but Quintal spoke at the rally. McCaul, who garnered the union's endorsement for his 2013 City Council run "in recognition of McCauls tireless efforts" in the unsuccessful bid to keep Morton's pediatric unit from closing nearly a decade ago led the crowd in a chant of "Keep our healthcare professionals local." Send your news tips to reporter Chris Helms by email at CHelms@tauntongazette.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Taunton Daily Gazette. This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Massachusetts Nurses Association leads rally on Taunton Green Mona Hardin testifies before the Senate Select Committee on State Police Oversight Committee Monday, Dec. 13, 2021. Hardin's son Ronald Greene died following his violent arrest by State Police in 2021. Ronald Greene's mother and Louisiana's Black lawmakers are accusing the State Police's top leaders of participating in a coverup of the circumstances of Greene's violent in-custody killing in 2019. Greene's mother Mona Hardin likened the State Police to "organized crime" in an open letter to Superintendent Lamar Davis, while the Legislative Black Caucus issued a press release questioning whether second in command Lt. Col. Doug Cain had a role in the coverup. Greene died in 2019 following a brutal beating by State Police during an arrest in Union Parish near Monroe. More: State Police detective investigating Ronald Greene death says superiors ignored his recommendations His cause of death was first covered up by State Police troopers on the scene who said Greene died from injuries suffered in a car accident during their pursuit of him before the severity of his beating and investigators' records became public. A federal investigation is ongoing in the Greene killing. The latest criticism of the State Police is connected to excerpts of various written reports from lead investigator Sgt. Albert Paxton in which Paxton wrote he was blocked from charging an officer who beat Greene, including former Superintendent Kevin Reeves and Cain. Reeves retired in 2020 amid the escalating controversy. Gov. John Bel Edwards replaced Reeves with Davis, who is Black. Paxton wrote in a later report that during a meeting with 3rd District Attorney John Belton Cain "seems angry the DA is even considering charging" one of the officers. Earlier this month Paxton filed for early retirement. During a legislative hearing last month, Paxton said he told his supervisor: "I wont participate in a coverup, I wont hide evidence and I wont lie." More: State Police detective blocked from charging officer in Ronald Greene death retires In her letter, Hardin wrote: "The manner in which your agency protects its own considering the wrongdoing is likened to the action of a gang or other entity of organized crime. Colonel Davis, my family and I are waiting for you to do the right thing. Story continues "We are waiting for you to prove that your agency is more than a gang of thugs willing to die upon a hill of lies. Colonel Davis, we are waiting on you to prove that you are more than an overpaid, besuited Blackface puppet, positioned to continue the coverup." Legislative Black Caucus Chairman Ted James, D-Baton Rouge, said Paxton's written reports "for me really confirm what I've known all along, that this goes all the way to the top." "These low-level troopers would not have been able to concoct these coverups without help from the higher-ups," James said. James is leaving the Legislature effective Jan. 31 to take over as President Biden's regional administrator of the Small Business Administration. Sen. Katrina Jackson, D-Monroe, who is Black, is a member of the Senate Select Committee on State Police Oversight that held a hearing in the Louisiana Capitol last month. "I already know there are people who participated in the coverup who haven't been held accountable; I just don't believe we've been able to definitively identify them yet," Jackson said. "It's frustrating, but I don't care how long it takes, we have to get to the truth." Davis said during last month's Senate Select Committee hearing that he has installed "fundamental changes" to prevent future violent excessive force arrests. In a statement provided to USA Today Network Friday, Davis said his agency "will continue to provide assistance into the ongoing review of the (Ronald Greene) incident and we will continue to offer our full cooperation to all investigating authorities. This matter is still under investigation by federal and state authorities and no investigative findings have been released at this time," Davis said in the statement. "I have the utmost confidence in my leadership team and our handling of this investigation during my administration. "Our command staff and supervisors routinely engage in discussions with investigators and prosecuting authorities on the circumstances surrounding incidents and investigations." Greg Hilburn covers Louisiana politics for the USA Today Network. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1. This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Black lawmakers, Ronald Greene's mom place State Police coverup at top Tiffany Haddish has been arrested for DUI in Georgia. The 42-year-old actor was reportedly found asleep at the wheel, with her car stopped on a roadway. Peachtree City PD told TMZ that she is believed to have smoked marijuana, and shared with NBC News that "subsequent investigation led to Tiffany Haddish being arrested for Driving Under the Influence." The Night School star is currently in Georgia to shoot for Disney's upcoming horror film titled Haunted Mansion. Ahead of the movie's release, Haddish is slated to appear as a police detective in the new Apple TV+ series The Afterparty, set to premiere on January 28. In other news, Kylie Jenner has become the first woman to reach 300 million followers on Instagram. While I was still too young for school I had already learned something about discrimination. Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born in inequality, grew up in inequality, preached about equality, marched for equality, went to jail for equality and died for equality. And we still have inequality. I celebrate this MLK Day by reflecting on my struggle with skin color. Born in northern Tanzania into a Black family with white ancestry, I thought I was Black, yet others thought I wasnt. Some kids nicknamed me the soft white kid, and didnt choose me on their soccer teams. I moved to Zimbabwe for education, and there the remnants of a form of apartheid made the color of my skin also an issue. Before a white-ruled Rhodesia became Zimbabwe, racist policy ensured Whites and Blacks lived segregated. My Black schoolmates wondered if I was Colored (lighter skin with white ancestry), even though I was amid a rugby rivalry with a predominantly White school. The offseason was more about us training to beat the White team. The history of the United States, including its role in protecting freedom around the world, convinced me that America was where I wanted to live. More: Ames library to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. with donation drive, essay contest More: President Biden to speak with Democrats about voting rights as House sends key bill to the Senate I came to America, but America had conditions. Before becoming a citizen, I was asked to take an oath to earn the freedoms and protections. I accepted and affirmed the Oath of Allegiance. I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic, I promised. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Ala., in February 1968. I am aware that some were forced to come here, some were killed and lost their land here, yet like me, some keep coming here for the freedoms and opportunities. Whether we are born here, forced to be here or migrated here, we are Americans. We are all promised freedoms and rights: Story continues The freedom to express myself, yet it doesnt mean I should speak hate speech. The freedom to worship as I wish, yet it doesnt mean I should persecute others for their faith. The right to receive a quick and fair trial by jury, yet it doesnt mean I should commit a crime. The right to bear arms, yet it doesnt mean I should commit gun violence. The right to vote, yet it doesnt mean I should take away others right to vote. In America, we are promised freedom even to run for elected office and work for the government. Many fought and died so we might have the right to Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness. There should not be conditions other than being an American to enjoy our rights and freedoms. I do not have to be a Republican to have Liberty, a Democrat to Live, an Independent to be Happy. America is a promise that in this land I have the freedom to be an American. But America also challenges me to fight for my freedoms and rights. In fact, all U.S. citizens have the responsibility to support and defend the Constitution, vote in local, state and federal elections, respect and obey the law, and defend this country if needed. To keep our system of representative democracy and individual freedom, you should strive to become an active participant in American civic life, I was told. I am dismayed that many Americans still struggle because some continue to refuse to accept that all humans are created equal. Some in America still deny the dark past and dismiss its impact on the present. The past refused Black and Indigenous people their rights and freedoms, which held them back as white people pursued the American dream. And yet today some dismiss people of color when they voice concerns about equality. To heal as a nation, we must admit that some of our forebears obtained land by force and harvested slave labor for free. The oppressed lost not just land and life. They suffered trauma. They lost dignity. They lost wealth. Their descendants were denied wealth. To heal as a nation we must admit that some gained wealth not just because of their hard work, but also because they were unjust to others. Because some are still in denial, today, millions continue to live in economic hardship; millions continue to suffer discrimination because of the color of their skin. The deniers have often argued that anyone can make it in America if they just work hard enough. I believe King would still respond by saying: "It's a cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his bootstraps. We have a choice. We can accept or deny that all humans are created equal. To accept helps America become true to what it says on paper. To deny helps America become unconstitutional. Walter P. Suza Walter Suza of Ames writes frequently on the intersections of spirituality, anti-racism and social justice. He can be contacted at wsuza2020@gmail.com. This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Opinion: MLK Day resurfaces struggles of skin color and equality BOWLING GREEN, Ky. First lady Jill Biden saw firsthand Friday the devastation left by tornadoes in this south central Kentucky city, one of many ravaged by deadly twisters last month. Recovery, she said afterward in a public address alongside other local and national officials at Bowling Green's FEMA center, won't be easy. But after a difficult month, she said, there's hope on the horizon. "It will take time to make this beautiful place whole again," she said. "But what we've all seen today is there is faith here, too, and there is so much strength, and there is so much hope, if only we know where to look for it in the first responders and the volunteers, in members of this community and Americans across this country sending donations and praying for the recovery for the people of Kentucky. There is hope, and there is help." Biden visited the region Friday to survey recovery efforts. She landed in Nashville about 11:15 a.m., where she was greeted by Nashville Mayor John Cooper and other officials from Tennessee, before heading north to visit the Bluegrass State. First Lady Jill Biden has landed in Nashville. Shes on her way to Bowling Green to survey recovery efforts after Decembers devastating tornadoes. Tennessee First Lady @MariaLeeTN and Mayor @JohnCooper4Nash are here to welcome her. pic.twitter.com/ETPJp6H5Ix Adam Friedman (@friedmanadam5) January 14, 2022 Biden and Deputy FEMA Administrator Erik Hooks arrived in Bowling Green about 12:40 p.m., along with Gov. Andy Beshear and Kentucky first lady Britainy Beshear. Several other local officials were in attendance as well, including U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie, state Rep. Patti Minter, Warren County Judge-Executive Mike Buchanon and Bowling Green Mayor Todd Alcott, with many addressing the crowd later that afternoon. The group met on Spring Creek Avenue, which was ravaged in the storms. Many of the homes left standing in the neighborhood still have not been repaired, with shingles and shards of glass strewn among the yards. Story continues Samantha McCormick lives in the neighborhood and lost her business, a dance studio, to the tornado. Still, she acknowledges, it could've been worse "I tell my husband, 'They could've been planning our funerals.'" Biden's visit on Friday, she said, "shows that they care." "You can look at it on TV all you want, and you're going to go, 'Oh, that's sad.' But then when you come here and you see it, it's different," McCormick said. "... To see this makes me feel like I have national love, that she's going to go back to her husband or her people and talk about what she's seen with her own eyes." Biden and the other officials then traveled to Greenwood Mall, where FEMA has been working in Bowling Green. She told those in the crowd that Beshear and FEMA officials have been "incredible" in their response to the tornadoes. "This is who we are as Americans," she said. "We come together and we help each other." Guthrie, addressing the crowd that afternoon at the FEMA center, has seen the damage firsthand. The home across the street from where he lives was recently razed due to the tornadoes, he said, a clear sign of "what people are going through." "We're going to rebuild," the congressman said. "We're going to be better for it." First Ladies Biden and Beshear greeted a couple of little girls in the neighborhood. pic.twitter.com/1E3yJ97DND Tessa Duvall (@TessaDuvall) January 14, 2022 Biden and Hooks had previously been scheduled to visit Bowling Green on Jan. 6, but that trip was postponed ahead of a snowstorm that led to a state of emergency in Kentucky. More Friday headlines: 5 takeaways from Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear's 2022 budget address to the legislature The visit aimed to "highlight the partnership between federal and local agencies that ensures Kentuckians are receiving the aid and relief they need." At least 77 people were killed by the multiple tornadoes that struck Kentucky the weekend of Dec. 10 the worst death toll in state history related to a tornado event. Most of the destruction came from one tornado that traveled more than 220 miles from Arkansas through Kentucky, including the city of Mayfield. In Bowling Green, the tornado outbreak killed 17 people the second-largest concentration of deaths from the storms in one county. One family in town, the Browns, lost seven members; they lived on a street where five people in a separate family, the Besics, also died. Bowling Green was hit by another tornado New Year's Day, though far less powerful. President Joe Biden visited Kentucky to survey the damage on Dec. 15, pledging that the federal government would cover all costs during 30 days of recovery in the region. USA TODAY Network reporters Adam Friedman and Lucas Aulbach contributed. Reach Tessa Duvall at tduvall@courier-journal.com and 502-582-4059. Twitter: @TessaDuvall. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Jill Biden visits Kentucky in aftermath of deadly December tornadoes To provide our community with important public safety information, The Register-Guard is making this daily update related to the coronavirus free to read. To support important local journalism like this, please consider becoming a digital subscriber. Lane County reported 626 confirmed or presumptive cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, which was a 21% drop from Wednesday's one-day record of 789 cases, raising the countywide case count to 38,457. Two deaths were reported Wednesday, raising the death toll to 361, where it remained Thursday. There were 2,839 county residents considered infectious Thursday, down 2% from Wednesday's one-day record count of 2,906. Hospitalizations saw a one-day drop of 28%; 61 county residents were hospitalized Thursday, down from Wednesday's 85. There were 10 in intensive care, down four from Wednesday, and one on a ventilator, down two from Wednesday. Of the 61 county residents hospitalized Tuesday, 65.6%, or 40, were unvaccinated, Lane County Public Health reported. As of Tuesday, 269,783 people in Lane County, 70.74% of the total population, had received first or second vaccine doses with 618,635 first and second doses administered in Lane County, according to the Oregon Health Authority. The Register-Guard OHA launches COVID-19-positive website, hotline The Oregon Health Authority has launched a website and hotline for Oregonians who test positive for the virus to report results from an at-home test kit or testing provider. People using the new Positive COVID Test website and COVID-19 Case Support Hotline, 866-917-8881, can complete an online survey to report their positive case, or get help completing the survey via the hotline. They can also get information on isolation and other ways to keep themselves and those around them safe while they recover. The launch of the services follows an OHA decision to revise its guidelines for investigating COVID-19 cases to focus less on interviewing individual cases and conducting contact tracing, and more on outbreaks in high-risk settings, such as those in congregate care, health care, K-12 education and food chain industries. Story continues The survey, soon available in 12 languages its now accessible in English, Spanish and Russian. OHA does not require individuals to report their at-home test results, but highly recommends people do so, and let their close contacts know they may have been exposed so they can take steps to limit exposure to others. Hospitals, health care providers, laboratories and local public health authorities are required to report test results. The COVID-19 Case Support Hotline will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Support staff will be available to provide general health information; answers to questions about isolation and quarantine; answers to questions about how to tell close contacts they may have been exposed to COVID-19; information about resources to help them during isolation; and help filling out the online Case Investigation Survey so callers positive tests can be reported. Staff will provide support in English and Spanish, with interpreter services available for additional languages. Hotline staff will also be able to triage calls that might normally go to local public health authorities, forwarding them only if they require local follow-up. Gov. Brown deploys National Guard to hospitals SALEM Gov. Kate Brown is deploying Oregon National Guard members to help at hospitals that she says are under extreme pressure due to a COVID-19 omicron-fueled surge in hospitalizations. A total of 1,200 Guard members will be deployed to more than 50 hospitals across the state, KATU-TV reported. Fueled by the Omicron variant, current hospitalizations are over 700 and daily COVID-19 case counts are alarmingly high, she said on Twitter, thanking Guard members, their families and their employers for this sacrifice and support. As they step up yet again, I am asking all Oregonians to continue to do your part. Get vaccinated, get boosted, wear your masks, and stay home when you are sick, Brown said. The Oregon Health Authority on Wednesday reported 47,272 new cases of COVID-19 from Jan. 3 through Jan. 9. That number is nearly six times higher than two weeks ago and three times higher than the August 2021 previous pandemic record for weekly cases, according to health officials. There were also 486 new COVID-19-related hospitalizations last week, which is a 68% increase from the previous week, health officials said. Oregon has yet to see the peak of the omicron surge, per Oregon Health & Science University projections. The state is projected to hit about 1,650 omicron hospitalizations in the last week of the month, before rapidly falling to pre-omicron levels, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. State health officials also said Wednesday's weekly outbreak report shows 128 active COVID-19 outbreaks in senior living communities and congregate living settings, with three or more confirmed cases and one or more coronavirus-related deaths. The Associated Press Subscribe to The Register-Guard to get unlimited access and support local journalism. This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Lane County COVID-19 update: 2 deaths, 1,415 cases over two days Criminal justice reform advocates are taking another crack at passing a law that would compensate wrongfully convicted Oregonians this time, with the Department of Justice's support. The Oregon Justice for Exonerees Act, introduced in the 2021 session as Senate Bill 499 and chief-sponsored by senators Kim Thatcher, R-Keizer and Chris Gorsek, D-Troutdale, died in the Ways and Mean Committee. Representatives from Forensic Justice and Oregon Innocence projects revived the act, currently known as LC 138, and shared updates of the revised draft in a Wednesday hearing with the Senate Interim Committee on Judiciary and Ballot Measure 110 Implementation. Oregon is one of 13 states in the country without a compensation statute, and that number is getting smaller and smaller each year as other states pass these bills," said Janis Puracal, executive director of the Forensic Justice Project, a Portland-based organization that works with attorneys to exonerate innocent individuals. During Wednesday's meeting, Puracal said her organization worked with the Oregon Department of Justice to create a procedure that could work for both exonerees and the state, and improved the bill by using language from existing statutes in other states. Oregon Department of Justice Communications Director Kristina Edmunson confirmed the department's support for the bill's draft Wednesday. "This law will make it possible to legally determine who fits in this category of wrongful incarceration," Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum wrote in an email to the Statesman Journal. "Once that determination is made by the court, while financial remuneration is just a start--it is the least we can do to help with re-entry to their communities." Impact on exonerated Nationally, about 2,900 now-exonerated men and women were sent to prison, often for decades, by miscarriages of justice, whether due to simple mistakes or corruption by police or prosecutors, according to the National Registry of Exonerations, dating to 1989. Story continues In total, they lost 26,500 years of their lives to wrongful imprisonment, costing the government local, state and federal some $3 billion, according to the registry. More than half of them got nothing at all in compensation from the government, the registry reported. Laws in these 13 states require no recompense for the wrongly imprisoned: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming. The 37 other states, the federal government and Washington, D.C., do have laws enabling restitution upon release as well as other social or medical services in some states. LC 138 would mirror statutes recently passed in states such as Idaho, Montana and Kansas, where people who are exonerated get up to $65,000 a year for every year of wrongful imprisonment, according to a bill summary. Plus, individuals would get up to $25,000 for years spent on parole, post-prison supervision or on the sex offender registry. At least six Kansas exonerees have received compensation awards since the state passed its statute in 2018. Those six exonerees spent a combined 75 years in prison, averaging 12.5 years each, and received a total of $4.2 million in awards, according to the Innocence Project. Nationally, just under half of the exonerees convicted in states with statutes filed for compensation. Of those who filed, about 74% were successful, 18% lost, and the remaining 8.9% of claims are pending, according to a 2019 study by George Washington University. DOJ supports exoneree bill draft Puracal said 13 of 23 existing exonerees in Oregon may be eligible for compensation under the bill. The 13 individuals collectively spent more than 72 years in the Oregon prison system wrongfully. Nicholas McGuffin, for example, was wrongfully convicted of killing his high school girlfriend in 2000 and spent nine years in prison until he was exonerated by DNA evidence. "Nicks daughter was 3 years old when he went in and 12 years old when he got out," Puracal said. "So he missed everything first day of school, first big game all of it, for his only child." And the fight to get exoneration is only half the battle, she added. Many individuals struggle with a criminal conviction on their record despite their innocence. "What a lot of people don't understand is that the stigma from wrongful conviction lasts a lifetime. They're still fighting to get some to look past the time that they were in prison," Puracal said. "The compensation gives exonerees the acknowledgment that they were wronged, and there's value in that beyond the dollar amount." If passed, the law would require the exoneree, among different elements of the statute, to prove their innocence in a civil claim. "Just having a conviction overturned is not enough," including those overturned because of a previous nonunanimous jury verdict, Puracal said. "They must prove that he or she is factually innocent." Puracal added the bill would balance protecting the exoneree's constitutional rights to civil litigation while ensuring no one is double-dipping on awards. After filing the claim, the person would have to serve the Department of Justice and the district attorney's office in the county he or she was convicted. The DOJ could agree to the relief or contest the claim. Puracal said multiple senators, including Thatcher, Gorsek, Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, and representatives Janeen Sollman, D-Hillsboro, and Janelle Bynum, D-Clackamas, have already agreed to back the new bill in the upcoming legislative session. Thatcher said with the draft's refined language, she plans to reintroduce the concept in the upcoming session. "It helps repair some of the lost trust in our criminal justice system and it injects a good amount of integrity," Thatcher said. "If the state says, 'Oops, we were wrong,' ... what are (wrongfully convicted persons) supposed to do at this point? It's tough to start from zero." Thatcher said she believes the DOJ's support of the draft "will go a long way in convincing people this is a good thing to do." "I think it will pass this time," she said. USA Today Network Midwest criminal justice reporter Eric Ferkenhoff contributed to this story. Virginia Barreda is the breaking news and public safety reporter for the Statesman Journal. She can be reached at 503-399-6657 or at vbarreda@statesmanjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at @vbarreda2. This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Advocates push for bill to compensate Oregon's wrongfully convicted NEW YORK Imprisoned Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli was banned for life from the pharmaceutical industry and ordered to return to victims $64.6 million of the profit he made by jacking up the price of a life-saving drug, a federal judge ordered Friday. The Federal Trade Commission and seven states, including New York, sued in January 2020 accusing Vyera Pharmaceuticals formerly Shkrelis company Turing of increasing the price of Daraprim by more than 4,000% from $17.50 to $750 a pill. Shkreli and Vyera sought to thwart competition in an illegal scheme to maintain Daraprims high profits, Manhattan Federal Court Judge Denise Cote said. After a seven-day trial last month, Cote found Shkreli liable and ordered him to pay $64.6 million to the FTC, New York, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, North Carolina and Virginia. The FTC and the states will disperse the money to victims nationwide, the judgment reads. He (Shkreli) was the mastermind of its illegal conduct and the person principally responsible for it throughout the years, Cote wrote in her judgment. Daraprim, which treats toxoplasmosis, a potentially fatal parasitic disease for HIV patients and other immunocompromised people, was affordable up until August 2015 when Vyera purchased the drug. A former executive testified the gouging in price was excessive, crazy and irresponsible, New York Attorney General Letitia James office said. It was not immediately clear whether Shkreli has the means to pay the judgment. However, prosecutors said Shrekli reported his net worth at $70 million after his arrest, Reuters reported in 2017. Envy, greed, lust, and hate, dont just separate, but they obviously motivated Mr. Shkreli and his partner to illegally jack up the price of a life-saving drug as Americans lives hung in the balance, James said in a statement, referencing the Wu-Tang Clan album Shkreli was forced to hand over to cover a $7.4 million forfeiture judgment. Story continues But Americans can rest easy because Martin Shkreli is a pharma bro no more. The judgment comes after Vyera Pharmaceuticals and its parent company, Phoenixus AG, agreed last month to pay a $40 million settlement over 10 years to consumers who were allegedly victims of the price gouging. As a result, former Vyera CEO and Shkreli business partner Kevin Mulleady agreed to a seven-year ban in working or consulting for a pharmaceutical company. Shkreli is currently serving a seven-year federal prison sentence in Allenwood, Pennsylvania, for a securities fraud conviction connected to hedge funds he ran prior to his pharmaceutical career. Ex-Bordentown Township Police Chief Frank Nucera, Jr., left, has been granted a medical delay from beginning a 28-month prison sentence for lying to the FBI about assaulting a handcuffed Black teenager in 2016. There should be a name to describe this, 2 1/2 frustrating years into it now. The best I can come up with without using words unacceptable by this news organization is this: The Frank Nucera Jr. Roundabout. Except on this Jersey traffic circle, there are no off ramps to justice. The road loops round and round, dizzyingly, perpetually, year after year, leading not to a prison cell, but frustratingly back to where it began: to the sustaining of a rogue cops freedom. Here we are again, back to where we cant believe we are. Disgraced and former Bordentown Township Police Chief Frank Nucera, Jr., is not headed to a Kentucky prison on Jan. 19 to begin serving a 28-month sentence for lying to the FBI during a hate-crime investigation about him slamming a handcuffed Black teenage suspects head into a metal doorjamb at a Bordentown motel in 2016. The reason for the delay: Nucera is ill. Again. And again. This time, its COVID. And blood clots. And respiratory problems. Appointments with a hematologist. Appointments with a cardiologist. A dirty ex-cop with a monopoly on playing his get out of jail free cards. Two years ago, Nucera's excuse was that he was recovering from injuries from a car accident, and because of the coronavirus pandemic. What malady might be next to delay putting Nucera behind bars? Croup? Gout? Alice in Wonderland Syndrome? (Its real; look it up). Are claims of pregnancy on the table? Why not? Were coming up on three years since Nucera was sentenced to prison, yet hes still free, speaking of miracles. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler granted Nuceras request to delay reporting to prison until April 30. But hizzoner's patience is running thin he told Nuceras lawyer, Rocco Cipparone,Jr., further delays would not be acceptable. Santa's helpers: 'It was the kids that got me through': Santa helper credits children during time of grief Trust the science: Burlco health director: Science, not lies, will keep us safe from virus Story continues Do the right thing: 'You do you, and I'll do me' anti-vaccine mantra ultimate in selfishness So, I wonder: If Nucera comes back to the judge with yet another doctors excuse in April, what does Kugler do then that he didnt do now? Does he ship him off to prison anyway, and, if so, why wouldnt he have decided that now? If he grants yet another delay, well, lets just send the 64-year-old Nucera to Disney World and forget the whole thing. Cipparone told the court Nucera has significant health concerns, that sending him to prison now may endanger his health and potentially his life. Ironic that such a consideration was not given to suspect Timothy Stroye when Nucera, who has a documented history of making derogatory comments about Blacks, including they have no value and that he would like to join a firing squad to mow them down, slammed the restrained teens head against metal. Cipparone pointed out to Kugler that the infection rate at the prison where Nucera was scheduled to report increased by 275% in the past two weeks, and that Kentuckys vaccination rate is 54%, among the lowest in the country. Nucera is vaccinated and boosted. If the concern is his access to medical care for his blood clots or whatever else he may have, why not have him incarcerated at a different facility, like The Federal Medical Center, in Lexington, Kentucky. The prison is equipped to address inmates requiring medical or mental health care. Additionally, it holds inmates of all security classifications, including rogue cops whose concern may be having to look over their shoulder for 28 months. Should Nucera require immediate medical attention in the joint, the response in Lexington would presumably be immediate, as opposed to if he would become ill at home watching TV and sipping tea with his feet up. As the Nucera Roundabout remains open for business, we, much like Nucera himself, are also sick. Sick of waiting for justice. Phil Gianficaro, a columnist for the USA TODAY Network, can be reached at 215-345-3078, pgianficaro@theintell.com, and @philgianficaro on Twitter. This article originally appeared on Burlington County Times: Repeated delays for rogue ex-cop Nucera unacceptable During the aftermath of the unusually heavy and long-lasting snow that fell in Corvallis the day after Christmas, I had time while cocooning to reflect on the phrase Happy Holidays and why I feel so ambivalent about it. This phrase was first used in 1863 in the Philadelphia Inquirer. It reappeared in 1930s and 1940s advertising. Seasons Greetings, a similarly neutral term, was used on White House Christmas correspondence during the Eisenhower administration. President George W. Bush wished his Christmas card recipients a happy holiday season. More recently, Happy Holidays has been encouraged as a way to recognize that there are other faiths besides Christianity in this country. The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah most often falls in December, occasionally starting in November. Rohatsu, or Bodhi Day, is a major Buddhist holiday in December. Kwanzaa, a celebration of African American culture, starts in December and concludes on Jan. 1. Wiccans observe the winter solstice. Pancha Ganapati is a Hindu holiday celebrated for five days in December. The Muslim holiday of Ramadan moves around the calendar and so sometimes falls in December. As Americans became increasingly aware of the non-Christians in our midst and diversity was touted as a value, it was thought that saying Merry Christmas could make non-Christians feel excluded. Happy Holidays usage grew exponentially, even eclipsing the use of Merry Christmas in public venues such as stores and your doctors office. While some have welcomed this change, others have pushed back against it as excluding Christians. Some have called it a war on Christmas. I would argue that it not only excludes Christians, but those who celebrate other December holidays. In the name of respecting diversity, we have become less diverse. For me, Happy Holidays is so generic as to feel meaningless. (I realize that others mileage may vary.) I love to wish people of different faiths a greeting appropriate to their holiday, whether it is Merry Christmas, Joyous Kwanzaa or Ramadan Mubarak; Happy Solstice, Happy Pancha Ganapati or Blessed Bodhi Day. When my physical therapist wished me a Happy Hanukkah, I felt seen and appreciated for who I am, and I want others to feel that way as well. Yet it is not possible to know the faith (or lack thereof) of everyone with whom we come into contact, and so especially in public venues where we are not well known, Happy Holidays or some variation thereof is the only practical way to convey good wishes for holy days, whatever they may be. You and I will continue to receive Happy Holidays cards from our real estate agent and dentist, and from friends who do mass mailings of December greeting cards to friends and families whose faiths vary. I will continue to feel ambivalent. But if I could have two wishes for the December holiday season and for every time of year they would be: (1) Do not be offended if someone wishes you Merry Christmas and you are not a Christian; it is meant positively. Do not correct someone who has only the best intentions. Conversely, do not feel offended if someone wishes you Happy Holidays; it is almost certainly meant well and is not a declaration of war on Christianity. (2) When possible, recognize diversity with the greeting that speaks to that persons deeply held beliefs. If this feels like you are adopting that belief when yours is different, you can preface it by saying I wish you a _______. Wait, I have a third wish: May we all be blessed to turn holy days into occasions for respect, love and peace, not war on anyones holiday. Rachel Peck is a transplant from the other Washington (D.C). She lived in Salem from 1958 to 1961, and happy memories from that time brought her back to Oregon. She persuaded her husband to check out this part of the world, and they moved to Corvallis in 2005. She likes to read, hike and try her hand at baking bread, with mixed results. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A sign for Planned Parenthood is seen from the road on Wednesday, September 8, 2021 in Sioux Falls. Last week, Gov. Kristi Noem's telemedicine ban on medical abortions cleared its last hurdle in becoming South Dakota law. Lawmakers at a six-member legislative rules review committee finalized the ban with a 4-2 vote, "troubled" the bill skirted a more thorough debate in the legislature. "I truly am troubled," said Republican Sen. Timothy Johns at the review committee meeting. "I'm highly reluctant to ever intervene when it comes to decisions between patients and doctors, and I think we're getting too close." More: South Dakota lawmakers approve protocols for Gov. Kristi Noem's telemedicine abortion ban The new rule makes it harder for pregnant people to access abortion pills, mandating patients take two prescribed medications for a medical abortion in-person at a licensed abortion provider, namely Planned Parenthood's clinic in Sioux Falls. Pregnant people also have to wait an additional two weeks following the administration of the abortion medications for a follow-up appointment with Planned Parenthood. That's on top of the mandated "informed consent visit" with a pregnancy help center and a 72-hour waiting period before the medical abortion procedure. The rule represents South Dakota's strictest abortion law yet, and one of the strictest bans on abortions in the country. More: Gov. Kristi Noem restricts telemedicine abortion with executive order "I look forward to the day when the life of every unborn child is protected in South Dakota," Noem stated in a press release on the rule change. Until then, Noem says South Dakotans know pregnant people "will not get those pills from a stranger over the internet." What will change for abortion in South Dakota? Before Noem issued the executive ban on telemedicine abortions, South Dakota law mandated a 72-hour waiting period between an "informed consent visit" at a pregnancy help center and an abortion procedure at the state's only licensed abortion facility, Planned Parenthood in Sioux Falls. Story continues More: This Sioux Falls group made an apartment chapel next door to Planned Parenthood to fight 'spiritual warfare' After completing the informed consent visit and the waiting period, a pregnant person seeking a medical abortion typically would take the first dose of the abortion pill, mifepristone, at the first visit with Planned Parenthood. The second dose is given to the patient within that visit to take at home within three days. The new rule, however, forces pregnant people to come back to the clinic, within 24 to 72 hours of taking the first pill, to take the second pill in-person. Two weeks after the abortion medications are taken, a pregnant person has to return for a fourth visit "to confirm that the fetus, placenta, and membranes have been fully expelled." Staff at abortion facilities are also expected to monitor patients for complications following the administration of the abortion medications and report "(1) Any complication that requires medical follow-up; (2) The medical follow-up that was required resulting from any complication; (3) The facility where the medical follow-up was performed; and (4) If the pregnant woman was sex trafficked" to the Department of Health. The ban is set to go into effect on Jan. 27. The DOH expects abortion facilities to familiarize themselves with the new rule and comply with it, as written. "We want all South Dakotans to be healthy and strong, including pregnant women," said DOH spokesman Daniel Bucheli in an email to the Argus Leader. "Gov. Noem has never wavered in her promise to protect life at all stages, and the DOH will implement the new rule." The DOH also intends to work with the legislature to enforce the telemedicine ban and communicate with abortion facilities on the new reporting requirements. More: Apartment chapel next to Sioux Falls Planned Parenthood shuts down due to complaints, founder says Planned Parenthood: "We'll do our best and comply" Abortion-rights advocates, like Dr. Sarah Traxler, Chief Medical Officer of Planned Parenthood North Central States, decried the rule during last week's rules review committee meeting as one more "medically unjustified restriction" designed to prevent pregnant people seeking abortions from safely and easily accessing the care they need. "It's important to keep in mind that most abortion patients or parents, most have low incomes, many work inflexible minimum wage jobs and about 10% are suffering intimate partner violence," said Traxler in her public testimony to the committee. "For patients who spend hours driving to return to our clinic, the extra trip is going to be an insurmountable barrier to care." Kristin Hayward, Manager of Advocacy and Development for Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund, echoed Traxler's concerns. Hayward said the abortion rule is "ludicrous" and adds an extra stressor for pregnant people in South Dakota. "We'll do our best and comply with the new law," she said. What's next? Noem plans to adopt Texas' abortion law Noem is already eyeing her next target in eliminating abortions in South Dakota: banning abortions after six weeks. "Science tells us that an unborn childs heartbeat starts six weeks after conception," Noem told lawmakers at Tuesdays State of the State address for the first day of this years legislative session. "And any abortion after that point stops that heartbeat stops that life stops that gift from God." The first-term governor announced her intentions to adopt Texas' Heartbeat Act in September, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the law to stand. A week later, Noem issued an executive ban on telemedicine abortions, restricting prescription drugs used to terminate pregnancies from being delivered by mail and other means. Today, I am asking all of you to protect the heartbeats of these unborn children, Noem said in her State of the State address. I am bringing legislation to ban all abortions once a heartbeat can be detected. More: Noem, pro-life advocates say new abortion laws steps toward overturning Roe v. Wade Email human rights reporter Nicole Ki at nki@argusleader.com or follow on Twitter at @_nicoleki. This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota Gov. Noem's abortion pill law: What changes after Jan. 27 KYIV After Russia massed some 100,000 troops near Ukraines border in recent weeks, the Biden administration said it believes Moscow is preparing to again invade its Eastern European neighbor. The United States is concerned that the Russian government is preparing for an invasion into Ukraine that may result in widespread human rights violations and war crimes should diplomacy fail to meet their objectives, a US official told BuzzFeed News on Friday. As part of its plans, Russia is laying the groundwork to have the option of fabricating a pretext for invasion, including through sabotage activities and information operations, by accusing Ukraine of preparing an imminent attack against Russian forces in eastern Ukraine. The statement, on the heels of unsuccessful high-stakes negotiations between the US, NATO, and Russia, was Washingtons strongest and most ominous yet on the latest Russian aggression targeting Ukraine. It also echoes a report published earlier Friday by Ukraines Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense. That report warned that Russian special services are preparing a provocation against Russian soldiers and targeting an arms depot in the Transnistrian region of Moldova where Putin has peacekeepers. The goal, the intelligence agency said, was also to create an excuse to launch an attack on Ukraine. The US official said intelligence showed the Russian military plans to begin its activities several weeks before a military invasion, which could begin between mid-January and mid-February. We saw this playbook in 2014 with Crimea, the official added, referring to Moscows annexation of that peninsula and the subsequent war it fomented in eastern Ukraines Donbas region. US intelligence, said the official, indicates Russia has already recruited a group of operatives to carry out a false-flag operation in eastern Ukraine. The operatives are trained in urban warfare and in using explosives to carry out acts of sabotage against Russias own proxy-forces, the official said. Story continues The official said further information indicated that Russian influence actors working for state-run news outlets and on social media are hard at work fabricating Ukrainian provocations to justify a new Russian intervention and sow discord in Ukraine. For example, Russian officials and influence actors are emphasizing narratives about the deterioration of human rights in Ukraine and the increased militancy of Ukrainian leaders, the official said. These media narratives also blame the West for escalating tension, highlight humanitarian issues in Ukraine that Russian intervention could solve, and promote Russian patriotism to encourage domestic support for military action. The Biden administration told BuzzFeed News that in December it tracked Russian-language content on social media covering all three of these narratives and saw its output increase to an average of about 3,500 posts per day a 200% increase from the daily average in November. The US warnings came as a massive cyberattack hit dozens of Ukrainian government websites. The hackers behind the attack posted a message warning Ukraine to be afraid and expect worse. Ukrainian government officials told BuzzFeed News that it was too soon to know for sure who was behind the attack, but they pointed the finger at Moscow. More on this Wherever Nicholas Alahverdian went, he left a trail of victimized women, a Utah prosecutor said Friday. He had victims in Utah, in Ohio, in Rhode Island and in Massachusetts, County Attorney David Leavitt told The Journal. And if he is as aggressive as everything appears to be toward women, there are likely victims in the United Kingdom. Thats where Alahverdian, 34, was hiding after faking his death in February 2020 to avoid, authorities say, a Utah rape charge, a fraud complaint in Ohio, and other sex assault allegations. And if there are victims in the United Kingdom, said Leavitt, its my guess he may never leave the United Kingdom if hes prosecuted there. More: 'A dangerous mind': News of Nick Alahverdian's fake death shocks those who took him in More: Six things to know about Nicholas Alahverdian, the RI man who apparently faked his death Alahverdian, once a familiar Rhode Island child welfare activist, and a convicted sex offender, for a time fooled the lawmakers and media members he cozied up to with the story of his demise. He even eluded the law. But he couldnt elude COVID-19, which forced him to seek help in a Glasgow, Scotland, hospital where Interpol caught up to him last month, matching his identity through photographs. At the time, Alahverdian was using a rather appropriate Scottish alias: Arthur Knight. The Scottish Sun reported Friday that Alahverdian had been granted bail after leaving the hospital with conditions that he abide by a nighttime curfew and that the police check on him daily. Utah County Attorney David O. Leavitt Leavitt said he had heard Alahverdian may be home, but We have to have confidence with our Scottish authorities to know what the circumstances are on the ground. I think from everyones estimate, Alahverdian is a flight risk. We also know he is a danger to society. But we are also not in Scotland and we dont know what the realities of the situation are. Leavitt said he fully expected Alahverdian to fight extradition back to the United States; Alahverdian told an FBI agent who managed to call him in late in 2019 that he was living in Ireland because the country had no extradition treaty with the United States. Story continues But Leavitt said Alahverdians strategy may fail if he entered the United Kingdom fraudulently. We presume hes not in the country legally, because we presume, he used a fake name to get in there. And so, the question will be whether the British authorities kick him out because he entered on false pretenses. With so many uncertainties at the moment, there really is no timeline. It could be a number of months or longer before Alahverdian returns to the United States. And there is also this reality, he said: There could be rape victims in Scotland. I dont have any evidence of that. Im just saying everywhere this man has gone he has victims. Leavitt said that since news of Alahverdians capture, at least two other women have come forward with allegations they were sexually assaulted by him. I believe there are other victims than those still identified and hopefully this coverage will give them the confidence and the courage to contact us." Alahverdians former foster mother in Ohio told The Journal last January that Alahverdian had, in 2016, fraudulently obtained 22 credit cards and loans under her husbands name and ran up debts of $200,000. More: He was reported dead, but the state police kept looking for Nick Alahverdian More: Utah court documents detail rape charge against Nicholas Alahverdian Leavitt said, He was indicted in Ohio for defrauding some people and we believe that was what sent him overseas. And we believe thats what prompted him to fake his death [with] someone who was working in concert with him, who either was his wife or posed as his wife. Utah authorities have also charged Alahverdian with raping a woman whom he had been dating for a short time in September 2008. According to released court documents, the woman said she met him three months earlier on MySpace and then about two weeks later in person. She told police she ended the relationship because Alahverdian was getting more rough with her when having sex and because he owed her money. On Sept. 13, 2008, the woman said Alahverdian invited her over to where he was living, telling her he would repay the money he owed her. Instead, while they were talking, the court record says, Alahverdian unzipped his pants, exposed himself, pushed her onto the couch and proceeded to rape her. Afterward Alahverdian told her this was her fault because she is 'mentally unstable and too emotional to deal with.' Just four months earlier Alahverdian had been found guilty of sexually assaulting a fellow student in a stairwell at Sinclair Community College, in Dayton, Ohio. The woman, who had just met him an hour earlier over lunch, said he groped her and exposed himself. Alahverdian, then using the last name Rossi, was found guilty of one count of sexual imposition and one count of public indecency, court records show. Email Tom Mooney at: tmooney@providencejournal.com This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Out on bail: Alahverdian's extradition from Scotland may take months A look at some of today's top stories, the weather forecast and a peek back in history. Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to return to Arizona on Saturday for a rally in Florence. His appearance will be his second in the state since leaving office and underscores his continued importance in GOP circles nearly one year after departing the White House. Arizona patients could be turned away under strain of COVID-19. The highly contagious omicron variant of the virus is only exacerbating what was already a difficult situation for health care. A Cottonwood man who took part in the Jan. 6 raid on the U.S. Capitol dressed in a gladiator costume meant to evoke Captain Moroni, a figure from the Book of Mormon, pleaded guilty Friday to a federal misdemeanor charge. Today, you can expect it to be cloudy, with a high near 72 degrees. Partly cloudy and cool at night, with a low near 46 degrees. Get the full forecast here. Today in history On this date in 1912, the first Annual Auto Show, held in Phoenix, drew large crowds. Among the exhibits were a Hupmobile delivery wagon priced at $950 and a five-passenger, six-cylinder, 30-horsepower Franklin Model M priced at $3,000. In 1921, seven cars of an eastbound Southern Pacific passenger train were derailed near Vail. 2009, US Airways Capt. Chesley Sully Sullenberger ditched his Airbus 320 in the Hudson River after a flock of birds disabled both engines; all 155 people aboard survived. In 1929, civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta. In 1973, President Richard M. Nixon announced the suspension of all U.S. offensive action in North Vietnam, citing progress in peace negotiations. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: AZ Briefing: Donald Trump in Florence, Ariz. for rally A day after taking office, Erie County Executive Brenton Davis broke from his predecessor by lifting the countywide mask mandate for public and private schools. In a Facebook video posted Jan. 9, he explained why. Erie County Executive Brenton Davis is shown on Jan. 10 at the Bayfront Convention Center in Erie during a free testing clinic organized by the Erie County Department of Health. "We're not going to be an enforcement agency," said Davis, who spoke from his desk in the Erie County Courthouse. "We're not going to be a punitive agency. That is not the goal of my administration moving forward." Davis, who appeared to film the video himself, described how the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down the statewide school mask mandate in December. The ruling was based largely on procedural grounds, namely that the Gov. Tom Wolf administration had imposed the mandate in the absence of an emergency declaration or legislative consent. Court tosses mandate: Masks in Pa. schools: Court tosses Wolf administration mandate, but state vows appeal Mask mandate continues: Erie County mask mandate for schools remains in effect 'until further notice' Davis, a Republican, said it was unclear whether the county Health Department had the authority to impose the school mask mandate in the wake of the ruling. He said he lifted the mandate to avoid potential lawsuits against the county. "I, as the duly elected county executive, have a responsibility to not only protect the public but to protect the taxpayers from unnecessary lawsuits, costs and just workload that's going to be placed on our legal staff, our Health Department, above and beyond what already goes on," he said. The countywide school mask mandate, which was imposed on Aug. 23 by the Kathy Dahlkemper administration, has yet to face a legal challenge. Schools begin mask policies: Erie County school districts to enforce their own mask policies starting Tuesday On Aug. 23 people protesting against COVID vaccinations and face masks, including Stacy Feige, at right, gather during a school board meeting held at Millcreek Township School District's Millcreek Education Center (not shown) in Millcreek Township. Former County Solicitor Richard Perhacs, who worked in the Dahlkemper administration, said the Dahlkemper team was confident the school mask mandate was in accordance with Pennsylvania statute and was a public health measure worth keeping. Story continues "If the county never takes action on anything that's the least bit controversial of course, you'll never get sued," Perhacs said. "But the question is: Is the policy worth defending? Is it worth adopting the policy and taking the chance that it might be challenged? You have to assess the risks versus the benefits." So far, the risks have been clear. Erie County's 14-day moving average of COVID-19 hospitalizations has spiked from 81.6 on Jan. 1 to 105.9 on Wednesday, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. While Erie hospitals continue to see few COVID-19 admissions among children, the county's number of cases among those 19 and younger nearly tripled the week of Dec. 29-Jan. 4. County Solicitor Bill Speros, who was recently appointed by Davis, said the decision to lift the school mask mandate was more a policy decision than a question of legality. "We're not making any statements regarding the legality of the county's ability to enforce or the legality of school districts to take their own safety and precaution measures within the school districts," he said. "We're simply, as a matter of policy, lifting the previously imposed public school mask mandate." He added, "No one's in a better position to know what's best for their schools and their children, staff and administrations than the school boards and school administrations themselves." School autonomy, parent choice In his video, Davis said the removal of the school mask mandate will give schools the autonomy to employ their own COVID-19 safeguards and also give parents a "voice and a choice" on where and how their children should be taught. "Maybe your choice is to homeschool kids because you don't want to mask them or you don't want to get vaccinated or you don't want them to get vaccinated," Davis said. "The choice might be to choose to use a private school that is unmasking kids. There's always a choice in society. It may not be the choice that you prefer. But there are plenty of choices." Face mask frustration: Erie County schools plan to obey face-masking mandate despite some frustration Cases rise: Erie hospitals see COVID-19 admissions approach record levels The comment caught some pushback from Facebook users, including Kellie Gilmore, a Millcreek Township resident, who replied to Davis' post that she shouldn't have to pay for a private school or for homeschooling just because she disagreed with her children's school mitigation efforts. Gilmore, in an interview with the Erie Times-News, said she withdrew her two children from the Millcreek Township School District and enrolled them in a cyber-charter school because she felt the district's safety protocols were too restrictive. While she agreed with the lifting of the countywide school mask mandate, she said Davis should have gone further and given parents the choice to protect their children as they see fit, as opposed to giving schools the ability to employ their own safeguards. She said she'd prefer to have her children attend Millcreek schools because that's where her tax money goes. "I agree everybody has a choice to pull their kids from the district but (Davis) is not thinking of the implications of what that would do to the public schooling system," Gilmore said. In a statement, Erie School Board President Lori Pickens said public schools will continue to follow the guidance of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Current guidance recommends universal masking while indoors, regardless of vaccination status," she said in the statement. "We also will continue to require masking as we monitor the evolving situation and any new guidance that may be issued. We certainly respect that the county executive has a different approach. A.J. Rao can be reached at arao@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNRao. This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Masks in schools: Erie County Executive Brenton Davis defends lifting mandate GUANGZHOU, ChinaJan. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On the afternoon of January 14th, Mr. Sylvain FOURRIERE, Consul General of France in Guangzhou, and officers from consulates general of 9 countries including Britain, Canada and Switzerland visited China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City and Singapore-based Biosyngen Pte. Ltd. ("Biosyngen"). Government representatives from Guangzhou Foreign Affairs Office, Huangpu District, Guangzhou Development District, China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City Development and Construction Office and other officials accompanied the visit. The delegation visited the Planning Office of China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City and Biosyngen's immune cell production base successively. During the visit to the Planning Office of China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City, the consuls said that through field visits, they had a better understanding of the background of national bilateral cooperation projects between China and Singapore, and were impressed by the achievements of the knowledge city in industrial development, scientific and technological innovation, China-Singapore cooperation, urban construction and other aspects under the leadership of China and Singapore. They were willing to drive China, France, and other countries to continuously tap the cooperation potential in more fields, expand cooperation and exchange platforms, and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results. In recent years, China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City has been benchmarking international standards, focusing on model innovation, and highlighting value creation. Many Fortune 500 leading enterprises have settled in and initially formed an industrial structure dominated by six major industries, such as biomedicine, intelligent manufacturing, new materials and new energy, with obvious industrial agglomeration effect. It gives full play to the special role of "going first, leading and demonstrating" in the innovation-driven development strategy, and becomes a new model of China-Singapore cooperation and high-quality development. Subsequently, the delegation visited Biosyngen Company, located in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Nano Innovation Industrial Park, China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City. Biosyngen is one of the first scientific research enterprises to settle in the China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City. It has the largest industrialized production base of immune cell drugs in South China, mature and perfect production and quality system and cell industrialization platform. At the same time, Biosyngen Bio-project is also a representative project of cooperation between China and Singapore in the field of biomedicine in the Knowledge City, and a benchmark project for the development of biomedical industry in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Story continues When visiting Biosyngen's Immune Cell Production Base, the delegation was deeply impressed by the diversified facilities, standardized management and automated production process of the base. It is reported that the base is designed, built and managed according to GMP standard, and has the most advanced production automatic control equipment in the industry, which realizes automation, complete closure and personalization, and can rapidly industrialize the cutting-edge technologies and achievements of biological research, and provide safe, high-quality and affordable innovative immune cell drugs for the majority of patients. At the subsequent symposium, many consuls, representatives of Huangpu District Government and representatives of Biosyngen discussed the contents of intellectual property, bio-health, talent service, etc. The staff of Intellectual Property Office introduced the assistance and protection measures of China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City and Biosyngen to intellectual property to the visiting delegation in detail. The visiting delegation also expressed the hope to further deepen the exchanges and cooperation between the two sides in the field of commercialization of intellectual property rights. Sylvain FOURRIERE, Consul General of France in Guangzhou, fully affirmed the efforts made by Knowledge City in promoting international exchanges and cooperation. He said that the China-Singapore Knowledge City, a national-level bilateral cooperation project, is favored by French enterprises. He hoped that with the strong support of China and France, the Knowledge City would continue to give full play to its advantages as well as the international cooperation platform, and promote enterprises in China, New Zealand, France and other countries to create a win-win situation. Consuls of various countries have also indicated that under the influence of epidemic situation and economic situation, international exchanges and cooperation will promote closer contact and understanding between countries, deepen mutual trust, mutual assistance and reciprocity, and vigorously promote the rapid recovery of various undertakings. Consuls of various countries in Guangzhou will actively promote mutual assistance and exchanges between their countries and China, match up in various fields, strengthen economic and cultural exchanges between the Knowledge City and other countries, and jointly build a new platform for international cooperation. Finally, on the occasion of the Spring Festival of 2022, consuls and business officials from France Consulate General in Guangzhou and other countries sent their best wishes to China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City and Biosyngen. They wish China and Singapore greater success and everlasting friendship among countries. SOURCE Biosyngen About 30 community members (and a dog) turned out for a noontime gathering Friday, Jan. 14, 2022, at the Sheraton Redding Hotel in support of District 2 Shasta County Supervisor Leonard Moty and to urge a no vote on the question of whether to recall Moty. About 30 members of the community gathered Friday to show their support for embattled Shasta County Supervisor Leonard Moty as he faces a recall election in District 2. Real estate agent Ross Domke, Judy Maxwell of Maxwell Insurance & Financial and Bev Stupek, a former trustee for the Shasta Union High School District, were the three speakers. Their collective message, and that of emcee Ray Thomas, was that recall groups are spreading misinformation and mistruths. Thomas is president of the Five Counties Central Labor Council but said afterward he participated in the event as a Shasta County citizen. Shasta County election to recall Supervisor Moty: Everything you need to know "When their (recall) leadership speaks to our supervisors, they actually state 'You're either with us or against us,'" Thomas said. "That is not how a representative democracy works. We work together. We don't threaten. We don't bully and that's the core of what's happening right now." Real estate agent Ross Domke joined two other speakers Friday, Jan. 14, 2022, in urging District 2 voters to reject the recall of Supervisor Leonard Moty. They say recall groups are spreading misinformation and mistruths. Recall backers say Moty, along with District 3's Mary Rickert and District 1's Joe Chimenti, wasn't doing enough to distance himself from the state's past and present COVID-19 restrictions. Recall proponents also say the county has wasted money throughout the pandemic. Domke said most local businesspeople he knows of had a good year last year, especially those in real estate. He said county officials did not cite businesses who stayed open in defiance of state coronavirus restrictions. "The county chose to educate, not enforce. We were one of the most open counties around," Domke said. Maxwell noted how county supervisors have been threatened online. Shasta County officials said Friday the sheriff's office and other law enforcement agencies are investigating threats made against Moty, Rickert and District 5 Supervisor Les Baugh, who sides with fewer restrictions. Speaker Judy Maxwell urged a no vote in the Feb. 1 election that asks whether District 2 Supervisor Leonard Mothy should be recalled. She described recall supporters as a "well-organized, well-funded force that turns every disagreement into an argument and every argument into a clash of hatred." Maxwell described recall supporters as a "well-organized, well-funded force that turns every disagreement into an argument and every argument into a clash of hatred." Story continues A major donor of the recall effort is Reverge Anselmo, a former vintner and restaurateur, who sold his business years ago and moved out of Shasta County. Anselmo, who now lives in Connecticut, has contributed $450,000. In 2020, he made what is believed to be the largest individual contribution ever to a local political campaign, when he donated $100,000 to Patrick Jones in his bid for the District 4 Board of Supervisors seat, which at the time was held by Steve Morgan. Will board meeting remain virtual? One supervisor considers opening chambers Public comment periods before the Board of Supervisors include frequent personal attacks and shouting by speakers in the chambers. Stupek had praise for local leaders compared to public figures elsewhere in the state and country. "We are lucky in the elected leaders we have. We are fortunate in how city and county leaders, elected officials, have led us through this historic pandemic," Stupek said. She said recalls are meant for officials who commit wrongdoing, are dishonest or have criminal involvement. Bev Stupek said the recall attempt to remove Supervisor Leonard Moty from his county post "is simply uncalled for." She urged District 2 residents to vote no on the recall question. Stupek said one example of misinformation is statements that school boards are under the authority of the county. "That's a blatant falsehood," she said. Stupek said she was a high school board member for nine years in Redding and the boards answer to the state, not the county. "There are 28 local school boards with their own elected officials accountable to the state of California. The county has no authority over school boards," Stupek said. "In essence, the recall is simply uncalled for," she said. Mike Chapman is an award-winning reporter and photographer for the Record Searchlight in Redding, Calif. His newspaper career spans Yreka and Eureka in Northern California and Bellingham, Wash. Support local journalism by subscribing today. This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Group gathers to support Supervisor Moty, denounce recall attempt Correction: The appointment link for the two new COVID-19 testing sites is vc.fulgentgenetics.com. As the COVID-19 surge races on in Ventura County, two drive-thru testing sites capable of swabbing 2,000 people a day will open Tuesday in Moorpark and Oxnard. County officials announced Friday that the three-lane sites will be at Moorpark College, 7075 Campus Road, and outside a Ventura County Human Services Agency building at 1400 Vanguard Drive in Oxnard. The sites will offer free PCR tests with results expected in 48 hours. The sites won't offer rapid antigen tests with same-day results. The high-capacity sites are part of the county's response to rising demands for tests that have inundated swab sites and are driven by the surge of the omicron variant of the coronavirus. On Friday, the county's infection rate again set a new record with a daily average of 227.8 cases per 100,000 people, more than double the rate nine days ago. Nearly 25% of the people being tested are coming up positive. Hospitalizations continue to rise with 311 COVID-19 patients receiving care across the county on Friday. Seven more deaths were reported, raising the county's tally to 1,229. Free test sticker shock: As coronavirus surges, rapid COVID results cost up to $300 The county is contracting Fulgent Genetics to run the two new sites. The new venues will be open from noon to 5 p.m. on Tuesday and will begin their normal 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. schedule on Wednesday. The sites will be open every day of the week except Mondays. Appointments are requested, though people who show up without appointments won't be turned away, officials said. An appointment website at vc.fulgentgenetics.com is expected to go live Friday night. Worried about sick pay?: What to know about new California COVID workplace rules Several other state testing sites are planned. Information on all test sites can be found at venturacountyrecovers.org/coronavirus-testing/. Story continues The need for tests has spiked everywhere, prompting the deployment of California National Guard troops to help staff sites across the state. In Ventura County, National Guard teams are stationed at six locations, working on traffic control and handing out test kits. "It's whatever the staff at the sites need us to do," Lt. Ryan Ziegler said Thursday at a Thousand Oaks testing site. "We'll be here as long as we need to." Anthony Plascencia contributed to this report. Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com or 805-437-0255. SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM: To see more stories like this, subscribe here. This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Large COVID-19 test sites to open Tuesday in Moorpark and Oxnard WESTERLY An Amtrak conductor died Saturday afternoon after she fell off the train as it was pulling into the Westerly train station, Westerly Police Chief Shawn Lacey confirmed. Lacey said a 26-year-old female from Massachusetts was killed when she fell off the southbound train as it was pulling into the station around 2:20 p.m. He said the conductor was apparently preparing for the stop in Westerly, and at the point when "they opened the doors prior to stopping, something must have happened causing her to fall. She must have became caught underneath the train and was killed." When the conductor did not respond to her radio, train staff "walked the tracks and found her approximately 150 yards north of the Westerly station," Lacey said. He said Westerly police did the preliminary investigation, but Amtrak will take the lead "as it is their jurisdiction." On Saturday night, Amtrak spokeswoman Beth Toll issued this statement: "We are deeply saddened to report the death of an Amtrak employee in Westerly, R.I. today. We are respecting the familys privacy by not naming the employee at this time. No other injuries were reported, and a full investigation is underway." No other information was available from Amtrakt beyond what was said in the immediate wake of the incident on Twitter. At 2:43 p.m. @AmtrakNECAlerts reported on Twitter: "Train 163 is stopped at Westerly (WLY) due to emergency personnel activity. Updates to follow." About an hour later, @AmtrakNECAlerts tweeted an update saying the passengers on the train "have been provided alternate transportation on Train 135." The Northeast Corridor runs between Boston and Washington, D.C., with multiple stops in between. This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Amtrak conductor dead after fall from train near Westerly station The Corvallis School District will require students and staff who test positive for COVID-19 to isolate for five days and return to school on Day Six. This shorter isolation period is contingent upon the COVID-19-positive student or staff members ability to consistently wear a properly-fitted mask once they return to school. The new rules, which take effect Tuesday, Jan. 18, were posted on the district's website on Friday, Jan. 14. To return to school on Day Six, according to the announcement, students and staff members must be fever-free without fever-reducing medication for 24 hours. Their symptoms must have significantly improved, and they must be able to wear a well-fitting mask for five more days. The district nursing department will determine isolation periods for each person with guidance from the Benton County Health Department, depending on residual symptoms, the district said. The new COVID-19 guidance also was sent to Corvallis parents Friday morning. Heres what else is changing in the district: Symptomatic students and staff who show any symptoms of the novel coronavirus, including mild ones such as runny nose and congestion, will be required to have a negative PCR test to return to school. This is due to the more mild symptoms seen in Omicron cases, which is driving the current surge. The district will now start using up to date on vaccination instead of fully immunized. This is because some students may not yet be eligible for a booster shot, depending on their age and which vaccine they received initially. Students who are up to date on their vaccination do not need to quarantine after they have had a close contact. Students who are not up to date on their vaccination must quarantine for an additional five days after their close contact. The Test to Stay program is still available for students who are not up to date on their vaccination and had a close contact in school where masks were worn properly and consistently. However, if the close contact occurred where masks were not worn properly or if the close contact was not in a school setting, students will need to quarantine for five days and return on day six with a negative test. If a student does not get tested for COVID-19 before returning to school, they must quarantine for 10 days and return on Day 11. Parents/guardians must provide written consent if they want their child to have access to free diagnostic or screening testing. Diagnostic testing allows the school to test students with a rapid test if they become symptomatic while at school or have had a close contact, according to the district. Students may return to school immediately if they test negative. Screening testing is a weekly testing program that helps detect the virus in asymptomatic people. Consenting to this test also means that students will be sent home with a testing kit after having a close contact at school. Also included in the guidance: Families of students who have had a close contact at school will continue to be notified by that school. Families of students who are up to date on their vaccination will receive an email. Families of students who are not up to date on their vaccination will receive a phone call and a follow-up email. Notifications will also be sent to families of students who had close contacts in classrooms and buses. The COVID-19 dashboard on the CSD website will now include the daily and weekly totals of reported cases, the cumulative total of cases since Jan. 3 and the cumulative total of cases since the start of the school year. The district is keeping an eye on cases and will notify families at least one day in advance if a school has to temporarily close due to COVID-19 absences and case numbers. Joanna Mann covers education for Mid-Valley Media. She can be contacted at 541-812-6076 or Joanna.Mann@lee.net. Follow her on Twitter via @joanna_mann_. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the town that Nicholas Lattanzi is from. He is from Millsboro. A second person has been arrested in Delaware this week on federal charges associated with the insurrectionist riots at the U.S. Capitol last year. Court records state that Jeffrey Schaefer was arrested Thursday on four charges related to trespassing in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Court documents also state that Schaefer is associated with an address outside of Milton. He is the fifth person with ties to Delaware charged in connection with riots at the U.S. Capitol. An affidavit signed by a Baltimore-based FBI agent states that anonymous tipsters first pointed to Schaefer as one of those who flooded into the U.S. Capitol that day. Editor's Note: Read the agent's affidavit at the end of this story. One tipster provided Facebook posts of photographs depicting the inside of the U.S. Capitol during the riots that were posted by an account that investigators tied to Schaefer, according to court documents. Facebook posts federal prosecutors said depict the inside of the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riots and were posted by an account associated with Jeffrey Schaefer. Investigators also executed a search warrant on the Facebook account and found photos of Schaefer wearing a green, Realtree-branded hat. The agent wrote that the hat matches the one worn by a man they believe to be Schaefer and depicted on surveillance footage inside the U.S. Capitol. The agent wrote that Schaefer entered the building through a smashed window and remained inside for 28 minutes. Investigators also subpoenaed location data for a phone number associated with Schaefer, which the agent said evidenced his proximity to the building during the time he is accused of trespassing. Jeffrey Schaefer depicted in a Facebook photo gathered by federal investigators. No attorney was listed for Schaefer in court records as of Friday. His charges carry potential prison time. He is the second Delawarean this week to be charged with trespassing in the U.S. Capitol. Federal authorities arrested Nicholas Lattanzi, of Millsboro, on Tuesday on the same charges. RECENT: Millsboro man becomes fourth Delawarean charged in Jan. 6 storming of U.S. Capitol Story continues They join three other Delawareans waiting for the resolution of their charges associated with the Jan. 6 insurrection. Five people died in or shortly after the attack on the U.S. Capitol, including a police officer. Two other officers killed themselves afterward, and dozens of police officers were injured that day. Hundreds of people have been charged with federal offenses. Anthony Antonio, a Delaware native who now works out of state, has pleaded not guilty to multiple crimes associated with the insurrection. An affidavit signed by an FBI agent seeking charges against Antonio states that the Delaware native climbed scaffolding outside the Capitol, briefly entered the building through a broken window, poured water toward an officer being dragged down steps by rioters, got hold of a riot shield and gas mask, and made threatening statements toward officers. ANTONIO SPEAKS: 'Foxitis': Attorney seeks to explain motive for local man joining Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection In public statements following his arrest, Antonio said he went to Washington motivated by false news coverage on networks like Fox News and Newsmax peddling Republican lies that the election had been stolen. He said when the violence began to grow around him on the steps of the Capitol, he sought to tamp it down, causing the crowd to turn on him. Hunter and Kevin Seefried, a father and son from Laurel, are also charged with crimes associated with trespassing on U.S. Capitol grounds. Kevin Seefried, the father, was famously photographed parading a Confederate flag in the building, prosecutors stated in court documents. Both have pleaded not guilty to federal charges. Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter. Schaefer charging document by Xerxes Wilson on Scribd This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Man with a Milton-area address charged with Jan. 6 Capitol riot crimes South Dakota received $271 million in federal funding to help renters remain in housing and keep landlords viable, but has given out only $25 million so far. Renters in Minnehaha County and Pennington County, where this home is located, have applied in high numbers for help. South Dakota has sent millions of dollars of unused COVID-19 housing assistance funds allocated to help low-income renters back to the federal government, mainly because not enough people applied for help. As of early January 2022, the state had received about $271 million in federal funding to pay rent and utilities of low-income residents who fell behind during the pandemic. But so far, the state has distributed only about $24.9 million to needy residents, or about 9.2% of the total available funding. In September, South Dakota and other states that did not spend the money fast enough were required to return some of the money to the federal Treasury. That month, South Dakota returned about $22 million in unused housing assistance funds to the federal government, which is reallocating the excess money to states that are using it faster. More: Home heating costs high and getting higher in South Dakota Several other states, especially those in rural areas or with smaller populations, have had to return unused housing-assistance funds. Overall, the federal government said disbursing the money to low-income renters has gone more slowly than expected across the country. The program will continue to offer assistance at least until 2025. The federal government rejected requests by South Dakota officials to use the excess funds for other housing initiatives. Official says state had to return some funding Lorraine Polak, executive director of the South Dakota Housing Development Authority, which is administering the housing assistance program for the state, said the state had to return funds for several reasons. One was that Congress gave too much assistance money to the state; another that less rental assistance was needed because South Dakota did not shut down its economy as some other states did early in the pandemic. Polak pointed out that with a population of under 1 million, and the assistance program limited to renters who qualify as low-income, there was no way the state could spend all $271 million from the program, part of which extends into 2025. Story continues We had more funds than necessary to meet the needs in our state, Polak wrote. It was best to return those taxpayer dollars to the Treasury. To help implement the program in a fast and functional way, the housing authority enlisted local agencies across the state to aid in the application process and allocation of funds that were ultimately paid directly to landlords and owners of rental properties. NewsWatch: Child care crisis in South Dakota hurting families, employers and state economy Officials with two of those agencies said that while the program could have done more to help, especially for homeowners, they said Polak did a good job managing the program and that the state continues to help renters and landlords who are being hurt by the pandemic. Legislators gather in the House to listen as Governor Kristi Noem gives the State of the State address on Tuesday, January 11, 2022, at the South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre. The state and all the partners have been wonderful to work with, and weve all gone to great lengths to help a lot of people, said Peter Smith, executive director of the Rural Office of Community Services in Wagner, which provides a variety of aid to residents throughout eastern South Dakota. Polak said the state program has provided aid to about 4,000 households statewide, and Smith said his agency has aided about 1,350 families in 22 South Dakota counties. I would say the efficacy of the program has been excellent, Smith said. Some housing advocates and members of Congress have expressed concerns that some renters in the U.S. who need help due to the pandemic are not getting it, and that states need to do more to allocate the aid where needed. At the end of the day, hopefully everyone that needs assistance is able to get that, and I think $25 million is a lot of money, Polak said in an interview with News Watch. South Dakota has used three separate federal funding programs to assist with housing costs for low-income residents during the pandemic. Legislators in 2020 used a special session to approve using $10 million in federal Cares Act funds to provide money for rent, mortgage payments and utility bills to renters and homeowners affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Congress then approved two rounds of funding in 2020 and 2021 through the Emergency Rental Assistance program that set aside almost $47 billion to aid renters in states, large cities, U.S. territories and on reservations. Homeowners were not included in the ERA program and tribes were excluded from the second round of ERA funding. The money was given to states to distribute to landlords and owners of rental properties to support low-income residents with rent and utility payments. The goal was to help renters stay housed and assist landlords who operated under a federal eviction moratorium from September 2020 to August 2021. South Dakota has received $271 million in housing assistance In January 2021, the federal government estimated that U.S. renters overall were in arrears by at least $20 billion and as much as $57 billion. South Dakota received $200 million in ERA-1 funds and $61 million in ERA-2 funding. When added to the $10 million appropriated by the Legislature in 2020, the state has received a total of $271 million in Cares Act funding in housing assistance, the large bulk targeted at renters. Six months into the ERA-1 program, the U.S. Treasury reported that only $1.5 billion of the $25 billion allocated, or about 5.8%, had been provided as rental and utility assistance across the country. Two months later, the amount had jumped to $7.5 billion, or 30% of the total, still far below what Congress had intended. As some states continued to lag in allocating assistance money, the Treasury in September 2021 enacted a recapture and reallocation process that required states that were not providing assistance fast enough to return money to the federal government, which likely will go to states with greater need or more efficient delivery systems. For South Dakota, that resulted in the return of $22 million in housing assistance funds in September 2021, and more could be returned this spring, Polak said. U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson According to a South Dakota Housing Authority report in January 2022, about 3,800 households statewide had received some federal housing assistance, while about 1,850 applications were abandoned after being started. U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., said in an email to News Watch that he supports letting states use ERA funding in other areas if they arent able to spend it all on rental assistance. The Biden Administration flooded states with cash and they cant spend this money fast enough, Johnson wrote. Id like flexibility for states to spend unused dollars on things like roads and bridges before [C]ongress considers even more inflationary deficit spending. The housing authority enlisted the help of several local aid agencies across the state to let low-income residents know about the program and to administer the first steps in applying. Local agencies also played a key role in getting approved funding directly to landlords. The housing authority was aggressive in trying to get the word out about the availability of assistance, Polak said, posting information on the agency website, working with local aid agencies to inform their clients of the opportunity for help, and providing notification through utility companies, daycare providers and churches. Polak said the rental and utility assistance programs are ongoing, and she urged any tenants or landlords who are struggling to visit the housing authority website or their local aid agency to learn how to apply for funding. She also noted that other programs coming soon to South Dakota will be aimed at providing help to homeowners as well as renters. This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Millions in unused South Dakota housing assistance returned to feds Perry Technical Institute has once again opened a raffle for a chance to win a West Valley home constructed in collaboration with several of t A historic Roslyn building was leveled in a late-night explosion Thursday, putting both residents and first responders on edge after a similar explosion in Roslyn last week resulted in a fatality. Starting next month, you can get your taxes done for free in Benton and Linn counties. AARP Foundation Tax-Aide provides tax preparation free of charge with a special focus on taxpayers over age 50 with low-to-moderate income, although the program is open to everyone. Federal and Oregon tax returns will be prepared February through mid-April in Albany, Corvallis and Philomath. Tax-Aide volunteers are trained and IRS-certified every year. Appointments are required at all locations, and are available now by calling and leaving a message for a call-back. For appointments in Corvallis and Philomath, call 541-602-5829. For appointments in Albany, call 541-791-6714. Further information is available at https://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/aarp_taxaide/locations.html. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Greensboro, NC (27407) Today Thunderstorms, accompanied by locally heavy rainfall at times. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High around 85F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 66F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business. After an Incident of collision of two India-bound flights was averted, an inquiry was ordered to investigate the matters further. The incident occurred when two planes started moving head-on towards each other during take-off from the airport. The incident was averted after air traffic control (ATC) instructed the takeoff to be rejected. After the incident, Indian aviation regulator DGCA(Director General of Civil Aviation) has requested the related UAE authorities for a copy of the investigation reports. In a statement, DGCA chief Arun Kumar said," Both are their registered aircraft, and the place of occurrence is their airport, and so, as per ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation), it will be investigated by them." Explaining the situation, he further said, "However, we have asked them to share the investigation report as and when available." The planes involved in the incident are an EK-524 that was ready for its flight from Dubai to Hyderabad and an EK-568 that was travelling from Dubai to India, Banglore, to be specific. Both the planes came face to face accelerating towards each other during the take-off. The incident was averted when ATC rejected the EK-524's take-off after taking note of the situation. Read also: SHOCKING! Two India-bound flights come face-to-face at Dubai Airport, major mishap averted Both these flights got in the situation because they had a five-minute gap in their departure time. EK-524 was scheduled to take off at 9:45 PM, while EK-568 was scheduled at 9:50 PM. In a statement, an Emirates spokesperson said, "On 9 January, flight EK524 was instructed by air traffic control to reject take-off on departure from Dubai, and this was completed successfully. There was no aircraft damage, nor were there any injuries." He added, "Safety is always our top priority, and as with any incident, we are conducting our internal review. The incident is also under investigation by the UAE AAIS, and we cannot comment further," With inputs from PTI Live TV #mute By Azernews By Ayya Lmahamad Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and visiting American Jewish Committee CEO David Harris have discussed the current geopolitical situation in the region. The parties discussed also Azerbaijans growing influence in the world and the region, and a number of regional issues of mutual interest. The historically tolerant environment in Azerbaijan was pointed out at the meeting. The fact that representatives of all nations and religions, including the Jewish community live in a friendly and peaceful atmosphere and are surrounded by state care was described as a role model for the world. Moreover, during the meeting with Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, they discussed regional security and efforts to ensure lasting peace. Bayramov briefed on the current situation in the region, including the steps taken to normalize relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as the ongoing military provocations by Armenia, the killing of an Azerbaijani serviceman on January 11, and Armenia's responsibility in this regard. In turn, Harris stressed the importance of lasting peace and security in the region. The sides agreed on the development of cooperation between the Azerbaijani government and the Jewish communities. They also discussed the prospects for the further development of Azerbaijan-U.S. relations and other issues of mutual interest. At the same time, David Harris in the video posted on his official Twitter page stated that for us, Azerbaijan is important regionally and globally. In his speech he also stated that Azerbaijan is important to the state of Israel, noting that there are bilateral diplomatic relations and strong ties in just about every sphere. From the perspective of AJC, we want to underscore the importance of this beautiful country, because of its strategic location, because of its energy-rich assets, because of its friendship to the United States, because of its close ties to the state of Israel, because of its tradition of religious tolerance and respect to the Jewish community, he said. The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations established on November 11, 1906. Along with its activities in favour of civil liberties for Jews, the organization has a history of fighting against all forms of discrimination in the United States. The organization has 22 regional offices in the U.S, 10 overseas offices, and 33 international partnerships with Jewish communal institutions around the world. New Delhi: A serious anti-trust complaint in the US has reportedly revealed that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai were allegedly involved in an ad collusion plot, a charge that both tech giants denied. Attorneys for Texas and other states alleged in newly unsealed court filings that Zuckerberg and Pichai "personally approved a secret deal that gave the social network a leg up in the search giant`s online advertising auctions", reports Politico. Led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the group of state attorneys general released a new antitrust complaint against Google, giving more details into the company`s alleged collusion with Facebook in programmatic ad markets. The states originally filed the suit against Google in December 2020, and updated that with a heavily-redacted version in November last year. The initial complaint alleged collusion between the two tech giants, particularly in a project codenamed "Jedi Blue". The "Jedi Blue" deal was reviewed at the highest levels of both companies, with personal involvement from Pichai, Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg, and Zuckerberg. In one email to Zuckerberg, Sandberg allegedly told the CEO "(t)his is a big deal strategically". According to the report that came out on Friday, the complaint said the team that negotiated the deal sent Zuckerberg an email telling him: "We`re nearly ready to sign and need your approval to move forward." "The 2018 deal gave Facebook possibly unlawful advantages when the social network used Google`s advertising exchange, according to allegations by Texas, 14 other states and Puerto Rico in the latest version of their federal antitrust suit against Google," said the report. Sandberg and a Google senior vice president signed the September 2018 agreement, the lawsuit claimed, adding that "Google CEO Sundar Pichai also personally signed off on the terms of the deal". In a statement to The Verge, a Google spokesperson said: "AG Paxton`s assertion isn`t accurate. We sign hundreds of agreements every year that don`t require CEO approval, and this was no different." Meta also denied that the arrangement was illegal. "Meta`s non-exclusive bidding agreement with Google and the similar agreements we have with other bidding platforms, have helped to increase competition for ad placements," Meta spokesperson Christopher Sgro said in a statement. Also Read: HCL Tech Recruitment: IT firm to hire up to 22,000 freshers in FY22 The fresh case came amid antitrust actions against Google, including parallel antitrust cases focusing on search manipulation and its management of the Google Play Store. Also Read: Meet Pixie Curtis, the 10-year-old Australian who could retire as a millionaire at just 15 Live TV #mute New Delhi: RBL Bank has inducted NARCL Chairman Pradip Shah as an external expert to assist its search panel in finding a full-time MD and CEO, after the removal of Vishwavir Ahuja from the post last month. Global headhunting firm EgonZehnder has also been roped in for the exercise. Currently, Rajeev Ahuja is looking after the day-to-day operations of the lender as interim MD and CEO. The board of the company in a meeting held on Saturday decided to induct Pradip Shah, chairman, National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL) as an external expert to assist the search panel, RBL Bank said in a regulatory filing. Shah will work with the search committee comprising Manjveev Singh Puri, chairman, Nomination and Remuneration Committee (NRC) and two other directors of the bank -- Ishan Raina and Veena Mankar. The board, on the recommendation of the search committee, also approved EgonZehnder as the search firm for identifying suitable candidates for the post of managing director and chief executive officer of the bank in a timely manner, it added. On December 30, 2021, the Reserve Bank had approved the appointment of Rajeev Ahuja as the interim MD and CEO of RBL Bank for three months or till there is a regular appointment. Earlier on December 25, in a sudden turn of events, the board of the bank had sent the then MD and chief executive Vishwavir Ahuja on leave and elevated Rajeev as the interim MD and CEO. These top-level changes came in the aftermath of the RBI, in a rare move, appointing its Chief General Manager Yogesh K Dayal as a board member of RBL Bank. Even as there has been lack of clarity from the bank on the reasons for the sudden departure of Vishwavir, analysts have highlighted the high NPA levels as well as governance-related issues at the lender. New Delhi: Industrialist Anil Agarwal-owned mining major Vedanta Group on Friday said it is exploring investment opportunities in the mineral sector of Saudi Arabia. The company is already in discussions with stakeholders in Saudi Arabia, which is aiming to become a mineral hub in the Middle East, Vedanta said in a statement. "Vedanta plans to invest in the mineral sector in Saudi Arabia. The company is in discussions to identify investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia, which aims to transform itself into a mineral hub in the Middle East," the statement said. According to the statement, Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal on Wednesday attended the 'Future Minerals Forum 2022' held in Riyadh as a guest speaker and spoke on the huge potential Saudi Arabia has in minerals, including zinc, gold and silver. Considering the strong demand for zinc and its expected shortage globally, Saudi Arabia is looking to team up with global companies to become a leading producer of the metal. Vedanta group company Hindustan Zinc is one of the world's largest producers of zinc. "The strong collaboration between India and Saudi Arabia is bringing to the fore big opportunities. We are in the process of identifying investment options in the mineral sector which we believe the country has in abundance. "Mining and minerals will play a critical role in the transition to a cleaner and more sustainable world, and we at Vedanta are committed to play an important part in this journey," Agarwal said at the forum. Saudi Arabia is planning to invest USD 100 billion in the country in areas of energy, refining, petrochemicals, infrastructure, agriculture, minerals and mining. It is also a key pillar of India's energy security, being the source of 17 per cent of crude oil and 32 per cent of LPG requirements of India, Vedanta said. Live TV #mute New Delhi: Pixie Curtis, a 10-year-old girl, who has made millions by selling toys could retire in the next five years at 15. Curtis had set up her toy company named Pixie's Fidgets in March 2021. She took help from her mother to set up the toy company. Curtis, who is from Sydney's Vaucluse, also runs a hair accessories business, Pixie's Bows. The hair accessories business was set up by her mother in 2014 when Pixie was just two years old. Pixie's Fidgets had reportedly toys sold out in the first 48 hours of listing. In the first month of opening the toys business itself, the company made well over 200,000 Australian Dollars, roughly about Rs 1.07 crore. Pixie's Fidgets and Pixie's Bows are now under Pixies Pix, a company that has expanded into children's games and accessories. With so much wealth generated so early, Pixie's mother, Roxy Jacenko, is of the view that her daughter could very well retire at the age of 15. "Our family joke has been Ill be working till Im 100 and Pixie will have retired at 15 I certainly know whos smarter," Jacenko told news.com.au. Besides Pixies firms, Jacenko has also set up a business for her seven-year-old son Hunter. According to her, setting up a business for children helps her to spend more time with them. Also Read: Karnataka government doubles salary of select lecturers, check if youre eligible "The one-on-one time I get to spend with Pixie and Hunter and the discussions around what we stock, how we shoot, who we choose as influencers has also been a blessing," Roxy told the media publication, adding, "Prior to now, I felt like I was a somewhat absent parent due to my work, now I work for my kids! I love it! Also Read: HCL Tech Recruitment: IT firm to hire up to 22,000 freshers in FY22 Live TV #mute New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday (January 15), January 16 will be celebrated as National Start-up Day. PM Modi made the announcement in an interaction with more than 150 startups via video conferencing as a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. January 16 to be celebrated as 'National Start-up Day': PM Modi at interaction with start-ups, today pic.twitter.com/W7TXA32fCR ANI (@ANI) January 15, 2022 The Amrit Mahotsav is a week-long event "Celebrating Innovation Ecosystem. The event is being hosted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, from January 10 to 16, ANI reported. The Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav event marks the 6th anniversary of the launch of the Startup India initiative, a flagship initiative of the Government of India that was launched to catalyse startup culture and build a strong and inclusive ecosystem. Startups from various sectors including Agriculture, Health, Enterprise Systems, Space, Industry 4.0, Security, Fintech, and Environment, among others, were a part of the interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During the interaction, Modi called for innovating for India and from India to tackle challenges facing the country as he counted steps taken by the government in freeing entrepreneurs and innovation from bureaucratic silos. Live TV #mute New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on Friday (January 15), proposed new norms for the classification and valuation of the investment portfolio of banks, with a view to align them with the global prudential framework and accounting standards. According to the proposed norms, the investment portfolio of banks will be divided into three categories: held-to-maturity (HTM), available for sale (AFS), and fair value through profit and loss account (FVTPL). Within FVTPL, held-for-trading (HFT) shall be a sub-category aligned with the specifications of 'Trading Book' as per the Basel-III framework. The new bank portfolio classification norms will come into effect from April 1, 2023, the RBI paper said, while inviting comments on a discussion paper in this regard from stakeholders by February 15. The new norms propose to bridge the gap between the existing guidelines and global standards and practices with regards to classification, valuation and operations of the investment portfolio of commercial banks. The extant instructions pertaining to the prudential norms on the classification and valuation of the investment portfolio are largely based on the Report of Informal Group on Valuation of Banks' Investment Portfolio (Convenor: T C Nair), which was submitted in 1999. The recommendations of this informal group culminated in the issue of prudential guidelines on the investment portfolio in October 2002, which forms the basis of our current norms. There have been significant developments in the global prudential framework, accounting standards as well as in the financial markets-both domestic and global in the past two decades. While the RBI has been tweaking the guidelines in response to situations as they emerge, a comprehensive review has not been undertaken so far, resulting in a wide gap between the country's norms and the global standards and practices, the central bank said. It is against this backdrop that a discussion paper, on 'Review of Prudential Norms for Classification, Valuation and Operations of Investment Portfolio of Commercial Banks', reviews the rationale and the evolution of the current framework, the corresponding global standards, and developments in the financial markets before framing its proposals. Also Read: Budget Expectations: Telcos seek Rs 35,000 crore input tax credit refund, GST waiver on licence fee The paper proposes to comprehensively align the prudential framework with the global standards while retaining some elements considering the domestic context. Also Read: AGS Transact Tech IPO: Check price band, subscription dates, offer details Live TV #mute Srinagar: Security forces had claimed that they arrested three LET terrorists associates during surprise checking. "11.01.2022 at about 1405 hrs, a joint Naka was established by Sopore police, 22 RR and 179 BN CRPF at Chinar crossing Darpora in the jurisdiction of Police Station Bomai, read a police handout. During the Naka checking it was noted that three persons coming from village Gund Brath towards village Bomai were roaming in suspicious conditions and were subsequently asked to stop, but they tried to flee from the spot. Later, the violators were apprehended tactfully by the vigilant security forces. Upon their personal search, two pistols, two pistol magazines, thirteen pistol rounds and a hand grenade were recovered from their possession. Police identified the militants as Arafat Majeed Dar R/O Harwan Sopore, Tauseef Ahmed Dar R/O Taliyan Mohalla Arampora Sopore and Momin Nazir Khan R/O Arampora Sopore at present Natipora Srinagar. Preliminary investigation has revealed that the arrested persons are associates/OGWs of proscribed terrorist organisation LeT and have been providing logistical and other materialistic support to terrorists. Accordingly, a case has been registered at Police Station Bomai under relevant sections of law and further investigation is going on. Total 5 terrorist associates arrested today in Kashmir with arms and ammunition. Earlier today police in two terrorists were arrested from shopian with arms and ammunition Live TV New Delhi: January 15 is celebrated in India as Army Day. The Indian Army Day, that is celebrated at all the Army Command Headquarters, is being observed today amid strict protocols with Covid-19 cases rising in the country. The Indian Army Parade at KM Cariappa Parade Ground in Delhi was attended by Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane. Army Day is observed to mark Field Marshall K M Cariappa taking over as the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army. The position was taken over on January 15, 1949, from General Sir Francis Butcher, the last British Commander-in-Chief of India. Indian Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane inspects the parade on Army Day at parade ground in Delhi Cantt. pic.twitter.com/PSJZb2HRGZ ANI (@ANI) January 15, 2022 Today at the Parade Ground, MM Naravane spoke about the challenges the Army faced last year, India-China talks, Pakistan among others. Here are some of his quotes: - Last year was extremely challenging for Army - The 14th round military-level talks held between India, China recently to keep situation under control. Joint efforts at various levels led to disengagement in many areas which is a constructive step (on eastern Ladakh standoff) - Our message is clear, Indian Army won't let any attempt to unilaterally change status quo along country's borders to succeed - In LOC, the situation is better than last year but Pakistan is still harbouring terrorists near the border. Nearly 300-400 terrorists are waiting to intrude in India. A total of 144 terrorists were killed in counter-operations Live TV New Delhi: Amid rising COVID-19 cases across the country, the Election Commission (EC) will meet on Saturday to take a call on whether to extend beyond January 15 the ban on public rallies, roadshows and corner meetings in five poll-bound states. The decision is to be taken based on inputs about the spread of coronavirus and its new variant Omicron. Earlier while announcing the schedule of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur on January 8, the panel had banned public rallies, roadshows and corner meetings till January 15 in view of the spike in COVID-19 infections in India. The Commission had also listed 16-point guidelines for campaigning as it banned 'nukkad sabhas' (corner meetings) on public roads and roundabouts, limiting the number of persons allowed for the door-to-door campaign to five, including the candidate, and prohibited victory processions after the counting of votes. In a press release on Friday, the EC said that considering the ongoing pandemic and enhanced relevance of non-contact-based campaign, it has, in consultation with Prasar Bharti Corporation, decided to double the broadcast/telecast time allotted to each national party and recognised state party of the five states. This is noteworthy that the much-awaited Assembly polls in the five states will be held in seven phases between February 10 and March 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. Meanwhile, India recorded 2,64,202 new COVID-19 infections and the country's active caseload has now increased to 12,72,073. An increase of 1,54,542 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload between Thursday and Friday. Live TV Madurai: An 18-year-old spectator was fatally gored by a raging bull at the Avaniyapuram Jallikattu here on Friday. The popular bull-taming competition held on Pongal day in the district left about 59 people, including tamers, bull owners and spectators injured. The teenager Balamurugan from Madurai was gored in the chest by a bull, said police. He was rushed to the Government Rajaji Hospital where he was declared as brought dead by the doctors, a senior police official said. Nearly 641 bulls stormed into the arena at Avaniyapuram here on Friday, signalling the commencement of the jallikattu competitions during the Pongal (harvest) festival in the district. As the bulls rushed from the 'vaadivasal' (entry point), a number of youth swarmed around them hoping to clasp their arms around the animal's hump and ride to victory in the bull-taming competition. #WATCH | Tamil Nadu: Jallikattu competition underway in Palamedu area of Madurai. pic.twitter.com/f5MGyMb0Gd ANI (@ANI) January 15, 2022 Many participants made unsuccessful attempts to get a firm grip of the hump but the bulls shrugged them off and darted forward. Few men pounced from the side of the animal and clung to the hump till the finishing point. This district would witness this traditional sport at Palamedu on Saturday and culminate with the grand finale at Alanganallur on January 17. The event at Alanganallur, a world-famous one, is being held on Monday instead of January 16 as a complete lockdown has been imposed in view of the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in the State. Though the events are held in other parts of Tamil Nadu, the three successive Jallikattu events in the district are major attractions every year. The event at Avaniyapuram commenced at around 7.30 AM. Nearly 300 bull tamers participated in the sport being held with stringent COVID-19 safety precautions and a strong security arrangement by the police. The number of spectators was restricted to 150 owing to the coronavirus pandemic. At the end of the seventh round, about 59 tamers, bull owners and spectators sustained minor injuries, said police. A medical team present at the venue attended to them. The day-long traditional sport, which concluded at about 5.10 PM, saw Karthik from Avaniyapuram emerging on top by taming 24 bulls. "I wish I had tamed a couple more to cross the quarter-century mark," an exalted Karthik said. Last year, he tamed 16 bulls. He lifted the trophy as the best tamer for this season and won a car. Bull-tamers Murugan and Bharat Kumar of Madurai, who overpowered 19 and 11 bulls respectively won the second and third prize. Not just the tamers, animals also won prizes. The bull belonging to Devasagayam of Manapparai was adjudged the best bull as none succeeded in taming him. The one belonging Ramu of Avaniyapuram and another bull owned by Pratish of Avaniyapuram were adjudged the second and third best respectively. Earlier, a medical team from the Animal Husbandry Department examined the bulls to ascertain if they were fit to participate in the event. Several sponsors offered attractive prizes such as a two-wheeler, TV, gold coins, mixer, grinder and cooking vessels to encourage the participants. Commercial Taxes Minister P Moorthy and Finance Minister P T R Palanivel Thiagarajan flagged off the Jallikattu in the presence of Madurai district collector S Aneesh Sekhar. Live TV New Delhi: As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ramped up its efforts ahead of the Assembly elections in five states, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh`s (RSS) Muslim wing, Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM), is reaching out to Muslim voters in these states seeking votes for BJP, stating that the saffron party is the biggest well-wisher of the minority community. Speaking to ANI, the national convener of MRM, Shahid Sayeed said, "Around 400 diligent workers will work with BJP to reach out to Muslim voters. These workers will be headed by seven other different designated members. They all head various departments in Muslim wing of RSS". "There will be public awareness programs on all the work done by the Yogi-Modi government. During a meeting today RSS leader Indresh Kumar has released a `letter of an appeal` listing various schemes implemented by the BJP governments and states for the welfare of the Muslim community. The saffron party is the biggest well-wishers of Muslim community," said Sayeed. This "letter of appeal" will be distributed in all poll-bound states. "A seven-member team including Shalini Ali, National Convener Women Wing; Bilal ur Rehman, Chairman Madarsa Board and Convener Hindustan First, Hindustani Best; Dr Imran Choudhary, UP State Convener; Hafiz Sabreen, Convener Delhi States; Oncologist Dr Majid Tallikoti, National Convener Incharge Karnataka; Khursheed Razakka, Ex-Chairman Mewat Development Board and National Convener for MRM Youth Wing and Nish Jafri, MRM UP Activist will lead 400 workers," added Sayeed. Uttar Pradesh will go to the assembly polls in 7 phases from February 10 to March 7, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa will vote on February 14 and Manipur will vote on February 27 and March 3. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. Live TV New Delhi: Bhartiya Kisan Union on Saturday (January 15) said that if the government doesn't respond to their demands then they will observe 'Virodh Diwas' on January 31. Talking to the media, Yudhvir Singh of BKU said, "Till now, Centre has neither formed a committee on MSP nor approached us on it. Govt hasn't removed the MoS whose son is involved in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident. If govt doesn't respond to our demands then we'll observe 'Virodh Diwas' on Jan 31." Meanwhile, BKU leader Rakesh Tikait informed that the union will visit Lakhimpur Kheri to meet affected farmers' families. "We will visit Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri for 3-4 days from January 21 and meet the affected farmers' families. We will discuss and form a strategy on the further course of action of our agitation," said Tikait. Live TV New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday (January 15) extended the ban on poll rallies and roadshows in states till January 22 in the wake of rise in Covid-19 cases. The ECI has allowed political parties to hold indoor meetings with a maximum of 300 persons or 50% of the capacity of the hall. ECI allows political parties to hold indoor meetings with a maximum of 300 persons or 50% of the capacity of the hall. pic.twitter.com/dR32PfMZlN ANI (@ANI) January 15, 2022 The poll body also directed political parties to comply with the provisions of the model code of conduct and to the pandemic control measures. On January 8, the EC while announcing the poll schedule for Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand Manipur, Goa and Punjab, had banned public rallies, roadshows and similar physical campaigning events till January 15. The ban has now been extended by another week. Elections for 403 assembly seats in UP, 117 in Punjab, 70 in Uttarakhand 60 in Manipur and 40 in Goa will be completed in seven phases that will be held between February 10 and March 7, the Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra had announced on January 8. The result will be announced on March 10. Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa will vote on February 14 in one phase and Manipur in two phases on February 27 and March 3. UP will vote in 7 phases on these dates: Feburary 10, 14, 20, 23, 27; March 3 and 7. Meanwhile, India reported 2,68,833 new COVID-19 cases and 402 deaths, which took the total death toll to 4,85,752, as per data released by the Ministry of Health on Saturday. (With agency inputs) Live TV New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education is likely to release the CBSE Class 10, Class 12 Term 1 exam results soon. Some reports suggested that the board might release the results this week, but no official announcement was made on the same. Once released, the CBSE Class 10, 12 Board Exam 2022 Term 1 result will be available at the official websites- cbse.gov.in, cbseresults.nic.in. Here are the steps to check scores: Step 1: Visit the CBSE official website (cbse.nic.in) Step 2: On the homepage, click 'CBSE 10th Term 1 Result 2022' or 'CBSE 12th Result 2022' link Step 3: Enter your roll number, other details and click on submit Step 4: Your classes 10 and 12 results will be displayed on the screen Step 5. Download your result and take a print out for future reference It may be noted that the students can also chcek their scores on DigiLocker app and website (digilocker.gov.in); and on Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance (UMANG) app. Live TV New Delhi: In a strict measure, the Haryana government has decided not to allow unvaccinated children in the age group of 15 to 18 years to enter schools once they reopen. Taking to Twitter, Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij made the announcement on Saturday (January 15). He wrote, Children in the age group of 15 to 18 years will not be allowed to enter schools when they reopen. Parents are requested to get their wards vaccinated to ensure their protection from COVID. Children in the age group pf 15 to 18 years will not be allowed to enter schools when they reopen.Parents are requested to get their wards vaccinated to ensure their protection from COVID ANIL VIJ MINISTER HARYANA (@anilvijminister) January 15, 2022 The schools in Haryana are currently closed in the wake of surge in Covid-19 cases. The decision was taken during a meeting with officials to review the current Covid situation in the state on Friday. "During the meeting, the health minister urged all the parents of children between 15 to 18 years of age to get their wards vaccinated at the earliest, as when the schools open, those who have not been vaccinated will not be allowed to enter the school," PTI quoted the official statement. More than 15 lakh children in the state between 15-18 years of age are eligible for Covid-19 vaccine. India had started the vaccination of teenagers between the ages of 15 to 18 from January 3. Meanwhile, Haryana registered 8,841 new COVID-19 cases and six more deaths, according to an official bulletin on Friday. The active cases in the state have reached 41,420, while the death toll rose to 10,091. The coronavirus caseload in the state has reached 8,28,948. (With agency inputs) Live TV New Delhi: The National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) celebrated `Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav` on Friday with Kala Kumbh, organising artist workshops for painting scrolls measuring approximately 750 metres, representing the tales of valour of unsung heroes of India`s freedom movement, said Ministry of Culture. Director-General of National Gallery of Modern Art Adwaita Garanayak said that the works of art done on the gigantic scrolls will form an integral part of the Republic day celebrations 2022, marking a unique collaboration between the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Defence. Garanayak said that these scrolls analyse the potential of art as a means to express National pride and excellence with varied forms of art from diverse geographical locations of the country. "The celebration of the true essence of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat was visible in these workshops where the rich diversity of our country in its cultural aspects was witnessed while portraying the heroic lives and struggles of unsung heroes of India`s freedom movement. These have been diligently researched upon and painted enthusiastically by more than five hundred artists spread over two locations, Odisha and Chandigarh", he added. "The National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi has organised these workshops with the aim of amalgamating varied forms of visual and performing arts of the country to represent the true essence of unity and diversity in India. I believe that the gigantic scrolls when displayed at Rajpath will garner the interest of each individual to delve deep into the history of the unsung heroes of India`s freedom struggle and would also draw attention towards the unified visual aspects of modern, indigenous and contemporary arts of India," he said. He said that aligning with the flagship program of the Ministry of Culture, the aspect of collaborations and collective work has been outlined in these workshops. In Odisha, the NGMA collaborated with Kalinga Institute of Technology and Silicon Institute of Technology in Bhubaneswar from December 11-17 and in Chandigarh, the collaboration was done with Chitkara University from December 25, 2021, to January 2, 2022. According to the Ministry of Culture, the Kala Kumbh- Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav reflects the essence of unity in diversity while also analyzing the initiative of the Government of India to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of progressive India and the glorious history of its people, culture and its achievements. The scrolls painted in these workshops may be seen as an embodiment of all that is progressive about India`s socio-cultural identity which has been imparted prominence on the large-scale scrolls as per the artistic vision of Adwaita Garanayak. "Ten gigantic scrolls of approximately seven hundred and fifty meters portray the tales of valour and legacy of the unsung heroes of India`s freedom struggle. Inspiration has also been drawn from the creative illustrations in the Constitution of India wherein the artistic elements painted by Nandalal Bose and his team have imparted a distinctive appeal along with several representations from the indigenous arts of India," the statement reads. These represent and showcase the rich cultural heritage of India along with the insights of struggles undertaken by the unsung heroes for achieving India`s freedom. At Bhubaneswar, the narratives have reflected the tales of valour and historical elements of India`s movement of freedom struggle focusing on Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bengal, northeastern parts of India and Andhra Pradesh with artistic expressions reflecting the indigenous forms of art such as Pattachitra, Talapatra Chitra, Manjusa, Madhubani and Jadu Patua to name a few. At Chandigarh, the narratives have been a reflection of the tales of valour of unsung heroes from Ladakh, Jammu, Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan with artistic expressions reflecting the indigenous forms of art such as Phad, Pichwai, Miniature, Kalamkari, Mandana, Thangka and Warli. These artist workshops have been a huge success and were visited by several students at both venues. NCC cadets have also witnessed the creative representations of India`s unsung heroes of freedom struggle at Chandigarh. The closing ceremony of Kalakumbh- Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav at Chandigarh was graced by Banwari Lal Purohit, Governor of Punjab and Administrator of UT Chandigarh and at Bhubaneshwar by Hon`ble Member of Parliament, Dr Achutya Samanta who is also the founder of KIIT and KISS. Several other dignitaries also evinced great interest in the scrolls during their visits to the workshops. Series of cultural programs were held in the evenings during these workshops, reflecting upon the rich traditions of folk and indigenous performing arts of India in collaboration with Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre and Northern Zonal Cultural Centre. The scrolls reflect traditional forms of art as well as contemporary expressions, which showcase the essence of the rich cultural and artistic heritage of India while also analyzing the absolute sacrifice and contribution of our unsung heroes proving to be a befitting tribute to Kalakumbh- Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and a true celebration of Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat. In the next phase, these scrolls will be placed artistically at Rajpath for the celebrations of Republic day, 2022. The strategic location of these scrolls would serve as an open gallery for all the citizens and it is intended to inspire people about the rich national heritage and legacy of Bharat in its true sense. Live TV New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday (January 15) has seized assets worth over Rs 48 lakhs belonging to journalist Rajeev Sharma pertaining to a money-laundering investigation. The assets involve Delhis Pitampura- based residential property in the name of Sharma. Sharmas assets have been booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 A money-laundering investigation has been initiated against Sharma on the basis of the FIR and charge sheet filed by Delhi Police under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the Official Secrets Act, 1923. Initial investigation revealed that Sharma had supplied confidential and sensitive information to Chinese intelligence officers, in exchange for remuneration thereby compromising the security and national interests of the country. The investigation further revealed that the money was provided by a Mahipalpur based shell company that was run by Chinese nationals namely Zhang Cheng aka Suraj, Zhang Lixia aka Usha and Qing Shi along with a Nepali national Sher Singh aka Raj Bohara. This Chinese company was acting as a conduit for the Chinese Intelligence agencies to provide remuneration for persons like Rajeev Sharma who indulged in criminal activities. The remuneration was being paid in cash through carriers as well as through cash deposits. Rajeev Sharma also received money using the bank account of his friend in order to conceal his involvement in criminal activities. In addition to obtaining remunerations in cash, he also received remuneration in kind in the form of various paid foreign trips which were arranged by the Chinese Intelligence Agents. ED has earlier filed a prosecution complaint in the present case before the Honble PMLA Court, Patiala House Courts New Delhi on which the Court has taken cognizance of the matter to vide order dated September 7. Live TV New Delhi: In its first reaction after the announcement of construction of a road in Lipulekh led to an outrage among the polity in Nepal, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu on Saturday (January 15) said the position of the Government of India on the India-Nepal boundary is known and has been conveyed to the Nepali Government. The outrage began after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election rally in the Haldwani area of Uttarakhand on December 30, had announced that his government has extended a road to Lipulekh and further expansion work is going on. The Indian Embassy issued a statement on the ongoing high political activity in Kathmandu, with ruling and opposition leaders urging the Nepal government to take a more forceful stance on the latest development along the border with India. The Government of Indias position on the India-Nepal boundary is well known, consistent and unambiguous. It has been communicated to the Government of Nepal, the statement said. Nepal has called the construction of road by India as unilateral action. It is our view that the established inter-governmental mechanisms and channels are most appropriate for communication and dialogue. Mutually agreed boundary issues that are outstanding can always be addressed in the spirit of our close and friendly bilateral relations, the embassy added. GoI's position on the India-Nepal boundary has been communicated to the Nepal Govt; established inter-governmental mechanisms are most appropriate for communication. Mutually agreed boundary issues can be addressed with friendly bilateral relations: Embassy of India, Kathmandu pic.twitter.com/WoB5YT6cMt ANI (@ANI) January 15, 2022 Lipulekh, which lies at the tri-junction between Indias northern Uttarakhand state, China and Nepal, is claimed by Kathmandu. Earlier, the ruling Nepali Congress issued a statement and demanded India to immediately withdraw its troops stationed in Kalapani region and amicably resolve the border row through high-level diplomatic negotiation based on historical facts and evidence. "Nepali Congress is clear that Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura and Kalapani are Nepalese territory. The issue of the road construction in Lipulekh against the agreement reached at the Nepal-India Joint Commission to resolve all bilateral issues through diplomatic negotiations is objectionable and this must be stopped immediately, the statement said. Major political parties in Nepal have issued statements objecting to Indias expansion of road in Lipulekh. Calls are now growing from within the ruling alliance, from Deubas Nepali Congress and his coalition partners, to speak up and lodge a protest with India on Modis recent statement. Live TV New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday (January 14, 2022) issued a statement on the 'Climate of India during 2021' and said that the country saw around 1,750 deaths due to extreme weather events last year. The Met department said that Maharashtra was the worst-affected state with 350 fatalities, followed by Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. Maharashtra is the most adversely affected state during 2021, which reportedly claimed more than 340 deaths mainly due to extremely heavy rainfall, floods, landslide, lightning, cyclonic storms and cold-wave events. pic.twitter.com/O7M1SMgItB India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) January 14, 2022 It informed that thunderstorms and lightning claimed more than 780 lives in India last year, while 759 people died in heavy rainfall and flood-related incidents. Cyclonic storms claimed 172 lives and 32 others died due to other extreme weather events, the IMD said. Heavy rainfall and flood related-incidents claimed 215 lives in Maharashtra, 143 in Uttarakhand, 55 in Himachal Pradesh, 53 in Kerala and 46 in Andhra Pradesh, according to the report. Thunderstorms and lightning claimed 213 lives in Odisha, 156 in Madhya Pradesh, 89 in Bihar, 76 in Maharashtra, 58 in West Bengal, 54 in Jharkhand, 49 in Uttar Pradesh and 48 in Rajasthan. The Met Department said 223 people died due to extreme weather events in Odisha, 191 in Madhya Pradesh, 147 in Uttarakhand, 102 in Bihar, 98 in Uttar Pradesh, 92 in Gujarat and 86 in West Bengal. Sixty-seven died in Kerala, 62 in Rajasthan, 59 in Himachal Pradesh, 57 in Jharkhand, 50 in Andhra Pradesh, 45 in Karnataka, 34 in Tamil Nadu, 32 in Jammu and Kashmir, 25 in Telangana and 14 in Assam. Of the seven deaths recorded in Delhi due to extreme weather events, four occurred because of heavy rainfall and flooding, the IMD data showed. The IMD also stated that 2021 was the fifth warmest year on record since 1901. It also said that 11 out of 15 warmest years were during the recent fifteen years (2007-2021). b) About Rainfall 2021 over India The 2021 annual rainfall over the country as a whole was 105% of its LPA based on 1961-2010 period. The southwest monsoon season rainfall over the country as a whole was 99% of its LPA. pic.twitter.com/IS9RnatTDA India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) January 14, 2022 (With agency inputs) Live TV New Delhi: The farmer unions contesting the Punjab assembly polls will no longer be part of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), the umbrella body that spearheaded the agitation against the now-repealed Agri laws said on Saturday (January 15). The SKM also gave a call for observing a nationwide "Day of Betrayal" on January 31 against what it called the government's reneging on its assurances to the farmers on their demands, including legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) of crops. SKM leaders in a press conference after their meeting at Kondli on the Singhu border also said that BKU leader Rakesh Tikait will visit Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh for three days from January 21 to press their demand for the sacking of Union Minister Ajay Mishra whose son is accused of mowing down protesting farmers last year. "Tikait will meet victims, jailed farmers and officials. If there is no progress, a siege may be laid in Lakhimpur by farmer organisations," said SKM leader Yudhvir Singh. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha will put up a permanent morcha against the "brazenness and insensitivity of the BJP in the Lakhimpur Kheri massacre case," the outfit said in its statement. The SKM spearheaded over-a-year-long protest against the farm laws at Delhi borders till December 2021. Singh also said that the SKM does not agree with farmer organisations participating in the election in Punjab and they will not be part of it. "Those organisations taking part in polls are not part of SKM. We will decide about our relation with them in a meeting of SKM in April," he said. SKM leader Joginder Singh Ugrhan said, "SKM has nothing to do with them." Two prominent leaders of the SKM Gurnam Singh Chadhuni and Balbir Singh Rajewal have joined the fray in Punjab. Chaduni has formed his own political party. The Punjab unit of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) has formed the Samyukt Samaj Morcha to contest the Punjab assembly elections scheduled for February 14. The Samyukt Samaj Morcha comprising several farmer organisation has announced contesting the election under the leadership of Balbir Singh Rajewal. The name of Samyukta Kisan Morcha will not be used in the election. Farmers' organisations and leaders participating in the elections are not with the SKM, according to the statement. "Regarding the announcement of some constituent organisations to field candidates by forming parties in Punjab elections, SKM clarified that from the very beginning, it has has made it a limitation that no political party can use its name, banner or platform. "The same rule applies in elections as well. The name or banner or platform of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha will not be used by any party or candidate in the election. Any farmer organisation or leader associated with the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, contesting elections, or who plays a key role for any party in the election, will not remain in the Samyukta Kisan Morcha," it said. The SKM expressed its "dismay and anger" that the Government of India has not fulfilled any of the promises made in its letter on December 9 on the basis of which it decided to withdraw the protests at Delhi borders. "No action has been taken by the Union Government, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal governments on the promise of immediate withdrawal of the cases during the agitation. The Haryana government has done some paperwork only," it said. The rest of the state governments have not even received a letter from the Union government. The Uttar Pradesh government has not initiated any action on giving compensation to the families of the farmers killed during the protest, it said. No announcement has been made by the Haryana government regarding the amount and nature of compensation, said the statement. "On the issue of MSP, the government has neither announced the formation of the committee, nor has given any information about the nature of the committee and its mandate," it said. The SKM also extended its support to the nationwide strike called by trade unions on January 23-24, saying it will join through rural strike. Live TV New Delhi: Five people were killed and two injured on Saturday (January 15) after the car they were travelling in collided with a bus in Rajasthan's Nagaur district. The police told Zee Media that the accident that killed five took place in the morning due to dense fog. The deceased have been identified as Sita aged 65 years old, Sanju (22), Rahul (10) Ajay (5) and Bhaliram (42). The two injured were admitted to the district hospital, the police added. The car, full of passengers, was on its way to Jodhpur from Nagaur while the bus was going towards Bikaner. (Inputs from Hanuman Tanwar) Live TV New Delhi: The new combat uniform of the Indian Army soldiers was unveiled before the Indians for the first time on the occasion of the 74th foundation day of the defence force on Saturday (January 15) as the commandos of the Parachute regiment marched at the parade ground in Delhi Cantt. A video released by the news agency ANI features Indian Army commandoes marching at the parade ground in Delhi clothed in the new combat uniform. Here's the Indian Army's new uniform! #WATCH | Delhi: Indian Armys Parachute Regiment commandos marching during the Army Day Parade in the new digital combat uniform of the Indian Army. This is the first time that the uniform has been unveiled in public. pic.twitter.com/j9D18kNP8B ANI (@ANI) January 15, 2022 Indian Armys Parachute Regiment commandos marching during the Army Day Parade in the new digital combat uniform of the Indian Army. This is the first time that the uniform has been unveiled in public, captioned ANI. The new uniform, which replaces the force's decades-old combat design, now has a digital camouflage pattern, similar to the one used by the British Army. The new uniform is likely to be introduced in the Indian Army by August this year. The decision to bring out the new combat dress for the force was taken at the recently held Army Commanders' Conference, the officials said earlier The new camouflage uniform is totally different from the existing dress and the shirts would not be required to be tucked in by troops. It is designed with the objective of keeping the soldiers warm and comfortable in harsh climatic conditions as well as the clear camouflage pattern will help them with survival techniques. The new uniform has been created in association with the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT). Live TV New Delhi: January 15 is celebrated in India as Army Day and this occasion today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the Indian Army, saying it is known for bravery and professionalism, and words cannot do justice to its invaluable contribution towards national safety. PM Modi added that India is also proud of the stellar contribution of the Army in peacekeeping missions overseas. "Indian Army personnel serve in hostile terrains and are at the forefront of helping fellow citizens during humanitarian crisis, including natural disasters. India is proud of the stellar contribution of the Army in peacekeeping missions overseas as well," the Prime Minister said. He added, "Best wishes on the occasion of Army Day, especially to our courageous soldiers, respected veterans and their families. The Indian Army is known for its bravery and professionalism. Words cannot do justice to the invaluable contribution of the Indian Army towards national safety." Best wishes on the occasion of Army Day, especially to our courageous soldiers, respected veterans and their families. The Indian Army is known for its bravery and professionalism. Words cannot do justice to the invaluable contribution of the Indian Army towards national safety. pic.twitter.com/UwvmbVD1hq Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 15, 2022 President Ram Nath Kovind also extended his greetings. "Greetings to Army personnel and veterans on Army Day. Indian Army has been pivotal in ensuring national security. Our soldiers have displayed professionalism, sacrifice and valour in defending borders and maintaining peace. The nation is grateful for your service. Jai Hind!," read the tweet from his official handle. Also Read: Spatial disorientation' of pilot led to crash that killed General Bipin Rawat, finds probe report Army Day is observed to mark Field Marshall K M Cariappa taking over as the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army. The position was taken over on January 15, 1949, from General Sir Francis Butcher, the last British Commander-in-Chief of India. Meanwhile, in the capital, Chief of Armed Forces - General Manoj Mukund Naravane (Army), Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari (Air Force), and Admiral R Hari Kumar (Navy) - laid wreaths and paid obeisance at the National War Memorial in Delhi to mark Army Day. Live TV MANILA: The Philippines has finalised a deal to acquire a shore-based anti-ship missile system from India for nearly $375 million to beef up its navy, the Southeast Asian nation`s defence minister said. The Philippines is in the late stages of a five-year, 300 billion pesos ($5.85 billion) project to modernise its military`s outdated hardware that includes warships from World War Two and helicopters used by the United States in the Vietnam War. Under the deal negotiated with the government of India, Brahmos Aerospace Private Ltd will deliver three batteries, train operators and maintainers, and provide logistics support, Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said in a Facebook post late on Friday. It was conceptualised in 2017 but faced delays in budget allocation and due to the coronavirus pandemic. The new anti-ship system aims to deter foreign vessels from encroaching on the country`s 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone. In 2018, the Philippines bought Israeli-made Spike ER missiles, its first-ever ship-borne missile systems for maritime deterrence. Despite friendlier ties between China and the Philippines under President Rodrigo Duterte, Beijing has remained adamant in claiming large portions of the South China Sea, a conduit for goods in excess of $3.4 trillion every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have lodged competing claims. A 2016 international arbitration ruling, however, said the Chinese claims had no legal basis. Live TV New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to interact with more than 150 startups from various sectors on Saturday (January 15, 2022) via video conferencing. According to a release issued by the Prime Ministers Office (PMO), startups from various sectors such as enterprise systems, space, industry 4.0, security, fintech, environment besides agriculture and health will be part of this interaction. PMO also said that more than 150 startups have been divided into six working groups based on themes including growing from roots, nudging the DNA, from local to global, technology of future, building champions in manufacturing, and sustainable development. Each group will make a presentation before Modi on the allotted theme in the interaction. The aim of the interaction is to understand how startups can contribute to national needs by driving innovation in the country, the release said. The event has been organised by DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and is a week-long affair, from January 10-16. The theme of the event is "Celebrating Innovation Ecosystem" and it marks the sixth anniversary of the launch of the 'Startup India' initiative. "Prime Minister has been a firm believer in the potential of Startups to contribute significantly to the growth of the nation. This was reflected in the launch of the flagship initiative Startup India in 2016. The government has worked on providing an enabling atmosphere for boosting the growth and development of Startups," the release said. This has had a tremendous impact on the startup ecosystem in the country and has led to a staggering growth of unicorns in the country, it added. Live TV New Delhi: Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra asking him to delay the state Assembly polls to be held on February 14. The letter dated January 13, 2022, said that many from the Scheduled Castes (SC) community, which contributes around 32 percent of the total population, will likely visit Uttar Pradeshs Varanasi from February 10 in view of Guru Ravidas birth anniversary on February 16. In such a situation, many people from this community would not be able to cast their votes for the State Assembly, which is otherwise their constitutional right. They have requested that the voting date may be extended in such a way that they are able to visit Banaras from 10th to 16th February 2022, as also participate in the Assembly elections, the letter written by the Punjab CM read. Punjab CM Charanjit S Channi wrote to Chief Election Commissioner on Jan 13, requesting him "to postpone Feb 14 State Assembly polls for at least six days as many people from SC community from the State likely to visit Varanasi,in view of Guru Ravidas birth anniversary on Feb 16" pic.twitter.com/TzLzR3t2fn ANI (@ANI) January 15, 2022 The Congress CM urged the EC to postpone the Punjab polls for at least six days enabling about 20 lakh people to utilize their right to vote for the State Legislative Assembly. Meanwhile, as per the candidates' list released by Congress today, CM Charanjit Singh Channi will contest from Chamkaur Sahib SC, while Punjab party chief Navjot Singh Sidhu has been fielded from Amritsar East. Punjab will vote in one phase on February 14 to elect a 117-member House. (With agency inputs) Live TV New Delhi: After a fall in daily coronavirus cases a day earlier, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Saturday (January 15) said that the Covid-19 infections have reached their peak in the national capital. Delhi had reported 24,383 new Covid-19 cases and 34 fatalities, as per the state health bulletin on Friday. While on Thursday, the national capital had logged its highest single-day spike since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic with 28,867 daily infections. The UT health minister said the government will consider easing restrictions when the Covid-19 cases decline to touch 15,000. "Let's wait. The cases have started declining. They came down to 24,000 yesterday and will come down to 20000 today. Let them come down to 15,000 or below and then we will see, PTI quoted Jain as saying. He also said that Delhi is likely to record 20,000 cases on Saturday, a decline from Friday. The hospitalisation rate has stabilised in Delhi, the AAP leader added. "We can say that Delhi has reached a peak in terms of cases. Cases have started slowing down. Let's see when the decline happens," the Delhi Health Minister said. Earlier on Friday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that although Covid-19 cases are rising sharply there is no need to worry. "As a result, there is no need for people to be concerned or to panic. From the perspective of the Delhi government, everything is in order. There is no shortage of hospital beds. There are also plenty of ICU beds available. We do not need to panic, but we must act responsibly. We are keeping an eye on the coronavirus situation," he told reporters. (With agency inputs) Live TV Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested six terrorist associates of proscribed terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Sopore and Bandipora and recovered incriminating materials including arms and ammunition from their possession. The Police in Bandipora arrested three terrorist associates of proscribed terror outfit LeT after receiving specific input regarding the activities of terrorist associates in Bandipora Town and its adjoining areas. They have been identified as Ghulam Mohammad, Irshad Hussain both residents of Ashtangoo Bandipora and Ashiq Hussain resident of Sopore. Incriminating materials, arms and ammunition were recovered from their possession. As per the preliminary investigation, these terrorist associates were working to expand the terrorist activities of LeT especially Foreign Terrorists by providing them logistic and other material support including mobile phones and Sim cards. One among the arrested persons is a former terrorist and his anti-national activities have recycled many times during the past. Earlier in Sopore, at a joint checkpoint by Police along with 22 RR and 179 BN CRPF noticed that three persons coming from village Gund Brath towards village Bomai were roaming in suspicious conditions and were subsequently asked to stop, but they tried to flee from the spot, however, they were apprehended tactfully by the vigilant security forces. Incriminating materials, arms and ammunition including two pistols, two pistol magazines, 13 pistol rounds and a hand grenade were recovered from their possession. They have been arrested and shifted to the police station where they remain in custody. A case has been registered and further investigation is underway. (With agency inputs) Live TV New Delhi: The chopper crash on December 8 that killed Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and 13 others was due to the 'spatial disorientation' of the pilot, the preliminary findings submitted by the tri-services court of inquiry has found. The court of inquiry into the Mi-17 V5 accident, headed by Air Marshal Manavendra Singh, analysed the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder besides questioning all available witnesses to determine the most probable cause of the accident. It ruled out 'mechanical failure, sabotage or negligence' as a cause of the accident. "The accident was a result of entry into clouds due to unexpected change in weather conditions in the valley. This led to spatial disorientation of the pilot resulting in Controlled Flight into Terrain," the Ministry of Defence said in a statement on Friday (January 14, 2022). ALSO READ | Who was General Bipin Rawat - First CDS and counter-insurgency warfare hero? The CFIT, notably, is defined as an unintentional collision with terrain -- the ground, a mountain, a body of water, or an obstacle -- while an aircraft is under positive control. General Rawat, his wife Madhulika, his defence advisor Brigadier LS Lidder, staff officer to the Chief of Defence Staff, Lt Col Harjinder Singh and decorated pilot Group Captain Varun Singh were among 14 others killed in the crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu. Live TV New Delhi: The Republic Day celebrations will now begin every year from January 23 instead of January 24 and will include the birth anniversary of freedom fighter Subash Chandra Bose, government sources said on Saturday. This is in line with the Narendra Modi government's focus on commemorating important aspects of India's history and culture, they said, noting it had earlier started celebrating Bose's birth anniversary as "Parakram Divas". Earlier, the Centre announced that the birth anniversary of freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose will be observed as Parakram Diwas to honour the valour and courage of the founder of Indias first army Other such days, observance of which has become a yearly affair, are August 14 as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day, October 31 as National Unity Day (birth anniversary of Sardar Patel), November 15 as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas (Birsa Munda's birth anniversary), November 26 as Constitution Day and December 26 as Veer Baal Divas (a tribute to the four sons of Guru Gobind Singh), sources added. Live TV New Delhi: Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad on Saturday (January 15, 2022) ruled out an alliance with the Samajwadi Party for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Azad claimed that SP president Akhilesh Yadav does not want Dalits in this alliance and just wants Dalit vote bank. "After all the discussions, in the end, I felt that Akhilesh Yadav does not want Dalits in this alliance, he just wants Dalit vote bank. He humiliated the people of Bahujan Samaj, I tried for 1 month 3 days but the alliance could not happen," Chandrashekhar Azad said in a press conference. #WATCH | ...Akhilesh Yadav does not want Dalits in this alliance, he just wants Dalit vote bank. He humiliated the people of Bahujan Samaj, I tried but the alliance could not happen...: Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad pic.twitter.com/okVnUlJyVv ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) January 15, 2022 The SP, notably, is trying to extend its social alliance to add Dalits and most backward castes in UP by forming alliances with smaller caste-based parties and organising caste and community conferences. Earlier, Akhilesh had also formed the Baba Saheb Vahini and had celebrated Dalit Diwali on BR Ambedkar's birth anniversary. This is noteworthy that Dalits in Uttar Pradesh are an influential caste group and their population is around 21.6 per cent, which includes 66 Dalit sub-castes. Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh are scheduled to be held in seven phases beginning February 10. The results will be announced on March 10. Live TV New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday (January 15) thanked the BJP leadership for fielding him from Gorakhpur Urban seat in the upcoming Assembly elections. Exuding confidence, the UP CM said that the saffron party would return to power in the state with an "overwhelming majority." "I express thanks to the Prime Minister, national president and BJP Parliamentary Board who decided to field me from Gorakhpur Urban seat in the current assembly elections, PTI quoted Adityanath as saying. He added, With the help of party workers and present and past representatives, the BJP will win not only in Gorakhpur but in the entire state and form its government again with an overwhelming majority. The BJP leader said his party will once again come to power in the state with its core mantra of "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas". Gorakhpur Urban seat will go to vote in the sixth phase on March 3. Yogi had been the MP from Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat since 1998 until he assumed the CM post in 2017. BJP's Radha Mohan Das Agarwal is the MLA from the seat currently. This would be Adityanath's first-time contest in UP assembly elections. Earlier, there were reports that the BJP is considering fielding the UP CM from Ayodhya or Mathura. Yogis deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya will contest from Sirathu in Prayagraj in the upcoming elections. The BJP on Saturday released the first list for 107 seats going to polls in the first and second phase of voting in UP. The state will vote in seven phases beginning from February 10. The counting of votes will be done on March 10. (With agency inputs) Live TV New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to release its election manifesto for the Uttarakhand Assembly polls by January 25. According to party sources, the public opinion that came from 70 assembly constituencies from the ballot boxes is yet to be analysed. After one or two meetings it will be finalized. This time the party has also sent a ballot box in every assembly constituency to take public opinion in the manifesto, through which public opinion is being taken for the manifesto. In the next few days, all these will also be compiled by the party and handed over to the manifesto committee. After which the final form of the manifesto can get shape in the next few meetings. The sources said that in the election manifesto, the party can make a special announcement for women and youth. The BJP is preparing on a large scale for the assembly elections. The party is preparing its manifesto keeping all the sections of people in mind with the inclusion of subjects like women, youth, farmers, employment, agriculture and tourism. The manifesto is being prepared on the theme of "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Vikas". It is believed that the party can announce its manifesto for its elections by January 25, in which women and youth will be especially in focus. So far, about four meetings of the manifesto have been held. Party sources are saying that most of the work of the manifesto which was presented in the last assembly elections has been done. Now, the party is preparing this manifesto keeping in the current circumstances. So that by choosing the right issues, they can win the election. In the last assembly election, BJP secured the win on 57 seats out of 70 assembly constituencies of Uttarakhand. The party`s effort is to break the traditional track of Uttarakhand and to form the government once again and for this purpose BJP is working on its manifesto. Polls to elect the 70-member state legislative assembly are scheduled to be held on February 14. The counting will take place on March 10. Live TV New Delhi:Religious leader Yati Narsinghanand was arrested in the Haridwar Dharma Sansad hate speech case on Saturday (January 15), ANI reported. This is the second arrest in the case after Waseem Rizvi who is now known as Jitendra Narayan Tyagi was arrested by the Uttarakhand Police in Haridwars Roorkee on Thursday. Uttarakhand | Yati Narsinghanand has been arrested today, in connection with a case pertaining to derogatory remarks against women. He has 2-3 cases registered against him: CO City, Haridwar pic.twitter.com/mMs1YI6R9x ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) January 15, 2022 Yati Narsinghanand has been arrested today, in connection with a case pertaining to derogatory remarks against women. He has 2-3 cases registered against him, CO City, Haridwar was quoted as saying by the news agency. The Uttarakhand Police had issued notices to Yati Narsimhananda and Sadhvi Annapurna on Thursday for appearance before it. Yati Narasimhanand is the controversial priest of the Dasna Temple in Ghaziabad who had organised the Dharma Sansad in Haridwar from December 17-19, where highly provocative speeches were made against Muslims. Sadhvi Annapurna was one of the speakers at the event who is accused of hate speech. The arrests come after the Supreme Court pulled up the Uttarakhand government on Wednesday for not acting against the guilty despite several days since the incident. (With agency inputs) Live TV New Delhi: After busting break-up rumours with a powerful caption and a mushy picture, Arjun Kapoor and Malaika Arora dropped a cryptic post on finding love at 40s. This looks like a clear cut answer to haters for not spreading rumours and letting them be. Arjun Kapoor and Malaika Arora shared a note on their Instagram stories reading: Normalize finding love in your 40s. Normalize discovering and chasing new dreams in your 30s. Normalize finding yourself and your purpose in your 50s. Life doesnt end at 25. Lets stop acting like it does Earlier, Arjun Kapoor slammed all the rumours of their break-up writing: Aint no place for shady rumours. Stay safe. Stay blessed. Wish well for people. Love yall He got immense support from celebrity friends including Tara Sutaria, Sophie Choudry among others. Also, ladylove Malaika Arora reacted with a bright red heart emoji. These rumours surfaced after several publications claimed that Arjun recently visited cousin Rhea's house, skipping to meet his ladylove Malaika, who stays nearby. This added more fuel to the fire. Recently, Malla and Arjun celebrated New Year's together and even went on a vacay to the Maldives. Malaika runs a yoga studio by the name of Diva Yoga centre and often urges people to either take to yoga or hit the gym to keep the body, mind and soul balanced. On the work front, Arjun currently has three films lined up - 'Ek Villain Returns', 'Kuttey' and 'The Lady Killer'. New Delhi: Sara Ali Khan, on Saturday morning, visited Ujjain`s famous Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga temple to seek blessings from Lord Shiva. She was accompanied by her mother, Amrita Singh. Taking to her Instagram handle, Sara shared a series of serene pictures from her spiritual retreat. The `Kedarnath` actor wore a simple white suit embellished with black coloured block print. On the other hand, Amrita was seen wearing a royal blue coloured traditional suit. From the first snap where the mother-duo posed in front of the majestic temple with the holy lake in the backdrop, Sara proved that she is spiritually inclined and believes in the power of worshipping. Sharing the pictures, she wrote, "Maa aur Mahakal #jaimahakal #jaibholenath."Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. For the uninformed, Sara is currently in Madhya Pradesh, shooting for her upcoming film with Vicky Kaushal. New Delhi: Have you moved to a new place and havent changed the address on your Aadhaar card? You may need not worry as the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which issues and handles Aadhaar card related services, allows cardholders to update the address on Aadhaar card in a few simple steps. Aadhaar card has become an important document in the current times, as the document is a valid ID proof and is also considered as an address proof. Cardholders are required to keep their Aadhaar cards updated to avail of the service offered by several state-owned and private agencies. UIDAI also allows cardholders to update their phone numbers, names, date of birth and address on the Aadhaar Card. Heres how you can change the address on Aadhaar Card by following the steps mentioned here: Step 1: Firstly, you need to visit the UIDAI website at http://uidai.gov.in/. Step 2: Go to 'My Aadhaar' from the drop-down menu present on the top-left corner of the UIDAI website. Step 3: On the new page, click on the 'Update Demographics Data Online' option from the drop-down menu. Step 4: Select the 'Proceed to Update Aadhaar' option. Step 5: Now, enter the required information such as the Aadhaar number in the provided fields. Step 6: Complete the captcha challenge. Step 7: Verify your details with OTP verification. The OTP will be delivered to the registered mobile number. Step 8: Enter the six-digit OTP and click submit. Step 9: Go to the demographics data option and upload scanned colour copies of verification documents to modify the address. Step 10: Select the submit option. Also Read: HCL Tech Recruitment: IT firm to hire up to 22,000 freshers in FY22 Step 11: You will get a URN request number using which you can check the status of the update. Also Read: Metas Zuckerberg, Googles Pichai signed 'big deal' to carve up ad market: Report Live TV #mute New Delhi: The Karnataka government, on Friday (January 14), announced a hike in the salary of guest lecturers in state-run colleges. According to the latest announcement based on a government-constituted three-member committees report, the salary of thousands of guest lecturers working in government first-grade colleges will get doubled. Higher Education Minister C N Ashwath Narayanan praised Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai for personally taking interest in addressing the demands of guest lecturers. He added that four types of classifications have been formulated to fix the salaries. Previously, guest lecturers with UGC-prescribed eligibility were paid a salary of Rs 13,000 per month. Whereas, teachers not meeting the eligibility were paid Rs 11,000 per month. The salaries of the guest teachers have now been increased to a minimum of Rs 26,000 per month and a maximum of Rs 32,000 per month. Moreover, the Karnataka government has decided to pay the salaries of guest lecturers before the 10th of every month. The government has also decided to appoint the lecturers on an academic year basis (10 months duration) instead of a semester basis as had prevailed earlier. "As UGC-prescribed eligibility conditions will be made mandatory for recruiting guest faculty in the coming years, a three-year time has been set for guest lecturers to clear the required tests/examinations, Narayanan said. Also Read: RBI proposes new rules for classification, assessment of banks' investment portfolio Moreover, the government has also decided to give weightage to seniority of service while appointing guest lecturers for state-run colleges and universities. The government will create a selection based on the existing parameters of the department to ensure that weightage to seniority of service is given to the lecturers. Also Read: Garena Free Fire redeem codes for January 15: Check how to avail free rewards Live TV #mute New Delhi: Bigg Boss 15 is getting more dramatic day by day. In today's episode, our Dabangg host Salman Khan enters the stage and wastes no time in schooling the contestants on their behaviour seen in the recent past. The first in line to face his fire is Rakhi Sawant, who has been adding a lot of fuel to the fire between her fellow housemates. Salman asks her, Aapko itna sab kuch kaise pata hai? Aur jo show ko conduct kar raha hai, unko bhi nahi pata? The host then goes after Tejasswi, who has been picking a fight with everyone this week. Salman questions her on why she believes that everyone is against her, and eventually uses it to play the sympathy card. She has also been raising questions on the channel itself which has not gone down well with Salman. He grills her saying, Aap is channel ke baare mein kosti rehti ho. Aapka har kosna dikhaya jaa raha hai, jo public ko bilkul pasand nahi aa raha! Tejasswi tries to defend herself, but a furious Salman is in no mood for her excuses. How will Tejasswi survive Salmans burning line of questions? Keep watching 'BIGG BOSS 15' every Monday to Friday at 10.30pm and Saturday-Sunday at 9.00pm, only on COLORS! For more such updates, keep watching this space. New Delhi: Call it getting back to normal' or entering into a new era of the Covid-19 pandemic, but several countries, especially in the West, are moving towards accepting the coronavirus spread as an endemic and have begun treating it as mere flu. Spain is the recent case in point. After 2 years of curfews, lockdown, mask mandates and movement restrictions, the question arose several times if the world is really ready to take a step ahead and treat Covid like flu. However, the health experts in India and across warn strictly against dropping the guards against coronavirus as it is an ever-changing virus. So are we really ready to treat Covid like flu? Here is an analysis of what global health bodies and various governments are saying about the endemic stage of the coronavirus pandemic stage. WHOs stance WHO has clearly and vehemently opposed the idea of treating Covid like an endemic and warned against dropping restrictions, especially mask mandates. Health body chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently said that Omicron is less severe than the Delta variant of the coronavirus but is still killing and affecting people, especially those unvaccinated. However, the WHO itself admitted that most people in Europe will be infected with the new variant. What do experts say? On the other side, several health experts in the United States are favouring the idea of treating Covid like a flue with maximum focus on vaccination against the virus. Dr Clive Dix, a UK based health expert and the former chairman of the countrys vaccine task force recently said that its time to consider entering an endemic stage and treat COVID like a flu. However, health experts in Spain are themselves divided on the treat COVID like a flu approach. Its a mistake to think that the problem will no longer exist by not counting infections, or by reducing the number of days of isolation, or by establishing quarantines in schools with five children instead of maintaining what was had. The problem continues to be there, and it has to be addressed, Lopez Acuna, a leading epidemiologist and former WHO directive told a Spanish broadcaster Is the treat COVID like flu approach helping European countries? Since Spain is the first country to officially announce that it will treat Covid like an endemic now, its pertinent to understand the developing trend of the virus in the country. In the last week, Spain recorded more than 100 Covid-related deaths on a daily basis. Now the United Kingdom, another supporter of the new normal approach, has surely seen a declining trend in Covid infections but is still recording over 1 lakh cases every day with over 250 deaths every day from the past few days. Now, this boils down to a pertinent question - if 100-200 deaths every day, from the same infection, is the idea of 'normal' for a country? Live TV New Delhi: The White House on Friday released a statement on the recent cyber operations conducted by Russia against Ukraine and said that the pattern of attacks being monitored by its agencies signals a possible invasion by the former within a month. Intelligence agencies monitoring Russian cyber operations against Ukraine believe Russias pattern of activity could signal a ground invasion of Ukraine within the next 30 days, said White House in a statement. Earlier the US said it feared Russia was preparing a pretext to invade Ukraine if diplomacy fails to meet its objectives in the form of cyberattacks, as per Reuters. The statements came after a massive cyberattack splashed at least 70 federal websites of the Ukrainian government, including, the security and defence council, with a warning sign be afraid and expect worst. The cyberattack, which the Ukrainian state security service said showed signs of Russian involvement, unfolded hours after security talks between Ukraine and Russia. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the United States was concerned that Russia was preparing for the possibility of a new military assault. "As part of its plans, Russia is laying the groundwork to have the option of fabricating a pretext for invasion, including through sabotage activities and information operations, by accusing Ukraine of preparing an imminent attack against Russian forces in eastern Ukraine," Psaki said. However, Moscow constantly denied the claims of a possible cyberattack though it has amassed more than 100,000 troops on its neighbour`s frontiers and on Friday released pictures of more of its forces on the move. What is Russia vs Ukraine conflict? The tensions started when Ukrainian deposed their pro-Russian president in early 2014 leading Russia to move in, seize and annex Ukraine's southern Crimean peninsula and later the Donbas. The conflict remains active to this day despite the placement of a shaky ceasefire. (With agency inputs) Live TV It's a first look at what Boulder County deputies saw as the Marshall Fire raced through Louisville and Superior newly released body camera video from the Boulder County Sheriff's Office (BCSO) on Thursday shows the heroic efforts taken to evacuate neighborhoods from the approaching wildfire. Moscow, ID (83843) Today Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. High 57F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight A few clouds. Low near 40F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. By Trend President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed bilateral relations and defense and trade cooperation between Turkey and the United Kingdom with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday, according to a statement by the Presidency's Directorate of Communications, Trend reports citing Daily Sabah. The two leaders discussed the means to strengthen bilateral ties in the phone call, the statement said. They also touched upon developments in Syria and Ukraine, as well as regional and global issues such as the climate and refugee crises. Todays job environment is in a strange position. We have seen our workforce turned on its head, Katie Thomas of Southeast Alabama Works said. A few years ago, we would have 3,000 people show up for 500 jobs. In todays economy, were having 500 people show up for 3,000 jobs. We are in a very strange situation where there are more jobs to fill than we have people to fill them. Any job seeker, Thomas said, has the perfect opportunity to find the right job for them. A series of job fairs held around the Wiregrass is intended to make it easier for job seekers to connect with potential employers. The Geneva Job Fair, the latest event, will be held Tuesday, Jan. 18, from 2-5 p.m. in Geneva, hosted by the Greater Geneva Area Chamber of Commerce, Southeast Alabama Works and the Geneva County Extension Office. The job fair will be held at 414 E. Magnolia Ave. in Geneva. Another job fair is planned for Enterprise on Feb. 10. The local workforce issues were actually a problem before the COVID-19 pandemic, Thomas said. When unemployment is so low, you can guess that most of the people who want to be working full time and go into a job everyday already have one, Thomas said. Now, we have to start looking at those other factors like our labor force participation rate. In other words, there are a lot of people who could work but who choose not to work for a variety of reasons. In Geneva County, there are 12,690 people who are eligible to work but are not participating in the workforce this doesnt include military or veterans, the disabled, those who own a business, or those who receive unemployment. Houston County has 35,593 people not participating in the workforce. Out of the 10-county area served by Southeast Alabama Works, there are 136,000 people ages 16 to 64 who are not participating in the workforce. For our 10-county region, on average, 46.4% of our eligible working population is not working, Thomas said. These are problems we were trying to solve before we had the disaster of COVID and supply chain shortages and workforce shortages. There are 23 registered businesses set to attend the Geneva Job Fair, and representatives will be answering questions and accepting applications. Job seekers are encouraged to bring a resume. Thomas said at other job fairs, there have been people who left with scheduled interviews or even jobs lined up. Companies attending include DSI Security, Sysco Gulf Coast, Pepsi Cola Bottling Co. of Luverne, Wayne Farms, Premier Kings, Dorsey Trailer, Midsouth Paving, Lincoln Fabrics, Johnson Controls, and Cooks Saw Manufacturing. Restaurants such as The Gin, Zaxbys, and McDonalds will be represented as will Wiregrass Medical Center, SpectraCare Health Systems, Hartford Health Care, and Medical Center Enterprise. The Alabama Department of Corrections and the Florida Department of Corrections will also have representatives at the job fair along with the City of Geneva and the Southeast Alabama Regional Planning and Development Council. Thomas said the companies attending represent thousands of available jobs. Those range from entry-level to mid-level and some are even advanced professional positions they need to fill, she said. Peggy Ussery is a Dothan Eagle staff writer and can be reached at aussery@dothaneagle.com or 334-712-7963. Support her work and that of other Eagle journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at dothaneagle.com. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Alabama is seeing record high numbers of children hospitalized due to COVID-19 as hospitalizations statewide surpassed 2,000 people this week. In a Friday news release, the Alabama Department Public Health (ADPH) and the Alabama Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) urged parents to minimize their childrens exposure to COVID-19 by using well-fitting masks in schools, minimizing exposure to high-risk settings, and getting their children vaccinated if they are eligible. Of the 2,091 people hospitalized around the state, 71 were pediatric patients three of those pediatric patients were in an intensive care unit, including one on a ventilator. Among the hospitalizations were also 41 pregnant women with one in intensive care and one on a ventilator, according to the ADPH news release. The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is extremely contagious and fast-spreading, Dr. Katrina Skinner, president of the Alabama Chapter of AAP, said. Pediatric hospitalizations are at record high numbers, and we continue to see children with serious complications of COVID-19 infections such as MIS-C. Parents should take the current COVID-19 outbreak seriously as it poses a very real threat to the health and well-being of their children. Daily case numbers have remained high in the state. On Jan. 13, there were 9,266 cases of COVID-19 reported in Alabama. Alabama currently has nearly 2.25 million people who are fully vaccinated and nearly 2.8 million residents who have received one or more doses of vaccine. Health officials have continually recommended vaccination as the best way to protect against severe illness. Of the 57 patients admitted for COVID-19 at Southeast Health in Dothan on Friday, 13 were fully vaccinated (23%); three were partially vaccinated (5%); and 41 were not vaccinated at all (72%). There were nine patients in the hospitals ICU who were positive for COVID-19. None of the ICU patients with COVID were fully vaccinated. The hospitals emergency room was experiencing high volumes as of Friday, and due to limited testing supplies, Southeast Health asked people to not visit the hospitals emergency room for routine COVID testing for symptoms not requiring emergency care, for return to work or travel clearance. Those with minor COVID symptoms should stay home and contact their primary care doctor, local health department or urgent care center for a COVID test. Southeast Health is still doing COVID testing in the emergency room for patients being admitted to the hospital. Flowers Hospital had 31 COVID-19 patients on Friday. Locally, Dothan City Schools went to virtual learning this week with hopes of returning to in-person classes on Tuesday. Houston County Schools was forced to close Rehobeth High School because of a shortage of teachers due in part to COVID-19. Daleville City Schools continued to require masks as the number of cases climbed, and other school districts continued to hope the spread would ease so they could continue in-person learning. Only 10.5% of children ages 5-11 in Alabama have had a vaccine dose. For ages 12-17, 35.5% have received a vaccine dose. Statewide, school districts reported more than 16,000 cases of COVID-19 this week compared to 2,940 cases last week, according to the online school dashboard. In the crisis of higher virus transmission with the Omicron variant, immediate measures are critical, ADPH District Medical Officer Dr. Wes Stubblefield said in the news release. School-wide masking is at the top of the list of preventive steps that need to be implemented. Masks can still make a difference in school settings and allow students to remain in class, if properly used. Peggy Ussery is a Dothan Eagle staff writer and can be reached at aussery@dothaneagle.com or 334-712-7963. Support her work and that of other Eagle journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at dothaneagle.com. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Globally, it was the sixth hottest year on record for surface temperatures, according to data released by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in their annual global climate report on Jan. 13, 2022. But under the surface, ocean temperatures set new heat records in 2021. As climate scientist Kevin Trenberth explains, while the temperature at Earths surface is what people experience day to day, the temperature in the upper part of the ocean is a better indicator of how energy is accumulating on the planet. The Conversation spoke with Trenberth, coauthor of a study published on Jan. 11, 2022, by 23 researchers at 14 institutes that tracked warming in the worlds oceans. Your latest research shows ocean heat is at record highs. What does that tell us about global warming? The worlds oceans are hotter than ever recorded, and their heat has increased each decade since the 1960s. This relentless increase is a primary indicator of human-induced climate change. As oceans warm, their heat supercharges weather systems, creating more powerful storms and hurricanes, and more intense rainfall. That threatens human lives and livelihoods as well as marine life. The oceans take up about 93% of the extra energy trapped by the increasing greenhouse gases from human activities, particularly burning fossil fuels. Because water holds more heat than land does and the volumes involved are immense, the upper oceans are a primary memory of global warming. I explain this in more detail in my new book The Changing Flow of Energy Through the Climate System. Our study provided the first analysis of 2021s ocean warming, and we were able to attribute the warming to human activities. Global warming is alive and well, unfortunately. The global mean surface temperature was the fifth or sixth warmest on record in 2021 (the record depends on the dataset used), in part, because of the year-long La Nina conditions, in which cool conditions in the tropical Pacific influence weather patterns around the world. There is a lot more natural variability in surface air temperatures than in ocean temperatures because of El Nino/La Nina and weather events. That natural variability on top of a warming ocean creates hot spots, sometimes called marine heat waves, that vary from year to year. Those hot spots have profound influences on marine life, from tiny plankton to fish, marine mammals and birds. Other hot spots are responsible for more activity in the atmosphere, such as hurricanes. While surface temperatures are both a consequence and a cause, the main source of the phenomena causing extremes relates to ocean heat that energizes weather systems. We found that all oceans are warming, with the largest amounts of warming in the Atlantic Ocean and in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica. Thats also a concern for Antarcticas ice and sea level rise heat in the Southern Ocean can creep under Antarcticas ice shelves, thinning them and resulting in calving off of huge icebergs. In what ways does extra ocean heat affect air temperature and moisture on land? The global heating increases evaporation and drying on land, as well as raising temperatures, increasing risk of heat waves and wildfires. Weve seen the impact in 2021, especially in western North America, but also amid heat waves in Russia, Greece, Italy and Turkey. The warmer oceans also supply atmospheric rivers of moisture to land areas, increasing the risk of flooding, like the U.S. West Coast has been experiencing. 2021 saw several destructive cyclones, including Hurricane Ida in the U.S. and Typhoon Rai in the Philippines. How does ocean temperature affect storms like those? Warmer oceans provide extra moisture to the atmosphere. That extra moisture fuels storms, especially hurricanes. The result can be prodigious rainfall, as the U.S. saw from Ida, and widespread flooding as occurred in many places over the past year. The storms may also become more intense, bigger and last longer. Several major flooding events have occurred in Australia this past year, and also in New Zealand. Bigger snowfalls can also occur in winter provided temperatures remain below about freezing because warmer air holds more moisture. If greenhouse gas emissions slowed, would the ocean cool down? In the oceans, warm water sits on top of cooler denser waters. However, the oceans warm from the top down, and consequently the ocean is becoming more stratified. This inhibits mixing between layers that otherwise allows the ocean to warm to deeper levels and to take up carbon dioxide and oxygen. Hence it impacts all marine life. We found that the top 500 meters of the ocean has clearly been warming since 1980; the 500-1,000 meter depths have been warming since about 1990; the 1,000-1,500 meter depths since 1998; and below 1,500 meters since about 2005. The slow penetration of heat downward means that oceans will continue to warm, and sea level will continue to rise even after greenhouse gases are stabilized. The final area to pay attention to is the need to expand scientists ability to monitor changes in the oceans. One way we do this is through the Argo array currently about 3,900 profiling floats that send back data on temperature and salinity from the surface to about 2,000 meters in depth, measured as they rise up and then sink back down, in ocean basins around the world. These robotic, diving and drifting instruments require constant replenishment and their observations are invaluable. [Understand new developments in science, health and technology, each week. Subscribe to The Conversations science newsletter.] Kevin Trenberth 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. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Historically long stretches of record-breaking ocean heat and loss of sea ice have fundamentally changed the North Pacific and Arctic ocean ecosystem: Diyar Al Muharraq, a leading real estate development company in Bahrain, has signed an agreement with Zain Bahrain, a key telecom services operator in the country, for installation of two telecommunication towers within its integrated city in the kingdom. This comes in line with Diyar Al Muharraq's commitment to strengthen cooperation with local telecommunication companies and the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) in order to extend the range of signal coverage to all areas across the city. The first telecommunications tower will be constructed and operated within Deerat Al Oyoun, and an additional tower will be installed to serve Al Naseem and the ERA project, providing better mobile network and internet services for residents and visitors alike. Both towers will contribute to achieving Diyar Al Muharraq's goal of installing 13 towers as per its current agenda for the City's communications network. Following implementation of the TRAs plan to rectify the conditions of the existing telecom towers and reduce the number of towers, the new structures will be shared by all telecommunication companies operating in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The two parties discussed collaboration prospects to improve quality of life, operational efficiency and services throughout the Masterplan; as per the smart cities' standards and requirements. Commenting on the occasion, Zain Bahrain Managing Director Mohammed Zainalabedin said: "We are extremely delighted to expand our network coverage in Bahrain via this collaboration with Diyar Al Muharraq, one of the top companies in the real estate sector. We mutually aim to achieve Bahrains vision of providing strong telecommunications, internet infrastructure and a robust network, which will benefit residents and visitors of the development." Zain Bahrain is part of the Zain Group, a leading telecommunications operator across the Middle East and Africa, which provides various telecom services to over 50 million customers. Committed to being one of the most prominent contributors to the country's development and prosperity, Zain Bahrain has continuously supported the kingdom's position on the global telecommunications landscape, he added. Diyar Al Muharraq CEO Engineer Ahmed Al Ammadi said: "We are proud to be taking one step further towards achieving our goal of providing comprehensive, high-quality infrastructure for Diyar Al Muharraq's residents and visitors." "The new telecommunication towers will enable wider coverage for mobile and internet networks throughout the City and neighboring areas. As part of the Citys ongoing development, we look forward to collaborating with service providers to install additional telecommunication towers in the future," he added. Diyar Al Muharraq is one of the largest integrated cities in the kingdom, which works to preserve the Bahraini family values while offering a variety of housing solutions and a luxurious modern lifestyle. The project offers a unique, balanced mix of residential, commercial, recreational, and healthcare facilities, creating a fully integrated and futuristic model city.-TradeArabia News Service It has taken a man in central Vietnam 28 years after his death to be cleared of suspicion he had committed a murder 42 years ago. Colonel Pham That, deputy director of the Binh Thuan Province police department, said the real culprit in the murder of a woman in Ham Tan District in 1980 has been found. But Vo Te (1932 1994) had been wrongly suspected and questioned, he said. Phan Thi Khanh of Tan Minh Commune, Ham Tan, was murdered on July 31, 1980, and her family said 1.6 taels of gold had been stolen from her. The police arrested Te, who lived in the same commune, and said he was the main suspect. But after five months they released him saying they "did not have enough evidence to press charges." He had remained the main suspect until he died in 1994. His son, Vo Ngoc, 54, said the situation had put his father and the entire family in great difficulty and they had had to live with the shame for decades. Vo Ngoc, the son of Vo Te, is at the scene of a murder crime that Te had been accused of committing 42 years ago. Photo by VnExpress/Viet Quoc Two years ago Do Thanh An, a son of the victim Khanh, approached the province police and said he knew who killed his mother: Truong Dinh Chi, the brother-in-law of her younger brother. Chi has over the years changed his name to Tran Dinh Khoi and then Le Minh Son. Following this several lawyers helped Ngoc and his family proclaim Tes innocence. The province police and the Ministry of Public Securitys Criminal Police Department reopened the case. They found that two days before the murder Chi and his wife had traveled from their home in southern Vietnam to Binh Thuan and stayed in the house of Khanhs younger brother, next to her own. Chi and his wife left after Khanh was killed, and have since moved from place to place and become known to various people by various identities. "Chi has changed his identity at least thrice. But the [investigation] determined it was the same person, Colonel Pham That said. But Colonel Vu Xuan Tieu, deputy head of the Binh Thuan Police Investigation Agency, said Chi could not be prosecuted because of "the statute of limitations." In Vietnam, a murder charge has to be brought within 20 years. "The police will take steps to publicly apologize to and compensate Tes family in accordance with the law," Tieu said. Ngoc said: "The grievances of my father and family were finally resolved. I only regret he is gone." Prolonged closures because of the Covid-19 pandemic have pushed many private kindergartens to the edge and beyond, triggering a preschool crisis in Hanoi and HCMC. HCMC announced Wednesday that it will let preschool students back to classes from February on an optional basis, with parents deciding if they want to send their children to school or not. However, by the time the announcement was made, many kindergartens had already gone bust with the burdens of remaining closed since April too much to bear. Le Van, owner of a kindergarten with 80 children and more than 20 teachers in Thu Duc City, is working on procedures to dissolve his business, which had begun in early 2020. Van said he accepted losses in the first year of operation but then the fourth wave that hit Vietnam last April, resulting in stringent social distancing and prolonged closures of schools, broke the business. For the last eight months, he had to pay VND10 million a month as rent after the landlord offered him a 50-percent reduction. "We just could not hold out any longer," he said. A private kindergarten in HCMC's Thu Duc City has remained closed since April 2021 until now. Photo by VnExpress/Manh Tung Vietnam now has more than 15,000 preschools that take care of 3-5 year old children. Of these, 2,900 are private. Then there are over 193,700 nurseries serving more than five million children aged from three to five. A recent survey by the Ministry of Education and Training found 95.2 percent of private kindergartens had earned zero revenue for over six months and 81.6 percent could not pay even the minimum wage for teachers during the eight-month suspension period. Last year, more than 150 private kindergartens and preschool facilities in HCMC applied for dissolution while owners of around 100 other preschools submitted petitions calling for help from the authorities. 'Burned out' In late 2018, Vu Dang Quang Tung invested VND4 billion ($176,300) to open a kindergarten in Hanoi's Tay Ho District. After operating for over a year since early 2019, the school had to halt operations under the pandemic impacts. Then, more Covid-19 outbreaks forced it to close several times again. His business hit rock bottom in 2021 when the kindergarten had to shut down for eight months straight from April. "We can no longer maintain the school. We are burned out," Tung wrote on a Facebook post on Jan. 10 as he announced the kindergarten's closure. Tung said he would like to gift the school to any investor that is financially capable and has the intention of running a kindergarten. During the time that the school remained suspended, Tung had to spend VND200 million ($8,826) each month, including the cost of maintaining facilities and supporting teachers. Though the landlord had reduced rent for the premises, Tung said "his hands are tied" and that he felt "overwhelmed." He added that teachers at the school were "broke" and had to do other jobs to earn a living, but "they passionately hope that they can soon get back to on-site classes." A scene inside the kindergarten owned by Vu Dang Quang Tung in Hanoi's Tay Ho District in early 2020. Photo by Vu Dang Quang Tung While it was difficult for authorities to set a specific time for reopening when the pandemic was developing unpredictably, he felt they should come up with certain solutions in the meantime to help operators pay salaries to teachers or cover other costs. The amount of aid could be decided based on the scale of each school and their annual business report, Tung felt. He warned that if too many private kindergartens were to stop operations, state-owned schools would be overloaded when kindergartens are allowed to reopen. The capital city currently has 1,140 preschools, of which 787 are public and the remaining private. For now, Hanoi has not announced any plan on reopening its kindergartens. According to the education ministry, between May and December last year, 28,500 kindergartens across the country have had to suspend operations, and 584 private ones have been dissolved. Tung said: "If there specific policies to help (private) kindergartens overcome this difficult time are not issued, I'm afraid that not many can survive until the government allows them to reopen." The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam proposed reopening regular commercial flights between Vietnam and France, Germany, Russia and the U.K. and with 10 weekly return flights. Dinh Viet Thang, head of CAAV, said the agency has been seeking approval from the Ministry of Transport to work with aviation authorities in the four European countries on resuming regular commercial flights as there is huge demand for repatriation during the upcoming Tet holiday among Vietnamese living in Europe. Statistics from CAAV showed around 140,000 overseas Vietnamese wish to return home to celebrate Tet, which peaks on Feb. 1 and it is forecast the number of passengers flying to Vietnam would exceed 30,000 a week, including foreign experts and diplomats. Earlier, CAAV worked with aviation officials of Australia to resume regular flights between the two countries with the frequency of 10 return flights a week. Vietnam Airlines starts selling tickets for flights between Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Sydney from Saturday. After the government approved a two-week first phase of resumption of flights to nine destinations starting Jan. 1, the CAAV granted flight slots for domestic carriers to seven: Bangkok, Phnom Penh, San Francisco, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo. Currently, flights to Beijing or Guangzhou in China and Vientiane in Laos are yet to resume as relevant aviation authorities remain to complete negotiations. Fully vaccinated people and those who have recovered from Covid-19 arriving in Vietnam only need to self-isolate for three days. Everyone, except children below two, must have tested negative for the novel coronavirus using the PCR method within 72 hours before departure. However, due to the emergence of the new Omicron variant of Covid-19, all passengers are also required to undergo a rapid test on landing at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat international airports. Philippines and China's coast guards in a joint exercise in 2019. Photo by AFP The Philippines has agreed to buy an anti-ship missile system from India, the defense minister said on Friday (Jan 14), shoring up its security in the face of growing Chinese aggression in the South China Sea. Manila's military was one of the most poorly equipped in Asia when President Rodrigo Duterte's predecessor, Benigno Aquino, began a modest modernization program in 2012 - but it is still no match for its neighbor China. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana offered few details about the nearly $375 million ($505 million) contract awarded to BrahMos Aerospace to supply an onshore anti-ship missile system to the Philippine Navy. BrahMos - a joint venture between India and Russia - has developed a cruise missile that the Indian defense ministry says is the fastest in the world. The Philippines would be the first country to purchase it. The deal involves three batteries, training for operators and maintainers as well as logistics support, Lorenzana said on Facebook where he posted a copy of the "Notice of Award". Duterte has been seeking to acquire missile systems for the Philippine military under a modernization program called "Second Horizon". ELKO Elko Animal Shelter is already benefitting from the Betty White Challenge that is sweeping the internet, and more local donations for the challenging honoring the legendary TV star will be accepted leading up to Jan. 17 her 100th birthday. White died on Dec. 31, but fans came up with the Betty White Challenge to honor her and recognize her love of animals, with the graphic stating: On Betty Whites 100th birthday, January 17th, everyone should pick a local rescue or animal shelter and donate just $5 in Betty Whites name. Donations larger than $5 are accepted, and Karen Walther, manager of the Elko Animal Shelter, said that as of Jan. 13, $365 had been donated at the shelter from four families. She said the challenge is a wonderful, wonderful idea, and I know how much she (White) cared for animals. Elko City Manager Curtis Calder told the city council about the Betty White Challenge and said donations also will be accepted at Elko City Hall for the city-owned shelter. Walther said the shelter volunteers Facebook site may also have a way to accept donations. Laurie Cabaret is the volunteer coordinator, and she recently wrote on Facebook that 16 people had donated to the challenge. Calder, who is also president of LASSO, the nonprofit fund-raising arm of the city-owner shelter, had good things to say about the shelter, especially the effectiveness of the spay and neuter clinic for dogs and cats. He said that despite the growth of the area over the past decade, the clinic has effectively reduced animal intakes by 54%. In other words, the spaying and neutering has kept down the cat and dog birth rates, so fewer strays end up at the shelter. Prior to the establishment of an on-site spay/neuter clinic, our animal intakes were approximately 3,000 per year. For 2021, we were at 1,369, Calder said. Nearly 6,000 animals have been spayed or neutered since 2011, which was the first full year the Dumke-Weeks Spray/Neuter Clinic was operational. The late Dr. Jack Walther was instrumental in starting the clinic, and veterinarians Dr. Anele Kandawasvika and Dr. Erika Johnson contributed their time and expertise, Calder reported. The current veterinarians for the animal shelter are Dr. Bill Wright and Dr. Hannah Rodriguez, who are contracted by the City of Elko but paid by LASSO. They are great. We could not be successful without them, Calder said. Statistics for 2021 show that the 1,369 animals taken to the shelter were down slightly from 1,373 in 2020 but much lower than the 1,979 animals brought to the shelter in 2019. Walther said the shelter was closed in the early days of the pandemic and then opened for appointments only. Of the 1,369 animals taken in during 2021, 966 were strays, 274 were surrendered by owners and 124 were seized, 79 of those bite cases. Last year 435 animal were adopted out, were 491 returned to their owner, 179 went to rescue groups, and 250 were euthanized. Walter said the rescue organizations the shelter uses are the Humane Society in Reno, the Humane Society in the Salt Lake City area, and SPCA of Northern Nevada in Reno. The statistics also show that 246 dogs and 159 cats were spayed or neutered in 2021. We are doing our best to work against high numbers by spaying or neutering, Walther said. The shelter at 2210 Pinion Road covers nearly all of Elko County, although Calder said the county doesnt contribute to the shelter. Walther said Carlin has its own shelter for dogs, and West Wendover has its own animal shelter. Numbers of animals at the Elko shelter vary, but there were only 10 on Jan. 13, following adoptions earlier in the week. Walther said of the 10, three are cats. Elko Mayor Reece Keener praised Calder and Walther. Throughout Curtis tenure as city manager, he focused much time and energy on the Elko Animal Shelter. Hes always been there to make sure that the program was successful and executing on its mission. Shelter manager Karen Walthers dedication has also played an important role in the shelters success, he said. Calder said he is proud of our team at the animal shelter. They do great work on behalf of the animals. Veterinarian technicians are Alyssa Mangum and Kirsten Kowing, who are city animal shelter employees and perform double duty assisting with surgeries. Animal shelter workers are Vickie Cooper and Rachel Hooper. Walther said LASSO the Local Animal Shelter Support Organization provides funds to the shelter from fundraising and donations. We encourage funding through LASSO, she said. One LASSO fundraiser that is still in progress involves the sale of posters donated by local businessman Scott Reutner about three years ago. There are 13 of 29 Cowboy Poetry Gathering posters dated from 1985 through 2013 still available to purchase through LASSO. Dog licenses issued by the city in 2021 totaled 430, compared with 588 the prior year and 776 in 2019. Walther said city licenses are sold at the animal shelter, but county dog licenses must be purchased at the Elko County Courthouse. The county issued 596 licenses in 2021, 660 in 2020 and 741 in 2019. Dogs can be adopted from the Elko Animal Shelter for $85. That covers the cost of spaying or neutering, a locator microchip and any vaccines needed. The cost to adopt a cat is $65. There also is a 50% discount of adoption fees for senior citizens. Love 3 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 ELKO A woman was arrested Thursday for allegedly stealing glasses from an Elko optometry shop in November. Rhiannon N. Junker, 33, faces charges of grand larceny, a Category D felony; and burglary of a business, a Category C felony. Her bail was listed at $30,000. Junker and two males entered Speedy Specs on Nov. 5 and, according to employees, distracted them to steal name-brand glasses, stated a police report. Surveillance video provided by the manager to police showed Junker and a male identified as Jarrett Beckner taking glasses. The third male was not named as a suspect. Police who watched the video reported that they saw Junker steal at least one pair of glasses, and Beckner steal at least five pairs. Junker was arrested twice in 2021; once in March for felony possession of a controlled substance and possession of a hypodermic device, and again in August for felony possession of a controlled substance. She pleaded no contest on Sept. 17 in Elko Justice Court to using or possessing drug paraphernalia and was ordered to serve 18 hours in jail. For conspiracy to commit possession of a controlled substance, a gross misdemeanor, Junker was arraigned in Elko District Court on Oct. 28. Sentencing is scheduled later this month. Beckner has been arrested multiple times between 2017 and 2019. He was sentenced to two years in prison for principal to grand larceny and sentenced again to 32 to 28 months in prison for grand larceny of a firearm and possession of a controlled substance, both in 2018. In 2016, he was convicted for grand larceny of a firearm and possession of a controlled substance after he and another man were arrested in an alley carrying a 12-gauge shotgun in a backpack. Beckner was listed on the same criminal complaint as Junker but he has yet to be arrested on the new charges, according to Elko County Jail records. Love 0 Funny 2 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 4 Eric S. Miller, 38, of Tooele, Utah, was arrested Jan. 9, 2022, at 154 Russell Ave. for felony possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia. Bail: $5,740 Serafin Perez, 43, of Elko was arrested Jan. 7, 2022, at Third and Silver streets for buying, possessing or receiving stolen property; and violation of probation. Tyler J. Hanson, 31, of Blaine, Washington was arrested Jan. 10, 2022, at 651 Camper Drive for burglary of a business. Bail: $20,000 Bobbye L. Carlson, 26, of Elko was arrested Jan. 11, 2022, at Elko County Jail on six counts of intent to utter a fictitious bill, note or check. Bail: $30,000 Shianna Gardner, 23, of Elko was arrested Jan. 11, 2022, at South First Street and Wilson Avenue for violation of probation. Christopher A. Wicklander, 54, of Elko was arrested Jan. 11, 2022, at Ruby Vista and Ruby View drives for felony possession of a controlled substance and violation of probation. Kari A. Candelaria, 50, of Spring Creek was arrested Jan. 12, 2022, on Lamoille Highway for felony possession of a controlled substance, drug paraphernalia, driving under the influence, driving with a suspended drivers license, and failure to maintain lane. Bail: $7,250 Wyatt C. Ermisch, 31, of Elko was arrested Jan. 13, 2022, at Idaho Street and Manzanita Drive on four felony counts of possession of a controlled substance, drug paraphernalia, and violation of probation. Caden L. McClellan, 23, of Elko was arrested Jan. 12, 2022, at the Elko County Jail on a felony warrant for forgery and intent to utter a fictitious bill, note or check. Bail: $10,000 George Sanchez, 29, was arrested Jan. 12, 2022, at Walmart for assault with a deadly weapon, battery on a protected person, two counts of coercion, battery, and resisting a public officer. Bail: $34,780 Juan C. Sanchez, 27, of Elko was arrested Jan. 12, 2022, at Joes Market for felony possession of a controlled substance, drug paraphernalia, and on a parole and probation hold. Matthew P. Berg, 22, was arrested Jan. 13, 2022, for violation of parole. Jamie R. Freeman, 32, of Spring Creek was arrested Jan. 13, 2022, at 2520 on a felony warrant for theft. Bail: $5,000 Keondre E. Howard, 22, of Spring Creek was arrested Jan. 13, 2022, at Errecart Boulevard and Bullion Road on a felony warrant for battery resulting in substantial bodily harm, driving under the influence, failure to yield to emergency vehicle, license plates improperly displayed, open container of alcohol in vehicle, and driving with a suspended license. Bail: $12,270 Rhiannon N. Junker, 33, of Elko was arrested Jan. 13, 2022, at 10th and Idaho streets on a felony warrant for grand larceny and burglary of a business. Bail: $30,000 Kristin G. Lyle, 33, of Dayton was arrested Jan. 13, 2022, on Interstate 80 at Carlin for driving under the influence, speeding 21-30 mph over limit, resisting a public officer, false statement to obstruct a public officer, two counts of battery by a prisoner, and on a criminal justice detainer. Bail: $44,265 Braden R. Penny, 44, of Spring Creek was arrested Jan. 13, 2022, at Elko County Jail on a felony warrant for possession of a controlled substance. Bail: $5,000 Samuel C. Pollock-Smith, 26, of Reno was arrested Jan. 13, 2022, on Interstate 80 at Carlin for violation of probation. Maritza R. Rodriguez, 41, of West Wendover was arrested Jan. 13, 2022 in Winnemucca for violation of probation. The charges listed do not imply guilt. Under the law, everyone is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The second round of Golden State stimulus checks was provided by the California Comeback Plan, the $100 billion stimulus package signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom back in July 2021. The first payments went out in October last year and the distribution effort is nearly complete. To be eligible for the payments California residents must have submitted their 2020 tax return no later than 15 October 2021. This was necessary for the California Franchise Tax Board (CFTB) to decide how much each individuals entitlement was and to make sure that it goes to the correct bank account. The vast majority of people who are able to receive a Golden State stimulus check will now have received theirs, but there are some exceptions. Paper check recipients may experience delays The final batch of payments scheduled for the Golden State stimulus check was sent out on 11 January, meaning that most will have already received theirs. The payments were staggered between October 2021 and January 2022 on the basis of the final three digits of the recipients ZIP code. As well the case with the three rounds of federal stimulus checks, payments made via direct deposit into a bank account were issued first and often arrived within days. The final payments to be distributed were the paper stimulus checks, which were sent to those with limited banking access. In the case of the Golden State stimulus checks, the CFTB have advised that it could take up to three weeks after mailing for them to arrive. This means that anyone expecting a paper stimulus check may need to wait three weeks after 11 January for it to appear in their mailbox. The deadline can be extended for those who request an ITIN The 15 October deadline means that most Californians have now missed their chance to apply for the Golden State stimulus check, but there is one group who may still be able to. If you requested an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) before 15 October but had not received it before the deadline, then you have some extra time to file taxes. Workers who do not qualify for a Social Security Number (SSN) can apply for an ITIN instead, allowing them to work in California in certain circumstances. If this applies to you, then you have until 15 February 2022 to use your ITIN to file taxes and trigger payment of your Golden State stimulus check. Omicron covid-19 variant headlines: - At-home testing kits to be sent out to US households "soon" - VP Harris - US government to purchase additional 500m at-home testing kits, taking total to 1bn - Biden - Health officials warn that Omicron can still cause severe cases and have long-term health impacts - Risk of catching Omicron abroad delays airline recovery - US President Biden announces deployment of medical teams to support overwhelmed hospitals in six states - Omicron "will find just about everybody", Dr Fauci says - CDC confirms N95 masks are the most safe - US hospitalizations for covid-19 at record levels - Omicron to hit US growth in early 2022 - Omicron variant accounts for over 60% of global covid-19 cases - Quebec plans to impose 'health tax' on residents who refuse vaccine General news and information - Are the doses of the Moderna and Pfizer booster shots different? - What side effects does the vaccine have on children? - What is 'flurona' and what are the symptoms? - Will swabbing your throat produce a more accurate result for a covid-19 rapid test? - Is it normal to experience armpit pain after receiving the vaccine? Key websites: - World Health Organisation - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - The Lancet Further reading: The Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (Adnec) has finalised its preparations to host the World Future Energy Summit 2022 (WFES) and its co-located events including WFES Energy, WFES Water, WFES Solar, ecoWASTE Exhibition and Forum, WFES Smart Cities, and WFES Climate and Environment, at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) from January 17 to 19. For this edition, WFES will explore the key themes of sustainability and the global transition to clean energy, in addition to showcasing technologies and innovations from around the world. The event will also hold industry forums discussing the latest trends and best practices, reinforcing the events position as a global hub for renewable energy and sustainable technology. Marking the 14th time that Adnec has hosted WFES, the event is one of the largest sustainability gatherings in the region and is one of the key international events on its annual calendar, said the event organisers. Hosting WFES further augments the Abu Dhabi groups commitment to creating a greener and more sustainable future for the MICE industry, as well as highlights its positive impact on the business tourism industry. Adnec's world-class infrastructure and capabilities, use of indoor and outdoor spaces, expertise in successfully hosting mega events, and strategic location, makes it a venue of choice for international events such as WFES, it stated. WFES will bring together government and business leaders and specialist exhibitors from around the globe, showcasing pioneering technologies and ground-breaking thinking in energy, energy efficiency, water, solar, waste and smart cities. The three-day event will see over 200 informative sessions of essential industry content giving visitors the opportunity to stay abreast of the transformative technologies and developments currently impacting key energy sector, it added.-TradeArabia News Service Headlines - An underwater volcano in the South Pacific caused a tsunami which has hit Tonga's largest island, Tongatapu, sending waves flooding into the capital city - Where is the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haapai volcano? - All US tsunami advisories lifted on Sunday - Pressure wave from the volcanic eruption felt in Jacksonville, California. - Tonga's capital, Nuku'alofa, was hit by the waves on Saturday, reports Radio New Zealand (RNZ). On Saturday an underwater volcanic eruption off the coast of Tonga triggered a tsunami that threatened the areas many islands and caused power outages for thousands of people. Tonga is a collection of 169 islands in the South Pacific with a combined population of little more than 100,000 people. The vast majority, roughly 70%, of residents live on the main island of Tongatapu. This latest eruption occurred on an island known as Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, which is little more than seven years old. The small volcanic island was formed in December 2014 when a subaquatic volcano erupted and sent ash and rock into the air. The hyphenated name is a combination of the two islands on either side of the new landmass. The volcanic matter cooled upon contact with the seawater and solidified to form a small island of igneous rock. Speaking to the BBC, volcanologist Jess Phoenix explained: "In this case, the ash seemed to have a chemical reaction with the seawater that allowed it to solidify more than it usually would. Volcano eruption in Tonga sparks tsunami warnings The Tongan islands immediately surrounding Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haapai appear to have borne the brunt of the aftermath but the consequences can be seen in distant countries and continents. Massive waves have been recorded crashing into coastal settlements and destroying homes. The Tongan capital of Nukualofa is just 40 miles south of the eruption and residents have suffered major power outages and a complete drop in internet services. Areas are thought to be covered in ash, but the full extent of the damage and possible injuries is still unknown. On news station Fiji One television reporter Jese Tuisinu said: "It is literally dark in parts of Tonga and people are rushing to safety following the eruption. Japan has issued a tsunami warning and warned of three-metre waves in some areas, reaching the nations southern coastline with a height of 1.2 metres. The noise of the eruption could be heard from Japan and national broadcaster NHK announced a tsunami advisory spanning the eastern coast. The Pacific nation of Fiji has also issued a tsunami warning and warned that people should stay away from the coastline "due to strong currents and dangerous waves". A foreign ministry spokesperson on Friday said China will continue to maintain and practice true multilateralism, and is ready to enhance cooperation with all countries to contribute to the post-pandemic global development. Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a daily press briefing when responding to a query about the upcoming 2022 World Economic Forum (WEF) virtual session. Earlier in the day, foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced that Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the virtual event and deliver a speech on Jan 17 in Beijing. Wang said mankind is faced with unprecedented challenges, as demonstrated by the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic, increasing uncertainties in global economic recovery, the widening development gap between the North and the South, and the headwinds against economic globalization. Against such a backdrop, Xi's attendance and delivery of a speech at the WEF are of great significance, Wang said. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, China has been actively carrying out international cooperation on pandemic response, promoting a stable recovery of the global economy, improving global governance, and working with all countries to counter common challenges, he said. China will continue to maintain and practice true multilateralism, and is ready to enhance cooperation with other countries to contribute China's wisdom and strength to the post-pandemic development of the world, and jointly build a community with a shared future for mankind, Wang added. Illustrative image (Source: VNA) They are all large-scale businesses with effective and stable business records and strong financial potential. These enterprises have established a foothold in the market, significantly contributing to the countrys economy recovery amid the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. On the VNR500 list are Samsung Electronics Thai Nguyen Co. Ltd., Vietnam Electricity (EVN), Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam), Viettel Military Industry and Telecoms Group (Viettel), and Vietnam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex) and Vingroup, among others. Vu Dang Vinh, General Director of the Vietnam Report JSC said 2021 was a special year, marking the beginning of the 5-year socio-economic development period of the country. At the same time, it was also the year that Vietnam faced unprecedented difficulties, he said, adding that this is also an opportunity for Vietnamese businesses to shine with their management capacity, creativity and adaptability. He said that in its 15 years, the VNR 500 honours "locomotives" of the Vietnamese economy that demonstrate their mettle and steadfastness amid challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It also promotes the brand of Vietnamese firms to investors at home and abroad and forges links with leading entrepreneurs and scholars across the globe, he added. A bilingual report Vietnam Economic White Paper 2022 entitled "Economic growth scenarios and adaptation strategies in the next normal state" was also introduced by Vietnam Report within the framework of the event. The report reviews the achievements in 2021 and collects the opinions of experts and business representatives on economic policy and experiences to "live safely" with the pandemic, as well as forecast scenarios for Vietnam's economic growth in the near future./. At the reception (Photo: VNA) Expressing concern over instability in Myanmar, both sides highlighted the top and urgent priority to ending violence, increasing humanitarian support for Myanmar citizens while promoting dialogue and trust building to seek a peaceful, comprehensive and sustainable solution that suits interests of Myanmar people. Heyzer congratulated Vietnam on accomplishing its role as ASEAN Chair 2020 and non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for 2020-2021. She spoke highly of the blocs efforts to seek a solution to Myanmar issue, especially the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus, and wished to partner with ASEAN and ASEAN Chairs Special Envoy during the process. Son, for his part, affirmed that Vietnam and ASEAN always consider Myanmar a member of ASEAN family so that they closely follow the situation and assist the country on the basis of respecting its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. He took note of efforts made by ASEAN and Vietnam, including providing humanitarian support for people and appointing ASEAN Chairs Special Envoy to promote dialogue and reconciliation among parties. The minister stressed that a comprehensive and progressive approach is needed, saying that every solution must put people at the centre. He wished that the international community and the UN would create favourable conditions for dialogue and reconciliation in Myanmar as well as continue supporting ASEANs central role and efforts. Speaking highly of the UNs support for ASEAN and Myanmar, Son also affirmed that he backs active coordination between Heyzer and ASEAN Chairs Special Envoy in the near future. The two sides agreed to work closely together to help Myanmar return to normal for the benefits of Myanmar people as well as for peace, stability, cooperation and common development in the region./. Held both in in-person and virtual forms, the congress gathered over 400 delegates, representing some 9.7 million members of the association nationwide. Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man (eleventh from the right) poses a photo with the new executive committee of the Vietnam Association of the Elderly in its congress on January 14. (Photo: VNA) In her opening remarks, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of the Elderlys Central Committee Pham Thi Hai Chuyen said over the last five years, the association has actively engaged in the formation of important legal documents and policies designated for the elderly. Chief among these are the national action programme on older people for the 2021 2030 period and policies on social security and health insurance which have helped enhance elderly care and promote their role in society, she said. The Vietnamese elderly have also further upheld their role in building the Party and the government, preserving traditional cultural values, safeguarding the countrys sovereignty over land and maritime territories, maintaining social order and security, fighting crimes and corruptions, protecting the environment, and developing new-style rural and civilized urban areas. NA Vice Chairman Tran Thanh Man, for his part, hailed the association for its dedicated commitment in fostering the elderly care and engaging them in socio-economic development and national construction and safeguarding. The association has been functioning well as the voice of the elderly, representing their wishes, legitimate rights and benefits, he said. The congress elected a 93-member executive committee, with Nguyen Thanh Binh, permanent deputy head of the Party Central Committees Organisation Commission, voted as new chairman for the 2021-2026 term. According to the association, there are some 11.4 million senior citizens at 60 years old and above across Vietnam, accounting for 12 percent of the population. Over 9.7 million among them are members of the association, up 1.1 million from the figure reported at the start of the associations previous term. Now, 95 percent of the elderly in Vietnam are health insurance holders. Most hospitals are giving priority in healthcare services for those aged above 80 years old./. In Jakarta, Indonesia (Photo: Xinhua) In a statement on January 14, spokesman of the Indonesian Governments COVID-19 Task Force Wiku Adisasmito said the ban was lifted as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has spread to about 150 countries. If the ban remains, it will make cross-border movements difficult. All international visitors are now required to self-isolate for seven days upon arrival regardless of their country of origin. The Philippine Government has also decided to shorten quarantine time for COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms to seven days from 10 days. The Manila authorities also allowed the suspension of online learning within a week till January 22 amid a spike in infections related to Omicron variant. At present, about half of the Philippine population are fully vaccinated./. Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, has said that his website was subjected to a targeted DDoS-attack from the Russian territory on Friday but was later working normally when the mayor posted his message on Telegram. "This afternoon [Friday], there was a DDoS attack on the official website of the Kyiv mayor (kyiv.klichko.org). Somebody has made a premeditated attempt to put it down. Our technical experts find that most of the simultaneous calls to the website came from the territory of the Russian Federation. Defensive mechanisms went off on the website, and it is now working normally," Klitschko said in a statement on Telegram on Friday. As was reported earlier, a global hacker attack on the Ukrainian government's websites took place late at night on January 13 and in the early hours of January 14. The attack paralyzed the websites of Ukraine's Ministry of Education and Science, the Foreign Ministry, the State Emergencies Service, the Cabinet of Ministers, the Energy Ministry, and the website Diia. Presently, they are all working again. The United States and France during the January 13-14 Cyber Dialogue stressed the importance of transatlantic cooperation to promote security in cyberspace and discussed assistance to Ukraine, which suffered a cyberattack, the U.S. Department of State said. "Representatives of the two countries emphasized the importance of transatlantic cooperation to promote security and stability in cyberspace ... They discussed a range of priorities including efforts to counter ransomware and other cybercrime, build cyber resilience, defend human rights online, and promote the framework of responsible state behavior in cyberspace, including through the NATO Alliance. They also discussed ways to support Ukraine as it responds to and recovers from malicious cyber activity," the department said on its website. As reported, on the night of January 14, there was a global hacker attack on the websites of the government of Ukraine. The websites of the Ministry of Education and Science, the Foreign Ministry, the State Emergencies Service, the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry of Energy, the Diia website did not work. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), together with the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection and the Cyber Police, are investigating the incident. According to the SBU, more than 70 government websites were attacked, ten of which were subjected to unauthorized interference. Germany's providing weapons to Ukraine needs to be viewed due to new threats - Ambassador Melnyk Germany's providing defense weapons to Ukraine should be considered against the backdrop of new threats, Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk has said. "The very provision of defense weapons by Germany to Ukraine was the focus of a frank conversation with Minister of State of the German Federal Foreign Office Tobias Lindner. It's time to consider this approach against the backdrop of a new threat," Melnyk said on Twitter. According to him, the Green Party, like the Social Democrats, still takes a skeptical position. In turn, Tobias Lindner said that he discussed with Ambassador Melnyk the state of bilateral relations, the coalition agreement and the security situation in the region. Response Plus Holding (RPM), a leading provider of healthcare services in the UAE, has signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi-based Falcon Aviation, a renowned business charter, Aviation Services, MRO and Aircraft Management company. As per the deal, RPM will provide qualified manpower and equipment to manage Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) that include primary emergency response to remote and offshore locations, helicopter evacuation when needed and chartered inter-facility transfer by helicopter, said a statement from RPM. The company is known for its long and proven expertise in the regional oil ad gas sector, both in onshore and offshore territories, focusing on managing and operating medical facilities and emergency ambulance services. On the partnership deal, RPM CEO Major Tom Louis said: "It comes in line with RPMs overall strategy to expand and advance its operations through the introduction of innovative solutions that cater to a growing market need, especially in helicopter emergency services (HEMS) for multiple sectors in GCC." A key Emirati firm, Falcon Aviation has built a solid reputation in the Emirati VIP charter business, providing invaluable support to the government of the UAE for over a decade. It currently operates a fleet of 29 state-of-the-art helicopters and 6 corporate jets, including commercial aircrafts. Louis pointed out that its tie-up with Falcon Aviation was an empowering opportunity for both the companies, as it will be able to further grow the group's respective offering by providing HEMS. "While Falcon provides a modern fleet of state-of-the-art helicopters, we bring in our experts, expertise and cutting-edge equipment to ensure a premium, fast and efficient service in critical cases that require fast response based on our clients specific requirements," he added.-TradeArabia News Service G7 support Ukraine in connection with cyberattack committed against it The G7 countries support Ukraine in connection with the cyberattack committed against it, the German chairmanship of the G7 Ambassadors Support Group in Kyiv has reported. "G7 countries are strongly united in support of Ukraine at this tense time. G7 Ambassadors call on all political leaders in Ukraine to show similar unity & resolve," their statement on Twitter reads. The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine is in contact with international partners on countering cyberattacks and strengthening the cybersecurity system, measures are being taken to protect the websites of the Foreign Ministry and consulates abroad, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Oleh Nikolenko said. On behalf of Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, the Ukrainian diplomatic service has begun additional contacts with international partners to strengthen Ukraine's ability to counter cyberattacks and develop cyber defense systems. "A team of specialists from the Foreign Ministry, in cooperation with other involved departments, has already resumed the operation of the website of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine: mfa.gov.ua," Nikolenko wrote on his Facebook page. He noted that as a result of the hacker attack, the content of the website was not damaged, no official information was leaked, and the internal IT systems of the Foreign Ministry are operating as normal. "We are taking practical measures to strengthen the cyber defense of the Foreign Ministry and Ukrainian embassies and consulates abroad," Nikolenko added. Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly will visit Ukraine next week, CBC TV channel reports, citing a press statement. Joly's office said the trip was meant to reaffirm Canada's unwavering support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. It is noted that meetings are planned between the Canadian Foreign Minister and Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal and Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna. It is also expected that Joly will visit the Canadian military in Ukraine. As it is known, 200 Canadian servicemen are in Ukraine as part of the UNIFIER military training mission, they are based in Yavoriv (Lviv region) The fifth president of Ukraine, MP Petro Poroshenko (the European Solidarity faction) specified that he would arrive in Ukraine from Warsaw at 09:10 a.m. on Monday, January 17. "I am returning to Ukraine on a flight from Warsaw at 09:10 a.m. on January 17 to defend Ukraine from Russian aggression," Poroshenko said in a video message posted on Facebook on Saturday. He stressed that European politicians believe that Russian aggression is a threat not only to Ukraine, but to the whole of Europe, "perhaps the greatest in 30 years." The politician also noted that he intends to protect Ukraine from "incompetent authorities." According to Poroshenko, he was given advice from people close to President Volodymyr Zelensky that "it's better not to return to Ukraine." As reported, Poroshenko's lawyers appealed to the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv with a demand to schedule a court session on the application of a measure of restraint to their client on the day of his return to Ukraine, January 17. Poroshenko's lawyer Illia Novikov recalled that the politician returns to Kyiv on January 17, will arrive at Kyiv Sikorsky Airport and "many people" are going to meet him. On December 20, 2021, the State Bureau of Investigation notified Poroshenko of suspicion of high treason and assistance to terrorist organizations in the framework of a case on a criminal scheme for supplying coal from the temporarily occupied territories. Earlier, as part of the same criminal proceedings, MP from the Opposition Platform-For Life faction Viktor Medvedchuk and former Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn were notified of suspicion. Poroshenko, who is on a business trip to the EU, said on January 6 that he would return to Ukraine on January 17. On the same day, the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv considered the prosecutor's petition and decided to seize Poroshenko's property, which, according to state registers, belongs to him by right of ownership, in particular, real estate, corporate rights, etc. The European Union strongly condemns a cyberattack against Ukraine committed on government websites on January 14, calling it unacceptable. The corresponding statement on behalf of the EU was made by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell. "This cyberattack against the Ukrainian government websites is unacceptable. Such actions aim at destabilizing Ukraine and spreading disinformation and could contribute to further escalation of the already tense situation," he stated. "Ukraine has reacted quickly and decisively to the attacks thanks to its increased cyber resilience. The European Union and its member states are in contact with Ukraine and stand ready to provide additional, direct, technical assistance to Ukraine to remediate this attack and further support Ukraine against any destabilizing actions, including by further building up its resilience against hybrid and cyber threats. We reconfirm our unequivocal support to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders," the high representative said. Al-Azhar condemned Friday terrorist attack on a mosque in Afghanistans capital Kabul that left dozens of worshippers dead and injured. Egypt has fully vaccinated all staff working in key industries across both the Red Sea and South Sinai governorates, two of the countrys tourism hotspots, as hotels and resorts gear up for the safe return of holidaymakers this summer. Staff working in establishments including hotels, resorts, cafes, restaurants, bazaars and tourism transportation in the Red Sea and South Sinai governorates have received the COVID-19 vaccine. The announcement was made by government officials including Egypts Tourism and Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Enany, Health and Population Minister Hala Zayed, Civil Aviation Minister Mohamed Manar and Red Sea Governor Amr Hanafi in a press conference held today during their visit to the Red Sea city of Hurghada to inspect the implementation of hygiene safety measures in airport, hotels and its temporary medical units installed specially to improve the vaccination process for the tourism sector employees. Vaccinating our staff is just one measure we are taking to ensure tourists can return to Egypts crowning jewels safely, quickly, and confidently, said Egypts Minister of Tourism, Dr Khaled El-Enany. COVID-19 cases in the Red Sea and Sinai areas are negligible. Everyone involved in Egypts tourism sector has worked incredibly hard to get to this point to be able to offer a safe travel experience. Nearly a year since the resumption of tourism in Egypt, we are happy to note that the tourist numbers are steadily rising and have almost doubled since January and February 2021. The number of tourists who arrived in Egypt in January was 300,000 and increased to reach 525,000 tourists in April. Now, we are opening our doors and extending a warm invitation to people from around the world who are fed up with staying at home and are desperate to travel for their summer vacation. The vaccination drive will continue in the Red Sea and South Sinai governorates with the aim to complete vaccination for the entire inhabitants in the two governorates by the end of June 2021, he said. Egypt has begun the vaccination for tourism staff in other key destinations including Cairo, Giza, Luxor and Aswan. The vaccination drive is also open to foreign residents and tourists, upon their request. The next phase will be another important step in the recovery of the tourism sector, Dr El-Enany added. As part of the measures taken by the Egyptian government to eliminate cases of COVID-19 in both the Red Sea and South Sinai governorates, shares of the vaccine were allocated to medical centers, in addition to the installation of temporary medical units in select hotels and the use of mobile medical clinics, including medical teams, to vaccinate tourism sector employees as well as providing medical awareness services to citizens and tourists. South Sinai and the Red Sea are Egypts largest tourism pulls. South Sinai includes the famous Sharm al Sheikh resort, Nuweibaa, Dahab, and Taba. The Red Sea meanwhile is known for oases like Hurghada, Sahl Hashish, Gouna, Makadi and Marsa Alam. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Egypt has adopted a wide range of hygiene and safety measures to curb the spread of the virus in line with the recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO). These include social distancing, mandatory masks in select public locations, compulsory testing for visitors, rigorous disinfection and sanitisation drives, as well as the introduction of the Hygiene Safety Certificate as a pre-requisite for tourist establishments and operators. As a result, the countrys popular Red Sea destinations, such as Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada, and Marsa Alam, have consistently reported one of the lowest infection rates in the world. In recognition of Egypts endeavors, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) granted the country its Safe Travel Stamp. Travelers to Egypt must carry a negative COVID-19 PCR test certificate from their country issued up to 72 hours prior to the time of departure (96 hours for travelers arriving from Japan, China, Thailand, the US, Canada, South America, as well as London Heathrow, Paris and Frankfurt airports). Travelers arriving at Sharm El-Sheikh, Taba, Hurghada, Marsa Alam and Luxor airports can do a PCR test upon arrival at a cost of US$30. Search Keywords: Short link: It's not yet clear, but some early data suggests people might become contagious sooner than with earlier variants _ possibly within a day after infection. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people with the coronavirus are most infectious in the few days before and after symptoms develop. But that window of time might happen earlier with omicron, according to some outside experts. That's because omicron appears to cause symptoms faster than previous variants - about three days after infection, on average, according to preliminary studies. Based on previous data, that means people with omicron could start becoming contagious as soon as a day after infection. With previous variants, people became contagious two to four days after infection. And people remain contagious a couple days after symptoms subside. Researchers say it's too early to know whether that shorter incubation period for omicron translates into earlier contagiousness. But it would help explain the variant's rapid spread. Dr. Amy Karger of the University of Minnesota Medical School recommends that people test themselves at three days and five days after exposure if possible. ``A lot of people are turning positive by day three,'' Karger says, referring to omicron. ``There's basically an opportunity here to catch people earlier than you would with the other variants.'' If you only have one test, it's fine to wait until day five, Karger says. People who have COVID-19 symptoms should get tested immediately if possible. Lab-developed tests are more sensitive than rapid tests so they should be able to pick up the virus by day three after exposure, if not earlier. People who don't develop symptoms generally have much lower viral levels, so it's far less clear when or if they become infectious. Still, those who test positive but don't have symptoms should isolate for at least five days, under the latest CDC guidelines. The agency came under criticism for not requiring a negative test before leaving isolation, but even after tweaking the guidelines officials said that step should be optional. People with symptoms should stay isolated until they have been fever-free for at least 24 hours. Search Keywords: Short link: The United States' Omicron wave is beginning to recede in New York and other major cities, official data showed this week, even as Covid-19 hospitalizations, a lagging indicator, reached new highs. The trend of explosive rises in Omicron cases followed by equally fast declines follows similar patterns seen in Britain and in South Africa, where the variant was first reported in late November. In New York City, the seven-day average of new daily cases has been falling since around January 2, when they peaked at 40,000 a day -- an all-time record. The figure stood at around 28,500 on January 10, still higher than anything seen in previous waves caused by other strains, an official tracker showed Friday. Similar drops were visible in New York state, New Jersey and Chicago, the country's third-largest city, as well as in the capital Washington. But the nationwide average is still rising, with more than 750,000 cases per day, as infections continue to shoot up in most states. While milder for most people compared to past strains, the transmissibility of Omicron has meant the small fraction who become severely ill amount to a large number, overwhelming hospitals. More than 157,000 inpatient beds are occupied by Covid patients, according to the Health and Human Services Department, a record high. At the same time, the country has been hit by nationwide nurse strikes and protests over shortages of staff and equipment, as well as being forced to work while Covid positive. The seven-day average of daily deaths is over 1,700, approaching the peak last seen during the Delta variant wave in September 2021, which was around 1,900 per day. The all-time peak came in January 2021, when more than 3,400 people lost their lives per day. Vaccine efficacy remains higher than 90 percent against severe cases, according to data from New York state. On Thursday, the US Supreme Court delivered a blow to President Joe Biden by blocking his Covid vaccination-or-testing mandate for employees of large businesses. However, the nation's highest court did allow a vaccination mandate for health care workers at facilities receiving federal funding. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt reported 1,079 new coronavirus infections on Friday, bringing the total infection toll up to 397,778 since the outbreak began in February 2020, the health ministry said. The ministry also reported 34 new deaths in the past 24 hours nationwide, bringing the total fatalities nationwide to 22,097. The statement added that 893 patients have been discharged from hospitals after recovering from the virus, bringing the total number of recoveries to 331,607. Egypt received on Thursday one million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine offered by Argentina, the health ministry said. This falls within the framework of marking the 75th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties between Egypt and Argentina. A total of 800,000 AstraZeneca doses also arrived in Egypt on Wednesday provided by Portugal within the framework of the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism, the foreign ministry said in a statement. This raises the total coronavirus vaccine doses delivered by Portugal to Egypt to around 1.2 million, Egypts Ambassador to Portugal Wael El-Naggar said. Portugal sent 360,000 vaccine doses to Egypt in mid-December through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX), El-Naggar added. Egypt has administered a total of 58,836,189 vaccine doses as of 7 January, according to the latest update by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Earlier this month, acting Health Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar said Egypt has received 122.2 million doses. In December, Egypt has started sending text notifications to fully vaccinated individuals detailing appointment slots for booster shots of the coronavirus vaccine. Search Keywords: Short link: Resumption of flights to Europe proposed The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam has recommended the reopening of flights to Europe to meet the increasing demand during the Lunar New Year Holiday. Under the CAAVs proposal, some Vietnamese airlines want to resume regular commercial flights to France, Germany and Russia. The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam has recommended the reopening of flights to Europe to meet the increasing demand around the Lunar New Year Holiday The CAAV has asked the Ministry of Transport to work with the authorities of the European countries on the proposal. Meanwhile, national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines will reopen Hanoi-Sydney flights from January 15. The flight frequency on the route is expected to be raised in the coming weeks, depending on the demand and the approval of management agencies. Bamboo Airways has planned to launch flights to Australia with two return flights weekly and to Germany with the same frequency from February. According to the CAAV, around 140,000 Vietnamese abroad would return to Vietnam to celebrate Tet. So the agency has worked with management agencies of South Korea, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan to increase flights between the two countries to 14 each week. The agency will work with Thailand to raise the flights in the coming time. A few days ago, the Jammu and Kashmir government directed the higher education department to organize a large scale virtual Surya Namaskar on the occasion of a Hindu religious festival. The order has drawn flak from all quarters who have demanded its rollback. Auqib Javeed | TwoCircles.net Support TwoCircles SRINAGAR Top religious bodies, political parties and social activists criticized the authorities in Jammu and Kashmir for asking students, faculty members and staff of all colleges in the Union Territory to compulsorily participate in the Hindu religious practice of Surya Namaskar on a religious festival of Makar Sankranti being observed. A few days ago, the Jammu and Kashmir government directed the higher education department to organize a large scale virtual Surya Namaskar. The order was issued by the Directorate of Colleges, Higher Education Department, who directed the Nodal Principal of two collegesGGM Science College Jammu and SP College Srinagar to organise the event under the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav Programme. To mark the holy Occasion of Makar Sankranthi on 14th January 2022, Gol has desired that on the occasion a large Scale Virtual Surya Namaskar, be organised under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav Celebrations To make it a People-Centric Successful Programme with Tagline Surya Namaskar For Vitality. Kindly ensure that all faculty members and students actively participate in this programme by registering on any of the following portals, reads the order, a copy of which lies with TwoCircles.net. The order has, however, drawn sharp flak from various sections of the Muslim majority region. Responding to the order, Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU), the amalgam of religious organisations said that J&K is a Muslim majority state, and Muslims will not like participating in religious practices of other religions. To deliberately force them to do so by issuing directives is mischievous, it said. In a statement, the amalgam said the rulers should be clear that this is completely unacceptable to the Muslims of the state who will never yield to such highhandedness. Muslims of J&K are respectful of all religions and believe in harmonious coexistence but will never yield to any pressure, if and when there is any interference in matters related to their faith, MMU said. It said that it is quite sad and tells about the sorry state of affairs pervading India, that while the religious practice of one religion gets promoted and imposed in the name of peace, that of the other gets banned and barred in the name of threat; referring to the repeated lockdown by authorities of the central Jamia Masjid Srinagar where obligatory Friday prayers are not allowed for months now. And the disruptions caused to Friday prayers in Gurgaon by goons having a free run. The recent open call to the genocide of Muslims of India by a religious conference in Haridwar and the silence of the state in this regard is a shocking case of bigotedness and discrimination against Muslims which has become the order of the day in todays India, MMU said. Former Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah while blaming the authorities posted on Twitter, Why should Muslim students be forced to do anything, including yoga, to celebrate Makar Sankranti? Makar Sankranti is a festival & to celebrate it or not must be a personal choice. Would the BJP be happy if a similar order was issued to order non-Muslim students to celebrate Eid? Why should Muslim students be forced to do anything, including yoga, to celebrate Makar Sankranti?Makar Sankranti is a festival & to celebrate it or not must be a personal choice. Would the BJP be happy if a similar order was issued to order non-Muslim students to celebrate Eid? https://t.co/n6luhwSm1J Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) January 13, 2022 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said, GOls PR misadventures aim to demean & collectively humiliate Kashmiris. Forcing students & staff to perform Surya namaskars by issuing orders despite their obvious discomfort with the imposition of something laden with religious connotations gives an insight into their communal mindset. GOIs PR misadventures aim to demean & collectively humiliate Kashmiris.Forcing students & staff to perform suryanamaskars by issuing orders despite their obvious discomfort with imposition of something laden with religious connotations gives an insight into their communal mindset https://t.co/tgk9xidZz0 Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) January 13, 2022 Awami National Conference Vice President Muzaffar Shah said that forcing students and teachers to perform Surya Namaskar is a blatant violation of the Constitution that warrants stringent action against the officials issuing such orders. The LG Shri Manoj Sinha should get this order of the education department withdrawn forthwith, Shah said. However, following the controversy, the Government said that there is no compulsion to anyone to join the event. No one is forced to do that, anyone who wants can do that, and it is not mentioned anywhere in the order that if anyone is not doing that anything can be done, Advisor to LG, Farooq Khan said. Auqib Javeed is a journalist based in Kashmir. He tweets at @AuqibJaveed. The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization will host on Saturday for the first time the World Art Forum (WAF), the largest international contemporary art event that adopts the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the core of their mission. This WAF will run until Wednesday and will be under the auspices of the ministries of culture, planning and economic development, tourism and antiquities, Immigration and Expatriates' Affairs, environment, and the States Department of Tourism in Cairo, a statement by the United Nations in Egypt said. The forum is held in partnership with the United Nations in Egypt, the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, and the New York International Contemporary Art Society. The WAF organized by Sheranda World Art and Jupiter Commz reflects the link between contemporary art and the SDGs, which are in line with Egypts 2030 Vision. The forum aims to consolidate the relationship of art in general and contemporary art in particular with the development of a culture that promotes a more sustainable future playing a role in enriching human beliefs and the dimensions of human identity and its role in constructing it, according to the statement. The WAF will address the linkages between contemporary arts and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which is compatible with Egypts 2030 Vision. Over five days, the attendees will tour the world by learning about the different visual arts presented by galleries and cultural centers from Europe, Asia, Africa, the United States, Australia, and the Middle East. The agenda of the forum will include a wide range of artistic events and discussion panels that will discuss the role of art in promoting sustainable development goals and building partnerships between artists and development partners. A special dialogue session will be held on the last day, aiming to build a global network consisting of artists and partners in the field of development, to ensure the continuity and progress of art in promoting sustainable development. Through its activities, the forum seeks to develop executable technical development strategies and plans aimed to create an educated audience that is familiar with the role of educational and developmental art and capable of producing that through innovative and creative techniques, the statement said. The forum will contribute to the promotion of the concept of cultural dialogues and will strengthen the Egyptian and Arabic cultural identity highlighting their capacity for creativity and innovation. It is worth mentioning that the event is sponsored by Tatweer Misr, Ramsco Trading and Distribution, and Oman Air. Search Keywords: Short link: Yemen's Houthi rebels on Saturday rejected a UN request to release an Emirati-flagged vessel they seized earlier this month, saying it carried weapons. "The Rwabee vessel was not carrying... toys for children but weapons for extremists," Houthi official Hussein al-Azzi said. The Iran-backed Houthis seized the ship on January 3 off the Red Sea port of Hodeida, along with its 11-member crew, and then released a video which they said shows military equipment on board. The United Arab Emirates has described the Rwabee as a "civilian cargo vessel". It said the ship was leased by a Saudi company and that it had been in international waters carrying equipment to be used at a field hospital. A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen to support the internationally recognised government in March 2015 after the Houthis captured the capital, Sanaa, the previous year. On Friday the UN Security Council demanded the "immediate release" of the Rwabee and its crew. It stressed "the importance of freedom of navigation in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea", a strategic route for international shipping. It also called on "all parties to de-escalate the situation in Yemen," including by working with the UN's special envoy to return to the negotiating table. But Azzi, quoted by the Huthis' Al-Masirah television, accused the UN of siding with "murderers who violate international laws". The Rwabee "belongs to a country participating in the aggression against our people and at war with Yemen, and entered (Yemeni) territorial waters unlawfully", he said. The UAE is part of the Saudi-led coalition which has described the seizing of the Rwabee as an act of "piracy". Search Keywords: Short link: China said Saturday it would begin implementing a strategic agreement with Iran, strengthening economic and political cooperation between the two countries as Beijing blasted Washington's sanctions on Tehran. China and Iran signed the agreement last year after years of talks, with the wide-ranging partnership set to span areas including energy, security, infrastructure and communications. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian announced the start of the partnership's implementation at a meeting in east China's Wuxi on Friday, Beijing's foreign ministry said in a statement. Few details of the secretive deal have been published, but the New York Times reported in 2020 that it would secure a regular supply of oil for China, citing a draft of the agreement leaked to the paper. China is Iran's leading trade partner and was one of the biggest buyers of the country's oil before then-US president Donald Trump reimposed sweeping unilateral sanctions in 2018. China has officially stopped importing oil from Iran, but analysts say Iranian crude is continuing to enter the country disguised as imports from other countries. Wang told his Iranian counterpart Friday that China would continue to "oppose illegal unilateral sanctions against Iran," the foreign ministry said. Beijing has long sought to boost ties with Tehran, with Chinese president Xi Jinping describing Iran as "China's major partner in the Middle East" on a rare visit to the country in 2016. Wang and Amir-Abdollahian's meeting comes as talks continue in Vienna over a potential deal to halt Tehran's development of nuclear weapons. A 2015 deal -- agreed by Iran, the US, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany -- offered Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme. But the US withdrew from the agreement in 2018, reimposing biting sanctions and prompting Tehran to begin rolling back on its commitments. Talk to salvage the nuclear deal began in late November, after being suspended when Iran elected a new ultraconservative government in June. Wang told his Iranian counterpart on Friday that China believes the United States is to blame for the current state of the deal, the foreign ministry said in its statement. Search Keywords: Short link: Tarek Radwan, head of Egyptian parliament's Human Rights Committee, launched a scathing attack against the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), accusing it of repeatedly publishing false reports about the situation of human rights in Egypt. In a statement on Saturday, Radwan said "it is really sorrowful that HRW has become involved in publishing lies and poisonous allegations about Egypt. I am sure these reports are written by the ink of the terrorist organisation of the Muslim Brotherhood." Radwan was referring to a report issued by HRW on Egypt two days ago under the title "No End to Systematic Repression in Egypt." "This report comes immediately following the impressive and unprecedented success of the World Youth Forum, which was held under the patronage of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh last week," said Radwan, adding that "this success made HRW and the forces of darkness, evil, and terrorism get mad and mobilise to target Egypt through false and baseless reports." Radwan said Egyptian officials, primarily President El-Sisi, have been keen to stand up to HRW's 'false reports', doing all that is necessary to refute the allegations and baseless claims cited in these reports. "As usual, the Egyptian people will condemn the reports of this dubious organisation so that they finally find their way to the dustbin," said Radwan, adding that "HWR has lost credibility as a neutral and objective human rights organisation as it chose to be an official mouthpiece for the terrorist group of the Muslim Brotherhood." He concluded that "history will reveal that the terrorist group of the Muslim Brotherhood is the major sponsor of the poisonous reports issued by HRW." In a report on 13 January, HRW said that in 2021 Egypt continued its policy of "arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and torture of real or suspected political activists as well as ordinary citizens." In response to HRW's allegations, El-Sisi told an international press conference in Sharm El-Sheikh on 13 January that most of the reports circulated by Western media and organisations about "enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, torture, and detention of political activists" are by no means accurate. "For those who claim that there are forced disappearances in Egypt, let me tell them please provide us with accurate lists or statements about these cases and I am ready at once to form a fact-finding committee to investigate this," said El-Sisi. Search Keywords: Short link: Lebanese group Hezbollah and its ally the Amal movement said Saturday they were ready to return to government meetings after three months of political deadlock that has exacerbated the country's economic crisis. "We announce our agreement to participate in cabinet meetings to approve the national budget and discuss the economic rescue plan and all that concerns improving the living conditions of the Lebanese," the two Shiite movements said in a joint statement. Lebanon's government was formed in September after a 13-month political impasse. But it has not met since October 12 due to a boycott by Hezbollah and Amal amid tensions over an investigation into a catastrophic explosion at Beirut's port in 2020. Hezbollah and Amal said Saturday's decision was a "response to the needs of the citizens", citing "the collapse of the Lebanese pound's exchange rate, the decline of the public sector" and crumbling incomes and purchasing power. The country is in the throes of an economic meltdown that the World Bank has said is likely among the world's worst since the mid-19th century. About 80 percent of the population now lives in poverty and the local currency has shed more than 90 percent of its value on the black market. Reacting to the parties' announcement, Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he would convene a cabinet meeting as soon as the finance ministry had sent through a draft budget. The two groups had been boycotting cabinet sessions in objection to the judge tasked with investigating the August 2020 port blast, Tarek Bitar, demanding he be replaced. The explosion of a shipment of ammonium nitrate fertiliser stored haphazardly in a port warehouse for years killed at least 215 people and disfigured the capital. Efforts by Bitar to interrogate ex-ministers have been challenged with lawsuits, while Hezbollah and Amal have accused him of politicising the probe. Families of the victims and survivors of the blast have grown increasingly angry and have accused politicians of seeking to hamper the investigation to escape accountability. Lebanese President Michel Aoun in late December called for an end to the government boycott, implicitly criticising his ally Hezbollah for blocking the cabinet meetings. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt and the UK have affirmed their commitment to accelerating the fight against climate change as well as maintaining and building on the current momentum for global climate action. This came in a joint press release following a meeting in Cairo on Saturday between Alok Sharma, who acted as president for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), Egypts Minister of Foreign Affairs and COP27 President Designate Sameh Shoukry and Egypts Minister of Environment and COP27 Ministerial Coordinator and Envoy Yasmine Fouad. The meeting was held to follow-up on the outcomes of COP26 and in preparation for COP27, which will be held in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh in November. "We will work together in 2022 and beyond to drive ambitious implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement," read the joint statement. The Paris Climate Agreement adopted at COP21 and signed by over 190 states including Egypt came into effect in 2016 with the aim of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius in this century. The statement added that both sides agreed to work together to deliver on the outcomes of the Glasgow Climate Pact to keep 1.5 degrees in reach and support developing countries in adapting to the impacts of climate change. Sharma stressed the UK's "full" support to Egypt to deliver "ambitious" outcomes at COP27, including ensuring that it delivers for those most vulnerable to climate change. Both current and upcoming conference presidents emphasised the urgency of action required to address the gaps in mitigation, adaptation and finance, as well as the importance of using the best available science. Shoukry and Sharma hailed the "significant progress" made at COP26, but underscored the need to do "much more," particularly to implement commitments made. "Through our partnership we will work together to encourage all Parties to meet their commitments across mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage and finance; including in enhancing [Nationally Determined Contributions] NDCs and stepping up ambition therein, ensuring accelerated delivery of the $100bn and to make progress towards doubling of adaptation finance on 2019 levels." Both nations said they will share experience and expertise and work closely with key partners, including the UNFCCC secretariat and the chairs of the subsidiary bodies. "We will pursue inclusive leadership and engagement that leaves no issue and no one behind, and enables the voices of all Parties, civil society, and vulnerable groups, including youth and indigenous peoples, to be heard," noted the statement. Both sides also agreed "to continue close consultations in the months ahead, both on the ministerial and technical levels." In his remarks in a meeting with international media representatives on the sidelines of the fourth edition of the World Youth Forum (WYF) on Wednesday, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said Egypt is exerting much effort with international parties to ensure reaching goals during the COP27, which will be held in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh in November. During his speech delivered to the COP26 in Glasgow last November, El-Sisi offered assurances that Egypt would seek during its presidency of the COP27 to enhance international climate action to achieve the goals of the Paris agreement, which will achieve the interests of the global community. He also affirmed the need to preserve the Paris Climate Accords to ensure the bolstering of efforts to reduce emissions and adapt to the negative implications of climate change. In a pre-recorded speech by El-Sisi in the World Leaders Summit on Climate Change on the sidelines of the 76th United Nations General Assembly in September, El-Sisi vowed that Egypts hosting of the conference would be a major turning point in the global fight against climate change. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt calls for a clear African strategy to eliminate the danger of terrorism and extremism and dry up its funding sources, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said on behalf of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. Madbouly made the remarks via video conference during a meeting for the African Union Bureau of Assembly of Heads of State and Government on Saturday chaired by Felix Tshisekedi, president of DR Congo and current chair of the AU. Egypt aims to support African countries by intensifying counterterrorism training to African cadres and by participating in the United Nations peacekeeping efforts, a cabinet statement cited El-Sisi as saying. This is in addition to Egypts continued efforts through the Cairo-based Sahel-Saharan Counterterrorism Centre, El-Sisi added. The president expressed Egypts readiness to provide further support on the bilateral level as well as through the AU mechanisms, the statement said. Egypt, as always, will spare no effort to work with its African brothers to overcome the obstacles facing the continent and restore a steady pace toward achieving the goals and aspirations of African people for a better future, El-Sisi affirmed. Tshisekedi hailed Egypts preparedness to enhance the capabilities of African countries, affirming that the continent is in need of all forms of support, the statement said. The Egyptian president voiced Egypts appreciation of the efforts made by DR Congo toward achieving the interests of the African continent, according to the statement. Egypt has frequently called for intensifying coordination among African countries to eliminate all forms of terrorism, affirming its keenness to share its expertise in facing extremism and terrorism financing. Egypt also presided over the AUs Peace and Security Council (PSC) through November and took over the presidency for 2022 of the Committee of Intelligence and Security Services (CISSA), an intelligence provider to the AU states, from Nigeria. Hosting CISSAs 17th conference last month, El-Sisi highlighted the need for intensifying coordination among all relevant continental mechanisms, including CISSA, to dry up terrorism resources, besiege its activities, and protect African people from its dangers. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi reviewed on Saturday developments underway at the Great Transfiguration project around St Catherine in South Sinai. The Great Transfiguration project seeks to turn the sacred mountainous area into a spiritual shrine and a destination for mountain, medical and environmental tourism, Housing Minister Assem El-Gazzar said in December. The first phase of the project, worth EGP 4 billion (around $255 million), is scheduled to be inaugurated in April, according to El-Gazzar. The project was first announced by the state in 2020 and is funded by the New Urban Communities Authority based on the directives of El-Sisi to develop the area. The St Catherine area has significant historical and religious value, serving as a sacred site for the three monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In Saturdays meeting, El-Sisi ordered the attending officials pay thorough attention to all the projects details, making sure they are consistent with the status of such a sacred spot, a presidential statement read. El-Sisi also ordered that this area be introduced to the world in a manner befitting its unique spiritual value as an incubator of the three monotheistic religions. The project should be integrated with the ongoing efforts to develop the city of St Catherine, El-Sisi ordered, urging maximum use of the citys tourist, archaeological, environmental, religious and medical potential. The president said that services should be made available to visitors from across the world, while preserving the areas environmental and visual character. He also ordered the officials to pursue sustainable development by relying on clean and renewable energy and caring for green areas. The meeting reviewed the components of the project, including establishing an ecolodge, an inclusive mountain hotel, and a new administrative complex, the statement said. The project also includes the development of the citys Bedouin area, housing units, and pedestrian paths, and raising the efficiency of infrastructure and facilities as well as flood prevention work. Development work also includes the establishment of the the Peace Square to host various celebrations, activities and performances. According to El-Gazzar in December, the projects to develop the city of St Catherine include the establishment of the Darb Musa pathway that simulates the historical route Prophet Moses took to reach the mountain, where he is believed to have witnessed Gods transfiguration. Search Keywords: Short link: A Tunisian court has sentenced to death nine jihadists accused of having beheaded a soldier in 2016, a murder claimed by the Islamic State group, media reported Saturday. Tunisia hands death sentences to convicts mainly in trials related to national security under a 2015 terror law, despite a moratorium on capital punishment in place since 1991. Friday's verdict concerns the murder of army corporal Said Ghozlani in November 2016, in the Mount Mghila area near the border with Algeria. He was found beheaded in his home in that region, which is considered a hideout for jihadists. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for killing the soldier. The Tunis court on Friday also sentenced to jail 15 people accused of involvement in the murder, with terms ranging from 32 to 44 years in prison. Tunisia saw a surge in radical Islamist activity following the ouster of autocratic president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in the 2011 revolution. Dozens of members of the security forces have since been killed in jihadist attacks. The security situation has greatly improved in recent years, but Tunisian forces continue to track down suspected jihadists in the Mount Mghila and Mount Chaami regions. In 2020, President Kais Saied called into question the moratorium on the death penalty, after the murder of a 29-year-old woman sparked outrage in the country. Her body had been found in a ditch near the highway linking the capital Tunis to the residential suburb of Marsa. A man was arrested and confessed to strangling her and stealing her phone. At the time, Saied said: "Anyone who kills a person for no reason deserves the death penalty," prompting outrage from rights groups. Search Keywords: Short link: Russia's defense ministry says the troops that were deployed to Kazakhstan as violent demonstrations shook the country have returned home. The troops were part of a force sent as peacekeepers by the Collective Treaty Security Organization, a Russia-led alliance of six former Soviet states. The CSTO approved the force of more than 2,000 on Jan. 5 at the request of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The demonstrations started on Jan. 2 to protest a sharp rise in fuel prices. They quickly spread nationwide and descended into violence within several days. Protesters stormed government buildings and set them ablaze, and dozens of people were killed in clashes with the country's security forces. The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that all of its planes carrying troops had returned. It was not clear whether troops from other CSTO countries remain in Kazakhstan. Search Keywords: Short link: Veteran journalist Kamal Khan (61) died of a heart attack at his home in Lucknow on Friday. In its condolence message, JIH Vice President said his death is a loss to journalism. NEW DELHI Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) Vice President Prof. Salim Engineer has expressed condolences over the death of the veteran and award-winning journalist Kamal Khan. Support TwoCircles In a condolence message, mourning the death of NDTV executive editor and its Lucknow Bureau Chief Kamal Khan, the JIH Vice President said, Kamal Khan was renowned for his integrity, ethics, objectivity, and courage. He had great insight into issues and deployed poetic language in the best possible way to report on news events and current affairs. He lent a great deal of credibility through his objective reporting and touched the most sensitive issues with ease and compassion. Kamal Khan was a recipient of the Ramnath Goenka Award, and the Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Award from the President of India. Describing his death as a huge loss to the world of journalism and media, Prof. Salim added, We offer our condolences to his family and loved ones. May Allah forgive his sins and reward him with the highest rank in paradise. Russian President Vladimir Putin has tasked his government with submitting proposals to build a railway link to the Barents Sea coast as Moscow races to develop the Arctic. Putin has made Russia's Arctic region a strategic priority and ordered massive investment in military infrastructure and mineral extraction. Putin ordered Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to "submit proposals for the creation of a railway route to the Barents Sea", the Kremlin said late Friday. The deadline to present the proposals is May 10, the Kremlin added, without providing further details. The end point of the railway track is expected to be the settlement of Indiga in the Arctic region of Nenets where Russia is hoping to begin building a year-round port in the next few years. In 2018, Finland and Norway said they would jointly explore building an Arctic rail link from northern Finland to the Barents Sea coast. The development of the Northern Sea Route is closely linked to Russia's Arctic push and Moscow has channelled large sums into a fleet of icebreakers and ice-class tankers. Search Keywords: Short link: "Smart" pistols designed to limit who can shoot them are poised to hit the booming US firearm market this year, taking aim at spiking gun deaths as federal lawmakers remain deadlocked on any new restrictions. [Photo: VCG] Questions over reliability and political fights have bedeviled the technology for decades, but backers say it's a chance to prevent children, criminals or people considering self-harm from pulling the trigger. Yet whether the deadly weapons will be embraced by buyers, perform as intended in real-life, or deliver on their pledge to increase gun safety are questions that could be years from a definitive answer. "I don't have a crystal ball to know whether it's going to be good on balance, bad on balance or ultimately like other smart guns in the past -- kind of a dud," said Adam Skaggs, chief counsel and policy director at gun control advocacy group Giffords. The system from entrepreneur Tom Holland's company SmartGunz uses RFID chips -- similar to the emitters many people use in their car to pay tolls -- installed inside rings. When shooters grip the gun with the hand wearing the special ring, a safety mechanism unlocks, allowing the gun to fire. Holland sees applications in protecting police officers who could have their pistol wrestled away by a suspect; or parents worried their kids could find their firearm. "This is only about gun safety," he told AFP. "For those consumers that want a 'safer gun'...they can have access to this if they feel they have the need for lethal protection on their property." He expects his pistol, which he said is being tested by some police in the United States, to begin selling to civilians by April or May. - A gun-owning society - Any sales would arrive in an unprecedented context in the United States, where some 40 percent of adult Americans live in a gun-owning household, according to the Pew Research Center. Firearms sales set a record in 2020, with nearly 23 million sold, according to the Small Arms Analytics & Forecasting consultancy. Following racial justice protests and the onset of the the pandemic, the United States saw in 2020 its biggest rise in homicides since national records began in 1960 - though overall levels of killing remained below the 1990s. The recurrent horror of America's mass shootings provoke intense bursts of attention, but over half the roughly 40,000 annual firearms deaths are suicides. Ginger Chandler, the co-founder of smart gun maker LodeStar Works, said the user authentication steps are a physical buffer against accidents, suicides and crimes -- and a psychological barrier. "In times of stress, somebody who is authorized is going to pick up the firearm but they have to do that (extra) step," she said. "Maybe it makes them pause and go 'Hey, do I really want to be doing this right now?'" The 9 mm pistol her firm is developing, which it plans to have on the market by 2023, can unlock in three ways: fingerprint sensor, smartphone app or a keypad to enter a code. - Gun rights lobby - These new entrants arrive after years of turbulence for "smart" weapons. US firearms maker Smith & Wesson agreed with then president Bill Clinton's administration in 2000 to make gun violence-reduction reforms that included developing smart guns, but the deal withered under a backlash from America's powerful gun rights lobby. A 2002 New Jersey state law that would have banned pistols without user-authentication technology sparked a furore - and was recast in 2019 to require state firearms shops to sell smart guns once they become commercially available. Then came the case of the smart pistol developed by the German company Armatix which was derided after a hacker showed in 2017 the safety technology could be defeated with magnets. Also, while the smart gun concept has received support from gun control advocates, some experts point out that it's still a deadly weapon. "The whole smart gun argument ignores the most common way guns are used to kill in the US suicide by the person who bought the gun," Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, told AFP in a statement. Yet the technology has an appeal especially as political polarization appears to guarantee no new federal restrictions on guns in the near future. LodeStar co-founder Gareth Glaser said the company has tried to stay out of the politics of gun rights, and their product seeks to avoid that debate too. "It's a workaround," he said. "We would really rather the government stay out of it and allow the consumer to make the choice." KYODO NEWS - Jan 15, 2022 - 23:36 | All, Japan Two high school students and a man were wounded in a knife attack on Saturday just outside the University of Tokyo ahead of nationwide entrance exams and a teenager apparently frustrated with his academic performance has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, police said. The 72-year-old man was seriously injured after he and the two students, aged 17 and 18, were slashed in the back around 8:30 a.m. in front of one of the gates to the university's main campus, according to the police. The male and female students, both traveling from neighboring Chiba Prefecture to take the exams, did not sustain life-threatening injuries, with the police quoting the 17-year-old suspect as saying he was not acquainted with the three, who were walking on the sidewalk separately. "I was not doing well in my studies so I wanted to cause an incident and die," said the suspect, a second-year student at a private high school in Nagoya who was not going to take the exams, after he was arrested near the university, considered one of the most prestigious in the country, according to the police. "I was studying for the University of Tokyo to become a doctor, but my grades have been poor for a year and I lost confidence," the teenager, who has confessed, was also quoted as saying. "If I could not become a doctor, I thought I'd kill someone and carry a guilty feeling on my back while committing 'seppuku' (harakiri)." The attacker has told the police he came to Tokyo by an express bus that was to arrive in the capital at around 6 a.m. on Saturday, an investigative source said, adding that his father notified the Aichi prefectural police on Friday night that his son was missing. According to the police, the attacker, whose name has been withheld as he is a minor, also said he had brought the knife he used from his home in the central Japan city, about 250 kilometers away from Tokyo. When police officers arrived, he was sitting on the ground, and the bloodstained kitchen knife, with a 12-centimeter blade, was found nearby, they said. The police said his bag had plastic and glass bottles containing combustible liquid, adding he also had a folding saw and another knife. The attack occurred as Japan's two-day unified university entrance exams, sat by more than 530,000 applicants, began nationwide amid concerns over the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus among students and their family members. Despite the incident, the University of Tokyo, one of more than 650 test venues, conducted the first day of the annual exams as scheduled starting at 9:30 a.m. The quick arrest was possible because the 72-year-old man from Tokyo rushed to a nearby police box, they said. Although violent crime is relatively rare in Japan, a number of random attacks have occurred in recent months, including an arson case at a mental health clinic in Osaka in mid-December that killed 25 people. The teenage attacker was also quoted as saying he started a fire at a station near the campus before the incident. The Tokyo Fire Department said that it was alerted to a fire within the premises of Todaimae Station on the Namboku Line operated by Tokyo Metro Co. at around 8:30 a.m. and that it was extinguished around an hour later. The knife attack appeared to unsettle some test-takers at the venue, to which police and firefighting vehicles were mobilized. The incident occurred outside the gate of the Yayoi section of the main campus of the university. An 18-year-old test-taker said he learned about what happened via Twitter. "It has become a big incident and it's scary. I want to do my best in the test and not be affected," he added. Another test-taker, an 18-year-old high school student from Tokyo, expressed her anxiety over the crime at a time when people are already feeling jittery about the coronavirus. A woman in her 50s who accompanied her son to the exam venue said she hopes her son will not be shaken. "He studied so hard (for this) so I wanted him to be able to take the test in a good environment," she said. The National Center for University Entrance Examinations urged the state-run, public and private universities that are the venues for the exams to beef up security measures. The exams, conducted amid anti-COVID measures, drew 530,367 applicants and are taking place at 677 venues. In Japan, standardized university entrance exams are held annually in two stages, with the first standardized for all universities and the second involving university-specific exams. Related coverage: 14-year-old who stabbed schoolmate in Japan held "grudge" against victim Police stabber in Osaka Pref. given 12-year prison term Man in train knife rampage thought of bombing landmark Shibuya Crossing KYODO NEWS - Jan 15, 2022 - 09:54 | World, All North Korea conducted a firing drill for a railway-borne missile regiment Friday, state-run media reported Saturday, as leader Kim Jong Un seeks to boost the country's defense capabilities. The report by the Korean Central News Agency came a day after the launch by the country of what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles in its third missile launch in 10 days. The drill was aimed at "checking the alert posture" of the regiment and "bolstering their ability of discharging firepower mission," KCNA said. Kim, who has often reportedly been present for tests of the country's missile capabilities in the past, was not reported to have attended Friday's test. The South Korean military's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday that two missiles were fired from an inland area of North Pyongan Province in the North's northwest in an eastward direction and traveled about 430 kilometers while reaching an altitude of about 36 km at one point. North Korea also said last September that it had tested a railway-borne missile system. Friday's launches follow ones on Tuesday and on Jan. 5 that North Korea said were of newly developed hypersonic missiles. The recent set of missile tests are regarded as a provocation against the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, which on Wednesday imposed fresh sanctions on North Korea. The two tactical guided missiles launched Friday "precisely struck the set target" in the Sea of Japan, the KCNA report said. The online edition of the Rodong Sinmun, the mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, ran photos of a missile launched from a train. North Korea has developed hard-to-intercept missiles with state-of-the-art technologies, despite a ban on its use of ballistic missile technology under U.N. Security Council resolutions that impose sanctions on the country. Foreign affairs experts said it is uncertain how well the railway-borne missile system will actually work as train tracks in North Korea have become decrepit and railcars carrying ballistic missiles may be unable to run at high speed. In addition, the latest test could help the United States and other nations detect where North Korea might launch a ballistic missile, they said. Washington and Seoul are expected to scrutinize the railway network in the country. North Korea has acknowledged it has been facing a severe food crisis due largely to natural disasters and sluggish trade with China, its closest and most influential ally in economic terms, in the aftermath of the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Direct talks between the United States and North Korea have been at a standstill for more than two years, with the Biden administration unlikely to make concessions over denuclearization and sanctions relief. North Korea has expressed unwillingness to hold bilateral negotiations with the United States unless Washington withdraws what Pyongyang considers to be its hostile stance. The two nations have no diplomatic relations. On Friday, North Korea lambasted the United States for expanding sanctions, claiming that beefing up its national defense capabilities is the legitimate right of a sovereign state. "If the U.S. adopts such a confrontational stance, the DPRK will be forced to take stronger and certain reaction to it," a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement carried by KCNA. DPRK is the acronym of North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Related coverage: North Korea fires 2 apparent short-range ballistic missiles: S. Korea North Korea conducts test-firing of hypersonic missile reaching 1,000 km North Korea conducts 2nd missile test in less than a week KYODO NEWS - Jan 15, 2022 - 10:51 | All, Japan Yahoo Japan Corp. said it will allow its 8,000 workers to live and commute from anywhere in Japan, even by air, starting from April. The portal site operator will remove a requirement for coming to the office by 11 a.m. and an upper limit on one-way commuting costs of 6,500 yen ($57), the company said Wednesday. Still, its monthly commuting fee cap will remain at 150,000 yen. Airplanes and express buses will be added to local trains and buses and bullet trains as a transportation option for commuting. Yahoo Japan introduced the "Office Anywhere" system in 2014 to allow for working outside the office and scrapped a rule on working in the office at least five days a month in 2020 to address the increased need for teleworking amid the coronavirus pandemic. Around 90 percent of employees at Yahoo Japan are working remotely as of January, saying that it does not hinder work quality, which in some cases improves, the company said. Yahoo Japan follows flea market app operator Mercari Inc., which launched a similar scheme in September last year permitting its employees to live and work anywhere within the country. Japanese companies are striving to offer flexible work environments to meet demand for diversified working styles and to retain a talented workforce in the face of labor shortages. "It's important for us to improve our well-being, and exercise creativity and imagination in order to provide our users with a convenient and innovative service," Kentaro Kawabe, president of Z Holdings Corp., the parent of Yahoo Japan, said in the release. In other industries, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. said last year that it is considering allowing all 320,000 employees of the telecom giant group to work remotely as the norm and abolishing job relocations. ANA Holdings Inc., the parent of All Nippon Airways Co., is planning to allow 38,000 full-time employees barring pilots to switch their jobs within the ANA group as they wish so that they can choose where they live, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday. Related coverage: JR East, West to cut commuter services next year amid pandemic FOCUS: Japan gov't backs 4-day workweek, but experts split Yahoo Japan to sell FX unit to industry leader GMO for $265 mil. South Korea has expressed concern over the fast growth in COVID-19 cases among U.S. servicemen in the country. Produced by Xinhua Global Service Mesut Canturk, head of the Patili Can Dostlar (Dear Friends with Paws), an animal rescue organization, feeds stray dogs in Ankara, Turkey, on Jan. 12, 2022. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua) "There is no such thing as dangerous dogs but dangerous owners," a Turkish animal activist commented on the ban on dangerous dogs imposed in Turkey. by Burak Akinci ANKARA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Following a series of vicious canine attacks, Turkey is enacting a ban on "dangerous dog breeds" which prompted some dog owners to abandon their pets, raising concern among animal rights activists. "Dangerous dog breeds" made news headlines in the past few weeks after repeated pit bull attacks left some children injured across Turkey. In one highly publicized case in late December 2021, a four-year-old girl was seriously injured after she was mauled by two unattended pit bulls in the southeastern province of Gaziantep. Three people were later detained. Mesut Canturk, head of the Patili Can Dostlar (Dear Friends with Paws), an animal rescue organization, feeds stray dogs in Ankara, Turkey, on Jan. 12, 2022. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua) The attack gained a lot of public attention, prompting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to instruct municipalities to round up stray street animals to be sent to safe sanctuaries. Pit bulls and other aggressive dogs, such as Japanese Tosa and Dogo Argentino, are already prohibited from being sold, imported, or owned in Turkey. Meanwhile, stray dogs, who are to blame for some non-fatal attacks, are being rounded up by authorities across the country. Some dogs were abandoned on the streets by their owners before the ban, which also demands sterilization of dangerous dogs, took effect on Friday, according to animal rights groups. Mesut Canturk, head of the Patili Can Dostlar (Dear Friends with Paws), an animal rescue organization, feeds stray dogs in Ankara, Turkey, on Jan. 12, 2022. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua) "We have received reports of dozens of cases around the country, including in Ankara, and such cases are now being reported on a daily basis," Pelin Sayilgan, the Turkish Animal Right Federation's representative in the Turkish capital of Ankara, told Xinhua. In the Imrahor Valley, located on the outskirts of Ankara, many pit bulls have joined a massive crowd of stray dogs. "Recently, we have seen an increasing number of dogs being abandoned in the city and here," said Mesut Canturk, head of the Patili Can Dostlar (Dear Friends with Paws), an animal rescue organization in Ankara. Photo taken on April 8, 2021 shows dogs at a Stray Dog Shelter which hosts over 600 stray dogs in Ankara, Turkey. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua) "Violation of the ban is punishable by severe fines, which some owners consider as an additional cost, so they just abandon their pets who struggle to survive on their own," he said. Turks are well-known for their compassion for stray cats and dogs. Many Turks regard street animals as communal pets rather than typical stray animals. Canturk said that some cities may have "misunderstood" the president's call for better conditions for stray dogs. A boy strokes Boji, a famous stray dog that loves travelling around the city by public transport, at a subway station in Istanbul, Turkey, on Sept. 14, 2021. (Istanbul municipality's press office/Handout via Xinhua) More than 2,000 animal lovers gathered in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, last Sunday to demand that municipalities not place stray dogs in shelters, which they claim as basically a death sentence for the animals. "Non-governmental organizations and the government should work together to find a solution to this urgent issue," Canturk said, adding "there is no such thing as dangerous dogs but dangerous owners." Dogs are only violent when their owners are reckless and indifferent to them, Canturk said. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Nayef bin Falah Al-Hajraf in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 11, 2022. (Xinhua/Ji Chunpeng) The latest round of intensive interaction between China and several Middle East countries will enhance China's cooperation with those countries and the Middle East region as a whole, analysts have said. CAIRO/BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The latest round of intensive interaction between China and several Middle East countries, as well as between China and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), will enhance China's cooperation with those countries and the Middle East region as a whole, analysts have said. Abdulaziz Al-Shaabani, a Saudi journalist and expert on China, said the recent interaction is in line with both China's and the Gulf countries' wishes, and will benefit all sides by promoting economic and trade exchanges between the world's second largest economy and the Gulf countries. "The time has come for China and the Gulf states to have deeper and more comprehensive relations, especially in light of the similar challenges they face, and their common wish to strengthen bilateral relations," he said. Noting that both China and the Gulf countries attach great importance to their sovereign independence and oppose any country's interference in internal affairs of others, Abdulaziz Al-Anjari, founder and CEO of the Reconnaissance Research in Kuwait, said the common ground will help deepen the relationship between the two sides. During a meeting between Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and visiting GCC Secretary-General Nayef bin Falah Al-Hajraf on Tuesday, the two sides agreed that the conditions for China and the GCC to establish a strategic partnership are ripe, and they will accelerate this process. They also agreed to complete negotiations on a free-trade agreement between China and the GCC at an early date. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi holds talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 12, 2022. (Xinhua/Ji Chunpeng) Several experts believed that the facilitation of talks on a China-GCC free trade agreement is one of the major outcomes of the recent talks held in China. Ibrahim Hamoud Al-Subhi, Oman's first ambassador to China, called for speeding up talks to facilitate the signing of a free trade agreement, and emphasized the significance of learning from the "successful and important" experience of China's development. "Gulf states, including Oman, need a strong economic partner. I think China can play that role," he said, adding that the meeting between the leaders of the Gulf countries and China is crucial for relevant sides to strengthen cooperation, especially in the field of economy. In a written interview with Xinhua, Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani said reaching a free trade agreement will further upgrade the level of bilateral cooperation, strengthen trade exchanges and lay a solid foundation for the two sides to build a mutually beneficial and win-win strategic partnership. In face of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is of great significance to seal a deal on trade liberalization and facilitation, he added. Pointing out that the GCC and China enjoy a long-lasting good relationship, the foreign minister stressed that based on mutual political trust and economic strength, the GCC-China partnership will play a particularly important role in sustaining peace, stability, and development in the Gulf region, the Middle East and the world as a whole. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi holds talks with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 14, 2022. (Xinhua/Ji Chunpeng) Kuwaiti economic analyst Hajjaj Boukhdour voiced his support for the creation of a free trade zone between the GCC and China, which he believes will considerably improve trade liberalization and facilitation, as well as both sides' governance capability on commercial and economic interests. On the sideline of the meeting between Wang and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday, both sides agreed to deepen all-round cooperation to further advance bilateral ties. Wang said that under the guidance of the two heads of state, China-Turkey relations have maintained their development momentum. Analysts believe the meeting will further synergize development strategies between Turkey and China, enhance communication and mutual understanding through bilateral channels, and expand cooperation in new areas. On Friday, Wang held talks with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, during which the two sides announced the launch of the implementation of the 25-year comprehensive cooperation plan and conducted in-depth discussions. The two sides also exchanged views on the Iranian nuclear situation. The Iranian foreign minister paid high attention to the 25-year comprehensive cooperation plan and the two sides' exchange of views on the Iranian nuclear situation during his visit to China, analysts said, adding that the visit will advance Iran-China cooperation in various fields. Iran's chief nuclear negotiator in the Vienna talks Ali Bagheri Kani arrives at the venue of the Iran nuclear talks in Vienna, Austria, on Dec. 17, 2021. (Xinhua/Guo Chen) by Xinhua writer Gao Wencheng TEHRAN, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chief negotiators of Iran and three European countries on Friday temporarily returned to their capitals for consultations as expert talks continue, providing the latest evidence that international talks to salvage the Iranian nuclear deal in Vienna have been moving forward. The return of chief negotiators to their countries does not mean the eighth round of talks has stopped, according to the website of Iran's Foreign Ministry. The eighth round of negotiations between Iran and other remaining signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) began on Dec. 27 with the United States indirectly involved after its pullout in 2018 from the landmark pact. Photo taken on Dec. 17, 2021 shows a meeting of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Joint Commission in Vienna, Austria. (EU Delegation in Vienna/Handout via Xinhua) "BETTER ATMOSPHERE" "There's a better atmosphere since Christmas," European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters on Friday following an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in the French city of Brest. "Before Christmas, I was very pessimistic," he said, adding that "today I believe reaching an accord is possible," even within the coming weeks. Meanwhile, there is "real progress" on the restoration of the JCPOA, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday. "There is real progress there, there is a real desire, first of all between Iran and the United States, to understand specific concerns, to understand how these concerns can be taken into account in a common package," Lavrov told a press conference. The Vienna talks are "moving forward on right track," Iran's official IRNA News Agency reported on Saturday. "The number of issues of difference has decreased and delegations are busy to discuss the way of implementing any potential agreement," the report said, quoting an informed source on condition of anonymity. Also, Mikhail Ulyanov, head of Russia's delegation to the nuclear negotiations, tweeted on Thursday that the diplomats in Vienna primarily paid attention to "to (the) implementation of a future deal." "We need to agree on who will be doing what and when on the way towards full restoration of the nuclear deal," which is not an easy task, he added. "DIFFICULT PART" Though in a positive atmosphere, it's reported that a wide range of issues remains unresolved in the nuclear talks, given Iran and the United States, the two main parties, indirectly exchanging messages. "We are discussing difficult issues and considering the ways to prepare the draft of the agreed principles," Iran's Mehr News Agency reported on Saturday, citing a source close to the Vienna talks. According to the reports, about the removal of the sanctions and nuclear issues, lots of disputes have been resolved, and the negotiators "are increasingly working on the third appendix on how to implement and sequence the possible agreement." Enrique Mora, deputy secretary general of the European External Action Service, speaks to reporters after a meeting of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Joint Commission in Vienna, Austria, on Dec. 17, 2021. (Xinhua/Guo Chen) The informed source noted that this phase of negotiation is "one of the most tedious, time-consuming and difficult parts of the negotiation, but it is indispensable to achieve the goal." Based on reports from the venue of the talks, the Iranian negotiators have been focusing on assurances and verification of U.S. next moves, which the Western parties were opposed to, so as to "reach a good and acceptable agreement that will guarantee the Iranian nation's rights and interests." As the indirect negotiations between the United States and Iran reach a critical stage, neither side "wants to seem too eager to compromise, which would risk appearing weak," New York Times commented recently. WAY AHEAD While the diplomatic endeavors are going on, Washington still carries on with its pressure campaign. There are only "a few weeks left to see if we can get back to mutual compliance," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday, warning his country stands ready to look at "other options" if negotiations fail. However, Tehran has repeatedly vowed that it will not make hasty concessions under pressure. "Unfortunately, many of the weaknesses of the JCPOA ... have been due to the influence of the negotiators from the U.S. psychological pressures and the haste in signing the JCPOA agreement," said a news article published by Nour News website, which is affiliated with Iran's Supreme National Security Council. To move the negotiations forward, the United States, Iran's Tehran Times daily suggested, can "greenlight the release of Iranian assets as a goodwill gesture to pave the way for a lasting agreement," not an interim one that is unlikely to be accepted by Iran. Senior Iranian nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi, who is also Iran's deputy foreign minister, leaves the venue of a meeting of the Joint Commission on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in Vienna, Austria, on June 20, 2021. (Xinhua/Guo Chen) Ali Vaez, Iran expert at the International Crisis Group, said in a recent podcast episode that to revive the JCPOA, given former U.S. President Donald Trump's "original sin," the United States "should go first and offer sanctions relief in areas that are actually open to verification," primarily in Iran's oil exports and related services, as well as its ability to repatriate all revenues and access to its frozen assets. Vaez also suggested Americans and Europeans provide assurances that Iran would be able to, at least during a Biden or Democratic administration, "keep the benefits of the agreement, as long as its own nuclear commitments are fulfilled." In parallel to Washington taking those steps, Iran should freeze its nuclear program to give time and room for verification, he added. A girl holds a national flag of Iran during a ceremony marking the anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 in the suburb of Tehran, Iran, on Feb. 1, 2020. (Photo by Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua) TEHRAN, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- An Iranian lawmaker said on Saturday that Tehran and Riyadh are reviving their relations and preparing the ground for the reopening of their embassies. A girl holds a national flag during celebrations in al-Khubar, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 23, 2013. (Xinhua) Jalil Rahimi Jahan-Abadi, a member of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, made the remarks in a Twitter post in Persian, adding the move will have important impacts on reducing regional tensions and fostering solidarity among Muslim states. Earlier, in an interview with Al Jazeera English-language news channel, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said Iran has so far held four rounds of positive and constructive talks with the relevant Saudi officials in Iraq. "What we have stated as our official position is that relations between the two countries would return to normal whenever the Saudi side wishes. Iran is ready and welcomes the reopening of the embassies and consulates," Abdollahian said. On May 10, 2021, the Iranian Foreign Ministry confirmed that Tehran and Riyadh had been holding talks in Iraq to defuse tensions between the two countries. UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy to the United Nations on Wednesday called on conflicting parties in Yemen to immediately cease fire and end the violence plaguing the country. "An early end to the conflict would mean saving more lives. All parties to the conflict should immediately cease fire, put an end to violence, exercising maximum restraint, and refrain from taking any actions that could lead to a complicated escalation of the situation," Dai Bing, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, told the Security Council briefing on Yemen. Dai noted that China has paid great attention to letters from both the permanent representatives of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the president of the Security Council, sent respectively in December and January. Saudi Arabia has condemned the Houthis attack on a store in the Saudi city of Jazan, which resulted in civilian casualties, and the UAE has reported on the seizure of an Emirati flagged cargo ship by the Houthis on the high seas of the Red Sea. "China is deeply concerned about these reports. We have noticed that many countries in the region as well as the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation have expressed concern about seizure of the ship by the Houthis," the envoy said. "China supports the Security Council in pronouncing on these developments and condemning all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructures. We hope that the relevant issues will be properly resolved as soon as possible, that the ship and its crew will be released, and that the maritime safety of the Red Sea and channels of international navigation will be maintained," he said. "As the new year has just begun, the Yemeni people urgently need to gain confidence and hope for the future. We hope that all parties in Yemen will demonstrate good political will, engage the special envoy without conditions, exchange views candidly, and reach a realistic and feasible political solution at an early date. In this process, attention must be paid to the views of women, youth and other groups," Dai said. "The Yemen issue concerns peace and stability in the Gulf region, and the regional situation also affects the situation in Yemen. China calls on regional countries to play an active role in promoting peace talks on the Yemen issue, as doing so serves the common interests of all parties," he said. KAMPALA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Uganda has said the fuel shortage in some parts of the country is due to the interruption in the supply chain at the common border with Kenya where transit truck drivers were protesting charging them for COVID-19 tests. Uganda's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development in a statement issued late on Friday said the 10-day interruption led to a spike in prices as some dealers hoarded the petroleum products. The statement said the supply has resumed after Uganda's ministry of health resolved to test the truck drivers free of charge instead of the 30 U.S. dollar cost. "The government is doing everything possible to prioritize the handling of petroleum products at the borders to ensure build up in stock levels in the country," the statement said. The cases of scarcity in districts such as Hoima will be addressed shortly with the ongoing replenishment, the statement added. The ministry also said the shortage is partly due to the full opening up of the economy which increased the consumption levels. Government on Dec. 31 announced that the country's economy is fully reopened after some sectors remained closed since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in the country in March 2020. The ministry warned dealers that fuel prices should not exceed 5,000 shillings (1.4 U.S. dollars) per liter. The scarcity had pushed up the price to 10,000 shillings in some remote districts. Uganda is a net importer of petroleum products with an average current daily consumption of 6.5 million liters, according to ministry figures. New Delhi: Around 55 lakh workers in the city will benefit from the increased minimum wages that have been notified by the Delhi government following the Supreme Courts recent order, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday. Addressing a press conference here, Kejriwal said employees will also get dearness allowance for the months of April to September, besides a Diwali bonus of one months salary. He said 44 employers associations had filed a petition against the Delhi governments previous notification to increase minimum wages. Later, the high court struck down the notification and the government challenged it in the Supreme Court, the chief minister added. On October 14, 2019, the Supreme Court gave order in favour of the Delhi government on minimum wages. We have notified increased minimum wages, the chief minister said. The move will be effective in reducing poverty and dealing with the economic slowdown, he said, adding that the step will lead to an increase in demand and production, and generate employment. The enhanced minimum wages for unskilled workers have been fixed at Rs 14,842 per month, for semi-skilled workers at Rs 16,341 per month and for skilled workers at Rs 17,991 per month. The government has removed 1,373 contractors so far for not paying minimum wages to their workers. We had run two special drives and booked over 100 employers for violating minimum wages rules. Six contractors were registered under cases of cheating, Kejriwal said. He said Delhi has the highest minimum wages in the country. New Delhi: For the first time since the abrogation of Article 320 since August 5, an international delegation is set to visit Jammu and Kashmir soon. Ahead of the crucial visit, the delegation from the European Union met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Monday. The delegation also discussed the issue of Kashmir and the situation there after the abrogation of Article 370. The European Union delegation would be visiting Kashmir soon. Though officially there is no lockdown in the Valley, sporadic incidents of violence and attacks on non-Kashmiri truckers have marred the transition of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories, which will become official in next three days. Confirming the development, Prime Ministers Office said that Members of European Parliament called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg today. Prime Minister appreciated the importance the Parliamentarians attach to their relationship with India by visiting right at the beginning of their term. India has been maintaining that the region is largely peaceful. However, its nuclear neighbour Pakistan has been trying to internationalise the issue saying that New Delhi is acting with an iron-fist to change the narrative. PM expressed hope they have fruitful visit to various parts of country, including to J&K. Their visit to J&K should give delegation better understanding of cultural and religious diversity of region; apart from giving a clear view of development and governance priorities of region, the PMOs statement said. Putting an end to all wild speculations and online and offline rumours, the Narendra Modi government on August 5 revoked the Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Union Home Minister Amit Shah also proposed the bifurcation of the state. The third key takeaway of the big announcement was the scrapping of Article 35A, which empowered Jammu and Kashmir state's legislature to define permanent residents of the state and provide special rights and privileges to those permanent residents. With Article 370 becoming history, Jammu and Kashmir will not have separate state flag. With President Ram Nath Kovinds nod to scrapping of Article 35A, every Indian will now be able to buy property in Jammu and Kashmir. Instead of the Ranbir Penal Code, the entire region will now fall under the jurisdiction of the Indian Penal Code. With these announcements, the Modi government at the Centre will have right on land and police power in Jammu and Kashmir. As against the trifurcation buzz, the Modi government announced the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir. Shah also moved a bill proposing bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories -- Jammu and Kashmir division and Ladakh. Shah, who introduced the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation bill, said the union territory in Ladakh will have no legislature like Chandigarh. The other union territory of Jammu and Kashmir will have a legislature like Delhi and Puducherry. As pointed out by senior Congress leader and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, with this mega movie, India will now have 28 states and nine Union Territories. This also means that all rules and regulations of the Indian Constitution will also be now applicable to the region. The move ended the seven-decade old history of Article 370. Two months after India won independence 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh, the then ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, signed a Treaty of Accession for the state to join the rest of the union, formalised in Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. Article 35A of India's constitution permitted the local legislature in Kashmir to define permanent residents of the region. The article came into being in 1954 by a presidential order under the constitution's Article 370. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Days ahead of Congress partys country-wide protests, its leader Rahul Gandhi has left for an unknown location out of India. The absence of Rahul Gandhi days ahead of the Congress partys planned protest against the Narendra Modi government has given critics yet another chance to question his seriousness. Reacting to the criticism, the Congress, however, said that its former president is on a meditational visit abroad and will be back soon. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the Gandhi has time to time gone on such visits. Shri Rahul Gandhi has gone from time to time in the past on meditational visits. He is currently on one such visit, Surjewala said without revealing the location he has gone. Sources in the party siad that Gandhi is possibly in Indonesia for a meditation session and will be back home soon. Surjewala said the partys 10-day agitation was formalised at a meeting in which Rahul Gandhi participated in, but neither he nor Sonia Gandhi would be participating in the state and district level programmes. Also Read | Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina Comes Out In Support Of Suspended Shakib Al Hasan The Congress has planned a country-wide agitation from November 5 to 15 to highlight the issues of economic slowdown, farm distress, rising unemployment and job losses and the consequences of the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) trade agreement. This entire programme was drafted as per his direction and in consultation with him. He guided the party on to the various steps and issues that were to be taken. Shri Rahul Gandhi was present and participated in the meeting where this programme was taken up. Neither Sonia ji nor Rahul ji are going for state agitation or district agitational programme, he said. (With PTI Inputs) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: DSSSSB 2019 admit card for Junior Auditor LDC and Pharmacist posts has been released. All candidates who successfully applied for the exam and are going to appear for the Computer Based Test can visit the official website of DSSSB, i.e. dsssb.delhi.gov.in to download the DSSSB Hall Ticket. It is to note that the DSSSB Recruitment exam for Junior Auditor LDC and Pharmacist is going to be conducted on November 1 and November 4, 2019. Candidates can download the DSSSB Hall Ticket from the websites, dsssb.delhi.gov.in and dsssbonline.nic.in. In order to download the DSSSB Admit Card 2019, candidates need to follow the below mentioned steps: First, visit the official websites, i.e. dsssb.delhi.gov.in and dsssbonline.nic.in Click on the DSSSB Hall Ticket link that is available on the homepage A new page will open Candidates need to click on the respective exam that they are appearing Click and view the DSSSB Admit Card 2019 Download and take a printout of the DSSSB 2019 admit card It is to note that the recruit exam will be held in English and Hindi. In the DSSSB Tier I exam, questions will be asked on general intelligence, general awareness, reasoning ability, arithmetical and numerical ability, English Language and Hindi Language. In the Tier II Exam, the syllabus will be in similar lines to Tier 1 exam and MCQs will be asked. Candidates must make sure to carry the admit card at the exam centre during the time of the Computer Based Test. For all the Latest Education News, Jobs News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The member states of the European Union on Monday agreed to postpone Britain's divorce from the bloc for up to three months until January 31, with possible off-ramps beforehand. "The EU27 has agreed that it will accept the UK's request for a Brexit extension until 31 January 2020," the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, tweeted. The EU27 has agreed that it will accept the UK's request for a #Brexit flextension until 31 January 2020. The decision is expected to be formalised through a written procedure. Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) October 28, 2019 Earlier on October 23rd, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson "paused" the Withdrawal Agreement Bill i.e. the bill for leaving the European Union (EU) after MPs voted against fast-tracking his Brexit deal through parliament in time for next weeks 31 October deadline. The bill had earlier cleared the first parliamentary hurdle, with MPs backing it 329 votes to 299. It effectively meant his Brexit deal was accepted for debate and amemdments paving way for the withdrawal agreement to become law. However, the MPs then voted 322 to 308 against the sped-up timetable for the bill. The motion would have seen the deal through by the end of the week. The passage of the withdrawal agreement bill through parliament was automatically paused as a result of the defeat, with the Speaker, John Bercow, saying it was officially in limbo. After the vote, Johnson said he would speak to EU leaders and urge them not to agree to a prolonged Brexit extension. However, the European council president, Donald Tusk, suggested almost immediately that he would recommend the EU27 accede to the UKs request for a three-month delay. "Following Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision to pause the process of ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement, and in order to avoid a no-deal Brexit, I will recommend the EU27 accept the UK request for an extension," he tweeted. "For this I will propose a written procedure," he said, which means that the 27 other member state leaders would not have to convene an emergency summit. That request was set out in the letter reluctantly penned by the prime minister at the weekend in compliance with the backbench-led Benn act despite his previous insistence that he would rather be dead in a ditch than countenance a delay. Earlier on Tuesday, Johnson had threatened to pull the bill and seek a general election instead of delaying Brexit beyond the October 31 deadline. After publishing the EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill, or the so-called EU divorce bill, on Monday night, Johnson opened it up for debate by MPs in the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon with plans to hold a vote on a sped-up timetable for its passage by the end of the week. While Opposition MPs accused him of trying to dash through a 110-page legislation without proper scrutiny, Johnson threatened to remove the Bill entirely if his timetable for its passage is rejected and revert to demanding a General Election instead. (With agency inputs) For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: While Delhi continues to grapple with deteriorating air quality, Punjab and Haryana recorded an increase of at least 2,400 farm fires, a major contributor to the air pollution in the national capital, till October 27, according to government data. The Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality monitor, SAFAR, on Monday predicted that the share of smoke from stubble burning in Delhi's PM 2.5 concentration is likely to jump to 25 percent on Tuesday. It was 15 percent on Monday. The number of farm fires surged despite the central government issuing strict directions to Haryana and Punjab last week to stop stubble burning completely. Most cases of paddy residue burning were reported in the last four days, according to data from the pollution control boards of Punjab and Haryana. Punjab reported an increase of around 25 percent in farm fires. According to data from the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), the state recorded 9,600 incidents of stubble burning till October 27 last year. This year, the figure has shot up to 12,027. Tarn Taran alone has reported 1,863 incidents of farm fires. Ferozpur and Patiala have recorded 1,248 and 1,236 cases, respectively. A significant rise in stubble burning was recorded on October 26 and 27. While 2,805 cases were reported on October 26, the number on October 27 touched the 2,231 mark. Haryana witnessed 3,735 farm fires as compared to 3,705 last year. Karnal, Kaithal and Kurukshetra have reported 824, 818 and 645 incidents of stubble burning, respectively, till October 27. The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research on Monday said, "Haryana and Punjab stubble fire counts are increasing, and the transport level wind direction is favorable for plume transport (northwesterly). The biomass-related contribution may touch this year's peak value (~25%) on October 29." The period between October 15 and November 15 is considered critical as maximum number of stubble burning incidents takes place in this span in Punjab and adjoining states and is one of the main reasons for the alarming spike in pollution in Delhi-NCR. Despite a ban on stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana, farmers continue to defy it because of lack of financial incentives. State governments are providing 50 to 80 per cent subsidy to farmers and cooperative societies to buy modern farm equipment for in-situ management of paddy straw, and running a massive awareness campaign against stubble burning. A Punjab government official had told PTI that the high court's September 19 order, staying the recovery of fine from farmers found violating the ban on stubble burning, has subdued the effect of challans. However, Karunesh Garg, member-secretary of the Punjab Pollution Control Board, said the court had only stalled the recovery of fine imposed in previous years and that the government is issuing challans this year. Secretary (Agriculture) KS Pannu said the number of farm fires seems large because of early harvesting of paddy crop. "This year, the harvesting began around a week earlier as compared to the last year. That's the reason the number of farm fires looks big. I am sure the cumulative figure at the end of the harvesting period will be much smaller," he said. The Centre and the state government have made serious interventions, provided farm equipment and undertaken massive awareness drives to prevent stubble burning. If not this year, the problem will be completely resolved in the next two years, Pannu said. Haryana Pollution Control Board Member Secretary S Narayanan said around 200 challans have been issued against farmers for violating the ban on stubble burning, but the recovery of fine has been put on hold following the high court order. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A civilian was killed and five others were injured as Pakistani troops opened fire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Machhil sector of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Wednesday. The Indian Army gave a befitting response to the Pakistani aggression that started on Tuesday night, they said. Officials said the injured have been admitted to a hospital. Pakistan army, on Monday, had violated ceasefire by targeting forward posts and villages with small arms firing and mortar shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district. According to official figures, Pakistan army violated ceasefire along the LoC over 2,100 times this year, leaving 29 Indians dead and scores of others injured. Of them, nine people, including five soldiers, were killed this month alone. Four of them lost their lives in the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch which witnessed the major brunt of the cross-border firing this year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had celebrated Diwali with troops guarding the LoC at the BG brigade headquarters in Rajouri town. The prime minister had on Sunday celebrated Diwali with the troops deployed in border district Rajouri and praised them for their valour, saying it enables the government to take decisions hitherto considered impossible. He was accompanied by Army Chief General Bipin Rawat. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Five Labourers From West Bengal Killed, Another Injured By Terrorists In Kashmir Five migrant labourers from West Bengal were killed and another injured in a terrorist attack in Kulgam district of Kashmir on Tuesday evening, police said. According to reports, the labour has sustained bullet injuries in the leg. The injured has been identified as Zahuruddin, a daily wager from West Bengal. He was in his rented residence in Katrasoo village when he was attacked. He has been admitted to a hospital and stated to be out of danger, they said. Read more PM Narendra Modi Returns Home From Saudi Arabia Visit Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday returned to India after concluding his visit to Saudi Arabia, during which he held extensive talks with the top Saudi leadership. India and Saudi Arabia on Tuesday inked more than a dozen agreements in several key sectors including oil and gas, defence and civil aviation to bolster their ties as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held extensive talks with the Kingdom's top leadership during which a Strategic Partnership Council was established to coordinate on important issues. Read more China Increasing Footprints In Indian Ocean, May Station Aircraft Carriers: Top US Commander The US Pacific Fleet Commander on Tuesday said there has been no reduction in Beijing's assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea, a vital trade route in the global supply chain, and it continues to bully other nations in the strategic region. Admiral John Aquilino, who is in India, met Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh and other senior defence officials. He said he and Singh discussed ways to enhance cooperation and increase information-sharing and better integration between the two navies. "The US and India have common values. We understand that the ability to operate in accordance with international laws and maritime environment only allows both of us to prosper as well as the rest of the nations in the area," he said in an interaction with reporters. Read more British MPs Vote In Favour Of Holding General Elections On December 12 British MPs have backed Prime Minister Boris Johnsons December 12 election plan by a 438 to 20 vote margin. This is going to be historic decision once the House of Lords passes the legislation and it becomes law by the end of the week. It will mark the first December-poll since 1923. The development marks a win for Boris Johnsons bid for a pre-Christmas poll to try and win a public mandate in favour of his Brexit plan. Read more Petrol, Diesel Prices Today: Check Latest Fuel Rates In India On October 30 The petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged on Wednesday, October 31. Petrol and diesel prices had came down on Tuesday, but the state-run Oli Marketing Companies (OMC) did not make any change in the prices on Wednesday. According to the fuel price data available on the website of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL), the petrol price in Delhi is Rs 72.92 per litre on Wednesday, while diesel price was at Rs 65.85. Read more For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A case has been registered against dissident leaders Yambem Biren and Narengbam Samarjit Singh, who announced Manipur government-in-exile in London for waging a war against the state, Chief Minister N Biren Singh said on Wednesday. Addressing a press conference in Imphal, the Manipur CM said that he has directed officials to handover the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). He also ordered a thorough investigation into the affairs of Samarjit Singh and Salai Holdings Private Limited, a company where he hold the post of its director. On Tuesday, the separatist duo had announced the so-called government-in-exile. While Yamben Biren claimed himself to be the Chief Minister of Manipur State Council, Narengbam Samarjit claimed to be the Minister of External Affairs and Defence of Manipur State Council. The duo claimed that they represented titular king of Manipur Leishemba Sanajaoba and were speaking on behalf of the Maharaja of Manipur to formally launch the government-in-exileThe Manipur State Council. Also Read | Diplomatic Blunder: Congress Leader Surjewala On EU Delegation Kashmir Visit Sanajaoba, however, rebutted their claim and said that he had nothing to do with the announcement. He said that the leaders sought his approval for going to London to collect important antique documents and photographs relating to the history of Manipur but their announcement claiming to be his representatives for separation of the state was false. Meanwhile, E Brojendro, Vice-chairman of Salai Holdings Pvt Ltd, told media that Samarjit Singh has been removed from the post of Director. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- A foreign ministry spokesperson on Friday said China will continue to maintain and practice true multilateralism, and is ready to enhance cooperation with all countries to contribute to the post-pandemic global development. Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a daily press briefing when responding to a query about the upcoming 2022 World Economic Forum (WEF) virtual session. Earlier in the day, foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced that Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the virtual event and deliver a speech on Jan 17 in Beijing. Wang said mankind is faced with unprecedented challenges, as demonstrated by the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic, increasing uncertainties in global economic recovery, the widening development gap between the North and the South, and the headwinds against economic globalization. Against such a backdrop, Xi's attendance and delivery of a speech at the WEF are of great significance, Wang said. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, China has been actively carrying out international cooperation on pandemic response, promoting a stable recovery of the global economy, improving global governance, and working with all countries to counter common challenges, he said. China will continue to maintain and practice true multilateralism, and is ready to enhance cooperation with other countries to contribute China's wisdom and strength to the post-pandemic development of the world, and jointly build a community with a shared future for mankind, Wang added. San Francisco: WhatsApp on Tuesday sued Israeli technology firm NSO Group, accusing it of using the Facebook-owned messaging service to conduct cyberespionage on journalists, human rights activists and others. The suit filed in a California federal court contended that NSO Group tried to infect approximately 1,400 "target devices" with malicious software to steal valuable information from those using the messaging app. WhatsApp head Will Cathcart said the lawsuit was filed after an investigation showed the Israeli firm's role the cyberattack, despite its denials. "NSO Group claims they responsibly serve governments, but we found more than 100 human rights defenders and journalists targeted in an attack last May. This abuse must be stopped," Cathcart said on Twitter. The lawsuit said the software developed by NSO known as Pegasus was designed to be remotely installed to hijack devices using the Android, iOS, and BlackBerry operating systems. The complaint said the attackers "reverse-engineered the WhatsApp app and developed a programme to enable them to emulate legitimate WhatsApp network traffic in order to transmit malicious code" to take over the devices. "While their attack was highly sophisticated, their attempts to cover their tracks were not entirely successful," Cathcart said in an opinion piece published in the Washington Post, noting that the investigation found internet-hosting services and accounts associated with NSO. The suit calls on court to order NSO Group to stop any such attacks and asks for unspecified damages. WhatsApp in May called on users to upgrade the application to plug a security hole that allowed for the injection of sophisticated malware that could be used for spying at the messaging app used by 1.5 billion people around the world. The malicious code was transmitted through WhatsApp servers from about April 29 to May 10, targeting devices of attorneys, journalists, human rights activists, political dissidents, diplomats, and other senior foreign government officials, according to the complaint. "A user would receive what appeared to be a video call, but this was not a normal call," Cathcart said of the cyberattack. "After the phone rang, the attacker secretly transmitted malicious code in an effort to infect the victim's phone with spyware. The person did not even have to answer the call." The NSO Group came to prominence in 2016 when researchers accused it of helping spy on an activist in the United Arab Emirates. Its best-known product is Pegasus, a highly invasive tool that can reportedly switch on a target's phone camera and microphone, and access data on it. The firm has been adamant that it only licenses its software to governments for "fighting crime and terror" and that it investigates credible allegations of misuse, but activists argue the technology has been instead used for human rights abuses. Danna Ingleton of Amnesty International said the results of the WhatsApp investigation "underscore that NSO Group continues to profit from its spyware products being used to intimidate, track, and punish scores of human rights defenders across the globe, including the Kingdom of Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Mexico." Ingleton said Amesty and other groups are seeking in the Israeli courts to block NSO for exporting the technology. "WhatsApp deserves credit for their tough stance against these malicious attacks, including their efforts to hold NSO to account in the courts," she said. New Delhi: Five people were killed and fifteen were injured after a bus overturned near Koratagere in Karnataka's Tumkur district on Wednesday, according to ANI. According to local media, a private bus going from Tumakuru to Koratagere in Karnataka met with an accident. While 5 passengers lost their lives, at least 40 others have sustained injuries. The accident occurred around 8.50 am on Wednesday morning at Koratagere taluks Jetty Agrahara. According to The News Minute, many of the passengers were on the way back to their homes from Deepavali holidays. The accident happened as the driver was speeding and lost control in a rush to overtake the auto. For all the Latest India News, South News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A 'Sadhvi' (holy woman) was gangraped in Bihar's Sheikhpura district, the police said on Monday. According to SHO Mahila Thana Yashoda Devi the incident took place late on Sunday night near Phulchod village in the district while the 'Sadhvi' was on her way to her native village in Uttar Pradesh's Basti district. The SHO said the woman had been staying at an ashram in Kakolat a tourist spot in Nawada district after renouncing the world. On Sunday, two residents of her native village visited the 'Sadhvi' and said her mother was seriously ill following which she left for Basti in her vehicle flanked by the duo and two of her associates at the ashram. After she was sexually assaulted by the four, the 'Sadhvi' lodged a complaint with the police, the SHO said adding that the accused have fled and efforts were on to nab them. For all the Latest Crime News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Five migrant labourers from West Bengal were killed and another injured in a terrorist attack in Kulgam district of Kashmir on Tuesday evening, police said. According to reports, the labour has sustained bullet injuries in the leg. The injured has been identified as Zahuruddin, a daily wager from West Bengal. He was in his rented residence in Katrasoo village when he was attacked. He has been admitted to a hospital and stated to be out of danger, they said. The attack happened on a day a delegation of parliamentarians from the European Union is visiting Kashmir to talk to locals and ask them about their experience after the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 on August 5. Earlier in the day, suspected terrorists opened fire on CRPF personnel deployed at a school where a Class 10 examination was underway at Drabgam in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday. According to news agency PTI, the terrorists fired six-seven rounds of bullet on CRPF deployment at the school, which was an examination centre. The CRPF and the local police were deployed to guard the centre. No injuries have been reported so far. Since the Centre's decision on Article 370, terrorists have been targeting truckers and labourers, mainly who have come to the Valley from outside Kashmir. Earlier on Monday, a trucker from Udhampur district was killed by militants in Anantnag, police said. This was the fourth truck driver to be killed by militants since August 5. On October 24, terrorists killed two non-Kashmiri truck drivers in Shopian district. On October 14, two terrorists, including a suspected Pakistani national, shot dead the driver of a truck having Rajasthan registration number and assaulted an orchard owner in Shopian district. The driver was identified as Sharief Khan. Two days later, Punjab-based apple trader Charanjeet Singh was killed and Sanjeev injured when terrorists attacked them in Shopian district. The same day, a brick kiln worker from Chhattisgarh was shot dead by militants in Pulwama district. With PTI Inputs Washington: The remains of ISIS leader Abu Bakr-al Baghdadi were "disposed of appropriately" in accordance with the US standard operating procedure and the law of armed conflict, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has said. US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that Baghdadi blew himself in his suicide vest as he was chased to the dead end of a tunnel by the US service dogs during an American raid in northwest Syria. Addressing reporters in the Pentagon, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said, "Baghdadi's remains were transported to a secure facility to confirm his identity with forensic DNA testing and the disposal of his remains has been done. It is complete and was handled appropriately." "His remains were disposed of appropriately in accordance with our SOP (standard operating procedure) and the law of armed conflict," the top general said. Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was buried at sea after being killed in a US raid in Pakistan's Abbottabad in 2011. Responding to questions, General Milley said the US forces also took with them materials about ISIS and future planning from the compound where Baghdadi was killed. "There was material taken away. I don't want to characterize exactly what or how much yet until it gets exploited properly. But as a matter of course, we always do sensitive side exploitation on any objective anywhere to do that. As to whether it was Baghdadi's headquarters, it was an area in which he was staying on a consistent basis," the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. He also said that US forces captured two associates of Baghdadi. "There were two adult males taken off the objective alive and they are in our custody," General Milley said. Asked about President Trump saying that Baghdadi was whimpering and crying before he died, General Milley said the presidential account was based on the conversation that he had with those involved in the attack. "The (defense) secretary was asked the same question yesterday. I note the president had planned to talk down to the unit and unit members, but I don't know what the source of that was, but I assume it was talking directly to the unit and the unit member," he said. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday made an offer to the Shiv Sena amid its power-tussle with ally BJP in Maharashtra, saying if the Uddhav Thackeray-led party wants, if can join hands with the grand old party to form the government in the state. If the Shiv Sena comes to us with a proposal, we will put that proposal before our high command and discuss it with the allies as well. No such proposal has been given by the Shiv Sena yet, Chavan said. The BJP and the Shiv Sena should tell Maharashtra voters what was decided between them. If they have so much of distrust between them, how can they form the government? he added. Chavans statement comes after Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday cancelled his party's meeting with the BJP on formation of the next government, hours after Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis denied the Shiv Sena was assured post of the CM for 2.5 years as part of a power sharing "formula", The development might potentially worsen the already strained relationship between the two parties. A senior Sena leader told news agency PTI that the meet, scheduled to be held in Mumbai at 4 pm, was cancelled by Thackeray after the CM's statement on sharing of power. The meeting was to be attended by Union minister Prakash Javadekar and senior Sena leaders. "Union minister Prakash Javdekar and party leader Bhupendra Yadav were supposed to attend the meeting to start discussions on formation of the next government from the BJP side, while the Sena would have been represented by Subhash Desai and Sanjay Raut," the Sena leader said. The development came within hours of Fadnavis' presser in which he denied that the Sena was ever promised the CM's post for two-and-a-half years when the alliance was formalised before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Thackeray has been insisting that the 50:50 formula on sharing of power was "agreed upon" between himself, BJP chief Amit Shah and Fadnavis ahead of the Lok Sabha polls this year. The Sena had demanded a written assurance from the BJP for implementing "equal formula for sharing of power" before holding talks on staking the claim to form the next alliance government in the state. On Tuesday, the Sena also released an old video clip to "rebut" the CM's claims on sharing of power in which the latter purportedly talked about equal sharing of posts and responsibilities in the BJP-led state government. New Delhi: Pakistan-based terror groups may target security forces and government installations in Jammu and Kashmir in the coming days to create a prolonged hostage-like situation to draw international attention, according to intelligence inputs. Quoting the inputs, officials said the information has also indicated about plans of terrorists belonging to the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Hizbul Mujahideen to target security personnel in the general areas of Zonakar, Rainawari, Safakadal and Dharamshal in Srinagar district. According to the intelligence inputs, terrorists are likely to target installations of the security forces and government offices in Srinagar with an aim to create a prolonged hostage-like situation to draw international attention, the officials said. Likelihood of grenade attacks on security forces in a district headquarters town to create fear psychosis and threaten civilian authorities outside the mini secretariat in another district have also been reported. Terrorist outfits have been using posters in various parts of the Kashmir Valley to disseminate threat messages to scare shopkeepers against defying call for a shutdown. The Hizbul Mujahideen has warned fruit traders, truck drivers, government and bank officials of dire consequences if the call for shutdown was not adhered to, another official said. According to the inputs, one of the airfields -- Awantipora, Srinagar or Rangreth in the Kashmir Valley -- could be targets of possible attacks by some foreign terrorists. Security agencies are on high alert since August 5 when the Centre abrogated provisions of Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into union territories, which will come into being on October 31. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Businessman Raj Kundra, husband of actor Shilpa Shetty, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday in connection with a money laundering probe against late gangster Iqbal Mirchi and others, officials said. Sources said Kundra was grilled for nearly 10 hours by the ED. On being asked by reporters if he had ever met Iqbal Mirchi, Kundra said: "Never, never. We supported authorities and have given whatever they needed. Kundra arrived at the Enforcement Directorate office in Mumbai in Ballard Pier area at about 11 am. He was asked by the agency to appear on November 4 but it is understood that he sought an early date to depose owing to some engagement at that time. The proceedings in the case was conducted under the criminal provision of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The central probe agency is looking at Kundra's purported dealings with Ranjeet Bindra and a firm called Bastian Hospitality in connection with this case. Some business dealings between the two need detailed information and hence the summons, they said. Bindra has been arrested by the agency in this case sometime back. Kundra has earlier denied any wrongdoing in these business dealings. The businessman has similarly been grilled by the agency last year in connection with a bitcoin scam case. Mirchi, who died in 2013 in London, was alleged to be the right hand man of global terrorist Dawood Ibrahim in drug trafficking and extortion crimes. The ED has filed a criminal case against Mirchi, his family and others to probe money laundering charges for alleged illegal dealings in purchase and sale of costly real estate assets in Mumbai. The PMLA case is based on multiple Mumbai Police FIRs and the ED has conducted multiple raids in this case over the last few months. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Riyadh: India and Saudi Arabia on Tuesday inked more than a dozen agreements in several key sectors including oil and gas, defence and civil aviation to bolster their ties as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held extensive talks with the Kingdom's top leadership during which a Strategic Partnership Council was established to coordinate on important issues. Modi, who is on a two-day visit to the Gulf Kingdom to attend the Future Investment Initiative here, called on Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and the two leaders exchanged views on working together closely to strengthen the bilateral ties. The two leaders condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and agreed to step up bilateral security cooperation. Saudi Arabia, known to be a key ally of Pakistan, has been siding with India in its campaign to rid the region of terrorism and pledged to extend all cooperation to effectively deal with the challenge. Later in the evening, Prime Minister Modi held wide-ranging talks with powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Interacted with HE Ahmad Bin Salman Al Rajhi, Saudi Arabias Minister of Labour and Social Development. A wide range of issues came up for discussion during our meeting. @MLSD_SA pic.twitter.com/enBLdzpSCO Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 29, 2019 After the delegation-level talks, the two sides signed an agreement to establish the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council to coordinate decisions regarding strategically important issues. The council will be headed by Prime Minister Modi and Crown Prince Mohammed and it will meet at an interval of two years. Briefing the media following the meeting and luncheon hosted by King Salman for Prime Minister Modi, Economic Relations Secretary T S Tirumurti said that the two leaders condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and agreed to step up bilateral security cooperation. They also discussed cooperation in agriculture, oil and gas, maritime security, innovative technology, renewable energy, trade and investment between the two countries during their talks. An agreement was signed on bringing coordination between e-migration systems of the two countries. An MoU was also signed to roll out RuPay card in the Kingdom - making Saudi Arabia the third country in the Persian Gulf after the UAE and Bahrain to introduce India's digital payment system. There are over 2.6 million Indians working in Saudi Arabia, the largest expatriate community in the country. Nearly two lakh Haj pilgrims and over three hundred thousand Umrah pilgrims from India visit Saudi Arabia every year and acceptance of Rupay card will allow them to transact at cheaper. The two sides also vowed to further enhance defence industries collaboration and security cooperation. The first naval exercise between the two nations will take place by end of this year or early next year. The two countries also decided to move ahead on the ambitious west coast refinery project in Raigarh in Maharastra which will involve investments from Saudi oil giant Aramco, UAE's Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and Indian public sector oil firms. An MoU for a joint venture between Indian Oil Middle East and with Saudi company Al Jeri for downstream cooperation and setting up of fuel retail business in the Gulf country was also signed, expanding energy ties between the two countries. India, the world's third-largest oil consumer, imports 83 per cent of its oil needs. Saudi Arabia is its second-biggest supplier after Iraq. It sold 40.33 million tonnes of crude oil to India in 2018-19 fiscal, when the country had imported 207.3 million tonnes of oil. India buys some 200,000 tonnes of LPG every month from Saudi Arabia. A series of drone and missile attacks on oil facilities of Saudi Aramco, the country's national petroleum company, in Abqaiq and Khurais on September 14 drove oil prices to their highest level in nearly four months. The attack had knocked out over half of Saudi Arabia's production as it cut 5.7 million barrels per day or over 5 per cent of the world's supply. India condemned the attacks and reiterated its resolve to oppose terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Notwithstanding the attack on its oil facilities, Saudi Arabia assured India that it was committed to meet the country's energy security needs. Prime Minister Modi thanked King Salman for the continued supply of the petroleum products to India despite the damaging attack, Tirumurti said. King Salman also congratulated Modi on his party's election victory in May, he said. Tirumurti said that there has been a considerable progress in bilateral cooperation since the state visit of Crown Prince to India in February. The two sides also inked an MoU for cooperation in the area of renewable energy. They also signed agreements to increase number of flights between the two countries to facilitate people-to-people contacts, medicine products regulation and prevention of trafficking of narcotics among others. India's relations with Saudi Arabia have been on an upswing over the last few years based on burgeoning energy ties. India's bilateral trade with Saudi Arabia was at USD 27.48 billion in 2017-18, making Saudi Arabia its fourth largest trading partner. This is Prime Minister Modi's second visit to the country. During his first visit, King Salman conferred Saudi's highest civilian award on him. The Crown Prince visited India in February 2019, giving a further fillip to the bilateral ties. Saudi Arabia last month said that it was looking at investing USD 100 billion in India in areas of energy, refining, petrochemicals, infrastructure, agriculture, minerals and mining. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Baghdad: Iraqi security forces wearing masks and black plainclothes opened fire at protesters in the Shiite holy city of Karbala on Tuesday, killing 18 people and wounding hundreds, security officials said, in one of the deadliest single attacks since the country was engulfed by protests this month. The attack, which happened overnight, came as Iraqis took to the streets for a fifth consecutive day, protesting their government's corruption, lack of services and other grievances. The protests, leaderless and largely spontaneous, have been met with bullets and tear gas from the first day. At least 72 protesters, not including the latest fatalities in Karbala, have been killed since anti-government protests resumed across Iraq on Friday after 149 were killed during an earlier wave of protests this month. Also, in the Karbala attack alone, more than 800 people were wounded, according to one official. Security officials said Tuesday's attack happened in Karbala's Education Square, about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the Imam Hussein Shrine, where protesters had set up tents for their sit-in. All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. An eyewitness said hundreds of protesters were in the encampment when live bullets were fired toward them from a passing car. Then, masked gunmen in black plainclothes arrived and started shooting at the protesters, the witness said, speaking on condition of anonymity, fearing for his safety. Tents caught fire, igniting ablaze, he added. Karbala, as Baghdad and other cities in Iraq's southern region, has been gripped by a wave of deadly anti-government protests which have often turned violent, with security forces shooting at the protesters and protesters setting fire to government buildings and headquarters of Iran-backed militias. The demonstrations are fuelled by anger at corruption, economic stagnation, and poor public services. Despite its vast oil wealth, Iraq suffers from high unemployment and crumbling infrastructure, with frequent power outages that force many to rely on private generators. The protests have grown and demonstrators are now calling for sweeping changes, not just the government's resignation. Iraq's Prime Minister Adel Abdel-Mahdi has promised a government reshuffle and a reform package, which the demonstrators have already rejected. Authorities on Monday announced a curfew from midnight to 6 am in the capital, as renewed protests there and across the south raged. A senior security official estimated that 25,000 protesters took part in the demonstration in the capital.Thousands of students joined Iraq's anti-government protests on Monday, as clashes with security forces firing tear gas canisters killed at least three demonstrators and wounded more than 100. Also Read: Four Iraqi MPs Resign In Response To Mass Protests Students skipped classes at several universities and secondary schools in Baghdad and across Iraq's majority-Shiite south on Monday to take part in the protests, despite the government ordering schools and universities to operate normally.One of those killed was a 22-year-old female medical student, the first woman to be killed since the protests began earlier this month. Seventeen students were among the wounded. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Visitors to the former Saint Marys Episcopal Church in Hampden are in for a jolt. The spot where couples exchanged their marital vows has been creatively transformed into a bit of Renaissance England, specifically the early London theaters where William Shakespeares plays were performed during his lifetime. Cabinetmaker Thomas Brown, 66, happened upon the Baltimore Shakespeare Factory, which took over the church about 10 year ago, and vowed to re-envision the acting companys performance space. He didnt hold back. Advertisement Thomas Brown, who refers to himself as a Renaissance Mechanic designed and built this Shakespearean theater stage for the Baltimore Shakespeare Factory. It is located in the old St. Marys Church at 3900 Roland Avenue in Hampden. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun) However, his timing was off. Just as this bravura piece of stagecraft was making its debut, the pandemic hit. The Baltimore Shakespeare Factory managed a production or two, but now his re-creation at 3900 Roland Avenue is on an agonizing temporary pause. The stage has a name, Kestrel, after a bird native to London and Baltimore. Like so many issues related to the COVID-19 surge, it all seems a shame. Advertisement Brown estimates he donated $12,000 to $15,000 worth of material and labor for his imaginative and surprising creation. For years I worked under the strict rules of historic preservation - rebuilding doors for homes in Bolton Hill, Brown said. But here, I could do what I wanted. I call it a monument to Shakespeare. Walking the stage, he said: I meant it to be a delight to the actors and audiences and as an ongoing asset to live theater culture in Baltimore. He explained his wife, Kathleen Brown, is an English professor who taught for 45 years at Stevenson University. And Ive never been able to exercise so much creativity on my own, Thomas Brown said. And as he reflected on this grand assemblage of linenfold panels, bay windows and balconies, he said: A theater that the Bard would recognize were he magically to appear. The old church, still owned by the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, retains its traditional interior well, most of it. The new stage sits between expansive stained glass windows of Moses delivering the Ten Commandments and Jesus preaching to the disciples. In between is the place where King Lear and The Tempest reign. The church and its land were a donation of Baltimores 19th century industrialist, Robert Poole, whose name is commemorated in a Hampden public school and whose iron foundry is now fancy real estate and the Woodberry Kitchen restaurant. Advertisement The Baltimore Shakespeare Factory prides itself (in non-pandemic times) on mounting plays where its actors speak in original pronunciation, a version of English tinged in a lush Celtic-heavy sound. Brown, who has never acted before, has mastered this pronunciation and appeared in King Lear. Its really fun. Its not a museum, said Jamie Horrell, the companys music director, who likes to introduce bits of modern pop music into the productions. The justification for Lady Gaga at the beginning or during the intermission is that popular songs were performed in Elizabethan times. He also said the company stresses diversity in casting. We cast people of color and our roles are gender neutral, Horrell said. We had two productions that were all female. Breaking News Alerts As it happens Be informed of breaking news as it happens and notified about other don't-miss content with our free news alerts. > Brown styles himself as a woodwright and operates Thomas Brown, Woodwright LLC from a massive stone building at 330 W. 23rd St., off Howard Street in the Remington neighborhood. Inside, theres a cocoon of fellow artisans making the bespoke stuff that Amazon does not offer. The Shakespearean set was made, in pieces, at Browns machine shop in what was a 1905 ice house formerly owned by American Ice Co. The building has chunky stone walls that were useful for insulating the huge ice blocks once stored there. Advertisement When he wasnt making the stage in Hampden, Brown worked on the Basilica of the Assumption, the Homewood mansion at Johns Hopkins and the Clifton Mansion in Clifton Park in Northeast Baltimore. He also purchased the tools of his art, like milling machines from the John Knipp Co. in Brooklyn in southern Baltimore. Thomas Brown stands on the stage he created for The Baltimore Shakespeare Factory. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun) As a fine cabinetmaker, he selected white oak, red oak, ash and walnut to form a Jacobean parquet floor where the actors walk. He recalled his first woodworking job, bending sides for viola da gambas, an ancestor instrument of the violin. The theater uses no amplification and no electric musical instruments. And the company hopes to restore the Saint Marys unused pipe organ. We hope to survive, Brown said. This is by no means apparent. On a good night, we get an audience of 70 or 80. People who dont know us are amazed. We try to promulgate the original spirit, to keep the Shakespeare fire lit, even in times like this. Washington: Boeing chief executive Dennis Muilenburg faced a barrage of criticism from US lawmakers Tuesday at a jammed hearing on the company's commitment to safety as family members of victims of two deadly MAX 737 crashes looked on. In his first appearance before Congress since the 737 MAX was grounded in March, Muilenburg apologised for the crashes and acknowledged shortcomings, but broadly defended Boeing's development of the ill-fated aircraft. Senators from both parties signalled clear dissatisfaction, bordering on rage in some cases. "Boeing is the company that built the flying fortress that saved Europe," said Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, a former National Guard helicopter pilot who lost both legs during the Iraq War. "You have told this committee and you told me half-truths over and over again," said Duckworth, who represents Illinois, home to Boeing's corporate headquarters. "You have not told us the whole truth and these families are suffering because of it." Muilenburg stuck to the company's longstanding stance that development of the MAX followed time-tested company procedures and defended it against charges that it cut corners on safety and was too cozy with regulators the Federal Aviation Administration. Many analysts view the hearings as a can't-win situation for Muilenburg and expect him to exit the company in the foreseeable future, most likely after the MAX returns to service. Asked by a reporter if he would resign, Muilenburg said, "That's not where my focus is. My focus is on the job at hand focused on safety. And we're going to do everything we can to ensure safe flight." But Nadia Milleron, who lost her daughter on the Ethiopian Airlines crash, said the company needs a shakeup. Muilenburg "needs to resign. The whole board needs to resign," she said. "I expect him to stop putting the blame on the FAA and other people because that is what they always do. They don't take responsibility." Many of the questions focused on the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, an automated system that Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines pilots were unable to control, resulting in crashes. "We have learned from both accidents and we've identified changes that need to be made to MCAS," Muilenburg told the Senate Commerce Committee. But Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, lambasted Muilenburg as he struggled to answer pointed questions about 2016 texts from Boeing pilot Mark Forkner to a colleague that discussed the "egregious" performance of the MCAS during a simulation test and said that he "basically lied to the regulators." Muilenburg indicated that Boeing counsel shared the documents with the Justice Department in February, but that he did not see the specific exchange until it was reported by news media earlier this month. "I was made aware of existence of this kind of document," Muilenburg told Cruz. "I counted on counsel to handle this appropriately." "That is passive voice," Cruz shot back. "You're the CEO, the buck stops with you. "How did your team not put it in front of you, run with their hair on fire and say 'We have a real problem here?' How did that not happen and what does that say about the culture at Boeing?" Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington state where the 737 MAX is built, said the crisis showed that Boeing leadership was failing its employees. "This isn't a question about line workers -- this is a question about the corporate view from Chicago, and whether there is enough attention to manufacturing and certification," Cantwell said. "You should take offense to the fact that people say, 'It's a great company that's not being run correctly.'" Tuesday's hearing will be followed by a second session on Wednesday in the House Transportation Committee. Boeing is still targeting regulatory approval for the MAX in 2019, a timeframe that many aviation experts still view as possible. Senator Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican who chairs the Senate committee, told CNBC before the hearing that he intends to scrutinize Boeing's processes but said he did not see anything that would prevent the MAX from going back into service "fairly soon." "I think this plane is eminently fixable," Wicker told CNBC. "I don't think it's a hopeless cause." For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Congress leader DK Shivakumar has drawn flak from some of his party leaders for holding the JDS flag when he returned Bengaluru from Delhi after getting bail in a money laundering case. A video of the incident has since gone viral. Shivakumar, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate, and in judicial custody at the Tihar Jail, returned on Saturday to a rousing welcome here, where besides Congress leaders, there were those from the JDS waiting to receive him. When he was being taken in a procession in a flower-bedecked vehicle, a JDS worker handed over a party flag to him which the Congress leader received, waved it for a while and returned it to him. A video of former Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah criticising Shivakumar for the act, in a private conversation, is also now in wide circulation in social media. In the video, Siddaramaiah is heard saying that Lingayats, a prominent community of Karnataka seen backing the BJP, are now distancing themselves with Lingayat strongman and Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, and the Vokkaligas, another dominant community, are disenchanted with JDS and H D Kumaraswamy. Justifying his act, Shivakumar said, ... wherever I go, people give me a number of flags including the Kannada flag and people from all walks of life come to meet me. Even now there are three JDS MLAs waiting to meet me. Can I tell them not to come? Shivakumar insisted that holding flag was not a big deal as he has been a born Congressman. I came straight to the Congress office, which is a temple for me, he clarified. Siddaramaiah termed making the video of his private conversation an act of mischief as it was an internal discussion. Seeking to downplay Siddaramaiahs criticism, Shivakumar said, Siddaramaiah has lots of love towards me. Kumaraswamy slammed Siddaramaiah for his comment in the video. Siddaramaiah is pure secular and we, who had supported him, are communal, Kumaraswamy sarcastically said. Shivakumar might have held the JDS flag because some of our party workers went to support him. It doesnt require a big analysis, Kumaraswamy said. For all the Latest India News, South News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Jakarta : A married woman in Indonesia has been flogged 100 times for confessing to having Nazisex. On the other hand, the man with whom he had a close relationship was flogged by just 15 lashes. This person was also married. The incident took place in Indonesia's Conservative Ache province on Thursday. According to media reports, the woman had to be stopped for some time for whipping because she could not bear the pain due to so much beating. State that The Province of Ache is the only place in Indonesia where sharia law of Islam is in force. Ivan Najjar Alawi, chief of the general investigation division at the Eastern Ache Prosecutor's Office, said the woman admitted before investigators that she had sexual relations with someone other than her husband. The court then sentenced the married woman to severe punishment and ordered her to be flogged. Alvi further said that the judges had difficulties in convicting the accused person as he had categorically refused to join the crime. The man was the chief of the Eastern Ache Fisheries Agency and was married himself like a woman. On the other hand, the judges convicted a married man of showing affection for a woman as an alternative punishment, as the woman was not his wife. Initially the man was sentenced to 30 lashes. But after hearing an appeal filed in the ShariaH Supreme Court in Ache, his sentence was reduced to 15 lashes. According to prosecutors, another man found guilty of having sex with a minor was also flogged 100 times on Thursday and sentenced to 75 months in prison for the crime. A large number of people were also present during the sentence, who captured the incident on camera. Pakistan releases its first-ever national security policy, Know what's special WHO's 2 new medicines to treat Covid-19 amid Omicron Sri Lanka's economy is expected to grow by 5.5% in 2022: Reports Imran Khan, Pakistan's prime minister, has revealed the country's first-ever National Security Policy paper, which he describes as a "all-encompassing" framework for equitable growth. Khan stated at a launching event here on Friday that this policy roadmap is citizen-centric, based on the idea that Pakistan's security is based on the security of its residents. Any national security strategy must prioritise national cohesion and people's prosperity while ensuring basic security. Pakistan must foster delivery-based good government in order to realise the immense potential of its inhabitants, PM Imran Khan remarked. He went on to say that the National Security Policy is centred on economic security, with geo-strategic and geo-political imperatives also playing a key role in bolstering Pakistan's security and status in the world. Pakistan's National Security Committee and federal cabinet adopted the National Security Policy in late December. British GDP surpasses pre-pandemic levels, Peek inside Thailand try to keep costs under control amid rising food, energy prices Indonesian Govt lifts entry ban for people from 14 nations Four men are being held in connection with the Christmas Day theft in Topeka of this U-Haul trailer. Four men are being held in connection with the Christmas Day theft in Topeka of a U-Haul trailer containing most of the belongings of a family that was passing through. Topeka police on Monday executed a series of search warrants and seized property that included some items stolen from the U-Haul and other locations, said Lt. Manuel Munoz, of the Topeka Police Department. Shawnee County Jail records identified the four men being held as Jayden Flowers, 25; Joshua Long, 26; Jacob Slusser, 27; and Nicholas Mora, 28, all of Topeka. Munoz said the victims lost about $20,000 worth of property, including guns and jewelry, when the U-Haul trailer containing most of their belongings was stolen about 4:15 a.m. Dec. 25 in Topeka. After the trailer was subsequently recovered in Wabaunsee County, the officers "did something they certainly did not have to do" by taking up the collection to financially aid the family, Topeka City Councilman Mike Lesser said last week. The officers asked not to have their names made public, he said. No formal charges had been filed Wednesday morning in connection with the case. Flowers, Long, Slusser and Mora were all being held in connection with felony theft from a vehicle and felony drug distribution, according to Shawnee County Jail records. Mora was also arrested on outstanding warrants charging him with being a fugitive from justice in Nebraska and Kansas, those records said. Flowers was also booked in connection with vehicle burglary and the criminal possession of a firearm by a felon and on an outstanding Shawnee County warrant charging him with violating probation, according to jail records. This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Four arrested in Christmas Day theft of family's U-Haul in Topeka WildAids Marine Program Instrumental in Leading Effective Enforcement Efforts World Leaders celebrate new Ecuador MPA President Guillermo Lasso of Ecuador celebrates the designation of the Reserva Marina de Hermandad with world leaders including Presidents Bill Clinton (United States) and Ivan Duque (Colombia), Gustavo Manrique (Ecuadors Minister of Environment, Water, and Ecological Transition), ocean explorer Dr. Silvia Earle (Mission Blue), Yolanda Kakabadsen and other ambassadors. Photo credit @ Diego Anazco President Guillermo Lasso of Ecuador celebrates the designation of the Reserva Marina de Hermandad with world leaders including Presidents Bill Clinton (United States) and Ivan Duque (Colombia), Gustavo Manrique (Ecuadors Minister of Environment, Water, and Ecological Transition), ocean explorer Dr. Silvia Earle (Mission Blue), Yolanda Kakabadsen and other ambassadors. Photo credit @ Diego Anazco New Ecuador MPA map Ecuador declares the new marine reserve Reserva Marina Hermandad as illustrated here. Ecuador declares the new marine reserve Reserva Marina Hermandad as illustrated here. Ecuador, Jan. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SANTA CRUZ, GALAPAGOS ISLANDS Ecuador President of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso today signed a historic Executive Decree to create a new marine reserve Reserva Marina de Hermandad to increase protection for one of the worlds most important marine ecosystems, the Galapagos Islands, home to nearly 3,000 marine species, 20 percent of which are found nowhere else on Earth. The expansion will create a massive new ocean corridor or swimway of 60,000 sq km that will connect Ecuadorian waters with Costa Rican waters and significantly enhance protection for threatened migratory wildlife including humpback whales, sea turtles, giant manta rays, and endangered hammerhead sharks. The Reserva Marina de Hermandad includes 30,000 sq km where all extractive activities are prohibited (no-take zones) including critical ecosystem areas, migratory routes, and feeding areas for threatened marine species, and 30,000 sq km as a buffer zone where the use of long lines is prohibited. This new reserve increases the area of protection to nearly 200,000 sq km, when combined with the existing Galapagos Marine Reserve. It is also a key component of the newly announced mega-marine protected area known as the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor (Corredor Marino del Pacifico Este - CMAR), which has recent commitments from the Presidents of Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia to link the four countries Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) covering 500,000 sq km of protected waters. Story continues WildAids Marine Program has been working in the Galapagos for over 20 years improving marine enforcement operations systems and implementing a comprehensive marine protection plan with the Galapagos National Park. WildAid was instrumental in facilitating a partnership between the Ecuadorian Navy and the Galapagos National Park rangers to enforce GMR laws and to prevent illegal fishing and shark poaching within its borders. WildAid and its partners will be working to implement protection mechanisms and procedures that will be deployed across the new protected area, including state-of-the-art technologies to significantly enhance and improve control of the marine reserve. WildAid President Peter Knights applauded the action, It is essential that nations take bold actions to stem the tide of environmental degradation. President Lasso and Ecuadors leadership for this historic decree is outstanding, and the collaboration of Costa Rica, Panama and Columbia to protect CMAR is vital and laudable. As we mark twenty years of our partnership with the Galapagos National Park Directorate to prevent illegal fishing, we are honored to continue to support what we believe is one of the best marine protection systems in the world. Despite the establishment of new global marine protected areas (MPAs) every year, many countries are ill-equipped and under-resourced to properly manage and enforce their MPAs. Often, the critical step from declaration to implementation falls short resulting in limited conservation benefits and parks in name only or paper parks. WildAids Marine Program is working with government, nonprofit, and community partners around the world to strengthen the protection and enforcement of MPAs and coastal fisheries. Manuel Bravo, Latin America Regional Director for WildAid Marine said, These actions protect an area of incredibly high biodiversity, but also preserve the importance of connectivity between those regions. Wildlife that travels long distances in the open-ocean dont care about boundaries on a map, and this expansion will help protect the unique and often threatened megafauna that migrate through these waters. Todays decree follows many months of dialogue with artisanal fishermen and the industrial fishing fleet, who agree on the importance of expanding this zone and the benefit spillover of fisheries resources from increased fisheries production. The action is accompanied by an international financing structure of a debt-swap for nature conservation, to implement realistic management of the newly established boundaries. Most people dont realize that nearly 60 percent of all marine protected areas lack effective enforcement. Our focus is on closing this gap. Starting in the Galapagos, we are creating centers of excellence to share best practices and help partners prioritize smart and effective enforcement strategies and funding mechanisms. said Meaghan Brosnan, Director of WildAids Marine Program. In addition to our work in Ecuador, we are working with the governments of Panama and Costa Rica to help design marine protection systems, effective enforcement, and legislative strategies to ensure the long-term sustainability of these priority marine areas. Not only is this important for threatened marine wildlife, but also to sustain essential economic drivers such as tourism, fishing, and maritime transportwhich generates close to USD 3 billion annually. The leadership demonstrated by the Ecuadorian government sets the stage to help achieve the global goal of protecting 30 percent of the ocean by 2030. Attachments CONTACT: Meaghan Brosnan WildAid 2063311722 brosnan@wildaid.org Rating Action: Moody's revises University of Chicago's (IL) outlook to stable; affirms all ratingsGlobal Credit Research - 14 Jan 2022New York, January 14, 2022 -- Moody's Investors Service has revised University of Chicago's outlook to stable from negative and affirmed the Aa2 issuer and revenue debt ratings. At this time we have also affirmed the Aa2/VMIG 1 and P-1 ratings on the university's variable rate demand bonds and commercial paper, respectively. Both are supported by the university's internal liquidity. Most of the university's tax-exempt debt is issued through the Illinois Finance Authority and the Illinois Educational Facilities Authority. The university had approximately $5.2 billion of debt outstanding as of fiscal 2021.RATINGS RATIONALEThe revision of the outlook to stable reflects a combination of improved operating performance and significant wealth growth following strong investment returns and exceptional fundraising. Expense curtailment and resiliency in the university's diverse business lines led to a modest university-wide operating surplus in fiscal 2021 following about a 4% operating deficit in the prior year. Although fiscal year 2022 operating results may thin a little as the university brings some expenses back into the budget, income improvement initiatives and ongoing work to create a sustainable structurally balanced budget will likely lead to more predictable and balanced results going forward, reflecting improvement in the university's financial strategy, a key governance consideration under our ESG framework. The university's cash and investments grew 32% in fiscal 2021 as a result of 38% investment returns and raising $631 million in gifts and commitments, further aiding credit stability.The affirmation of the Aa2 issuer rating reflects University of Chicago's excellent strategic positioning anchored by global prominence as an elite research university with extremely strong undergraduate and graduate demand. Favorably incorporated are significant and growing wealth and exceptional fundraising, although monthly liquidity still remains modest for its rating category and provides relatively thin coverage for the university's large and rising expense base. The university's elevated financial leverage continues to be its key credit challenge. While debt issuance has slowed, operating performance remains thin relative to total debt outstanding and provides moderate coverage of annual debt service obligations relative to similarly rated peers. Through UCMC, the university is exposed to potential operating and revenue pressures from its healthcare operations.The affirmation of the Aa2 revenue bond ratings incorporates the unsecured general obligation nature of the payment obligation and the Aa2 issuer rating.The VMIG 1 and P-1 short-term ratings reflect University of Chicago's long-term rating along with sufficient self-liquidity and internal procedures to support the tender features of its variable rate debt and repayment of maturing commercial paper. Liquidity sources are diverse, including a dedicated standby liquidity facility. Treasury management has sufficient experience in managing self-liquidity debt and internal procedures are supported by a deep bench within the treasury team.RATING OUTLOOKThe stable outlook reflects Moody's expectations for sustained improvement in operations with EBIDA margins at or above 10%. It additionally incorporates limited new debt issuance and preservation of wealth and liquidity.FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OF THE RATINGS- Consistently stronger operating cash flow- Substantially strengthened level of cash and investments relative to debt and operations with limited future debt issuance- Material improvement in unrestricted liquidityFACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO A DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS- Additional debt issuance absent sustained improvement in EBIDA margins- Inability to sustain EBIDA margins at or above 10%- Significant change in risk profile of UCMC's operations- Reduction in balance sheet reserves, particularly a reduction in liquidity- Consistently weak coverage of demand debt from self-liquidity or inability to align necessary financial resources in the event of a failed remarketing (for the self-liquidity ratings)LEGAL SECURITYUniversity of Chicago's bonds and commercial paper notes are unsecured general obligations of the university. University of Chicago does not guarantee or support the separately issued debt of either University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) or Marine Biological Laboratory, but the university could become liable for certain UCMC debt if the university were to terminate its affiliation or lease agreements with UCMC.PROFILEUniversity of Chicago, founded in 1890 by John D. Rockefeller, is a large private research university with prestigious academic programs and internationally noted research, including that conducted in collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, both US government labs. In 2013, the university also affiliated with the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The university owns and operates University of Chicago Medical Center, its academic medical center and strategic partner in research and medical education.METHODOLOGYThe principal methodology used in the long-term ratings was Higher Education Methodology published in August 2021 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBM_1257002. The principal methodology used in the short-term ratings was Short-term Debt of US States, Municipalities and Nonprofits Methodology published in July 2020 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBM_1210749. Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy of these methodologies.REGULATORY DISCLOSURESFor further specification of Moody's key rating assumptions and sensitivity analysis, see the sections Methodology Assumptions and Sensitivity to Assumptions in the disclosure form. Moody's Rating Symbols and Definitions can be found at: https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_79004.For ratings issued on a program, series, category/class of debt or security this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series, category/class of debt, security or pursuant to a program for which the ratings are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's rating practices. For ratings issued on a support provider, this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the credit rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular credit rating action for securities that derive their credit ratings from the support provider's credit rating. For provisional ratings, this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the provisional rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive rating that may be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt, in each case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed prior to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would have affected the rating. For further information please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com.The ratings have been disclosed to the rated entity or its designated agent(s) and issued with no amendment resulting from that disclosure.These ratings are solicited. Please refer to Moody's Policy for Designating and Assigning Unsolicited Credit Ratings available on its website www.moodys.com.Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating review.Moody's general principles for assessing environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks in our credit analysis can be found at http://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1288235.At least one ESG consideration was material to the credit rating action(s) announced and described above.The Global Scale Credit Rating on this Credit Rating Announcement was issued by one of Moody's affiliates outside the EU and is endorsed by Moody's Deutschland GmbH, An der Welle 5, Frankfurt am Main 60322, Germany, in accordance with Art.4 paragraph 3 of the Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 on Credit Rating Agencies. Further information on the EU endorsement status and on the Moody's office that issued the credit rating is available on www.moodys.com.The Global Scale Credit Rating on this Credit Rating Announcement was issued by one of Moody's affiliates outside the UK and is endorsed by Moody's Investors Service Limited, One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5FA under the law applicable to credit rating agencies in the UK. Further information on the UK endorsement status and on the Moody's office that issued the credit rating is available on www.moodys.com.Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has issued the rating.Please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating. Michael Osborn Lead Analyst Higher Education Moody's Investors Service, Inc. 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"The development of the digital economy is of great significance, and a strategy to grasp new opportunities in technological revolution and industrial transformation," President Xi Jinping wrote in a bylined article on Saturday in the Qiushi Journal, the mouthpiece publication of the Communist Party's Central Committee. The Qiushi essay, similar to a speech he delivered via state media in October, offers a rare glimpse of the president's own words on the current state and the future deployment of China's technological pursuits. It also puts into context the government's year-long antitrust crackdown on the nation's Big Tech companies, which has wiped out US$1 trillion of value from their stocks. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. China should "cultivate a number of enterprises with international competitiveness, and leading ecological firms with control over industrial chains, to create world-class digital industry clusters," he wrote. "Compared with [other large] countries, China's digital economy is big but not strong, fast but not superior." When he spoke about the digital economy last October, Xi outlined a plan to engage the internet, big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence to chart the country's economic future. The presidential edict was followed this week by a blueprint on the digital economy issued by the Chinese government's cabinet, which pushed for such technological developments as 6G telecommunications and big data centers. The plan was in line with China's 14th five-year plan from 2021 to 2025, reinforcing a similar directive issued by the Cyberspace Administration of China. Story continues Covering almost 3,000 Chinese characters, Xi wrote in Qiushi about how he had been closely following China's technological growth and developments in the digital economy since 2000, before his elevation to president. The dragnet of China's antitrust and cybersecurity crackdowns have snared many of the country's largest technology companies including this newspaper's owner Alibaba Group Holding, resulting in fines, disposals of businesses and job cuts. Some investors are even asking whether the gauntlet of regulatory clampdown has gone too far, for too long. The rapid growth of China's digital economy over the past few years led to "unhealthy" and "irregular" developments that breached regulations and threatened the country's economic and financial security, Xi wrote. These developments, which "not only affected the healthy development of the digital economy, but violated laws and regulations, and posed a threat to national economic and financial security," must be "regulated and rectified," and not be left unchecked, he wrote. Regulations and standards are also needed to plug regulatory loopholes and prevent "monopolies and disorderly expansion of capital" in China, the president wrote. China should focus on areas of strategic technological significance, such as the development of integrated circuits, displays, communications equipment and intelligent hardware, Xi wrote. In 2020, China digital economy expanded by 9.7 per cent to 39.2 trillion yuan (US$6.17 trillion) in value, or 38.6 per cent of China's economic output, becoming a key driver for stabilising economic growth, according to official figures. China should also improve the country's national security system, establish and strengthen an early-warning system built around the digital economy, the president wrote. Regulators and various watchdog agencies should establish what he called "prevention and control" processes to ensure the security of key technologies, vital industrial sectors and facilities, strategic resources and leading enterprises, the president wrote. This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright 2022 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2022. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. BELGRADE, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Hundreds of environmental activists on Saturday blocked several main roads in Serbia including a border crossing to Bosnia in the latest protests against Rio Tinto's plans to develop a $2.4 billion lithium mine. The protests have become a headache for Serbia's ruling coalition ahead of an April 3 general election, and Prime Minister Ana Brnabic told Reuters https://www.reuters.com/article/serbia-lithium-rio-tinto-idINL8N2TR5AW this week a decision on whether to let the project proceed would be made after the vote. The government has offered mineral resources to foreign investors including China's Zijin copper miner and Rio Tinto as it seeks to boost economic growth, but green activists say the mining projects will cause pollution. "We do not want to be quiet ... We want this country to be (safe) for our children," said Ivana, asking not to give her full name, who was among a group of protesters blocking a highway in a neighbourhood of the capital, Belgrade. Many of the protesters carried banners. "Stop investors, save nature", one of the placards read. A crossing point to neighbouring Bosnia was also blocked along with roads near the towns of Cacak and Sabac. The anti-mining protests have been held every Saturday since late November, with a break for the New Year and Orthodox Christmas holidays. Soon after the demonstrations began, conservative President Aleksandar Vucic asked parliament to rework an expropriation law allowing the state to swiftly acquire property for potential development. Environmentalists had opposed the legislation. Serbia is one of Europe's most polluted countries and will need billions of euros to meet the European Union's environmental standards if it wants to join the bloc. Rio Tinto has said it would adhere to all domestic and EU environmental standards at its lithium mine in Serbia. (Reporting by Ivana Sekularac Editing by Helen Popper) Sick of rising insurance premiums? Get a cut of your own with these 3 dividend stocks Insurance premiums are on the rise but you already know that from checking your monthly bills. Whats the old saying? If you cant beat them, join them. Investors can buy stakes in a number of publicly listed insurance companies. Its often considered a recession-proof business because no matter how the economy is doing, most people are obligated to maintain their coverage. Not to mention, some insurance companies pay out generous dividends to shareholders. So if youre not happy with the premiums you pay every month, collecting regular dividends from one of these three companies might be a small way to get even. Chubb (CB) Chubb is one of the largest property and casualty (P&C) insurers in the world. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, the company has operations in 54 countries and territories. And its still growing. In the third quarter of 2021, Chubbs P&C net premiums written grew 16.9% globally, driven by a 22% increase in commercial lines. Net income totaled $1.83 billion for the quarter, marking a substantial improvement from the $1.19 billion earned in the year-ago period. The best part? Chubb has been raising its dividend for 28 consecutive years. The company currently offers an annual yield of 1.6%. Yes, Chubb trades at $200 per share. But many investing apps offer fractional shares, allowing you to buy a smaller piece of the company with as much money as you are willing to spend. Allstate (ALL) Illinois-based Allstate is a major player in the U.S. P&C insurance sector. In 2020, the company generated $44.8 billion of revenue, which was 0.3% higher than 2019 not bad given the extraordinary environment brought by the pandemic. Things continued to improve in 2021. According to the latest earnings report, Allstate earned $12.5 billion of revenue in Q3, representing a 16.9% increase year-over-year. The most impressive part, though, is the amount of cash the company is returning to shareholders. In February 2021, Allstate boosted its quarterly dividend by 50% to 81 cents per share. At the current share price, that translates to an annual yield of 2.6%. Story continues Allstate is also buying back its shares an act that reduces the number of shares outstanding, thus giving remaining shareholders larger ownership of the company. In the 12 months ended Sept. 30, the company reduced its common shares outstanding by more than 5%. Cincinnati Financial (CINF) To see just how resilient an insurance business can be, all you need to do is take a look at Cincinnati Financial. While the Ohio-based P&C insurer may not be as well-known as the other two companies, it is a dividend king a title reserved for companies that have increased dividends for at least 50 years in a row. In fact, Cincinnati Financial is overqualified, as the company has raised its payout for 61 consecutive years. With a quarterly dividend rate of 63 cents per share, the stock currently yields 2.1%. In Q3 of 2021, the company earned an adjusted operating income of $209 million, or $1.28 per share a vast improvement from the year-ago periods $63 million, or 39 cents per share. CINF stock has also received more investor attention, gaining 35% over the past 12 months. Trending on MoneyWise This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind. When Dawan Brown first met Ikemefuna Justin Eguh, Eguh was going by the stage name Jignasttyy. But the name didnt fit, Brown recalled, so he worked with Eguh and his music manager to find a new name. They landed on Jigavelii an homage to Jay-Z and Tupac Shakur. Advertisement Eguh was quiet like Jay-Z and mysterious like philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli, who Shakur modeled his stage name, Makaveli, after, said Brown, who signed Eguh to his New Jersey-based record label in 2018. It fit, and Eguh or JiG was beginning to see successes in the industry, racking up more than 19,000 followers on Instagram and hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube. Brown said hed had a conversation Jan. 9 with the artist about how to take his music to the next level. Advertisement But two days later, Eguh was dead. Towson University student Ikemefuna Justin Eguh was shot and killed Jan. 11, 2022, in Baltimore County. His artist name was "Jigavelii." (Lynn Hobson) The 23-year-old Towson University student was shot and killed around 2 a.m. Jan. 11 in whats being investigated as a homicide, police have said. He was found in the unit block of West Susquehanna Ave., near the Baltimore County Police Departments Towson precinct. County police spokeswoman Joy Stewart said Thursday that detectives have not identified a suspect or determined a connection between Eguh and a perpetrator. The precincts Community Action Team has been detailed in the area on different shifts to prevent and deter crime and the agency has reached out to business and property owners with crime prevention tips and strategies, Stewart said. Metro Crime Stoppers of Maryland has offered a $2,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest in the case. Anyone with information is asked to call county detectives at 410-307-2020. Its a sad situation, Brown said, recalling that Eguh was the first artist hed signed to the label. He was a respectful, quiet, well-spoken kid. I wouldnt see why nobody would want to do this to my boy. Towson University officials said Eguh was a senior enrolled as an exercise science major. He was originally from East Orange, New Jersey, the university said in a release, and went by Justin to friends. Towson University student Ikemefuna Justin Eguh was killed Jan. 11, 2021, in Baltimore County. (Lynn Hobson) University spokesman Matt Palmer declined to comment further, saying police were handling the investigation and questions surrounding it. Advertisement Breaking News Alerts As it happens Be informed of breaking news as it happens and notified about other don't-miss content with our free news alerts. > Lynn Hobson, who was hired by the record label to be Eguhs publicist, said he was right at the finish line, close to completing his degree and with a music career that was about to take off. Of the several hip-hop artists she represented, Eguh was by far her favorite because he was so well-rounded, able to juggle school, the coronavirus pandemic and a passion for music, Hobson said. When she found out hed been killed, she was shocked. It really took me out, Hobson said. He had a plan and goals, and he was almost there. Brown and Hobson described Eguh as a quiet, respectful person with a strong work ethic around his schoolwork and his music, often traveling with both his laptop for classwork and his recording setup. He wrote his own music and was called a beautiful writer. He was just a light, Hobson said. His energy. He wouldnt even need to speak. He would just crack that smile, that cute kid smile, and just light up the room. A Morgan State University student, Barry Ransom, 21, was killed in Towson in October. Stewart said his death was an isolated incident and that there was no reason to believe it was connected to Eguhs killing. Police have charged a man named Kevin Sharp in Ransoms death, which they described in charging documents as a marijuana robbery gone wrong. Advertisement Our officers have been working tirelessly, day in and day out, in order to ensure the safety and security of all individuals in Baltimore County, and they will continue to do so, Stewart said in an emailed statement. Baltimore County remains a [safe] place for families and students alike. The self-declared state of Somaliland is seeking US recognition as it pitches itself as a counterweight to Chinese influence in the Horn of Africa. There have been growing calls for Washington to set up a representative office in Somaliland, which welcomed a congressional staff delegation to its capital Hargeisa in mid-December. Diplomats and observers have said that in return for opening a diplomatic office, or formal diplomatic recognition, the port of Berbera could help the United States diversify away from neighbouring Djibouti, where China has a military base and has funded and built ports and free-trade zones. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. President Musa Bihi Abdi said at the time of the US fact-finding mission, mostly composed of Republican staff, that Somaliland was committed to working with democratic nations such as the US. "We profoundly discussed Somaliland-US relations, stability, development, vibrant democracies and elections," Abdi said. The visit came a month after Somaliland Foreign Minister Essa Kayd Mohamoud and special envoy Edna Adan Ismail led a delegation to meet Washington officials. Besides making a case for recognition, the delegation wanted Washington to remove it from its inclusion in the State Department's "Level 4: Do not travel" classification for Somalia, citing harm to its economy. In return for recognition, Somaliland has welcomed investment from American business and also promised Washington that it will resist Chinese influence in the Horn of Africa. Bashir Goth, head of mission in Washington told Politico that the delegation had gone to the US "to show we have the same enemy and our long-term strategy is to be closer to democratic and market economies like the US". Story continues He also said: "We are countering China and Chinese influence in Africa and we ask for US help." Mohamed Hagi, Somaliland's Taiwan representative, bumps elbows with Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu during the opening ceremony of the Somaliland representative office in Taipei in September 2020. Photo: AFP alt=Mohamed Hagi, Somaliland's Taiwan representative, bumps elbows with Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu during the opening ceremony of the Somaliland representative office in Taipei in September 2020. Photo: AFP> Taiwan, which China considers as a breakaway province, opened a representative office in Hargeisa in August 2020. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen described it "an important milestone for the Taiwan-Somaliland partnership", but the move drew strong protests from Beijing. Djibouti, Ethiopia and Turkey have consulates in Hargeisa while Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Kenya and the European Union all have offices there as well. Although Somaliland split from Somalia 30 years ago, it lacks international recognition and has set up representative offices in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sweden, the UAE, Britain and the US in a bid to win international support. Analysts say that as China increases its presence in the Horn of Africa - especially Djibouti, where it has funded and built ports and free-trade zones, as well as established its first overseas naval base - the US could use Berbera, a port on the Gulf of Aden, to diversify away from Djibouti. Although the US has a military base in Djibouti, recognising Somaliland would bring "significant" benefits "starting with allowing Washington to diversify away from Djibouti, a country on which it is overly reliant and that is increasingly under Chinese influence", according to a report last year by Joshua Meservey, a senior policy analyst for Africa and the Middle East at the Heritage Foundation think tank. Meservey argued that Beijing's "unparalleled influence in [Djibouti] has already impeded American operations - and positions China to shut down US activity in the case of a confrontation between the two countries". Analysts and former US diplomats have said it is time to recognise Somaliland. Robert O'Brien, the former US national security adviser, said recognising Somaliland as an independent country "is a key step in stemming the Chinese Communist Party's rising tide on the continent and would show other nations that there is an alternative to China's Belt and Road Initiative in East Africa and around the world". "When a free and developing nation stands up to China and rejects its tainted aid, the United States should make every effort to help it succeed, particularly when in a strategically vital region. Somaliland is one such country and deserves both US recognition and assistance," he said. Guled Ahmed, a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute, said the recent developments "show a new US Horn of Africa geopolitical momentum building that could lead to at least the US government opening a diplomatic office in Hargeisa". He said the US could be eyeing maritime development and a security partnership in the Gulf of Aden and perhaps recognition in near future. Somaliland has already signed oil exploration development with Genel Energy and Taiwan CPC Corporation via a public-private partnership. "US companies will likely follow suit since US oil companies formally own drilling rights of some of Somaliland's oil blocks," Ahmed said. Ahmed said that from China's point of view, "Somaliland recognising or having diplomatic relations with Taiwan is a threat to its maritime silk road and Belt and Road Initiative, and it will disrupt its illegal fishing activities within the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean". The Chinese ambassador to Somalia, Fei Shengchao, has dismissed reports that Chinese companies were engaged in illegal fishing in Somali territorial waters, adding that China fully respects the country's sovereignty. "Fishing cooperation is based on mutual agreement. It contributes millions of dollars to Somalia with no strings at all. There are those who don't want to see a penny paid to Somalia and keep muddying the water to 'fish' for themselves," Fei tweeted on December 27. Yun Sun, director of the China programme at the Stimson Centre in Washington, said "the voice that calls for recognition is higher than before". But she said the reason for Somaliland and Taiwan's current relationship was their respective lack of international recognition. "If the US recognises Somaliland, more countries will follow suit," Sun said. "I doubt China will reject the idea. And if China is willing to extend diplomatic recognition of Somaliland, what leverage does Taiwan still have?" However, the US policy had been to follow the lead of the African Union, which up to this point had not favoured recognition of Somaliland as an independent country, said David Shinn, a former US diplomat in Ethiopia and professor at George Washington University. "It treats Somaliland as part of Somalia. While there is considerable sympathy for Somaliland in the United States, I am not aware there is any intention to change US policy on this matter," Shinn said. "There probably are some members of Congress that favour recognition of Somaliland, but this is a decision made by the executive branch. "So long as Somaliland is not recognised by any country, this is not a major issue. If Somaliland were to receive diplomatic recognition from a number of countries, China would be concerned that Somaliland might officially recognise Taiwan. China would react badly to such a development." This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright 2022 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2022. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Spoiler alert for all Ray Dono fans who have not yet watched "Ray Donovan: The Movie": This story reveals major plot points. Is Ray Donovan really dead? In the final moments of the "Ray Donovan: The Movie," which premiered on Showtime Friday and offers a true finale for the seven-season series that ended last January, Ray (Liev Schreiber) nods off in the back of an ambulance. He'd been bleeding for hours after Molly Sullivan (Kerry Condon) shot him in the stomach when she learned her father died. An underwater shot then shows a young man swimming to the surface. Schreiber, as the adult Ray, emerges. The moment wraps a 100-minute movie spurred in part by fan outrage when the series was canceled. Schreiber says when Showtime axed the series, centered on Boston-born and bred Donovan, who became a "fixer" for Los Angeles' elite, he felt conflicted. "I was tired, and I was looking for a break," he admits. "When the initial shock wore off, I was upset because we hadn't finished the story." 2022 TV premiere dates, from 'Ozark,' 'How I Met Your Father' 'Dexter: New Blood' finale shocker: Breaking down the big deaths as series set Showtime records Liev Schreiber returns to his role as celebrity fixer Ray Donovan for a Showtime feature. Schreiber co-wrote the movie with executive producer and director David Hollander. Schreiber says the two didn't argue about Ray's fate but debated killing Mickey, Ray's dad, played by Jon Voight. The troublemaking Mickey, an emotionally absent father who had long plagued his family, is shot by his granddaughter Bridget (Kerris Dorsey), after Ray apologizes to his dad for framing him for murder all those years ago. "It had to stop," Bridget says coldly of Mickey's wreckage, explaining her actions to Ray, her father. Schreiber says Mickey's death "felt like the right ending of this chapter of that story." The actor spoke with USA TODAY about how he interprets the movie's ending, whether fans can expect another installment of 'Ray Donovan' and why Ray and Mickey finally buried the hatchet. Story continues (This interview has been edited for length and clarity.) Winter TV preview: 9 new shows to watch, from 'Pam & Tommy' to 'The Afterparty' How HBO Max's 'Peacemaker' became a hair metal superhero spin on the ensemble comedy Jon Voight's character Mickey Donovan is fatally shot by his granddaughter, Bridget, in "Ray Donovan: The Movie." Question: Is Ray dead? What does the ending mean? Liev Schreiber: Best I can tell, and from the information that I have from the powers that be, they want that to be an open question, and I think you can interpret it or see it how you like. For me, the intention as a writer was to feel that we had reached the end of a chapter, we had reached the end of our journey with this family. That open-ended question is intentional. Like, where would you take it? How does it fit in your life? Does that feel like the end of someone's life or the beginning? Q: So there's a chance that Ray's alive and that we could get more ''Ray Donovan?" Schreiber: Yeah, I think there is. He looks like he's alive when the ambulance door closes, right? Fox delays debut of country music drama 'Monarch' to fall, cites COVID concerns Here's what's canceled, delayed: Grammys postponed, Sundance goes virtual amid omicron spike "Ray Donovan: The Movie" star/co-writer Liev Schreiber says Ray's fate after being shot in the torso is open to interpretation. Q: How do you interpret the end when Ray emerges from the pool in his suit? Schreiber: When I was acting it, the way I was thinking about it is, you know when people have out-of-body experiences? That's what that was. We spent all this time on these two-time continuums: one is old Ray, and one is present Ray. For me, it felt like that wasn't so much a ghost of Ray, but it was the conscience and consciousness of Ray seeing things separate from them. Q: What does the water symbolize? Schreiber: There's a new, clean Ray. It's a baptism. In the Roman Catholic tradition, which Ray is from, there's that sense of revival and renewal and confession. Getting that piece off of his chest (forgiving his father) creates a shiny, new Ray, in a way. How the new season of 'Cheer' addresses child pornography charges against star Jerry Harris Mickey Donovan (Bill Heck) is arrested after being setup by his son, Ray. Q: Let's talk about Ray forgiving his dad. At one point, in the movie, Ray attempts to shoot Mickey, but he has no more bullets in the chamber. But by the end of the film, they make up. Tell me about the complex emotions Ray is feeling at the end of his dad's life. Schreiber: Over the course of that journey to Boston, he has a series of memories by returning to the scene of the crime. He starts to realize slowly the role he played in his father's demise, like his own anger. Sending his father away to Walpole (prison) for 20-something years, and how that will harden a person as well. As (Ray) remembers how hard his own life was, he begins to understand how hard his father's life was, and he realizes that wonderful thing that hopefully we realize in our life is that the best you can do is forgive them and move on. For years, I thought my mom did a terrible job. Then I had kids, and I realized, no, it's really hard, and you do your best. Mortality will also do that to you. I had just lost my own father, oddly enough, when we were (making) this. It really makes you see things differently when someone is no longer around. Ray being shot and realizing the potential for his own death... The most important thing he can do in that moment is to absolve his father, who he's accused his whole life of being the source of all his trouble. That's a very emotional place for (Ray) to be because I don't think he thinks he's going to survive that gunshot wound. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ray Donovan movie ending: Liev Schreiber on that BIG (potential) death A jury early Saturday convicted three Philadelphia men of 18 charges each for their roles in the 2019 slayings of a Spotsylvania County couple and her 14-year-old son. Montel J. Wilson, 29, Hugh Cameron Green, 33, and Jamal K. Bailey, 33, were all found guilty of offenses that include three counts of first-degree murder, three counts of second-degree felony murder, three counts of abduction, robbery, conspiracy and multiple counts of child abuse or neglect. The charges stem from the May 26, 2019, deaths of Michael Coleman, 39, Rachel Ozuna, 34, and Kyrrus Ozuna, 14, who were discovered in their home at 8312 Arlene Acres Drive with their throats slit and their arms and legs bound. A toddler and an infant had been left alone in the home for about three days, according to the prosecution evidence. The jury announced its decision about 1 a.m. at the end of a trial that began Monday in Spotsylvania Circuit Court. The courtroom was full throughout the trial, with the crowd including Ozunas family from Utah and the defendants supporters from the Philadelphia area. Wilson, Green and Bailey will be facing multiple life sentences when they are sentenced April 19. Prosecutors spent most of the week going through mountains of cellphone data, bank records, pictures and videos that they said connected five defendants to the crimes. Two other defendants, including key prosecution witness James C. Myers, had previously pleaded guilty to charges. They said the motive was to rob Coleman, a drug dealer, of money and cocaine that Wilson knew he had. The evidence showed that the group, known as the Get Money Brothers, left Spotsylvania with more than $100,000 in cash and multiple kilograms of cocaine. Defense attorneys countered that Wilson routinely obtained cocaine from Coleman and came to Spotsylvania solely for that purpose in May 2019. They insisted that the defendants harmed no one and that the slayings must have been done by members of a drug cartel or local drug dealers Coleman had ripped off. Myers and Wilson were the key witnesses in the trial. Myers described how Wilson planned the robbery and said Green killed Coleman and Rachel Ozuna at Wilsons demand. He said Green refused to kill the teenager, so Bailey stepped in and did it. Phone records and other evidence supported Myers story, but defense attorneys attacked his credibility and said he lied in exchange for leniency. His plea agreement in Spotsylvania calls for him to serve at least 25 years in prison. Wilson testified that he ran a lucrative drug trade in Philadelphia and that cocaine he got from Coleman played a key role in his business. He said he was on good terms with Coleman, who he described as his uncle, and said he had no motive to end their business arrangement. Wilson and Green are brothers, and Bailey is their cousin. Another brother of Wilsons, 30-year-old Durward Allen, pleaded guilty to robbery and using a firearm in the commission of a felony and is also awaiting sentencing. Myers was a good friend of Wilsons prior to his decision to testify against him. Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. After a snowstorm two weeks ago that caused multiple localities in the Fredericksburg area to declare a state of emergency, another winter weather event is in the forecast for Sunday. Snow is expected to move into the area between noon and 3 p.m. on Sunday. Connor Belak of the National Weather Service in Sterling said the Fredericksburg area is expected to see moderate to heavy intervals of snow for 13 hours. Belak said snow accumulation totals are expected to be 12 inches. But afterward, there could be freezing rain and sleet, potentially up to two tenths of an inch. Precipitation will likely change to rain and is expected to move out of the area between midnight and 3 a.m. Strong wind gusts could last into Monday. The weight of the precipitation could cause trees to come down, which could lead to power outages. Power company crews are preparing for issues, particularly after the storm two weeks ago led to massive outages that lasted more than a week for some area residents. Dominion Energy reported 70,000 customers lost power at the peak of the outage. On Friday, the Virginia Department of Transportation reported that their crews started applying salt brine solution to major routes from Caroline County to Quantico as well as the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula in an effort to reduce icing. VDOT has issued an advisory against travel on Sunday. VDOT also urged motorists planning a weekend trip to monitor forecasts for their entire route. Virginia State Police has also requested motorists to consider avoiding travel during the storm. The National Weather Service issued an Enhanced Winter Storm threat for the I-95 corridor through the Fredericksburg area for Sunday afternoon into early Monday morning. Dominion is advising that if electricity goes out, customers should immediately report the outage on the companys website and then monitor the progress of repairs online. Dominion urged residents to stay at least 30 feet away from downed power lines and ensure family members and pets do the same. Dominion has put in a request for mutual aid from other states to combat the storm. Those crews are prepared to converge on the region in the event additional repair crews are needed. On Friday, Dominion officials provided safety tips as the storm approaches including the creation of an emergency kit that consists of flashlights, batteries, warm clothing, blankets, sleeping bags, hygiene items, face coverings and a basic first-aid kit. Residents are also urged to check and prepare home medical advices that rely on power ahead of the storm. The Rappahannock Electric Cooperative reported their crews are also staging workers and equipment across their service territory. REC urges customers to take steps ahead of time to prepare for the storm. For outage maps or to report an outage at a home or business, visit: myrec.coop or dominionenergy.com. Taft Coghill Jr: 540/374-5526 tcoghill@freelancestar.com Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. I HAVE several issues that I believe the 2022 Virginia General Assembly should take up during the session just begun. The first is drafting a referendum to decide if Richmond should remain the states capital. During the past five or six years, Richmond has come under increased criticism because of its statues and the fact that it was the capital of the Confederacy. Statues have been defaced, desecrated and ultimately removed because they have been deemed offensive to some. Road names have been and continue to be changed because of what some people consider their offensive nature. Still, despite the cleanup, the fact remains that the city was once the capital of another country, the Confederate States of America. Thus, no matter how many name changes are made, the stain will always remain. So why should the capital of Virginia be a city associated with the Confederacy? Maybe the time has come when it should be moved somewhere else. Where? That, of course, would be for the voters to decide if the proposed referendum passes. Roanoke might be a good option since it is more in the geographic center of the state. Or maybe Harrisonburg. Or Staunton. Nope, not Staunton, because that city is still associated with the insane asylum that used to be there. Absolutely not politically correct. Yet the new capital should definitely be on the west side of the Blue Ridge Mountains and away from current political pressures. Maybe we should tear down the present capital and turn it into a city park. Or maybe remove the present inhabitants of the entire city and turn the whole area into a national park. One thing that absolutely should be changed is the name of that Powhite Parkway. That offends me every time I see or hear it. Some try to say this is pronounced Pow-hite Parkway, but we all know it is Po White Parkway, short for Poor White Trash Parkway and about as racist as you can get. Another matter the legislature should take up is dividing Virginia into two states. The people in the rest of the state have very little in common with Northern Virginia, so that area needs to be split off and the state of North Virginia created. Better still, give Northern Virginia to the District of Columbia. D.C. could then annex Prince Georges and Montgomery counties from Maryland and become its own state. What would be the boundaries of North Virginia? Everything north of the Rappahannock River becomes North Virginia, including the counties of Loudoun, Fauquier, Prince William, Stafford, Fairfax and Arlington. Let North Virginia build its own roads without taking revenue from the rest of the state. Let the people there establish their own government. Finally, the General Assembly should consider allowing dogs to vote in state and local elections. It is generally conceded today that dogs are part of the family, so why should any part of the American family be prevented from voting? All the time I hear, Thats my baby, referring to the family dog. If thats your baby, then he should be entitled to cast a vote. Of course, the General Assembly should adjust the age limit so that dog years could be taken into consideration. Whatever is compatible with 18 years in human life should be the minimum. The biggest problem with this proposal is determining whether dogs are Republicans or Democrats. We know for certain that cats are Democrats, but dogs are more unpredictable. They could be members of either party and politicians would worry that they would upset the balance of power. Personally I would suggest that hunting dogs be labeled Republican and house dogs be labeled as Democrats. But thats something that would have to be worked out by the legislature. Cat owners may cry for equal rights, but there is no way I would let any cat anywhere near a voting machine. You talk about voter fraud! Cats absolutely cannot be trusted. I know the General Assembly has a lot to deal with in the next two months, but I believe that the above are issues that should demand the legislatures full attention. American Broadband, Nebraska, recently announced the approval of its application for grant funding to connect rural communities with reliable high-speed internet service through the Nebraska Broadband Bridge Program. The $776,000 grant awarded by the Nebraska Public Service Commission will support the expansion of American Broadband, Nebraskas fiber broadband network, adding capacity to serve eastern Nebraska residential and business locations in Saunders, Dodge and Washington counties. Customers in Leshara, Yutan, Nickerson and Fontanelle are anticipated to begin being served by the expanded network in 2023. The Nebraska Legislature appropriated the funding for the American Broadband, Nebraska, expansion and other projects by passing the Nebraska Broadband Bridge Act, sponsored by Sen. Curt Friesen of Henderson, Nebraska. The bill makes eligible $40 million in funding to internet providers over two years to expand access to broadband capable of download/upload speeds of 100/100 megabits per second (Mbps). American Broadband, Nebraskas fiber backbone offering provides up to 1Gbps of high-speed internet services significantly faster speeds than what is currently offered in the expansion area and beneficial for common uses like e-commerce, data transmission and teleconferencing, as well as virtual and distance learning. The Nebraska Legislatures approval of allocating funding for broadband expansion comes as state governments throughout the country secure resources to improve connectivity and close the digital divide affecting rural communities. Through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, more than $40 billion in federal funding is allocated for state broadband deployment grants to connect unserved and underserved communities, bringing broadband access to millions of Americans. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Saturday HomeStore, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., 701 E. Dodge St., Fremont. The HomeStore sells donated items at discounted prices. Proceeds support the mission of Fremont Area Habitat for Humanity. Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 10 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, 136 N. Main St., Fremont. Fremont Eagles Club open, 11 a.m. to midnight, 649 N. Main St., Fremont. The club may stay open later or close early depending on business. There will be line dance lessons at 6 p.m. and karaoke with Curtis Morris from 7-11 p.m. Alcoholics Anonymous womens heart-to-heart group, noon, Chapter 5 Club, Fremont. Spinners Web presents Back to the Basics, 2-4 p.m., Keene Memorial Library Auditorium, 1030 N. Broad St., Fremont. Members of the spinners and weavers guild will be spinning wool and other fibers into yarn. Other demonstrations may include weaving, crocheting, knitting and other fiber arts using hand-spun and commercial yarns. The event is open to the public. Sons of the American Legion Steak Fry, 5-8 p.m., American Legion Post 158, Cedar Bluffs. Grilled steak will be served along with a baked potato, salad and bread. The cost is $15. Steak fry and raffle tickets may be purchased from any SAL member or at the door. Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 5:15 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont. JSpiritual 12-Step Recovery Program, 7 p.m., Lighthouse, 84 W. Sixth St., Fremont. Narcotics Anonymous The Lie is Dead meeting, 8 p.m., LifeHouse, 723 N. Broad St., Fremont. The hotline number is 402-459-9511. Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 10:30 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont. Sunday Alcoholics Anonymous Happy Sober Sunday Group, 9 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, 136 N. Main St., Fremont. Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 10 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont. Narcotics Anonymous Seekers of Serenity meeting, 10:30 a.m., LifeHouse, 723 N. Broad St., Fremont. The hotline number is 402-459-9511. Fremont Eagles Club open, noon to 6 p.m., 649 N. Main St., Fremont. The club may stay open later or close early depending on business. Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 5:15 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont. Narcotics Anonymous Freedom Works Group, 7 p.m., Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1440 E. Military Ave., Fremont. Alcoholics Anonymous Sunday speaker, 7:30 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont. Monday TOPS Club (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), 9 a.m., First United Methodist Church, 850 N. Broad St., Fremont. Weigh-ins begin at 8 a.m. Visitors (preteens, teens and adults male and female) are welcome. The first meeting is free. For more information, call Janet Bloemker at 402-721-8952. Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 10 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, 136 N. Main St., Fremont. Lightkeepers Womens Group, 10 a.m., Lighthouse, 84 W. Sixth St., Fremont. Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, noon, Chapter 5 Club, Fremont. Educational Service Unit No. 2 board meeting, 1 p.m., ESU2, 2320 N. Colorado Ave., Fremont. The meeting is open to the public. Fremont Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary meeting, 1 p.m., Godfathers Pizza, Fremont. The group will eat lunch from noon to 1 p.m. For more information, call 402-317-2676. Fremont Eagles Club open, 3 p.m. to midnight, 649 N. Main St., Fremont. The club may stay open later or close early depending on business. There will be a trustees meeting at 4 p.m. and a VFW meeting at 7 p.m. Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 5:15 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont. Celebrate Recovery, 6:30 p.m., Fremont Church of the Nazarene, 960 Johnson Road. Keene Memorial Library board meeting, 6:30 p.m., Keene Memorial Library, 1030 N. Broad St., Fremont. The meeting will be held in person and electronically to allow remote meeting access via computer or telephone. The link and instructions are provided on the agenda that is posted in the agenda section of the citys website, www.fremontne.gov. Fresh Hope Mental Health Support Group, 7 p.m., Lighthouse, 84 W. Sixth St., Fremont. Narcotics Anonymous Freedom Works Group, 7 p.m., Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1440 E. Military Ave., Fremont. Alcoholics Anonymous 12x12 meeting, 8 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, 136 N. Main St., Fremont. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Dr. Sumit Mukherjee calls it a terrible journey. Mukherjee, a critical care physician at Methodist Physicians Clinic, is seeing deaths along with bed and staff shortages at a time when he thought things would be improving in the fight against COVID-19. Dr. Michele Williams, an emergency medicine specialist at Methodist Fremont Health, is seeing a critical shortage of beds locally. Our hospital is getting calls every day asking if patients can transfer in and we dont even have enough beds for our patients, Williams said. Other specialists are witnessing high numbers of COVID-positive pregnant mothers and premature births, and increasing numbers of COVID cases among children. In sharing their heart-wrenching, first-hand accounts, four medical professionals are pleading with the public to get vaccinated. The four spoke during a Methodist media event Thursday afternoon to inform the public about challenges in the medical field and community. Our physicians have very full schedules, but we felt it was important to show whats happening in our health system, said Claudia Bohn, director of public relations at Methodist. Right before the new year was one of the worst days Ive had personally as a pulmonary critical care physician, Mukherjee said. I put several patients on the ventilator, taking patients and unfortunately pronouncing them dead, moving them out of the ICU and immediately turning around and putting people back on the ventilator. We are exhausted. This has been a terrible journey. Mukherjee talked about bed shortages and exhausted staff. We are now faced with increasing numbers, but now with bedding situations, Mukherjee said. There are no beds. Weve had staffing issues along with every hospital in the region. You can see it on our staff. They are worn. Williams described the situation at Methodist Fremont Health. The best way I can tell you about whats going on in our emergency department in Fremont and emergency departments across the country, is to tell you about my day yesterday, Williams said. When she came onto her shift at 6 a.m. the previous day, there were seven patients in the emergency department, who essentially were inpatients. They are all waiting to go to a bed in a hospital somewhere, and we dont have any beds in any hospital anywhere, Williams said. Some were COVID patients. Some had other needs and had to be in the hospital. So this is complicated for our nurses who are already short-staffed, Williams said. Its complicated for hospitalists who come to help take care of these patients. Then its complicated for our patients who are continuing to come into the emergency room in need of emergency care and instead of 12 beds we now have five beds to take care of all of those patients, Williams said. The crisis is occurring because hospitals are full of COVID patients along with all the other patients. I just want everyone to know that we are doing the best we can and we are taking care of the patients to the best of our ability, but we dont have the ideal resources, Williams said. Mukherjee addressed the lack of bed availability. What we are seeing in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) is critical illness, Mukherjee said. When patients come in with COVID, its not a short length of stay. Mukherjee described the typical four to five stages of progression with COVID patients. They start off feeling fairly well, he said. They are requiring significant amounts of oxygen and that just progresses. It can take weeks to months. He outlined the progression. If they get put on a ventilator, we are talking six weeks to eight weeks in the hospital and then transferred to facilities which might also be backed up, and we are talking about a bottleneck process essentially. Every one of his patients were unvaccinated. If you can get vaccinated, that is the biggest thing you can do to help the crisis we are in, Mukherjee said. When you get a vaccination, you can get a breakthrough COVID. I think thats important for people to understand. But severe illness for someone whos been vaccinated is very rare after they get COVID. Williams added that the hospital in Fremont sees a variety of COVID patients, some of whom have been vaccinated. In those cases, some wonder why they got vaccinated. She explains why. Because right now Im sending you home from the emergency department, Williams said. You are going to go home and you will feel sick for a few days then you will feel better. Williams tells patients that if they hadnt been vaccinated that instead of being able to leave the hospital, theyd have a higher risk of being in the hospital. And maybe never going home. Most vaccinated patients are going home and many of the unvaccinated patients remain in the hospital, she said. Mukherjee also said during this point in the surge, most hospital patients are unvaccinated. We are having a crisis, Mukherjee said. We dont have the beds to be able to take care of people with COVID. We dont have the beds to take care of people who need care otherwise, who are sick with other things. If we dont come together as a community, we will be dealing with this forever. Other specialists talked about the pandemics effect on pregnant women, babies and children. Dr. Emily Patel, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Methodist Womens Hospital, shared her deep concerns. We have the highest numbers of COVID-positive pregnant women that we have seen in the entire pandemic right now, Patel said. We are delivering moms prematurely because of severe COVID, worsening respiratory status and concern for fetal status. We have seen stillbirths. Patel referenced a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention publication that talks about the risk of stillbirth during the Delta variant. That risk went up four fold, Patel said. We, unfortunately, have seen that in our hospital and throughout the state. There have been maternal deaths because of this. We have seen increasing risk of illness related to the placenta. Patel talked about limited resources. We have to prioritize to the highest tier of patients in terms of the treatments that are available outpatient because of supply, Patel said. The best advice I can give and the best protection we can give for our pregnant women is vaccination. Dr. Matthew Gibson, a pediatrician at Methodist Physicians Clinic, spoke about the effect the pandemic has been having on children. This is by far the most number of COVID cases we have seen in pediatrics over the past two years, Gibson said. Its definitely here. On Monday alone, 75% of the tests I ordered were positive. For one of my partners on Tuesday, it was 90%. These are just astronomically high positive percentages. Normally our COVID tests are a PCR and it takes about 20 minutes. We are on more than a 24-hour delay just because of the sheer volume of patients getting tested. If anybody is concerned that it doesnt affect kids, it absolutely does. Gibson shared other statistics. The Academy of Pediatrics just had some data that just in the first week of January alone, there were over half a million positive pediatric cases and those were just from people getting tested, Gibson said. Medical professionals expect kids to be sick in the winter. Unfortunately, every year flu goes around, RSV, there are always normal coughs, colds and sniffles, Gibson said. Those are still there, but they are getting absolutely trampled by the number of COVID cases. Gibson said most children handle COVID fairly well and dont end up needing oxygen or needing to be hospitalized. But there are still a subset of children that do, Gibson said. The problem is just a problem of numbers. When you have this many kids getting infected, just like with the adults and the hospitals are getting full, the same thing is happening with pediatrics. As a pediatrician, Gibson knows the vaccine is safe and most kids handle it really well. Children ages 5 and older can be vaccinated now. The vaccine is safe, Gibson said. Its effective. Its fortunately widely available. I absolutely strongly encourage people to go get vaccinated. Even though there can be some breakthrough cases of Omicron with having been vaccinated, it keeps you typically having a shorter course, less symptoms, less contagious, and keeps you out of the hospital. Gibson shared his concerns. Pediatricians dont know what the impact will be in the next few weeks and months for people who have late inflammatory reactions. Theres a concern about complications from COVID that could show up down the line. Thats what kind of makes me nervous, Gibson said. Its not just sniffles and fevers. It might look like that right now and I hope thats what it stays, but we know for some kids its going to be more than that. Mukherjee shared other thoughts. Being able to tell our stories is incredibly important, because there are a lot of people out there who dont get to see this and dont have a glimpse of what we are seeing so I can understand some of the difficulties people have realizing the gravity of this pandemic, he said. He shared a heartfelt thought and reiterated his plea. Sometimes, I wish I could show people what we are seeing through our eyes every day, Mukherjee said. I hope that people listen and seriously consider getting vaccinated, which is what you can do as an individual to help your community, your families and the healthcare in general because that is what we are struggling with. Those patients that are severely ill, in the ICUs, requiring high amounts of oxygen, are unvaccinated. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Gov. Pete Ricketts outlined priorities and updates detailed in his annual State of the State Address at an event in Fremont, the last stop on his fly-around tour Friday. Here in Nebraska, we took a more balanced approach to how we managed the pandemic to allow people to pursue the good life, he said. And it really has paid off in the strong economic growth that we saw last year. The two-day tour hit cities like Grand Island, Scottsbluff, North Platte and Norfolk after his delivery of the address in Lincoln Thursday morning. The Fremont visit, held at Fremont Municipal Airport Friday afternoon, was attended by various community members, including Mayor Joey Spellerberg, Police Chief Jeff Elliott and Fremont Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tara Lea. Ricketts began his talk by calling 2021 a year of great growth for the state, highlighting its unemployment rate of 1.8%, the lowest in both the state and nations history. Nebraskans have a big desire to earn and work, and they take care of each other, he said. And thats what weve seen through the fires and the floods and the pandemic, was that Nebraskans step up and take care of each other. Ricketts cited investment from companies in Nebraska, including Sustainable Beef in North Platte and the Lincoln Premium Poultry and Costco chicken plant in Fremont. We see lots of companies that continue to invest here in the state, creating those opportunities, he said. And in fact, there are more Nebraskans working in manufacturing today than there were pre-pandemic. The states growth is also reflected in the states tax revenues, which Ricketts said came in almost 20% ahead of forecast for the last fiscal year, causing the forecast to increase by $900 million in October. Since then, in November and December, our revenues are up another $74 million on top of that $900 million, he said. So we continue to see a lot of revenue coming to the state. Ricketts State of the State Address focused on four major priorities: Tax relief For the next two years, Ricketts said Nebraska will provide $2 billion in tax relief to citizens, including $548 million in property tax relief for the next three years. When you all file your Nebraska state income taxes this year, youll be able to get credit back on your income taxes for 25% of what you pay into your local schools property taxes, he said. Thats significant. In regard to tax relief, Ricketts said his first legislative priority is to put a floor on the $548 million and ensure the annual property tax relief does not go below that number. Ricketts second priority is to lower the 10-year phase-in period of Social Security tax exemptions. What I am proposing is that we cut that period from 10 years to five years and phase out the taxes on social security retirement benefits over the next five years to build on the work we did last year, he said. The final priority is to reduce the top individual income tax rate from 6.84% to 5.84% over the next five years. Nebraskas highest tax bracket starts at $33,160. The median income in Nebraska is like $48,000, $49,000, so this is well below the median income here in our state, Ricketts said. In fact, theres 400,000 Nebraskans in that tax bracket, and they deserve this tax relief. Public safety Focusing on public safety, Ricketts said he supported fully funding the replacement of the Nebraska State Penitentiary. We need a new, modern facility that will improve the quality of life for our inmates and improve the safety for our correctional officers and allow us deliver more of the enhanced services and programming that will help prepare these men for life after time served, he said. At more than 150 years old, Ricketts said the facilitys concrete is crumbling, making it beyond a simple repair. Last summer, broken pipes took three days to fix due to its infrastructure. Thats a terrible quality of life for the inmates and for our correctional officers, he said. With its age, Ricketts said the prison was never designed for modern correctional operations, with the idea of rehabilitation not a part of the correctional philosophy at the time. This will give us more opportunities to be able to provide that type of programming and services to be able to help make sure that those men are prepared to leave our custody, he said. Ricketts also said Nebraska Corrections Director Scott Frakes was working with engineers and consultants for a location for the replacement facility. Theyre looking at population centers, so Fremont being by both Omaha and Lincoln does present an opportunity for us and theyre out looking at acquiring the land for options and so forth right now, he said. So I would say stay tuned, and theres definitely potential. As part of safety, Ricketts said he also supported providing $16.9 million to the state crime lab, which handles physical and forensic evidence. We have a backlog at the current crime lab, and it only gets more in demand, he said. So we want to expand the facilities of the crime lab to able to accommodate the additional amount of work that theyre doing. Additionally, Ricketts recommended providing $47.7 million to the Law Enforcement Training Center in Grand Island to expand its capacity to accommodate a higher demand. This is so important, especially for our small towns and rural communities that need to have their law enforcement officers get trained so that they can take over the responsibilities in their communities, helping to protect and serve, he said. So this is important for our entire state. Finally, Ricketts said he struck a historic agreement to provide substantial pay increases for 24/7 public health and safety positions, which he said saw five times the applications since the announcement was made. Protecting natural resources As an agricultural state, Ricketts called water Nebraskas greatest natural resource after people. We feed the world, but we cant do that without water, he said. So its important for us to secure those water resources. To secure the states water supply, Ricketts recommended providing $500 million to construct a canal from the South Platte River in Colorado to a reservoir system in Nebraska. Every year, we have about 2 million acre feet of water come into our state and about 8 million acre feet of water leaving, he said. If we dont obligate this water for us, somebody else is going to obligate it for their purposes. The project would not only providing water for agriculture, but for drinking, power generation and the natural environment as well, Ricketts said. To be able to secure that water for future Nebraskans, we need to build this project and make sure we can hold onto that water here in the state, and Colorado will provide it, he said. Another project Ricketts focused on was the for STAR WARS (Statewide Tourism and Recreational Water Access and Resource Sustainability) Special Committee. The work they did was really good to take a look at our state and say, Hey, what are the investments we need to make to be able to secure our water and support recreation and tourism here in our state? Ricketts recommended allocating $200 million to the committee, which would provide improvement projects to Lake McConaughy, Lewis and Clark Lake and Niobrara State Park. STAR WARS would also create a lake between Omaha and Lincoln for water storage and recreation. The lake would be built on 40,000 acres of land that was previously flooded in 2019. Additionally, Ricketts recommended providing $60 million for rural drinking water systems and $23 million for the repair of the Fort Laramie Gering canal tunnel. All of those go together as part of our overall protect, preserve, manage and steward the natural resources here in the state, he said. American Rescue Plan Act dollars With $1,040,000,000 in federal ARPA funding given to the state to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ricketts said a separate budget is being created as to how to allocate the funds. Ricketts proposal includes 29 qualifying initiatives by providing $500 million to help communities impacted negatively by COVID. All of them that fit in that will help make sure Nebraska continues to remain strong in the future, he said. Part of that $500 million would include $90 million dedicated to improving community colleges. With an unemployment rate of 1.8%, we need more young people getting that certification or that two-year degree to take the jobs that we have available here in the state, Ricketts said. The proposal included $75 million for workforce housing, $200 million for public health, $284 for water and sewer projects, $36 million for 24/7 employees and $15 million for administrative expenses in managing the funds. The ARPA dollars do have a lot of strings attached, you have to spend them in certain ways, and we want to make sure were following those rules, Ricketts said. When asked by Lea as to which priorities would be most beneficial for retention of adults ages 18 to 35, Ricketts said the community college and workforce housing funding were strong factors, as well as taxes and public safety. Nobody wants to go someplace where they dont feel safe, he said. Our water resources I mentioned will help us continue to have a strong agricultural sector, which is the foundation of our economy. But Ricketts said the overall strengthening of the state through his recommendations would help with retention. All of these things are going to great ways that we can sell young people, Hey, this a great quality of life here in Nebraska. You should come here, stay here. Youre going to be able to enjoy great natural resources, he said. So I think all of those things are going to be tremendously helpful. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Even before the Taliban returned to power, hundreds of thousands of Afghans were looking for a way out of their war-torn homeland. In a desperate bid to escape endemic poverty and decades of war, many set their sights on an arduous route across foreign lands and treacherous seas to reach their promised land, Australia. But for many, that ship stalled in Indonesia, an ocean away and 3,500 kilometers from their final destination. Mohammad Juma Mohseni fled Afghanistan in 2011, traveling first to India and Malaysia before boarding a boat to Indonesia, where he joined thousands of stranded Afghans. The 37-year-old has spent more than half of his life away from his family in exile, and his dreams of a better future in Australia remain out of his grasp, in part because refugees do not get to choose their destination country. "Refugees in Indonesia are tired, many of them suffer from mental and physical illnesses," Mohseni told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi, adding that some have attempted suicide out of despair and a handful have succeeded. In November 2020, nine months before the Taliban returned to power in Kabul, the United Nations revealed that 90 percent of the world's Afghan refugees were hosted by Iran and Pakistan. After that came India, with more than 15,600 Afghan refugees, and Indonesia, with more than 7,600, about 85 percent of them from the Shiite Hazara minority. The ethnic group was brutally repressed during the Talibans first stint in power from 1996 to 2001. Many saw Indonesia as a short-term stopover en route to Australia, but in 2013 the authorities in Canberra began refusing entry to boats carrying refugees and sent them back to the Southeast Asian nation. Indonesia is one of the world's least desirable places for refugees. Jakarta is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or the related 1967 protocol intended to eliminate restrictions on who can be considered a refugee. Indonesia also has no asylum law of its own and delegates its responsibility to determine who gets refugee protection and finds solutions to the issue to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The result is that thousands of Afghan refugees are living in limbo in the archipelago, some for more than a decade, with no livelihood or security. Dire Situation Human Rights Watch, which harshly criticized conditions in Indonesia in a 2013 report, said refugees -- including unaccompanied children -- were being detained in sordid conditions, subjected to beatings, and lacked access to lawyers. Many were left to "fend for themselves, without any assistance with food or shelters," the rights watchdog said. In 2016, Indonesia adopted new regulations on how it would handle refugees, including shelter and measures to protect their safety. But for the vast majority, the measures have not moved them any closer to resettlement in a third country. In December, Afghan refugees in Pekambaru, the capital of Indonesia's Riau Province, stitched their lips during protests in front of the UNHCR headquarters to demand the process be sped up. The same month in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra Province that hosts one of country's main refugee camps, Afghans set up tents to stage round-the-clock demonstrations in front of the Indonesian Organization for Migration (IOM) office. The protesters intended to raise their voices to the IOM, the authority responsible for the care of refugees while they await resettlement. But the demonstration was marred by tragedy when an Afghan teenager who had been living in Indonesia for five years set himself alight. The teen was hospitalized with severe burns to his face and arms but survived, sparing him the fate of a growing number who have died by suicide since 2016 while awaiting resettlement in Indonesia. "Fourteen people have committed suicide and 10 have been prevented from committing suicide," Mohseni told RFE/RL. Unfortunately, he said, "neither Indonesia nor the UNHCR has had a positive message for us." Nowhere To Turn Members of the Afghan refugee community have grown weary of their pleas for help falling on deaf ears. With no say in their fate, no government in Kabul to represent them, and in the wrong place to exercise their international rights as refugees, they are making a last-ditch plea to change their situation. "We have gone through very long and tedious periods of protests in Indonesia," said Javad Rabbani, a 32-year-old Kabul University graduate turned refugee who has been in Indonesia for the past eight years. He told Radio Azadi that he and his fellow refugees live in difficult conditions and have been deprived of their basic rights, including to work and education. "Eventually we decided to launch a campaign on cyberspace, especially Twitter, because most high-ranking government officials use Twitter," Rabbani said from Madan. "Our goal is to make our voices heard by the relevant authorities." The problem is that it is unclear exactly who the relevant authorities are. Tariq Thani, the Afghan consul in Indonesia, told Radio Azadi that the ousted Afghan government had raised refugees' issues with the UNHCR, and received promises. But he also said the UNHCR has said its job "is only to provide information about the status of the refugees" and stressed that their fate is up to countries willing to accept them. The UNHCR has highlighted its efforts, noting on its official Twitter page in December that nearly half of the 2,700 refugees who had been released for resettlement were Afghans. The UN body also said some 3,700 refugees -- who include Iraqis, Sudanese, Somalians, and Burmese, among others -- had been referred for resettlement in the past five years. In a backhanded way, Mark Zuckerberg has inspired the perfect New Years resolution for 2022. Especially in Colorado. Death Notices Death notices are published in the Enterprise for current and recent residents of Calaveras County, at no charge to families. Life Tributes For families who wish to print expanded tributes to loved ones using their own words, The Enterprise offers Life Tributes. These are paid articles and photos. For more information on how to submit a Death Notice or Life Tribute, click here. Manitou Springs voters will decide in a special election Tuesday whether to allow a third marijuana shop within city limits, a move supporters say would bolster city revenues and provide competitive pricing and more selection for shoppers. Currently, Manitou Springs permits no more than two dual-operation medical and retail marijuana businesses within its commercial zone district located north and east of U.S. 24 and south of El Paso Boulevard, to its eastern boundary. If passed, the ballot question would also revise the zone district boundary to require the third establishment to be located within 150 feet south of U.S. 24 in a commercially zoned district. The shop would also have to provide at least 100 parking spaces. With just two (marijuana) stores in the city, residents dont have a good selection for medical marijuana and theyre having to drive to Colorado Springs, said Renze Waddington, who owns three Epic Remedy stores selling medical marijuana in El Paso County. He wants to open a fourth shop, a dual-operation medical and retail marijuana store, near Higginbotham Flats in Manitou Springs. I want to bring competitive pricing and more selection. Another marijuana facility would also boost Manitou Springs revenues, said Jason Warf, executive director of the Southern Colorado Cannabis Council, a marijuana advocacy group. Come back to gazette.com for results. Right now, the pricing of concentrates (in Manitou Springs) is four to five times the market rate. You can buy concentrates for $10 to $13 in Pueblo, but theyre going for $40 to $50 in Manitou, Warf said. Residents are driving out of town to shop. Having another marijuana business in the city would keep revenues in Manitou Springs, he said. I think thats a huge benefit in particular, Warf said. In September the Manitou Springs City Council considered an initiative petition brought by a group of residents advocating for a third marijuana shop in the city, ultimately choosing to refer the matter to voters at a special election. Historically, the City Council has not been supportive of movements to allow more than two marijuana facilities within the city. In February 2019 the council rejected a public effort to raise Manitou Springs two-store limit for recreational marijuana sales to four, and earlier this month approved a resolution urging voters to reject Tuesdays ballot question to expand the number of authorized marijuana businesses to three. The resolution passed Jan. 4 argues proponents of the ballot question did not approach the City Council as a body to address the matter, essentially sidestepping the citys involvement in developing regulations by proceeding with an initiative petition. According to the Manitou Springs Municipal Code, the City Council must pass initiated ordinances as they are written and cannot revise them, or they must set an election to decide the issue. The resolution further argues voters already decided the question in 2014. The City Council believes that maintaining the two-establishment limit reflects the will of the voters, and that the existing location limitations in the commercial district of the eastern portion of the city has worked effectively and should be maintained, the resolution states. But Scott Hunt, owner of cannabis-friendly bed and breakfast INNhale Bed & Brunch in Manitou Springs, said in a Jan. 5 public post on the All About Manitou Springs Colorado Facebook page that residents did approach the City Council about raising the two-store cap when they brought forth the effort the council ultimately rejected in February 2019. Thus, our only option was to gather enough signatures to place the issue before the voters of Manitou, Hunt wrote. Warf, who now lives in Cascade but previously lived in Manitou Springs for three years, argued residents minds have likely changed since 2014, evidenced by the fact theyve sought to revisit the issue more than once in the years since. Populations change, especially in a town like Manitou, and opinion may have changed since then, he said. The City Council needs to keep in mind they represent the voice of the citizens. Hunt also criticized the councils Jan. 4 decision to increase retail pot sales taxes from 6% to 10%. The increase went into effect Monday. The city will retain all revenues from the special retail tax, which the City Council said was needed for capital improvement funds. In councils next action they then urged people to vote no on a new store that would increase Manitous (marijuana) revenue, Hunt wrote, in part, in his public post. Additionally, Colorado law requires cities to report marijuana sales tax information publicly only if they have three or more vendors and any one vendor does not make up more than 80% of the total sales tax number. If voters approve the ballot question Tuesday, Manitou Springs must then disclose that information. This is part of the outcry for transparency, Warf said. Having a third store triggers this kind of reporting. From a citizens perspective, it sounds like they really would like to see transparency. Soaring prices of commodities and spiking criminality took center stage at the state Capitol in Denver on Thursday, when Gov. Jared Polis outlined an ambitious agenda to lift the economic burden on Coloradans, keep them safe from violence and signaled the start of the campaign to pass what could become the state's most expensive spending plan to date. On Dec. 15, a serial derecho ripped through parts of Iowa, leaving a path of devastation behind. But one of the hardest-hit communities in North Iowa was Rudd in Floyd County. About 15 miles east of Mason City, Rudd was brutalized by the derecho, with houses torn apart and the local library and historical museum left nearly unrecognizable. Tanks Bar and Grill, a popular restaurant in Rudd, received its fair share of damage too. "We lost a quarter of our roof, which led to water damage inside," Tanks Bar and Grill manager Morgan Larson said. "We had to replace ceiling tiles, insulation and part of a wall." The damage led to Tanks Bar and Grill being closed for nearly an entire month, and it may have been longer if community members didn't step up to help fix the damage. Rick Jensen, of Jensen's New and Old Construction, volunteered to fix the damaged part of the roof, and Codey Fox, the owner of Fox Construction, repaired all the damage sustained inside the restaurant for Larson and Tanks Bar and Grill owner Susan Flores. "Both of them dropped everything for us to come help so we could reopen as soon as possible," Larson said. It wasn't just Tanks that North Iowa residents rallied behind. Community members sprung into action to assist the entire town. The day following the derecho, hundreds of people could be seen in the streets of Rudd, cleaning up debris and handing out water and food to those impacted by the storm. Local storms, heavy wind shake North Iowa After a night of extreme weather, North Iowans are coming together to lend a hand. The Rudd Public Library, which was partially collapsed, has received over $11,000 in donations from over 123 people in an effort to reconstruct the building. "It was really amazing to see not only our community, but so many surrounding towns come together for us too," Larson said. "I personally live in Rudd as well, and walking around, cleaning up, seeing just how many people came into town to help clean up everything in about day and a half, was amazing." After 22 days, Tanks Bar and Grill opened once again, and Larson said that the community support they've received since has been a bit staggering. "Its been awesome to be back up and running, seeing all the customers again," Larson said. "Our first weekend open was really busy. Were so thankful for everyone thats came in since we reopened." Tanks Bar and Grill is located at 409 Chickasaw St. in Rudd. Tanks is currently open for dine-in or take out from 5:00-8:00 p.m. six days a week. Zachary Dupont covers politics and business development for the Globe Gazette. You can reach him at 641-421-0533 or zachary.dupont@globegazette.com. Follow Zachary on Twitter at @ZachNDupont Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Comment Policy Calaveras Enterprise does not actively monitor comments. However, staff does read through to assess reader interest. When abusive or foul language is used or directed toward other commenters, those comments will be deleted. If a commenter continues to use such language, that person will be blocked from commenting. We wish to foster a community of communication and a sharing of ideas, and we truly value readers' input. Walking through Mason City long-term care facility IOOF Home on Wednesday, there were comments from staff and visitors, alike, about how full their visiting rooms were this day. With residents being a part of those at risk of contracting illness, care centers closed their doors to keep everyone safe. The isolation that ensued left residents lonely and depressed, watching their loved ones through windows. Now, almost two years later, care homes have largely opened up again. "Recently, the CDC as well as the Centers for Medicare/Medicaid updated their current guidelines in response to the trend of negative impacts being seen on the psychosocial wellbeing of residents living in care facilities," said Troy Sundt, IOOF Home activities director. In response, Sundt said the IOOF is open to all visitation, though they do watch the county COVID positivity rate and are flexible with area restrictions. "We have seen a tremendously positive impact on the residents as a result. They are more apt to attend social gatherings and participate in group activities whereas before, it seemed as though the depression of isolation made them more reclusive," said Sundt. "The thing that I think most people on the outside of care facilities didnt think about was the fact that these residents were carrying the full weight of this the entire time." Cerro Gordo VA commission sends cakes to senior vets The Cerro Gordo County Veterans Affairs Commission coordinated its first Cakes of Honor ou Through Sundt's department, residents have been staying busy with many activities to keep their spirits up, such as piano recitals, manicures and men's club. They've also reopened to volunteers for BINGO and socialization, provided they follow PPE protocols set in place to protect staff and residents. Resident Shirley Suby was in high spirits when her family came to visit, joking, "It's no fun when you don't do anything and sit around and just look at each other." Her visitor, Mark Suby, is the oldest of Shirley's 27 nieces and nephews, and he and his wife, Connie, enjoy meeting with Shirley regularly. The IOOF plans to venture out in the spring, when it's warm enough to begin their weekly bus excursions. They welcome volunteers to assist residents on and off the bus, and see to their needs as they're out. There is currently no vaccine mandate for the IOOF; Sundt just encourages everyone to do their best to stay healthy and make "truly informed and morally correct decisions about their health." He believes there can be an end to this pandemic if we all work together as a united team. Oakwood Care Center in Clear Lake has also seen success in reopening. "We are feeling very good about our infection-control practices and have had very low volume of residents who have contracted the virus in the last year," said Administrator Krystal Thoe. "[We] feel great that we have not had any severe negative outcomes from those residents who have tested positive over the last 12 months." Thoe said there are measures in place to keep everyone safe, including screening upon entry and required PPE. "2020 and half of 2021 showed us that limiting family and loved-one interaction played a negative toll in how the residents that we serve felt..." Thoe said. "That has been much better this last six months as we work to provide safe and comfortable visits with individuals and provide creative and meaningful activities to meet their needs." Both Oakwood Care Center and the IOOF are open to volunteer ideas from the community, and know that residents appreciate that facilities have opened to visitors once again. Other care centers like Good Samaritan Society in Forest City, Summit House Retirement Community in Britt, and Country Meadow Place and Heritage Care and Rehabilitation Center, both in Mason City, are open to the public provided masks are worn. For those looking for ways to brighten a resident's day, Heritage Care Administrator Jessica Fischer said the facility equipped its website with an e-card portal through which family, friends, and community members can send messages. "Our residents love receiving e-greeting cards from our feature on our website. We encourage community members to reach out to our residents" Fischer said. Gretchen Burnette is a Weeklies Editor and Daily Reporter at the Globe Gazette. You can reach her by phone at 641.421.0523 or at Gretchen.Burnette@GlobeGazette.com Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. There are some major plans on the horizon for the Mason City Council, and those plans began to take shape this week. On Thursday night, the city council met with Mason City Director of Finance Brent Hinson to review the city's five-year capital improvement plan, how the city intends on spending its money over the next five years, with $125.5 million in projects planned. Something new, according to Hinson, is the city's plan to retool the use of the general obligation bonds for primarily larger scale projects and using a "pay as you go mechanism" for the smaller projects. Hinson notes that this change is to lower the city's general obligation debt, with a goal to reduce general obligation debt load to 50% or less of legal capacity. A few projects jump out on the capital improvement plan, and the one with the biggest price tag is the Mason City Municipal Airport terminal expansion project, which checks in with an investment total of $13 million over fiscal years 2023 and 2024. $11 million of that price tag will be covered by federal grants. The city will use just $2 million in general obligation bonds on the project. What to know about the Mason City Airport expansion The Mason City Municipal Airport is heading towards building a new terminal in 2022, what do you need to know about the upcoming project? The airport had 11 total projects listed in the capital improvement budget, including a $5.56 million runway pavement rehab project and a $1.18 million parking lot expansion project. The next big ticket item on the capital improvement plan is the Highway 122 West reconstruction project. The city has listed $11.15 million in investment for the reconstruction project between fiscal years 2023 and 2026, but that total may not even be scratching the surface. "We really don't know what the cost of this will be," Hinson said. "I would hazard a guess that it would be higher, significantly higher, than $11 million. Maybe double that." The city has already taken first steps on the highway reconstruction initiative, setting up a feasibility study with the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) at the end of last year. Mason City to perform feasibility study on Highway 122 Infrastructure improvements are a clear goal for the Mason City Council heading into 2022. Of the $11.15 million budgeted for the project, the city anticipates using $6.6 million in grants, $4.4 million in general obligation bonds and $150,000 in local option sales & service tax Highway 122's reconstruction project is just one of two major road improvement projects on the council's radar in the next five years. The city has budgeted $3.31 million between fiscal years 2023 and 2026 for the U.S Highway 65 and South Federal Avenue reconstruction project. It's noted that the funding is only for use on the city's portion of the project, as the majority of the project is being put together by the DOT. The DOT has gotten the ball moving on its side of the project in recent weeks, holding a public information session in November. The DOT has programmed approximately $14.9 million for the reconstruction project. IDOT plans to add fifth lane to South Federal Avenue Major reconstruction is to be completed in segments to maintain access to businesses affected. $1.9 million is budgeted for renovations and maintenance to the city's police and fire buildings starting in fiscal year 2023. Each renovation is budgeted for $950,000, with no federal funding being used for either project. "Barring any extortionary circumstances... this is a very doable, rational, logical plan," Mason City Administrator Aaron Burnett said. A notable omission from the capital improvement budget is the River City Renaissance project. Over $8 million was billed for the project in last year's budget, but was not present for the new capital improvement plan. Burnett said that this is because the River City Renaissance project is now fully funded and no longer needs to be included on the budget. Mason City officials plan for $42 million in capital improvements Downtown hotel costs and riverwalk work are some of the top line items. Hinson added that one major "asterisk" to the budget is the use of local option sales and service tax, which is subject to voter approval and on the ballot in the coming election. "Local-option sales tax certainly is indispensable to the city in terms of what we've been able to accomplish," Hinson said. The city's capital improvement plan has $9.7 million budgeted in local option sales and service tax over the next five years. While the capital improvement plan was well received by the Mason City City Council, the budget, as well as all individual projects, must be approved in a future city council meeting before becoming official. Hinson notes that this is just the initial discussion phase over the budget, and that there will be more time in the future for the council to further discuss it before it is made official. Zachary Dupont covers politics and business development for the Globe Gazette. You can reach him at 641-421-0533 or zachary.dupont@globegazette.com. Follow Zachary on Twitter at @ZachNDupont Love 3 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 2 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. DES MOINES -- Educators in Iowa have been relaying their concerns with remarks made earlier this week by Republican Iowa Senate President Jake Chapman, who accused teachers of having a sinister agenda for books they include in school libraries, Democratic legislative leaders said Thursday. Before the session began this week, Chapman had attended a school board meeting in Johnston where he said librarians and teachers who distributed literature he deemed to be obscene or graphic should be arrested. During his speech Monday on the first day of the 2022 session of the Iowa Legislature, Chapman continued that campaign. One doesnt have to look far to see the sinister agenda occurring right before our eyes. The attack on our children is no longer hidden. Those who wish to normalize sexually deviant behavior against our children, including pedophilia and incest, are pushing this movement more than ever before, Chapman said. Some books in school libraries have been targeted by Iowans who feel their content is vulgar or too graphic. Most feature LGBTQ themes or are written by LGBTQ authors, and include passages that describe sexual experiences. Our children should be safe and free from this atrocious assault, Chapman said in his speech. Our students should be learning about science, and mathematics; they should be learning about engineering and innovation. Instead, some teachers are disguising sexually obscene material as desired subject matter and profess it has artistic and literary value. Senate Minority Leader Zach Wahls, D-Coralville, said the next morning he received a message from a school principal who had a teacher ask for a letter of recommendation so the teacher can transfer to a district in another state. Wahls said he also received a message from a small-town superintendent who called Chapmans remarks really, really scary. Were hearing stories like this all the time, Wahls said during a news conference Thursday. House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights, said she heard from teachers working on their lessons plans for the next day when they reached out to her about the comments. Iowa Gov. Reynolds pitches 4% income tax DES MOINES A four-year transition to a flat state income tax rate of 4 percent, shortening The teachers I have, their only agenda is to teach kids and make great citizens and people who want to grow up to be great Iowans, Konfrst said. Its been incredibly insulting and frankly hurtful for teachers across the state who are doing all they can for their kids, especially these last two years (amid the COVID-19 pandemic), to hear this said. During an interview with KCCI-TV in Des Moines, Chapman said his comments were not accusing all teachers but said some educators are defending literature he deems obscene. My view is there are some, and weve seen it, that they have actually come before school boards and advocated for keeping this type of literature in the classroom,: Chapman said. And I don't think thats OK. I dont think a fifth-grader should have access to this kind of obscene material. Its inappropriate. GOP ready on Reynolds agenda House Republicans are eager to get started on Gov. Kim Reynolds agenda, House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, said. Grassley said Thursday the priorities outlined by Reynolds in her Condition of the State address earlier this week largely align with the House Republican caucus. I think youre going to really see us starting off from a position where the focus of the Legislature, in the House, with what the governor is proposing, were really in a good spot to get off and get running, Grassley told reporters. Critics say Iowa Gov. Reynolds failed leadership includes COVID-19 CEDAR RAPIDS A year ago, Gov. Kim Reynolds acknowledged the toll that 2020 had taken as she delivered an upbeat message that Iowans were coming back despite being beaten and battered in about every way imaginable and some unimaginable. One of the first items lawmakers typically address is public school funding levels. Grassley said he believes Republican leaders will be able to produce that legislation in the first month. In her budget proposal, Reynolds pitched a 2.5 percent increase for K-12 school districts, community colleges and the states three public universities. Grassley did not commit to an exact figure, but said he believes majority Republicans in the House and Senate will be able to find agreement with the governor. Corporate tax cut Reynolds budget includes a proposal to lower the states top corporate income tax rate, pending state corporate income tax revenues reach a certain level. Lawmakers agree on need for workers, but not how to get them DES MOINES -- How can Iowa persuade more people to move here, live here and work here? Under the proposal, if state corporate income tax revenue surpasses $700 million, the top rate would be reduced the next year, according to an analysis of the proposal from the Legislative Services Agency, the nonpartisan fiscal and legal analysis division. Business leaders have asked state leaders to consider lowering the states corporate income tax rate. Democratic legislative leaders criticized the proposal itself, claiming it provides financial assistance only to the most profitable companies and the fact that Reynolds did not mention it during her Condition of the State speech. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 At the end of each podcast, Babylon Bee leaders ask guests the same 10 questions, including this stumper: Calvinist or Arminian? That caught Elon Musk by surprise, and he needed clarification on the difference between Arminian believers and persons from Armenia. After some background on Protestant history, he said: My mind would say determinism and my heart says free will. Why was the mastermind behind Tesla and SpaceX a man worth $278 billion at the end of 2021 talking to a Christian satire website? The answer: Musk has 69.7 million Twitter followers, and he frequently responds to them, even if its a U.S. senator questioning his taxes. You know, he engages with our content from time to time, Bee CEO Seth Dillon told Fox News. After email exchanges about a meeting, Musk said: Fly to me and well do it. The result was 100-plus minutes of conversation in Austin, Texas, ranging from satire to science and from politics to pop culture. Topics included sustainable energy, superheroes (Musk would choose to be Irony Man), why entrepreneurs are fleeing California, the physics of reusable rockets, cyborgs, how wokeness threatens humor, CNN morality and the future of a planet near an expanding sun. Musk discussed his journey from South Africa to America, including his days as a manual laborer while struggling to pay student loans. Then he dove into computer coding and online commerce, making millions of dollars that led to Tesla. The rest is history. On celebrity websites, Musk is often described as an atheist or agnostic. Asked if he prays, Musk once replied: I didnt even pray when I almost died of malaria. But after the success of the first manned Falcon rocket mission, Musk said in his public remarks: You know, Im not very religious, but I prayed for this one. In the Bee interview, Musk discussed his complex religious background, which included going to Anglican Sunday school, the Church of England, basically. But I was also sent to Hebrew preschool, although Im not Jewish. ... I was singing Hava Nagila one day and Jesus Our Lord the next. Later, he had an existential crisis, read the Bible and other religious classics and concluded: Theres a whole bunch of things in there they didnt teach you in Sunday school. There was humor in these exchanges, along with serious questions, said Bee editor Kyle Mann, via email. After all, these podcasts have featured atheists, agnostics, Christians of all stripes and everyone in between. This chance to pick Elon Musks brain and get his thoughts on God, faith, religion and the Gospel was incredibly humbling, said Mann. You could certainly feel him searching and working through the eternal questions everyone has to encounter at some point: Does God exist, and what do you do with Jesus Christ? Mann said the dialogue continued after the recording stopped. In the podcast, creative director Ethan Nicolle did ask: To make this church, were wondering if you could do us a quick solid and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior? After an awkward pause, and some laughter, Musk took the question seriously. Theres great wisdom in the teachings of Jesus, and I agree with those teachings. Things like turn the other cheek are very important, as opposed to an eye for an eye. An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind, said Musk, paraphrasing a quote attributed to Mahatma Gandhi. Musk also quoted Albert Einstein, affirming belief in the God of Spinoza, in which the material universe is seen as an expression of God. Forgiveness, you know, is important and treating people as you would wish to be treated, added Musk. Love thy neighbor as thyself. Very important. ... But hey, if Jesus is saving people ... I wont stand in his way. Sure, Ill be saved. Why not? At the very end, Musk described his confusion as a 5-year-old, receiving Holy Communion without understanding what was happening and why. At that stage, he said, he was still asking basic Bible questions, like how Jesus fed the crowd with five loaves and three fish. ... Where did the fish and the bread come from? ... Would you, like, take a bite and the bread would come back to being a full (loaf of) bread? ... They left out the details. ... Im not saying that I know all the answers. Mattingly leads GetReligion.org and lives in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He is a senior fellow at the Overby Center at the University of Mississippi. GREENSBORO Superintendent Sharon Contreras has led Guilford County Schools through every step of the COVID-19 pandemic as she and school board members felt their way through a maze of difficult decisions and frustrating choices. In a surprise announcement on Friday, she announced plans for her exit. Contreras said she will be leaving after the end of this school year to take a position leading The Innovation Project, a nonprofit group of North Carolina school superintendents that tries to develop innovative strategies for public education. As she spoke with reporters on Friday about her choice, Contreras said she was drawn by the opportunity to help other superintendents and hopes the job will allow her to spend more time with her grand-nephew Jonathan, whom she is raising. "I realized I am caring so deeply for other people's children and I have a child that's about to go into high school, and at some point we all have to make a decision about what's good for ourselves and our own family," she said. The pandemic, she explained, has made the job of a superintendent more difficult than ever as well as other for other district staff, from teachers to bus drivers. "I think that the community has to come together to solve some of the problems created by the pandemic instead of simply looking at school districts and saying this is a school district problem," she said. "I think that makes it much more difficult to keep educators in positions." Greg Newlin, the principal of Western Guilford High School, attended Friday's news conference and listened to Contreras take questions from the media and receive praise and congratulations from the district's school board chairwoman and vice-chairwoman. He said he thinks Contreras has a good grasp of the "plight of the day to day" facing educators. "With all she has to do in terms of running this enormous organization, she understands that struggle at the school level," he said. Contreras has lead Guilford County Schools for five and a half years. She previously was superintendent for the Syracuse City School District in New York from 2011-2016, following many years as an administrator and teacher in districts around the country. Over that time, Contreras built national connections through her work with groups like the Council for Great City Schools and Howard Universitys Urban Superintendents Academy. In December 2020, CNN reported Contreras was among those being "seriously considered" to be President-elect Joe Biden's education secretary. The position ultimately went to Miguel Cardona. And in November, The School Superintendents Association named Contreras a finalist for its 2022 Women in School Leadership Award. In Guilford County, Contreras championed projects to expand and reimagine the district's career and technical education offerings, such as several new "signature" academies that have opened at area high schools. She also played a critical role in the creation of Guilford County Schools' facilities master plan. Voters approved a $300 million bond referendum in November 2020 aimed at funding the first phase of that plan. At other times, Contreras waded into controversy, such as when she recommended closing Gateway Education Center to protect students with special needs amid the building's ongoing structural issues and other health concerns. Parents battled the proposal, Contreras backed off and the school board ultimately voted to keep Gateway open while funding some repairs. Reactions on Friday to the news of Contreras' departure varied. "I'm just still very overwhelmed and sad and at the same time I understand people have careers, too," said Khem Irby, a school board member. "She has given all of her expertise and talent to Guilford County. It makes it very hard for the next person as well because we can't accept anything less." Irby said Contreras has a great ability to not only come up with a vision but also lay out a plan that's supported by data. And she said she's been struck with the rapport Contreras has built with everyday people in Guilford County. "People in this community really do love her," she said. "People come up to her and they know her." Marc Ridgill, a retired school resource officer and longtime Contreras critic, said he thinks a different leader could do better with improving district reading scores and lessening violence and discipline issues in schools. A lot depends though, he said, on whom the school board picks as her replacement. "It's only half the battle," said Ridgill who ran for school board in 2018 and plans to run again this year. "The replacement is more important than her leaving." School board member Deborah Napper fell somewhere in the middle. "For the district, I dont think its a matter of good or bad," she said. "It gives us the opportunity for some new blood and some new thought processes. It's an opportunity for change." Napper said that since she joined the board in December 2020, her entire time working with Contreras has been during the pandemic. "I think she handled that as well or better than the other superintendents in North Carolina and she did the best with what she had," Napper said. "There were so many situations where there was no good answer. " Assistant editor Jennifer Fernandez contributed to this story. Contact Jessie Pounds at 336-373-7002 and follow @JessiePounds on Twitter. GREENSBORO During the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.s visit to Greensboro for a major speech in 1958, members of the NAACP took him by the YWCA, known for actively fighting for equality. He got missing while we were there. That got us worried, then-Greensboro NAACP president Edwin R. Edmonds told the News & Record before his death in 2007. When we found him, he was in a room shooting pool with some of the kids. The country observes Monday as the official federal holiday honoring King, the slain civil rights leader, but he left behind lasting memories during a visit to Bennett College in February 1958. Before Kings speech at the March on Washington, the future Nobel Peace Prize winner warmed up with an overflowing audience at the private womens college. King was gaining national prominence by that time, having already led the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which resulted in the 1956 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Black people must be given equal seating on buses. But there was no cable news or internet. There was only radio and the evening broadcast news. Sunday sermons, Black-owned newspapers and conversations among neighbors often carried the stories of the civil rights movement, and Kings work was taking root. Although the 1958 visit would be his first to Bennett, King had spent time here before. He, then-NAACP lawyer and future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and others, often gathered around a huge table in civil rights attorney Kenneth Lees law library. Lee, then an attorney for the NAACP, represented most of the civil rights demonstrators in Greensboro and other parts of the state. King and other civil rights icons also often slept in the lower level of Lees home, partly because of the inability to find public accommodations. We often walked in downtown Greensboro and nobody knew who he was, Lee, who was one of the plaintiffs who successfully sued to integrate the law school at UNC-Chapel Hill, said before his death. The story goes that the local NAACP chapter sponsored Kings visit in 1958, but it almost gave up in frustration because the chapter couldnt find a place to hold the rally until then-Bennett College President Willa B. Player said yes. Others have said that some other potential locations were just too small to accommodate the expected crowd. Members of the NAACP met King at an airport in Raleigh, not risking having him fly into Greensboro, according to Edmonds, who was also a Bennett professor. By then King had survived the bombing of his Atlanta home and many threats on his life. Later dressed in a suit and tie, King spent a part of the afternoon with Bennett student reporters, who interviewed him for the campus newspaper and posed for photographs with workers in the civil rights movement. Then he delivered his message. The demand was so huge for the 800-seat Pfeiffer Chapel that loudspeakers were set up in other buildings and across the campus lawn for the overflow crowd. From where Bennett College senior Lola Anne McAdoo crouched in the choir stand, she watched the clean-cut man, who was short in stature but whose presence filled the room. He was recounting the moment that gave him the courage he would need to lead a movement, telling the audience he was sitting in the kitchen of his home, his mind full of the injustices, pleading to the Lord for guidance. He said he heard, Stand up for righteousness, stand up for truth and God will be at your side, McAdoo has said. Heres this man saying what I had been hearing about all my life from my parents and in Sunday school. The Greensboro Daily News covered the speech, writing of his call for nonviolent resistance: Dr. King said the Negro will continue to say to the white man: Do to us what you will and well still love you. Burn our home, take us out at midnight to torture us, take our children and spit in their faces and we will still love you. We will wear you down by our capacity to suffer; and by our compassion and willingness to suffer we will win you in the process. At one point, according to an audio snippet provided by Bennett College, King also called out those Black people who did not bother to register to vote. Dont put it all on resistance, he said. Its true that in many areas, in my state of Alabama, Negroes arent registered in many instances because they cant register, because the resistance is strong, because the registrars refuse to register them ... but I dont think thats true in Greensboro, N.C. Many Negroes arent registered because they are too lazy to go down and get registered, King said to applause. Amid the clapping, the shouting and cheers that often greeted Kings remarks, a young Jibreel Khazan known at the time as Ezell Blair Jr. a 16-year-old Dudley High junior, was moved to tears. He had been listening from a nearby building where speakers had been set up. Khazan, who had sat there for two hours, afraid to lose his seat, was moved to tears. He said, Who amongst us will join us, Khazan recalled. I couldnt see him, but it was like thunder when he spoke. He reached a crescendo. He reached our consciousness. I said to myself, Im going to join you, Khazan said. Two years later, on Feb. 1, 1960, Khazan and three other N.C. A&T students staged a lunch counter sit-in at Woolworths in downtown Greensboro what King himself would later describe as giving a second wind to the civil rights movement. Contact Nancy McLaughlin at 336-373-7049 and follow @nmclaughlinNR on Twitter. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. ATLANTA Weather forecasters predictions of debilitating snow and ice as far south as Georgia sent parts of the region into a tizzy Friday with shoppers scouring store shelves for storm supplies and road crews trying to prevent a repeat of past wintertime debacles. Guilford County has declared a state of emergency starting Sunday morning just before the storm begins to get fierce. Err on the side of caution and take predictions for this winter storm seriously, Melvin Skip Alston, who chairs the Board of Commissioners, said in a statement. The city of Winston-Salem had to borrow workers from other departments to help treat roads ahead of the storm because COVID-19 had caused a shortage of workers, spokesman Randy Britton said. Even volunteers pitched in to help as the city stepped up its normal schedule of preparing for winter weather. We feel real good about where we are, he said. Weve checked the boxes. In High Point, city officials think a stockpile of 800 tons of salt and 33,100 gallons of salt brine should keep roads manageable. Gov. Roy Cooper signed an emergency order and the administration urged people to stay at home after the storm hits. The state highway agency warned that labor shortages meant crews might not respond to problem areas as quickly as normal. We just dont have as many people to drive the trucks or operate the equipment, said Marcus Thompson, a spokesman for the N.C. Department of Transportation. In Virginia, where a blizzard left thousands of motorists trapped on clogged highways earlier this month, Gov. Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency and urged people to take the approaching storm seriously. Some store shelves were stripped bare of essentials including bread and milk in North Carolina. Trucks prepared to spray a briny mixture on roads to prevent icing across the region, and Travis Wagler said he hadnt seen such a run on supplies at his Abbeville, S.C., hardware store in at least two winters. Were selling everything you might expect: sleds, but also salt, shovels and firewood, Wagler said from Abbeville Hardware. There, forecasters predict a quarter-inch of ice or more on trees and power lines, which could lead to days without electricity. People are worried, Wagler said. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster issued an emergency order saying the state would likely feel the effects of the major winter storm starting Sunday morning. There is a potential for very dangerous conditions caused by accumulations of ice and snow, which will likely result in power outages across the state, he said. The National Weather Service said from 2 inches to 5 inches of snow could fall as far south as northeast Georgia from Saturday evening though Sunday, and power outages and travel problems will be made all the worse by an additional coating of ice and winds gusting to 35 mph. Snow accumulations could reach 8 inches in the highest elevations. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said the state was preparing to the max for the blast. Hopefully, the storm will underdeliver, but it could overdeliver. We just dont know, he said. Parts of Tennessee could get as much as 6 inches of snow, forecasters said, and northern Mississippi and the Tennessee Valley region of Alabama could receive light snow accumulations. With lows predicted in the 20s across a wide area, any precipitation could freeze and make driving difficult. On Friday, the fast-moving storm dropped heavy snow across a large swath of the Midwest, where travel conditions deteriorated and scores of schools closed or moved to online instruction. A winter storm watch extended from just north of metro Atlanta to Arkansas in the west and Pennsylvania in the north, covering parts of 10 states including Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. Travel problems could extend into metro Atlanta, where about 2 inches of snow brought traffic to a slip-sliding halt in 2014, an event still known as Snowmaggedon. At Dawsonville Hardware about 60 miles north of Atlanta, owner Dwight Gilleland said he was already out heaters by noon Friday and only had five bags of salt and sand left. I think the pandemic has made people more anxious than normal, he said. Many schools and businesses will be closed Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, which could help reduce travel problems along with temperatures that are supposed to rise into the 40s. Pam Thompson, who owns Dillard House Stables in north Georgias Rabun County, was near the bullseye of the largest snow forecast. She was gathering feed and hay for about 40 horses in case the snow and ice doesnt make a fast departure. We have snow every year up here in the mountains and it will be anywhere from 6 to 8 inches, and its usually gone pretty fast, Thompson said. What Im seeing on the forecast is that its going to be really cold next week, so the snow may not go away as quickly as normal. RALEIGH First-term GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn said an effort by voters to block his candidacy will fail and is part of a scheme to target America First patriots who backed former President Donald Trump. Its just a political tactic, Cawthorn told Fox News. I dont believe it has a snowballs chance in hell of actually accomplishing its task. Cawthorn, 26, became the youngest member of Congress after his November 2020 election in the far-western 11th District and has become a social media favorite of Trump supporters. He plans to run in a new congressional district that appears friendlier to Republicans. He formally filed candidacy papers with the State Board of Elections last month, just before filing was suspended while redistricting lawsuits are pending. The challenge to his candidacy was filed with the State Board of Elections on behalf of 11 voters in that new district. The voters contend that Cawthorn, who formally filed as a candidate for the 13th District seat last month, cant run because he fails to comply with an amendment in the U.S. Constitution ratified shortly after the Civil War. The 1868 amendment says no one can serve in Congress who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress ... to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same. The written challenge says the events on Jan. 6, 2021, amounted to an insurrection and that Cawthorns speech at the rally supporting President Donald Trump provide a reasonable suspicion or belief that he helped facilitate the insurrection and is thus disqualified. Cawthorn voted against certifying Bidens presidential victory, although later he signed a letter with other GOP members of Congress congratulating Biden. Cawthorn has said he had a constitutional duty to vote against him. He condemned the Capitol violence, but compared it to the summer 2020 protests over police brutality. Still, last summer Cawthorn warned North Carolinians of potential bloodshed over future elections he claims could continue to be stolen and questioned whether Biden was dutifully elected. Ron Fein, the legal director of Free Speech for People, an election reform group backing the challenge election, said that those actions have disqualified him from running for public office. The importance of defending the bedrock constitutional principle that oath breakers who engage in insurrection cannot be trusted in future office is essential to maintain, Fein said. Fein said the Cawthorn challenge will be the first of many they intend to file against other members of Congress associated with the insurrection in the near future. State law says Cawthorn has the burden to show by a preponderance of the evidence that hes qualified to run. Cawthorn, whose office quickly condemned the challenge after it was filed for comically misinterpreting and twisting the 14th Amendment said in the interview conducted on Wednesday that he would work to get it dismissed very quickly. A judicial panel delayed the creation of a panel of county election board members that would review the Cawthorn challenge until separate North Carolina redistricting litigation is resolved. I think theyre coming for the American First patriots who were in Congress the presidents real fighters, Cawthorn said. I guess I was the loudest, so they came for me first, but were trying to get this shut down so that other members of Congress wont have to do the same. On the eve of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.s birthday, the national Poor Peoples Campaign kicked off a season of activism the group hopes will draw hundreds of thousands of people to march in Washington in June to demand political reform. Were not begging the government. Were trying to save the nation, said the Rev. William J. Barber II, who led an online event Friday with Poor Peoples Campaign co-founder, the Rev. Liz Theoharis. During the 90-minute press conference, Barber, Theoharis and other activists quoted King and echoed the slain civil rights leaders unrealized dreams of an equitable American society. Thwarted by gathering restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic over nearly two years and recovering himself from a mild case of the virus, Barber seemed energized by the plan to hold the Mass Poor Peoples and Low-Wage Workers Assembly and Moral March on Washington and To the Polls on June 18. We are committed to mobilizing the largest mass assembly of poor people and low-wage workers in this countys history, Barber said. He noted, as he often does, that 140 million people in the U.S. more than 43% of the countrys 2017 population was living below 200% of the poverty level before the pandemic. During the pandemic, those people have suffered the most, being called essential but getting treated as expendable, Barber said. Especially during the early months of the pandemic, people of color, who are more likely than whites to work in low-wage jobs with no health insurance and little or no paid sick time, were more likely to contract COVID-19 and were more likely to die from it. Meanwhile, large corporations have seen their profits soar during the pandemic, Barber noted. We are in a crisis of civilization. We are in a crisis of democracy. We are in a crisis of morality that we must seek redemption from, Barber said. Barber, who pastors Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, is a social justice advocate who received a 2018 MacArthur Foundation grant. It wasnt mentioned during Fridays event, but Barber will be honored this year by the King Center of Atlanta as a Beloved Community Civic Leadership honoree. This years award ceremony will be held online and will stream on social media on Saturday beginning at 7:30 p.m. The Beloved Community Award honors individuals and organizations for leadership in social justice work.Several other faith leaders spoke at Fridays kickoff, along with organizers from several state committees of the Poor Peoples Campaign. The state workers will organize and mobilize to get people to attend the June 18 event and to register people to vote. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts tuned into the kickoff event and promised to attend the June 18 march. America is once again at a crossroads, she said, as it was in Kings time, with stagnated wages for the poor, a lack of affordable housing and restricted access to health care. Warren said Congress needs to pass the embattled Build Back Better Act, touted by the White House as a framework for the U.S. to meet its climate goals, create millions of good-paying jobs, enable more Americans to join and remain in the labor force, and grow our economy from the bottom up and the middle out. Critics have said the federal spending prescribed by the bill has the potential to cause inflation. The Poor Peoples Campaign also is pushing Congress to pass the Freedom to Vote Act, the Protecting Our Democracy Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, three pieces of federal legislation aimed at preserving voting rights, preventing abuses of presidential power and international interference with elections, and other reforms. Journalists have been debating how to most effectively cover a defeated ex-president who lies as easily as he breathes and aspires to restore his reign by any means necessary. Donald Trump has an iron grip on his cultish party, so itd be a dereliction of duty to ignore him and the existential threat he represents. But by indulging him in an interview, does that not give him more oxygen? Im happy to report that Steve Inskeep at NPR found a way Monday to thread the needle. The solution is to over-prepare, give the listeners and the readers as much context as possible and push back in real time whenever the liar lies. For instance: TRUMP (still obsessing about the 2020 election): You look at the findings. You look at the number of votes. Look at Philadelphia. Is it true that there were far more votes than there were voters? INSKEEP: It is not true that there were far more votes than voters. Inskeep gave Trump air time to recycle his lie that he actually won Arizona but that it was stolen by voter fraud. But instead of letting the lie stand unchallenged, NPR checked in with Arizonas Republican election officials who recently conducted a ballot review and reaffirmed Joe Bidens statewide win. The posted NPR story says this: Republican officials in Maricopa County (the most populous and pivotal county) debunked the characterizations of Trump and his allies in a 93-page rebuttal issued last week. The people who have spent the last year proclaiming our free and fair elections are rigged are lying or delusional, said Bill Gates, the GOP chair of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. At another point in the interview which NPR had sought for the last six years Inskeep reminded Trump that he lost all of his post-election court cases. This exchange was revealing: INSKEEP: Let me read you some short quotes. The first is by one of the judges one of the 10 judges you appointed who ruled on this. And there were many judges, but 10 who you appointed. Brett Ludwig, U.S. District Court in Wisconsin, who was nominated by you in 2020. Hes on the bench and he says, quote, This court allowed the plaintiff the chance to make his case, and he has lost on the merits. Another quote, Kory Langhofer, your own campaign attorney in Arizona, Nov. 12, 2020, quote, We are not alleging fraud in this lawsuit. We are not alleging anyone stealing the election. TRUMP: When you look at Langhofer, I disagree with him as an attorney. I did not think he was a good attorney to hire. I dont know what his game is He maligned one of his own lawyers, and didnt even bother to address the fact that 10 of his own judicial appointees had ruled against him in case after case. All told, NPR accurately observed: Repeatedly in the interview, Trump presses his party to adhere to his point of view and false claims. Thats a typical strategy among purveyors of disinformation and misinformation. And this was a fun exchange, Trump being unable to fathom how Biden won without drawing huge crowds in the midst of a pandemic: TRUMP: How come when he went to speak in different locations, nobody came to watch, but all of a sudden, he got 80 million votes? Nobody believes that, Steve. Nobody believes that. INSKEEP: If youll forgive me, maybe because the election was about you. The interview was scheduled to last 15 minutes. But at the nine-minute mark, when Inskeep started to bring up the Capitol insurrection, Trump hung up. Inskeep exclaimed, Whoa, whoa, whoa, I have one more question! Alas, his guest had cut and run to the MAGA cocoon. Granted, the MAGA crowd doesnt listen to NPR or read its website. But journalists who have a laudable bias for facts have no rational choice but to do their jobs. As veteran Washington reporter Barton Gellman said recently, What were for as journalists is truth. And what were for as journalists is democracy. We are unambiguously in favor of our democratic system and of allowing the people to choose their own leaders. And the conundrum is that right now we have a political party that is bowing to authoritarian forces, that is systematically lying about the political process, about the election process itself. The only way forward as Inskeep demonstrated is to hold those forces accountable. Dick Polman, a veteran national political columnist based in Philadelphia, is a contributor to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. Email him at dickpolman7@gmail.com There has been much talk recently about sending military reinforcements to the Syrian desert under the pretext of fighting ISIS mercenaries, but it is clear from the moves that there is a struggle between the Russians and the Iranians to draw areas of influence of economic importance. For more than two years, ISIS mercenaries have intensified their operations and activities in the Badia, as they are now moving relatively freely, targeting oil and gas fields and sites for the Damascus government and its loyalists, and incurring losses in life and equipment, despite the intense Russian raids on the sites where they hide, and the support it provides to the forces of the government of Damascus, but they have not yet been able to eliminate the remnants of ISIS there. ISIS mercenaries' sitres are spread over about 4,000 square kilometers from Jabal Abu Rajmin, northeast of Palmyra, to the Badia of Deir ez-Zor and its western countryside, in addition to its presence and movement in the Sukhna desert and north of the administrative borders of the city of As-Suwayyda. As part of the reinforcements sent to the area, the Damascus government forces brought in military build-up to the Syrian Badia, and the pro-Iranian Fourth Division of Damascus forces reinforced its military presence in the area, under fighting ISIS, which raised the alarm for Russia that Iran would re-expand its area in the region. After this mobilization, reports revealed that Russia is seeking to curb the influence of Iran's groups in Syria. Since the end of last December, the FD of the Damascus government - loyal to Iran - has brought military reinforcements to the city of Palmyra and its surroundings, east of Homs in the Syrian Badia, which includes military convoys consisting of tankers, soldiers and armored vehicles. Who is the FD? The Fourth Division occupies a special place in the forces of the Damascus government, as it is led by Maher al-Assad, and receives unlimited Iranian support. The powers of this division are open to all Syrian lands, and the Alawites make up about 95% of its strength at the level of regular officers and soldiers. This division consists of four brigades, "38, 40, 41, 42", and the 555th, 666th, and 54th regiments are affiliated to it. so that it takes the form of an integrated army. The number of regular members of the division, including the recruited and volunteers, is approximately 16,000, while the fourth alone possesses about 500 tanks of various models, in addition to armored vehicles for transporting supplies, infantry and the rest of the weapons attached to the "armored". The main reason for the strength of the Fourth Division compared to other Damascus government forces is not only the military capabilities and the influence of Maher Al-Assad. This division is the only one among the army sectors capable of requesting military supplies from any of the Damascus government divisions under a direct order from Brigadier General Ali Mahmoud or Maher Al-Assad Without referring to the military command in the General Staff, where the commander of this division is directly linked to the Minister of Defense from an organizational point of view, and this is what makes it more powerful and authoritative. The forces of the Damascus government are in the service of this division and not the other way around, which enabled it to swallow all the military sectors. Russia towards curbing Iran's influence In conjunction with the talk about preparations for a military operation targeting the hideouts of ISIS mercenaries in the Syrian Badia by both the Damascus government and the Iranian groups loyal to it, after the Fourth Division reinforced its military presence there, it seemed that Russia was determined to take more measures that would reduce Irans influence, which was evident. In a broad campaign of polarization in favor of the 8th Brigade, which is loyal to Russia, in areas considered to be Iranian influence. The Eighth Brigade opened an affiliation office for its ranks in the center of Palmyra city within the Baath Party headquarters near the "Badiya Intelligence Branch", with the aim of attracting the people of Palmyra and the surrounding areas and the entire eastern desert of Homs, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The observatory reported information about the Russians assignment of personalities to provide guarantees and temptations to the displaced people from the Palmyra region, who are currently residing in the areas controlled by the Turkish occupation, in order to return to it and belong to the Eighth Brigade. The observatory also talked about Russia's efforts to attract recruits currently working within Iranian groups "in the context of the cold war between the Russians and the Iranians in Syria." Arena for competition and passage In the media, it is shown that all these military build-ups in the Syrian Badia are to confront ISIS, but it seems that there is a competition between Russia and Iran for influence. The Syrian Badia in eastern Syria on the common border with Iraq, down to the southeast in the border area with Jordan, is of exceptional importance, as that area is estimated at about 60,000 square kilometers. The importance of the Badia stems from the fact that it includes lands from the eastern regions of the city of As-Suwayda, Homs, and the countryside of Damascus, all the way to the south and east of the city of Deir ez-Zor, which are areas rich in oil and gas. The areas of the Syrian Badia are distinguished by their continuity and being located on the Syrian-Iraqi border at a length of about 700 km - except for those adjacent to the city of Hasaka, in the far north-east of Syria - specifically with the Badia of Iraq, which belongs to the majority of its area to Anbar Governorate, the important haven for ISIS mercenaries, and the beginning of ISISs launch, which was taken From its contact with the Syrian borders as a starting point for its penetration into Syria, starting in mid-2014. This area remains the main crossing point for non-Syrian mercenaries, who flocked to Syrian territory, such as ISIS and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham mercenaries, which made the desert of strategic importance to the mercenaries. The Syrian Badia is also characterized by a small number of its population, cities and population centers, as it is just vast areas that do not represent a burden or strategic weight from a military point of view, in addition to being a geographical and economic key to communication with Iraq and Jordan, which makes it the subject of competition between Iran and Russia. The Russian-Iranian rivalry has emerged since the restoration of these areas from the control of ISIS mercenaries, as Russia imposed its control over the "Al-Thawra" oil field southwest of Raqqa, whose production is currently estimated at about two thousand barrels of oil per day, after the withdrawal of the "Fatemiyoun" groups of the Iranian "Guard" from it. The Russians also control the "Twainan" gas field in the Tabqa area in the Raqqa countryside, which produces about 3 million cubic meters of clean gas per day, 60 tons of domestic gas, and two thousand barrels of condensate, as well as the "Jahar" field in the city of Palmyra. In March 2017, Russia took control of the oil fields located in the city of Palmyra, after the withdrawal of ISIS mercenaries from it, namely the fields of Al-Muhr and Jazal. Meanwhile, Iran has maintained its control over the phosphate mines in Palmyra countryside and the "Al-Hassian" and "Al-Hammar" oil fields in the Al-Bukamal countryside since 2017. Iran strengthened its control over the phosphate mines last February, after the "Iranian Guard" increased its military posts from about four to seven in the areas of "Khanifis" 60 km and "Al-Sawwana" 45 km southwest of Palmyra. Iran has also doubled the number of militants to more than 300 to protect the largest phosphate mines in Syria and secure the way for its phosphate production to be transferred to Iran through Iraqi territory. At the same time, Damascus government forces share with their allies Iran and Russia, control of the "Al-Kharata", "Taym" and "Al-Ward" fields in Deir ez-Zor, as well as the "Shaer field" located in the eastern countryside of Homs, which produces about two thousand barrels per day, in addition to gas fields In the central region of Homs, Hama and the Syrian Badia. A ANHA " " In this picture, a person donates plasma. Australian John Harrison, 81, donated blood plasma roughly every two weeks for decades and singlehandedly created a steady supply of anti-D, a rare antibody that can help pregnant women and their babies. Mikhail Tereshchenko/TASS via Getty Images When 81-year-old John Harrison was just 14 years old, he received a blood transfusion following a major chest surgery. He had a lung removed, and 13 units (nearly 2 gallons) of other peoples' blood made their life-saving way into his veins. That life-saving transfusion inspired Harrison's later generosity, and he promised to begin donating once he turned 18, and did so weekly until Friday, May 11, when he gave his final donation at 81 years old, according to the Australian Red Cross. That's the maximum age in Australia for giving blood. Advertisement Harrison's prolific donation is notable enough that Guinness World Records awarded Harrison in 2003, recognizing his achievement for the most blood donated by a single person. But Harrison's blood is notable not only for quantity, but also for quality. He's credited with saving the lives of more than 2 million Australian babies. Harrison, known in Australia as "The Man With the Golden Arm," produces a rare and powerful antibody in his blood called RhD immunoglobulin, or anti-D. It protects unborn babies from the potentially deadly condition Rh incompatibility (also called rhesus isoimmunization, Rhesus D hemolytic disease of the newborn, Rh disease or Rhesus HDN). When a pregnant woman with an Rh-negative blood type carries a baby with Rh-positive blood, the woman's body mistakenly treats the baby's red blood cells like an outside threat. Her body produces antibodies to combat what it perceives as an invader, to potentially deadly effect: miscarriage, stillbirth, fetal brain damage and anemia are all possible. The transfusion Harrison received as a teen may have contributed to the unique composition of the blood his body now produces, Australian doctors have theorized. Harrison made his final contribution at the Town Hall Donor Centre in Sydney, Australia, surrounded by women and their children who'd benefited from the treatment, as well as large silver balloons in the shape of numerals 1173 the number of times Harrison donated blood throughout his life. "It's a sad day for me. The end of a long run," Harrison told a Sydney Morning Herald reporter attending the final donation. "Every ampule of Anti-D ever made in Australia has James in it," Robyn Barlow, the Rh program coordinator who recruited James to be the program's first donor, told the newspaper. "Since the very first mother received her dose at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in 1967. It's an enormous thing ... He has saved millions of babies. I cry just thinking about it." Approximately 17 percent of pregnant Australian women receive doses of Anti-D. That number includes Harrison's own daughter Tracey Mellowship, who was treated in 1992 and gave birth to a healthy son named Scott in 1995. When Scott turned 16 in 2011, he gave his first blood donation sitting next to his grandfather, who was marking his 1000th. James Harrison, who received the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1999, has had a lifelong fear of needles. In his more than six decades of donating blood, he's never watched a nurse insert a needle in his arm, preferring to look away. Learn more about blood, blood types and diet in "Eat Right 4 Your Type (Revised and Updated): The Individualized Blood Type Diet Solution" by Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo and Catherine Whitney. HowStuffWorks picks related titles based on books we think you'll like. Should you choose to buy one, we'll receive a portion of the sale. Now That's Interesting James Harrison's world record was broken in 2015, when Guinness World Records certified that Terry Price of Denton, Texas, had donated nearly 900 liters (236 gallons) of blood plasma. The Republican members of Montana's Congressional delegation and the state's governor evangelized to a crowd of more than 300 in the Capitol rotunda Friday afternoon, congratulating each other on recent anti-abortion strides made in Montana and across the country and urging continued support from their base. While speaking to the crowd, Rep. Matt Rosendale called abortion rights the "plague that was placed upon this country." In Montana last year, lawmakers passed four laws that limited access to abortion in the state. Three of those are now on hold while a lawsuit against them, filed by Planned Parenthood of Montana, plays out. The laws on hold would ban abortions after 20 weeks gestational age; require a woman to be informed of the option to view an ultrasound before an abortion; and require informed consent before a drug-induced abortion and block providing the medication through the mail. There was another law in the challenge, to prohibit health insurance plans sold in the federal exchange in Montana from covering abortion care, but it was not part of Planned Parenthoods preliminary injunction request. Similar legislation had been passed by the states GOP-majority Legislature in years past but was vetoed by Democratic governors. In 2020, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte won election; he campaigned on limiting access to abortion. "Thank you for standing up for life in your communities," Gianforte said Friday. Sen. Steve Daines, who was late to the rally due to travel delays, told the crowd the Roe v. Wade decision would likely be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court this summer when it considers Mississippi's ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. "But the second important part of that case of course is it's going to return the power back to the states," Daines said. While the U.S. Supreme Court weighs the abortion case that carries the potential to overturn its previous landmark decision, Montanas own state Constitution has been found previously to protect abortion access here. In a 1999 unanimous opinion, the state Supreme Court found that privacy protections in Montana's Constitution extended to protect those seeking an abortion from government intrusion. While the decision has held for more than two decades, it could be challenged by legislation brought by lawmakers in the coming years. Daines defended the ban in Mississippi, urging the crowd to look at illustrations of 15-week-old fetuses on the internet. "Imagine if the NASA scientists were studying Mars lander images and they saw that 15-week-old baby, do you think they would say that is life? Of course they would," he said. After Texas blocked nearly all abortions in that state with their six-week ban, advocates in Montana said the U.S. Supreme Court allowing that law to take effect could spur those in Montana to try doing the same here. Planned Parenthood of Montana President and CEO Martha Stahl said last year that she expects legislators who have brought bills seeking to restrict access to abortions to bring more legislation if Texas' law stands. "If that is the case, I truly believe we will see legislatures around the country passing similar laws and trying to do the same thing in other places," Stahl said in September. Some GOP lawmakers in Montana have already said they would like to see Roe v. Wade reversed. During the most recent session, Republican Rep. Lola Sheldon-Galloway, of Great Falls, told a committee she felt the federal high court made a mistake nearly 50 years ago. "This is knowledge that the Supreme Court did not know as they made their decision, Roe v. Wade, on Jan. 22, 1973," Sheldon-Galloway said. "I feel it is time that laws catch up with the science of the 21st century." Matt Britton, a lawyer for anti-abortion organization 40 Days for Life, also spoke Friday. Britton told those in attendance he and others with the organization prayed in front of an abortion clinic for so long that God turned the skin of a woman seeking an abortion that day to steel so that it could not be pierced by "the abortionist's needle." He said she converted to Christianity later that day. Britton said he was confident in the overturning of Roe v. Wade and "its hateful progeny." "We need to pray that the Supreme Court, 6-3, are on the side of life," he said. "But we know, thanks to President Trump and Amy Coney Barrett, that we have a 5-4 solid majority for life." Also in attendance of the March for Life were Carroll College student group Students for Life, Helena Area Knights of Columbus, Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen, Helena Fertility Care and Pro-Life Helena, which hosted the event. Following the oration, attendees conducted a silent prayer walk from the Capitol to the state Supreme Court. Holly Michels of the Montana State News Bureau contributed to this story. Love 8 Funny 1 Wow 2 Sad 0 Angry 20 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. DECATUR COVID infections are putting a strain on the Macon County Jail and have already added up to a big bill for taxpayers. Sheriff Jim Root said the jail recently had 30 prisoners in quarantine and six staff members out sick from a total corrections staff of 70. Four deputies were also out because of COVID. The big issue is when jail staff is out, because when staff gets affected that puts somewhat more of a burden on the rest of the staff, said Root. He said the jail was able to cope with 30 inmates in quarantine but he was concerned about the jails rising overall population of inmates, which has pushed past 320 and is starting to cramp available space. Our capacity is 405 maximum and so when the numbers get into the 320s and 330s, it starts to get uncomfortable, said Root. When we get to those numbers we have to start doubling people up in a cell, and some people just dont mix well with others, the sheriff added, citing discipline rather than COVID issues. But part of the problem swelling the inmate population can also be traced back to COVID. Root said the jail was having to hang onto inmates for longer who have been sentenced but are awaiting transfer to state prison facilities. The Illinois Department of Corrections, citing COVID concerns, has put tough new guidelines in place that have slowed their intake of inmates. We probably have 20 at least who are waiting to be taken to the Department of Corrections, Root said. And, at one point, we had almost 50 of those inmates. Trend seen across U.S. The issues are being mirrored at jails and prisons across the country as COVID cases bounce back and, like in many occupations, there are steep staffing shortages. The Department of Corrections move pauses intakes from county jails because of outbreaks at prisons. Congregate living facilities present unique infection control challenges due to the lack of quarantine and isolation space, IDOC Director Rob Jeffreys said in a statement. The Department recognizes the hardships county jails face when we cannot accept admissions, but we must take aggressive action to keep the community and everyone who lives and works in our facilities safe and healthy. Root calculates the extra costs incurred between roughly April of 2020 through July of 2021 to house sentenced inmates who didnt ship out in a timely manner added up to almost $1.5 million. And weve just signed an agreement with the Illinois Department of Corrections that they are going to reimburse us for some of that cost, Root said. But maybe not that much of it. Root said the IDOC has made some $25 million available so far, but thats shared among 102 counties up and down the state looking to recoup their extra prisoner expenses as well. And while some smaller jails have just a handful of inmates, others are much bigger. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart recently filed a petition for relief with the Illinois Supreme Court complaining that the states failure to accept sentenced inmates is unacceptable. A filing in support of the county cited more than 500 Cook County prisoners who were recently stuck waiting for transfer to state prisons. 'Some things you can control and some things you cant' Troubling delays had started when Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued an executive order in March 2020 mostly suspending the transfer of all inmates from county jails, citing COVID-19 concerns. More than 100 county sheriffs then filed suit in response and Pritzker later rescinded his order but issued another order in July stating that IDOC Director Rob Jeffreys had complete control over the timing of inmate transfers. In an emailed answer to questions from the Herald & Review, IDOC spokesperson Lindsey Hess said the department had resumed county jail intakes in August of 2020. But she said prisoner transfers were subject to aggressive guidelines designed to protect the health of staff, the incarcerated population and their surrounding communities. Since that date, (August 2020) IDOC has processed 14,852 new admissions and 2,228 turnarounds for a total of 17,080 intakes, added Hess. Watch now: Chief praises courage of Decatur officer shot in the line of duty Police say Joseph L. V. Williams opened fire with a 9mm Glock pistol modified to work as a machine gun. The bodycam footage was released Thursday. Fully vaccinated individuals are not required to be quarantined upon arrival to an IDOC reception center. The more individuals in county jail custody who accept the vaccine, the greater the number of admissions IDOC can accept. Unvaccinated individuals put other people housed in IDOC facilities at risk. The Department is committed to taking the necessary precautions to maintain the health and safety of the individuals in custody. Back at the Macon County Jail, Root said they are doing what they can to control inmate numbers, working with the court system to have non violent, less serious offenders released on bond rather than incarcerated. He also said the county was looking at the possibility of tapping into federal COVID-related funds to try to recuperate some of the added jail costs linked to epidemic issues. Some things you can control and some things you cant, said Root of the efforts to ease jail costs and population. And we have to work on the things we can control. Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. BELLEVILLE A former treasurer for the Perry County Agricultural Society was convicted of mail fraud on Thursday in the U.S. Court for the Southern District of Illinois. Billy E. Harris, 48, of St. Louis admitted to defrauding the Perry County Agricultural Society for more than $100,000 from June 5, 2012, to Oct. 3, 2018. The society organizes the annual county fair. Harris wrote checks on the society's account payable to himself and his wife, forging a board member's signature on the checks. Harris also acknowledged that he paid personal expenses and bought items for his personal use, mostly through Amazon and PayPal, charging document say. Harris admitted to spending the Agricultural Society's funds on such items as personalized Darth Vader and Yoda pet tags, Star Wars men's sleeping pants, a CPAP tube cleaner, a WiFi router, Apple AirPods, a Himalayan Salt Lamp Air Purifier, a floating pool fountain, and men's grooming products, including beard lube. Harris served as treasurer of the Perry County Agricultural Society from 2011 to Oct 2018, according to a release from the court. Harris is scheduled for sentencing at 1:30 p.m. May 5 at the federal courthouse in Benton. The mail fraud charge carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a maximum fine of up to $250,000, and up to three years of probation, according to the release. In addition, Harris can be ordered to pay full restitution to the Perry County Agricultural Society, said the release. The St. Louis Office of the Postal Inspection Service and the Pinckneyville Police Department investigated the case, with assistance from the Perry County State's Attorney's Office, the court release stated. The case was prosecuted by Scott Verseman, Assistant State's Attorney. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Nancee Rush, a New Braunfels local, holds a poster painted with "I have a dream." Rush was one of the approximately 800 people who marched in New Braunfels' 4th Annual MLK March in 2019. LINDSEY CARNETT | Herald-Zeitung BRISTOL, Tenn. Members of the Advance Bristol organization held discussions with the Bristol Tennessee City Council on Thursday about the possibility of collaborating on various projects including plans to revitalize the State Street corridor from The Pinnacle to Volunteer Parkway. Back in December of 2021, the Bristol Tennessee City Council applied for a grant from the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) in order to finance a study with hopes of rebuilding and reconnecting Bristol, Tennessee from The Pinnacle to the casino and downtown. Tom Beavers, the director of development services for Bristol, Tennessee, explained what the study consists of and what follows once the study has been completed. The study will look at traffic flows, traffic patterns, bike lanes, pedestrian walkways, as well as improvements to intersections, beautification and streetscaping, Beavers said. It is a document that will lay out a plan for the redevelopment of the infrastructure around that corridor (from The Pinnacle to Volunteer Parkway), and once you get that done, you can apply for grants for actually making those improvements, at that point, you would move into engineering, design and obviously construction. Among the Advance Bristol members who attended the meeting at the Bristol Tennessee Municipal Annex Building were Executive Director Cathy Floyd, Chairman David Wagner, Vice-Chair Jerry Kirk, Treasurer Mitch Walters, Logan McCabe and Mike Sparks. According to the Advance Bristol website they are a regional coalition of local leaders in the private sector who share an active interest in shaping the future of our community. During the meeting members of the City Council and Advance Bristol identified and discussed everything from zoning requirements and permits, to homelessness issues, to navigating the state legislature and working together to attract potential investors. However, it was two issues that stuck out more than the rest for both the council and members of Advance Bristol: housing and the relationship between the two Bristols. After the meeting, Bristol Tennessee City Manager Bill Sorah acknowledged the recent tensions between Bristol, Virginia and Bristol, Tennessee. However, he is optimistic that when it comes to the betterment of Bristol as a whole, they will be more than willing to work together. Obviously, there are issues that are going to have to be addressed going forward on a variety fronts, Sorah said. But I think when we recognize that we are one community, and we recognize that the governing bodies, as well as the business community, need to work together hand in glove in order to advance Bristol, well have a far better outcome in the future. Sorah looks forward to continuing the dialogue and collaboration with Advance Bristol. I think its a great opportunity for the public sector and the private sector to work in a collaborative way with both sides of town as we move forward into a vision for both Bristols, Sorah said. That will take us to the next level as a community. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Top legislator urges improving eco-conservation legal system in China Xinhua) 09:13, January 15, 2022 Li Zhanshu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), speaks at a symposium on eco-environmental legislation, which is held by the Environmental Protection and Resources Conservation Committee of the NPC, in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 14, 2022. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei) BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Top legislator Li Zhanshu on Friday called for enhanced efforts to perfect China's legal system for ecological and environmental protection. Li, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), made the remarks at a symposium on eco-environmental legislation, which was held by the Environmental Protection and Resources Conservation Committee of the NPC. Stressing the significance of thoroughly implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, which provides fundamental guidance for the rule of law in this area, Li urged coordinated efforts to enact new laws on eco-environmental protection while revising existing ones. He said the country's legal system for ecological and environmental protection has taken shape with 31 relevant laws, over 100 administrative regulations, and more than 1,000 local regulations in force. These laws and regulations give legal teeth to deter air, water and soil pollution, and protect forests, grasslands, wetlands, wild animals and bio-diversity, as well as the environment along the Yangtze River, he said. Legislation on protecting the Yellow River, chernozem soils in northeast China and the eco-environment of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is in process or is due to start, said Li. He stressed the importance of designing the legal system scientifically and professionally, noting that comments and suggestions from experts should be properly taken into consideration. These efforts are expected to facilitate an all-round green transformation in economic and social development, and the modernization of China featuring harmonious man-nature co-existence, said Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. (Web editor: Meng Bin, Bianji) Mayo Elementary School in Edgewater is closed until Thursday due to a schoolwide COVID-19 outbreak, Anne Arundel County Public Schools announced Friday afternoon. Schools spokesperson Bob Mosier said in the past two weeks 18 students and staff members, nearly 5% of the schools population, have tested positive for COVID-19, prompting the Anne Arundel County Department of Health to declare an outbreak. After talking with county health officials, the school system made the decision to close the building for five days, including for recreation programs and child care. Advertisement Students were told Friday afternoon to take their school-issued Chromebooks home and will learn virtually on Tuesday and Wednesday. Closing the building Friday will minimize the amount of time students are out of the school, Mosier said. Buildings are closed Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and closing Friday allows Mayo Elementary to be closed during the weekend when there is no school. Advertisement Frequently touched surfaces will be disinfected in the building on Saturday, Mosier said. Mosier said students will learn from their regular homeroom teachers on Tuesday and Wednesday. A copy of the virtual learning schedule can be found at aacps.org/studentschedules, and the system will send more information before Tuesday. As the omicron variant surges, schools are affected by the higher rates of community transmission, Megan Pringle, spokesperson for the county health department, wrote in an email. State guidance says schools can suspend in-person learning when there is evidence of substantial, uncontrolled spread, and when discussed with and agreed upon by local health officials. The school systems online COVID-19 dashboard shows that there are 12 students and two staff members with COVID-19 as of Friday at Mayo Elementary, but that figure does not encompass the same 14 days considered for the closure, Mosier said. The schools enrollment was 347 for the 2020-21 academic year. As of Friday 1,323 students and 107 staff members throughout Anne Arundel County Public Schools have COVID-19, according to the dashboard. A collection of 270 medical professionals reportedly signed an open letter to Spotify asking the media platform to rein in Joe Rogan, its most listened to podcaster, whom they accuse of promoting junk science with regards to the COVID pandemic. Their chief complaint is aimed at a Dec. 31 episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience" featuring right-wing media darling Dr. Robert Malone, who is a COVID-vaccine skeptic. The group behind the letter first published by Rolling Stone describes itself as a "coalition of scientists, medical professionals, professors, and science communicators spanning a wide range of fields such as microbiology, immunology, epidemiology, and neuroscience." Their concerns include that year-ending program with Malone, which has "been criticized for promoting baseless conspiracy theories" on a podcast those experts accuse of having a "concerning history of broadcasting misinformation." Among the things Malone asserted during his visit with Rogan was that "mass formation psychosis" is leading people to get vaccinated against the deadly and highly contagious coronavirus, which has killed more than 800,000 Americans since early 2020. Malone, who did not have a hand in developing COVID vaccines, was involved in early research of mRNA technology more that 20 years ago. mRNA technology is at the core of Pfizer and Moderna's tested and effective vaccination shots. "Though Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, the company presently has no misinformation policy," the team of medical experts writes in its letter. Malone was suspended from Twitter earlier this month for violating its rules regarding the dissemination of misinformation. YouTube removed a clip of his interview with Rogan for the same reason. "The average age of (The Joe Rogan Experience) listeners is 24 years old and according to data from Washington State, unvaccinated 12-34 year olds are 12 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID than those who are fully vaccinated," Rogan's critics state in their missive. The medical experts charge that the spreading of bad science is a "sociological issue of devastating proportions" and blames Spotify for giving bogus information a home. They call on the platform to "immediately establish a clear and public policy to moderate misinformation on its platform." Spotify did not respond to a Daily News request for comment about the letter from the 270 medical professionals. Speaking on his own behalf, Rogan told listeners last year that they should not come to him for medical advice. "I'm not a doctor, I'm a f---ing moron," he said during in April podcast. "I'm not a respected source of information, even for me." The 54-year-old podcaster admitted to his 11 million listeners that he doesn't usually think about what he's going to say before he speaks. Rogan is described on his website as a "stand up comic, mixed martial arts fanatic, psychedelic adventurer, host of the 'Joe Rogan Experience' podcast." ____ 2022 New York Daily News. Visit at nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. MORGANTON Its been almost 30 years, but Morganton Public Safety Chief Tony Lowdermilk still looks forward to coming to work every day. And while he only has a few more weeks left to keep coming to work at the city, he doesnt think that will change now. Lowdermilk will officially retire from Morganton Public Safety on March 1 after a 27-year career in law enforcement with the city. He will take some time off, and then get started on a career in the private sector. Lowdermilk has served as chief since early 2020. The best advice I could give anyone getting into law enforcement is to stay true to yourself and maintain your integrity, Lowdermilk said. If you hold on to your values, regardless of who you are, it will follow you for your entire career. I have been in public safety for my entire career, so Im looking forward to finding out what my next career feels like, and plan to approach it with that same mentality. Lowdermilk was born and raised in Morganton, and graduated from Freedom High School. He received his Associates Degree in Applied Science and Criminal Justice Technology from Western Piedmont Community College and earned his Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice from Lees McRae College. Lowdermilk first signed on with Public Safety as a Public Safety Officer in 1994. Since then, he has served as Sergeant of Field Operations, Captain of Field Operations, Major of Field Operations and Major of Support Services, before being promoted to chief. Lowdermilk holds his Firefighter Level I and II certifications, Advanced Law Enforcement certification, is certified in levels 100, 200, 300, 400, 700, and 800 of Incident Command, and is a graduate of the 67th session of the Administrative Officers Management Program through N.C. State University in 2014. He has completed hundreds of hours of in-service training, and served in numerous training and supervisory roles during his time with Morganton Public Safety. The Morganton City Managers office and Human Resources will begin the hiring process to replace Lowdermilk in the coming weeks, and are currently developing the process that will select the next chief. Lowdermilk said while he wont miss working nights, weekends, holidays and odd hours, he will absolutely miss everyone hes worked with over the years. Im going to miss the friendships and family Ive made at Public Safety when I retire, Lowdermilk said. Its hard to replicate that type of bond anywhere else, and I know that will be one of the most difficult parts of retirement. " " More than 50 years after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, there are still questions about whether James Earl Ray was really the one who killed him on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Bettmann/Bettmann Archive On April 3, 1968, the night before he was murdered, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke before a rapturous crowd in a packed church in Memphis, Tennessee. The speech, "I've Been to the Mountaintop," is one of the most quoted in the famed preacher's career. In the roughly 43-minute address, an exhausted, under-the-weather King he initially had asked his friend, the Rev. Ralph David Abernathy, to fill in for him, but later relented covered many of the topics that had made him the foremost civil rights figure of the time. But it's the way King wrapped up his speech that is perhaps best known now, more than 50 years after his death. King, who had traveled from his home in Atlanta earlier in the day to support sanitation workers involved in a bitter strike against the city, finished his speech to the crowd at the Mason Temple Church of God in Christ like this: And then I got into Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?" King said to . "Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. He concluded in a crescendo: "And so I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." Did Martin Luther King Jr. know his assassination was imminent? That's one of a myriad of questions that have flourished in the years since King's murder, a death that now sometimes threatens to overshadow the civil rights icon's considerable legacy. " " Martin Luther King Jr. often gave fiery speeches, but one of his most well-known is his last speech, "I've Been to the Mountaintop," where he seems to foresee his own death just the night before he was killed. Bettmann/Bettmann Archive Advertisement A Fatal Shot, and More Questions King was killed by a single bullet from a rifle at just after 6 p.m. April 4, 1968, as he stood on the breezeway outside his room at Memphis' Lorraine Motel. Two months later in London, an escaped criminal named James Earl Ray was arrested and charged by the FBI with the murder. Almost a year after the shooting, and after a complicated series of legal maneuvers that included fighting his extradition to the United States, Ray agreed to plead guilty, suggested that he was merely a player in a larger plot to kill King, and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. Three days later, he recanted his statement. He was never granted a retrial. The official, government-sanctioned version was that Ray waited in a shared bathroom on the second floor of a cheap boarding house across from the Lorraine until King appeared, fired a single round from a little more than 200 feet (60 meters) away, stashed his rifle in a nearby doorway, jumped in his Ford Mustang to drive to Atlanta, and then fled the country. He was, according to several different government investigations, the lone gunman. Still, almost from the moment King fell, people have wondered whether Ray actually killed King, and if he did, whether he acted alone. Dozens of questions about the shooting remain today, including: " " Some of Martin Luther King Jr.'s family (from left) the late Rev. Alfred Daniel King, his late widow Coretta Scott King, and his children Bernice King, Martin Luther King III and Dexter King attend his funeral at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, April 9, 1968. Santi Visalli/Archive Photos/Getty Images At the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel (NCRM), those questions and others are raised for visitors to consider. "What the museum aims to do, and what we definitely proceed to do, is that we remain neutral," says Ryan Jones, a museum educator at the NCRM. "We don't endorse either theory, either story. We help host the theories and all the subsequent investigations, we tell them as they were, and we allow our guests to determine on their own ... what happened on that fateful day." Advertisement The Case for Conspiracy For those closest to King including his family the most important questions have been settled. To them, it's clear that King was not killed by Ray but by a consortium of actors that may include federal, state and local government agencies, the Mafia, Jowers and another possible triggerman: Memphis Police Lieutenant Ed Clark. " " James Earl Ray, his head bowed, was led to his cell by Shelby County Sheriff William Morris, after finally being extradited from London. Bettmann/Bettmann Archive That was the conclusion of a civil trial in 1999, after which the King family and many associates of the late leader lauded the unanimous verdict. "Anyone who sat in on almost four weeks of testimony, with over 70 witnesses credible witnesses, I might add, from several judges to other very credible witnesses would know that the truth is here," MLK's son, Dexter, said after the trial. "The question now is, 'What will you do with that?' We as a family have done our part. We have carried this mantle for as long as we can carry it. We know what happened. It is on public record. The transcripts will be available ... [a]ny serious researcher who wants to know what happened can find out." Others backed the Kings and the version uncovered at the civil trial. "I think there was a major conspiracy to remove Dr. King from the American scene," the late Georgia congressman John Lewis told The Washington Post in 2018. "I don't know what happened, but the truth of what happened to Dr. King should be made available for history's sake." Advertisement And the Case Against That civil case, as much as the Kings may have wished it so, was not the final word. Not long before the civil case went to trial, King's widow, Coretta Scott King, asked President Bill Clinton to look further into the assassination. In August 1998, Clinton's Justice Department, under then-Attorney General Janet Reno, opened a new investigation. In June 2000, after conducting more than 200 witness interviews, reviewing tens of thousands of pages of records, and conducting scientific testing and analysis of documentary evidence, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it findings. It said the allegations by Jowers in the civil case in addition to several other charges that pointed responsibility away from Ray, including one by former FBI agent Donald Wilson were unfounded, rife with falsehoods and inconsistencies. "Our investigation of these most recent allegations, as well as several exhaustive previous official investigations, found no reliable evidence that Dr. King was killed by conspirators who framed James Earl Ray," the report states. "Nor have any of the conspiracy theories advanced in the last 30 years, including the Jowers and the Wilson allegations, survived critical examination." Among the previous investigations was a congressional inquiry in 1979 by the House Select Committee on Assassinations, which concluded that Ray was the shooter, but that he likely killed King for money as part of a conspiracy. According to that investigation, though, the plot was not spearheaded by the Mafia or the FBI, but instead by two racist St. Louis businessmen who at one time allegedly offered a $50,000 bounty for anyone who would assassinate King. " " In August 1978, James Earl Ray appeared before the House Assassination Committee in Washington, D.C., where he testified that he did not kill Martin Luther King Jr. Bettmann/Bettmann Archive Advertisement The King Legacy Several books, including three by King family friend and lawyer William F. Pepper, make the case for a conspiracy to kill King. Others, including "Killing the Dream: James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.," finger Ray for the murder and absolve the government for any allegations of conspiracy. Pre-COVID-19, the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel hosted more than 300,000 visitors a year. The museum is dedicated to the entire struggle for equal rights, beginning with slavery and through such seminal events as the Montgomery Bus Boycotts and the Freedom Rides. Yet some of its most popular exhibits, not surprisingly, are King-related: Room 306, where he spent his last night; the spot in the building across the street where Ray allegedly fired the fatal shot; the rifle that Ray allegedly used; and the Ford Mustang in which he made his alleged getaway. The museum also has an interactive timeline of the civil rights struggle that includes a breakdown of the final days of King and the lingering questions that surround his assassination. "Dr. King was en route to Washington, D.C.," the NCRM's Jones says of King's post-Memphis itinerary. "He planned to march with 500,000 Black and white poor people, and he made the comment very shortly before his death that if America continued to give its financial assets to the Vietnam War, America would go to hell." It was a comment that didn't sit well with a government trying to win a war that was becoming increasingly unpopular, and it furthered his reputation among his enemies that he was anti-American. "The forces were very much against him in the climate at the time of his death," Jones says. Did King's life work striving for civil rights, aiding the poor, speaking out against war lead to his death? Did King, the night before, see it coming? Multiple investigations have been conducted, multiple books written, countless arguments made. The answers to what truly happened that day in Memphis? It's anybody's call. " " The Lorraine Motel room No. 306, where Martin Luther King was assassinated April 4, 1968, now stands as a permanent memorial to the civil rights leader. Library of Congress Now That's Interesting The idea to create an annual federal holiday marking Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday he was born Jan. 15, 1929, in Atlanta was first introduced in 1968, just four days after King's death. But it didn't come up for a vote in Congress until 1979 and wasn't approved until 1983. Arizona and South Carolina were the last two states to approve it as a state holiday; South Carolina didn't do so until 2000. The No. 10 Nebraska wrestling team battled but came up short against No. 14 Minnesota Golden Gophers, who won six of ten bouts and defeated the Huskers 19-13 at Maturi Pavilion on Friday night.The meet began at 165 withsquaring off with #19 Andrew Sparks. Wilson recorded an escape and a reversal, but that was not enough as Sparks notched a 6-3 decision to give Minnesota an early 3-0 lead.#5(174) recorded the first Husker win of the night as he defeated #23 Bailee O'Reilly. Labriola attacked early, recording a takedown to hold the 2-1 lead entering the second period. After the two traded escapes, Labriola recorded a takedown in period three to grab the 5-3 lead. With :15 seconds left, O'Reilly scrambled and got his first takedown of the match to tie it. In the final seconds, Labriola attacked with a reversal and tallied two near fall points to seal the 9-5 decision.Making his 2022 conference and dual debut,got the call at 184 taking on Minnesota's #28 Isaiah Salazar. The wrestlers battled to a 3-3 tie to start period two before Salazar scored two near fall points to grab the 5-3 advantage. In the third, Salazar tallied a quick escape and a takedown while securing the riding time point in route to a 9-3 decision victory.#4(197) then battled #30 Michael Foy in one of six bouts between ranked wrestlers on the night. Schultz held Foy scoreless after three minutes and was the first to attack as he recorded an escape in the second period. Foy responded with an escape to start the third period tied. The wrestlers scrambled before Foy received a stall warning, and Schultz took the match by decision 2-1 to stay undefeated in this season's conference play.The consensus No. 1 285-pounder in the country, Minnesota heavyweight Gable Steveson, came into tonight's match holding a perfect 36-0 record over the last three seasons. That record remained unblemished tonight after he worked a hard-fought 18-6 major decision over NU's #11Facing his second top 10 opponent in a week,(125) tallied a reversal against #8 Patrick McKee in the first, but McKee held a 5-2 lead after two periods. In the third, McKee recorded an escape and used the riding time point to push past Reno by a final score of 7-2.The dual continued with 133.grappled with #24 Jake Gliva. Thomsen recorded an early takedown, but Gliva responded in the second period with a takedown and four near fall points on his way to an 8-3 decision.#9(141) returned to the lineup as he faced #17 Jake Bergeland in the fourth ranked matchup of the night. Red impressed early as he scored a takedown and four near fall points while holding Bergeland scoreless through two periods. Entering the third period, Red led 8-0 and recorded an escape to claim the major decision.Following Red's victory, the Huskers trailed 16-10 entering #4bout with #26 Michael Blockhus. Blockhus grabbed the early takedown and held Lovett scoreless through two periods. In the third, Lovett dominated with a reversal and four near fall points to take the 7-2 decision. Lovett is still undefeated in dual competition the last two seasons.To cap off the night, #5(157) took the mat with a chance to win the dual for the Huskers. Robb wrestled #4 Brayton Lee to a scoreless first two periods. In the third, Lee attacked and recorded the first takedown of the match. Lee extended his lead with an escape and used the riding time point to grab the 4-0 decision.With the loss, the Huskers fall to 3-2 (0-2 Big Ten) and the Gophers improve to 3-2 (2-1 Big Ten).The Huskers will be back in action next Friday when they travel to Madison, Wisc., to take on the #9 Badgers (6-0, 2-0 Big Ten). The dual will begin at 7 p.m. and can be streamed online via B1G+ (subscription required).#19 Andrew Sparks (MINN) dec.(NEB) 6-3 (MINN 3, NEB 0)#5(NEB) dec. #23 Bailee O'Reilly (MINN) 9-5 (MINN 3, NEB 3)#28 Isaiah Salazar (MINN) dec.(NEB) 9-3 (MINN 6, NEB 3)#4(NEB) dec. #30 Michial Foy (MINN) 2-1 (MINN 6, NEB 6)#1 Gable Steveson (MINN) maj. dec. #11(NEB) 18-6 (MINN 10, NEB 6)#8 Patrick McKee (MINN) dec.(NEB) 7-2 (MINN 13, NEB 6)#24 Jake Gliva (MINN) dec.(NEB) 8-3 (MINN 16, NEB 6)#9(NEB) maj. dec. #17 Jake Bergeland (MINN) 9-0 (MINN 16, NEB 10)#4(NEB) dec. #26 Michael Blockhus (MINN) 7-2 (MINN 16, NEB 13)#4 Brayton Lee (MINN) dec. #5(NEB) 4-0 (MINN 19, NEB 13) The old Moss-Morris house on Weddington Road has found a new life as part of a new subdivision called Olde Homestead, Niblock Homes purchased the Moss-Morris property in 2020 and was unaware of the houses existence. The home was located at 4001 Weddington Road. Once it was discovered, its connection to local history and architecture inspired Niblock to renovate the home, Vice President of Operations Karen R. Bumgarner said. The Niblocks are also Concord natives and are interested in preserving Concord History, Bumgarner said. The home has a history of almost 200 years. In 2015, Historic Cabarrus Association Preservation Committee identified the property as unique to Cabarrus, threatened by development and in need of repair. The property where the home sits was first purchased by John B. Moss from the state in 1816 for farmland. The house was built in the mid 19th century. The land was bought later by the Morris family in 1893 and continued to be used as farmland. The home was later renovated in the early 20th century. The home and land stayed in the Morris family until Niblick purchased it in 2020. The Morris family owned a significant amount of real estate in Cabarrus County in the early 1900s, according to Niblock. The land also ties into a bit of national history. The Great Wagon Road ran from Pennsylvania to Georgia and was considered that first national interstate system. It was primarily used by settlers headed for the South. Part of the route ran through North Carolina and even in Cabarrus County, which helped establish the county in 1792. Part of the road that ran through the county went through what is now the Olde Homestead neighborhood. As for the home, it saw renovation and some additions in its time, which Niblock said it tried to salvaged. As much of the original architecture as possible of the home like doors, shiplap and molding was saved in Niblocks renovation. The electric, plumbing, insulation and HVAC were replaced though. The well house, which is an original structure on the property, was even given a makeover. The original house was a blend of Federal and Greek Revival details and featured Greek-inspired trim, Bumgarner said. The foyer showcases unique marriage markings that were present on the framing members, which are typical of post and beam construction. Carpenters during the 19th century used this method for marking adjacent beams with Roman numerals to keep track of where the beams were to be located. The old Moss-Morris home is currently being used as an information center to sell the new construction homes in Olde Homestead. Bumgarner said Niblock plans to occupy the home for 18-24 months. Niblock has also placed information materials in and around the home to explain its history. The home is open daily Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m.5 p.m. and Sunday 15 p.m. To navigate to the old Moss-Morris home use the address 4108 Sagemont Drive NW. As for the Mattoon School District, there were 21 confirmed COVID cases among students in the district and currently there are 42 students in quarantine due to possible exposure. There are five confirmed COVID cases among staff in the district with one individual in quarantine. Both Mattoon and Charleston school districts are using rapid tests for students whose parents provide permission to have their students tested at school. Staff members are being tested weekly. The first dose of the Pfizer vaccine will be available for children ages 5 to 11 on Saturday, Jan. 15, by appointment only at the Sarah Bush Lincoln Mattoon Walk In Clinic, 200 Dettro Drive. Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. COLLEYVILLE, Texas (AP) Authorities say a man apparently took hostages Saturday during services at a synagogue near Fort Worth, Texas. The Colleyville Police Department tweeted Saturday afternoon that it was conducting SWAT operations at the address of Congregation Beth Israel. The services were being livestreamed on the synagogue's Facebook page for a time, and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that apparent negotiations could be heard between the alleged hostage taker and police. The paper reported that an angry man could be heard ranting and talking about religion at times during the livestream, which didn't show what was happening inside the synagogue. Shortly before 2 p.m., the man said, "You got to do something. I don't want to see this guy dead." Moments later, the feed cut out. The man repeatedly mentioned his sister and Islam and used profanities, and he repeatedly said he thought he was going to die, the Star-Telegram reported. It wasn't immediately clear if he was armed. It wasn't clear how many people were in the building in Colleyville, a community of about 26,000 people 15 miles (23 kilometers) northeast of Fort Worth. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said Friday that a blistering report into decades of disfunction and criminal activity within the department only increases the urgency to complete a series of reforms already underway. Harrison initiated the more than 660-page report into problems that allowed officers in the Gun Trace Task Force to run roughshod across the city, trampling on civil rights while robbing and beating residents and dealing drugs, until an FBI investigation led to the indictments of more than a dozen officers. The report and reforms are part of the ongoing court-ordered federal consent decree aimed to correct problems with policing in the city that began long before Harrison took over in 2019. Advertisement The illegal and immoral actions of the GTTF scandal are a stain on the departments legacy, and moving forward would not be possible without a thorough investigation and deep dive analysis into what allowed these activities to occur within BPD, Harrison wrote in a response to thereport. This report represents an important inflection point for our agency. Your recommendations provide a clear roadmap; and by implementing them, along with our Consent Decree, BPD can write the next chapter in our history, one that the residents of Baltimore can be proud to call their own. Advertisement The report for the first time released comprehensive information about the disciplinary history of the officers convicted in relation to the GTTF scandal. The complaints against them, and what the department did with those complaints, have been buried in police files until now. In wake of the report, released Thursday, the Baltimore public defenders office called for a new review of convictions involving corrupt police officers in light of the new report. Debbie Katz Levi, director of special litigation for the Office of the Public Defenders Baltimore office, said the independent investigation released Thursday makes painfully clear why we urgently need full public disclosure of all police records and independent investigation of all police misconduct. We will not be satisfied until more convictions are overturned, and there is full and complete transparency and accountability for police misconduct records across the entire state of Maryland, Levi said. The Baltimore States Attorneys Office has not charged anyone related to the scandal on state-level charges but undertook a review of existing cases involving officers implicated in the scandal, which ultimately reversed about 800 convictions. Prosecutors said they examined whether cases could hold up still, through physical evidence or corroboration from other officers, and dismissed those that relied on the word of tainted officers. The office also successfully pushed for the passage of a law giving prosecutors discretion to reverse cases without having to convince a judge. But the states attorneys office continued to be chided by critics for not being more transparent; Baltimore Action Legal Team this week put up a billboard at Interstate 83 and Gay Street directed at States Attorney Marilyn Mosby: Give the public the full list of police with integrity issues, it reads, referring to the States Attorneys Office releasing a do not call list of officers that was mostly former officers. Mosby was indicted on federal charges Thursday afternoon related to the withdrawal of money from a retirement account and the purchase of property in Florida. Her office did not respond to a request for comment on the call by the public defenders office. Advertisement Afternoon Update Weekdays Updating you on the day's biggest news before the evening commute. > The report also included several recommendations for police, including improved screening and background checks for new recruits and improved training, as well as stronger oversight of internal affairs and the handing of complaints against officers. The report also calls for increased oversight of specialized units. BPD units that focus on seizing drugs and guns and make arrests at levels substantially higher than other units performing similar functions should be the subject of aggressive scrutiny by BPD top management and by BPDs Audits and Inspections function, the GTTF report said. Harrisons response said the department has already began a systematic review of BPD arrests, including arrests made by those units focused on Drug and Gun enforcement, such as District Action Teams (DAT) or our Mobile Metro Unit (MMU). The departments response noted that in 2020, for example, out of 226 Level 2 Uses of Force, 71 (31%) listed a specialized unit (non-patrol) as the primary involved unit. Harrison said that in addition to more audits of those units, the department also implemented improved in-person interview and evaluation processes for its detective and operational units, which includes a full review of a candidates disciplinary record. Baltimore Police said they will present their plans at the next public hearing of the federal consent decree, which is scheduled for next Thursday. Advertisement Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said in the release that he will continue to work tirelessly to improve public trust in City Hall and the Baltimore Police Department. I will continue to partner with Commissioner Harrison to embrace these core values and prove government can operate in your best interests. Senate action on voting legislation stalled in 2021, even though governors across the country urged the U.S. Senate to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. This postponement came at a time when voting rights are under siege in many cities and states, potentially blocking many who can vote from voting at all. In a recent interview with CBS Face The Nation, Vice President Kamala Harris said, And right now, we're about to take ourselves off the map as a role model, if we let people destroy one of the most important pillars of a democracy, which is free and fair elections. Recently New York City activists worked to give noncitizens the right to vote in local elections while Massachusetts is considering same-day voter registration. Meanwhile, the Justice Department recently announced its lawsuit against the state of Texas for violations of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. National questions involving voting seem more politicized and polarized. The voting rights bill, named in memory of the late civil rights leader and long-serving representative from Georgia, proposes many reforms including requiring federal preclearance in changing certain electoral districts, limiting restrictive voter ID requirements, and adding requirements to changing voter roll maintenance or voting locations. Ballot access has become a highly politicized topic in our country. Changing the rules of voting will inevitably influence changes in behavior. But just making it easier to vote does not mean people will be incentivized to do so. Perhaps getting younger Americans involved in the process will improve voting rates. Previous legislation has made small improvements. The Help America Vote Act of 2002, the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, and the Voter Registration Act of 1965 marked increases, but none have ushered in a substantial wave of higher voter turnout. To encourage people to vote, the voters themselves actually need to want to do so. Research demonstrates that early learning experiences as well as trust and understanding of the electoral system lead to greater voter interest. In this arena, the U.S. as a democracy falls behind other countries. In the United States, voter turnout averages 55% to 60% in presidential election years and the numbers are far lower in off-year election cycles (53.4% in 2018 and 41.9% in 2014). Interestingly, 2020 marked a record high, with 67% of voting-age-eligible citizens voting, according to the Census Bureau. While this increase warrants recognition, the reality is that it is still well below many democracies globally. Turkey and Sweden rank among the highest in voter turnout with 88.9% and 82%, while Switzerland (36%) and Luxembourg (48%) are among the lowest. Voter turnout reveals a decline in voter turnout in all countries over the last 70 years, though the numbers are still higher in those states that require voting compared to those that do not. More democracies hold elections on weekends or even declare them to be holidays, giving many workers the day off with plenty of time to cast their ballots. And this is where the United States needs to step up. The American election system would benefit from a serious reevaluation of the mechanisms that exist and the effects they have. Voting is so much more than an annual task, and empowering pre-voters through experiential learning can impart that sense of civic virtue that is necessary for a healthy democracy. Perhaps then more Americans who can vote actually will vote. Laura Merrifield Wilson is an associate professor of political science at the University of Indianapolis and a public voices fellow at The OpEd Project. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The city of Winston-Salem staged its second gun buyback event Saturday in the past two months at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds. Before it began, people lined up their vehicles on Shorefair Drive and Deacon Boulevard to participate in the drive-thru event. The buyback was held in front of the Bolton Home and Garden Building at Gate 9 at the fairgrounds. When drivers arrived at that site, officers removed the guns from their vehicles trunks. People turned in their guns anonymously and with no questions asked. Officers paid $200 for assault rifles, such as semi-automatic rifles, $150 for handguns and $100 for long guns such as shotguns and rifles, the city said in a statement. Police checked those guns with a national database to determine if the guns were stolen or used in a crime, the city said. Under state law, the Winston-Salem Police Department will destroy the guns that cleared that process. The city provided $50,000 for the event, and the money was part of the citys Coronavirus Local Fiscal Relief Fund, the city said. On Nov. 20, police collected a total of 367 firearms, with officers buying guns from drivers and passengers in 133 vehicles that traveled through the fairgrounds parking lot off Shorefair Drive. We hope that we can get more (guns) than that this time, Boyd said. Its important because one gun that could land in the wrong hands is off the streets. John Harbison of Greensboro said he sold a rifle and two handguns at the event. Harbison stopped by the event as he was running errands Saturday in Winston-Salem, he said. I got more than a few (guns), Harbison said. I got a few more than I actually need. The gun buyback event is a tool for police, city officials and local residents to use to keep the Winston-Salem community safe, said Barbara Burke, who represents the Northeast Ward on the Winston-Salem City Council. This is one effort where citizens can work with the law enforcement to participate in trying to remove guns from our community, Burke said. Its not a solution to gun violence. But its just a tool in the toolbox that we can use to make the community a safe place. Crystal Austin of Winston-Salem said she turned in a shotgun that she tried to sell at last Novembers gun buyback event. The shotgun belonged to her late husband, Austin said. Roger Schutz of Kernersville turned in a shotgun that is 150 years old, he said. The shotgun was made by Diamond Arms Co. of St. Louis. I have no need for it anymore, Schutz said. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Winston-Salem police arrested a man early Saturday morning after he was accused of shooting his brother, authorities said. Officers were dispatched at 2:27 a.m. to the 1300 block of Thurmond Street after they received a report of a person with a gun, police said. While officers were going to the scene, they received details about someone shooting another person. When officers arrived, they found Ronnie Lee Moore, 32, of North Cherry Street suffering from an apparent gunshot wound, police said. Officers then provided medical care to Moore and identified his brother, Daniel Marquis Moore, 32, of Thurmond Street as the shooter, police said. As officers continued to provide life-saving measures to Ronnie Moore, other officers found Daniel Moore behind the house and arrested him, police said. Ronnie Moore was taken to a local hospital, where he was in critical condition Saturday, police said. Daniel Moore is charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, inflicting serious injury, police said. Daniel Moore was being held Saturday in the Forsyth County Jail with his bond set at $40,000. Officers are investigating the incident. Anyone with information about this shooting can call Winston-Salem police at 336-773-7700, Crime Stoppers at 336-727-2800 or its Spanish line at 336-728-3904. Crime Stoppers of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County is on Facebook. The Text-A-Tip program at 336-276-1717 allows people to text tips, photos and videos to the police. Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. When a student fatally shot another student at Mount Tabor High School on Sept. 1, fear rippled among the students at Jefferson Middle School, about two miles away. I was scared, said eighth-grader May Gao, who has friends who go to Mount Tabor. That struck home with me. May and a team of students at the middle school have channeled their fear from that day into a backpack design that they think could help stem the tide of school violence. The design was named a winner at the state level in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Challenge and will now move on to the national level. The five-person challenge team at the middle school will learn if they won in April. On Friday, members of the team showed the prototype backpack to Superintendent Tricia McManus, Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough and Mayor Allen Joines, naming their project a Call to Action. The team Zella Ann Cook, May Gao, Megan May, Shawn Chambers and Djibril Fall with guidance from teacher Mark Schnably have designed a backpack with a wand-style metal detector that is attached to the back of the pack. Individual cloth pockets one for each class attach to the other side of the backpack with a carabiner. The material in the pockets is thin enough to reveal the bulk of a weapon. As it is now, Zella Ann said, its easy for a student to hide a gun in a backpack made of durable nylon or canvas. In this design, the metal detector would stay attached to the backpack. If the metal detector is missing from a backpack, a teacher or administer would know to scan the bag for a possible weapon. There are still details to be worked out, including the name. Right now, its called the Sort-A-Pack but the students liked the idea of calling it a Safe Pack, as suggested by someone in attendance at the demonstration. There were also questions about the cost, how to replace missing metal detectors and how parents can play a role by scanning their childs backpack with the metal detector before school. The prototype intrigued Kimbrough. He asked the team to come to his office sometime and demonstrate it to his staff. The shooting has left such a mark on our community and you have the next generation of kids trying to figure out how to solve that, said Kimbrough, whose deputies work as school resource officers at most of the schools in the district. Thats very impressive to me. The ingenuity, the thought, the detail, that alone touched me. The school district considered having some schools require clear backpacks, however that was scrapped over privacy concerns. While some people in the community have called for the district to install metal detectors, that idea has never gained traction among district leaders or the school board. Seven guns have been confiscated from students in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools so far this school year. According to the national publication Education Week, there were 34 school shootings in 2021, 24 of which occurred after Aug. 1. McManus said she was impressed with what the students come up with and encouraged them to get feedback from other students. It could lead to something that helps not only our district but districts across the country that are dealing with weapons on campus, she said. Schnably, who has taught science at the middle school since it opened in 1999, said he told the team of students that when he was young, the biggest killer of his peers was car wrecks. Its hard to believe that they have to worry about this, he said. Want to see more like this? Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Journalists have been debating how to most effectively cover a defeated ex-president who lies as easily as he breathes and aspires to restore his reign by any means necessary. Donald Trump has an iron grip on his cultish party, so itd be a dereliction of duty to ignore him and the existential threat he represents. But by indulging him in an interview, does that not give him more oxygen? Im happy to report that Steve Inskeep at NPR found a way Monday to thread the needle. The solution is to over-prepare, give the listeners and the readers as much context as possible and push back in real time whenever the liar lies. For instance: TRUMP (still obsessing about the 2020 election): You look at the findings. You look at the number of votes. Look at Philadelphia. Is it true that there were far more votes than there were voters? INSKEEP: It is not true that there were far more votes than voters. Inskeep gave Trump air time to recycle his lie that he actually won Arizona but that it was stolen by voter fraud. But instead of letting the lie stand unchallenged, NPR checked in with Arizonas Republican election officials who recently conducted a ballot review and reaffirmed Joe Bidens statewide win. The posted NPR story says this: Republican officials in Maricopa County (the most populous and pivotal county) debunked the characterizations of Trump and his allies in a 93-page rebuttal issued last week. The people who have spent the last year proclaiming our free and fair elections are rigged are lying or delusional, said Bill Gates, the GOP chair of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. At another point in the interview which NPR had sought for the last six years Inskeep reminded Trump that he lost all of his post-election court cases. This exchange was revealing: INSKEEP: Let me read you some short quotes. The first is by one of the judges one of the 10 judges you appointed who ruled on this. And there were many judges, but 10 who you appointed. Brett Ludwig, U.S. District Court in Wisconsin, who was nominated by you in 2020. Hes on the bench and he says, quote, This court allowed the plaintiff the chance to make his case, and he has lost on the merits. Another quote, Kory Langhofer, your own campaign attorney in Arizona, Nov. 12, 2020, quote, We are not alleging fraud in this lawsuit. We are not alleging anyone stealing the election. TRUMP: When you look at Langhofer, I disagree with him as an attorney. I did not think he was a good attorney to hire. I dont know what his game is. He maligned one of his own lawyers, and didnt even bother to address the fact that 10 of his own judicial appointees had ruled against him in case after case (including his Hail Mary in Pennsylvania). All told, NPR accurately observed: Repeatedly in the interview, Trump presses his party to adhere to his point of view and false claims Thats a typical strategy among purveyors of disinformation and misinformation. And this was a fun exchange, Trump being unable to fathom how Biden won without drawing huge crowds in the midst of a pandemic: TRUMP: How come Biden couldnt attract 20 people for a crowd? How come when he went to speak in different locations, nobody came to watch, but all of a sudden, he got 80 million votes? Nobody believes that, Steve. Nobody believes that. INSKEEP: If youll forgive me, maybe because the election was about you. The interview was scheduled to last 15 minutes. But at the nine-minute mark, when Inskeep started to bring up the Capitol insurrection, Trump hung up. Inskeep exclaimed, Whoa whoa whoa, I have one more question! Alas, his guest had cut and run to the MAGA cocoon. Granted, the MAGA crowd doesnt listen to NPR or read its website. But journalists who have a laudable bias for facts have no rational choice but to do their jobs. As veteran Washington reporter Barton Gellman said recently, What were for as journalists is truth. And what were for as journalists is democracy. We are unambiguously in favor of our democratic system and of allowing the people to choose their own leaders. And the conundrum is that right now we have a political party that is bowing to authoritarian forces, that is systematically lying about the political process, about the election process itself. The only way forward as Inskeep demonstrated is to hold those forces accountable. Dick Polman, a veteran national political columnist based in Philadelphia, is a contributor to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. Email him at dickpolman7@gmail.com With COVID-19 cases soaring and local hospitals strained, city officials announced Friday that they are bringing back Lincoln's mask mandate. The mandate, which requires face coverings in all indoor public settings, will take effect Saturday and extend through Feb. 11. Lancaster County had a mask mandate throughout the fall, but officials let it expire Dec. 23, saying at the time that local vaccination rates were high and there were more tools available to both prevent and treat the disease. But that was before the omicron wave reached Lincoln. The highly contagious variant has led to soaring case counts. Lancaster County had nearly 2,900 cases last week, a pandemic record for a single week, and as of Friday afternoon had recorded 3,600 cases this week, including nearly 1,300 on Friday alone. Lancaster County's COVID-19 risk dial has been in the red, or severe, range for nearly two weeks, but Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Director Pat Lopez said conditions have "moved beyond severe to extreme risk." She and Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird both reiterated that people should limit their time in the community to only essential activities such as going to work or school, shopping for food or medicine, or going to the doctor. Lopez said now is the time for an "urgent community response." She said the tipping point that led to the decision to reinstate the mask mandate just three weeks after it expired was the local hospital situation. Even though the omicron variant has been shown to cause milder disease, the sheer number of cases is leading to more hospitalizations. On Tuesday, there were 142 COVID-19 patients in Lincoln hospitals, the highest number since December 2020. Numbers have declined slightly since then but remain at their highest levels in a year. Lopez said the hospital indicator used in the COVID-19 risk dial has been in the red for more than three weeks, and the rolling average of daily patients has risen from 113 on Christmas Day to 132 this week. As of Wednesday, only 8% of local intensive care beds were available. Another concerning factor is the number of virus patients from Lancaster County, which is nearing 100. The more local patients there are, the fewer transfers that Lincoln hospitals are able to accept, she said. Bryan Health on Thursday said it's been instituting many of its crisis care practices for several months now, including repurposing space, limiting elective surgeries and turning down many transfer requests. Bryan also said it was seeing a number of cases of COVID-19 among staff members, although thanks to the fact that nearly all of them are vaccinated, there haven't been any serious cases. Officials with the Lincoln-based health care system applauded the reinstatement of the local mask mandate. "We are doing all we can to provide care for all health conditions in the manner you expect from Bryan Medical Center and Bryan Health, and request your understanding that the level of service and access you typically would get is currently disrupted," pulmonologists Bill Johnson and John Trapp said in a joint statement. "We invite everyone to be a part of the solution," they added. CHI Health said it had not yet moved to crisis standards of care at its hospitals, but interim CEO Jeanette Wojtalewicz said its hospitals are "stretched thin," with increasing patient loads at the same time large numbers of staff are out either because they have COVID-19 or are quarantining because of an exposure. The total number of COVID-19 patients in Nebraska hospitals reached 671 as of Friday morning, which is an increase of more than 100 just in the past week. Gov. Pete Ricketts on Friday issued a directed health measure suspending elective surgeries at Omaha-based Nebraska Medicine after it said Thursday that it was instituting its crisis standards of care policy. "The hospitals are really full," said Dr. Eric Avery, president of the Lancaster County Medical Society. "The COVID cases are way too high, and it's up to us to do the right thing, right now." In addition to wearing masks, officials said doing the right thing means getting vaccinated if you haven't yet done so. Vaccines are "proven, they're safe, they're effective," Avery said. Lopez also touted the importance of booster shots. While she said she didn't have data on how many recent COVID-19 cases are in fully vaccinated people, she did say only 10% of the cases are occurring in those who have had a booster shot. Officials also said another instance of doing the right thing would be avoiding large gatherings. Gaylor Baird encouraged community groups to postpone meetings or hold them virtually, and she also said people planning to host events such as weddings or banquets should consider postponing them because people gathering in close proximity without masks is the way the virus spreads most easily. "It's time to get real, and for at least the next four weeks, I'm asking you to make some tough decisions," she said. The reinstatement of the countywide mask mandate comes just days after Douglas County's health director instituted one for the city of Omaha. Douglas County's health department does not have the same powers as the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department under state law, and on Thursday Attorney General Doug Peterson filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Omaha mandate. Lopez said she has not talked to anyone from the state about Lancaster County's decision to reinstate its mandate, but she reiterated the importance of the health department being able to make the decision on its own. "That ability to respond from a local level to our local needs is really critical, because we best know what our local situation is." The mask mandate being in effect for four weeks may be an indication of hope that the current omicron surge will subside by then. In other countries and in other areas of the U.S., cases have surged for four to five weeks, then started to subside. Lopez said Lincoln is now about two weeks into its omicron wave, but while omicron is the predominant variant, she cautioned that the county is still dealing with cases caused by the delta variant. Dr. James Lawler, co-executive director of the University of Nebraska Medical Centers Global Center for Health Security, said Friday in his weekly coronavirus video update that he expects the omicron wave to peak in Douglas County and much of eastern Nebraska in the next week to 10 days, with the rest of the state potentially another week behind that. He predicted that the peak in hospitalizations will occur about five to seven days after the peak in case numbers. Reach the writer at 402-473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LincolnBizBuzz. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A group of Nebraska public officials from across the criminal justice system Friday released the results of a months-long probe into the state's overcrowded prison system. The final report includes policy changes for state lawmakers to consider this legislative session. The effort, which was facilitated by the nonprofit Crime and Justice Institute and funded by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Pew Charitable Trusts, produced 21 policy options. Group members agreed that the vast majority of the options were worth further consideration, but the final report also reveals specific changes that prompted disagreement. The options are responsive to the data findings, provide an avenue for Nebraska to avoid additional spending over the next decade, and establish the ability to invest a portion of what would have been spent on new prison beds on measures to strengthen public safety and address behavioral health issues across the state, the report reads. The Legislature is already teed up to debate the ideas. Many senators attended a recent briefing where Len Engel, Crime and Justice Institute director of policy and campaigns, presented data findings, and lawmakers asked questions. And Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha, who chairs the Judiciary Committee and co-chairs the working group that issued the report, introduced a bill this week he said included the items in the report whether they had full agreement or not. "I regard it as a starting point for the discussion on criminal justice reform," he said. Some tension had already come to the fore ahead of the reports release, specifically about potential sentencing changes. Sen. Suzanne Geist of Lincoln, one of three legislators in the group, made her objections known publicly at the briefing earlier this month. The report was expected to be released beforehand, but Geist said she had asked for edits that hadnt been adopted, holding up its publication. After the presentation, Geist stood up and told senators in attendance that there was a philosophical difference, and she felt she hadnt been heard. Among her concerns, she challenged the idea that non-person, non-sex crimes are nonviolent. I feel like were being asked to classify non-person, non-sex offense or crimes as nonviolent, Geist said. Therefore, we change the sentence structure for that person and have a less long sentence for them. And theres a portion of us on the group that are not OK with that. She mentioned possession and distribution of drugs as an example of a non-person, non-sex crime that she took issue with. According to the report, one policy option that didn't get support from all group members is making possession of a certain amount of drugs, other than marijuana, a misdemeanor offense. The goal would be to separate people with a substance-use disorder who are using a personal amount of drugs from people with larger amounts who may be dealing. Drug possession was the leading offense at admission to Nebraskas prisons in 2020, according to the report. Some group members were concerned that the change would undermine problem-solving courts and other diversion efforts, according to the report. Another area of disagreement: providing judges guidance that consecutive sentences should be reserved for serious and harmful offenses. The data analyses showed that the use of consecutive sentences has increased significantly and that they havent been used consistently. And, it found that consecutive sentences were most often the result of discretionary decisions by courts rather than law. A recommendation to create a geriatric parole mechanism, where individuals are released at a certain age, was also among non-consensus policy options, and so was a recommendation to discourage mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent felonies. According to the report, the use of mandatory minimum sentences has more than doubled over the last decade, and time served for mandatory minimum sentences has risen by 42%. Among the 17 recommendations that did garner consensus (they're accompanied by specific potential policy changes in the report): * Establishing a streamlined parole process for nonviolent individuals; * Establishing supportive housing programs for people on supervision; * Narrowing broad sentencing ranges for burglary and low-level theft; * Expanding problem-solving courts; * Improving reentry practices; * Prioritizing restitution for victims of crime; * Increasing incentives for students pursuing behavioral health work to go to areas that are short on services; and * Standardizing the structure of diversion programs across the state and making sure counties have resources to administer them. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Kristi Egger, who retired this month after 32 years as an attorney in the Lancaster County Public Defenders Office, is running for the top spot. Egger, who filed Wednesday as a candidate for Lancaster County Public Defender, said she decided it was the right time to run. Joe Nigro, who has served two terms as public defender, has not officially announced whether he plans to run for reelection, although he has a campaign kickoff event scheduled in February. Both Egger and Nigro are Democrats. Egger, who worked for a year in the Hall County Public Defenders office before moving to Lancaster County, said she thinks its time a woman be considered for the office, and the county needs a public defender who's in the office and spends time in the courtroom. She said she has worked on all kinds of cases during her career and has the abilities needed to run the office effectively. I would be someone who would go to court, take cases and handle cases, she said. I would be in the office and able to answer questions of staff and attorneys. Id actually be there to supervise. She said its important for the public defender to be in court regularly to understand the issues that arise when defending cases and thats not happening now. Egger said she has a passion for mental health cases and that more needs to be done to find alternatives to incarceration for the mentally ill and substance dependent. She said she also would review the system in place to decide how cases are assigned in the office to reduce the number that have to be handled by private attorneys, which would save taxpayers money. The Lancaster County Public Defenders office was created in the early 1970s, and T. Clement Gaughan became the first elected public defender in 1974. He held the office until 1978, when Dennis Keefe was elected. When Keefe retired, Nigro was elected. Egger said diversity is important, and its important to have more women in offices of power. We should have been there from the beginning were more than 50% of the population, she said. So it seems to me Im just as capable as any man whos been a public defender, and we need to be getting ourselves into those positions of power. Egger is a lifelong Nebraskan who grew up between Firth and Hickman and graduated from Norris Public Schools, then from the University of Nebraska College of Law. She clerked at the Lancaster County Public Defenders office while in law school, before going to Hall County for a year. Reach the writer at 402-473-7226 or mreist@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSreist Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Once or twice each week, every week, Joseph Mullineaux, 99, slides on his bowling shoes at Mount Airy Bowling Lanes and does his best to throw some strikes. Joe Mullineaux fist bumps Neil Jenkins, a fellow bowler in the Friday Morning Seniors after bowling a 105 at Mount Airy Lanes Friday, Jan 14, 2022. Mullineaux, a WWII veteran, has been bowling with the group for the past seven years. (Dylan Slagle) On Friday morning about 40 members of his senior bowling league celebrated their friends birthday with a surprise cake covered in chocolate and vanilla frosting, as well as kind words. Advertisement As his daughter, Jeannie Rainer, brought out the cake, a big smile grew on Mullineauxs face. He was definitely surprised, Rainer said. Everybody came around and sang happy birthday. Advertisement Mullineax started bowling in his retirement and regularly gets in about three games a week. I was bowling in the womens league, so he decided to join the senior league, Rainer said. He really enjoys getting out and seeing people. His average score is 88, pretty good, according to his daughter. Alyson Rineer, operations director at Mount Airy Bowling Lanes, said shes happy to see Mullineaux actively bowling on a regular basis. He still gets up there like he would if he was 20 years old, she said. We enjoy having him very much. Born and raised in Damascus, Mullineaux moved from Texas to live with his daughter in Maryland about seven years ago. They live in Montgomery County, about 10 miles from the bowling alley in Mount Airy. Rainer said although her father doesnt hear very well, hes in pretty good shape physically. He is currently the oldest person who participates in Mount Airys senior bowling league. Hes been fit all his life, partly from serving in the Army during World War II, she noted. Advertisement Afternoon Update Weekdays Updating you on the day's biggest news before the evening commute. > Mullineaux stays active in the community in a number of ways, including regularly attending church and playing bingo at the American Legion Post 191 on Thursday nights. A lot of people know him, Rainer said. The COVID-19 pandemic was rough on him since he was pretty isolated for a while. The virus kept him from bowling for almost a whole year. In 2016 Mullineaux wrote an autobiographical booklet titled 93 Years of Living and Learning. I learned at an early age to be self-reliant, he wrote. I was the middle child in a family of six. Rainer said at 99 years old, her father has outlived all his brothers and sisters and even some of his nieces and nephews. Advertisement No one believes his age because he looks so young, she said. OMAHA Federal prosecutors are recommending against jail time for an Omaha-based social media influencer who filmed himself participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves and his team have recommended that Brandon Straka be sentenced to four months of home detention, three years of probation, 60 hours of community service and $600 in restitution. Straka has previously pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in the Capitol. He faces up to six months in jail and a fine up to $5,000, the sentencing recommendation says. Graves noted Strakas large social media following and his efforts to overturn the election. The sentencing recommendation says home detention rather than jail time is merited because Straka did not personally attack others or destroy property. Straka gained prominence in January 2018 with his #WalkAway campaign, which encouraged fellow Democrats to leave the party. Court documents indicate that a testimonial he posted that year garnered more than 41,000 likes and 890,000 views. Straka was in Washington on Jan. 4-6, 2021, to make speeches at various rallies. He was on his way to one of those speeches when he heard that the Capitol was being stormed, so he changed course and headed there instead. Once at the Capitol, Straka livestreamed his participation as he encouraged others to storm the building. He also egged on those around him who were trying to wrest a shield from a law enforcement officer. After leaving the grounds, he encouraged his Twitter followers to HOLD. THE. LINE. The message was liked and retweeted by thousands, the court said. In the days prior to Jan. 6, Straka told his followers that civil war was underway in the U.S. and that were not going to be peaceful much longer. But the recommendation also said that Straka was eager to be at the Capitol and that his comments afterward indicate that he didnt realize the gravity of his actions. The recommendation notes that the attack was an attempt to block the peaceful transfer of power, injured more than 100 law enforcement officers and caused more than $1 million in property damage. In a presentence interview with probation officers, Straka said that if he could go back in time, he would never have gone to Washington. He also described the attack as having a disproportionate impact on his life and business given that he has been convicted of a misdemeanor. A former hairstylist, Straka reported almost $680,000 in revenue for his #WalkAway nonprofit and political action committee. On Jan. 6, 2021, he had more than 660,000 Twitter followers. As of Thursday night, he had 498,000. Straka talked about the assault on the Capitol in a video the next day and rebutted claims that Antifa was involved. It was not Antifa; it was patriots desperate to be heard, he said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A tsunami has hit Tonga's largest island, Tongatapu, and reportedly sent waves flooding into the capital after an underwater volcano in the South Pacific exploded in a violent eruption on Saturday, sending a cloud of ash and gas steam into the air. A tsunami warning has been issued for the islands of Tonga. Tsunami advisories have also been issued for New Zealand's North Island and the west coast of the United States from California to Alaska, as well as Canada's British Columbia. Satellite imagery shows a massive ash cloud and shockwaves spreading from the eruption. Waves crossed the shoreline of Tonga's capital, Nuku'alofa, on Saturday, flowing onto coastal roads and flooding properties, according to CNN affiliate Radio New Zealand (RNZ). Tonga's King Tupou VI was evacuated from the Royal Palace after the tsunami flooded the capital, RNZ reported, citing local media reports that a convoy of police and troops rushed the monarch to a villa at Mata Ki Eua. Residents headed for higher ground, RNZ said, as waves swept the palace grounds, waterfront and main street. Ash was falling from the sky in Nuku'alofa on Saturday evening and phone connections were down, RNZ said. The Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcano first erupted Friday, sending a plume of ash 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) into the air, according to RNZ. A second eruption hit on Saturday at 5:26 p.m. local time, RNZ reported. Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said it recorded a tsunami wave of 1.2 meters (about 4 feet) near Nuku'alofa at 5:30 p.m. local time on Saturday. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said tsunami waves of 2.7 feet (83 cm) were observed by gauges at Nuku'alofa and waves of 2 feet at Pago Pago, the capital of American Samoa, Reuters reported. Warning for US A tsunami advisory is now in effect for the US west coast including the states of California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska, according to the NWS National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska. Dave Snider, Tsunami Warning Coordinator at the National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, told CNN, "We have seen the wave moving through Hawaiian Island." Current observations are that the wave is one-to-two feet high heading toward the US mainland Pacific Coast. The estimated arrival time along the California Coast is 7 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. Pacific Time. Speaking by telephone Snider noted, "We don't have a really good forecast because this event is based on a volcano rather than earthquake." Snider notes this is currently an advisory and not a tsunami warning in effect for the U.S. west coast following Tonga eruption. Read the full story: *** Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A Janesville-based nuclear technology company has signed one of the first contracts through the U.S. Department of Energy to expand the safe and domestic production of a material used in over 40,000 diagnostic medical procedures each day. SHINE Technologies is pursuing commercial procurement of Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), which decays into a medical isotope used to detect heart disease, cancer and other conditions. The company received a $35 million award from the DOE. Its also completing a 54,000-square-foot Mo-99 manufacturing facility in Janesville and merging with Fitchburg-based scientific equipment supplier Phoenix. In August, the DOE awarded $37 million to Beloit-based Northstar Medical Technologies also with the goal of increasing U.S. Mo-99 production. The aim is to make Mo-99 without needing highly enriched uranium, which can be used to make nuclear bombs and is imported from other countries. Instead, SHINE Technologies has a way of procuring Mo-99 using low-enriched uranium, company president Todd Asmuth said, adding that the material is safer to ship around the world with little risk of it being stolen and weaponized by other countries. The ventures seek to address a severe shortage of Mo-99 that occurred a decade ago, Asmuth said. The DOE contract provides SHINE with enough low-enriched uranium necessary to produce Mo-99 with requirements that any radioactive waste that cant be disposed of commercially be returned to the department. And the DOE award supports the companys move to full domestic production of Mo-99 in 2023 when construction on the Janesville facility is expected to wrap up, Asmuth said. Once finished, the facility will house eight nuclear fusion devices, which would have the capacity to produce up to 20 million doses of the isotope. Phoenix merger SHINE Technologies Mo-99 goals are part of a larger, four-phased effort to help create a more affordable, environmentally friendly future for the nuclear world. Merging with Phoenix achieves a company goal of creating and deploying products using nuclear fusion. Asmuth referred to the merger as a reunion SHINE Technologies was originally spun out of Phoenix in 2011. The companies came back together partly because Phoenix had employed nuclear fusion to make neutrons for industrial imaging purposes. The particles can pass through dense materials like metal. Fusion vs. fission Fusion is one of two types of nuclear reactions that create vast amounts of energy. Fission is the splitting of one atom into two, while fusion combines two or more atoms to make a larger particle. Neutrons can result from either reaction. Historically, fission required a complex nuclear reactor. But SHINE is using a simpler device that achieves fusion. Phoenix-procured accelerators require much less energy and run time, he said, which is more cost-effective. As efficiently as a nuclear reactor, they can not only produce neutrons, but Mo-99 and without highly enriched uranium. The nuclear technology companys next two phases involve finding innovative ways to recycle nuclear waste and produce clean energy. Phoenix has been and will be instrumental in meeting those objectives, Asmuth said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 RACINE A Milwaukee man has been accused of assaulting multiple people, including a man over the age of 60 in a Regency Mall bathroom and then a different man in the malls parking lot, in the span of a week. Jordan G. Springfield-Burnett, 24, was charged with a felony count of physical abuse of an elder person intentionally causing bodily harm, three misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct and two misdemeanor counts of battery. According to a criminal complaint: An officer was sent to Regency Mall at 5532 Durand Ave. around 3 p.m. on Dec. 27 for an elderly man being assaulted in the bathroom. Upon arrival, the officer saw the man telling first responders that he was in the bathroom when he heard someone enter and then stand behind him. He walked to the sink and then was punched from behind. He had a laceration on his cheek and an injury to his shoulder. After 1 p.m. on Dec. 29, an officer was sent to Regency Mall again for an assault in the parking lot. The officer spoke to a man who said that just after leaving the mall, he was assaulted by another man, punching him in the back of the head and face. The man was chased by security, but got away. Security believed it to be the same man involved in the Dec. 27 assault. On Jan. 2, an officer was sent to Home Depot at 2429 S. Green Bay Road for a man being assaulted in the north parking lot. Upon arrival, the officer spoke to the man, who said he was walking through the parking lot when he was approached by another man who asked him when the mall was closing. He gave an answer and started walking away when the man began punching him in the back of the head before fleeing. A sergeant conducted a follow-up regarding the three assaults. Later, the suspect was located near the southeast entrance of the mall. The suspect left the area and went to Americas Best Value, 5419 Durand Ave. The sergeant spoke to a front-desk employee who identified the suspect as Springfield-Burnett. On Jan. 4, Springfield-Burnett was taken into custody. When asked about the assaults, he reportedly replied: Things arent good right now. Springfield-Burnett was given a $500 cash bond in Racine County Circuit Court on Friday. A preliminary hearing was set for Jan. 19 at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave., online court records show. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 1 MOUNT PLEASANT In a response to numerous complaints regarding excessive speeding within the village, the Mount Pleasant Police Department has created a traffic unit specifically to enforce speed limits, along with other traffic violations. The traffic unit is expected to triple the amount of dedicated traffic enforcement within the village. The Mount Pleasant Police Department takes traffic-related complaints seriously and is dedicating resources to combat the problem, Mount Pleasant Police Chief Matt Soens said in a statement. The police department plans to focus on speeding along Highway 31 (Green Bay Road), Highway 20 (Washington Avenue) and Highway C (Spring Street). MPPD announced its plan to crack down to speeders in an attempt to warn drivers of this heightened enforcement. Our hope is to gain voluntary compliance in reducing speeds to minimize the amount and severity of injuries and property damage related to traffic crashes, Soens said. In addition, quality of life issues, such as excessive noise relating to traffic, may also decrease. In addition to monetary forfeitures, a speeding violation carries three points against a drivers record for violations up to 10 mph over the posted limit, four points for violations for speeds 11-19 mph over the limit, and six points for speeds 20 mph or more over the limit. In some cases, the points are doubled for probationary drivers. In Wisconsin, if a driver accumulates 12 points within a 12-month period, the drivers license is suspended. Additionally, most insurance carriers will increase premium amounts for drivers with a poor driving record. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 MADISON A Waukesha County judge on Thursday night sided with conservatives, ruling that absentee ballot drop boxes cannot be located anywhere other than at offices of local clerks and that no one other than the voter may return such a ballot. Such boxes were set up throughout Racine during 2020s election seasons. There has been no substantive evidence presented anywhere in the nation that drop boxes were used to carry out widespread illegal voting. The ruling by Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Michael Bohren, which will almost certainly be appealed all the way to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, hurts Democrats who had pushed for expanded absentee ballot use during the pandemic in 2020 when President Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump by fewer than 21,000 votes. It comes 10 months before Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson are up for re-election in races targeted by both national parties. Wisconsin state law is silent on drop boxes, leading to a push from Republicans who control the Legislature to pass legislation specifying where they can be placed. The elections commission has advised that local clerks can put drop boxes wherever they want, while some Republicans have said that is illegal. Supporters of ballot boxes will seek a stay of the ruling, said attorney Jeff Mandell, who is with the group Law Forward that represented Disability Rights Wisconsin and other groups in the case. He said the case ignores the law to achieve a political advantage. If it goes into effect, this ruling will prevent some people from casting their ballots, Mandell tweeted. The lawsuit is part of a multipronged attack on absentee ballot boxes by Republicans in Wisconsin. Republicans are also attempting to change state law to limit ballot boxes and force the bipartisan state elections commission to enact rules restricting their location. The Republican push against absentee ballot boxes comes after Bidens win. A Republican-ordered investigation into the election is ongoing, even after numerous lawsuits, recounts and other probes have upheld Bidens victory and determined there was no widespread fraud. Republicans have made similar moves since Trumps defeat to tighten access to ballots in other battleground states. The restrictions especially target voting methods that have been rising in popularity and erecting hurdles to mail balloting and early voting that saw explosive growth earlier in the pandemic. More than 40% of all voters in the 2020 presidential election cast mail ballots, a record high. The ruling, if it stands, means that no ballot drop boxes can be used in the upcoming Feb. 15 spring primary election featuring a bevy of local races. The spring general election is April 5. One of the defense attorneys told the judge following his oral ruling that the changes he ordered were contrary to a 2006 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said the rules of elections should not be changed close to when ballots are cast because it creates confusion. Bohren responded that he was confident the changes could be executed in time. Elections Commission spokesman Riley Vetterkind said staff and commissioners plan to review the courts order and consult with attorneys in coming days. Bohren ruled that absentee ballots could only be returned by mail or dropped off at the local election clerks office by the person who cast the vote, disallowing the practice known as ballot harvesting. Events such as Democracy in the Park, in which election officials accepted absentee ballots at more than 200 city parks in 2020, would be prohibited. The lawsuit brought on behalf of two Milwaukee voters by the conservative law firm Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty is opposed by the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, the Wisconsin Elections Commission, Disability Rights Wisconsin, Wisconsin Faith Voice For Justice and the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin. Bohren ruled that the commission had no legal authority to issue that guidance and ordered the memos it issued must be withdrawn within 14 days and not followed by local election officials. Luke Berg, an attorney for those challenging the current practice, said under current elections commission guidance a shoebox in the park would be legal for accepting ballots. Thats a ridiculous argument, countered Steven Kilpatrick, a justice department attorney representing the elections commission. Evers last year vetoed Republican bills that would have limited the location of absentee ballot drop boxes and who could return the ballots. There are two other lawsuits on the same issue. Former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, a Republican candidate for governor, made similar arguments in a case she asked the conservative-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court to take directly. It has not said whether it will hear the case and earlier ruled it would not take a ballot box challenge before it had worked its way through lower courts. A third lawsuit was brought earlier this month by a voter who seeks to overturn the state elections commissions rejection of a complaint he filed about ballot boxes. On Monday, Republicans on a legislative committee voted to force the elections commission to adopt formal rules on ballot boxes. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Killeen, TX (76540) Today Mostly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 81F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 69F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. A Baltimore County judge sentenced an Annapolis police officer to two years in jail with 18 months probation and suspended the entire sentence for stealing items from a Walmart Supercenter in Arbutus. Gerrard Lamont Williams Jr., 37, of Parkville, pleaded guilty Oct. 26 to a felony theft scheme between $1,500 and $25,000, a charge that carries a maximum penalty of up to five years incarceration and a $10,000 fine. Judge Robert Cahill Jr. ordered Williams to pay $3,643 in restitution to Walmart, the total amount of the five TVs and 60 items he stole between February and March 2021 while moonlighting as a security guard. Advertisement Baltimore County police wrote in charging documents in May that Williams was captured on surveillance video loading the items in his police car while wearing a vest that read police. Police charged Williams, who had worked evening shifts as a Walmart security guard since 2014, with stealing 55-inch TVs, a speaker, a Roomba vacuum, two AC units, soda, printers, clothes, medicine, diapers, a childrens movie, dog food and various other toiletries. Williams is banned from all Walmart stores as part of his sentence. Williams resigned from the Annapolis Police Department in November while under an internal investigation, Deputy Chief Stanley Brandford said Friday. The internal investigation is now closed, Brandford added. Advertisement Chief Ed Jackson declined to comment on Williams resignation. In May, Jackson said it was a sad day whenever police officers are charged with violating the law and Williams conduct was extremely rare among Annapolis police. Baltimore County States Attorney Scott Shellenberger said prosecutors sought jail time for Williams, who does not have a prior criminal record. Williams was released on his own recognizance when charged with theft on April 27 and has spent no time in jail. Williams was a member of a federal High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas task force, Shellenberger said, and placed the stolen Walmart items in his police car marked as a HIDTA vehicle. We felt this was particularly bad because he was using a police vehicle to hide stolen merchandise from his secondary employment, Shellenberger said. So we paid pretty close attention to the case. Brandon Mead, Williams defense attorney, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. 1. Yes. Raising the bar for future developments will boost the citys housing market. 2. Yes. It will help in newer areas, but more needs to be done to change Killeens image. 3. No. The new standards will just slow down homebuilding and drive away developers. 4.No. The ordinance will do little more than drive up the price of new homes in the city. 5. Unsure. Its hard to say what the effect will be until they have been in place for a while. Vote View Results KEARNEY COVID-19 changed education. When K-12 schools and colleges across the state were forced to close their doors, students and teachers were suddenly thrust into the world of online learning and instruction. This led to challenges and opportunities. Two years after the pandemic began, theres an increased emphasis on expanding access to online resources and more teachers are looking for ways to utilize technology in the classroom. As educators, weve definitely raised our game. We now are more literate in terms of online teaching skills, and its important that we continue that momentum, said Mark Reid, dean of the University of Nebraska at Kearney College of Education. Thats the goal of UNKs annual Tech EDGE Spring Conference. Scheduled for 7:30 a.m.-1:15 p.m. Feb. 12 in the College of Education building on campus, the event gives educators and administrators at all levels an opportunity to network and share ideas while learning more about digital equity, innovation in education and post-pandemic learning environments. Youll come away with a toolbox of skills that will help you be a better online educator and even a better face-to-face educator, because many of the strategies that are used in online environments can also be used in face-to-face classrooms, Reid said. The conference includes 11 sessions covering a variety of digital learning and teaching topics, including instructional strategies, visual technologies, artificial intelligence, research and equity and inclusion. The keynote speaker is Brad McLain, a social scientist who serves as director of corporate research at the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) and executive director for the Center for STEM Learning at the University of Colorado Boulder. McLains research focuses on identity development, diversity and inclusion in relation to STEM learning and career pathways, including the nature and impacts of transformative experiences and how such experiences may change our sense of self and life trajectories at different ages. In his role at NCWIT, McLain participates in research, research application and the creation of resources and strategies that organizations can use toward diversification and inclusion in workplace environments and cultures. Prior to joining NCWIT, he was an assistant professor of education at the University of Colorado Denver; an educational researcher at the Space Science Institute; a multimedia instructional designer in the online learning industry; a NASA educational lead for the space shuttle program, Division of Biological and Physical Sciences and Science Mission Directorate; and a social science researcher at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. An accomplished filmmaker and nationally recognized writer and speaker, McLain has served on the board of directors for the Jane Goodall Institute, STEM Space and Lake Travis STEM Academy. The Tech EDGE Spring Conference is free to attend, but participants must register at unk.edu/techedge Detailed descriptions of the presentations can also be found on the website. Conference sponsors are UNKs College of Education, the University of Nebraska System and University of Nebraska-Lincoln Tech EDGE. In the beer industry these days, the only constant is change. And at Karben4, the only constant is change and Fantasy Factory. To ring in 2022, the Madison brewery began its 10th year by bidding adieu to most of its regular beers that dont carry a gun-toting, unicorn-riding ninja cat on its label and putting just two new year-round beers beside Fantasy Factory. And its seasonal lineup will mostly be replaced by two new rotating-monthly series of beers aimed at very different audiences. Happy Fun Times is focusing on what owner and brewmaster Ryan Koga calls hype beers contemporary styles like hazy IPAs and fruited sours. The series, which drops monthly on the third week of each month, opens with a cold IPA a trendy style that actually made its Karben4 debut as a Fantasy Factory variety in the most recent mixed pack. The other monthly series, World Beer Tour, will drop a more traditional beer style from around the world on the first week of the month. This month is a wee heavy from Scotland, and Koga mentioned Finnish sahti, Irish dry stout, New Zealand pale ale, Belgian styles and lots of lagers, among others, as coming down that international turnpike. Each of the quickly rotating series will be brewed in 15-barrel batches, meaning most bottle shops will only get three or fewer cases of each beer, unless preorders justify doubling or tripling the batch, Koga said. The whole point is going to be turn and burn, he said. We want to keep it exclusive and fresh. And we definitely want it to be cleared out before the next months ideas come through. The steady backdrop against which all that turning and burning will happen are three really solid beers. You know about Fantasy Factory, probably the most distinctive IPA in Wisconsin and one that Koga hopes to position as a Wisconsin bar staple along the lines of Spotted Cow and Riverwest Stein. Joining it as a K4 year-rounder is the new Midwesty, an American lager brewed with pilsner malt and flaked rice an adjunct that is not out of place at all in this beer but precludes it from being the pilsner its label claims it to be. But it is a classic and very good American lager light in body but relatively malty with just a light kiss of hops. The label has supper club vibes, and this clean and easy drinking would feel right at home in that setting. The other year-rounder is Hawk Jones, a session IPA that debuted last fall as a tribute to Maj. Durwood Hawk Jones of the Wisconsin Air National Guards Madison-based 115th Fighter Wing. Jones died in December 2020 when his F-16 crashed in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan during a training exercise. The beer is a worthy tribute a bright, crisp and slightly hazy take on the style that succeeds where many session IPAs fail because of an unexpected crackerlike flourish in the malt profile. All of this is important, but the purpose of this column is not to just lay out the ins and outs of Karben4s lineup for 2022. Im here to tell you about Priest Prophet & King. This barleywine aged in a motley assortment of wine and spirit barrels was introduced as Karben4s anniversary beer last year, though it was not originally brewed for that honor, Koga said. The idea to use it for an anniversary release came in the grips of a pandemic that will cloud this years release as well. After its success last year, Koga decided to make it the first beer Karben4 brews each year; the 2023 version was brewed Monday. The beer then goes into a range of barrels selected by lead brewer and barrelmaster Sam Koelling for the rest of the year. The casks used in the first two iterations of PPK have aged bourbon, scotch, rum, wine, brandy and more, and some of them subsequently held coffee beans or maple syrup. This years batch is a blend of eight to 10 barrels, Koga said, all or nearly all different. Theres something fitting about barleywine a beer intertwined with time resting in those barrels in the brewery and maturing and growing, one might say, while the calendar pages turn. All the ups and downs and all the joys and the sadness or whatever from the whole year its kind of like our storybook, that this beer is sitting there aging throughout the whole year, he said. Priest Prophet & King Style: Barrel-aged barleywine Brewed by: Karben4, 3698 Kinsman Blvd. What its like: Due to their complexity and, usually, scarcity, barrel-aged barleywines are among the most sought-after beers in some beer geek circles. Some might call it life. One b-wizzle we see regularly around here is Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Barleywine Ale, though the mix of barrels used in Priest Prophet & King makes it far more complex. Where, how much: PPK is releasing exclusively at the Karben4 taproom on Jan. 18, both in four-packs priced at $25 and on draft, including a keg of the 2021 edition reviewed below. For reasons I can only assume relate more to the pandemic than to the beer itself, four-packs of last years PPK remained available in the taproom cooler into spring. That will not happen this year. Booze factor: A big beer to begin with, it absorbs even more alcohol during its barrel slumber. The 2021 edition came in at 10.5% ABV, though the 2022 recipe (and subsequent ones) will be tweaked slightly. Up close: OK, buckle up. The 2021 PPK samples of which were provided by Karben4 pours a somewhat murky chestnut brown with a tan head that lasts longer than most barrel-aged beers do. And you know youre dealing with something wild right off the bat, because the aroma comes out of the glass to meet you instead of the other way around. Its intensely boozy, with caramel, golden raisin and red wine notes most prominent. Hold your nose to your glass long enough and you can jot down a dozen other notes that emerge from the melange. A sip is a dive into layers of spirits; a vinous, sherry-like note leads the charge on my palate, but you should be able to pick out bourbon, rye and even rum notes, too. It is a sipper, no doubt, and the 16-ounce can is best shared with at least one other person. The barrels overwhelm the base beer some you do get some malty caramel, but I do wonder if this years (or I guess the 2024 version?) would be better served by a stiffer canvas to paint all these barrels onto. But this is a quibble; PPK is a tremendous beer that should inspire an annual winter visit to Karben4 for any Madison or even Wisconsin beer geek. Bottom line: 5 stars (out of 5) Got a beer youd like the Beer Baron to pop the cap on? Contact Chris Drosner at chrisdrosner@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @WIbeerbaron. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The UW Board of Regents will choose between a Milwaukee law firm leader and one of its own chancellors to be the next president of the University of Wisconsin System. Jay Rothman, chair and CEO of Foley & Lardner, and UW-Eau Claire Chancellor Jim Schmidt were announced Friday as the finalists for the job leading the states public university system, its more than 160,000 students, 39,000 employees, 26 campuses and $6.6 billion budget. Rothman and Schmidt offer two very different backgrounds. One has spent his career in the private sector, while the other has worked almost exclusively in higher education administration. The next System president will face an avalanche of competing pressures from lawmakers, faculty and staff, students, community members and Regents. State funding for higher education continues to decline, the COVID-19 pandemic marches on, and a growing share of the public questions the value and affordability of a college degree. Many campuses are grappling with enrollment decline and the Republican-controlled Legislature isnt shy in sending demands about how it believes campuses should be run. The finalists named Friday emerged from a search that yielded 44 applications, according to System data provided in response to a public records request. More than three-quarters of the applicants were men. Just seven were women. Ten of the 44 applicants did not report their race while 23 identified as white and 11 identified as a person of color. This is the Systems second try in hiring a permanent successor to Ray Cross, who led the System from 2014 through the first half of 2020. The Regents previous search failed when the sole finalist, University of Alaska System President Jim Johnsen, withdrew his name from consideration because of process issues that many attribute to the absence of faculty and staff serving on the search committee. Former four-term Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson, 80, has been serving as interim president though he recently announced he will resign March 18. The finalists will interview Tuesday with a Regent committee and some others, including chancellors and System executive leaders. Because of the extraordinary public input in the process, with more than 30 listening sessions held, there will be no public session with the finalists. The board expects to vote on the new president by the end of the month. Milwaukee attorney Rothman, 62, has worked in the private sector for decades. He joined Foley & Lardner in 1986, became a partner in 1994 and has served as chair and CEO since 2011. The international firm employs more than 1,100 attorneys and 1,000 staff. Rothman has lived in Wisconsin his entire life, except for the few years he attended Harvard Law School. He earned a bachelors degree from Marquette University. Rothman, in a Friday interview with reporters, touted his connections to the states business community and fundraising experience while serving on the board for Childrens Hospital in Milwaukee. He said his skill set in overseeing information technology, talent recruitment, legal affairs, finance and other aspects of the firm would translate well in leading the System. The System invited the Wisconsin State Journal and other news outlets to submit questions in advance of sharing the names of the finalists. The medias questions were not shared with the candidates, System officials said, and candidates were largely asked the same questions to ensure impartiality. Rothman described a non-hierarchical structure to his firm, which depends on the entrepreneurial skills of its partners. I suspect the same is very much true of leading the System, that you think about shared governance, and thats an important component of the System as I understand it, he said. I have functioned in that environment. Whether to increase tuition, and by how much, will be one of the next presidents biggest recommendations to the Regents. The Legislature froze rates for in-state undergraduates in 2013 and just lifted the freeze last summer, though Thompson and the board decided against an increase this school year. Rothman suggested looking at who has the means to pay for tuition but also said he would need to look at it with the Systems finance team. Asked how he would navigate the Legislatures sometimes hostile relationship with the System, he said he would meet lawmakers in their districts, continually share the Systems value with the public and foster relationships based on trust, transparency and honesty. Federal campaign finance records show Rothman has donated to politicians from both political parties. State campaign finance records show about $77,350 in donations mostly to Republicans but also to some Democrats, including Gov. Tony Evers. Rothmans term as chair at Foley is coming to a close, and he said he is ineligible for reelection. He said it was an opportune time to think about his next chapter. I have a passion for this state, he said. This is home for me. I want to see Wisconsin flourish. Eau Claire chancellor Hiring Schmidt as president would continue a trend of turning to internal candidates with academic backgrounds. The last two presidents, Cross and Kevin Reilly, led UW Colleges and Extension before their promotions. Schmidt, 57, took over as chancellor of UW-Eau Claire in 2013. The school enrolls about 10,000 students and employs about 1,300 staff. He spent the first half of his career in various administrative positions at Minnesota institutions, including a technical college. Nearly 40 years ago, Schmidt said he stood on the steps of the Minnesota state Capitol protesting a plan that would shift college costs from the state onto students. In his four years as an undergraduate at Winona State, he said tuition increased 146%. Students deserve an affordable education and, Schmidt said, he did not support massive tuition increases, but keeping in-state, undergraduate tuition frozen is unsustainable. Access without quality is no bargain, he told reporters. Finding a funding solution is the biggest conversation Schmidt said he would need to have with the Legislature, governor and Regents. If hired, Schmidt also plans to barnstorm the state to meet with civic and business leaders in his first 100 days, in a move similar to his pledge of meeting 50 CEOs in the Chippewa Valley region in his first 50 days at UW-Eau Claire. Schmidt, who has an MBA from the University of St. Thomas and a Ph.D. in educational policy and administration from the University of Minnesota, emphasized giving campuses more decision-making power, such as when to cut programs. He was one of the only chancellors to publicly push back against Crosss 2020 blueprint plan to cut some programs that are available at many campuses. The problem with the blueprint: it was top-down, he said. Its interesting, Im seeking to be UW president and one of the main things I want to accomplish is re-empowering the campuses to make these decisions. The approach maybe wouldnt make sense decades ago when Wisconsin covered 90% of campuses costs, he said, but now, when the state kicks in between 10% and 20% of an institutions budget, schools need more flexibility to focus on leveraging partnerships with local employers. Still, Schmidt recognized campuses need accountability. And hes accustomed to the reality of painful budget cuts, pointing to a voluntary separation incentive program he started, the first within the System that other campuses adopted in response to a $250 million budget cut. The move ended up eliminating 15% of the full-time positions on his campus. I know the UW System, he said. I have strong opinions about what works and what doesnt. I think I can hit the ground running. Regents President Edmund Manydeeds, who leads the committee that will interview both Rothman and Schmidt, said in a statement that either would be an outstanding leader for our university system. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 When representatives from Chick-fil-A described a proposal for a new restaurant in Manheim Township as the biggest in Pennsylvania, it may have conjured for some visions of a flagship location or special version of the chicken restaurants. But Chick-fil-A representatives also revealed the buildings footprint at the proposed location would be just under 5,000 square feet in size, roughly the same size as the Fruitville Pike Chick-fil-A. The Lititz Pike location would hold the moniker of biggest in state because of the propertys lot size of 2.5 acres, and its proposed three-lane drive-thru, they said. The three drive-thru lanes, and the large site needed to accommodate them, are part of a companywide move to expand and double down on its drive-thru business, which has boomed during the pandemic. Whether the restaurant is built - part of a nationwide expansion plan that calls for as many as 200 new Chick-fil-As in the next two years remains to be seen. The company hit a roadblock when township officials voted down a zoning request last week. There are options for moving forward, however. Battered plans Chick-fil-A sought to assure the township zoning hearing board last week that the Lititz Pike location would not cause the traffic overflow observed at its Fruitville Pike location in the Shoppes at Belmont. They stressed the 2.5-acre site would provide the room for three drive-thru lanes to handle peak demand times. While 2.5 acres sounds big, Chick-fil-A's sites are typically bigger than a McDonalds or Wendys, according to the commercial real estate site Net Lease Advisor between 1 and 2 acres. Standalone drive-thru buildings from those other familiar chains may take up a half-acre to an acre. The biggest-in-the-state label for the proposed site near the airport is not building, but property-wise, so we can handle the amount of queueing (for drive-thru service) and parking, and so on, said Justin Thornton, a civil engineering consultant for Chick-fil-A, at the Jan. 4 hearing. The 4,991-square-foot restaurant would be 2 square feet smaller than the Chick-fil-A at Fruitville Pike, according to county property records, and much smaller than the 9,300-square-foot building the company wants to demolish at 100 W. Airport Road that was a Hosss Steak & Sea House for 21 years. The company would use a new building design developed since the Fruitville Pike site opened in 2018, Thornton said. The new version emphasizes drive-thru and pickup service, which has grown significantly during the coronavirus pandemic, Thornton said. A development manager for Chick-fil-A, Brent Edmiston, said Chick-fil-A is looking to expand its market share, and expects to add up to 200 new restaurants in the next 10 years. This will be the largest site that I have in Pennsylvania, there will be no other site in Pennsylvania that will have that much queue within property limits, Edmiston said. The third drive-thru lane would also be the first in the state, he said. Whats next During the Jan. 4 hearing, the township zoning board rejected a central request from the Atlanta company a variance that would allow it to operate a drive-thru at the site. The townships zoning ordinance prohibits drive-thru restaurants in that part of the municipality. Variances of the type Chick-fil-A sought are difficult to win, said attorney Matt Creme, who was at the hearing to represent a client in a different application. Creme leads the municipal and land use law practice group at Lancaster County law firm Nikolaus & Hohenadel. Chick-fil-A has 30 days from the hearing to appeal the zoning board's decision in the Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas, or it could try to lobby the townships board of commissioners to change the zoning law to allow drive-thrus at the property, Creme said. I think those are the only two choices they have, or I think the third choice is to abandon this site, Creme said. Its unclear what led township officials to prohibit drive-thrus in the industrial zoning district where the site sits. Officials may have adopted the rule as far back as the early 1980s, when the development of Flyway Business Park was first approved. The business park layout, which provides a small access road off West Airport Road and Lititz Pike, may not be an ideal location for a busy drive-thru, as a neighbor to the south, Ephrata National Bank, argued at the Jan. 4 hearing. Zoning hearing board chair Dave Wood asked Chick-fil-A's attorney at the hearing why the company didnt first ask for a change to the zoning ordinance. An attorney representing Chick-fil-A, Tyler Prime, said the company was open to trying that, but it wanted to see if the zoning board was willing to grant them the other variances that would make space for the drive-thru first. When LNP | LancasterOnline asked commissioners whether they would entertain a such a change, township manager James Drumm responded on their behalf. The township certainly welcomes the possible redevelopment of the steakhouse property, he wrote in an email, but it would be premature to ask if the board would approve a change, before legislation has even been requested or evaluated. Traffic concerns A traffic plan can be a major component of a proposal like Chick-fil-A's, but one wasnt presented to the township zoning hearing board. Traffic is not really the purview of zoning board officials, Creme said. Developers have to share traffic, parking and access plans after zoning approval, usually before a planning commission, board of supervisors (commissioners, in the case of Manheim Township) or both. That process is part of land development, usually the second major step for a developer. I like to distinguish zoning and land planning this way: zoning is about what youre going to do, and land planning is about how youre going to do it, Creme said. But that doesnt preclude developers from sharing traffic plans, Creme said. Representatives for Ephrata National Bank, which has a branch next to the proposed Chick-fil-A, argued to the zoning board that Chick-fil-A talked about how it would manage drive-thru traffic on the property, but not how it will handle traffic to and from the site. According to data from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Lititz Pike at Airport Road averages 20,400 vehicles a day. Motorists can get onto the property by a small access road off Airport Road and Lititz Pike, and its also the only way they can get to the bank. That could affect the ability for customers and employees to get to the bank, its representatives said. The new year at Fort George G. Meade began with the arrival of a new sexual harassment/assault response and prevention program victim advocate. Gia Alves has more than eight years of experience filling a variety of sexual harassment/assault response and prevention roles. She served as a sexual assault prevention coordinator for two years before retiring from the U.S. Army in 2021. Prior to her role as a program coordinator, Alves spent six years as a victim advocate and program trainer for various Army units. Advertisement Gia Alves, the new Fort George G. Meade victim advocate, is ready to support individuals who experienced sexual harassment or assault through their healing process, Jan. 13, 2022. She has more than eight years of experience filling a variety of sexual harassment and assault response and prevention roles. (U.S. Army photo by Tammie S. Moore) After retirement, Alves pondered what the next phase of her life would entail. She decided she wanted to continue serving the Department of Defense community, while providing support to survivors of sexual assault and harassment. I felt there was no better path than to continue service in the capacity of sexual assault/sexual harassment position for those in need of a voice when they dont have their own, Alves said. Advertisement While Alves is the only garrison victim advocate, she is part of a larger Fort Meade sexual harassment/assault prevention and response network. Each of the Department of Defense tenant organizations on post have assigned victim advocates. The program is united, she said. All services fall under the same umbrella. We all work together to ensure victims are receiving the best services possible. A victim can report to any branch of the service, no matter what their service is. We work together for the good of the client. Senior Department of Defense leaders created a tiered implementation road map to improve the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response program with a focus on accountability, prevention, climate and culture, and victim care and support. The tiered change, implemented Sept. 2, 2021, allows government civilians to make unrestricted sexual assault and harassment reports. The unrestricted report generates an investigation into the incident. It also allows government civilians access to the program resources and support services. We have a hub of resources, Alves said. We coordinate with the agencies to get them the immediate and long-term care they need. We inform clients of their reporting options and their rights. We provide professional advocacy services by conducting assessments with the clients to determine their individual needs. The supporting services include, but are not limited to, care at Kimbrough Ambulatory Care Center, access to medical providers, counselors, chaplains, special victim advocates, Army Community Services, and the Family Advocacy Program. When unrestricted reports are made, the team can also coordinate with law enforcement, the criminal investigation branch, legal, and other post agencies. In addition, a victim advocate can help with obtaining protection orders. We can also link them to safe shelters, Alves said. We can accompany victims to medical treatment and court hearings. We do whatever we can for the unit and our victims working with our resources According to Alves, the bottom line is that across the installation victim advocates are here to help. Advertisement We are not here to judge; we are just here to guide you through the process and to a healthy path of recovery, Alves said. You are not alone. We really do care. There should not be a fear factor in coming to us. The Department of Defense will continue to roll out road map changes through 2030. These changes range from providing survivors non-chargeable leave to focus on recovery to removing prosecution from the change of command. We will build back the trust of our personnel through demonstrable progress, clear and enduring implementation mechanisms, increased transparency, and continued senior leader involvement, said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a memo accompanying the road map. To read more about the road map, click here DoD Actions and Implementation to Address Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment in the Military (defense.gov). To reach a victim advocate on Fort Meade, call the 24/7 helpline at 443-845-0876. Assistance can also be provided 24/7 through the DoD Safe Hotline at 877-995-5247. When: Hempfield school board meeting, Jan. 11, held at the district administration building and streamed via Zoom. What happened: Board member Justin Wolgemuth suggested changing the language in the health and safety plan to strongly recommend masking for asymptomatic students staying in school after a COVID-19 exposure. Currently, masks are required if asymptomatic, unvaccinated students choose not to quarantine. Background: During a standing committee meeting Dec. 21, the school board gave the administration authority to craft guidelines saying unvaccinated students or staff members that have been identified as a close contact and are asymptomatic can stay in school as long as they wear a mask, with no exceptions, instead of being required to quarantine. Board discussion: Since giving the administration authority to make changes to the health and safety plan, modifying it does not require a vote by the board. After discussing it, the board now wants to have the same policies for students regardless of vaccination status and asked the administration to change the language in the plan to support that. Quotable: I am just going to state the obvious here, which is I would hope that just like when you have a cold or the flu, best judgment is used, board member Pat Wagner said. Public input: A dozen community members spoke at the meeting, the majority dissatisfied with the new policy requiring masks for unvaccinated if they want to stay in school after an exposure. When I hear that we have different rules for the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, it feels like discrimination. It doesnt feel fair, district resident Tamatha Mitchell said. Testing clinic: The district has partnered with Quest Diagnostics to open a COVID-19 testing clinic at its administration building. The clinic is open Mondays and Fridays, and after the first day, Jan. 7, all appointments were taken. We are looking to expand testing days as long as we have the staff to do it, Superintendent Michael Bromirski said. The district does not get any revenue from offering this service, and it is planning to use Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds to cover costs associated with the new clinic. Yearbooks: The board approved a three-year contract with Balfour at a cost of $56,124 for yearbooks to be printed and sold to students from 2023-25. By entering the agreement the district receives a $3,000 technology grant from Balfour. Whats next: The administration will make changes in the health and safety plan and communicate it to the district shortly. Hempfield school board will meet for its next regular school board meeting Feb. 8. Attorney General Reverses Jim Crow, Pro-Segregation Opinions Outgoing Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring on Thursday reversed more than 50 legal opinions issued by predecessors during the Jim Crow and Massive Resistance eras that justified segregation, interracial marriage bans and other racist laws. Too many of my predecessors used this office to perpetuate injustice, Herring said at a news conference announcing the action. As a practical matter, the old legal opinions had been rendered moot by civil rights laws and Supreme Court cases outlawing discrimination. But supporters of Herrings action said it was important to formally renounce those opinions. ADVERTISEMENT Just like Virginia wiped racist, outdated laws off the books in recent years, so too should it wipe away racist, outdated legal opinions that supported and helped to implement those same laws, said Sen. Mamie Locke, a senior member of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus. Herring said the review going back more than a century was a massive project but as I saw that my time was coming to an end, I knew it was important for the commonwealth for us to get this across the finish line. Herring lost his reelection bid in November and will be succeeded on Saturday by Republican Jason Miyares. The opinions that have been overturned were used to support the states Massive Resistance campaign, in which Virginia employed a wide variety of tactics to fight off federal desegregation efforts, including shutting down public schools rather than allowing integration. In 1956, then-Attorney General J. Lindsay Almond, who later became governor, issued an opinion on proposed legislation and how it would aid the broader effort to save, as far as possible, the public school system from that serious impairment or destruction which mixing of the races would surely bring. In 1908, then-Attorney General William A. Anderson weighs in on how children of the Mongolian or Chinese race should be classified in Virginias segregated school system. After explaining that the law itself provides no direct guidance, he ultimately advises that it would be the duty of the local boards to prohibit the admission of Chinese children into any white school. ADVERTISEMENT I suppose there can be no question but that people of the Chinese or Mongolian race are in fact colored people, he wrote. One opinion advised county clerks on the best ways to ensure upholding Virginias interracial ban, which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned in the 1967 Loving v. Virginia case. In the 1920s, multiple opinions were issued to support Democratic Party rules that allowed only whites to vote in party primaries. These opinions, unfortunately, shaped the laws, life, and culture of the Commonwealth for too long, said Virginia State Conference NAACP President Robert N. Barnette, Jr., who called Herrings action an important step towards true reconciliation. Black history sites in 5 Southern states to receive grants Sites associated with Black history in five Southern states will each receive grants of $50,000 from the Southern Poverty Law Center, a liberal advocacy group based in Alabama, the organization said Tuesday. Officials with the nonprofit law center said the recipients were selected in consultation with members of the Congressional Black Caucus to assist with current and future programming. Grants were awarded to: _ The Mothers of Gynecology monument in Montgomery, which recognizes enslaved women who were the subject of medical experiments by Dr. J. Marion Sims, a white, 19th century physician credited as a key founder of modern gynecology. ADVERTISEMENT _ The Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts in Eatonville, Florida, named for the Black author and anthropologist who depicted African American life in the South in the early 1900s. _ The Thiokol Memorial Project, Inc., which recalls and honors the 29 people who were killed and 50 others who were hurt when a rocket motor factory exploded and burned in Woodbine, Georgia, on Feb. 3, 1971. _ The Fannie Lou Hamer Civil Rights Museum in Belzoni, Mississippi, named for a leading activist of the era. _ The Cecil Williams South Carolina Civil Rights Museum, located in Orangeburg, South Carolina, and the states only museum dedicated to the struggle for equal rights. Tafeni L. English, director of the Southern Poverty Law Centers civil rights memorial center, told a briefing that museums contribute to a more enlightened and empathetic society. As communities of all sizes around the globe confront racism, discrimination and oppression, the commitment of museums, to tell the stories of their communities, in addition to the commitment to diversity equity accessibility and inclusion, has never been more important than it is today, she said. Businesses React to Ruling Against Biden Vaccine Mandate For companies that were waiting to hear from the U.S. Supreme Court before deciding whether to require vaccinations or regular coronavirus testing for workers, the next move is up to them. Many large corporations were silent on Thursdays ruling by the high court to block a requirement that workers at businesses with at least 100 employees be fully vaccinated or else test regularly for COVID-19 and wear a mask on the job. Targets response was typical: The big retailer said it wanted to review the decision and how it will impact our team and business. ADVERTISEMENT The Biden administration argues that nothing in federal law prevents private businesses from imposing their own vaccine requirements. However, companies could run into state bans on vaccine mandates in Republican-controlled states. And relatively few businesses enacted their own rules ahead of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirement, raising doubt that there will be rush for them now. In legal terms, the Supreme Courts conservative majority said the OSHA lacked authority to impose such a mandate on big companies. The court, however, let stand a vaccination requirement for most health-care workers. The National Retail Federation, the nations largest retail trade organization and one of the groups that challenged the OSHA action, called the courts decision a significant victory for employers. It complained that OSHA acted without first allowing public comments, although administration officials met with many business and labor groups before issuing the rule. Chris Spear, the president of the American Trucking Associations, another of the groups that fought the OSHA rule, said it would interfere with individuals private health care decisions. Karen Harned, an official with the National Federation of Independent Business, said that as small businesses try to recover from nearly two years of pandemic, the last thing they need is a mandate that would cause more business challenges. But mandate supporters called it a matter of safety for employees and customers. ADVERTISEMENT Dan Simons, co-owner of the Founding Farmers chain of restaurants in the Washington area, said vaccine mandates are common sense. He requires his 1,000 employees to be fully vaccinated; those who request an exemption must wear a mask and submit weekly COVID test results. If your priority is the economy, or your own health, or the health of others, you would agree with my approach, Simons said. Administration officials believe that even though the OSHA rule has been blocked, it drove millions of people to get vaccinated. Companies that used mandates to achieve relatively high vaccination rates may decide that they have accomplished enough. Ford Motor Co. said it was encouraged by the 88% of U.S. salaried employees who are already vaccinated. The car maker said it would review the court decision to see if it needs to change a requirement that most U.S. salaried workers get the shots. Labor advocates were dismayed by the ruling. This decision will have no impact on most professional and white collar workers, but it will endanger millions of frontline workers who risk their lives daily and who are least able to protect themselves, said David Michaels, who led OSHA during the Obama administration and now teaches at the George Washington Universitys School of Public Health. For their part, labor unions had been divided all along about Bidens attempt to create a vaccine mandate, with many nurses and teachers groups in favor, but many police and fire unions opposed. Some unions wanted the right to bargain over the issue with companies. The United Auto Workers, which encourages workers to get vaccinated, said the decision wont change safety protocols such as face masks, temperature checks and distancing when possible for more than 150,000 union members at General Motors, Ford and Stellantis factories. Among 543 U.S. companies surveyed in November by insurance broker and consulting firm Willis Towers Watson, employers were split on what to do with their unvaccinated workers. Fewer than one in five required vaccination. Two-thirds had no plans to require the shots unless the courts upheld the OSHA requirement. Jeff Levin-Scherz, an executive in the firms health practice, said most companies with mandates will keep them because they are working. He said nothing short of a mandate can get vaccination rates to 90%, and you really need a very high level of vaccination to prevent community outbreaks. United Airlines was one of the first major employers to announce a mandate, back in August. CEO Scott Kirby has said that 99% of United employees either got vaccinated or submitted a request for exemption on medical or religious grounds. United declined to comment Thursday, but in earlier comments Kirby has sounded committed to the mandate for his employees because it was the right thing to do for safety. Airlines fall under a separate Biden order that required federal contractors to get their workers vaccinated. That requirement was not part of Thursdays Supreme Court ruling, but it has been tied up separately since early December, when a federal district judge in Georgia issued a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of the mandate. I would expect many federal contractors are going to wait and see because they dont want to implement something if they dont have to, said Christopher Slottee, an employment lawyer in Anchorage, Alaska. COVID-19 Pill Rollout Stymied by Shortages as Omicron Rages Two brand-new COVID-19 pills that were supposed to be an important weapon against the pandemic in the U.S. are in short supply and have played little role in the fight against the omicron wave of infections. The problem is that production is not yet at full strength and that the pill considered to be far superior, Pfizers, takes six to eight months to manufacture. While the supply is expected to improve dramatically in the coming months, doctors are clamoring for the pills now, not just because omicron is causing an explosion of cases but because two antibody drugs that were once the go-to treatments dont work as well against the variant. ADVERTISEMENT This should be a really joyous time because we now have highly effective antiviral pills, said Erin McCreary, a pharmacist and administrator at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Instead, this feels like the hardest and most chaotic stretch of the pandemic. The pills _ and other COVID-19 drugs, for that matter _ are being carefully rationed, reserved for the highest-risk patients. January is going to be a terrible month with a million cases a day, said University of North Carolina virologist Dr. Myron Cohen. Most people will do perfectly well, but we have to select out the people who wont and give them the drugs we have available. The Food and Drug Administration authorized the two pills from Pfizer and Merck late last month based on studies showing they cut the risk of severe disease and death when given shortly after symptoms appear. They are the first COVID-19 treatments patients can take at home, and thus could reduce the burden on hospitals. The U.S. didnt make the kind of mass purchases in advance that it did with vaccines. Because of the time it takes to manufacture Pfizers pill, Paxlovid, the company says it can supply only about 250,000 courses of the treatment by the end of this month. ADVERTISEMENT The U.S. has ordered enough Paxlovid to treat 20 million people, but the first 10 million orders wont be delivered until June. White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients said this week that the government collaborated with Pfizer to help speed up development of the pill by several months, and that officials continue to work with the company to look for ways to boost production. Pfizer said it is adding capacity: We expect to use our strong manufacturing capabilities and our extensive supplier network to continue to improve output rapidly. Mercks pill, molnupiravir, is easier to manufacture and available in greater quantities. But final testing showed it was far less effective than Pfizers pill and carried significant risks, including the potential for birth defects when taken by pregnant women. As a result, it is considered the last-choice option under federal guidelines. Merck said it has delivered 900,000 courses of the drug and is on track to ship all 3 million ordered by the U.S. by the end of the month. Since last month, the government has sent states enough Pfizer pills to treat 164,000 people, allocating them by population. That approach is coming under fire from some states with heavier caseloads. The amount allocated to New York _ enough to treat about 20,000 people _ is just not enough, said Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett. We need more of these drugs in order to make them alter the course of the pandemic and reduce hospitalization, she said. State guidelines generally recommend doctors give priority for the drugs to those at the highest risk, including cancer patients, transplant recipients and people who have lung disease or are pregnant. New Yorks guidelines also recommend prioritizing certain racial and ethnic minorities, given their higher rates of severe illness and death. States are distributing the pills differently. In Michigan, all initial shipments went to 10 pharmacies in the hardest-hit areas. Pennsylvania, Maryland, Texas and many other states have distributed the pills more widely, so that at least one pharmacy in each county carries the drug. Despite the strict prescribing guidelines, some patients have been able to get the pills through luck and persistence. Craige Campbell, a website manager from Desert Hot Springs, California, began leaving messages with his doctor immediately after testing positive for COVID-19 and developing a 101-degree fever. Despite having no underlying health conditions, he was soon able to get a prescription. The only pharmacy dispensing the drug was more than an hours drive away, so Campbell had a friend pick it up for him. I felt a bit privileged in a way, he said. The odds that it would land in my plate in the right amount of time were pretty extraordinary. At the same time, there is a shortage of antibody medications, the infused or injected drugs that can head off death and hospitalization. Only one of them, from GlaxoSmithKline, appears effective against omicron, and it, too, is being rationed. Federal officials are limiting shipments of it to about 50,000 doses per week. This week, the government announced it is buying 600,000 more doses, on top of 400,000 purchased in November. At the UPMC hospital system in Pennsylvania, the staff can treat fewer than 1,000 patients per week with antibodies, down from as many as 4,000 earlier in the pandemic. Doctors and nurses around the U.S. have developed complex means of deciding who should get the scarce medications, based on patients symptoms, their underlying medical risks, where they live and whether they are healthy enough to travel for an infusion. What do we have on hand? is the first question, said University of Maryland Medical Centers Dr. Greg Schrank. Among those therapies, whats the most effective and how can we direct it to the people that we know are of greatest risk? The increasingly complicated treatment picture comes as exhausted, frustrated hospital workers try to manage rising admissions. As of Sunday, nearly 128,000 Americans were in the hospital with COVID-19, surpassing the all-time high of around 125,000 last January. While fewer COVID-19 patients now require intensive care, the surge is pushing hospitals to the breaking point. Considering that threat, Pfizers pill arrived just in time, Schrank said. Its not going to turn the tide on the total number of cases, but it could really help dampen the impact on hospitals, he said. ___ AP Writers Bobby Calvan in New York and David Eggert in Lansing, Mich. contributed to this story. ___ Follow Matthew Perrone on Twitter: (at)AP_FDAwriter ___ 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. Da Vinci RISE High for At-Risk Learners Finds Itself At-Risk The COVID-19 pandemic has left a lasting impact on all students, but especially for those experiencing extreme obstacles to their academic success. Da Vinci RISE High, with campuses in Hawthorne, South Los Angeles, and Culver City, provides a comprehensive and holistic education for students who all too often fall through the cracks: students experiencing homelessness, extreme poverty, probation, or foster care. Founded in 2017, Da Vinci RISE High is one of only 10 schools in the nation to win an XQ Super School grant funded by Laurene Powell Jobs and Russlyn Ali to reimagine high school. RISE High currently serves 206 students from 61 zip codes in three sites that are co-located with nonprofit partners. More than 30 percent of its students require special education services. RISE High is part of the Da Vinci Schools (www.davincischools.org) network of free, public charter schools serving students in the Los Angeles area. Da Vinci Schools was one of only eight projects in the nation awarded a Wave III Next Generation Learning Challenges grant, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates and Hewlett Foundations, for innovation in college readiness and completion. The Da Vinci RISE High Student Support Services department employs a variety of mental health professionals and social workers to ensure that every student is supported on their life journey. These wraparound supports provide an important foundation for RISE students, with SSS team members providing daily welfare checkups, housing support, crisis intervention, mental health projects, food delivery, transportation, and case conference services to RISE students. ADVERTISEMENT RISE has been a great school to go to, said one RISE student who is a young mother in foster care. The support the Student Support Services team has given me has helped reduce my stress and anxiety around school. I just became a mom and they have supported me so much, giving me diapers, clothes, toys, and sometimes rides to school. I really love that it is a safe and comfortable place. I love RISE! Ironically, Da Vinci RISE High is at-risk of falling through the cracks itself because of rules around new state and federal funding programs that RISE is not able to access due to the unique configuration of the program. (RISE is classified as a countywide independent study charter school authorized by the Los Angeles County of Education). Theres a very real possibility that RISE will be forced to alter its model, limiting essential resources for students, due to a deficit of $450,000 for the 2021-22 school year alone. The overall situation is complicated and hopefully preventable, with a change in independent study funding and through investments by foundations, donors and others interested in supporting underserved communities. As the pandemic continues to upend the education system, Da Vinci RISE High is at the forefront of combining flexible education and social services to make a lasting change for L.A.s most at-risk learners. RISEs goal is not just to keep its doors open, but to help other schools who are serving a similar underserved population of students experiencing disruptions in their academic journeys. For additional information about Da Vinci RISE High or to help support RISE please visit https://dvrise.davincischools.org/ or contact Erin Whalen at [email protected] or 310-490-5100 The Biden Administration to Begin Distributing At-Home, Rapid COVID-19 Tests to Americans for Free The Biden Administration is Buying One Billion Tests to Give to Americans for Free; Online Ordering of a Half-Billion Tests Begins on January 19th; Builds on Significant Actions to Expand Testing Capacity and Increase Access to Free Testing Testing is an important tool to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Public health experts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that Americans use at-home tests if they begin to have symptoms, at least five days after coming in close contact with someone who has COVID-19, or are gathering indoors with a group of people who are at risk of severe disease or unvaccinated. To help ensure Americans have tests on hand if a need arises, the Biden Administration is purchasing one billion at-home, rapid COVID-19 tests to give to Americans for free. A half-billion tests will be available for order on January 19th and will be mailed directly to American households. ADVERTISEMENT There will be free tests available for every household, and to promote broad access, the initial program will allow four free tests to be requested per residential address. Starting January 19th, Americans will be able to order their tests online at COVIDTests.gov, and tests will typically ship within 7-12 days of ordering. To ensure equity and access for all Americans, the Administration will also launch a call line to help those unable to access the website to place orders, and work with national and local community-based organizations to support the nations hardest-hit and highest-risk communities in requesting tests. In addition to this new program, there are many other options for Americans to get tested. There are now over 20,000 free testing sites across the nation, including four times as many pharmacies participating in the federal pharmacy free testing program as there were in January 2021, as well as federal surge free testing sites, with more free testing sites opening each week. Millions of free, at-home COVID-19 tests have been delivered to thousands of community health centers and rural health clinics to distribute to their patients, with more delivered each week. In addition, the Administration provided schools $10 billion in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding to get tests to K-12 school districts. And, the Administration invested nearly $6 billion in ARP funding to cover free testing for uninsured individuals, and support testing in correctional facilities, shelters for people experiencing homelessness, and mental health facilities. Just this week, the Administration also announced that starting January 15th, private health insurance companies will be required to cover at-home COVID-19 tests for freeand made an additional 10 million COVID-19 tests available to schools nationwide, each month. Since January 2021, the Administration has taken significant action to dramatically increase the nations overall COVID-19 testing supply, the number of tests authorized for use in the U.S., and the number of places where Americans can get a test, while lowering costs for consumers and increasing access to free tests. This comprehensive approach has produced important results: Today, there are nine at-home, rapid tests on the market in the U.S.up from zero when the President took office. In December, there were more than 300 million at-home, rapid tests available in the U.S. market, up from 24 million in Augusta more than 10-fold rise. This month, the number of at-home, rapid tests available to the U.S. market will rise to 375 millionin addition to the free tests available through COVIDTests.gov. ADVERTISEMENT Distributing At-Home, Rapid COVID-19 Tests to American Homes for Free: This program will ensure that Americans have at-home, rapid COVID-19 tests available in the weeks and months aheadin addition to the number of other ways they can get tested. The Administration is quickly completing a contracting process for the unprecedented purchase of one billion at-home, rapid tests to distribute as part of this program. The Department of Defense, in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services, has already awarded several of the contracts that will result from this processwith over 420 million tests already under contract. Given the incredible volume of tests being procured and the diversity of manufacturers, additional contracts will continue to be awarded over the coming weeks. Ordering Process: Starting on January 19 th , Americans will be able to order a test online at COVIDTests.gov. To ensure broad access, the program will limit the number of tests sent to each residential address to four tests. Tests will usually ship within 7-12 days of ordering. Starting on January 19 , Americans will be able to order a test online at COVIDTests.gov. To ensure broad access, the program will limit the number of tests sent to each residential address to four tests. Tests will usually ship within 7-12 days of ordering. Distribution and Delivery Process: The Administration will partner with the United States Postal Service to package and deliver tests to Americans that want them. All orders in the continental United States will be sent through First Class Package Service, with shipments to Alaska, Hawaii, and the U.S. Territories and APO/FPO/DPO addresses sent through Priority Mail. The Administration will partner with the United States Postal Service to package and deliver tests to Americans that want them. All orders in the continental United States will be sent through First Class Package Service, with shipments to Alaska, Hawaii, and the U.S. Territories and APO/FPO/DPO addresses sent through Priority Mail. Ensuring Equity and Reaching Hardest-Hit Communities: The Administration is taking a number of steps to ensure this program reaches our hardest-hit and highest-risk communities. This includes prioritizing processing orders to households experiencing the highest social vulnerability and in communities that have experienced a disproportionate share of COVID-19 cases and deaths, particularly during this Omicron surge; launching a free call line, so that Americans who have difficulty accessing the internet or need additional support can phone-in orders for their tests; and, working with national and local organizations with deep experience serving communities of color, people living with disabilities, and other high-risk communities to serve as navigators, raise awareness about the program, and help people submit requests. The Biden Administration continues acting aggressively to further increase equitable access to free COVID-19 testing for all Americans, as testing needs arise. This includes: Requiring Health Insurers to Cover the Cost of At-Home COVID-19 Tests Starting January 15 th : On Monday, the Administration announced that, starting January 15 th , private insurance companies will be required to cover at-home COVID-19 tests. This means consumers with private health insurance coverage will be able to get these tests for free. Insurance companies and health plans are required to cover eight free at-home tests per covered individual per month. That means a family of four, all on the same plan, would be able to get 32 of these tests covered by their health plan per month. As part of the requirement, the Administration is strongly incentivizing plans and insurers to allow people to get these tests directly through preferred pharmacies or retailers with no out-of-pocket costs, with the plan or insurer covering the cost upfront, eliminating the need for people to submit reimbursement claims. On Monday, the Administration announced that, starting January 15 , private insurance companies will be required to cover at-home COVID-19 tests. This means consumers with private health insurance coverage will be able to get these tests for free. Insurance companies and health plans are required to cover eight free at-home tests per covered individual per month. That means a family of four, all on the same plan, would be able to get 32 of these tests covered by their health plan per month. As part of the requirement, the Administration is strongly incentivizing plans and insurers to allow people to get these tests directly through preferred pharmacies or retailers with no out-of-pocket costs, with the plan or insurer covering the cost upfront, eliminating the need for people to submit reimbursement claims. Making 10 Million More Tests Available to Schools Nationwide: On Wednesday, the Administration took new actions to increase access to COVID-19 testing in schools. This includes increasing the number of COVID-19 tests available to schools by 10 million per month to help schools safely remain open and implement screening testing and test-to-stay programswhich will allow schools to double the volume of testing they were performing in November 2021and supporting free testing access for students, school staff, and families through federal testing sites. These actions double down on the Administrations commitment to keeping all schools safely open for full-time in-person learning, and build on the historic investments the Administration has already made to expand school testing, including providing states $10 billion in American Rescue Plan funding to support COVID-19 screening testing for teachers, staff, and students and $130 billion in American Rescue Plan funding that schools can use on COVID-19 testing. In addition to these resources, at the Presidents direction, FEMA has been providing states, Tribes, and territories 100 percent federal reimbursement to support COVID-19 testing, including at schools. There was no federal support for testing in schools prior to the start of the Administration. On Wednesday, the Administration took new actions to increase access to COVID-19 testing in schools. This includes increasing the number of COVID-19 tests available to schools by 10 million per month to help schools safely remain open and implement screening testing and test-to-stay programswhich will allow schools to double the volume of testing they were performing in November 2021and supporting free testing access for students, school staff, and families through federal testing sites. These actions double down on the Administrations commitment to keeping all schools safely open for full-time in-person learning, and build on the historic investments the Administration has already made to expand school testing, including providing states $10 billion in American Rescue Plan funding to support COVID-19 screening testing for teachers, staff, and students and $130 billion in American Rescue Plan funding that schools can use on COVID-19 testing. In addition to these resources, at the Presidents direction, FEMA has been providing states, Tribes, and territories 100 percent federal reimbursement to support COVID-19 testing, including at schools. There was no federal support for testing in schools prior to the start of the Administration. Standing Up New Federal Surge Free Testing Sites: To help states and communities that need additional testing capacity as they battle Omicron, the Administration has rapidly stood up many new, federal free testing sites across the nation over the past several weeks. Already, there are 18 accessible sites operating in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Washington D.C.with approximately 20 additional sites opening soon. These new federal sites have been effective in ensuring our hardest-hit and high-risk communities have equitable access to testing, with initial data showing that over three in four tests at the New York and New Jersey sitessites that have been open the longesthave been administered to people of color. These actions build on the significant steps the Administration has taken since Day One on testing to: Thanks for signing up! News & Alerts by Email! Stay up to date by getting the latest LA Sentinel News and Alerts sent to your email inbox. Email Address First Name Sign Up LA County Reports Another 40,000-Plus COVID Cases; Hospital Number Up Again Another 40,000-plus cases of COVID-19 were reported in Los Angeles County today as the easily transmitted Omicron variant of the virus continued to make its impact felt, particularly in hospitals, where patient numbers continue to rise. According to state figures, there were 4,257 COVID-positive people in county hospitals as of Friday, up from 4,175 on Thursday. A total of 600 of those patients were being treated in intensive care, up from 586 a day earlier. County Department of Public Health officials said the 600 patients represents nearly 25% of all ICU patients in the county, topping the rate seen during the recent COVID infection surge caused by the previous Delta variant. During that summer surge, COVID patients only represented 20% of overall ICU patients. As of Friday, more than 80% of all adult ICU beds in the county were occupied, according to the county. Overall COVID patient numbers are still well below those seen last winter, when the number topped 8,000, but hospitals are still becoming strained due to severe staffing another other issues that limit the capacity of medical centers to expand their patient space the way they did a year ago. Health officials again urged residents to avoid going to emergency rooms unless absolutely necessary, and not go to the ER to get tested for COVID. ADVERTISEMENT As Omicron surges across L.A. County, there are mounting challenges and frustrations affecting so many, county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said in a statement. The enormous strain experienced by our health care personnel can be alleviated by reducing the transmission of the virus so that less people are seeking medical care. And while it may feel like there isnt much we can do to keep ourselves and others from getting infected, and that it isnt a big deal to get infected, neither are an accurate assessment of the current situation, she said. Avoiding non-essential activities where the risk for transmission is high because people are crowded together indoors and unmasked will reduce your exposures. Wearing a high grade and well-fitting mask will block COVID virus particles. And given that unvaccinated people are between two and four times more likely to get infected than those vaccinated, getting vaccinated and boosted will lead to less spread. With thousands of people seriously ill with COVID and deaths increasing daily, it is too risky for too many people to not continue to take precautions and make strategic decisions to minimize community transmission. The county reported 48 additional COVID-19 deaths on Friday, raising the overall death toll from the virus to 27,942 since the pandemic began. The 40,535 new infections announced Friday lifted the countys overall case total from throughout the pandemic to 2,172,008. The rolling average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus was 19% as of Friday. Ferrer said Thursday the rise in COVID patients is pushing the countys overall hospital patient population to levels rivaling those during last winters case surge. She said the daily overall patient census both COVID and non-COVID was about 15,000 in the county, close to last winters peak of 16,500. She also noted that rising hospitalizations are a natural consequence of rising case numbers, as are deaths, which are likely to keep increasing, even after infection figures begin declining. Ferrer again urged residents to avoid dangerous activities in the coming weeks, particularly those that are indoors and involve mingling with unvaccinated or higher-risk people. She also stressed that while the Omicron variant is easily capable of infecting vaccinated people, the shots are still proving to be effective in preventing infected people from winding up hospitalized. ADVERTISEMENT She called on residents to get vaccinated and obtain booster shots; wear upgraded masks such as N95, KN95 or KF94 varieties; and get tested, saying the county dramatically expanded testing availability after shortages two weeks ago that led to long lines at some test centers. As of Sunday, 80% of eligible county residents aged 5 and up have received at least one vaccine dose, and 72% are fully vaccinated. Of the countys overall population of 10.3 million people, 76% have one dose, and 68% are fully vaccinated. A winter storm could bring a few inches of snowfall and possibly a glaze of ice before precipitation turns to rain in the Baltimore area Sunday night into Monday, while as much as a foot of snow is expected in parts of Western Maryland. A winter storm watch is in effect in Frederick County and points west, where the National Weather Service cautions wind gusts up to 45 mph and heavy snowfall could produce blizzard conditions that limit visibility and make travel unsafe. That could be upgraded to a winter storm warning as the weather system approaches from the Midwest. Advertisement The storm is not expected to be as intense in Central Maryland, but forecasters still issued a winter weather advisory for the region, including the Baltimore area, from 1 p.m. Sunday to 1 a.m. Monday. The advisory warns snow and ice could yield slippery road conditions. Advertisement Meteorologists with the weather service issued a winter weather advisory for Central Maryland, including the Baltimore area Snowfall is expected to begin late Sunday afternoon and could continue into the early morning hours Monday. But as the storm progresses, an intrusion of warmer air in the atmosphere is expected to turn precipitation icy and rainy. Weather service forecasters are predicting a heavy burst of snow as the storm moves into the Baltimore region, but then a switch to sleet or freezing rain, and then plain rain, especially in areas along and east of Interstate 95. As of 1 p.m. Saturday, they were predicting 1-2 inches of snow along the I-95 corridor, with an inch or two more expected to the west and northwest, and less in areas bordering the Chesapeake. Here is our latest forecast updates for Sunday and Sunday night, including current headlines, most likely snowfall, most likely ice, and start time. pic.twitter.com/CJyS7zPW9L NWS Baltimore-Washington (@NWS_BaltWash) January 15, 2022 Anywhere from a few hundredths of an inch to a tenth of an inch of ice accumulation is forecast across the region. The weather service urged caution to anyone planning to travel in the region Sunday afternoon or evening, even if a winter storm warning is not issued for the Baltimore area. It must be noted that even areas which dont see warning level snow have the potential for a brief burst of very heavy snow before the changeover occurs, with rates possibly approaching those seen on January 3rd south of DC for a time, a weather service forecast reads. This could make travel very difficult during that time, most likely occurring late Sunday afternoon into Sunday evening. Advertisement In addition to the precipitation, forecasters called for a blustery Sunday. A high of 33 degrees during the day will drop slightly below freezing overnight, while winds gusting up to 23 mph during the day could accelerate up to 41 mph overnight. A mixture of rain and snow is expected to fall before 2 p.m. on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, while the likelihood of wintry precipitation decreases in the afternoon, according to the weather service forecast. A steady breeze of 11 to 21 mph could produce gusts of up to 40 mph as the day progresses. Forecasters arent calling for any precipitation after 9 p.m. Monday. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott urged city residents to try to take care of any errands on Sunday morning and strongly encouraged drivers to stay off the roads for the rest of the day unless absolutely necessary. The mayor joked that Baltimoreans could spend Sunday night relaxing at home cheering against the Pittsburgh Steelers, archrivals of the hometown Ravens, in their NFL playoff game against Kansas City. Baltimore Sun reporter Alex Mann contributed to this article. Friday, January 14, 2022 Similar to its federal counterpart, Colorado Rule of Evidence 901(a) provides that The requirement of authentication or identification as a condition precedent to admissibility is satisfied by evidence sufficient to support a finding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims. Typically, with drug evidence, the State satisfies the authentication requirement through chain of custody logs, i.e., documentation detailing every State agent who handled drugs taken from the defendant. Small problems with the chain of custody will usually not prevent the admission of drug evidence, but bigger problems create a barrier to admissibility. The recent opinion of the Colorado Court of Appeals, Division V in People v. Rodriguez, 2022 WL 120784 (Colo.App. 2022), falls into that latter category. In Rodriguez, Pedro Rodriguez was convicted of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and obstruction of a peace officer. According to the State, At some point during [a traffic] stop [by officer Chase Gardner], Rodriguez jumped out of the car and ran along the side of the highway. By then, two other officers had arrived to assist with the stop. Officer Gardner and another officer gave chase, and, during the pursuit, Rodriguez threw down a small plastic bag containing a white powdery substance. The officers quickly caught up to Rodriguez and, after they arrested him, Officer Gardner recovered the bag Rodriguez had discarded. After Rodriguez was convicted, he appealed, claiming that the State failed to properly authenticate Exhibit 1 -- the bag of drugs. The court turned aside the State's first argument as follows: The People say that Officer Gardner properly authenticated Exhibit 1 by identifying it as the substance that was in the plastic bag that Rodriguez threw on the ground. True, some evidence may be authenticated by testimony that the object is what its proponent claims. When the proffered evidence is unique, readily identifiable and relatively resistant to change, a witness can authenticate it by identifying the evidence as the item in question. Cardenas, 864 F.2d at 1531; see also Edward J. Imwinkelried, Evidentiary Foundations 4.08 (11th ed. 2020) (If the [evidence] has a unique, one-of-a-kind characteristic or combination of characteristics, the witness can authenticate the evidence by testifying that he previously observed the characteristic and presently recalls the characteristic.).... White powder is not unique, readily identifiable, or resistant to change. Thus, even acknowledging Rule 901s flexible standard, Gonzales, 44, Officer Gardner's testimony was not sufficient to support a finding that Exhibit 1 was what the prosecution claimed - the bag of white powder recovered during the traffic stop. The court then noted that drug evidence is typically authenticated through chain of custody. But the court the found that The only evidence concerning chain of custody was the following: On September 5, 2017, Officer Gardner picked up a bag of white powder from the side of the highway. He handed it to Sergeant Manzanilla and, according to his testimony, he never saw it from there. Sometime later, in response to a request for analysis from the district attorney's office, the police chemist picked up a CSPD evidence bag marked Exhibit 1 from the evidence room, tested the substance contained inside it, and determined that the substance was cocaine. Exhibit 1 was sealed when the chemist received it, but he had no knowledge of the circumstances under which Exhibit 1 was created, including who had previously handled the substance in Exhibit 1 or who had prepared and sealed the exhibit bag Finding this to be insufficient evidence of authentication, the court reversed Rodriguez's drug conviction. -CM https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/evidenceprof/2022/01/similar-to-its-federal-counterpart-colorado-rule-of-evidence-901a-provides-that-the-requirement-of-authentication-or-id.html Saturday, January 15, 2022 For the first time, a high-ranking official of the Assad regime in Syria has been found guilty of crimes against humanity, in particular, for overseeing the torture of thousands of anti-government protestors who were detained at the Al-Khatib jail near Damascus known as "Hell on Earth." Anwar Raslan was a high-ranking security officer under Syrian President Assad. He fled to Germany and claimed asylum, but was arrested in 2019 and charged with murder, torture, sexual assault, and rape. The German court tried him pursuant to the principle of universal jurisdiction which permits a State to exercise criminal jurisdiction over a defendant for crimes against humanity regardless of where the crimes were committed or the nationality of the defendant. Raslan was sentenced to life in prison. (cgb) https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/international_law/2022/01/syrian-colonel-found-guilty-of-crimes-against-humanity.html Some of the most competitive universities in the United States are facing a lawsuit, accused of violating an important business law. Sixteen schools, including Yale University, Notre Dame University, Georgetown University, and Columbia University are accused of working together to hold back financial aid from students. The lawsuit centers on universities that are part of the 568 Presidents Group. That is a group of colleges that were permitted to work together to keep common financial aid rules. The lawsuit, however, calls the schools a cartel. A cartel has a negative meaning. It is used to describe an illegal group that works together to make more money. Criminal organizations like drug gangs are often called cartels. Lawyers for five students filed the lawsuit on January 9. The students represent a group of 170,000 who, the lawsuit claims, paid too much for college since 2003. The lawsuit addresses two issues. The first is that the schools unfairly worked together to decide how much money would be offered to needy students. The second is that the schools did not always choose the best students. The schools chose students for reasons such as their ability to pay the full price of college. Universities will often accept the best students and then make a list of second-place students that may be accepted later. The decisions made about students on that list may be an important part of the lawsuit. Danielle Douglas-Gabriel writes about higher education for The Washington Post. She said the universities that chose students based on their ability to pay may have broken what is known as anti-trust law. This lawsuit is saying well, if these schools are engaging wealthy students in the ways in which we are showing you they are, then theyre not need-blind and therefore they are violating this statute and therefore violating anti-trust laws. Anti-trust laws are regulations that support competition in the marketplace. The laws do not permit companies, or universities in this case, to agree to sell goods at the same price. The students who filed the case say the universities worked together to eliminate price competition. The U.S. government allowed the 568 Presidents Group to work together to create systems to award money to students in need. In return, the universities agreed to accept students without first looking at their ability to pay. The lawsuit claims the universities violated this agreement. The lawyers also claim that some universities limited the amount of money given to needy students by keeping places open for the children of wealthy donors or graduates who could pay the full cost. The universities saved hundreds of millions of dollars. The lawsuit represents both students and parents who paid tuition. Spokespeople from several universities said their schools plan to defend themselves. They are following the law, they say. International students cannot receive financial aid from the U.S. government, but some do receive money from the universities who want to have a diverse student group. The lawsuit asks for a jury trial, a breakup of the 568 group, and that schools return money to students who were affected by the actions of the universities. Peter McDonough is Vice President at the American Council of Education. It is a group that works with 2,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. In a conversation with The New York Times, he said he does not think the schools will turn out to be in violation of the laws. He said he would be surprised to find that theres fire where this smoke is being sent up today. Douglas-Gabriel said she thinks the schools will work hard to get the courts to throw out the lawsuit. Its accusations could be very damaging. Harvard University is not named in the lawsuit because it is not a member of the 568 Presidents Group. Harvard did not join the group when it formed because the school said it wanted to make more money available to students. Im Dan Friedell Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English with additional reporting from Reuters. Do you think students will get some money back from their colleges? Tell us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. Quiz - Lawsuit Claims US Colleges Working Together to Limit Financial Aid Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz ___________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story lawsuit n. a process by which a court of law makes a decision to end a disagreement between people or organizations gang n. a group of criminals tuition n. money that is paid to a school for the right to study there engage v. to give serious attention to someone or something statute n. a written law that is formally created by a government eliminate v. to remove (something that is not wanted or needed) : to get rid of (something) diverse adj. made up of people or things that are different from each other Britain's Queen Elizabeth II removed Prince Andrew from all of his military titles and royal positions last Thursday. The move came after an American judge ruled that a legal action against the prince could go forward. Buckingham Palace said in a statement that Prince Andrews military affiliations and royal patronages have been returned to the queen. Patronages refer to positions in charities, military and civic groups that the royal family supports. The legal action against Andrew was filed by Virginia Giuffre, also known as Virginia Roberts. Last August, Giuffre took legal action the 61-year-old prince, saying she was forced into having sex with him in 2001, when she was 17. Giuffre said the attacks took place at the London home of Ghislaine Maxwell as well as properties owned by Jeffrey Epstein in New York and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Epstein was a wealthy financier who killed himself in a New York City prison in 2019 while awaiting his trial on sex abuse charges. Maxwell was found guilty last month of sex trafficking of young girls for Epstein. Andrew's lawyers have called the legal action "baseless" and accused Giuffre of looking for money. They argued that Giuffre signed away her right to sue the prince in a 2009 settlement with Epstein. The lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan to dismiss the case for that reason. Andrew told the BBC news service in November 2019 that he could not have had sex with Giuffre at Maxwell's home. He said he had returned to his house that night after a children's party. Judge Kaplan rejected the argument by Andrews lawyers. He said it was too soon to decide whether Giuffre and Epstein meant for the 2009 settlement to release Andrew. The judge also noted that he was not ruling on the truth of Giuffres allegations. He said the prince would be able to argue against Giuffres claims at a trial. Damages to the prince The allegations have damaged the prince's reputation -- the common opinion about him. Andrew had already stepped down from public duties after critics said he failed to answer questions about his ties to Epstein. Last Thursday, the queens office also said Andrew would no longer be known as "His Royal Highness." The office added that the prince is defending this case as a private citizen. Corvallis school board members are seeking public input on funding priorities as they prepare to draft the language for the renewal of the cur The Oregon State University Board of Trustees approved the presidential search timeline on Friday to name a new university president by May 27 Despite the urging of Illinois educators and strong bipartisan support from lawmakers, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he plans to veto a bill that would grant school employees administrative leave for COVID-19-related sick days for themselves and their children. In a Tuesday letter to the leaders of the states two largest teachers unions, the Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation of Teachers, Pritzker said, I have been very clear in stating that I will veto HB2778. Advertisement Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker at the Thompson Center in Chicago on Dec. 27, 2021, encouraging Illinoisans to get vaccinated and get a booster shots against the coronavirus. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune) While that continues to be my plan, I have also said that I agree with and support the purpose of the bill: keeping teachers and students safe and in school during this unprecedented global pandemic, Pritzker said. The School Employee Benefit and Wage Protection bill, which passed with strong bipartisan support from lawmakers in October, was championed by the states teachers unions, who said school employees with young families were being forced to use all of their sick days if they or their children contracted the virus or were required to quarantine. Advertisement While the bill has languished on the governors desk, Pritzker on Tuesday urged proponents of the legislation to work with him to address concerns voiced not only by my administration, but by local school districts, community colleges and universities across the state. Pritzker was slated to discuss the issue late Friday with union leaders including IEA President Kathi Griffin, who prior to the meeting said she hoped they could come to a resolution. If the bill is signed into law, it would require that COVID-19 administrative days be provided to any public school or college employee to be used for all virus-related absences, including illness and quarantining. The bill also provides paycheck protection for hourly employees, who would still receive their full paycheck if a school or higher education institution has to close because of a COVID-19 emergency. Opponents of the bill said last fall they fear its passage would have the potential to magnify an increasingly critical staff shortage at schools, and above all, could remove the incentive for educators to get vaccinated. But IEA spokeswoman Bridget Shanahan said Friday the benefit and wage protection provided by the bill only applies to education employees who are following the governors executive order, which means it would pertain to those who are vaccinated and those who are testing. We know school districts are sending people home, forcing them to take unpaid time off, because theyre out of sick time and need to quarantine, Shanahan said. We are in the middle of an education employee shortage. We dont have enough adults in our schools. Who is going to want to work in schools when theyre forced to take unpaid days off to keep students safe? She said school districts could tap into the $7 billion in federal pandemic relief funds afforded to Illinois schools to help cover the costs of the administrative days that employees would be allowed to use under HB 2778 for the absences. Advertisement The money is intended to help school districts keep students and staff safe, Shanahan said. The bottom line is quarantining helps stop the spread of COVID. Dan Montgomery, president of the IFT, who also was expected to huddle with Pritzker late Friday, said the teachers union has tremendous faith in the governor. All along, he has done a great job following the science and public health recommendations, so I hope we can resolve this issue, Montgomery said. We need to keep people working, and keep schools open, and thats just what were doing. Illinois state Sen. Cristina Pacione-Zayas, a Democrat from Chicago, and one of the bills co-sponsors, said she was perplexed by the governors reluctance to sign the legislation, especially as the Illinois State Board of Education is requiring all schools are fully reopened for in-person instruction. If were requiring people to be in person in school buildings when theres still quite a bit of activity with the virus, teachers should not have to dip into their sick leave or lose pay, especially when hopefully, well only need this law for a finite period of time, Pacione-Zayas said. Some have suggested that teachers should work this out with their employer. But if the state is saying teachers have to go back in person, teachers shouldnt have to rely on local decisions about whether theyre going to get paid, she said. Advertisement kcullotta@chicagotribune.com Twitter @kcullotta Guest Commentary The January anniversary few of us think about, but all of us should | Scott Fina In the beer industry these days, the only constant is change. And at Karben4, the only constant is change and Fantasy Factory. To ring in 2022, the Madison brewery began its 10th year by bidding adieu to most of its regular beers that dont carry a gun-toting, unicorn-riding ninja cat on its label and putting just two new year-round beers beside Fantasy Factory. And its seasonal lineup will mostly be replaced by two new rotating-monthly series of beers aimed at very different audiences. Happy Fun Times is focusing on what owner and brewmaster Ryan Koga calls hype beers contemporary styles like hazy IPAs and fruited sours. The series, which drops monthly on the third week of each month, opens with a cold IPA a trendy style that actually made its Karben4 debut as a Fantasy Factory variety in the most recent mixed pack. The other monthly series, World Beer Tour, will drop a more traditional beer style from around the world on the first week of the month. This month is a wee heavy from Scotland, and Koga mentioned Finnish sahti, Irish dry stout, New Zealand pale ale, Belgian styles and lots of lagers, among others, as coming down that international turnpike. Each of the quickly rotating series will be brewed in 15-barrel batches, meaning most bottle shops will only get three or fewer cases of each beer, unless preorders justify doubling or tripling the batch, Koga said. The whole point is going to be turn and burn, he said. We want to keep it exclusive and fresh. And we definitely want it to be cleared out before the next months ideas come through. The steady backdrop against which all that turning and burning will happen are three really solid beers. You know about Fantasy Factory, probably the most distinctive IPA in Wisconsin and one that Koga hopes to position as a Wisconsin bar staple along the lines of Spotted Cow and Riverwest Stein. Joining it as a K4 year-rounder is the new Midwesty, an American lager brewed with pilsner malt and flaked rice an adjunct that is not out of place at all in this beer but precludes it from being the pilsner its label claims it to be. But it is a classic and very good American lager light in body but relatively malty with just a light kiss of hops. The label has supper club vibes, and this clean and easy drinking would feel right at home in that setting. The other year-rounder is Hawk Jones, a session IPA that debuted last fall as a tribute to Maj. Durwood Hawk Jones of the Wisconsin Air National Guards Madison-based 115th Fighter Wing. Jones died in December 2020 when his F-16 crashed in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan during a training exercise. The beer is a worthy tribute a bright, crisp and slightly hazy take on the style that succeeds where many session IPAs fail because of an unexpected crackerlike flourish in the malt profile. All of this is important, but the purpose of this column is not to just lay out the ins and outs of Karben4s lineup for 2022. Im here to tell you about Priest Prophet & King. This barleywine aged in a motley assortment of wine and spirit barrels was introduced as Karben4s anniversary beer last year, though it was not originally brewed for that honor, Koga said. The idea to use it for an anniversary release came in the grips of a pandemic that will cloud this years release as well. After its success last year, Koga decided to make it the first beer Karben4 brews each year; the 2023 version was brewed Monday. The beer then goes into a range of barrels selected by lead brewer and barrelmaster Sam Koelling for the rest of the year. The casks used in the first two iterations of PPK have aged bourbon, scotch, rum, wine, brandy and more, and some of them subsequently held coffee beans or maple syrup. This years batch is a blend of eight to 10 barrels, Koga said, all or nearly all different. Theres something fitting about barleywine a beer intertwined with time resting in those barrels in the brewery and maturing and growing, one might say, while the calendar pages turn. All the ups and downs and all the joys and the sadness or whatever from the whole year its kind of like our storybook, that this beer is sitting there aging throughout the whole year, he said. Priest Prophet & King Style: Barrel-aged barleywine Brewed by: Karben4, 3698 Kinsman Blvd. What its like: Due to their complexity and, usually, scarcity, barrel-aged barleywines are among the most sought-after beers in some beer geek circles. Some might call it life. One b-wizzle we see regularly around here is Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Barleywine Ale, though the mix of barrels used in Priest Prophet & King makes it far more complex. Where, how much: PPK is releasing exclusively at the Karben4 taproom on Jan. 18, both in four-packs priced at $25 and on draft, including a keg of the 2021 edition reviewed below. For reasons I can only assume relate more to the pandemic than to the beer itself, four-packs of last years PPK remained available in the taproom cooler into spring. That will not happen this year. Booze factor: A big beer to begin with, it absorbs even more alcohol during its barrel slumber. The 2021 edition came in at 10.5% ABV, though the 2022 recipe (and subsequent ones) will be tweaked slightly. Up close: OK, buckle up. The 2021 PPK samples of which were provided by Karben4 pours a somewhat murky chestnut brown with a tan head that lasts longer than most barrel-aged beers do. And you know youre dealing with something wild right off the bat, because the aroma comes out of the glass to meet you instead of the other way around. Its intensely boozy, with caramel, golden raisin and red wine notes most prominent. Hold your nose to your glass long enough and you can jot down a dozen other notes that emerge from the melange. A sip is a dive into layers of spirits; a vinous, sherry-like note leads the charge on my palate, but you should be able to pick out bourbon, rye and even rum notes, too. It is a sipper, no doubt, and the 16-ounce can is best shared with at least one other person. The barrels overwhelm the base beer some you do get some malty caramel, but I do wonder if this years (or I guess the 2024 version?) would be better served by a stiffer canvas to paint all these barrels onto. But this is a quibble; PPK is a tremendous beer that should inspire an annual winter visit to Karben4 for any Madison or even Wisconsin beer geek. Bottom line: 5 stars (out of 5) Got a beer youd like the Beer Baron to pop the cap on? Contact Chris Drosner at chrisdrosner@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @WIbeerbaron. MILWAUKEE A Burger King robbery that left a Milwaukee girl dead was staged, and she was in on it, investigators allege in court documents filed Friday. Sixteen-year-old cashier Niesha Harris-Bracell was shot to death during the robbery Jan. 2. Video surveillance showed a man with a gun leaning into the drive-thru window and another Burger King employee opening fire on him. According to a criminal complaint, the man who leaned into the drive-thru window was Antoine Edwards. His 16-year-old daughter worked at the Burger King with Harris-Bracell. The three of them hatched a plan to steal money from the restaurant by staging a robbery. The night of Jan. 2, Edwards drove up to the drive-thru. Harris-Bracell was supposed to hand him the register but took too long. Edwards grew impatient and leaned into the window with his gun. Another employee who wasn't in on the robbery opened fire on Edwards and hit Harris-Bracell by mistake. The complaint charged Edwards with felony murder, contributing to the delinquency of a minor with death as a consequence and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Online court records indicated he was in custody but didn't list an attorney for him. Derrick Ellis, the employee who allegedly shot Harris-Bracell, was charged Jan. 6 with being a felon in possession of a firearm. He remains at large. On a recent morning at Loretto Hospital on Chicagos West Side, beds and recliners were lined up in the hallway of the emergency department. All 14 rooms in the ER were full, and the hospital needed a place to put patients during the afternoon rush. One patient was already lying in the hall. Hed been in the ER eight days, unable first to get a room upstairs and then, after hed healed enough, to find a care facility that would take him. Advertisement Other hospitals might be able to help handle the ER overflow, but redirecting patients isnt easy. The state has stopped Loretto from diverting ambulances to other hospitals, and the state also hasnt forced hospitals with more room to take more patients to even out the burden. Registered nurse Sandra Weeks confers with other members of the Loretto Hospital medical staff about patients in the emergency department on Jan. 12, 2022. The ER had eight patients on beds and recliners in the hallway Wednesday afternoon, with all 14 rooms full. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) The crammed hallways at the Austin hospital led the union representing some of its health care workers to hold a news conference urging other facilities to voluntarily accept transfers of patients from financially strapped safety-net hospitals like Loretto. We just dont have the room, said Wellington Thomas, an ER technician. Advertisement Lorettos struggles are just one sign of the way long-standing inequities in Chicagos health care community are affecting COVID-19s fifth surge. While hospital executives have joined others in saying they want to close the gaps, that ambition can sometimes seem at odds with the competitive nature of the health care industry in the Chicago area. I just feel like its one of the ways where theres a lot of talk about racial equity, but in some of the ways that could actually be affected, by helping poorer neighborhoods, its just not happening, said Claire Laurier Decoteau, a sociology professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago who has studied health inequity. Its also difficult for the public to know, in real time, which hospitals are in the most dire situations. What government data exists for each hospital comes from a snapshot taken a week or so earlier, and the Tribune found it can contain errors. Still, that federal data broadly illustrates gaps in available space, with some hospitals overflowing with patients and others, though busy, with open beds. Gov. J.B. Pritzker has asked, but not ordered, hospitals to delay nonemergency surgeries to help keep beds open. The state also said it has sent or is set to send roughly 2,000 state-funded workers to select hospitals across Illinois. Data from earlier this month suggests many of these workers did go to hospitals that had been reporting problems. But the Tribune also found some hospitals reporting serious space issues didnt receive help at that time, while some workers went to bigger hospitals that reported having more room. Medical technician Vance Roberson, right, puts a blanket over patient Moira Brownlee in a recliner where she had been waiting in the emergency department for about five hours on Jan. 12, 2022, for admission to Loretto Hospital. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) Pritzkers administration has said its doing its best to coordinate with hospitals while also praising health care workers dealing with staggering patient loads. They need help, Pritzker told reporters Wednesday, and Im doing everything that I can to support them as they tackle this latest surge. Advertisement Gaps in available beds Each day, most hospitals fill out online reports to the federal and state governments listing the number of beds they can staff and the number of beds occupied by patients. The state then totals the data each day for each region to see what percentage of beds remains available, in both inpatient wards and intensive care units. The state considers regions to be stressed if the rates fall below 20%, which has been the case in all of the Chicago area for weeks, if not months. State officials wont release daily data for each hospital, saying the law doesnt force them to release it and, regardless, they worry that changing numbers would confuse the public. The federal government does release some figures for each hospital, and, though the Tribune found errors, the data on 59 Chicago-area hospitals shows bed availability can vary. According to the data, nearly half of hospitals reported more than 20% of their adult ICU beds were available in the seven-day period ending Jan. 6. Meanwhile, nearly a fourth averaged less than 5% availability. That difference generally held true even when looking at the larger numbers of inpatient adult beds. In the same week, five hospitals reported no available ICU beds: Mount Sinai, St. Bernard and South Shore hospitals in Chicago, along with Amita Health St. Francis Hospital Evanston and Amita Health St. Joseph Hospital Elgin. All the other facilities that we have called, when weve tried, theyre all so full they cant accept our transfers due to space, said Rosenda Barrera, chief nursing officer at Amita St. Francis. Theyre having the same struggles too. Advertisement But the Tribune found the data is not well vetted. Stroger Hospital, for example, was shown for weeks as completely empty. Nobody caught that mistake until a reporter asked. NorthShore University Health System said its not sure why federal data showed its Evanston hospital had so many inpatient and ICU beds open, since its been running at or near capacity. Loretto also said its busier than the data suggests. Rush University Medical Center told the Tribune it had about 20% of its staffed inpatient beds and 33% of its ICU beds available Thursday. Federal data also indicates Rush has had some open beds. But a hospital representative said those numbers came after Rush extended its ER into its lobby and sent some patients, who were awaiting discharge, to another Rush facility. I dont want to give the picture that Rush has all these empty beds, said Angelique Richard, Rushs chief nurse executive. I do think we have put forth some creativity around how to expand and create capacity quickly while facing some of the same things that everybody else is facing. Long-standing inequities Even with some of the federal figures in dispute, theres little debate that some hospitals are faring worse than others, part of a generations-long racial and ethnic divide researchers have documented in access to quality health care. One reason for that divide: Hospitals can better grow and expand by chasing more lucrative groups of patients, not necessarily the sickest or neediest ones. Advertisement A purple hexagon marks a patient's room as positive for COVID-19 in Loretto Hospital's emergency department on Jan. 12, 2022. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) The Chicago hospital landscape includes large hospital systems, facilities tied to universities, and others that struggle to operate independently in lower-income neighborhoods. That mix has affected hospitals options in adapting to the pandemic crush. Hospitals that are part of larger systems say they have been able to transfer patients among their own facilities to try to even things out, while bigger hospitals have looked for ways to expand capacity. But for safety-net hospitals, the options can be more limited. Transferring patients to less busy hospitals carries risks: A patient could get sicker on the ride there, or a hospital could run out of space in the time it takes to complete the paperwork and travel. Some fuller hospitals, such as Mount Sinai and Holy Cross, said they arent often transferring patients elsewhere to make room, partly because bed availability across hospitals is so tight and constantly in flux. Some transfers do happen. Rush, for example, said it has approved the majority of the roughly 20 requests it has averaged each day since October. NorthShore said it has limited transfers from hospitals outside its own system but still takes some on a case-by-case-basis. Still, Greg Kelley, president of SEIU Healthcare Illinois Indiana Missouri & Kansas, said more transfers could help Loretto and other safety-net hospitals. When poor hospitals need to transfer patients, they all too often find that richer health systems ... wont take them, he told reporters at Wednesdays news conference. Advertisement Kelley singled out Northwestern Medicine, a health system anchored by the regions largest hospital, Northwestern Memorial, which confirmed it has paused taking transfers from hospitals outside its system. The most recent federal data shows Northwestern Memorial averaged nearly 200 open inpatient beds of the 940 it could staff, and about 24 of 115 ICU beds. That equates to about 21% availability for each metric, slightly above the state threshold signaling stress. Wellington Thomas, lead medical technician in Loretto Hospital's emergency department, performs a rapid COVID-19 test on a patient who had been waiting in a recliner next to the nursing station for about five hours on Jan. 12, 2022. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) Northwestern spokesman Christopher King said that in response to the latest surge the hospital has rescheduled 65% of surgeries and procedures that would require an inpatient bed. And he cautioned the federal numbers are a snapshot in time that dont reflect the fact that some beds are open only to certain types of patients, like for psychiatric care or womens health. King said Northwestern serves many lower-income Chicagoans and communities, noting that more than 40% of the hospitals COVID-19-positive inpatients live on the citys South and West sides. State actions When the pandemic hit nearly two years ago, Pritzker issued an executive order directing all hospitals to cancel nonemergency surgeries. In that order, he also directed hospitals to render assistance in support of the States response to the disaster. Now, with hospitals saying theyre in even worse shape than 2020, the governor has not gone so far. He recently asked, but didnt require, hospitals to cancel nonemergency surgeries. New York, by contrast, recently directed dozens of hospitals to suspend nonessential elective surgeries. Perhaps the biggest regulatory step the Pritzker administration has taken is one thats frustrated several safety-net hospitals: making them accept arriving ambulances even when they feel overwhelmed. Advertisement Before the pandemic, full ERs could get 911 dispatchers to divert ambulances to other hospitals. Now, with hospitals so busy across the board, the state wont allow that except for extreme situations, and some hospital officials who spoke with the Tribune said theyve tried to take that step but been denied. A state health department spokesperson said the agency is working with an industry trade group, the Illinois Health and Hospital Association, to encourage appropriate interfacility transfers. The hospital association told the Tribune no single entity makes the decision to transfer patients from one hospital to another. Rather, doctors at different hospitals and within a region often talk to one another when deciding whether to transfer patients. Typically, they transfer patients based on patients medical needs and not just to make room, said association spokesperson Amy Barry. That said, regarding the current transfer situation among hospitals, she told the Tribune: We know its a problem. Crystal Carey, emergency department director, checks on a patient who was boarding in the hallway awaiting admission to the hospital upstairs at Loretto Hospital on Jan. 12, 2022. Carey said the patient had been in the emergency department awaiting admission for eight days. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) Its not a new problem, either. WBEZ reported in June 2020 about problems overwhelmed hospitals had making transfers during the first COVID-19 surge. Since then, Chicago hospital leaders confirmed, an online dashboard has been developed for hospitals in the city to get real-time data on peers availability, but that information is less helpful now because so many facilities are reporting high patient loads. Even if its not coordinating transfers, the Pritzker administration said its trying to even things out by paying private staffing agencies to supply workers to hospitals in need. Advertisement But the Tribune found the state hasnt always sent staffers to hospitals reporting the lowest availability. Several smaller safety-net hospitals didnt receive help and four of them were reporting inpatient and ICU availability below the state threshold, signaling stress. The state health department did not respond to questions about how it distributed staffers. In the next week, 892 state-supplied staffers are to join 1,156 already placed at health care facilities or sent as part of special quick-strike forces. Loretto is one of the hospitals slated to get staff from the state, with 24 workers expected to arrive later this month to help handle whats become the worst surge yet for the hospital. ER patients often have waited four to eight days for rooms to open up elsewhere in the hospital, workers said. Some are discharged after spending all of their time in the ER. By Wednesday evening at Loretto, six more patients had joined the man whose bed was in the hallway. Paramedics soon arrived with another. To outfit a new bed for the arrival, nurses had to maneuver a recliner holding another patient into a tight space. Advertisement But there was good news for the man who had spent eight days in the ER: An ambulance had arrived to take him to a care facility. That left 21 patients in the 14-bed emergency department, and a waiting room full of others set to be evaluated. The Tribunes Brian Cassella contributed reporting. With her appointment as a Dane County judge in August 2020, Nia Trammell made history, becoming the countys first Black female judge. Its a distinction she doesnt take lightly, one heaped in responsibility. It was also a career path shed considered much earlier, and though shed had encouragement, she waited until her experience made the time right. Trammell, 49, was born in Adazi, a small village in southern Nigeria. She came to Madison at age 4 with her parents, who were students at UW-Madison. Her father ultimately worked in probation and parole for the state Department of Corrections, while her mother was a librarian in the Madison School District. She has traveled back to Nigeria, where she still has family, though its been more than eight years now. Its not an easy place to get to, and traveling there can sometimes be dangerous. But travel has always been an interest for Trammell and her husband, Geoff, and their three children, who range in age from 9 to 20 years old. I am looking forward to another trip back there, she said. I still speak the language, not great, but I understand my native language. The West High School graduate headed to UW-Madison, initially to pursue a business degree before realizing she was more interested in social justice issues and changed her studies to behavioral science and law. From there Trammell enrolled at UW-Madison Law School, having audited some classes there during her undergraduate days. She was drawn to employment and intellectual property law, and after graduation she spent nine years as a civil litigator at Michael Best & Friedrich in Madison. Trammell then turned to public service, becoming an administrative law judge for the state Department of Workforce Development. She traveled the state hearing workers compensation cases. I went to places that Id never even heard of, she said. It really allowed me to see the beauty of the state and also visit with people from all walks of life. After 11 years as an administrative law judge, Trammell was appointed deputy secretary of the state Department of Safety and Professional Services. Leaving law for management was a drastic change, she said, which lasted for about a year and seven months. Thats when she heard about an opening on the Dane County bench. Why did you decide to get back into law and become a judge? I was not the lawyer for the agency, and obviously I could always give my input, but I certainly missed the law a great deal. I had also been in discussions about maybe going back to my old job as an administrative law judge because I absolutely loved being a judge. So when I learned that there were opportunities for appointments in Dane County through the Evers administration it seemed like a no-brainer. As a young attorney, I had certain individuals in the community approaching me, asking me to consider either running for judge or pursuing an appointment. I never wanted to run for office or apply for a position or appointment not feeling that I was fully ready, so I did my homework. It took awhile, but the opportunity finally presented itself. When you set out in your career, did you ever envision being a judge? It seemed completely out of reach. I never saw images that looked like me on the bench really, at least not locally. I think at least within law school, its something that I had considered, but really didnt think that it was within reach and it wasnt until after years of practicing as an attorney that I then realized that it obviously was something in my mind to accomplish. And now that you have, you certainly have a place in history here. How does that feel? It feels good. Its remarkable. I think the first time that I walked into the courthouse, I was overwhelmed because it is an awesome responsibility. I just had to remind myself that there definitely was a place for me, I earned it, and that my responsibility was to do right by the community in terms of discharging my duties in a fair and equitable way as a judge. But I also knew that there would come with it a certain level of pressure and expectations in being the first. How has the first year on the bench been? Its been an amazing experience. There were challenges that presented simply because I came in during the midst of a pandemic. I think being able to get up to speed and have a full experience that most judges would have in ordinary times, it was lacking. But I think that what it forced many of us judges to do is learn how to be very self-sufficient and to get up to speed very quickly. For me, its really refreshing now that the courts opened back up and were able to have people coming to the courthouse. I think it certainly gives a much different dynamic when youre able to just look someone in the face rather than via Zoom. One thing that this entire experience has done for me is it has opened my eyes a great deal to many of the things that we are experiencing as a community. I think as judges, we get a birds eye view of a lot of the things that are happening in this community that most people would not get to see from the vantage point that we do. There are things as a community we can be very proud of. There are things that certainly there could be room for improvement. Just having served in the juvenile court, I saw a lot of things where I dont even know how to choose the words. Were experiencing some issues and crises in our justice system, and there are things that I wish we had a better handle on. What experience would you say has best prepared you for becoming a judge? The two primary experiences probably would be the work that Ive done as an administrative law judge, because I think what that job really allowed me to do is to have the one-on-one interactions with litigants. The work that I did at Michael Best, I think, gave me the broadest range of experience in terms of my exposure to different legal disciplines. But I also just want to add that the community experience that Ive had and the volunteerism that Ive been involved with, my civic life, definitely shapes who I am as a judge as well. I served on the (Madison) Police and Fire Commission. I also served on the (Madison) Equal Opportunities Commission. Ive worked with folks at the Urban League to understand the different challenges that people face when there are economic disparities and social justice issues that they face. Ive worked as a court-appointed special advocate serving abused children. Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. When Gary Nelson was arrested in November on misdemeanor battery and disorderly conduct charges, a previous hospitalization for COVID-19 combined with high blood pressure got him sent to the Dane County Jails COVID-vulnerable unit for people whose preexisting conditions put them at higher risk of serious illness. Yet the virus found him again, along with other inmates in the unit, when an outbreak struck that part of the Dane County Jail in the days before Christmas. During the bout, Nelson said he was coughing up black phlegm, had abdominal pain, no sense of smell and a runny nose. Everyone in that unit was sick, Nelson said over video chat from the jails COVID-positive wing, where he was taken after testing positive. If you test positive, they take you out and put you in a pod like this. But after they test positive, theyve already usually been on the unit for over a day or a day. I mean, thats full exposure to everybody. Shawn Knox, a diabetic inmate in the COVID-vulnerable unit who has hypertension and asthma, said that when he was infected he didnt get out of bed for a week and a half and suffered a bad cough and sinus problems. Knox has been in jail since November on a parole violation after he was arrested for theft, forced entry and disorderly conduct. I actually was kind of concerned if I was going to make it or not, Knox said over video chat. Everyone was tired, coughing everywhere, coughing up phlegm. It was scary. Earlier this month, the Wisconsin State Journal interviewed five inmates who had been in the protective unit about their experience with the outbreak. All detailed similar timelines for when the outbreak started and the extent of illness in the unit. All pointed to an increasingly crowded jail and changes to how inmates are tested and isolated upon intake as the likely cause. But the spread of the virus is by no means limited to that part of the jail. Amid Dane Countys ongoing surge of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations fueled by the omicron variant, the jail has seen a record number of positive inmates this month. To get a snapshot of the true extent of the virus spread among the countys incarcerated, the National Guard tested the jails entire population on Monday. Eighty-one inmates tested positive that day, according to the Dane County Sheriffs Office. Only six inmates declined to be tested, said Capt. Kerry Porter, the jails administrator. The jails population is also the highest it has been since the start of the pandemic. Measures to limit the number of people behind bars at the start of the pandemic brought the population down below 400 in the spring of 2020, Porter said. As of Tuesday, the jails population was 604, an abnormally high number for the wintertime, when that figure normally trends down. A crowded jail mixed with the virus swift spread has made it difficult to impose the kind of isolation for new inmates the jail did before omicron, Porter said. It has been a little tense, Porter said. That 200 or so people makes a significant difference for us. Protocol run over For much of the pandemic, new inmates were isolated for 14 days before being released into the general population unless they tested positive in the final days of that isolation. If an inmate on a housing block were to test positive, the rest of the block would be put on quarantine and told to monitor symptoms. But with more inmates and more illness, those kinds of policies are more difficult to enforce, Porter said. It just gets us bogged down to where we dont have any beds for people to go into, Porter said. Ideally, we would quarantine that area, and we have been able to do that in the past. But right now were really tight for space. After a visit from officials with Public Health Madison and Dane County on Jan. 3, recommendations from the health agency led the jail to change its policy to testing all inmates on intake and putting those who test negative directly into the general population. Inmates in the COVID-vulnerable wing said they noticed the change in intake policy as early as mid-December. Porter said it had not come into effect until this past week. Jason Natcone, an inmate in the wing, said for much of the pandemic the number of inmates in the unit could be as low as the single digits. All of a sudden, they just moved a bunch of people in here in mid-December, Natcone said. Within a week of them moving seven inmates in here, three people tested positive and they were moved. A fourth person tested positive, and the next day was moved, he said. Theyd kick them out and the next day theyd move more people in here. We were all exposed. Porter said it was likely an outbreak had struck the 24-bed COVID-vulnerable unit but that an increasing population necessitated using all available space. We needed to utilize those empty beds, and out of necessity, we moved other residents into that Pod who would not necessarily meet the criteria of COVID-vulnerable, Porter said. All residents who were moved into that Pod were tested and received a negative PCR test prior to being moved there. Hard pill to swallow One impediment to testing and isolating inmates at the jail is fear of being put in solitary confinement, which has been used as a way to separate those infected from others. All inmates interviewed for this story said fear of solitary dissuaded either them or others from reporting symptoms. In jail, you dont want to tell them youre positive because you feel like youre going to get punished, Natcone said. Porter said staff at the jail do keep a lookout for inmates who are hiding or not reporting their symptoms. It probably does feel like youre being punished, Porter agreed. Thats a hard pill to swallow when you havent done anything wrong. COVID-19 is not the first time solitary confinement at the Dane County Jail has been used for medical purposes. Due to a lack of medical facilities, inmates in the midst of mental health crises have long been put in solitary. New jail planned Reduction or outright elimination of solitary confinement in Dane County has been a longtime goal of proponents of consolidating the countys three lockups at the Public Safety Building, which is back on the countys agenda amid the record high case count. Competing proposals for the project are currently under consideration. One would authorize an additional $24 million in borrowing so the county can fulfill its original vision for a seven-story jail addition with 922 beds. Before the pandemic, that version cost an estimated $148 million, but rising construction costs have pushed that figure to $172 million. A second, cost-cutting proposal would eliminate a seventh floor from the building, resulting in 794 beds at an estimated cost of $155 million. That proposal would also redesign a medical area planned for the fourth floor. In recent county meetings, Sheriff Kalvin Barrett has said the chance that COVID-19 will not go away anytime soon only reinforces the need for the pricier option because it has more space. We want to make sure that we have the appropriate amount of space not just to house but to rehabilitate, but also to be able to be flexible in regards to our COVID-19 rules, Barrett told county officials at a meeting earlier this month. I believe 922 (beds) is a fair compromise, and I believe it will allow us to have some flexibility when we see these new variants that are going to increase our numbers, Barrett said. Eric Howland, a member and former president of MOSES Madison, a criminal justice reform group, said the jails dorm room-style living quarters make the idea of social distancing nearly impossible and that traditional, two-bed cells in a new jail could make the virus more manageable. Its a whole bunch of people in one room, Howland said of the dorm-style housing blocks. Youre sort of condemning people to be in that whole group and to have the same outcome. Inmates pleas While the inmates interviewed for this story are behind bars for offenses ranging from misdemeanors to serious felonies, Natcone argued that being incarcerated shouldnt preclude them from being protected against COVID-19. Natcone, who is awaiting sentencing for first-degree reckless homicide related to a 2019 high-speed crash in Madison, said hes frustrated that the jails policy has put people at risk. Just because were here doesnt mean we should be kicked to the side, Natcone said. We should all look at each other, extend helping hands and say, Listen, youre a human being and you need help. We should protect you. To curb the spread of COVID-19 in the jail, inmates said theyd like to see a return to isolation periods for new inmates and a reduction of the population. Theres no way to social distance in here, said Nelson, who is set to be out later this month on work release. You have communal toilets, communal bathrooms, communal water fountains. Its impossible. The only way to do it is to reduce (the population), and theyre not even trying. Speaking from the COVID-vulnerable unit, Chris Healey also said hes seen no effort to reduce the jails population. Theres a lot of people here that dont belong, said Healey, who faces felony battery and disorderly conduct charges. In the midst of COVID even a year ago, the people that they knew didnt belong here theyd prioritize (for release). ... Now almost everybody is full and theyre doing nothing to reduce the population. Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The Rock County district attorney has said that a Beloit police sergeant was using force that was both legal and appropriate when she shot and injured a man who had attacked her and repeatedly lunged for her gun. Sgt. Shannon Dykstra is on administrative assignment for firing her gun twice at Jorge Bautista Almaraz, striking him, on Dec. 15 in Beloit, according to the state Department of Justices Division of Criminal Investigation, which investigated the shooting. Bautista Almaraz, 29, was taken to a Janesville hospital and was eventually released after his injuries were treated, the district attorney said. Neither the police nor the district attorney released further details on how seriously Bautista Almaraz was injured. Dykstra was uninjured, Beloit Police Chief Andre Sayles said Friday during a press conference. Bautista Almaraz has been charged with attempting to disarm an officer and criminal damage to property for throwing himself at a car shortly before the struggle with Dykstra, the district attorney said. No charges have been filed against Dykstra, according to court records. It is clear that ... Sgt. Dykstra acted lawfully, District Attorney David OLeary said in a statement Friday. Sgt. Dykstra was repelling repeated attacks by Bautista Almaraz and was protecting not only her life, but the lives of any civilians who were in and around the vicinity of the incident and who were potential victims. The Division of Criminal Investigation completed its investigation of the officer-involved shooting, but OLeary said those reports wont be released until the conclusion of Bautista Almarazs criminal case. OLeary reviewed the reports, including body-worn camera footage, in coming to his conclusion that Dykstra was acting lawfully. Dykstra stopped to check on the occupants of a car that was damaged near the 1600 block of Prairie Avenue around 7:30 p.m. Dec. 15, OLeary said the reports show. The driver and passenger said Bautista Almaraz had thrown himself into the passenger side of the vehicle as they were driving. The car had a large dent in the door, and the side mirror was broken. The driver tried multiple times to talk with Bautista Almaraz to see if he was OK, but Bautista Almaraz didnt respond and walked away, OLeary said. Dykstra believed Bautista Almaraz was having a mental health issue, so she went after him to check on his welfare. As Dykstra spoke with Bautista Almaraz, he lunged at her and grabbed her gun. Bautista Almaraz had gotten a hold of Dykstras weapon, and a struggle ensued, OLeary said. Bautista Almaraz pushed her and grabbed at her waistband, Sayles said. Dykstra was able to push Bautista Almaraz away from herself, pull out her gun and command Bautista Almaraz to get on the ground, OLeary said. He ignored her commands. Dykstra backed away from Bautista Almaraz, but he repeatedly ran and lunged toward her, grabbing at her gun, OLeary said the reports show. Sayles said Bautista Almaraz was also trying to punch her with closed fists. Dykstra shot Bautista Almaraz after one of his lunges toward her, OLeary said. OLeary said Bautista Almarazs behavior threatened the lives of those around him, and he was shot as a direct result of Bautista Almarazs own actions. Sayles said Dykstra will remain on administrative duty as the Police Department conducts its own internal investigation of the shooting. He said department staff have several hundred documents to review. Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A Downtown Madison office building that houses Paisans restaurant was cleared Friday to reopen again after the citys building inspection agency last month ordered it closed for a second time because the property owner was not keeping up with required inspections of a degrading underground garage. In a letter Friday to the property owner, the citys Building Inspection Division said the common spaces of the 12-story structure at 131 W. Wilson St. were in a safe stable condition for public use following a monthlong second closure. Paisans co-owner Wally Borowski said the first-floor Italian restaurant planned to reopen Friday in a limited capacity with a smaller menu for carryout and a little in-person seating. We hope that will get us started, he said. Wed like to get back to something close to what weve been doing here at Paisans. The city initially ordered the property shut in September due to structural concerns in a garage raised in an engineering report, and occupants of the building constructed in 1971 reportedly feeling a shaking or swaying inside. The property management company, Executive Management Inc., had thousands of temporary shoring posts installed in the three-story, underground parking garage, which had been on the citys radar for years because of degrading conditions such as exposed rebar and fallen concrete. It was allowed to reopen in October, but the Building Inspection Division issued a second no-occupancy order in December, saying Executive Management failed to comply with city-required monitoring and inspection of the garage and shoring system. Restaurant sues The owners of Paisans, which was established in 1950 and moved into the Wilson Street location in 2006, took the issue to court, and a Dane County judge ordered the property owners to pay for the continual inspections and monitoring. Matt Tucker, director of the Building Inspection Division, said the company that installed the shoring posts inspected them on Thursday, which paved the way for reopening the building. He said he hopes the city wont have to shutter the structure for a third time. Executive Management did not respond to requests for comment Friday. Acceptable measures The Building Inspection Divisions letter on Friday said steps taken to resume inspection and certification of the underground parking garage are acceptable and ensure the structural capacity of the building has been sufficiently maintained. Under the new requirements to reopen, the shoring system needs to be inspected and certified every two weeks, and the condition of the entire underground garage, which remains closed, has to be monitored by an independent structural engineer at least once every three months, according to the citys letter. The city reiterated the shoring posts do not represent a permanent repair of the parking garage and are only sufficient to allow use of the building while a permanent repair is completed, which has previously been estimated would cost several million dollars. A shame Borowski said the restaurants owners are considering relocating, but added a lot of money was put into the Wilson Street location under the thought it would be a long-term investment that would slowly return profits year-over-year. Through the two closures, some employees of Paisans have been absorbed at the sister restaurant Porta Bella, he said, but others left to find work elsewhere. This is crazy, Borowski said. Weve been an ongoing restaurant for 71 years, and theres been so many people who have come through the doors here, our employees, our customers, and its just such a shame this has happened. Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Wisconsin residents on April 7, 2020, overwhelmingly approved Marsys Law, a constitutional amendment for crime victims. An impressive 75% of Wisconsin voters and all 72 of Wisconsin counties voted yes for Marsys Law, providing strong, enforceable rights for victims of crime. Marsys Law has changed the culture in our courtrooms to one where victims and their rights are at the forefront. That in and of itself is why Marsys Law has such broad support. But even with Marsys Law taking effect, that doesnt mean more resources arent needed to help crime victims become thriving survivors. The State Journals recent article Prosecutors, public defenders in staffing crisis highlighted some of the funding challenges facing victim service providers. Across the state, funding for victim services was stretched for a variety of reasons. The necessary closings with the pandemic increased the already enormous workload on our courts and victim services. The oversight of designated funding to ensure the rights afforded to victims in our constitution directly impacted victim services. Despite these challenges, Marsys Law has led to significant positive impacts. Just days after it went into effect: These are just a few of the many examples of Marsys Law at work. Each of these cases represents a victory for victims rights in Wisconsin and demonstrates the commitment of our courts, law enforcement, district attorneys offices and victim services to give crime victims additional rights, to require that the rights of crime victims be protected with equal force to the protections afforded the accused while leaving the federal constitutional rights of the accused intact. Those who work in the victim services field are true heroes and help make the rights of Marsys Law a reality for many survivors. It is clear Marsys Law has elevated the rights of Wisconsin crime victims. It is also clear that the expansion of services and access for victims cannot be maintained without proper funding. While it is encouraging that some progress has been made on that front recently, additional resources should be allocated to victim witness coordinators and victim services in general. This is a longstanding issue that predates Marsys Law. The overwhelming support shown for the new crime victims amendment should serve as a catalyst for enhanced investment. We are grateful to the more than 1.1 million Wisconsin residents who cast votes in favor of Marsys Law. We are also grateful to the countless victim witness coordinators, the Department of Justices Office of Crime Victim Services, victim service agencies, prosecutors, law enforcement and everyone else who has contributed to the implementation of the constitutional amendment. We know implementing this measure has required hard work from all of you particularly as the state continues to navigate the effects of the pandemic. Wisconsin supports victims rights. Policymakers should take note. Figueroa-Velez is the former executive director of UNIDOS Wisconsin: artmvfdesign@gmail.com. Pellebon is co-executive director and director of client services at the Rape Crisis Center of Dane County: dana.pellebon@thercc.org. David Hanaway didnt care or likely notice that the speed limit on Cottage Grove Road on Madisons East Side had been lowered from 30 to 25 mph. Hanaway was flying at 60 mph on the four-lane street, police say, when he slammed his sedan into an SUV, killing Mark and Kathy Brylski, a retired couple leaving a breakfast diner Dec. 14. Hanaway also died in the crash, and his passenger was injured. The 5 mph reduction in the posted speed limit didnt make a difference in the chilling and tragic collision. Nor are slightly lower speed limits on other thoroughfares likely to curb Madisons or Wisconsins scourge of reckless driving. In fact, turning more drivers into slowpokes might be having the opposite effect. It might put law-abiding people in greater danger. The Madison Police Department handled 14 traffic-related deaths in the city in 2021. That was virtually the same as the 15 in 2020. But those numbers represent a 40% increase in the five-year average, according to police. And the 15 fatal accidents in 2020 were the most in at least six years. Moreover, those numbers dont include car crashes on major highways and campus areas in Madison that other police agencies handled. All told, Dane County ended 2021 with 47 fatalities, the most in at least five years and 31% above the five-year average, according to preliminary data. About the only good news is that serious injuries in car accidents (not counting fatalities) handled by Madison police didnt increase last year. To her credit, Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway tried to address the issue early. She also is personally invested, having lost her 5-year-old brother and grandfather in a crash. Rhodes-Conway launched the citys Vision Zero initiative in the summer of 2020. COVID-19 lockdowns meant streets were almost vacant. But risky drivers exploited the open roads with little traffic, zooming down highways with abandon. Police across the country lamented a rash of speeding and crazy driving. The mayors goal was ambitious: to eliminate traffic deaths and severe injuries by 2030. Her plan included targeted traffic enforcement using crash data. We like that and want more. The city used to have a full-time traffic team in the evening. Those officers should return. Rhodes-Conway also has prioritized better public transportation, which could thin traffic at peak times if more commuters ride on convenient, modern buses. The city is making pedestrian crossings more conspicuous to protect walkers, and the city should continue to expand sidewalks in neighborhoods that dont have them. But speed limits as low as 20 mph? No thank you. In theory, more people driving slower allows extra time to brake or swerve to avoid accidents. Slower-moving cars also collide with less force, reducing the chance and severity of injury. Drivers might be more likely to spot pedestrians and bicyclists. But that assumes the worst risk-takers behind the wheel will comply. We doubt it. What if slower traffic makes impatient drivers more frustrated, causing them to drive more aggressively? That would increase road rage and irresponsible maneuvers. Traffic engineers have long held that realistic speed limits foster greater compliance. Driving at 20 mph on a neighborhood street feels like crawling. So does 25 mph on major four-lane thoroughfares. So does 35 mph on John Nolen Drive, which has six lanes and feels like a highway. And what happens if some drivers follow those limits while other dont? Vehicles traveling slower than prevailing speed are significantly more likely to get into accidents, according to a study by the Institute of Transportation Engineers. A better approach to stopping reckless driving is more enforcement of existing traffic laws. That might run counter to progressive calls for defunding police. But its the most promising way in the short term to make a meaningful dent in road deaths. Another good idea is better education and focus on young drivers. A relatively small yet scary number of chronic juvenile offenders has been stealing vehicles for dangerous joyrides. Property owners need to consistently lock their vehicles, garages and homes to thwart thefts. State and court officials should review consequences for bad driving, including drunken driving. Hanaway had been convicted of operating while intoxicated four times and was out on bond for two pending cases involving charges of fleeing an officer, battery and bail jumping. His passenger acknowledged using open intoxicants in Hanaways vehicle before Hanaway ran a red light, T-boning the Brylskis vehicle. Just a week after the Brylskis died, Shawnicia N. Youmas, 31, of Madison, a recent candidate for Fitchburg City Council, was charged with homicide by negligent driving in a crash with a motorcyclist last summer. Youmas is accused of speeding at 65 mph in a 30 mph zone and striking a motorcycle ridden by Wisconsin Public Media director Gene Purcell on a Beltline frontage road. In Waukesha, Darrell E. Brooks, 39, of Milwaukee, is accused of running down dozens of people and killing six. Madison police last week targeted a stretch of Packers Avenue on the North Side for four hours, stopping 24 drivers for speeding. Four offenders were going at least 65 mph in a 35 mph zone, and one was clocked at 85 mph. Declaring enough is enough, Milwaukees new interim Mayor Cavalier Johnson last month called reckless driving a public safety crisis. Hes touting red light cameras and software to identify license plates. He wants to make drivers education programs free, hire retired investigators to solve vehicle thefts, and intervene more with chronic violators. Slowing traffic to a snails pace isnt the answer. Speeding greater resources to traffic enforcement and crash prevention is a much better path. Wisconsin State Journal editorial board The views expressed in the editorials are shaped by the board, independent of news coverage decisions elsewhere in the newspaper. STAFF MEMBERS JASON ADRIANS, Editor SCOTT MILFRED, Editorial page editor PHIL HANDS, Editorial cartoonist COMMUNITY MEMBERS JANINE GESKE SUSAN SCHMITZ WAYNE STRONG I am writing to respectfully request that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources oppose Enbridges Line 5 pipeline reroute in northern Wisconsin. Having witnessed firsthand some of the painful destruction that Line 3 caused in neighboring Minnesota, I see more than ever that we must protect the fragile ecosystems of our state. An oil spill in the proposed Line 5 reroute area would threaten 186 waterways, including the Great Lakes, endangering the drinking water of millions. Skirting the boundary of the Bad River Band Reservation would severely violate indigenous sovereignty, putting tribal members and vital, unique habitats at great risk. Line 5 has already leaked 29 times. Gov. Tony Evers Task Force on Climate Change report contained 55 recommendations, including building no new fossil fuel infrastructure. With our climate crisis at a pivotal point, we must take decisive action. Allowing the Line 5 reroute would not support the phasing out of fossil fuel use -- it would extend the pipelines life for decades to come, through precious wetlands and waterways. Our DNR is in a position to make a significant impact for our state and, indeed, for our planet. I implore them to do so, for us all. Dianne Brakarsh, Madison TWIN FALLS Gov. Brad Little pitched highlights of his proposed budget Friday at the College of Southern Idaho. His plan would return taxpayer money while seeking to meet the challenges of Idahos growth that shows no signs of slowing, he said. I never thought wed be able to achieve the trifecta, which is record tax relief, record investments in education, and record infrastructure spending, Little said. Were just fortunate this year with our revenue and what weve done in the past. The governors budget hits a number of high notes, as the state has an unprecedented $2 billion surplus. A reduction in taxes was inevitable, he said, and the income tax reduction, he believes, was most fair to Idahoans who pay taxes. The tax rates would be lowered and Idahoans will see about 12% of their taxes or $75, whichever is higher come back in a rebate. Several legislators had made appeals to address lowering property taxes because those are on many homeowners minds. Little, however, said decreasing income taxes would serve more people more fairly. Were going to give money back to everyone who pays taxes and let them decide, Little said. He said he anticipates the Legislature will revisit the circuit breaker property tax exemptions for the elderly and those on a fixed income in future budgets. The budget calls for the most significant increase in education spending in state history. Funding schools is a constitutional obligation and a moral one, the governor said. Ive been pretty solid about where I am as far as the necessity to continue to invest in education, Little said. By proposing a significant increase in literacy funding, Little would allow local school districts the ability to adapt their programs to get kids reading proficiently by the third grade. For some districts, that may look like all-day kindergarten. If other districts dont have the staffing for all-day kindergarten, they can devise other appropriate solutions for the students to bring reading proficiency up. Little said this will give local districts the ability to get their students literacy proficiency up as specified by Idaho Reading Indicator results. A significant portion of education spending is the proposed acceleration of the career ladder for teachers, catching up compensation to where it would have been without the freeze from the pandemic. The budget also calls for giving teachers a $1,000 bonus and equalizing health care benefits across the state. It will keep us from losing good teachers in some of these rural areas to other areas because they just arent competitive in the health care (area), Little said. Little spoke about the need for health care workers and health care infrastructure across the state. His budget would create 14 new health care residencies in the state, and boost the number of students in health fields at Idahos colleges and universities. The budget also invests significantly in transportation repairs and sets the state on track to address the deferred maintenance backlog for state buildings, two things Little said would help keep Idaho in a good financial position in the future. If I fix bridges, if I fix buildings, if I pay off notes, that means the general fund is going to be safe and secure, Little said, and we can continue to make prudent long term investments in K-12, and community colleges, and universities, and all the things that we need to do. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 As the search for the Humboldt Park Lagoon alligator continues and the new horror movie Crawl claws its way into theaters, heres our list of ravenous reptiles, ranked in order from scariest to silliest. 1) Alligator (1980) Two-time Oscar-nominated screenwriter John Sayles penned this gruesomely entertaining monster mash about a baby gator named Ramon who gets flushed down a toilet and mutates into a 36-foot behemoth lurking in the Chicago sewer system. When his appetite for human flesh gets the better of him, Ramon bursts through the sidewalk and chows down on a horde of terrified locals. Featuring colorful performances from cult film superstars Robert Forster and Henry Silva, plus witty direction from the ever-dependable Lewis Teague, Alligator is more than just the best rampaging reptile movie on this list; Its one of the finest B-movies of the 80s. Advertisement 2) Rogue (2007) Two years after shocking audiences with his acclaimed outback thriller Wolf Creek, Australian writer/director Greg McLean unleashed a new cinematic nightmare, this time about a gargantuan saltwater crocodile that devours a group of vacationers on a river cruise in Kakadu National Park. The films horrific attack scenes are powerfully intense, and McLeans feel for the natural beauty of Australias Northern Territory gives Rogue more weight than one might expect. Although highly fictionalized, the films story was inspired by an actual crocodile that terrorized boaters in the area during the late 70s. 3) Lake Placid (1999) Its rare for a giant crocodile movie to include A-list actors like Bill Pullman, Bridget Fonda, Brendan Gleeson, and Oliver Platt, but Lake Placid earns the honor thanks to a memorable script by David E. Kelley and energetic direction from frequent horror helmer Steve Miner. When a twisted old lady (hilariously played by Betty White) decides to feed a few cows to a 30-foot saltwater croc thats been living in a Maine lake, she puts the tourist population in grave peril, and only a fearless fish and game officer and a plucky paleontologist can set things right again. Deftly blending quirky comedy with perfectly-timed jump scares, Lake Placid is a gory treat. Advertisement 4) Eaten Alive (1976) Master of mayhem Tobe Hooper followed up his iconic hit The Texas Chain Saw Massacre with this stylishly grotesque film about a psychotic hotel manager who slaughters his unlucky guests with a rusty scythe and then feeds their bodies to the massive African crocodile that he keeps penned up in the swamp around back. Although the croc scenes are frightening (particularly when its hunting a screaming 10-year old girl played by future Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards), its the unhinged performance by Neville Brand as the deranged hotelier thats truly disturbing. Shot with a surreal color scheme that recalls the classic horror comics that Hooper grew up reading, Eaten Alive is a sleazy gem just waiting for rediscovery. 5) Black Water (2007) Deep in the mysterious mangrove swamps of Northern Australia, a small sightseeing tour becomes prey to a vicious crocodile hungry for blood. Expertly directed by a pair of special-effects artists, "Black Water" is a survival horror film that values suspense over gore, and gains extra points for using real crocs rather than CGI creatures. The movie's tightly focused plot lends a welcome air of claustrophobia to the grim proceedings, making this a perfect choice for fans of the low-budget killer shark film "Open Water." 6) Primeval (2007) Like a reptilian version of "The Ghost and the Darkness," this film about a 25-foot man-eating crocodile responsible for killing hundreds of people in the country of Burundi is reportedly based on actual events. Whether that dubious claim is true or not, "Primeval" is beautifully shot, surprisingly well acted, and mixes African politics with monster-on-the-loose action, resulting in a horror movie that's a good deal better than its reputation might suggest. The savage attack scenes are graphic and bloody, and the scaly beast - named Gustave - hunts his victims like a prehistoric Terminator with a bottomless appetite for flesh. What more do you really need in a killer croc pic? 7) Dark Age (1987) Quentin Tarantino is an avowed fan of this wild Ozploitation adventure pic about an ecology-minded ranger (played by John Jarratt of "Wolf Creek" fame) who's tasked with hunting and killing a deadly saltwater crocodile that's been snacking on the citizens of Queensland. Imagine a horror version of "Crocodile Dundee" and you might have an idea of what "Dark Age" has in store for you. 8) Crocodile (2000) Although it lacks the ghoulish brilliance of Eaten Alive, director Tobe Hoopers second foray into the killer crocodile subgenre has a cheesy charm thats undeniable. Better than the SyFy Channel movies it occasionally resembles, this film about a group of annoying spring breakers who mess with the wrong giant croc starts off slowly but builds to a decent fiery climax. If youve always wanted to see a crocodile swallow a dude-bro whole and then puke him out again (lets face it, who hasnt?), this is definitely the movie youve been waiting for. Despite some dodgy CGI effects, Hoopers talent behind the camera shines through. 9) The Alligator People (1959) While it's hard to imagine anyone today being frightened by this sci-fi chiller about a doctor in the Louisiana bayou who turns his patients into half-human half-gator mutants, audiences in 1959 undoubtedly found the film's blend of Southern gothic melodrama and creature-feature shenanigans well worth screaming about. Paired with the equally delightful "Return of the Fly" when it was initially released, "The Alligator People" is a charming B-movie filled with mad scientist mumbo jumbo, and features some better than expected monster makeup. 10) Walt Disneys Peter Pan (1953) Dont be fooled by Tick-Tock. Just because hes an animated crocodile in a Disney cartoon doesnt mean hes harmless. After all, this razor-toothed resident of Neverland ate Captain Hooks severed hand and has been trying to devour the rest of him ever since. If thats not enough to send a small shiver down your spine, theres also something ominous about the ticking sound (due to an alarm clock he swallowed) that warns potential victims whenever hes near. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) contains a number of provisions to provide resources to help Idahos women and men in uniform conduct their missions forcefully and efficiently. This includes funding for Mountain Home Air Force Base, Gowen Field and the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). It provides critical tools necessary for boosting Americas national security both at home and abroad. Along with fellow U.S. Senator for Idaho Jim Risch, I was proud to support the FY 2022 NDAA when the U.S. Senate passed this important legislation by a vote of 88 to 11 before it was signed into law. The FY 2022 NDAA includes specific authorized funds for various projects important to the state of Idaho, including: Cleanup and waste disposal at the Idaho National Laboratory; A water treatment plant at the Mountain Home Air Force Base to ensure a steady and reliable source of water at the base; A first-of-its-kind National Guard Readiness Center in Jerome; A new medical training facility at Gowen Field; Continuous composite 3D printing projects, in which Idaho industry plays a key role; A Sense of Congress that the U.S. government should continue to appropriately compensate and recognize individuals affected by Cold-War era above-ground nuclear testing, often referred to as downwinders. The downwinders provisions are part of ongoing efforts to extend and expand Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) eligibility to those in Idaho and other states who have suffered from cancers related to fallout from above-ground nuclear weapons testing during the Cold War period of the 1950s and 1960s. I have introduced bipartisan legislation with Senator Ben Ray Lujan (D-New Mexico) to expand the current RECA program to provide compensation for all deserving downwinder victims, and continue to work toward enactment of this legislation to get it done. The FY 2022 NDAA increases authorized defense funding, provides U.S. troops with a pay raise and prioritizes military family readiness by including support for spousal employment. Specifically, the law supports a 2.7 percent pay raise for both military servicemembers and the U.S. Department of Defense civilian workforce. It extends military recruitment and retention tools and provides for the improvement of servicemember family housing. It funds new ships, submarines, projection forces, hypersonics, space systems and other important technologies. Republicans were also successful in preventing progressive lawmakers from using the NDAA to advance their far-left social agenda and further their efforts for D.C. statehood. The law supports addressing ongoing foreign concerns. It contains provisions to help address Chinas encroaching aggression in the Indo-Pacific region; reinforces Afghanistan accountability; requires assessments of Iran sanctions; extends support of U.S. law enforcement counter-narcotic and counter-transnational crime efforts; and more. Providing for our national defense is one of Congresss most critical jobs delineated in our Constitution. Enactment of the FY 2022 NDAA is a step forward in meeting this important responsibility, as I continue to advocate for provisions important to Idaho and our nations defense and federal policy that honors the enormous contributions of American servicemembers and military families to our security and protection of our freedoms. Senator Mike Crapo represents Idaho in the U.S. Senate. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 McDowell County is expected to receive a total of almost $4 million spread out over an 18-year period from the massive $26 billion settlement with drug companies over opioid misuse. This money has to be used to fight the problem of opioid addiction and substance misuse in our local community and local leaders are working on how to best use it. Recently, the Dogwood Health Trust announced a $600,000 grant to McDowell County government and partners Freedom Life Ministries and the McDowell Substance Use Coalition. This grant, spread out over a two-year period, will be used by McDowell County leaders, in partnership with the Substance Use Coalition, to connect with local residents and find the best use of the much bigger money that will come here from the opioid lawsuit settlement. The $26 billion global settlement with Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen the nations three major pharmaceutical distributors and Johnson & Johnson was announced in July of last year. More than 3,300 lawsuits, largely by state and local governments, are pending seeking to hold those and other companies responsible for an opioid abuse crisis that led to hundreds of thousands of overdose deaths, according to online sources. McDowell County was one of those many local governments throughout the nation that agreed to participate in this multi-billion dollar settlement. County Manager Ashley Wooten said the McDowell Board of Commissioners have endorsed collaborating with Freedom Life and the McDowell Substance Use Coalition on a planning process for the money that is anticipated to be received from the national opioid lawsuit. Part of the collaboration involved applying for the Dogwood Health Grant, which will help with the planning effort, he added. Danny Hampton, executive director of Freedom Life, said his nonprofit ministry is partnering with the county and the Substance Use Coalition to work on the problems of opioid addiction and other drug problems in the community. Substance misuse is the No. 1 health problem in McDowell County, he said to The McDowell News. Early in 2021, these partners received a $525,000 grant from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust. This grant, spread out over a three-year period, allowed for the hiring of a full-time Substance Use Coalition director, Angela Grubb, who will focus on the problem of drug use. Because of its nonprofit status, Freedom Life served as the conduit for getting this KBR grant. The $525,000 grant from KBR allowed local leaders to partner with the N.C. Institute for Public Health out of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the N.C. Center for Health and Wellness out of the University of North Carolina at Asheville. Together, they will work on how to connect with local people at the grassroots, organizations and the churches on fighting the drug problems in McDowell. Then, McDowell County, Freedom Life and the Substance Use Coalition sought to get another grant from the Dogwood Health Trust. The purpose of the two-year planning grant is to get local partners together and figure out the most impact from the bigger money coming from the $26 billion opioid settlement, said Hampton. It was given to McDowell County government but Freedom Life and the Substance Use Coalition wrote the grant in partnership with the county, Hampton told The McDowell News. With the Dogwood Trust grant, McDowell will get $600,000 over a two-year period. This will allow for hiring another person to oversee this effort and work with the full-time Substance Use Coalition director. In addition, four part-time community liaisons will be hired and they will work with the West Marion Community Forum, the Marion East Community Forum, the Old Fort Community Forum and Centro-Unido Latino Americano. We will have a person in those four community areas conducting research and community collaboration, Hampton said. The Dogwood funding has granted us this capacity. Furthermore, Dogwood Health Trust wanted to see multiple counties working together to address the opioid problems that are across the region. Freedom Life will partner with Avery County and some of the funding will go toward the planning and development of establishing a pre- and post-release program for people who have been incarcerated. Freedom Life will open an office in Avery County to address the substance use problems for people there who have been released from incarceration. Hampton said people who are getting out of prison are the highest risk when it comes to drug overdose. McDowell County will no longer be known as MethDowell, reads the grant application to the Dogwood Trust. Instead, it will be known as a unified and caring community fully resourced and engaged in comprehensively addressing substance misuse needs, and will have begun experiencing many personal and socio-economic benefits. Justice-involved individuals in Avery County will no longer have to live in hopeless struggle, but will have the opportunity and support to live new lives of sustained recovery and hope. Now that the Dogwood grant has been received, it is up to community leaders to make the best use of it and plan for the bigger money that is coming. McDowell County is expected to get $210,000 a year, on average, for an 18-year period from the $26 billion opioid settlement. This equates to a total of $3.78 million and it has to be used for opioid/substance misuse needs within the community. How do we know what is the best investment of that funding? Hampton said. That is what the Kate B. Reynolds and Dogwood Health Trust funding is giving county leadership in partnership with the McDowell Substance Use Coalition the resourcing and capacity to research and determine. Every penny needs to be invested to the maximum potential. He added the first part of that money could come as early as April. Last week, Dogwood Health Trust announced nearly $2.7 million in funding from its first round of opioid-related collaborative planning grants. Buncombe, Graham, Henderson, Madison, McDowell, Rutherford, Transylvania and Yancey counties all received a grant to assist with planning and preparing to use the funding that is expected to be distributed from the state as a result of the national opioid settlement, according to a news release. As a result of the historic $26 billion national opioid settlement agreement, every county in our state is expected to get a boost in funding for their opioid remediation efforts, said Dr. Susan Mims, interim CEO of Dogwood Health Trust. The timing of this settlement is fortunate since substance misuse and related deaths have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our goal is to ensure the region establishes the necessary collaborations and plans now, so western North Carolina is well equipped to use the settlement funds when available to improve health and well-being across the region. Each opioid planning grant provides up to $300,000 per year for up to two years to support collaborative planning projects between counties, municipalities or tribal nations and 501(3) organizations and other community partners that align with the Memorandum of Agreement that governs the use of opioid settlement funds in North Carolina. Opioid planning proposals may include requests for support of the following: Facilitation and/or coordination of collaborative planning Needs assessment, data collection and/or analysis Partnership building Development of workforce, implementation, and/or sustainability plans Capacity building Technical assistance Administration/reporting Western North Carolina should soon be able to leverage significant resources towards our efforts to reduce opioid overdose mortality throughout the region and impact populations that have been disproportionately affected, said April Bragg, senior impact officerbehavioral health & substance use disorder. To that end, we are particularly interested in funding projects that include multi-county planning efforts and collaboratives that include multiple partner organizations. In addition, Dogwood Health Trust announced a second round of funding for opioid-related collaborative planning grants available to the counties, municipalities or the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians located in Dogwoods 18-county service region in western North Carolina, including the Qualla Boundary, according to the news release. The Request for Proposals (RFP) is posted on Dogwoods website, and proposals must be received by 5 p.m. Monday, Feb. 14. Award notifications will be made by the end of April. Dogwood Health Trust is a private foundation based in Asheville with the sole purpose of dramatically improving the health and well-being of all people and communities of 18 counties and the Qualla Boundary in western North Carolina. Dogwood Health Trust focuses on innovative and equitable ways to address the many factors that contribute to overall health and well-being, with a focus on housing, education, economic opportunity and health and wellness. Dogwood Health Trust works to create a western North Carolina where every generation can live, learn, earn and thrive, with dignity and opportunity for all, no exceptions. To learn more, visit www.dht.org. Registered nurse Scott McGieson wears an N95 mask as he walks out of a patient's room in the acute care unit of Harborview Medical Center, Friday, Jan. 14, 2022, in Seattle. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is deploying 100 members of the state National Guard to hospitals across the state amid staff shortages due to an omicron-fueled spike in COVID-19 hospitalizations. Inslee announced Thursday that teams will be deployed to assist four overcrowded emergency departments at hospitals in Everett, Yakima, Wenatchee and Spokane, and that testing teams will be based at hospitals in Olympia, Richland, Seattle and Tacoma. Credit: AP Photo/Elaine Thompson U.S. health officials on Friday encouraged more Americans to wear the kind of N95 or KN95 masks used by health-care workers to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Those kinds of masks are considered better at filtering the air. But they were in short supply previously, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials had said they should be prioritized for health care workers. In updated guidance posted late Friday afternoon, CDC officials removed concerns related to supply shortages and more clearly said that properly fitted N95 and KN95 masks offer the most protection. However, agency officials noted some masks are harder to tolerate than others, and urged people to choose good-fitting masks that they will wear consistently. "Our main message continues to be that any mask is better than no mask," Kristen Nordlund, a CDC spokeswoman, said in a statement. The CDC has evolved its mask guidance throughout the pandemic. In its last update, in September, CDC officials became more encouraging of disposable N95 masks, saying they could be used in certain situations if supplies were available. Examples included being near a lot of people for extended periods of time on a train, bus or airplane; taking care of someone in poor health; or being more susceptible to severe illness. On Thursday, President Joe Biden announced that his administration was planning to make "high-quality masks," including N95s, available for free. He said more details were coming next week. The federal government has a stockpile of more than 750 million N95 masks, the White House said. The latest CDC guidance notes that there is a special category of "surgical N95" masks, that are specially designed for protection against blood splashes and other operating room hazards. Those are not generally available for sale to the public, and should continue to be reserved for health care workers, the agency said. 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Proudly and narrowly, 12 Strong is a good-news war story, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by first-time feature director Nicolai Fuglsig, of Denmark. He trained as a photojournalist, and covered the war in Kosovo; in the last decade Fuglsigs commercial resume includes sleek, digitally savvy and action-oriented spots for Corvette and Xbox Halo 4, among other clients. 12 Strong is a good-news story, in that the facts and personnel constitute an early victory over the Taliban not a comprehensive or lasting one, but a victory nonetheless. In the weeks following the destruction of the World Trade Center, as part of the Bush administrations Operation Enduring Freedom, a 12-man U.S. Army Special Forces task force, code-named Task Force Dagger, was flown and then dropped into northern Afghanistan. Advertisement The mission was simple, the process, complicated. The Green Berets were charged with joining and advising Northern Alliance tribal warlords and their troops, fighting the Taliban and al-Qaida. The strategic early battle involved control of the city of Mazar-i-Sharif. With U.S. Air Force bombing support, and American soldiers traversing some extremely treacherous mountain terrain on horseback en route, the results were decisive. Also, the optics were terrific. The movie includes the moment when then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld held up the picture of the horse soldiers (this was in late 2001) and found them very useful in selling the early stages of the war in Afghanistan. In 2009, producer Bruckheimer got ahold of the galleys of Doug Stantons nonfiction account Horse Soldiers. It took a while, but 12 Strong has come to fruition, with New Mexico locales doubling for Afghan and Uzbek locations. The movie was made on a medium-range budget (in other words, it isnt Black Hawk Down, in any respect). 12 Strong follows the production blueprint established by the gripping 2013 film Lone Survivor, which depicted a no-win 2005 Navy SEAL operation against the Taliban. Advertisement The stalwart cast is led by Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth. He plays the groups captain, here named Mitch Nelson (based loosely on the real-life Mark Nutsch). Michael Shannon, in a shrewdly modulated turn, plays Chief Warrant Officer Hal Spencer, based on Bob Pennington. Trevante Rhodes, Michael Pena, William Fichtner and Rob Riggle work their scenes to advantage, though screenwriters Ted Tally and Peter Craig often seem stranded in a no-mans land between quasi-documentary reality and reassuring Hollywood cliche. The key relationship here is between Nelson and Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum of the Northern Alliance, played by Navid Negahban of Homeland. The formers characterization is familiar, stripped of detail and, as written and depicted here, Our American Hero, period. Dostum, by contrast, is the most interesting element of 12 Strong, which probably shouldve added up in its title to 13. Scenes that seem far-fetched, such as Dostum goading the Taliban forces by telephone moments before an air strike, actually happened. For the scripts purposes, however, Dostum is there to remind Nelson that he can be more than a soldier; if he fights from the heart, he will become the warrior this war needs to vanquish their common foe. Much of the action, as shot by Fuglsig and cinematographer Rasmus Videbaek and edited by Lisa Lassek, favors clear, adrenaline-pumping action beats and rousing, against-all-odds triumphs. Throughout the film, were reminded of the peculiarity of fighting men on horseback going up against all manner of military hardware. Its not a bad movie, as far as it goes. In terms of context, though, it goes virtually nowhere. Granted, Lone Survivor stayed similarly close to a specific mission, albeit one with a very different outcome. But that movie stuck with you, relaying a stronger, truer sense of desperation. 12 Strong is a straight-up, unalloyed shot of movie patriotism for the Make America Great Again sector of the American movie audience. As proven by, among others, American Sniper, that sector is huge. 12 Strong producer Bruckheimer also financed Black Hawk Down, a film that made war feel and look viscerally exciting, even at its bloodiest, but never lost sight of the larger picture and the ultimate cost of armed conflict. While director Fuglsig trained as a photojournalist, his movies action style owes as much to gaming aesthetics as it does to the real world. That cheapens the real-life heroism. And the disinterest in what came afterward feels suspicious. Once the Bush administration thought Afghanistan was good to go, the fiasco in Iraq began. Recent, varying estimates put the Talibans influence or control of Afghan districts at anywhere from 14 to 45 percent of the country. Meantime, U.S. spending in Afghanistan is nearing the trillion-dollar mark; some experts put the figure over $2 trillion. No war movie can tell more than one primary story and a few underneath that one. 12 Strong sticks to the basics, without much interest in the differentiating specifics of the men involved, or anything on a geopolitical scale beyond the impulse these Special Forces veterans shared in the wake of 9/11. It seems to me a qualified, limited success. Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic. mjphillips@chicagotribune.com Twitter @phillipstribune [ RELATED: Chris Hemsworth fights an intergalactic battle in 'Thor: Ragnarok' ] [ RELATED: '12 Strong' costar Trevante Rhodes broke out in the Oscar-winning 'Moonlight' ] [ Doug Stanton's nonfiction 'Horse Soldiers' inspired the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced '12 Strong,' opening this week ] Here is what the editors at Physician's Briefing chose as the most important COVID-19 developments for you and your practice for the week of Jan. 10 to 14, 2022. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal studies and other trusted sources that is most likely to affect clinical practice. Supreme Court Blocks Biden's Vaccine Mandate for Large Employers FRIDAY, Jan. 14, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The Biden administration cannot enforce a vaccine-or-testing mandate for large employers, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The 6-3 decision was driven by the conservative majority on the court. WHO Living Guideline Updated for Drug Treatment of COVID-19 FRIDAY, Jan. 14, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The Janus kinase inhibitor baricitinib is strongly recommended for patients with severe or critical COVID-19, and sotrovimab is conditionally recommended for nonsevere COVID-19, according to the updated World Health Organization living guideline on drugs for COVID-19, published online Jan. 13 in The BMJ. NCCN Endorses Full COVID-19 Vaccination for Cancer Patients FRIDAY, Jan. 14, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Full COVID-19 vaccination, including third doses and/or boosters, is recommended for all patients with cancer, with a strong preference for mRNA vaccines, according to expert consensus recommendations published by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. 3 Percent of Youth Testing Positive for COVID-19 in ED Have Severe Outcomes FRIDAY, Jan. 14, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Approximately 3 percent of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-positive youth tested in emergency departments experience severe outcomes within two weeks of their index visit, according to a study published online Jan. 11 in JAMA Network Open. White House May Soon Offer 'High-Quality' Masks to Americans THURSDAY, Jan. 13, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- A program to offer high-quality face masks to Americans is being weighed by the Biden administration as a way to help slow the spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant. U.S. Military Medical Personnel Being Deployed to Ease Shortages THURSDAY, Jan. 13, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- President Joe Biden announced Thursday that a "surge" of U.S. military medical personnel will soon be deployed to hospitals struggling with staff shortages amid soaring COVID-19 cases. Real-World, Rapid COVID-19 Testing Shows Few False Positives THURSDAY, Jan. 13, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- In a Canadian employer screening program, the overall rate of false-positive results using rapid antigen test screens for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is very low, according to a research letter published online Jan. 7 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Pediatric Antibiotic Prescribing Dropped During Pandemic THURSDAY, Jan. 13, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- In pediatric primary care practices, there was a substantial reduction in antibiotic prescribing, beginning in April 2020, which was mainly due to a reduction in prescriptions at visits for respiratory tract infection, according to a study published online Jan. 10 in Pediatrics. N95 Respirators Can Be Reprocessed Using Vaporized Hydrogen Peroxide WEDNESDAY, Jan. 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Reprocessing of N95 respirators using vaporized hydrogen peroxide is safe and does not impair respiratory integrity or filtration efficiency, according to a brief report published online Jan. 5 in the American Journal of Infection Control. Nearly 600,000 U.S. Children Had COVID-19 Last Week WEDNESDAY, Jan. 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- In a sign that the highly contagious omicron variant is sparing no one, a report shows that new COVID-19 cases among U.S. children spiked to a high of more than 580,000 for the week ending Jan. 6, a 78 percent increase from the week before. U.S. May Soon See Sharp Drop in Omicron Cases, Experts Say WEDNESDAY, Jan. 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The omicron surge may have peaked in Britain and could be about to do the same in the United States, experts report. BinaxNOW Test Catches COVID-19 Infection in Many People, Study Shows WEDNESDAY, Jan. 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Countering earlier concerns, a real-world study shows that a widely used at-home COVID-19 test called BinaxNOW is as effective at detecting omicron as other coronavirus variants. White House to Give Schools 10 Million Free COVID-19 Tests Every Month WEDNESDAY, Jan. 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- In an effort to keep children in classrooms, the White House announced Wednesday that 10 million free COVID-19 tests will be provided to schools around the country every month while the wildly contagious omicron variant continues to surge. Pfizer Says Omicron-Specific Vaccine Ready by March WEDNESDAY, Jan. 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Pfizer Inc. said Tuesday that a COVID-19 vaccine that specifically targets the omicron variant will be ready by March. U.S. COVID-19 Hospitalizations Pass Last Winter's Peak TUESDAY, Jan. 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The United States has passed another grim milestone in the pandemic as the omicron variant races across the country: COVID-19 hospitalizations have now eclipsed a previous peak, which was seen last January. U.S. Insurers Must Cover Eight COVID-19 At-Home Tests a Month: White House TUESDAY, Jan. 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Private insurers will have to cover the cost of eight at-home COVID-19 tests per person per month as of Saturday, the Biden administration announced Monday. Americans Should Avoid Travel to Canada: CDC TUESDAY, Jan. 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Americans should avoid travel to Canada due to "very high" levels of COVID-19 cases in that country, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. Two Doses of BNT162b2 Vaccine Protect Against MIS-C TUESDAY, Jan. 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Receipt of two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is associated with a high level of protection against multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children among children aged 12 to 18 years, according to research published in the Jan. 7 early-release issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. COVID-19 Survivors Overestimate Lingering Taste Impairment TUESDAY, Jan. 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- More than half of patients with self-reported long-term altered taste perception following COVID-19 actually have normal gustatory function when evaluated with validated psychophysical tests, according to a research letter published online Jan. 6 in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery. Young Adults With Cancer Facing Psychological Distress During Pandemic TUESDAY, Jan. 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Teens and young adults with cancer are experiencing high psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published online Jan. 5 in Psycho-Oncology. COVID-19 Incidence Up With Exposure to Airborne Pollutants TUESDAY, Jan. 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The incidence of COVID-19 is increased in association with long-term exposure to airborne pollutants, according to a study published online Jan. 10 in Occupational & Environmental Medicine. FDA Warns Against Using At-Home COVID-19 Test Swabs in the Throat MONDAY, Jan. 10, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Swabs that come with at-home rapid antigen COVID-19 tests should be used in the nose and not the throat, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns. Amid COVID-19 Test Shortages, Price Gouging Is on the Rise MONDAY, Jan. 10, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- As the omicron variant blankets America and demand for COVID-19 tests climbs, so, too, does price gouging. High prices for over-the-counter antigen tests are being seen around the country, CBS News reported. Children's Behavior at Home Worse During Remote Learning MONDAY, Jan. 10, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Parents report that their children's behavioral health at home is worse during remote learning than with in-person learning, according to a research letter published online Jan. 10 in JAMA Pediatrics. COVID-19 Vaccination Linked to Small Change in Menstrual Cycle Length MONDAY, Jan. 10, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- COVID-19 vaccination is associated with a small change in menstrual cycle length, but not in menses length, according to a study published online Jan. 5 in Obstetrics & Gynecology. Use of Certain Prescription Meds Linked to COVID-19 Mortality MONDAY, Jan. 10, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- A potential COVID-19 survival benefit is suggested in association with initiation or continuation of an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, an angiotensin receptor blocker, or metformin for hospitalized patients, according to a study published in the December issue of The BMJ. Severe COVID-19 Outcomes Rare After Primary Vaccination MONDAY, Jan. 10, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Severe COVID-19 outcomes are rare after primary vaccination, but those who are 65 years or older, are immunosuppressed, or have underlying conditions may be at increased risk, according to research published in the Jan. 7 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange. FRIDAY, Jan. 14, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The nomination of former U.S. Food and Drug Administration head Robert Califf, M.D., to again lead the agency now heads to the full Senate for a vote, after a Senate committee on Thursday voted 13-8 for approval. Among those who voted against Califf's nomination were Democrats who expressed concerns about his links to pharmaceutical companies, The New York Times reported. No date for a Senate vote on Califf's nomination has been set. During the last year of the Obama administration, Califf had been confirmed in a 89-to-4 Senate vote to become FDA commissioner, The Times reported. If confirmed again, Califf will take over an agency that has been under the spotlight during the pandemic as it dealt with decisions about vaccines, treatments, tests, and masks, The Times reported. The agency has been criticized for sluggish approval of rapid at-home tests, leading to test shortages as the omicron variant raged across the country and consumer demand soared for tests for schoolchildren and workers. Meanwhile, high-risk COVID-19 patients are facing severe shortages of treatments that can help battle omicron -- even as the FDA remains the gatekeeper to therapies and diagnostics that could help. Other major challenges facing the FDA are new e-cigarette rules and accelerated approval of drugs, an issue triggered by the agency's approval of the controversial, pricey new drug for Alzheimer disease, Aduhelm. As a cardiologist, Califf led clinical trials at the Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina for decades. Recently, he led clinical policy and strategy for Verily, the life sciences arm of Google. During the hearing, he emphasized the value of existing data, much of it in patients' electronic medical records, to help answer difficult questions about drugs and devices. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange. SATURDAY, Jan. 15, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Think you're safe from lung cancer because you've never smoked? Think again. While cigarette smoking is the main cause of lung cancer, it's possible to get the disease without ever lighting up. "Anyone with lungs can get lung cancer," said Dr. Missak Haigentz Jr., chief of Thoracic and Head and Neck Medical Oncology at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick. In fact, a new U.S. National Cancer Institute study estimates 10% of men and 20% of women who develop lung cancer have never used tobacco products. There are three types of lung cancer in nonsmokers, according to the study. "What we know already is that lung cancers, despite appearing similar under the microscope, may develop differently in never-smokers, and this information on molecular differences has already had a tremendous impact in the way we treat the disease with targeted cancer therapies," Haigentz said in a Rutgers news release. Lung cancer in nonsmokers results from other known exposures, including radon gas or secondhand smoke. Asbestos exposure carries a risk for mesothelioma, a rare type of cancer affecting the thin tissue that covers the majority of a person's internal organs. "Anything that we inhale can potentially expose our airways and our lungs to damaging agents that may give rise to cancer -- we have not yet identified all of these," Haigentz said. In smokers, it's often caused by years of exposure to cancer-causing substances in tobacco smoke. These substances cause multiple genetic changes in cells that line the lungs. Haigentz said this new research helps scientists understand how smokers and never-smokers can benefit from treatments such as targeted cancer therapeutics. Based on the molecular features of lung cancers, scientists have recently developed several effective treatment options targeting its biology, Haigentz said. More advances are anticipated. Nonsmokers who are worried about lung cancer can take a number of steps, according to Haigentz. Most important, never start smoking. Experts now recommend lung cancer screening with yearly low-dose CT scans for those who have had significant exposure to smoking, including former smokers. And test your home for radon gas. "Most importantly, we need to remove the stigma of lung cancer; understand that there are people who have smoked their whole life and never develop cancer, and there are people who have never smoked at all who develop lung cancer," Haigentz said. More information The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more on lung cancer. SOURCE: Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, news release, Jan. 1, 2022 You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange. Butte police reports Assault warrant At about 10:30 p.m. Thursday, at the intersection of Main and Josette streets, Kaylie McRill, 22, of Butte was jailed for eluding the police, speeding and reckless driving. She was also wanted on a Butte City Court warrant for assault, with a bond of $1,000. Taken into custody Anthony David Rose, 22, of Butte was taken into custody at around 7 p.m. Thursday at the 2 Bar Lazy H RV Park just west of Rocker. Rose was wanted on a warrant out of Butte City Court for partner or family member assault and a contempt of court warrant out of Jefferson County. Sixth offense Willamena Marie Billedeaux, 36, homeless, was arrested at around 2 p.m. Thursday. Billedeaux had allegedly left the Town Pump, 3700 Harrison Ave., without paying for items totaling $23. She also had a Butte City Court warrant out for her arrest for theft. The Thursday incident was reportedly her sixth theft offense. Trailer taken Sometime late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, a 14-foot ATV trailer was taken from at residence in the 600 block of South Colorado Street. Porch pirates Well, the porch pirates are still out in force because several delivered packages were taken Thursday afternoon from a porch in the 700 block of South Wyoming Street. Cars stolen Sometime after 9 a.m. Thursday, someone ran into the Butte-Silver Bow Public Library for a few minutes and left the car running. While in the library, someone else took off in the 2004 Kia Optima. The cars personalized plate is: DQQDLE On Thursday afternoon, a man who spent three weeks in jail returned to his residence in the 2300 block of Walnut only to find his black Honda Accord had been stolen. Love 0 Funny 4 Wow 1 Sad 5 Angry 10 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A former state Supreme Court judge said Montana has the most progressive Constitution in the country and it is up to the people to keep it that way, and he blasted suggestions by a lawmaker to make changes to the document now entering its 50th year of being revised. His comments have prompted that legislator to challenge the judge to a debate. James Nelson said Wednesday toward the end of nearly one-hour-long webinar on Montanas Constitution that people applaud and vote for politicians who tell them what they want to hear. He said that has manifested itself in the way people vote for candidates not because of what they can do for us, but to hurt perceived enemies. It is not what you can do for me, it is how you are going to marginalize, demonize and nullify those who dont agree with my partisan or religious ideologies, Nelson said, adding that author Tom Nichols calls it the "power of resentment." Nelson, who served as an associate justice on the state Supreme Court from 1993-2012, said this is how governments are turned over to those who would deconstruct the Constitution, calling them tyrants, authoritarians and fascists, adding that our democracy dies not from without but within. Montana updated its 1889 Constitution, which some said was outdated and heavily influenced by the "Copper Kings," in 1972 through a constitutional convention. It includes provisions such the right to a clean and healthful environment and addresses environmental concerns, including water rights, cultural resources and protections. Officials noted it recognized that all the people should be involved in government, adding that 28 of the 100 delegates were women. Nelson said there are politicians in Montana who are dishonoring the rule of law for the Constitution, singling out Rep. Derek Skees, R-Kalispell, for comments he made in November. The Montana Free Press and Flathead Beacon reported that Skees had called the Montana Constitution a socialist rag. According to Nelson, Skees said the document gave courts the legal basis for blocking abortion restrictions. Nelson said Skees has called for throwing out Montanas Constitution. Skees seems to forget that when he was sworn in as a public official he took an oath to support and protect and defend Montana Constitution," Nelson said. Skees on Friday defended his comments. "I will debate anybody, anytime and anywhere on the merits of this Constitution," he said. Skees said he and others have been trying since the late 90s to modify sections of the Constitution, only to have efforts thwarted by the state Supreme Court. He said it is no longer a living, breathing document that citizens have a chance of changing because the courts always reverse citizens efforts. He challenged Nelson to a debate on the Montana Constitution. In a column to state newspapers in December, Skees said he had the courage to say the hardest part of taking the oath of office was his belief the Montana Constitution has so many flaws. I have never violated that sacred oath, as it is to God and the people of Montana. For a long time, I have advocated that we should vote YES in 2030 to have a call for a Constitutional Convention, he wrote. He said his choice of words in calling it a socialist rag was perhaps too aggressive in an attempt to start this dialogue. Skees also accused those calling on him to resign over his comments as displaying "fake moral outrage." Nelson said Skees' style of attack is being used by dictators around the world. This mindset also breeds the sort of violence that rewards and makes heroes out of insurrectionists, and those who have taken an assault weapon to a public assembly find that as justification to use the weapon to harm others and then themselves claim self-defense," he said. Nelson said it serves to justify threats against public officials, school board members and health care workers. It serves to justify partisan thuggery by public officials against other elected officials and the minority party, he said. Skees dismissed Nelsons claims of being a tyrant. A tyrant wants all of the decisions made in your life to be made by government, he said. I am the exact opposite. I want all decisions to be made by the sovereign citizens of the great state of Montana. I see the citizens as the solutions for almost everything, he said. Nelson said Montana, as well some other states, have passed voter suppression laws to ensure one-party rule to the exclusion of other parties and candidates. He said this was not constitutional and not the rule of law but the rule of lie, indeed the rule of the big lie. Democracy is not a spectator sport, our constitutions cannot protect themselves from authoritarian takeover, he said. Democracy and the maintenance of our constitutions require the active support, protection and defense of each of us." We cannot formulate a vision of the Constitution that works for us, as I have suggested we should, if the Constitution and the rule or law are ripped asunder by the fascists, the authoritarians and dictator wannabes in our midst, Nelson said. He asked people to leave that night secure in the knowledge the constitutions belong to we the people, not to the government, not to corporations, special interests or wealth and privilege, and most certainly not to the authoritarians and fascists that want to destroy them. He said constitutions are living documents adaptable to, and fully capable, of meeting the important challenges of the world now and into the future. He urged people to make their vision of what the Constitution is and should be as part of their life experience. Dont ask why, ask why not. Think outside the box, Nelson said. To be sure, thinking outside the box is risky, forming your own constitutional vision is risky and acting on your vision is riskier still, but know too that risk is part of our human experience. The webinar, The Montana Constitution celebrates 50 years What your constitution can do for you," was sponsored by the League of Women Voters Helena Chapter and Lewis and Clark Library. There were 174 people who participated. To watch the webinar, go to: https://youtu.be/uK_8O3uCRnk. Assistant editor Phil Drake can be reached at 406-231-9021. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The state health department has more than doubled the funding and extended the deadline for a contract proposal to get new management to run its health care facilities. While the department acknowledged last year part of the reason for the contract was to have someone address problematic staffing shortages at facilities like the state psychiatric hospital, it also said the contract was meant to find someone to oversee the consolidation of all its health facilities under one division within the department. The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services initially put out a request for bids in late November, offering a third party a $1 million contract. Now that's up to $2.2 million, with an extended deadline to apply until Jan. 26. The department posted the increased amount online two days after the initial proposal period closed. The contracted management would be in place for 16 months, from Feb. 15 through June 30, 2023, when the department expects to hire someone into the new position full time. Spokesperson Jon Ebelt said the department extended the timeline "due to several rounds of vendor questions." The department increased the funding, he said, to allow the bidder additional flexibility to bring on human resources and support staff. Because the period for submissions is still open, Ebelt declined to provide any further information on the applicants, or whether any applied. Montana State Hospital is among the most plagued of the department's facilities, with 40% of its 524-person staff currently vacant. One potential contractor asked the department on Dec. 6 through the state contract procurement website if the 210 vacant positions are, in fact, fully funded. They are, however, "many of these functions are being performed by contracted staff at a more expensive rate," the department responded. In December, staff told the Montana State News Bureau the exodus from the state hospital was due to an unresponsive and inadequately trained administration. Staff shortages, they said, have put employees and patients at risk. Ebelt previously told the Montana State News Bureau the state hospital had been found to be in compliance after a survey conducted in September, and that no correction plan was required of the facility. But the September survey, which became public last week, found four deficiencies, one of which the report said could have been tied to a patient's death in August. The September inspection of the facility found: An in-house investigation failed to determine whether neglect played a role in a patient's death in August. The in-house investigator, identified as "staff member B" did not interview staff about the death, failed to maintain their records of the investigation and video footage from the building on the date of the patient's death was no longer available because it had been "accidentally recorded over by other video footage." Staffing was below the levels needed to prevent patients from falling. A review of the facility's log showed patients fell 113 times between June and August. Staff failed to notify a medical provider of a patient who had fallen; a medical provider later found he had broken his hip. Employees reported staffing documentation was "not accurate," and did not list patients whose needs required one-on-one attention from staff. That alleged alteration to the records "made the schedule look pretty," an employee told inspectors. A patient's family or representative had not been notified of several incidents in which the patient had fallen. Staff failed to revise care plans for a patient who had fallen several times. Sen. Mark Sweeney, a Democrat whose district includes the state hospital, has been hearing from hospital staff for months about the festering work conditions there. He said the report that became public last week was not surprising. "Everything that was in that report has been expressed to me," he said in a phone interview Friday. He also rejected any notion that the workforce issues are a symptom of the pandemic era in health care settings. "The problems have been there long before COVID," Sweeney said. "And I believe it's management-related and it's been exacerbated by COVID. It's beyond a shame, it's been a travesty that we have lost that many long-term employees." Ebelt has not yet responded to questions about how the hospital could both be in compliance and found to have deficiencies in the CMS report, but the survey lists no corrective plans for the deficiencies found by inspectors. The Montana State News Bureau emailed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services asking why such deficiencies would be allowed without a plan to correct them; a return email said responses would not be available until next week. The state legislative health and human services committee has set aside time during its Jan. 21 hearing to hear from Sweeney, as well as Jeremy Hoscheid, the Mental Disabilities Board of Visitors executive director, which represents patients of the state hospital; and Robin Haux, labor program director at the Montana Nurses Association, the largest nurses' union in the state. Following the panel on the state hospital "staffing and patient care concerns," the committee will question DPHHS Director Adam Meier. The committee has oversight over the department. Rep. Ed Stafman, who chairs the committee, previously told the Montana State News Bureau he had asked Meier to look into the concerns from staff elevated to the committee by Sweeney. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 1 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., says its time to change the filibuster, not only for voting rights legislation but for all bills, because the requirement of a 60-vote supermajority to override opponents has ground business to a standstill. Speaking recently with the left-leaning Center for American Progress Action Fund, Tester said the filibuster has become politicized beyond usefulness. He called the voting rights legislation that Senate Democrats expect to take up in the coming days too important to be thwarted by procedural maneuvers. I have to make the decision, Jon Tester, did you come to the United States Senate to sit around and watch folks like Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley just stop things, or did you come to the United States Senate to get things done?' Tester told CAP Action CEO Patrick Gaspard. And I came to the United States Senate to get things done. I do think that bipartisan is always the best. But at some point in time, and in the case of voting rights, you have to say this is important for our democracy, its important for our country, maybe the most important thing Ill ever do as a United States senator. Am I going to sit here and allow a rule thats been weaponized stop us from doing something that could very well save our democracy?," Tester said. The filibuster is a Senate tradition that historically has allowed lawmakers through debate to talk a bill to death by speechifying nonstop. At least initially there was no way to end debate, but then rules were changed to allow lawmakers to end a filibuster through a super-majority vote, now set at 60 senators, to invoke cloture. Some Senate matters were also ruled off limits to filibusters, like budget resolutions and judicial nominations. This is an abridged explanation of the Senates official history. But the modern filibuster is free of nonstop debate. Rather, if 41 senators indicate they wont vote to invoke cloture, the threat of a filibuster is objection enough and bill votes are simply abandoned. President Joe Biden and Senate Democratic leadership are now proposing a carve-out to the filibuster rule when it comes to voting rights legislation, specifically The Freedom to Vote Act, the Democrats response to state-level voting law changes in 19 states, including Montana, which make it harder for some people to vote. After Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema announced on the Senate floor Thursday that she wouldn't back a filibuster change, the rally cry for voting rights deflated. Tester, Montanas only statewide-elected Democrat, said he would settle for carving out a filibuster exception so voting rights legislation can advance, but his preference would be to change the way the filibuster is used in all cases. He also mentioned two new Montana laws passed on party lines in the 2021 Montana Legislature that made voting more difficult. Specifically, Tester pointed out the new law wont allow university students to use school photo ID cards for voter identification without producing further documents, while concealed weapons permits qualify as sufficient identification. The state also made it more difficult for one person to submit ballots for multiple people. The state's new voting laws say the person gathering ballots cannot be paid to do so, which was met with objection by Indigenous lawmakers who said groups like Western Native Vote were important for registering Indigenous voters and gathering ballots. Republicans have been adamant that Montanas election law changes were done for election integrity and not to make voting more difficult. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., last week framed Montanas new election laws as making it harder to cheat and said most people support voter ID requirements. Hes called Senate Democrats voting rights legislation a far-left power grab. Cheating hasnt been a problem in Montana elections. The Gazette reported in 2020 that a decade-long study of more than 7 million ballots cast in Montana elections showed just one confirmed case of illegal voting. Love 4 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 2 Angry 40 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A meeting between Montanas eight AA school superintendents and the Office of Public Instruction scheduled for Friday afternoon was postponed. There was disagreement on where the meeting should be held and limited availability of their schedules during this COVID surge, the superintendents say. In early December, the superintendents penned a letter to state Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen to express their disappointment with her leadership. In the letter, they cited nine specific issues, including OPIs high staff turnover rate, unlicensed educators, updated content standards and special education. While we would like to find a date, time and location for a future meeting, it makes sense to postpone the meeting until we have a decrease in cases and we can dedicate more time and focus to a meeting with Supt. Arntzen, Missoula County Public Schools Superintendent Rob Watson wrote in an email to the Missoulian. Watson was one of the superintendents who signed the letter of concern the others are Greg Upham (Billings), Godfrey Saunders (Belgrade), Casey Bertram (Bozeman), Tom Moore (Great Falls), Judy Jonart (Butte), Micah Hill (Kalispell) and Rex Weltz (Helena). Since the OPI received the superintendents letter on Dec. 7, Arntzen has made several attempts to meet with the superintendents to discuss their concerns. Arntzen reportedly texted Upham and Moore, who represent the two largest districts in the state, the same day she received the letter. Upham responded the following day, but Moore did not, according to a timeline of correspondence provided by the OPI. The following week, Arntzen requested individual meetings with each of the superintendents. A meeting was scheduled with Bertram and his team for mid-January, but Moore did not respond to the request. A few days after the request for individual meetings, Watson asked to set a meeting with all the superintendents for early January. The following week Arntzen set a meeting for Jan. 6 at the Capitol with Zoom participation offered. Watson could no longer make the date work and asked to reschedule for Jan. 14. When school resumed after the holiday break, the superintendents agreed to the meeting on Jan. 14, but expressed concerns with meeting at the Capitol. Superintendent Arntzen responded that she believes the Capitol is a neutral and transparent meeting area that provides a large enough room to accommodate all the AAs, as well as OPI experts, and that the Capitol also provides Zoom capabilities in case one or more of the AAs cannot travel on the 14th, wrote the OPI in its timeline of correspondence with the superintendents. A few days later, the OPI received no response from the superintendents and Arntzen asked for their confirmation regarding the meeting scheduled for Jan. 14. The superintendents responded in an email on Jan. 7 that they were still in disagreement on the meeting venue and asked if Arntzen would reconsider the location and meeting format. You have stated that Superintendent Arntzen has requested that this meeting be held at the Capitol. We dont understand this request. We have many meetings with OPI representatives, either at OPI buildings or at school buildings. It is out of the ordinary to suggest a meeting at the Capitol, when we are focusing on educational business, wrote the superintendents in an email to OPI on Jan. 7 provided to the Missoulian. The superintendents expressed that they felt that the venue and meeting format suggested by Arntzen will not help to resolve the issue, and said they would agree to meet at an OPI building or offer the use of a school building in Helena, according to the email. Reaching a positive outcome for everyone involved is our ultimate goal and we dont believe the environment of the meeting you have suggested will help us all to accomplish that goal, the superintendents wrote in the email. In addition to their request for a change in venue, the superintendents defined their goals for the meeting surrounding the topics of how they can support OPI in terms of licensure, special education and the importance of local school districts in terms of the health of their community. On Jan. 10, the OPI responded to the superintendents in an email and Arntzen doubled down on the Capitol as the venue for their meeting, as she is a state-elected official, and transparency and public awareness are key. She asked again to confirm whether the superintendents would attend the meeting. The superintendents said they would prefer to cancel the meeting, but would meet as a group on Jan. 12 and provide a follow-up response. The OPI did not receive a response from the superintendents following their group meeting that was scheduled for Jan. 12, according to the OPI. The following day, Bozemans superintendent, Bertram, canceled his individual meeting with Arntzen scheduled for Jan. 19. After not hearing from the group of superintendents, she pitched her original idea of individual Zoom meetings to accommodate for the new variant that is proving challenging to each of the AAs districts. Superintendent Arntzen has not received a response from the AAs, wrote the OPI in its timeline of correspondence. MCPS Superintendent Rob Watson confirmed with the Missoulian that the timeline provided by the OPI was accurate. The Missoulian contacted each of the superintendents individually to confirm the timeline, but only received a response from Watson, who copied the other superintendents. When we did not receive a collaborative response regarding our requests, we felt it was best to ask to postpone the meeting scheduled for Jan. 14 and continue the discussion to find an appropriate meeting opportunity in the future, Watson wrote. The meeting had not been rescheduled as of Friday afternoon. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Iranian FM visits China 4 days after GCC trip; China has no enemies, only friends in Middle East 13:05, January 15, 2022 By Zhang Han ( Global Times Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian visited China to discuss the implementation of a bilateral comprehensive cooperation pact among other topics of shared interest on Friday, the same day when four Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries' foreign ministers wrapped up their first-ever group visit to China, which started on Monday. The extensive exchanges between China and the Middle East countries highlight China's special status though the Middle East has been dubbed as a "powder keg" given geopolitical, religious, cultural and ethnic complexities in the region, China can maintain a positive relationship with regional countries because, "China has no enemies, only friends" in the Middle East, observers said. The Iranian Foreign Minister published an article on the Global Times before his visit, where he wrote Iran and China, two great civilizations in West and East Asia, have enjoyed good, stable and strong relations throughout history. The foreign minister also expressed high hopes for the two countries to continue their half century of diplomatic relations and continue to push forward cooperation in various domains, support each other in the international arena, and jointly protect multilateralism while opposing unilateralism. In addition to detailed implementation of the 25-year cooperation plan China and Iran signed in March 2021, nuclear talks in Vienna and regional and international situations are also on the agenda, media reported. Also on Friday, foreign ministers of four GCC countries, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, along with the Secretary-General of the GCC Nayef bin Falah al-Hajrah, wrapped up their five-day visit. Their unprecedented group visit led to a joint statement which pledged to establish a strategic partnership and promote free trade area negotiations. As part of the latest China-Middle East interactions, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu visited China on Wednesday and met with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The two diplomats exchanged views on a range of topics, and Cavusoglu noted Turkey allows no terrorist activities that infringe on China's sovereignty to be conducted on its territory. But how China can develop equal and mutually beneficial relations with Middle East countries which have different ethnicities, religions and geopolitical camps? Unlike a certain major power that has allies and agent states in the Middle East but enemies at the same time, China has no enemies in the region, so it can make friends with all, Liu Zhongmin, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times. That's why Iran and Saudi Arabia, two "bitter rivals," can have their top diplomats visit China at around the same time. China and Israel are also expected to celebrate 30 years of diplomatic relations, which falls on January 24. As the US reduces investment and contracts its presence in the Middle East, geopolitical tensions in the region are cooling down, experts said, adding the COVID-19 pandemic also prompted "adversary states" to cast aside conflicts and prioritize the immediate challenge. As the region diversifies its partners, Zhou Rong, a senior researcher at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times that China is more trustworthy as it does not seek monopoly in the region, does not attach any additional conditions to cooperation with any country, and does not take sides on regional issues. Unlike in the West, where the idea of "clash of civilizations" dominates international politics, and creates obstacles for proper interactions between the Islamic world and Christian world, Chinese people believe in communication and mutual understanding among civilizations, and have done from the time of the ancient Silk Road, dating back to the Han Dynasty (206BC-AD220) right through to the Belt and Road Initiative proposed in 2013 and being embraced worldwide, according to observers. China also has an advantage as it is clean from the historical burdens that the region bears, from colonial rule down to the Cold War which are deep reasons behind many geopolitical tensions in the region, Liu said, mentioning that China and many Middle East countries are actually drawn closer by their shared past of fighting against colonial rule and seeking national independence. The US continuously cultivates the region for its own interests and, "plants the seeds of democracy" which only bears fruits like the Arab Spring, creating chaos and conflicts. On the contrary, China has been trying to mitigate regional conflicts and let regional countries figure out solutions to problems without external interference. "China's principle of non-interference is winning more and more recognition and trust from regional countries," Liu said, refuting Western claims that China is seeking to take up the power vacuum left by the US, as China's method to address the Middle East's geopolitical complexity involves promoting development and dialogue. Many Middle East countries are rich in resources and want to enhance the industrialization level and advance economic transition, on which China can provide help. The two sides can hence develop a mutually beneficial cooperation relationship, experts said. China's industrial park model has been adopted by multiple countries including Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Under the BRI framework, the Khalifa Industrial Zone in Abu Dhabi (KIZAD) received $800 million in Chinese investment in 2018. During the battle against COVID-19, Chinese pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm developed a plant in KIZAD with local technology company Group 42 to produce vaccines with a capacity of 200 million doses a year. Those vaccines have been supplied to the Arabic world, as well as multiple African and Asian countries. China is playing its part in assisting war-torn Syria's reconstruction. Syria on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on China's BRI and the two sides are expected to cooperate to boost the economic reconstruction and social development of Syria, bridging the BRI with Syria's eastward strategy. Experts also noted that Russia has been a notable presence in the Middle East, especially on the Syria issue. The close coordination between China and Russia can avoid policy contradictions and stabilize the region, and is conducive to counter-terrorism cooperation, solving the refugee issue and enhance local governance. (Web editor: Meng Bin, Bianji) It is difficult to imagine Reno Cruz as anything but confident in his musical abilities. Cruz is a mainstay collaborator and supporting artist in the local music community. Yet despite his many years collaborating with artists like Lala Lala and Sen Morimoto, it took a little push from the people around him to finally share the music hes made quietly for the last four years. Audiences can experience that music for the first time on Cruzs debut album, Falling In Love Is Not That Hard, out Jan. 21. Cruz grew up in a home with an eclectic mix of influences. His Cuban father introduced him to classic rock and soul music. His mother, folk artists like Simon & Garfunkel. Yet despite this musical introduction, Cruz said also being raised in a very religious household limited how he approached music. That was a very specific, very narrow vision of what music can be, Cruz said about that time. As I found my way away from that faith tradition, I found my way. Advertisement Although Cruz is new to a solo career, he is not new to the Chicago music community. Since moving to Chicago in 2017, Cruz has regularly toured as a guitarist for the popular indie rock band Lala Lala and performed with celebrated local acts like Sen Morimoto, Wyatt Waddell and Shawnee Dez. Chicago musician Reno Cruz has a debut album, Falling In Love Is Not That Hard." (Sam Fuehring photo / HANDOUT) Performing with other artists, Cruz said, was a way to escape the necessary vulnerability needed when crafting ones own music. Advertisement I always wanted to write songs and be a songwriter, but for a long time. I just couldnt get honest enough with myself, admitted Cruz. You know, Id try and write a song. And I think any songwriter would probably have had this experience of having a feeling but not being able to articulate it. So I just spent years and years playing in other peoples projects and picking up whatever instrument I had to pick up, whether it was banjo, or guitar or bass or synth. But as he spent more time in Chicago, he privately began to learn more about himself, allowing him to open up in his craft. Cruz described his early 20s as filled with intense emotional experiences. As he began to understand his own interpersonal attachment style and how he was hurting himself emotionally in relationships, he began to process his feelings and discoveries through music. Writing songs by myself on a guitar, without even really the intention there then, but it was really just that the intensity of the emotion at the time was so great that I needed an outlet for it, he said. The songs crafted during this period of time eventually comprised the bulk of the songs on his debut record. Songwriting ... its always a process of carving away at this iceberg of a feeling to get to something simpler underneath, he added. Cruz credits his friends with helping him finally bring his private songs into the spotlight. When asked to participate in a 24-hour band event, Cruz brought a song he had been working on, but had not shared with anyone yet. To have them respond in such a positive way, it really kind of shifted my perspective, Cruz said. Still, it took more persistence from those around him to share his work more regularly. It was friends persistently bothering me and pestering me to not sell myself short. I had to trust the perspective of the people in my community more than I trusted my own perspective, he admitted. It is that experience that pushed Cruz to begin prioritizing his own music. I think its very common for artists to discount their own work. And I wouldnt be releasing a project if it wasnt for my friends, honestly. Learning of Cruzs musical hesitation is surprising. He began releasing tracks from Falling In Love Is Not That Hard last year and the tracks affirm Cruzs skills across the board. So far, five tracks are available to stream to the public on Cruzs Bandcamp page and each sounds fully formed and confident in their execution. Advertisement The short track Around U features Cruzs warm, smooth and enveloping vocals. Other tracks, like Your Love, include precise falsettos gliding easily across pleasant melodies. Cruzs instrumentation, which includes performances from Chicago talents like Kenneth Leftridge on tenor saxophone and flute or Noelle Viard on violin, is meticulous in its execution. Here is an artist sure of himself, even if he is not entirely aware in the moment of that assuredness. Im so ready for people to just hear it. I took my time. Im a sane person living in the world. I got my eyes open. It doesnt always feel like my record is the most important thing, Cruz joked. But with the encouragement of others, he is excited about this particular moment to share his art with the world. I am feeling good. Nervous. Excited. Cautiously optimistic. Britt Julious is a freelance critic. Reno Cruz with Macie Stewart 8 p.m. Jan. 21 at Golden Dagger, 2447 N. Halsted St.; tickets $15-$20 (ages 21+) at goldendagger.com Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Google and its parent Alphabet Inc., personally approved what state attorneys general say was an illegal agreement with Facebook to manipulate the digital advertising market, according to a new court filing by the states. Details of the CEOs alleged signoff on the pact were revealed Friday in an amended antitrust complaint against Google filed by a coalition of states led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The case, first filed in December 2020, accuses the company of abusing its power over the vast digital ecosystem where online ads are bought and sold. At the center of the complaint is the 2018 agreement between Google and Facebook, which Google code-named Jedi Blue. The agreement was intended to kill an advertising tool that was gaining popularity with publishers and that Facebook supported, according to the states. Google saw Facebooks role as a competitive threat to its lucrative advertising business, the states allege. To get Facebook to abandon the alternative tool favored by publishers, it agreed to give the social media company advantages in online ad auctions routed through Googles own technology, the states claim. According to the new court filing, Pichai personally signed off on terms of the agreement, as did Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. Sandberg had described the agreement with Google as a big deal strategically in an email thread that included Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, according to the complaint, which claims Meta executives told Zuckerberg they needed his approval to move forward with the deal. Google said in a statement that its advertising business operates in a highly competitive market. AG Paxtons complaint is full of inaccuracies and lacks legal merit, Google said. Meta, which isnt a defendant in the states lawsuit, said in a statement that the agreement with Google increased competition for ad placements, benefiting publishers and advertisers. The case is Texas v. Google LLC, 21-cv-06841, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). Now read: Apple considers delaying new VR and AR headset until 2023 South Africas biggest data centre operator, Teraco Data Environments, has been instrumental in growing Internet traffic and reducing the cost of broadband in the country. Founded in 2008 by Tim Parsonson and Lex van Wyk, Teraco has grown its facilities to become the biggest data centre platform in Africa. The recent announcement that San-Franciso based real estate investment trust Digital Realty planned to acquire a 55% stake in Teraco gave the company a valuation of $3.5 billion (R53.6 billion). Digital Realty is the worlds largest investor in carrier-neutral data centres that provide colocation and peering services. With over 22,000 interconnects, Teraco has the most interconnected facilities in Africa, meaning it holds significant strategic value for Digital Realtys plans on the continent. In South Africa, the company currently has seven data centres across three metrosJohannesburg, Cape Town, and Durbanoffering a total space of approximately 48,000m2. In Johannesburg, there are the JB1 and JB3 facilities at Isando and the JB2 and JB4 centres in Bredell. The Isando campus will be expanded with another facility (JB5) in future. Cape Town has two facilities one in Rondebosch (CT1) and another in Brackenfell (CT2). A future expansion is planned for Brackenfell, which will be called CT3. The final data centre is located in Durbans Riverhorse Valley and is called DB1. Combined, these seven facilities have an IT power capacity of 75MW. Teracos additional planned rollouts will add another 35,000m2 of hosting space. Among the planned developments, Teraco will expand facilities on land it owns adjacent to its Johannesburg and Cape Town campuses. That will support a further 93 megawatts of capacity. Another project which is currently under construction will add another 19MW capacity. Overall, it expects its envisioned developments to increase total critical IT power capacity to 187MW more than the largest solar power plant in South Africa can generate. Among Teracos prominent achievements was 2012s establishment of NAPAfrica in Johannesburg, a non-profit, neutral Internet Exchange Point where companies can host their online content and services. NAPAfrica has given South African Internet users low-latency access to data and apps and helped bring down the costs of local and international data transit, making it possible for Internet service providers (ISPs) to offer more affordable broadband packages. Teraco told MyBroadband there were now 530 companies peering at NAPAfrica, including major international players like Amazon, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Netflix. Last year, the company saw a huge increase in enterprise peering, primarily driven by businesses wanting to reach key content and cloud applications. We also saw an increase in enterprise wanting to peer with the ISP community to facilitate the increased broadband capacity demand from remote working, Teraco said. We have seen the continued demand in countries throughout Africa wanting to peer with NAPAfrica to access key content and cloud applications as well as the continued drive to keep African routes in Africa. The graph below shows how Internet traffic and networks peering through NAPAfrica increased from 2014 to 2021. According to the latest data, NAPAfrica traffic throughput hit 2.2Tbps during December 2021. Now read: Oracle Cloud launch date for South African region announced Napa County Supervisor Brad Wagenknecht and Napa City Councilmember Liz Alessio will host a Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration interfaith prayer vigil on Monday, Jan. 17 at Veterans Park, beginning at 5:30 p.m. All members of the public are invited to participate. Each year on the third Monday of January, we observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and reflect on the work that still needs to be done for justice and equity. This Jan. 17, we hope to make the holiday more than just a day off by taking the time to reflect and take action on civil rights issues across the globe, said Wagenknecht. Slovakia will seek exemption from the EU embargo on Russian oil imports NEWS.am digest: Blinken meets Mirzoyan in US, people detained during protests in Yerevan Italy to face serious issues in winter if Russian gas supplies are cut off now Resistance Movement rally on France Square in Yerevan EU hopes to adopt sixth round of sanctions against Russia at next EU Council meeting Peaceful rallies of disobedience held in Spitak Spain extends OVID-19 entry restrictions Vayk joins demand for Nikol Pashinyan's resignation Putin and Macron discuss Ukraine Citizens demanding Pashinyan's resignation block road from Vayots Dzor to Yerevan Peaceful rallies of disobedience held in Vanadzor demanding PM's resignation Citizens demanding Pashinyan's resignation block Gyumri-Yerevan highway Sirusho: Today I will join our compatriots in France Square Third meeting of Armenia and Turkey special representatives held in Vienna Dollar rises slightly after long decline, euro also goes up in Armenia Civil disobedience actions in regions: Yerevan-Goris highway blocked Azerbaijan settling occupied Armenian Hadrut, Shushi cities of Artsakh New colors and new services: Team Telecom Armenia completes rebranding Armenia legislature speaker receives France-Armenia Friendship Group delegation France senator: We are leaving for Armenia with Senate group Putin signs decree on economic measures against unfriendly countries Armenia legislature speaker: Authorities have repeatedly proposed dialogue to opposition Backpack action of protest being held outside Armenia parliament (PHOTOS) Armenia defense ministry: Azerbaijan MOD statement does not correspond to reality Armenia defense minister receives Kansas National Guard delegation Armenia Police: Yerevan-Sevan motorway reopened Ned Price: Mirzoyan-Blinken meeting will launch US-Armenia strategic dialogue Mirzoyan, Nuland discuss Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement process Civil disobedience actions are carried out in some Armenia cities Armenia 2nd-President Kocharyan, ex-deputy PM and now lawmaker Gevorgyan trial to resume Pashinyan to Morawiecki: This year we mark 30th anniversary of Armenia-Poland diplomatic relations No new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia Central Bank leaves refinancing rate unchanged at 9.25% Demonstrators demanding PM Pashinyan's resignation block Sevan-Yerevan motorway Police: 117 demonstrators apprehended in Yerevan Kansas National Guard leadership visiting Armenia Bloomberg: EU new gas partners Armenian member of Turkey legislature says he was thrown at table of wolves Italian PM slams Lavrov for his 'Hitler' statements in interview with local television South Korea and US plan to start air force exercises on May 9 Police special forces apprehend Armenia ex-president Robert Kocharyans son Police: 70 people apprehended from Yerevan streets World Press Freedom Index 2022: Journalism as a profession is humiliated in Armenia Newspaper: Armenia ruling party MPs are worried Borrell speaks on possible disconnection from SWIFT of new Russian banks Cyprus becomes first EU country with full 5G coverage Police apprehending participants of civil disobedience actions in Yerevan State Department: Deepening US-Armenia cooperation in nuclear energy will strengthen bilateral relations Peaceful disobedience actions resume in Yerevan early morning Mirzoyan: Armenia appreciates US support for developing energy sector Blinken underscores US commitment to help Armenia, Azerbaijan find sustainable peace, prosperity Eurozone economic sentiment falls much more than expected in April Apple faces big fine Armenia ex-president joins discussion in France Square Poland wants the EU to set a clear date for stopping Russian oil imports Armenia FM meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Armenia FM meets with Director of USAID Samantha Power Ann Linde says Finland will almost certainly apply for NATO membership Police beat reporters, obstruct their work in Yerevan European Commission may relieve Hungary, Slovakia of embargo on Russian oil purchase Resistance Movement to continue large-scale civil disobedience actions on 3 May in Yerevan and regions EU countries to continue to pay in euros or dollars for Russian gas Resistance Movement participants return to France Square Russian and Turkish defense ministers discuss current situation in Ukraine Ukrainian intelligence accuses Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan of helping Russia evade Western sanctions NEWS.am digest: Turkey says they have agreements with Armenia on border clarification Toivo Klaar informs about meeting of Armen Grigoryan and Hikmet Hajiyev in Brussels PACE initiates resolution on threats to journalists and human rights defenders in Azerbaijan Diplomat kidnapped in Haiti Hungarian president asks Orban to form new government Georgia PM hands over first part of questionnaire answers for accession to EU Resistance Movement participants march in central Yerevan Half of Japanese oppose change of peaceful constitution Resistance movement rally on France Square in Yerevan Blinken and Armenia FM sign memorandum on strategic cooperation in nuclear energy Another earthquake registered on Armenian-Georgian border FLYONE ARMENIA launches regular direct flights between Yerevan and Tbilisi Georgia abolishes requirement to wear masks in closed spaces One dollar drops below AMD 450, euro also falls in Armenia Georgia PM receives Justice Minister of Armenia Armenia MFA says there is no discussion, agreement on re-demarcating border with Turkey Cavusoglu claims there is agreement to clarify Armenia-Turkey border Azerbaijan president receives Brice Roquefeuil Armenia ex-defense minister: These authorities are able to use force inside the country Police: 244 people apprehended in Yerevan as of 2pm Incident involving disobedience march participants occurs at Armenian State Pedagogical University Yerevan Police apprehend opposition MP Police: 199 people apprehended in Yerevan as of noon Armenia defense ministry refutes Azerbaijan MOD statement Resistance Movement coordinator says they will assemble at France Square in downtown Yerevan at 6pm Armenia parliament opposition faction leader: More than 200 people apprehended The Azeri Times: Azerbaijan closes airspace for Russia military aircraft to disrupt transportation to Armenia Bill Gates warns of more fertile' COVID-19 variant Police: 3 dozen intersections in Yerevan were closed off by citizens since morning Armenia PM congratulates several Arab countries leaders on Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr 3 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Journalist falls ill during scuffle at civil disobedience action in Yerevan Armenia ex-ruling party official: I assess these actions of disobedience very positively Armenia FM to head for US, will meet with Blinken Armenia Police: 189 people apprehended so far in Yerevan YEREVAN. Zhoghovurd newspaper of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: The authorities, fearing to fail the election of the [countrys new] Human Rights Defender [(HRD)] [in the National Assembly (NA)]], have decided to organize the discussion of this matter at the bottom of the list of voting on persons. In particular, yesterday the NA Council approved the agenda of the session starting on January 17, which includes 24 matters, and the election of the [new] HRD will be the last matter. Zhoghovurd daily had written in its yesterday's issue that, according to the Law "Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly," all voting on persons, including the RA Human Rights Defender, is elected by closed-secret ballot, with at least three-fifths of the total number of votes of the MPs. In the parliament with 107 MPs, that number is 64, and the number of the [ruling majority] CC [Civil Contract Faction] MPs71. Of course, at first glance, the impression is that the CC has no problem at all to worry aboutbut that only at first glance. The thing is that on January 15-20 the NA delegationwhich includes 3 people from the CC faction: NA President Alen Simonyan, Hayk Konjoryan, Maria Karapetyanwill leave for the USA. It is not ruled out that they will not even make it to the election of the [new] Human Rights Defender. And if there are other absences in those days, the CC will really face a problem. And the failure of the voting on the [new] HRD is the most undesirable scenario for the ruling power. Students calling for better COVID-19 health and safety procedures in Chicago Public Schools briefly block traffic at the intersection of State and Madison streets in Chicago near CPS headquarters on Jan. 14, 2022. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune) Classes might be back in session for Chicago Public Schools, but students are worried about the health consequences of that return. This week the Chicago Teachers Union voted to approve a COVID-19 agreement with Chicago Public Schools on Wednesday, formally putting an end to their latest dispute over school safety, but some students decided to participate in a walkout at their respective schools to protest what they feel is a lack of classroom safety amid the pandemic. Advertisement The Chicago Public Schools Radical Youth Alliance (Chi-Rads) led the walkout at 12:30 p.m., which culminated in a 1:45 p.m. rally that involved at least 500 students outside CPS headquarters at 42 W. Madison St. Students have demanded and teachers have demanded for the safety of people in our school communities. We know this has not happened, Catlyn Savado, 14, a freshman at Percy L. Julian High School on the Far South Side, said via megaphone on school grounds during the walkout. We know what keeps us safe. Only the community knows what they need to keep the community safe. They increase the police budget, but we dont have a mental health department at our schools. CTU has been fighting for nurses, social workers and psychologists in every single Chicago public school and even within a pandemic, that isnt happening. That aint right. Advertisement Freshman Catlyn Savado, center, addresses classmates at Percy L. Julian High School in Chicago as many students walk out of school over safety issues on Jan. 14, 2021. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune) Savado was a lead organizer of the walkout joined by her peers some yelling, some jumping up and down, others walking with laptops in their hand and school IDs still prominent around their necks but many were commiserating among themselves, talking about attending the rally, going home or going back to school after the protest. Charnice Jones, 16, of Englewood, found out about plans for the walkout earlier in the week. She said Savado is doing the right thing. She thinks the walkout will change the narrative if the right people hear the students. Jones also was planning to attend the the rally. There needs to be a lot more COVID precautions people are in there, not even wearing their masks, everybody, the whole school, she said. Student Lande Henderson, 14, talks about safety concerns at Percy L. Julian High School during a walkout over school safety issues on Jan. 14, 2021. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune) Lande Henderson, 14, and Ceanna Anderson, 14, were surprised that the school administration didnt stop the walkout. It was their first. They said their parents were aware of their participation. Henderson said that while masks are available at school, they are often ones that are hard to breathe through. He said if face shields were an option, hed prefer those. They do pass out masks, but in our reading class, its the only class that desks are wiped down. In other classes they dont do that, Henderson said. In our biology table, we will write on it with an eraser just to see if they will clean the tables off and it will still be there. They dont wipe the tables down. Before, they used to spray the knobs on doors we used to touch, but that was the only thing I saw them do at the beginning of the school year. Theyre not doing it anymore. Savado was happy about the turnout. Dozens of youth participated in her school. But she said she would have been happy even if it was her and two peers. Advertisement At first, I was kind of scared, as we see, we have SROs (school resource officers). I dont know why we have three police cars for a group of 70 Black students, but it did what it had to do, she said. Savado said Chi-Rads formed less than a week ago after Black and brown students felt teachers, parents, CPS and CTU werent listening to them. The tipping point was the CTU vote to approve the COVID-19 agreement. The momentum has always been there and always manifesting itself as we all have grown up in this city and constantly feel those systems of oppression, she said. The day we found out the house of delegates voted for the safety proposal and honestly what safety are we talking about? That was when we said were doing a walkout. There is no way we can put down on that or tolerate that at all. Savado had expected several hundred students at the rally. She said funds were provided to students to make the trip downtown on public transportation. When we do come out swinging, we need to swing for everyone, she said. The models of bargaining and what that looks like when CTU sits at that table at the beginning of the year, they can say we want this, we want this. And by the middle of the school year, we see all that has been water-downed and diluted and folks cant even come together on a safety agreement. Which they have, but it hasnt even been implemented. We want less listening and more implementing. Chi-Rads demands were put in a letter sent to city and school officials this week. Advertisement a thread: We as young people of the Chicago Public Schooling system have officially allied ourselves across a multitude of this cities public high-schools. We have established a coalition that will organize, execute, and define the reimagination of our education. pic.twitter.com/zkhbVvWzhV Chi-RADS (@chiradsCPS) January 7, 2022 Demands include: public acknowledgment of mistakes, apologies made to CTU and bringing students to the table when talking about COVID-19 safety plans, so that student voices are prioritized. The groups demands also include more social distancing in schools, better access to masks and tests, laptops for remote learning and more cleaning products in every classroom. Folks have their eyes on young people right now, Savado said. Weve seen it already New York, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Oakland, Seattle have actually reached out to us and shown their solidarity with us because they saw our letter of declaration, which is really cool. Theyve seen that common thread all across the country and now peoples eyes are on us. Specifically in this city, where we know not only is the pandemic an issue but gun violence is a pandemic too. By early afternoon the rally at CPS headquarters was in full effect. At times, passing cars began honking along to the cheering crowd, which began a new chant every few minutes that said something about COVID-19 safety or criticized Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Many in the group waved signs with slogans such as, Masks are disposable. CPS students are not. Michael Willis, a sophomore at Chicago Military Academy in Bronzeville, said he showed up Friday to take a stand against Lightfoot, who he described as not doing anything to protect children from COVID-19. The teachers are helping us, Willis said. They want our voices. Marly Gonzalez, a freshman at Curie High School on the Southwest Side, said it felt amazing to see the turnout, but she added it was important to remember the purpose of the protest. Advertisement I feel unsafe (back in school) because theres so many people who dont wear their mask correctly and you dont know if you got COVID, Gonzalez said. We need our safety to be known. Students calling for better COVID-19 health and safety procedures in Chicago Public Schools briefly block traffic at the intersection of State and Madison streets in Chicago near CPS headquarters on Jan. 14, 2022. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune) More than an hour after the protest began downtown, the crowd marched east and blocked traffic at State and Madison Streets. Students circled up, danced and continued to chant anti-Lightfoot messages, before one person scaled a pole amid a backdrop of swearing about the mayor. Less than 15 minutes later, organizers encouraged the group to go home and the crowd dispersed. Some remained on Madison Street to scrawl messages, and the communist hammer and sickle symbol in chalk in front of CPS headquarters. CPS issued a statement about the walkout: Chicago Public Schools (CPS) makes the health and safety of its students and staff its top priority. Today, students from various schools participated in a walkout that came out of an organized demonstration around COVID-19 school safety measures and student voice. The action included approximately 200 students who protested downtown at CPS headquarters. CPS remains committed to fostering learning environments that allow students to respectfully deliberate issues with evidence and an open mind and safely participate in civic action. It is appropriate in classes or special school events to create an environment where students of all viewpoints feel that they can express themselves in a safe and respectful environment. The District is proud to have acted on recommendations from community members, including teachers and parents, to strategically invest federal funds to support students and staff across our District in the fight against COVID-19 and the subsequent academic and social-emotional consequences related to the pandemic and remote learning. The District has provided robust COVID-19 safety measures, including testing and vaccines, as well as new technology and intranet services, academic programming, mental health supports and programs, free meal distribution when schools were out of session, and more. As a District, we want to ensure that we always listen to the opinions and feedback of our future leaders and will continue to work with students on this very important matter. During the talks between CTU and CPS over the last two weeks, many youth have turned to social media to bring awareness to their experience, as have parents and teachers. One Kenwood parent thought it was too soon to go back to classrooms, given the time of year for flu and pneumonia, while Rick Coppola, a 7th grade teacher at South Loop Elementary and co-editor of Language Arts Journal, posted on social media about his return to school this week, only to find out he tested positive for COVID-19 after exposing dozens of students to it. He too preferred a remote situation. Coppola wasnt aware of the walkout until today. Advertisement Students come into our classrooms with powerful ways of knowing and they are experiencing this pandemic in ways different from the adults, he said. They definitely deserve their seat at the table. We have missed the opportunity to have a nuanced response to the pandemic and its effect on various priority groups served by the district. Shanzeh Ahmad contributed to this report. drockett@chicagotribune.com sahmad@chicagotribune.com ayin@chicagotribune.com A huge fire broke out at a New Jersey chemical plant Friday evening, sending massive plumes of black smoke billowing into the air, NBC New York reported. The fire at the chemical plant in Passaic reached 11 alarms before midnight. Passaic Mayor Hector Lora went on Facebook Live throughout the evening to implore residents to stay away from the area near the fire. Lora also asked those who live nearby to close their windows due to the extreme amount of smoke. Evacuations were not ordered, but were being considered, Lora said. No injuries had been reported, aside from a firefighter who was hit in the face by debris at one point, officials said. A security guard is believed to have been the only person initially at the scene of the vacant building, and that individual was accounted for, according to the mayor. Police blocked off streets in the area, and officers warned drivers to avoid the area, as they were fearful of a potential explosion. The 200,000 square-foot plant is located near Route 21 and the Passaic River. The back structure of the plant did partially collapse in the very early hours of Saturday morning. An official said that among the companies housed in the factory is a pool chlorine manufacturing company, and the biggest problem with a chlorine fire is wind. Strong wind gusts were blowing through Passaic as the fire raged on the frigid night, both elements that hampered the fight against the flames. However, Mayor Lora said that the fire did not reach the company that was housing the chemicals, crediting firefighters for preventing that from happening. A fire chief said that the portion of the structure where the chlorine was stored "seems to be under control." Had the fire reached the chemicals, then evacuations could be in order and the situation would have been much worse, Lora said. A large number of firefighters from surrounding towns were called in to help battle the flames, which shot up into the night sky and were easily visible from cars traveling on Route 21, which were passing just feet from the inferno. Video from social media showed the flames shooting even higher than the elevated highway, as cars drove past. The highway has since been closed. New York City officials said that smoke from the blaze may be seen or smelled in the city. The Department of Environmental Protection was in Passaic to monitor air quality, according to Lora. A cause for the fire has not yet been determined. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Saturday met with the leadership of law enforcement agencies, during which he instructed to find out the exact number of casualties during the unrest in Kazakhstan, TASS reported, citing the Kazakh presidential press service. "Special attention was paid to the comprehensive investigation into the tragic events in Kazakhstanin particular, in Almaty, the determination of the exact number of deaths among the civilian population, the development of a new normative basis for coordinating law enforcement actions in critical situations," the respective statement said in part. " Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instructed the Secretary of the Security Council to speed up the work toward the creation of special operations forces, and to submit concrete proposals for the reform of the national security system," the Kazakh presidential press service added in its statement. Also, the President stressed the "importance of preventing violations of citizens' rights during the anti-terrorist operation and conducting investigative actions." A 39-year-old man was fatally wounded Friday night while he was sitting in his vehicle at a gas pump in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, Chicago police said. About 11:30 p.m., the unidentified victim was inside his vehicle at a gas pump in the 3100 block of West Chicago Avenue, when two people exited a white Chevrolet sedan and fired shots in his direction, police said. Advertisement The man was taken with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest to Stroger Hospital where he was pronounced dead. No one was in custody for the homicide, and detectives were investigating. Govt orders tests in Sham Shui Po and Tsing Yi Health officials have issued compulsory testing orders after two preliminary positive cases involving mutant coronavirus strains. File photo: Shutterstock Health officials said on Saturday that they've issued compulsory testing orders for buildings in Tsing Yi and Sham Shui Po. They said both cases involved a mutant strain, and they believed the risk of infection was higher. They issued an order for residents of Wang Sin House, Cheung Wang Estate in Tsing Yi, after a 41-year-old female resident who's in charge of cleaning facilities on cargo flights, tested positive. Just last week, a 39-year-old aircraft cabin cleaner was found to be infected. They said anyone who had visited Wang Sin House for more than two hours between (December 26 and January 15 must undergo compulsory testing on or before January 17. They also issued a compulsory testing order for residents of Tung Moon House on Tai Hang Tung Estate in Sham Shui Po. They said the Sham Shui Po case involved a 43-year-old female resident of the building who arrived in Hong Kong on December 20 from Pakistan by flight EK384. The woman had been double jabbed in Pakistan, and tested negative during quarantine but tested preliminary positive on January 14. They said anyone who's spent more than two hours in the building from January 10 to January 15 must get tested by January 17. Officials said the compulsory test orders also applied to people who've been vaccinated or who've been recently tested because a mutant strain was involved. They expect to complete the operations by 7am on Sunday. Last year, the University of California issued revised interim versions of the SVSH Policy and its implementing frameworks to comply with the 2020 amendments to the federal Title IX regulations made by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). Last month, the UC Office of the President issued further revised versions of those same documents. They were effective January 1, 2022. Later this year, the DOE plans to propose new amendments to the Title IX regulations. The university expects the new amendments will be a significant improvement. In the meantime, UC is making every effort to mitigate harm from the existing regulations, including issuing these revised policies. The SVSH Policy and frameworks are important to our ongoing efforts to combat sexual harassment. The Title IX Office and campus partners that participate in stewardship of our SVSH policy have exercised great attention and care to ensure implementation consistent with our commitment and values. Summarized below are the key revisions, the impetus for the changes, and other information of note. Senate Bill 493 Changes Certain revisions are to comply with California Senate Bill (SB) 493. This legislation was authored by former Senator Jackson of Santa Barbara and sponsored by Equal Rights Advocates and the Womens Foundation of California. It was motivated largely by concerns, which UC shares, about potential adverse effects of the 2020 amendments to the Title IX regulations. The SVSH Policy and implementing frameworks together already codified most of SB 493s requirements. Revisions are therefore limited. In the SVSH Policy, they include: the addition of sexual exploitation as a form of Prohibited Conduct; limitations on UCs use of no-contact orders to restrict a Complainants contact with a Respondent (but not a Respondents contact with a Complainant); a requirement that Confidential Resources inform a person who discloses Prohibited Conduct of their right to report to Title IX, and how to do so; the addition of pastoral counselors as a specified Confidential Resource, and in the same sectiona broader reference to CARE rather than CARE Advocates. As in the past, these employees are Confidential Resources only when they are acting in their confidential capacity; a statement that resolution processes under the SVSH Policy are not adversarial; a statement that Title IX Officers will periodically update parties on the status of investigations; the addition of certain notice requirements when a Title IX Officer opens an investigation despite a complainants wishes. Note that this happens relatively rarely, when a potential risk to the campus community compels it; a statement that the Title IX Officer will consider potential systemic remedies after investigations are concluded; and a requirement that locations notify volunteers and contractors who regularly interact with students of the SVSH Policy. In Appendix E, Appendix F, the Faculty Framework and the Staff/NFAP Framework, changes include statements that: any evidence available to but not disclosed by a party during an investigation might not be considered at any subsequent hearing; in the very limited circumstances when an investigator or hearing officer determines a partys sexual history is relevant, they will explain their determination to the parties in writing; parties may object, in writing only, to questions asked at a hearing, and submit their objections at the conclusion of the hearing for inclusion in the record; and investigators and hearing officers are required to exclude questions a party proposes they ask of another party or witness (or, in DOE Grievance Process hearings, asks through their advisor) if the questions are irrelevant, repetitive, or are harassing (in Appendix E) or violate the SVSH rules of conduct (in a DOE Grievance Process); previously, this was discretionary in some instances. Title IX Regulatory Change Appendix F, the Faculty Framework and the Staff/NFAP Framework also include revisions in response to one significant provision of the Title IX regulations becoming ineffective. The procedures for resolving conduct covered by the regulations issued last year severely limited the Title IX hearing officers ability to rely on out-of-hearing statements not subject to cross-examination during the hearing. The regulatory provision requiring this limitation is no longer in effect, due to a federal court decision vacating it and DOEs subsequent announcement that it would not enforce it. UC included the limitation only because it was legally required at the time. Now that it is not, UC is removing it. Under the revised frameworks, a party or witnesss unavailability or decision not to answer questions at the hearing now no longer automatically bars the hearing officer from considering the party or witnesss statements. Rather, the hearing officer will determine whether and how to weigh such statements consistent with the principles and procedures described in the applicable framework. Clinical Setting Changes The University has dedicated significant effort and resources to preventing, detecting, and responding to Prohibited Conduct arising from the context of patient care. To further that work, certain revisions are to better account for the clinical context. These revisions were reviewed last year by the Presidents Working Group on SVSH in the Clinical Setting. They primarily include: a requirement that all Responsible Employees report possible Prohibited Conduct that occurs in the context of patient care. Employees with heightened reporting obligations under the current SVSH Policyfaculty, Human Resources and Academic Personnel administrators, police, managers and supervisors, and Title IX personnelalready had this obligation; modified definitions of Prohibited Conduct that apply when allegations arise in the context of patient care; a provision that sexual assault during a clinical encounter is considered aggravated, along with use of force, violence or menace, deliberately causing or taking advantage of incapacitation, and misuse of a complainants image. A determination that conduct is aggravated may affect the corrective action; and the addition of examples and of references to University policies and officials, regulations, and regulatory agencies relevant to the clinical setting. Application of Changes to Current Investigations and Adjudications As a general matter, in resolution processes under the SVSH Policy, the University applies the SVSH Policy definitions of Prohibited Conduct in place at the time alleged violations of the policy occurred, and the investigation and adjudication procedures (set forth in both the SVSH Policy and the applicable resolution framework) in place at the time the Title IX office charges an investigation. However, in some circumstances, the University will apply revised procedures to resolution processes that are already underwayspecifically, when doing so is required by law or to ensure fairness. Based on these principles, the revised procedures apply as follows: Title IX Regulatory Change. The revisions to Appendix F, the Faculty Framework and Staff/NFAP Framework described above under Title IX Regulatory Change, apply to cases still in the investigation phase, and to cases in which the investigation is complete but still in the 20-day period for parties to accept or not accept the investigators preliminary determination. The Title IX Offices will notify parties in such cases of this revision, and give parties who have already indicated that whether they accept the opportunity to reconsider. SB 493 Changes. The other revisions to Appendix F, the Faculty Framework, and the Staff/NFAP Framework, as well as Appendix E and the procedures in the SVSH Policy to comply with SB 493apply to any investigation opened on or after the effective date of January 1, 2022, and its subsequent adjudication. For cases already open on that date, the Title IX office will continue using the already-applicable procedures. Additionally, when analyzing alleged conduct during patient care that occurred before January 1, 2022, the University will consider the Prohibited Conduct definitions in place at the time of the alleged conduct as modified by the definitions now codified in Appendix V, when they apply. Note that these definitions are already in use per December 2019 guidance from the Systemwide Title IX Office, and ensure that the particular circumstances of the patient care setting are accounted for. While revisions to these policies are not extensive, and most are legally required, the UC system appreciates the input of stakeholders during the limited management consultation and 90-day formal review for the SVSH Policy. In particular, the university extends its thanks to the Title IX Officers, Academic Senate, Student Conduct directors, CARE directors, Title IX Student Advisory Board, and UC Health colleagues. Please contact the UC Santa Cruz Title IX Office if you have any additional questions. Sincerely, Isabel Dees Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer & Associate Vice Chancellor, Equity & Equal Protection "We appreciate the UN Secretary General's call for the release of Afghan capital from the US," Xinhua news agency quoted Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid as saying in a tweet on Friday. As a result of the taliban taking over Afghanistan in August 2021, the US froze over $9 billion in assets belonging to the Afghan central bank as well as a halt in funds by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The lack of funds has caused an economic collapse and an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. On Thursday, Guterres urged the US and the World Bank to unfreeze Afghan funds to prevent "the nightmare unfolding in Afghanistan" from getting worse. Mujahid noted that such a position would benefit the UN's impartiality and the prestige of this important international organisation on the rights of nations. The US must respond positively to the international voice and release frozen Afghan assets. Earlier this week, the UN and its partners launched a more than $5 billion funding appeal for Afghanistan, in the hope of shoring up collapsing basic services there, which have left 22 million people in need of assistance inside the country, and 5.7 million requiring help beyond its borders. --IANS ksk/ ( 242 Words) 2022-01-15-09:40:03 (IANS) In a tweet late Friday night, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said: "In line with new National Security Policy, through which Pakistan declared geo-economics as core of its national security doctrine, the government has decided to allow permanent residency scheme for foreign nationals, new policy allows foreigners to get permanent resident status in lieu of investment." The government believes it will fetch billions of dollars of foreign investment by giving Pakistani nationality and proprietary rights to the foreign investors, the Dawn news report said. An informed source told Dawn that the government wanted to attract heavy investments from the wealthy Afghan nationals who were presently investing in countries such as Iran, Turkey and Malaysia. They said the government also hoped that US-based Sikh nationals would be happy to make investment in different sectors in Pakistan due to their affection with Sikh religious sites in the country, the report added. Also, Prime Minister Imran Khan in his recent statements hinted that he wanted to attract top Chinese investors who relocated their industries to other countries in the region. The government also hoped that the rich Arabs rulers, who used to visit Pakistan every year for hunting purpose, would like to have Pakistani citizenship. --IANS san/ksk/ ( 244 Words) 2022-01-15-12:28:04 (IANS) India's December merchandise exports rose to $37.81 billion, higher by 38.91 per cent on a year-on-year basis, official data showed on Friday. Exports during December 2020 stood at $27.22 billion. The data by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed that in comparison to December 2019, last month's exports rose by 39.47 per cent. "Non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports in December 2021 were $28.92 billion, registering a positive growth of 29.67 per cent over non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports of $22.30 billion in December 2020," the ministry said. In comparison to December 2019, non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports in December 2021 registered a positive growth of 37.31 per cent. Similarly, India's merchandise imports in December 2021 increased by 38.55 per cent over last year to $59.48 billion from $42.93 billion. The ministry data showed that last month's exports rose by 50.24 per cent in comparison to December 2019. "Non-petroleum, non-gems and jewellery (gold, silver and precious metals) imports were $35.47 billion in December 2021 with a positive growth of 34.28 per cent over non-petroleum, non-gems and jewellery imports of $26.41 billion in December 2020 and a positive growth of 47.32 per cent over non-petroleum, non-gems and jewellery imports of $24.07 billion in December 2019." Consequently, the trade deficit widened by 37.92 per cent on a year-on-year basis to $21.68 billion in December 2021 from $15.72 billion in the like period of 2020. It had widened to $12.49 billion in December 2019. ICRA's Chief economist Aditi Nayar said: "While the merchandise trade deficit in December 2021 pulled back from the levels seen in September 2021 and November 2021, benefitting from high exports ahead of the Christmas season, non-oil non-gold imports climbed very sharply. "The surge in non-oil non-precious imports in December 2021 was led by electronic goods, fertilisers, chemicals and coal, all of which reported a YoY increase of more than $1 billion. While the improvement in exports was fairly broad-based, nearly 40 per cent of the YoY increase in non-oil exports was on account of engineering goods." EEPC India Chairman Mahesh Desai said: "While the order pipeline has been remarkably good, we could see some slowdown in case Omicron disrupts the global supply chain. "In recent weeks, we have seen some signs of volatility and uncertainty due to the ongoing pandemic wave across the world but by putting suitable policy measures in place the government could provide a cushion to the trade and business." FIEO President A. Sakthivel said that though the government has announced a slew of measures to support exports, the need of the hour is to soon announce extension of the interest equalisation scheme and allow transfer of 'MEIS' and expand usages of 'RoDTEP' and 'RoSCTL' scrips. --IANS rv/vd ( 468 Words) 2022-01-14-22:48:03 (IANS) Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 15 (ANI/Heylin Spark): Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Government of India is organizing interaction of select startups with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Startup India Innovation Week from January 10-16 2022 under the nationwide celebration of 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' to commemorate 75 years of India's Independence. The interaction aims to understand how startups can contribute to national needs by driving innovation and how the government can assist them in these initiatives. Anurag Shrivastava, Founder of DIDI has been selected to be part of the Working Group that will present policy recommendations to the Prime Minister of India. DIDI is a multi-language app and women-only POS (Point of Sale) for Insurance. Each working group will be supported by the representatives from Ministry/Department dealing with the theme to finalize the report. Each group will make presentation before the Prime Minister on January 15 2022. DIDI is a multilingual app which will be launched in 732 districts and 26,000 unique locations of India. With a vision to create a scalable and profitable business that would provide insurance and other financial services in India, DIDI is planning to provide employment to 2.6 lakhs women in phase one. Anurag Shrivastava, Founder of DIDI is a firm believer in women empowerment. He says, "The strong network of women that Didi intends to create will not only empower the women across India but also create a strong infrastructure for the government to reach directly to the beneficiary and run other programs and policies, such as the one for farmer welfare where he is also on the policy recommendation panel. The team at DIDI educates and trains females in their local languages and allows them to participate in this fastest-growing sector with the help of licensing, technology and marketing support. Anurag Shrivastava, Founder of DIDI believes that women empowerment is the key to a better and brighter India. He is a recipient of the Asian Leadership Award. He also received an award from the Government of Maharashtra. As a co-founder of Risk Free Life Insurance Broking Pvt. Ltd, Anurag makes insurance buying easy for consumers. According to an IMF (India Monetary Fund) report, "India will become 26 per cent richer if labour participation of women in India equals that of men." The survey done by DIDI showed that the priority of women is her children and her household and she is not comfortable leaving those responsibilities to go out and work. Financial services are required by everyone and are the fastest-growing sector with clear viability of double-digit growth for the next 25 - 30 years. Thus, DIDI came forward and supported women to sell financial services. The team selected 26000 different locations across India based on the population, average income, and other parameters and plans to empower 10 Didis in each of these locations to sell financial services in the first phase of the project. As the country is set for a nationwide celebration of 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' to commemorate 75 years of India's Independence, Anurag says "Like Rani Lakshmi Bai and many other great women warriors played a vital role in India's journey of Independence, in present times the women of India too have the power to further strengthen the Indian Economy." Startup India initiative aims to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and startups in the country that will drive sustainable economic growth and generate large-scale employment opportunities. Anurag says, "We empower our Didis with the technology-driven recommendation engine by Refreshmint that delivers hyper-personalised financial product recommendations to a customer based on his needs and affordability, by just entering some required inputs." Selling financial services involves a lot of technology, complexity and licensing. With a vision to empower women in the financial sector, DIDI strives for excellence. Visit www.trustdidi.in to know more. This story is provided by Heylin Spark. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/Heylin Spark) Mississauga [Canada], January 15 (ANI/Heylin Spark): Around 2.5 lakh people immigrate to Canada every year from around the world. The reason for this is its thriving economy, happiness index, expanding job market, better quality of life and so much more. But there seems to be a glitch that people keep facing every now and then. This is due to the fact that some consultants focus only on their monetary benefits as a primary goal and thus, end up neglecting the student's future. Therefore, One Place, which is a trustworthy Canadian organisation came into existence for offering professional and transparent guidance to people for their Study Abroad goals as well as Permanent Residency (PR). They help people to immigrate to Canada in different categories namely Student Visa and Permanent Residency. They have emerged as a leading player recently for Immigration to Canada. Immigrate as a Student & avail these benefits Right from the Inception of the idea to study in Canada or abroad till the time a student gets their PR in Canada, OnePlace is always by their side. From discovering the right college and program or getting help to get a job in Canada, One Place is a one-stop solution. With their support and guidance people can connect directly with colleges/universities without relying on agents. There are no service charges or processing fees for the student category as the primary goal is to serve the society. With a 360 degree approach focusing on your unique profile and requirements they get you to Canada in no time. Once you visit their website www.oneplace.ca and check out your eligibility, they will recommend programs best suited for you, and help you obtain a Visa directly through Visa specialists in Canada. The 5 Step Process to follow to Study in Canada: Step 1: Sign up Sign up with OnePlace on www.oneplace.ca and fill in your information to get a customised list of colleges and programs that are best suited for you as per your profile. Step 2: Review Consult one-on-one with OnePlace advisors to review and evaluate your Program options. Their advisors will help you fill out the applications to the shortlisted Colleges/Universities. Step 3: Submit The applications are submitted directly to the institutions, and you can monitor your application status online at every step. Step 4: Visa OnePlace's accredited, Canada-based immigration consultants will guide you at every step to ensure a smooth and accurate application process. All document submission is done conveniently online. They update you once your Visa has arrived and you are ready to travel and study in Canada. Step 5: Studies & Career. Once you start your studies in Canada, OnePlace helps you find co-op programs, internships, and permanent positions to jumpstart your career in Canada. OnePlace also provides career oriented bridge programs for developing real-world career skills to supplement your education. Immigrate as a Permanent Resident (PR) Canada seems like a dream to many. You can take the advantage of getting in touch with Canada-based Immigration lawyers at OnePlace. You do not need to worry about paying hefty amounts to the Canadian lawyers just to talk to them. Your PR process would very well be taken care of seamlessly as per Canadian standards. You will be assisted with your Visa Process, Career Opportunities and Travel needs. OnePlace has been a revolutionary company in making the process to get to Canada fair and hassle free. Thus, stay away from the rat race and give yourself the advantage of honest visa processing with OnePlace. You can reach out to them on +91 6280450544 or visit their website www.oneplace.ca This story is provided by Heylin Spark. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/Heylin Spark) New Delhi [India], January 15 (ANI/Mediawire): The new year began with a lot of development about the CBSE 2022 Term 2 exams, but there has been widespread misinformation, according to an official note from CBSE: "A few online media platforms are confusing audiences, using expressions such as Breaking News about major exam pattern changes in class X and XII Term 2 Board exams." To summarize everything in case you missed any important update about the CBSE term 2 board exam 2022, here are the highlights for you: 1). CBSE Term 2 Board Exam 2022 updates: The CBSE will release CBSE term 2 sample paper questions for the term 2 exams on cbseacademic.nic.in. Students preparing for the board exams can download the syllabi and question banks from the CBSE academic website. They will also release a marking scheme for each sample paper so students can evaluate themselves and check how well prepared they are for the exam. About the CBSE Exam Dates 2022, the Term 2 board examination for CBSE Class 10 and Class 12 students will be held in March-April, 2022. A piece of fake news that's going around is that there is a new Term 2 paper pattern question. But as per circular no. 51, CBSE confirmed that the way the Term 1 exam has been held, CBSE Term II 2022 will follow the same format. 2). CBSE Term 2 Boards Question Papers For the boards exam you can study Oswaal Gurukul chapterwise objective and subjective Term 2 books that will help you prepare better. The questions are segregated chapter-wise and category-wise so that Class 10 & 12 CBSE students can concentrate properly on one chapter at a time. It is based on the latest circular no. Acad. 51 and 53 dated July 20, 2021, issued by the board for the Term II examination. 3). CBSE Term 2 Exam Pattern For subject wise preparation you don't have to buy books separately, these book combos have various questions, such as Objective MCQs, Source/Picture/Figure-Based questions, NCERT and NCERT Exemplars, Case Studies, Assertion & Reasoning-Based, and descriptive questions that require Very Short Answers (VSA), Short Answers (SA), and Long Answers (LA). This self-study guide for Term 2 is designed to help you assess your knowledge at your own pace and understand which sections need the most improvement. All of these books have detailed explanations so that you can have an in-depth understanding of the concepts. This class 10 Maths, Science, Social, English, and Hindi bundle includes objective and subjective questions from the CBSE Class 10 Term II Exam 2022. 4). Term I Results & Date Sheet for CBSE Term II The results of the term 1 exams are expected to be out by January. Once that is out, the CBSE will publicize the date sheet for the Term 2 board examination too. The final mark sheet will be prepared after the Term II exam. 5). Better of the Two Marks Will be Considered as Final Marks for Class 12 In hopes of making all educational rules student-friendly and safeguarding students' careers, the Supreme Court on Friday, January 8, directed CBSE to allow its class 12 students to choose either earlier marks or improvement marks as their final marks. To simplify: CBSE students will consider the better of the marks between the original and improvement examinations for the evaluation of the results of their class 12 exams. Students will choose which marks to use as their final marks, rather than the earlier Tabulation Policy mandate, which stated that the marks earned in the subsequent examination would be considered final. In 2021, CBSE students signed a petition against its Tabulation Policy of 2021 that made the improvement examination scores final for the future. This confirmation from the Apex court has been a great relief for all parents and class 11 & 12 students. 6). Preparation Tips for Board Exams 2022 Boards are students' most important exams. So, students, follow these tips to ace your Term 2 exams: 1. Practice solving questions from books that help with in-depth preparation based on the latest CBSE circular. 2. Time which section needs your utmost attention and self-assess your strengths and weaknesses to improve upon them. 3. Don't rush to complete everything all at once. Concentrate on one chapter at a time. 4. Solve as many latest sample papers as possible. Study well & all the best! This story is provided by Mediawire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/Mediawire) Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra, Ola and South Korea's Hyundai Motors are among 10 firms that have submitted bids under Rs 18,100 crore Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for battery manufacturing in India, the Ministry of Heavy Industries said on Saturday. "A total of 10 companies submitted their bids under the Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage Programme in India for which Request for Proposal (RFP) was released by Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) on 22nd October 2021," the Ministry of Heavy Industries said in a statement The companies who have applied for the ACC PLI scheme are: Reliance New Energy Solar Limited, (a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited), Hyundai Global Motors Company Limited, Ola Electric Mobility Private Limited, Lucas-TVS Limited, Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, Amara Raja Batteries Limited, Exide Industries Limited, Rajesh Exports Limited, Larsen & Toubro Limited, and India Power Corporation Limited. The scheme was open for receiving applications till 11:00:00 hours IST on January 14, 2022 and the technical bids were opened on January 15, 2022. The selected firms would be required to set up the manufacturing facility within a period of two years. The incentive will be disbursed thereafter over a period of five years on the sale of batteries manufactured in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi government approved the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme 'National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage' for achieving manufacturing capacity of 50 Giga Watt Hour (GWh) of ACC for enhancing India's manufacturing capabilities with a budgetary outlay of Rs 18,100 crore. Under this scheme, the emphasis of the government is to achieve greater domestic value addition, while at the same time ensuring that the levelised cost of battery manufacturing in India is globally competitive. "The programme is designed in such a manner that it is technology agnostic. The beneficiary firm shall be free to choose suitable advanced technology and the corresponding plant and machinery, raw material and other intermediate goods for setting up cell manufacturing facility to cater to any application," the Ministry of Heavy Industries said. The programme envisages an investment that will boost domestic manufacturing and also facilitate battery storage demand creation for both electric vehicles and stationary storage along with the development of a complete domestic supply chain and Foreign Direct Investment in the country. "ACC PLI scheme is expected to result in saving to the nation on account of reduction in import of crude oil to a significant extent and increase the share of renewable energy at the national grid level," the ministry said. This PLI scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) (Rs 18,100 crore) along with the already launched PLI Scheme for the automotive sector (Rs 25,938 crore) and Faster Adaption of Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) (Rs 10,000 crore) will enable India to leapfrog from traditional fossil fuel-based automobile transportation system to environmentally cleaner, sustainable, advanced and more efficient Electric Vehicles (EV) based system, it added. (ANI) Chicagos postmaster has left after seven months in the position. Eddie Morgan, who has been leading the U.S. Postal Services Chicago district, returned Monday to his previous role as postmaster in Kansas City, Missouri, USPS Chicago district spokesman Timothy Norman confirmed Friday. No replacement has yet been named. Advertisement Norman did not give a reason for Morgans departure. Morgan replaced the previous embattled postmaster, Wanda Prater, in June. That move came after complaints from congressmen, aldermen and the local mail workers union about delivery delays that U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush said amounted to an absolute, abject, total, undeniable failure. Prater had been postmaster since 2018, overseeing Chicagos more than 4,300 employees and 2,100 routes. Advertisement The U.S. Postal Service's Chicago headquarters on Aug. 18, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune) Mack Julion, Chicago chapter president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said he was indifferent to Morgans departure. He said issues with delivery delays persist, and attributed them to staffing shortages. Morgans departure is unlikely to change anything because the problems go beyond the Chicago postmaster, he said. He came into a situation to pretty much continue what was already started under Wanda Prater, and it failed, Julion said. sfreishtat@chicagotribune.com Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday honoured 46 startups along with 1 incubator and 1 accelerator with the National Startup Awards 2021. This the second edition of National Startup Awards. In this edition of the awards, applications were invited across 15 sectors and 49 sub-sectors. The sectors included Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Drinking Water, Education & Skill Development, Energy, Enterprise Technology, Environment, Fintech, Food Processing, Health & Wellness, Industry 4.0, Security, Space and Transport and Travel. Six special categories were also introduced to recognize exceptional Startups contributing to the good of the society. The 2021 edition of the awards also recognized exceptional Startups innovating solutions to promote Indic languages and to compliment national efforts to combat COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 2,177 applications were received from Startups across the 49 sub-sectors along with applications from 53 incubators and 6 accelerators for the ecosystem enablers categories. These applicants included 863 Women-led, 414 innovations for combatting COVID-19 and 253 Startups working in rural areas, Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement. "All applicants were evaluated against six broad parameters namely Innovation, Scalability, Economic Impact, Social Impact, Environmental Impact, and Inclusiveness and Diversity," the ministry said. After three rounds of detailed evaluation, 175 Startups were selected for presentation before the jury which made presentations before the 16 specialist jury panels, which comprised domain experts from industry, investors and government. The recognised entities will benefit from such recognition, not only in terms of being able to attract more business, financing, partnerships and talent, but also enable them to serve as role models for other entities, and to inspire them to be purposeful and responsible about their socio-economic impact. As many as 53 applications were received from incubators and 6 applications were received from Accelerators. Select incubators and accelerators were selected after three rounds of evaluation for presentation before Jury Panel which gave presentations before the Jury. The felicitation ceremony was accompanied by the release of an e-Report on National Startup Awards 2021 highlighting the year-round handholding support provided to the finalists of first edition of National Startup Awards and the journey of NSA 2021. "Prime Minister Modi is a very firm believer in potential of Startups to contribute significantly to the growth of the nation during the Amritkaal, the next 25 years. He recognises Innovation to be the strongest pillar in making India 'Aatmanirbhar'," Goyal said. "Be it a fisherman's son from Chennai or a boatman's daughter from Kashmir, they all want to bring prosperity to their families and to their people, and therefore are thinking bigger and bolder," the minister added. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) conceived the National Startup Awards to recognize and reward outstanding Startups and ecosystem enablers that are building innovative products or solutions and scalable enterprises, with high potential of employment generation or wealth creation, demonstrating measurable social impact. The measure of success is not only the financial gains for the investors, but also the contribution to social good. Speaking on the occasion, DPIIT Secretary Anurag Jain said the department will handhold the Startup Award finalists across seven tracks i.e. Investor Connect, Mentorship, Government Connect, Capacity Development, Corporate Connect, Brand Showcase and Unicorn Engagement. "Our journey together doesn't end here with just awards, we will walk step by step with you in this journey," Jain said. (ANI) As per People magazine, a funeral for the beloved actor and comedian was held in a private ceremony in Los Angeles. Friends and family, including John Stamos, Candace Cameron Bure, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Jodie Sweetin, Dave Coulier, Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli were among the attendees of the mourning ceremony--which took place five days after his death on January 9. John Mayer, Jeff Ross, Jimmy Kimmel, Kathy Griffin, Dave Chappelle were also seen arriving at the private ceremony, as per People magazine. Stamos took to his Twitter handle to reflect on a difficult day. "Today will be the hardest day of my life. God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference." Saget's wife, Kelly Rizzo, responded to Stamos, writing "I love you, brother." The 'Full House' actor was found unresponsive at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando, Florida, and he was pronounced dead on the scene, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office. The cause of death has not been confirmed, but officials say there was no sign of drug use or foul play. Apart from 'Full House', Saget was also known for his film work, making his feature directorial debut with the raunchy 1998 Norm MacDonald movie 'Dirty Work'. He later directed 2007's 'Farce of the Penguins', a parody of the hit documentary 'March of the Penguins'. His other notable TV work included the voice of the adult Ted Mosby on CBS' long-running 'How I Met Your Mother'. For the unversed, Saget is survived by his wife Rizzo, whom he wed in October 2018, and his three daughters Aubrey, 34, Lara, 32, and Jennifer, 29, with ex-wife Sherri Kramer. (ANI) Baldwin, on Friday, gave his phone to Santa Fe authorities who are investigating the 'Rust' production shooting that took place last October, his civil attorney, Aaron Dyer, of Pillsbury Winthrop, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. This comes after the sheriff's office released a new memo on Thursday that stated, even though a search warrant had been issued nearly a month prior, the actor had not relinquished his device. Earlier, Baldwin had posted a video saying that he was complying with the investigation into October's deadly production shooting. "Any suggestion that I am not complying with requests or orders or demands or search warrants about my phone, that's bullshit, that's a lie," he said in the video. A search warrant for Baldwin's phone was approved and executed on December 16. Shortly thereafter, the actor's lawyer acknowledged receipt of the warrant. (ANI) Deadline confirmed the news that after nearly two months off, the filming for the Marvel mega sequel will begin next week. Wright, who was injured in August, will be back on set in Atlanta. Sources close to the production told the outlet that the filming was initially slated to restart last Monday but was delayed due to several cast and crew members, who tested positive for COVID-19. The next schedule of the Ryan Coogler-directed film will resume in Atlanta next week and will stretch for about four weeks. Last August, Deadline reported that Wright suffered an injury while filming a sequence involving a stunt rig on-location in Boston. Production then shut down in late November after the team filmed as much as they could without Wright, while she continued to heal at her home in London. 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' is one of the most anticipated films of 2022. During a shift of several Marvel Studios titles, Disney moved the Black Panther sequel's release date from July 8 to November 11, 2022. (ANI) Taking to her Instagram handle, Sara shared a series of serene pictures from her spiritual retreat. The 'Kedarnath' actor wore a simple white suit embellished with black coloured block print. On the other hand, Amrita was seen wearing a royal blue coloured traditional suit. From the first snap where the mother-duo posed in front of the majestic temple with the holy lake in the backdrop, Sara proved that she is spiritually inclined and believes in the power of worshipping. Sharing the pictures, she wrote, "Maa aur Mahakal #jaimahakal #jaibholenath." Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. For the uninformed, Sara is currently in Madhya Pradesh, shooting for her upcoming film with Vicky Kaushal. (ANI) Actor Storm Reid, widely known for her role in HBO's 'Euphoria', has joined the cast of the network's series adaptation of the video game 'The Last of Us'. The actor shared the news on her Twitter handle, writing, "I got some NEWS Beyond excited to join the cast of #TheLastOfUs as Riley on @HBO. Let's get to work. 2022 looking bright already." As per Variety, based on the wildly popular Naughty Dog-created Playstation game of the same name, 'The Last of Us' is set in the post-apocalyptic world after a deadly virus destroys nearly all modern civilization. Joel, played by 'The Mandalorian' star Pedro Pascal, is hired to take 14-year-old Ellie (Bella Ramsey) out of a quarantine zone to an organisation that is searching for a cure to the virus. As the two travel across the US, they must lean on each other for survival. In the upcoming project, Reid will play Riley, an orphaned girl in Boston who quickly befriends Ellie. 'The Last of Us' cast also includes Gabriel Luna as Tommy, Merle Dandridge as Marlene, Jeffrey Pierce as Perry, Anna Torv as Tess, Nico Parker as Sarah, Murray Bartlett as Frank and Nick Offerman as Bill. Craig Mazin will write and executive produce 'The Last of Us', along with Neil Druckmann, a writer and creative director for the video game. Carolyn Strauss, Rose Lam, Naughty Dog president Evan Wells and PlayStation Productions' Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan will also executive produce. Kantemir Balagov will direct the pilot, with Jasmila Zbanic and Ali Abbasi also attached to direct. Coming back to Reid, the actor who plays the little sister of Rue (Zendaya) on HBO hit 'Euphoria', made her film debut in '12 Years a Slave' in 2013 and has since starred in 'A Wrinkle in Time', 'Don't Let Go', 'When They See Us', 'The Invisible Man' and James Gunn's 'The Suicide Squad'. (ANI) Global star Priyanka Chopra is finally opening up about the scrutiny that followed after she dropped her husband, Nick Jonas' last name from her Instagram handle last year. The 'Mary Kom' actor described the uproar on social media following the change as "a professional hazard" to Vanity Fair for its February cover story, reported Fox News. The 39-year-old star recalled the "random Monday in November" when she reverted to only her first and last name on Instagram, which immediately sparked speculation from fans about an impending split. But as Priyanka tells the fashion magazine, social media is far from being the be-all and end-all. She added that the experience served as a prime example of the microscope celebrities find themselves under in this age. "It's a very vulnerable feeling, actually, that if I post a picture, everything that's behind me in that picture is going to be zoomed in on, and people are going to speculate," the 'Quantico' star explained. "It's just a professional hazard... Because of the noise of our social media, because of the prevalence that it has in our lives, I think it seems a lot larger than it is. I think that we give it a lot more credence in real life, and I don't think it needs that," she added. To put an end to all the rumours about their split in November, Priyanka had left a flirty comment on one of Jonas' workout videos. "Damn! I just died in your arms..." she wrote at the time, followed by a couple of heart emojis. Priyanka and Nick got married in a Christian and a Hindu ceremony in Jodhpur's Umaid Bhawan Palace on December 1 and 2 in 2018. Later, the couple also hosted two receptions in Delhi and Mumbai. (ANI) American rapper and songwriter Kanye West has admitted to punching a man after he was accused of battery this week. According to People magazine, the 22-time Grammy Award winner detailed his side of the altercation that took place early on Thursday morning in downtown Los Angeles in his upcoming episode of 'Hollywood Unlocked'. "So as far as the paparazzi goes, it wasn't a fan," he claimed, as per a sneak peek. "It was 3 a.m. in front of the Warehouse. I'm saying, 'You don't know what I'm dealing with right now.' I just finished these two songs, I came from the studio," West said. He added, "And this dude, he just had this real attitude, like, 'What you gonna do? And see that?' Imma just tell you, that blue COVID mask ain't stop that knockout, you know what I'm saying?" West was named as a suspect in a battery report from Thursday's altercation, an LAPD source previously confirmed to People magazine, saying West jumped out of his car outside Soho Warehouse and punched a man who approached him for an autograph, knocking him to the ground. The rapper said that the man wasn't a fan, but was "taking autographs to make money on them," noting: "This is the same as the paparazzi, this is not a fan. This is someone who is using your image, who probably never listened to your songs." In a video of the incident obtained by TMZ, West could be seen screaming "get away from me" at a woman who told him, "I am your family," as a man lay on the sidewalk nearby. "No! No, you were supposed to talk to her," West shouted back at her. The 'Donda' artist explained that the woman was his cousin, who had just returned from attempting to speak to his estranged wife Kim Kardashian about personal parenting matters. He continued, "So I end up getting into an altercation with the guy that wanted to make money off of my autographs, then my cousin pulls up and she's talking to me. I say, 'Give me a breather. Get away from me.' She is not taking accountability for the fact that she did not do what she was supposed to do, and that added to me being in a mood where I was like, 'I am not going to have this.'" The alleged altercation came after a night on the town with his girlfriend Julia Fox, Madonna, Antonio Brown, Floyd Mayweather, Evan Ross and others at Delilah. "They all had dinner in the private dining room. They came separately but just ended up having dinner together. Kanye and Julia wouldn't leave each other's sides," a source told People magazine. In 2014, the rapper was arrested for "assaulting" a photographer at Los Angeles International Airport. At the time, he was sentenced to 250 hours of community service, two years probation and 24 anger management sessions. Similarly, West was arrested in 2008 for vandalism and battery over an altercation with photographers at the same airport, where he allegedly damaged a camera. He was later released on USD 20,000 bail, and the case was dismissed after he paid for the photographers' broken equipment attended anger management counseling, as per People magazine. (ANI) Emmy-winning actor Brian Cox, widely known for his role as Logan Roy in the HBO series 'Succession', recently revealed the reason he was never seen in major franchises such as 'Game of Thrones' and 'Pirates of the Caribbean'. The actor revealed the reason in his new memoir 'Putting the Rabbit in the Hat', reported Variety. Cox turned down the role of King Robert Baratheon in the first season of 'GOT'. Fellow UK actor Mark Addy was cast in the role. "I'm often asked if I was offered a role in 'Game of Thrones' -- reason being that every other bugger was -- and the answer is, yes, I was supposed to be a king called Robert Baratheon, who apparently died when he was gored by a boar in the first season," Cox wrote in the memoir. "I know very little about 'Game of Thrones' so I can't tell you whether or not he was an important character, and I'm not going to Google it just in case he was, because I turned it down," he added. Revealing the reason behind rejecting the role, he wrote, "Why? Well, 'Game of Thrones' went on to be a huge success and everybody involved earned an absolute fortune, of course. But when it was originally offered the money was not all that great, shall we say." He added, "Plus I was going to be killed off fairly early on, so I wouldn't have had any of the benefits of the long-term effects of a successful series where your wages go up with each passing season. So I passed on it, and Mark Addy was gored by the boar instead." Cox also shared, "I turned my nose up at the part of the Governor in the 'Pirates of the Caribbean franchise,' a role that was eventually played by Jonathan Pryce." A role in Disney's 'Pirates' movies would've given Cox his second franchise after starring as William Stryker in 'X2: X-Men United'. Cox said, "The guy who directed 'Pirates' was Gore Verbinski, with whom I made 'The Ring,' and he's a lovely chap but I think I blotted my copybook by turning down the Governor. It would have been a money-spinner, but of all the parts in that film, it was the most thankless, plus I would have ended up doing it for film after film and missed out on all the other nice things I've done." However, there was one more reason why Cox decided to pass on the franchise -- namely, his would-be costar, Johnny Depp. "Another thing with 'Pirates of the Caribbean' is that it's very much the 'Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow' show, and Depp, personable though I'm sure he is, is so overblown, so overrated," Cox said. "I mean, 'Edward Scissorhands.' Let's face it, if you come on with hands like that and pale, scarred-face make-up, you don't have to do anything. And he didn't. And subsequently, he's done even less. But people love him. Or they did love him. They don't love him so much these days, of course," he added. Cox's memoir 'Putting the Rabbit in the Hat' will debut on January 18. (ANI) The makers of the song 'Mera Pyara Hindustan', featuring Hiten Tejwani in the music video, unveiled the patriotic track on 74th Army Day on Saturday.The music video captures the sacrifices made by the Indian army protecting the borders of the nation. Away from their family and near ones, the soldiers guard the borders to protect the countrymen throughout the year. The patriotic song is sung by Romy, composed by Kausar Jamot and the music video is directed by Mehul Agaja. Known for his remarkable roles on TV, webspace and big screen, this is Hiten's debut in the world of music videos. The actor has portrayed the role of an army man for the first time, and he is quite overwhelmed to feature in 'Mera Pyara Hindustan'. The music video features actor Heena Varde opposite him. With 'Mera Pyara Hindustan', Hiten said that nothing beats the feeling of getting into the uniform of the Indian Army. "Ever since the song came my way, I was pretty sure to be a part of it. It has always been on my bucket list to portray the role of an Indian soldier on screen. This song is close to my heart, and I am sure that the audience will love it as well," the actor shared. Hiten also said that the soldiers should not be remembered only on special days. "We are safe because the soldiers keep us safe throughout the year. This music video is my salute to all those army men and their families who have selflessly contributed to safeguarding the lives of their Hindustani brothers and sisters," he said. 'Mera Pyara Hindustan' was shot extensively in Ahmedabad, and the song joins the league of other touching patriotic numbers. (ANI) A Chicago police supervisor who was disciplined for his role in the departments shoddy handling of the reinvestigation into the 2004 death of David Koschman who was punched by a nephew of then-Mayor Richard M. Daley was recently promoted to lieutenant, officials said Friday night. Sam Cirone will be assigned to the Area 3 detective division, the same unit that handled the original investigation into Koschmans death 17 years ago, according to police department sources. Advertisement Chicago police Sergeant Sam Cirone attends a Chicago Police Board meeting at the JLM Abundant Life Center, Dec. 12, 2019, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune) Cirone has worked at CPD for 29 years and was promoted based on his test score on the lieutenants exam, the department said. Cirone had faced a possible one-year suspension on accusations by city officials that he ran a poor reinvestigation into Koschmans death in 2011. He was accused of failing to adequately review a police report for inaccuracies and didnt instruct detectives to interview key witnesses or canvass the original crime scene. Advertisement In Dec. 2019, the Chicago Police Board voted 5-0 of finding Cirone guilty of failing to adequately supervise the case but penalized him with only a reprimand, among the least punitive measures that does not involve any time off from work without pay. Cirone, who was a sergeant during the reinvestigation, was among four supervisors and two detectives accused by former city Inspector General Joseph Fergusons office of violating department rules during the second look into the death of Koschman, who died 12 days after being hit by a single punch from Richard Vanecko, Daleys nephew, after a brief, drunken confrontation in the Rush Street nightlife district. The case was reopened in 2011 following Chicago Sun-Times stories critical of the original police investigation into Koschmans death in May 2004. Vanecko eventually pleaded guilty to one felony count of involuntary manslaughter in 2014. He was given the sentence of 60 days in jail, followed by 60 days of home confinement and then 2 1/2 years of probation. Vanecko also was required to pay $20,000 in restitution to Koschman and issue an apology. One of the two detectives under Cirones supervision, Nicholas Spanos, was suspended for a year in the case but skipped most of that suspension by using accrued paid leave time, according to a report from Fergusons office. James Gilger, the other detective working for Cirone on the case, left the department before facing any discipline. Three other supervisors in the reinvestigation have also since left the department, including Deputy Chief Dean Andrews, Cmdr. Joseph Salemme and Lt. Denis Walsh. Walsh allegedly removed the original file on the Koschman case from his office for no legitimate work purpose. In its decision to only reprimand Cirone, the police board found that while he supervised an investigation that was not entirely thorough, the board laid blame on Cirones superiors and others for shoddy work. The board blamed Andrews for playing a major role in designing an inaccurate police report in the case, Salemme, who clearly exercised little command authority over the investigation, and Detectives Spanos and Gilger for their work. Advertisement Sergeant Cirone failed as a supervisor, but his role in this investigation and his responsibility for its failures is clearly less than that of the actual detectives and those above him, the police board wrote. Moreover, the Board finds that Sergeant Cirones conduct is mitigated by the fact that he was supervising the investigation of many other serious cases while the 2011 Koschman re-investigation was taking place. Jeremy Gorner contributed. pfry@chicagotribune.com Twitter @paigexfry Hollywood star Aaron Eckhart, best known for his stint as Harvey Dent in Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight', is set to star in the action thriller 'The Bricklayer'. The film will be directed by Renny Harlin of ('Die Hard 2'; 'Cliffhanger') with screenplay by Hannah Weg ('Septembers of Shiraz') and Matt Johnson ('Into the Blue'), reports 'Deadline'. The story will follow the life of a retired CIA operative, who is called on duty after an international conspiracy rattles the intelligence agency, which is blamed for the murders of international journalists. According to 'Deadline', Millennium Media will produce the film, shooting for which will start in March with Gerard Butler. Both Millennium and Butler had earlier teamed up with Eckhart on the lucrative 'Has Fallen' franchise. The film is set to be shot at Millennium's new Nu Boyana studios in Greece and Bulgaria. Commenting on the development Renny Harlin told 'Deadline', "'The Bricklayer' screenplay has the rare combination of well-layered characters, intricate plotting and propulsive action. Having spent five years in China, I'm excited to be back making a high-calibre Hollywood action thriller." "If there's something I learned from my three Chinese movies, it is the importance of deeply felt emotion. In Aaron Eckhart I have found a first-class dramatic actor who also has the physicality and charm to bring this iconic character to life," Harlin concluded. --IANS aa/srb ( 241 Words) 2022-01-15-15:22:03 (IANS) Almost a month after investigators obtained a search warrant to seize Hollywood star Alec Baldwin's phone with regards to the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the sets of 'Rust', the actor surrendered his device to law enforcement authorities in Suffolk County, New York. They will download the data and provide relevant material to Santa Fe County (New Mexico) Sheriff's Office, Juan Rios, a sheriff's spokesman told 'Variety'. The device in question will help the sheriff's office seek information that will be necessary to piece together a timeline leading up to the October 21 incident, when Baldwin (allegedly unaware) fired a live round during the set-up for a scene from 'Rust', killing Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Aaron Dyer, who is Baldwin's civil attorney, said in a statement quoted by 'Variety': "Alec voluntarily provided his phone to the authorities this morning so that they can finish their investigation. But this matter isn't about his phone, and there are no answers on his phone." He added: "Alec did nothing wrong. It is clear that he was told it was a cold gun, and was following instructions when this tragic accident occurred. The real question that needs to be answered is how live rounds got on the set in the first place." The investigators from Santa Fe had asked Baldwin to surrender his phone voluntarily, but his attorney advised them to get a warrant, according to the search warrant affidavit. The New Mexico prosecutor's office subsequently got involved in negotiations with Baldwin's attorney to obtain the phone after the warrant was issued on December 16. Baldwin, who was told that the gun contained only dummy rounds, has said that he does not expect to face charges in the case. Prosecutors, however, have repeatedly said they have not ruled out charges against anyone. --IANS aa/srb ( 321 Words) 2022-01-15-16:02:03 (IANS) In the recently released 'Don't Look Up', Jonah Hill's character could be seen toting a Hermes Birkin handbag. The actor has now admitted that the accessory was his personal choice. According to the Hollywood Reporter, in an interview for a magazine's Best Performances issue released on Friday, the actor discussed his character's luxe accessory and getting starstruck by Meryl Streep. In the Adam McKay film, Hill portrays the son and the chief of staff of Streep's President Janie Orlean, a role he described as "if Fyre Festival was a person and that person had power in the White House." "He's in a suit because he works in the White House, but I gave him a Birkin because he's kind of emulating his mother," Hill said of why he improvised the handbag as an accessory. He continued, "A lot of these people worship their dads, and I thought it was cool that he worships his mom. He always calls his mom a 'total rock star.' Isn't that awesome?" Hill's Birkin choice wasn't the only preference made for a role in the film. 'Don't Look Up' costume designer Susan Matheson has revealed that Timothee Chalamet requested his mullet hairstyle to resemble that of Tiger King's Joe Exotic. Though starring alongside a cast of friends, in particular Leonardo DiCaprio, Hill admitted he was starstruck when meeting Streep. "I maybe shook her hand a couple of times," he said. The two were quick to form a "superclose dynamic," with Hill explaining that Streep's work ethic was notable. He explained, "She's so awesome: as a person, as a professional, as an artist. She was there rehearsing after I left. She was there before me. She's like in beast mode all the time, and cool. We would talk a lot and hang out, so the intimidation goes away pretty quickly." While working on the film, Hill said that he lived with DiCaprio, and they would spend their time watching films. However, Hill admitted there was one show, in particular, DiCaprio tried to get him to watch that he wasn't fan of. "Leo made me watch The Mandalorian when we were making Don't Look Up, and it was like, Baby Yoda was so cute, but I just didn't give a fuck because I didn't know anything that it was about," he said, also explaining that he doesn't normally watch sci-fi. In addition to 'Don't Look Up', Hill also reflected on another one of his memorable roles: 'Superbad'. When asked whether he'd participate in a sequel to the 2007 film, the actor revealed he already has a vision for what it would be. As per The Hollywood Reporter, he said, "I haven't pitched this to anybody. What I want to do is when we're like 80, do a Superbad 2. Like, 'old-folks-home Superbad.' Our spouses die, and we're single again. That's what I want Superbad 2 to be, and that's the only way I would ever make it." (ANI) As per the fresh guidelines, all international passengers must mandatorily be quarantined at home for seven days, followed by an RT-PCR test on the eighth day. Earlier, isolation was needed only for those passengers coming from "at risk" countries. If the passenger tests negative on the eight day, she/he will have to further monitor her/his health for the next seven days. "As per the latest government guidelines, passengers arriving in India will have to upload the repeat RT-PCR test done on the 8th Day of arrival on the Air Suvidha portal," the Ministry of Civil Aviation tweeted. --IANS ad-rv/arm ( 147 Words) 2022-01-14-22:32:01 (IANS) The number of daily Covid-19 infections registered in Germany exceeded the 90,000 mark for the first time since the start of the pandemic, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases has said. For the third consecutive day, Germany reported a new record number of daily Covid-19 cases, with 92,223 cases on Friday, according to the RKI on Friday. The country's seven-day Covid-19 incidence rate also rose to 470.6 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the German federal agency. After the temporary decline in Covid-19 numbers at the end of 2021, "the fifth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has begun in Germany with the dominant circulation of the Omicron variant," the agency said in its weekly report on Thursday. For the first time, the share of cases caused by Omicron predominated in Germany, accounting for 73 per cent in the first week of 2022, Xinhua news agency reported. "The rapid increase in the share of Omicron among reported Covid-19 cases continued over the past week," the RKI added. Unvaccinated patients accounted for the vast majority of all Covid-19 hospitalisations in intensive care units, according to the RKI and the German Intensive Care Availability Register (DIVI). As of Thursday, 72.5 per cent of the country's population had been fully vaccinated, with at least 38.2 million booster shots administered, according to official figures. However, 20.9 million people in Germany are still unvaccinated. Federal Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach reiterated on Thursday his support for compulsory Covid-19 vaccination in Germany, stressing that this was "the safest and fastest way out of the pandemic." --IANS int/khz/ ( 277 Words) 2022-01-15-00:30:02 (IANS) Andersson's Press Secretary told local media on Friday that she is fine under the circumstances and will carry out her duties from home, Xinhua news gency reported. Following a debate session in the Parliament earlier this week which the Prime Minister also attended, two other party leaders announced that they were infected. Earlier in January, the Royal Court confirmed that King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden had tested positive for Covid-19. After sweeping across several other European countries, the Omicron variant is now rampantly spreading in Sweden. On Thursday, Sweden's Public Health Agency presented revised scenarios for the near future, estimating between 700,000 and 1.1 million new infections in the coming two weeks among the country's population of 10.4 million. --IANS int/khz/ ( 155 Words) 2022-01-15-01:22:02 (IANS) The death toll from Covid-19 in Morocco rose by nine to 14,954, the Ministry added on Friday in a statement. Morocco saw a huge surge of positive Covid-19 cases for the second consecutive week, due to the Omicron variant, although the North African country has since November 29, 2021, banned all international flights and closed it's air borders until January 31, Xinhua news agency reported. Meanwhile, the total number of people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 in Morocco reached 23,006,557, representing more than 75 per cent of the target population, the statement said. So far, a total of 24,611,313 first doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Morocco, as well as 3,764,532 third booster shots, it added. The North African country launched a nationwide vaccination campaign on January 28, 2021, after the arrival of the first shipment of China's Sinopharm vaccines. --IANS int/khz/ ( 180 Words) 2022-01-15-02:14:02 (IANS) Sheila Nduhukire, spokesperson of the National Medical Store, a state-run agency, told Xinhua news agency on Friday that the 400,000 doses of Moderna and 279 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines had already been dispatched to the field. Ministry of Health figures show that as of January 12, 12.2 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines had been administered since the exercise started in March last year. The country is also urging people aged 50 years and above and those with underling conditions to go for a booster dose. Uganda's overall Covid caseload and death toll currently stood at 157,160 and 3,385, respectively. --IANS ksk/ ( 136 Words) 2022-01-15-09:34:01 (IANS) A new study has found that people who went through extreme stress, anxiety, and depression at the beginning of the pandemic had an increased risk of getting COVID-19. The study has been published in the 'Annals of Behavioral Medicine Journal'. The research found that greater psychological distress during the early phase of the pandemic was significantly associated with participants later reporting SARS-CoV-2 infection, a greater number of symptoms, and also more severe symptoms. Professor Kavita Vedhara in the School of Medicine at the University of Nottingham, led the study, along with colleagues from King's College London and the University of Auckland in New Zealand. Previous research has shown that psychological factors such as stress and social support are associated with increased susceptibility to viral respiratory illnesses and more severe symptoms. During the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a well-documented deterioration in psychological wellbeing and increased social isolation. The purpose of this study was to find out whether people who experienced these difficulties during the pandemic were more at risk of contracting and/or experiencing Covid-19 symptoms. The team of experts conducted an observational study of nearly 1,100 adults, who completed surveys during April 2020 and self-reported incidence of Covid-19 infection and symptom experience across the pandemic through to December 2020. Regression models were used to explore these relationships, taking into account demographic and occupational factors. The results showed that Covid-19 infection and symptoms were more common among those experiencing elevated psychological distress. Professor Vedhara said, "The significance of the work is in that it turns the debate regarding the mental health aspects of the pandemic on its head. Our data show that increased stress, anxiety, and depression are not only consequences of living with the pandemic, but may also be factors that increase our risk of getting SARS-CoV-2 too." "Further work is now needed to determine whether and how public health policy should change to accommodate the fact that the most distressed people in our communities appear to be at greatest risk of Covid-19 infection," she added. Professor Trudie Chalder, Professor of Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy from King's College London said, "Previous work has shown a clear relationship between distress and the development of viral infections indicating a vulnerability. Our study found that distress was associated with self-reported Covid-19 infection and the next step is to investigate whether this association is found in those with confirmed infection." (ANI) A new study has found that one in 10 people might have clinically relevant levels of potentially infectious SARS-CoV-2 past the 10 day quarantine period. The study has been published in the 'International Journal of Infectious Diseases. The study, led by the University of Exeter and funded by Animal Free Research UK, used a newly adapted test that can detect whether the virus was potentially still active. It was applied to samples from 176 people in Exeter who had tested positive on standard PCR tests. The study found that 13 per cent of people still exhibited clinically-relevant levels of virus after 10 days, meaning they could potentially still be infectious. Some people retained these levels for up to 68 days. The authors believe this new test should be applied in settings where people are vulnerable, to stop the spread of COVID-19. Professor Lorna Harries, of the University of Exeter Medical School, oversaw the study. She said, "While this is a relatively small study, our results suggest that potentially active virus may sometimes persist beyond a 10 day period, and could pose a potential risk of onward transmission. Furthermore, there was nothing clinically remarkable about these people, which means we wouldn't be able to predict who they are". Conventional PCR tests work by testing for the presence of viral fragments. While they can tell if someone has recently had the virus, they cannot detect whether it is still active, and the person is infectious. The test used in the latest study however gives a positive result only when the virus is active and potentially capable of onward transmission. Lead author Merlin Davies, of the University of Exeter Medical School, said, "In some settings, such as people returning to care homes after illness, people continuing to be infectious after ten days could pose a serious public health risk. We may need to ensure people in those setting have a negative active virus test to ensure people are no longer infectious. We now want to conduct larger trials to investigate this further." Animal Free Research UK CEO, Carla Owen, said, "The University of Exeter team's discovery is exciting and potentially very important. Once more, it shows how focusing exclusively on human biology during medical research can produce results that are more reliable and more likely to benefit humans and animals." "Pioneering Animal Free work is providing the best chance of not only defeating Covid 19 but also finding better treatments for all human diseases. The results also send a loud and clear message to the Government to better fund modern medical research and make the UK a world leader in cutting edge, kinder science," Owen added. The research is a collaboration between the University of Exeter Medical School, the Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, and the NIHR Exeter Clinical Research Facility. (ANI) About a dozen activists gathered Saturday at the 95th Street train station to protest the upcoming release of the former Chicago police officer who killed Laquan McDonald. Jason Van Dyke, who was sentenced to 81 months in prison, stands to be released Feb. 3. But community activist William Calloway thinks the ex-cop who was found guilty of killing the 17-year-old in 2014 should remain behind bars. Calloway and others are calling for Chicago U.S. Attorney John Lausch to federally charge Van Dyke. Advertisement You got a white man that murdered a boy, shooting him 16 times in cold blood on camera, Calloway said at a news conference at the CTA Red Line stop. And the federal government has not even touched him. Thats not justice. Thats racism. We got to call it what it is. The group is also calling for a citywide shutdown of the Chicago Transit Authority until its demands for Chicagos top federal prosecutor are met. Advertisement But Rev. Marvin Hunter, McDonalds great-uncle, told the Tribune he did not agree with the protests aim. Activists time would be better spent working for systemic change, he told the Tribune. Getting Jason Van Dyke to go to jail, to federal prison, at best it will only cost the taxpayers more money, he said. If we really want to have change, if we really want to use this for a moment for change, then let us get criminal justice reform for real. Hunter said he bears no anger or ill feelings about Van Dykes impending release, though he remains displeased that Judge Vincent Gaughan sentenced Van Dyke only on the second-degree murder conviction not the 16 counts of aggravated battery of which he was also found guilty. The decision allowed for a lower sentencing range and the opportunity for day-for-day credit, meaning Van Dyke only had to serve half his 81-month sentence. (Gaughan) threw the work of those jurors, those 12 men and women, he just threw that out the window, Hunter said. LaShawn Littrice, another activist at Saturdays protest, implored reporters to look at the exhaustion on the groups faces after finding out about Van Dykes scheduled release. We are here because we are outraged, Littrice said. We are disgusted. We are traumatized, and we are hurt. The protesters also chanted, Say his name. Laquan McDonald, and Black Lives Matter before fanning out to pass out flyers in support of a CTA shutdown. Calloway said they are trying to convince the transit unions to agree to halt movement on the trains and buses until Van Dyke is federally charged. You have Black men in the federal penitentiary for nonviolent drug offenses doing more time than Jason Van Dyke has done in the state penitentiary, Calloway said. Thats not justice. Thats horrible. And we can change that. Advertisement ayin@chicagotribune.com mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com According to a new study, many heart surgery patients won't have to take opioids for pain after getting discharged from the hospital. The research has been published in 'The Annals of Thoracic Surgery Journal'. "In some cases, patients assume that after surgery, especially a big operation like cardiac surgery, that they will need to go home with prescription pain medicine," said Catherine M. Wagner, MD, from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. "This study shows that discharge without opioid pain medicine after cardiac surgery is extremely well tolerated by some patients. In other words, we should not be reflexively prescribing pain medicine to people after surgery just in case they need it," she added. Dr Wagner and colleagues examined data from 2019 for patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), heart valve surgery, or a combination of those operations via median sternotomy (a vertical incision in the centre of the chest) at 10 centres participating in the Michigan Society of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons Quality Collaborative. The researchers found that more than one-fourth of patients (547/1,924 or 28 per cent) did not receive an opioid prescription at the time of discharge. Patients who were older, spent more time in the hospital after surgery, or who underwent surgery and were discharged during the last 3 months of the study period (October-December) were more likely than other patients to leave the hospital without an opioid prescription. Conversely, patients with a history of depression, those who were treated with opioids on the day prior to discharge, or patients whose race was non-black and non-white were more likely to receive an opioid prescription at discharge. Importantly, discharge without an opioid prescription appeared to have been well-tolerated, as fewer than 2 per cent of patients subsequently required a prescription after their discharge and before their 30-day follow-up appointment. "This study's findings should provide patients with reassurance that postoperative pain can be managed with non-opioid pain medications at home," said Dr Wagner. The researchers also found that among the 909 patients who did not take any opioids on the day before discharge, 415 (46 per cent) still received an opioid prescription at discharge. "One should consider if these opioid prescriptions were truly necessary for patient pain relief," said Dr Wagner. "Our study shows that, particularly for patients who did not take any opioids on the day before leaving the hospital, discharge without opioids is safe. I think we need to ensure that only patients who truly need opioids get sent home with a prescription," she added. Opioid addiction continues to take a major toll on lives in the US. More than 70 per cent of overdose deaths in 2019--more than 49,000 deaths--involved opioids, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2021, more than 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses (28.5 per cent increase from the year before); the CDC reports that the main driver of these deaths was opioids. "For decades, surgeons have unwittingly but substantially contributed to the opioid epidemic," said Thomas E. MacGillivray, MD, from Houston Methodist in Texas, who was not directly involved in this research. "No one wants any patient to be discharged home after surgery without adequate pain relief. With the best intentions to help relieve pain and alleviate anxiety about pain, discharge practices have frequently erred on the side of prescribing too many rather than too few narcotic pain pills. We have learned that many of the unused, unneeded narcotics end up in the community. This very important study will help surgeons identify patients who may comfortably be discharged home without narcotics," he added. Dr Wagner explained that prior to the relatively recent awareness of the opioid epidemic, patients often would be prescribed 50 to 100 opioid pills after surgery for various reasons. Unrelated research has shown that leftover medication may be diverted into the community, contributing to the opioid epidemic. "With increased attention on the excessive prescribing of opioids for pain treatment after surgery, national efforts such as prescribing guidelines and patient education programs have begun to help limit unnecessary opioids in the community and decrease the risks of developing new persistent opioid use in patients," she said. Moving forward, the researchers plan to focus on ensuring that only patients who truly need opioids are sent home with a prescription, while also eliminating "just in case" prescriptions that leave unnecessary opioids in communities and put patients and their family members at risk from the opioid diversion. "It is important to balance excellent pain control while limiting unnecessary opioids. We are still learning how to best find this balance for our patients and recommend that patients always work closely with their physicians/provider teams to decide what is best for them," said Dr Wagner. (ANI) "Children in the age group of 15 to 18 years will not be allowed to enter schools when they reopen. Parents are requested to get their wards vaccinated to ensure their protection from Covid," Vij said in a tweet. This week the government announced that all schools and colleges in the state will be closed till January 26 in view of the increasing cases of Covid-19. Education Minister Kanwar Pal said during this period, online teaching would continue in which schools and colleges would take necessary action by focusing on the preparation of the upcoming examinations. --IANS vg/pgh ( 135 Words) 2022-01-15-19:18:04 (IANS) Earlier today, Rashpal Singh, AIG, STF, Amritsar said that the device came from Pakistan and moreover, currency worth Rs 1 lakh has also been recovered. Mohnish Chawla, IG Border range, Amritsar told ANI, "We have recovered 5kg IED which includes around 2.7Kg of RDX, 1.3Kg iron balls, codex wire, electric detonator, digital timer. We have registered a case and are investigating it. The IED is of high intensity and can cause high damage." Confirming the recovery of the IED, Viresh Kumar, DGP Punjab Police said that the recovery was done just 2.5 km from the international border. "IED consignment weighing 5 Kg approximately which includes 2.7 Kg RDX recovered by STF from Gharinda area in Amritsar just 2.5 Km from the international border," he said. Meanwhile, in another development, an IED was recovered from the Ghazipur flower market in East Delhi today. Police and the bomb disposal squad were rushed to the market and the National Security Guard (NSG) defused the bomb. The developments come ahead of Republic Day celebrations on January 26. (ANI) A court here on Friday refused to grant bail to engineering student and 'Bulli Bai' app creator Neeraj Bishnoi, who was arrested by the Delhi Police from Assam for creating a platform for defaming women of a particular community. Noting that the accused ran a vilification campaign against the dignity of the women of a particular community containing derogatory material through the app affecting communal harmony of the society, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of Patiala House Courts, Pankaj Sharma, denied the bail application. The court also observed that the accused created the app where women journalists and celebrities of a particular community who are famous on social media are targeted and they are projected in a bad light with an objective to insult and humiliate them. Last week, Bishnoi, who was arrested by the IFSO (Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations unit) of the Special Cell of Delhi Police had been sent to seven days' custody. He was a student of second-year B.Tech, computer science, at Vellore Institute of Technology, Bhopal. According to police, Bishnoi had, in October, had created a list of women whom he wanted to defame online on his digital devices, a laptop, and cell phones. He was tracing women activists all over social media and downloading their photos. On January 1, this app, which was performing on Github's space, posted photos of a number of women of a particular religion. These included journalists, social workers, students, and famous personalities. It happened six months after the controversy of Sulli Deals. Vishal Kumar Jha, the engineering student, was one of the followers of 'Bulli Bai', which led the police to him. Hosting platform Github provided space to 'Sulli Deals', and the 'Bulli Bai' too was created on it. Later, after the controversy erupted, Github removed the user 'Bulli Bai' from its hosting platform. But by then, it had sparked a nationwide controversy.The app was also being promoted by a Twitter handle with the name @bullibai, with the display picture of a Khalistani supporter. --IANS jw/pgh ( 351 Words) 2022-01-14-20:44:01 (IANS) Four radars, four new initiatives and nine publications along with a promise to further improve the accuracy of forecast - both intensity wise and spatial distribution wise - to fight the increasing vulnerability to extreme weather events marked the 147th foundation day of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday. Four radars viz. C-band Polarimetric Doppler at Veravali at Mumbai, X-band Polarimetric DWRs at Ayanagar at Delhi, Pallikarnai at Chennai, and Leh were inaugurated on the occasion, virtually. Appreciating the initiatives and contribution of IMD in safeguarding the life and property with its accurate prediction and timely dissemination of forecast and warnings, Union Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said: "There is still scope for improvement. The forecast needs to be even more accurate and timely." Singh said that India has taken a lead in the continent to provide weather and climate services to South Asian, South-East Asian, and West Asian countries and also added that the Ministry of Earth Sciences will deploy and use drone-based observation technology in a big way for strengthening the localised forecasting. He said that the government is committed to make the IMD a world class organisation for better delivery of services enabling a common man to take weather-wise and climate-smart decisions. Ladakh Lt Governor R.K. Mathur and MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal joined the occasion virtually and in their speeches, drew attention to the difficulties that the terrain offers and gave suggestions for the IMD to improve reach of its forecast. The event also witnessed launch of four initiatives viz. a dedicated website for Aviation Weather Services, Geospatial Services for severe weather monitoring & forecasting, Climate Hazards and Vulnerability Atlas, and Public Observation System through "crowd sourcing mobile app." IMD DG, Dr M. Mohapatra gave an elaborate view on the IMD's achievements in the past and also spoke about future plans. Secretary, Earth Sciences, Dr M. Ravichandran and Chairman ISRO, Dr K Sivan also spoke on the occasion. As many as nine publications were released on the occasion - The Annual Climate Statement for 2021, Report on Cyclonic Disturbances over North Indian Ocean during 2021, Report on Verification of sub-basin-wise quantitative precipitation forecast during SW Monsoon 2021, Report on Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) model Products for Sectoral applications, Report on Use of Weather Information for Secure, reliable and economic operation of Indian power grid, Report on Information Seeking and UtiliSation behaviour of the Intermediate Users of Weather and Climate Services, Report on Meteorological Applications of Indian GNSS derived IPWV, International Journal Mausam, January 2022 issue and Mausam Manjusha, IMD's in-house journal. --IANS niv/vd ( 442 Words) 2022-01-14-23:08:05 (IANS) The MHA also said that the details regarding eligibility and guidelines with respect to Nari Shakti Puraskar are available on the above said portal. The Nari Shakti Puraskar is an initiative of the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development to acknowledge the contributions made by individuals and institutions to celebrate women as "game-changers" and "catalysts of positive change in society". In 2020, a total of 15 women were presented this award, including Padala Bhudevi from Andhra Pradesh, who has been working for the welfare of tribal women, and Kalavati Devi from Kanpur, a mason who has been the driving force for reducing open defecation in the district. The first three Indian Air Force woman fighter pilots -- Mohana Singh, Bhawana Kanth and Avani Chaturvedi -- were also conferred the Nari Shakti Puraskar, along with mountaineers Tashi and Nunghsi Mallik. --IANS ams/arm ( 190 Words) 2022-01-14-23:24:01 (IANS) The people of Darui Panchayat in the Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday started celebrating and dancing with joy after the road construction work was taken up in the village for the first time since independence. As soon as the JCB machine was installed, the people of the village started dancing to the beats of the drum and exchanging sweets among themselves. The work of Samba's Pahari Panchayat Darui to village Bardhan started on Friday from JCB which is 2 km 500 meters and in which Rs 2 crore 29 lakh will be spent. The work of Panchayat Darui to village Bardhan, which is 2 km and 500 meters started on Friday. The amount of Rs 2,29,00,000 will be spent to construct this road. The local people welcomed Vimala Devi, the sarpanch of the panchayat and thanked her as she had played a very important role in getting the road built. Speaking to ANI, Vimala Devi said people were engaged in trying to get this road constructed since 2009 but finally the work has started in 2022. "People were engaged trying to get this road constructed since 2009 after so many attempts finally the work has started in 2022. This road is being built under the NABARD scheme, only for three villages. Approval has been received and after completion of this work, our next goal is to connect this road to many villages from Nangal, Khirdi and others till Purmandal," said Vimla Devi. A villager said that this road was among the long pending demands of the village as everyone from school going students to pregnant women was facing issues. "The connectivity was very important between Bardhan and Lalali road. Earlier people were facing lots of problems. It was very difficult to travel. There was no road for us. Students, pregnant women, and others were facing problems. Now when the road will be constructed, it will a big convenience for us. I am very thankful to Central Government for this," he said. Another villager Lambardar Khem Raj also expressed happiness over the development. "We thank our sarpanch and central government for fulfilling our demand. Before this we have seen the days of great difficulties, there are rivers on both sides of our village, during the rainy days I used to lift my children on my shoulders and go to school after crossing the cotton river and used to bring them with me after they leave from school. During the rainy days the water was very high," said Raj. He further said that people of many villages like Bardhan, Lalali, Nangal and Khirdi still have no access to roads and have to cross the river to go anywhere outside the village. "During the rainy days, pregnant women also faced a lot of problems. Many women used to move to the house of a relative during the time," he added A local resident, Diggy Sharma said, "We are very happy that the road will be constructed. The next generation will not have to face the troubles we have faced. " "There was no road connectivity in three-four villages in Samba district. We had faced lots of difficulties. We were trying to get the road constructed for years. Because of Central Government now we will also move ahead. Our children can easily go to schools and colleges. Earlier, we used to take the sick people on the cot. There are many more villages where there is no road connectivity. So, I urge Central Government to construct roads for them too. I am very thankful to the Central Government for this," said Sandeep Singh. (ANI) The Andhra Pradesh police on Friday arrested all the eight accused involved in the murder of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) party cadre Thota Chandraiah. The TDP leader was killed on Thursday in his village in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur district. "The Andhra Pradesh police have arrested all 8 accused persons involved in the heinous murder of a TDP slain leader Thota Chandraiah at Gundlapadu village in Veldurti Mandal of Guntur district, within 24 hours," said Vishal Gunni, Superintendent of Police (SP), Guntur Rural District, in a press conference held at his office in Guntur town on Friday. Terming it as a great achievement of the police personnel who engaged in investigating the case, collecting the facts, apprehending all the accused within no time, Gunni warned that any accused in any heinous crime would face stringent punishment. "Thota Chandraiah was killed around 7 am to 7.30 am on Thursday. When Chandraiah was riding his bike in the village, the accused persons stopped him and killed him by using knives. As soon as the incident happened, the concerned DSP, CI and other police personnel rushed to the spot and secured the facts and collected evidence related to the crime scene," he said. He said that the police department formed a total of four teams to monitor the case. As many as 4 Circle Inspectors and 6 Sub Inspectors of Police worked on it. The police apprehended Chinta Sivaramaiah, the main accused, along with co-accused including Chinta Yalamala Kotaiah, Samy Raghuramaiah, Samy Rama Koteswara Rao, Chinta Srinivasa Rao, Thota Anjaneyulu, Thota Sivanrayana and Chinta Adinarayana, the SP informed. The SP further said that all these eight persons killed the victim with pre-planned conspiracy. "They had a clash over a cement road in the past. Apart from that, in a function held recently, where some people informed Sivaramaiah that Chandraiah was planning to kill him. Then, Sivaramaiah took that assumption serious and killed Chandraiah even before he reacted. As planned, Sivaramaiah killed Chandraiah in a heinous manner. Police has taken up this case very seriously and an impartial investigation has been launched into the incident," he added. (ANI) Mushtaq Ahmed Dar, a grassroots innovator from the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, has brought out a series of innovations for making the processing of walnuts easier and more efficient, as well as a device for climbing poles. According to the Ministry of Science and Technology, the innovations for walnut processing include a Walnut Cracking Machine' and also the Walnut peeler, washer, and sorter to streamline walnut production and help reduce the drudgery of people involved in walnut processing, a niche occupation primarily in the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and also observed in parts of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh. "These have also empowered the people involved in the occupation by giving them the capability to supply fresh kernels to domestic and world markets by cracking walnut of varied types like paper-shelled, thin-shelled, medium-shelled, and hard-shelled, efficiently and effectively," the ministry said in a statement. It further said that this helps them grow their business by even exporting and marketing the edible fruit inside and not the shelled walnut, thereby making the final product more attractive (effortless consumption). Besides, it has reduced the risk of the shells cracking and flying during processing, thereby posing a danger to the eyes. The technology has also evinced interest from international markets, particularly from Afghanistan, during India - Afghanistan Trade and Investment Show in the year 2017, it said. It said that the genesis of his other innovation - Pole-Pro, is rooted in the complex geography of Kashmir Valley, where carrying bulky ladders for routine repairs delayed the outcome every time. The Pole-Pro solution eliminated the need for bulky ladders in most situations. It helped first-hand diagnosis of problems in electricity, telecom, and other poles with safety protocols. "Today, the technology is available in the market through Anventa Gadgetix Pvt Ltd, a start-up recognized by the Government of India (DIPP25154) and incubated by NIFientreC (NIF Incubation and Entrepreneurship Council), a Technology Business Incubator (TBI) hosted by NIF and supported by DST," the ministry said. These innovations and many more in which Mushtaq collaborated with other innovators have led to two start-ups recognized by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). Supported by National Innovation Foundation (NIF) - India, an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, Mushtaq's serial innovations were mentioned by Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha in December 2021's "Awaam ki Awaaz". Walnut Cracker has remained the most notable innovation, which is today the foundation of another start-up recognized by the Government of India called Rafiq Innovations Pvt Ltd (DIPP8028), based in Anantnag. It is being incubated by NIFientreC. Mushtaq Ahmed Dar is continuing to explore and come up with more innovations. NIF has supported him with Value Addition and Validation, Product Development, IP protection, Technology Transfer, and also a Community Workshop so that several innovators like him in the region could leverage the facility and create possibilities for an "it-situ" incubation in forthcoming years. Additionally, the enterprises taking forward Mushtaq's innovations were supported with entity incorporation, start-up registration and also provided various Business Development opportunities, it added. (ANI) As a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, a week-long event, "Celebrating Innovation Ecosystem", Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with more than 150 startups on Saturday at 10:30 am via video conferencing. According to Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the event is being hosted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, from January 10 to 16. The event marks the 6th anniversary of the launch of the Startup India initiative. The aim of the interaction is to understand how startups can contribute to national needs by driving innovation in the country. "Startups from various sectors including Agriculture, Health, Enterprise Systems, Space, Industry 4.0, Security, Fintech, Environment etc will be part of this interaction," it said. "More than 150 startups have been divided into six working groups based on themes including Growing from Roots; Nudging the DNA; From Local to Global; Technology of Future; Building Champions in Manufacturing; and Sustainable Development," the statement reads. The PMO said that each group will make a presentation before the Prime Minister on the allotted theme in the interaction. It further said that the Prime Minister has been a firm believer in the potential of Startups to contribute significantly to the growth of the nation. "This was reflected in the launch of the flagship initiative Startup India in 2016. The government has worked on providing an enabling atmosphere for boosting the growth and development of Startups," it added. The PMO said that this has had a tremendous impact on the startup ecosystem in the country, and has led to a staggering growth of unicorns in the country. (ANI) A federal appellate court ruling means that McHenry and Kankakee counties must stop housing federal immigration detainees, who now may be released or transferred to other jails out of state. The County has formally exercised the termination provision of its contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) yesterday, McHenry County officials announced in a statement Friday. Pursuant to the contract, ICE will have thirty days to remove all detainees from the McHenry County Jail. Advertisement The decision marks a historic victory for immigration activists, who had pushed McHenry County to end the practice, calling it an inhumane and costly way to break up families. An immigrant who was detained years ago is in the McHenry County Jail in Woodstock on March 7, 2017. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune) The Coalition to Cancel the ICE contract in McHenry County issued a statement that a dream that was fought for by many throughout the years was finally realized. Advertisement Activists had protested the detentions as institutionalized racism over the past decade, the coalition stated, making the end a miraculous amazing moment. After heated debate in May, the county board voted 15-8 to continue the contract to hold people accused of immigration violations. But last summer, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law the Illinois Way Forward Act, which prohibited counties from entering such ICE contracts, effective on Jan. 1. McHenry and Kankakee county officials filed suit calling the law unconstitutional, saying it violated the U.S. Constitutions Supremacy Clause, which prohibits states from interfering with federal law. A federal judge ruled against the counties, which then asked the appellate court to delay the ruling pending an appeal. But a three-judge panel ruled Wednesday against any further delay, writing, We conclude that the counties have not made a strong showing that they are likely to succeed on the merits. The judges ruled that the law primarily restricts local governments, with only a limited restriction on the federal government. County officials previously said they would appeal. Immigration advocates were happy to see the ICE contracts end, but Fred Tsao, senior policy counsel for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said they would try to free the 55 detainees in McHenry and 39 in Kankakee. Advertisement We are working with several allied organizations to push ICE to release the people held at McHenry and Kankakee, and NOT transferred elsewhere, he wrote in an email to the Tribune. Ultimately we believe that ICE detention is cruel and unnecessary, and should be ended altogether not just here in Illinois but nationwide. Supporters of detention say its necessary to make sure detainees show up for their hearings and possible deportation. Opponents say most detainees are not criminals, and show up for the civil immigration hearings. ICE paid McHenry $95 per day per detainee. Revenues after cost deductions ranged from about $3 million to $4.6 million in recent years, but fell to $400,000 with fewer detainees in 2021. Federal officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. When downstate Pulaski County ended its ICE contract last year, an ICE spokeswoman said detainees were reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and either released or transferred to other ICE detention facilities, taking into consideration immediate family, attorney of record, and status of removal proceedings. Federal immigration laws mandate the detention of certain noncitizens, including terrorists, immigrants with certain criminal convictions, new arrivals, and individuals in the expedited removal process, public affairs officer Erin Bultje wrote. ICE will continue to focus its limited resources on national security, border security, and public safety. The National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) celebrated 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' on Friday with Kala Kumbh, organising artist workshops for painting scrolls measuring approximately 750 metres, representing the tales of valour of unsung heroes of India's freedom movement, said Ministry of Culture. Director-General of National Gallery of Modern Art Adwaita Garanayak said that the works of art done on the gigantic scrolls will form an integral part of the Republic day celebrations 2022, marking a unique collaboration between the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Defence. Garanayak said that these scrolls analyse the potential of art as a means to express National pride and excellence with varied forms of art from diverse geographical locations of the country. "The celebration of the true essence of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat was visible in these workshops where the rich diversity of our country in its cultural aspects was witnessed while portraying the heroic lives and struggles of unsung heroes of India's freedom movement. These have been diligently researched upon and painted enthusiastically by more than five hundred artists spread over two locations, Odisha and Chandigarh", he added. "The National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi has organised these workshops with the aim of amalgamating varied forms of visual and performing arts of the country to represent the true essence of unity and diversity in India. I believe that the gigantic scrolls when displayed at Rajpath will garner the interest of each individual to delve deep into the history of the unsung heroes of India's freedom struggle and would also draw attention towards the unified visual aspects of modern, indigenous and contemporary arts of India" He said that aligning with the flagship program of the Ministry of Culture, the aspect of collaborations and collective work has been outlined in these workshops. In Odisha, the NGMA collaborated with Kalinga Institute of Technology and Silicon Institute of Technology in Bhubaneswar from December 11-17 and in Chandigarh, the collaboration was done with Chitkara University from December 25, 2021, to January 2, 2022. According to the Ministry of Culture, the Kala Kumbh- Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav reflects the essence of unity in diversity while also analyzing the initiative of the Government of India to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of progressive India and the glorious history of its people, culture and its achievements. The scrolls painted in these workshops may be seen as an embodiment of all that is progressive about India's socio-cultural identity which has been imparted prominence on the large-scale scrolls as per the artistic vision of Adwaita Garanayak. "Ten gigantic scrolls of approximately seven hundred and fifty meters portray the tales of valour and legacy of the unsung heroes of India's freedom struggle. Inspiration has also been drawn from the creative illustrations in the Constitution of India wherein the artistic elements painted by Nandalal Bose and his team have imparted a distinctive appeal along with several representations from the indigenous arts of India," the statement reads. These represent and showcase the rich cultural heritage of India along with the insights of struggles undertaken by the unsung heroes for achieving India's freedom. At Bhubaneswar, the narratives have reflected the tales of valour and historical elements of India's movement of freedom struggle focusing on Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bengal, northeastern parts of India and Andhra Pradesh with artistic expressions reflecting the indigenous forms of art such as Pattachitra, Talapatra Chitra, Manjusa, Madhubani and Jadu Patua to name a few. At Chandigarh, the narratives have been a reflection of the tales of valour of unsung heroes from Ladakh, Jammu, Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan with artistic expressions reflecting the indigenous forms of art such as Phad, Pichwai, Miniature, Kalamkari, Mandana, Thangka and Warli. These artist workshops have been a huge success and were visited by several students at both venues. NCC cadets have also witnessed the creative representations of India's unsung heroes of freedom struggle at Chandigarh. The closing ceremony of Kalakumbh- Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav at Chandigarh was graced by Banwari Lal Purohit, Governor of Punjab and Administrator of UT Chandigarh and at Bhubaneshwar by Hon'ble Member of Parliament, Dr Achutya Samanta who is also the founder of KIIT and KISS. Several other dignitaries also evinced great interest in the scrolls during their visits to the workshops. Series of cultural programs were held in the evenings during these workshops, reflecting upon the rich traditions of folk and indigenous performing arts of India in collaboration with Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre and Northern Zonal Cultural Centre. The scrolls reflect traditional forms of art as well as contemporary expressions, which showcase the essence of the rich cultural and artistic heritage of India while also analyzing the absolute sacrifice and contribution of our unsung heroes proving to be a befitting tribute to Kalakumbh- Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and a true celebration of Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat. In the next phase, these scrolls will be placed artistically at Rajpath for the celebrations of Republic day, 2022. The strategic location of these scrolls would serve as an open gallery for all the citizens and it is intended to inspire people about the rich national heritage and legacy of Bharat in its true sense. (ANI) In the ongoing investigation of the Alwar rape case in which a specially-abled minor girl was allegedly raped and abandoned near a flyover, Rajasthan police said that no evidence has been found in the Alwar rape case so far and the possibility of a sexual assault is less. "Not found any evidence of the incident so far. We had examined multiple CCTVs at different locations from her home till the starting point of the flyover in which the girl is seen fine," Dr Ravi DIG civil rights told ANI on Friday. "There is a possibility that the incident would've taken place at the flyover where she spent 5-7 minutes. We're investigating the case from different angles. For now, I can't reach any conclusion. However, the possibility of sexual assault is low," he added. The minor girl was found in an abandoned condition on the Tijara flyover in Alwar, Rajasthan. She was found bleeding and was admitted to a hospital. The girl underwent surgery after which she was declared healthy and stable. The Alwar Police has decided not to consider it as rape on the basis of the forensic report. A case was registered in this matter at the Malakheda police station. Superintendent of Police Tejaswani Gautam had said, "On the basis of technical evidence and video received by police, rape survivor is seen walking on Tijara flyover (incident spot), looking healthy. Doctors stated that her medical examination suggests no injury in her private parts." Following the incident on January 11, a prima facie case was lodged. As per the probe, the girl (alleged rape survivor) boarded the auto from her village to the city (Jaipur) all alone. There were only fellow passengers in the auto, and throughout she looked fine", she added. The SP had also said that she has got door to door footage and evidence of the girl till she came to the Tijara gate from her house. "On the basis of investigation done by SIT team, experts, dog squad and CCTV footage, it is now clear that the girl left the house alone and came to Alwar city in an auto with no one accompanying her", informed the Alwar SP on Friday. The police informed that the auto driver has also been identified and the auto has also been checked by the forensic team. "A team of forensic experts has not found anything suspicious in the auto-rickshaw. The driver was interrogated and her co-passengers will be questioned," the SP said. "Till the CCTV footage that we have got of the girl, she is completely visible and no suspect is seen chasing her," the SP said. She further informed that today the report of the expert team of the Medical Board of Doctors has been received and they after conducting the tests said that there is no vaginal or internal injury. (ANI) Delhi's weekend curfew, being observed to tackle the spread of COVID-19, has kept people off from the streets and important junctions again on Saturday morning. Kashmiri Gate bus terminal, which is otherwise bustling with poeple travelling in and out of Delhi, wore a deserted look. A very small fraction of the people were seen at the bus terminal with authorities ensuring that people don't flout COVID protocols. People were abiding by COVID norms as they followed social distancing and wore masks with utmost sincerity. Taking note of the rising cases in Delhi, a man at the bus terminal said, "It is important to be alert at the moment and avoid crowds. The cases in Delhi have been on the rise and same is the case with many other states. It is better to protect ourselves from the infection. We have witnessed a chaos in the second wave as people had to go looking for hospital beds and oxygen support." With fewer people arriving at the bus terminal, several auto drivers were seen lined up outside the terminal. Harish Khurana, who was travelling to Haryana, was of the opinion that the weekend curfew was ineffective as the virus cannot be eliminated in a span of two days. Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in the national capital, the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has also imposed a curfew in Delhi on Saturdays and Sundays to curb the spread of infection. All shops dealing in non-essential items in markets and malls will be shut until Sunday, January 16. The movement of people will remain restricted during the weekend curfew. However, people coming from or going to airports, railway stations, and inter-state bus terminuses will be allowed to travel on the production of valid tickets. Delhi on Friday reported as many as 24,383 COVID-19 cases. As per the bulletin provided by the health department, the positivity rate for the day was 30.64 per cent. (ANI) Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan on Friday slammed Communist Party of India (Marxist) politburo member S Ramachandran Pillai for praising China and insulting those who sacrificed their lives for the nation. In a statement issued by the Union Minister of State, he said, "CPIM should apologize to the nation for S Ramachandran Pillai's pro-China statement. He has insulted the soldiers and their families who have sacrificed their lives to protect our nation. "Due to the blind enmity towards PM Modi, CPIM leaders even hate their homeland. CPIM should make clear whether Ramachandran's stand is the official stand of CPIM," he said. Ramachandran Pillai courted controversy as he said "India's campaign against China is an attack to CPIM". He was addressing the CPIM Kottayam district committee meeting on Thursday. While addressing party workers in Kottayam, S Ramachandran Pillai said, "China has got the strength to question the dominance of America over the world. That is why an organized campaign against China is going on globally." "Now when the Communist Party in China is celebrating its 100th anniversary, it has become a moderately prosperous country. In India, the aim of the campaign against China is to attack CPIM and to give rise to people's sentiments against us (CPIM). We have to resist these conscious campaigns. We have faced such things earlier also," S Ramachandran said. (ANI) Union Minister of Jal Shakti and Loksabha MP Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Friday attacked the Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot for suppressing a sensitive matter like the Alwar rape case. In a series of tweets with a video shared by Shekhawat, the Collector of Alwar could be seen questioning the girls who came to his office to protest against the Alwar rape case. "The collector of Alwar is threatening the daughters who have come to protest against the cruelty that has happened to an innocent. Trying to scare them by asking for their father's mobile number. Collector sir, who is sitting above you, from whom we can complain against you, please tell his number too!" tweeted Shekhawat. Intensifying his attack on the Congress, he further tweeted, "Any senior officer will try to suppress such a sensitive matter only when the order is received from the government. Gehlot ji is trying to cover up this episode through the administration because now questions are being asked to Priyanka Vadra". "The responsibility of law and order in the district is yours, on the contrary, you should answer to these girls that how such a horrific incident happened? This is the condition of the administration of Rajasthan. They cannot take any action against rapists, but are able to suppress the girl," he added. Earlier on Friday, Rajasthan police said that no evidence has been found in the Alwar rape case so far and the possibility of a sexual assault is less according to the ongoing investigation of the case in which a specially-abled minor girl was allegedly raped and abandoned near a flyover The minor girl was found in an abandoned condition on the Tijara flyover in Alwar, Rajasthan. She was found bleeding and was admitted to a hospital. The girl underwent surgery after which she was declared healthy and stable. The Alwar Police has decided not to consider it as rape on the basis of the forensic report. A case was registered in this matter at the Malakheda police station. Earlier, Superintendent of Police Tejaswani Gautam had said, "On the basis of technical evidence and video received by police, rape survivor is seen walking on Tijara flyover (incident spot), looking healthy. Doctors stated that her medical examination suggests no injury in her private parts." Following the incident on January 11, a prima facie case was lodged. As per the probe, the girl (alleged rape survivor) boarded the auto from her village to the city (Jaipur) all alone. There were only fellow passengers in the auto, and throughout she looked fine", she added. The SP had also said that she has got door to door footage and evidence of the girl till she came to the Tijara gate from her house. (ANI) Gandhi tweeted in Hindi, "I salute the sacrifice made by the personnel of the Indian Army, who belong to villages, farmers and middle-class families. The Indian Army is saviour and pride of the nation. Jai Hind." President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also wished soldiers, veterans, and their families on the occasion of Army Day. The President highlighted that soldiers have displayed professionalism, sacrifice and valour in defending borders and maintaining peace. "Greetings to Army personnel and veterans on Army Day. Indian Army has been pivotal in ensuring national security. Our soldiers have displayed professionalism, sacrifice and valour in defending borders and maintaining peace. The nation is grateful for your service. Jai Hind!," Rashtrapati Bhavan tweeted today. Acknowledging the bravery and professionalism displayed by the Indian Army, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said India is proud of the stellar contribution of the Army in Peacekeeping Missions overseas. The Prime Minister also highlighted that Indian Army personnel serve in hostile terrains and are at the forefront of helping fellow citizens during a humanitarian crisis. "Indian Army personnel serve in hostile terrains and are at the forefront of helping fellow citizens during humanitarian crisis, including natural disasters. India is proud of the stellar contribution of the Army in Peacekeeping Missions overseas as well," PM Modi tweeted. Army Day is observed every year on January 15 to celebrate the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army - Field Marshal Kodandera M Cariappa. The position was taken over on January 15, 1949, from General Sir Francis Butcher, the last British Commander-in-Chief of India. (ANI) Meanwhile, General MM Naravane presented awards and unit citations. Sena medals were conferred on Major Anil Kumar and Major Mahinder Singh. Meanwhile, the Indian Army on Saturday released a video showcasing the valour of the forces on the occasion of Army Day. Earlier on Saturday, Army Chief General MM Naravane, Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, and Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar paid their obeisance at the National War Memorial in Delhi to mark Army Day. The armed forces chiefs also laid a wreath at the war memorial. Army Day is observed every year on January 15 to celebrate the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army - Field Marshal Kodandera M Cariappa. He had taken the mantle from General Sir Francis Butcher, the last British Commander-in-Chief of India, on January 15, 1949 President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah also wished soldiers, veterans, and their families on the occasion of the Army Day. Acknowledging the bravery and professionalism displayed by the Indian Army, PM Modi said that words cannot do justice to their invaluable contribution towards national safety. (ANI) To begin with, Chandra will take feedback of Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan who will brief the overall picture of Covid Cases in the country and measures taken, instructions issued to states to combat the surge of Covid-19 cases to Commission. As of today, India reported 2,68,833 fresh COVID cases (4,631 more than yesterday) and 1,22,684 recoveries in the last 24 hours. Total 14,17,820 active cases are in the country with a daily positivity rate of 16.66 per cent. This week Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also taken a meeting with the Chief Ministers of States. After that, Commissioner Sushil Chandra will meet with the Health Secretary and Chief Secretary of poll-bound five states. The last scheduled meeting is with Chief Electoral Officers of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa. Earlier on January 8, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided that no physical rallies, roadshow, pad-yatra, cycle/bike/vehicle rally and procession shall be allowed till January 15, 2022.The commission shall subsequently review the situation and issue further instructions accordingly. A call on the political gatherings will be taken after January 15 depending on the dynamic situation of the pandemic's third national wave, Chandra said. He said the duration of polling will be extended by an hour amid the Covid restrictions. Meanwhile, ECI on Friday organized a briefing for Observers to be deployed for the forthcoming General Elections to the Legislative Assemblies of Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, informed ECI. Over 1,400 officials attended the sessions in a hybrid model, added ECI. (ANI) Superintendent of Police of Valsad, Manoj Singh Chavda told ANI, "An FIR has been registered against an unidentified person for placing a cement pole on the railway track near Atul Railway Station in the Valsad district." "The train driver immediately informed the Atul Railway Station Master after witnessing the pole ahead. The pole broke after having a collision with the train. Our team immediately reached the spot and began probing the matter," he added. Further probe in the matter is underway. (ANI) Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has released the first list of candidates on 53 assembly seats of Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming polls. "We have finalized candidates on 53 seats in the first list, remaining 5 will we released in a day or two," BSP chief Mayawati said Saturday while addressing a press conference in Lucknow. Elections for the 403 Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases starting February 10. A total of 58 assembly seats spread over 11 districts will go the polls in the first phase on February 10. Mayawati expressed confidence about winning the polls and forming the government. "In the upcoming assembly elections, the people will definitely bring our party to power again and I also want to assure them that after coming to power this time our party will again run the government in all matters like its previous regime," she said. Polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7 in seven phases. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. In 2017 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had won 312 out of 403 seats. The Samajwadi Party and the Congress had sealed an alliance with the former contesting on 298 seats and the latter on the remaining 105 seats. The SP could manage to win only 47 seats and Congress won seven seats. Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) had won 19 seats. (ANI) A judge Saturday set a $1 million cash bond for a 30-year-old woman accused of stabbing a dog to death and injuring two women, 82 and 60, at her Rogers Park neighborhood home a week ago, Chicago police said. Jordan Shipp, of the 2100 block of West Birchwood Avenue, was charged with attempted murder and aggravated cruelty to animals. police said. Advertisement On Saturday, a judge ordered Shipp, who was not in court because she was hospitalized for an unknown reason, held on $1 million cash bond, according to Cook County states attorneys spokeswoman Tandra Simonton. Shipp was identified as the person who stabbed the two women several times, and stabbed a dog to death on Jan. 8 at the Birchwood Avenue address, police said. Advertisement She was arrested Friday in the 5100 block of North California Avenue and was due back in court on Friday. Editors note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the 82-year-old woman had died. dawilliams@chicagotribune.com Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Saturday said that at the Line Of Control, the situation is better than the last year but Pakistan is still harbouring terrorists near the border. "At LOC, the situation is better than last year but Pakistan is still harbouring terrorists near the border. Nearly 300-400 terrorists are waiting to intrude in India. A total of 144 terrorists were killed in counter operations," Naravane said during his address at the 74th Indian Army Day celebration held at Cariappa Parade Ground in New Delhi. "Last year was challenging for the Army because of the China tensions and to keep the situation under control, the 14th meeting took place recently. There was disengagement at multiple points," he added. "Our mutual cooperation with neighbouring countries has increased further during the COVID-19 epidemic," he announced. While talking about India's contribution to the United Nations peacekeeping mission, he said, "The Indian Army has always been a significant contributor to the United Nations Peacekeeping Operation. Even today, more than 5,000 soldiers of our army are deployed in various peacekeeping missions, which are giving a different identity to the country". On the entry of women cadets in Nation Defence Academy, he said, " Academy is ready to welcome the first-ever batch of women cadets in January 2023. The preparations are underway. In defence aviation also, women pilots have been given acceptance and their training is underway". Earlier today, the Indian Army's Parachute Regiment commandos marched during the Army Day Parade in the new digital combat uniform of the Indian Army. This is the first time that the uniform has been unveiled in public. While Sepoy Kundan Kumar Ojha's wife received Sena Medal for Gallantry posthumously from Army Chief General MM Naravane at the Army Day Parade today for showing valour in the Galwan clash. India celebrates Army Day on January 15 every year to acknowledge the importance of the Indian Army and honour the sacrifices of soldiers. On this day in 1949, Field Marshal Kodandera M Cariappa took over as the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from General Francis Bucher, the last British Commander-in-Chief of India. President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah also wished soldiers, veterans, and their families on the occasion of the Army Day. Acknowledging the bravery and professionalism displayed by the Indian Army, PM Modi said that words cannot do justice to their invaluable contribution towards national safety. (ANI) While lauding the contribution of startups across the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that about five years ago, India didn't have even 500 startups but today, that number has crossed 60,000. "India's startup ecosystem is continuously discovering and improving itself. It is in a constant state of learning and changing. India's startups are now working in 55 different industries. Five years ago, India didn't have even 500 startups. Today, that number has crossed 60,000," the Prime Minister said while interacting with Startups across the country. The Prime Minister said, "There's at least one startup in at least 625 districts across India. Nearly half of India's all startups are in Tier-II or Tier-III cities. It shows that people from all classes are converting their ideas into businesses." The Prime Minister emphasised on let us innovate for India, innovate from India. "I call upon the youth to make their dreams global, and not just local. 'Let us innovate for India, innovate from India'--a mantra for young innovators," he said. PM Modi, "India is continuously strengthening its image as the world's largest millennial market. Our needs and potential, right from rural economy to Industry 4.0, are unlimited." Highlighting the trademarks registered over the past one year in this field, the Prime Minister said, "In 2013-14, 4,000 patents were approved. Last year, over 28,000 patents were granted. In 2013-14, nearly 70,000 trademarks were registered. In 2021, over 2.5 lakh trademarks were registered. In 2013-14, only 4,000 copyrights were granted. Last year, it crossed 16,000." Prime Minister said that India, today, believes in its youth and is making policies in line with the same. "The start-up runway feature on the GeM platform is also being used by StartUps to provide their products to the government. Believing in the ability and creativity of youth is the basis of the development of any nation. India, today, believes in its youth and is making policies in line with the same," the Prime Minister said. He said, "From new drone rules to the new space policy, the Government is trying to give the youth as many chances of innovation as possible. Our Government has also eased IPR regulations. Central and State Governments are also promoting a huge number of incubators. " Prime Minister interacted with Startups today via video conferencing. Startups from various sectors including Agriculture, Health, Enterprise Systems, Space, Industry 4.0, Security, Fintech, Environment etc were a part of this interaction. More than 150 startups have been divided into six working groups based on themes including Growing from Roots; Nudging the DNA; From Local to Global; Technology of Future; Building Champions in Manufacturing; and Sustainable Development. As a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, a week-long event, "Celebrating Innovation Ecosystem", is being hosted by DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, from January 10-16, 2022. The event marks the 6th anniversary of the launch of the Startup India initiative. (ANI) These properties include flats worth Rs 300 crore of Omkar Group in Tower C of sale building namely Omkar 1973 based in Mumbai's Worli and an open land situated at Viram in Pune worth Rs 80 crore of Viiking Group belonging to Sachin Joshi. ED launched the investigation on the basis of an FIR filed by City Chowk Police Station, Aurangabad. ED had conducted a search last year on January 25 and January 27 and had arrested Babulal Varma, Managing Director of ORDPL, Kamal Kishore, and its Chairman. Sachin Joshi was arrested later on. The ED had, earlier, filed a prosecution complaint on March 26 last year before the Session Court, Bombay. ED, during the investigation, found that loan amount Rs 410 crore was fraudulently acquired by Surana Developers Wadala, LLP, a sister concern of ORDPL through falsely increased slum dwellers numbers and FSI. "Out of Rs 410 crore, an amount of Rs 330 crore was laundered into the sale building of Omkar Group and an amount of Rs 80 crore approximately was laundered through Sachin Joshi and his Viiking Group of companies under the guise of services and investment," the ED said. (ANI) "Today, Delhi COVID cases are expected to be reduced by 4,000-positivity rate will be around 30 per cent; hospital admission rate hasn't risen in past 5-6 days. This indicates that cases are going to be fewer in the coming days. 85 per cent of hospital beds are vacant," said Jain during a press conference in New Delhi. On being asked when will the peak of the fifth wave in Delhi arrive, he said, "Cases peak has arrived, let's see when the decline begins...seems like cases have begun to slow down". Delhi on Thursday reported 28,867 new COVID-19 cases, 31 fatalities, and 2,424 hospitals were occupied, informed Jain. Jain informed on Friday that over 13,000 beds were vacant. Just over 15 per cent of beds in the hospitals were occupied. (ANI) While addressing the press conference, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, "We are releasing a list of candidates for 57 out of 58 seats in the first phase and for 48 out of 55 in the second phase." "Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to contest from Gorakhpur seat. Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to contest from Sirathu assembly segment," he said. Yogi Adityanath has been the Member of Parliament from the Gorakhpur constituency, Uttar Pradesh, for five consecutive terms since 1998 Earlier, it was reported that the Chief Minister would also contest from Ayodhya. However, this report now stands nullified. Elections for the 403 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases starting February 10, the Election Commission said. The polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7 in seven phases. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. In the 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP won a landslide victory winning 312 Assembly seats. The party secured a 39.67 per cent vote share in the elections for 403-member Assembly. Samajwadi Party (SP) bagged 47 seats, BSP won 19 while Congress could manage to win only seven seats. (ANI) The Indian Agency, National Investigation Agency, in close coordination with the Bangladeshi counterparts have started an investigation to curb illegal shipment of "Pakistan-printed Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) with help of ISI-backed smugglers in India via Bangladesh". It is among one of the cases which are being probed by the NIA on foreign soil under powers given to them under the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008. NIA's Inspector Arpan Saha, posted in the agency's Guwahati Branch Office, has been assigned as the Chief Investigation Officer (CIO) of the case, which is considered as a plan of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence to "destabilize the economy of India" by supplying counterfeit currency. Having taken cognisance of the magnitude of the offence and its international links, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) last month has directed the NIA to investigate the case under the NIA Act, 2008. Following the order, the NIA filed a case on December 30 last year and directed Saha to begin the probe into the case. The revelation comes amid the questioning of two Bangladeshi FICN smugglers Fatema Akhtar Aapi and her associate Sk Md Abu Taleb by the Bangladesh Police on November 26, 2021. As the case was linked to India, the Bangladesh authorities contacted India and shared information that they have seized FICN worth Rs 7.35 crore in the denomination of Rs 500 from Aapi, a resident of Kasba in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh police informed India that it seized counterfeit currency worth Rs 50,000 from Aapi on November 26, 2021. Upon searching her house, the police also recovered fake currency worth Rs 7,34,50,000 in the denomination of Rs 500 notes. Subsequently, Aapi and Taleb were arrested by the Bangladesh Police. During the interrogation of the two accused, it is learnt that the FICN seized in Bangladesh was arranged and further shipped to Bangladesh by two Pakistani nationals -- Sultan and Safi." "It is suspected that the FICN has been printed in the neighbouring country and shipped to Bangladesh for further smuggling into India by international smugglers based in Pakistan to destabilize the economy of lndia," the NIA FIR mentions. The Bangladesh Police registered a case under section 2S-A(B) of the Special Power Act, 1974 of Bangladesh on November 26 last year. The NIA said it re-registered the case based on inputs shared by the Bangladesh Police under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and a thorough probe was started.(ANI) As a part of 74th Army Day celebrations, 'Monumental National Flag,' the world's largest national flag made from Khadi, was displayed along the India-Pakistan border in Rajasthan's Longewala on Saturday. Longewala was the center stage of the battle between India and Pakistan in 1971. The Southern Command unveiled the flag of size 225 feet by 150 feet at Jaisalmer Military Station. A whopping 4500 meters of hand-spun, hand-woven Khadi cotton bunting has been used in making the flag which covers a total area of 33, 750 square feet. The Ashok Chakra in the flag measures a diameter of 30 feet. It weighs approximately 1,400 kg. Manufactured by Khadi Dyers and Printers, the flag is a "befitting tribute to the Indian heritage" as it is made of hundred per cent Khadi material, the Army said in an official statement. The hoisting of flag also commemorates the 75th year of India's independence being celebrated as 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav'. GOC 12 RAPID unveiled the national flag amidst select dignitaries, who were amongst those present. The 'Monumental National Flag' has been prominently displayed and is clearly visible from a distance of several kilometers. Army said that this monumental flag showcases the "pride and aspiration of people of our country with an aim to knit all citizens in support of glory and spirit of nationalism." The flag hoisting was followed by national anthem and military band display. This initiative of Army to inculcate patriotic fervor amongst citizens in the border region is being widely appreciated. According to the Ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises, this is be the fifth public display of the national flag since its unveiling in Leh on October 2, 2021. It was, later on, displayed at Hindon Airbase on the occasion of Air Force Day on October 8, 2021 and at the Red Fort on October 21, 2021, that marked the completion of 100 crore COVID-19 vaccinations in India. On December 4, 2021, the national flag was displayed at the Naval Dockyard near Gateway of India in Mumbai to celebrate Navy Day. (ANI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold the first virtual political interaction with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers of Varanasi on January 18 after the announcement of upcoming Assembly polls in five states. He will give a victory mantra to the party workers for the upcoming Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and will direct them to tell people about the welfare schemes implemented by the party here, sources said. "With the Godlike workers of BJP, a dialogue of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will be held on January 18th at 11:00 am. Share your thoughts and suggestions. To download the NAMO App, dial 1800 2090 920. #BJP4UP," the Official Twitter account of Bharatiya Janata Party, Uttar Pradesh tweeted today. Further, sources also informed that the top leadership has started the preparations at the district level so that the maximum number of people can get connected. This political programme will be held virtually as the Election Commission of India suspended all the physical rallies till January 15 after witnessing an alarming rise in COVID-19 cases across the country. Elections for the 403 Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases starting February 10. The polls in the State will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7 in seven phases.The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI) Putting all speculations to rest, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday announced that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will contest from his stronghold Gorakhpur which elected him to Lok Sabha for five straight terms till 2017. While addressing the press conference today, Union Minister and BJP Uttar Pradesh election in charge Dharmendra Pradhan released a list of candidates for 57 out of 58 seats in the first phase and for 48 out of 55 in the second phase. The BJP fielded deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya from Sirathu constituency in Prayagraj while minister Shrikant Sharma will contest from Mathura. There was speculation earlier that Adityanath, who never contested Assembly elections before, could contest either from Ayodhya or Mathura. BJP leader Harnath Singh Yadav had written to party national president JP Nadda and urged him to field the chief minister from Mathura.Notably, the BJP won the 2017 elections winning over 300 seats in 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly without announcing a chief ministerial face. Adityanath, who had played a crucial role in the BJP's poll campaign, took over as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh on March 26, 2017. Adityanath had fought the general election for the first time in 1998 from Gorakhpur when he was 26 and became the youngest MP in the 12th Lok Sabha. He is the head priest of the Gorakhnath temple in the city. He took over this position in September 2014 after the death of his spiritual "father", Mahant Avaidhnath. The people of Gorakhpur has a strong connect with the sitting chief minister for his image as a priest and a politician. According to the sources in the BJP, Adityanath has been assigned the responsibility of the Gorakhpur (Urban) seat keeping all these things in consideration. In the past, BJP candidates Uday Pratap Dubey, Ramlal Bhai, Awdhesh Kumar Srivastav, Sunil Shastri, Shiv Pratap Shukla and Radha Mohan Das Agarwal had secured Gorakhpur (Urban) seat for the party. Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, in 2017, won from Gorakhpur (Urban) seat on the BJP's ticket by 55.85 per cent votes. Elections for the 403 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases starting February 10, the Election Commission said. The polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7 in seven phases. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI) While addressing the presser, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the party is releasing the list of candidates for 57 out of 58 seats in the first phase and for 48 out of 55 in the second phase, and revealed that Yogi Adityanath will contest from Gorakhpur seat. "Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to contest from Gorakhpur seat. Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to contest from Sirathu Assembly segment," he said. "Hearty thanks to respected Prime Minister @narendramodi, Honorable National President @JPNadda and Parliamentary Board for making me the candidate of Bharatiya Janata Party from Gorakhpur (urban) in the upcoming assembly elections," tweeted Yogi in Hindi. There was speculation earlier that Adityanath, who never contested Assembly elections before, could contest either from Ayodhya or Mathura. BJP leader Harnath Singh Yadav had written to party national president JP Nadda and urged him to field the Chief Minister from Mathura. However, putting all speculations to rest, the BJP announced that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will contest from his stronghold Gorakhpur which elected him to Lok Sabha for five straight terms till 2017. The polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7 in seven phases. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI) Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin will join the Republican primary contest for governor as early as Monday, completing a slate aimed at gaining financial backing from billionaire Ken Griffin to challenge Democrats who hold all statewide offices, sources said Friday. Irvin, the first Black mayor of Illinois second largest city, would be the fifth announced candidate for the GOP nomination in the June 28 primary, with the winner taking on wealthy first-term Gov. J.B. Pritzker in the November general election. Advertisement Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin introduces Gov. J.B. Pritzker to discuss COVID-19 vaccination equity on March 2, 2021. (Jon Langham / The Beacon-News) But unlike the four previous announced contenders, Irvins candidacy is expected to attract the support of Griffin, the states wealthiest person and the CEO and founder of Citadel financial group. Griffin, an ardent foe of Pritzker, had previously promised to go all in on an effort to defeat the Democratic governor. Sources familiar with Irvin said he will go public with his plans to run next week, with the announcement tentatively slated for Monday to coincide with Martin Luther King Day. Advertisement Irvins name first began to surface, along with talk of a slate for Republicans to consider, last month with the potential of funding by Griffin to offset the financial largesse of Pritzker, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune. Pritzker on Friday night reported putting $90 million into his own campaign, state campaign finance documents showed. Griffins office has had no comment on the slates formation. The slate has taken shape in recent days with announcements by former U.S. Attorney John Milhiser for secretary of state, state Rep. Tom Demmer of Dixon for state treasurer, attorney Steve Kim for attorney general and McHenry County Auditor Shannon Teresi for comptroller. The slate is expected to be completed with Irvin, who was elected as Auroras first Black mayor in 2017, and state Rep. Avery Bourne for lieutenant governor. Bourne, 29, a three-term lawmaker from downstate Morrisonville, is viewed as a future GOP star. Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. Sources said Griffin has not been satisfied with the prospects of the four previously announced contenders for the GOP governor nomination businessmen Gary Rabine of Bull Valley and Jesse Sullivan of Petersburg, state Sen. Darren Bailey of Xenia and former state Sen. Paul Schimpf of Waterloo. Supporters say Irvin, 51, could give Republicans a chance to lure Black voters away from Democrats in the general election if he wins the Republican nomination. Advertisement But Irvin would have to survive a likely contentious primary where his views in support of immigrant rights may be at odds with voters backing a harder line supported by former President Donald Trump. In addition, Irvin has voted in Democratic primaries in the recent past. rap30@aol.com The family members of the deceased claimed that they had consumed country made liquor on Friday afternoon and their condition deteriorated in the night. Sunil Kumar, a relative of one of the victims, Manna Mishtri (55), said: "After consuming the liquor, he returned home. His health deteriorated around 11 p.m. We immediately took him to Sadar hospital where he died while undergoing treatment around 4 a.m." He added that the country liquor is being manufactured in Choti Pahari area from the past several months. Two other victims have been identified as Bhago Mistri (55) and Dharmendra alias Nageshwar. The fourth person has not been identified yet. The critically ill people are admitted at Sadar hospital. The incident occurred in Choti Pahari locality under Sohsarai police station in Nalanda district which is also the home district of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who has banned liquor in the state. Following the incident, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Shibli Nomani and Sohsarai Station House Officer (SHO) Suresh Prasad reached the spot for investigation. The officers claimed that the death due to liquor consumption will be ascertained after the postmortem which is currently underway. Reportedly, two other persons also died after poisonous liquor consumption in Hargawa village under Manpur police station. --IANS ajk/sks/skp/ ( 243 Words) 2022-01-15-12:08:04 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) has returned 100 tonnes of jaggery to the suppliers after it turned out to be of poor quality. The jaggery was to be supplied as Pongal gift hampers. TNCSC Managing Director S. Prabhakaran told IANS: "The spoiled jaggery is being sent back. In several districts of the state, the jaggery that was spoiled has been replaced and we have asked the manufacturers to take the spoiled lot and replace them with fresh loads in the district where it has not been replaced yet." The Tamil Nadu government has sanctioned a whopping Rs 1,297 crore to provide Pongal gift hampers to 2.16 crore ration cardholders of the state. There are 21 items in each gift hamper. The TNCSC Managing Director also said that inspections are being carried out at various godowns of suppliers and items like pepper that are of poor quality are being replaced. Shop keepers and merchants of Tamil Nadu said some jaggery was mixed with sugar which has much lesser shelf life due to which the spoiled product reached the end-user. An office-bearer of Tamil Nadu Merchants Association while speaking to IANS on condition of anonymity said, "The government had a good intention to provide gift hampers with 21 items for the people of the state who are using rice ration cards. However, the officials have looked the other way round, or else such a situation wherein a large quantity of jaggery is replaced from the gift hamper does not arise. He said that stringent checks have to be carried out at the godowns of those who are supplying items in Pongal gift hampers." However, the Tamil Nadu Food Safety department maintained that the jaggery that is being supplied is safe for consumption even though the shape of the jaggery is not proper. President, Tamil Nadu Food Grains Manufacturing Association, S.P. Jayaparakasam told IANS: "If we traders had sold such semi-solid shapeless jaggery we would have been taken to task by the Food Safety Department. Similar action must be taken against those responsible. Jaggery laced with Sugar cannot deserve to be called as jaggery." TNCSC Managing Director said that the last batch of Pongal gift hampers was distributed on Thursday and all the cardholders will receive the Pongal gift hampers in a couple of days. --IANS aal/svn/skp/ ( 397 Words) 2022-01-15-12:16:02 (IANS) A new comprehensive study has found that children of houses of income inequality might have a hard time in mathematics, but not in reading. The research has been published in the 'Educational Review Journal'. Looking at data stretching from 1992 to 2019, the analysis revealed that 10-year-olds in US states with bigger gaps in income did less well in maths than those living in areas of America where earnings were more evenly distributed. With income inequality in the US the highest in the developed world, researcher Professor Joseph Workman argued that addressing social inequality may do more to boost academic achievement than reforming schools or curricula -- favoured methods of policymakers. Income inequality -- a measure of how unevenly income is distributed through a population -- has long been associated with a host of health and social problems including mental health issues, lack of trust, higher rates of imprisonment, and lower rates of social mobility. It may also affect academic achievement, through various routes. For instance, income inequality is linked to higher rates of divorce, substance abuse, and child maltreatment, the stresses of which may affect a child's development. It is also associated with higher odds of babies being of a low weight a birth -- something which can raise their risk of developmental delays as they grow up. Income inequality may also lead to some schools having a high concentration of children from disadvantaged backgrounds, making it more difficult for them to meet each child's needs. Professor Workman, a sociologist at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, compared almost three decades of fourth graders' maths and reading results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) with data on income inequality from all 50 states. Also known as the Nation's Report Card, the NAEP measures student achievement nationally, using a representative sample of youngsters from each state. Income inequality in the US has followed a U-shaped pattern over the past century. Levels were high in the 1910s to 1930s before falling off between the 1940s and 1970s and then rising again. Today, the income gap is the highest in the developed world. The analysis showed that scores in maths were lower, on average, in states with higher levels of income inequality. It also revealed that income inequality didn't just affect the poorer students but was associated with lower achievement for both poor and non-poor students alike. The results couldn't be explained away solely by poorer areas having more social problems and educational issues. Instead, it seemed that the concentration of income among top earners was driving down academic achievement. Further analysis showed that the states that experienced the biggest rises in income inequality over time also recorded the smallest increases in maths results. Scores in these states rose by an average of 17.5 points -- compared to an increase of 24.3 points in states in which the income divide didn't widen as quickly. Reading grades were, however, not linked to income inequality overall. Professor Workman explained, "For maths, income inequality was associated with lower achievement for both poor and non-poor students alike. But for reading, income inequality benefited non-poor students and harmed poor students. So, for reading the benefits and harms cancel out to no association overall." With preliminary evidence suggesting the same patterns apply to other age groups, Professor Workman believes his findings have important implications for policymakers. He said, "Assessments of the No Child Left Behind Act, which attempted to raise achievement and reduce achievement disparity by reforming schools, have provided scant evidence of the policy being effective in achieving its goals." "An effective strategy to raise achievement may be to reduce income inequality. Policies such as progressive tax rates, wealth tax, inheritance tax, and annual wealth tax can effectively reduce inequality," he continued. "Higher tax revenues could be used on programmes that support child development, such as universal pre-kindergarten or summer learning programmes," he added. It isn't known, however, if a similar pattern exists in other developed nations with high levels of income inequality, such as the UK. Professor Workman concluded that while it has been argued that income inequality provided motivation for success, rates in the US have "perhaps reached levels that are dysfunctional for society." (ANI) The Delhi High Court has upheld the trial court order convicting a man for causing injuries to a police official when he was on his duty. Justice Mukta Gupta upheld a trial court order which convicted one of the accused named Pramod of giving blow with a razor to a Police officer on duty. "Considering the nature of injury received by the complainant, the offences punishable under Section 186/333/34 IPC stands probed beyond a reasonable doubt," the court said. The court was hearing the appeal of the convict who has challenged a trial court order dated September 1, 2016, whereby the appellant was convicted for offences punishable under Sections 186/333/34 IPC and awarded a sentence of rigorous imprisonment for a period of 10 years for an offence punishable under Section 333/34 IPC and to pay a fine of Rs 10,000. "Considering the weapon of offence used and that the offence was not committed in a pre-meditated manner but on the spur of the moment, this Court deems it fit to modify the sentence of the appellant to the period already undergone," the Court said. The prosecution case was initiated on a receipt of the complaint on May 24, 2014, informing that one person in drunken condition has given a blow with a razor to a police official. Constable Kulvir Singh of Railway Protection stated that he was posted at Police Post, Lahori Gate of RPF on May 24, 2014. He was on duty from 4.00 PM to 12.00 midnight in the area. He further stated that at about 10.45 pm when he reached the North Yard of the Railway opposite platform 10 and 11 near Sheela Cinema bridge at the service road, which is not a public place, and the public is not allowed so as to avoid theft of railway property, he saw two-three boys sitting there. When the cop asked the boys to go away they did not. When the police official touched one of them and asked to go, he started abusing him, grappled with him and took out a razor (ustra) and gave a blow on his left-hand wrist at two places, due to which bleeding started. The complainant snatched the razor from him whereafter that boy and his associates started pelting stones at him. The person who gave the blow with the razor was named Pramod whom he knew from before and he could identify Pramod and his associates, the prosecution said. Based on the statement, an FIR was registered. The prosecution has also said that Constable Kulvir received grievous hurt and his hearing was impaired due to which he has prescribed a hearing aid and was declared unfit for service. (ANI) Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Pratima Bhoumik, on Saturday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to open another route connecting Tripura and Bangladesh's Comilla. Bhoumik said, "PM Modi has the dream to connect India with Bangladesh. And to do so, Tripura is an ideal place. With that motive in mind, the Indian government has sanctioned a new highway connecting Tripura's Gomati district headquarters Udaipur with Comilla through Sonamura sub-division, a significant trade point located under Sepahijala district." "With the new highway, Tripura will get connected with Bangladesh's Comilla through Sonamura sub-division under Tripura's Sepahijala district. The new highway shall also connect Udaipur with Bangladesh directly", the Union Minister said. She also announced that there will be flights operational for Bangkok, Dhaka, Chittagong from Agartala soon. According to the Union Minister, preliminary survey works are already done for the proposed project. Bhoumik, while speaking to the ANI at the New Terminal Building of MBB Airport in Agartala, which was opened for the public on Saturday, said that the Tripura people are eagerly waiting for international connectivity by air. "We the people of Tripura are eagerly waiting for the day when the international flights will land in our state." Meanwhile, passengers from Kolkata who for the first time landed at MBB Airport, Agartala appreciated the facilities and thanked Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb-led government for the Airport. Bhoumik greeted the passengers with chocolates and sweets. Pratima Bhoumik said, "I am also flying to Manipur today from here as a part of the first passengers who are travelling outside Tripura from MBB Airport Agartala." The New Terminal Building of the Tripura MBB airport was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 4. (ANI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday said that it has attached assets worth Rs 48.21 lakhs of journalist Rajeev Sharma, accused of spying for China, in connection with a Prevention of Money laundering case. Sharma was held by Special Cell for allegedly spying for China in lieu of money. Later, the ED also lodged a case of money laundering on the basis of the FIR lodged by Special Cell. The attached asset is the residential property in the name of Rajeev Sharma at Pitampura, New Delhi. "ED initiated money laundering investigation on the basis of the FIR and charge sheet filed by Delhi Police against Rajeev Sharma under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, and the Official Secrets Act," said an ED official. The ED's investigation under PMLA revealed that Rajeev Sharma had supplied confidential and sensitive information to Chinese Intelligence officers, in exchange for remuneration thereby compromising the security and national interests of the country. During investigation, it was revealed that such remuneration to Rajeev Sharma was being provided by a Mahipalpur based shell company that was run by Chinese nationals namely Zhang Cheng alias Suraj, Zhang Lixia alias Usha and Qing Shi along with a Nepali national Sher Singh alias Raj Bohara. This Chinese company was acting as a conduit for the Chinese Intelligence agencies to provide remuneration for persons like Rajeev Sharma indulged in criminal activities. The remuneration was being paid in cash through carriers as well as through cash deposits. Sharma also received money using the bank account of his friend in order to conceal his involvement in criminal activities. In addition to obtaining remunerations in cash, he also received remuneration in kind in the form of various paid foreign trips which were arranged by the Chinese Intelligence Agents. The probe agency had earlier filed a prosecution complaint (charge sheet) in the present case before Patiala House Courts on which the Court has taken cognisance of the matter. A probe in the matter is underway. --IANS atk/shb/ ( 347 Words) 2022-01-15-13:04:02 (IANS) "On Thiruvalluvar Day, I pay tributes to the great Thiruvalluvar. His ideals are insightful and practical... they stand out for their diverse nature and intellectual depth. Sharing a video I took last year of the Thiruvalluvar Statue and Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari," the Prime Minister said in a tweet. Thiruvalluvar is regarded as a cultural icon. His most popular work is a collection of couplets on politics, ethics, economy, and love, called "Thirukkuaaa". To honour his contribution, Thiruvalluvar Day is observed either on January 15 or 16 as a part of the Pongal celebrations. While a lot is not known about the life of Thiruvalluvar, it is believed that he used to live in the town of Mylapore, which in today's time is a neighbourhood in Chennai. --IANS rdk/shb/ ( 160 Words) 2022-01-15-13:40:03 (IANS) Cabinet Minister and BJP's state election in charge Dharmendra Pradhan and party national general secretary announced the first list of candidates for the polls at the party headquraters in the national capital on Saturday. Pradhan announced the candidates' names for 57 of the 58 seats going to polls in the first phase and 48 of the 55 seats in the second phase. He said the in the party's Parliamentary board meeting held under the chairmanship of party national President J.P. Nadda and presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, decision to field Adityanath from Gorakhpur and Maurya from Sirathu was taken. Both the leaders are members of the state Legislative Council. The saffron party announced the candidature of Adityanath and Maurya as per their strategy to field veteran party leaders in the polls. --IANS stp/svn/skp/ ( 176 Words) 2022-01-15-13:50:02 (IANS) The proportion of infants in hospital with Covid-19 in the UK has risen with the spread of the Omicron variant, figures suggest, although researchers have urged calm, noting most cases are very mild. The number of Covid-positive admissions is expected to rise when there is more infection around, but the latest figures suggest there has been a shift in the proportion of children in hospital with coronavirus who are infants, the Guardian reported. Data from the Isaric/Co-CIN study, published on Friday by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) and based on a broadly representative subset of NHS hospitals, reveals that in previous Covid waves about 30 per cent of children in hospital with the virus were under the age of one. Between mid-December and mid-January, however, when Omicron spread rapidly around the country, the proportion was just over 42 per cent, with children from the most deprived areas most affected. The data does not break down whether infants were in hospitals because of Covid or the infection was detected during care for another reason. However, in the second wave the majority of Covid-related infant admissions were because of Covid, experts said. A similar trend has been recorded for the proportion requiring oxygen, and the time infants spend in hospital has fallen from almost seven days in the first Covid-19 wave to just under two days. Most infants in hospitals with coronavirus experience fever and a cough. --IANS vc/ksk/ ( 252 Words) 2022-01-15-13:52:08 (IANS) Mumbai Police on Friday arrested a filmmaker for allegedly molesting a girl on the pretext of getting her work in the film industry. According to the information received by Mumbai's Colaba police, the accused met the victim at his residence on January 7 on his brother's birthday and told her to enter into the film industry. "The accused gave his number and told the girl to meet him in his office. On January 8, the victim reached his office with her mother. On January 9, the girl again reached the accused's office for work and he told her to change clothes in the room where CCTV was installed. However, the girl noticed the camera and changed the clothes in another room," police informed. Police further said that the accused took her to a hotel on the pretext of going for the photoshoot and started assaulting the victim on her way to home. After reaching home, the girl explained the incident to her mother and filed a complaint against the filmmaker the next day. During the investigation, police seized CCTV cameras installed in the accused's office and arrested him yesterday. On the basis of the statement of the victim, the police registered a case against the accused under Section 354 (A) of IPC and POCSO Act. The accused has been presented before the court today, police added. (ANI) Ethel Coleman receives her COVID-19 vaccine as the Cook County Health Department opened its fourth large-scale vaccination site on March 5, 2021, in Des Plaines. It is the first large-scale facility to administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in Illinois. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune) Six months after Cook Countys last three COVID-19 mass vaccination sites shuttered, officials announced Friday that those locations will reopen amid the omicron variant surge. The Forest Park, Matteson and Des Plaines mass vaccination sites will be set up and reopened over the course of the next week. Those three locations were the last to close in July after officials cited waning demand for shots and the need for a hyperlocal strategy to change peoples minds about getting the vaccine. Advertisement The locations will be open Tuesday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. While walk-ins are accepted, those who make an appointment at vaccine.cookcountyil.gov will be prioritized. Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. Advertisement While we have sufficient vaccine supply across Cook County, we know that physicians offices and pharmacies are not staffed to accommodate the significant demand for COVID vaccinations, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said in a statement. With support from the State, we look forward to creating broader access to vaccination for individuals across the county. Health officials continue to encourage anyone ages 5 and up to get vaccinated, and those 12 and up to get booster shots. Suburban Cook County is reporting 80% of residents having gotten at least one dose, but less than 40% have gotten a booster as the highly contagious omicron variant is surging. The most serious health outcomes caused by this virus, serious illness and death, are now largely preventable thanks to exceptional vaccines, Israel Rocha, CEO of Cook County Health, said. It is critical that we get more shots in arms. One-day mass vaccination clinics were also scheduled for Sunday in the collar counties, according to Gov. J.B. Pritzkers office. His administration added that it is partnering with 12 counties local health departments to stand up mass vaccination sites there as well. ayin@chicagotribune.com S. Nambi Narayanan, the aerospace engineer discharged in what is known as the ISRO spy case of the 1990s, is now playing the martyr to cover up his own role in the case, says veteran journalist J. Rajasekharan Nair in the sequel to his book on the infamous episode. "Nambi Narayanan was a key figure in the failed operation to illegally transport cryogenic rocket technology from Glavkosmos (a subsidiary of the Russian State Space Corporation Roscomos) to ISRO using clandestine methods under a 1991 agreement between Glavkosmos and ISRO that was cancelled by Russia in 1993 invoking a force majeure," Nair told IANS in an interview. "The operation was jointly planned by ISRO top brass and an influential section in Glavkosmos. The operation was illegal because the 1991 agreement meant to transfer the cryogenic technology was cancelled and the new agreement signed in 1994 January had no clause for technology transfer," Nair said. Glavkosmos, according to him, agreed to supply the material but was not ready for door-to- door delivery. Nambi Narayanan contacted Air India but it refused to carry the material without proper documents. Nambi Narayanan then contacted Ural Airlines "who agreed to take the risk". "Though there are five airports in Moscow (where Glavkosmos is located), airlifting the material from any of these airports, hoodwinking the US eyes, was unthinkable. So the material was transported to Tashkent in Uzbekistan by road travelling more than 3,300 km and from there airlifted to ISRO. It is reliably learnt that Nambi Narayanan was on the first Ural flight," Nair said. "Nambi Narayanan doesn't want these pieces of information (that ISRO had planned an illegal operation and he was a crucial player in it) to become public. Though he had approached different legal forums nearly ten times, never did he pray that the entire matter surrounding the espionage case be proved. Moreover, when a PIL was filed before the Kerala High court for a judicial enquiry into the espionage case, he fought against it. "He wants only that much truth that would keep him afloat in his safe zone to come to the surface and doesn't want the whole matter (for instance, who planted the false and baseless spy story and why) to reach the public domain," Nair maintained. The ISRO spy case, which hit the headlines in 1994, centred around allegations of transfer of cryogenic technology and confidential documents on India's space programme to a foreign country by two scientists (including Nambi Narayanan) and four others, including two Maldivian women. Nambi Narayanan was eventually discharged after a laborious process, awarded compensation of Rs. 50 lakhs by the Supreme Court but accepted Rs.1 crore as an out-of-court settlement from the Kerala government on a Rs 1 crore suit of damages he had sought, and was awarded a Padma Bhushan in 2019. "As the public gropes in the dark about the essence of the ISRO espionage case, a re-evaluation of the case is imperative to see afresh why the espionage story cropped up. It is most essential to re-read the text of the ISRO espionage case through documents, facts, and prudence, and not through the projection of individuals as the good, the bad and the ugly," Nair writes in the book, 'Classified - Hidden Truths In the ISRO Spy Story' (Srishti). The media, in general, he said during the interview, has not discussed the meat of the matter: What was the espionage case and how could IB and Kerala Police say that certain persons in ISRO had leaked cryogenic technology to a foreign country using two semi-literate Maldivian women at a time (1994) when ISRO didn't have the technology? "No journalist bothered to check with ISRO whether they had the cryogenic technology in 1994. Instead, media houses sent journalists to the Maldives to collect information about the two Maldivian women and filed sleazy stories on them. All the accused were presented as morally corrupt persons when morality had nothing to do with the espionage case," Nair said. After the CBI had concluded in 1996 that the case was false and baseless, nobody, not even CBI, asked "how the absurd spy story came from nowhere and why the Director of IB had directed the Kerala Police to register a case under the Indian Official Secrets Act", Nair said "Nobody, not even the CBI asked why was Ural Airlines carrying material to ISRO from Glavkosmos and why the transportation came to an abrupt end in the wake of the espionage story (if the transportation was legal). "Nobody (not even the judiciary) asked the pertinent questions how a case could be filed under the Indian Official Secrets Act without ISRO or the central government filing a written complaint as is unambiguously made clear in Section 13(3) and (5) of the Act," Nair contended. Instead, he said, the media were hailing the police officers who did an illegal act of registering a case under the IOS Act and airing the absurd story that cryogenic rocket technology had been leaked to a foreign country at a time when ISRO didn't have the technology. "Now, when the situation changed, the same media are hailing the old villains as the new heroes and the old heroes are the new villains. So, Nambi Narayanan and other accused are the new heroes; the Kerala Police officers and IB officials are villains. Their discussions are around individuals and are not focused on the central matter. "The espionage case is a techno-legal matter. It was never discussed in that way. It was always discussed from the point of view of persons; not from the POV of facts," Nair maintained. "That is why the case is still confusing. My book attempts to do a post mortem of the case from the techno-legal angle strictly based on facts, documents, and records," he added. ISRO and the Indian government, Nair writes in the book, "need to tell the people to what extent the misfired 'patriotic' adventure has cost ISRO in terms of money, especially when the business from the space market is expected to touch $558 billion by 2026 and up to $1.75 trillion by 2040. "It is high time ISRO and the government of India come clean on the matter. If both parties confirm this operation (under the 1991 agreement) was in the interest of the nation and hence need to be treated as brave acts of patriotism', a different picture would emerge. "But then, one needs to deconstruct the very concept of patriotism," Nair concludes the book. (Vishnu Makhijani can be reached at vishnu.makhijani@ians.in) --IANS vm/skp/ ( 1113 Words) 2022-01-15-14:02:04 (IANS) On December 24, 2021, Amrish Ranjan Pandey, National Secretary, IYC and Ambuj Dixit, National Co-Coordinator, Legal Cell, Indian Youth Congress filed a complaint in NHRC, stating commission and assistance to goons for perpetrating violence during Kolkata Municipal Corporation Elections. On January 15, 2022, complainant Amrish Ranjan Pandey received a communication from NHRC stating that the complaint has been registered as Case No.117/25/5/2022. According to the complainants, the ruling party in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress was allegedly indulged in large-scale violence against opposition parties during the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Elections held on December 19, 2021. Several Congress Party candidates were beaten up by TMC goons, stated the complaint. The complaint alleged that the Congress candidate from Ward 16 "was stripped naked in full public view". Similarly, a Congress candidate and other Congress workers were brutally beaten up in Ward 45 in presence of several police officers. "There was a large-scale violation of human rights and the police department and state administration stood there and did absolutely nothing and in some places rather assisted the goons," the complaint said. The complainants sought direction from National Human Rights Commission to order inquiry and action against the Chief Minister and Commissioner of Police, Kolkata. (ANI) After Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav took a"sent home" jibe at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's candidature from Gorakhpur constituency in the upcoming Assembly polls, Yogi's Office on Saturday hit back saying that entire state is CM's home. "Sometimes said Mathura... Sometimes said Ayodhya... And now they are saying... Gorakhpur... Before the public, their party has sent them back home..." Akhilesh Yadav tweeted in Hindi. Reacting to his statement, Yogi's Office tweeted in Hindi, "For Chief Minister @myogiadityanath, who considers 25 crore people as family, the entire state is his home. And the same people are going to declare him as their guardian again on 10th March. What will happen to you?" Adityanath has thanked the party top leadership for making him a candidate from Gorakhpur (Urban). "Hearty thanks to respected Prime Minister @narendramodi, Honorable National President @JPNadda and Parliamentary Board for making me the candidate of Bharatiya Janata Party from Gorakhpur (urban) in the upcoming assembly elections," he tweeted in Hindi. Putting all speculations to rest, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday announced that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will contest from his stronghold Gorakhpur which elected him to Lok Sabha for five straight terms till 2017. There was speculation earlier that Adityanath, who never contested Assembly elections before, could contest either from Ayodhya or Mathura. BJP leader Harnath Singh Yadav had written to party national president JP Nadda and urged him to field the chief minister from Mathura. Notably, the BJP won the 2017 elections winning over 300 seats in 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly without announcing a chief ministerial face. Adityanath, who had played a crucial role in the BJP's poll campaign, took over as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh on March 26, 2017. Adityanath had fought the general election for the first time in 1998 from Gorakhpur when he was 26 and became the youngest MP in the 12th Lok Sabha. He is the head priest of the Gorakhnath temple in the city. He took over this position in September 2014 after the death of his spiritual "father", Mahant Avaidhnath. The polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7 in seven phases. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI) According to the Jammu BSF, the Pakistani national crossed over "inadvertently" to India on the Balhad border on Saturday at about 1 pm. Belonging to the border area of Shakargarh Tehsil of Pakistan, the BSF said, the Pakistani national was later handed over to Pakistan Rangers at 6.45 pm on proper receipt through flag meeting. The BSF said its troops apprehended the Pakistani national soon after he came about 200 meters inside Indian territory. "On preliminary questioning, it has been found that he crossed "inadvertently," said the 2.5 lakh personnel force BSF, which guards the India-Pakistan border and is in charge of monitoring illegal infiltration and other activities. (ANI) "NIA has this inquiry and is monitoring it. Maharashtra government is worried as witnesses are becoming hostile. So we have thought of giving our advocate", said Dilip Walse Patil, Maharashtra Home Minister. "Maharashtra government will be present in court on behalf of ATS." The minister further added, "ATS will be present during the hearing, just as the witnesses are turning hostile one after another. The government wants to get justice for the victims of the blast." Some of the Malegaon blastcase witnesses have alleged that they were harassed to give out a statement to the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad. (ANI) The Congress on Saturday released the first list of candidates and state President Navjot Singh Sidhu will contest from his seat at Amritsar East and Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi from Chamkaur Sahib. Former State President Partap Singh Bajwa will contest from Qadiyan. The Congress first list has covered all prominent names in the party. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa will contest from Dera Baba Nanak while from Sangrur Vijay Inder Singla has been fielded. Sister of film actor Sonu Sood Malvika Sood, who recently joined Congress, will contest from Moga. Raj Kumar Verka from Amritsar West, Kuljeet Nagra from Fatehgarh Sahib and Manpreet Singh Badal has been fielded from Bhatinda Urban. In Punjab, the Congress has tough task to defeat the AAP and Akali-BSP combine. As the elections are nearing the Congress is witnessing internal rifts on the issue of who would be the chief ministerial face in the upcoming polls in Punjab. The party has, however, categorically stated that it is unlikely to project anyone as the CM face of the party and will go with collective leadership of the state. The issue will be settled after the results are out. The Congress is wary of Punjab State President Navjot Singh Sidhu asserting himself for the top post ahead of the polls. Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi too is trying to impress the party high command. --IANS miz/skp/ ( 247 Words) 2022-01-15-16:22:05 (IANS) Naidu underlined the important role played by elders in a family in guiding and advising the younger members, and said, "the intergenerational bonding helps in protecting and promoting the value system". The vice president virtually interacted with the inmates of an elderly home at Swarna Bharat Trust in Nellore on the occasion of the Sankranti festival. He inquired about the inmates' well-being and the amenities available to them and complimented the staff and officials of the Trust for their initiatives. Reflecting on the importance of festivals in Indian culture, Naidu underlined that youth today should understand the significance of festivals like Sankranti in celebrating nature's bounties, bringing families together and ushering in peace and harmony in society. Makar Sakranti is the day that is considered as the transition day of Sun into Capricorn and is celebrated across India under different names like Pongal, Bihu, Sakrant. Besides, the festival is also celebrated in Bangladesh and Nepal. --IANS rdk/svn ( 199 Words) 2022-01-15-16:40:03 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Thursday wrote to the Election Commission of India (ECI) urging for the Punjab Assembly election be postponed by a week. In his letter, Channi wrote, "It has been brought to my notice by the representatives of Scheduled Caste community, which contributes around 32 per cent of the total population of the State, that birth anniversary of Sri Guru Ravidass falls on February 16, 2022." "And, on this occasion, a large number of SC devotees (about 20 lakh) from the State are likely to visit Banaras in Uttar Pradesh from February 10 to 16, 2022. In such a situation, many people from this community would not be able to cast their votes for the state assembly polls, " Channi further stated in the letter. He said the community has requested that the voting date may be extended in such a way that they are also able to visit Banaras for the occasion as well as participate in the polls. Requesting Chief Election Commission of ECI, Sushil Chandra to postpone the Punjab polls by a week, he asserted it is considered fair and appropriate that the voting for State assembly elections 2022 may be postponed for at least six days, enabling about 20 lakh people to utilize their right to vote here. Punjab will go to the polls on February 14 and the counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI) Subhash Chandra Bose's family on Saturday welcomed the Central Government's decision to start the Republic Day celebrations every year from January 23 instead of January 24 to include the birth anniversary of freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Chandra Kumar Bose, Netaji's kin while speaking to ANI, also demanded a Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, INA (Indian National Army) and Azad Hind Force tableau for the Republic Day ceremony. "To honour Bose one has to understand his ideology", said Chandra Kumar Bose. He said that he has also written to the Central government on celebrating the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji as it coincides with the 75th year of India's independence. "A befitting tribute can be given to both the celebrations if only we imbibe Bose's ideology across the nation to save the country from further disintegration." According to Chandra Bose, Netaji was the only leader who could unite the Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists as Bharatiyas. "All other leaders were divisive in nature", he stated. Chandra Bose opined, "Unless we introduce Netaji's ideology across the country, there will be another partition like 1947's." "Had Netaji returned to India there would be no partition", he claimed. He spoke of reviving Netaji's ideology in national politics. Netaji's kin also held the political parties responsible for instigating communal disharmony among the masses. "Today we see communal disharmony across the nation. It is not caused by the common man; they are united. Political leadership is responsible for division among communities." Warning the political party he said, "Stop divisive politics if you want to honour Subhash Chandra Bose. You cannot honour him by disrespecting his ideology." (ANI) Under the chairmanship of District Election Officer and District Magistrate Dr R Rajesh Kumar, a review meeting was held with the nodal officers regarding the various activities being conducted ahead of the 2022 state assembly polls. The District Election Officer/District Magistrate instructed all the nodal officers to carry out all the election activities under the Covid protocol. The District Election Officer/District Magistrate said that he directed the Nodal Officer for election expenditure, keeping the Flying Squad (FST), Video Surveillance Team, Static Teams continuously active and taking immediate action on the information of illegal liquor, narcotics, funds etc through various means. He gave clear information to all the nodal officers about their responsibilities and working attitude while meeting with their respective teams and monitoring the work on a daily basis. He directed the nodal officer to maintain the arrangement of vehicles as per the Covid protocol for carrying out the election activities. The District Election Officer/District Magistrate, along with making complete details of these pensioners receiving a pension from the Nodal Officer PWS Social Welfare Department, has also appointed NSS, NCC and Mahila Mangal Dal to appoint booth assistants to assist the differently abled and aged voters. He directed installation of CCTV cameras at the border check posts of the districts as there is a possibility of smuggling of liquor, money or narcotics etc. He directed the Chief Medical Officer to set up a vaccination camp at the training site so that the personnel who have to get precaution dose or second dose can be administered it on the spot. He also directed the nodal officer to paste videos in rural areas to spread awareness in municipal and slogans regarding EVM VVPATs. (ANI) Sharp divide remains as Russia-West talks end without breakthrough Xinhua) 14:12, January 15, 2022 Light decorations are seen along Nevsky Prospect street in St. Petersburg, Russia, Dec. 24, 2021. (Photo by Irina Motina/Xinhua) BRUSSELS, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The recent talks between Russia and the West to defuse their tensions have ended without any breakthrough, auguring potential tension escalations, while the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) even warned of the risk of a new military conflict in Europe. The latest Russia-West engagements started with a Russia-U.S. meeting in Geneva on Monday, followed by negotiations between Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna on Wednesday, and then a NATO-Russia Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday. Pessimistic sentiments prevail after the three rounds of fruitless talks, as gaps on fundamental issues remain "unbridgeable." EXPANSION VS "AGGRESSION" Efforts have failed, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said after the talks ended. The NATO chief has, on several occasions in a week, warned Russia about the "high political and economic price" of any possible new aggression against Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly accused the West of threatening its security by expanding NATO eastwards and deploying weapons systems near its borders. "Negotiations were initiated in order to get specific answers to specific fundamental questions raised. It is on these fundamental issues that disagreements have been recorded," the RIA Novosti news agency quoted Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying. Analysts believe that Russia is willing to establish a longer-term security cooperation framework with Western countries led by the United States, while America has failed to respond to Russia's security concerns. After the talks, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who headed the Russian delegation in talks with the United States in Geneva on Monday, said that the main questions were "still up in the air, and we don't see an understanding from the American side of the necessity of a decision in a way that satisfies us." "We do not trust the other side," he noted. "We need ironclad, waterproof, bulletproof, legally binding guarantees -- not assurances, not safeguards." Ryabkov stressed that Russia has no plans to attack Ukraine, and there was no reason to fear an escalation of tensions with Ukraine. "Certain threats or warnings were put forward, we explained to our colleagues that we have no plans to attack Ukraine," Ryabkov said. "There is no basis for fearing any escalated scenario in this regard." Russia's military build-up against Ukraine features "tens of thousands of combat-ready troops, tanks, artillery, armored units, drones, a lot of electronic warfare systems," said NATO. Russia is seeking guarantees of NATO's non-expansion, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, but NATO is not happy to see Russia's interference with NATO's expansion plans. "No one else has the right to try to veto or interfere in that process. And this is about fundamental principles for European security. It's about the right for every nation to choose their own path," Stoltenberg said at a press conference with Estonian President Alar Karis this week. RUSSIA WANTS QUICK RESULTS In a recent interview with German radio Deutschlandfunk, Stefan Meister, an expert on Russia at the German Council on Foreign Relations, said that he had low expectations of the efforts underway to defuse the situation because Russia put forward a maximum requirement as the basis for negotiations, which cannot be met by either the United States or NATO. "I would say it is rather their process, which has started and that is perhaps the chance that NATO and Russia start the process again to talk about European security, arms control and all these issues," said Meister. Meister believed that Russia is a good negotiator. Russia went first with maximum demands in the first round, and then it can still move away from it. However, Michel Collon, a Belgian writer of several books on NATO, maintained Russia's demands were "very reasonable." "What would Washington say if you had Russian troops at the border of Canada or Mexico? They would say it's a provocation," Collon told Xinhua. Volodymyr Ishchenko, a research associate at the Institute of East European Studies at the Free University of Berlin, said in an article that a correlation between support for NATO and different visions of Ukraine's national identity makes the issue especially divisive. Many Ukrainians see NATO as a shield against Russia, while others feel that a NATO membership would surrender more of Ukraine's sovereignty to the West, which they feel has been happening since 2014, and, at the same time, would increase tensions with Russia, escalate internal tensions among Ukrainians, and drag the nation in one of the United States' "forever" wars, said Ishchenko. After a week of talks, the related sides were not any closer than they were before. Further talks are not currently planned. Moscow has reiterated that it is not interested in protracted discussions but wants quick results. Foreign policy expert Fyodor Lukyanov, who is close to the Kremlin, told Russia's state newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta that the differences are "apparently irreconcilable" and that a "new and rather dangerous escalation would be needed or could occur," in order "to force" the parties to new forms of agreement. However, Lukyanov noted that it is still unclear what exactly will happen. (Web editor: Meng Bin, Bianji) SPRINGFIELD Illinois Republican legislators slammed the states child welfare agency for a cycle of failure after its director was held in contempt of court for allegedly failing to provide adequate housing for minors in three recent cases. The House GOP has called for a hearing into deficiencies with the states Department of Children and Family Services and how its director, Marc Smith, plans to address them. Its unclear whether the Democratic majority will agree to the GOPs request. Advertisement Marc Smith, then-acting director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, at the DCFS headquarters in Springfield on July 2, 2019. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune) Smith, tapped by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker to lead the agency in 2019, was initially held in contempt in Cook County Juvenile Court for two different cases in which children were deemed to have been sheltered inadequately. In each case, Smith was fined $1,000 a day until his agency found adequate housing for the two minors, a 9-year-old girl in one case and a 13-year-old boy in the other. Advertisement In the case of the 9-year-old, DCFS had kept her in a locked psychiatric hospital since June, according to Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert, whose office is involved in the cases. Previously, the girl had been physically and sexually abused, Golbert said Friday. The 13-year-old boy had been staying at a temporary shelter in Mount Vernon, a southern Illinois town about 280 miles from Chicago, Golbert said. Before that, he said, the boy was staying in a utility closet in an office. On Thursday, DCFS said that the two minors finally were placed in adequate housing but at the same time, a judge held Smith in contempt again for failing to find adequate housing for another youth who had been staying in a psychiatric hospital, according to Golbert. DCFS spokesman Bill McCaffrey said the agency is appealing the contempt ruling in the third case. And in a statement, he said the agency is dedicated to keeping children safe and strengthening families. We are working aggressively addressing the decadeslong challenge of a lack of community resources and facilities for children with complex behavioral health needs, which has been exacerbated by an increased demand in social services in recent years, McCaffrey said. House Republicans sounded off about the cases on Thursday at a Zoom-based news conference. The disclosure of the cases that led to the contempt order comes after DCFS case worker Deidre Silas, 36, was fatally stabbed earlier this month while checking on a report of a child in danger outside of Springfield. State Rep. Steven Reick, a Harvard Republican, said Pritzker has been missing in action on the issue. Advertisement This is a man whos not afraid to run in front of a camera every chance he gets. But on this one he has been totally silent. Governor, its time to speak out on this issue, Reick said Thursday. State Rep. Tony McCombie, a Savanna Republican, echoed Reicks concerns. This is not a partisan issue, she said of Pritzker and the Democrats. Dont make it one. A Pritzker spokesperson Friday night pointed at the GOP for repeatedly voting against increased funding for DCFS resulting in dangerously low staffing levels. As the administration has repeatedly made clear, these reckless decisions destroyed lives quickly, but it will take years to undo that damage, the spokesperson, Jordan Abudayyeh, said in a statement. The solutions to build back that capacity are clear: invest in infrastructure, rebuild trust with providers, and most importantly, attract the skilled staff needed to make a bed something that could actually serve a child. DCFS is aggressively working on all of those solutions and has overcome a pandemic-driven child welfare staffing crisis, Abudayyeh continued. Advertisement In a statement, state Rep. Camille Lilly, a Chicago Democrat who heads the committee that oversees DCFS funding, said the agencys failures are something that legislators on both sides of the aisles have been working to address for years. But she said its crucial that the conversation needs to be focused on holistic, long-term solutions. I am wholeheartedly asking my colleagues to put down the talking points and hit pause on the press conferences so we can do this important work together, Lilly said. Thats what our children and the rest of our state deserve. jgorner@chicagotribune.com In an attempt to control the damage caused by exodus of leaders like Swami Prasad Maurya and others, the BJP has given majority representation to the OBCs in its first list of candidates for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls. Of 107 candidates announced on Saturday, 44 comes from OBC communities. Several OBC leaders including Maurya, Dara Singh Chauhan, Dharam Singh Saini and others resigned from BJP in the last few days. A saffron party leader said that extent of damage caused by exit of Swami Prasad Maurya and other OBC leaders is still to be accessed but the list shows that the party tried to keep the backward communities in good faith by giving almost half of the tickets to OBC candidates in the first list. "Polls results will show the real impact of the recent exodus led by Maurya but the leadership realised the importance of OBC communities. To win their support, the bulk share of tickets in the first list went to them," he said. The OBC plays an important and decisive role in Uttar Pradesh politics and constitutes over 50 per cent of the total electorate of the state. While the non-Yadav OBCs constitute around 35 per cent of the state's total electorate. The BJP is eyeing to win the election for a second consecutive term with the support of non-Yadav OBC communities which supported them earlier in 2017 assembly polls and last two Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and 2019. A BJP leader claims that by giving majority shares to OBC candidates in the first list the party has tried to send a positive message to the backward communities. "Political rivals misled the communities by saying that BJP uses OBCs' votes only to come to power and then ignores them. By giving 44 out of 107 tickets to OBCs, the party has shown that the it is with them. Earlier, a strong message was sent to the communities when 27 ministers belonging to backward classes were inducted in the union cabinet in July last year," he said. The state assembly polls will be held in seven phases in February-March starting from February 10. Counting of votes will be held on March 10. --IANS ssb/shs ( 386 Words) 2022-01-15-17:24:03 (IANS) The Alwar case, where a specially abled girl was found lying in a distressed condition, took a political turn on Saturday after the opposition parties started blaming the ruling Congress party for suppressing the case. The BJP on Saturday demanded a CBI investigation into the case. "We demand CBI inquiry in the Alwar rape case. Even before SIT report, police took a U-turn in this matter and said no evidence of rape was found", claimed Rajasthan BJP chief Satish Poonia. The state BJP said, "The girl had gone through a three-hour-long surgery. Then how did the police rule out rape?" He questioned the Rajasthan government, "Was the decision to take a U-turn in the case ordered keeping the Uttar Pradesh, Punjab polls in mind? When the CM is the State Home Minister, he is the one responsible for public security, in which he has failed miserably." Taking a dig at Priyanka Gandhi's 'Ladki hoon, lad Sakti hoon' slogan, Poonia said, "This was done to save Priyanka Gandhi's name on women safety in Congress-ruled states." Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi has spoken to the girl's family over the phone and assured them of all possible help. Poonia also claimed that girls in Rajasthan are not safe. "Crime in Rajasthan has increased over the last three years", he claimed. "In the last three years, the Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot has only been concerned about his 'CM chair' forgetting the common people", stated the Rajasthan BJP chief. He claimed that Rajasthan CM has used the police as political tool. On Friday, the Alwar SP Tejawani Gautam said that the medical report has ruled out the possibility of rape. The National Commission for Minorities has taken suo-motu cognizance of the January 11 Alwar rape case and has sought a report from the Rajasthan Chief Secretary by January 24. (ANI) The police also recovered arms, ammunition and other incriminating material from their possession. Acting on specific information regarding the activities of militant associates in Bandipora town and its adjoining areas, three terrorist associates along with arms and ammunition and other incriminating material. "Terrorist module busted by Bandipora police, 3 terrorist associates of LeT outfit arrested. Arms, ammunition and other incriminating material were recovered from their possession. Further investigation was taken up," Jammu and Kasmir police said. The arrested terrorists associates include Ghulam Mohammad, Irshad Hussain and Ashiq Hussain. "On preliminary inquiry, it was revealed that these terrorist associates were working to expand the activities of LeT outfit, especially foreign militants, by providing them logistical and other material support including mobile phones and sim cards," the official added. (ANI) Alarmed by witnesses turning hostile in the Malegaon-2008 blasts case, the Maharashtra government lawyers shall now remain in the Special NIA Court where the trial is being conducted on a daily basis, Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil said here on Saturday. He told the media persons that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had taken over the case (from the state ATS), but the state government is perturbed at the manner in which several critical witnesses have become hostile in the Special Court. The significant development came two days after the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ally Congress had raised the issue and drawn the attention of the Home Ministry and the ATS. Congress state Working President M. Arif Naseem Khan had submitted a memorandum to the Additional Director-General of Police and ATS chief Vineet Agrawal urging necessary measures to monitor the case closely. "We are thankful to Home Minister Walse-Patil for accepting our demand for a team to keep a track on the court proceedings. The presence of the ATS lawyers will help in a free and fair trial," Khan said in a statement. An ex-minister, Khan reiterated that the NIA is allegedly 'weakening' the Malegaon-2008 case and not pursuing it with 'honesty and sincerity'. In his memorandum to the ATS Chief Agrawal, Khan contended that the witnesses turning hostile are invoking the names of Bharatiya Janata Party-RSS leaders to "malign the Maharashtra government and ATS" for gaining political mileage in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections. The September 29, 2008 (Malegaon 2008) bomb blast was allegedly engineered in this minority-dominated Nashik town by Hindu fundamentalists, killing 6 and injuring over 100 others, during the Ramadan month when Muslims were breaking their fast. The Maharashtra Police and then the ATS probed the case till 2011 when it was taken over by the NIA, and the trial is going on daily before the Special NIA Court in Mumbai. Of the 223 witnesses examined, 16 have turned hostile, claiming that the ATS tortured them to give evidence against the accused, said Khan, urging the need for the presence of the ATS in the court to protect the image of the Maharashtra government. Among the accused in the sensational Malegaon 2008 case are BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Swami Amritananda Dev Teerth, Dayanand Pandey, Lt. Col. Prasad S. Purohit, and others. Khan said that the ATS was being sought to be tarnished as an 'anti-Hindu' agency with the witnesses, allegedly influenced by the accused, deliberately naming BJP-RSS people ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls for political gains. "The NIA is not prosecuting all the accused with honesty and sincerity. Out of 223 witnesses who deposed so far, 16 important ones have turned hostile and over a 100 more are still left to be examined. These witnesses are crucial and need to be protected. The NIA has not challenged any orders passed in favour of the accused which shows their intentions clearly," Khan said. Some of the witnesses in Malegaon 2008 case even went beyond their recorded statement mentioning names like Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, but the NIA's Special Public Prosecutor took no objection, and another witness claimed he was tortured and threatened by the ATS to take names of Yogi and 4 RSS leaders. --IANS qn/pgh ( 558 Words) 2022-01-15-19:10:02 (IANS) The Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), a part of the NDA government in Bihar, has expressed concern over the bitter tussle going on between the Janata Dal (United) and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state. The party has said that the leaders of these two parties are not leaving any opportunity to score political points over each other on issues related to the liquor ban, caste based census, law and order situation or comparison of Samrat Ashoka with Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. "More importantly, the sour relations are a matter of great concern to smaller alliance partners like Hindustani Awam Morcha and VIP," the party said. Danish Rizwan, the chief spokesperson of the HAM said: "Such a practice is actually weakening the alliance that comes under NDA in Bihar. The small leaders and spokespersons are jumping the gun on every single issue to take the upper hand. They are working on the party line but not respecting the alliance pact." "More shockingly, the senior leaders of these two parties are not taking cognizance of the issue," Rizwan said. Abhishek Jha, the youngest spokesperson of the JD(U) targeted Sanjay Jaiswal, the state president of the BJP a few days ago, saying, "Sanjay Jaiswal is criticizing the liquor ban of Bihar. I want to ask him if it is his personal stand or is it a stand of his party? Sanjay Jaiswal should clarify it." Following that tweet, Sanjay Jaiswal had written a long blog on his Facebook page and said that he will go to console the family members of the deceased who were victims of spurious liquor in his home constituency West Champaran. "Consoling victims and giving financial help for the last rites is humanity and not politics. A person from Delhi is going with his family to Darjeeling to celebrate holidays and if he is mistakenly carrying a liquor bottle in his car and is caught by police, he will be put in jail, his car will be put on auction. What was his crime? He is not a criminal. Hence, we demand for the review of liquor ban law in Bihar," Jaiswal said in the Facebook post. Similarly, Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh and Upendra Kushwaha slammed the BJP after Padma Shri Awardee Daya Prakash Sinha compared Samrat Ashoka with Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. The two leaders of the JD(U) demanded that the BJP withdraw the Padma award from Sinha. Sinha on his Wikipedia page, maintained that he is a national convener of the BJP cultural wing. Jaiswal however lodged an FIR against Sinha for using the name of the BJP and comparing Samrat Ashoka with Aurangzeb. Similarly, JD(U) leaders targeted the BJP over the issue of a caste based census. --IANS ajk/skp/bg ( 467 Words) 2022-01-15-19:22:01 (IANS) Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Statuary requested Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to allow West Bengal tableau to showcase its cultural heritage and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's life and contributions to the country's freedom struggle on Republic Day. The Congress leader termed the rejection as an insult to the people of West Bengal, its cultural heritage and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. In a letter to Defence Minister, Chowdhury said, "I am disappointed and shocked to learn that the Central Government has rejected the proposal of the State Government of West Bengal for tableau showcasing its cultural heritage and Netaji's life and contributions in our Freedom Struggle on Republic Day 2022. This is an insult to the people of West Bengal, its cultural heritage and our great hero Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose." He further said that every state aspires to showcase its cultural tradition and icons during Republic Day so that the public at large at the national level becomes aware of the same. "Netaji is not only the pride of West Bengal but of the entire nation," he added. The Congress leader alleged that the Central Government has shown its bias by denying this opportunity to the people of West Bengal. "In view of the above. I shall request you that the proposal of West Bengal for showcasing its tableau may kindly be reviewed favourably and the same may be allowed to showcase the symbol of our freedom movement - the great Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Bengal's cultural heritage and aspirations of its people before the nation on this Republic Day," he added. Meanwhile, the Central Government has decided to start the Republic Day celebrations every year from January 23 instead of January 24 to include the birth anniversary of freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. (ANI) Taking to Twitter, Singh said, "Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar am I from Pakistan. When will the committee be formed, when will I get equal rights? Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi when I met you, you said that we will not let injustice happen to you, now you see." Earlier in November last year, he staged a sit-in demonstration outside the Haryana Bhawan in Delhi demanding Haryana Chief Minister to recognise the state's deaf sportspersons, like him, as para-athletes. After the demonstration, Khattar had promised to provide justice to the speech and hearing impaired grappler. Rambir Singh, Virender's brother had earlier alleged that in 2017, the Haryana government had announced a Rs 6 crore incentive for Virender, which his brother is yet to receive. Singh received the Padma Shri award from President Ram Nath Kovind last year. (ANI) The Supreme Court has issued a notice on a plea of a school teacher against a Madras High Court order, which upheld his conviction and sentence for sexual assault on his student, under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M.M. Sundresh said: "Applications for exemption from filing c/c of the impugned judgment and official translation are allowed. Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that the statement of the victim under Section 164 of CrPC is not substantive evidence but that alone has been used to convict the petitioner when all the witnesses have turned hostile." It added, "Issue notice on the Special Leave Petition as well as on the prayer for bail." The trial court had convicted the petitioner for the offences under POCSO Act and Section 506(i) of the IPC and sentenced him to seven years' imprisonment. The accused challenged the trial court order in the high court, which upheld his conviction and sentence in October last year. The prosecution had argued that the accused was a teacher in the victim's school. In 2019, it was alleged that the accused, during lunch break, took the victim to a deserted lane close to the school building and committed sexual assault. The accused had argued before the court that the victim's statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 cannot be considered as solid evidence to convict him. The high court noted that in this matter, the victim claimed the accused took her to a lane and committed the sexual assault, which was not penetrative. In October last year, the high court, in a separate matter, had reversed the acquittal of a school teacher in Puducherry, by a trial court, facing charges of sexually assaulting a minor student. The high court had sentenced the accused to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 10,000. "The victim, being a child, who was only about four years at the time of the incident, cannot speak about the occurrence in all the stages by parrot version. It cannot be expected from the victim that she should remember all the incidents and the acts of the accused," the high court had noted in this matter. --IANS ss/arm ( 398 Words) 2022-01-15-20:50:04 (IANS) Addressing reporters here, Pednekar said that if anyone tests positive for COVID-19, the information must be conveyed to the authorities and also updated online. "We have decided that everyone purchasing self-test kits will have to provide their Aadhar cards to the chemists to maintain a record. If anyone tests positive they must inform the authorities and update this online," said Mumbai Mayor. She further said that a total of 1,6,897 lakh people had done COVID test at home till Friday of which 3,549 people have tested positive in-home testing. The Mumbai Mayor said that a crematorium for animals is proposed in BMC's budget which will be constructed in 2500 square feet space in Dahisar "A crematorium for animals is proposed in BMC's budget which will be constructed in 2500 square feet space in Dahisar. There was no crematorium for pets in Mumbai. This initiative is for the animals who can't speak for themselves. This will also be used for cremating street dogs and cats after their death," she added. Meanwhile, Mumbai on Saturday reported 10,661 new cases and 11 deaths today. There are 73,518 active cases in the city. (ANI) Ahead of the Goa Assembly elections, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal promised an honest government in the state as he launched a door-to-door campaign in St. Andre and Siroda constituencies on Saturday. Kejriwal, who arrived in Goa on Saturday afternoon, kicked off a door-to-door campaign from St. Andre along with party candidate Ramrao Wagh, AAP Goa convener Rahul Mhambre and party leader Amit Palekar. He also held a door-to-door campaign in Siroda along with the party's candidate Mahadev Naik and other AAP leaders. While holding a door-to-door campaign he also heard the grievances of the people of both the assembly constituencies and assured them that once AAP gets voted to power in the state, it will resolve all their issues. "People are excited to give chance to a new party and are looking for an honest alternative. AAP will give the honest government," he said. Lashing out at both the Congress and the BJP, Kejriwal said they had worked only for their vested interests. "The youth in Goa are facing the highest unemployment rate. Government jobs are available only to people with money and connections. Thus, all the people from the constituency this time want to give AAP a chance. They are tired of the old parties who switch the parties for crores of rupees," he said. Kejriwal reiterated AAP's promise of providing honest governance to the people of Goa if the party comes to power. When asked about the AAP's electoral prospects when many national political parties are in the fray, Kejriwal said the voters have faith in AAP. "The voters feel that the AAP government will resolve their issues. All the guarantees announced by us, including providing free and interrupted electricity supply, unemployment allowance, reservation in employment for locals, Rs 1000 per month to every female over 18 years of age and Griha Aadhar allowance of Rs 2500 per month will be fulfilled,'' he added. Goa will go to the assembly polls on February 14. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI) SPRINGFIELD A two-year inspector generals investigation into who authorized Chicago police to secretly conduct background checks on people who signed up to speak at public meetings and why it was done has ended without an answer, officials said Friday. But the probe did reveal that the department accessed a state-regulated law enforcement database to obtain information about the speakers who signed up to speak at monthly Chicago Police Board meetings. A police officer can face disciplinary or criminal charges if they access that database the Law Enforcement Agencies Data System, or LEADS without a legitimate police purpose. Advertisement The IG concluded that the department did not follow laws and regulations on how those databases are to be used for the background checks, which were first exposed by the Chicago Tribune over two years ago. The office issued recommendations to remind the department under a federally mandated consent decree to improve its policing practices about consequences for misusing its databases. Advertisement This practice raised the specter of infringement of the First Amendment rights of members of the public who chose to speak at Police Board meetings, ran afoul of laws and regulations regarding use of CPD databases, and strained public confidence in both CPD and the Police Board, the inspector generals office said in a statement linked to the report. An officer watches over members of the audience during a Chicago Police Board meeting at police headquarters in 2018. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune) The Tribune reported in July 2019 that Chicago police compiled profiles of citizens who signed up to speak at Police Board meetings by searching at least one internal Police Department database to determine if speakers had arrest or prison records, warrants outstanding for their arrest or if they were registered sex offenders. Police sometimes searched voter registration records, as well as the persons profiles and comments on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. In some cases, the profiles also included photos of speakers, either from various websites or police mug shots. Those subjected to the background checks included activists, a police union official, relatives of people killed in police shootings, a woman who told the Police Board she was sexually assaulted by an officer years earlier, a religious leader and attorneys. The Tribune eventually learned the practice had been going on since 2006 and affected more than 300 citizens who signed up to speak at the boards meetings, most of which took place at Chicago police headquarters on the South Side. When the Tribune uncovered what was happening, current and past Police Board members condemned it and said they had no idea that it had occurred. The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois also criticized the practice. Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who headed the Police Board during some of the time the background checks took place, ordered an immediate stop to such background checks. She condemned the background checks as just stupid and said the Police Department, which issued a rare apology for carrying them out, has to own this. Last summer, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law a measure that makes it illegal for police in Illinois to use LEADS to conduct criminal background checks on citizens who sign up to speak at any public meetings statewide. The measure known as the Empowering Public Participation Act was sponsored by state Rep. Kam Buckner and state Sen. Robert Peters, both Chicago Democrats. Advertisement The law, however, allows checks to be made if police have a reasonable belief that theres a chance of criminal conduct or jeopardized security at the meeting. The law also does not apply to anyone who speaks at public meetings while being considered for a job by the agency holding the meeting. Chicagos inspector generals office revealed in its investigation that neither CPD nor the Police Board could account for who initiated the practice or for what purpose, beyond nonspecific security concerns regarding visitors to police headquarters. The IGs office was also unable to determine when the practice began or at whose direction, its report states. According to the IGs investigation, a Police Board employee would email the names of citizens who signed up to speak at its meetings to a group of about 20 people beforehand. Using that list, the Police Departments Bureau of Detectives would conduct the background checks on the speakers. The IGs investigation showed assigned detectives were not provided with any guidance specifying the objectives for running these checks, for whom the checks were being run, or otherwise directing that analysis be performed with criteria for such analysis. In addition to LEADS, the checks included open source searches, which includes internet searches for newspaper articles or social media presences, and CPDs own internal searches on its Citizen Law Enforcement Analysis and Reporting, or CLEAR, database, the IGs office said. Advertisement The speaker profiles would then be emailed to numerous Police Department employees, from rank-and-file officers to top brass, as well as others outside the department, including personnel from the Police Board and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, a city agency that investigates allegations of police misconduct. The inspector generals office made several recommendations to ensure the practice is stopped, including updating its directives to comport with the new state law signed by Pritzker; state clearly in its policies that police could face disciplinary infractions or criminal charges for misusing police databases; and incorporate permissible and impermissible uses of Police Department databases in its officers training. The Police Department, in response, told the IG it would incorporate its recommendations into its policies where deemed appropriate and agreed to apply them to the officers training, according to the IGs report. jgorner@chicagotribune.com gpratt@chicagotribune.com A team of scientists has proposed a theory that forgetting represents a form of learning. The study has been published in the 'Nature Reviews Neuroscience Journal'. The scientists behind the new theory suggested that changes in our ability to access specific memories are based on environmental feedback and predictability. Rather than being a bug, forgetting may be a functional feature of the brain, allowing it to interact dynamically with the environment. In a changing world like the one, we and many other organisms live in, forgetting some memories can be beneficial as this can lead to more flexible behaviour and better decision-making. If memories were gained in circumstances that are not wholly relevant to the current environment, forgetting them can be a positive change that improves our wellbeing. So, in effect, scientists believe we learn to forget some memories while retaining others that are important. Forgetting of course comes at the cost of lost information, but a growing body of research indicated that, at least in some cases, forgetting is due to altered memory access rather than memory loss. The new theory has been proposed by Dr Tomas Ryan, Associate Professor in the School of Biochemistry and Immunology and the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin, and Dr Paul Frankland, Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Both Dr Ryan and Dr Frankland are fellows of the Canadian global research organization CIFAR, which enabled this collaboration through its Child & Brain Development program, which is pursuing interdisciplinary work in this area. Dr Ryan, whose research team is based in the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute (TBSI), said, "Memories are stored in ensembles of neurons called 'engram cells' and successful recall of these memories involves the reactivation of these ensembles. The logical extension of this is that forgetting occurs when engram cells cannot be reactivated. The memories themselves are still there, but if the specific ensembles cannot be activated they can't be recalled. It's as if the memories are stored in a safe but you can't remember the code to unlock it." "Our new theory proposes that forgetting is due to circuit remodelling that switches engram cells from access to an inaccessible state. Because the rate of forgetting is impacted by environmental conditions, we propose that forgetting is actually a form of learning that alters memory accessibility in line with the environment and how predictable it is," he continued. Dr Frankland added, "There are multiple ways in which our brains forget, but all of them act to make the engram -- the physical embodiment of a memory -- harder to access." Speaking to the case of pathological forgetting in disease, Dr Ryan and Dr Frankland noted, "Importantly, we believe that this 'natural forgetting' is reversible in certain circumstances and that in disease states -- such as in people living with Alzheimer's disease for example -- these natural forgetting mechanisms are hijacked, which results in greatly reduced engram cell accessibility and pathological memory loss." (ANI) Post-Taliban took control of Afghanistan, the number of poverty-stricken Ghor children involved in hard labour had surged. Some children in western Ghor province forced to hard labour said they had no other option for earning livelihood for their families, reported Pajhwok Afghan News. Mohammad Hassan, one of these children, is washing car alongside his elder brother on the bank of Hariroad River in harsh winter. He said, "Work earn 100 to 200 afs (Afghan currency) daily on which we purchase essential items." Now was the time for him and his brother to get an education but due to economic problems they have to work, he added, reported Pajhwok Afghan News. "It is very difficult to get into cold water, we know it is hazardous for our health but we have no other option, if we got to school then we cannot work and if we get the education we will have no food in our house," said Hassan. Nisar Ahmad is another Ghor child, working at a shop against 100 afs. "From the past four years I work against 100 afs, I did not go to school from the past two years because our economic condition is not well." There are many other children in Ghor who carry out hard labour. Moreover, the number of teenage boys involved in hard labour had surged in Ferozkoh recently. This also included some teenage girls begging in the city, reported Pajhwok Afghan News. Abdul Rauf, 15, is working in a metal shop and gets 100 afs daily for his work. "I do metalwork for the past two years, did not go to school. If I go to school my sister and brothers will die from hunger." Rozuddin, 12, is another teenager working in a metal shop like Rozuddin. He earns a little amount of money daily on which he purchases bread, tea and other essentials. Mullah Nasrullah Ansari, Ghor Social Affairs and Work Department head, said, "We had meetings with NGOs and trying to help children engaged in hard labour. We talked to the governor and urged him to do something for children busy in hard labour." UK-based international NGO "Save the Children" has expressed grave concern over the humanitarian crisis affecting Afghan children and said the cold weather has greatly increased problems for the young in the country. Afghanistan has been in turmoil since the Taliban took control of the war-torn nation in mid-August. Moreover, the humanitarian crisis has spiked since international aid has dried up. (ANI) The US will be banning all commercial flights to China from January 19 as Beijing tries to keep coronavirus infections at bay ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics. Starting next week, there are likely to be no commercial flights bound for Beijing ahead of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, reported CNN. Beginning January 19 and continuing for at least two weeks, all flights from the United States to China have either been cancelled or are likely to be suspended because of Chinese aviation regulations, according to CNN Business research of government announcements and published flight schedules. As of Friday, only two flights still appeared eligible to operate for that period, one of them with United Airlines (UAL). The Beijing Winter Games open on February 4, and participants are mostly taking special flights restricted to people with Olympics credentials as part of a strict bubble that authorities are implementing around the event, reported CNN. Since June, the Civil Aviation Administration of China has applied a so-called "circuit-breaker" rule to international flights. That rule means that a flight is automatically suspended for two weeks if five or more passengers test positive upon landing in China. If 10 or more passengers test positive, the suspension period increases. China has defended its "circuit-breaker" regulations as "an important step to reduce the risk of cross-border spread of the epidemic." "The measures, which are open and fair, apply equally to both Chinese and foreign airlines," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in August. "For airlines that do not meet the conditions to trigger the circuit-breaker, China has never applied relevant measures on them," said Hua. From December 24 to January 12, more than a third of the 9,356 international flights scheduled to depart for China -- already a fraction of pre-pandemic levels -- were cancelled, according to data from Umetrip, an app developed by Chinese state-owned aviation industry IT provider TravelSky, reported CNN. During this period, a growing number of passengers on flights from the United States -- operated by both US and Chinese carriers -- tested positive upon arrival in China, triggering a wave of cancellations just ahead of the Olympics and the Lunar New Year, the most important holiday in China. Three US carriers -- United (UAL), Delta (DAL) and American Airlines (AAL) -- operate 10 flights per week into Shanghai, China's biggest city, where a steady rise of COVID cases among international arrivals has seen local officials under growing pressure to tighten containment measures, reported CNN. The city on Thursday recorded five new locally transmitted cases, all linked to a resident who had recently returned from the United States. China largely sealed off its borders in March 2020 and has continued to stick to its strict zero-COVID policy. Flights to and from China-- the world's second-biggest air travel market after the US. (ANI) The US Intelligence agencies monitoring Russian cyber operations against Ukraine believe Russia's pattern of activity could signal a ground invasion of Ukraine within the next 30 days, US officials said on Friday. "We do have information that indicates that Russia is already working actively to create a pretext for a potential invasion, for a move on Ukraine," Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters on Friday. Kirby told reporters, "One could imagine, right, that an attack like that is meant to disrupt capability to try to dissuade action, to try to change the behaviours or the leadership decisions inside Ukraine. I mean, any number of reasons, not to mention just to intimidate." White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration was concerned Russia would stage such an attack, saying it was similar to what Moscow did in 2014 by accusing Ukraine of preparing an attack against Russian forces and warned it could happen between mid-January and mid-February. "We are concerned that the Russian government is preparing for an invasion in Ukraine that may result in widespread human rights violations and war crimes should diplomacy fail to meet their objectives," Psaki said. The accusation from the US comes after a week of diplomatic engagement between the US, its European allies and Russia, which ended on Thursday with no major breakthroughs. Moscow hasn't directly committed to engaging in any future dialogue. As part of the false-flag plans, Washington has information indicating that Moscow has prepositioned a group of operatives who are trained in urban warfare and using explosives to carry out "acts of sabotage against Russia's own proxy forces," an official told reporters. The United States information also indicates that Russian influence actors are starting to fabricate Ukrainian provocations on in-state and social media sites to justify a Russian intervention. Russia has massed tens of thousands of troops near Ukraine's border, sparking fears that Moscow may be planning to invade its neighbour in a manner similar to when it annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014. President Biden has warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that Moscow would face serious economic sanctions if Russia were to invade Ukraine. Moscow, however, has repeatedly denied any intentions of invading Ukraine. National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Thursday that the threat of a second invasion was "high" and said the US would have details on "what we see as this potential laying of a pretext" to share with the press. (ANI) Two decades back, they were considered to be archrivals as both the countries, India and Brazil, started campaigning hard for the permanent seat in United Nations Security Council (UNSC) since they were the two countries with striking similarities, one in the eastern hemisphere, the other from the southern hemisphere, known as the 'mirror image nations' in the diplomatic world. Both are fast developing countries with emerging economies, huge land with large population, growing domestic consumer market and increasing youth population but tables turned around in 2006 when India and Brazil started their strategic partnership. Since then, n-number of high-level visits, many bilateral MoUs, cultural exchanges and an India-Brazil Joint Commission for political, economic, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation, a long voyage of bilateral diplomacy traveled, which has one more milestone on friday when India's External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar had a conversation with his Brazilian counterpart Carlos Franca. India-Brazil have agreed to work closely for UNSC as both countries have been claiming their due -- the permanent membership in UNSC. India and Brazil, along with China, Russia and South Africa, engaged in multilateral diplomatic relations through BRICS, also agreed to expand this forum internationally and use it for strengthening their position globally. Jaishankar and Carlos Franca also spoke about IBSA, the India-Brazil-South Africa forum, which has representation of three continents by their largest democracies. Both the Foreign Ministers discussed holding an early meeting of the India-Brazil Joint Commission. "A productive discussion with Brazil Foreign MInister Carlos Franca. Agreed to hold an early meeting of our Joint Commission. Affirmed our commitment to work closely in the UNSC, BRICS and IBSA," the India's External Affairs Minister tweeted In 2019, S. Jaishankar had met his former Brazilian counterpart Ernesto Araujo on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. On the sidelines of the BRICS Foreign Ministers' meeting held in Rio de Janeiro on July 25, 2019, General V.K. Singh, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, met Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo and had bilateral discussions. --IANS nimish/khz/ ( 358 Words) 2022-01-15-00:58:02 (IANS) The operation has been carried out in 12 provinces on Friday as part of an investigation against the "Gulen movement," which the Turkish government accuses of infiltrating into the state bureaucracy and then attempting a coup on July 15, 2016. The statement said all of the suspects were former first-class police chiefs who were dismissed from public service and were stripped of their ranks, Xinhua news agency reported. The examination of historical traffic search, which reveals a person's cellphone records, indicated the suspects communicated many times with high-level members of the organisation, the statement added. The Prosecutor also said the presence of testimonies showed that they were members of the organisation. In a separate operation based on the northwestern Balikesir province, 16 other suspects with alleged links to the group were detained, the state-run TRT broadcaster reported on Friday. --IANS int/khz/ ( 190 Words) 2022-01-15-01:28:03 (IANS) The security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in North Waziristan district of the province, the Army's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) added on Friday in a statement. The ISPR statement said the operation was carried out upon confirmed reports of terrorists' presence in the area, Xinhua news agency reported. Weapons and ammunition were recovered from the possession of the terrorists, it added. An area clearance operation is in progress to hunt down any other terrorist in the area, it said. Separately, a soldier was killed in a checkpost attack in Bannu district of the province, the Pakistani Military added in another statement on Friday. --IANS int/khz/ ( 147 Words) 2022-01-15-01:38:02 (IANS) The current administration has endangered the lives and property of Texans by failing to do its job of securing the border, the Governor said. According to the report, Texas state troopers have arrested thousands of migrants under Operation Lone Star, which was launched by Abbott in March 2021, in an attempt to combat the smuggling of illegal aliens and drugs, Xinhua news agency reported. Illegal border crossings into the US skyrocketed to a 61-year high in 2021, it added. --IANS int/khz/ ( 121 Words) 2022-01-15-02:48:02 (IANS) The two leaders exchanged views on strengthening the collaboration in the defense industry and trade, the directorate added on Friday on its website. It added that the two leaders also addressed regional and global issues, including the latest developments in Syria and Ukraine and the refugee problem, Xinhua news agency reported. --IANS int/khz/ ( 91 Words) 2022-01-15-02:56:01 (IANS) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday (local time) virtually met UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths and President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Peter Maurer and discussed the Afghanistan situation. "Today, Blinken met virtually with UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths and President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Peter Maurer about efforts to strengthen the provision of urgently needed humanitarian assistance and other activities supporting basic human needs in Afghanistan and Ethiopia," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement. Blinken also highlighted the United States' latest contribution of more than USD 308 million towards humanitarian assistance for the people of Afghanistan and the U.S.'s ongoing commitment to support the people of Afghanistan, the statement said, adding that the funding will go to humanitarian organisations and help provide lifesaving protection and shelter, essential health care, winterization assistance, emergency food aid, water, sanitation, and hygiene services. Blinken, Under-Secretary-General Griffiths, and ICRC President Maurer discussed how to further protect and support aid groups in overcoming challenges related to Afghanistan's extremely difficult operational landscape to ensure that aid reaches the people who need it most and how to expand the pool of humanitarian donors, read the statement. US Secretary of State noted the Department's robust and growing engagement on women's issues in Afghanistan at senior levels, including the recent appointment of Rina Amiri as Special Envoy on Afghan Women, Girls, and Human Rights. The Secretary, Under-Secretary-General Griffiths, and ICRC President Maurer also discussed the urgent need for a cessation of hostilities, including air strikes, in northern Ethiopia as well as steps toward facilitating a political settlement. The Secretary emphasized that all parties to the conflict must allow humanitarian access and alleviate suffering for all people in need in northern Ethiopia, regardless of ethnicity, the statement added. (ANI) You are here: China China's Supreme People's Court on Friday released a guideline to promote the development of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The guideline has 20 measures in six aspects, such as developing the market based on fair competition and honesty, and strengthening judicial protection of property rights of MSMEs. Cases of monopolies or unfair competition should be adjudicated in accordance with laws, said the document, adding that courts should deal with acts that eliminate or restrict competition and guard against unregulated expansion of capital in order to better protect MSMEs. It stresses the importance of strictly distinguishing between legitimate financing and illegal fund-raising, as well as between contract disputes and contract fraud. Economic disputes must not be identified as criminal crimes, and civil liabilities not as criminal responsibilities, read the guideline. In response to the difficulties and high costs of financing faced by the MSMEs, the document also urges efforts to regulate private lending. The attacks took place on Friday morning when unidentified gunmen threw hand grenades at the headquarters of Taqaddum Alliance, headed by the re-elected Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi, in the Adhamiyah neighbourhood in northern Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Another attack with hand grenades targeted headquarters of Azem Alliance, headed by businessman Khamis al-Khanjar, in the Yarmouk neighbourhood in western part of the capital, the source said. Earlier, the two Sunni groups allied to form a larger Sunni parliamentary group, including 65 Sunni lawmakers, who later managed to ally themselves with the Sadrist Movement and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). They all later voted to re-elect al-Halbousi as Parliament Speaker on January 9, when the Iraqi Parliament held its first session, which witnessed a heated debate between the parliamentary blocs, Xinhua news agency reported. The Iraqi parliamentary elections, originally scheduled for 2022, were held on October 10, 2021, in response to months of protests against corruption, poor governance, and a lack of public services. --IANS int/khz/ ( 208 Words) 2022-01-15-03:02:04 (IANS) Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed on Thursday slammed the Imran Khan government for trying to place Islam in the constitutional dispensation and the governance paradigm, adding that the court is burdened by petty issues in the shape of petitions. "The capacity to enforce rights of the citizens is not growing [and] as a result the hapless people of this country are facing typical problems and their fundamental rights are being violated with impunity," regretted the CJP. CJP was speaking at the book launching ceremony of "Reading The Constitution of Pakistan -- Article wise discussion, fair comments on the case, law and the history" when he rebuked the government for not handling the public concerns in the true spirit. He said small matters like cleaning of roads; lifting of garbage, maintaining parks and open spaces, provision of playgrounds and ensuring construction in accordance with bylaws are being brought up in the court of law. Furthermore, he severely criticised the government and said that these are prime and basic functions of the government, but these basic issues were not being attended to. Additionally, he urged the government to take heed of the situation around them and make sure that the constitution is enforced in all facets of public life. Moreover, Justice Khosa enlisted five issues confronting the nation and said unless these were identified and a solution was discovered, the country would continue to face insecurity. "For this, we have to catch the bull by the horn." Justice Khosa said they had to decide forever what was the role of the state in Islamic dispensation and where they had to place Islam in the constitutional dispensation and the governance paradigm, The dawn reported. He said the biggest hurdle that was obstructing development was the mindset since "our loyalty was towards our clan or tribe than the state. Such tendencies are now even creeping up in different institutions including the legal fraternity which often goes on strike every now and then. Likewise, we also have to take care about our economic sovereignty. Under the constitution, Chief Justice of Pakistan said, the judiciary had been bestowed upon the task to ensure that the constitution was applied and enforced in true spirit. He showed his disappointment in the Pakistani government and said, "The capacity to enforce rights of the citizens is not growing and as a result, the hapless people of this country are facing typical problems and their fundamental rights are being violated with impunity" A number of Supreme Court judges, former CJP Asif Saeed Khosa, Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan, former chairman of Senate Wasim Sajjad, former law minister Dr Khalid Ranjha and ambassadors of different countries attended the ceremony held at the auditorium of the Supreme Court. (ANI) The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported the unit in North Pyongan Province bordering China staged the drill aimed at "checking and judging the proficiency" in its action procedures, Yonhap News Agency reported. It marks the North's second known missile test using a railway launch platform since the last one in September, and the country's third show of force this year. "The regiment received a firepower mission at short notice from the General Staff in the morning on Friday before swiftly moving to the firing ground, and precisely struck the set target in the East Sea of Korea with two tactical guided missiles," Yonhap News Agency reported citing KCNA. The unit's combat posture "demonstrated high maneuverability and rate of hits in the drill was highly appreciated," according to KCNA. The drill was supervised by commanding officers of the Korean People's Army and leading officials of the Academy of Defense Science, according to the KCNA. It did not mention whether leader Kim Jong-un attended it, Yonhap News Agency reported It further reported that South Korea's military on Friday said that the North's latest projectiles, launched from Uiju in the province, flew around 430 kilometers at an altitude of 36 km and at a top speed of Mach 6, six times the speed of sound. Earlier, on Wednesday (local time), the US announced sanctions on eight North Korean and Russian individuals and entities for supporting North Korea's ballistic missile programs. (ANI) The check-post in Bannu's Jani Khel town on January 13-14 night came under attack by terrorists that opened fire on the army troops. The army troops initiated a prompt response and effectively engaged the terrorists, said the military media wing in a statement. Earlier, the security forces had conducted separate Intelligence Based Operations (IBOs) on the presence of terrorists in Tank, Dera Ismail Khan (DI Khan) and village Kot Kili in South Waziristan district, reported ARY News. In the incident two terrorists had been killed, three apprehended and one terrorist surrendered to security forces in the operations, said the military's media wing in a statement. "Weapons and huge cache of ammunition including improvised explosive devices and rockets were also recovered from the terrorists," said the ISPR. (ANI) Pakistan supports Turkey's claim on Cyprus and the growing relationship between the two countries can become a cause of worry for Greece. Greece and Turkey have been involved in the long ongoing conflict in Cyprus and the international community is trying to negotiate a settlement between the two nations on the conflict, reported InsideOver. Though all the European Union states back Greece's stand on Cyprus, there are a few countries that support Turkey's claim on Cyprus. Pakistan tops the list of such countries. The deepening of the military alliance between Pakistan and Turkey clearly indicates that Pakistan will go all out to support Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in pursuit of his jihadist ambitions of conquest and revival of the Ottoman Empire that would include Cyprus as well. Another cause of worry for Greece is the emergence of a China-Pakistan-Turkey nexus on nuclear proliferation. Turkish President Erdogan has already expressed his desperation on developing the 'Caliphate atom bomb' to fulfil his neo-Ottoman aspirations, reported InsideOver. China and Pakistan have been facing charges of illegal sale of missiles and creating a clandestine proliferation market. After a failed coup attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016, Turkey sacked its fighter jet pilots who were considered to be the main conspirators behind the failed coup. Later, the Turkish military revealed that it needed over 500 new pilots including 190 combat pilots to reach its normal level and asked the Pakistani government to send trainers to fly F-16s. Suspicion about Pakistani pilots flying Turkish fighter jets was reinforced after the November 2019 joint military exercises between Turkey and Pakistan. Furthermore, violating the Greek airspace, on November 13, 2019, without filing a flight plan with Greek authorities, a Pakistani P-3 Orion Naval Co-operation and Information Collection Aircraft was flown into Greek airspace, reported InsideOver. Also, In 2018, Pakistan's interference in Cyprus was revealed by Pakistan's Army ex-Lt. Gen. Karamat Ahmed where he claimed that Turkey and Pakistan were 2 countries and one nation. (ANI) While the world is still reeling under the Wuhan virus, India emerged as a 'saviour' by providing medicines globally across the continent, amply describing the epithet - the pharmacy of the world. India has delivered 1154.173 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccines to 97 countries till December 31, according to the Ministry of External Affairs. India on January 16 will mark the first anniversary of the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive which started on January 16, 2021, with health care and frontline workers first in line to receive shots. The drive was soon expanded to include senior citizens, people with comorbidities, and, finally, everyone aged 18 and above. As part of its Vaccine Maitri initiative that was started on January 16 to provide COVID-19 vaccines to countries around the world, the Government of India supplied 1154.173 lakh doses as grants, commercial dispatch and under COVAX facility. The largest amount of doses were provided to Bangladesh comprising 225.928 lakhs, followed by Myanmar, which received 186 lakhs doses. India supplied 94.99 lakh coronavirus doses to Nepal, 90.08 lakh jabs to Indonesia as well. Regarding European countries, the largest beneficiary was the UK, which received 50 lakh doses. Meanwhile, India provided 5 lakh doses to Canada and 8.7 lakh doses to Mexico as well. India also provided UN Peacekeepers with 2 lakh doses and UN health workers with 1.25 lakh doses. Driven by its 'Neighbourhood First' policy, India supplied South Asian nations with the biggest amount of COVID doses that were around 542.858 lakh doses comprising of Bangladesh (225.928 lakh), Myanmar (186 lakh), Nepal (94.99 lakh), Bhutan (5.5 lakh), Maldives (3.12), Sri Lanka (12.64) and Afghanistan (14.68 lakh). Afghanistan has become the world's largest humanitarian crisis after Taliban returned to power in the country and the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank also stopped sending funds to the country. India assisted the strife-torn country with 14.68 lakh COVID doses as WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said breakdown in health services is having a rippling effect on the availability of basic and essential health care in Afghanistan, as well as on emergency response, polio eradication, and COVID-19 vaccination efforts." Among Central Asian countries, Ukraine received 5 lakh doses, Tajikistan received 8.91 doses and Uzbekistan received 6.6 lakh doses of COVID vaccines. Among Latin American countries, India provided Brazil with 40 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccinations, Argentina with 5.8 lakh doses, Bolivia with 2.28 lakh doses and Paraguay with 6 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccinations. As far as the African continent is concerned, India supplied Morocco with 70 lakh doses, South Africa with 10 lakh doses, Ghana with 17.14 lakh doses, Congo with 17.66 lakh doses and Egypt with 50 thousand doses of COVID vaccinations. It also delivered vaccinations to the Middle East Asian nations like UAE (2 lakh), and Saudi Arabia (45 lakh). India as the largest provider of generic drugs globally is often referred to as the Pharmacy of the world. The Indian pharmaceuticals market is the world's third-largest in terms of volume and thirteenth-largest in terms of value. Under the Vaccine Maitri initiative, India decided to ship out doses of the novel coronavirus vaccine to 'neighbouring and key partner countries'. India's vaccine diplomacy could provide innovative opportunities to promote India's foreign policy and diplomatic relations between nations in its neighbourhood and across the globe. India had earlier supplied hydroxychloroquine, Remdesivir and paracetamol tablets, as well as diagnostic kits, ventilators, masks, gloves and other medical supplies to a large number of countries to help them deal with the pandemic. India has also carried out capacity building and training workshops for neighbouring countries. Meanwhile, India's vaccination drive began on January 16. The Indian government started the 'biggest vaccination drive in the world' by first targeting 30 million front-line workers including health care professionals. As of date, India is using three vaccines against COVID-19 in its immunization drive. These include Covishield (Oxford AstraZeneca's vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India), Covaxin (manufactured by Bharat Biotech Limited) and Sputnik V (developed by Gamaleya Research Institute, Russia). All are two-shot vaccines. Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has also granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to three other vaccines by Moderna, Johnson and Johnson and Zydus Cadila. The Indian government through its largest vaccination drive aims to target 100 per cent adult coverage by the end of this year. Meanwhile, India's cumulative COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 156.02 crores on Saturday. (ANI) According to Japanese NHK broadcaster, citing the local police, a 17-year-old young man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. The victims reportedly received incised wounds to the back and were taken to hospitals. Two of them were high school students who came that day to take the entrance exam, the media said. Another victim was a 70-year-old man. There is reportedly no threat to the life of the victims. An investigation is underway. (ANI/Sputnik) "Many of the selected theologians are graduates of Darul Uloom Haqqania madrasa, one of Pakistan's oldest and largest Islamic seminaries. Government jobs are given as patronage to ex-fighters and exiles living quietly in Pakistan. But not all possess the technical skills required for the job," Tolo News reported citing the New York Times report. However, the Taliban denied the report. "We deny the report of the New York Times that says the Islamic Emirate is faced with a shortage of staff..." Tolo News quoted Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate as saying. Wahidullah Hashimi, a senior member of the Islamic Emirate's council for training and educating soldiers, relates the staffing problems to the corruption in the former government, as well as to the plot of foreigner's to drain Afghanistan of talent, the Afghan media reported. "Foreigners intentionally evacuated Afghans, most importantly, the educated and professional ones, to weaken the Islamic Emirates and undermine our administration," Hashimi said as quoted by the New York Times. "We are in touch with some Afghans in different parts of the world and are encouraging them to return to Afghanistan because we desperately need their help and expertise to help their people and government," Hashimi added. After the fall of the former government in mid-August, many high-profile and talented youth left the country. (ANI) In a statment, NATO chief said, "I strongly condemn the cyber attacks on the Ukrainian Government." The organization also said that it will continue its strong political and practical support for Ukraine. "In the coming days, NATO and Ukraine will sign an agreement on enhanced cyber cooperation, including Ukrainian access to NATO's malware information sharing platform. NATO's strong political and practical support for Ukraine will continue.", the statement read. Furthermore, the statement also talks about close cooperation between NATO and Ukraine in the field of cyber defence. "NATO has worked closely with Ukraine for years to help boost its cyber defenses. NATO cyber experts in Brussels have been exchanging information with their Ukrainian counterparts on the current malicious cyber activities. Allied experts in country are also supporting the Ukrainian authorities on the ground.", the statement read. (ANI) According to The Kathmandu Post, frontline workers include doctors, nurses, paramedics, lab technicians, hospital staff and ambulance drivers. Booster shots, according to the government, will also be given to journalists, bureaucrats, lawmakers, those serving in diplomatic missions, financial institutions, prisoners, elderly people at old age homes and refugees who were vaccinated in the first phase of the immunization campaign starting January 27. "All those who were inoculated in the first phase of the vaccination drive come under frontline workers," The Kathmandu Post quoted Dr Samir Kumar Adhkari, joint spokesperson for the Health Ministry, as saying. "They can receive booster shots from any convenient vaccination center starting tomorrow," Adhkari added. The ministry has also decided to administer booster doses to all people above 60 years, who were inoculated six months ago, and to those having compromised immunity from January 28, said the newspaper. The ministry also said that the original vaccine will be provided as booster shots. Amid the rise in coronavirus cases, calls from several quarters had been growing for launching booster shots. However, the government had said it would start boosters once 40 percent of the total population was jabbed. Despite having enough vaccines in stock, the vaccination campaign has remained woefully slow, The Kathmandu Post reported. As of Friday, 11,869,974 people, or 39.1 percent of over 30 million population, were fully vaccinated in Nepal. Coronavirus cases have been rising lately with Nepal on Friday reporting 5,087 new infections. (ANI) Authorities in Tianjin have urged locals to shun parties or gatherings to avoid being infected with the novel coronavirus after at least 45 cluster infections from family groups were reported in the northern metropolis. Han Jinyan, deputy director of Tianjin Health Commission, said each of the families has two to five infected members. "The source of the infection has not been identified, but the transmission relationship between infected persons has been very clear, all linked to the confirmed cases reported in Jinnan district," Han said at a news conference on Friday. She urged residents to go out less and pay special attention to personal protection while actively cooperating with authorities to have nucleic acid tests to help block the spread of the novel coronavirus. According to Han, the port city reported 34 new COVID-19 patients and an asymptomatic carrier on Thursday, bringing the city's total to 142 confirmed cases and 22 asymptomatic carriers in this outbreak as of 2 pm on Friday. "The patients are aged between two and 78 years old," said Han. To help block the spread of the novel coronavirus in the city, authorities have decided to launch the third round of citywide nucleic acid testing starting Saturday, she said. More than 12 million residents have had nucleic acid tests in the previous round of citywide testing that began on Wednesday, with 44 samples showing positive results, Han said. Of the positive results, 32 were detected in the quarantine venues and 12 from the sealed-off areas, she said. Ren Feng, director of the command center with Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Public Security, said his bureau will expand patrols on major highways to help contain the novel coronavirus spread from outside the city, particularly to the Chinese capital, which is 130 kilometers away, to ensure a smooth and successful 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games next month. Now only those who have negative nucleic acid tests done within 48 hours, green health codes and certificates from their companies or neighborhood committees are allowed to leave the city, he said. Previously, the outbreak in Tianjin was reported to have spread to Liaoning and Henan provinces. In central China's Henan province, a total of 98 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases were reported on Thursday, including four in Zhengzhou, 69 in Anyang and 25 in Xuchang, the provincial Health Commission reported on Friday. According to information released by Yuzhou's local government, a county-level city under the administration of Xuchang, among 41 cases reported on Monday and Tuesday, the youngest is a 3-year-old kindergarten student and the oldest is a 99-year-old woman. In Anyang, news of 58 confirmed cases published on Friday shows that 53 were students and teachers from the Yucai School in Tangyin county. Anyang reported the first two cases of the recent outbreak on Sunday, among them a student from the school. In Shanghai municipality, travel agencies have been required to suspend cross-provincial tours and bookings of hotels and air tickets, according to a statement released by Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism on Friday. The statement came after five local infections were reported in the eastern metropolis on Thursday. Cross-provincial tours and booking services will resume when local medium-risk areas are cleared, the statement said. In Zhuhai, Guangdong province, seven positive cases were detected during a mass nucleic acid testing campaign on Friday and preliminary gene sequencing indicated they were infected by the Omicron strain, Zhang Chen, vice-mayor of Zhuhai, said on Friday night. The southern metropolis immediately launched the city-wide nucleic acid testing campaign when a local resident tested positive in Zhongshan city's Tanzhou township on Thursday morning. The non-export industries in Pakistan's Sindh will continue to face gas supply cut for now, as the top court of the province awaits arguments from the gas company, local media reported on Saturday. The Sindh High Court (SHC) has extended the stay order on notification of suspension on a petition against the gas supply cut to the non-export industry in Sindh, The Express Tribune reported. According to the Pakistani publication, the High Court heard a petition against the suspension of the supply of gas to the non-export industry in the province. Petitioner's lawyer has completed his arguments. The court directed the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) and federal government lawyers to present arguments in the next hearing. Extended the restraining order regarding the suspension of gas supply notification, the court also restrained to disconnecting the gas supply of petitioners. The court adjourned the hearing till January 19. The petition has been filed by Toyo Packing Pvt. Ltd. and others, The Express Tribune reported. It further reproted that in the petition it has been stated that "cutting off gas supply is unconstitutional. Priority should be given to gas-producing provinces under court decisions and the constitution. The notification to cut gas supply is unconstitutional and against court decisions." At present Sindh is producing 72 per cent gas. A notification has been issued to stop 100 per cent supply of gas to non-export industry. "This decision of the federal government will shut down the industry and people will become unemployed. The decision to cut off gas will also reduce taxes by billions of rupees. The federation has not stopped gas supply to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under gas load management. The decision of the federal government is discrimination with Sindh. It is a constitutional requirement that such decisions of the federal government be discussed in the Council of Common Interests (CCI). The decision to cut off gas was not discussed in the CCI," The Express Tribune reported. (ANI) The father is asking for justice over the killing of her daughter and said that the culprits should be arrested, reported Khaama Press. The reason for the shooting is not yet clear and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has said that they will look into the matter. In a similar incident last month, a 22-year-old Faisal was shot dead at a check post of the Taliban in Kabul city. Faisal's perpetrator was a Taliban affiliate and was arrested but her family members pardoned him, reported the news agency. (ANI) This comes at a time of China's rising maritime assertiveness and North Korea on Friday carried out what became the third launch of apparent ballistic missiles in 10 days. The upcoming talks are expected to focus on deepening defence cooperation and enhancing the countries' security response capacity amid increasing military threats in the Indo-Pacific region, reported the news agency. The virtual meet will include Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi and their respective French counterparts Jean-Yves Le Drian and Florence Parly. After the two-plus-two talks, both sides are expected to release documents. Notably, this is the first-of-its-kind meeting since the last session which was held in France in January 2019. The meeting will be reportedly attended by Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi. The French side will be presented by Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian and Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly. The countries had initially intended to hold the talks at the end of 2021 but decided to postpone them due to the rapid spread of the new Omicron coronavirus strain. (ANI) External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar held a virtual meeting with Finance Minister of Sri Lanka Basil Rajapaksa on January 15, 2022, where both sides exchanged New Year greetings and conveyed wishes on the festival of Pongal celebrated both in India and Sri Lanka. Furthermore, to help Sri Lanka overcome its economic challenges, India under the SAARC currency swap arrangement has made an extension of USD 400 million to Sri Lanka and provided a deferral of ACU (Asian Clearing Union) settlement of USD 515.2 million by two months, said the Ministry of External Affairs in a statement. The two Ministers also reviewed the progress in extending the Indian credit facility of USD 1 billion for importing food, essential items and medicine and USD 500 mn for importing fuel from India. The EAM also brought up the issue of Indian fishermen detained in Sri Lanka. He urged the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure the early release of the detained fishermen on humanitarian considerations. Jaishankar, during the meet, said, that India will continue to extend a helping hand to Sri Lanka amid these tough times of the COVID-19 pandemic. "Dr Jaishankar conveyed that India has always stood with Sri Lanka, and will continue to support Sri Lanka in all possible ways for overcoming the economic and other challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic. As close friends and maritime neighbours, both India and Sri Lanka stand to gain from closer economic interlinkages.", said the statement. Notably, this meet is followed by Rajapaksa's visit to India last month. The Ministry in the statement also said, "Mr Rajapaksa recalled India's longstanding cooperation with Sri Lanka and deeply appreciated the gestures of support. He welcomed Indian investments in Sri Lanka in a number of important spheres including ports, infrastructure, energy, renewable energy, power and manufacturing and assured that a conducive environment will be provided to encourage such investments. In this context, both Ministers noted that the recent steps taken by the Government of Sri Lanka for jointly modernizing Trincomalee Oil Tank Farms will boost the confidence of investors, apart from enhancing Sri Lanka's energy security." As per the statement by MEA, the two Ministers agreed to remain in close touch for guiding mutually beneficial bilateral economic cooperation towards long-term economic partnership for shared progress and prosperity. (ANI) The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has refused to open the Afghanistan Relief Fund and requested the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to review its decision, expressing the fear that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) might impose sanctions against Islamabad, local media reported on Saturday. The central bank has returned the federal government's request to open the relief fund with the advice that the decision might be reviewed in light of Pakistan's commitments under international covenants and the FATF action plan, The Express Tribune reported citing government sources as saying. The federal government had decided to open the bank account to receive cash donations from Pakistan and abroad to help Afghan people meet their immediate humanitarian needs, said the Pakistani publication. Pakistan has been on the Paris-based FATF's grey list for deficiencies in its counter-terror financing and anti-money laundering regimes since June 2018. Meanwhile, the FATF plenary is again going to review the country's case next month, as per The Express Tribune. Last year, on December 8, the Finance Ministry issued instructions to the SBP to "open with immediate effect" the Afghanistan Relief Fund to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. The federal government had requested the SBP governor that he should issue necessary instructions to the scheduled banks to open the account. But so far, the account remains non-operational. At the request of the SBP, the issue of opening the Afghanistan Relief Fund is being examined to ensure that Pakistan fully complied with its international commitments, Finance Secretary Hamid Yaqoob Sheikh the told The Express Tribune. It further reported that the central bank's observations have raised questions over the authority of the federal government. It may also throw a challenge to the Foreign Office that is trying to secure commitments from the international community to avoid catastrophe in Afghanistan. The Taliban took over control of Kabul on August 15 and following this the country has been battered by deepening economic, humanitarian and security crisis. (ANI) Moscow [Russia], January 15 (ANI/Sputnik): The first six planes with Russian peacekeepers from the forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) arrived at the Severny airfield in the Russian city of Ivanovo from Kazakhstan, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday. "The first six planes with Russian peacekeepers from the Collective Peacekeeping Forces of the CSTO arrived at the Severny airfield (Ivanovo city) from Kazakhstan," the ministry said. According to the ministry, after the landing of the last board, solemn events will be held on the airfield to meet Russian paratroopers who have professionally completed the tasks. At the end of the events, the personnel will begin to unload equipment for the departure to the point of permanent deployment. (ANI/Sputnik) In a phone call with South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, Blinken reaffirmed the bilateral alliance is "the linchpin of peace, security, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond", Yonhap News Agency reported on Saturday citing the Department as saying The phone conversation came shortly after Pyongyang said it fired two tactical guided missiles into the East Sea the previous day, the third missile test this month. On Saturday, North Korea announced its railway-based missile regiment conducted a firing drill a day earlier, with two tactical guided missiles hitting a set target in the East Sea. The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported the unit in North Pyongan Province bordering China staged the drill aimed at "checking and judging the proficiency" in its action procedures. The North's latest saber-rattling came after it warned of a "stronger and certain reaction" to the US' recent imposition of fresh sanctions on six North Koreans involved in the regime's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs. Pyongyang fired what it purports to be a hypersonic missile on January 5 and Tuesday, in an apparent continued quest for the development of new advanced weapons amid a deadlock in nuclear talks with Washington. --IANS ksk/ ( 250 Words) 2022-01-15-09:04:04 (IANS) According to the broadcaster, the first child to be administered the vaccine was an eight-year-old indigenous boy who was vaccinated at a Sao Paulo hospital. On December 16, Brazil's health regulator Anvisa approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use in children aged five to 11, joining a growing list of countries with green-lighting vaccination for kids. On December 28, vaccine-hesitant Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said that he will not vaccinate his 11-year-old daughter claiming that there have not been enough child fatalities to justify the inoculation of children. Brazil has administered 320 million doses of vaccine since the start of the vaccination campaign in January 2021 with about 143 million people, or 68 per cent of the population, currently fully vaccinated. (ANI/Sputnik) A single-member Peshawar High Court bench has granted bail to a man accused of forcibly kidnapping a Hindu girl for marriage a few days ago. Justice Syed M Attique Shah accepted the bail petition of the prime accused in the case, Ubaidur Rehman, on the condition he furnish two surety bonds of Rs100,000 each, according to Dawn. Earlier, an additional district and sessions judge had granted bail to seven co-accused in the case but turned down the plea of the main accused prompting him to move the high court for release on bail. Further, a First Information Report was registered at the East Cantonment police station in Peshawar on December 20 on the complaint of a Hindu woman, Shakuntla Bibi, who had accused the petitioner and his alleged facilitators of kidnapping her adopted daughter. Also, the case was registered under the Pakistan Penal Code's Section 365-B (kidnapping of a woman to compel her for marriage). Further, following the registration of FIR, the local police had recovered the girl from Rawalpindi and arrested eight suspects, according to Dawn. The complainant had adopted the girl and her brother in 2006 when they were infants. Advocate Asfandyar Khan appeared for the petitioner and contended that his client had not kidnapped the girl and that she had gone away with his client of her own free will. Meanwhile, The lawyer said seven of the suspects named in the case had already been released on the bail granted by the subordinate court. On the other hand, the complainant's counsel opposed the bail petition and said the 'abductee' was a minor girl and her kidnapping for the purpose of marriage was a heinous offence. He argued that the petitioner was already married and had two children. The lawyer argued that the girl's statement was recorded under duress as she was influenced by the suspects, according to Dawn. (ANI) Turkey said the first meeting between Turkish and Armenian envoys in Moscow was positive and that they will continue negotiations for full normalisation of ties without preconditions. "During their first meeting, conducted in a positive and constructive atmosphere, the special representatives exchanged their preliminary views regarding the normalization process through dialogue between Turkey and Armenia," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The parties agreed to continue negotiations "without preconditions aiming at full normalisation", it said, adding that the date and venue of their second meeting will be decided in due time through diplomatic channels, reports Xinhua news agency. Since the two neighbouring nations do not have diplomatic relations, Turkey and Armenia appointed their special envoys and they held their first meeting on Friday aiming to end decades-old hostilities. Turkey appointed Serdar Kilic, a former Ambassador to the US, as the special representative, while Armenia appointed National Assembly Deputy Speaker Ruben Rubinyan for the talks. This meeting is to be followed by the resumption of charter flights between Istanbul and Yerevan. The relations between Turkey and Armenia were severed in 1993, during the first war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, when Ankara closed the border with Yerevan in support of Baku. Turkey and Armenia made serious attempts to restore ties in 2008-2009, with American and Swiss intermediation, but the effort broke down due to mounting pressure from Azerbaijan. In last year's war, Armenia lost control of the territories around Nagorno-Karabakh, which provided a new impetus to restore ties between Ankara and Yerevan. --IANS ksk/ ( 270 Words) 2022-01-15-11:24:02 (IANS) Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has called for efforts to safeguard national political security, social stability and the peaceful life of the people. Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the call in a recent instruction to the political and legal work. Efforts should be made to ensure fair access to justice for every individual, Xi said in the instruction. Calling on the political and legal work front to uphold the absolute leadership of the CPC and draw wisdom and strength from the Party's century-long struggle, Xi urged them to promote the ability to forestall and defuse major risks and improve law enforcement and judicial policies and measures. Xi also stressed deepening the comprehensive reform of political and legal work and consolidating the achievement made in the education campaign of officers of the front. Party committees at all levels should study and resolve the prominent issues that restrain political and legal work in a timely manner and support political and legal organs to perform their duties in accordance with laws, Xi noted in the instruction. Efforts should be made to provide a strong guarantee for advancing the Peaceful China initiative and promoting the rule of law at a higher level, thus welcoming the 20th CPC National Congress with solid actions, Xi said. Xi's instruction was conveyed by Guo Shengkun, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, at a central conference on the political and legal work on Saturday. The two sides conducted in-depth discussions and agreed to step up cooperation on energy, infrastructure, production capacity, science and technology, and medical and health care with the announcement of the launch of the implementation of the 25-year comprehensive cooperation plan, reported Xinhua. Wang and Abdollahian also agreed to expand cooperation in agriculture, fisheries and cyber security as well as promote tripartite cooperation, and deepen people-to-people and cultural exchanges in education, film and personnel training. The Iranian nuclear situation was also discussed between the two sides. Stressing that Iran highly appreciates and will actively participate in the joint building of the Belt and Road, Abdollahian said during the talks emphasising that developing relations with Beijing is Tehran's top decision. Tehran is committed to reaching a set of stable guarantee agreements through serious negotiations, said Abdollahian, adding that Iran is willing to maintain close communication with Beijing. The Chinese Foreign Minister also said that Beijing is ready to work with Tehran to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state. Wang also vowed to strengthen communication and coordinate actions, constantly enriching the connotation of the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership. (ANI) The Punjab province formed the board after directions from the federal government. The special medical board comprising nine senior doctors will submit an assessment report to the provincial government in five days after the evaluation of former premier Nawaz Sharif's medical record regarding his health condition, reported The News International. In November 2019, Nawaz Sharif left Pakistan and went to London medical treatment following the Imran government's approval for the visit. Following the recommendations of the medical board, the government will decide the next course of action to bring back Nawaz Sharif to Pakistan and to initiate legal proceedings against Shahbaz Sharif as the guarantor of his brother. Last year in December, Pakistan's Adviser to Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior Shahzad Akbar had said that Nawaz Sharif had been cornered in the UK as Islamabad was actively pursuing his extradition case. Akbar had also said that Sharif was a convict and was not even entitled to get a visit visa as per UK's immigration laws. (ANI) Probe into misuse of petroleum imports from China began in Pakistan as the federal government on Friday ordered all oil marketing companies (OMCs) to provide evidence-based data on the import of petrol from China amid reports of the misuse of China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA). Under the CPFTA renegotiated in 2019, the Pakistan government had issued statutory regulatory orders on December 31, 2019, that abolished tariff on import of petrol. As such, there was no customs duty on the import of petrol from China with effect from Jan 1, 2020. Normal petroleum imports from all other sources, mostly the Middle East, attract 10 per cent customs duty while similar deemed duty is applicable on production from local refineries, according to Dawn. Further, results in a price saving of about 10 per cent on petrol imports from China. However, this price differential is retained by the OMCs as windfall profit instead of its benefit to the exchequer or the consumers. Depending on the international petrol price published in Platt's Oilgram, the gap normally works out between Rs9-12 per litre. Earlier, the key purpose of the free trade agreement signed on April 28, 2019, was the promotion of fair trade competition. On the other hand, China itself is a net importer of petroleum products including petrol and transportation cost to Pakistan is relatively higher than that of the Middle East. Yet this provides a substantial cushion to the OMCs. Earlier, last month, the local refineries had told the government that domestic production of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) could potentially go up by 60 per cent and 48 per cent , respectively, at a significant foreign exchange saving provided the local refineries were operated at optimum capacity. Meanwhile, Pakistan's oil import bill, particularly of refined petroleum products, has been the largest chunk of about 83pc increase in imports in the first five months of the current fiscal year, causing unrest among the government ranks as money and share markets plummeted last month, according to Dawn. Further, the local refineries had been agitating their operational challenges because of lower furnace oil off-take by power producers despite their extremely low storages than contractually required and large import quantities of both petrol and diesel by OMCs. (ANI) "A Save America Rally is scheduled for January 15, 2022 at the Country Thunder Fairgrounds. The event will open at 6:00 am [13:00 GMT] and is scheduled to end at 9:00 pm [04:00 GMT on Sunday]," the official Twitter account for the Town of Florence said. The rally is expected to be attended by several Republican politicians. The next Save America rally will take place in the city of Conroe, Texas on January 29, according to Trump's official website. The ex-president was initially scheduled to lead a rally on January 6 on the anniversary of the Capitol attack but cancelled several days before the event. Trump continues to criticize the administration of US President Joe Biden. During the rallies, he has accused Biden of failure against the COVID-19 pandemic, inability to deal with economic problems and foreign policy failures in the Russian and Chinese directions. Trump's participation in the 2024 elections is still under question. He has said that he cannot give a definitive answer, but he will "please" his supporters. On January 6, Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington, in an effort to prevent the certification of Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election. (ANI/Sputnik) The size of trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan dropped by 25 per cent after the arrival of the Taliban dispensation in Afghanistan in August, last year. Talking to reporters during a visit to Torkham, Pakhtunkhwa chief collector (customs) Ahmad Raza Khan said Pakistan's exports to Afghanistan had declined by more than 25 per cent during the last six months due to a 'fragile economic situation' in Afghanistan due to the international sanctions imposed after the Taliban's Kabul takeover, according to Dawn. The official said that the State Bank of Pakistan had introduced a new policy of exports to Afghanistan on December 13 requiring Afghan traders to show US dollars along with their passports at the time of entry to Pakistan to acquire Form-E for buying and importing Pakistani goods to Afghanistan. "The new SBP trade policy was meant to lure Afghan traders to bring American dollars to Pakistan and thus, increasing Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves to improve its economy," he said. "That with the Afghan banking system nearly on the verge of collapse and their foreign exchange reserves almost dried up, the new trade policy failed to give the much-needed impetus to the bilateral trade," he added. Further, Torkham Custom Clearing Agents Association, Khyber Chamber of Commerce, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Commercial Exporters and Exporters, and Cargo Transport Association boycotted the clearance of commercial goods bound for Afghanistan for the third consecutive day on Friday against the State Bank of Pakistan's new export policy. Officials at Torkham said that the boycott of goods clearance had cost the country's exchequer millions of rupees in the last three days. The protesting traders and transporters said that they won't submit to the new policy as no formal banking was operational in Afghanistan after the Taliban came to power in August last year. They demanded of the federal government to allow them to do business with Afghanistan in Pakistani currency to restore bilateral trade, according to Dawn. (ANI) "The National Security Policy was being formulated, but the parliament was unaware about it," Geo News quoted Fazlur as saying while addressing an event on Saturday. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the public version of the National Security Policy on Saturday. Fazlur criticised the Imran government for green-lighting the security policy stressing it was done without any consultations. The formulation of the National Security Policy (NSP) has drawn criticism from the opposition leaders. In December, there was a ruckus in the upper house of Pakistan's Parliament, as the country's senators lashed out at the government for not presenting the NSP in the Senate, according to Geo News. "What sort of a policy is this that the parliament did not get a chance to debate over? The parliament has not even seen this policy," PML-N leader and Senator Sherry Rehman had said, chiding the government. (ANI) Sendeu Laizer, vice-chairman of the Simanjiro district council, told a meeting of councillors in the district that the drought situation in the district was alarming, reports Xinhua news agency. Laizer said out of the 62,585 killed animals, 35,746 were cattle, 15,136 sheep, 10,033 goats and 1,670 donkeys. He said livestock officials are continuing to assess the number of animals killed by drought in all the district's villages. "The prolonged drought is forcing livestock keepers to take refuge to few areas with relative supply of water and grass for grazing," said Laizer. Christopher Ole Sendeka, an MP, said the drought has forced some livestock keepers to graze their animals in neighbouring countries. In Tanzania, drought condition is observed more frequently in the northern and central portion of the country. Droughts are one of the most serious threats to water availability, food security, and local livelihoods in the semi-arid areas of Tanzania. --IANS ksk/ ( 182 Words) 2022-01-15-14:10:03 (IANS) Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian President's Office, said that Zelensky has already delivered the proposal to Biden, reports Xinhua news agency. "We are still waiting for a reaction from the Russian side, but our American partners accepted our proposal with interest," Yermak was cited as saying during his talks with former US Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst. According to Yermak, the meeting between the three leaders could be held via a video conference. Recently, Ukraine, the US and some other Western countries have voiced concerns over the alleged Russian military build-up along the country's borders. On January 10, the US and Russia held security talks in Geneva to discuss Ukraine, among other issues. After the talks, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Russia has no plans to attack Ukraine, and there was no reason to fear an escalation of tensions. --IANS ksk/ ( 182 Words) 2022-01-15-14:50:02 (IANS) Citing concerns over security, US Congress members called for the overdue Department of Defence report on US equipment left behind in Afghanistan on Friday. US Congress members in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called for an overdue report on US equipment and property removed, left behind or destroyed in Afghanistan with the departure of the US soldiers from Afghanistan in mid-August of last year, according to Tolo News. In a letter sent to the Department of Defense, 28 US representatives criticized the DOD over the delay in sending the report to Congress. It was scheduled for December 29, 2021. "It is with the gravest concern that even after a three-month window to produce the required information, the DOD still has not given Congress an accurate accounting of United States equipment still in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan where terrorist groups are reconstituting," the members stated in their letter. Earlier, the representatives said lack of information about the US military equipment makes it difficult for them to calculate the US's investment and expenditure in Afghanistan. "This lack of information prevents Congress from being able to accurately and effectively conduct oversight over the tens of billions of dollars of equipment invested in Afghanistan over the past 20 years and creates vulnerabilities in our national security," the letter reads. The letter from the US Congress comes at a time when Washington is facing critics for the way it handled the war in Afghanistan which paved the way for the takeover of the Taliban in Kabul last August. The representatives also criticized the Biden Administration for the delay, which, they noted, was paid for by US taxpayers, according to Tolo News. (ANI) Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) parliamentary leader Khwaja Muhammad Asif on Friday argued that coming generations would not forgive the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for selling the country and its sovereignty. Addressing the chair, the PMLN parliamentarian said the history would also not forgive him for degrading the august chair the way he wreaked havoc on rules and parliamentary traditions, according to News International. Khwaja Muhammad Asif said the attitude adopted by those sitting on speaker's chair was not seen even during dictators' rule. "At least in the last 32 years, I never experienced such an attitude from speaker's chair," he said adding that the chair also demands it is given respect. On the other hand, another PMLN member, Riaz Hussain Pirzada, said after surrendering rivers and Kashmir, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had also been surrendered. He said the non-elected people were more respectful while the elected representatives were being abused. "The elected representatives and situation has reached to such a level that he does not want contest elections again," he said. Further, Pirzada said that on Friday, he saw a motorcade of non-elected people moving towards the Prime Minister's House which was larger than Premier's caravan. He said they were disgraced in their own constituencies and even a retired havaldar threatens them. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said protest of opposition against the government was its right but it should respect speaker's chair, according to News International. (ANI) You are here: China An article by President Xi Jinping on making continuous efforts to build a stronger digital economy in China will be published. The article by Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, will be published on Sunday in this year's 2nd issue of the Qiushi Journal, a flagship magazine of the CPC Central Committee. The mutually agreed boundary issues between India and Nepal can always be addressed in the spirit of close and bilateral relations between the two countries, said the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu on Saturday. "India's position on the India-Nepal boundary is well known, consistent and unambiguous. It has been communicated to the Government of Nepal," said the Indian Embassy here on Saturday in response to media queries regarding recent reports and statements in Nepal on the question of the India-Nepal boundary. "It is our view that the established inter-governmental mechanisms and channels are most appropriate for communication and dialogue," added the statement. "Mutually agreed boundary issues that are outstanding can always be addressed in the spirit of our close and friendly bilateral relations," read the statement. (ANI) China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the ambitious project of Beijing and Islamabad, has trapped into Pakistan's worsening security situation, the rise of terror attacks in the country and domestic unrest leading to slow progress of the project which has been disappointing Beijing, said a report. China has been expressing its disappointments to Islamabad as the latter has been continuously failing to provide complete security to the project and the people involved in it. Even Islamabad is facing rising unrest and protests from locals in Balochistan, Gwadar and other areas as they accuse the government of depriving them of basic amenities and rights. The CPEC's northern end, where China has heavily invested in infrastructure that is already operational, the return of the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan has raised prospects of threats from terror groups. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) are getting active not far from the route. While the Afghan Taliban are fighting the IS-K, the Imran Khan government is desperately seeking to reach a peace deal with the TTP, said a report by Geopolitica on Saturday. The dangerous mix of militant groups is working in both, collusion and at cross-purpose at the same time, to suit their immediate plans have endangered the Corridor, the report said. The CPEC's southern end witnessed recurring protests in Gwadar port that Beijing planned, funded, built and now operates as its principal gateway into the Indian Ocean to ensure speedy fuel supplies from the Gulf nearby, has tied both Beijing and Islamabad in an unenviable fix, the report added. Thousand of 'nationalists' have 'disappeared' (detained by intelligence agencies), or have been killed in Balochistan as they speak for their rights and oppose the federal government's policies which ignore locals. Maulana Hedayatur Rahman, a cleric of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), led the recent Gwadar protests. Rehman stuck to the political and economic demands of the local Balochs and held back his party's own agenda. The JI leader was able to carry along the Baloch 'nationalist' groups. People, including women, not only from Gwadar port city but from nearby districts of Balochistan converged by the thousands and stayed on for a month, said the Geopolitica report. This was the biggest protest movement in Gwadar, a sleepy port town, gained prominence as a city with a modern port. Analysts believe there has been development, but the same has not generated jobs and resources for the local populace, fuelling simmering anger, the report added. However, the protests seemed to make disappoint China as such domestic issues led to a halt in the progress of the CPEC works. However, the experts have been doubtful about Pakistan's willingness and its ability to meet these demands in foreseeable future to the satisfaction of the protestors. But in an attempt to silence the protests, Islamabad has sought time to meet their demands. Beijing has heavily invested in the CPEC as a short route that allows it to avoid the circuitous Gulf of Malacca and the South China Sea region, noted experts. However, the emerging deteriorating security scenario in the Af-Pak region, through which the CPEC traverses, could jeopardise Beijing's long-term plans in the region and beyond, according to Geopolitica. (ANI) "Bodies of 225 deceased people were brought to morgues... There were 19 police and service personnel among them," Serik Shalabayev told a news conference. The official said that 4,578 people had been identified as victims following almost two weeks of violent protests. This includes 4,353 wounded people, 3,393 of them security service personnel. After weeks of protests and unrest in the country, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instructed the country's National Security Council to accelerate efforts to establish a Special Operations Force according to Sputnik. Kazakhstan witnessed large-scale protests in recent weeks over the hike in gas prices and it forced the cabinet to resign. With the worsening situation, President Tokayev invited Collective Security Treaty Organization forces in the country for control. The CSTO forces left Kazakhstan on Friday and country's situation is turning back to normal, as reported by Sputnik. (ANI) "China will continue to make every effort to ensure the supply of vaccines to Iran and help Tehran gain the final victory over the epidemic," Sputnik quoted Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as saying during talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahianon in China on Friday. The Chinese Minister also noted that Beijing is ready to boost exchanges with Tehran and will expand cooperation in various fields. Wang also vowed to take the two countries' comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level. It came as Wang and Abdollahianon held talks in the Chinese city of Wuxi in the eastern province of Jiangsu on Friday and agreed to implement a strategic agreement for 25 years. China and Iran conducted in-depth discussions and agreed to step up cooperation on energy, infrastructure, production capacity, science and technology, and medical and health care with the announcement of the launch of the implementation of the 25-year comprehensive cooperation plan, reported Xinhua. (ANI) In the wake of the recent boundary issue with Nepal, the government of India has said that outstanding boundary issues with Nepal will be settled through the established mechanisms and channels. The Indian response on Saturday comes amid an outcry in Nepal against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent statement on the expansion of a road via Lipulekh, a territory Nepal has claimed as its own. Nepal's major political parties had expressed concern over Modi's statement and called on the Deuba government to respond to it, however the Deuba government has not made its position yet. While addressing an election rally, Modi on December 30 announced that his government had extended a road to Lipulekh and that there were more plans to extend it further. The Indian government is building a road via Lipulekh to Kailash Mansarovar in the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China. Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had inaugurated the road in the first week of May 2020, creating quite an uproar in Nepal. The Nepal government then on May 20, 2020 unveiled a new map incorporating Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh within the Nepali territory. The new map was endorsed by Parliament unanimously through a constitutional amendment. Almost all political parties in Nepal, including Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's own Nepali Congress, have been demanding that the government speak up on Modi's statement and make its position clear on Lipulekh. On Friday, the ruling Nepali Congress whose President is Deuba issued a statement. Gagan Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma, the two general secretaries of the Congress, jointly met with Prime Minister Deuba and urged him to send a diplomatic note to India protesting against Modi's statement. On Friday evening, both Thapa and Sharma issued a joint statement saying that Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura are integral parts of Nepal and that the Nepali Congress is clear about it. "India should return its army from Kalapani. The construction of the road is a serious issue and objectionable. This should be stopped immediately," the statement added. "The Government of India's position on the India-Nepal boundary is well known, consistent and unambiguous," the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said in a statement on Saturday. "It has been communicated to the Government of Nepal." The statement comes amid preparations by the Nepal government on making its position on Modi's remarks. India had taken umbrage at Nepal's move, calling the publication of the new map in May 2012 as "cartographic assertions". Nepal-India relations then hit a rock-bottom. Bilateral ties came back on track only at the end of last year. But Modi's remarks on Lipulekh once again created a commotion in Nepal. The main opposition CPN-UML criticised the Deuba administration for failing to respond to Modi's claim on Lipulekh. Even Deuba's coalition partners -- Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) and the CPN (Unified Socialist) -- called on the government to make a position. The Indian embassy has said the inter-governmental mechanisms and channels are appropriate for communication. "It is our view that the established inter-governmental mechanisms and channels are most appropriate for communication and dialogue," said the embassy. "Mutually agreed boundary issues that are outstanding can always be addressed in the spirit of our close and friendly bilateral relations." --IANS giri/pgh ( 546 Words) 2022-01-15-20:38:03 (IANS) At least six persons were injured on Friday night (local time) in a shooting incident outside a concert hall in Eugene, Oregon. As per the police, they have been taken to a hospital. The shooting occurred during a Lil Bean and Zay Bang show, reported CNN. "Reports came in at 9:29 pm of multiple shots fired at WOW Hall, 219 W. 8th Avenue. EPD and multiple law enforcement agencies responded, along with Eugene Springfield Fire," police tweeted. Police Chief Chris Skinner told reporters early Saturday morning that one victim is in critical condition after "certainly one of the highest-profile shootings we've had in the city of Eugene," reported CNN. That person was undergoing surgery, he said. He did not know the status of the others who were shot. Skinner asked any witnesses with video or audio of the incident to help police, reported CNN. "We just need people to feel comfortable and bring that forward so we can better understand what happened and better identify our suspect," he said. "All we know at this point is we have a male in a hoodie that was seen running westbound ... right after the shooting." WOW Hall Interim Executive Director Deb Maher and Board Chair Jaci Guerena posted a statement on the venue's website and called the shooting "unprecedented," reported CNN. "There is not much information currently available however we heard gunshots in the back parking lot. The motives are not yet known. We do know that some people were injured, but we do not know the extent of the injuries, and we do not want to speculate," the statement said. (ANI) A rabbi is believed to be among the hostages, reported CNN. As per the authorities, FBI negotiators made contact with the person in the building. Police said residents are being evacuated and they advise people to avoid the area, reported CNN. Police say there are no injuries at this point, no significant updates and still no plans for a news conference soon. Israel's Minister of Diaspora Affairs Nachman Shai said in a tweet on Saturday that he is "monitoring closely" the hostage situation unfolding at the Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, from Israel, reported CNN. "Monitoring closely from Israel the hostage situation unfolding at Beth Israel Congregation where the Jewish community gathered for Shabbat services in Colleyville, Texas. Praying for an immediate and safe end," the tweet read. The FBI and Texas Department of Public Safety are assisting a hostage situation at the Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, according to Colleyville Police Sgt Dara Nelson. The White House is monitoring the hostage situation at a Colleyville, Texas, synagogue this afternoon, a White House official said, reported CNN. There's an active SWAT situation in Colleyville, Texas, according to a series of tweets from the police department. (ANI) Pakistan's interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said that around 2,600 km of the Durand Line has been fenced, reported Tolo News. "The fencing extends to around 2,600 km. Only 21 km fencing remains. The rest of the fencing will be done in a way that satisfies the Islamic Emirate. They (Kabul Authorities) are our brothers," he said. Meanwhile, the Islamic Emirate said that it is willing to resolve the issue via negotiations, reported Tolo News. "The Islamic Emirate wants all issues to be solved via negotiations, especially the issue of lines (Durand Line) we are ready for talks in this regard," said Inamullah Samangani, deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate. The developments come amid Afghanistan's ambassador to Islamabad called the Durand Line a national issue, saying that the decision over its fate should be referred to the nation. A video on social media appears to show Islamic Emirate forces destroying fencing built by the Pakistani military along the Durand Line, reported Tolo News. The force members on the video warned the Pakistani military to stop building fences or they will face dangerous consequences. "If the Islamic Emirate agrees to fencing, indeed it means the recognition of the line (Durand Line)," said Sayed Javad Husseini, leader of Hezb-e-Tawsa Wa Adalat. The Durand Line has been a controversial issue between the two neighbouring countries for a long time. Despite the opposition of previous Afghan governments to fencing on the Durand Line, the Pakistani officials said that 94 per cent of fencing has been finished, reported Tolo News. (ANI) Six people were injured Friday night after a shooting outside a concert hall in Eugene, Oregon, police said. The Eugene Police Department received reports of multiple shots fired around 9:30 p.m. Friday night outside WOW Hall, where rappers Lil Bean and Zay Bang were performing. Police don't yet know if the shooting was random or targeted, chief Chris Skinner said at a news conference early Saturday. Police are searching for a single suspect who was seen in a hoodie, fleeing after the shooting. Skinner called the shooting "one of the highest profile shootings we've had in the city of Eugene" and urged witnesses to contact police to offer any information or footage of the scene they may have. "We know we have witnesses," he said. "We know we probably have video and audio evidence that's available. We just need people to feel comfortable to bring that forward." Multiple other law enforcement agencies responded to the shooting, including Eugene Springfield Fire, Skinner said. All classes at WOW Hall have been canceled until further notice, the concert hall said in a statement on its website, adding that they believe all staff and volunteers are safe and have been accounted for. "This is unprecedented at the WOW Hall," the statement said. Contact News Now Reporter Christine Fernando at cfernando@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Eugene, Oregon concert hall shooting: 6 people injured After the January 6 Capitol siege, top companies scrambled to cut ties with the 147 GOP lawmakers who voted against certifying Joe Biden's 2020 election win. Scott Olson/Getty Images On Jan. 6, 2021, some 147 GOP lawmakers voted against certifying Joe Biden's 2020 election victory. Members of the group have since received $8.1 million in corporate donations, watchdog Accountable.US says. These eight companies and trade groups are among the top donors, according to Accountable.US. Trump supporters clashed with police and security on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021. Brent Stirton/Getty Images Top US companies and trade groups have donated more than $8.1 million to Republican lawmakers who voted against Joe Biden's certification as president, according to a report by watchdog Accountable.US. After a pro-Trump mob stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, many companies scrambled to cut ties with the 147 GOP lawmakers who voted against certifying the 2020 election result. Dozens of companies including Walmart, Amazon, Morgan Stanley, and AT&T said they would stop donating to these 147 Republican lawmakers a group dubbed the Sedition Caucus by political opponents. Others including Microsoft, Deloitte, and Goldman Sachs said they would pause all political donations. But Accountable.US says donations to the GOP election objectors soon recovered. "What makes no sense is why major corporations chose to reward the politicians that weaponized Donald Trump's Big Lie with millions of dollars in campaign cash," Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US, told Insider. In the aftermath of the Capitol siege, "many big-name companies assured their customers and employees how much they value our democracy, but it's obvious they value something more holding political influence over as many lawmakers as possible, even if those lawmakers voted to subvert our government," Herrig said. Here are some of the top donors to the GOP election objectors, per Accountable.US's corporate donations tracker, which is based on Federal Election Commission (FEC) data on direct donations from Fortune 500 companies and 700 trade associations. The latest data reflects donations through November 2021. Boeing Boeing said it paused all political donations after January 6. Boeing Aviation giant Boeing is among the largest donors to the GOP election objectors, with its PAC handing out $190,000 since January 2021, according to the Accountable.US tracker. Story continues Boeing said it paused political donations after the January 6 attack and condemned the "violence, lawlessness, and destruction that took place in the US Capitol." Its donations include $10,000 to California Rep. Ken Calvert and $9,000 to Kentucky Rep. Hal Rogers, according to Accountable.US. Boeing declined to comment. UPS UPS has donated to 58 GOP election objectors, per Accountable.US. Jim Young/Reuters Logistics company UPS has donated $167,000 to GOP election objectors, per the Accountable.US tracker. The donations, up to a maximum of $5,000 each, were made to 58 of them, the tracker shows. UPS did not respond to Insider's request for comment. Lockheed Martin Lockheed Martin has donated to more than half of the 147 GOP election objectors, per Accountable.US. Jon Hobley/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images Aerospace and defense group Lockheed Martin has donated $184,500 to 76 GOP election objectors, meaning it has donated to more than half of the group, the Accountable.US tracker shows. Lockheed Martin's donations include $8,000 each to Calvert and to Utah Rep. Chris Stewart, according to the tracker. Lockheed Martin did not respond to Insider's request for comment. Raytheon Raytheon said it paused all political donations after the Capitol siege. AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images After the Capitol siege, a spokesperson for aerospace and defense company Raytheon told Defense News that it had paused all PAC contributions "to reflect on the current environment and determine appropriate next steps." According to the Accountable.US tracker, Raytheon has since donated $186,000 to GOP election objectors, including $8,000 to Calvert and $6,500 to Colorado Rep. Doug Lamborn. Raytheon didn't respond to Insider's request for comment. General Dynamics General Dynamics has donated $173,500 to 53 GOP election objectors, per Accountable.US. General Dynamics Defense contractor General Dynamics has split $173,500 among 53 of the GOP election objectors since the January 6 siege, including $10,000 each to Calvert and to Florida Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, per Accountable.US. General Dynamics declined to comment. American Bankers Association The American Bankers Association gave $203,000 to the GOP objectors between January 6 and November 2021, according to Accountable.US. Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images The American Bankers Association (ABA) is the top corporate donor on Accountable.US's tracker. The ABA donated $203,000 to GOP election objectors between January 6 and November 2021, the tracker shows. After the January 6 siege, the ABA said it had temporarily paused all political contributions, and a spokesperson told Insider in January 2021 that the group would consider the "troubling events" at the Capitol when making future donations. "The violent riot on Capitol Hill was nothing short of an assault on our democracy," an ABA spokesperson said at the time. "We continue to call on all elected officials to do everything in their power to support a peaceful transition of power." The group's PAC has since donated to 60 of the 147 election objectors, including $5,000 to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, according to the Accountable.US tracker. The ABA did not respond to Insider's renewed request for comment. National Beer Wholesalers Association The National Beer Wholesalers Association donated to 94 Republican election objectors after the Capitol siege. John Leyba/Getty Images The National Beer Wholesalers Association has donated to more than half of the 147 GOP election objectors since the January 6 siege, splitting $196,000 between 94 of them, per the Accountable.US tracker. The association didn't respond to Insider's request for comment. Regions Financial Regions Financial has donated $125,000 to GOP election objectors since January 6, per Accountable.US. Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Banking group Regions Financial has donated $125,000 to 64 GOP election objectors since the Capitol siege, per Accountable.US. A spokesperson for Regions Financial said: "Contributions from Regions' voluntary, employee-funded political action committee are evaluated on an individual basis. The PAC has long supported candidates from both major parties whose policy objectives align with our goal of providing exceptional financial services to the people, businesses, and communities we serve." Kevin McCarthy tops individual donations list Since Jan. 6, Kevin McCarthy has received the most in corporate donations of any GOP election objector, according to Accountable.US. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Other companies whose PACs have made substantial donations to the GOP election objectors include Chevron, Eli Lilly, FedEx, General Motors, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Pfizer. An Eli Lilly spokesperson said: "LillyPAC supports candidates across the political spectrum who understand the value of a vibrant pharmaceutical ecosystem to address unmet patient needs. Contributions from LillyPAC will continue to be in line with Lilly's purpose to make life better." Chevron, FedEx, General Motors, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Pfizer did not respond to Insider's requests for comment. Accountable.US's tracker features dozens of other companies and trade associations that made single small contributions to individual objectors. These feed into the more than $8.1 million that corporate PACs have given to GOP election objectors since the Capitol siege. Of all the 147 GOP election objectors, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is the top recipient of corporate funding since January 6, 2021, receiving $333,500 from the Fortune 500 companies and trade associations listed on Accountable.US's tracker. McCarthy is followed by Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, with $250,000, and Missouri Rep. Sam Graves, with $207,752. Accountable.US says companies and trade associations indirectly donated millions to GOP election objectors by funding multi-candidate committees like the National Republican Senatorial Committee and National Republican Congressional Committee. Accountable.US's Herrig told Insider: "Some things should be bigger than the bottom line, like a healthy democracy. These corporations should recognize that normalizing election conspiracy-mongers in Congress equates to normalizing their anti-democratic behavior. "If they truly stand by their words in support of democracy, companies must prove it by changing their own hypocritical and complicit behavior." Read the original article on Business Insider Miracle on the Hudson A320. Daniel Barry/Getty Images Exactly 13 years have passed since an Airbus A320 miraculously crash-landed on the Hudson River with no fatalities. Pilots Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles ditched the powerless plane on the river after a bird strike. The damaged aircraft sat on display in Charlotte, North Carolina before moving to storage, but will be back in 2022. It has been 13 years since captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and first officer Jeffrey Skiles maneuvered a fully loaded Airbus A320 jet onto the Hudson River after the plane suffered total engine failure from a bird strike. Miracle on the Hudson A320. John Roca/NY Daily News via Getty Images Source: Britannica The damaged US Airways aircraft crash-landed on the water, but, there were zero fatalities. Sullenberger's heroic life-or-death decision has become world-famous, with the accident dubbed the "Miracle on the Hudson." Sully presented with keys to the city. Timothy Fadek/Corbis via Getty Images Source: Britannica 150 passengers were on board the plane, who evacuated after the crash at the direction of flight attendants Donna Dent, Doreen Welsh, and Sheila Dale. Flight attendants presented with keys to the city. Michael Nagle/Getty Images Source: Britannica, CN Traveler The passengers were forced to stand on the wings and sit in rafts in freezing temperatures as the aircraft slowly sunk, anxiously waiting for rescue boats to arrive. Miracle on the Hudson A320. Reuters Source: Britannica, WCNC 14 boats and dozens of emergency first responders and ferry crews saved the passengers within minutes of the accident. Many of the passengers had been exposed to harsh 30-degree waters. Passengers being rescued from the raft. Reuters Source: Britannica, Hudson Reporter In an interview with WCNC in 2019, passenger Barry Leonard, who was first to exit the plane, explained the harrowing situation. "I didn't know what to do," he said. "The flight attendant said jump. So I jumped." He was in the water for about four minutes before being pulled onto a raft. Passengers stand on the wings of the ditched plane. Reuters Source: WCNC The "miracle" grabbed the attention of people across the world and even inspired the movie Sully, where Tom Hanks played the skilled pilot. Sully, Tom Hanks, and director Clint Eastwood. Reuters Source: IMDb Moreover, the National Transportation Safety Board described the flight as "the most successful ditching in aviation history." Story continues NTSB. Ramin Talaie/Getty Images Source: Honeywell Aerospace After the NTSB determined the cause of the crash, it was clear the historic plane needed a permanent home. So, the A320 was put up for auction by insurance firm Chartis but, unfortunately, had no buyers. Miracle on the Hudson A320. Daniel Barry/Getty Images Source: Simple Flying However, the plane was not going to be scraped. Instead, it was donated to the Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina by the American International Group. The plane was transported via highway to its new home. Miracle on the Hudson A320. Tim Shaffer/Reuters Source: Time Sully spoke at the museum in June 2011 for the plane's arrival and was accompanied by many of the passengers and other crewmembers. Sully speaking at the museum. Reuters Source: Time Survivors also donated personal belongings to be on display in the museum. Moreover, several artifacts from the crash, like life vests, seat cushions, and emergency doors, are also part of the exhibit. Sully inside the Miracle on the Hudson A320. Todd Sumlin/Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images Source: Time The A320 became the museum's centerpiece, complete with the damage it suffered during the crash. Visitors got the opportunity to witness the dents and breaks to the engines... Miracle on the Hudson engine. Taylor Rains/Insider ...nose... Miracle on the Hudson nose. Taylor Rains/Insider ...wings... Miracle on the Hudson wing. Taylor Rains/Insider ...and tail. Miracle on the Hudson tail. Taylor Rains/Insider According to the museum, the aircraft was a "game-changer" for revenue, with guests coming from all over to see the famous plane. What was once a niche site with mostly unknown aircraft quickly became a place of national and historic significance. Insider's Taylor Rains at the Miracle on the Hudson exhibit. Taylor Rains/Insider Source: Charlotte Observer Not only could visitors see the plane up close, but they could also hear from the survivors of the accident. Passengers regularly spoke at the museum, sharing their stories from that dramatic day. Insider's Taylor Rains with a Miracle on the Hudson survivor. Taylor Rains/Insider "What's amazing is there's 155 different stories from that day and I like hearing everybody else's stories, and it just makes it so miraculous," Laurie Crane told WCNC in 2019. "Some people thought we were going to die on the plane, then we thought we were going to die on the river. That we all were saved, it's just a godsend." Miracle on the Hudson passengers. Mike Coppola/FilmMagic via Getty Images Source: WCNC The plane was the museum's centerpiece until 2019 when it was moved to storage after the site temporarily closed while it finds a new hangar to store its aviation collection. However, the A320 will not be gone forever. Flight 1549 items in the museum's gift-shop lobby. John Bordsen/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images Source: WCNC According to the museum, the aircraft will find a new home in 2022 where it will once again be on display for public viewings. Miracle on the Hudson fuselage. Taylor Rains/Insider Source: WCNC Read the original article on Business Insider Alec Baldwin, Rust set Mark Sagliocco / Getty Images for National Geographic / Jae C. Hong / AP Photo Alec Baldwin has turned over his cell phone to authorities in the "Rust" shooting investigation. A Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office spokesperson on Friday told Insider that Baldwin surrendered the device. On Thursday, police said Baldwin had not turned it over one month after a search warrant was issued. Alec Baldwin has turned over his cell phone to authorities investigating the fatal shooting of cinematographer Hylana Hutchinson on the set of the film "Rust," last year. A spokesperson for the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office told Insider that Baldwin surrendered his phone to Suffolk County law enforcement officials who are aiding New Mexico authorities in investigating the incident. "They will gather information off the phone and provide the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office with the evidence gathered," Juan Rios, the spokesperson said. "The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office does not yet have physical possession of the data to be retrieved off the Baldwin phone," Rios added. "This is in process." Police are investigating the October incident in which Baldwin fatally shot Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza on the set of the Western film while rehearsing a scene with a firearm he said he had been told did not contain live rounds. The update comes one day after the sheriff's office said Baldwin still had not handed over his phone, nearly one month after a search warrant was issued for the device. On December 16, the sheriff's office obtained a warrant authorizing it to seize Baldwin's cell phone as part of their probe into the shooting on Santa Fe's Bonanza Creek Ranch set. Earlier this week, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the 24-year-old armorer on the film, filed a lawsuit against the film's ammo supplier, alleging the company provided a box that contained live ammunition mixed with dummy rounds. In the court documents, Gutierrez Reed also alleged Baldwin ignored a request to attend "cross draw training" just days before the shooting. Read the original article on Insider Faced with an ongoing pandemic and recruiting challenges, the US Army is for the first time offering up to $50,000 in bonuses for new recruits. The total amount each new soldier receives will vary widely, with some receiving $1,000 and others getting far more, based on their position, skill, level, and how long they plan to serve. Those who enlist for six years can receive the maximum amount. Others who join elite Army units like the Rangers or the Airborne programme can receive an extra $10,000. And for those ready to join right away, they could make up to $9,000 extra if they report to Basic Combat Training within three months. Previously, Army bonuses have topped out at $40,000. "This is an opportunity to entice folks to consider the Army," Brigadier General John Cushing, deputy commanding general for operations at the US Army Recruiting Command, said in a statement. "Weve taken a look at the critical (military occupational specialties) we need to fill in order to maintain the training bases, and that is where we place a lot of our emphasis." Recruiters have had a challenging year, with Covid shutting down many in-person facilities, and public opinion souring on the armed forces. In 2021, the Army just missed its recruiting goals, securing about 1,000 less active-duty accessions than the 57,500 it was hoping for. Were in a pretty challenging recruiting environment right now, Brigadier General Patrick Michaelis, deputy commanding general of US Army Recruiting Command, told The Army Times last May. It is because of the effects of COVID, [and] because of the effects of the political discourse and the discussions going on in our country today. Many Americans were shocked at the sight of armed troops on US soil in 2021, from the National Guardsmen used to put down 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, to federal troops in the Capitol during the final days of the Trump administration, to the numerous veterans who were a part of the 6 January insurrection at the US Capitol. Story continues Some recruiters have opted for new tactics , trying to reach new recruits through virtual meetings, social media influences, and esports. It hasnt always gone according to plan, however, as commenters spammed an Army Twitch stream with questions about war crimes in summer of 2020. Other services seemed to have weathered the pandemic just fine. In 2021, the Air Force announced it had hit its recruiting goals for the first time in five years. "We are still living the implications of 2020 and the onset of COVID, when the school systems basically shut down," Major General Kevin Vereen told the AP. "We lost a full class of young men and women that we didnt have contact with, face-to-face." Others have opted out of military service as part of the Great Resignation, General Vereen added, saying some "are making the decision that they dont necessarily need to work right now." Bank of America says 5G comes alive in 2022 it sees big upside potential for 3 smaller-name stocks that could give you a piece in a pivotal year 2021 turned out to be a great year for many 5G stocks. But according to Bank of America, 2022 could be even better. This is the year 5G comes alive, says the banks Global Research team. Bank of America points out that wireless carriers like Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile plan to spend tens of billions of dollars on 5G deployment in the next few years. And that spending could boost the business at communications infrastructure companies. This is the literal beginning. 22 will be a very exciting period for Comm. Infrastructure, the team says. So heres a look at three of Bank of Americas top picks in this sector. They may not be as well known as Verizon or AT&T, but the financial juggernaut sees big upside potential in these stocks as the 5G rollout continues. Digital Realty Trust (DLR) Sundry Photography/Shutterstock Digital Realty Trust is a real estate investment trust that owns, operates, acquires and develops data centers. The companys shares climbed more than 20% over the past year, but Bank of America believes the REIT can go even higher. Earlier this month, the bank reiterated its Buy rating on DLR and increased its price target from $175 to $190. Considering that the REIT trades at around $160 per share, Bank of America is projecting a potential upside of 18.8%. Data centers have been in high demand, so unsurprisingly, business is booming at Digital Realty Trust. Since 2005, the companys core funds from operations (FFO) per share have increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11%. Digital Realty Trust also offers a steadily increasing stream of dividends to shareholders: It has raised its payout for 16 consecutive years. In Q3 of 2021, the company signed total bookings that are expected to boost its annualized rental revenue by $113 million. Core FFO came in at $1.65 per share for the quarter, up 7.1% from a year ago. DLR currently offers an annual dividend yield of 2.9%. SBA Communications (SBAC) Companies that own communications towers represent another way to play the 5G boom. Story continues We expect carrier capex intended to build out 5G networks, C-Band, and other spectrum deployments will remain the key tailwind for demand growth, says Bank of America about this group. Among tower owners, SBA Communications is Bank of Americas top pick. Structured as a REIT, SBAC owns and operates a portfolio of wireless communications infrastructure that includes towers, buildings, rooftops, distributed antenna systems and small cells. The company leases antenna space to a variety of wireless service providers under long-term lease contracts. It also assists wireless services providers and operators in developing their own networks. SBAC has attracted a lot of investor attention, with shares soaring 223% over the past five years. As youd expect from that share price performance, the company is pumping out impressive growth rates. In Q3 of 2021, SBACs total revenue increased 12.7% year-over-year to $589.3 million. It generated adjusted FFO of $2.71 per share for the quarter, up 13.9% from the year-ago period. The company pays quarterly dividends with an annual yield of just under 0.7%. Bank of America has a Buy rating on SBAC and recently raised its price target on the company from $365 to $425. That implies a potential upside of around 25%. Crown Castle International (CCI) Crown Castle International is another communications tower REIT that Bank of America is bullish on. Headquartered in Houston, Crown Castle has a huge infrastructure portfolio that consists of more than 40,000 cell towers, over 80,000 small cell nodes and about 80,000 route miles of fiber. The company has a strong appeal to dividend investors. It pays quarterly dividends of $1.47 per share, translating to an annual yield of 3.1%. The dividend has increased every year and management is targeting a 7% to 8% dividend per share annual growth rate going forward. In the latest earnings report, Crown Castle CEO Jay Brown made it very clear that 5G will be a catalyst for the companys business in 2022. We are focused on supporting our customers as they upgrade their existing cell sites as part of the first phase of the 5G build out in the U.S., which is resulting in record tower application volumes this year and an expected 20% increase in core leasing activity for our Towers segment for full year 2022 when compared to projected 2021 levels, he said. Bank of America has a Buy rating on Crown Castle and recently raised its price target on the company to $224, suggesting a potential upside of 19%. Final thoughts on 5G stocks Aquila/Shutterstock At the end of the day, keep in mind that there are many ways to capitalize on the 5G rollout. From wireless carriers and communications infrastructure companies mentioned above, to device makers and semiconductor companies, many businesses are well positioned to benefit in the 5G era. And since each sector provides a unique risk-return profile, its important to do your research before putting your money in the market. More from MoneyWise 4 Ways to Earn Big Returns in 2022 Without the Shaky Stock Market Here Are 4 of Jim Cramer's Top Stock Picks for 2022 if You're a Risk-Averse Investor but Still Want Solid Growth, These Might Be for You Warren Buffett Is Ready to Ride Out 2022 With These Dividend Stocks Bank of America Predicts an S&P 500 Slump in 2022 But Still Believes in These 3 Sectors This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind. A tsunami advisory along the California coast did not keep surfers away from Venice Beach on Saturday. People were advised to stay out of the water and away from the shoreline. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) The tsunami activity that hit the California coast on Saturday brought modest waves, flooding in some locations and much curiosity. There were no reports of major damage or injuries, with most areas seeing 1- to 2-foot waves. Officials did not expect major flooding but warned that the situation caused by a volcano erupting near the South Pacific nation of Tonga posed dangers to swimmers, surfers and boats. Beaches and harbors up and down the coast were closed. The surge swept into Santa Cruz Harbor, causing flooding and jostling boats, said Ashley Keehn, public information officer for the Santa Cruz County Sheriffs Office. Deputies and the Harbor Patrol evacuated people from the harbor early Saturday, including some people who live aboard boats. We went boat to boat evacuating the docks and making sure there wasn't anyone inside that could potentially be in danger, Keehn said. The water level rose several feet in the harbor, she added. There have been some minor waves rolling in, Keehn said. We have seen some boats getting knocked around a little bit. One car was submerged in seawater up to the tops of the tires, she said. No injuries were reported. Authorities planned to assess any damage once the water receded, Keehn said. With the water still being a pretty high level, it's hard to assess the damage right now. Initial reports from Santa Cruz Harbor indicated little damage to vessels moored there. Gordon Rudy, a Realtor who keeps a 28-foot cabin cruiser on U-Dock, watched the surge from the harbor parking lot after being evacuated and said, There are no boats being damaged at this point.A decade ago, a tsunami caused by a Japanese earthquake left the harbor with damage estimated at more than $20 million. People present for both events said Saturdays surge was relatively mild. We saw very little debris floating in the channel. Nothing compared to 2011, said contractor Scott Sommers, who spent the night on his 32-foot power boat in preparation for early morning crabbing. When the tsunami advisory was issued before dawn, boat owners roused sleeping neighbors. Story continues Some opted to take their boats out to the open sea for safety, while others decided to leave their vessels in place and watch from land or a railroad bridge overlooking the harbor. The surge arrived shortly after 8 a.m., they said, and was markedly different from the violent waves of the 2011 tsunami. There were no big waves. It would just surge in and surge back out, Sommers said. He and Rudy estimated the water quickly rose as much as 8 feet and then flowed out just as rapidly. Like high tide and low tide happened in two or three minutes, Sommers said. While the boats seemed to survive the surge, water breached the embankment, flooding parking lots and streets. As of 11 a.m., the harbor remained closed and inaccessible to owners to inspect boats. Rudy, whose boat suffered nearly $30,000 damage in the 2011 tsunami, said he purchased a new boat in October and was relieved that it appeared to have escaped harm. You have an absolutely perfect boat, you hope you can keep it that way, he said. Dustin Mulvaney, a professor of environmental studies at San Jose State University who lives in Santa Cruz, shared photos on Twitter of the waves sloshing against the cliffs and inundating steps on the shore. The waves are just coming from everywhere, it seems like, Mulvaney said. The water's bouncing around a lot. The tsunami swell coincided with a high tide and submerged the lower steps under about 15 feet of water at Mitchells Cove, Mulvaney said. He said he calculated that when the waves were breaking, the splash reached as high as 20 feet up the stairs. Mulvaney said he walks along West Cliff Drive every day, often with his dog and two kids. The waves were some of the biggest hes seen in the last year, but no surfers were in the water. This time, he said, the waves looked different. It definitely is choppy, Mulvaney said. You're not able to read these waves because they're coming from different angles. Between wave sets, the water receded unusually far, posing potential danger for any unsuspecting people who might venture down to the beach, Mulvaney said. That's why I stayed up on the cliff. Beyond the immediate hazards in the harbor and elsewhere, Mulvaney said looking at the crashing waves made him think about the need to prepare for sea-level rise and worsening storm surges. We have areas prone to earthquakes and fires," he said, "and just having a tsunami added on top of all thatmakes you realize that we all live in kind of vulnerable places. In Southern California, beaches and piers were closed but the curious still came out. Halfway along the Newport Pier, a gate blocked access to its end, a surprise to Newport Beach resident Bob Baeyens, 61. Ive never seen it closed off this way. But then you usually don't get word of tsunami danger, not really here, he said, looking at the surfers below. They're still coming, he added, pointing toward the bobbing bodies in wetsuits, which he estimated at about 100. The retired construction worker said his son alerted him to the Tongan eruption, texting him pictures, and during his beach walk around 11 a.m. Saturday, he noticed higher-than-normal waves. We're a long way from that volcano, yet things can connect, he said. I just don't think it will affect the amount of people coming to the beach because we all like Southern California for a reason. I mean, just the other day it was 81 degrees in January yeah, January. There's only a few places in the world where that can happen. Baeyens turned to his phone to read more tsunami updates from his son. Across the landscape, dozens of pigeons stood sentry outside the Dory Fishing Fleet entrance, their eyes seeking out scraps. Families strolled by with babies in puffer jackets. Teenagers whizzed along on flashing scooters. A couple embraced, with one of them picking up their toddler and twirling her in the balmy fresh air. Every day here is a blessing, Baeyens said. Such a blessing. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. The Quebec government is facing widespread condemnation over a plan to fine the unvaccinated a significant amount. The government says this form of health tax would help pay the medical expenses of the unvaccinated disproportionately filling the provinces hospitals with COVID-19 infections. Quebec Premier Francois Legault said this would apply to adults who dont have a medical exemption and comes as cases of the virus are starting to plateau. He said a financial penalty is needed because about half of the patients in intensive care are unvaccinated, even though only 10% of adult Quebecers are not immunized The controversial plan is to be enacted next month as provincial leaders express concern about a health-care crisis caused by the rapid spread of the more transmissible omicron variant. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he needed more details to comment how this might work with Canadas universally funded health-care system. Some members of Legaults government call the plan discriminatory, unethical and punishing to low-income earners. Truck driver vaccinations There are concerns of looming shortages of goods as truck drivers crossing the border from the U.S. must be fully vaccinated as Saturday. Truckers are no longer granted an exemption that previously allowed all essential workers to travel back and forth freely. The new rule is expected to further impact supply chain challenges as it affects about 16,000 drivers, said Stephen Laskowski, president of the Ontario Trucking Association. The industry moves about 80% of the annual $648 billion in Canada-U.S. trade. Canadian truck drivers not fully vaccinated need to meet requirements for entry, testing and quarantine requirements. Others not fully vaccinated are being sent back to the U.S. News in brief Keurig Canada has been fined $3 million for misleading claims over coffee pod recycling. The Competition Bureau said the company made false or misleading claims that its single-use K-Cup pods can be recycled. The cups arent widely accepted for recycling in any province except Quebec and British Columbia. The company will also make an $800,000 donation to an environmental charity and $85,000 for the bureaus expenses. Story continues Canadas central bank is expected to raise its key interest rate as early as the second half of this year with better-than-expected growth for the economy. The rate has been stalled at 0.25% since May 2010. Growth in the economy has been accompanied by higher inflation, significant housing market activity and rising prices. Facts and figures: Canadas dollar is higher at 80 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar returns $1.26 in Canadian funds, before exchange fees. The Bank of Canadas key interest rate is unchanged at 0.25% while the prime lending rate is 2.45%. Canadian stock markets are mixed with the Toronto index up at 21,228 on Friday while the TSX Venture index was lower at 897 points. The average price for gas in Canada is higher at $1.44 a liter (Canadian) or $5.47 for a U.S. gallon. Lotto Max: (Jan. 11) 1, 3, 24, 25, 27, 36 and 47; bonus 12. (Jan. 7) 4, 5, 31, 39, 42, 45 and 50; bonus 11. Lotto 6/49: (Jan. 12) 8, 21, 26, 29, 31 and 46; bonus 14. (Jan. 8) 6, 18, 23, 31, 46 and 48; bonus 4. Regional briefs Theyre calling it the rain-mageddon as British Columbia agencies warn of more flooding. Environment Canada said the province is in for some more wild weather after earlier devastating flooding and mud slides. The latest warning is for the B.C. coast and Fraser Valley with heavy rain, snow at higher elevations and strong winds. Rain, combined with melting snow, could cause rivers to flood, it warns. What do you do when life gives you thousands of lemons? Laura Mulrooney, who owns a bakery in Chester, Nova Scotia, knows after receiving 2,000 surplus lemons from a grocery stores ordering error. She has since swamped the province with lemons and made dozens of squares, lemon loaf, curd, lemon water, lemonade, and gin and tonic. This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Canada Report: Quebec getting backlash over plan to fine the unvaccinated By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly will visit Kyiv next week to reaffirm support for Ukrainian sovereignty and reinforce efforts to deter "aggressive actions" by Russia, Ottawa said on Saturday. Moscow has stationed more than 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine and the United States said on Friday it feared Russia was preparing a pretext to invade if diplomacy failed to meet its objectives. Canada, with a sizeable and politically influential population of Ukrainian ethnic descent, has taken a hard line with Moscow since the annexation of Crimea in 2014. "The amassing of Russian troops and equipment in and around Ukraine jeopardizes security in the entire region. These aggressive actions must be deterred," Joly said in a statement. "Canada will work with its international partners to uphold the rules-based international order." Joly will meet Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal and travel to the west of the country to speak to a 200-strong Canadian training mission that has been there since 2015. Canadian Deputy Foreign Minister Marta Morgan and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy R. Sherman spoke on Friday and pledged continued close coordination to deter further Russian aggression against Ukraine and called for Russian de-escalation, U.S. Department of State spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday and "emphasized that any military incursion into Ukraine would have serious consequences, including coordinated sanctions," Trudeau's office said. Canada has imposed punitive measures on more than 440 individuals and entities over the annexation of Crimea. Joly will also meet NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels during her week-long trip starting Sunday. (Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Sandra Maler and Diane Craft) Celine Dion has canceled the remaining shows of the North American leg of her Courage World Tour, including April 8 at Gila River Arena in Glendale, as she recovers from a recent health issue. Dion had completed the first 52 shows on the tour before the pandemic forced her to reschedule all her dates in March 2020 but recently has been treated for severe and persistent muscle spasms which are preventing her from performing. Her recovery is taking longer than hoped. Her medical team continues to evaluate and treat the condition. More Arizona concerts: Mark your calendar for these 2022 Arizona music festivals In a message posted on her website, Dion said, I was really hoping that Id be good to go by now, but I suppose I just have to be more patient and follow the regimen that my doctors are prescribing. Theres a lot of organizing and preparation that goes into our shows, and so we have to make decisions today which will affect the plans two months down the road." How ticketholders can get refunds Celine Dion performs on the opening night of her new world tour "Courage" at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Quebec, on September 18, 2019. She went on to say that she's been "very touched by all the words of encouragement that everyones been sending to me on social media," adding "I feel your love and support and it means the world to me. More concert news: Your guide to the year's first major music festival in Phoenix Tickets purchased with a credit card through authorized ticketing outlets will be refunded automatically to the credit card used for purchase. Ticket holders of the canceled performances will receive an email notification with more information. For further inquiries, ticket holders should reach out to their original point of purchase. Reach the reporter at ed.masley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4495. Follow him on Twitter @EdMasley. Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Celine Dion cancels U.S. tour, including Phoenix, for health reasons Flash Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday spoke highly of the "unique architecture of Russia-China ties" and Russia's and China's joint efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation and solve international problems. The annual summits of the national leaders, meetings of the heads of government, and sessions of various commissions at the level of deputy prime minister (premier) "have proved to be very efficient," Lavrov said during his press conference summarizing Russian diplomacy in 2021. The outcomes of the mechanism "have been thought-through and can be implemented in practice. The mechanism allows us to achieve our goals," he said when answering a question raised by Xinhua. One of the achievements is the record-high turnover of Russia-China trade in 2021, Lavrov said. The trade turnover surged by 35.8 percent year-on-year to reach nearly 146.9 billion U.S. dollars, according to the General Customs Administration of China. In the international arena, Russia and China are jointly defending the United Nations Charter, the norms of international law, international fairness and justice, territorial integrity and independence, and upholding the settlement of all crises by diplomatic means and non-interference in the internal affairs of any state, Lavrov said. The top Russian diplomat positively assessed the alignment of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Belt and Road Initiative. The two countries are also closely cooperating within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, where Afghanistan and Central Asian issues enjoy special significance, he said. As Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to visit China early next month, Lavrov said that the two heads of state are expected to cover all aspects of bilateral relations and cooperation during their talks in Beijing. The foreign ministers of China and Iran met on Friday to announce that a 25-year cooperation deal between the two countries had been launched, while China also took the opportunity to criticize the United States' unilateral sanctions against Iran, Reuters reported. The cooperation deal, which was signed last March, builds a partnership between the two countries in areas like health care, infrastructure, cybersecurity and agriculture, the news outlet noted. The multitrillion-dollar Chinese Belt and Road enterprise now involves Iran, and the deal is also meant to further partnerships with other nations. But the U.S. and other nations have expressed concern over the deal, Reuters reported. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also expressed support for a resumption of negotiations over the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, however, he criticized the U.S. for imposing unilateral sanctions against Iran. The U.S. has also imposed sanctions on China and is maintaining a diplomatic boycott on the upcoming 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. In 2018, then-President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 deal, which required Iran to curb uranium enrichment in exchange for easing sanctions against the country. A year later, Iran began violating terms of the agreement and international negotiations have since struggled. The Chinese foreign minister said that his country was against getting involved in Iran's personal business, the U.S.'s sanctions against the Middle Eastern country and using human rights and other topics as political manipulation, Reuters reported. The international community has held multiple rounds of talks to revise negotiations over the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action deal, with no direct participation by the U.S. given that the country is not a formal party. Earlier this week, more than 100 House Republicans wrote a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken to stop the ongoing engagement with the negotiations, saying "administration officials' recent statements about the Vienna talks have made it clear that there is no productive diplomatic path forward at this time." Betty White sits with Columbus Zoo and Aquarium's Jack Hanna and a spider monkey in this undated photo. The Columbus Zoo and Aquariums Partners In Conservation will make this year's annual grant to the Gorilla Doctors in honor of Betty White. Partners In Conservation a grassroots group created by the zoo in 1991 to protect African wildlife through humanitarian projects will grant $40,000 in privately raised funds to the Gorilla Doctors, an organization dedicated to conserving mountain and eastern lowland gorillas through veterinary medicine. White, who died on New Year's Eve at the age of 99, was a supporter of the Gorilla Doctors' work and a former board member with the organization, first through the Morris Animal Foundation where she was a board member and then through Gorilla Doctors directly. "Our long collaboration with Morris Animal Foundation and Partners In Conservation is a testament to the positive influence zoos can have on wildlife conservation efforts," said Kirsten Gilardi, Gorilla Doctors' executive director and chief veterinary officer. "We are thrilled to receive this grant in honor of Betty White, a true champion for all. The grant money will support salaries for three field veterinarians. Gorilla Doctors' veterinarians monitor gorilla health throughout the year and treat life-threatening illnesses and injuries sustained in their natural habitat, including removing snares. Mountain gorillas are considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Natures Red List of Threatened Species, with a population of 1,063 individuals. Betty White was a champion for Zoos and she will be greatly missed, said Tom Schmid, president and CEO of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. "The Columbus Zoo team is eager to honor her legacy and felt a grant to Gorillas Doctors in her name would be a fitting tribute to her love of animals big and small." As a longtime animal-rights activist, White's death sparked swells of support for animal charities, from local animal shelters to international conservation efforts. Story continues White visited the Columbus Zoo for the first time in 1979. She returned in the mid-1990s to attend PICs annual Rwandan Fete fundraiser; and again when she joined Jack Hanna at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of the Zoos Heart of Africa region in 2014. Betty White joined Jack Hanna, former Columbus Zoo and Aquarium director, at the grand opening of the Heart of Africa exhibit in 2014. Sheridan Hendrix is a higher education reporter at the Columbus Dispatch. You can reach her at shendrix@dispatch.com. You can follow her on Twitter at @sheridan120. Sign up for her Mobile Newsroom newsletter here. This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Zoo honors Betty White through its annual conservation grant HAMDEN, CT Officials have announced another COVID-19 test kit and mask distribution that is by appointment only. The town has COVID-19 test kits and KN95 masks available for Hamden residents at the Keefe Community Center and Elderly Services by appointment only, during normal business hours (Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), according to a news release from the mayors office. Read more from the news release below: Keefe Community Center, 11 Pine St: 203-562-5129 ext. 1110 Elderly Services, 2901 Dixwell Ave: 203-287-2547* *Elderly Services is servicing Hamden Seniors (60+) exclusively Appointments will be accepted starting Tuesday, Jan. 18 during normal business hours, 8:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m. Offices are closed Monday, Jan. 17 in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Prior to arriving to Keefe Community Center or Elderly Services, please schedule an appointment during normal business hours to pick up your test kits and/or masks. Tests and masks are available for Hamden residents. Further guidance from the Governors office asks municipalities to prioritize the elderly and vulnerable populations. High risk individuals are a priority and patience is greatly appreciated. Each kit contains 2 iHealth COVID-19 Antigen Rapid tests. Please be prepared to provide identification. A state ID or utility bill is sufficient. Please wear your mask. Tests are best utilized when a person is symptomatic. An asymptomatic person may not have enough viral load for the test to register. KN95 masks, when worn properly, prevent the airborne spread of COVID. Please continue proper handwashing and maintain social distance when possible. The Omicron variant has proven to be very transmittable. We believe that the speed at which Omicron is going through the nation and our community means that we will get through this quickly. We currently have many employees that have tested positive and many more will test positive. Please be patient and understand that services may suffer temporarily due to staffing shortages. Please get vaccinated. Get boosted. We know that the vaccine provides the best protection against the severe symptoms of COVID. This article originally appeared on the Hamden Patch Due to COVID-19, some meeting times might have changed or have been canceled. Call ahead to guarantee that the meeting is still scheduled. Email your regular support group or club meetings for the Daily Calendar to americannews@aberdeennews.com. Include town, event, time, place and a number to contact if there are questions. Publication in this calendar is not guaranteed. Today Family history research: 10 a.m.-noon, free instruction on genealogical research. Individual consultation by appointment. Aberdeen Family History Center, 1103 24th Ave. N.E. 605-225-0407 or 605-290-7303. Alcoholics Anonymous: 1 and 7 p.m. (all closed meetings), Yellow House, 519 S. Arch St. 605-225-1292. Narcotics Anonymous: Open meeting, 8 p.m., Faith United Methodist Church, 503 S. Jay St. Use south door, downstairs. Jeff, 605-290-4675. Sunday Family history research: 9 a.m.-1 p.m., free instruction on genealogical research. Individual consultation by appointment. Aberdeen Family History Center, 1103 24th Ave. N.E. Call 605-225-0407 or 605-290-7303. Alcoholics Anonymous Sixth Sense: 10 a.m. spirituality meeting (closed/nonsmoking), 422 Fifth Ave. S.E. (west door); Rich, 605-380-4784. Alcoholics Anonymous: 1 p.m. (closed meeting) and 8:30 p.m. (open meeting), Yellow House, 519 S. Arch St. 605-225-1292. Narcotics Anonymous: Open meeting, handicapped accessible, 8 p.m., The Journey Church, 502 E. Melgaard Road. Jeff, 605-290-4675. Monday Alcoholics Anonymous: 1 and 8:30 p.m.; Big Book Meeting at 7 p.m. (closed), Yellow House, 519 S. Arch St. 605-225-1292. Family history research: 1-3 p.m, free instruction on genealogical research. Individual consultation by appointment. Aberdeen Family History Center, 1103 24th Ave. N.E. Call 605-225-0407 or 605-290-7303. Steps 2 Recovery, Al-Anon family group: 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., 422 5th Ave SE, #111 (west door), Aberdeen. steps2recovery57401@gmail.com. Alcoholics Anonymous Sixth Sense: Back to Basics: 6 p.m. (closed/nonsmoking), 422 Fifth Ave. S.E. (west door). Rich, 605-380-4784. Story continues Narcotics Anonymous: Open meeting, 7 p.m., Faith United Methodist Church, 503 S. Jay St. Use south door, downstairs. Jeff, 605-290-4675. Gamblers Anonymous: 7 p.m. at Zion Lutheran Church, 1732 S. Main St. Kathy 605-225-8632. Hub Toastmasters: 5:30 p.m., New Life Fellowship, 600 N. U.S. Highway 281. Kenneth Maas, 605-229-1727 or 605-216-2059. maas@nvc.net. Exchange Club of Aberdeen: Noon, Best Western Ramkota, 1400 Eighth Ave., NW, Aberdeen, SD No meeting Sept. 6/Labor Day) NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness): 5:30 p.m., Northeastern Mental Health Center, 14 S. Main St., Suite 1E. Amy, 605-225-1010, Ext. 129. Embracing Grace Dementia/Alzheimers Support group: 6:30 p.m., First Methodist Church community room, call Jerry 605-228-1254 for information. Central High School PTA meeting: 6:30 p.m., shared classroom, 2200 S. Roosevelt St. Scottish Rite Bodies: Dinner, 6:30 p.m., meeting 7:30 p.m., Masonic Temple, 503 S. Main St. This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: Daily calendar for Jan. 15, 16 and 17 Del Mar College's new Oso Creek Campus, located on the Southside of Corpus Christi, is 87% complete with the STEM building set to open this summer. The remaining buildings are scheduled to open in spring 2023, including the main building, central plant, and hospitality and culinary institute. The 96-acre campus is being constructed at the corner of Yorktown Boulevard and Rodd Field Road. The project marks the first time in more than 60 years Del Mar College has built a new campus. President and CEO Mark Escamilla said the Oso Creek Campus project ensures Del Mar College has a presence on the Southside of the city where it can provide needed services in a rapidly growing area. A view of the main plaza from the culinary building at Del Mar College's Oso Creek Campus on Jan. 13, 2022, in Corpus Christi's Southside. "Del Mar College has a long history of investing in the education of our community, preparing students for future careers and workforce needs," Escamilla said. "The Oso Creek Campus is a great example of a long-term investment that will continue to benefit future generations. The board of regents approved the $6 million purchase of land in 2013 and the college district's taxpayers approved the $139 million project three years later. With close access to four high schools Carroll, Veterans Memorial, Flour Bluff and London the Oso Creek Campus will provide dual credit, developmental, workforce training and continuing education courses. For more information about the new campus, visit delmar.edu/regents-and-community/southside.html. MORE COVERAGE More: Corpus Christi plans to start construction of new Police Training Academy in early 2022 More: Mark Hussey is leaving Texas A&M University-Kingsville. What's next for him? John Oliva covers education and community news in South Texas. Consider supporting local journalism with a subscription to the Caller-Times. This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Del Mar College's new Oso Creek Campus 87% complete MARTIN COUNTY A man with many accolades, the late Dr. David L. Anderson also picked up any number of nicknames throughout his 80 years of life. "Mr. Anderson" taught children across all ages in the Martin County School District. Others honored him as "Doc Anderson," as he was the first Black male student to earn a doctorate in administration and supervision at Florida A&M University. Then someone coined him "Bo Anderson," said his brother, Tony Anderson, at the Saturday memorial service at Christ Fellowship Church in southern Martin County. "When he served on the (Martin County) School Board and also worked at the (Indian River Community) College at the same time, they nicknamed him Bo Anderson," his brother said, after the two-sport athlete Bo Jackson. Friends, family and colleagues gather during the funeral for David L. Anderson, a life-long resident of Martin County and the namesake of Martin County middle school on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022, at Christ Fellowship Church in Martin County. Anderson was the first Black member of the Martin County School Board and earned the title of the longest serving school board member in the state of Florida with 32 years. But it's his own name that should stand the test of time. In 2006, the Martin County School District honored him by christening the David L. Anderson Middle School in Stuart. Previous story: Dr. David L. Anderson, namesake of Martin County middle school and longtime board member, dies His home church: Port Salerno Church of God celebrates 90th anniversary by serving its community | Opinion About 300 people attended Anderson's funeral Saturday, three weeks after his death on December 23. At the college, now Indian River State College, Anderson became a guidance counselor and an assistant professor, progressing to Vice President of Student Affairs, the position he retired as after 34 years of service. He spent nearly that long as a Martin County School Board member. It was a historic 32-year tenure, with Anderson as the first Black member and serving longer on a school board in Florida than anyone ever had. His brother Tony is now vice-chair of the board. Beyond his impact on students, Anderson would influence other top educational leaders throughout the Treasure Coast. "David Anderson was one of the first people at the college to welcome me in 1973," said Edwin Massey, who retired in 2020 as president of Indian River State College. "We became colleagues, we became friends. And that friendship lasted for the next 48 years." Story continues Former Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan speaks during the funeral for David L. Anderson, a life-long resident of Martin County and the namesake of Martin County middle school on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022, at Christ Fellowship Church in Martin County. He left us so much better off for having been a part of all of our lives, said Brogan. Anderson was the first Black member of the Martin County School Board and earned the title of the longest serving school board member in the state of Florida with 32 years. Former Port Salerno Elementary School teacher Frank Brogan also credited Anderson as being one of "the most unbelievably talented, gifted and student-focused men that anybody would ever have the chance to work with." Brogan later served Martin County Schools Superintendent and as lieutenant governor under Governor Jeb Bush. "David is a man who indeed had more common sense when it came to the needs of students and the needs of the community that most people I've ever been around in my life," Brogan said at Saturday's funeral. "I want you to know how proud I am to count myself as a friend of Dr. David Anderson." Lamaur Stancil is the Treasure Coast regional economy reporter covering business and industries, including retail, tourism and hospitality. Contact him at 321-987-7179 or lamaur.stancil@tcpalm.com and follow him at Lamaur Stancil on Facebook and @TCPalmLStancil on Twitter. This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Longest-serving Florida school board member remembered in Martin County Rep. Karen Bass is making addressing homelessness the centerpiece of her campaign to be mayor of Los Angeles. Bass unveiled a plan Friday calling for 15,000 people to be housed in her first year in office though she didn't specify exactly what proportion of those people would go into permanent housing, as opposed to interim housing such as bunk-style shelters, tiny homes or rented hotel rooms. Bass said this could be accomplished by expanding current programs using funding from the state and federal government and by cutting bureaucratic red tape that she thinks may have held back construction of permanent supportive housing and distribution of rental vouchers. She called for more leasing and purchasing of existing properties, as the city, county and state have done with Project Roomkey and Project Homekey. She also wants to create teams of outreach workers, medical and mental health professionals that would fan out across the city to help bring people indoors. "There has to be a comprehensive response," Bass said, speaking at the vacant St. Vincent Medical Center near downtown. "We need housing, we need temporary housing, we need to get people off the streets, immediately. ... The bottom line is people will not be allowed to live on the streets. There are just some things that you don't do outside, and sleeping is one of them." Bass was joined at the event by Pat Bates, president of the Encino Neighborhood Council, who said she saw Bass as a consensus builder who had the experience to improve the conditions of the people living on the street. She applauded Bass' focus on eliminating street encampments and providing more shelter, calling it "overdue." She "is more than up to this test," Bates said. Reba Stevens, a county mental health commissioner who is formerly homeless, described her own battles with depression and substance-use disorder. She was housed and then returned to the streets twice before finally finding the adequate mental health support to help her. Story continues That was a long journey, but it made her appreciate how helping people on the streets is more than just placing a roof over her head. She said she believes Bass understands that more than any other candidate. "I truly believe that you are the solution to the ending of what is happening here in the city of Los Angeles," Stevens said to Bass during the event. For her part, Bass used language that would sound familiar to those who have been watching the city's homelessness response. "This is the big one that should receive the immediate response that is expected when there is a natural disaster," Bass said. "This is just a man-made disaster, and we need a FEMA-style response. I'm running for mayor to lead the emergency response that L.A.'s homeless catastrophe requires. L.A. needs decisive leadership. We need action and urgency. We need follow-through to get the job done." Mayor Eric Garcetti has long called for a "FEMA-like response" to homelessness. Mayoral election rivals City Councilman Joe Buscaino and City Atty. Mike Feuer, among others, have used similar language. Bass pointed to the building she stood in a shuttered hospital with about 350 beds as emblematic of the bureaucratic malaise that has plagued government addressing the crisis. She said the facility should be rented and retrofitted to care for people living on the streets. Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, who owns The Times along with a network of medical companies, purchased the complex in 2020. "Medical care and mental health services are important issues in confronting the homelessness crisis and I am pleased that Congresswoman Bass is raising these concerns and looking for solutions, Soon-Shiong said in a statement. He did not directly address Bass' call for the facility to be leased for that purpose. Bass was asked about a law passed last summer, known as "41.18," that restricts where homeless people can camp. Buscaino and Councilman Kevin de Leon, another mayoral candidate, have both introduced motions under the new law to ban camping at specific locations throughout the city. Bass said that while she "agreed with the intent," she thought this approach made it harder to have a unified approach on homelessness. She worried that it would lead to a balkanized response to homelessness that would look different based on where a person resides in the city. Bass described the sense among voters she's spoken to that past money devoted to homelessness had not been spent well. She said that government needed to show the public that dollars were being disbursed wisely. She was also unwilling to lend her support to a recently announced ballot initiative backed by housing advocates, labor unions and progressive activist groups that would increase taxes on real estate transactions in the city to fund permanent housing for homeless people and those at risk of ending up on the street. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. A former Oklahoma legislator on Friday lodged a protest against a pending request before Oklahoma's Supreme Court that seeks its authorization to hold a bond sale a regulated utility says is needed to retire storm-related costs. The Oklahoma Development Finance Authority (ODFA) is seeking the court's approval for a bond sale worth up to $800 million it proposes to use to retire $760 million in costs that Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co. paid to keep generating electricity during February's winter storm. Oklahoma's Corporation Commission already voted 2-to-1 to classify those costs as prudent and reasonable and to approve the utility's securitization request. But the state law authorizing the relief also requires the Supreme Court's approval. Former state Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, said he believes such a sale is barred by the Oklahoma Constitution. The Oklahoma Judicial Center, headquarters of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. In short, the state's constitution prohibits it from entering into any debt obligation without approval by a vote of the people, he said. "They will claim this isn't debt because it will be secured by future payments made by ratepayers," Reynolds said, referring to language included in the state law authorizing for bonds to be sold to retire utilities' storm-related costs. "But the enabling language also states a lien can be filed on the securitization. You can't file a lien unless you have a debt." What the Oklahoma constitution says Unlike the federal government, Oklahoma is required by its constitution to operate using a balanced budget. However, it was modified at one point to enable Oklahoma to create debt to keep the government running at the heights of the Great Depression and the beginning of World War II. Constitutional language also authorizes the state to go into debt if it needs funds to repel an invasion, suppress an insurrection or to defend the state during a time of war. Beyond that, however, it states: "No debts shall be hereafter contracted by or on behalf of this state, unless such debt shall be authorized by law for some work or object, to be distinctly specified therein; and such law shall impose and provide for the collection of a direct annual tax to pay, and sufficient to pay, the interest on such debt as it falls due, and also to pay and discharge the principal of such debt within twenty-five years from the time of the contracting thereof. Story continues "No such law shall take effect until it shall, at a general election, have been submitted to the people and have received a majority of all the votes cast for and against it at such election," it also states. Other matters Reynolds' objection also takes issue with the fact the ODFA filing didn't include the dissenting opinion to OG&E's securitization approval filed by Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Bob Anthony, nor exceptions AARP had filed in the case. His objection also points out that Oklahoma Attorney General John O'Connor didn't lend his support to the stipulated settlement agreement in the case (though he has stated repeatedly he supports the use of securitization to retire storm-related costs). Oklahoma state Rep. Mike Reynolds, pictured in 2014. Reynolds wrote that O'Connor's silence is interesting, given the stipulated agreement the commission approved moved some storm costs from OG&E's largest customers to residential ones, and given that his office has not yet released any details on its investigation into potential price-gouging and market manipulation that might have taken place during the storm event. "In any case, it being an election year, the attorney general is apparently trying not to take sides. He obviously doesnt believe it is a good deal for residential ratepayers (i.e. the voters), and in the absence of any formal legal opinions, that in itself is worth noting," Reynolds wrote. OG&E isn't the only utility seeking to securitize its storm-related costs at the corporation commission. Both Public Service Co. of Oklahoma and Oklahoma Natural Gas have cases working through reviews now, as do several other smaller regulated utilities. The ODFA, created by Oklahoma's Legislature nearly 50 years ago, works with hospitals, schools, local governments and even utilities to sell bonds that raise capital to pay for projects to help improve the services they provide to their constituents. The agency is playing a central role in the winter storm costs securitization plan legislators crafted. The law authorized utilities to securitize the debt using bond sales conducted by the ODFA as a way to reduce per-month fuel costs that otherwise would have to be passed along to utility ratepayers over a short period of time to pay off billions of dollars in extra costs. Business Writer Jack Money covers Oklahomas energy and agricultural beats for the newspaper and Oklahoman.com. Contact him at jmoney@oklahoman.com. Please support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by subscribing to The Oklahoman. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Constitutional challenge lodged against Oklahoma storm costs bond sale (Getty Images) Exeter kept themselves firmly on course for a place in the Champions Cup knockout phase after beating Glasgow 52-17 at Sandy Park. The Chiefs emphatically avenged their defeat in the Glasgow fog just before Christmas, finding overdrive after trailing by three points with 50 minutes gone. Exeter, European champions in 2020, cut loose with four quickfire tries to demolish Glasgow's victory hopes and secure a bonus-point success that brought the round of 16 within touching distance. Wing Tom O'Flaherty scored a hat-trick, while there was a double for number eight Sam Simmonds before skipper Luke Cowan-Dickie, Jack Nowell and Dave Ewers also scored. Fly-half Joe Simmonds kicked four conversions and centre Henry Slade two. Glasgow, who now face a crunch clash against La Rochelle in their final pool game next weekend, posted tries through lock Kiran McDonald and flanker Matt Fagerson, both converted by Ross Thompson. But they had no answer to Exeter's pace and power once the Chiefs clicked into gear. Exeter prop Alec Hepburn missed out due to suspension following his sending-off against Harlequins last weekend, so Ben Moon deputised, while Sam Skinner and Sean Lonsdale forced Chiefs' second-row partnership and O'Flaherty replaced Facundo Cordero. Glasgow head coach Danny Wilson made a solitary switch to his starting line-up, recalling number eight Jack Dempsey as the teams met for a ninth time in European competition. Level on points with Exeter before the game in Pool A, Glasgow made strong early running and were rewarded when Thompson kicked a sixth-minute penalty. Exeter's first attacking opportunity came from a five-metre lineout, but Glasgow's defensive structure was up to the task, only for them to be undone by a high-class Chiefs try. The home forwards patiently went through phase-play and when space opened up they cashed in as O'Flaherty appeared in midfield and applied a clinical finish, with Simmonds' conversion putting Exeter 7-3 ahead. Story continues Exeter now had momentum, and they struck again five minutes later - this time from a close-range lineout - as Sam Simmonds touched down and his brother added the extras. Glasgow needed to regroup in the face of Chiefs' onslaught and they responded impressively, setting up strong foundations inside Exeter's 22 before McDonald breached the home defence from close range. Thompson kicked the conversion as Glasgow put themselves back in contention, trailing 14-10 at the interval. (Getty Images) And they regained the lead just four minutes into the second period, courtesy of more impressive work by flanker Rory Darge that set up an attacking opportunity. McDonald featured prominently and it was Fagerson who finished off following sustained pressure, with Thompson's conversion putting Glasgow three points in front. But the lead lasted only four minutes as Exeter's forwards stirred once more, generating quality possession that set up Simmonds for his second try. And before Glasgow could recover from that setback, Exeter hit them again, claiming a bonus-point after Joe Simmonds' kick was gathered by an unmarked O'Flaherty, who had a simple finish. Simmonds converted, leaving Glasgow 11 points behind for a second time as the game moved into its final quarter. There was more to come from Exeter and Cowan-Dickie pounced for their fifth try that completed a spectacular scoring blitz of 19 points in eight minutes. Glasgow had nothing left in the tank and there were further scores for O'Flaherty, Nowell and Ewers, with Slade adding two conversions as Exeter brought up a half-century, scoring 38 of those points during the second period. "The Bias Inside Us," organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, on display at the Weidner Center for the Performing Arts on Jan. 14, 2022, in Green Bay, Wis. GREEN BAY Stairs built without a plan for wheelchair accessibility. Soap dispenser sensors unable to recognize dark skin. Spiral notebooks that are harder for a left-handed writer to use. Those are some of the implicit biases that a new exhibit at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay is intended to show. The exhibition had its grand opening Friday. "The Bias Inside Us" is an educational exhibit created by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service to help people realize and challenge their own implicit biases. It will be open to the public from Saturday until Feb. 13. The exhibit is made up of six interactive sections that show examples of implicit bias that happens in daily life, their detrimental effects, and how people can rethink the assumptions to overcome their own biases. The exhibit introduces the science behind biases and how they can be formed, the dangers of not being aware of unconscious bias, and how to retrain your brain to counter them. "Bringing this exhibit to our region reminds us of our individual and collective responsibilities to reflect on or own individual biases as well as the collective biases that exist within our communities, organizations, businesses, agencies and companies alike," UW-Green Bay Vice Chancellor Corey King said at the exhibit's grand opening. UW-Green Bay is one of 40 spaces in the country to be part of this year's exhibit. It will travel to Eau Claire at the end of February. Green Bay university leaders wanted to host the exhibit on campus for students, staff and community members to think critically about ways their own biases can be barriers to more inclusive schools and businesses. "We know that our role as a university is to help make sure that we are empowering all people through education," Chancellor Michael Alexander said. The exhibit is aimed toward people ages 11 to 25. Dawn Crim, secretary of the state Department of Safety and Professional Service, pointed out that everyone has biases. The exhibit shows just how common they are. Story continues "It's not just for the majority population. It's not just for men. It's not just for people with all abilities," Crim said. "It's for everybody." To visit the exhibit The exhibit opens at 9 a.m. Saturday in the Grand Foyer at the Weidner Center, 2420 Nicolet Drive, Green Bay. Admission is free and registration isn't required for the exhibit. If your group is 15 people or more, contact the Weidner Center at theweidner@uwgb.edu or 920-465-2726. The exhibit is on tour in a few states in the Midwest and will move to other parts of the country starting in May. In Wisconsin, the exhibit is available at UW-Green Bay and will be at a performing arts center in Eau Claire in February. RELATED: 'I no longer want to hear we're the best-kept secret' UWGB chancellor ready to lead campuses out of pandemic as a changed institution RELATED: Starz Barber & Beauty bringing barbershop community to two Green Bay college campuses Contact Benita Mathew at bmathew@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @benita_mathew. This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: UW-Green Bay exhibit wants people to rethink implicit biases Get ready to learn more Greek letters. Scientists warn that omicrons whirlwind advance practically ensures it wont be the last version of the coronavirus to worry the world. Every infection provides a chance for the virus to mutate, and omicron has an edge over its predecessors: It spreads way faster despite emerging on a planet with a stronger patchwork of immunity from vaccines and prior illness. That means more people in whom the virus can further evolve. Experts dont know what the next variants will look like or how they might shape the pandemic, but they say theres no guarantee the sequels of omicron will cause milder illness or that existing vaccines will work against them. They urge wider vaccination now, while today's shots still work. "The faster omicron spreads, the more opportunities there are for mutation, potentially leading to more variants, Leonardo Martinez, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Boston University, said. Since it emerged in mid-November, omicron has raced across the globe like fire through dry grass. Research shows the variant is at least twice as contagious as delta and at least four times as contagious as the original version of the virus. Omicron is more likely than delta to reinfect individuals who previously had COVID-19 and to cause breakthrough infections in vaccinated people while also attacking the unvaccinated. The World Health Organization reported a record 15 million new COVID-19 cases for the week of Jan. 3-9, a 55% increase from the previous week. Along with keeping comparatively healthy people out of work and school, the ease with which the variant spreads increases the odds the virus will infect and linger inside people with weakened immune systems - giving it more time to develop potent mutations. Its the longer, persistent infections that seem to be the most likely breeding grounds for new variants, said Dr. Stuart Campbell Ray, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins University. "Its only when you have very widespread infection that youre going to provide the opportunity for that to occur. Story continues Because omicron appears to cause less severe disease than delta, its behavior has kindled hope that it could be the start of a trend that eventually makes the virus milder like a common cold. It's a possibility, experts say, given that viruses dont spread well if they kill their hosts very quickly. But viruses dont always get less deadly over time. A variant could also achieve its main goal - replicating - if infected people developed mild symptoms initially, spread the virus by interacting with others, then got very sick later, Ray explained by way of example. People have wondered whether the virus will evolve to mildness. But theres no particular reason for it to do so, he said. I dont think we can be confident that the virus will become less lethal over time. Getting progressively better at evading immunity helps a virus to survive over the long term. When SARS-CoV-2 first struck, no one was immune. But infections and vaccines have conferred at least some immunity to much of the world, so the virus must adapt. There are many possible avenues for evolution. Animals could potentially incubate and unleash new variants. Pet dogs and cats, deer and farm-raised mink are only a few of the animals vulnerable to the virus, which can potentially mutate within them and leap back to people. Another potential route: With both omicron and delta circulating, people may get double infections that could spawn what Ray calls Frankenvariants, hybrids with characteristics of both types. When new variants do develop, scientists said its still very difficult to know from genetic features which ones might take off. For example, omicron has many more mutations than previous variants, around 30 in the spike protein that lets it attach to human cells. But the so-called IHU variant identified in France and being monitored by the WHO has 46 mutations and doesnt seem to have spread much at all. To curb the emergence of variants, scientists stress continuing with public health measures such as masking and getting vaccinated. While omicron is better able to evade immunity than delta, experts said, vaccines still offer protection and booster shots greatly reduce serious illness, hospitalizations and deaths. Anne Thomas, a 64-year-old IT analyst in Westerly, Rhode Island, said she's fully vaccinated and boosted and also tries to stay safe by mostly staying home while her state has one of the highest COVID-19 case rates in the U.S. I have no doubt at all that these viruses are going to continue to mutate and were going to be dealing with this for a very long time," she said. Ray likened vaccines to armor for humanity that greatly hinders viral spread even if it doesn't completely stop it. For a virus that spreads exponentially, he said, "anything that curbs transmission can have a great effect. Also, when vaccinated people get sick, Ray said their illness is usually milder and clears more quickly, leaving less time to spawn dangerous variants. Experts say the virus won't become endemic like the flu as long as global vaccination rates are so low. During a recent press conference, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that protecting people from future variants including those that may be fully resistant to today's shots depends on ending global vaccine inequity. Tedros said hed like to see 70% of people in every country vaccinated by mid-year. Currently, there are dozens of countries where less than a quarter of the population is fully vaccinated, according to Johns Hopkins University statistics. And in the United States, many people continue to resist available vaccines. These huge unvaccinated swaths in the U.S., Africa, Asia, Latin America and elsewhere are basically variant factories, said Dr. Prabhat Jha of the Centre for Global Health Research at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto. It's been a colossal failure in global leadership that we have not been able to do this. In the meantime, new variants are inevitable, said Louis Mansky, director of the Institute for Molecular Virology at the University of Minnesota. With so many unvaccinated people, he said, the virus is still kind of in control of what's going on. ___ 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. ___ Follow AP's coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic Editor's note: This is a corrected version of the original story. Tenicka Shannon is the mother of Fred Cox who was shot and killed by law enforcement in Davidson County in November 2020. Her name was incorrect in the original story. A statement attributed to Allison Smutherman, the aunt of Treva Smutherman who was shot and killed by law enforcement in Fayetteville in November 2019, was incorrect. Friends and family of an unarmed Fayetteville man shot by an off-duty deputy earlier this week were joined Friday by other Black families whose loved ones were killed by law enforcement. Followed by the playing of Sam Cookes A Change is Gonna Come, green and blue balloons were released outside of the Cumberland County Courthouse in memory of 37-year-old Jason Walker. When a few of the balloons got caught in trees, a member of Walkers family said it was a sign. He ain't ready to go yet, she said. Justice gotta be served He ain't going nowhere 'til its served." Members of the community have protested and called for Lt. Jeffrey Hash to be arrested in Walker's case. Hash, an off-duty lieutenant with the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office, has claimed self-defense after shooting Walker on Bingham Drive in front of the Walker family home Saturday afternoon. Prior to the balloon release, a group of more than 100 people marched in downtown Fayetteville. Walkers cousin said she wanted to make it clear that the march was not a riot or protest but rather a peaceful walk. Demonstrators march through downtown Fayetteville during a Justice for Jason Walker demonstration on Friday, Jan. 14, 2022. Jason Walker, 37, was shot and killed on Saturday by an off-duty Cumberland County Sheriffs deputy. She said that Walkers mother and the family want peace and unity. Jason was somebody's father, somebody's son, somebody's brother, somebody's cousin, somebody's grandchild, his cousin said through tears. It hurts. Im telling you. He was a great person, always was talkative. He would do anything in the world for anybody, but please keep the peace. Joining the march were other local families and families from across the nation whose loved ones were shot or killed by law enforcement. Story continues Jacob Blake Sr., whose son Jacob Blake, 29, was shot and seriously injured Aug. 30, 2020, by a Kenosha, Wisconsin, police officer, spoke to the crowd, asking how many times hell have to stand with other families. Demonstrators march through downtown Fayetteville during a Justice for Jason Walker demonstration on Friday, Jan. 14, 2022. Jason Walker, 37, was shot and killed on Saturday by an off-duty Cumberland County Sheriffs deputy. We're going to show what unity is, but were getting tired, Blake Sr. said as tears streamed down his face. We're getting tired, so we need everyone to stand up. Show your unity. Show the power that you possess. Demand accountability. A relative of Breonna Taylor, who also spoke, shared similar sentiments. Taylor, was a Black woman shot and killed by police March 1, 2020, in her Louisville, Kentucky, home as officers attempted to serve a warrant on boyfriend. Taylors relative said Walker is the next American tragedy. Were still in these streets fighting for justice for Breonna Taylor, and on top of that, unfortunately, Jason Walker has to be added to that list, she said. Demonstrators march through downtown Fayetteville during a Justice for Jason Walker demonstration on Friday, Jan. 14, 2022. Jason Walker, 37, was shot and killed on Saturday by an off-duty Cumberland County Sheriffs deputy. Sabara Fisher-Roberts, the widow of Adrian Roberts, said it seems like she was just in the shoes of the Walker family. Roberts, 37, was a disabled veteran shot and killed by Cumberland County deputies serving him with involuntary commitment papers in August 2020 This family shouldnt have to go through this, and the thing is, there are more families like the Walker family, Roberts family and these other families who are standing here, and their stories have been hidden, Fisher-Roberts said. Fisher-Roberts said families are raising their voices not out of hostility but out of pain. It's pain when you got to bury your loved one, she said. It's pain when that child, Jason Walkers child will not get the privilege of having his dad with him. It is pain. Its not hostility. It is pain. We are hurting. Tenicka Shannon, mother of Fred Cox, also came to Fayetteville to show solidarity. Balloons are released in memory of Jason Walker in front of the Cumberland County Courthouse on Friday, Jan. 14, 2022. Jason Walker, 37, was shot and killed on Saturday by an off-duty Cumberland County Sheriff's deputy. Cox, 18, was killed by a Davidson County deputy Nov. 8, 2020, during a funeral service. Also at the march was Allison Smutherman, the aunt of Treva Smutherman, killed Nov. 6, 2019, at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center after law enforcement said he tried to take a weapon from a deputy in the emergency room. His aunt said her nephew was shot after he surrendered. "We are tired. And every single time (it happens) here in Fayetteville, North Carolina, they're never held accountable. We are tired," Smutherman said. The brother of Matthew Oxendine, a Robeson County man shot and killed by deputies there Jan. 10, 2021, said his brother was killed for allegedly communicating threats. Greg Oxendine said his brother and Walker were shot for no reason, as both were unarmed. Mr. Walkers (death) cant be justified, and if they do give you justice, you still dont have that loved one, Greg Oxendine said. The loved one is gone. So whens it going to stop? How much more are we going to take? Demonstrators march through downtown Fayetteville during a Justice for Jason Walker demonstration on Friday, Jan. 14, 2022. Jason Walker, 37, was shot and killed on Saturday by an off-duty Cumberland County Sheriffs deputy. Travis Cains came to Fayetteville from Houston on Friday night to attend the demonstration. Cains said he was a close friend of George Floyd, who he viewed as an older brother. Floyd, who was born in Fayetteville, was killed May 25, 2020, as then-officer Dereck Cauvin knelt on Floyds neck for more than eight minutes. Chauvin was convicted in April of murdering Floyd and sentenced to more than 22 years in prison. Cains said America needs to stand with the Walker family as it did for the Floyd family. If yall stay silent, theyre going to keep on being violent, Cains said. Family of Jason Walker lead ceremonial balloon release outside Cumberland County Courthouse Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528. Support local journalism with a subscription to The Fayetteville Observer. Click the "subscribe'' link at the top of this article. More: What we know about Jason Walker's shooting death in Fayetteville This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Fayetteville family of man killed by deputy receive national support The Food and Drug Administration still has harsh restrictions on blood donations from men who have sex with men. (Photo: picture alliance via Getty Images) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is facing ramped-up pressure to scrap its harsh limits on blood donations from gay and bisexual men amid a dire shortage at blood banks. Demands from lawmakers and LGBTQ+ groups come days after the Red Cross announced that its facing its worst blood shortage in over a decade, forcing hospitals to delay critical blood transfusions for patients. Americas Blood Centers and the AABB two other major blood donation collectors have raised the alarm as well. Those groups are urgently encouraging everyone who can to donate blood, but the FDA has long made it unrealistic for men who have sex with other men to do so. Currently, the agency allows them only to donate three months after their last sexual contact, which was reduced at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic from a one-year deferral. As the medical community continues to express urgency for Americans to donate blood, there is still a discriminatory and unnecessary FDA policy in place that hinders healthy gay and bisexual men, as well as other LGBTQ people, from doing so, many of whom are willing and wanting to donate blood during this health crisis, GLAADs chief communications officer, Rich Ferraro, told HuffPost on Friday. By relying on stigma rather than science, the FDA is not just harming members of the LGBTQ community, but all AmericansGLAAD Chief Communications Officer Rich Ferraro The FDA first began restricting such blood donations in 1983, at the start of the HIV/AIDS crisis, when little was known about the disease except that it was prevalent among gay men. Maintaining that ban today is wrong and impractical, advocates say, especially since all blood donations, regardless of a donors sexual orientation, are screened to ensure healthy samples. By relying on stigma rather than science, the FDA is not just harming members of the LGBTQ community, but all Americans, Ferraro said. On Thursday, 22 U.S. senators echoed that demand in light of the blood shortage, which the Red Cross says has dwindled from a typical five-day supply of blood to less than a one-day reserve. Story continues While no single solution can fully solve these challenges, the FDA has the ability to take a simple and science-based step to dramatically increase the donor base and help address this crisis, they wrote to the FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services. Given advances in blood screening and safety technology, a time-based policy for gay and bisexual men is not scientifically sound, continues to effectively exclude an entire group of people, and does not meet the urgent demands of the moment, the letter said. Lambda Legal, the civil rights group focused on LGBTQ+ rights, told HuffPost it stands with the lawmakers request. We call upon the FDA to make these changes without further delay, as doing so will be a win-win: it will maximize the amount of safe blood available to those who need it, and eliminate the stigma that has cast a shadow over our nations blood donation policies for far too long, said Sharon McGowan, the groups chief strategy officer and legal director. The Human Rights Campaign and prominent medical experts have also spoken out this week in support of the FDA lifting its ban. A 2014 study from the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that removing the ban may increase the total annual blood supply by 2% to 4% a year. That could make a dent in the current shortage. Throughout the pandemic, the Red Cross says it has experienced a 10% decline in the number of people donating blood, and its gotten worse during the surges associated with the delta and omicron variants. It supports lifting the ban. This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated. Related... A rendering of the renovated former Two Rivers Middle School building in Covington, Ky. A former school building in Covington is being transformed into office space, with officials expecting the development to generate millions of dollars in tax revenue. The former Two Rivers Middle School building was built in the early 1900s and has been off the city's tax rolls ever since, but that's about to change, according to Tom West, Covington's economic development director. The property, located at 525 Scott Blvd., was purchased early last year by the investment group Covington Kentucky Development, led by Guy van Rooyen, who helms the firm that developed Hotel Covington. On Tuesday, the Covington Board of Commissioners approved a development agreement as well as the issuance of industrial revenue bonds to support the project. For the term of those bonds, which is 30 years, the developer will save money by only having to pay a percentage of what it would normally pay in property tax, West said. Over those 30 years, Covington is expected to generate over $7.5 million as a result of the development, mostly stemming from payroll tax revenue, he said, adding a majority of the city's budget is comprised of payroll taxes. Gateway Community and Technical College, the property's previous owner, had originally planned for the building to be part of its urban campus, a project that fell well short of expectations. West said the renovation of Two Rivers will bring about 68,000 square feet of office space, something the city desperately needs. The project has already landed its first corporate tenant. DeanHouston, a Cincinnati-based marketing firm, announced in September that it's moving its global headquarters to Two Rivers. We are thrilled, once again, to be restoring a neglected building back to its former glory in the downtown core, van Rooyen said in a statement at the time. Our commitment and passion for these restoration projects continues as we bring online another asset to enhance the thriving Covington community. West said the company is expected to make the move across the river in the spring. The building is already occupied by the Covington Classical Academy. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Former NKY school being converted into much needed office space The Department of Justice seal is seen in Washington, D.C. A former White House adviser to former President Obama pled guilty to wire fraud on Friday in connection to an alleged scheme to steal $218,000 from a school network that he helped create. "Seth Andrew, a former White House advisor, admitted today to devising a scheme to steal from the very same schools he helped create," Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. "Andrew now faces time in federal prison for abusing his position and robbing those he promised to help." The 42-year-old founded Democracy Prep Public Schools in New York City in 2005, and left the position to work for the Department of Education (DOE) in 2013. Following his time at the DOE, he worked in the Obama White House as a senior adviser in the Office of Educational Technology, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Following his work at the White House in 2017, he officially severed his ties with the charter school system he had helped to create. According to the DOJ, Democracy Prep Public Schools each had to maintain "escrow accounts" that were only meant to be accessed if the school dissolved. Andrew, according to the statement, had access to these accounts, and closed them out when he left the school system. He then placed the money in different accounts that the department labeled "fraud" accounts. Andrew pled guilty to one count of wire fraud, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, according to the statement. He will be sentenced on April 14. When Andrew was arrested last April, prosecutors said he was using some of the stolen funds "to obtain a savings on a mortgage for a multimillion-dollar Manhattan apartment." via Fox News A fairly standard late-night Fox News cable segment featuring self-described COVID Contrarian Alex Berenson and infamous anti-vaxxer Robert Malone skidded off the tracks after the former accused the latter of overplaying his hand. And Malonewhose recent appearance on Joe Rogans podcast led to widespread outrage from the medical communityis extremely perturbed by the totally unprovoked attack, he told The Daily Beast on Saturday afternoon. The tense on-air exchange spilled over with claims made by Malone that Berenson, who has become a regular on Tucker Carlsons primetime show amid the pandemic, serves as controlled opposition. Listen, I dont think Dr. Malone does himself or those of us who are trying to raise questions about the vaccines any favors, when he refers to himself as the inventor of the mRNA technology, argued Berenson. That is clearly a large exaggeration. And I dont think he does us any favors, when he says that ivermectin has been proven to work. I think that is a huge overstatement of the case. This is not get the guest hour, Fox News host Raymond Arroyo interjected. Malone, a virologist and immunologist by profession who has been criticized for spreading vaccine misinformation, did indeed help develop early iterations of the mRNA platform in the late 1980s and early 90s, but was not involved in the development of the COVID-19 vaccines being used today. During the initial stages of the pandemic, Malone studied the use of Pepcid, the over-the-counter heartburn reliever, as a possible treatment for COVID, with the Trump administrations blessing. (It didnt work.) Responding to Berenson, Malone appeared shocked by the criticism. Thats a low blow, Malone fired back, while claiming he was in fact the inventor of mRNA technology. He went on to argue in favor of using the unproven anti-parasitic drug ivermectin to fight COVID. Both of your statements are going to fail with the test of time, but thats not this discussion. Story continues In a subsequent Substack post, Malone let Berenson have it. Alex Berenson goes on Fox News and directly calls me a liar to my face and says I didnt invent RNA vaccines, he wrote. Unprofessional, rude and an a**hole to boot. But beyond that, I think we can all assume CONTROLLED OPPOSITION. That very label didn't sit well with Berenson, who told The Daily Beast, Controlled opposition is a phrase that reveals much more about the speaker than the intended target. My only allegiance is to the truth, my only customers are my readers, he continued, and the only people who control me are my kids. Reached by The Daily Beast by phone while in the Andalusian Mountains of Spain, where he said he was shooting a documentary with a Dutch film crew, Malone didn't hold back on Berenson. The Fox News segment was totally unprovoked, said Malone, whose wife, Jill, could be heard in the background yelling out suggestions for details she thought important for Malone to share. I was shocked, said Malone, who was recently called a menace to public health by a group of 270 doctors. And so was the host [Raymond Arroyo] of Fox. Fox apologized to me for it. It was out of the blue. I have no idea what brought it on. Ive never had any interaction with the guy, I dont know him, Ive never met him, I have had no correspondence with him. What would provoke him to do that, I can only speculate. And I dont want to speculate. Fox News didnt return The Daily Beasts Saturday afternoon request for comment. Calling Berensons appearance a total bushwhack job, Malone told The Daily Beast that noted anti-vaxxer and conspiracy theorist Naomi Wolf called him after the segment and said he shouldnt be bothered because [Berenson] called her crazy once in a public forum. Weve been subjected to censorship all the way through this, said Malone. But this friendly fire from Alexthis was fragging, to use a military term. And I have no idea why. Being defrocked of his Twitter and LinkedIn accounts is still very much a point of contention for Malone, who said he was invited to appear on the Fox News segment because of that history of being deplatformed, a history that we both share, referring to Berensons permanent suspension from the platform for repeatedly sharing vaccine misinformation with his 100K followers. That was the purpose of the hit, it was supposed to be focused on the media blitz about the 280 people that have signed this petition to have Spotify take off the Rogan show, said Malone. It was supposed to be about censorship, and for Berenson to come on and just directly attack me is bizarre. Malone sees himself as deeply a scientist and a physician, he maintained, insisting, I don't put stuff out that isnt well-grounded in fact. However, most objective observers would wholeheartedly disagree. Hes a legitimate scientist, or at least was until he started to make these false claims, Dr. Paul Offit, chair of vaccinology at the University of Pennsylvanias Perelman School of Medicine, told PolitiFact. Malone earned a medical degree from Northwestern University in 1991, and is licensed in Maryland as an immunologist, according to the fact-checking site. In August of 2021, The Atlantic said Malones star was within the alternate media universe that includes the likes of Steve Bannon. He started popping up on podcasts and cable news shows a few months ago, presented as a scientific expert, arguing that the approval process for the vaccines had been unwisely rushed, according to the piece. He told Tucker Carlson that the public doesnt have enough information to decide whether to get vaccinated. He told Glenn Beck that offering incentives for taking vaccines is unethical. He told Del Bigtree, an anti-vaccine activist who opposes common childhood inoculations, that there hadnt been sufficient research on how the vaccines might affect womens reproductive systems. On show after show, Malone, who has quickly amassed more than 200,000 Twitter followers, casts doubt on the safety of the vaccines while decrying what he sees as attempts to censor dissent. On Saturday, Malone told The Daily Beast that his media coverage has been unmerciful, criticizing the reports as yellow journalism and character assassination, and these fact-checkers who are opinion-enforcers. Anything you say gets weaponized, he went on. So it's left me a little bit jaded about modern journalism. I hate to always focus on me, I'd much rather that people focus on the ideas rather than these character assassination hits. When asked about the lack of widespread adverse events occurring in vaccinated people, Malone pointed to his Substack, saying he penned a missive about my own adverse events, quickly pivoting to a supposed issue about bad vaccine batches [that] is about to be brought to fore. On Jan. 23, Malone is set to appear at an anti-vaccine protest in Washington, D.C. Other speakers will include a slew of anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Del Bigtree, and erstwhile Fox News personality Lara Logan. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., who voted in favor of former President Donald Trump's impeachment, said Friday that he will not seek re-election. "My conscience, principles, and commitment to do whats right have guided every decision Ive made as a Member of Congress, and they guide my decision today," Katko wrote in a Facebook post, adding that he plans to "enjoy my family and life in a fuller and more present way. A four-term congressman, Katko was one of a handful of House Republicans to cross party lines for notable votes over the past year, including voting in favor of President Joe Biden's $550 billion infrastructure bill and to remove Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., from her committee assignments for incendiary comments. Katko, the ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee, reached a compromise deal last year with the panel's chair, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., for an equally-split bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The deal was tanked after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who had reportedly tasked Katko with coming up with the compromise plan, urged members to vote against it. Katko was also one of just 10 House Republicans to vote in favor of impeaching Trump last year for inciting an insurrection on Jan. 6. He's the third to announce he's not running again, joining Reps. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio. Katko did not endorse Trump in 2016, but did in 2020, while telling constituents in his battlefield district he liked Trump's policies but not his personality. Of course, Trump is a knucklehead, Katko said at a campaign forum in October of 2020. And of course, I mean, I dont like him as a person. I dont like his rhetoric. I dont like his lack of discipline. Im more concerned about your pocketbook. Im more concerned about your economic opportunity. And Im more concerned about where we are going as a country. Trump celebrated Katko's announcement in a statement, saying, "Great news, another one bites the dust." SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) Their state budgets flush with cash, Democratic and Republican governors alike want to spend some of the windfall on projects aimed at slowing climate change and guarding against its consequences, from floods and wildfires to dirty air. Democratic governors such as California's Gavin Newsom and Washington's Jay Inslee have been clear about their plans to boost spending on climate-related projects, including expanding access to electric vehicles and creating more storage for clean energies such as solar. Newsom deemed climate change one of five existential threats" facing the nation's most populous state when he rolled out his proposed state budget this past week. In Republican-led states, governors want to protect communities from natural disasters and drought, even as many of them won't link such spending to global warming. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey this past week pitched $1 billion for water infrastructure as drought grips the Western U.S., shriveling water supplies for cities and farms. Idaho Gov. Brad Little, who has acknowledged climate change's role in worsening wildfires, proposed $150 million for five years' worth of fire-fighting costs, plus more for new fire personnel. In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster called on lawmakers to spend $300 million in federal money for, among other things, protecting the state's coastline against flooding, erosion and storm damage. I can think of no more meritorious use of taxpayer funds than to protect these pristine properties for future generations of South Carolinians," he said as he presented his proposed state budget, which also includes $17 million to use in the aftermath of hurricanes and other natural disasters. Governors' proposals are just the first step in budget negotiations, and they'll have to work with state lawmakers on the final details. Many governors will issue their plans in the coming weeks, with some already telegraphing their priorities. New Yorks Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, used her state of the state address to call for $500 million in spending on offshore wind projects. Story continues This year's discussions on how to spend taxpayers' money comes not only as many states are seeing massive budget surpluses, but also as the negative effects of changing weather patterns are becoming ever harder to ignore. As drought continued in much of the West, an unseasonable December wildfire ripped through a Colorado neighborhood near Boulder. Deadly off-season tornados ravaged Kentucky, and several hurricanes hit the Gulf Coast. Late summer temperatures soared to sweltering, record-breaking levels in the Pacific Northwest. The climate crisis is not an abstraction. It is something that I and every governor in the United States, almost on a weekly basis, have to deal with," Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, said this past week. Meanwhile, Democratic President Joe Biden's $2 trillion package of social and environmental initiatives is stalled in Congress, leaving the prospect of more federal money to fight climate change uncertain. States, mostly led by Democrats, took on a larger role advancing climate policies during former Republican President Donald Trump's time in office. Most states are awash in money as tax collections have exceeded expectations because of strong consumer spending and rising prices, which together have bolstered sales tax revenue. On top of that, states are taking in billions of dollars in federal pandemic relief and are preparing for a big boost in federal infrastructure money after Congress passed a $1 trillion public works bill in November. Beyond increasing climate spending, states are looking to the windfall to pad their reserves, cut taxes, boost funding for education and increase affordable housing. California is home to the most ambitious climate spending, with Newsom calling for $22 billion for various projects spread over the next five years. The bulk of that would go to transportation projects such as electrifying school buses and expanding vehicle charging stations into disadvantaged communities. He also proposed another $2 billion for clean energy development and storage. California-based companies that work to address climate change and develop green technologies could be eligible for tax credits. Through programs to build more housing in downtown corridors and make communities more walkable, Newsom threaded his efforts to tackle climate change throughout his budget proposal. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and legislative leaders promised increased investments related to wildfires, such as adding fire response equipment and training for firefighters, after last months Boulder County wildfire. The Democratic governor has requested about $75 million for such efforts, and the Democratic-led Legislature has signaled it wants more. Polis also wants to spend $425 million on electrifying bus and truck fleets, aerial and ground monitoring of oil and gas emissions, and more. From extreme floods to megafires to seemingly never-ending ozone alerts, our states long-term health is on the line. ... We have to do everything in our power to make sure this is not the new normal," Colorado Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg said. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, has asked the state legislature to fund the creation of a climate change bureau, with a 15-member staff and $2.5 million initial budget. It would implement pollution standards for vehicles and push the state's economy toward a point where just as much carbon is being taken out of the atmosphere as is being emitted. Her administration has offered limited details on the proposal. Even as they prioritize climate initiatives, many governors are balancing those plans with a need to support their state's current economy as it transitions away from a dependence on fossil fuels. In New Mexico, the output of oil and natural gas has surged to an all-time high under Lujan Grishams administration. At least one-fourth of the state's general fund budget can be traced to income from the oil and natural gas industries underwriting public education, health care and other services. In some states, it's lawmakers who are driving climate spending. Democrats who control Maryland's legislature are pushing a climate change measure that would reduce methane emissions, modernize the electric grid and invest in green technology. The package, subject to negotiations, would accelerate the states goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The current plan is to cut emissions by 40% of 2006 levels by 2030. The Democrats' new plans is to raise that emissions reduction to 60%. They also want to set a goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045, meaning at least as much carbon is being removed from the atmosphere as what's being emitted. Money for climate programs could come from the state's $4.6 billion budget surplus and federal infrastructure funding. Maryland Democrats have enough members to override any vetoes by Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, though he has previously supported efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. State Sen. Paul Pinsky, a Democrat, said advancing climate policy has political merits, particularly in the state that is home to Chesapeake Bay, the nation's largest estuary. All Maryland state lawmakers are up for re-election this year, as are about two-thirds of governors across the U.S. I think legislators want to be able to run on something, and people should be accountable," Pinsky said. "Do they support the environment and this kind of bold action or not? ___ Associated Press writers Jim Anderson in Denver; Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix; Rachel La Corte in Olympia, Washington; Michelle Liu in Columbia, South Carolina; Keith Ridler in Boise, Idaho; and Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland, contributed to this report. Vice President Kamala Harris gives remarks in Statuary Hall of the U.S Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, January 6, 2022 to mark the year anniversary of the attack on the Capitol. Vice President Kamala Harris is undergoing a fresh start in 2022. Since the new year began, Harris has been front and center, alongside President Biden in delivering speeches on the Jan. 6 anniversary of the Capitol insurrection and on voting rights earlier this week in Atlanta. The vice president is also bringing in new aides, particularly on her communications team, as part of the refresh. On Thursday, she appeared on NBC's "Today" to talk about key issues, including COVID-19, currently facing the administration. "The holidays served as an important turn-the-page moment for the administration and I imagine for the vice president's public profile," said Democratic strategist Joel Payne. "It feels like they're taking a refreshed approach to how they are linking her to the daily business of the administration." Harris was mired in a rash of negative headlines for much of the last year as several interviews and comments she made misfired. Democrats also questioned if the White House was using her effectively. Some said they thought Harris seemed like a glorified chief of staff and not vice president, while others questioned her prospects as a presidential candidate. Toward the end of the year, she was faced with a string of key departures from her staff. Harris has also been plagued with low polling numbers. A Gallup survey last month showed the vice president with a 44 percent approval rating, while 54 percent disapproved of her job performance. But in recent days, some Democrats say they have been satisfied with Harris's front-and-center presence on major issues. In her speech on the Jan. 6 attacks, Harris vocalized what Democrats were feeling. "We all saw what our nation would look like if the forces who seek to dismantle our democracy are successful ... What was at stake then, and now, is the right to have our future decided the way the Constitution prescribes it: by we, the people. All the people." Story continues Earlier this week, in the speech in Atlanta, she urged Americans "not to succumb to those who dismiss this assault on voting rights as an unfounded threat" and a "partisan game." "The assault on our freedom to vote will be felt by every American, in every community, in every political party," she said. "And if we stand idly by, our entire nation will pay the price for generations to come." Strategists say they've been encouraged by Harris's presence on these issues, delivering speeches in big moments together with Biden. "Maybe they finally realized that she doesn't have to take such a back-seat role," said one strategist. "If she's the future of the party, they need to give her some runway. People need to see her out there. They need to know what she does." Democratic strategist Rodell Mollineau agreed, saying that "it's good to see the vice president out there a little bit more." "The White House needs all of the A Team on the field echoing this administration's message every single day and that includes the VP," Mollineau said. "There's too much they want to accomplish to not have the most incredible voices out there." "If you have good messengers, use them. And she's a great messenger," Mollineau added. "In the end, it's only going to help the administration win messaging wars." Democrats also seemed hopeful that Harris's new communications team would help the vice president have a more effective role and avoid the missteps and blunders of her first year. Last week, less than a week into the new year, The Hill reported that Harris hired veteran strategist Jamal Simmons as her communications director. Simmons, whose media work has included time at Hill.TV, is expected to "change things up" and provide more structure to the team. "It's standard for any executive to take stock in what is working and what could use improvement entering year #2 on the job," said Democratic strategist Adrienne Elrod, who served on Biden's 2020 campaign. Elrod said Simmons would "bring experience and leadership to the team, not only in the area of communications but in other policy areas as well." Sources close to the vice president's office say there will be more structure in the communications office instead of an operation that lacked a traditional flow chart. "The communications team lacked a cohesiveness and a structure," said one source close to the office. "I think that all changes with this new round of hires." Simmons and the new team can also assist Harris with achieving consistency, the source said. "It seems like she's around and then she's not and then she makes news and then she goes dark," one source said. "They should come up with a plan for her and stick to it." But other Democrats say a good vice president does both. "People need to remember that her job as VP is to be behind the scenes," said Democratic strategist Karen Finney, who has been a vocal supporter of Harris. "There are a lot of parts of the job that are by definition not as public." Still, Finney said she's enjoyed seeing Harris alongside Biden pushing monumental issues including voting reform. "I love seeing them together because I think they're such a great team," she said. "They have a good energy together. And when the two of them appear to gather it sends a signal that this is a top priority. This is important and we're going to treat it as something special." Happy Saturday, Healdsburg! Let's get you all caught up to start today off on an informed note. First, today's weather: Fog in the a.m.; lots of sun. High: 62 Low: 38. Rent this space: Are you a local business owner or marketer in Healdsburg? We'd love to start connecting local businesses with our amazing readers. Learn more here. Here are the top 3 stories today in Healdsburg: New data from the Healdsburg Police Department shows that its 911 dispatchers are answering 95 percent of their calls within 15 seconds, with most answered in 10 seconds or less. According to Healdsburg Police Chief Matt Jenkins, a 15-second answer time is the standard set by the Governor's Office of Emergency Services. The local dispatch center answers an average of 2,700 emergency calls per year. (SoCo News) Today is National Bagel Day, and you don't have to travel far to get the best bagels in the county. Sonoma Magazine named our very own Healdsburg Bagel Company as one of the 12 best bagel places in Sonoma for its traditional New York-style bagels. In addition to their storefront on Healdsburg Ave., HBC's delicious bagels are also available at Big Johns Market and various local farmers markets or can be ordered for delivery right to your door. (Sonoma Magazine) Cilla Marshall, a longtime member and volunteer of the Healdsburg Museum, has made a special addition to the Museum's local quilt collection by donating two quilts from the 1880s. Marshall's hand-embroidered silk quilts belonged to her late mother, Dorothea Batchelder, a former Healdsburg resident. The Healdsburg Museum hasn't held a quilt exhibit since the early 2000s, but with this donation and several other unique quilts acquired over the last two decades, it is considering planning another one soon. (Healdsburg Museum and Historical Society) Today in Healdsburg: Ceramics: Beginning Hand Building At Healdsburg Center For The Arts (1:00 PM) From my notebook: Story continues Sonoma County is aligned with the California Department of Public Health isolation and quarantine guidance for the general public if you test positive or were in close contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19. Here's what to do. (Facebook) Help the Healdsburg High School Model UN and Skills USA Club by participating in their home-cooked dinner fundraiser! Between now and Jan. 21, you can order a heat-and-eat dinner for four crafted by Chef Derek Corsino, with baked chicken, macaroni and cheese, veggies, and apple crisp. (Eventbrite) Books and Roots is a Family Bilingual Reading Program of Corazon Healdsburg that encourages parents of very young children to engage in reading and reading-related activities to adopt positive reading habits. Click here to register for the workshops and to receive reminders, or contact the Corazon Healdsburg office for more information: (707) 615-4567 (Facebook) Loving the Healdsburg Daily? Here are all the ways you can get more involved: Send a friend or neighbor this link so they can subscribe Get your local business showcased in front of readers Thanks for following along and staying informed! I'll be in your inbox tomorrow morning with a new update. Sean Peek About me: Sean Peek is a writer and entrepreneur with a degree in English Literature from Weber State University. Over the years, he has worked as a copywriter, editor, SEO specialist, and marketing director for various digital media companies. He currently co-owns and operates content creation agency Lightning Media Partners. This article originally appeared on the Healdsburg Patch Weather bomb leaves the Maritimes reeling with Newfoundland on deck The second bomb cyclone in a week is leaving its mark on Atlantic Canada, with thousands without power in Nova Scotia after blustery winds, heavy snow, ice and blizzard conditions battered the province and rest of the Maritimes Friday night and Saturday morning. Conditions will improve through the day as the weather bomb then sets its eyes on Newfoundland with similar impacts, but throw in heavy rainfall, as well, as the island remains on the warmer side of the storm. More on what's left of the storm as it continues to rake across the Atlantic provinces, below. SATURDAY: STORM MOVES OUT OF THE MARITIMES, HEAVY RAIN SPREADS OVER NEWFOUNDLAND The storm will begin to depart the Maritimes through the day on Saturday and focus its effects on Newfoundland during the second half. Because Newfoundlad will be much warmer than its westerly neighbours, precipitation will manifest as rain due to southerly winds pumping above-freezing temperatures over most of the island. atlsnow In the Maritimes, the snow at times heavy will end over New Brunswick and western Nova Scotia Saturday morning, and eastern regions of the latter in the afternoon. The highest snowfall amounts in Nova Scotia are over the Annapolis Valley and northern Nova Scotia. Strong northerly winds in conjunction with the fresh snowfall is giving poor visibility in blowing snow and causing power outages. There are currently more than 60,000 without power in Nova Scotia. By the time it departs, accumulations in the Maritimes will be heaviest in eastern and northern Nova Scotia, where an additional 10-25 cm of snow, with 5-15 cm left to come in southern sections. Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) issued rainfall warnings for Newfoundlands southern shores and portions of the Avalon ahead of the potential for 50-75 mm of rain. atlrain Rain will combine with strong southerly winds and mild temperatures to cause significant snowmelt. The mild temperatures today will plummet tonight causing a possible rapid freeze of any standing water from the rainfall and snowmelt, ECCC said in the rainfall warning. Story continues Farther north and west, freezing rain and snow will pelt the western and northern sections of Newfoundland. Rain will change to ice pellets or freezing rain before changing to snow Saturday evening. Gusty westerly winds will combine with fresh snow to reduce visibilities in blowing snow. The heaviest snowfall in Newfoundland will be in northern sections, where blizzard and winter storm warnings are in place. Anywhere from 15-40 cm is expected through Sunday morning. LOOK AHEAD: ANOTHER STORM ON THE DOORSTEPS Beyond, briefly turning much colder in the short range, but temperatures quickly rebound early next week. The same system that will impact Ontario and Quebec will track across the region late Monday through Tuesday. This system is expected to bring snow changing to rain across most of the region. atlmon A wide range in snow totals across the region, depending on how quickly an area sees the changeover from snow to rain, with 2-5+ cm for most of Nova Scotia and P.E.I. and 5-15+ cm for New Brunswick -- higher totals north. A messy mix of snow, ice and rain for most of Newfoundland. A weaker but messy system expected Wednesday night through Thursday night. An active pattern and changeable temperatures expected for the rest of January. Thumbnail courtesy of Cheryl Lynn Hoeg, taken in Beaver Bank, N.S. Stay tuned to The Weather Network for the latest on this major noreaster. BEIRUT (AP) Lebanons militant Hezbollah group and its main Shiite ally said Saturday they are ending their boycott of Cabinet meetings after a three-month deadlock that has worsened the small nations unprecedented economic meltdown. The two Shiite groups said in a joint statement they would attend Cabinet sessions to approve a new budget and measures for dealing with the two-year crisis, and to discuss a recovery plan. They said they would attend because of the accelerated economic deterioration in recent weeks. The two groups had boycotted the Cabinet since October, demanding changes in the national probe of the devastating August 2020 explosion in Beiruts port and effectively paralyzing the government. Hezbollah had called for the judge in the port blast to be removed, accusing him of bias. Judge Tarek Bitar has meanwhile faced a slew of legal challenges and lawsuits calling for his removal, which forced him to suspend the probe at least four times. The probe is currently suspended. Bitar had summoned and charged several senior officials on charges of intentional negligence that led to the explosion, which killed more than 200 people and injured thousands. The two Shiite groups vowed to continue their efforts to remove the judge investigating the port blast. Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the decision of two groups to end their Cabinet boycott. He said earlier this month the state budget should be ready for discussion within days. A government-approved recovery plan is a prerequisite for resuming discussions with the International Monetary Fund. Lebanese officials had said a deal would be possible by the end of January, a timeline unlikely now after weeks of no government meetings. An IMF delegation is expected in Lebanon soon. Lebanon's economic crisis, which began unfolding in late 2019, is rooted in years of mismanagement and corruption by the same political class that has been in power for years. The crisis has driven more than half of the population into poverty, sent the national currency tumbling and inflation and unemployment soaring. SWAT team members deploy near the Congregation Beth Israel Synagogue. (Photo: ANDY JACOBSOHN via Getty Images) All of the hostages held at a North Texas synagogue amid a tense, 12-hour standoff are safe, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced late Saturday. Prayers answered, Abbott tweeted. All hostages are out alive and safe. It was a welcome conclusion after four hostages, reportedly including a rabbi, were seized by a suspect in the Dallas suburb of Colleyville Saturday morning during a service at Congregation Beth Israel that was being streamed live on Facebook. Law enforcement confirmed the suspect is dead, and on Sunday identified the man as 44-year-old British national Malik Faisal Akram. There is currently no indication that any other individuals were involved, according to FBI Special Agent in Charge Matt DeSarno. We do believe from our engagement with this subject that he was singularly focused on one issue, and it was not specifically related to the Jewish community, DeSarno said at a press conference on Saturday. We will continue to work to find motive. He said the ongoing investigation will have global reach. Colleyville Chief of Police Michael Miller said investigators didnt yet have any information about why this particular synagogue was targeted by the suspect. Prayers answered. All hostages are out alive and safe. Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) January 16, 2022 Journalists on the scene reported sounds of a bang and said the power to the synagogue was cut before the three hostages left the building. Im told officials just cut the power inside Beth Israel. No word yet on what the bang was. Jamie Landers (@jamielandersx) January 16, 2022 Earlier in the evening, the suspect released a male hostage. None of the hostages were injured. He did not harm them in any way, DeSarno said at the press conference. Story continues An elite hostage negotiating team of some 70 experts was flown in from Virginia, and about 200 law enforcement personnel were involved in the effort to keep the hostages safe. The negotiating team had a high frequency and duration of contact with the suspect, said DeSarno. Like many hostage situations, the relationship between the negotiators and the hostage taker ebbed and flowed and sometimes got intense. A SWAT team initially responded to a call for help at 10:41 a.m. local time on the same block as Congregation Beth Israel. Police quickly evacuated the surrounding area and established a security perimeter, officials said. Before the livestream of the service was taken offline, viewers could hear an angry man shouting, sometimes about religion, and periodically engaging with law enforcement. But the feed did not show exactly what was happening. Im going to die at the end of this, all right? Are you listening? I am going to die, the man said shortly before the Facebook stream cut off. The suspect claimed to have planted bombs at unknown locations, ABC News reported. Authorities didnt reveal what weapons the suspect had. The Washington Post reported he had a gun and explosives, citing an anonymous police source. At one point he claimed that convicted terrorist Aafia Siddiqui was his sister, according to ABC, although it was not clear whether he intended to suggest they were biologically related. A lawyer for Siddiquis biological brother confirmed in a statement that it was not Muhammad Siddiqui holding people hostage. The suspect was believed to want Aafia Siddiqui released. Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist and MIT graduate, was accused of having ties to al Qaeda and sentenced to 86 years in 2010 for trying to murder American soldiers in Afghanistan. In 2008, she had grabbed a soldiers M4 rifle and used it to shoot at another soldier while being pulled in for questioning; during the attack she exclaimed her intent and desire to kill Americans, according to the Justice Department. Siddiqui was wounded by gunfire during the incident. During her trial, Siddiqui expressed hostility toward Jewish people, suggesting at one point that potential jurors undergo genetic testing to confirm they are not Jewish. She is currently imprisoned at a medical facility near Fort Worth. Colleyville lies between Dallas and Fort Worth in northern Texas. The Council on American-Islamic Relations numbers among the pro-Pakistan and human rights activists advocating for Siddiquis release, saying that she has been attacked by other inmates. One person allegedly smashed a mug of hot liquid onto her face, the group said in a press release last summer. CAIR and other supporters of Siddiqui, a mother of three, allege that she has been falsely accused by the U.S. government. The group condemned Saturdays attack in a statement calling it an unacceptable act of evil. No cause can justify or excuse this crime, CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said. In 2018, Pakistans senate unanimously passed a resolution calling on the U.S. government to take steps to release Siddiqui, labeling her Daughter of the Nation. Terrorist groups have demanded her release, too. In 2014, ISIS offered to exchange Siddiqui for American journalist James Foley, who was later beheaded. ISIS then offered to trade her for American journalist Steven Sotloff before he was similarly executed. President Joe Biden released a statement on Sunday thanking law enforcement and calling Saturdays hostage incident an act of terror. He also said he will call the synagogues rabbi to convey that attacks on places of worship will not be tolerated. Sanjana Karanth contributed reporting. This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated. Related... Masked high school students eyecrave/iStock Hundreds of students in Boston, Chicago, and other U.S. school districts staged walkouts Friday, demanding increased health precautions or a return to remote instruction as Omicron cases continue to spike, Reuters reported. This news comes after a week of abnormally low attendance rates in districts across the country. "It was like: 'This person has COVID. That person has COVID. Another person has COVID,'" Zoe Cantor, one of the students organizing a walkout in Montgomery County, Maryland, told The Washington Post. "Amid the recent surge of COVID cases in the country, specifically the omicron variant, it is unsafe to hold students in schools that do not mandate any social distancing and allow masks to be taken off," Cantor wrote in a Change.org petition currently signed by almost 18,000 people. Many of the protesting students argue schools need to do more facilitate social distancing and provide students with COVID tests and high-quality masks. Others insist that in-person learning should be suspended altogether. Some educators, however, remain skeptical, suggesting that many of the students signing petitions and participating in walkouts are motivated by nothing more than the desire to stay home from school. Megan Struder, who teaches English in Stafford County, Virginia, told The Week Wednesday that a number of students "are looking to take advantage of the virtual setting," which "complicates things for those who are truly in need." According to data provided by The New York Times, Omicron continues to produce record numbers of new cases but without a proportionate rise in deaths. You may also like Health experts say Omicron is headed for a sharp drop, most Americans will get infected, everyone's confused California deputy DA opposed to vaccine mandates dies of COVID-19 Nancy Pelosi's stock ban blunder is Josh Hawley's gain Illinois Republican legislators slammed the states child welfare agency for a cycle of failure after its director was held in contempt of court for allegedly failing to provide adequate housing for minors in three recent cases. The House GOP has called for a hearing into deficiencies with the states Department of Children and Family Services and how its director, Marc Smith, plans to address them. It was unclear whether the GOPs request will be granted by the Democratic majority. Smith, tapped by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker to lead the agency in 2019, was held in contempt of court by a Cook County Juvenile Court judge for two different cases in which children were deemed to have been sheltered inadequately. In each case, Smith was fined $1,000 a day until his agency found adequate housing for the two minors, a 9-year-old girl in one case and a 13-year-old boy in the other. In the case of the 9-year-old, DCFS had kept her in a locked psychiatric hospital since June, according to Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert, whose office is involved in the cases. Previously, the girl had been physically and sexually abused, Golbert said Friday. The 13-year-old boy had been staying at a temporary shelter in Mount Vernon, a southern Illinois town about 280 miles from Chicago, Golbert said. Before that, he said, the boy was staying in a utility closet in an office. On Thursday, DCFS said that the two minors finally were placed in adequate housing but at the same time, a judge held Smith in contempt again for failing to find adequate housing for another youth who had been staying in a psychiatric hospital, according to Golbert. DCFS spokesman Bill McCaffrey said the agency is appealing the contempt ruling in the third case. And in a statement, he said the agency is dedicated to keeping children safe and strengthening families. We are working aggressively addressing the decadeslong challenge of a lack of community resources and facilities for children with complex behavioral health needs, which has been exacerbated by an increased demand in social services in recent years, McCaffrey said. Story continues House Republicans sounded off about the cases on Thursday at a Zoom-based news conference. The disclosure of the cases that led to the contempt order comes after DCFS case worker Deidre Silas, 36, was fatally stabbed earlier this month while checking on a report of a child in danger outside of Springfield. State Rep. Steven Reick, a Harvard Republican, said Pritzker has been missing in action on the issue. This is a man whos not afraid to run in front of a camera every chance he gets. But on this one he has been totally silent. Governor, its time to speak out on this issue, Reick said Thursday. State Rep. Tony McCombie, a Savanna Republican, echoed Reicks concerns. This is not a partisan issue, she said of Pritzker and the Democrats. Dont make it one. In a statement, state Rep. Camille Lilly, a Chicago Democrat who heads the committee that oversees DCFS funding, said the agencys failures are something that legislators on both sides of the aisles have been working to address for years. But she said its crucial that the conversation needs to be focused on holistic, long-term solutions. I am wholeheartedly asking my colleagues to put down the talking points and hit pause on the press conferences so we can do this important work together, Lilly said. Thats what our children and the rest of our state deserve. jgorner@chicagotribune.com Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty The darndest things turn people on. Consumers buy pornographic videos of women eating, women pretending to fuck their stepsons, and women engaged in all sorts of other scenarios. For the past two years, a new genre has taken Porn Valley by storm: scenes of men fucking women who are stuck. Take my recent foray into the genre. At the start of the video, I pretend to get stuck in a dryer to seduce my fictional stepson, then scream: Oh, Randy! Help me, Im stuck! He runs in and says, Stepmom, you are clearly not stuck in the drier; if you want to fuck, you should have said so, then pounds me. Other videos show women stuck in fridges, cars, garbage disposals, and all different sorts of inanimate objects. The videos sound hilarious, but in my opinion, they exist for a serious reason: Mastercard, Visa, and other credit card-processing companies restrict what pornographers can sell, especially in the genre of fake non-consent, which has significantly decreased the amount of high-end content in that genre. Pornographers and consumers are trapped, and trapped women videos set us free. Billie Eilish Thinks My Vagina Looks Fucking Crazy Mastercard has restricted pornographers for years. Although First Amendment laws protect the right to sell fictional films showcasing adult actors in scripted scenes of fake incest or non-consensual sex, Mastercard and other financial service companies enforce strict rules about what types of porn consumers can buy with credit and debit cards. These rules range from which fingers I can put in my asshole (no thumbs!) to what types of objects I can insert in my vagina to what a son can and cannot call his mother figure. (Meanwhile, Hollywood depicts incest and rape regularly.) In other words, Mastercard restricts what you jack off to, even if its legal for you to watch a woman get fisted. When adult companies sell fictional non-consensual-themed videos, they must add additional language to videos. Kink sometimes sells these videos, showing disclaimers both before and after the videos explaining the films are fictional. Instead of tagging them rape, they now might tag them consensual non-consent. Story continues Last year, Mastercard and OnlyFans changed policies overnight. For most of us, its not worth risking our relationship with credit card processors to sell fictional consensual, non-consent films. On top of this, weve all heard from viewers, and though their tastes remain as carnal as ever, they have mixed feelings about wanting to view fictional incest- or rape-themed content. A woman can have a rape fantasy without ever wanting to get raped, and a man who likes stepmom porn probably doesnt want to sleep with his mother. Its make-believe. But in a country where you cant tweet about listening to Baby, Its Cold Outside without sparking a viral debate, people are wary of publicly talking about their fantasies. Everyone has grown more conservative. And when youre masturbating, you dont want to remember your weird stance toward your fetishes. You just want to get off and relax. I have begun filming these stuck women scenes with my fans in mind. Even when creating these videos, I must tip-toe around Mastercard rules. If my stepson Randy comes behind me, I cant yell, I dont want it! or Stop! I must scream euphemisms like, Oh my goodness! and This seems wrong, but I want it! I never thought I would feel more ridiculous than I do when I film regular stepmom scenes (personally, stepmoms and rape fantasies are not the type of porn I want), but I laugh when I film these videos. At the same time, Im thankful these videos exist. Stuck women videos offer a way for performers to sell controversial fantasies without breaking Mastercards policies or triggering audiences self-loathing. Stuck women videos are playful, consensual, non-consent videos. Theyre the fuzzy pink handcuffs of kinky porn compared to the spiked handcuffs of more controversial videos. And some days, when Im battling Mastercard weekly, I too prefer the fuzzy pink handcuffs. The spikes are not worth the stress. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. SEATTLE For a health system pushed to the brink, Harborview Medical Centers health care workers hardly let it show. During a visit to an acute care unit at Harborview on Friday, about half the patients were positive for Covid-19. But doctors werent pacing the hallways frantically. Some Covid-positive patients could be seen through windows awake and alert. Health workers in N95 respirators calmly suited up in personal protective gear and marched into patients rooms for treatment as if it were business as usual. Medically, its not a challenge like it was back in 2020, Isabelle Norville, the charge nurse of an acute care Covid unit at the hospital, said of the omicron surge. A disease that once struck fear into health workers throughout the Seattle area and around the world has become something that is now routine. The uncertainty of previous waves of infection was less apparent. Jesus Aguirre Medina, a Covid-19 patient with a nutritionist looking over paperwork in his room in the acute care unit of Harborview Medical Center, on Friday. (Elaine Thompson / AP) Instead, with Covid hospitalizations climbing to new heights and expanding the hospital well beyond its usual capacity, it was the grind of caring for so many patients that was threatening to break the short-staffed operation. I just got back from a vacation a couple days ago, and I already need another one, Jason Naki, a registered nurse, said. I dont know how long Ill be able to sustain this. Added Bibi Martinez, a hospital assistant: The works been very heavy. Absolutely exhausted, said Dr. John Lynch, the hospitals medical director of infection control. The health workforce is nearing a breaking point in a way thats never happened before. Even in the Seattle area, where 9 of 10 people ages 5 and older have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine, the hard math of the omicron surge was setting new records for how many people needed hospital care, further demoralizing the hospital workforce and posing threats to the quality of care. Washington hospitals set new records during the pandemic on Thursday, according to an NBC News analysis of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services data. Seven-day averages of adult hospitalizations, pediatric hospitalizations and the percent of inpatients with Covid all reached new highs. Story continues The number of beds used for Covid-positive patients had more than doubled in the past two weeks, from 967 to 2,057, the analysis showed. Other states face similar numbers. Washington is one of 33 states and territories at a high level of stress, according to data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Fifteen more states were rated as extreme. Image: (Elaine Thompson / AP) Responding to the surge, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday ordered 100 National Guard members to deploy at hospital emergency departments and to run Covid testing sites, including one at Harborview Medical Center. Inslee also paused nonemergency procedures, like some surgeries, for a month throughout the state and encouraged retired health care workers to volunteer to help respond to the growing crisis. Harborview Medical Center is one of four hospitals in Seattle operated by UW Medicine, a university-affiliated medical system. Across its four campuses, the system counted 194 patients that were Covid-positive Thursday, which is 70 more than the previous high during the peak of the delta wave. Harborview, a Level I trauma hospital that typically operates at full capacity, was now stretched well beyond it. This is a 413-bed hospital that has over 500 patients, Lynch said. The UW Medicine hospital system had begun to convert nonclinical spaces to accommodate the swell of Covid patients, adding beds in conference rooms, hallways and surgery clinics. Some hospital workers were out sick, complicating matters further. Across the UW Medicine workforce, which numbers some 29,000 workers, about 600 were unable to work because they were isolating or quarantining because of omicron, Lynch said. Hospital staffing across Washington was concerning enough that he thought some facilities might soon ask staffers not to isolate after a Covid infection, but return to work as soon as they felt better. Lynch was concerned patient care would begin to falter throughout the state. I am worried that wed go to crisis standards of care, he said of Washington hospitals. Crisis standards are when hospitals are so overwhelmed they cannot provide the typical level of treatment, and organizations are left to triage resources and decide who will receive treatment and who will be left to suffer or even die. The scarcest resources are staffed beds, Lynch said. The hands of a physician and a nurse and a therapist available for a patient who needs care in the hospital in a bed thats my biggest concern. So far, patients at Harborview Medical Center with Covid were faring better than during previous Covid waves. Were seeing less people with ICU Covid, Lynch said. Patients often needed oxygen supplementation, but few required intubation or other drastic lifesaving measures. Overwhelmingly, the patients are in acute care, and its a mix of people coming in with things like Covid-associated pneumonia and other respiratory problems, Lynch said. About 40 percent of patients were asymptomatic for Covid and had been admitted to the hospital for something else, Lynch said. Most of our patients with asymptomatic Covid are vaccinated folks, Lynch said. A lot of the folks that we see with symptomatic Covid, and certainly folks in critical care, are folks who are unvaccinated. Image: (Elaine Thompson / AP) About half of the patients in the 34-person acute care unit on Friday had Covid, Norville, the charge nurse, said. The unit was at capacity, and several patients had to be kept in the hallways earlier that morning. Most of the patients had not been admitted for Covid, but for some other ailment. During the omicron wave, were not seeing a deterioration of their clinical status as quickly or as often, Norville said. Covid patients require more work, regardless of symptoms. Nurses must deliver food themselves, take time to don protective gear when entering and keep these patients isolated from others. Were moving into spaces of our facility that weve never moved into before in order to accommodate this number of patients and the needs for those levels of precautions, Lynch said. The last thing we want to do is make hospitals turn into places where Covid is transmitted. Lynch said he worries about the next few weeks, as omicron spreads in Eastern Washington, where vaccination rates are much lower and rural hospitals are small and poorly staffed. The scene at Harborview on Friday felt far removed from the highs and lows seen during prior visits to Seattle-area hospitals. During a March 2020 visit to EvergreenHealth, the Seattle-area hospital where the coronavirus outbreak was first discovered in the U.S., hospital workers fumbled while donning their newly assigned respirators. Workers were fearful, but resolute. Doctors later likened those early, frightening pandemic days to being in a foxhole together. In December 2020, during the regions previous peak of Covid-19 cases, the emotion of vaccination took center stage. Some hospital workers wept with happiness as they received their shots. Its been a long, exhausting road, one ICU nurse had said, believing it was the first step out of a nightmare. On Friday, emotions at Harborview remained relatively flat. Its surprising to me that even though weve been through a couple of these surges, still how burdensome it feels, Naki, the registered nurse, said. The surge was prompting big questions. What makes me feel good about my job is delivering good care and being compassionate, Naki said, adding that staffing ratios and the sheer number of patients were making it difficult to provide that. Maybe bedside nursing isnt always going to be in the cards for me, Naki said. I thought it was, but maybe not. I dont know. Cassie Harper, an intern in the guidance office at CHS who is finishing up her degree at OU. Most educators will agree that the demand for additional services to help students is increasing while resources to fund those services remain stagnant. One way to defeat this dilemma is to find quality interns to help provide those services. Cambridge High School was fortunate this school year and part of last school year to bring on intern Cassie Harper as a school counselor. Harper, a former student of CHS principal Jason Bunting when he worked at Maysville High School, needs to complete 700 hours of counseling to earn her masters degree in school counseling from Ohio University. Cambridge High School's student support team needed help meeting the needs of the Bobcat students. The fit was good, as Harper now spends her workdays interacting with Cambridge students. Bunting saw the situation as a win-win. When she first came on board at the high school, Harper did a lot of shadowing, observing, and getting to know the students. It wasnt long until she was working on her own and involved in the day-to-day duties of a school counselor. Last year, she worked under the mentorship of School Counselor Rod Gray and this year is working with School Counselor Trudy Tuttle. She also gets to interact with Career Navigator Lovel Quinn and School Support Liaison Casey McVicker. Because of the unique staffing situation at CHS, Harper is getting to spend a good bit of time talking, working with students, and learning what it is like to work in a professional environment. Bunting sees all the advantages to having Harper at the school, but especially likes what she has to offer to the students. She is a quality person to get into our school and assist our counselors, Bunting said. It is great having another person in the building who can assist our students, and it is a plus having someone a little closer to the age of our students who is in college that can give students someone else to ask those college-type questions. Someone they are more likely to believe because she is closer to their age." Story continues Harper is in the Counselor Education Program in the Patton School of Education at Ohio University. Harper will complete her requirements by February but is committed to staying at Cambridge through the school year to gain additional experience. I have a relationship with the students and the staff, and I would not want to abruptly leave, Harper said. Her short-term goals are to pass her licensure exam and find a job. Long-term goals include continuing her education and potentially pursuing a career as a school psychologist and eventually teaching at a university. Working at Cambridge Schools is also something Harper would think about if a position would open. It is definitely something I would consider, especially since I already have relationships established, Harper said. It would be silly of me not to consider it. I love it here. I love the kids. I love this school. This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: Intern helps CHS school counselors while gaining experience Xi stresses safeguarding national security, social stability, peaceful lives Xinhua) 14:55, January 15, 2022 BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has called for efforts to safeguard national political security, social stability and the peaceful life of the people. Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the call in a recent instruction to the political and legal work. Efforts should be made to ensure fair access to justice for every individual, Xi said in the instruction. (Web editor: Meng Bin, Bianji) JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Saturday that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and would self-isolate but continue working from home. "I feel good and will isolate in the next few days," Lieberman said on Twitter. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid tested positive on Monday. Lieberman has faced some public criticism for not providing more government aid to businesses as the Omicron variant has pushed Israeli infection rates to new highs, keeping many employees in isolation and customers at home. "I will continue to pursue responsible economic policies from home, keep track of the data and plan future steps," Lieberman, 63, tweeted in an apparent response to the criticism. On Jan. 10, Lieberman posted a photo of himself receiving a fourth COVID-19 vaccination dose. Israel began administering a second round of boosters to immune-compromised people in late December, expanding the campaign to its over-60-year-olds and medical staff in January. The Health Ministry says that a first booster increases protection seven days after the shot but has not yet released data on the effectiveness of a fourth dose. Israel, population 9.4 million, has confirmed around 1.7 million coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic and more than 8,000 deaths. (Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Frances Kerry) A former Haitian politician described by police as driven by his fierce will to kill President Jovenel Moise has been apprehended. John Joel Joseph, a former Haitian senator and one of several assassination suspects who had remained at large, is being detained in Jamaica after being arrested Friday in rural St. Elizabeth parish. The Jamaican Constabulary Force Saturday confirmed the arrest to the Miami Herald, and in a late afternoon statement said Joseph and three members of his family were arrested at 8:30 p.m. the previous day at a home by members of the Counter Terrorism & Organized Crime Unit and the St. Elizabeth divisional police. The Herald has learned that the relatives are his wife and their two children. Local investigators have since made contact with the Haitian authorities, who informed them that he is wanted in Haiti as a suspect in the alleged assassination of the Haitian president in 2021, the statement said. A kidnap gang stole a maternity hospitals new generator in Haiti. Now it has to close Jamaican authorities said that investigations and operations into the presence of Joseph, who also travels under the name Joseph Joel John, are ongoing. Haiti and Jamaica do not have an extradition treaty, which will complicate matters in the coming days as to whether Joseph is sent back to Haiti or transferred to the United States, where a parallel probe into the presidents slaying is ongoing. This is the second weekend in a row that a wanted suspect in the brazen July 7, 2021, assassination of Moise, 53, has been apprehended. Last weekend, officials in the Dominican Republic arrested Rodolphe Jaar, a convicted drug trafficker whose Port-au-Prince residence housed vehicles, weapons and a group of Colombians allegedly involved in the then-upcoming attack. A former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration informant who double-crossed the agency by tipping off agents to a 420-kilo cocaine load in 2012 while secretly stealing part of the stash, Jaar remains in the Dominican Republic but is wanted by both Haiti and the United States. Story continues Joseph, meanwhile, is the second key suspect to be taken into custody in Jamaica, suggesting that he and others may have used a popular Guns for Ganja criminal route between Haitis southern coast and the countrys English-speaking Caribbean neighbor to escape authorities after months of hiding in Haiti. In October, retired Colombian sergeant Mario Antonio Palacios Palacios was arrested in Kingston after being tracked there by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations agents. He had previously hidden in Haiti for months. He was later taken into custody by Jamaican authorities under an immigration violation, and then ordered deported in late December. Palacios is currently in U.S. federal custody, after being detained in Panama earlier this month while on his way back to Colombia. Told that there was a U.S. warrant for his arrest, he voluntarily agreed to travel to Miami, U.S. and Panamanian officials said. A criminal complaint drafted by the FBI and unsealed on Jan. 4 in federal court accuses Palacios, 43, of conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping outside the United States, and providing material support resulting in death, knowing that such support would be used to carry out a plot to kill the Haitian president. The FBI criminal complaint says that about 20 Colombians were involved in the plot, which began as a mission to kidnap and arrest Moise but later changed to killing him, according to statements Palacios provided U.S. federal agents while he was detained in Jamaica. A police officer abandoned his vehicle during a demonstration that turned violent in which protesters demanded justice for the assassinated President Jovenel Moise in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, Thursday, July 22, 2021. Moise was at home with his wife and younger children when a hit squad allegedly made up of former Colombian soldiers and accompanied by two Haitian Americans and Haitian National Police officers stormed his Pelerin 5 neighborhood in the hills above Port-au-Prince. Heavily armed, they gained access inside the private residence and then into the couples bedroom, where Moise was shot 12 times and his wife, Martine, was wounded and left for dead. She survived. Authorities in Haiti initially arrested 44 individuals, including 18 Colombians commandos, three Haitian Americans as well as a prominent businessman and several police officers. A major manhunt was launched for other alleged key suspects four of whom have been apprehended outside of Haiti since November. The entrance to the private residence belonging to the family of the late Haitian President Jovenel Moise. A 124-page Haitian police investigative report obtained by the Herald shows that Joseph was heavily involved in the planning leading up to the presidents slaying. He was instrumental in his fierce will to kill the president, the report says. Among police allegations is that he was in contact at least 10 times with another suspect, Cineus Francis Alexis, whose cellphone was transmitting from Petionville at 2:04 a.m. on the night of the attack and later in the vicinity of the National Palace. Trip to South Florida by suspect in Haiti presidents slaying is key to Colombians arrest Police allege that Joseph was in contact with a number of the other suspects as well, and attended meetings about the attack. They contend that one of the jailed Colombian suspects, Jheyner Alberto Carmona Florez, who admitted to taking part, said during questioning that one such meeting took place at Josephs home, where participants were briefed on the operation. Also allegedly in attendance were former Colombian soldier Rivera Garcia, who goes by Capt. Mike; former government functionary Joseph Felix Badio; and Joseph Vincent, one of two Haitian Americans currently jailed in the plot. Citing testimony from Vincent, Haitian investigators said the plan changed after Feb. 7, 2021, when Moise refused to step down despite calls to leave office because his presidential mandate, according to opponents, had expired. They had to revise this plan by proceeding differently with the tenant of the National Palace who eventually remained in office beyond this deadline, the Haitian police said. Police say Vincent told them that it was Joseph, the former lawmaker, who introduced them to Badio, with whom they went to the home of Reynaldo Corvington, the CEO of Corvington Security in Laboule, for a meeting at which Jaar was present. Jaar is described as one of the sources of funding for the projects logistics, alongside a son-in-law of the [Corvington] CEO, who is a friend and partner of Dimitri Herard, a police commissioner and head of Moises palace guards, known as the General Security Unit of the National Palace. Herard is also currently jailed. He is accused of not only being part of the assassination planning and one of the informants on the presidents whereabouts but of providing ammunition and arms to the Colombians. At the meeting, the group discussed an elaborate but bogus U.S. government plan to bust drug-trafficking Haitian government officials using FBI and DEA agents. The bizarre meeting was described in a five-page letter to Haitian prosecutors by Corvingtons lawyer, who said the businessman and his also-jailed son-in-law are innocent. Joseph also was charged with paying for the rental vehicles that were to be used in the assassination. Joseph had been in hiding in Haiti for months and was believed to have been under the protection of a local Port-au-Prince gang prior to surfacing in Jamaica. He is among several suspects for whom Haitian police had issued arrest warrants. Another, who remains at large, is Badio, who had worked in the governments anti-corruption unit and also as a consultant in the justice ministry. My life is in danger. Come save my life. Haitian presidents desperate final pleas While the investigation has been stalled in Haiti, where an investigative judge has yet to issue any formal charges and has been slow to question many of the suspects, it appears to be moving in the United States. Now, even members of Congress want an update on efforts to hold individuals accountable and on the level of U.S. support to the Haitian investigation. On Friday, the U.S. Senate passed the Haiti Development, Accountability, and Institutional Transparency Initiative Act (S. 1104), requiring the State Department to provide, among other things, a report on the investigation. Under the legislation, the secretary of state would be required to submit to the Foreign Affairs committees of both congressional chambers a report on the assassination no later than 90 days after the legislation becomes law. Another update would be required within 180 days of the initial submission. Members of Congress are looking for, among other things. a detailed description of the events leading up to the assassination and identification of key dates and the names of foreign and U.S. individuals implicated. They also want an assessment of whether Haitian authorities have the independence and capability to carry out such a delicate investigation. The legislation is not yet law, and has been sent to the House for a final vote. Should it pass, it will still need the signature of President Joseph Biden to become law. TOKYO (Reuters) - Several high school students sitting their university entrance exam in Tokyo were wounded on Saturday in an apparent knife attack, Japanese media said. Public broadcaster NHK said three people were conscious after being injured in the morning when another student attacked them with a bladed object as they gathered to take their entrance exam. The alleged assailant, a 17-year old high school student, was arrested, the Asahi newspaper said. Half a million high school students across Japan are taking the annual university entrance exams this weekend in hundreds of venues across the country. Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department said it could not comment on the details of the attack nor confirm any arrests. Violent crimes are exceedingly rare in Japan, but there have been a spate of knife attacks by assailants unknown to the victims. In October, a man dressed in Batman's Joker costume dressed in Batman's Joker costume stabbed more than a dozen people on a train carriage in Tokyo, sending passengers screaming down the aisles of train carriages and scrambling out of windows to escape. A few months earlier, a man wounded several people in a knife attack on a Tokyo commuter train. (Reporting by Issei Kato; Writing by Mari Saito; Editing by William Mallard) The Daily Beast Claudio Peri/Pool/ReutersROMESince the beginning of Russias invasion of Ukraine, Pope Francis has floated the idea that he wants to take a trip to Kyiv to try to broker a ceasefire. But now he says he would prefer to go to Moscow to try to talk some sense into Vladimir Putin, who he has not outwardly condemned in the now nearly three-month-old war and only did so lightly in a lengthy interview with an Italian newspaper.I feel that before going to Kyiv, I must go to Moscow, he told Corriere D Texas U.S. senators, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, are on track to help deliver what could be the final blow to a federal voting bill. WASHINGTON Texas U.S. senators, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, are on track next week to help deliver what could be the final blow to Democratic hopes of passing a federal voting bill that would shut down many of the voter restrictions the Texas Legislature passed into law last year. The U.S. Senate is expected to soon address a House-passed bill that would reinstate parts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and push back against sweeping voting changes passed by Republican-controlled legislatures across the country. The bill is widely expected to fail, further damaging any vestige of bipartisan comity between Capitol Hill and the White House. The truth is this is not about voting rights, Cornyn said in a Tuesday appearance on Fox News. This is about a partisan political power grab, and they are just trying to dress it up and sell it as something else. I just dont think the American people are buying it. A Texas bill passed in the Legislature over the summer sparked a push by Congressional Democrats to expand voter access nationwide. The Texas legislation earned national attention when state Democratic House members left the state for a monthlong stay in Washington, D.C., to break quorum during a summer special session. The bill, which tightens election laws in Texas and prevents local entities such as cities and counties from expanding voting options, eventually passed in August. Texas Republicans and Republican state legislators elsewhere defended the law as a necessary tool to protect election integrity, an echo of former President Donald Trumps unfounded insistence that the 2020 election was rigged. There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Texas or elsewhere, and courts across the country including the U.S. Supreme Court threw out nearly all of the cases his legal team pursued in 2020 to overturn the election results. Cruz and Cornyn both actively opposed federal voting rights legislation for months, but their rhetoric escalated over the past week, particularly after President Joe Biden advocated for the bill in a cutting speech in Atlanta on Tuesday. Story continues Democrats have decided that voter fraud benefits them politically, Cruz said at a Tuesday news conference. And theyre willing to go to any length to tear down the reasonable, commonsense protections that protect the integrity of our elections. Cornyn accused Democrats on the Senate floor Monday of wanting to fix a system that is not broken. The Democratic legislation at hand passed the House in a party line vote on Thursday, and Senate Democratic leaders are expected to put the bill on the floor in the coming days. Known as Freedom to Vote: The John Lewis Act, the legislation is named for the late civil rights leader and member of Congress who died in 2020. The bill includes text from an earlier version of the legislation that didnt pass the Senate, which would bolster provisions in the 1965 Voting Rights Act that the U.S. Supreme Court gutted in 2013. That included bringing back preclearance, a process in which states like Texas, with track records of discriminating against voters of color, must get approval on voting rule changes from the Justice Department. The new section of the bill includes features to increase online and automatic voter registration, requires states to allow 14 days of early voting and prohibits states from restricting mail-in voting. It makes Election Day a federal holiday, aims to protect election officials from interference, delivers new money to states for election security, addresses campaign finance and seeks to address how Congressional districts are drawn. These priorities are a slimmed-down version of a more expansive bill that passed the House last year. Democrats made those changes in order to win the support of a holdout, Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Once again, a debate about whether to remove the filibuster in order to pass the Democrats priority legislation has taken hold. The filibuster is a legislative tactic of the minority party of the Senate that requires 60 senators to move forward on a bill. The House has acted again and again to protect and expand voting rights, and now with the passage of this bill, I again call on the Senate to find a way to get this done, said U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, a former voting rights attorney who has served as a key strategist on the Democratic-controlled House side. This shouldnt be a partisan issue, but sadly, without any Republican support in the Senate, Democrats have no choice but to act alone, he added. We cannot allow the filibuster to get in the way of the work we need to do to protect our democracy. At the center of the latest vote is the filibuster. Biden, who served in the Senate for 36 years before becoming vice president in 2009, lit a match in an Atlanta speech on Tuesday. Noting that a 2006 reauthorization of the original Voting Rights Act passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, Biden implicitly critiqued senior senators like Cornyn, who voted for that bill almost 16 years ago. In 2006, the Voting Rights Act passed 390 to 33 in the House of Representatives and 98 to 0 in the Senate with votes from 16 current sitting Republicans in this United States Senate, Biden said. Sixteen of them voted to extend it. Then he compared those who would oppose this bill to southerners who fought abolition of slavery and obstructed the repeal of Jim Crow laws. I ask every elected official in America: How do you want to be remembered? he asked. At consequential moments in history, they present a choice: Do you want to be on the side of Dr. King or George Wallace? Do you want to be on the side of John Lewis or Bull Connor? Do you want to be on the side of Abraham Lincoln or Jefferson Davis? Cruz responded, calling it a vicious, partisan, divisive, hateful speech. Cornyn on Fox News mocked Biden because several local Black leaders declined to attend Bidens remarks out of unhappiness with his progress on passing a voting bill. I'm a little embarrassed for him because he doesnt even have members of his own political party on board in the Senate, much less those who boycotted his appearance in Atlanta, people like Stacey Abrams, he said. He suggested the president was being hypocritical for supporting the protection of the filibuster when he was in the Senate. This is diametrically opposed to the position that the president took when he was in the Senate, as he was for many, many years, and when the shoe was on the other foot, Cornyn said. There is currently a 50-50 tie between the parties. Democrats hoped they could convince two senators within their caucus, Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, to carve out a rule change on this bill that would eliminate Republicans ability to stymie the bill with the 60-vote threshold. Those hopes likely died on Thursday when Sinema went to the Senate floor to reinforce her support for a filibuster. As of the end of the week, Democrats are determined to move forward anyway in order to put senators on the record. The Senate is expected to vote on the legislation early next week. This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2022/01/14/john-cornyn-ted-cruz-voting-bill/. The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org. More: Texas renewed voter review is still flagging citizens as 'possible non-U.S. citizens' More: Cornyn, Cruz join GOP senators to block voting rights bill This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Cornyn, Cruz join Republican opposition to federal voting rights bills Tupac Shakur, Jermaine Hopkins, Omar Epps, Khalil Kain in 'Juice' (Everett Collection/Paramount) Ernest Dickerson famously transitioned being from the director of photography on Spike Lees seminal early work (including 1986s Shes Gotta Have It, 1989s Do the Right Thing and 1992s Malcolm X) to making his directorial debut on a contemporary classic in its own right, the street drama Juice. Dickersons slide into the directors chair wasnt as seamless as that timeline implies, though. He and his Juice co-writer, Gerard Brown, originally penned the film about four Harlem teens whose lives spiral out of control after they hold up a bodega in the early 80s. The script was written nine years before we were actually able to make the movie, Dickerson, 70, told us in a new interview promoting the films new 30th anniversary 4K Ultra HD release (Juice was released in theaters 30 years, on Jan. 17, 1992). It sat on the shelf for nine years. It was written in the early 80s after I just got out of film school at NYU. And nobody wanted to touch it. They said, Nobody wants to see this movie. It wasnt until Dickersons career as a cinematographer took off, and Brown, who was a writer-in-residence at the Public Theater in New York, scored a new agent that the Juice script was dusted off and eventually sold to Paramount. Ernest Dickerson directing a scene with Khalil Kain and Omar Epps on the set of 'Juice.' (Everett Collection/Paramount) Then the casting hunt started for the roles of Q, Raheem, Steel and Bishop, the four teens who tired of harassment by the police and a local Puerto Rican gang conspire to win respect on the streets, or juice, by robbing a corner store. But the hold-up goes horribly wrong when Bishop shoots and kills the owner. Dickerson didnt think there were any young Black actors on TV or in film at the time that could play the roles, so they cast a wide net across the Tristate area, looking in performing arts schools and church and neighborhood theater groups. It was a long, painful process, says Dickerson, whose casting director narrowed hundreds of candidates down to 10 or 12 actors they mixed and matched. Story continues Soon they landed on Omar Epps as Q, the aspiring DJ most reluctant to enter a life of crime, Khalil Kain as the ill-fated Raheem, and Jermaine Huggy Hopkins as the portly Steel. Finding their Bishop, the hot-headed loose wire among the crew, remained elusive. An iconic 90s rapper came into audition as Bishop, but not the one youre thinking. It was Anthony Criss, aka Treach from Naughty by Nature. Accompanying Treach to the audition that day, however, was his friend the up-and-coming rapper Tupac Shakur, who had just debuted under the stage name 2Pac as a roadie-turned-supporting emcee for Digital Underground. Dickerson asked Shakur to audition as well, and was blown away by what he saw. The role of Bishop was his. Today, of course, Juice is famous in large part for Shakurs fiery performance, all the more impressive considering it was the rapper-actors film debut (not counting as part of a Digital Underground performance featured in the infamous 1991 turkey Nothing but Trouble). We found out later that Tupac trained as an actor in the high school [at the Baltimore School for the Arts], Dickerson said. And the thing that he knew about Bishop is that all of the bravado, the anger, came from pain, and that's what he put into his auditions. And that's what he put into the character. Shakur could be intense on set. Hes said to have gone method on set as Bishop. Hopkins once shared a story about how teased once teased Shakur that he was being fired, and it lead to fight. You know, there were a couple times that he got into trouble, Dickerson admitted. But the great thing about Tupac was that he was really interested in people. In Harlem, if he saw somebody that looked like they were going through something, or there was something different about them, he would talk to them. He would spend a lot of time talking with people. Tupac was a great student of human nature. There was another time Tupac was hitting on a woman who it turned was one of the trans subjects of Paris Is Burning. Pac laughed it all off after finding out. pic.twitter.com/fOM3dhGoYH Kevin Polowy (@djkevlar) January 15, 2022 Shakur was writing his debut album 2Pacalypse Now while working on Juice, and as Epps once told us, was so affected by a story he read in a newspaper one morning one depicting an utterly tragic side of human nature, a woman having disposed of her newborn baby in the trash that he penned the future hit Brendas Got a Baby that day. At times Shakur could be too interested in people. Dickerson recalled his star talking to a young lady near set one day. Her boyfriend found out about it, and her boyfriend had just come out of [the infamous New York jail] Rikers Island and he looked like he had spent a year in Rikers lifting weights. And so he came and he wanted to start trouble. And Tupac was like, F**k him. He wasnt gonna take that. So we just had to get him out of the neighborhood real quick. Another time, there was a small group of these young ladies who were hanging around set checking us out, Dickerson recalled. And, you know, they were very attractive young ladies. But then we started looking at them and realized they had razor bumps and [Adams apples]. We realized they were actually [trans women]. And Tupac started rapping to one of them. And he did not know. And the rest of the crew did. One day we're setting up a shot and and we could see him down the block talking to this young lady. And I told my [assistant director], 'I don't think he knows. He said, I don't think so, either. I said, You better go down and tell him. Shakur was asking her for her phone number, but she wouldnt budge. She said, Honey, you dont want my phone number. Im telling you, you dont know whats going on here. According to Dickerson, the object of Shakurs affection had actually been one of the featured subjects of the famous 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning, about the LGBTQ scene in late-80s New York. Shakur laughed it all off once he found out. He knew the joke was on him, Dickerson said. And he could laugh at himself. It was a cute moment, him finding that out and laughing. He was just a great human being. Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as people try to storm the Capitol on January 6, 2021 in Washington. Brent Stirton/Getty Images A Kentucky man pleaded guilty to one parading charge in connection to the Capitol riot on Friday. Prosecutors said Jordan Revlett posted Snapchat photos and video from inside the Capitol building. He made headlines for once placing 4th in a "Sexy Farmer" contest hosted by a local radio station in Kentucky in 2019. A Kentucky man who once found local acclaim as the 4th place winner of a 2019 "Sexy Farmer" contest in Kentucky now faces a new kind of notoriety. Jordan Revlett, 24, of Island, Kentucky, pleaded guilty on Friday to one misdemeanor charge related to the January 6 Capitol riot. Revlett was arrested in January 2021 after an anonymous tipster alerted the FBI to Snapchat photos and video Revlett posted of himself entering the Capitol building on January 6, according to a criminal complaint. Prosecutors said additional videos from Revlett's Snapchat account showed the chaos inside the Capitol and were taken from the perspective of someone in the building. Revlett later posted a "selfie" from inside a vehicle with a caption that said: "Just so you guys know a capitol police officer opened the door from inside to let us in," according to charging documents. Jordan Revlett Snapchat selfie. The Department of Justice Revlett initially faced four charges, including violent entry and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a Capitol building. But as the government works to prosecute the more than 750 people arrested in connection to the attack, federal prosecutors have offered several Capitol rioters the lesser charge of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in front of a Capitol building in exchange for their guilty pleas. The count carries a possible sentence of up to six months in prison, but other rioters who have pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor have received sentences ranging from probation to 45 days in jail. Revlett made headlines following his January 2021 arrest when The Daily Beast reported on his previous title as the 4th place winner of a "She Thinks Her Farmer's Sexy" contest held by a local Kentucky radio station in 2019. Story continues Photos from the contest show Revlett smiling in front of a tractor while wearing a cowboy hat. In a 2019 Twitter post, Revlett acknowledged his success and thanked his supporters. "I'd like to thank everyone that voted for me, almost 8,000 votes. This started as a contest, but it turned into much more than that for me," he wrote. Following the insurrection, while out on bond, Revlett maintained his presence on Twitter, frequently showing support for former President Donald Trump, according to The Beast. Revlett is set to be sentence on April 22. An attorney representing him did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Read the original article on Business Insider Women are fascinated by gender politics because were on the front line of it, says Godliman (Shutterstock ) Get your tits out! Kerry Godliman can remember hearing this particular jeer during her early days of stand-up. I suppose there was always this feeling that it was ironic, the comedian and star of After Life says now, more than a decade later. A lot was got away with during that time because tonally, it was never sincere. That doesnt make it OK. Like all veteran comedians, Godliman has lived through a shift in her industry. A shift that means telling a woman to get her tits out on stage is less heard of nowadays. I mean its about time, she says. For so long, we werent allowed to talk about being mothers or menstruating. We were told nobody was interested but then suddenly you realise, everyone is interested. After Godliman understood that, she marvelled at the vastness of material at her disposal. At the moment, its about HRT [hormone replacement therapy] for me. It wasnt a far leap for the comic, who began her career performing somewhat gonzo sketches about mundane life in Londons live scene. She has since built up an impressive CV on screen, including several appearances on Live at the Apollo, The Jonathan Ross Show and 8 Out of 10 Cats. There have been scene-stealing parts on an eclectic bunch of shows: Derek, Save Me, Call the Midwife and Channel 4s sex work drama Adult Material but its her role in After Life that clinched Godlimans star status. No matter that she plays a dead woman. The hit Netflix series written and directed by Ricky Gervais returned for its third and final season this week. Gervais plays Tony Johnson, a small-town journalist whose wife of 25 years (thatll be Godliman), Lisa, has died of cancer. In his grief, Tony rejects social niceties and embarks on a crusade of saying and doing whatever he wants. All the while, those around him try to pierce through his new armour. Tonys wife is one of those people, speaking to him through videos she recorded in her final days. Their on-screen marriage might be make-believe but the relationship between Godliman and Gervais is real. In interviews, their banter reveals a close friendship, which began in 2005 when the writer cast Godliman with tiny parts in Extras and Lifes Too Short. Ive always been very, very flattered that Ricky keeps me in mind, she says. Hes such a big influence in the world of culture that when youre involved in one of his projects, a lot of people see it. Thats exciting. Story continues Things changed for Godliman after her role as the saintly but practical care home manager Hannah in Gervaiss comedy Derek. Godliman has become a sort of everywoman of British TV, someone whose humour and kindness can temper even Gervaiss tart tongue. You can hear it on our call, too. Godliman has a raucous laugh that she unleashes generously in between vigorous, to-the-point answers. Shes not the type to overthink things. As she puts it, shes prone to boshing it out. When I got married, I was practically running down the aisle, she laughs. I just want to crack on with it. But its an approach to life that doesnt offer much opportunity for reflection. Lets try to reflect now, then. Godliman grew up in the suburbs of northwest London in the Seventies and Eighties. Really nice is how she describes her childhood. I had a nice time. I enjoyed school. My mum and dad were lovely. I had no complaints. No distinguishing hardships or features. Then came drama school at Rose Bruford, where she studied Ibsen and Brecht. It was an uphill slog after that. You have to endure a lot of unemployment in this career. Everybody knows how crappy it is what the stats for success are. She was enthusiastic but found the uncertainty frustrating. I couldnt tolerate the lack of power over my own creative voice, my own career and my own income. It was just too hard. Godliman knows its not the most sympathetic cause. No one really cares and rightly so. Youve made a bizarre career choice and there are so many jobs that could bring more value to the world and youve decided to become a professional show-off? She laughs. And now youre complaining! Kerry Godliman with Ricky Gervais in After Life' (Netflix) Godliman pivoted to stand-up. She enrolled in a stand-up course at City Lit and gigs soon followed. When I point out that comedy seems as tough a nut to crack as acting, she pauses. Things mightve changed since I started but what I liked about stand-up at the time was that it wasnt as insular as the acting world. It was a meritocracy you went to gigs and if you made people laugh you got asked back. It felt like a thing that I had far more control over than acting. Early reviews of Godlimans shows are accompanied by First Woman headlines. Things like: Godliman is part of so-and-so venues first-ever all female bill. Now its not a big deal to have two women on a bill, whereas before it still felt a bit token. And so goes the enduring plight of women in comedy. Its funny, Godliman ventures. Because it always manages to come up in one form or another. Now its looking at it retrospectively but for a long time the conversation was, Are women funny? The question has been reframed but its still a topic of interest or curiosity, isnt it? Before I can answer, Godliman concludes, frankly: I long for the day when it doesnt come up at all. For now, though, she understands why it does. I suppose women are fascinated by gender politics because were on the front line of it. Godliman has become a recognisable face on British panel shows, a litmus test for any comedian in this country and one shes passed with flying colours. She loves being on them, but is blunt about their shortcomings. Theres still lots of shows that are very, very male and theyll only have one woman. Or two if were lucky. She pauses for a moment. But the problem with a lot of these shows is that theyre hosted by white straight guys, so already as a panellist youre going to be outnumbered. Its not about the guests, its the anchors and the captains who are carrying the shows. Kerry Godliman, right, with Luisa Omielan, Robert Rinder and Martin Freeman on Comic Relief Does University Challenge (Ben Blackall/BBC) As is routine now, conversation inevitably turns to the line in comedy. Where it is. If it exists. Its interesting that people like talking about this at the moment, says Godliman. But no, nothings out of bounds if its done in the right way. Ricky is very articulate on that subject, isnt he? Whereas Im not really a shock comic. Occasionally I tweet something political and I get a bit of s*** for it and it doesnt feel very nice but thats OK. Thats part of being in a free-speech environment. Its not the trolls that trouble her. Its the people running the country who bother me more. At least, I think Godliman said running. Or maybe it was ruining. By this point, it seems we agree that theres not much distinction between the two. After Life season three is streaming on Netflix now PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) Lawmakers in Kosovo held an extraordinary session Saturday to pass a resolution saying that opening polling stations for Kosovo's ethnic Serb minority to vote in a Serb referendum would violate the countrys constitution, laws and international practice. The resolution in the parliament, which passed unanimously by the 76 lawmakers present, asked the government "to undertake all the actions ... not to allow the violation of the Republic of Kosovo's sovereignty and constitutional order from holding of a referendum of a foreign country in the Republic of Kosovo's territory." The ethnic Serb minoritys Serb Lists party had left the assembly hall before Saturdays vote. Serbia is holding a referendum on Sunday on amendments to boost the independence of its judiciary as part of reforms needed for the country to move closer to its goal of membership in the 27-nation European Union. Belgrade wants its ethnic Serb minority in Kosovo to participate. But Kosovo authorities say ethnic Serbs in its territory may cast ballots only via mail or at a liaison office, ignoring past practices of setting up voting stations in Serb-dominated areas. The resolution said Serbia is trying to exploit ethnic Serbs living in Kosovo "to serve its hostile policy against the Republic of Kosovo. Kosovo police said Saturday that they had blocked at the border documents that Serbia had sent to enable Kosovo's ethnic Serb minority to take part in the referendum. A police statement said one car and two trucks were stopped Friday at the Merdare border crossing point. The trucks were confiscated while six people in the vehicles were turned back. A statement Friday from Kosovos top authorities said Kosovo laws do not recognize the right of one state to hold a referendum in the sovereign territory of another state, adding that the practices applied so far since 2012 have been unconstitutional. The decision is likely further strain relations between Kosovo and Serbia. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move that Belgrade has refused to recognize. Story continues Serbia has insisted that Kosovo remains part of the country, despite its declaration of independence following a 1998-99 conflict that killed some 13,000 people and ended after NATO bombed Serbia to stop its crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians. Serbia has maintained a strong influence in the Serb-dominated areas of Kosovo where tens of thousands of Serbs live, although it formally has no authority there. The dispute between Serbia and Kosovo remains a cause of tensions in the Balkans. EU-mediated negotiations aimed at normalizing relations between the two have produced little progress, although both Kosovo and Serbia have been told to resolve their differences in order to move forward in their bids to join the EU. - Semini reported from Tirana, Albania. A man in police custody at Duke University Hospital was shot and killed by a university police officer after a struggle Friday night, hospital officials said Saturday. The man was under arrest and in the custody of a Durham police officer when a struggle broke out between them in the emergency department, a hospital spokesperson told The News & Observer. During the struggle, the man, who was not identified, took the officers gun, hospital officials said. A Duke University police officer came to assist and shot the man, officials said. The man was immediately treated by trauma staff but did not survive. Officials are notifying his family, the spokesperson said. The Duke University Police Department notified the State Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the shooting. That is standard protocol when someone is shot by an officer. Both police officers were wearing body cameras, the spokesperson said, and investigators have identified witnesses. The Durham police officer was treated for injuries and released from the hospital, according to the spokesperson. No other patients or hospital staff were injured, the spokesperson said, and no hospital or emergency department operations were interrupted. Hospital officials are expected to provide an update Saturday morning, the spokesperson said. Departments use of force policy According to the Duke University Police Departments use of force guidelines, officers are authorized to use lethal force in certain situations: To protect officers or other people from a reasonable belief of an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury. To prevent a fleeing subject from escaping when there is probable cause to believe the person has committed or intends to commit a felony involving serious bodily injury or death. The officer believes there is imminent risk of serious bodily injury or death if the person isnt immediately apprehended. The officer has considered other reasonable means of apprehension. Story continues Officers involved in use of force incidents that result in serious injury or death are supposed to be placed on administrative leave with pay until theyre cleared to return to duty, the departments policy states. 4th fatal shooting this month On Saturday morning, the Durham Fraternal Order of Police said legal representation would be provided to the Duke University officer, and praised both officers. This situation could have been a lot worse had the threat not been stopped, the police union said in a post on Twitter. Fridays shooting is the fourth by a law enforcement officer in the Triangle in January. On Wednesday, Durham police officers responded to a Circle K convenience store in southern Durham where they shot and killed a 51-year-old man who police say was stabbing a store clerk with a glass bottle. A day earlier, Raleigh police officers shot and killed a man after responding to a crash on I-440 involving multiple vehicles. Officers demanded the man drop a knife he was holding and used a taser to try to diffuse the situation, Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson said on Tuesday. The man was shot after he swung the knife toward officers, Patterson said. A week earlier, on Jan 4., Durham County Sheriffs Office deputies shot and killed a 28-year-old woman in Bahama in northern Durham after she allegedly pointed a shotgun at them. Jan. 14MANSFIELD The Mansfield Community Center is hosting an open house starting today through Sunday, complete with activities the whole family can enjoy. The open house at the community center which is located at 10 S. Eagleville Road is free for all and open to residents of any town. Because of the pandemic, Mansfield has an indoor mask requirement for all, regardless of vaccination status, and social distancing is required. The Mansfield Parks & Recreation Department is hosting the event to raise awareness of all that it offers. " With this being a time of year that folks typically join, we like to make sure folks are aware of us as an option," said Mansfield Parks & Recreation Director Jay O'Keefe. Attendees will be able to use the center's facilities. This includes swimming and physical therapy pools, a fitness center, dance/ aerobics room, teen center as well as a sitting room with computers and internet access. MANSFIELD, Page 4 ------ Mansfield Community Center is hosting open house events Continued from Page 1 Open house events scheduled include: Today is PAW Patrol Family Fun Night from 4: 30 to 7: 30 p. m. Chase and Skye, characters from the PAW Patrol television series, will make special guest appearances from 5:30 to 6: 30 p. m. Children will also have the opportunity to color with police from the Mansfield Resident State Troopers' Office. Mansfield Animal Control will provide information on pet adoption. Information will also be provided on the Helping Hands Grant. The grant provides child care and food assistance for Mansfield families in need. The Family Fun Night also includes a preview on the town's summer camps from 5: 30 to 7: 30 p. m. Attendees can enter into a drawing for one free week for one child at Camp Mansfield this summer. Saturday is the kid's triathlon, family paint day and youth resistance-training orientation. Free child care will be available from 9 a. m. to noon so parents can fit in a workout of their own. Child care is available for children ages 1-7. The parent/ guardian must remain on site. Story continues Sunday brings swim evaluations for children, a beginner French class for adults and a winter animal-tracking program for all ages. Free child care is also available from 9 a. m. to noon. O'Keefe encourages everyone to attend the open house. "It's definitely going to be fun," he said. " It's a great opportunity to connect with people in the community and find out what parks and rec has to offer." Complete facility hours and a complete listing of event times is available on the Town of Mansfield's website at mansfieldct. gov. The so-called "Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli has been banned "for life from participating in the pharmaceutical industry in any capacity" by a federal judge. He will also be forced to pay a $64.6m disgorgement to states that brought an antitrust lawsuit against him, according to Law & Crime. Shkreli is no stranger to controversy, but his latest trouble started in January 2020, after New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against him accusing him of using his monopoly control of the drug Daraprim to gouge its price. The drug is used to treat toxoplasmosis, which can be fatal, especially in people with compromised immune systems. When Shkreli's company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, bought the drug in 2015, the price jumped from $13.50 a tablet to $750 a tablet. At the time, the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the HIV Medicine Association issued a joint letter to the company which has rebranded as Vyera saying the price hike was "unjustifiable for the medically vulnerable patient population" and claimed it was "unsustainable for the health care system." Eventually the Federal Trade Commission joined Ms James' lawsuit against Shkreli. Ms James celebrated the ruling in a Twitter post on Friday. "Martin Shkreli is a 'Pharma Bro' no more," she wrote. "The powerful don't get to make their own rules, despite Shkreli thinking cash rules everything around him." The judge ruled that Shkreli's scheme was "heartless and coercive." Daraprim must be administered within hours to those suffering from active toxoplasma encephalitis, the judge said. The judge's ruling focused on Shkreli's strategy of cornering the market and hiking the price. From day one, Shkreli focused his new venture on acquiring sole-source drugs that were the gold standard treatment option for life-threatening diseases with a small patient population and inferior alternative treatments, with the intent to raise their prices, block generic competition, and reap extraordinary profits, the judge stated in the ruling. Story continues The judge also noted that Shkreli never showed remorse or regret for making it prohibitively expensive for patients to access the drugs they needed to survive. Moreover, in the face of public opprobrium, Shkreli doubled down, the judge wrote. He refused to change course and proclaimed that he should have raised Daraprims price higher. Ultimately, the judge decided to ban Shkreli from participating in the pharmaceutical industry to ensure he cannot continue participating in "anticompetitive conduct." Shkreli established two companies, Retrophin and Vyera, with the same anticompetitive business model: Acquiring sole-source drugs for rare diseases so that he could profit from a monopolist scheme on the backs of a dependent population of pharmaceutical distributors, healthcare providers, and the patients who needed the drugs, the judge wrote in the ruling. Even after going to prison on unrelated fraud charges, Shkreli kept the price of the drug high. He was accused of maintaining "shadow control" of the company while in prison, with the judge noting that he threatened to "use his authority as the largest shareholder to call an extraordinary general meeting that would install more pliant officers and directors," all of which were "loyalists" to his leadership. The judge wrote that Shkreli "recklessly disregarded the health of a particularly vulnerable population, those with compromised immune systems" "His scheme burdened those patients, their loved ones, and their healthcare providers," the ruling stated. Shkreli attempted to secure a release from prison in 2020 by claiming he could help stop the coronavirus pandemic, despite having no formal medical training. His lawyers at the time claimed that he had been "conducting significant research" into finding a treatment for Covid-19 while serving out his prison sentence. His request was denied. Nashville police arrested Keion Jemison, 24, in connection with a fatal Friday night shooting. Jemison faces a criminal homicide charge after Danny Dixon, 30, was fatally shot outside an Antioch Pike hotel, a news release from the Metro Nashville Police Department. Police said Jemison had been renting a room at the hotel. Detectives arrested Jemison Tuesday at an East Webster Street apartment complex. Jemison is set to appear before a judge Thursday, records show. How the shooting unfolded Police said Dixon was sitting behind the wheel in a parked car outside of Stay Lodge in the 1200 block of Antioch Pike around 8 p.m. Saturday when a man approached the vehicle. The two men spoke briefly before the man shot Dixon in the leg, striking an artery, according to MNPD. Dixon fired back with his own gun and drove to a nearby convenience market, where someone contacted the police. Dixon died of his injuries, MNPD said. The person who shot him reportedly fled the hotel in a vehicle. Reach reporter Cassandra Stephenson at ckstephenson@tennessean.com or at (731) 694-7261. Follow Cassandra on Twitter at @CStephenson731. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville police: Man faces homicide charge after fatal shooting LONG ISLAND, NY Netflix's new heist series "Jigsaw" has plans to shoot footage on Long Island this week, a spokeswoman said. The series had plans to shoot at Lombardi's on the Bay in Patchogue and the Town of Brookhaven's Corey Beach in Blue Point about two weeks ago, but there was a delay due to COVID-19 precautions, according to officials. Producers now have plans to resume shooting in Blue Point, for two days, a spokeswoman said Friday. She could not release specifics about the Blue Point location or days of the shoots. It is not immediately clear if the series will shoot in Patchogue. Patchogue Village Clerk Lori Devlin told Patch that the series was described to village officials as an "inventive, non-linear story centering around an elaborate heist in Manhattan." At the time, Devlin did not have dates for a future schedule. The series was ordered in September and was described as taking place over 24 years and "loosely inspired by the real story where $70 billion dollars in bonds went missing in downtown Manhattan during Hurricane Sandy," Variety reported in September. It stars Giancarlo Esposito, Paz Vega, Rufus Sewell, Tati Gabrielle, Peter Mark Kendall, Rosaline Elbay, Jai Courtney, and Niousha Noor. It's being produced by Ridley Scott's Scott Free Productions, according to What's On Netflix. This article originally appeared on the Patchogue Patch The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to issue a preliminary report later this month on what caused the crash of a medevac helicopter that flew out of Hagerstown Regional Airport on Tuesday and later went down in suburban Philadelphia. The four people on board, a 2-month old girl, the pilot, a nurse and a medic, all survived the crash outside a church in Drexell Hill, Pa., authorities said. A preliminary report is expected to be issued approximately 15 days from the date of the accident, NTSB spokeswoman Jennifer Gabris said Friday. A medical helicopter rests next to the Drexel Hill United Methodist Church after it crashed in the Drexel Hill section of Upper Darby Township in Delaware County, Pa., on Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022. Life Net 81, a Eurocopter EC135, departed from Hagerstown at 10:29 a.m. and landed in Chambersburg, Pa., about 8 minutes later to pick up a baby at Chambersburg Hospital and take her to a facility in Philadelphia. The helicopter took off at 12:05 p.m. and began having problems over U.S. 1 in Delaware County about 45 minutes later, authorities said. The pilot searched for a place to land, gliding lower and lower overhead for about a mile before the aircraft "slammed violently" into the street at Bloomfield Avenue and Burmont Road, then skidded into the side of Drexel Hill United Methodist Church, Tim Boyce, director of Delaware County's Department of Emergency Services, told the Associated Press. The baby was taken to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia by ambulance. The identities of those involved have not been released. Earlier: Hagerstown helicopter, flying child from Chambersburg, crashes near Philadelphia; all safe More: Pilot of Hagerstown-based helicopter that crashed heralded for 'miracle' landing The pilot, who sustained serious injuries, was transported to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. The nurse and medic did not require medical attention. No bystanders were injured, nor did the church receive any structural damage. Witnesses and first responders called the crash landing a miracle and praised the pilot for avoiding all surrounding structures, utility poles and wires, the AP reported. Story continues Firefighters gather at the scene after a medical helicopter crashed in the Drexel Hill section of Upper Darby Township in Delaware County, Pa., on Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022. The NTSB is taking the lead on the investigation in conjunction with the Federal Aviation Administration, authorities said. The aircraft was taken to a secure facility in Delaware for further examination, according to Gabris. NTSB investigators will look at the human, machine and environment as the outline of the investigation, she said in an email Friday. Part of the investigation will be to request radar data, weather information and maintenance records. Investigations typically take 12 to 24 months to complete, according to information in the email. The helicopter is operated by the Colorado-based private air medical service Air Methods. Our team will cooperate fully with (NTSB and FAA) efforts to assess the cause of this unfortunate accident, Air Methods said in a statement on its website. Privacy rights with regards to those on board the aircraft will be honored, and we will not be sharing any additional information." This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Preliminary NTSB report on medevac crash expected later this month The Opa-locka City Commission voted Friday evening to fire City Manager John Pate without cause less than three years after he was hired to bring stability to a city with a history of corruption and financial woes. The move comes just two months after Mayor Matthew Pigatt resigned, citing unspecified corruption allegations. Pigatt had feuded with Pate and tried multiple times, unsuccessfully, to have him fired. Vice Mayor John Taylor made the proposal to terminate Pates four-year contract Friday and received support from new Mayor Veronica Williams and Commissioners Sherelean Bass and Audrey Dominguez. Commissioner Chris Davis was the lone no vote. The job performance has been lackluster, Williams said during Fridays meeting, noting that there have been times when the manager was non-responsive to commissioners questions. Dominguez, who was recently appointed to fill the gap on the commission left by Pigatts resignation, said Pate showed a lack of leadership in his handling of an investigation into allegations that an Opa-locka police captain fired a Taser stun gun at a fellow cop. Miami-Dade prosecutors announced criminal charges against the officer, Sergio Perez, on Wednesday. Pate was placed on administrative leave Friday. The commission voted to appoint James Wright, Opa-lockas police chief from 2005 to 2008, as deputy city manager a position that didnt previously exist until Feb. 1, and then to make Wright interim city manager after that. Wright was fired in 2008 amid complaints of sexual harassment against him in 2007, claims he denied, according to the Miami New Times. Pate did not speak during Fridays meeting and declined to comment afterward to the Miami Herald. But earlier in the day, an attorney for Pate sent a memo to the citys elected officials and the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics requesting protection from retaliation under Floridas whistleblower statute. In the memo, Pate made claims of malfeasance against Taylor, the vice mayor, saying Taylor had threatened to terminate Pate if Pate did not provide favorable treatment to a relative of Taylor who is also a police officer. Story continues In recent days, Vice Mayor Taylor and others have attempted to coerce and improperly influence Mr. Pate with regard to an ongoing police and personnel matter relating to an investigation and personnel decisions involving the relative of the Vice Mayor and police officer, the memo says. Multiple sources familiar with the matter said that Taylors brother, an Opa-locka police officer, was involved in a car accident in Broward County on Tuesday while driving a city-owned vehicle. A report obtained by the Herald via a public records request showed that a detective named Johane Taylor was found at fault for a rear end crash involving a city vehicle Tuesday in Hollywood, with no injuries reported. A report by Johane Taylors supervisor said the detective would be verbally counseled and that an Opa-locka police investigation had been opened into the incident. John Taylor, who was elected in 2020, is the son of former Opa-locka Mayor Myra Taylor. He did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Opa-locka, which has been under state financial oversight for five years and was the subject of a sweeping FBI investigation into public corruption, has a history of burning through city managers after their relationships with the city commission sour. Davis, the longest-tenured city commissioner and the lone dissenting vote on Pates termination, told the Herald before Fridays meeting that he was troubled by the proposal. He noted that the commission has not completed a formal evaluation of Pates performance. Ive never been a fan of the revolving door of managers, Davis said. Im more inclined to work with the manager. A brother and sister look on from a deck in their backyard in Monrovia as flames engulf hills in the San Gabriel Mountains on Sept. 15, 2020. (Los Angeles Times) The weather and the climate are not same thing, but letter writers tend to make their fears known on the latter when the former is extreme. For example, a record-setting heatwave causes wildfires to simultaneously scorch tinder-dry forests in Southern California's two most prominent mountain ranges, and for weeks readers rage over the destruction humans inflict with their carbon emissions. Come winter, when the occasional rains return and the temperatures moderate, the flow of letters on climate change tends to slow to a trickle like the L.A. River in October. There are exceptions, of course: Letters on climate picked up when leaders meeting in frigid Scotland last November came up short on an international agreement to cut emissions (perhaps they should meet in L.A. in September, when they might have to choke down smoke from the San Gabriel Mountains being on fire). Now, we're hearing mostly from readers who believe we're backsliding on climate change. They're responding to changes in California's rooftop solar rules and editorials lamenting the lack of effective government action. It's hard to say if this indicates a shift in our mood on the topic, but adopting the aforementioned climate-weather distinction, I'd say the short-term outlook among our letter writers is pretty gloomy. To the editor: I am shocked to learn that California is considering rules that would penalize rooftop solar by cutting net-energy meeting rates and charging solar customers more in fees. As the climate crisis worsens and extreme wildfires and weather become the norm, and as California casts itself as the national leader in green energy initiatives, I am astonished that the state would consider implementing a plan that effectively penalizes rooftop solar customers. The Californians leading the way by installing rooftop solar systems will allow more homes to become all-electric and will help with electrified transportation. The insanity of penalizing clean energy must stop. Story continues Elizabeth Fleming, Altadena .. To the editor: It seems appropriate for Cornell University climate scientist Natalie Mahowald, in your article on deadly extreme weather in the U.S., to state: "The radical changes in our economy that are required for reaching low climate goals have not been achieved. Unfortunately, what we are seeing today is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what we will see unless substantial reductions in emissions are made and quickly." The disappearing ice is only the half of it. Unfortunately, capitalism and climate are incompatible. It's a bit like getting money out of politics. Further, who is suggesting that reducing the unsustainable rise in world population might be a solution? Roger Newell, San Diego .. To the editor: News reports tell us that U.S. greenhouse gas emissions increased last year. This was largely due to a hike in the price of natural gas, which led to the increased use of coal. This is precisely what we don't need, as climate-related disasters multiply in both frequency and intensity. Costs drive action. Why not harness the power of the market instead of fighting it? Economists have been urging for years that one of the most effective ways to fight climate change is to put a price on carbon. A tax or fee levied on fossil fuels at the source (the well or mine) would increase the cost of all uses of coal, oil and gas throughout the economy. This would create a huge incentive to both replace fossil fuels and use less. It would stoke innovation like nothing else. The downside is that higher prices (which are the whole point) would burden American families. To counter that, all the revenue of the carbon tax should be rebated to households via a monthly check; most households would come out ahead. Fighting climate change will require action on many fronts, such as upgrading our electric grid and preserving forests. A price on carbon with family dividend should be seen as an essential piece of the effort. Grace Bertalot, Anaheim .. To the editor: Your editorial on federal action failing to reflect Americans' growing alarm over climate change is maddening. Forty-eight senators support President Biden's Build Back Better proposal and all of its climate provisions, and 52 do not. Fifty of those 52 opposed are Republicans, and two are Democrats. The 48 senators who support strong climate action that would get us to 50% of current emissions by 2030 are all Democrats. House Democrats passed Build Back Better and its strong climate provisions without a single Republican vote. So it isn't that "Congress" is keeping climate action from happening; it's Republicans and two crucial Democrats (both of whom take a mountain of money from fossil fuel lobbyists.) Why doesn't your editorial mention this? Please, when you write about this issue, tell the whole truth about it. Don't blame Congress; blame Republicans and the two heavily lobbied Democratic senators who are stopping Build Back Better. James Combs, Los Angeles .. To the editor: We should be honest with ourselves that climate change mitigation that is at the mercy of our corrupt politicians and judges is doomed. Individuals need to prepare for the worst, even if that means relocating to a less hazardous area inside or outside the country. With government so often a major part of the problem with its subsidies of the energy, meat, dairy and agriculture industries it is foolish to expect it to be a meaningful part of the solutions needed. Bruce Stenman, Prunedale, Calif. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. CORRECTION: The Norwegian Gem cruise ship canceled its voyage during its trip and is returning to New York. A previous version of this article included incorrect information. A Norwegian cruise ship is returning to New York after its voyage was cut short amid COVID-19-related issues, a spokeswoman for the company said. Norwegian Cruise Line's senior vice president of branding and communication, Christine Da Silva, told USA Today on Friday that the Norwegian Gem was scheduled to return to New York "shortly," without providing a definite date. "As we continue to navigate the fluid public health environment, while focusing on delivering a safe experience for all on board, today, we made the difficult decision to cancel Norwegian Gem's current Caribbean sailing, due to COVID-related circumstances," Da Silva told the publication. Aimee Focaraccio, who boarded a 10-day cruise on the Norwegian Gem from New York, told USA Today that she was notified on Thursday that the cruise would be canceled due to issues related to COVID-19 but was not given an early return date. "We will arrive as per schedule on the 19th in the morning," cruise ship personnel reportedly said, according to a recording Focaraccio provided the news outlet. Focaraccio said that after the ship made a stop in St. Maarten on Friday, it would not be making any other stops at ports or islands. "I really can't imagine four more sea days back to back without much to do," she told USA Today. She added that earlier Friday, the ship made the decision to forgo port calls in Grand Turk, St. Thomas and Tortola prior to its arrival in St. Maarten and before the decision was made to cancel the remainder of the stops. Despite the cruise line's assertion that "COVID-related circumstances" were the reason for canceling sailing, Focaraccio told USA Today that she was not made aware of coronavirus cases on the ship. All passengers on the Norwegian Gem were reportedly given a full refund and an additional cruise credit equivalent to 50 percent of the current trip fare for to be applied to a future cruise by May 2023. MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines has finalised a deal to acquire a shore-based anti-ship missile system from India for nearly $375 million to beef up its navy, the Southeast Asian nation's defence minister said. The Philippines is in the late stages of a five-year, 300 billion pesos ($5.85 billion) project to modernise its military's outdated hardware that includes warships from World War Two and helicopters used by the United States in the Vietnam War. Under the deal negotiated with the government of India, Brahmos Aerospace Private Ltd will deliver three batteries, train operators and maintainers, and provide logistics support, Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said in a Facebook post late on Friday. It was conceptualised in 2017, but faced delays in budget allocation and due to the coronavirus pandemic. The new anti-ship system aims to deter foreign vessels from encroaching on the country's 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone. In 2018, the Philippines bought Israeli-made Spike ER missiles, its first-ever https://www.reuters.com/article/philippines-defence-idINKBN1I3193 ship-borne missile systems for maritime deterrence. Despite friendlier ties between China and the Philippines under President Rodrigo Duterte, Beijing has remained adamant in claiming large portions of the South China Sea, a conduit for goods in excess of $3.4 trillion every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have lodged competing claims. A 2016 international arbitration ruling, however, said the Chinese claims had no legal basis. ($1 = 51.31 Philippine pesos) (Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman) David Bennett Sr. was celebrated around the world this week as the first-ever pig heart transplant recipient, though family members of the man he repeatedly stabbed in the 1980s struggled to fully appreciate the medical marvel. Diagnosed with terminal heart disease and ineligible for a human transplant, 57-year-old Bennett decided to take a chance and undergo the experimental procedure. On Jan. 7, doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore replaced his heart with one from a 1-year-old, 240-pound pig. Now, more than a week later, Bennett has not rejected the organ and is breathing on his own without a ventilator, though he remains on an ECMO machine. Leslie Shumaker Downey was at home on Monday, babysitting her grandchildren, when her daughter texted her a link to an article cautiously proclaiming the procedures early success, the Washington Post reported. At first, she marveled over how many people it could save, but then she read the name of the man being heralded as a medical pioneer. Hed been convicted in the 1988 stabbing of her brother, Edward Shumaker, who was left paralyzed from the waist down after the attack. Shumaker spent two decades in a wheelchair and suffered a series of medical complications, including a stroke that left him cognitively impaired. He died at age 40 in 2007. Ed suffered, Downey told the Post. The devastation and the trauma, for years and years, that my family had to deal with. She also pointed out that Bennett went on and lived a good life, something she feels her brother was robbed of. Now he gets a second chance with a new heart but I wish, in my opinion, it had gone to a deserving recipient, Downey added. Bennett, then 23, attacked Shumaker while he was playing a round of pool at the Double T Lounge in Hagerstown on April 30, 1988 after his wife at the time, Norma Jean Bennett, sat on Shumakers lap. The two men had gone to high school together. According to court testimony, Bennett attacked Shumaker from behind and stabbed him seven times in the abdomen, chest and back. He then fled the scene, triggering a high-speed chase with law enforcement, which ultimately culminated in his arrest. Story continues Bennett faced several charges in connection with the violence, including intent to murder. A jury later found him found him guilty of battery and carrying a concealed weapon but ultimately acquitted him of the intent to murder charge. He was ordered to pay $29,824 in restitution and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He served six before he was released in 1994. Shumaker and his family also sued Bennett, who was ordered to pay $3.4 million in damages. Downey said they have not received a single cent. Bennetts son described him as a private and generous man but declined to discuss his criminal past. In a statement to the Post issued through the hospital, he instead pointed to his fathers bravery. My intent here is not to speak about my fathers past. My intent is to focus on the groundbreaking surgery and my fathers wish to contribute to the science and potentially save patient lives in the future. While extremely rare, eating at a restaurant chain can lead to serious injury (and sometimes even death.) Such was the unfortunate case of one customer dining at a Cracker Barrel in 2014. Now, the chain has been ordered to pay the man millions in damages for the "permanent and serious injury" he suffered thanks to a bizarre water jug mixup. William Cronnon was eating at a local Cracker Barrel restaurant in Marion County, Tenn., in April of 2014, when he was served cleaning sanitizer in place of water. As he took a sip, he felt a burning sensation and ended up with injuries of the mouth and esophagus which he still suffers from today and which have hindered his ability to work. RELATED: 100 Unhealthiest Foods on the Planet It was later found that Cronnon had inadvertently been served Eco-San, a chemical used to clean the restaurant's kitchen at the time. The National Fire Protection Association categorizes Eco-San as a chemical that poses a high health risk, while its manufacturer Ecolab states the sanitizer causes "severe skin burns and eye damage." Cronnon filed a complaint against the chain in 2015, claiming the restaurant showed negligence with an extremely dangerous chemical and asked for compensation of $150,000. But a jury last week decided the company owed the victim a lot more and ordered Cracker Barrel to pay him $730,000 in economic damages, $3.6 million in non-economic damages, and $5 million in punitive damages, according to court records viewed by Chattanooga Times Free Press. The jury found that Cracker Barrel acted negligently, including a "failure to hire and properly train qualified and competent employees." Unfortunately, Cronnon will only see a small portion of that amount, some $750,000, according to his lawyer Thomas Greer, due to Tennessee's cap on economic damages. "What made this so egregious is that Cracker Barrel had this policy where they were putting chemicals in unmarked containers for years," Greer told Times Free Press. "What I argued to the jury was they were playing roulette with the health and safety with everybody who came in there, and Mr. Cronnon paid the price." Story continues According to the publication, the water-chemical mixup occurred when the Eco-San solution was left in a water pitcher to soak drink dispensing machine parts overnight. The pitcher wasn't dumped the next morning as it should have been, and a server accidentally used it to fill Cronnon's water glass. "While we have great respect for the legal process, we are obviously disappointed by and strongly disagree with the jury's award in this case, which involved an unfortunate and isolated incident that occurred at one of our stores eight years ago. Although we are considering our options with respect to this verdict, we are glad this matter is behind us so we can better focus on caring for our guests and employees around the country," Cracker Barrel has said in a statement. "Our policy has been, and continues to be, to never put chemicals in any unmarked containers." For more, check out: Four People Have Now Died After Eating at This Restaurant Chain, According to Reports 4 Fast-Food Chains With the Biggest Food Poisoning Scandals In History 5 Popular Fast-Food Value Deals Changing Amid Inflation And don't forget to sign up for our newsletter to get the latest restaurant news delivered straight to your inbox. Read the original article on Eat This, Not That! Good morning, Long Beach, and happy National Fig Newton Day! Let's get you all caught up to start this day off on an informed note. For example, if youre planning on driving anywhere, fuel up at the Noil USA on 1234 West Cowles Street. Regular unleaded currently costs $4.14 a gallon. The Port is accepting applications for its scholarships until March 1. Also, stay out of the ocean. Finally, the MLK celebration is going virtual. First, today's weather: Partly sunny and pleasant. High: 71 Low: 54. Here are the top stories in Long Beach today: If youre a LBUSD high school senior whos considering a career in international trade, logistics, and other port-related industries, the Port of Long Beach encourages you to apply for one of its college scholarships. The application process opened Thursday and will go through March 1. Individual scholarships range from $500 to $5,000 and are awarded to full- and part-time students, as well as those enrolling in trade programs. (My News LA) Mayor Robert Garcia warned residents Saturday morning that a Tsunami Advisory was in effect due to an underwater volcanic eruption near the South Pacific island nation of Tonga. An advisory means that you should stay out of the water and stay away from shores because of rip currents and waves up to three feet tall. While this doesnt sound like much, the LB Marine Safety Division Chief warns that it doesnt take a lot to snap the lines off boats and thrust the docks around. (@LongBeachMayor, LB Post) Due to rising COVID numbers, the 2022 Martin Luther King Jr. Parade and Celebration has been postponed. However, Council Member Suely Saro from the Sixth District has found a work-around. There will be a presentation of the Martin Luther King Jr. Virtual Day of Celebration and Service, a previous recording of the 2021 celebration. You can watch it Sunday at 5 p.m. and Monday at 6 p.m. (Long Beach City) The Port is now dealing with its own Omicron outbreak, we learned Friday. Hundreds of dockworkers are out sick, quarantined, or waiting for test results. Also, insiders report that the Omicron surge has also hit truckers hard, with about one-third of that work population currently out, as well as warehouse workers. As of Wednesday, there were 104 container ships backed up. (Daily News) As of Thursday, the City reported 1,939 news COVID-19 cases and five deaths. Almost 30% of residents tested positive for the virus. In the county, health officials saw more than 40,000 new cases on Friday. At this time, 80% of adult ICU beds are occupied. (LB Post) Today in Long Beach: Story continues Long Beach Sunday Farmers Market at East Marina Drive, South of 2nd Street (9 AM to 2 PM) Maya-Animals Sunday Brunch Experience at the Hotel Maya (12 PM to 3 PM) Whisky Wonderland 2022 ~The 5th at Roxanne's Cocktail Lounge & Latin Grill (12 PM to 6 PM) Alexs Bar presents Matinee Show With Supersuckers + Scott H. Biram + Jenny Don't & The Spurs + Rod Gator (2 PM) LA/Long Beach Lesbians Who Meditate meet at Coronado Avenue & East Ocean Boulevard (2 PM) From my notebook: Leadership Long Beach has partnered with local Long Beach Senior Care facilities to connect community members to isolated Senior residents. Community members have the opportunity to write a meaningful personal letter to a Senior. (Facebook) A kind Bluff Park neighbor found a dog at Ocean & Temple in the alley. Please call if you know where he belongs. 760 861-5678 (Nextdoor) Our Central Wrigley neighbor needs a reliable, AFFORDABLE mechanic in the area to get their radiator fixed. Any recommendations? (Nextdoor) A Historic Zaferia Village-Cir neighbor wants to know if there are any cheap places to go bowling. (Nextdoor) Our Cal Heights neighbor is in search of an expert you hired & recommend that sands, repairs cracks, cleans, primes, paints and seals old bathroom tiles. (Nextdoor) More from our sponsors thanks for supporting local news! Featured businesses: Events: Gigs & services: Loving the Long Beach Daily? Here are all the ways you can get more involved: Send a friend or neighbor this link, so they can subscribe Get your local business listed in front of readers Send me a news tip or suggestion at LongBeach-CA@Patch.com That's it for today! I'll see you soon. Sylvia Cochran About me: Sylvia Cochran works out of sunny Southern California and has been freelance writing full-time since 2005. She loves dogs, cats, books, plays Best Fiends (don't judge), embraces social justice, and tries to live out Micah 6:8. This article originally appeared on the Long Beach Patch Nothing we can do will erase or correct history. Those who claim otherwise are charlatans, bent on making new tragedies by stoking anger and guilt in as many people as possible. We cannot erase the wrongs tomorrow that we commit today. Pratt If we deliberately kill someone, but later feel remorse and are sent to prison for committing murder, the primary benefit is that we won't be free to do it again to someone else. Those of you who read or study human behaviors know that our collectively bad deeds in the past cannot be undone by punishing those innocent in the present. Attitudes change over time, but human nature still struggles with good versus evil. Angels must be astounded at human arrogance and ignorance in this century, so imbued with its growing powers as represented by space-age technology that it doesn't realize what we think we know will soon disappear. Soon is a relative term that we do not have the ability to count it could be 10 days or 10,000 years in God's eternal calendar. Meanwhile, we are well on our way to self-destruction. Wisdom tells us there is an old, old book that tells us the story. The plan was made not by mankind, but by our Creator, who loved us enough even at our worst to offer us the gift of redemption, wholly undeserved, according to biblical teachings and prophecy. Believers will mark that solemn rescue of humanity at Easter. And many will join in the Resurrection celebration with little understanding of its meaning, yes even some church members who identify themselves as Christians at Christmas and at Easter. Others will note the traditions with little thought or interest. We are free to do that. Hiding Easter eggs for children to hunt is a tradition that came out of both secular and sacred teachings. And to think, a rabbit delivers the eggs, most of them candy. Oh my, I'll leave it to you to make the connection with how we do try to make a difficult truth palatable to ourselves as well as to our children. Story continues God didn't promise us redemption from our sins because we weren't so bad, after all. No, he loved us so much even in the midst of our badness that he offered to defeat Evil for all eternity that we might be joined forever with a power impossible for us to fully comprehend in our human state. Not everyone will accept this gift of eternal life. Why then, did God give us choice at such an outrageous price death of the Perfect at the hands of imperfect humans? This great mystery of Father, Son and Holy Spirit will not be fully revealed until the Judgment, a matter of prophecy that hints of far greater wonders than anything we can envision as humans. Our weakness is great, but God's power is greater. Today, we do not live in that three-year period when Jesus, the Christ, walked and taught those who would listen. They saw miracles of healing, even life restored, storms quieted. Saul, the primary persecutor of Jesus followers, who had vowed to stamp out what he sincerely believed to be false, later became the builder of the church. He was stricken with blindness so that he could see beyond his own cultural binding. God renamed him Paul, the great missionary planter of churches. He was not to deny the religious history he knew so well, but prepared by his heritage for communicating the rest of the story as God gave him a vision for all humanity. Why talk about Easter today? People are worried about death during a pandemic, not recognizing it walks side by side with us every day. This week, read the 15th Chapter of I Corinthians, written by Paul to encourage and teach those who want to know whether a believer will live again after death. Beth Pratt retired after 25 years as the religion editor of the Avalanche-Journal. This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Pratt: Our weakness is great, but God's power is greater Prince Andrew's lawyers want to question Virginia Giuffre's husband and psychologist. Associated Press/Steve Parsons Prince Andrew's lawyers want to question Virginia Giuffre's husband and her psychologist, according to The Guardian. Giuffre's lawyers want testimony from two people, including Prince Andrew's former assistant. A federal judge denied Prince Andrew's attempt to dismiss a sexual assault lawsuit from Giuffre. On Saturday the Associated Press reported that lawyers for Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre, the woman who's accused him of sexual assault, have filed their initial requests for witnesses. According to court documents obtained by The Guardian, Prince Andrew's legal team has pivoted their attention to Giuffre's psychologist, Dr. Judith Lightfoot, and Giuffre's husband, Robert Giuffre. Lawyers for the Duke of York, 61, want to question Lightfoot, who treated Giuffre, 38, over claims she "may suffer from false memories" and to disclose any medication prescribed to Giuffre, court documents say, according to the outlet. The duke's legal team also seeks testimony from Robert about the couple's finances and the circumstances around their meeting in 2002, The Guardian reports. While Prince Andrew's legal team seeks to question Lightfoot and Robert, Giuffre's team wants testimony from Prince Andrew's former assistant and a woman who claims to have seen the two together at a London nightclub during the time in question, according to The Guardian. Representatives for the duke and Virginia Giuffre did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Prince Andrew attempted to block the lawsuit, but a judge denied his motion to dismiss in January 2022. In this August 2019 photo, Virginia Roberts Giuffre holds a news conference outside a Manhattan court. Associated Press/Bebeto Matthews The Guardian noted that if a US judge and Australian authorities comply with the requests, Lightfoot and Robert Giuffre would need to be questioned under oath via video from their homes in Australia. During a defamation case against Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in April 2015, Giuffre claimed Epstein forced her to have sex with Prince Andrew in 2001 when she was 17. The royal family initially denied the claims in a statement, and Prince Andrew later stepped down from his royal duties in November 2019 after a "car crash" BBC interview. Story continues In August 2021, Giuffre filed a lawsuit accusing Prince Andrew of sexual assault, claiming that he was aware of her age and knew she was a victim of sex trafficking. "I am holding Prince Andrew accountable for what he did to me. The powerful and the rich are not exempt from being held responsible for their actions," Giuffre said, via her lawyers, in a statement to ABC News. On Thursday Buckingham Palace issued a statement saying that the Queen stripped him of his military titles and patronages just months after The Times of London reported that she let "it be known" she wanted him to keep them. Now, Prince Andrew will face the sexual assault lawsuit as a private citizen, according to Buckingham Palace's statement. Vanity Fair recently reported that Prince Andrew would not attend the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations which will be held throughout the year. Read the original article on Insider NEW YORK Lawyers for a woman who accused Jeffrey Epstein pal Prince Andrew of abusing her want British authorities help tracking down a witness who saw her with Andrew decades ago. Virginia Giuffres lawyers on Friday asked Manhattan Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan to seek help from the Senior Master of the Royal Courts of London to find the eyewitness, Shukri Walker. Giuffre says Walker saw her with Andrew at a London night club before he abused her in March 2001. She wants her lawyers to depose Walker as part of her lawsuit against the British royal. Because Prince Andrew has denied ever meeting (Giuffre) or being at Tramp Nightclub during the relevant time period, Ms. Walkers testimony is highly relevant, Giuffres lawyer Sigrid McCawley wrote the judge. Walkers lawyer Lisa Bloom who represents several Epstein victims told the FBI in August 2020 that her client could corroborate Giuffres claim that she was at the nightclub with Andrew, according to The Guardian. Giuffre claims Ghislaine Maxwell was there, too. Maxwell was convicted Dec. 29 of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein. Giuffre claims Andrew sexually abused her that night after they left the club. Giuffre also wants the court to work with English authorities to locate the Duke of Yorks one-time assistant or equerry, in royal speak Robert Olney. Plaintiff has reason to believe that Mr. Olney has relevant information about Prince Andrews relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, as Mr. Olneys name appears in publicly available copies of Epsteins phone book, reads the Friday filing by Giuffre. The requests come at the end of a catastrophic week for Andrew. On Thursday, his mother, Queen Elizabeth, stripped him of his military and royal patronages and said he would defend himself in Giuffres suit as a private citizen. The Queens stunning rebuke came a day after Kaplan ruled Giuffres sex abuse case against her son could proceed. The jurist did not rule on the merits of Giuffres claims. Story continues Now 38, Giuffre says Andrew raped and sexually assaulted her when she was 17 and being trafficked worldwide for sex by Epstein, who killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell as he awaited trial, and Maxwell. Andrew has denied all allegations and claims hes never met his accuser despite a widely circulated image of him standing with his arm around the small of a teenage Giuffres back. Maxwell stands behind them smiling. Andrews lawyers did not respond to The New York Daily News request for comment. Bloom could not immediately be reached. America's biggest satellite television provider has said it will cut the pro-Trump news channel One America News Network (OANN) from its service, dealing a severe blow to one of the former president's most stalwart cheerleaders. DirecTV, a distributor with about 15 million subscribers that is 70 per cent owned by the US telecoms giant AT&T, announced on Friday that it would not renew its contract with OANN when the current one expires. following a routine internal review. The decision could spell financial ruin for OANN, which gets about 90 per cent of its revenue from DirecTV according to court papers. One lawyer for OANN said in 2020 that Herring Networks "would go out of business tomorrow" if dropped by DirecTV. It is a victory for campaign groups such as the NAACP and the left-leaning Media Matters for America, which have been demanding AT&T cut OANN off due to its role in spreading Mr Trump's "Big Lie" that the 2020 election result was fraudulent. NAACP president Derrick Johnson hailed DirecTV's decision as a win for "the future of democracy", saying that OANN only seeks to create further division. On Friday, President Joe Biden made a special appeal to social media companies and media outlets, saying: Please deal with the misinformation and disinformation thats on your shows. It has to stop. Mr Bidens spokesperson Jen Psaki has compared OANN to Russian and Chinese state propaganda channels. .@POTUS: "I make a special appeal to social media companies and media outlets please deal with the misinformation and disinformation that's on your shows. It has to stop." pic.twitter.com/sGCQgCVcw9 Mediaite (@Mediaite) January 13, 2022 A spokesperson for DirecTV told The Independent that it was ending the contract for business reasons amid a shrinking market for paid TV and customer demand for cheaper and smaller bundles of TV channels. Story continues Asked whether politics played any role in the move, he said: We evaluate a variety of inputs, but that did not drive our decision as our decision was based on the needs of the business. OANN has been in lockstep with Mr Trump since his election in 2016, hawking numerous conspiracy theories and false stories about the election, the pandemic, Covid-19 vaccines, school shootings and more. DirecTV declined to say when the current contract will end, but the company had previously been sued by OANN for attempting to cut ties in 2016 and settled out of court in March 2017. OANN re-appeared on DirecTV the next month, suggesting that its contract may have been a requirement of the settlement. If it was a five year contract, it would expire in April this year. Commenting on Fridays announcement, Media Matters president Angelo Carusone said: "DirecTV made a negligent mistake in 2021 when they renewed their contract with OANN even after OANN spent weeks attacking the election and stoking the embers that helped fuel the 6 January insurrection. They gave OANN a full year to undermine our democracy, and our country suffered for it. "Just as DirecTVs decision to renew in 2021 mattered, their decision to drop OANN in 2022 matters too. DirecTV has been functionally propping up OANN for years. Without DirecTV, OANN would certainly not exist in its current form and possibly not at all." Mr Carusone urged OANN's other key distributor, Verizon's Fios fibre optic network, to do the same, and said cable providers should not do business with the channel. Conservative Fox News host Lou Dobbs countered that "corporate media is crushing what little dissent remains", sharing a news story that accused DirecTV of obeying Mr Biden's "order" to drop outlets that "deviate from the regime's official narrative". OANN and DirecTV did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Independent. The night came and went without any firings of Providence police officers who have defied the city's vaccination mandate. But that's no guarantee that they will not be terminated. The Providence City Council appeared poised Friday night to pass an ordinance to prevent more than 2% of police officers from being fired without a council-approved staffing plan. But after arranging an emergency meeting and attracting media attention, the council referred the ordinance to its finance committee. Under the ordinance, in all other city departments, no more than 20% of employees could be fired without a council-approved staffing plan. Even if the council ultimately passes the ordinance, it will need to pass it a second time before it goes to Mayor Jorge Elorza's desk, at which point "he absolutely plans to veto it," his office said. A priority on vaccination, not discipline If the council were to override the veto, a two-thirds majority, or 10 votes, would be required, which it does not appear have at the moment. On Friday's agenda, only eight names were listed with the ordinance, plus Councilman John Igliozzi. However, Councilman John Goncalves said some of the votes were being peeled. Councilwoman Helen Anthony was the only member to comment on the ordinance before the meeting ended, offering her support for the city's mandate, and calling attention to the state's "unprecedented health-care crisis." "Instead of stoking conflict, lets work together," she said. Councilwoman Nirva LaFortune had raised her hand to comment, though the meeting was adjourned, and Igliozzi said he did not see her hand, so she was unable to speak. Hours before the council meeting, Elorza's office emphasized that the city's "priority is to get employees vaccinated, not to discipline," slamming Igliozzi's approach. "This is about public health," the Elorza administration said. "The council president is manufacturing panic, and his politically motivated comments and actions are deterring people who may have been considering getting their vaccine from doing so." Story continues The city gave employees until the close of business Friday to either provide proof of vaccination or request an exemption with medical forms. "The city's Human Resources Department will need all of next week to review information submitted by employees and to follow up or receive clarifying information with anyone whose forms were not submitted," Elorza's office said. "We will share numbers when all of our data is verified." The mayor's office noted that the law department has not reviewed the council's ordinance. More: Providence City Council president attempts to limit police firings over vaccination mandate More: Providence could lose 80 police officers over vaccine mandate. What city leaders are doing 'One step at a time' Police Chief Col. Hugh T. Clements, Jr. said no officers would be terminated by the end of Friday. But he acknowledged that he does not know how the coming days will look. Asked whether he would be able to cope with a staffing shortage, Clements said, "Were going to wait. Were going to take this one step at a time." Clements added that Elorza's administration is working with the Police Department, its staff members and the police union. In a statement, the department said it "wants every employee on the job while vaccinated and therefore is encouraging all employees to get vaccinated." Ahead of Friday's vote, 32 researchers and epidemiologists at Brown University's School of Public Health wrote to the council in support of the city's mandate, stating that vaccination is "especially important for city employees who are interacting with the community as part of their daily responsibilities." "Carving out an exception for some city employees puts the publics safety at risk," the letter said. It went on to add that COVID-19 was the leading cause of death among members of U.S. law-enforcement agencies in 2021, according to preliminary data reported by the National Law Enforcement Memorial and Museum. Concluding, the letter said, "While the City of Providence cannot mandate that every resident take the vaccine, their employees should model the behavior of what it means to be a good citizen; and that includes getting vaccinated to protect our community and those most at risk." This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: No firings of Providence police yet, though vaccine mandate in place Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland joined Insider to discuss his new book. In "Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy," he meditates on two major events. One is the January 6 insurrection, and the other is the death of his son, Tommy. The day after Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland laid his 25-year-old son to rest, he was sheltering in place as the Capitol riot was unfolding. Later that night, he would begin drafting articles of impeachment against former President Donald Trump. Raskin, who sits on the House select committee investigating the insurrection, spoke with Insider about what he's described as the "cognitive dissonance" from those two major events in his life, which he delves into in his new book "Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy." This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Could take me back to the first moments you had to yourself on the night of the insurrection, particularly after your daughter told you she never wanted to come back to the Capitol again after witnessing that day first-hand. What was going through your mind at that point, and how do you make sense of it now after writing the book? When Tabitha said that, it was shocking and dismaying to me. She was essentially telling me that my chosen career path and engagement in politics had become a negative thing in our lives. You know, I had always wanted to involve my kids in my political career and have them get to know my colleagues, and I've always just wanted them to be excited about government. And now I was getting the message from my daughter that my workplace was a danger. I know I saw a lot more bloody things that day, far more extreme situations. But for some reason, that was the thing that struck me hard. You were a constitutional law professor earlier in your career. Could you explain how strong of a case the committee would have in enforcing a subpoena if a member of Congress refused to comply? Story continues That's certainly one of the potential legal and political flash points we face. Under Article I of the Constitution, each house defines the rules of its own proceedings. Each house has disciplinary authority to sanction its members from reprimands and censures to expulsions. The speech and debate clause says that members should not be questioned for their legislative conduct outside of the Congress, but that clearly leaves the implication that they may be so questioned inside Congress itself. So what would you do if someone like House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy were to refuse to voluntarily turn over information and then potentially defy a subpoena? Well, look, the committee has not discussed this yet, so everything that I said to you was in the manner of an abstraction about what the law is. I don't want to render legal advice to my colleagues. So let me make an ethical statement. The media has hurried to get to the question of subpoenas, and contempt of Congress and how to coerce compliance. Before we get to the legalities of any of that, I would like people to focus on the fact that we have a former President of the United States who refuses to turn over information that he has about a violent insurrection against the union and an attempted political coup and that's just an extraordinary thing, but everyone walks around assuming that, of course, Donald Trump won't cooperate in an investigation. But why do we concede that? All I'm saying is that we should consider this as a moral and ethical proposition, as well as a legal one. How did we get to a point where high ranking government officials have some kind of incentive and interest in denying the reality the first attack on the US Capitol since the war of 1812? Could you explain what a "self-coup" is? Usually we think of a coup as something that takes place against a president. This was a coup that was orchestrated by the president against the vice president and against Congress and the people. So a "self coup" is one that a president undertakes toward the normal constitutional process in order to seize, continuing control over the presidency. You've talked about there being three rings to January 6: The biggest ring is the tens of thousands of people who came to Washington for a protest and many of them ended up storming the Capitol, but didn't necessarily plan to. Then you have the second ring of militia groups who had plans to disrupt the election certification, and the smallest ring of those around Trump. Is there one person who jumps out to you as the most consequential in that final ring aside from Trump himself? It's a tough question because there has been so much stonewalling in that inner circle. I will say that Vice President Mike Pence really was a constitutional patriot who did his job on January 6, 2021. I considered his performance in the prior four years to be pretty submissive and sycophantic towards Donald Trump. But on January 6th, he really was a strong, constitutional patriot. Is there something you think the American public should be paying more attention to, especially for those who haven't been following the January 6 news closely? I would like people to understand that it was not one indivisible sequence of action, but there were different components to what was happening. One of the things I learned the next day was that there were lots of people calling Nancy Pelosi's office, asking whether there was a lost and found because they forgot their phone there, or they left their purse or what have you. Are you serious? Yeah. And then the officers quickly got on the phone and said, yeah, just give us your name, your address, your social, and we'll tie up those loose ends. But what's so fascinating to me about that there really were people who felt as if they had been summoned to Washington by the president. And when they were told that they were trespassing and invading the Capitol, they said the president invited them to be there. They didn't have any kind of subtle understanding of the separation of powers. They just thought that the number one person in the US government had invited them to be there, and therefore they had a right. It underscores the central role that Donald Trump played in it, but it does create a problem for assigning guilt at different levels of conduct. You write in the book about the loss of your son, Tommy, to suicide. What would you say to people who know someone going through the throes of mental illness who want to help, and have you thought about mental health policies such as insurance parity any differently? It's a tough question because it seems like everybody's situation is so individualized. For some people, um, work can be a terrible stressor, but for other people work can be a kind of therapy and liberation from their illness and isolation. It's not clear to me that there are universal solutions. Mental health parity is a very important pledge by society. It does send the message that mental health is on the same plane as physical health and that there's no reason for anyone to feel embarrassed about it. Of course the, the promise has been honored mostly in a breach up to this point. I mean, there are many parts of the country where there are shockingly few psychiatrists and counselors available. So mental health parity is the right ideal, but the reality has not caught up yet. If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or has had thoughts of harming themselves or taking their own life, get help. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) provides 24/7, free, confidential support for people in distress, as well as best practices for professionals and resources to aid in prevention and crisis situations. Read the original article on Business Insider We all can get along. I mean, were all stuck here for a while. Lets try to work it out. Rodney King, May 1, 1992. I shall not write about the remarkably energetic and stimulating columns published in The Record by my esteemed colleagues John Hymes and Lou Matz on abortion. It is interesting that Hymes claims: no moral reasoning for abortion can be found, while Matz, a philosophy professor at University of the Pacific, offered morality should not be based on religion but rather determined by reason, compassion and the consequences of human experience. Ned Leiba is a community columnist for the Stockton Record. I shall not offer up philosopher David Hume's famous observation: The rules of morality are not conclusions of our reason. I will not observe that the true basis of the judicial decisions permitting abortion rests with the Ninth Amendment to our Constitution: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. This is the most philosophical of all the provisions in our Constitution. Those who are concerned about abortion, morality and reason, may want to ponder this fundamentally important but neglected provision of our Constitution. I am not going to write about the Stockton City Hall scandal, where back in 2017, the city admitted that $25.5 million of mostly Measure A funds would be used to acquire and improve a new City Hall. In 2013, Measure A was passed by the voters largely to ensure an increase of 120 in the number of police officers. Alas, we have less than 66% of the promised additional police officers but we will get an unpromised new City Hall that was to cost $25.5 million. Excuse me, it seems the 2017 estimate was too low. The cost today is estimated at $63.3 million. Guest view: Stinkers, public records and gag threats: A lesson in Stockton civics I shall write about something important that was lost, misplaced, almost dead, but which in this New Year, should be recalled to life. Story continues The writer Joan Didion died in December. I pray that she will be remembered most for one statement she made in Slouching Towards Bethlehem: I am still committed to the idea that the ability to think for oneself depends upon one's mastery of the language. The Yeats poem that framed Didions essay described a condition where the falcon cannot hear the falconer and the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity. Because of the pandemic, because of politics, because of evil cycles in our social condition, we have been at each other's throats. Can we think for ourselves? Can we lay down the passionate intensity and the extreme partisanship? I wrote a column last year where I briefly discussed the scientific study that supported the safety and efficacy of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. If you care deeply about that topic, you should separate the persons who may be vocal advocates for or critics of vaccination and consider the best, unbiased evidence. If you master the language, if you know simple arithmetic, you can decide for yourself. You should not rely on vocal others, not Ned Leiba, not Donald Trump, not Anthony Fauci. You can and should decide important matters of contestable facts and public policy for yourself. That will yield far more accepted truths than reliance on, or splenetic opposition to, authority. Detach the hot partisans from the evaluative process. It will disarm, to a great degree, the unprecedented vituperation that is far more dangerous to our health than any virus. Let us return to Rodney King: We are all stuck here for a while. And consider my good friend Charles Dickens. He spoke of the Christmas season: ... as a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of (other) people . . . as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. As we move into 2022, we need to lay down the attacks on our fellow passengers, without losing our concern about important matters of public affairs. Rodney King and Charles Dickens beckon us to recall our humanity, and I write this article to urge us all, in 2022, to be recalled to life. Happy New Year. Ned Leiba is a certified public accountant, chair of the CalCPA San Joaquin Chapter Nonprofit Committee and a member of the CalCPA statewide Professional Conduct Committee. This article originally appeared on The Record: Guest view: We all can get along. Happy New Year. A Raleigh man who was the second in command of a local Crips gang was sentenced to 40 years in prison Friday for conspiring to kill a rival gang member and sell methamphetamine. Deandre Earp, 33, was sentenced in federal court after pleading guilty on May 5, 2021, to charges that include conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, and possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced in a news release. Earp, a high-ranking member of the Eight Trey Gangster Crips, had also pleaded guilty to a charge of violent crimes in aid of racketeering for conspiring to kill a rival gang member in retaliation for being assaulted by him, the release stated. Officials said Earp was tased and assaulted by the rival gang member on Quarry Street in July 2019, and decided to retaliate by making plans to kill him with other ETGC members. Earp and another co-defendant, who was not named in the release, were on their way to kill the gang member who had assaulted Earp when Raleigh police officers pulled them over during a traffic stop. Both Earp and the co-defendant were carrying loaded firearms in the car and were taken into custody, officials said, adding that Earps arrest was based on electronic, physical, and documentary evidence. Officials also determined Earp had been conspiring to distribute more than 4.5 kilograms of meth in the Raleigh area, the release stated. Gang with propensity for violence The ETGC, described by officials as a nationally recognized criminal street gang originating in Los Angeles, has operated in North Carolina and the state prison system for nearly two decades. The gang grew out of Los Angeles in the 1960s. A regional violent gang task force began investigating the gang in 2017, The News & Observer previously reported. According to officials, the gang is known to have a propensity for violence that includes homicides, aggravated assaults and robberies. Story continues Members and associates of ETGC have been involved in numerous violent crimes that have resulted in the loss of life, decrease in quality of life, and damage to societal norms in and around the City of Raleigh, the U.S. Attorneys Office said. Last February, federal prosecutors accused two other ETGC members, Antonio Lil Tony Davenport and Dival Paco Nygee Magwood of committing racketeering, fraud and violent crimes to enrich gang members. Davenport and Magwood were also charged in connection with the shooting death of 9-year-old ZYon Person in August 2019. In his position as the second in command of the ETGC, Earp was heavily involved in the day-to-day operations of the gang, officials said. Drugs sent from LA to Raleigh On top of directing subordinates to sell meth in Raleigh, Earp discussed strategy, policy and decision-making with the organizations leader in North Carolina, as well as ETGC members in L.A. He also trained less experienced gang members on how to distribute narcotics without being detected by law enforcement, officials said. Earp was prosecuted as part of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force Operation, a national effort run by the U.S. Department of Justice. Over the course of its investigation, the task force uncovered a complex network of high-ranking ETGC members based in L.A. who helped distribute kilograms of illicit drugs to Raleigh. Some of gangs L.A.-based members have also been indicted in this case, officials said. The Raleigh Police Department and Raleigh/Wake City-County Bureau of Identification helped in the investigation, the release stated. Federal agencies including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Marshals Service also assisted. MAINEVILLE, Ohio The feud between U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and the nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, heated up this week and showed no signs of letting up on Friday. During a visit on Friday to southwest Ohio, the Kentucky Republican didn't shy away from Fauci's accusation earlier in the week he raised money off of the pandemic and efforts to "Fire Fauci." "Yes, were raising money," Paul told The Enquirer. "If we do win, we take over the Senate. We will do everything we can to remove (Fauci) from office. We think hes a menace. We think hes lied to Congress." Paul didn't say how he'd remove Fauci from his post as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Fauci also is President Joe Biden's chief medical advisor. Several Republicans are backing the "Fire Fauci Act," which would reduce the salary of the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to $0 until Fauci resigns from the position and a new administrator is appointed. U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks at a gym in Maineville, Ohio on Friday to endorse Mike Gibbons in the Ohio Republican primary to replace Sen. Rob Portman. Paul traveled to Maineville in suburban Cincinnati to endorse Cleveland businessman Mike Gibbons, one of the Republicans running for Sen. Rob Portman's seat. Dozens of people, virtually all unmasked, packed into a gym Friday for the Gibbons rally that turned into just as much of an anti-Fauci rally. Paul spent most of his 20-minute speech criticizing Fauci and the nation's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. "We had another little episode with Dr. Fauci this week," Paul said as the crowd laughed. "And it is amazing how many times he's gotten things wrong." Paul went on to criticize Fauci about masking guidelines, accused him of belittling natural immunity to COVID-19 and expounded on theories about the virus coming out of a lab in China. For COVID-19, evidence suggests vaccines provide more protection against infection than natural immunity. It's still unclear how sick someone has to get with COVID-19 to provide lasting protection. Story continues A few days earlier, in a heated congressional hearing, Fauci said Paul's repeated misinformation about the pandemic, made for political reasons, led to death threats against him. "What happens when he gets out and accuses me of things that are completely untrue is that all of a sudden that kindles the crazies out there," Fauci said on Tuesday, "And I have threats upon my life, harassment of my family and my children with obscene phone calls, because people are lying about me." Paul said he wasn't responsible for people threatening Fauci. "For him to come forward and try to blame an accusation of violence on me for opposing his positions he takes on the pandemic I think is really meanspirited and wrong," Paul said. Paul also responded to a 2013 clip from a video this week posted on Twitter by epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding. It was from a 2013 speech to students at the University of Louisville. Paul, who is an ophthalmologist, told a story about his time in medical school when he spread a false rumor among competing students about what was on a test. 2) Sickening is that @RandPaul once told a room full of students that misinformation works. And sometimes I spread it. This you @SenRandPaul? HT @Texan_21C pic.twitter.com/QMOaMV5bb6 Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) January 12, 2022 "That's my advice, misinformation works," Paul told the students in the clip "So try to trick your opponents into knowing the test is about something its not." Paul, when asked by The Enquirer about the clip, reacted with derision. He said it's a joke he's told hundreds of times. "Do you know what a joke is?" Paul said. "Do you know what humor is? You can't tell?" This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: COVID-19: Rand Paul continues feud with Anthony Fauci A male coyote Shilah (shy-luh) calls the Akron Zoo's Mike & Mary Stark Grizzly Ridge exhibit home. It looked like a gruesome crime scene. Akron resident Bill Buehrle peered out the back window Tuesday morning and instead of seeing a tranquil scene to start his day working remotely from his home, he saw a corpse. It was mangled and body parts were scattered across the yard. He even found organs on his back patio. The victim was a Jane doe. A real doe. After some sleuthing and sending photos to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, it was determined the deer had a deadly encounter with coyotes. Bill Buehrle in his Akron backyard, where he recently found a mutilated deer. Authorities believe coyotes were responsible. What did the homeowner hear? Looking back, Buehrle said, he did hear some odd yelping the night before but he dismissed it as dogs in the neighborhood of his McPherson Avenue home off Garman Road, not far from historic Stan Hywet Hall. News of the discovery soon spread on social media. Some folks expressed fear for the safety of small pets in the area with a murderous pack of coyotes lurking for more prey. Before residents grab pitchforks and torches and take to the woods to hunt down coyotes, Mike Johnson, chief of conservation for Summit Metro Parks, said everyone should take a deep breath. It is highly unlikely that the coyotes hunted down and attacked this particular deer. Coyotes are 'opportunistic' hunters Coyotes by their nature are "opportunistic" hunters, Johnson said, and a more likely scenario is that this particular deer was injured probably hit by a car and died or was near death when a coyote or scout came upon it and called out to others to come for dinner. The more likely prey for coyotes are mice, rabbits or birds. They tend to shy away from anything bigger than them and that goes for humans. Johnson said coyotes are anywhere and everywhere, including residential neighborhoods, particularly those close to parks. Every metro park in Summit County has a family of coyotes now living in it, Johnson said. Study shows coyote movements, interactions with humans About 10 years ago, the Metro Parks, along with the National Park Service and other park districts in northern Ohio, conducted an ambitious study in which they put tracking devices on 200 or so coyotes to monitor their movements and interactions with humans. Story continues The results were surprising. For one, Johnson said they actually don't roam much at all. A male and female and their offspring will stake out and defend a territory of about 1,500 acres and hunt there exclusively. Once the offspring are old enough, the parents send them off to find their own territories. For those coyotes that call a park home, Johnson said, they go out of their way to stay hidden and away from humans. During the study, they found coyotes rarely used the trails during the day when humans are around and only venture on the paths at night. There has never been an instance where a park visitor has been bitten by a coyote in Summit County. And Johnson said there have been only been a handful of incidents where a dog has had an encounter with a coyote in the parks. All of these incidences happened when the dogs were off their leashes, which is against the rules, and roaming off the trails, Johnson said. Why coyotes often stay out of sight from humans The study found that coyotes who call northern Ohio home have adapted to living in and around humans while staying out of sight. One of the coyotes that had a tracking device took up residence in a very unlikely place. Home was right in the middle of the parking lot of a busy shopping center in Fairlawn. This particular coyote lived in a drain pipe near the retention pond by the Acme and a Starbucks. Johnson said the coyote lived off mice and other small critters who also called Montrose home. "They are absolutely trying to avoid us," he said. "It is pretty remarkable." But that doesn't mean encounters can't still happen. Johnson said it is never a good idea to let fluffy the cat wander about outside or send out the family pup to roam the countryside. "In the canine world big dog will go after little dog," he said. Experts say mice, rabbits or birds are the likely prey for coyotes, who tend to shy away from anything bigger than them. Coyotes are not a protected species, but Johnson said he always advises against having them trapped and removed. As they old adage goes, the better the devil in this case coyote you know than the one you don't. "Remember, there's another coyote already waiting to take its place," he said. Coyotes are attraction at the zoo If you really want to have a close, albeit, safe encounter with a coyote then the best bet is to visit the Akron Zoo. The zoo is home to Kaliska (kuh-lis-kuh) and Shilah (shy-luh), who arrived in Akron in 2013 when it opened the Mike & Mary Stark Grizzly Ridge exhibit. Eric Albers, the curator of animal operations, said the pair are the same species of coyotes found in the wild in Akron but slightly smaller in stature because they are from Utah, where coyotes are not quite as large. While still shy around humans, Albers said, the pair at the zoo are comfortable having guests gander through the glass at them in their large habitat. "They are probably one of the more active animals here at the zoo," he said. Buehrle said he's had his fill of encounters with coyotes for now. And his encountered proved to be costly. Buehrle said the city offered to take the deer carcass but he would have to first bag it up and place it at the curb. That would have meant lugging a 200-pound bag from the backyard. And then there was the whole matter of the bloody organs scattered about the yard. Buehrle said he instead hired a Tallmadge company that specializes in such unpleasant tasks. It was $350 that, in his opinion, was well spent. "I've lived all over the country for my job and I've never seen something like it before," he said. "It was pretty gross." --- Craig Webb, who now wonders if there's a coyote or a racoon calling the hollow fallen tree in his backyard home, can be reached at cwebb@thebeaconjournal.com. This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron man pays $350 to clean up deer carcass left by coyotes Jan. 15With redrawn state House districts, some legislators are losing towns and gaining new ones, along with new would-be constituents. State representatives are reaching out to contacts and laying groundwork in Ledyard, New London, Montville and elsewhere to become familiar with areas they may represent if successful in the November 2022 election. Connecticut's congressional redistricting still is incomplete, as a panel of legislators failed to come to an agreement. A state Supreme Court-appointed special master is charged with redrawing the districts. But legislators were able to agree on new state Senate and state House district maps. The General Assembly's Reapportionment Commission's redrawn state Senate map doesn't really affect southeastern Connecticut, with its districts 18, 19, 20 and 33 largely staying the same. Southeastern Connecticut was more affected by the new state House district map. State representatives and senators have said a population shift away from eastern Connecticut and toward Fairfield County accounted for shift the 42nd District to cover Wilton, part of New Canaan and part of Ridgefield, and away from Ledyard, Preston and part of Montville. State Rep. Mike France, R-Ledyard, currently represents the 42nd District and is retiring after his current term, making the loss of the seat sting less for Republicans. Almost all of Ledyard is now in Stonington Republican Rep. Greg Howard's 43rd District, but part of it is also in the 45th District, currently represented by Republican Brian Lanoue of Griswold. Howard noted he hasn't declared his candidacy yet but has reached out to Ledyard leadership, including the mayor. "There'll be things in Ledyard that are specific to Ledyard that will help that municipality that may not have helped Stonington or North Stonington," Howard said. "If you're asking me because it's a more Republican district, am I going to change my positions, no, I am me." Story continues Joe de la Cruz, D-Groton, who represents the 41st District, is picking up part of Stonington from Howard as a result of Howard's district taking in the majority of Ledyard. De la Cruz did not respond to a request for comment. "A lot of people from Stonington are concerned because they've never experienced having the town divided between two state reps. That becomes a little bit clumsy at times, but at the same time you sort of get two for the price of one," Howard said. "You have two legislators advocating for issues specific to your municipality, so there are advantages." The 40th District, represented by Democrat Christine Conley of Groton, now will have the southern tip of New London and will no longer have part of Ledyard. Conley said she's been attending New London events and thanked state Rep. Anthony Nolan, D-New London, for inviting her. She called redistricting "a wonderful challenge." Come 2023, she will be representing New London and Groton. "It's helpful more for me that New London is a hub of services for New London County. A lot of needs that are New London-specific affect people in the towns that I currently represent as well," she said. "It's more of a challenge for people who didn't get a hub town added. Anthony Nolan, Joe de la Cruz and I have always worked closely together, so I know the issues in New London and I've helped the mayor of New London on issues." The 139th District represented by Rep. Kevin Ryan, D-Montville, gains more land in Montville with the new map. Ryan's district also moves into Ledyard. Like Conley, Ryan said the new map is reminiscent of the map before the 2011 redistricting. And like Howard, he also pointed out that he hasn't officially decided to run. "It's kind of going back to a district I had about 20 years ago. The new part would be over in Ledyard," Ryan said. "I'm trying to get acquainted with the people in Ledyard, get a better idea of what's going on there, and meeting people who live in the Gales Ferry section, which Chris Conley currently has. I'm paying attention so I'm not totally blind for when we start the campaign after the conventions in May." Rep. Doug Dubitsky, R-Chaplin, of the 47th District will no longer represent Lebanon Tim Ackert, R-Coventry, of the 8th District will. Dubitsky's district no longer encompasses Hampton and now includes parts of Brooklyn and Plainfield. "It's certainly sad that I'll be losing three towns; those are towns that I really loved," Dubitsky said. "Over the last seven years I've had quite the relationship with Hampton, Lebanon and Franklin, and I'm very sad to be losing them. Those relationships will continue, just in a different way." Dubitsky said with regard to the new areas, he's contacted people he knows who live there and has done "quite a bit of driving around those areas" to get the lay of the land and understand the new boundaries. He knew his district a loose collection of small towns in a slow-growing area of the state would be a target for redistricting. But he doesn't feel slighted. "I knew that my district had to change because there just weren't enough people in there. I was certainly hoping that I would retain the towns that I had and simply add additional areas, but it was not in my control," he said. "It's clear that both sides of the aisle felt their job was to protect their incumbents and I certainly understand that." The new House district map also includes part of Montville in the 37th District, a seat held by Rep. Holly Cheeseman, R-East Lyme. She and other legislators said they haven't really started in earnest to reach out to their new constituents. But, she said, she has a long relationship with Montville. "I was the state central committee member, I worked a lot with the Montville Republican Town Committee, so I have an established relationship with the official Republican arm there. I know Mayor Ron McDaniel well," Cheeseman said. "My plan is to do targeted phone calls once I'm certified as a candidate, probably do some mailings from my campaign funds and later, closer to the election, do doors. I also hope to start attending Montville Town Council meetings to get a better feel of what the local issues are." s.spinella@theday.com A Russian invasion of Ukraine is inevitable and imminent, a Conservative MP claimed last night. It comes after suggestions from US officials that Russia had prepositioned a group of operatives to conduct a false-flag operation to justify invading Ukraine. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that the Kremlin was laying the groundwork for an attack through a social media disinformation campaign framing Kiev as the aggressor. Speaking on Friday, Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Commons defence committee, said: I am afraid an invasion by Russian forces is inevitable and imminent and we have allowed this to happen. We had the opportunity to place sufficient military hardware and personnel in Ukraine to make president Putin think twice about invading but we failed to do so. He added: Only president Putin knows what he is going to do next, but next week would seem pivotal. He has negotiated himself into a corner and after Nato refused to bow to his threats seemingly only one option remains. Tweeting on Saturday, foreign secretary Liz Truss, who alongside other Nato members condemned Russias military build-up on the Ukraine border, has called on Moscow to halt its aggression. She said: Russia is waging a disinformation campaign intended to destabilise and justify an invasion of its sovereign neighbour Ukraine. Russia must halt its aggression, deescalate and engage in meaningful talks. Russia is waging a disinformation campaign intended to destabilise and justify an invasion of its sovereign neighbour Ukraine Russia must halt its aggression, deescalate and engage in meaningful talks #StandWithUkraine Liz Truss (@trussliz) January 15, 2022 On Friday, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow would not wait indefinitely for a Western response to its demands that both the US and Nato guarantee that the military alliance will not expand eastwards. He said he expects a written answer next week. Story continues He added Natos deployments and drills near Russias borders pose a security challenge that must be addressed immediately. We have run out of patience, Mr Lavrov said at a news conference. The West has been driven by hubris and has exacerbated tensions in violation of its obligations and common sense. Yesterday, the Russian ministry of defence shared footage of tanks and weapons being loaded onto trains. Moscow described the exercise as being part of an inspection drill to test long-distance artillery. This is likely cover for the units being moved towards Ukraine, Rob Lee, a US-based military analyst, said. On the same day, a major cyberattack was launched on Ukraine - targeting more than a dozen government websites - with suspected Russian hackers sending a warning to Ukrainians to be afraid and expect the worst. As a result of a massive hacking attack, the websites of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a number of other government agencies are temporarily down. Our specialists are already working on restoring the work of IT systems, a Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday. On Friday morning, Josep Borrell, the EUs top diplomat, condemned the cyberattack and said the bloc would support Kiev. We are going to mobilise all our resources to help Ukraine to tackle this cyberattack. Sadly, we knew it could happen, he told reporters at a gathering of EU foreign leaders in Brest, France. Its difficult to say [who is behind it]. I cant blame anybody as I have no proof, but we can imagine, he added. Happy Sunday, Bedford! Here's what's going on in Bedford today. First, today's weather: Sunny, along with a few afternoon clouds. High: 25 Low: 15. Snow advisory tonight: Cloudy with snow after midnight. Low around 15. Winds from the East at 5 to 10 mph, increasing to 20 to 30 mph. Chance of snow 100%. 5 to 8 inches of snow expected. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph. in the Bedford area. Rent this space! Are you a local business owner or marketer in Bedford? We want to start connecting local businesses with our amazing readers. Click here to learn more. Here are the top stories today in Bedford: Scammers are pretending to be a State agency requesting information about COVID-19 vaccinations. Thieves are using a fake website with official seals, according to the Attorney Generals Office. In a news release on Thursday, the New Hampshire AG's office alerted the public that the thieves text messages to cell phones that link to a fraudulent website called New Hampshire State Covid-19 Vaccine Status Validation. When people enter their personal information on the website, like social security numbers, dates of birth, and images uploaded of their drivers licenses, the thieves steal their information. Senior assistant attorney general Brandon Garod said his office was contacted about the fake website and text messages by the Department of Safety on Wednesday. Garod said scammers were likely operating outside the U.S., making it difficult to track and shut down. That doesnt mean we wont try, he said. If someone is asking for money or for your personal information, Garod said, assume its a scam. You can find out more here (with a subscription): (The Union Leader) A lawsuit over alleged pollution at a Bethlehem, New Hampshire landfill was resolved this week with a $50,000 settlement. Landfill owners also agreed to remove sediments from a drainage channel, but the problems highlighted in the lawsuit are "bigger than just the Bethlehem landfill," said Tom Irwin, director of the Conservation Law Foundation. New Hampshire has been constantly expanding landfill capacity, and the landfill approach "threatens the health of our communities and natural resources like the Ammonoosuc River," Irwin said. A bill in the current New Hampshire legislative session, HB 1420, would prohibit the state from issuing new landfill permits until New Hampshire updates its solid waste plan, which dates to 2003. You can read more here: (NHPR) If you head to Hampton Beach and pass by the I-95 rest area, you may discover a new welcome center. The state liquor commission wants to sell about 88 acres of land in Hampton to build liquor stores and other welcome center features, such as a gas station, stores, and restaurants, but Hampton planners oppose the idea of hotels and casinos in the redevelopment plans. The redevelopment plan is modeled after the Hooksett welcome centers along Interstate 93, which opened in 2014. You can read the story and find out more about plans for the "Interstate 95 Corridor Overlay District" here: (Yahoo Finance) Story continues From my notebook: Tony Schinella, Patch Staff: "Tough night for the Mountain View Middle School Lions of Goffstown on Tuesday as Concord wrestlers bested the middle-schoolers, 13-5. The Lions also wrestled the Merrimack Tomahawks. Keep on fighting, team!" (Patch) More from our sponsors thanks for supporting local news! Featured businesses: Events: Job listings: If you love the Bedford Daily, here are all the ways you can get more involved: Send a friend or neighbor this link so they can subscribe for free Get your local business showcased in front of readers Send me a news tip or suggestion at paula.constance.patch@gmail.com Now you're in the know this Sunday. I'll catch up with you again early tomorrow morning. Paula Constance About me: I am a freelance writer, author, and media producer. I am committed to media projects that empower, engage, and help make the world a better place. This article originally appeared on the Bedford Patch HACKETTSTOWN, NJ COVID continued its dramatic surge in New Jersey in mid-January, with some schools that had transitioned to a virtual format after the holiday break, already back to in-person classes. New confirmed case counts have fallen back as of Jan. 14, when the state reported its daily count at 20,624. In what Governor Phil Murphy previously called an omicron tsunami - after the first day of 2022 saw 29,740 new positive cases - the new case count crested to 33,459 on Jan. 7, New Jerseys new daily record high. After a slight dip in hospitalizations this past week for confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases, from 6,089 to 5,933 between Jan. 11 and 12 - hospitalizations falling further to 5,835 on Friday - the State of New Jersey questioned if the variant has peaked. New Jersey Department of Health Spokesperson Donna Leusner told Patch it may take weeks to know, State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli suggesting the daily count could rise again to 8,000 hospitalized, by next month. Though theres been a drop in hospitalizations, President Joe Biden announced that over 120 military medical personnel are being sent to New Jersey and six other states, their arrival dates and locations not yet announced. On Jan. 10, National Guard arrived to help after a COVID spike, with sanitizing and other tasks at the former Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation II, now called Woodland Behavioral and Nursing Center. As of Jan. 6, their newest outbreak, which included some cases at the former Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation I - now renamed to Limecrest Subacute and Rehabilitation - climbed to 429 collectively in both facilities, the week ending Jan. 13. On Jan. 6, the total count for the two nursing homes was 390 cases. There have been dramatic changes on other New Jersey COVID fronts during the week leading up to Jan. 14. New Jerseys school mask mandate was in jeopardy, after the legislative branch declined to extend Murphys emergency powers by another 45 days on Jan. 11. With executive orders like the K-12 mask mandates ready to expire, Murphy declared another 90-day state of emergency, to the ire of legislators on both sides of the aisle. This extended his mask mandate order and twice-weekly COVID testing mandates for unvaccinated teachers and healthcare workers. Story continues While the state of emergency was renewed, COVID isolation rules were shortened in the schools themselves, with New Jerseys Department of Health changing its K-12 guidance to mirror the CDC's, recommended isolation days dropping from 10 to 5 days for COVID-positive students and staff. An Overview Of New Jersey's Northwest Region In the midst of cases peaking, Morris Countys COVID testing center reopened at the County College of Morris on Jan. 10, to accommodate the demand for testing. Though the School District of the Chathams remained open, Superintendent Dr. Michael LaSusa noted on Jan. 10 that since Dec. 15, there had been about 500 COVID cases districtwide. The district currently has a virtual component for any student uncomfortable to come to school and other accommodations for families, that the district intends to phase out in the coming week. While Sparta Schools and Lenape Valley Regional High School currently remain virtual, each expected to return after the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, the Hopatcong School District - which was temporarily remote - returned to in-person classes on Jan. 11. Case Breakdowns By Town, County, Region According to the County of Warren, Hackettstown has seen 1,690 new cases as of Jan. 12 since the pandemic started, with 1,516 marked "recovered." This is up from 1,590 new cases on Jan. 5, with 1,320 then deemed "recovered." At the county level during that timeframe, there were 16,551 cases in total since the pandemic started, a rise of 1,358 from the prior week. This is up from the week of Jan. 5, when there were 15,193 cumulative cases and a rise of 1,250 cases. Warren County's daily case average was 194 as of Jan. 12, as compared to the prior week's number of 179, with 67 the daily average, the week before that. The week ending Jan. 12, there were nine new COVID deaths and one new probable, as compared to three confirmed COVID deaths as of Jan. 5. The State of New Jerseys Department of Health has currently logged the COVID total death toll in Warren County at 270 since the pandemic began, with it previously 254 on Jan. 7. As of the State of New Jersey's Jan. 1 COVID-19 Activity Report or "CALI," Warren County, which is lumped into the Northwest Region with Passaic, Sussex and Warren Counties - like all counties statewide - is listed at a "very high level" of transmission or "red" level. Regionally, the score is "4," mirroring the statewide score, with the Northwest now having the highest case rate statewide at 304.2. The "COVID-Like Illness" or CLI percentage however, is the second lowest statewide at 14.74 percent, according to the report. The Northwest Region's positivity percentage though is currently the second highest statewide, at 36.62, according to the report. The Northwest Region first plateaued at the very high designation with a CALI score of 4, having gotten there during the week of Dec. 25, from the previous "high" or "orange" level. During that week, two regions - the Southwest and Southeast - still stayed in the orange level of COVID transmission. At that point, the regional case rate was 139.89, the second highest of all the regions. The CLI percentage was then 12.68, the midpoint of the six state regions. The positivity percentage that week was 21.30, again at the midpoint of the state's six regional areas. This story contains reporting from Josh Bakan, Carly Baldwin, Michelle Rotuno-Johnson, Alexis Tarrazi, Matt Troutman. Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com. This article originally appeared on the Hackettstown Patch BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) Environmental protesters demanding the cancelation of plans for lithium mining in western Serbia took to the streets again Saturday, blocking key roads and for the first time a border crossing. Traffic on the Balkan nation's main north-south highway was halted for more than an hour in Belgrade, the capital, along with several other roads throughout the country, including one by Serbia's border with Bosnia. Minor incidents have been reported with angry drivers trying to push their way through the crowds. Witnesses told N1 television that a man was injured in one incident in the western town of Sabac. Environmental groups want Serbia's populist government to halt the possibility of lithium mining in western Serbia. Activists have pledged to press on with blockades until their demand is met and the Rio Tinto mining company is expelled from Serbia. Thousands joined similar demonstrations several weeks ago, forcing the government to withdraw two laws that activists said were designed to speed up the country's mining plans. This is an ecological catastrophe, that I think Serbia is already one foot in, and even a worse one (catastrophe) is threatening," said Belgrade resident Mirjana Podolsek. Another protester, Janko Krizan, believes that it is our duty to come here. Rio Tinto will not only pollute Serbia, but it will pollute everything else, entire system, everything," he said. Rio Tinto has performed explorations in western Serbia but environmental groups want the project abolished, saying that lithium mining would devastate nearby farmland, waters and the area's entire ecosystem. Environmental issues have become a public concern in Serbia because the nation of 7 million people is facing bad air pollution, poor waste management and many other environmental problems that have accumulated after decades of neglect. Serbia must tackle those environmental issues to advance in its bid to join the 27-nation European Union. ___ Follow all AP stories on climate change and pollution at https://apnews.com/hub/climate. Support local journalism. Unlock unlimited digital access to floridatoday.com Click here and subscribe today. COVID-19 cases on the Space Coast reached a record high, according to data released Friday by the Florida Department of Health. From Jan. 7 to Jan. 13, there were 11,559 COVID-19 cases in Brevard County; a figure that local health official said might be even higher than official data shows. A total of 1,891.2 cases per 100,000 population were reported on the Space Coast; this marks an increase of 41 percentage points since the previous week. More concerningly, COVID-19 rates in the community could be higher than those reported to the Florida Department of Health, according to John Davis, community health nursing director at the Florida Department of Health-Brevard. As more cases circulate in Brevard County, the new case positivity rate also increased from 30.5% the prior week to 32.1% from Jan. 7 to Jan. 13. According to John Hopkins University, the high positivity rate indicates that, "more testing should probably be done and it suggests that it is not a good time to relax restrictions aimed at reducing coronavirus transmission." Additionally, COVID-19 case positivity rate and cases per 100,000 are the two measures used to evaluate how much the virus is spreading in a community. According to the CDC, community of high transmission is one where there are more than 100 cases per 100,000 and a new case positivity rate of over 10%. Due to the continued spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 omicron variant, Brevard County remains a community of high transmission. 'Another week, another record': Space Coast COVID-19 infection rates reach record highs Related: COVID-19 virus suddenly drops by half in Cape Canaveral sewage after record highs Though the case rate continues to shatter pandemic case records, unlike in previous surges, the death rate remains low. Between Dec. 25 and Jan. 8, Brevard County had 10 COVID-19 related deaths, according to CDC data. Since January 2020, a total of 1,738 people have died of COVID-19 on the Space Coast. Story continues Despite this and the continued urging on the part of local officials, the vaccination rate among eligible residents those five years of age and older continues to rise at a snail's pace. As of Jan. 13, 69% of residents had received at least one dose of a vaccine, a mere 1% increase from the week prior, according to FDOH data. Though the state vaccination rate of 72% is higher than Brevard County's, it saw no increase from the previous week. According to FDOH, of the eligible population in Florida, age group vaccination rates across the state are: Ages 5-11, 18% vaccinated Ages 12-19, 59% vaccinated. Ages 20-29, 61% vaccinated. Ages 30-39, 70% vaccinated. Ages 40-49, 78% vaccinated. Ages 50-59, 83% vaccinated. Ages 60-64, 90% vaccinated. Ages 65+, 91% vaccinated. About 21% of Floridians have received a booster shot. Statewide, there were 1,958.1 cases per 100,000 population and a new case positivity rate of 29.3%. There were a total of 430,297 cases in Florida from Jan. 7 to Jan. 13, according to FDOH data. According to CDC data, nationwide, only 62.9% of eligible Americans have been fully vaccinated. Across the US there have been a total of 844,841 COVID-19 related deaths and 64,285,467 cases since the start of the pandemic. Cars backed up almost to Huntington Lane on Barton Blvd. from the Rockledge City Center, formerly the Village Green Shopping Center, for people waiting in line to be testing for COVID-19. Where to get tested: The following Brevard County Emergency Management Office-supported sites are available for COVID-19 testing. FDOH testing sites will be closed on Jan. 17. Florida Department of Health-Brevard, 2555 Judge Fran Jamison Way, Viera; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. This is a walk-up site. Preregister at nomihealth.com. Parrish Medical Center, 951 N. Washington Ave., Titusville; 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Sunday, This is a drive-thru site. No appointments are required. Rockledge City Center, 920 Barton Blvd., Rockledge, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Sunday. The site as at the southwest corner of the Rockledge City Center parking lot, near the intersection of Barton and Fiske boulevards. This is a drive-thru site with preregistration recommended, but walk-ins are welcome. Preregister at patientportalfl.com. West Melbourne Community Park, 3000 Minton Road, West Melbourne (use Fell Road entrance to the park); 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Sunday. This is a walk-up site, with preregistration recommended, but walk-ins are welcome. Preregister at patientportalfl.com. Testing also is available to established or new Omni Healthcare patients at its offices in Brevard County. To book an appointment, patients can call their Omni doctor's office. Various other urgent-care centers, private physicians' offices and pharmacies also provide COVID-19 tests, and some retailers sell in-home test kits. Additionally, the website www.211Brevard.org has a list of sites offering testing. Some of those sites require reservations, while others allow walk-ins. How many people in Brevard County have received a COVID-19 vaccine? Here's how many people on the Space Coast are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 Where to get vaccinated: The Florida Department of Health is offering COVID-19 vaccines at three sites. FDOH vaccination sites will be closed on Jan. 17. Melbourne clinic, 601 E. University Blvd., 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. Those ages 5-11 can get vaccinated only from 1:30 to 4 p.m. on Friday. Titusville clinic, 611 N. Singleton Ave., 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. Those ages 5-11 can get vaccinated only from 1:30 to 4 p.m. on Friday. Viera clinic, 2555 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. Those ages 5-11 can get vaccinated only from 8 to 11:30 a.m. and 1 to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday. Residents also can get vaccinated at Omni Healthcare's offices, as well as at its walk-in vaccination clinic located in Suite 303 on the third floor of 1344 S. Apollo Blvd. in Melbourne, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. Vaccinations also are available from 9 a.m. to noon in Suite 2C of Omni's 1344 S. Apollo Blvd. complex. Walk-ins are accepted. But appointments can be made by calling 321-802-5515 or by emailing the request and including a name and phone number to COVID@OMNIhealthcare.com. COVID-19 vaccines also are available at pharmacies at various local CVS, Publix, Sams Club, Walgreens, Walmart and Winn-Dixie stores, as well as some urgent-care centers and physician offices. Check the individual site for appointment requirements and vaccine availability. Where to get the monoclonal antibody treatment: The monoclonal antibody treatment operation is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily under an outdoor tented area in the southwest corner of the Rockledge City Center parking lot, at 920 Barton Blvd. The site is at the intersection of Barton and Fiske boulevards. Appointments are required, as is proof of a positive COVID-19 test result. Appointments can be made at https://www.patientportalfl.com/. Amira Sweilem is the data reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Sweilem at 386-406-5648 or asweilem@floridatoday.com. Support local journalism. Subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard COVID cases reach record high as omicron surges in Florida Masking is again mandatory in Springfield Public Schools but only for the employees and any visitors. Masking for students will remain optional, but strongly recommended, and the district will provide masks for anyone who needs them. The state's largest district announced the change Friday evening, hours after confirming to the News-Leader that 20 percent of employees or about 700 of the 3,500 on staff were absent from work assignments that day. The district noted 19.4 percent, or more than 4,800, of the 24,100 students were not in class Friday. Stephen Hall, chief communications officer, said the overwhelming majority missing from school buildings were reportedly ill. Greene County is in the midst of a spike in flu and COVID-19 cases, fueled by the omicron variant. This week, the district reportedly warned that if it is unable to maintain appropriate levels of staffing, it will make the temporary move to virtual learning for a specific classroom, grade level or building. Springfield teachers and other employees will once again be required to wear masks in school buildings, through at least Feb. 4. This file photo shows teacher Michael Mott in October 2020. Springfield is not alone. Staff shortages have been reported across Missouri districts. Hall said the district logged more than 500 new cases of COVID-19 through Wednesday. Early next week, the district will post the weekly case count through Friday. In the email to parents, the district said it documented more COVID-19 cases in a single day this past week than in any prior seven-day period. More: Amid 'alarming increase' in sick teachers, MSTA asks for flexibility, no state testing Following a three-day weekend, including the observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the district plans to resume classes Tuesday. The district amended its COVID-19 protocols in an effort to continue offering in person learning. The biggest change is a return to mandatory masking inside district facilities, through at least Feb. 4, for all employees and visitors. The letter to families stated: "Missouri Attorney Generals cease-and-desist directives on December 8 apply to students and not to employees." Story continues More: Missouri Faith Voices calls on Gov. Mike Parson to reinstate emergency COVID order Next week, the district will expand testing locations. Hall told the News-Leader this week that testing appointments were first-come, first-serve and filled up quickly. The district said symptomatic students and staff may receive free testing at a centralized location and appointments may be made through your schools nurse. A federal mandate requires masking on all public transportation, including school buses. In the email, the district said the following protocols will also continue: Parents should continue to monitor children for symptoms of illness daily; Students and staff exhibiting symptoms of any illness must stay home until symptoms resolve or they are cleared by a medical provider to return; COVID-positive students will continue to be excluded from school and school activities for 10 days; Students who are identified as direct contacts of a COVID-positive individual will be notified but will not be excluded from school or work unless they are symptomatic; SPS will continue to report weekly COVID-19 cases at sps.org/covidstats. Claudette Riley is the education reporter for the News-Leader. Email news tips to criley@news-leader.com. This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Masks mandatory for Springfield school staff, visitors as COVID spikes STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Police in Sweden deployed patrols and helicopters to the Forsmark nuclear plant to hunt for a large drone seen flying over the site late on Friday, but were unable to catch the unmanned vehicle, they said on Saturday. The incident came a day after Sweden's military started patrolling the main town on the Baltic Sea island of Gotland amid increased tensions between NATO and Russia and a recent deployment of Russian landing craft in the Baltic. Forsmark, which is Sweden's biggest electricity producer, lies on the Baltic coast about 150 km (93 miles) north of the capital, Stockholm. Police saw the drone, first spotted by a security guard, moving around the plant before disappearing towards the island of Graso. "Police continue to try to locate the drone, even with their own (drones), but without success," the police force said in an incident report on its website, adding that there were no signs the drone had dropped anything in the area or landed. It also cited unconfirmed reports of possible drone sightings at the Ringhals nuclear plant on the country's west coast. (Reporting by Anna Ringstrom; Editing by Helen Popper) The gunman who had taken hostages at a synagogue in Texas and was demanding the release of a convicted murderer known as Lady Al-Qaeda from a US prison, is dead. Police in Colleyville, on the outskirts of Fort Worth, were called to the Congregation Beth Israel at 10.41am on Saturday and several hours later all hostages were out alive and safe, Texas governor Greg Abbott tweeted. According to reports, the gunman was demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, an alleged terrorist from Pakistan serving 86 years in a Texas prison for attempting to kill US soldiers in Afghanistan. He took four hostages, including Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker. SWAT teams were on the scene along with agents from the FBI, while the White House and the governor of Texas said they were monitoring the situation. Police said no one had been injured as of 5pm. The Colleyville Police Department said: On Saturday 15 January 2022, at approximately 10.41am, the Colleyville Police Department received a call for service in the 6100 block of Pleasant Run Roads. Officers arrived on the scene and observed an emergency situation that warranted evacuation of the surrounding areas, and an external perimeter was established... Law enforcement has confirmed that there are others inside but no injuries have been reported. FBI crisis negotiators are in communication with the subject. It remains an active operational and investigative scene. Photos of the scene showed law enforcement vehicles, officers in combat gear, and an armoured van outside the front portico of the synagogue. The incident began while a service was being live streamed on Facebook, leading remote congregants to hear the attacker speaking on the phone, seemingly to to hostage negotiators, for more than eight minutes. Story continues In a recording of the live stream posted by Heavy, a news site, the hostage taker says: I've got hostages and I'm surrounded and I'm going to die, okay? This is the situation, yeah? These are the stakes. You've got hostages in a synagogue. He's asked for a prisoner to be released, and hes gonna die, okay? At another point, he berates the person on the phone by saying: Man up, man up! Dont cry on the f***ing phone with me, okay? I left six beautiful kids. I didnt cry. My heart has become stone! According to the Daily Mail, he also vowed: If anyone tries to enter this building, Im telling you everyone will die. Marwa Elbially, Aafia Siddiquis lawyer, told The Independent that she has no idea who the hostage taker is and that he has no connection to the Siddiqui family. He has no relation to the family, no relation to the supporters, nothing, Ms Elbially said. We have no idea where this guy came from.... we dont know who he is and why he decided to do the irrational thing hes doing now. Though she has not spoken to Aafia Siddiqui since the attack began, she said her client would condemn this and not support this in any way and had always maintained that no violence should be done in her name. She said her client maintains her innocence. The lawyer of Muhammad Siddiqui brother of Aafia told numerous news agencies that Muhammad is not the man currently holding hostages in the Colleyville, Texas synagogue. Tamar Uriel-Beeri (@TamarUrielBeeri) January 15, 2022 An initial report from ABC News on Saturday said the suspect was claiming to be Siddiquis brother Muhammad and said he had bombs in unknown locations, citing a US government official briefed on the matter. In the live stream, he repeatedly refers to the prisoner as his sister, telling the other person: I care about her, that's why I'm doing it. Later he asks: Are you going to get my sister on the phone or not? However, activists campaigning for Aafia Siddiquis release said that they were in contact with her actual brother, an architect who lives in Houston, and that he had nothing to do with the attack, which they condemned as wicked and antisemitic. We want to make it very well known that the hostage-taker is NOT Dr Aafia Siddiquis brother, who is not even in the same region where this horrible incident is taking place, said a joint statement from the Free Dr Afia campaign and the Houston branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair). The Jerusalem Post also reported that Muhammad Siddiquis lawyer has insisted he is not the man who took hostages Colleyville. The attackers reference to his sister could be a generic term for someone he believes shares his ideals, equivalent to comrade. This story was updated at 02.19am GMT on Sunday 16 January 2022 to include a statement from Marwa Elbially, and throughout Saturday to include new details as they emerged. Eighth grader Wittman Sullivan, seated right, learns lighting design from Jack-Anthony Ina, the master electrician at Weathervane Playhouse, as they adjust stage lights from the control board Sunday. Eighth grader Wittman Sullivan, who has been acting on Akron-area stages for years, is now making his debut as a volunteer lighting designer for Weathervane Playhouse's 8X10 TheatreFest. He sees it as a great opportunity to branch out into the technical side of theater. His mentor, master electrician Jack-Anthony Ina of Richmond Heights, said Wittman, 14, is undoubtedly the most youthful lighting designer the theater has ever had. "I'm positive you're the youngest," said Ina, a 22-year-old Baldwin Wallace theater graduate hired by Weathervane at age 19, told Wittman. Ina previously held the youngest lighting designer distinction. Wittman, a Miller South theater student who ran the light board under Ina's tutelage for "Kinky Boots" in the fall, was the only person besides lighting designer Ina who did that for the complex show, which was the first production Weathervane had ever done with more than 1,000 light cues. Typically, the theater fills slots for different volunteer light board operators nightly. "I'm very picky about getting a good light board op and making sure we have someone consistent if we can," Ina said of relying on Wittman for the complex show. Wittman Sullivan, 14, left, trains with master electrician Jack-Anthony Ina at the control board at Weathervane Playhouse on Sunday. Wittman enjoyed that work so much, he accepted the invitation that followed from Ina in October to be mentored as lighting designer for the winter 8X10 TheatreFest. "I saw that he was interested, and I saw that he had fun running the light board so I'm like, 'Let's get you enrolled in designer,' " Ina said. Now, Akron resident Wittman is enjoying creating his own lighting design for a festival of eight plays that isn't nearly as complex as designing for a glitzy pop musical. As of last week, the teen has designed more than 30 lighting cues for the community theater festival. The 8X10 TheatreFest, running for its 10th year, features eight 10-minute plays by playwrights from throughout the United States, the United Kingdom and New Zealand who submitted their works and were chosen as semifinalists. For this festival, which opened Thursday and continues through Jan. 23, audience members vote for the top three play-winners, which are announced after the final show. Story continues Wittman, who said he likes the problem-solving aspect of the technical theater, had previously operated props and set pieces as a volunteer for Weathervane's "Memphis." He also helped hang and focus lights as part of a volunteer crew working with Ina on "Memphis" and helped rig the LED video for "Kinky Boots." Eighth grader Wittman Sullivan adjusts a light's angle from a lift above the stage at Weathervane Playhouse on Sunday. Wittman is eager to learn all he can about lighting, and Ina is happy to teach a young theater artist who's thirsty to gain new technical skills. Ina, hired by Weathervane in 2019 during his last year of college as a theater major on a stage management track, said young people of any age should be given the opportunity to learn about lighting design. "I totally enjoy working with him. He's willing to learn but he also brings his own ideas," he said of Wittman. "I thought it was a good opportunity," said Wittman, who has experience acting, singing and dancing but not a lot of experience in technical theater. "I just think progressing through theater more, it's useful to have more skills and abilities." The teen, who wants to pursue a career in politics and urban planning while continuing to do theater on the side, said he's naturally drawn to the meticulous nature of lighting design. "It's the stuff I love about most of theater, which is kind of the very nitpicky design," Wittman said. 'Power team' Melanie Pepe, the theater's chief executive and artistic director, called Wittman and Ina a "power team." "They're really enthusiastic and talented," she said. "He's [Wittman is] just on the front end of learning about lighting design, but he's learning really quickly." Ina said the only way to learn how to design is to design. And he has plans for Wittman to go further. "By next season, I'm hoping he'll be designing the bigger shows as well," Ina said. "All I would ask is that after doing this, he assistant designs a big show for me (to) get to see the process of that and how that works out and then jump into designing it." Wittman and Ina have spent about 2 weeks working together on lighting design for the 8X10 TheatreFest. Ina's doubly busy both mentoring Wittman on lights and directing one of the 10-minutes plays, the drama "The Handle." Teen lighting designer Wittman Sullivan, front, is mentored Sunday by Jack-Anthony Ina, master electrician at Weathervane Playhouse. For Wittman's training, the master electrician broke his teaching down into a series of tasks, including having the teen read each 10-minute script to come up with the main point of each show and ideas on how to focus that with lighting. They attended creative team meetings to learn what the set would look like and what directors were looking for. They also talked about what colors the stories gave Wittman in his head and what mood he wanted to set with each short play. Keeping those ideas and the plays' scenic design in mind, Ina taught Wittman how to refocus the stage's existing light plot, while the lights' electric bars were lowered to the ground. After Alan Costa's skyline set went up, the teen has been going up on a lift to angle lights. Wittman's lighting choices will play off of the whites and grays of the skyline set. "He's getting a lot of cool things to play with for his first lighting design," Ina said. Wittman said his first stint as lighting designer is exciting and nerve wracking. And designing for the festival is unique because each of the eight, self-contained short plays has its own feel and color palette. "It's a lot heavier on the more creative design aspect of it," Wittman said. Wittman Sullivan, left, learns lighting design from Jack-Anthony Ina, master electrician at Weathervane Playhouse, as they adjust the stage lights from the control board Sunday. Last weekend, Ina talked about lighting designers going into hyperdrive during tech week and how some folks like that pressure and adrenaline. "I love it," Wittman said. For every lighting idea Wittman has, Ina asks him why he made that choice. "Every light cue that you put on that stage has to have a reason. It can't just be there to be there," Ina said. "Every single one of them has to have a real meaning and real impact behind them," Ina said. The mentoring experience has been invaluable for Wittman. "I think I learn a lot from him, that's the biggest thing," Wittman said of Ina. "And he pressures me to be better at what I'm doing." Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com. Details Show: 8X10: The Eileen Moushey TheatreFest Where: Weathervane Playhouse, 1301 Weathervane Lane, Akron When: Continuing through Jan. 23; 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays Onstage: Sage Katusin, Jay Farrell, Sean McConaha, Jeannie Clarkson, William Noussias, Jordan Potter, Jonathan Merechant, Donna Longfellow, M Evelyn Kidder, Mason Shuman, Makenna Bird, Mark Stoffer, Tong Xu, Caitlin Bradley, Adam Alderson, Jennifer Matas, Laura Niehaus, Brittany Oliver, Heather Culotta, Lindsay Dunphy Offstage: Barry Wood, Stephen Taft, Scott Sullivan, Marj O'Neill-Butler, Jennifer O'Grady, Lindsey Brown, Rinn Packard, Scott Mullen, playwrights; Melanie Pepe, Fred Gloor, Jack-Anthony Ina, Tabitha Rox, Joshua Larkin, April Deming, Sandy Eaglen, Brian Westerley, directors; Jasen Smith, Lainey Bodenburg, Megan Nelson, costume design; Scott Davis, producer; Kelli Perk, stage manager; Alan Costa, scenic design; Wittman Sullivan, lighting design; Casey Ha, sound design Cost: $18-$22 Information: 330-836-2626 or www.weathervaneplayhouse.com This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron eighth grader Weathervane's youngest lighting designer ever Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the age of the suspected gunman. He is 19. As a wounded Milwaukee police detective remained hospitalized Friday, more details emerged about the teenage suspects police believe were involved in the shooting. Two suspects, one 19 and the other 18, were free on bail in other felony cases prior to the shooting. One of them the suspected gunman remained at large Friday evening. The case appears likely to fuel the ongoing debate over bail in Wisconsin, which ignited after the Waukesha Christmas Parade tragedy. The charged suspect in that case, Darrell Brooks, had been free on $1,000 bail in a felony domestic violence case when prosecutors say he drove through the parade route in November, killing six people, including a child, and injuring more than 60 others. He was bound over for trial Friday. Milwaukee police have not publicly identified the suspected teen gunman wanted in the detective's shooting, nor sought the public's help in finding him as of late Friday. But the Journal Sentinel confirmed the teen's identity with two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation. The teen's identity was first reported by Wisconsin Right Now. The wounded 37-year-old detective, who has seven years of experience, remained in stable condition Friday, Milwaukee police said. The suspected gunman's earlier case involved charges of fleeing, recklessly endangering safety and resisting an officer. According to a criminal complaint, two officers saw the teen and another person inside a white Kia parked outside of a Culver's Restaurant in Milwaukee. The two were wanted in connection with a shooting incident at Culver's a few days prior, the complaint says. When the officers drove up to the Kia with lights and sirens, the driver fled, leading police on a more than 3-mile chase, running red lights and hitting speeds of 90 mph before crashing into a tree on Capitol Drive, according to the complaint. The 18-year-old ran from the car with a gun before he was caught and arrested. Story continues Online court records show Commissioner Grace Flynn set his bail at $1,000 in October and he posted it soon after. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 8 after the first one in January was postponed. Other two suspects already arrested Milwaukee police arrested two other teens, ages 17 and 18, shortly after the shooting. The 18-year-old already in custody was free on a $500 signature bond, also set by Flynn, in another case. A signature bond is a promise to appear for court proceedings, usually with a monetary penalty if an individual fails to show up. In this case, the penalty is $500. Chief Jeffrey Norman said Thursday police took two teens, ages 17 and 18, into custody after a car chase ended along the 3000 block of North 30th Street. The teens have not been formally charged but were arrested on suspicion of first-degree reckless endangerment and resisting arrest, according to arrest records. The 18-year-old had a pending case from October. He was charged with operating a vehicle without consent and resisting an officer a felony because the officer trying to arrest him was injured in the process. According to the criminal complaint, the 18-year-old and another teen were in a stolen Kia Sportage being chased by Wauwatosa police on Oct.18. The occupants ditched the car and fled on foot in the 4200 block of West Auer Avenue in Milwaukee before they were arrested. Norman said police were still determining how the two were involved in the incident and he indicated a second vehicle was involved. When asked if police had made additional arrests Friday, the department declined comment, citing an open investigation. Officer 'put his life on the line' Reaction to the shooting on Friday focused mostly on the actions of the officer and the violence that has tormented the city for decades and reached historic levels for the last two years. He was simply enjoying his time off and, yet, responded to the situation at hand and put his life on the line to do what was right, said Milwaukee County Sheriff Earnell Lucas, who himself was shot while on duty as a Milwaukee police officer in 1982. We are all thankful for his action and his dedication to our community. Alds. Michael Murphy and Robert Bauman, along with State Sen. Lena Taylor of Milwaukee, described the officers actions as heroic. His instinctive nature to step in helped protect the lives of others who were in the area, and he is a shining example of the commitment our law enforcement officials have when it comes to protecting and serving our community, Murphy said in a statement. The Milwaukee Police Department and the citys Office of Violence Prevention also extended gratitude to the bystanders, including one traveling nurse that was on site, who provided aid to the detective before first responders could arrive after the shooting. The Office of Violence Prevention said its staff is in contact with everyone involved in the incident to provide trauma support. Third Ward neighborhood typically has few violent crime reports Public officials also decried the circumstances of the violence which took place in broad daylight in a neighborhood that experiences few violent incidents. Ald. Robert Bauman called on police to saturate the area with additional resources. I, like so many others across the city, am fed up with the violence, Bauman said. What happened yesterday in the Third Ward, and continues to happen daily elsewhere, is outrageous. No one should have to fear for their life or well-being while grabbing food, visiting a shop or just walking through a neighborhood. The Third Ward is still a very safe neighborhood, said Ron San Felippo, chair of the Historic Third Ward Business Improvement District. But it has seen an increase in car thefts and car break-ins over six months or so, even as those crime rates have spiked even higher throughout other Milwaukee neighborhoods, San Felippo told the Journal Sentinel. The Third Ward has a strong police presence, he said. But officers cannot be everywhere, said San Felippo, a former Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission member. You can say, Hey, we want to have a cop on every corner. Thats not realistic, he said. Neighborhood residents and business operators would like to see reasonable but greater consequences for juveniles who are arrested for stealing cars, San Felippo said. Some of that solution has to come from state government, he said, where efforts to replace Wisconsins troubled youth prisons have stalled. Meanwhile, the business improvement district, which is funded by special assessments on neighborhood commercial properties, recently purchased a former police squad car, San Felippo said. District employees have been using the car to patrol the neighborhood serving as an extra set of eyes and ears on the street, he said. Those patrols began just last week. Third Ward residents and business operators are very grateful for the bravery of the officer who was shot was interceding in the robbery attempt, San Felippo said. Frustration mounts over violence in Milwaukee Speaking at the scene Thursday, Acting Mayor Cavalier Johnson illustrated the far corners of the city that violence has touched since the new year: a 9-year-old was injured in a shooting Jan. 1, a 16-year-old girl was killed while working at a Burger King Jan. 2; and now an off-duty detective was shot in the Third Ward. Folks in this city have had enough with the violence, particular the deadly gun violence that we see plaguing this community year in and year out, Johnson said. Thats why were going to be working with our partners at the state to make sure these incidents dont happen because theyre literally affecting everybody in our community, from our babies to our police. Johnson and other public officials have taken particular issue with the increased availability of firearms, which, combined with a variety of other factors, has driven much of the citys violence since 2020. Wisconsin saw a 61% jump in gun sales from 2019 to 2020, according to Brady United, a national nonprofit that advocates for stricter gun laws. In Milwaukee, many of the guns confiscated by police were obtained through straw purchases, police have said. Gun recoveries by Milwaukee police increased by 18% from 2019 to 2020. They increased another 5% from 2020 to 2021, totaling more than 3,200 firearms. We need to get illegal guns off the streets, strategically deploy resources and law enforcement and coordinate a response across city departments, Taylor said. Tom Daykin and Bruce Vielmetti of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal. DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 2 suspects in Milwaukee Third Ward police shooting were free on bail Netflix has released the official trailer for All of Us Are Dead, a teen thriller series set during a zombie apocalypse that will premiere worldwide on Jan. 28. The highly anticipated South Korean production by JTBC Studios follows a group of students who face life-threatening conditions as they try to escape a zombie invasion of their high school. Trapped inside, with no cell phones or food, the teenagers fight for survival as more and more of their peers fall victim to a mysterious virus. More from Variety All of Us Are Dead is based on Now at Our School, a digital comic on Webtoon by Joo Dong-geun made up of 130 episodes, which were originally published between 2009 and 2011. Netflix announced plans for the TV adaptation in April 2020. The original Now at Our School comic series has now also been translated into English on Webtoon, under the same name as the TV adaptation All Of Us Are Dead. All of Us Are Dead is one of several Korean dramas that will be arriving to Netflix in 2022. Other series in the coming year include a Money Heist spinoff and Suriname, demonstrating the continued interest in Korean dramas on the streaming platform, especially after the record-breaking success of Squid Game in 2021. Varietys list of Korean dramas to watch out for in 2022 noted that All of Us Are Dead could see an international break for younger stars, such as Yoon Chan-young (Do You Like Brahms?, Doctor John) and Cho Yi-hyun (Hospital Playlist, School 2021). The series also stars Park Ji-hu, Lomon, Yoo In-soo, Lee You-Mi and Lim Jae-hyeok. All of Us Are Dead is written by Chun Sung-il, while J.Q. Lee and Kim Nam-su serve as directors. Both JTBC and Netflix will stream All of Us Are Dead. Watch the trailer below. Story continues Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Students at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus came together ahead of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, collecting hundreds of personal hygiene items for the local homeless population to honor the civil rights leader. The USFSM Honors College participants included students and faculty who demonstrated their altruism ahead of the MLK holiday by sorting and packing hygiene items for more than 150 individuals in need. ICYMI: MLK weekend festivities canceled for second year in a row University of South Florida Sarasota Manatee volunteers sort and package personal hygiene items during the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service event. Items included soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, hand sanitizer, razors and deodorant packed into plastic bags. The items were collected on the campus starting in December. Darren Gambel, assistant director for the Office of Multicultural Affairs, distributed the items between Turning Points, a Bradenton-based homeless resource center, and the Salvation Army near downtown Sarasota on Friday. The whole campus really came together, Gambrell said in a news release. We received more items than I expected, but that doesnt surprise me. USF always steps up when it comes to reaching out to help others. Thats what this campus is about. USF's main campus in Tampa also hosted MLK Day of Service happenings for students in and around Hillsborough County on Friday. It feels good helping people, senior psychology major Brandie Teachey said in the release. Its a nice way to give back. Samantha Gholar Weires covers social justice news for the Herald-Tribune and USA TODAY Network. Connect with her at sgholar@gannett.com or on Twitter: @samanthagweires This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: USF hosts MLK Day of Service event that gives back to the homeless Virat Kohli has stepped down as captain of Indias Test team (Adam Davy/PA) (PA Wire) Virat Kohli has stepped down from his role as captain of Indias Test team. The 33-year-old first led his country in red-ball cricket temporarily during the winter tour of Australia in 2014 before he permanently took the reins from MS Dhoni at the end of the series. During his tenure as Indias Test captain, Kohli helped them clinch the number one spot in the ICC Test rankings and saw them finish runners-up in the World Test Championship Final last summer. Kohli said on Twitter: Its been seven years of hard work, toil and relentless perseverance every day to take the team in the right direction. Ive done the job with absolute honesty and left nothing out there. Everything has to come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test captain of India its now. There have been many ups and also some downs along the journey, but never has there been a lack of effort or lack of belief. I have always believed in giving my 120 per cent in everything I do, and if I cant do that, I know its not the right thing to do. I have absolutely clarity in my heart and I cannot be dishonest to my team. Ive done the job with absolute honesty and left nothing out there. Everything has to come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test captain of India, its now Virat Kohli The India batter relinquished the Twenty20 captaincy after the IT20 World Cup in November and was also replaced as one-day skipper by Rohit Sharma in December. Kohli was in charge of Indias red-ball team on 68 occasions, winning 40 matches but he signed off following a 2-1 series loss at home to South Africa this week. He added: I want to thank the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) for giving me the opportunity to lead my country for such a long period of time and more importantly to all the team-mates who bought into the vision I had for the team from day one and never gave up in any situation. You guys have made this journey so memorable and beautiful. Story continues To Ravi Bhai (Shastri) and the support group who were the engine behind this vehicle that moved us upwards in Test cricket consistently, you all have played a massive role in bringing this vision to life. Lastly, a big thank you to MS Dhoni who believed in me as captain and found me to be an able individual who could take Indian cricket forward. Kohli has played 99 Tests and scored 7,962 runs at an average of 50.39. He has hit 27 Test centuries but not passed three figures in red-ball cricket for his country since November 2019, a run of 15 matches and 27 innings. BCCI congratulates Virat Kohli for his admirable leadership qualities that took the Test team to unprecedented heights, a statement on Twitter read. He led India in 68 matches and has been the most successful captain with 40 wins. Three labor groups began a hunger strike in front of the Arizona Capitol building Friday to raise awareness of voter and worker rights. About 20 to 25 people from Unite Here Local 11, Case Action and Un-PAC, groups that represent labor unions and organizations dedicated to protecting the rights of workers and the working class, are participating. "Doing a hunger strike is something that is so personal and spiritual, and it is also a way to show direct action and having our voices heard," said Beatriz Topete, a Unite Here Local 11 member. The strikers say they want the U.S. Senate to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. The plan is to continue the hunger strike until Tuesday, where the Senate is scheduled to vote on the two. Arizona is no stranger to the fight over voting rights. Arizona Senate President Karen Fann, R-Prescott, hired a now-defunct Florida-based company to oversee a monthslong partisan review of the Maricopa County election results. And Arizona's Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who supports both voting-rights bills, said Thursday she would not support any changes to the Senate's filibuster rules, seemingly dealing a crippling blow to the legislation. The Senate is currently evenly divided, but 60 votes would be needed to bypass a Republican filibuster, meaning the voting bills are unlikely to move forward. Marilyn Wilbur sits with her dog outside the Arizona State Capitol to participate in the launch of Unite Here Local 11's hunger strike to pressure leaders in Washington to pass the Freedom to Vote Act. Veterans, labor workers and families gathered in front of the Arizona Capitol to show solidarity and demand action from politicians. "Just because I am retired, does not mean I stop fighting for that democracy. We just got to keep fighting, and we just believing. We don't let anything hinder us," said Marilyn Wilbur, a retired Air Force service member. Wilbur understands the power that people have when they come together to use their voice. She also took part in a 10-day strike by workers at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Workers at the time were seeking higher wages, more affordable insurance and protection for equal job opportunity with protection from discrimination. Story continues Both the strike and the demonstration are ways for working-class citizens to ensure their voices are heard and their rights are being protected. "Voting rights affect all of us. One common thread that really ties all these different groups together is we're all working-class folks," said Ari Berrong-Huber, who also participated in the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport strike. Wilbur and Berrong-Huber both emphasized the importance of workers' rights and voting rights, saying both are vital to democracy. "When we say voters' rights and workers' rights are interchangeable, it's true because workers fight to get their voices heard and fight for democracy in the workplace. It's similar because voting rights are, in our society, what makes a democracy," Topete said. Reach breaking news reporter Adam Terro at adam.terro@arizonarepublic.com. Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Unions and organizations join up to protect voters and voting rights Morning, Westhampton-Hampton Bays friends and neighbors! It's going to be a cold three-day weekend but that won't stop people from enjoying the beauty of the East End. Is there anything more invigorating than a brisk beach walk on a cold winter day? Enjoy the time with family and friends and maybe stop by Beach Bakery & Grand Cafe in Westhampton Beach for a hot cocoa, one of my most favorite things to do when the temperatures plunge. First, today's weather: Breezy and much colder. High: 22 Low: 6. Get ready for the Deep Freeze. Here are the top stories today in Westhampton-Hampton Bays: Westhampton Beach Man Charged With Assault: Police (Westhampton-Hampton Bays Patch) A Westhampton Beach man turned himself in and was arrested and charged with assault after an incident at a Riverside business Friday, police sid. Man Tased After Assaulting Officer, Mask Refusal On Jitney: PD: (Southampton Patch) A witness on a Hampton Jitney bus told Patch that a passenger refused to wear a mask. The dispute escalated and the man was tased and charged with assaulting a police officer, authorities said. Pedestrian Dies After Riverside Hit-And-Run: Police (Patch) The man died after being struck by a hit-and-run driver Thursday night in Riverside, police said. Westhampton-Hampton Bays-Area Unemployment Rate Improves: New Data (Westhampton-Hampton Bays Patch) Edward G. Tuohy, Formerly Of Sag Harbor, Dies January 4 (27east.com) Priciest home sales in Hampton Bays (Long Island Business News) Suffolk County Government: Coronavirus Case Update For January 12 (Press Release Desk) Today in Westhampton-Hampton Bays: Mega Game: The World Turned Upside Down (12:00 PM) From my notebook: Westhampton Beach School District: "Fifth grade students at Westhampton Beach Elementary School presented an amazing performance of the musical Snow Biz on Jan. 13. (Facebook) Hampton Bays Public Schools: "Throughout January, the members of the Hampton Bays Middle School Kiwanis Builders Club are working to raise money for their furry friends at the Southampton Animal Shelter." (Facebook) Westhampton Free Library: "Ready to Read Friday with Ms. Marie " (Facebook) Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center: "Check it out! @The Soul Rebels are coming to WHBPAC on April 9th at 8pm! Their funky brass and jazz fusion is the perfect night of music to have you dreaming of hot summer days Call now for tix at 631-288-1500" (Facebook) Westhampton Free Library: "The Westhampton Free Library will be closed Monday, January 17th in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day." (Facebook) Story continues More from our sponsors thanks for supporting local news! Featured businesses: Events: Announcements: Behind The Scoreboard Babe And A Young Fan (Details) Add your announcement For sale: Estate sale friday and saturday (Details) Vinyl Records for Sale (Details) Vintage Norman Miller Bikini wire chairs and table (Details) Add your item Loving the Westhampton-Hampton Bays Daily? Here are all the ways you can get more involved: Send a friend or neighbor this link so they can subscribe Get your local business listed in front of readers Send me a news tip or suggestion at lisa.finn@patch.com That's it for today! I'll see you soon. Lisa Finn About me: I'm a journalist whose passion is telling the stories of people's lives. This is your site this is a place for your voice to be heard. I look forward to hearing from all of you. This article originally appeared on the Westhampton-Hampton Bays Patch Music artist Sudan Archives performs onstage at the Onion / A.V. Club showcase during SXSW in 2018. The A.V. Club began in 1993 as an entertainment website covering film, TV, music and games. (Diego Donamaria / Getty Images for SXSW) Katie Rife, a senior writer for entertainment site the A.V. Club, was working past midnight on a review last week when her friend sent her a text. It was a posting for her job. Rife was mulling over an offer by her employer to relocate from Chicago to Los Angeles and still had nine days before the Jan. 15 deadline to make her decision. "At first I was like, 'Is this a mistake?'" Rife, 38, said. "That is something that I have never experienced in my professional career ... and I gotta say it was pretty disheartening." Several other of Rife's colleagues complained of similar treatment, sparking a dispute between her union and employer, New York-based G/O Media, which also owns the satirical news site the Onion and the tech news site Gizmodo. G/O Media has said that it has no intention of replacing the workers and that the posting was for contingency planning. "This relocation will bring the A.V. Club closer to the industry it covers, allowing the site to grow its entertainment relationships while providing more access to important events and talent," said Mark Neschis, a spokesman for G/O Media. It's the latest among a series of clashes between the Writers Guild of America, East and G/O Media over cost-cutting and editorial changes at several digital sites the company has acquired, including Jezebel, the Root and Gizmodo. The union last year filed two unfair labor practice complaints with the National Labor Relations Board against G/O Media, alleging a Gizmodo employee was terminated for union activity. The WGA, East has moved aggressively in recent years to organize digital media sites, some of which have struggled with shifting business models and growing pressure from investors to cut costs. "The pattern seems to be that they think the brand is the letters that precede '.com,' instead of the brand being that people actually create the content, and I think it's a bad strategy," Lowell Peterson, executive director for WGA, East, said of G/O Media. "I don't own the company, but I can tell you, that's not how readership works. That's not how viewership works in television or online video. The value is the people who craft the stories." Story continues The A.V. Club began in the 1990s as a sister publication to the Onion. The A.V. Club stands for "audiovisual," an allusion to school audiovisual clubs whose members are deeply knowledgeable, according to its website. "We're proud to carry on the tradition of people immersed in pop culture and entertainment media to a somewhat obsessive degree," the website said. But the site's mission has been clouded by the labor dispute. Rife and six other employees of the A.V. Club about half of its staff were told on Dec. 2 that their jobs would be relocated to Los Angeles, enabling writers to be closer to their subjects. Union officials contend the move was really a ploy to replace the workers. They say that before they could make up their minds, three of the workers found that their positions had already been posted. The company was willing to reimburse $5,000 in moving expenses but would not provide cost of living adjustments to wages, according to the Onion Inc. Union, which is represented by the WGA, East. "It's disappointing that this offer to move to L.A. has not come with a cost of living adjustment or any salary increase at all," said Laura Adamczyk, co-chair of the Onion Inc. Union and an associate editor at the A.V. Club. "If they really valued these workers and wanted to keep them, they'd pay them what they need and deserve. It feels like they want to force these workers out." G/O Media is operating within the confines of its collective bargaining agreement with the union and posted the jobs as a preemptive measure in case employees chose not to relocate, Neschis said, adding that the move was planned two years ago but was delayed by the pandemic. If the affected Chicago employees choose to relocate, they will be guaranteed their jobs in L.A., he added. Rife, who has been a full-time staffer at the A.V. Club since 2014, estimates the move to California could increase her rent by 40%, and she's still unsure about moving. According to the union's contract, senior writers earn a minimum of $60,000. "I love L.A. and I would be happy to live there and work there," Rife said. "But the closer you look at the deal we were offered, the less sense it makes and the less possible it seems to pull it off." G/O Media was formed in 2019 as part of private equity firm Great Hill Partners' acquisition of Gizmodo Media Group and the Onion from Univision. Through that acquisition, G/O Media acquired properties including Jezebel, a site that covers modern women's interests; and the Root, which highlights content about Black culture. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. WGA, East said that over the last year, a significant portion of workers at Jezebel and the Root have exited amid concerns about changes in editorial direction. Last year, seven employees left the Root, and six staffers left Jezebel, the union said. Additionally, workers at sports news publication Deadspin resigned in 2019 after an editorial director sent a memo telling staffers who write about sports as well as culture and other topics to focus on sports-related topics. G/O Media said that when it purchased the sites they were losing money and now they are "solidly profitable." "The company turned over virtually all of the editor in chief positions in the past year," the company said. "When there is this kind of transition, there is inevitably staff turnover, which is no different than most other media companies. These management decisions have set up the company for future success." The A.V. Club's editor in chief, Scott Robson, began in September and is based in L.A. Robson was previously editor in chief at the Los Angeles Business Journal. G/O Media plans to establish the A.V. Club's new headquarters in L.A. early this year. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. A group of right-wing rally-goers in Portland clashed with left-wing protesters on Sunday, leading to an exchange of fireworks and bear mace between the groups. The "Summer of Love" rally, which was attended by members of the Proud Boys, took place a year to the day that pro-Trump demonstrators clashed with left-wing counterprotesters in the city and was characterized by little police presence, according to local reports. The demonstrators gathered in the parking lot of a former Kmart around 2 p.m. on Sunday, with speakers addressing a crowd of more than 100 people, according to local CBS affiliate KOIN. Some attendees were wearing tactical vests. AT LEAST TWO PEOPLE KILLED IN SHOOTING AT PORTLAND HOMELESS ENCAMPMENT Local reports indicate that antifa counterprotesters arrived at the event around 4 p.m., leading to an escalation between the groups as demonstrators began igniting fireworks. The clash reportedly led those involved into a nearby four-lane roadway, with people firing paintball guns, using smoke devices, and spraying bear mace on one another. Tiny emceeing the "Summer of Love" event, threatens violence against trans people. Video by @_jlevinson pic.twitter.com/jrIENdBhRV Ryan Haas (@ryanjhaas) August 22, 2021 A white van of left-wing protesters drove into the parking lot that hosted the rally and crashed near the entrance of the parking lot. Proud Boys members shot the van with paintballs and hit it with baseball bats before returning later to flip the van over, according to the Oregonian. The Portland Police Bureau initially said there were no immediate arrests following the incident, but detectives were reviewing evidence to determine whether any charges would be brought. However, police later announced that a suspect was arrested near a downtown protest following reports of an individual firing a gun. Officers booked Dennis G. Anderson, 65, into jail on unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon charges but did not confirm a connection between the shooting incident and the gatherings. No injuries were reported in connection to the shooting. Story continues Anti-fascists are burning what's left of their wooden barriers. People are packing up in earnest. pic.twitter.com/z3nbEIici8 Tim A. Gruver (@T_TimeForce) August 23, 2021 Police were described in local reports as taking a hands-off approach to the Sunday clash after Chief Chuck Lovell said Friday that his officers would not intervene directly to stop the encounters. The bureau said in a statement that, instead, the department was "prepared to monitor this event and may make arrests for crimes when resources allow," adding, "that does not always happen in the moment." The Washington Examiner reached out to the police bureau for comment but did not receive a response. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Portland police have struggled to maintain officers and add additional staff in recent months, including to its newly created violent crime control unit. The city remains a target for police reform efforts among its elected officials and outright anti-police hostility among some protesters. Washington Examiner Videos Tags: News, Antifa, Protests, Portland, Oregon, Police Original Author: Jeremy Beaman Original Location: Right-wing demonstrators clash with antifa at weekend Portland rally A screenshot from security footage that captured Victoria Charity White outside the Capitol building on January 6. The Department of Justice. A woman charged with impeding officers during the Capitol riot is now suing the DC police department. Victoria Charity White alleges she was beaten with a metal baton 35 times and punched in the face. Prosecutors say video footage from the siege shows White grabbing at DC police officers. A Minnesota woman accused of trying to take a Washington, DC, police officer's riot shield amid the chaos of the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack is now suing the Metropolitan Police Department for $1 million, alleging officers assaulted her while she was peacefully protesting. Victoria Charity White, 40, faces six charges related to the riot, including violent entry, disorderly conduct, and impeding law enforcement officers. She has pleaded not guilty to all counts. The Rochester woman was arrested in April after an anonymous tipster alerted the FBI to multiple Facebook posts made by White detailing her participation in the siege, according to charging documents. "A friend said Delete FB stuff. . . . I stated I'm not scared i was in the capitol DETAINED and they took my social security # name address they are coming for me. I am not afraid of them or anyone!! There I said it Come get me, You don't know the story, it's not what you think," White wrote on January 7, according to prosecutors. Authorities initially apprehended White on the afternoon of January 6, 2021, placing her in zip-tie handcuffs and escorting her out of the Capitol building into a police car, where she was taken to a station to be processed. Court records said White was released that evening with no charges filed. Video footage from the riot shows White outside the lower west terrace of the Capitol building wearing a red hat and grabbing for a nearby DC police officer's riot shield, investigators said. "As the video progresses, the MPD officers attempt to push White back with their riot shields and fend her off with a baton," prosecutors said. "White is seen in a red sweater, and it appears that she is attempting to grab a shield and uses her hand to block the baton." Story continues But in a civil lawsuit filed last week, White accused police officers of brutalizing her during the deadly riot, which her attorney called a "peacefully assembly." In the January 5, 2022 document, obtained by KAAL-TV, White's attorney, Joseph McBride alleges his client was beaten, assaulted, battered, physically abused, and subjected to false imprisonment by being grabbed while she was engaging in protected speech. The lawsuit alleges White was beaten with a metal baton nearly 35 times and punched in the face five times during the riot. The civil complaint targets the District of Columbia, the Chief of Metropolitan Police, and seven individual officers. White's legal team is seeking $1 million in damages, as well as attorneys' fees, and is demanding a trial by jury. An attorney for White did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. The Metropolitan Police Department declined to comment. Read the original article on Business Insider A map of the southeast L.A. area showing where a woman was found fatally shot in a street in Compton Homicide detectives are investigating the shooting of a woman who was found dead in a Compton street Friday afternoon. Just before 2 p.m., deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department were called to a report of a person down in the 1400 block of West 155th Street, Lt. Charles Calderaro said. The deputies found a 34-year-old Latina woman lying in the street, shot once in the upper torso. Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene. Detectives believe that the woman was riding a dirt bike when she was shot near the corner of 154th Street and Nestor Avenue, Calderaro said. She continued forward on the dirt bike after being shot, then collapsed in the area where deputies found her. Calderaro said the woman, who wasn't identified, did not live in the neighborhood, a section of Compton near Laurel Street Elementary School and Compton/Woodley Airport. "We don't know if she was targeted or if she was caught in the middle of something," the lieutenant said. Detectives had no suspect descriptions as of Friday evening. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. WORCESTER Five residents have been displaced by a three-alarm fire in a two-story Wayne Street home Friday night. There were no reported injuries, said Worcester Acting Deputy Fire Chief Adam Roche, however, the house at 25 Wayne St. has extensive damage and the residents will not be able to return for a while, he said. Firefighters were hampered by wind and bitter cold temperatures. The fire was reported at 10:22 p.m. Friday, and firefighters found flames coming from the rear porches. Roche said firefighters conducted an "aggressive interior attack" and search of the house, and did find hoarding conditions. The burned remains of a home on 25 Wayne St. in Worcester that sustained heavy fire damage Friday night. Images from the scene showed fire coming from the roof above the porches and firefighters indicated they believed the blaze had spread to the attic. A second alarm was quickly struck and firefighters worked for a time fighting the flames inside the building, but were forced to mount an attack from the exterior of the building as conditions inside became unsafe. By 11 p.m., firefighters radioed that flames were breaking through the roof as they continued to work to contain the blaze. The third alarm was sounded as a precaution for extra manpower because of the weather, Roche said. Firefighters attack a blaze Friday night on the roof of 25 Wayne St. in Worcester. Crews were still on the scene clearing hot spots for part of Saturday morning. The cause of the fire is under investigation, Roche said. The house is located on a private street in the Webster Square neighborhood. A neighboring home was evacuated after concerns that the fire might spread, but residents were subsequently allowed to back inside, Roche said. The Red Cross and Worcester Emergency Management were assisting the five people displaced by the fire, Roche said. This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester firefighters battle building fire in cold, wind Friday night Nic Stone In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.s life and legacy, Marion organizations are hosting local events Monday, including a community breakfast and an MLK Program at the Marion Palace Theatre featuring a keynote presentation from New York Times best-selling author Nic Stone. The Peace and Freedom Committee joined Marion Public Library to organize the day of remembrance and received support through a Racial Equity & Justice Grant from Marion Community Foundation to bring the Black author to Marion for the MLK Day events. A Georgia-native and author of young adult and middle grade fiction, Stone is best known for her debut novel Dear Martin and her Middle Grade debut, Clean Getaway. Her most recent work, Fast Pitch, was published in August. Nic Stone's most recent book, "Fast Pitch," is a coming-of-age story about a softball player looking to prove herself on and off the field. Additionally, before Stone takes the Palace stage Monday, local youth who were selected as winners in an art, poetry and public speaking contest centered around King Jr.s dreams of peace, freedom and equality will be celebrated and receive awards. The oratorical winners will even get to share on stage. Event organizer from the Peace and Freedom Committee, Tara Dyer, said the events came together through great collaboration within the community. Shout out to the library! Shout out to Marion Community Foundation for providing grants that allow opportunities for us to bring in a noted author like Nic Stone. We feel so privileged, and the collaboration with the library has been amazing, Dyer said. Kicking off the morning with a ticketed community breakfast at 9 a.m., members of the public are invited to gather in the Marion Palace Theatre at 10 a.m. for the MLK Program, including the keynote presentation from Stone at 10:30 a.m. COVID-19 presented challenges for the event organizers when making the final call as to whether or not to proceed with the events. After weighing this tough decision due to the surge in the omicron variant, organizers decided to still hold the breakfast and program to follow but are taking the upmost precautions, Dyer explained. Story continues Originally planning to host 400 people at the breakfast event, the Peace and Freedom Committee capped sales at 220 individuals to allow for social distancing. Masks will be required when not eating or drinking. Members of the community have options to participate in the events according to individual comfort levels, with some who were originally planning on attending the breakfast choosing to only attend the program instead, according to Dyer. After not being able to hold the event last year due to COVID, Marion Public Library Communications Manager Diane Watson said the library staff is excited to finally be able to make the event happen this year. We are excited to make it happen to see the kids excited and connecting and have her be able to speak at the Peace and Freedom Martin Luther King Breakfast Program and of course having all that as a part of a bigger community thing, Watson said. Later in the day Monday, Marion Public Library will hold a book-signing event with Stone from 2 to 3:30 p.m. and copies of Fast Pitch will be available to the first 200 students of ages 9 to 14 years at the event for her to sign. We are looking forward to having her come, especially for kids of the middle grade age to connect with an author that they might be familiar with thats probably the best component of what we see and it coincides with Martin Luther King Day as well, so that makes it even better, Watson said. Though a holiday from work or school for most, Dyer said the importance of the opportunity to remember Kings work is not to be seen as a day off, but an opportunity to invite the community to dive deeper. I dont take this day off. I dont view it as a day off. I view it as a time to not only what Martin Luther King has done not only for our country, but for the world, she said. Story by: Sophia Veneziano (740) 564 - 5243 | sveneziano@gannett.com This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Best-selling Author Nic Stone coming to Marion to celebrate MLK Day U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the names of the 27 Nebraskans she is nominating this year for U.S. service academies. Among her nominees for the Class of 2026 are two students from Gretna: Thomas Blake III of Gretna to the U.S. Naval Academy. Paul Cornett of Gretna to the U.S. Naval Academy. I am thrilled to announce this years nominees for our nations military academies. Each of these exceptional Nebraska students was chosen because of their hard work, leadership, and dedication to their communities. I am confident that they will serve our great nation with honor and make Nebraska proud, Fischer said in a press release. Both students were also announced among U.S. Sen. Ben Sasses nominations to attend United States Service Academies. These Nebraskans exemplify why Nebraska is home to the good life, Sasse said in a press release. Its an honor to nominate these young men and women to our service academies and we are grateful for the work they will put into serving our nation. Nebraska is proud of these young folks and excited to see the good they do. Students interested in obtaining more information about applying for a congressional nomination to a United States Service Academy may visit Sen. Sasses website or contact his office at 402-476-1400. Who doesnt love a good challenge? The challenge Im about to explain is especially awesome. You have most likely heard of Betty White and are probably aware of her amazing movie and television credits, but have you heard of the Betty White Challenge? She would have become a Centenarian on Monday. Because of this amazing accomplishment, a social media challenge was created in her memory to benefit animals worldwide. Her lifelong passion to help animals, especially shelter/rescue animals, makes this challenge such a fitting testament to help animals in need. For us in the animal sheltering world, we are so thankful to her for her foresight and dedication in helping critters of all kinds. In addition to being a TV icon, White was known for her devotion and passion for animals and was a friend to countless animals throughout her legendary life. Thankfully that legacy is living on. The infamously named Betty White Challenge is a virtual event on Monday which would have been her 100th birthday. The online challenge asks fans of White to donate $5 or more to animal rescues or shelters in her name. The Golden Girls star was a pioneering animal rights activist who adored furry friends and was a devoted animal lover who worked on saving endangered species. A little insight to her upbringing was given as part of the introduction to her 2011 book Betty & Friends. She wrote that her mother and father were genuine animal nuts, and I am eternally grateful that they have passed much of that passion on to me. She recounted that she helped care for pets her parents took in when their former owners could no longer care for them, particularly with the hardships of the Great Depression. Lets keep her passion and the feel-good momentum that White espoused going forward as we memorialize her, along with the love and kindness she possessed during her nearly 100 years on earth with a donation to Midlands Humane Society to help us care for thousands of animals each year. Your contribution will make an impact, whether you donate $5 or $50. While our goal is $5,000, imagine everything we could do to help animals in need if this becomes an even larger fundraiser. If just half our 22,000 Facebook supporters gave $5, we could raise $55,000. These funds allow Midlands Humane Society to go the extra mile, giving even more animals who arrive at our door the best chance for an amazing life. Please share this challenge with your friends and family and encourage them to donate to MHS in Whites name. Keep in mind, Facebook pays all the processing fees for you, so 100% of your donation goes directly to us. How awesome is that. MHS Pets of the Week are brought to you by Betty White: Bones is a 3-year-old neutered male pitbull mix. He is a good boy who loves attention and treats but he could use some work on his manners but does know a few of his basic commands. Fleetwood Mac is a 3-year-old neutered male domestic shorthair cat who arrived as a stray at the Midlands Humane Society in December. Fleetwood Mac is currently being housed in one of our cat colonies and appears to enjoy the company of other cats. He is a big, friendly guy who likes to hog all the attention. Rosie is a 2-year-old spayed female husky/cattle dog mix. She is a sweet girl who takes a little time to warm up to new people, but once shes comfortable shell show you her happy, puppy side. She has lived with cats and kids but can be a bit high energy, so kids should meet her before adoption. Espen is a 3-year-old spayed female domestic shorthair cat who arrived at the Midlands Humane Society in December. Espens previous owners described her as a little fearful, independent and active. Espen was previously an outdoor cat and did well with other cats, however she is terrified of dogs and children, so a home with adults only may be her best option. See other adoptable pets at midlandshumanesociety.org/adopt. U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, on Wednesday reiterated his supports for term limits for members of Congress as he marked 63 consecutive years in public office and seeks re-election to an eighth term in the U.S. Senate. Grassley, 88, was sworn into the Iowa House on Jan. 12, 1959 at the age of 25. He would be 95 at the end of his term if re-elected and have served 70 consecutive years in public office. Grassley has voted for and supports proposals limiting members of Congress to 12-year terms two full terms in the Senate and six in the House. And I did that because I believe it, Grassley said on a weekly conference call with Iowa reporters. However, those plans either didnt make it out of committee, were tabled when they reached the floor or fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to begin the process of amending the U.S. Constitution. Asked then why is he seeking an eighth term, given his support for term limits, Grassley said not seeking re-election absent term limits would deprive Iowans of strong, effective leadership in the Senate to advance policies that benefit Iowa families, farmers and businesses. You would be diluting the influence of your state if you decide to quit after two (terms) when other people dont have that, he said. Im looking to the future, working for Iowans and no one can help Iowans in the United States Senate more than me, based on seniority. ... And then Ive got a pretty darn good record of being a leader on agriculture as one of two crop farmers in the Senate. Grassley has served Iowans in the Senate since 1981, holding major committee assignments including as chairman of the powerful Senate finance and judiciary committees and formerly serving as the chambers second-highest presiding officer as President Pro-Tempore. You also have to realize the ballot box is terms limits if people dont want you in there, Grassley said. Thats just kind of the way I look at it. Nearly two-thirds of likely Iowa voters this summer said they would prefer someone new to hold Grassleys seat. And Grassley has recently seen sagging job approval ratings that one noted Iowa pollster said may present warning signs. However, Grassleys job approval rating was a net positive in the latest Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll, with 45% of Iowa voters saying they approve of his job performance and 41% saying they disapprove. And polling from September showed Grassley leading Democratic former Congresswoman and state lawmaker Abby Finkenauer of Cedar Rapids by 18 percentage points among likely voters in an early test of a possible 2022 Senate matchup. Forty-seven years in Washington DC is too damn long, for anyone, Finkenauer said in an email response to a request for comment. I dont care who you are or which party. I dont think he even knows why hes running again, and Iowa deserves so much more. Other Democrats running in Iowas 2022 U.S. Senate race include U.S. Navy veteran Mike Franken of Sioux City, physician Glenn Hurst of Minden and activist and veterans advocate Bob Krause of Burlington. Grassley also faces a challenge in the Republican primary from Sioux City attorney and state lawmaker Jim Carlin. OMAHA Federal prosecutors are recommending against jail time for an Omaha-based social media influencer who filmed himself participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves and his team have recommended that Brandon Straka be sentenced to four months of home detention, three years of probation, 60 hours of community service and $600 in restitution. Straka has previously pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in the Capitol. He faces up to six months in jail and a fine up to $5,000, the sentencing recommendation says. Graves noted Strakas large social media following and his efforts to overturn the election. The sentencing recommendation says home detention rather than jail time is merited because Straka did not personally attack others or destroy property. Straka gained prominence in January 2018 with his #WalkAway campaign, which encouraged fellow Democrats to leave the party. Court documents indicate that a testimonial he posted that year garnered more than 41,000 likes and 890,000 views. Straka was in Washington on Jan. 4-6, 2021, to make speeches at various rallies. He was on his way to one of those speeches when he heard that the Capitol was being stormed, so he changed course and headed there instead. Once at the Capitol, Straka livestreamed his participation as he encouraged others to storm the building. He also egged on those around him who were trying to wrest a shield from a law enforcement officer. After leaving the grounds, he encouraged his Twitter followers to HOLD. THE. LINE. The message was liked and retweeted by thousands, the court said. In the days prior to Jan. 6, Straka told his followers that civil war was underway in the U.S. and that were not going to be peaceful much longer. But the recommendation also said that Straka was eager to be at the Capitol and that his comments afterward indicate that he didnt realize the gravity of his actions. The recommendation notes that the attack was an attempt to block the peaceful transfer of power, injured more than 100 law enforcement officers and caused more than $1 million in property damage. In a presentence interview with probation officers, Straka said that if he could go back in time, he would never have gone to Washington. He also described the attack as having a disproportionate impact on his life and business given that he has been convicted of a misdemeanor. A former hairstylist, Straka reported almost $680,000 in revenue for his #WalkAway nonprofit and political action committee. On Jan. 6, 2021, he had more than 660,000 Twitter followers. As of Thursday night, he had 498,000. Straka talked about the assault on the Capitol in a video the next day and rebutted claims that Antifa was involved. It was not Antifa; it was patriots desperate to be heard, he said. A roundup of campaign news items of interest: REYNOLDS SAFE: Gov. Kim Reynolds re-election bid is classified as safe, according to a recent analysis from U.S. News and World Report. Reynolds, a Republican, has not made her re-election bid official, but is widely expected to run again. She was elevated from lieutenant governor to governor in 2017, and won her first full, four-year term in 2018 by just less than 3 percentage points. In a state that has trended conservative in recent years, Reynolds remains the favorite to win a second full term, the report says. Reynolds polling has remained steadily above 50 percent, as has (Republican former president Donald) Trumps in the state. Barring something unexpected, Reynolds should be on her way to another term. Deidre DeJear, a Des Moines businesswoman and former state secretary of state candidate, and Des Moines lawyer Kim West are running in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. SMITH FUNDRAISING: Roby Smith, a state lawmaker and Republican candidate for state treasurer, announced that his campaign raised nearly $135,000 in 2021, with 98 percent of the contributions coming from Iowans. In a news release, Smith said his campaign finished the year with more than $144,000 in the campaign account. Were thrilled with the overwhelming support weve received from Iowans who are ready for a change in the state treasurers office, Smith said in a statement. Iowans are eager for a treasurer who understand the challenges of the 21st century. Assuming he is the Republican nominee, Smith would face longtime Democratic incumbent treasurer Mike Fitzgerald, who is the nations longest-tenured state treasurer. AFP ENDORSEMENTS: The Iowa chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative political advocacy organization, has endorsed Republican statehouse candidates Steven Bradley and Zach Dieken. The group supports its endorsed candidates through direct outreach, digital advertising and campaign mailers, according to a news release. For all the old skaters in central Nebraska, seeing a big, old white building come down Thursday was a sad experience indeed. Demolition began on Skate Island, a Grand Island institution at 2310 N. Webb Road. The rink opened in 1966, when the area consisted mostly of cornfields. Skate Island owner Steve Anderson said the demolition was too painful to watch. Its heartbreaking, he said. His kids were raised at the rink, and his wife, Kathy, painted the interior twice. The leveling ended a process that began when the roof collapsed under the weight of heavy snow on Feb. 8, 2021. The site, which totals six and a half acres, is owned by Andersons father, Jerry, who took over the rink in 1969. On Thursday afternoon, Steve and Jerry Anderson were sitting in a car, watching the rink come down. Old customers, former employees and others also watched the work proceed. Steve Anderson often has heard stories from Skate Island patrons, who might have gotten their first kiss at the rink, met their first boyfriend or their future spouse. In addition to possessing the land, Jerry Anderson also owned the building. He will turn 94 in March. Steve Anderson, 69, owned the business. After the site is razed, the land will be offered for sale. Two excavators from ONeill Transportation and Equipment began demolishing the structure Thursday morning. The leveling wont be completed this week, said Pat ONeill, the companys president. Many old Behlen buildings, such as Skate Island, rely on their side panels to provide strength, ONeill said. So once kinks develop in the panels, theres nothing you can do with them, he said. One man was interested in buying some of the side panels. But as we got started today, I realized were not going to be able to save them, ONeill said Thursday. In demolishing some old Behlen structures, sometimes they want to go down really fast, which you want to avoid, he said. (Youve) got to worry about that whole building just falling over, he said. Thats our biggest concern. Thats why we have two excavators there instead of just one is if that building decides it wants to start leaning, we want to be able to grab it in two different locations and pull on it. After investigating the subject thoroughly, the Andersons decided that repairing or replacing the structure wasnt feasible. Roller skating rinks are disappearing around the country because of real estate prices, Anderson said. Friends in Denver who own a number of skating rinks told Anderson that a total rebuild would be the only way to go. But the cost of such a project would be through the roof, he said. Skate Island had a $2.3 million insurance policy. Just to repair the building would cost $1 million more than that, Anderson said. A total rebuild would cost $5 million or $6 million. The skyrocketing price of construction materials doesnt help. If the Andersons had rebuilt Skate Island, they would have had to double or triple the admission price, which would not have gone over well in Grand Island, Anderson said. The current building was obviously not salvageable, ONeill said. There was no way they were going to be able to save it. Moisture has warped a portion of the maple floor, ONeill said. Another portion of the floor has been cut into pieces. The building measured just short of 19,000 square feet. The rink totaled a little more than 12,000 square feet. The ONeill family also removed the asbestos from the building. That process began in mid-October and finished just before Christmas. The work was done by ONeills father, Mike, whose business is called Environmental Direct Inc. The big skate that stood atop the building is being stored by Andersons friend Max Mader. Grand Island realtor Don Mehring said he has one party, from Omaha, interested in buying the land. Hes also aware of another prospect. ONeill said its sad to see Skate Island come down. You never like tearing down buildings because of storm damage or something like that, he said. The loss of the rink is a blow for many people. But ONeill doesnt have too many happy memories himself. I was never able to roller skate very well, he said. Most of his memories of the building involved falling down on my butt. Most skaters were able to stay on their feet. But after hosting all kinds of skaters during the years, the rink itself is coming down. The Episcopal Church of Our Savior navigated ministry without a pastor for a little more than two years. The search came all the way back home, as the Rev. Steve Meysing was already in North Platte. He took over the lead role and is looking forward to working together with the local congregation. This is a great place, these are amazing people, Meysing said. I cant believe God said, Meysing, its right under your nose, you dont have to move. Meysing is from Chicago, but his mom is from Wild Horse Valley northwest of Gothenburg. The vast majority of my relatives are from there to Broken Bow to North Platte, Meysing said. I have known this area all my life. He said he came back to faith as an adult in his senior year of college. I went to a concert the night before my Swedish language final to hear a guy from Sweden do a concert, Meysing said. I got to hear the Gospel as never before. Just good old-timey hymns and singalongs and what not. Thats when everything got launched again. Music that can move people is important to him. Then the year after college I found my way into a church that really did practice astoundingly unconditional love and welcome and just passionate service in Jesuss name, Meysing said. During that time, Meysing spent two summers rehabbing apartments in the Cabrini-Green housing projects in Chicago. The purpose was to get homeless people off the streets. They just opened a world to me, Meysing said. We met God so many different times in the people of Cabrini-Green and all these other folks we were out serving and trying to love on. He said educational ministries faith formation for all ages are a passion for him. Womb to tomb, lets figure out where people are and help them grow, Meysing said. Meysing has been living in North Platte for nine years and working as an assistant to the bishop for the Nebraska Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America from an office at First Evangelical Lutheran Church. I facilitated the search process for bringing in pastors, did conflict mediation, rural ministry, and then I ran our large program for training and supporting lay pastors, Meysing said. Weve got about 70 of them spread out. An invitation came from M.L. Martin, an Our Savior church member, to worship with the folks at the Episcopal church two years before he moved to North Platte. Meysing said he fell in love with the people and found it was nice to worship there when he was in town. They are the most hospitable, welcoming church I have ever run into, Meysing said. They are passionate disciples here. The depth of faith and love for the Lord, Bible study and prayer here just rocked my world. While attending services from time to time, he learned the church was looking for a pastor. People here encouraged me, and I pushed it off for a year, Meysing said. Then I finally said, OK, Gods doing something here, I better find out what it is. He said he enjoys that the church is well focused. They do a smaller number of things and they do them really, really well, Meysing said. Right now its just a matter of reinvigorating the things that were already great. Meysing was ordained in 1996 in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He is still an ELCA pastor and is able to serve the Episcopal Church because of the full-communion agreement between the two denominations. He has previously served as assistant to the bishop for Nebraska Synod ELCA; St. Johns ELCA in Alliance; Holy Family Lutheran in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada; St. Johns Lutheran, Dubuque, Iowa; St. Pauls Lutheran, Wheaton, Illinois; Walcott and Gil Lutheran churches in southeastern North Dakota. More by Job Vigil Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam attends a press conference in Hong Kong, south China, Jan. 14, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Shen) HONG KONG, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The current anti-epidemic measures will be extended for 14 more days until Feb. 3, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government announced on Friday. A series of updates regarding anti-epidemic measures were announced by HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam during a press conference. The existing anti-epidemic measures effective from Jan. 7 include an evening dine-in ban at restaurants and the closure of venues such as cinemas, gyms and beauty parlors. Passenger flights from Australia, Britain, Canada, France, India, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United States will continue to be suspended until Feb. 4, Lam said. Lam also announced that applications for the fifth round of anti-epidemic fund will be open by next week. Meanwhile, Hong Kong reported nine new cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours on Friday, taking the total tally of confirmed cases to 13,025, data from the Center for Health Protection (CHP) showed. The newly reported cases consist of six imported cases, two cases epidemiologically linked with imported cases and one local case. All of the cases involved mutant strains. The patients comprise four males and five females, aged 21 to 48. Altogether 385 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the past 14 days, according to the CHP. Meanwhile, the whole genome sequencing analysis of 69 cases announced earlier showed they all carried the Omicron variant of COVID-19, bringing the total number of Omicron infections to 396 in Hong Kong. Since the launch of a mass inoculation program in February 2021, about 5.11 million people, or 75.8 percent of the eligible population, have taken at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, while about 4.72 million, or 70 percent of the eligible population, have taken two doses. Meanwhile, 626,535 people in Hong Kong have taken a booster shot as of Friday. Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam attends a press conference in Hong Kong, south China, Jan. 14, 2022. Carrie Lam announced that applications for the fifth round of anti-epidemic fund will be open by next week. (Xinhua/Wang Shen) Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer. Photo: Getty Images Groundhog Day came a bit early, and a bit retro, for Democrats this year. Bill and Hillary peek their heads out, reads the headline of Fridays Politico Playbook. It goes on to report that former president Bill Clinton and former presidential nominee Hillary Clinton have emerged from their hibernation and saw an opportunity to insert themselves back into political life. With President Joe Bidens agenda stalled, the pair hopes to flex their centrist, dealmaking brand of politics to usher it through Congress and deliver Democrats from midterm disaster. Per Politico: Bill Clinton has relished the opportunity to whip on behalf of the White House. In addition to pressing Manchin on the filibuster, Clinton suggested that he should salvage Build Back Better by zeroing in on the few elements the West Virginia senator really wants. I told Joe, Break it up, pick one or two [pieces] you can swallow and then run on the rest, Clinton recalled of their phone call, a person with knowledge of the conversation told Playbook. The idea is drawing interest among party leadership. Clinton also spoke with Sinema recently, according to one of the people familiar with the call, and said afterward, I dont know her, but I like her. The Clintons have gotten a lot of flak for their efforts to remain relevant despite Hillarys 2016 loss and the reappraisal of Bills conduct in light of the Me Too movement as well as new revelations about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. These efforts are often cringe-inducing, like Hillarys MasterClass on the power of resilience or their new idea to revive the Clinton Global Initiatives annual star-studded confab, as reported in Playbook. But their attempt to rescue Bidens imperiled agenda actually seems fine? Even smart? It puts their connections and influence to good use, and the Democrats filibuster reform and Build Back Better initiatives are in such bad shape that things cant get much worse. However, there is one small potential drawback that Biden should keep in mind when letting the Big Dog loose to plug his agenda: He can be a little too eager. Clinton memorably demonstrated this in December 2010 when he was invited to join then-President Barack Obama in the White House Briefing Room. It seems the plan was for Clinton to make a quick cameo to plug Obamas tax-cut deal with Republicans. Im going to let him speak very briefly, Obama said after delivering his own stiff remarks for a few minutes. Instead, Clinton took over the podium and held court for about half an hour, hanging around well after Obama exited to attend a holiday party. First of all, I feel awkward being here, and now youre going to leave me all by myself? Clinton joked, drawing a laugh from Obama. The former president said he still spent about an hour a day trying to study this economy and went on to prove it, pontificating about the deals benefits for about nine minutes before taking his first question from a reporter. Obama, who had been standing off to the side of the podium with an amused look on his face, took the opportunity to make his exit. Ive been keeping the First Lady waiting for about half an hour, so Im going to take off, he said. Well, I dont want to make her mad, Clinton joked. Please go. As he left, Obama said Robert Gibbs, his press secretary, would call last question. It turns out this was a smart move because Clinton kept going, leaning over the podium as he comfortably called on reporters by name. For the next 20 minutes, Clinton fielded about a dozen questions on a variety of topics from Haiti to a new START treaty. One reporter noted that Clinton seemed to be more comfortable giving advice than governing. Oh, I had quite a good time governing, Clinton responded. I am happy to be here, I suppose, when the bullets that are fired are unlikely to hit me, unless theyre just ricocheting. It doesnt seem Obama, famously less extroverted than his predecessor, minded being upstaged. Two years later, Obama turned to Clinton to help boost his 2012 reelection bid, famously dubbing him his secretary of explaining stuff. Clinton made campaign appearances across the country, helmed fundraisers, and delivered an impressive convention speech; at the time, one top Obama aide described it to New York as the most important moment of the campaign so far. Biden should remember that deploying Clinton as your unofficial understudy can be quite effective. Hes prepared, hes smooth, and hes usually available. You just have to tell him when to take a bow. Analytical chemist Katelyn Foppe holds a tube with a wastewater sample in the lab of Biobot Analytics. Photo: M. Scott Brauer/Redux Not everyone gets tested for COVID-19, but everyone poops. Thats the premise behind wastewater epidemiology, one of the areas of research that has been pivotal in understanding the pandemic. With the virus detectable in the stool of asymptomatic and presymptomatic people, using sewage as a population-level testing sample can help predict where and when cases will surge or plummet three to seven days before nose-based testing methods reveal a curve starting to rise or taper off. Dr. Mariana Matus, the co-founder of the first company to detect the coronavirus in wastewater, Biobot Analytics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, explains how the process works. Clients such as the state of Massachusetts and Miami-Dade County take regular samples from their treatment plants and overnight them to the companys lab, which runs a PCR test to determine the level of the virus in the water and does genetic sequencing to determine which variant is prevalent. All this can be done with about 15 milliliters of wastewater, or about half an ounce. So with the seven-day average of COVID cases rocketing toward 1 million, its striking that Biobot Analytics data suggests a national undercount. From summer 2020 to fall 2021, we saw a consistent correlation between wastewater concentration and clinical counts of cases, says Matus. But that correlation broke in December, when the more transmissible Omicron variant began to dominate in the U.S. At the moment, Matus estimates that theres the most undercounting of cases at least since the summer of 2020, when sewage monitoring of COVID began to be implemented at scale. While the company cannot quantify exactly how large the undercount is, Matus says that however much we were undercounting before Omicron, we are now undercounting five times more. Bad early signalThe 7-day average coronavirus level found in Boston-area wastewater has now reached their highest levels since the start of the pandemic. Wastewater always precedes a wave. #COVID19 https://t.co/Zy1v7sIk9j pic.twitter.com/cHP387yfZ4 Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) December 8, 2021 Matus cites three reasons for the expanded gap between the data from the toilet and that from the testing center. First is the difficulty accessing PCR tests in areas where there is high demand, even though we are testing more than at any other point during the pandemic. Second, because of the difficulty of getting PCR tests and the increasing ease of finding rapid tests millions of Americans are isolating after testing positive at home, which means their case is not being logged in their states official COVID reports. Third is the less severe nature of Omicron in many vaccinated patients: People who may be carrying the virus but are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms may not think about taking any sort of test, she says. For those following the Boston-area wastewater data, the trend we're seeing is not unique to Boston: https://t.co/har8c6dLbU pic.twitter.com/XK0vJudeq9 Biobot Analytics (@BiobotAnalytics) December 8, 2021 With COVID ICU admissions threatening the all-time record and the daily average of deaths pushing 2,000, such an extreme surge may soon rid Omicron of its reputation as the less dangerous variant at the population level. But there appears to be some good news from the sewer. While Matus says COVID in the wastewater is at a record high, the levels are sharply declining in Boston, where the company launched and the cases have only just peaked. After a confounding winter, theres a light at the end of the sewer pipe. While wastewater epidemiology has quickly become a recognized field in public health, only a few years ago it was an object of humor at MIT, where Matus did her Ph.D. in computational biology. Most people in my lab laughed about it, she says. They didnt know how to think about it. They thought it was funny but not really promising. Bathroom jokes aside, colleagues in her lab had concerns about the scale of the project and the possibility that the amount of variables in municipal wastewater could make getting accurate results impossible. But it had worked in other countries, most notably in Israel, where public-health officials tracked and isolated an outbreak of polio in 2013. And by tracing the levels of a virus known as PMMV which is trouble for bell peppers but harmless in the human gut the team found a control to measure the precise signal they were looking for in all that noise. Together with co-founder and architect Newsha Ghaeli, Matus started the company in 2017 to prove their concept of commercializing data from sewage, setting up camp at a manhole in Cambridge that caught waste from bustling Central Square. Their initial focus was to track the other dominant public-health crisis of the past decade: opioids. But as COVID hijacked research budgets throughout the field, Biobot switched over to tracing the pandemic, becoming the first team in the country to detect SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater in March 2020. The initial process essentially involved PCR-testing samples of sewage; but as of late last year, the company figured out how to use DNA sequencing to detect mutations, and it is now able to track individual variants. While the method is not a cure-all the level of virus a person sheds in their stool fluctuates considerably, and theres no way it diagnose an individual with COVID it has already been proved valuable both as a pandemic response and as a start-up investment. After setting up a wastewater monitoring program for the Department of Health and Human Services last summer, the firm is now contracted throughout the country. After hooking up with Y Combinator, it closed a $4.2 million seed round in April and scored $20 million more in October. With the national prevention strategy moving toward living with the virus, Matus sees wastewater testing as a crucial part of a future when COVID is endemic and people are getting tested less, so that data source becomes less trustable. And with genomic sequencing now possible, she says the holy grail would be able to identify and flag completely new threats that nobody knows about yet before we know about them. Though it took a few months for wastewater epidemiology to become a tool to track COVID, it appears well be looking to the sewers right away to understand the next pandemic. Starting Feb. 1, the City of Opelika will be offering a Court Forgiveness Program for the first time ever. Through this program, individuals with certain municipal court charges will be able to clear their cases without concern of being physically arrested, according to a release from the City of Opelika. Denise Rogers, Municipal Court Administrator for the City of Opelika, said the court has over 1,500 outstanding failure-to-appear warrants that they are hoping to clear up through this amnesty program. Some of the older cases date back as far as 2005. We want to give individuals an opportunity to clear their name, settle their case and have their active failure-to-appear warrants recalled without fear of being arrested, Rogers said. Individuals who received charges such as traffic or parking tickets, failure-to-appear or failure-to-pay fines or those with warrants issued or pending against them for these charges are eligible for the Court Forgiveness Program. Those with outstanding warrants for these charges are also eligible for the program, and it includes probation and Time To Pay cases. This program is a tremendous benefit for the citizens of Opelika, Judge Wes McCollum said in a release from the city. Our hope is that these individuals will take advantage of this opportunity. Rogers also said this program brings many benefits to individuals with outstanding warrants and to the city. For the individual, their outstanding failure-to-appear warrant will be recalled, they will avoid posting a cash bond, suspended license can be reinstated and it can eliminate additional fines, court costs and a possible jail sentence, Rogers said. Now is the time to act. This program also aims to reduce risk and promote lawful driving. The City of Opelika said that anyone who wants to take advantage of this program may do so by presenting themselves to the Municipal Court magistrates office located at 300 MLK Boulevard between Feb. 1 March 31. This program will only last for those two months. Friends, bail bond companies, relatives and spouses cannot make the amnesty request on behalf of an individual. The individual with the failure-to-appear warrant must come to the municipal court with a photo ID and handle their own business, Rogers said. Eligible individuals will need to bring at least one form of identification and either cash, Visa or MasterCard for payments. If the individual cannot pay the full amount, they can speak with the court to arrange a payment plan or choose to do community service or the Ready to Work program. I want them to know and understand that we are a court of integrity, Rogers said. We also are a court that pursues justice, but we also reach that goal with mercy. That is another reason why were having this amnesty program. We just want folks to take advantage of this opportunity that Opelika is having. Rogers said they will be extending their hours Monday to Friday to 8 a.m. 7 p.m. This is for drop-ins only. No appointments are required. Should any eligible individual with a warrant come into contact with law enforcement prior to taking advantage of this court forgiveness program, he/she is subject to immediate arrest, the City of Opelika said in the release. The program does not include new drug, alcohol, firearm or domestic violence cases. The city incurs high expenses to deal with those people who ignore the law, Mayor Gary Fuller said in the release. We simply ask that people communicate with our court clerk so that we can work with them and put their criminal case behind them. For a full listing of details on the Court Forgiveness Program, visit www.opelika-al.gov or call the Opelika Municipal Court office at 334-705-5196. As America honors Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, Theo M. Moore II of Opelika said its also a day to remember those who supported King and were by his side while bringing social change to America. Its important to reflect on what he has sacrificed and reflect on his messages because they still apply today, Moore said of King. He was the face of the movement, but there were so many others. Moore, 32, is the founder and executive director of Hiztorical Vision Productions, a nonprofit documentary film organization he created in 2017 that focuses on sharing the untold success stories of African Americans in Alabama. For the most part, we usually get fed the same things: the civil rights movement, victimization, slavery, beatings and things of that nature, he said. We have heard that story, but theres a lot of great things that were going on despite of that. I try my best to bring that part out. Moore said he wants to preserve stories, provide a platform for people to tell their stories, shine a light on communities, tell the states history through the lens of African Americans and create films that inspire all. In his films, he highlights the beginning of Black leadership, entrepreneurship and education in the state and African Americans who created spaces of their own by establishing their own settlements and cities. These are things, as people of color, something that you can actually be proud of, Moore said. Its motivational and inspiring to see people, during a time where Im sure it was way more difficult, pull those accomplishments off. Moore will be screening his latest documentary, Afrikan By Way of American, on Feb. 17 at Jule Collins Museum at Auburn University (time TBD) and on Feb. 19 at the Opelika Public Library at 6:00 p.m. This documentary is currently circulating in film festivals and has already won the award for best historical documentary at the Southern Film Festival in LaGrange, Ga. Moores other films can be found on YouTube or on the Hiztorical Vision Productions website www.hiztoricalvp.org. Love of history While doing research for his masters program and later while working as a history teacher, Moore realized that there is a lot of history that isnt being tapped into. One day while teaching his 10th grade history class at Valley High School, Moore gave his students a reading assignment and saw almost every student pull out their phone to watch a video about the reading. That dawned on me, he said. I wanted to make sure that the research I was doing was accessible to everyone, and thats where the film idea came into play. Moore said he had never thought of making films before that moment, but decided to teach himself how. Since then hes completed three documentary films: Crown the County of Lowndes (2018), Hobson City: From Peril to Promise (2019) and Afrikan By Way of American: History of Africatown (2021). Im the type of educator that meets people where they are, and right now during this time, a lot of students and people get a lot of information digitally, Moore said. I want my work to actually reach people. Moore said the people he interviews for his films are older and concerned about preserving their stories. They want their voices to be heard and their stories told, but there are not many outlets for it. Its very humbling and its such an honor as well because a lot of the people that I sit across from really paved the way from a social aspect in the state, he said. Moore grew up in public housing in Anniston, Ala., and said he was always curious and asking questions about why things were the way they were. The only subject that made sense to me and where I got my answer was history, he said. Moore had history teachers who inspired him and hooked him on the subject, which gave him the passion to be an educator and a historian. Moore graduated from Troy University in 2012 with a degree in history and a minor in Greek mythology and earned a masters degree in post-secondary education with a concentration in history. He is currently in the Education Policy and Organization Leadership Doctoral Program online at the University of Illinois. He was a teacher for five years before working at Tuskegee University as the collections manager for The Legacy Museum. Bigger than me Now, aside from making films, hes the Black Heritage Council Coordinator for the Alabama Historical Commission, where he assists in preserving African-American sites and cemeteries across the state. This year, Moore plans to focus on engaging the Auburn-Opelika community and building a solid team. Moore said his wife, Jocelyn, is a big part of the organization and is his support system. Im more of the creator and dreamer; shes more the detailed realistic person, he said. Moore has a few volunteers that help him either with research or with production, but Moore does the bulk of the research, scriptwriting, production and post-production. This mission is bigger than me, Moore said. Its time for me to give up some of that to some aspiring young professionals that want to get into film. Moore said he has more projects planned for the future. Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated a stay on the vax-or-test mandate issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. As a result, the mandate will not take effect until further notice. The majority found that those challenging the ETS were likely to prevail on their contention that OSHA lacked authority to issue the mandate. Noting that the ETS would affect approximately 84 million workers, the Court said, This is no everyday exercise of federal power. . . . We expect Congress to speak clearly when authorizing an agency to exercise powers of vast economic and political significance. The Court also found that the ETS was not authorized by the Occupational Safety and Health Act, characterizing the ETS as a broad public health measure rather than an occupational safety or health standard. Finally, the Court found that the equities did not weigh in favor of leaving the ETS in place. Employers and states challenging the ETS contend that the mandate will force them to incur billions of dollars in unrecoverable compliance costs and will cause hundreds of thousands of employees to leave their jobs. . . . For its part, the [Government] says that the mandate will save over 6,500 lives and prevent hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations. Without deciding which side was correct, the Court said: It is not our role to weigh such tradeoffs. In our system of government, that is the responsibility of those chosen by the people through democratic processes. Although Congress has indisputably given OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly. Requiring the vaccination of 84 million Americans, selected simply because they work for employers with more than 100 employees, certainly falls in the latter category. What now? The stay of the ETS is temporary. It will remain in effect while the case goes back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit for a decision. If the Sixth Circuit rules in favor of the government, the challengers can ask the Supreme Court to review that decision. If the Supreme Court declines to review the case, the stay will end. If the Supreme Court reviews the case, the stay will end after the Court issues a final decision. Last night, a statement from Secretary of Labor Mary Walsh on the Supreme Court ruling was published on OSHAs website in which he stated that he was disappointed in the courts decision, calling it a major setback to the health and safety of workers. He urged employers to mandate workers to get vaccinated or tested weekly to most effectively fight the virus. He also referenced OSHAs COVID-19 guidance to assist employers in upholding their obligation to keep workers safe. What should employers who would have been covered by the ETS do? If you are in a state that requires employers to mandate vaccination or testing, then you will still need to comply with state law. Second, if you are in a state (such as Alabama, Florida, or Texas) that restricts employers ability to impose vaccination mandates, its safe to start complying with your state law now. Tammy C. Woolley is Senior Counsel in the Opelika, Alabama, office of Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP, and can be contacted at twoolley@constangy.com. This article is adapted from a recent Legal Bulletin published to our clients. Washington, PA (15301) Today Cloudy skies with periods of rain this afternoon. High 77F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a half an inch.. Tonight Showers and thunderstorms. Low around 60F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- In addition to increasing needs, continued fighting in northern Ethiopia - including airstrikes - affects the means to deliver that relief, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday. The office said that airstrikes have been intensifying in several Tigray region locations since the start of the year, reportedly causing significant civilian casualties. Aid partners temporarily restricted their movement and activities in northwestern Tigray, except for Shire Town, due to the airstrikes. Once some aid movement resumed, the office said the lack of fuel severely limited the response. "Fighting around Abala, on the Tigray-Afar border, is hindering our ability to bring aid into Tigray. There have been no deliveries of assistance into Tigray since Dec. 14." No fuel trucks have entered the Tigray region since Aug. 2, 2021, OCHA said, meaning that many humanitarian partners are mainly working close to urban areas with little or no travel outside. The office said that relief organizations providing food assistance do not have enough fuel to distribute even the limited food stocks available in Tigray. Organizations providing nutrition assistance warn that activities will soon stop without additional fuel. Humanitarians repeatedly plead that 100 aid trucks are needed daily for Tigray relief. While insecurity also constrains humanitarian operations in parts of the neighboring Amhara region, the relief response is scaling up as more areas become accessible, OCHA said. United Nations and non-governmental organizations partners provided food to more than 250,000 people last week. The office said that more than 47,000 people also received emergency shelter and non-food items in the past week. At least a few hundred thousand displaced people are estimated to have returned to their homes over the last three weeks. They reportedly need essential assistance and emergency shelter support. In the Afar region, east of Tigray, the humanitarian response continues with about 330,000 people provided with food assistance in the current distribution round, OCHA said. I read about this last night. They caught her pulling into a driveway so she made it where she was going, but how fucking insane to be on a highway nodding off at the wheel, potentially drunk and/or high (I think tmz said she had smoked too)? No sympathy for drunk drivers especially ones with her wealth that can afford to hire a driver for the night or just take fucking Ubers like normal folk. But no, you choose to get behind the wheel impaired and risk the lives of everyone around you Reply Thread Link i wonder if she had her emergency brake on. she could have slipped back, hit someone, damaged property smh Reply Parent Thread Link 100% this. No excuses ever. Find a ride or stay where you are but don't let your fun turn into someone else's tragedy. Reply Parent Thread Link Not that it was ever ok but especially in this day and age there is zero excuse. Call a friend or order an Uber. But yeah especially when its someone with this kind of money like if youre going out to drink/whatever get a driver Reply Parent Thread Link Once someone drives drunk, I'm 100% off their team forever. Reply Parent Thread Link I really don't understand driving drunk when you can literally call an Uber ESPECIALLY if you're a famous celeb who clearly has money. Reply Thread Link Bc she has done it before. When you get into a car to drive after drinking any amount (even like 1 or 2), you are giving your brain the go ahead. Then when it comes another time, and you get even drunker, the part of your brain that would register that this is not ok doesnt actually function bc you have already done it once at a smaller scale Thats why idiots like this always do it over and over until they get caught. And even then it doesnt stop Reply Parent Thread Link I agreed for a long time, but Ive met so many people in AA who are decent humans who are recovering alcoholics who just ceased being able to stop themselves. (For myself, my dad was hit as a pedestrian by a drunk driver when I was a kid so I was obsessed with not driving impaired; and once I had a couple times where I felt I was skirting too close to driving impaired, that was the line that made me stop drinking. But for a lot of people theyre just not able to do that. Addict brains just stop make rational choices eventually.) Im not saying they dont deserve consequences. Consequences are important. I just dont see it as black and white as I used to. Reply Parent Thread Link Fuck her. I recently had an experience with a drunk driver who barreled through a stop sign and almost ran into me but I swerved and avoided him. I had my son in the car with me and it was genuinely the most afraid Ive ever been. I have no sympathy for drunk drivers, she got off way too easy imo Reply Thread Link That sounds horrifying, I am glad you and your son are okay. Reply Parent Thread Link Oh my god Im so so glad you and your son are OK Reply Parent Thread Link so glad yall are ok Reply Parent Thread Link Jesus! Im so glad youre both okay! Reply Parent Thread Link So glad you and your son are ok. How scary! Reply Parent Thread Link That sounds terrifying, so glad you and your son were okay. Reply Parent Thread Link I'm so sorry that happened to you :( Reply Thread Link Absolute dumb bint. Reply Thread Link Damn. How sad. Have yall ever stopped ppl from driving drunk? Did they listen? Reply Thread Link Have tried, no they did not listen, wish Id called the cops tbh Reply Parent Thread Link Yes I have had done that few times. Esp back in SD. It was. a lot Reply Parent Thread Link i have! but it's always been a case of they're easy to convince, i've never had anyone really fight me on it or assure me they're fine - it's been wayyyy harder to convince people to not drive stoned, ime (which idc how much it 'makes you drive better,' that shit is still dangerous). i've had friends prevent me as well - i genuinely felt okay to drive but my friends were like "are you serious, absolutely not, we saw how much you drank and i am driving you home" and thank GOD for it because halfway through the car ride the alcohol def hit and it wouldve been really bad if i had attempted it and i'm super grateful to have had people looking out for me. my friend group is p tightly knit and we all look out for each other about this kind of thing for a variety of reasons, so we generally take each other's advice and are willing to pay for ubers or drive each other home if sober enough. Reply Parent Thread Link The commitment people have to pretending weed doesn't impair their driving is insane. It's better than alcohol in many ways, but some people push a narrative that it's not even an intoxicant ... when it's more likely they're just stoned so often that they don't realize the difference anymore. Edited at 2022-01-15 04:27 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link In my youth one of my idiot friends decided he was going home instead of camping out with the rest of us so I chucked his keys as hard as I could into the woods. He was big mad but his ass wasn't on the road so that was a win in my book. Reply Parent Thread Link My best friend tried to stop her trashy ex friend from driving drunk as fuck and the bitch BIT HER Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i have refused to ride in a car with somebody who had been drinking and it was a big drama. we were visiting my husband's best friend and staying at his place. we went out to a special movie event and i told them earlier in the evening that i wouldn't get in the car with them later if they drank and they did anyway. another friend offered to give us a ride and let us crash at her place. the person who drank later accused me/us of being snobs but i know he was just projecting because they felt insecure about their choices. but i will not enable drunk drivers, period. its not me thinking i'm better than anybody...its because a close friend was run over and killed by somebody who was drunk when i was 23. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Ive successfully convinced a few people. Now I just designated drive for people as often as I can, since I havent drank in years Reply Parent Thread Link I tried, she didnt listen and got a dui like 2 minutes later when she tried to pull out of her parking space. I felt bad but like I was not physically capable of pulling her out of her car and into mine. I wish I had tried harder though Reply Parent Thread Link We took away her keys. A friend in my 20s was really drunk at a club and wanted to drive to Dennys to get food cus she thought that'd sober her up. We were basically playing keep away with her keys. She started getting violent so I think someone just gave them back. It is not possible to reason with drunk people :/ I used to get in the car with my ex when he was drunk all the time. He'd be furious I was doubting his ability to drive. I'd eventually just meekly get in the car. It was fucked that preserving our relationship was more important to me than my life. Reply Parent Thread Link During spring break in the 90s i drove a friend home in her car. She didnt want to leave her car at the bar cause it was in mexico and she was afraid her abusive boyfriend would go nuts if she came home without their car. So i drove her ass home, had walk almost 2 hours BACK to the bridge to get my car cause i never take it into mexico at 3AM while 4 men in a car followed me and cat called me. I thought i was going to get raped or murdered or both and never talked to that fool again. Reply Parent Thread Link No. I think driving drunk is a bigger deal in the UK though (not saying it happens less, just that it's likely to be a much bigger deal if you're caught). Reply Parent Thread Link i have hid, stashed, stolen, and wrestled the car keys from my drunken father more times than i can count. im sure i have been successful on several occasions but i cannot remember any specifically. hes a slippery mother fucker and also turns violent when he doesnt get his way so most of the time im just praying he gets pulled over and thrown in jail before hurting anyone else Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I've tried a few times but people rarely listen Reply Parent Thread Link Thats really sad, glad she didnt hurt anyone. Alcohol can really make people lose all common sense. Hopefully she learns from this. Reply Thread Link When you get behind the wheel of a car, you have on average 5000lbs of metal specifically designed to protect your life. You're using a very large weapon. Drunkenly getting behind the wheel of a car is like drunkenly handling a gun. Reply Thread Link Peachtree City? Wtf was she doing all the way out there lol I know she has many assistants and could've paid someone to pick her up, so electric chair.gif Reply Thread Link Get an Uber, call your assistants or... idk, don't drink??? Reply Thread Link Another reason for me to say fuck her. Shes horrible. Reply Thread Link was that a tesla? how would that even work driving asleep Reply Thread Link I mean I definitely fell asleep at the wheel once when I was younger and doing a road trip for work in the middle of the night. Its scary and Im thankful I didnt injure anyone else or myself and Im much more aware now of when I should and shouldnt be driving. I think falling asleep driving happens a lot more than people would like to admit. Reply Parent Thread Link Ive fallen asleep driving before, just drove for too long instead of pulling over to nap, if it werent for those lines on the road that wake you up id prob be a goner. Its easy to do but hard to explain if you havent experienced it Reply Parent Thread Link my dad fell asleep while driving me and my sibling once and we went into a ditch but thankfully none of us got hurt. I've also felt myself struggling to not fall asleep while driving and I've had to smack myself to stop myself from falling asleep because it felt too easy to just fall asleep. I don't ever skimp on getting enough hours of sleep before a long car drive anymore. Reply Parent Thread Link The Government of India has approved a multibillion dollar plan of setting up transmission projects for power supply from these renewable energy projects In line with Indias commitment at the COP26 summit in Glasgow last year, the country aims to reach net-zero by 2070. Furthermore, India seeks to meet 50% of its energy needs by 2030 through renewable sources and expand non-fossil fuel power generation capacity to 500 GW in this decade. In light of these targets, the Government of India (GoI) has approved a multibillion dollar plan of setting up transmission projects for power supply from these renewable energy projects. Setting up green energy corridors India is setting up green energy corridors in two phases. The Green Energy Corridor Project aims at synchronizing electricity produced from renewable sources, such as solar and wind, with conventional power stations in the grid, Indias Ministry of New and Renewable Energy says on its website. One phase will supply 20 gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy to the national grid, the Hindustan Times reported. Furthermore, the country is in the process of building 63 GW of renewable energy capacity, according to the report. Installed non-fossil fuel power capacity is expected to increase by 66% by 2030. According to ratings agency ICRA, Indias renewable energy generation capacity will increase by 16 GW in fiscal year 2023. India aims to cut projected emissions of carbon will by 1 billion tons by 2030. Also, investments in green energy are steadily going up. From 2014-15 to June 2021, green energy projects in India received foreign direct investments worth U.S. $7.27 billion, the Hindustan Times reported. Of this amount, U.S. $797.21 million came in during 2020-21. The government is also aiming to ensure the national grid doesnt get threatened by the huge surge in electricity from sources such as solar and wind. Through the maintenance of the aforementioned corridors, the grid frequency remains within the 49.90-50.05 Hz (hertz) range. Also, the country recently commissioned an Automatic Generation Control (AGC), which sends signals to power plants every four seconds to maintain frequency and makes for a more reliable power grid, according to the report. Powering up Transmission systems will be created over a five-year period from Fiscal Year 2021-22 to Fiscal Year 2025-26. According to the statement, the Central Financial Assistance (CFA) will offset the Intra-State transmission charges and keep power costs low. Another phase of the project is expected to help supply around 24 GW of renewable energy by 2022. India has installed 157.32 GW of non-fossil based energy capacity. That accounts for 40.1% of total installed electricity capacity, the report stated. By AGMetalminer.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The UAE is focused on boosting its crude oil production to over 5 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2030 at the latest and becoming self-sufficient in gas as soon as possible. Both these aims received a boost last week, beginning with the news that the principal company responsible for delivering the increase in the UAEs oil output the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) awarded an AED3.47 billion (US$946 million) engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract to develop its Umm Shaif offshore field. The UAEs National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC) won the mandate to do the necessary work to maintain Umm Shaifs 275,000 bpd crude oil production capacity and then to increase this output. This follows the recent discovery located in the Block 4 onshore concession that is likely to have recoverable reserves of at least 480 million barrels, according to the operator of the site, Japans INPEX, based on a provisional recovery rate of 40 percent for crude oil and 70 percent for natural gas and condensate. This marked the first such find in the Block 4 onshore concession and the initial signs are that further finds may well be discovered on the site, according to ADNOC. The new crude oil find will also significantly augment ADNOCs ongoing efforts to establish Murban as the centerpiece of what it intends to be the pre-eminent oil futures trading platform in the Middle East the ICE Futures Abu Dhabi platform (IFAD). Launched on 29 March 2021 by ADNOC in partnership with the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), IFAD was built initially around a Murban futures contract, with this light, sweet crude oil grade accounting for around half of the UAEs total near-4 million bpd crude oil production before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to ICE and ADNOC at the time of the launch of IFAD, Murban futures were the second physically delivered futures contracts traded on a regional exchange after Dubai Mercantile Exchanges Oman crude futures, and Murban remained a deliverable grade in the Platts benchmark Dubai and Oman crude assessments. ICE and ADNOC partnered with BP, GS Caltex, INPEX, PetroChina, PTT, Shell, ENEOS, Total, and Vitol to launch the trading platform, but ICE subsequently announced additional agreements with Chevron, Trafigura, and Occidental to explore using the contract to price crude exports from the U.S. to Asia. At the end of November, ICE announced that over one million futures contracts had traded on IFAD since the launch equivalent to one billion barrels of Murban crude oil. Murban futures are adding to price discovery in Asia and [the] physical delivery mechanism has worked smoothly since launch and open interest continues to grow, Mike Muller, head of Vitol Asia told OilPrice.com. Related: Shells Gas Trading Booms While Oil Trading Slows Last week also saw the UAE award an AED5.36 billion (US$1.46 billion) EPC contract for the Dalma Gas Development Project. Part of the Ghasha Concession - the worlds largest offshore sour gas development - the Dalma field development will also feature the UAEs NPCC and Target Engineering, plus Spains Tecnicas Reunidas. Not only is the Dalma Gas Development Project a key to making the UAE self-sufficient for gas in the same way that the Umm Shaif oil development program is a vital part of the UAEs drive to produce 5 million bpd, but also they are cornerstones in ADNOCs In-Country Value (ICV) program itself a foundation stone of Operation 300 Billion, and the UAEs Circular Economy Policy 2021-2031. According to a statement last week from the UAEs central bank, the countrys real total GDP is expected to grow by 4.2 percent in 2022, with non-hydrocarbon real GDP to increase by 3.9 percent during the period. The UAEs core markets for oil remain both India and China, with the former expected to dramatically outpace the economic growth of its regional rival China in the coming year and beyond, according to various forecasts. Chinas economy, as highlighted by OilPrice.com at the beginning of December, is likely to grow only by around 5 percent this year, with SEB expecting 5.2 percent, TS Lombard 4.7 percent, and Nomura 4.3 percent, among others, while Indias economy is widely expected to grow by at least 8 percent. A report released last year by the International Energy Agency showed that India will make up the biggest share of energy demand growth at 25 percent over the next two decades. The report added that Indias energy consumption is expected to nearly double as the nations GDP expands to an estimated USD8.6 trillion by 2040 under its current national policy scenario. This is underpinned by a rate of GDP growth that adds the equivalent of another Japan to the world economy by 2040, according to the IEA. By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Petrobras Raises Fuel Prices for Consumers Brazilian motorists are soon likely to pay more at the pump after the countrys state-run oil company, Petrobras, raised gasoline and diesel prices on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The move comes in line with fluctuations in global markets, the company said. The firm, which is also known as Petroleo Brasileiro, said in a statement that the average gasoline price at the refinery gate will rise to 3.24 reais ($0.58) per liter from 3.09 reais, while diesel prices will jump to 3.61 reais per liter from 3.34 reais. These adjustments are important to ensure that the market continues to be supplied on an economic basis and without the risk of shortages by the different actors responsible for serving the different Brazilian regions: distributors, importers and other producers, Petrobras said. The oil giant added that up until last October, it had reduced the price of gasoline and maintained the price of diesel, but after 77 days, it had decided to make adjustments to its gasoline and diesel sales prices for distributors. The price increases are in balance with the market, following up and down variations that have been affected by external volatilities and the exchange rate, the statement added. Venezuela Reportedly to Resume Exports of Diluted Crude Oil Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA will resume exports of diluted crude oil (DCO) this week for the first time in nine months, Reuters reported. PDVSA was forced to cease production of DCO following U.S. trade sanctions, given the lack of diluents that aid in the production of the export. Following a September agreement between Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduros government and Iran, however, PDVSA now has access to an Iranian condensate, allowing for the alteration of DCO production and shipping strategies, Reuters reported. Given the increase in stocks of diluted crude oil, PDVSA has resumed exports to Asia, so that the DCO does not continue to take up storage space. Venezuela Gas Pipeline Explosion Blamed on Criminal Saboteurs Venezuelan state-run oil company PDVSA said an explosion along a gasoline pipeline was an act of criminal sabotage, Reuters reported Wednesday. Officials in Anzoategui state, in eastern Venezuela, said the blast took place late on Tuesday. There was no word on who was responsible for the explosion, or whether there were casualties. It was presumably caused by attempts to perforate the pipeline, state Governor Luis Jose Marcano said in a Twitter post. Authorities said the damage would be repaired quickly. Mexico Swaps Bonds to Lower Pemex Debt Burden Mexican state petroleum company Pemex has slashed its debt burden by $3.2 billion, Bloomberg News reported Sunday, citing government officials. Pemex swapped soon-to-expire debt with a new bond with a maturity of 10 years as part of a refinancing plan. Efforts to get the debt-strapped firm back on its feet also include direct capital injections and tax breaks, OilPrice.com reported on Monday. The administration of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has reduced the amount of taxes the company owes the government three times, from 64 percent to 40 percent, the report added. Pemex is buried under $113 billion in debt, the most of any state oil firm in the world, and continues to struggle to reverse more than 10 years worth of output declines, Bloomberg News reported. The oil producer, also known as Petroleos Mexicanos, depends on the federal governments willingness to continue paying bondholders, the report added. The Mexican government has been moving ahead with a comprehensive revamp of the countrys energy sector, which in large part aims to end the reforms put in place by previous pro-market administrations, and help position state companies as dominant industry players. By Latin America Energy Advisor More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Note: The Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced Jan. 21 that the induction ceremony has been postponed until future notice due to an increasing number of COVID-19 cases. Three people will make up the Nebraska Business Hall of Fame Class of 2022. Mike McCarthy of Omaha, John Sampson of Lincoln and Gloria Thesenvitz of Grand Island will be inducted into the hall of fame established by the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry and University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Business at banquet later this year. They will join more than 120 other business leaders who have been inducted since the hall was established in 1992, according to a press release. McCarthy is the founder of McCarthy Capital, a private equity firm headquartered in Omaha. The investment firm and its affiliates manage more than $10 billion in capital with roots in construction and contracting. The firm has expanded to agricultural and real estate development and property management over the years since its founding in 1986. McCarthy serves on numerous boards including those of the Joslyn Art Museum, the Omaha Community Foundation, United Way of the Midlands, the Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium and Creighton University. He is the current chair of Heritage Services. Sampson has been the president and CEO of Sampson Construction since 1995. Under his leadership, Sampson Construction has completed over $3 billion in commercial building projects in Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Nevada and Illinois. Throughout his tenure with the construction firm, which has five locations across Nebraska, Wyoming and Colorado, Sampson has served in all types of project management and development roles. Thesenvitz is founder and board chair for Nova-Tech Inc., a manufacturer that provides services for the animal health industry throughout the United States and Canada. The release describes Thesenvitz as a strong advocate for education, quality jobs, women entrepreneurs and rural Nebraska. She serves on multiple community and state boards. Thesenvitz is the recipient of the Governors Bioscience Award and the Grand Island Independents Woman of the Year in 2017. The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Two Omaha business owners were sentenced to prison on Friday for violating worker safety standards before a 2015 explosion that left two of their employees dead. Brothers Steven and Adam Braithwaite and their company, Nebraska Railcar Cleaning Services, pleaded guilty in July to a litany of federal charges. Steven Braithwaite, who served as president of NRCS, pleaded guilty to two counts of violating a worker safety standard causing a worker death and one count of knowingly endangering others by violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. He will serve 30 months in prison. Adam Braithwaite, vice president of the company, pleaded guilty to two counts of violating a worker safety standard causing death, two counts of falsification of records in a federal investigation and one count of perjury. He will serve one year and one day in prison. NRCS pleaded guilty to all 21 of the counts with which it was charged. The Braithwaites have each been ordered to pay $100,000 in restitution. Additionally, the brothers and the company must serve five years of probation and pay a $21,000 fine. According to a federal indictment, on April 14, 2015, workers were removing petroleum residue from inside a rail tanker car near First and Hickory Streets in Omaha when a spark ignited and caused a deadly explosion. Despite the fact that a safety data sheet identified the petroleum residue as highly flammable and containing benzene, a known carcinogen, workers were sent into the car without testing for benzene levels. The tanker car had been tested for explosive gas levels prior to the employees entering. The test showed that the explosive gas levels greatly exceeded the acceptable levels established by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, according to the indictment. About an hour after the workers were sent into the car, its contents exploded, killing Adrian LaPour, 44, and Dallas Foulk, 40. A third man, Joe Coschka, was knocked off the car but escaped serious injury. The companys troubles predated the explosion, according to the indictment. In 2013, OSHA completed an inspection of NRCS after receiving health and safety complaints from employees. One of multiple violations was a lack of monitoring of atmospheric conditions such as the presence of benzene while employees were in confined spaces. Steven Braithwaite signed a corrective action agreement with OSHA in 2015, certifying that benzene tubes were being used to test tanker cars at least every hour while employees were inside and before their entry, according to the indictment. But when OSHA came back to conduct a follow-up inspection in March 2015, it was denied entry. On the same day that OSHA was denied entry, Adam Braithwaite placed NRCSs first-ever order of benzene tubes, according to the indictment. OSHA then requested a plethora of records from NRCS, including invoices for benzene tubes. A week before the explosion, Adam Braithwaite emailed OSHA falsified records that showed that the company bought benzine tubes in June 2014, according to the indictment. In an OSHA interview after the explosion, Adam Braithwaite falsely stated under oath that NRCS began using benzene tubes immediately after the 2013 OSHA inspection. Tragically, two workers suffered preventable deaths because of the defendants failure to follow the law, Todd Kim, assistant attorney general of the Justice Departments Environment and Natural Resources Division, said in a press release. Todays sentence provides a measure of justice for them and their families. Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Sometimes, numbers are cold, cruel, impersonal. Other times, they are a measuring stick, telling a story of character, longing, a lifes work. Both cases were true Friday in a Douglas County courtroom. First, the cold and cruel facts: A 28-year-old Omaha man was driving 106 mph in a 45 mph zone on West Dodge Road when he crashed into a Toyota Camry driven by Jim Yungbluth a 63-year-old husband, father, longtime Omaha musician and Nebraska Furniture Mart employee. Yungbluth described as one of the nicest men to walk the Earth in his obituary died at the scene. Driver John Caillaus blood alcohol content measured .41% about 45 minutes after the crash. That is five times the legal limit of .08% for driving. Those numbers were so staggering that Judge Horacio Wheelock raised his voice as he repeated them. The court cannot ignore the fact that Mr. John Caillau was driving at ONE HUNDRED SIX MILES PER HOUR on Dodge Street at 4:03 a.m. July 9, Wheelock said loudly. Wheelock said he also could not ignore the staggering blood alcohol content. The first blood draw taken at the hospital was .41%. The second, hours later, measured .26%. Either one blew away Nebraskas legal limit, Wheelock noted. Wheelock then delivered the cold, hard terms of Caillaus sentence: 16 to 20 years in prison, a term that is cut in half under state law. Twenty was the maximum the judge could give Caillau for motor vehicle homicide. At that, Caillaus mom burst into tears. Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, she said as her son was led away in handcuffs. I cant believe this. One could have heard the same reaction from Yungbluths relatives the morning of July 9. And that is where the numbers begin to tell a story of longing. July 9 was the 25th birthday of Yungbluths youngest daughter, Cassidy. It was two days shy of Jim and Becky Yungbluths 29th wedding anniversary. Nine months shy of when Jim Yungbluth would have walked his oldest daughter, Carey, down the aisle for her wedding. Of when father and daughter would have shared a dance to the song Jim Yungbluth sang his daughters before bedtime. You are my sunshine, Carey said. It was his song for us. Yungbluth had so much brightness left to give Omaha. The bandmate and music lover had a fitting nickname. Childhood buddies dubbed him Chunga because, they said, he looked exactly like the cover photo on Frank Zappas third album, Chungas Revenge. Speaking of numbers, Chunga, a drummer and harmonica player, played in more bands than his wife could count. The bands spanned an assortment of classic names: The Eggmen, The Hornets, Jared and the Blues Teachers, The Good Guys, Front Porch Blues and OLUS (Old Like Us). Like any good dad, he had nicknames for his daughters, eventually calling his oldest daughter by the name of a famous blues harmonica player. She was Cass, Carey said of her little sister, and I was his Carey Bell. Yungbluth also had a motto, passed down from his dad, Loyson Joe Yungbluth. Be good, kind and careful. Sweet and lovable. Joe Yungbluth lived that motto while a caretaker and property manager at Boys Town where the Yungbluth children grew up. Later, Jim Yungbluth had his childhood home moved, via stilts, down West Dodge Road to a lot he bought in Waterloo. He and Becky raised their two daughters there, and the Yungbluth home was the gathering place for family celebrations. From Waterloo, Jim Yungbluth traveled Dodge daily, showing up for his 4 a.m. to noon shift to make sure delivery vans were loaded with Omahas furniture. He worked for 38 years at Nebraska Furniture Mart, the past several as a warehouse supervisor. Becky said her husband had the countdown going. That Friday, July 9, he had 255 days until retirement. A long post-work life was a real possibility, too. Dad Joe died five years ago at age 96. Then an aunt showed up at both Yungbluth daughters workplaces that morning. Cassidy said she had a horrible feeling but hoped against hope that she was just there to cart her away for a surprise 25th birthday party. It was the wrong kind of surprise, she said. That morning, Yungbluth was going east on Dodge at 90th Street, less than 2 miles from the Mart. Caillau, meanwhile, had been out of work from his job at Oriental Trading Co. because of a foot injury. His attorney, Michael Fitzpatrick, said he had been reeling from a breakup with a fiancee of a couple of years. Fitzpatrick repeatedly emphasized that Caillau had no adult criminal record. In November 2020, he was the subject of a police report that described him as being ejected from a vehicle that nearly hit a pedestrian and crashed into bushes in Sanibel Island, Florida. No arrests were made in that case. In this case, Caillau drank at least a half-pint of vodka and blacked out, Fitzpatrick said. Others questioned whether Caillau really blacked out. The cars internal diagnostics noted that it was going over 100 mph for a couple of miles before the crash. Fitzpatrick said Caillau had no memory of the crash. He has been overwhelmed with grief, Fitzpatrick said. For his part, Caillau turned to Yungbluths family in court and apologized: Theres nothing I can say to any of you to make any of this right. I completely understand if you guys hate me ... I just ask if you can find it in your hearts to forgive me ... I understand its not likely If I were in your situation, I probably wouldnt either. His voice trailed. Ryan Lindberg, the prosecutor, said he wished he hadnt had to watch surveillance video that captured the devastating crash. At 106 mph operating essentially as a missile, according to Lindberg Caillaus 2018 Chevy Equinox vaulted Yungbluths 1998 Camry into the concrete barrier of a bus stop, flipping it on his roof. By the time medics arrived, Yungbluth had died. Its hard to understand how this loss has affected and will continue to affect this family, Lindberg said. As one of his sisters put it, it was the loss of a common man who was uncommonly good. Brother-in-law Bud Sachs one of more than 30 family members and friends who showed up for Fridays sentencing hearing vouched for that. He called Chunga a true free spirit, a musician with a heart to match it. Not a mean bone in his body, Sachs said. He thumbed through his phone for a photo of Chunga, eventually settling on one. Standing next to Becky, Yungbluth had a slight grin between his salt-and-pepper mustache and beard. Crows feet framed his soft brown eyes. Such a good man, Sachs said. God always takes the good ones too soon. Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Three Omaha City Council members have joined a lawsuit launched by the Nebraska attorney general in an attempt to stop the enforcement of the citys mask mandate. Council members Brinker Harding, Aimee Melton and Don Rowe announced their participation in the legal action against Douglas County Health Director Lindsay Huse in a press release Friday. Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson earlier this week filed a lawsuit against Huse and other county and city officials challenging Huses indoor mask mandate for Omaha. In their press release, the council members stated that, By unilaterally decreeing a mask mandate, Dr. Huse has levied a substantial and invasive burden on the citizens of Omaha without the consideration and approval of their democratically-accountable representatives on the Council and in the Mayors office. The council members also allege that Huse has assumed for herself a legislative function and usurped the City Councils legislative power. Douglas County District Judge Shelly Stratman has scheduled a hearing on the lawsuit for 10 a.m. Jan. 24. The mandate will remain in effect until the judge rules otherwise or until Huse deems it no longer necessary. Huse has said that as she considered issuing a temporary mandate, she conferred with the county attorney who advises the Health Department, and the city attorney, both of whom told her she was on solid legal ground. Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said the citys Law Department will take the lead in defending the order because Huse issued the mandate in her role as the citys health director. Huses order, which she announced Tuesday, took effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday for schools and other public indoor spaces within Omaha city limits. There are several exceptions where the mandate does not apply. Peterson is seeking a temporary and permanent injunction declaring the mandate void and unlawful. He argues that Huse did not have jurisdiction or authority to issue the mandate. Gov. Pete Ricketts, who said Tuesday that he would ask Peterson to consider legal action, said in a statement that Huses action is an abuse of power that undermines trust in our nations pandemic response. In announcing the mask mandate, Huse said it was needed to slow transmission of the omicron variant of COVID-19. She cited an astronomical spike in cases that is threatening to overwhelm already strained hospitals and health care workers. Following the announcement, Dr. Mark Rupp, chief of the University of Nebraska Medical Centers infectious diseases division, said the mandate would help slow the increase in COVID-19 cases and cushion the blow on the metro areas health system. In the lawsuit, Peterson said Huse used language in her order that mirrored a previous mandate she unsuccessfully tried to impose in August 2021 and the mandate that the City Council adopted in August 2020. One section of Omahas municipal code says the Douglas County health director shall have the authority to adopt such rules and regulations, restrictions or measures as he shall deem necessary to protect the public health of the city. The lawsuit says that the state is suffering irreparable harm because Huses order circumvents Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services and Director of Public Health Dr. Gary Anthones right to approve or disapprove measures issued by county health departments. Anthone is one of the plaintiffs in the suit, which says Huses authority to issue a mask mandate under Omahas municipal code conflicts with applicable state law. Peterson also named Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert, Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer, Douglas County Sheriff Tom Wheeler and members of the Douglas County Board of Health as defendants in the lawsuit. The three city council members involvement in the suit pertains only to Huse. Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The photo taken on January 15, 2022 shows the well-prepared guided-missile destroyer Hohhot (Hull 161) berthing in a military port in Zhanjiang. The 40th Chinese naval escort taskforce composed of guided-missile destroyer Hohhot, guided-missile frigate Yueyang and comprehensive supply ship Luomahu sets sail on Saturday from a military port in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, heading for the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters. (Xinhua/Photo by Chen runchu) GUANGZHOU, Jan. 15 -- The 40th Chinese naval escort taskforce set sail from a military port in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province on Saturday, heading for the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters to replace the 39th escort taskforce. The escort fleet is composed of guided-missile destroyer Hohhot (Hull 161), guided-missile frigate Yueyang (Hull 575) and comprehensive supply ship Luomahu (Hull 907), carrying two shipborne helicopters and more than 700 servicemembers including dozens of special operation troops. This is the first time for destroyer Hohhot to carry out an escort mission. During the preparatory period, the escort fleet had conducted targeted training exercises covering the anti-terrorism and anti-piracy as well as replenishment-at-sea operations. The 40th Chinese naval escort taskforce composed of guided-missile destroyer Hohhot, guided-missile frigate Yueyang and comprehensive supply ship Luomahu sets sail from a military port in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province on January 15, 2022, heading for the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters. (Xinhua/Photo by Jiang Xiaowei) The 40th Chinese naval escort taskforce composed of guided-missile destroyer Hohhot, guided-missile frigate Yueyang and comprehensive supply ship Luomahu sets sail from a military port in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province on January 15, 2022, heading for the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters. (Xinhua/Photo by Jiang Xiaowei) The 40th Chinese naval escort taskforce of the Chinese Navy sets sail from a military port in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province on January 15, 2022. The photo shows sailors untied the cables attached to the guided-missile frigate Yueyang (Hull 575). (Xinhua/Photo by Jiang Xiaowei) The 40th Chinese naval escort taskforce of the Chinese Navy sets sail from a military port in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province on January 15, 2022. The photo shows the comprehensive supply ship Luomahu (Hull 907) departing from the wharf. (Xinhua/Photo by Jiang Xiaowei) ISTANBUL, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Turkey will no longer require unvaccinated people to submit a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test result for COVID-19 to travel in domestic transportation and attend crowded events, local officials announced on Saturday. Citing a notice sent by the Interior Ministry to all provinces, Istanbul Governor's Office said in a statement that PCR tests would not be needed before taking planes, buses, trains, or other public transportation. It also pointed out that the same requirement would be valid for attending concerts, plays, or movies. In addition, "unvaccinated civil servants, private-sector employees, and school faculty will also not be required to take a PCR test," the statement said. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday that the country abolished the PCR test requirement for screening purposes and for close contacts of COVID-positive individuals. He added that the tests would only be performed on people with symptoms. Meanwhile, the Omicron variant has become the dominant COVID-19 strain in the country for the last two weeks, pushing the number of daily cases to above 65,000 thresholds. Mask mandate I wish to thank Dr. Lindsay Huse for calling for a mask mandate in Omaha. I am really troubled by Mayor Jean Stothert and Gov. Pete Ricketts not wanting to do this little step to help curb the spread of the COVID-19 in Omaha and Nebraska. I may never vote for a Republican again. Clarence Padrnos, Omaha Little else As a physician whose patients include those with serious immunodeficiency, I can understand the concern and frustration in the increasing numbers of COVID illnesses and hospitalizations. I would be hopeful that a mask mandate could reduce these hospitalizations, but I am not certain yet that this mandate will make an appreciable dent in the number of COVID hospitalizations. But in this climate of escalation of hospitalizations, there is little else that can be done. We have let the opportunity to have had more vaccinated individuals, especially those most likely to be hospitalized. I do not have a quick fix for us but I do hope that, as seen in other countries, we are at the peak and that the numbers will decline. My parting comment is if you have not been vaccinated, please do so for the well-being of our community and hospital caregivers. Brett V. Kettelhut M.D., Omaha Thank you Thank you Dr. Huse for having the courage, integrity and care to implement a mask mandate in Omaha. Unlike Jean Stothert and Pete Ricketts, I know you care about the health and well-being of Omaha residents. The bottom line is, what Stothert is doing has and is failing. People are not getting the vaccine at the rate needed to slow the spread of COVID-19, and to relieve the overwhelming strain on our health care providers. If only in effect for a month, it can only help. Again, thank you, Dr. Huse, for looking out for the best interest and public health of this Omaha community. Shame on you, Jean Stothert, for not listening to the health care experts. Janice Mohs, Omaha Wagon circle Ill bet when Omahas medical director, Dr. Lindsay Huse, accepted her job here, she had no idea she was moving to a city and state that still felt the need to put their wagons in a circle every night. Dean Pierce, Omaha Simple question I have lived a long time and have seen many controversial topics be discussed and debated. Thats healthy. I have also experienced, recently, rancor and hatred directed toward people who are trying to help rein in the horrible COVID-19 pandemic. That is not healthy. This is happening nationally, of course; but now even locally. I ask a simple question: Why not masks? Anything that helps (or even might help) is a blessing. Brava, Dr. Huse. I am so happy you are doing your job to protect me and those around me. Len Sagenbrecht, Omaha The secret Regarding the new mandate for Omaha regarding the wearing of masks, I see they are not required when seeking government services or when attending church. It is nice to know that these facilities have been able to stop the virus at their door. Perhaps other businesses need to look into their secret. Steven A. Miller, Bellevue Collective responsibility Before we begin fighting the new mask mandate, I think we need to ask ourselves why we are fighting it. Lets not confuse opinions with informed medical facts. Last night on the news, I watched city council members give their opinions on an issue of public health whether masking in public protects people from contracting and spreading COVID-19. After years of learning about this virus, we know from medical experts that masking does help. Even with the more contagious omicron variant, shouldnt we do what each of us can to protect our hospital and medical professional capacity? Isnt that a simple thing we can all do, without feeling like our rights are being trampled?Please, if you arent masking in public, dont complain when schools dont have enough teachers for your children and hospitals dont have enough nurses or doctors when you need them. Ask yourself why there are staffing shortages and how we as a community can help change that. Dont abandon your ability to think logically, armed with facts. We are brandishing our rights without understanding our collective responsibility. Too many political leaders are talking about personal freedom when what we need to do to lessen the impact of COVID-19 is think about our collective responsibility. Rebecca Britt, Omaha FCC question I keep reading and hearing news stories about the interference of the new 5G phone system on the air travel industry. How can this happen in a country where most everything is coordinatized and regulated? So far, none of these stories has mentioned the FCC. I was under the impression that the FCC is responsible to coordinate such issues. Charles Richardson, Shenandoah, Iowa Vaccine thoughts Did you know that smallpox was eradicated through vaccination? Do you know the ratio of vaccinated to unvaccinated COVID patients in our hospitals? Do you know what our nurses and doctors are saying about COVID? What are your own sources of information telling you about COVID? The sources that undermine and divide us are hostile to vaccinations and masks, and they do not acknowledge COVIDs harm to doctors and nurses. They are a litmus test for truth, and if they are not telling the truth about COVID, what other vital information are they omitting or distorting? We must weed out these sources so we can eradicate COVID-19 and go on to solve the real problems like climate change. Nancy Packard, Lincoln Grow up Some Nebraska neighbors, be they police officers, retail workers, teachers, hospital personnel, dog walkers or children are walking vaccine mutation-maker hosts. With them, COVID has a willing host to infect, change and mutate into any number of NEW COVID variant diseases. COVID thanks you. COVID is feeding off of you if you are only partially vaccinated and dont have the latest booster. Waa waa waa. The CDC keeps changing their recommendations. They are just too confusing. I am just too lazy to be bothered, besides, I never got sick. It is a brand new disease and here you are expecting instant, never-changing answers? You sound like a child. Call the waaambulance. CDC recommendations will stop changing when each of us get the initial vaccines including the third booster and stop the spread by wearing a KN-95 mask. You can keep the disease from morphing into something new. This will really start to protect our kids, as well, unless you continue unmasked and semi-vaxxed. Then, there will need to be additional boosters because of your selfishness and pigheadedness. Partially vaxxed is an open invitation to COVID. We understand that with antibiotics, docs say use the whole 7- or 10-day amount or youll contribute to a weakening of the antibiotics future effectiveness. So, why did so many of you instead lose the effective use of your brains when it came to COVID by not following through with the recommended dosages? If you really wanted businesses to succeed, youd treat this airborne disease as the deadly threat that it is. If you really wanted businesses to gain workers, youd stop entering unmasked and unvaxxed. Havent you always spouted, freedom isnt free? Stop playing games. Most kids treat this disease more seriously than their parents do. Grow up because state leadership will not mandate community health and safety by regulation like they do requiring wearing a shirt and shoes into a restaurant. Lee Hazer, Council Bluffs Abortion discussion I can agree with many things Sen. Megan Hunt says in (Expand Access to abortion care, Jan. 2). Whether and when to have a child are life changing decisions a couple make together. However, she like other pro-choice advocates are fond of using euphemisms to obscure the real meaning behind their motives. Its not health care if you intentionally take a life, no matter where it is in its developmental cyclezygote, embryo, or fetus. She does not speak of the long-term negative health impacts to women who have had abortions. It would be beneficial to all if we had more information on these risks. Senator Hunt makes an appeal to help Nebraskans who are struggling financially including young, rural and Nebraskans of color. I agree and support the expansion of health care, education, and services such as Mater Filius, Bethlehem House and Micah House. My wish for Sen. Hunt and the Legislature in 2022 is to change the narrative from short-term decisions to long term care, support and love for the mother and family. Patrick Prince, Ashland, Neb. Power of truth Kudos to the OWH for the story Jan. 6 Capitol riot probe ready to go public. If there is any shred of hope that we, as a democracy, can survive , we must never stop speaking truth to power. It is anathema to witness our democratic undoing . Arguing with the other side to date has been fruitless, but we must never give up. In the words of Thomas Paine: To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture. Michael Leonard, Omaha Government spending Oh boy oh boy, we sure have a lot of money to spend! Whatever shall we do with it? Idea No. 1: Maintain a prudent reserve: Look to the ant ye sluggards. Idea No. 2: quit taxing retirees Social Security income! (Only 13 states tax Social Security) Idea No. 3: Get a consensus of where to spend money from the voters! Novel idea, actually considering the will of the people. Idea No. 4: Reduce property tax. Sadly, what will most likely happen is the legislature will begin lots of pet projects that will need additional funding for years to come. This will, of course, result in Nebraskans paying even higher taxes. It would be great if the four ideas above were implemented and we, the tax paying Nebraskans, could keep more of our money and we decide how to spend it. Most of us are quite generous and will give more to our chosen charities and spend more at the businesses we choose. Government needs to get its hand out of our pockets and be more frugal with out of control spending. Its not your money, its ours! Jim Bassett, Bellevue Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's new state budget proposal includes $125 million for land and training costs for a $5 billion Rivian plant, part of an economic development incentive package that's expected to be the largest in Georgia history. While the full details of the incentive package are still under wraps, Kemp's spending blueprint calls for $112 million for land acquisition and development at the sprawling East Atlanta Mega Site. An additional $6.2 million would finance the design of a Quick Start training and recruitment facility, modeled after a center that the state operates at the Kia Motors plant in West Point, Georgia. About $5.4 million would go toward "customized training and recruitment operations" to bolster the state's growing electric-vehicle industry. And roughly $550,000 would fund two positions in the state Department of Economic Development to support Rivian's project. That's just a part of the overall package that helped the state land the electric vehicle maker, which promises to bring at least 7,500 well-paying jobs at the plant and generate thousands of spinoff positions. Rivian, based in California, announced plans for the Rivian plant last year. The company's current assembly plant is in Normal. Beyond tax breaks and abatements, which will account for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of incentives, the Georgia package is said to also involve infrastructure improvements that could include a new interchange on I-20. Specially designed high school courses will also be set up for students seeking careers in the industry. And legislators are likely to debate significant changes designed to bolster Rivian and other electric-vehicle manufacturers. State economic development officials have not yet disclosed the details of the package, which is set to be released within weeks. But senior officials say it will far surpass the more than $400 million that Georgia offered Kia to win a smaller project in West Point. The funding plan is part of Kemp's 2023 budget plans announced last week. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Name: The Rev. Dr. Brigitte Black Position: Pastor of Wayman African Methodist Episcopal Church in Bloomington 1. How does it feel to be one of the five winners of the 2022 Bloomington and Normal Human Relations Commissions' "I Have a Dream" Award? I am honored to have been nominated and received this award. I feel my labors have not been in vain, and there is so much more work to do. 2. What experiences set you up to be qualified for this award? I came to the community in 2016. I have been trained in restorative justice practices and have put that training to use where it has been necessary. I work with Not In Our Town. We organized community listening circles after the George Floyd incident and the elections. The community listening circles provided a safe environment to dialogue about racism. I am on the Public Safety and Community Relations Board. I helped organize getting vaccinations in the arms of African American seniors and frontline workers. We brought the vaccines to an African American church in the community. I work with the Creation Care Team. We are working on ways the church/religious community can better care for God's creation. I volunteer my time and energy with the NAACP. These are some of the areas I have volunteered. 3. Which church are you a pastor at and what is its mission? Wayman African Methodist Episcopal Church, 803 W. Olive St., Bloomington. It is the oldest African American church in McLean County. This church has a history of fighting for justice and equality in this county and so we just walk in that same legacy. It is the first home of the NAACP. For years, the NAACP met at this church. Our mission involves justice, equality and saving souls, and so thats what we do. 4. In what ways can the Bloomington-Normal community improve its efforts in dismantling racism? We can keep the lines of communication open between the community and government. We can continue to have community listening circles where we listen to the stories of others. When COVID-19 has passed, we can break bread together. We can provide opportunities for growth, technical development and job skills for the underserved in our community. 5. Which types of values or ideologies that Dr. King instilled during his lifetime have stuck the most with you? As a very young child, 5 years of age, I attended Operation Breadbasket, led by founder and CEO the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a protege of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. So I learned from a young age that "I am somebody, I must be respected, and I must be protected." My life matters, so I marched and picketed injustice. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." This quote has motivated me to work for change and justice. We can make this a more loving, kind and safe world with the help of God. I am working towards a society where we love our neighbors and treat our neighbors the way we want to be treated. Contact Kade Heather at 309-820-3256. Follow him on Twitter: @kadeheather Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. NORMAL Jeff Zogg has had a very different life experience than most student teachers. He started student teaching this semester after an established career in journalism and communications. He and his wife are empty nesters and he has been running his own communications company for the last half decade. His move toward teaching started with driving a bus. A neighbor asked if I would help out the school district by driving a bus () I just really enjoyed that job, he said. From there he started substitute teaching, but thought that a traditional path to a teaching license with three years of full-time school and a cost of $50,000 or more was out of reach for him. I really felt like I want to be in the classroom, he said. He will now be able to get his certificate this spring through the Golden Apple Accelerators program. Without that, I wouldnt have a hope of becoming a teacher, he said. 'A real need for teachers' The Accelerators program is one of the ways Golden Apple, an Illinois nonprofit, is trying to address the teacher shortage in the state. The Illinois State Board of Education said more than 4,000 positions in school districts went unfilled in 2021. There is a real need for teachers, Zogg said. The Accelerator program provides participants a chance to earn a teaching license in 15 months. The participants must already have a bachelors degree and will receive a stipend and mentorship. They also commit to working in a school of need in the state for at least four years after finishing the program. The participants take classes at one of two participating colleges, either Eastern Illinois University or Blackburn College. Zogg is going through Blackburn College. He took 12 credit hours during the summer of 2021, and then 15 credit hours during the fall semester, while also doing a classroom placement. This semester he is student teaching. This last semester (the fall) was pretty rigorous, he said. Last semester he served as a long-term substitute teacher while doing his placement. That meant he was generally managing a classroom alone. Now he is student teaching five classes with three different cooperating teachers. "It's different from last semester because there's an 'adult' in the room," he said, referring to the cooperating teachers. Despite the rigor of having to take courses while also doing almost-full time placements, the program has given Zogg a chance to advance himself as an educator even beyond what he had learned in his previous experiences with students. Its really been terrific, even with the experience Ive had teaching and subbing, Ive learned so much (last) semester, he said. Local roots Zogg grew up in Merna, just east of Bloomington-Normal. He went to Unit 5 schools growing up, including Towanda Elementary and Normal Community High School. He attended Illinois State University, where he was a mass communications major. He worked weekends for The Pantagraph before finding a full-time newspaper job in South Carolina in 1988. He stayed at the paper two years to the day before moving to Indiana. There he worked for the Indianapolis News for about six years before it merged fully with the Indianapolis Star. By around 2000, he was getting worried about the direction the newspaper industry was taking. At the turn of the century, you could see things were going to start happening, he said. He spent the next nine years in Kansas City, working for Stonecroft Ministries, a Christian nonprofit. In 2012 he and his family moved back to McLean County while he continued to work remotely for Stonecroft. When it started to look like he would have to move back to Kansas City, Zogg instead left the nonprofit and started his own communications business, providing services like editing and writing. The move took him to meeting the neighbor who convinced him to drive a bus for Blue Ridge School District, and from there to substitute teaching. His classroom experience before now included being a long-term math substitute for seventh and eighth grades at Blue Ridge, he said. Zogg credits the staff there for teaching him about the education field and helping him toward his acceptance into the Golden Apple program. These nontraditional routes to teaching are important for helping more people into the field, said Normal West Principal Dave Johnson. These alternative paths give more people the opportunity to enter (teaching), he said. Zogg is in the second Accelerator cohort, and the first person in the program at Normal West, Johnson said. Zogg plans to pursue a certificate in social studies for high school, as well as a junior high school endorsement. Illinois has separate elementary and high school certificates, with the junior high grade levels being covered by an endorsement that can be added to either license. Zogg has no doubt now that he has finally found a career for life. This is what I want to do until my working days are done, he said. Contact Connor Wood at (309)820-3240. Follow Connor on Twitter: @connorkwood Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Want to see more like this? Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. BLOOMINGTON Gary Muhammad is a barber at A Kut Above on West Market Street, not far from one of the Bloomington Police Departments 18 pole-mounted surveillance cameras. The way Muhammad sees it, the citys plan to enlarge the camera network to include high-tech devices that can automatically scan license plates may be needed to fight crime but the approval process certainly should get public input. As long as they dont install cameras like they have in some cities where you automatically get tickets for speeding As long as its not that type of technology, thats a plus, he told The Pantagraph last week. However, I do think they need more time to study this more and get more feedback from the community. Powered by an attached solar panel, the devices operate similar to a deer or trail camera, capturing images of passing vehicles, said Jack McQueen, who supervises the Bloomington police crime and intelligence analysis unit. Information about the license plate and the color, make and model of the vehicle are sent to police. Data is encrypted and stored in an Amazon Web Services cloud for up to 30 days, unless its part of an investigation. The cameras, which can capture images of vehicles going 100 mph, have night vision capabilities as well. Police Chief Jamal Simington said the technology isnt new, but it has become more affordable and accessible. While the citys current surveillance system has assisted in major investigations, he said the new tools would boost the departments capabilities while increasing efficiency. The 18 cameras we have deployed throughout the city are not capable of what the ALPRs provide, said Simington. Were spending manhours, sometimes hundreds of hours, sifting through video from those cameras. Thats of course not a very good use of the publics money. Were rather mystified Flock technology is being used by more than 600 police departments in 38 states, according to the vendor. Locally, Springfield, Rantoul and Decatur have signed agreements. But the use of license plate scanners has been contentious, especially about how the data is shared and stored. The national ACLU has been the most vocal in raising concerns, writing as far back as 2013 that more and more cameras, longer retention periods, and widespread sharing allow law enforcement agents to assemble the individual puzzle pieces of where we have been over time into a single, high-resolution image of our lives. Carol Koos, president of the Central Illinois chapter, said it comes down to people who are not violating the law being monitored. To one degree or another, theyre going to be maintaining files of information on people who have not violated any law, she said. This is not something that the average citizen has agreed to. There is also the issue of public input. In Bloomington, the approval of installing the devices was placed Monday on the city councils consent agenda, the part of the meeting that includes routine matters and no discussion among members. All of the items are approved with a single vote. That status caught the attention of the ACLU, which sent out a press release urging council members to pull the item off of the consent agenda. On Monday night, the council voted to do just that, and then moved to postpone the decision until later. Koos, who spoke during the public comment portion of the Monday meeting, said the matter was mishandled. First of all, were rather mystified that they wanted to just put this on the consent agenda. That's really rather confounding, said Koos. Koos added, Community policing has been shown to really have an impact on the reduction of crime, including violent crime. So, this sort of work with the police and support of the council has been really good. But to put this on the consent agenda steps back from that. Were very disappointed by that and confused by that. Police officials said they had planned to discuss the proposal with the Public Safety and Community Relations Board, which serves as an advisory committee on law enforcement matters, but the January meeting was canceled because of COVID. Police also defended their plans for safeguarding the data. About Bloomington camera proposal THE PLANS: The Bloomington City Council is considering a proposal to place 10 automated license-plate readers (ALPR) in "areas of the city impacted by violent crime during 2021," according to a council memo. The Pantagraph filed a Freedom of Information Act and obtained the locations of the cameras. ABOUT THE DEVICES: The technology, made by Georgia-based Flock Safety, includes small pole-mounted solar-powered cameras that relay images to police. After the devices are placed, the police "department will engage with residents in these areas to discuss the use of the ALPR cameras, discuss their impact on public safety and address any privacy concerns." INFORMATION STORAGE: Only police would be able to access the data and retained for 30 days, unless it's needed for an investigation. "The Police Department also plans on being the first Illinois agency to release ALPR system usage logs each month on the Department's Transparency Portal," according to the memo. THE COST: $31,500 for the first year and $27,500 for the second year of the contract with Flock. McQueen, the police official, said it would only be used for major cases, such as a homicide, shooting, robbery, kidnapping or sexual assault. A limited number of vetted users could access the system, and each would have to specify why the data was needed. There also would be limits on data shared with other departments, and nothing would be given to non-law enforcement. Such data is exempt from the state Freedom of Information Act, which the public can use to access government records. Its a singular search, said McQueen. Youre not fishing through all these license plates for something because you cant run a name, you cant run anything other than the numbers on a government-issued license plate or a partial plate. Currently, arrangements also are in place to share information with the West Peoria, Springfield, Champaign, Rantoul, Channahon and Pekin police departments, and the Champaign County Sheriff's Office. Where the data is shared also will be posted on the department website. Exact data showing crime rate reduction due to the ALPR equipment was not provided to The Pantagraph, but McQueen pointed to a few local instances where such cameras were beneficial to an investigation. McQueen said examples included the BPD using ALPR data from another local agency to rule out a suspect in a March 7 homicide investigation on Clearwater Avenue. In another case, the Rantoul Police Department used Flock cameras to make an arrest in a shooting and attempted murder case that was tied to a homicide in Urbana, he said. Where the cameras are planned The proposal also calls for installing the devices only in areas that have had violent crimes like homicides, shootings, robberies and sexual assault in the past year. The list currently has the cameras at: West Market Street and Morris Avenue Clearwater Avenue and Hershey Road Prospect Road and Empire Drive North Hinshaw Avenue and West Market Street Oakland Avenue and Four Seasons Road Eldorado Road and Arcadia Drive South Main Street and the Interstate 55 interchange North Main Street and North East Street North Center Street and Graham Street West Washington Street and North Morris Avenue Police said there are no plans to have the cameras used to fine those breaking traffic rules. Various cities, including Chicago, have installed cameras that detect speeding and other violations. Fines are sent to the motorists. Carrie Flynn, who lives near the proposed Prospect-Empire camera location, said she supports the police departments work to stamp out violent crime, but like Muhammad, wondered if people will incorrectly think the new cameras are just to generate fines. As long as its for keeping people safe, I agree with that. If its for traffic, then no, she said. At Red and Blue Grocery, 1002 W. Market St., store clerk Christopher Szudy said hes mainly concerned with how the new cameras would be used and if they would be put on patrol vehicles. I thought they were just trying to get tickets off of it and generate money for the city like that, which I didnt see being a good idea, said Szudy. If theyre just doing it to stop the violence, then Im good with that." Bloomington Police Officer John Fermon, a department spokesman, said the equipment will be stationary. The LPRS are not going to be mounted on squad cars, Fermon said. Youre not going to have a patrol officer with a mounted camera on there driving around looking at suspended license plates or expired plates or mandatory insurance. The department plans to discuss the cameras, policies and crime reduction data at the Feb. 3 Public Safety and Community Relations Board meeting. The city council would also have to approve the plans. Koos, the ACLU official, said the public deserves to know what the police department is planning. Shes calling for a public meeting and more transparency about policies and effectiveness. The police really have been pushing community policing, she said, and that involves communication with the community. Contact Sierra Henry at 309-820-3234. Follow her on Twitter: @pg_sierrahenry. Love 1 Funny 2 Wow 1 Sad 1 Angry 2 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. BLOOMINGTON Twenty-eight years ago, Bloomington-Normal had about 50 to 60 Indian families and no place for Hindus to worship as a community. We didnt have a space, so we would (hold services) in peoples basements or in their family rooms, said Archana Shekara, a graphic design professor at Illinois State University. Every gathering we would have about 50 to 60 people and then the host would graciously cook for all of the 60 people. Since then, the Asian population has swelled to 8,142 people in the Bloomington-Normal area, an increase of about 12.7% in the last decade, and Shekara said she continues to see growth in hers and other minority communities that choose to make their home here. Throughout 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau will be releasing data collected from communities across the country during the 2020 Census. This data is used to determine the distribution of congressional seats, federal funding and community services. Racial and ethnic population totals were among the first data sets released. In the Bloomington-Normal metro area, which accounts for towns outside the Twin Cities as well, the data shows the total population has grown from 169,572 in 2010 to 170,954 in 2020. Despite the less than 1% change in total population, the racial and ethnic makeup of the community has become more diverse, with every minority group growing while the white population decreased by about 7.6%. Several community members noted a diverse workforce is drawn to the area because of the economic opportunity in Bloomington-Normal, including the major hospital groups, OSF HealthCare and Carle Health; insurance giants, State Farm and Country Financial; and other companies that have seen major growth and expansion recently, like Rivian Automotive, Ferrero and Bridgestone. People all people migrate to places for opportunity and that typically means better jobs, better housing, across all racial groups, said Camille Taylor, co-chair of Not In Our Schools as part of Not In Our Town BN. Illinois State and Illinois Wesleyan universities also pull academics of a variety of backgrounds and experiences to this community, including students and faculty. Its all about opportunity, to me, Taylor said. If we have equal opportunity employers that are employing people no matter what race, then maybe the proof is more minorities are here because employers are living true to their word. Maybe they are being equal opportunity employers, hiring more people of color. Finding community And as more Black, Indigenous and people of color enter the community, they are more likely to stay if there is a cultural community to accept them and limited barriers to their success. "If you have barriers, those would be the things that would cause you not to stay in an area, but if those barriers are removed, then you would settle in and this would become home," Taylor said, considering housing and transportation. "It just makes sense that if you have more resources youre going to have a better time settling in; less resources, youre going to have more challenges and you might not be able to stay." Shekara said her family used to travel to Chicago once a month for access to a Hindu temple, but one day her daughter asked why they couldnt have a temple in their home city. About 12 families came together to raise $10,000 that helped them gain momentum toward that goal. Once we got land and we started doing events every month word got out and it became really popular in the sense that people started believing in it and trusting, she said. In 2014, the Hindu Temple of Bloomington-Normal officially opened on Tullamore Avenue in Bloomington. Finding community within the wider community is what brings people to this area and what keeps them here, some residents said, returning to a common thread of jobs and families. Youre going to move to where your family is if your family tells you its like a welcoming safe place and a good place to live, said Charlotte Alvarez, executive director of The Immigration Project. So I think its a sign that were seen as a good place to live that we have increasing populations overall. In her work with immigrants, Alvarez said Bloomington-Normal has seen a significant Congolese population move into the community as well as a small but really united Venezuelan community, many of whom arrived with temporary protected status or seeking political asylum. Teddy Amoloza, a sociology and international studies professor at IWU, said Filipino-Americans also have developed a close community within Bloomington-Normal, coming together for celebrations that give a feeling of belonging to the community. Taylor, who began teaching in Normal in 1978, said they had a hard time retaining young Black women teachers who couldnt find the products they needed here, like hair care products and pantyhose made for dark skin. When you start getting into ethnic specialties, if there werent enough of those they would likely not stay, Taylor said, noting when she was at ISU she waited until she went home to Chicago to get her supply of hair products. Now, she and other people of color said they have more access to ethnically specific products in the Bloomington-Normal area, and more variety in places of worship. Carla Campbell-Jackson, first vice president of the Bloomington-Normal branch of the NAACP and an active member of one of Bloomingtons notable Black churches, Mount Pisgah, noted that feeling of belongingness is essential for community building. She said research indicates that belongingness aspect is so critical that it is actually linked directly to productivity, engagement, retention, self-esteem and then profit. So then why would organizations and institutions not want to capitalize on that? Representation and leadership While every minority population has grown, Linda Foster, president of the local NAACP, said the opportunities have not grown at an equal pace. We believe that theres opportunities here; its just that we need to widen that opportunity so that everyone is afforded prosperity and a better way of life, she said. Though several people noted Bloomington-Normal has a few people of color in political leadership positions, they also said more work needs to be done to recruit leaders in schools, businesses and other organizations. Along with the (population) increase comes the greater responsibility to make sure that the community mirrors the people that live in it, Campbell-Jackson said. And not only is that critically important, but its also critical that the minority population must have adequate representation. Frank Beck, a sociology professor at ISU whose research is in demography, statistics and community development, said he wasnt surprised that leadership in Bloomington-Normal was not as diverse as the general population, and you can chalk that up to the diversity hasnt made it into the ages that would end up being the leaders, doesn't have the experience that would end up being the leaders, and that its changing in that direction with each passing year. He noted that representation isnt going to happen overnight, and the causes likely lie outside demographics. There are economic reasons and there are cultural reasons and, yes, there would even be discrimination reasons for why that exists, Beck said. Of representative leadership, Amoloza said: Were not yet there; the community is not yet there. Its probably because immigrants and other people of color are still trying to find a way to have their voices heard and participate in political, social and civic events in the community. But I think we will get there. Shifting identities The highest rate of change between the 2010 and 2020 numbers was the population of people of two or more races. In 2010, 3,938 people self-reported as bi- or multiracial and in 2020, 10,809 people did, which is an increase of 174.9%. Beck said he thought it was more likely that change was attributed to a change in self-identification rather than an emigration of mixed-race people. I believe that the decrease in the white number and the increase in the two or more races is related to each other, he said. Alvarez, whose children would identify as Hispanic or multiracial, said she was struck by the increase in mixed-race population as a big contributor to the communitys growing diversity. More people are more proudly identifying and comfortable in identifying as coming from multiple heritages and celebrating that, which is another sign of diversity and inclusion, that you dont feel the need to conform and say, like, I blended into whiteness, she said. Beck also noted some people of African descent reject the label of Black or African American and may elect to identify in the other category of race, and because the census considers Hispanic or Latino as an ethnicity and not a race, those people may chose other as well, or a more specific racial selection depending on their upbringing. The other category grew from 2,603 people in 2010 to 4,314 in 2020, an increase of 65.7%. The Hispanic and Latino population grew from 7,434 people in 2010 to 10,524 people in 2020. Work continues While many people of color see Bloomington-Normal as a welcoming place to raise their families, The label of the other, of course, cannot go away, Shekara said. We feel like people are accepting, and because its a smaller community, its a great place for us to raise our children and the Indian community is so close, she said. But then you think about the larger community how much has the larger community actually accepted us? Amoloza said the changing demographics have been obvious to her, as she no longer feels like the only non-white person at the grocery store I just feel like Im one of many instead of one of the few. But Foster said the demographics can only be truly seen when they see change. Local and national NAACP membership has grown in recent years, and with that comes a push for more work to be done, she said. we know that what were doing will continue to make a difference and bring about change so that regardless of the color of my skin or yours or my gender or my religion, my nationality, my ethnicity regardless of all those things, I will be treated as a human being. Taylor said seeing these changing demographics encourages her to work harder with NIOT, to make our community more inclusive, to continue that goal that this community feels safe and that it feels inclusive for different people. And knowing that were getting more and more people from different backgrounds, that just encourages me to continue to work. Contact Kelsey Watznauer at (309) 820-3254. Follow her on Twitter: @kwatznauer. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. CHICAGO - Class is back in session for many college students across Illinois, and for some, the start of 2022 has felt eerily reminiscent of the spring of 2020. Cases of COVID-19 have continued to surge and break records the Illinois Department of Public Health reported 37,048 cases on Thursday and many schools like DePaul University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Northwestern University and the University of Chicago have opted to temporarily shift to remote instruction. As a result, students say they are battling feelings of uncertainty again as they work to stay motivated and stick to a routine. Hope Mailing, a 20-year-old University of Chicago student, said she was really bummed when the administration announced that classes would be remote until Jan. 24. I mean, its fine, it just feels like last year, she said. One of my professors yesterday was like, Hey, how do I make it so I can see everybodys faces? and I was like, wow, this just, this feels like March 2020. Mailing said remote learning makes her schooling feel like less of a priority, and it has taught her the art of missing classes. She added that while, in theory, she would like to stick to a good schedule, it can be easy to fall into the habit of sleeping in and watching a lot of TikTok. Nonetheless, Mailing said she is finding ways to make the most of her remote learning experience. Even just like getting up and going on a walk every day, it really helps to, like, have little things to look forward to, she said. Jonah Kaye, another University of Chicago student, said that while remote learning is not the end of the world, he felt that the universitys decision did not make much sense. We are going to remote for two weeks because we dont want omicron to spread in our community, but then in the letter, they acknowledge that when we come back after two weeks, there will be a lot of cases from omicron, he said. Kaye, 22, created a petition over winter break to advocate against remote instruction. It was signed by 75 students and 20 parents and alumni. I was just upset, and I felt like I knew other students were upset too, he said. The University of Chicago did not respond to requests for comment. For Nadia Hernandez, a 19-year-old student at DePaul University, one of the most challenging parts of remote learning is combating Zoom fatigue. She said she makes a conscious effort to monitor her screen time by getting fresh air, reading books and engaging in intentional human interaction. Though Hernandez said the switch between remote, in-person and hybrid learning environments has been a big transition, it has also taught her to be resilient. You have to kind of be prepared for anything, she said. Depending on how this quarter is going to go, I feel like as long as I just know, like, anything can be done from my computer, I should be all good. DePaul will resume in-person classes next week, and the university announced Thursday that it will be requiring booster vaccines for all students. For Hernandez, this news came as a relief. Im really happy with it, she said. I just wish it would have come sooner. As the community prepares to return to in-person instruction, Eugene Zdziarski, vice president for student affairs at DePaul, said the school is working to connect students with health promotion and wellness resources and provide them with as much accurate information as possible. I continue to be impressed with our faculty, staff and students in their ability to adapt and be innovative as well as the resilience thats come with this, he said. Its been a tough couple of years, but, again, I think weve learned a lot. Northwestern University is also nearing the end of its remote learning period, and classes are set to resume in person on Tuesday. The universitys COVID-19 dashboard confirmed 686 new positive cases during the week of Jan. 7, down from a record high of 909 the week before. John Volk, a 21-year-old Northwestern student, tested positive for COVID-19 and is quarantined in the schools isolation housing. He said remote classes have not been too difficult to manage on top of his illness, but the experience has been different from last year since he is in true isolation. I cant even go, you know, outside to go for a walk when I need to clear my head or whatever, Volk said. I cant go get something good to eat at the dining halls. Northwestern student Emily Yang, 18, who also tested positive for COVID-19, said her professors were very supportive while she was staying in isolation housing. Yang could not access some of the textbooks that were mailed to her while in quarantine, so her professors sent her the chapters she needed. I know the professors are trying their hardest on the academic front, Yang said, but I think that just the ability to make friends in class and be able to kind of make, like, study groups, or just (meet) people that you can, like, ask to send pictures of the textbook, for example its something that they cant really replicate. Yang was released from quarantine Thursday, and her friends, including 18-year-old Andrew Chang, were happy to have her back. I sprinted to her when I saw her coming to campus and gave her a really big hug, he said. Northwestern University declined to comment. University of Illinois students will begin their spring semester remotely on Tuesday. J. Rex Tolliver, the vice chancellor for student affairs, said the decision was made to help ensure the campus will be as safe as possible for students to return. Tolliver said that though these are difficult times for students, the university has done remote learning before, which means it has had the opportunity to find better ways for students to stay connected and maintain a balanced lifestyle. Regardless, Tolliver said students should not hesitate to ask for help if they are struggling. Reach out immediately, he said. Dont wait, dont try to think they can handle it, reach out to us and let us help them. Tolliver said the university will make final decisions on Monday about how to resume in-person instruction. U. of I. senior Charlie Foster, 22, said that though he was upset to hear about the return to remote instruction, the transition should be easier since the online infrastructure is already in place. Foster has to take extra care to leave his apartment to stay motivated when classes are online, but on the whole, he said the remote experience has taught him to be more flexible. COVIDs a big thing, but theres going to be way more events that happen in life, period, that youre never going to see coming, he said. And you have two options: You can sit there and complain about it, or you can do your best to adapt to it. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 At the end of a year that saw at least 800 homicides in Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot last month wrote to the Cook County chief judge with a request: Judges should immediately stop ordering certain defendants to await trial at home with an electronic-monitoring ankle bracelet. It would be a sweeping policy change intended to keep violent offenders securely behind bars, albeit with implications for thousands of people who would likely be kept in custody as their cases took months if not years to proceed. But many of the claims and statistics related in her letter and repeated at a press conference earlier this month are misleading and some are simply inaccurate, the Tribune has found after examining the cases highlighted by the mayor. Her letter cites data showing that 15 people were arrested and charged with murder last year while they were on electronic monitoring, commonly known as EM. But in at least five of those cases, the homicides actually occurred before the defendant was on an ankle bracelet, according to the Tribunes review. And in at least one of the 15 cases, the defendant was not actually charged with murder at all. The Tribune obtained a partially redacted list of the cases and identified the defendants by cross-referencing public records, and then brought the results to the mayors office and police. The letter also claims that 7-year-old Jaslyn Adams was killed last year by someone on EM a statement police Superintendent David Brown has also made. The Tribune reviewed records of all three men charged in her slaying, and found no evidence that any of them were on an ankle bracelet when she was shot. And the mayors letter significantly overstated the number of defendants placed on ankle bracelets while awaiting trial for murder after relying on flawed information from another agency. Lightfoots letter contends that some 90 people accused of murder were on EM. But as of Jan. 3, the day before the news conference, the number was closer to 50, the Tribune has found. In a series of emailed responses to questions from the Tribune about the moratorium, Lightfoot representatives repeatedly said that too many people awaiting trial in Chicago are violent offenders and that bond amounts have not reflected the seriousness of their crimes or criminal histories. The Mayor believes that defendants with violent criminal histories should not be placed back into the community on EM, the written statement said. Shootings and homicides are up more than 60% over two years in Chicago. In the wake of that violence, Lightfoot and Brown have repeatedly pointed the finger at the courts which are not under the citys control for releasing too many allegedly violent people before trial. By fine-tuning her argument to focus on electronic monitoring, Lightfoot joins a long-running and complicated battle over who should be on the ankle bracelets. And her claims paint a specific picture of the Cook County justice system, one in which gun-toting suspects are released from custody pretrial only to re-offend with impunity. Some of the allegations in the cases do in fact feature repeat offenders and people whose alleged crimes escalate. But the overall picture is far more nuanced. A judge has three basic options when determining where a defendant should await trial. They can hold the defendant in custody without bond; release them on their own recognizance; or order them released if they pay a certain amount of bail. In addition, the judge can order the defendant to wear an electronic ankle bracelet as a condition of their release on bond. Judges weigh a complicated set of factors in a short amount of time to determine whether the defendant is a flight risk or poses a threat to public safety. Cook County has two electronic monitoring systems: one operated by the chief judges office, and the other run by the sheriff. The data underlying Lightfoots claims appear to focus solely on the sheriffs home-monitoring program. Defendants on that program are meant to be effectively under house arrest, sheriffs officials have said, wearing the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure compliance. Fact flaws in cases Lightfoot earlier announced her call for a moratorium in an unusual year-end public safety speech on Dec. 20 in Garfield Park, where she said electronic monitoring should not be an option for individuals charged with violent crimes. The Cook County public defenders office cried foul immediately, saying it is unconstitutional to bar someones release from jail based solely on the type of charge they face. Chief Judge Timothy Evans later weighed in, raising the same concerns. Lightfoots request was documented in her letter, dated Dec. 29, which was sent to Evans, flagging a list of charges, including murder, attempted murder, aggravated gun possession, sex crimes, illegal gun possession, carjacking, kidnapping or attempted kidnapping. In it, she referenced two different sets of data as she made her argument to limit the use of EM, calling the ballooning release of violent and dangerous people on EMa driver of violence. One was from the Cook County sheriffs office, which stated that of the list of people released on EM, 90 were facing murder charges. The number, as it turns out, is incorrect. The sheriffs data labels other kinds of cases mostly attempted murder as murder cases, according to recent reviews of the data by both the Cook County public defenders office and the Tribune. Of 95 murder cases in a Jan. 3 list provided to the Tribune by the sheriff, for example, at least 45 were mislabeled. The sheriffs office, when asked about the count of 90 murder charges, acknowledged that about half of the current records should have been listed as attempted murder. There is nothing more important than the integrity of the data we use to evaluate the criminal justice system, the office said in an emailed statement. Confusion over the tally resulted from the inadvertent inclusion of attempted murder charges in the murder column due to a data error that has been corrected. Some defendants on the sheriffs list, while their attempted murder cases were mislabeled, are in fact people with histories of gun charges who are accused of shooting people. Others are accused of shooting at someone, but not wounding them. But the Tribunes review of the wrongly labeled murder cases also shows that some of the attempted murder charges are domestic-related or involve allegations that someone ran over the victim with a car crimes that, while violent, do not necessarily represent Chicagos gun violence problem. The faults in the data are why a blanket policy that takes decision-making out of a judges hand is dangerous, said Amy Thompson, the deputy of central operations for the Cook County public defender. Weve taken a lot of time to rebut what was easily fact-checked about this data that was relied on, and that distracts from our ability as an office to work up cases, she said. We take the courtroom and the justice system very seriously. That is where these things should be determined, with judges. Not public opinion. Lightfoots letter to Evans also cited from a second dataset, a list compiled by Chicago police that counted 130 times someone was arrested for a violent offense while on EM last year. The list, obtained by the Tribune, is titled EM Firearm Related Offences: 2021. This information covers individuals arrested for firearm-related offenses while on electronic monitoring, reads the top of the list, which was generated by the Chicago Police Departments Strategic Initiative Division. The Tribune searched about 60 of the 130 records, using various publicly available datasets to find details on some of the cases. Of the cases the Tribune was able to find, the most serious charge, murder, revealed some of the most obvious flaws. Fifteen people on electronic monitoring picked up a new murder charge last year, according to the citys list of 130 defendants. But at least five of those arrests were for homicides that happened before the suspect was given an ankle bracelet. One such defendant was ordered to electronic monitoring in July 2021 on a gun-possession case. A few months after that, he was charged with murder in a homicide that had happened almost two years earlier, in December 2019. Another defendant was placed on EM in January 2021 after being charged with a domestic-related stabbing. When the victim in that case died, the charge was upgraded to murder and he was again ordered to the ankle bracelet, after posting a higher bail. At least one defendant on the list of 15 is not charged with murder at all. He faces an attempted murder charge. And the shooting he allegedly committed happened almost a year before he was placed on EM for a pending drug case. One defendant who did allegedly commit murder while on EM had been given the ankle bracelet for a pending drug case, not the kind of violent offense that Lightfoots proposed moratorium would target. Lightfoots letter also invokes one of the most heartbreaking shootings of 2021: The killing of 7-year-old Jaslyn Adams, who was shot six times while she waited in the drive-thru at a West Side McDonalds. The list of 130 arrestees who picked up a violence charge while on EM includes Jaslyns shooter, Lightfoot claimed. Brown has also publicly said that Jaslyn was shot by someone on EM. But in fact, none of the three men charged in connection with Jaslyns murder were on an ankle bracelet at the time of the shooting, the Tribune has found. One had been put on EM for a robbery charge, but a judge ordered the ankle bracelet removed about six months before Jaslyn was killed. He was out on bond but not on electronic monitoring at the time of the shooting. When asked by the Tribune, neither city nor police officials explained the discrepancy. Still, to Lightfoots overarching point, some of the 130 cases on the list do in fact show a defendants alleged recidivism or even escalation while on electronic monitoring. An alleged gang member was charged with gun possession in 2018 and given a $100,000 bond, plus EM as a condition of bail; it was lowered to $50,000 plus EM a few months later, over prosecutors objection. In February 2020, a charitable bail fund posted the necessary $5,000 for his release in the ankle monitor. In October 2021, police executed a search warrant at his home, according to an arrest report. They saw a blue backpack thrown out of a window. A weapon inside came out and when it landed, fired a round, the report stated. The alleged gang member was found next to an open window inside the apartment, according to police. Officers ultimately recovered a high-powered rifle, a 50-shot drum magazine, and a loaded Glock handgun with a conversion switch giving it the power of a fully automatic weapon. He was given a $250,000 bond on the new case, without the option of the ankle monitor. Another man was put on EM after he was allegedly found with a pistol in September 2020. In January 2021, police arrested him near the Magnificent Mile carrying a loaded Glock 19 with an extended magazine and a conversion switch, according to his arrest report. But gun possession cases can encompass a range of allegations, sometimes not even involving a firearm, which the Tribune found to be true in some of the cases highlighted by the mayor. One defendant on the list of 130 had been released to EM in the spring of 2021 after a weapons charge, allegedly for carrying nothing more than a bullet. He was arrested in October 2021 for carrying a handgun. In another case, a man on electronic monitoring was arrested in April 2021 after Chicago police found a pellet gun sticking out of a pile of clothes in his apartment during an inspection at his building. Thompson said the quality of the data combined with its relatively small size does not demand a new blanket policy about how EM is determined. It does seem like a scarier time, but the courthouse is doing what they are supposed to do, she said. They are doing the right thing. They are considering very carefully who belongs in custody and who doesnt. I think they deserve more respect and credit than blame. Sheriff Tom Dart, who is in charge of administering the EM program and has also expressed concern about the violent backgrounds of some people on EM, acknowledged at a recent town hall meeting that the vast majority of people on electronic monitoring, even for violent charges, are not re-offending. Message takes hold Public complaining from Chicago police and city leaders over the release of violent offenders is hardly a new dynamic. But experts and longtime observers say Lightfoot has taken the rhetoric to a new high, speaking in sweeping, certain terms about a courthouse that is anything but that. At her Jan. 4 news conference related to public safety, Lightfoot again made extended comments urging the courts to hold people she referred to as violent offenders in the jail while their cases were pending. Brown then pleaded with reporters to tell more stories about victims of gun violence, beseeching them to prick the hearts of judges so they will hold people in jail. The message is taking root, with residents at community meetings in Chicago seizing on the narrative that too many violent people are on EM. Just this week, state Rep. Margaret Croke and state Sen. Sara Feigenholtz said they want to pass a state law that would prevent judges from granting EM for certain violence offenses. Research is not there Some criminal justice experts consider the focus on electronic monitoring a distraction from the kind of violence reduction work that can be effective in reducing crime. Nearly every community in Chicago has seen an increase in violence over the past two years, as have many major American cities. Several have set records, evidence to researchers that the forces driving gun violence are widespread. It all happened during a deadly pandemic that shuttered schools and social services and caused economic stress. Gun sales surged during the pandemic. And policing as a profession has faced sharp, painful criticism in the wake of the killings of Black people by officers. All of it makes for a complicated yet urgent situation that puts intense pressure on policymakers and elected officials, experts said. Some have cautioned, however, against prioritizing pretrial detention as a strategy to reduce violence. In a report released this week, a group of national experts, including a police officer and a judge, argued for bringing both community and law enforcement efforts to bear on the specific locations where violence happens, which in Chicago would mean targeting blocks with high rates of violence for sustained, strategic police deployments and community support. But unfocused or sweeping decisions on detention are not the goal, said Emily Owens, a University of California, Irvine criminology and economics professor who was part of the group. That is something where the evidence-based research is not there, Owens said. The policy goal is not to incarcerate more people. The policy goal is to reduce violence. Its not clear with pretrial detention that this will cause this next step. Lightfoots office, when asked about the mayors own strategies to stop the gun violence, said Chicago police continue to investigate gun crimes with federal partners and directed the Tribune to the Police Department for more information. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 An inspector generals investigation found a troubling series of unfounded statements were made by Mayor Lori Lightfoots administration over the wrongful police raid of Anjanette Youngs home, according to the IGs quarterly report. Lightfoot, a mayors office spokesman and the head of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability all made false or misleading statements about the case, according to a summary of former Chicago Inspector General Joseph Fergusons report that was released Friday. Lightfoots office has refused to release the full 163-page report on the case. Aldermen voted last month to settle Youngs lawsuit against the city for $2.9 million, ending a legal case that became an embarrassment for Lightfoot after her administration tried to prevent footage of the botched raid from airing. Acting on a bad tip that a man with an illegal firearm lived in the apartment, 13 police officers raided Youngs home in February 2019, restrained her while she was getting ready for bed and forced her to stand handcuffed and naked as they searched her residence. The situation garnered national attention in December 2020 after Lightfoots administration took the extraordinary step of seeking a court order to stop WBBM-Ch. 2 from broadcasting video of the raid. In their filing, city lawyers noted that Youngs attorney had asked the court to order the city to produce body camera footage in February 2020. But the lawyers objected because they believed it was an attempt to provide the media with the body-worn camera to paint an inaccurate picture of what happened during the subject search warrant. A federal judge ruled that the city had to produce the video to Youngs lawyer, subject to a confidentiality order, which the lawyer violated in December 2020 by giving the video to WBBM-Ch. 2 News. Amid the fallout, Ferguson opened an investigation. Lightfoot also commissioned law firm Jones Day to conduct its own investigation, which last month found that city officials failed to follow appropriate procedures, did not adequately communicate across departments and did not live up to the public service mission in their handling of the botched police raid on Youngs home. But the firm also said it found no evidence of purposeful concealment by the mayor or any department, even though city lawyers objected to releasing video from the raid to Youngs lawyer because they were concerned it would be given to the media. Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. The IG report faults a deputy press secretary for misleading a WBBM-Ch. 2 reporter and takes issue with Lightfoots early comments about the raid. In December 2020, Lightfoot falsely claimed she had no knowledge of the matter, which occurred before she took office, and that her administration hadnt refused to give Young video of the raid. But the mayor soon acknowledged that members of her staff had told her about the raid via emails in November 2019, as Ch. 2 was reporting on search warrants being served at incorrect addresses. But she said she had no recollection of the emails. In an email sent Nov. 11, 2019, former Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Susan Lee forwarded a summary of CBS reporting on the case to Lightfoot and said, Please see below for a pretty bad wrongful raid coming out tomorrow. The summary said Young was handcuffed by police, and officers allegedly left her standing for 40 minutes handcuffed and naked while all-male police officers search her apartment. The email noted that Young had been asking for the body camera footage but hadnt heard back from police. Half an hour later, Lightfoot responded to the thread with an urgent request for a meeting. I have a lot of questions about this one, Lightfoot said. Can we do a quick call about it? Is 10:00, ie 10 minutes from now possible? Although Lightfoot has claimed she focused on systemic questions about wrong raids, the IG report found that Lightfoot asked detailed questions about the facts and circumstances of the Young wrong raid and any litigation or administrative investigation into the raid during a conference call with senior staffers. A city lawyer asked a Chicago Police staffer to retrieve the body camera in mid-November 2019, the report said, saying a supervisor came to my office and said the Mayors Office is freaking out about this case, why dont we have a video. Sydney Roberts, former chief administrator with Civilian Office of Police Accountability, made an unfounded statement during testimony before the City Council in December 2020 regarding the raid and the citys response, the report said. Roberts told aldermen that the agency had complied with a requirement that it notify the mayor, City Council and others about any COPA investigation open longer than six months. But the inspector general found that had been no such notification, according to the report. The raid also wasnt reported to COPA until nearly nine months after it occurred. Within days of the raid, Youngs pastor got her on the phone with a Chicago police commander who apologized but also defended the officers involved in the raid, the report said. Former senior police officials told the inspector general that they became aware of the raid shortly after it occurred because the same commander had informed them about it. But none of them reported the raid to COPA, the report said. COPA wasnt notified of the raid until the Mayors Office assistant press secretary reached out to a COPA public information officer and inquired about the raid as part of the citys response to Young and Ch. 2s open records request for body-worn camera footage, the report said. Before Roberts testified before the City Council, she was invited to a prep session with the mayors intergovernmental affairs team. Her statement received multiple edits from mayors office staff, which the IG concluded created an appearance of political influence and diminished the agencys institutional independence. COPA took issue with that finding, arguing that none of these exchanges involved substantive or confidential information about the investigation, or in any way evinced attempts to influence or compromise its integrity, according to the report. Chicago police told the IGs office that it has reformed search warrant processes, though the Lightfoot administration continues to oppose broader reforms pushed by Young. The department also hired additional FOIA officers for positions that were unfilled in 2018 and 2019, the report said. In its response to the report, COPA agreed with concerns regarding FOIA practices and said it has made several changes, including establishing a Video Release and Transparency Unit in its 2022 budget that will centralize its transparency process into one integrated unit with FOIA officers. The department said it will no longer issue blanket FOIA denials and will require a clearly articulated argument for how released materials would interfere with an open investigation. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 SANAA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Yemeni government army backed by the Saudi-led coalition recaptured Harib district in the central province of Marib on Saturday from the Houthi militia after a deadly battle, a military source told Xinhua. The Yemeni army entered the district's central town this morning and now is combing the areas surrounding it, the source at the frontline said on condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV reported that the coalition carried out 33 airstrikes on Marib in the past 24 hours, destroying 21 vehicles of the Houthi militia and killing 190 militants. The Houthi media has not made its comment yet. The Houthis seized Harib and several other districts in the government-controlled province last year. Last week, the Yemeni army recaptured three districts in the adjacent province of Shabwa from the Houthi militia after a 10-day battle, taking the whole province of Shabwa from the militia. Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa. Illinois is in line to receive nearly $1.4 billion in federal funding over five years to help upgrade the states deteriorating bridges, the Biden administration is set to announce Friday. The funding, which comes from the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan President Joe Biden signed into law in November, is just a portion of the roughly $17 billion the state is expected to receive from the overall package. The funding should provide a boost to a state that has more than 2,300 bridges rated in poor condition, according to federal data, the third-largest total among all 50 states. The money comes on top of Gov. J.B Pritzkers ongoing Rebuild Illinois construction program, a six-year, $45 billion effort to improve the states roads, bridges, rails and public buildings. Pritzkers office did not respond to a request for comment on how the Illinois Department of Transportation will allocate the funds, including the nearly $275 million the state will receive this year. Democratic U.S. Reps. Brad Schneider of Deerfield, Jan Schakowsky of Evanston and Mike Quigley of Chicago have scheduled a news conference Friday morning at the site of one potential project: the Rand Road bridge over the Des Plaines River in northwest suburban Des Plaines. The bridge is in poor condition and needs to be replaced, at a cost of more than $12 million, according to IDOTs most recent multiyear plan. There is no shortage of bridges we could have gone to in our district or across the state that are going to benefit from the money thats coming in, Schneider said Thursday. The federal program, which will distribute $26.5 billion nationwide over five years to upgrade 15,000 bridges, is the largest investment in the nations bridges since the creation of the interstate highway system, according to the White House. It will be followed by a $12.5 billion competitive grant program targeting the nations most economically significant bridges. The funding to be announced Friday is intended to spur improvements to bridges under the jurisdiction of counties and local governments. Rather than requiring state and local governments to provide 20% of the funding, as is typically the case, this program allows projects to be paid for entirely with federal funds. This federal investment is going to have immediate impact, create quality jobs and improve the lives in every one of our communities, Schneider said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 House Speaker Chris Welch marked his one-year anniversary as his chambers top leader with a series of news media interviews last week. One of the questions I asked was what his legislative districts constituents were talking to him about the most. The number one issue in my district, and this is across the state, is crime, Speaker Welch said. Welch said he is telling people in his district that hes working on legislation to address carjacking, organized retail theft and other crime-related issues. He also said hes talking to mayors and police chiefs in his suburban district about their ideas. And Welch said he wants to put money into the state budget. I want to make sure our police are properly funded, properly trained, properly educated. When told about Speaker Welchs response, House Republican Leader Jim Durkin said, in part, Democrats must just be getting their polling in, showing how disastrous their defund the police and anti-crime victim agenda has been with Illinois voters. Talk is nice, but actions are more important. Just last week the Democrats again passed a law that gives accused criminals more rights than victims. It is no surprise that the number one issue in Speaker Welchs district is crime, because Democrats have created a consequence free Illinois that has emboldened criminals. Im hearing from people in both parties that current poll results are extremely ominous for Democrats, particularly in the suburbs. Welch told me hes well aware of the political climate as we head into the election season. I mentioned that former House Speaker Michael Madigan was often criticized for living in 1994, when Democrats were swept out of office after a massive, racialized anti-crime backlash. But, in a somewhat bizarre twist, it was Madigans strong support for the Black Caucus criminal justice reform pillar as part of his last-minute attempt to hold onto power a year ago that resulted in the controversial bills passage. That bill has intensified the Democrats political woes. We're going to be fine in 2022, but it's not going to be given to us, weve got to do the work, Welch said. And there's a lot of difference between 2022 and 1994. There's a lot of ways to communicate to voters that exist now that didn't exist in 1994. Also, the Republicans drew the legislative district map ahead of that 1994 national blow-out. Madigans Democrats managed to hold on to the majority during the 1992 race, but lost it two years later (and then regained it in 1996). As far as Leader Durkin is concerned, Welch was completely dismissive. Leader Durkin has proven that he can't get past Speaker Madigan, Welch said, adding that Durkin is stuck in a partisan fight in his own mind, and so we've got to find other ways to work with members on his side of the aisle. Welch is disclosing that he has $12 million cash on hand in his caucus and personal campaign committee accounts. Madigans standard election cycle budget was $30 million, but Welchs operation also focuses on helping members raise money for themselves, which is not something Madigan ever did. Even so, he has a long way to go. There was never a fundraising apparatus within the caucus political side, Welch said. Were also helping our members with their political messaging. From a social media standpoint, we're providing them with content. That's never been done before. He also claimed that his members have had quite a successful year when it comes to fundraising. And with petition circulation kicking off last week, I asked House Speaker Chris Welch what will happen if any of his House Democratic members attracts a primary opponent. Will he step in to help with money and people? I have told our caucus members that it is my plan in every sense of the word to protect incumbent members, Welch said. And we will do that. By the way, I also asked Senate President Don Harmon what people in his district are telling him. What Im hearing most, Harmon said, is a longing for something that resembles getting back to normal. It is most often voiced in growing concerns about crime, schools and COVID. Normal seems so far away right now. Rich Miller publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The Bloomington City Council really should have anticipated that plans to mount automated license plate-reading cameras would cause a stir. Yet approval of the devices was placed on the "consent agenda" of the Monday meeting. That's the place where routine matters minutes, bills and other perfunctory items are voted on en masse without discussion or individual motions. But installing high-tech video surveillance that constantly captures the license plates of the citizenry is hardly perfunctory. As reported in The Pantagraph, the Police Department wants to have 10 such cameras in "areas of the city impacted by violent crime during 2021," according to a council memo. The pole-mounted solar-powered devices scan plates and relay the details to police. The two-year contract with Georgia-based Flock Safety would total $59,000. Even though Bloomington already has public safety cameras, this expansion caused the Central Illinois chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union to send out a message urging the council to pull the vote from the agenda. The members tabled the motion. That was the right call. Even though there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in public places, this kind of sophisticated equipment triggers obvious "big brother" comparisons. To some, each persistently monitoring lens represents an unnerving loss of private information. To others, there are undeniable benefits. In other communities, the images have spotted suspects in serious crimes and tracked their whereabouts, giving police another tool to make communities safer. The Bloomington Police Department, in its memo, also seemed to quash concerns about how long the data would be stored another major worry for privacy advocates. The ACLU in a 2013 report about license plate readers said "information is often retained for years or even indefinitely, with few or no restrictions to protect privacy rights." In the case of Bloomington, the data would be kept for 30 days if it's not part of an investigation. And the department would also post on the city website monthly logs about how the system was used. Police also pledged to "engage with residents in these areas to discuss the use of the ALPR cameras, discuss their impact on public safety and address any privacy concerns." But that conversation would happen after the devices are installed, according to the memo. A larger community dialogue should happen. The public deserves more time to process what's being planned. And that's something city officials ought to have seen coming. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Minister of Education and Member of Parliament (MP) for Bosomtwe, has stressed the need for Ghana to take science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education seriously. According to him, this was the way to go to harness the development potential of the country, saying studies had shown that the accelerated growth of any society was dependent on the depth of its technocrats and scientists. We should encourage our youth to take up courses on STEM to churn out the requisite creative thinkers to address the countrys development challenges, he told the Ghana News Agency, in an interview at Jachie in the Ashanti Region. This was on the sidelines of the presentation of an educational scholarship package for some 61 tertiary students in the Bosomtwe Constituency. The beneficiaries, made up of 53 engineering and eight medical students, and selected from various communities in the Constituency, have gained admissions to pursue medicine and engineering-related courses at various Ghanaian universities. They include the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) as well as University for Development Studies (UDS). This brings to 91 the total number of engineering and medical students in the Constituency, currently being supported by the Minister to complete their university education. My vision is to get 100 engineers from this Constituency within a 10-year period, he told the GNA, adding that the sponsorship, coming from his own personal resources, covered school fees, accommodation, and feeding. Aside from the package, the Minister is also providing the beneficiaries with laptop computers to enhance their educational development. Touching on the Yaw Osei Adutwum Foundation, he said the initiative was meant to contribute significantly to improving the human resource base of the Constituency. Dr Adutwum advised the students to justify their selection for the scholarship package by studying assiduously to realize their goals in life. You should remember that you have your own destiny in your hands, the Minister remarked. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has condemned the attack on Radio Ada (93.3 FM), a community radio station in the Greater Accra region. The Foundation has demanded an immediate investigation and prosecution of perpetrators. A group of thugs numbering about 12 on January 13, 2022, stormed the premises of the community radio station, assaulted two of its journalists and vandalised equipment. A journalist at Radio Ada who is also the External Communications Officer of the media house, Julius Odoi, told the MFWA that the hoodlums invaded the station at around 11:45 am after a drinking binge at a nearby drinking bar. They demanded to see the Manager and when told by the security guards that he was not available, the intruders forcibly entered the building. They broke the studio door and caused mayhem. According to Odoi, the thugs ordered Gabriel Korley Adjaotor, who was presenting a music programme, to stop his presentation. Before the presenter could react, they disconnected cables, smashed computers and attacked the console and microphones, disrupting the broadcast in the process, Odoi told the MFWA in a telephone conversation. After upsetting the studio, the thugs assaulted the presenter amidst warnings to the station to stop its Manor Munyu programme, a regular feature that discusses the state of the salt mining industry, the mainstay of the Ada economy. The invaders who had come carrying bottles of alcohol, also forced another journalist, Gideon Amanor Dzeagu, to kneel for several minutes while they proceeded to turn the whole premises into a mess by breaking their bottles and littering the place with alcohol and shards. The Ada Songhor programme is highly critical of the operations of Electrochem, the firm accorded the rights to mine salt in the Songhor Lagoon. Electrochem has in the past had to write to the Management of the radio station to complain about alleged misrepresentations about its operations and demand an apology. There is, however, no indication that the attackers are linked to the salt mining firm. Meanwhile, the presenter, Gabriel Korley Adjaotor, is said to be responding to treatment, having been rushed to the District Hospital for attention. The Ada District Police Commander, DSP Andreas Mifetu, confirmed to the MFWA in a telephone chat that his outfit issued a medical form to the presenter after the station reported the assault. The Police chief also confirmed that a team of officers have been dispatched to the premises of Radio Ada to verify the incident, as part of investigations. The management of the radio station, in a statement, has announced that the station will shut down for a few days to enable it to review and repair the extent of the damage caused. Radio Ada has a reputation for critical reports which hold the powerful to account. On August 2, 2018, the police stormed the station in search of one of its radio presenters, Joseph Korletey Korley, popularly known as DJ Koxterio. The journalist had angered the chiefs of the traditional area by demanding that they account for the funds raised at the annual cultural festival, Asafotufiami. The MFWA vigorously condemns this shameful attack on Radio Ada and its staff by the cowardly hoodlums. It is a vicious attack that seeks to silence the media house and instil fear in journalists. We are confident that the station and its staff will continue to stand firm in service to the public and demand that the authorities take measures to provide them the needed protection. We urge the police to conduct thorough investigations into the incident and bring the perpetrators to book. Source: MFWA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video " " Hundreds of protesters flooded the streets of Crown Heights in Brooklyn to demand the defunding of the NYPD and to demonstrate against police brutality in the wake of George Floyd's death. Erik McGregor LightRocket via Getty Images Amid the anger and widespread unrest over the death of George Floyd while being arrested in Minneapolis May 25, 2020, (and then the shooting of Rayshard Brooks by an Atlanta police officer a mere 25 days later) many weren't satisfied just to see officer Derek Chauvin charged with second-degree murder and three others charged aiding and abetting the crime. (Brooks' death is still under investigation.) Instead, there's been a growing outcry in Minneapolis and other cities across the United States to "defund the police," a slogan that protesters boldly have painted in yellow letters on streets in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere. Beyond outrage over allegations of police misconduct or excessive use of force, calls to defund the police also reflect discontent about the vast amount of funding and resources that go into their budgets. Proponents of defunding question whether heavily armed police really make communities any safer, while arguing police departments are ill-equipped to deal with the real problems that many urban residents particularly chronically impoverished neighborhoods face. Instead, advocates want to see tax money diverted from departments and spent on other services such as housing for the homeless, mental health clinics, drug treatment programs, education and job training. Minneapolis city council member Jeremiah Ellison and other Minneapolis council members unanimously passed a resolution commencing a yearlong process "to create a transformative new model" for public safety in Minneapolis, where the city currently spends $193 million a year 36 percent of its total budget on cops. Advertisement What Does Defunding the Police Mean? Defunding the police can mean a range of things, depending on whom you talk to. Some argue for keeping departments but drastically scaling back the job they do. Instead of calling upon cops to deal with everything from public intoxication and domestic quarrels to armed robberies and homicides, reformers would have police focus on a narrow range of the most violent threats to citizens' safety. But others see police departments as too dysfunctional to fix and want to eliminate them entirely and entrust public safety mostly to residents who would maintain order in their own neighborhoods, using nonviolent methods of persuasion, turning to armed force rarely and only as a last resort. One big problem with police departments as they currently operate is that they're expected to do far too much, explains Rashawn Ray. He's a University of Maryland sociology professor and a Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. He has spent a lot of time studying police interactions with civilians and how to improve them. Ray wants cities to do a systematic analysis of its 911 calls. He believes that in most instances, they'll find that the requests involve non-criminal matters such as potholes and cats stuck in trees, or problems like mental health issues or drug addiction. Relatively few likely involve serious crimes. The endless grind of dealing with these non-criminal issues can cause police to become overburdened with paperwork, Ray says. And if officers sent to those calls primarily are trained to use aggressive physical tactics, their skillset may be poorly matched for the situations. To solve the dilemma, Ray says he'd like to see cities take a data-driven approach and reallocate some funding to agencies that could better handle the problems those areas face. "Allow for social services to step in and take some of the stress off law enforcement, and they can spend more time focusing on violent criminal activity," Ray says. The reallocating and refocusing formula would vary, depending on a particular community, Ray says. A big, well-funded suburban police department might have its own mental health unit, while a smaller town or city might find that it works better to shift money to its social services department. "There are 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the U.S., and there's not one size that fits all of them," Ray says. To curb use of excessive force by police, Ray also says he would change how cities cover the cost of settling lawsuits against officers accused of going too far. Instead of simply paying settlements out of cities' general funds, he says cities should have to carry insurance and pay premiums. That would give officials an economic incentive to get rid of officers who cost taxpayers a lot of money by racking up complaints. " " The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) held a protest march June 15, 2020, in Atlanta after the fatal shooting of 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks by a white police officer. The death was ruled a homicide by the county medical examiners office. WES BRUER/AFP via Getty Images Advertisement Replacing the Police Entirely But others aren't satisfied merely to divert a portion of police funding to social programs. In Minneapolis, the community organization known as MPD 150 is working to abolish the entire department. "Our goal is a completely police-free city, so in that context defunding is a part of that process," explains MPD 150 member Martin Sheeks, who emphasizes that it's important to give a wide swath of the community a say in how the system will evolve. "The long-term idea is that we create the systems we need to address the underlying causes of crime namely social inequities and unmet community needs and then have appropriate emergency responses when people call 911," Sheeks says in an email. "We don't need armed police officers responding to mental health crises." While Sheeks admits that solving underlying problems won't prevent all crime, he notes that in most cases, police don't actually prevent crime, either; instead, they document it and try to catch the perpetrators. But policing isn't working that well to protect minorities and the poor, "for whom it often causes more harm than it solves," Sheeks says. "If we're going to have a service that responds to those kinds of calls, they should be equipped to document the events and connect people with the supportive services they need, which is just not something our current policing model does. There are a very, very small number of situations in which you need an armed person ready to kill, and we will have to discuss what our solution to those problems as a city, but it doesn't make sense to shape our entire public safety system around those few edge cases when we could be spending that money on better solutions to more frequent problems." Another critic in favor of abolishing the police is Jason Sole, an adjunct professor in criminal justice at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a former director of the city government's Community First Public Safety Initiative in Minneapolis. "$193 million is going to a department that doesn't know how to stop killing black people," he says. Instead of relying upon police to catch offenders after the fact, Sole would focus on creative solutions for crime prevention for example, local residents who are licensed to carry firearms and insured to act as "peacekeepers" could provide a local emergency response team, though similar measures turned deadly in the case of Trayvon Martin. In Washington, D.C., a coalition called Defund MPD is pushing the District government to reject proposed budget increases for police, and gradually reduce the department's budget and invest more money "in programs that keep our communities live and well," explains activist CAM Morris in an email. Morris, current organizing director of the D.C. chapter of Black Youth Project 100, says that "defunding the D.C. police looks like directly impacted communities being able to make decisions about what resources they would like in their communities." That might include more funding for after-school programs, mental health treatment, drug programs and education programs aimed at preventing gender-based violence "essentially, whatever communities feel they need to be supported and uplifted." People in the community also could receive training on how to de-escalate potentially violent situations, which might eliminate a lot of the incidents to which police currently must respond. " " Hundreds marched in NYC to protest the 2012 acquittal of George Zimmerman, who was exonerated of all criminal charges in connection with the shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin. Viviane Moos/Corbis via Getty Images Advertisement Downsides to Defunding the Police Though George Floyd's death has made many Americans take a more critical view of the police, the defund movement faces some big obstacles. A June 12, 2020, ABC News Ipsos poll found that both defunding and diverting police funding to social programs are still opposed by a majority of the public. And the idea of defunding has been rejected by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, although he does advocate police reform and for making federal aid to departments contingent on whether they meet "certain basic standards of decency and honorableness. " Bill Sousa, director of the Center for Crime and Justice Policy and a criminal justice professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, is concerned that cutting funding for police could make policing worse instead of better. He explains that departments strapped for resources will be forced to fall back into what he calls a "reactive mode of policing," in which bike patrols and other crime-prevention tactics will have to be eliminated, and officers in cars who are scrambling to keep up with 911 calls will quickly bounce from call to call. Research over the past several decades indicates that when police are in reactive mode, "they're not very effective at managing problems in communities," Sousa explains. Sousa also cautions that even if police funding is shifted to mental health and other programs, the professionals trained to provide those services may find themselves dealing with dangers they're not equipped to face without police backup. In domestic abuse calls, for example, "sometimes de-escalation won't work. The question then is are you now going to train counselors to use force if necessary, and will they want to use it?" Sousa says he's also concerned that if police are replaced with local citizen patrols, those could turn vigilantism, or else find themselves dangerously overmatched against gangs and other violent criminals. Defunding or abolishing police aren't the only potential solutions for police problems, Sousa says. Another option is maintaining police departments but instituting reforms, such as mandating that police wear body cameras, provide training on de-escalation tactics, rewrite policies on use of force and give administrators more authority to fire problem officers. In law enforcement, "I think everyone agrees, you look at policies and make them better," he explains. "In fact, there's been a fair amount of reform that already has occurred in the past few years." But such efforts take time to have an effect, he cautions. However, some activists think the time is past and the situation too grave to rely on slow, incremental reform. Sweeping change is needed now. Sole says that while some people can't envision a society without police, "for those of us who've always seen them as oppressors, we don't have a choice but to dream big." " " Roosevelt Nesmith, 53 at the time this photo was taken, poses for a portrait on Aug. 16, 2013 in Camden, New Jersey, the same year that the Camden County Police Department was officially created and the unionized Camden Police department was disbanded. The Washington Post/The Washington Post via Getty Images Now That's Interesting In 2013, the city of Camden, New Jersey, dissolved its existing police department and created a new, countywide law enforcement agency to replace it, according to National Public Radio. Police who were rehired had to undergo psychological testing, and the department put more officers in the street on a regular basis to get to know neighborhood residents and build cooperative relationships. Excessive force complaints dropped from 65 in 2012 to just three in 2019, and the homicide rate was reduced by more than half. FILE PHOTO: Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. seen during his mother, Imelda R Marcos' 90th Birthday Celebration. On Monday, July 1, 2019, in Open Air Auditorium, Rizal Park, Ermita, Manila, Philippines. (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images) The About page of Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr.s campaign website as well as his senate biography page say that he authored Republic Act (R.A.) 9522 or the Philippine Archipelagic Baselines Law. Records from both the Senate and House of Representatives say otherwise. Source: Bongbong Marcos website As a legislator, BBM authored landmark laws such as the Philippine Archipelagic Baselines Law (RA 9522). With the ongoing international disputes, this crucial piece of legislation defines what constitutes the Philippine territorial sea, his campaign page reads. His senate biography website claims the same thing. In 2007, Bongbong was again elected to Congress, where he was appointed Deputy Minority Leader of the House of Representatives. During this term, one of the important pieces of legislation he authored was the Philippine Archipelagic Baselines Law (Republic Act No. 9522). The Philippine Archipelagic Baselines Law was not Marcos Jr.s work but of the late Rep. Antonio Cuenco one of Marcos colleagues during the 14th Congress. It was Cuencos version of the bill that made its way to the bicameral conference committee for synthesis with Senate Bill (SB) 2699 before being submitted to former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. According to the House of Representatives Legislative Information System (LEGIS), Marcos did author his version of the bill (HB 3969), but it did not go beyond the Houses Committee on Foreign Affairs. To his credit, he was part of the bicameral conference committee in crafting the report. A report also said that he supported the law. Such a claim dates as early as September 2016, with a Facebook page named "Filipino Fighting For Freedom of Information 4FoI" saying that Marcos authored the law with the late Miriam Defensor-Santiago. Source: Facebook/Filipino Fighting For Freedom of Information 4FoI The dictators son was not the only one who made this mistake. Build, Build, Build committee chair Anna Mae Lamentillo published an article in Manila Bulletin, saying As legislator, one of the most important pieces of legislation that BBM authored is the Philippine Archipelagic Baselines Law (R.A. 9522), which defines what constitutes the Philippine territorial sea. Emphasis ours. Story continues Source: Manila Bulletin/Anna Mae Lamentillo The article was soon edited after she received criticisms over the claim. It now says As legislator, one of the most important pieces of legislation that BBM was a part of is the Philippine Archipelagic Baselines Law (R.A. 9522), which defines what constitutes the Philippine territorial sea. Emphasis ours. Lamentillo is a graduate of BS Development Communication from the University of the Philippines, where they were taught the importance of assessing the quality of information. Mark Ernest Famatigan is a news writer who focuses on Philippine politics. He is an advocate for press freedom and regularly follows developments in the Philippine economy. The views expressed are his own. Watch more videos on Yahoo: Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso shows the decree for the expansion of the Galapagos marine reserve. Ecuador created a massive new marine reserve Friday north of its Galapagos islands, forming a Pacific corridor up to Costa Rica's Cocos Island National Park to preserve species of migratory fauna, such as sharks. President Guillermo Lasso, on board a scientific vessel from the Galapagos National Park (PNG) anchored in the bay of Puerto Ayora off Santa Cruz Island, signed the decree creating the new reserve called "Hermandad" (Brotherhood). To mark the opening of the marine reserve, he then cut a ribbon made out of materials collected during coastal cleanups conducted in the Galapagos. The new reserve is incorporated into the 138,000 square kilometers (50,200 square miles) of reserve that have existed since March 1998. So the archipelago that inspired English naturalist Charles Darwin has now expanded to an impressive 198,000 square kilometers of protected marine area. The Galapagos marine reserve, in which industrial fishing is prohibited, is the second-largest in the world. More than 2,900 marine species have been reported within the archipelago, which is a Natural World Heritage Site. Authorities are planning for protected areas in adjacent Colombia and Panama to join later, creating an international marine biosphere reserve. Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso (C) cuts a rope made of materials collected from coastal cleanups to symbolically inaugurate the expanded Galapagos marine reserve, with former US president Bill Clinton (L) and Colombia's President Ivan Duque. The leaders of those two countries also signed the decree along with Lasso. Lasso announced the expansion of the Galapagos marine reserve, which has unique flora and fauna and fragile ecosystems, in November in Glasgow, on the occasion of the COP 26 climate summit. The project was in exchange for a reduction in Ecuador's international debt. A 'clear message' The creation of the "Brotherhood" reserve is a "clear message for the world," said Lasso Friday, describing it as a "new relationship with the Earth, a new understanding of what constitutes progress for humanity." Colombian President Ivan Duque and former US president Bill Clinton attended the event, together with government officials from Costa Rica and Panama. Duque said that eventually adding Colombia's Malpelo islands and Panama's Coiba islands to the vast marine reserve will allow for the migration of species such as sea turtles, whales, sharks and manta rays. Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso (L) and Environment Minister Gustavo Manrique show the decree for the expansion of the Galapagos marine reserve. This new reserve "will guarantee the survival of 40 percent of the world's marine species," Duque said. "We may be a small territory... but the planet is also ours," said Lasso. "The seas are great regulators of the global climate," he said, adding that "taking care of them is not naive idealism, it is a vital necessity." Located in the Pacific some 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) off the coast of Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands are a protected wildlife area and home to unique species of flora and fauna. The archipelago was made famous by British geologist and naturalist Charles Darwin's observations on evolution there. Explore further 4 LatAm nations create fishing-free corridor in east Pacific 2022 AFP Credit: CC0 Public Domain Mexican authorities breathed a sigh of relief Friday when experts determined that a die-off of pigs in December at a local slaughterhouse was due to salmonella and Pasteurellosis, a commonly occurring infection, and not African swine fever. Mexico's agriculture department said 220 pigs at a slaughterhouse in the Pacific coast state of Nayarit were culled as a precaution. It said experts also detected Mycoplasmal Pneumonia, a common lung disease in pigs. The pigs started dying around Christmas, and were buried in a pit to avoid them further contaminating the food chain. It was determined the pigs did not have swine flu, which can sometimes jump to humans, or African swine fever. African swine fever can cause huge losses and force the culling of entire herds. It has been detected in China and parts of Europe. Explore further German farm to cull 4,000 pigs after swine fever detected 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. TEHRAN, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Iran's ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations said late on Friday that negotiations are underway between Tehran and the world body to lift the suspension of the country's voting rights at the UN General Assembly and enable Iran to pay its membership dues to the organization. In an exclusive interview with the official news agency IRNA, Majid Takht-Ravanchi expressed his hope that the talks would soon yield favorable results. He noted that Iran, as an active UN member, has always been committed to paying up its membership dues on time and has proven this in practice. Takht-Ravanchi's remarks came as Iran has failed to pay its membership fee for the second consecutive year due to the sanctions imposed by the United States. He stressed that U.S. sanctions have not only undermined Iran's ability to purchase humanitarian items and medical devices, but are also impeding the UN's work. "Last year, we eventually managed to resolve the issue through our resources abroad following our negotiations with UN officials," the Iranian envoy added. Iran's failure to pay up its membership fee on time is not due to a lack of resources, he stressed, saying resources are available. Takht-Ravanchi noted it's the U.S. that prevents Iran from the timely fulfillment of its commitments, adding that "we solely need to find a safe channel to be able to get the work done as soon as possible." UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced earlier this month that Iran and seven other countries have had their voting rights suspended over late dues. Under the UN Charter, if a member country's arrears are equal to or exceed the dues amount it should have paid over the preceding two years, its voting rights are suspended until the payment is made. The minimum figure Iran needs to pay now to restore its rights reportedly amounts to at least 18 million U.S. dollars. Iran had also lost its voting rights last year when the U.S. sanctions had prevented access to its billions of assets frozen abroad. The U.S. sanctions have been imposed since 2018 when former President Donald Trump withdrew from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Since April 2021, several rounds of talks have been held between Iran and the remaining parties, namely Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany, in the Austrian capital of Vienna to restore the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The fossil was first unearthed in Ethiopia in 1967. One of the oldest known Homo sapiens fossils may be more than 35,000 years older than previously thought, according to a study on Wednesday that used volcanic ash to date the find. Kibish Omo I, first unearthed in Ethiopia in 1967, contained only bone and skull fragments which were difficult to date directly and experts long remained divided over their age. Geologists in 2005 analysed the layer of rock just underneath the find and determined Omo I was at least 195,000 years old. That made the Homo sapiens fossil at least that oldand the oldest ever discovered at the time. "But there was still a lot of uncertainty," Celine Vidal, the main author of the study published in leading scientific journal Nature, told AFP. Vidal, a volcano expert at the University of Cambridge, said getting a more precise date meant analysing the thick layer of ash deposited above the fossils. "At the time that was nearly impossible since the ash was so fine, almost like flour," she said. But thanks to more refined methods available today Vidal's team was able to link that layer of ash to a major eruption of a volcano named Shala. According to the study, the ash revealed the layer where Omo I was found to be 233,000 years old, with a 22,000-year margin of error. "This is a major jump in time," said study co-author and paleoanthropologist Aurelien Mounier. He added that the new minimum age for Omo I is more consistent with the most recent theories of human evolution. It also brings it closer to the age given to what are today the oldest Homo sapiens remains, discovered in Morocco in 2017 and dated to 300,000 years ago. The skulls and teeth unearthed in Jebel Irhoud torpedoed the long-held theory that we emerged from an East African "cradle of humankind". But for Mounier, the physical characteristics of the Moroccan fossils are a less convincing ancestor of today's humans than Omo I. The Jebel Irhoud fossils are described as having a modern face but a brain case that, though large, has a more archaic-looking shape. "Omo I is the only fossil that has all the morphological characteristics of modern man," said Mounier. Explore further Earliest human remains in eastern Africa dated to more than 230,000 years ago More information: Celine Vidal, Age of the oldest known Homo sapiens from eastern Africa, Nature (2022). www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04275-8 Journal information: Nature Celine Vidal, Age of the oldest known Homo sapiens from eastern Africa,(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04275-8 2022 AFP A worker failed to shut off a valve Thursday at the AdvanSix plant in Philadelphia and up to 2,000 gallons of phenol spilled, with some possibly entering the sewer system, according to a police report. The incident occurred about 4:20 a.m. on the 2500 block of Bridge Street. The fire department responded, but did not call for an evacuation. No one was injured. Phenol can be toxic to humans. The company's Frankford plant is one of the largest producers of the phenol in North America. The chemical is used in the manufacturing of nylon polymer for carpet fibers, plastics and films, according to the company's website. Debi Lewis, a spokeswoman for AdvanSix, said the incident occurred as workers were loading a railcar. The plant is located just off I-95 and a channel that leads to the Delaware River; however, authorities said none of the chemical found its way to the river. "The team acted to minimize the release and promptly began its clean up, while at the same time notifying the proper authorities, including the local fire and police departments who responded to the site," Lewis said, adding, "at this time we believe there is no risk to the community." She said an investigation is ongoing and plant operations are continuing as normal. "As always, AdvanSix is committed to the safety and health of our neighbors," Lewis said. She said there are crews still on site for secondary containment at the Frankford railcar loading location. She said the phenol "was contained, and the sewers have been protected." Lewis expects clean-up will be completed by the weekend. However, the company did not have final figures as to how much phenol actually escaped but does not believe that initial reports of the amount were accurate. Kathy Matheson, a spokeswoman for the Philadelphia Fire Department, said emergency crews are only monitoring the cleanup. AdvanSix, she said, was already addressing the spill by the time responders arrived Thursday. It was not clear how much of the chemical, if any, ended up in the sewer, which runs to a treatment plant and, ultimately, the Delaware River. Phenol is highly irritating to the skin, eyes, and mucous membranes in humans after short-term inhalation or dermal exposures, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It is highly toxic if ingested, but that does not appear to have been a danger at the scene. Virginia Nurk, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said the agency was alerted to the release, some of which she confirmed entered into the city's combined sewer system. The Philadelphia Water Department also responded to the scene. Brian Rademaekers, a spokesman for the department said "preventative measures were put into place at the nearby inlets" and that there "was no indication that this situation impacted the Delaware River." Explore further Some oil recovered from broken pipeline after river spill 2022 The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC. Visit at inquirer.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. With the exception of September and December, each month of 2021 had Arctic sea ice levels in the top-10 lowest levels for those respective months, a US agency said in its annual climate report. The nine years spanning 2013-2021 all rank among the 10 hottest on record, according to an annual report a US agency released Thursday, the latest data underscoring the global climate crisis. For 2021, the average temperature across global surfaces was 1.51 degrees Fahrenheit (0.84 degrees Celsius) above the 20th-century average, making the year the sixth-hottest in the overall record, which goes back to 1880. "Of course, all this is driven by increasing concentrations of heat trapping gases like carbon dioxide," Russell Vose, a senior climatologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) told reporters. "There's probably a 99 percent chance that 2022 will rank in the top 10, a 50-50 chance, maybe a little less, it'll rank in the top five, and a 10 percent chance it'll rank first" barring an unforeseen event like a major volcanic eruption or a large comet hitting Earth, he said. Thursday itself saw mercury rise to a sweltering 123.3F (50.7C) in the coastal town of Onslow in Western Australia, making it the country's hottest day on record. NOAA uses the 21-year span from 1880 to 1900 as a surrogate to assess pre-industrial conditions, and found the 2021 global land and ocean temperature was 1.87F (1.04C) above the average. A separate analysis of global temperature released by NASA had 2021 tying with 2018 as the sixth-warmest on record. Both data sets vary very slightly from the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service in their assessment, which had 2021 as the fifth warmest in records tracking back to the mid-19th century. But the overall convergence of trends increases scientists' confidence in their conclusions. Increases in abundance of atmospheric greenhouse gases since the industrial revolution are mainly the result of human activity and are largely responsible for the observed increases. Climate scientists say it is crucial to hold end-of-century warming to within a 1.5C (2.7F) rise to avert the worst impactsfrom mega-storms to mass die-offs in coral reefs and the decimation of coastal communities. At the present rate of heating, the planet might hit 1.5C in the 2030s. "But it's not the case that at 1.4 everything is hunky dory and at 1.6 all hell has broken loose," said NASA climate expert Gavin Schmidt. The impacts have been increasingly felt in recent yearsincluding record-shattering wildfires across Australia and Siberia, a once-in-1,000-years heatwave in North America and extreme rainfall that caused massive flooding in Asia, Africa, the US and Europe. Last year also saw nearly 700 people die in the contiguous United States due to extreme weather events, such as Hurricane Ida, and a maximum temperature in Sicily of nearly 120F, a European record if verified. Arctic amplification The heat records observed in 2021 came despite the year beginning in a cold phase thanks to an El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) episode across the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. Heating might have also been partly offset by the resumption of activities that created heat-reflecting aerosols, which were lower during the COVID related lockdowns of 2020, said Schmidt. The Northern Hemisphere land surface temperature was the third highest on record. The 2021 Southern Hemisphere surface temperature was the ninth highest on record. Land heat records were broken in parts of northern Africa, southern Asia, and southern South America in 2021, while record-high sea surface temperatures were observed across parts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. There were no cold records broken for land or ocean areas. Average annual Northern Hemisphere snow cover was 9.3 million square miles (24.3 million square kilometers), the seventh-smallest annual snow cover extent in the 1967-2021 record. Meanwhile, with the exception of September and December, each month of 2021 had Arctic sea ice levels in the top-10 lowest levels for those respective months. Overall, the Arctic is heating around three times faster than the global averageadding to sea level rises and the release of more carbon dioxide and methane from the permafrost, an effect known as "Arctic amplification." Explore further The heat stays on: Earth hits 6th warmest year on record 2022 AFP Though New Yorks prison population has been on the decline, the state comptroller is urging policymakers to continue reducing that number and to be aware that a growing percentage of older inmates is leading to substantially higher health care costs. And a group advocating for the release of older people said that decades of extreme sentencing and racial bias in parole determinations means that minorities are more likely to continue to age without dignity, get sick, and die in prison regardless of their transformation and potential benefits to the outside community. A report released Thursday from Comptroller Thomas DiNapolis office says that the states prison population declined by half from March 2008 to March 2021, but the population of individuals aged 50 and above grew slightly while no age segment under the age of 50 showed an increase. The number of older incarcerated individuals has grown from 7,511 in March 2008 to 7,586 in March 2021. As a percentage of the states shrinking prison population, however, the older population has doubled. DiNapoli said that about 24% of the states 31,262 prisoners were 50 and older in March 2021. Thirteen years earlier, that number had been 12%, when thew prison population totaled 62,597. The report indicates that at least two trends may explain the net gain in older prisoners: one is the rise in the number of admissions of older people to Department of Corrections and Community Supervision prisons for a new offense or parole violation, which increased by an average of 3.5% per year from 2008 to 2020. The average age of incarcerated individuals under custody in New York state prisons was 40.3 years in March 2021, an increase of 4.1 years, or 11.4%, since March 2008. The number and the percentage of older individuals released from prisons to parole supervision under DOCCS jurisdiction also rose, the report said. In addition, Raise the Age legislation enacted in 2017 and fully implemented in 2020 removed anyone under the age of 18 from DOCCS prisons to facilities operated by the state Office of Children and Family Services. Overall health care costs for the state prison system have averaged about $350 million per year since 2012-13, the report says, peaking at just under $400 million in 2016-17. Costs have trended significantly lower since, likely due in part to declines in the state prison population. Over the same period, health care costs for each incarcerated individual have averaged about $7,380 per year, 29% higher in 2020-21 than they were eight years earlier. DOCCS pays almost all the health care costs of incarcerated individuals in state prisons. DiNapoli said that while DOCCS has acknowledged the potential of higher medical costs in testimony to the state Legislature, it has not provided specific information about those costs. DiNapoli said DOCCS should take the necessary steps to collect and share this information with policymakers to allow for more informed choices about the best way to address this challenge. The safe and efficient operation of the corrections system is critically important to protecting public safety, providing incarcerated individuals with opportunities to find success upon release and ensuring wise use of public resources, DiNapoli said. In the months ahead, policymakers should examine opportunities to reduce the population of incarcerated individuals 50 and over where public safety would not be compromised. Release Aging People in Prison said Thursday that the state should pass parole reform legislation to ensure that people in prison have meaningful opportunities for individualized consideration for parole release based on who they are today, what they have done to change, and whether they pose a risk if released. RAPP said that 55% of the roughly 31,000 people currently incarcerated in New York state prisons are Black, despite the fact that only 18% of the overall population in the state is Black. Even while the overall prison population decreases, the incarceration of older adults continues to increase, robbing communities across New York state of elders who can be safely released, mentor young people, interrupt violence, provide peer counseling to people with substance use disorder, and promote safety, Jose Saldana, director of the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign, said in a statement. We continue our calls for the New York State legislature to pass the Elder Parole and the Fair & Timely Parole bills and for Governor Hochul to grant clemency to effectively address this crisis. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 SALEM The Washington County Sheriff's Office on Friday released a statement regarding the investigation into the two bodies found in Salem earlier this week. According to the sheriff's office, the bodies of 73-year-old Deborah Moffitt and 66-year-old David Moffitt were found on Jan. 10, after police were called to conduct a welfare check on the couple from a concerned party. Police said the investigation is ongoing, but no criminal activity is believed to be involved. Any one with information regarding this case is asked to contact the Sheriff's Office Investigation Unit. Washington County Sheriff Jeff Murphy reminded residents to check on neighbors and loved ones during the colder months and contact the police or social services if there are any concerns. It was previously reported that the house was 30 degrees when the bodies were found. The police have not yet released a cause of death. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 5 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The states Downtown Revitalization Initiative has directed state economic development funds to city downtowns for the past five years, including $10 million for Glens Falls. Now, new Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to spread the wealth out to rural hamlets and villages. New Yorks hamlets and villages serve as commercial and social centers, and support our agricultural, recreational and tourism economies, Hochul said in a booklet that elaborates on initiatives she mentioned in her recent State of the State speech. They too have suffered from the remnants of obsolete industries and aging infrastructure, failed urban renewal, and a lack of modern housing. Hochul, who took office in August when former Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned, has proposed a new NY Forward program, modeled after the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, but for hamlets and villages. Empire State Development Corp., the state Department of State and Regional Economic Development Councils would collaborate with communities in an abbreviated planning process to design projects that could be readily implemented. NY Forward is among several economic development initiatives that Hochul has proposed. Others deal with the shortage of skilled workers, which is a challenge to many employers. The $10 million level of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative program was too large of a scale of redevelopment to be practical for villages such as Fort Edward, Salem or Schuylerville, said state Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, D-Round Lake. This is something Ive identified for a while as a weakness of the DRI, she said. Well see what the details are. As a concept, I think it is good. EDC Warren County President Jim Siplon said the proposed NY Forward program sounds perfectly suited for communities in the Adirondack Park, where development often is only feasible in hamlets and villages. One of the things we know for sure is that hamlet development is in the best interest of everyone, he said. Development in hamlets and villages has been a key priority of groups such as the Adirondack Common Ground Alliance, a coalition of organizations that focuses on finding consensus on Adirondack issues, said Assemblyman Matt Simpson, R-Brant Lake. Our hamlets are actually the hubs, he said. Theyve been disappearing over the years. Siplon said he is particularly impressed with Hochuls workforce development proposals. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the EDCs emphasis has switched from attracting new employers to helping existing employers recruit enough trained workers to be able to stay in business, he said. Regional economic development officials have long said that the states one-size-fits-all workforce training strategy was not flexible enough to address unique local needs. Hochul has proposed replacing the statewide strategy with a set of regional strategies that would be developed by Regional Economic Development Councils. With the different areas around the state, there are certainly needs that are different for each region, Simpson said. Hochul also has proposed processing workforce training grants on an on-going real time year-round basis, instead of only once a year in a batch, as is the current process, providing more flexibility for economic development officials to respond to immediate needs. Woerner said she was pleased that Hochul called for developing measures to evaluate the success of workforce development programs. I was cheering when I heard that, she said. Up to this point, there has been little accountability, Woerner said. Hochul also proposed providing state financial aid for tuition-free employment training certificate programs at community colleges. Regional economic development councils would develop lists of local industries that have the greatest need for trained workers. SUNY Adirondack has already demonstrated proficiency at quickly responding to workforce shortages, such as several years ago when they worked with economic development and business groups to develop a program for travel and tourism, Siplon said. It didnt take them years to figure it out. It took months, he said. Woerner said employers need to be an integral part of deciding what types of jobs are needed, so that there is reasonable assurance that graduates will actually receive jobs. We really need to think about how do we get employers involved in workforce development so that they are the ones driving the car, she said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 From The Morning Star in 1888 Edward Cooper Taylor, the 19th century escape artist believed to be the first to invite local police on stage, brought his magic show to Glens Falls in 1888. Officers Dinan and Doulette placed a pair of handcuffs on Prof. Taylors wrists at the Opera House last night, The Morning Star reported on Jan. 10. The professor, without the use of a key or any other instrument for opening the locks, slipped out of the iron bracelets without the least difficulty. Taylor, who used the stage names Prof. E. C. Taylor and Taylor the Wizard began performing in 1867, at age 15, with the touring show of John Henry Jr., and subsequently struck out on his own in 1869, according to The Society of American Magicians. He is believed to have been the first magician to challenge local police officers to handcuff him on stage. Taylor was booked to appear at the Glens Falls Opera House on Warren Street for four nights, but the run was extended to six nights because of its popularity. Appearing with him was a marionette show and egg dancer Mlle. Irena. The closing night show at Glens Falls featured an entirely new spiritual message act. From Glens Falls, the show moved on to Sandy Hill, now Hudson Falls, and Whitehall. Taylor did an impromptu show at The Morning Star newsroom one evening while he was at Glens Falls. The professor abstracted fabulous sums of money from the clothes of the impecunious newspaper men, and, as his prototype, Heller, (British-born magician Robert Heller) was wont to do, did some clever tricks for the edification of the office force, The Morning Star reported on Jan. 6. (It has to be magic to find money in the pockets of newsmen.) It was not the first time Taylor appeared locally. Prof. E.C. Taylor, magician, who stands at the head of his profession, begins a series of three nights at the Glens Falls Opera House this evening, The Morning Star reported on July 28, 1883. His rope-tying tricks are the most mysterious ever seen. Weather: Plenty of snow and good sleighing. Consequently, the lumbermen are happy. Jan. 6. Downtown: About 45 couples attended a reception of The Young Bachelors Club at Crandall Hall, an event destined to be one of the more memorable social events of the year. Jan. 14 Downtown: Department store owner B.B. Fowler was the first downtown retailer to announce a selection of new spring merchandise. Jan. 17 19th century vocabulary: Oleaginous: rich in, covered with, or producing oil Benjamin Odell, a former Queensbury yeoman, now of Greenwich, Washington County, brought a large supply of butter to Glens Falls yesterday and disposed of the oleaginous compound to our merchants. Jan. 7 Let there be light: Edwin Sanderson, representing the Westinghouse Electric Company, is at Fort Edward making arrangements to introduce electric lights in that village. This is a movement that is heartily welcomed by our neighbors. Fun fact: The Leland Opera House Orchestra was set to play for a hospital charity ball to celebrate completing of construction of the new annex at the Dale silk mill at Whitehall. Jan. 7 Sports trivia: The snow on the river of Parks Ferry (Sandy Hill) will be scraped today for a race track. Much sport is expected this winter by our horsemen. Jan. 14 Editorial: One of the best illustrations of what can be done in Glens Falls when rightly undertaken and properly presented is the quiet, yet certain, establishment of a Young Mens Christian Association in our city. The first religious meeting of the association was held at the Methodist Episcopal parlors Sunday afternoon, and, if crowded rooms and manifest interest is any indication of what may be expected from this organization, this meeting gave promise of the things hoped for. Much credit is due to all who have worked for and contributed to this new Glens Falls institution. Jan. 18 Quotable: The proprietors of the gambling houses at Ballston Spa are doing effective missionary work by preferring complaints to the authorities and having each other arrested. Several fines have been imposed and the end of the fight is not yet. Jan. 11 Maury Thompson was a Post-Star reporter for 21 years before he retired in 2017. He now is a freelance history writer and documentary film producer who routinely researches historic newspapers of the region. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 I confess: I am afraid and angry. I know I am not alone. Fear and anger are almost everywhere out there because of the pandemic, of course. You too? A look back into peoples historical reactions to past epidemics and pandemics is a bit reassuring. It makes clear that the miseries such terrifying events bring always make for those emotions. That is just plain usual. In ancient times, fear and anger caused by a sudden disease outbreak were often channeled into the certainty that a god or gods were unhappy with a peoples behavior. Think of the Old Testament plagues, for example. Interestingly, in those times, a people might blame themselves for whatever misbehavior must have provoked Divine Retribution. More often in history, though, another tribe was thought to bear responsibility for a plague. And on occasion, a people was right to think that. Consider, for instance, the decimation of the First Peoples of Central and South America, who were so nearly wiped out by what the Spanish brought: waves of measles and smallpox. However, in most cases the blame is not based in truth, but is a venting of those understandable emotions onto a blameless other. The blame grows out of xenophobia, the fear and hatred of another tribe perceived to be foreign or strange. There isnt room here to provide many historical examples. But here are a few. During the great pandemic of influenza in 1918, the first described cases were actually identified in Kansas, yet it was called the Spanish flu. The Spanish were blamed because of the politics of the time, and they suffered the worlds misplaced anger as a result. HIV was labeled the gay plague, although its original flourishing in Africa was overwhelmingly heterosexual. That label led to some gays being murdered. During the years that Donald Trump was in the White House, it was common to blame COVID-19 on the Chinese: the Kung Flu. Anti-Asian sentiment generated in some quarters came to the point that Asians were killed. Finally, COVID-19 is now being called a hoax by small but vocal factions. They are sure that the hoax is being propagated by a fantasied group of conspirators who are commonly imagined to be led by Jews. Another example of the xenophobia Jews have suffered for so many centuries talk about lost lives! The historical pattern is always the same: fear and anger generated in a catastrophe leads to blame by one tribe of another tribe who are already poorly thought of. This kind of blame is worse than irrational and useless; when it boils up, destructive conflict and death result. And nations or races or religions or political parties are not to blame for these infectious diseases. Microbes are. Mercy! What is the point of these destructive impulses, the discrimination, hating, murders? Nothing good is accomplished, only bad stuff. The miseries of life are ramped up, and the potential good that we as a human race could do if we only pulled together is ramped down. Gov. Kathy Hochul has declared a State of Emergency because of what omicron is doing to us. Warren County has reported 320 new cases on Jan. 6, and 328 on Jan. 7. Both totals are more than twice the previous all-time daily record. There are deaths in Warren and Washington counties nearly every day from COVID-19. The Glens Falls Hospital cant admit patients for non-urgent elective surgeries. Medical offices are over-burdened. Some patients are not receiving necessary healthcare. Healthcare personnel here and everywhere are tired and frustrated and fearful and angry. Some are quitting in despair. We are losing teachers in local schools. Some schools may have to go to remote teaching again, with all the burdens that will place on parents at home and on kids mental health. Local businesses are suffering or closing. Bitter words and outrageous threats over mask and vaccine mandates are arising, although the mandates are designed to help the public health and minimize the pandemic. Everyone is wondering what is next how much worse COVID-19 can get. A fearful situation and anger provoking. The scientific community has looked at the data and has come to the conclusion that this is a pandemic of a not-well-enough-vaccinated population. In mid-2021, 85% of the U.S. hospital admissions and over 85% of those dying with COVID-19 were unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated. With the so highly contagious omicron, admissions are now higher than ever in the pandemic, and the numbers include many more children. Among hospitalized kids, the percentages of unvaccinated are even higher than in adults. Epidemiologists think that similar inadequate-vaccine percentages are true for those who are infected but are not hospitalized, although that data is very hard to come by. A good estimate is that your risk of becoming infected are 17-20 times greater if you havent been jabbed. Considering that, it is obvious what tribe is doing the majority of the COVID-19 transmission. Yet some folks are proclaiming their rights to make their own independent choices in the foolish way of refusing vaccines, even though vaccines have been proven to be so amazingly good and safe ... so much safer than the disease itself. This terrible omicron surge, while obviously not avoidable at this stage, certainly is modifiable modifiable even now. If only You have probably realized by now that here am I: blaming my communitys, my nations miserable numbers and real misery on a group of people the others! Yet these others are really my fellow Americans, my neighbors, my friends, and even my family perfectly reasonable folks for the most part. If only they would just be able to look at the data with us. If only we could discuss things reasonably. I am convinced that we could then come toward a common view, and that many more of us would then be vaccinated. With everyones help in that way, we could avoid many nasty sicknesses, save lives, and get back to normalcy much quicker. What should I do toward this end? What should we do? I am thinking back on those peoples who took the responsibility on themselves for the Divine Wrath. With them in mind, I will close with two wise voices, one old and wise who has just died, one young and wise who is very much alive. Please read and absorb their words. Richard Leakey, the great paleoanthropologist, looked at humanitys evolution, writing: As we peer back through the fossil record, through layer upon layer of long extinct species, many of which thrived for far longer than the human species is ever likely to do, we are reminded of our mortality as a species. Yes, I say: we are in an existential crisis. All of us the human race. We are being weakened by this pandemic in physical and moral ways. And we have another and really way worse crisis yet to deal with the climate crisis. If we do better with COVID-19, we can certainly do better with global warming. That we must do. Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in our history, looks at us in the present and tries to change our future, writing: To be a family, a country, doesnt necessitate that we be the same or agree on everything, only that we continue to try to see the best in each other and move forward into a shared future. Whether we like it or not, we are in this together. Yes! I am asking you to join me in pondering what is behind us and what can be before us. I am asking you to join me by reaching out to the others. Oh, one more voice. Do you remember Pogo, from Walt Kellys delightful and incisive animal comic strip? Maybe you are too young. Anyway, Pogo parodied humankinds forever tendency to create our own problems by saying: We have met the enemy, and he is us. So there: the problem is identified, a vision of how we should deal with it is presented, as is a rough roadmap for how to. Now I am going to take a nap. What are you going to do? Richard P. Leach, M.D., is an internist, infectious disease consultant and travel and tropical medicine specialist. He practiced in Glens Falls for 35 years, also serving as Glens Falls Hospitals infection control officer and hospital epidemiologist. Retiring from private practice in 2011, he continued to provide travel medicine counseling at the Warren County Clinic until COVID-19 forced its cancellation. Warren County keeps him on as a medical director and consultant to the Tuberculosis Program. Dr. Leach is known for his role as co-founder and president of the Adirondack AIDS Task Force in the 1980s and 1990s, as the founder and president of the Glens Falls Medical Mission and its Project Guatemala in the 1990s, as the husband of Dr. Loren Baim, as the father of Christina Johnston, Timothy Leach, Molly Leach and Marta Leach, and as the grandfather of Rhone and of 3-week-old Thatcher James. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) California's governor on Thursday rejected releasing Robert F. Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan from prison more than a half-century after the 1968 slaying left a deep wound during one of America's darkest times. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has cited RFK as his "political hero" and embraced the historical significance of his decision, rejected a recommendation from a two-person panel of parole commissioners. Newsom said Sirhan, now 77, poses an unreasonable threat to public safety. "Mr. Sirhan's assassination of Senator Kennedy is among the most notorious crimes in American history," Newsom wrote in his decision. "After decades in prison, he has failed to address the deficiencies that led him to assassinate Senator Kennedy. Mr. Sirhan lacks the insight that would prevent him from making the same types of dangerous decisions he made in the past." He said factors in his decision including Sirhan's refusal to accept responsibility for his crime, his lack of insight and the accountability required to support his safe release, his failure to disclaim violence committed in his name, and his failure to mitigate his risk factors. Kennedy, the U.S. senator from New York, was shot moments after he claimed victory in California's pivotal Democratic presidential primary. Five others were wounded during the assassination at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. The slaying took place five years after his brother, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated. Sirhan will be scheduled for a new parole hearing no later than February 2023. Sirhan will ask a judge to overturn Newsom's denial, said his defense attorney, Angela Berry. "We fully expect that judicial review of the governor's decision will show that the governor got it wrong," she said. State law holds that inmates are supposed to be paroled unless they pose a current unreasonable public safety risk, she said, adding that "not an iota of evidence exists to suggest Mr. Sirhan is still a danger to society." She said the parole process has become politicized and Newsom "chose to overrule his own experts (on the parole board), ignoring the law." Parole commissioners found Sirhan suitable for release "because of his impressive extensive record of rehabilitation over the last half-century," she said. "Since the mid-1980's Mr. Sirhan has consistently been found by prison psychologists and psychiatrists to not pose an unreasonable risk of danger to the public." During his parole hearing, the white-haired Sirhan called Kennedy "the hope of the world." But he stopped short of taking full responsibility for a shooting he said he doesn't recall because he was drunk. "It pains me ... the knowledge for such a horrible deed, if I did in fact do that," Sirhan said. The parole panel's recommendation in August to release Sirhan divided the iconic Kennedy family, with two of RFK's sons Douglas Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. supporting his release. But six of Kennedy's nine surviving children and Ethel Kennedy, RFK's wife, urged Newsom to block his parole. The panel's decision was based in part on several new California laws since he was denied parole in 2016 the 15th time he'd lost his bid for release. Commissioners were required to consider that Sirhan committed his crime at a young age, when he was 24; that he now is elderly; and that the Christian Palestinian who immigrated from Jordan had suffered childhood trauma from the conflict in the Middle East. In addition, Los Angeles County prosecutors didn't object to his parole, following District Attorney George Gascon's policy that prosecutors should not be involved in deciding whether prisoners are ready for release. The decision had a personal element for Newsom, a fellow Democrat, who displays RFK photos in his official and home offices. One of them is of Kennedy with Newsom's late father. Newsom has previously reflected on the gravity of having Sirhan's fate in his hands, saying it was an emotional issue that echoed back to the turbulent '60s and reopened memories many want to forget. Sirhan originally was sentenced to death, but that sentence was commuted to life when the California Supreme Court briefly outlawed capital punishment in 1972. He now has a heart condition and has survived prostate cancer, Valley fever and having his throat slashed by another prisoner in 2019, said his attorney, Angela Berry. Munir Sirhan has said his older brother can live with him, if he is freed and not deported to Jordan. Sirhan Sirhan waived his right to fight deportation. With plans for more and more wind turbines off New Jerseys coastline, the advocacy group Clean Ocean Action believes things to be moving too quickly and at far too large a scale. This week, the organization raised concerns about the potential impact on wildlife, especially on dolphins and whales. Thats it in a nutshell: Too much, too fast. And too vast, said Cindy Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action. The organization is known for the beach cleanups it has organized since 1985. But the purpose of those efforts has been primarily to gather information to fight plastic pollution in the oceans, she said in an interview Friday. The efforts include fighting climate change, she said. Thats the stated motivation for the planned creation of multiple offshore wind farms, which both critics and supporters describe as the start of a new industry in New Jersey. The recent Clean Ocean Action statement comes in response to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Managements recent announcement that it would auction off 480,000 acres off New York and New Jersey, described as the New York Bight. The Feb. 23 auction is of the largest area offered for wind energy at one time, according to the BOEM, with the expectation that a wind farm in the area could power 2 million homes. The first Ocean Wind project, the furthest along of New Jerseys planned offshore wind energy projects, is expected to generate enough power from 99 wind turbines off Cape May and Atlantic counties to power a half-million homes, and Ocean Wind 2 is already in the works, rounding that number up to a million homes powered by wind. Also in New Jersey, Atlantic Shores is set to add hundreds more turbines, and Empire Wind plans hundreds more off New York and New Jersey. The Ocean Wind proposal has met opposition from some community leaders, with groups like Protect Our Coast NJ and local officials questioning the plans impact on coastal communities. Gov. Phil Murphy has been pushing hard to convert New Jersey to renewable energy, with offshore wind dominating that vision. He has cited the impact of climate change, and the potential for new jobs and economic development with the new industry. Along with the Biden administration, he has argued that climate change presents an existential threat. Supporters of wind energy say the shore communities will take the hardest hits from rising seas and increasingly powerful storms. The Biden-Harris administration has made tackling the climate crisis a centerpiece of our agenda, and offshore wind opportunities like the New York Bight present a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fight climate change and create good-paying, union jobs in the United States, said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland in announcing the latest auction of offshore acreage. We are at an inflection point for domestic offshore wind energy development. We must seize this moment and we must do it together. Clean Ocean Action is not opposed to offshore wind, Zipf said. But the group is concerned with the scale and scope of the proposed projects, describing it as the industrialization of the coastline. Instead, she suggested starting with pilot scale projects to see the real impact on marine life. That would still be smaller than the first phase of Ocean Wind, a project of Danish company rsted and PSEG. Instead, she cited a far-smaller proposal from Fishermans Energy to build six turbines off Atlantic City. We supported Fishermans Energy as a good pilot-scale project, Zipf said. The organization of commercial fishing companies worked for more than a decade on the proposal. Most people now understand the dangers of climate change, she said, and renewable energy has to be part of the future. But not at the expense of the ocean, she argued. She described the ocean as a vital buffer to climate change, absorbing much of the change in temperature and a significant amount of carbon. She instead pointed to energy conservation and smaller-scale solutions, including increasing the amount of land-based green energy options such as rooftop solar panels. The buildout along the ocean will have other impacts as well, she said, including bringing more development and population to the coastline. Marine life is the main concern. In a short window, all these proposals are coming very fast. A lot of things are being fast tracked, she said. Whales have been migrating through this area for millennia. They havent seen a metal forest that they have to navigate around. Migratory patterns of birds were taken into consideration in the design of the offshore wind farms, Zipf said, but she is not convinced enough consideration was given to fish and marine mammals. In addition to the proposed wind energy projects in New Jersey, there are proposals for offshore turbines from New England to Virginia. Local officials and community groups have raised concerns with the impact on whales and other marine mammals, as well as the visual impact of the turbines and its potential impact on tourism. There have also been concerns about the potential impact on the fishing industry. For Ed Potosnak, executive director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, protection of marine life is a major part of why offshore wind is needed. The greatest threat to marine life is climate change. We are seeing the temperatures of our oceans rise while marine ecosystems are collapsing, he said Friday. He said his group and others want to make sure wind power development is done responsively and carefully. But he said there have not been issues with offshore wind elsewhere. The League of Conservation Voters joined with other New Jersey environmental organizations late last year to advocate for wind energy, forming the New Jersey Wind Works campaign. It was aimed at countering some of the opposition voices that have been increasingly active at local meetings and on social media. In previous interviews, Potosnak said much of the opposition stems from fear that the turbines will ruin peoples views. Opposition groups have pointed out that New Jersey Wind Works accepted funding from rsted. Its not something you would ask any other group, he said. We get funding from a lot of places. A windy war of words in Ocean City OCEAN CITY With some in favor, and more opposed, local residents turned out in force Satur Most comes from supporters, he said. Its not surprising that they bring it up. It sounds like a boogeyman, he said. He maintained that the funding did not influence the organizations positions. The research and science doesnt support these negative impacts, he said. We all care deeply about the ocean. Thats why we think we need to move quickly on wind power. As far as Zipf and Clean Ocean Action are concerned, there is just not enough data yet, considering the scale of the proposals along the Eastern Seaboard. She described it as a far different ecosystem than the North Sea, where a significant amount of offshore wind development has taken place. Contact Bill Barlow: 609-272-7290 bbarlow@pressofac.com Twitter @jerseynews_bill Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A farmer harvests strawberries at a farm in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun, on Jan. 4, 2022. TO GO WITH "Feature: Gazan farmers adopt green economy to reap financial harvest" (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) by Sanaa Kamal GAZA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Each morning, more than 140 Palestinian farmers, men and women, gathered in the town of Beit Lahia in the Gaza Strip to grow crops to sell locally or in Israel. "This scene has long been absent from a town famous for being an agricultural area, due to the difficult political and economic conditions," Munir Hamdouna, a 63-year-old farm owner in the town of Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, told Xinhua. As a father of 13, Hamdouna said he was happy to see the resumption, noting that he has resorted to a local agriculture initiative as part of Gaza's pursuit of a green economy that emphasizes both eco-friendliness and profits. Over the years, the Gaza Strip witnessed a noticeable decrease in the number of farmers due to shrinking arable lands in the face of urban expansion, as well as floundered exports under Israel's blockade since Hamas' takeover in 2007. Hamdouna noted that 15 years ago, he fell into a dire situation due to workforce shortage, and he had to sell some of his 30-dunam farms to make ends meet, and kept only about seven dunams as a family lifeline, a portion that was still expensive to take care of due to high diesel prices. "The production cost was very high, while the sales were insignificant, which lead to huge losses," lamented the man, noting that this prompted all his children to not follow his suit. Hamdouna grows many crops, including tomato, cucumber, strawberry, melon, guava, and many others, which take much time to plant and harvest. One of the modern farming methods he applied was hanging strawberry, a method for saving space, making room for other types of berries. Another one is the use of renewable energy and rainwater. Hamdouna's farm is one of two pilot projects recently launched in the Gaza Strip. "The aim of establishing these two farms is to reduce environmental risks and achieve sustainable development without leading to a state of environmental degradation," Noha al-Sharif, public relations officer at the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Society, told Xinhua, adding that modern farming may help strengthen the resilience of Gaza residents. Farm administrators were also exploring agri-tourism, as a rest stop was set up hanging over the branches of a sycamore tree that is more than 50 years old. Mustafa al-Rifi, the engineer supervising the project, told Xinhua that "the rest stop takes approximately 50 percent of the overall profit of the farm, as domestic tourists prefer to spend their time in nature," he added. Muhammad Suleiman, one of the farmers, told Xinhua that he could finally get a permanent job that helps him to feed his family. The 38-year-old father of four adds that he earns about 100 dollars per week, which is enough for his daily expenses, a huge hike from less than 40 dollars during the past, when he had to apply for food aid. He expressed his hope to see more creative initiatives and projects implemented to help thousands of farmers restore to their former jobs. A farmer works at a strawberry farm in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun, on Jan. 4, 2022. TO GO WITH "Feature: Gazan farmers adopt green economy to reap financial harvest" (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) A farmer harvests strawberries at a farm in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun, on Jan. 4, 2022. TO GO WITH "Feature: Gazan farmers adopt green economy to reap financial harvest" (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) A farmer harvests strawberries at a farm in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun, on Jan. 4, 2022. TO GO WITH "Feature: Gazan farmers adopt green economy to reap financial harvest" (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) A farmer harvests strawberries at a farm in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun, on Jan. 4, 2022. TO GO WITH "Feature: Gazan farmers adopt green economy to reap financial harvest" (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) The pounding rain and the worst of the rain is over. However, this storm is still very much with us. Coastal flooding will occur Monday morning as winds continue to whip throughout the day. Rain or snow showers will fall at times, too. NORTH WILDWOOD The city will host the widow of a slain Philadelphia police officer as a special guest in its St. Patricks Day Parade in March. Terri OConnor, the widow of Cpl. James OConnor, will serve as the parades grand marshal at 11:30 a.m. March 12, Mayor Patrick Rosenello said Friday. It is our honor to have Terri serve as our grand marshal this year, and we are looking forward to Terri honoring not only the OConnor family Irish heritage, but also all of the members of law enforcement, Rosenello said in a statement. James OConnor, 46, was fatally shot while he and his deputies were serving a search warrant at a home in Philadelphias Frankford section March 13, 2020. The officers took on gunfire while trying to approach the second floor, one of the officers on scene previously told a judge, and OConner was shot in the shoulder above his bulletproof vest. North Wildwood police seek suspect in vehicle burglary NORTH WILDWOOD Police are seeking to identify a suspect in a car burglary last month. OConnor was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Four men were charged in the homicide. OConnor and his widow have connections to North Wildwood. Their son, James Jr., was a member of the citys Beach Patrol before joining OConnor on the Philadelphia police force. As part of the festivities, a Mass will be held at St. Ann Church of Notre Dame La Mer Parish, in neighboring Wildwood, at 10 a.m. before the ceremony. The parade will begin at City Hall, 901 Atlantic Ave., before traveling to the Entertainment District by Atlantic Avenue. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact Eric Conklin: 609-272-7261 econklin@pressofac.com Twitter @ACPressConklin Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A man on probation or conditional discharge in three states was arrested Friday by Davenport Police for allegedly selling drugs, including fentanyl, and being a felon in possession of a handgun. Austen Michael Thomas is on probation out of Polk County, Iowa, on a pair of theft convictions; conditional discharge out of Rock Island County on gun and resisting a peace officer convictions; and, in Dakota County, Minnesota, for a drug conviction. Thomas, 24, is charged in Scott County District Court with one count of possession with the intent to deliver fentanyl, a Class C felony under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of 10 years. He also is charged with one count of possession with the intent to deliver marijuana, two violations of Iowas Drug Tax Stamp law and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Each of the four charges is a Class D felony that carries a prison sentence of five years. According to the arrest affidavit filed by Davenport Police Detective Ryan Leabo, at 10:26 a.m. officers detained Thomas at 209 W. 53rd St. as part of a narcotics investigation. When Thomas was searched, officers seized a plastic baggie that was in the right side of his jacket. The bag contained 85 fentanyl pills made to resemble Percoset 30 milligram pills. In his affidavit, Leabo said the typical user of what are known on the street as Perc 30 fentanyl pills uses one-quarter to one-half of a pill at a time. Officers also searched Thomass residence from which they seized a total of 759.46 grams, or 1.67 pounds, of marijuana. The marijuana was separated into four plastic bags of 25.1 grams, 21.65 grams, each about three-quarters of an ounce, 24.50 grams, or .86 of an ounce, and 688.21 grams, or 1.52 pounds. Also seized was 6.45 grams of suspected Xanax ills, a digital scale and $51,367 found throughout the home. From underneath Thomas bed officers seized a Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm handgun. According to the arrest affidavit, Thomas has a felony drug conviction out of Dakota County, Minnesota, on Feb. 18, 2021. According Dakota County District Court electronic records, Thomas was sentenced to three years on probation. According to the Iowa Department of Corrections website, Thomas is on an interstate compact probation until Feb. 18, 2024, for the drug law violation. In other words, he was allowed to serve his probation in Iowa. Also, Thomas currently is serving a sentence of two years on probation in Polk County, Iowa, according to the Iowa Department of Corrections website. On Sept. 15, 2020, he pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree theft during a hearing in Polk County District Court, according to district court electronic records. On Nov. 10, 2020, Polk County District Judge Michael Huppert deferred judgment in the case while sentencing Thomas to two years on probation. First-degree theft is a Class C felony under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of 10 years. According to the Iowa code, deferred judgement means a sentencing option whereby both the adjudication of guilt and the imposition of a sentence are deferred by the court and whereby the court assesses a civil penalty upon the entry of the deferred judgment. The court retains the power to pronounce judgment and impose sentence subject to the defendants compliance with conditions set by the court as a requirement of the deferred judgment. In accordance with Thomas plea, charges of first-degree robbery and first-degree burglary, both Class B felonies under Iowa law that carry a prison sentence of 25 years, were dropped. Thomas also is serving two years on conditional discharge out of Rock Island County. On June 23, 2020, Thomas was one of three people arrested after a high-speed chase that began in Davenport and ended in Moline. Thomas was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and resisting a peace officer, both Class 4 felonies under Illinois law that carry a prison sentence of one to three years. On Aug. 27, 2021, Thomas pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to two years on conditional discharge. Thomas was being held Saturday night in the Scott County Jail on a $30,000 bond, cash or surety. A preliminary hearing on the charges is scheduled for Jan. 25 in Scott County District Court. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. CHICAGO - Six weeks after former Chicago Ald. Edward Fast Eddie Vrdolyak reported to federal prison for a tax-related conviction, his lawyers have filed an emergency petition for his release citing his age and the surging omicron variant. After several pandemic-related delays, Vrdolyak entered a federal medical facility in Rochester, Minnesota, on Nov. 30 to begin serving his 18-month sentence for his conviction related to millions of dollars that he and an associate reaped from the states massive settlement with the tobacco companies in the 1990s. But in an emergency motion Friday, lawyers for Vrdolyak, who turned 84 last month, said he continues to suffer from a variety of serious medical conditions and has a compromised immune system that place him at significant risk for severe illness, if not almost certainly, death, should he contract COVID-19. The motion asks U.S. District Judge Robert Dow to reduce Vrdolyaks sentence to time served, which would mean his immediate release, or recommend to prison officials that he be transferred to home confinement at the earliest opportunity. The motion stated Vrdolyak, who also suffers from dementia, was immediately placed in solitary confinement when he reported to prison, which led to some harrowing and emotional turmoil including disorientation and uncontrollable crying. So stark has it been that Mr. Vrdolyaks grasp of reality seems to have been severed, the motion stated, citing a report from a medical expert who examined the former alderman. Dow had initially delayed Vrdolyaks prison term until vaccines were widely available. In ordering him to report to the Rochester facility in November, Dow said hes been in communication with prison officials, who assured him they are comfortable that their institution can accept (Vrdolyak) and provide any medical care that he needs. A hearing for the motion for Vrdolyaks release had not been set as of Friday. Vrdolyak pleaded guilty in March 2019 to a tax charge alleging he obstructed an IRS investigation into payments to and from his friend and associate Daniel Soso related to the states $9.3 billion settlement with tobacco companies in the late 1990s. In asking for prison time, prosecutors said Vrdolyak had been paid at least $12 million in fees stemming from the settlement even though he did no legal work on the case and hid his involvement from the Illinois attorney general. Soso, 70, a lawyer and former Chicago cop, pleaded guilty in 2019 to one count of income tax evasion for failing to report more than $3 million in income in the deal. He was sentenced in March 2020 to two years in prison. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Federal money from the bipartisan infrastructure package could increase Iowas funds for bridge construction and repair by more than a third for the next five years. The Biden administration and the Iowa Department of Transportation on Friday announced a bridge formula program that represents the single-largest dedicated bridge investment since construction of the interstate highway system. It will provide $26.5 billion to states over five years, including $5.2 billion this year and $825 million for tribal transportation facilities. For Iowa, the bipartisan infrastructure package means $431,828,580 over five years, or about $86.2 million a year. Thats about 35 percent of the $240 million a year the Iowa Department of Transportation has budgeted in its 2022-26 Five-Year Program, according to Stuart Anderson, director of the transportation development division. Iowa has 4,571 bridges in poor condition, according to the federal DOT. Anderson cant predict how many more Iowa bridges will be built, repaired or replaced with the additional federal dollars, because bridge costs can vary significantly based on the improvement type, size of the bridge, condition of the bridge, etc. We expect well see a broad mix of bridge improvement types across the state with this new funding, he said. The states share can be spent on bridges normally eligible for federal aid, Anderson explained. That includes a large number of bridges on the county and city system and all other bridges. The $86.2 million a year doesnt include the amount cities and counties will spend on bridges. However, some of Iowas bipartisan infrastructure package funds will be spent on those systems, Anderson said. In fact, there is a requirement that at least 15 percent of this new federal bridge funding be spent on off-system bridges, he said. That means about $13 million each year must be spent on bridges that are not normally eligible for federal aid. These off-system bridges are on city and county systems, with the great majority of them being on the county system. For more information, click here. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 by Xinhua writer Gao Wencheng TEHRAN, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chief negotiators of Iran and three European countries on Friday temporarily returned to their capitals for consultations as expert talks continue, providing the latest evidence that international talks to salvage the Iranian nuclear deal in Vienna have been moving forward. The return of chief negotiators to their countries does not mean the eighth round of talks has stopped, according to the website of Iran's Foreign Ministry. The eighth round of negotiations between Iran and other remaining signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) began on Dec. 27 with the United States indirectly involved after its pullout in 2018 from the landmark pact. "BETTER ATMOSPHERE" "There's a better atmosphere since Christmas," European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters on Friday following an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in the French city of Brest. "Before Christmas, I was very pessimistic," he said, adding that "today I believe reaching an accord is possible," even within the coming weeks. Meanwhile, there is "real progress" on the restoration of the JCPOA, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday. "There is real progress there, there is a real desire, first of all between Iran and the United States, to understand specific concerns, to understand how these concerns can be taken into account in a common package," Lavrov told a press conference. The Vienna talks are "moving forward on right track," Iran's official IRNA News Agency reported on Saturday. "The number of issues of difference has decreased and delegations are busy to discuss the way of implementing any potential agreement," the report said, quoting an informed source on condition of anonymity. Also, Mikhail Ulyanov, head of Russia's delegation to the nuclear negotiations, tweeted on Thursday that the diplomats in Vienna primarily paid attention to "to (the) implementation of a future deal." "We need to agree on who will be doing what and when on the way towards full restoration of the nuclear deal," which is not an easy task, he added. "DIFFICULT PART" Though in a positive atmosphere, it's reported that a wide range of issues remains unresolved in the nuclear talks, given Iran and the United States, the two main parties, indirectly exchanging messages. "We are discussing difficult issues and considering the ways to prepare the draft of the agreed principles," Iran's Mehr News Agency reported on Saturday, citing a source close to the Vienna talks. According to the reports, about the removal of the sanctions and nuclear issues, lots of disputes have been resolved, and the negotiators "are increasingly working on the third appendix on how to implement and sequence the possible agreement." The informed source noted that this phase of negotiation is "one of the most tedious, time-consuming and difficult parts of the negotiation, but it is indispensable to achieve the goal." Based on reports from the venue of the talks, the Iranian negotiators have been focusing on assurances and verification of U.S. next moves, which the Western parties were opposed to, so as to "reach a good and acceptable agreement that will guarantee the Iranian nation's rights and interests." As the indirect negotiations between the United States and Iran reach a critical stage, neither side "wants to seem too eager to compromise, which would risk appearing weak," New York Times commented recently. WAY AHEAD While the diplomatic endeavors are going on, Washington still carries on with its pressure campaign. There are only "a few weeks left to see if we can get back to mutual compliance," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday, warning his country stands ready to look at "other options" if negotiations fail. However, Tehran has repeatedly vowed that it will not make hasty concessions under pressure. "Unfortunately, many of the weaknesses of the JCPOA ... have been due to the influence of the negotiators from the U.S. psychological pressures and the haste in signing the JCPOA agreement," said a news article published by Nour News website, which is affiliated with Iran's Supreme National Security Council. To move the negotiations forward, the United States, Iran's Tehran Times daily suggested, can "greenlight the release of Iranian assets as a goodwill gesture to pave the way for a lasting agreement," not an interim one that is unlikely to be accepted by Iran. Ali Vaez, Iran expert at the International Crisis Group, said in a recent podcast episode that to revive the JCPOA, given former U.S. President Donald Trump's "original sin," the United States "should go first and offer sanctions relief in areas that are actually open to verification," primarily in Iran's oil exports and related services, as well as its ability to repatriate all revenues and access to its frozen assets. Vaez also suggested Americans and Europeans provide assurances that Iran would be able to, at least during a Biden or Democratic administration, "keep the benefits of the agreement, as long as its own nuclear commitments are fulfilled." In parallel to Washington taking those steps, Iran should freeze its nuclear program to give time and room for verification, he added. A roundup of legislative and Capitol news items of interest: MLK DAY: The Iowa Department of Human Rights Office on the Status of African Americans will host a virtual celebration honoring the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The 33rd annual MLK Day observance will be at 10:45 a.m. Monday. It will include Gov. Kim Reynolds proclamation designating Jan. 17 as Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Jan. 17-22 as Martin Luther King Jr. Week. It also will include video presentations and the holiday bell-ringing. To view the celebration, visit the departments Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/IowaDeptHumanRights/. IOWA HISTORY 101: The State Historical Society of Iowa is putting on one-hour virtual programs to tell the stories of Iowa history. Nine new Iowa History 101 online presentations are scheduled from now through the end of March. The programs are free but require a registration. Information about upcoming programs and registration is available at https://iowaculture.gov/history/iowa-history-101-series. MENTAL HEALTH AGENDA: House Human Services Committee Chairwoman Ann Meyer, R-Fort Dodge, has laid out a mental health agenda for the session with bills to increase capacity at mental health institutes and fund psychiatric residencies. Her bills are based on conversations with her community, law enforcement and health care providers about the need for treatment locations to place difficult patients and for additional mental health providers throughout the state, Meyer said. HSB 531 would increase the current capacity at the Independence and Cherokee mental health institutes by 50 percent and add 32 adult beds and 14 child/adolescent beds for Iowa's most difficult-to-place mental health patients. HSB 532 would fund 12 psychiatric residents per year to help increase the number of psychiatrists trained in Iowa. Iowa ranks 44th in the country in psychiatrists per capita. Another bill, HSB 537, would add $1 million per year to expand loan forgiveness opportunities to continue to retain new prescribing mental health providers in Iowa. HSB 530 would require the Department of Human Services to establish a Medicaid rate for those needing a higher level of inpatient psychiatric care. Track progress of the bills at https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation. JUDICIAL APPOINTMENT: Jennifer Benson Bahr of Crescent has been appointed by Gov. Kim Reynolds as a district court judge in Judicial District 4, which includes Audubon, Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie and Shelby counties. Bahr is a district associate judge in Judicial District 4. She previously was an assistant Pottawattamie County attorney and has also served as county attorney in Webster and Humboldt counties. She has degrees from the University of Iowa and Drake University Law School. She fills the vacancy created by the upcoming retirement of District Court Judge James Heckerman. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 For the past 36 years, the third Monday in January has been dedicated to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. In Illinois, professional boxer and civic leader Muhammad Ali will be observed for the first time on Jan. 17, his birthday. This year, both leaders will be celebrated on the same day. State Sen. Laura Ellman and state Rep. Edgar Gonzalez Jr. sponsored the resolution, which was passed by the Illinois Senate in June. King was a Baptist minister, a social activist and one of the main forces of the civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until he was assassinated in April 1968. Through peaceful protests such as sit-ins and sermons including the famous I Have a Dream speech, he demanded racial, economic and civic equality. Among his efforts was the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which outlawed discriminatory practices such as implementing tests to see if an individual was qualified to go to the ballot. Laws around voting are still making progress to this day. Presently there are two bills awaiting a vote from legislators in Washington, D.C., including the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. The goal of the Freedom to Vote Act is to lessen voting restrictions by expanding the ability to vote by mail and allowing individuals to provide a wider range of options to use for identification when going to vote. The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would bolster the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The goal is to identify jurisdictions that have a pattern of discriminatory practices in an effort to continuously remove the barriers voters face. The first MLK Day was celebrated on Jan. 20, 1986. In 1994, then-President Bill Clinton declared that Martin Luther King Day should not only be celebrated but also recognized as a National Day of Service as a reminder to serve and build bridges between communities. Acts of service include donating clothes, volunteering at a food pantry, or beautifying a community through gardening are some of the ways the day is honored. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Thumbs Up ... to Moline-based Deere & Co. for its new fully autonomous tractor, which it unveiled this month at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (CES 2022). The machine combines Deere's 8R tractor with advanced technologies, and from what we've read, it's turning a lot of heads. Available later this year, the tractor is aimed at better feeding the world at a time of less labor and land, Deere says. Deere hadn't set a price for the tractors, but some of the articles we've read about it speculate it will be more than $500,000. We salute Deere for its innovation. Thumbs Down ... to Iowa Senate President Jake Chapman for his accusation that there is a "sinister agenda" at work in the state and educators and the media are complicit. Chapman, an Adel Republican, is upset over materials that have appeared on school book shelves. Last November, he said that he would be drafting legislation to make it a felony for teachers to distribute "obscene" material to Iowa students. Chapman says there is a move afoot to normalize sexually deviant behavior. We on this board are parents. We want educators to take care when they decide what is appropriate for school children. We also await details of Chapman's legislation. Still, we think it's pretty over the top for him to say, as he did this week, that "it has become increasingly evident that we live in a world in which many, including our media, wish to confuse, misguide and deceive us, calling good evil and evil good." As we've watched the debate over this issue, it's clear that many educators and journalists have a difference of opinion with Chapman about what constitutes obscenity, not to mention deviant behavior. We haven't weighed in ourselves about the materials he has cited, but even so we don't see a "sinister agenda." We know there will be a debate this legislative session about what materials are being presented to students, the rights that parents should have in these matters, and the respective role of school boards and the state. (Our inclination is toward more local control). Still, we look forward to the debate. Unfortunately, Chapman's intemperate accusations got the whole discussion off on the wrong foot. Thumbs Up ... to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul for his warning to people in the state to beware of "pop-up" testing sites for COVID-19. With the shortage of tests, the AG also warned about price gouging. "It is important for people to know that these sites are not licensed or regulated by a government agency, and they should ask questions before visiting a pop-up testing location or try to utilize a state-sponsored testing site," Raoul said. Among the questions: What tests does the site administer, who analyzes the results and what laboratory does the site use. Some of these sites, he says, ask for insurance or other personal information. If people believe they're the victims of fraud, the AG says to go to his web site to file a complaint. Thumbs Up ... to a new alliance in Iowa to attack human trafficking. The Iowa Businesses Against Trafficking initiative was announced on Thursday. It will be coordinated by the Iowa Secretary of State's office and, already, it includes about three dozen companies and business groups, including some of the state's largest associations. "My office is the business portal for the State of Iowa, and well be inviting every business in the state to join this effort," Secretary Paul Pate said in a news release. "We are going to build a statewide, grassroots coalition that will unite with one common mission: to make Iowa a trafficking-free state." Businesses that join the effort will be asked to educate employers, customers and partners about trafficking and to empower more people to take action to prevent it. By going to IBAT.Iowa.gov those interested in joining can learn more. We applaud the effort and the goal to make Iowa a trafficking-free state. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2 Let me respond to the letter entitled "Hypocritical". The writer states that a Republican woman who refuses a vaccine "has no right to endanger innocent people she will come in contact with, and cause in effect their death." I, an independent voter with several immune deficiencies, despite being double vaccinated along with a booster shot, caught a so-called breakthrough Covid infection over the holidays from a relative who was double-vaccinated, who unknowingly caught it from another vaccinated acquaintance. Can anyone say with certainty that you will never catch the virus, maybe even from a vaccinated Democrat, when many asymptomatic individuals have never been tested? I wonder if the writer accused former President Trump, as many Democrats did, of being guilty of the 500,000 Covid deaths under his watch (when the CDC did not distinguish those who died with Covid from those who died because of Covid). Will he now hold President Biden accountable for the 300,000 Americans who have died from Covid under his administration? Be careful who you call "guilty" because the charge will likely be leveled against you as well. Bob Bartel Eldridge Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Katie Harlow, a Registered Nurse at Monument Health Rapid City Hospital ICU, has received the DAISY Award, according to a news release from Monument Health. A national program, the award is presented to nurses who go above and beyond for their patients and community. She was nominated by the children of a patient. We would like to give a special thank you to Katie for her gentle, consistent, professional care of our mom after surgery. She was very sensitive to moms needs and treated her with dignity. Her awareness of moms issues was dealt with so adequately and gracefully, states the nomination. Your care was so greatly appreciated, both to our mom and for your kindness and pleasantness to us during our visits. The DAISY Award was established by the DAISY Foundation in California in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, who died at age 33 of an autoimmune disease. DAISY is an acronym for diseases attacking the immune system. Nurses in Rapid City are selected 12 times a year for this recognition. Nurses are also honored in Custer, Lead-Deadwood, Spearfish and Sturgis. Visit monument.health/daisy to nominate. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A Pennington County judge denied a mistrial with prejudice in the second-degree murder trial Thursday, but called the state's errors in the case "grossly negligent." Circuit Court Judge Matt Brown ordered that a retrial for Barry Allman's second-degree murder trial case should be scheduled as soon as possible and that the State's Attorney's Office be assessed the cost of assembling and seating the jury for the mistrial. Allman is facing second-degree murder charges and mandatory life in prison without parole in the Aug. 6, 2020, death of 33-year-old Lance Baumgarten, who was stabbed in the chest inside a Rapid City home and later died in the hospital. Brown wrote in his memorandum decision that the errors made by the state were "grossly negligent, egregious, and caused serious inconvenience, burden and cost" to the county, court, staff, jurors and Allman. During a Friday status hearing, Brown said the case would take precedence over other cases. Allman's defense attorney, John Murphy, said Friday that they're disappointed in the denial for a mistrial with prejudice, which would have meant Allman could not be tried again for the crime, but pleased the state was ordered to repay the cost of the jurors in the initial trial. "We are pleased with the analysis and findings as to the egregiousness of the state's misbehavior," he said. Brown declared a mistrial in the case on the second day of the December trial after discovering prosecutors failed to inform the defense that immunity was granted to three key witnesses. In the decision, Brown wrote the timeline of discovery requirements and the actions of counsel for both the state and Allman. Brown stated the state granted Tyra Afraid of Lightning, the first witness in the trial, immunity Nov. 30, 2021, about a week before testimony started. However, the state did not inform Murphy of the immunity for Afraid of Lightning and two other witnesses until Dec. 7, the second day of trial and the first day of testimony. It was also found that Alex Durroh, another witness in the case, had three bench warrants in regards to seven criminal charges quashed, which was not disclosed to Murphy. "Alarmingly, the position taken by the state was not only did they not provide this information to defense counsel, but that they were not required to since quashing arrest warrants in exchange for a witness testimony 'did not confer a benefit,'" Brown wrote. The judge wrote that the court agrees with the state in part that the quashing of warrants was a "sincerely held belief" by the lead prosecutor but is less convinced about the weight to be given to the state's attorney's recollection in providing immunity agreements prior to Dec. 7. Brown wrote granting a mistrial with prejudice would require the court to find the state's actions had the intention to goad the defense into a mistrial, and the court would have to be convinced the state conferred numerous benefits to multiple witnesses in the process of trial preparation. He found the defense's arguments for mistrial with prejudice to fall short. "None of the analysis above in any way condones the reckless, negligent, and costly errors made by the prosecution team in this case," Brown wrote. "However, the analysis and rationale for the cumulative errors made by the state in this matter do not decisively lead the court to find the intent of the state was to cause a mistrial of the case." Brown set a status hearing for the case for early February. Contact Siandhara Bonnet at siandhara.bonnet@rapidcityjournal.com You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 3 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. What started with lunch on a cold day has grown into a temporary homeless shelter at the Woyatan Lutheran Church in Rapid City. The shelter was started by Chris White Eagle, president of Woyatans Wambli Ska ministry. He said the shelter has served more than 2,240 meals since it opened Jan. 1 and served more than 620 unhoused relatives. The shelter serves three meals a day. White Eagle said the shelter typically has about 80 people using its services at any given time and 14 volunteers. The shelter doesnt allow alcohol and masks are required indoors, which hasn't discouraged visitors. They just want love. At the end of the day, they just want to feel that someone loves them, he said. We all need to play our part, and were all just a little piece in this bigger puzzle. Wambli Ska is working with Journey On, Volunteers of America, Great Plains Tribal Leaders Health Board, NDN Collective and Creek Patrol to make the shelter possible. Journey On is a street outreach organization that partners with the city to connect the homeless to resources. It has been able to help some families find shelter with Volunteers of America and connect individuals to treatment if they request it. White Eagle said it started when he reached out to Woyatan Pastor Jonathan Old Horse about serving lunch on New Year's Eve at Woyatan Lutheran Church on Anamosa Street when it was below zero outdoors. He said he saw a Journey On street outreach team with a group of homeless individuals who were asking where to go since many places were closed due to the holiday. He said seeing the turnout for lunch that day led to the pop-up shelter as temperatures remained frigid in Rapid City. Its one of those things you do and you ask for forgiveness later. Its the morally right thing to do, he said. At the end of the day, we were in over our heads. At the same time, I could sleep at the end of the day knowing we were doing all we can to make sure no one dies. He said the first two days of the shelter was a lot of trial and error, but theyve since gotten their feet underneath themselves now. Those who stayed at the shelter have to be there by 7 p.m. to claim their bed if they stayed the night prior. If it isnt claimed, its open to anyone else. White Eagle said Wambli Ska received permission to keep the shelter running as long as possible and plans to stay inside the church building. He said theyre not trying to replace services, but they are trying to help with any overflow from other shelters. He also hopes to add a soup kitchen. He said there are currently no firm plans, but theyre looking into a three-month lease on the north side of town. Although the weather is predicted to warm up over the next week or two, White Eagle said winter is far from over and they plan to keep the doors open. Anyone interested in donating or volunteering can contact White Eagle at 605-787-8918. Contact Siandhara Bonnet at siandhara.bonnet@rapidcityjournal.com You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 7 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The Department of Health reported 2,641 new COVID-19 infections and 15 additional deaths Friday. That brought the total number of deaths in January to 73 and the overall death toll to 2,559. Active cases continued to explode, reaching record levels at 26,835 -- an increase of 2,092 from Thursday's report. Hospitalizations also continue to increase in South Dakota with 349 patients across the state with 69 in intensive care units. The Black Hills region has 64 patients being treated for COVID-19 illness with 10 in ICU. That is an increase of 22 patients in a week. The outbreak in the Rapid City Area Schools also expanded to record levels as almost 300 students had an active COVID-19 infection according to Thursday's RCAS update. There are 297 students out with COVID-19 and 78 staff members. In addition to the active infections, there are 412 students and 14 staff members required to quarantine. Several schools were forced to adjust to lower student and staff totals, and four schools went to distance learning before the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend. The biggest outbreak is still at Rapid City Central School where there are 54 active cases. Fourteen other schools have at least 10 active infections Stevens High (28), Meadowbrook Elementary (27), North Middle (26), South Middle (24), Southwest Middle (22), Corral Drive Elementary (19), Robbinsdale (18), East Middle (17), West Middle (16), Canyon Lake Elementary (16), Rapid Valley Elementary (16), General Beadle Elementary (15), Pinedale Elementary (14), and Valley View Elementary (12). The deaths reported Friday included seven women and eight men. There were two deaths in Pennington, Fall River and Minnehaha counties. Buffalo, Butte, Dewey, Jackson, Mellette, Spink, Stanley, Todd and Yankton counties each reported one death. One person who died was in their 40s, one in their 50s, six in their 60s and seven were over 70. Minnehaha County continued to lead the state in new infections with 687 leading to active cases there, to grow to 8,215 in that county alone. Pennington County reported 397 new infections with 3,520 active cases here -- an increase of 320 from Thursday and almost 1,500 this week. Meade County reported 71 new infections, and there were 68 in Lawrence County. Custer County recorded 21 positive tests, and there were 17 in Butte County. Fall River County recorded 15 new cases, and there were 13 in Oglala-Lakota County. Lincoln Added 171 new cases, and there were 115 in Brookings County and 113 in Brown County. Codington County reported 88 positive tests. There were 68 new infections in Yankton County, 64 in Union County and 63 in Clay County. There were 54 new infections in Davison County, 50 in Todd County and 47 in Beadle County. Hutchinson County reported 35 new cases, and there were 34 in Charles Mix County and 33 in Bon Homme County. Moody County added 29 new infections, and there were 28 in Gregory County. Brule and Lake counties each reported 26 positive tests, and there were 22 in Turner County. Roberts and Tripp counties each reported 20 new infections, and there were 15 in Day and Lyman counties. Walworth County added 14 new cases, and there were 13 in Hamlin and Hughes counties. Clark and Deuel counties each reported a dozen new infections. There were 591 new infections in children under 19 and 116 in people over 70. A 25-year-old Colorado skier missing since Thursday was found deceased Friday on the Idaho side of the divide. The man was reported missing after not meeting up with his party at the Lost Trail Ski Area Thursday afternoon. The search was led by the Lost Trail Ski Patrol, Ravalli County Search and Rescue, LifeFlight, Two Bear Air and the Ravalli County sheriffs office. At the request of the Lemhi County Coroner, the Ravalli County Coroners office will lead the investigation into the circumstances of the mans death. More details, including the mans identity, will be released following an investigation and opportunity for the mans family to notify friends and relatives, said a Ravalli County Sheriffs office press release. Sheriff Stephen Holton said his office extended thoughts and prayers to the mans family. He thanked volunteers with the ski patrol and county search and rescue for their tireless efforts in searching for the man as well as Two Bear Air for assisting in the recovery. Holton also thanked the Ravalli County sheriff detective who piloted a thermal imaging drone last night in the search effort. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 5 Angry 0 ADEN, Yemen, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi Arabia-led coalition intensified its aerial bombardment against the Houthi militia in various regions of Yemen on Saturday, a military official told Xinhua. "Scores of airstrikes were launched by warplanes of the Saudi-led coalition against the Houthis in Yemeni oil-rich provinces of Shabwa and Marib during the past hours," the local military source said on condition of anonymity. The intensified aerial bombardment largely helped the Southern Giants Brigades gain on-ground military progress and managed to capture Marib's district of Harib from the Houthis, he said. The source noted that "the Saudi-led coalition urged the Yemeni people to avoid using or traveling through some roads as the intensified aerial bombardment campaign will continue during the upcoming hours." "The Houthis also attempted to escape the airstrikes and resorted to using civilian vehicles in order to transfer weapons towards their military sites," he added. Earlier on the day, the Coalition Spokesperson Brigadier General Turki Al Maliki announced that "the coalition's leadership has asked Yemeni citizens and travelers not to use roads leading from the provinces of Marib and al-Bayda to the districts of Harib, Ain, Bayhan, and Usaylan." According to the coalition's spokesperson, "the request not to use these roads will be in effect from 3 p.m. local time on Saturday, Jan. 15 until further notice." He clarified that the coalition's forces considered these roads as "operational areas that are watched around the clock, and any movement on these roads will be targeted." He also requested "Yemeni residents not to stay away from these roads for their own safety." Yemen has been mired in a civil war since the Houthi militia overran much of the country militarily and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa, in 2014. Saudi Arabia has been leading an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after the Houthis forced him into exile. Sean Bennett started throwing up blood, so he went to the emergency room at LewisGale Hospital Montgomery near his home in Southwest Virginia. Bennett has dealt with prolonged liver disease for over a year, sending him to the hospital repeatedly. A small community facility, LewisGale didnt have a gastrointestinal doctor available to treat his condition, an enlarging of the veins in his esophagus called esophageal varices. There wasnt a hospital with both a GI doctor and an available bed for 200 miles. They tried everywhere, said Bennett, 38. So LewisGale staff put him in an ambulance and sent him 3 hours east to Henrico Doctors Hospital, which had a bed and a doctor. But a few weeks later, in late summer, he was spitting up blood again, and he returned to LewisGale. This time, the closest available bed was 250 miles away at Reston Hospital Center. Doctors determined his condition was so urgent, they sent him there in a helicopter. When he became ill for a third time, LewisGale put him back in a helicopter and flew him to Henrico Doctors, once again sending him across the state. Six months after the nursing crisis began, omicron has brought the highest number of COVID-19 patients to Virginia hospitals, putting beds at a premium and patients with all types of ailments at risk. Some patients, like Bennett, have been transferred hours away across the state. Others remain in hospitals ill-equipped to treat them. And others sit in emergency room beds or chairs waiting for an open bed upstairs. Waiting diminishes the care the patients receive, and searching for open beds eats up the precious time of emergency room staff. Last week, the state continued setting records for hospitalized COVID patients with more than 3,500 per day. There were nearly 90,000 emergency room visits the first week of the year, 45% higher than before the pandemic began. The non-COVID patients are generally sicker than before. Virginia Commonwealth University Healths downtown medical center is seeing unprecedented demand for inpatient care, a spokesperson said. As patients flood in, they are being treated by a smaller, weary medical workforce that lost 8,100 nurses nationwide in September alone. This perfect storm represents a failure of our bigger medical system as a whole, said Dr. David Fosnocht, head of Augusta Emergency Physicians in Augusta County. Transferring patients In the fall, a patient with a brain bleed arrived at an emergency room in eastern Virginia. Dr. Todd Parker, president-elect of the Virginia College of Emergency Physicians, determined the patient needed to be transferred to a larger hospital with an ICU. Parker and his staff contacted 17 hospitals in five states but couldnt find an open bed. After 12 hours of searching, a bed became available in the same hospital system. From his hospital in Hampton Roads, he has sent patients to University of Virginia Health, Duke Health and Inova Fairfax. Before the pandemic, Fosnocht often transferred patients to Roanoke Carilion and UVA. Now, those hospitals are often full, sending him to look in all corners of the state. One night, he could find only one available intermediate-level bed hospital beds are divided into categories based on severity of illness in the entire state. The longer a patient is in transit, the greater the risk, doctors say. Transferring critically ill patients to a new hospital often means taking them out of the hospital and putting them in an ambulance for an hourslong trip. Transferring patients is labor intensive and takes a doctors time away from other patients. Fosnocht carries a printed spreadsheet of 25 or so of the largest hospitals in the state. Its updated regularly to show which ones have the capacity for new patients. The open ones are highlighted. To initiate a transfer, he calls the closest open hospital on the list. He usually starts with UVA a 40-minute drive away or Carilion Roanoke, which is 1 hours away. When a hospital tells him it cant accept his patient, he moves down the list and expands his geographic circle. If he can find a receiving hospital in 15 or 30 minutes, thats a success. The difficult transfers take hours. For years, he never transferred patients to Inova Fairfax, which is more than two hours away. Now, he does so routinely. Sometimes, he sends patients to Hampton Roads, some three hours away. If no bed can be found, a patient might stay in a sub-optimal hospital. During one week in September, when the delta variant was at its worst, there were 27% fewer transfers than the same week in 2019. If a patient cant be transferred, the hospital will hold them, hoping conditions dont worsen. If they dont worsen, sometimes the patient can be released. If they do worsen, the hospital will search for a transfer destination again, asking other facilities to make an exception for a serious condition. Transferring a patient also raises the cost of the medical bill. A 50-mile transport through the Richmond Ambulance Authority can cost $2,500. And it occupies transport services. Augusta Health typically operates two ambulances of its own at a time, depending on staffing. If one ambulance is dispatched to Hampton Roads, half of the hospitals ambulance resources become tied up for more than six hours. American Medical Response operates many of the inter-hospital transports in the area. A spokesperson for the company declined to comment. Boarding in the ER Sometimes a patient doesnt need to be transferred away, but the hospital doesnt have a bed to offer, either. So the hospital admits the patient but keeps them in the emergency room while waiting for a bed upstairs, a circumstance known as boarding. One day this winter, in a 50-bed emergency room in Hampton Roads, 36 beds held a patient boarding, Parker said. That creates a logjam, preventing the emergency room from seeing other sick people. Recently, having 10 or 20 patients boarding in his ER is normal, Parker said. Long an issue in health care, boarding has been exacerbated by omicron and the nursing shortage. Sometimes it takes two or three days for a bed to open up maybe a patients entire hospital stay. Its horrible, Fosnocht said. It continues a downstream effect on quality and being able to take care of patients the way it really should be done. While boarding, patients dont get the same level of care, the doctors said. The emergency room is chaotic, noisy and bright, and its a hard place for patients to sleep. Instead of a dedicated nurse, staffers rotate in and out. The nurses are less familiar with the patients medicine and treatment. The doctor in charge isnt down the hall they are on another floor, maybe on another wing. Those small details result in poorer care, Fosnocht said. Boarding is a significant risk to morbidity and mortality every hour theyre there. When every room is full, patients may wait in chairs, be seen in the waiting room or get a bed in a hallway. When an emergency room can accept no more patients, it gives itself a designation known as diversion, directing ambulances to go elsewhere. Diversion isnt unusual one day last month, 12 hospitals in the region were simultaneously on some form of diversion, unable to accept certain patients based on their medical needs. In less urban areas, hospitals cant go on diversion, because there are no other nearby facilities. Lower staffing Burnt out, nurses have left emergency rooms and intensive care units in droves. In Virginia, the workforce of about 100,000 nurses is probably 10% below what is needed, Kathy Baker, associate chief nurse for VCU Health, said in the summer. The number of nurses employed can sometimes dictate the number of beds a hospital can keep open. At Augusta, fewer nurses have forced the hospital to operate about 25% fewer beds than ideal, Fosnocht said. The three major health systems in Richmond VCU Health, Bon Secours and HCA declined to say how many nurses they have lost this year and if they are staffing fewer beds. The hospitals other option is to operate the same number of beds with fewer nurses, stretching their staff thinner, giving every nurse more patients to care for. There are just no options for nursing staffing right now, Fosnocht said. Its a nationwide crisis, and it certainly is in Virginia and locally here as well. Hospitals are left competing for scarce resources, squeezing their budgets to pay nurses more, even though they arent receiving higher reimbursement from insurance companies. In response to the surge and staffing shortage, then-Gov. Ralph Northam declared a limited state of emergency last week designed to allow hospitals to expand their staffing capacity. Sometimes its easier to send a patient not to the hospital 30 minutes down the road but to the one three hours away. Thats what happened to Bennett. A hospital will go to greater lengths to accept a patient already in the health system. Because large hospitals are already taking patients from smaller facilities in their own system, they often cannot accept patients from other systems. When Bennett got sick and went to Montgomery LewisGale, he entered a facility owned by HCA Virginia Health System. Doctors sent him to two other HCA hospitals Henrico Doctors and Reston Hospital Center. A spokesperson for HCA said doctors consider a patients needs, bed availability, the timeliness of the transfer and continuity of care to decide if the patient will stay in the system or leave it. When Bennett arrived at Henrico, his gastrointestinal doctor recommended Bennett stop visiting LewisGale, because hed keep getting transferred, Bennett said. The doctor recommended Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, about a 40-minute drive from his home. Its the largest hospital in the Carilion system, and it was unlikely Bennett would be transferred farther from home. So Bennett started visiting Carilion, and he hasnt been transferred since. But that doesnt mean the care has been quick. Sometimes he has waited four or five hours before seeing a doctor. The Hanover County School Board is poised to establish a caste system governing who speaks when at its meetings or whether they get to speak at all. Meanwhile, a freshman Virginia lawmaker would criminalize anti-racist instruction in education, all in service of parental rights. The parental rights issue was crucial in electing Glenn Youngkin as governor. But the aftermath has been ceaseless pandering to right-leaning parents for political gain. The elevation of the loudest, angriest parents the kind who would ban books, burn face masks and censor teachers earnestly and honestly teaching about Americas past is a destructive force in public education. It shouldnt be nurtured. But the Hanover board is considering a policy that elevates parents and in Hanover, they are often angry at the expense of educators. In an amendment of the boards citizen participation policy, Hanover residents who have children attending county schools would speak first; residents without children currently enrolled would follow. Owners of businesses located in Hanover would be next in this pecking order, followed by Hanover Public Schools staff and finally, everyone else. Its unclear why businesspeople would be prioritized ahead of Hanover teachers, principals and other school employees. Or why students the primary stakeholders of the school district are not mentioned at all. Under the existing policy, speakers are called in the order that they signed up, from the previous months holdovers, to those who signed up with the board clerk before the deadline, to those who registered immediately prior to the meeting. Changing this first-come, first-served policy could literally leave educators out in the cold during standing-room only meetings, with no guarantee that theyll get to speak. Left unchanged is the 60-minute cap on the public comment period. This treats people very unfairly, said John Szewczyk, assistant director of Virginia Professional Educators. Tampering with the First Amendment can have unintended consequences, he said. We may be barred permanently from ever speaking again at a regular Hanover County School Board meeting. Yes, parents have rights. Who, other than Terry McAuliffe, during a politically clumsy moment, would suggest otherwise? But educators have rights, too, including the right to be heard. Hanover School Board member John Axselle, who introduced the measure, says the amended speaker policy is intended to allow the citizens of Hanover County who entrust their children to us and other Hanover citizens the opportunity to [speak] before non-Hanover citizens. Hanover citizens and taxpayers and their children are who we represent and whose school system it is. But anyone who has witnessed the political weaponization of parents, and the bullying and intimidation of educators, needs little imagination about where this could go. On Thursday, Youngkin named Jillian Balow, formerly the superintendent of public instruction in Wyoming, to the same post in Virginia. Balow made a name for herself as a foe of anti-racist teaching in one of the whitest states in the U.S. In the meantime, Del. Wren Williams, R-Patrick County, introduced House Bill 781, which would prohibit incorporating into any course or class any divisive concept, whatever that means. (I guess long division of Arabic numbers would be out.) The bill became an embarrassing episode of historical inaccuracy, with its reference to the first debate between Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. It was a white U.S. senator from Illinois, Stephen A. Douglas not Black abolitionist Frederick Douglass who famously debated Lincoln. The Division of Legislative Services claimed responsibility for the error. If only that were all that was wrong with this bill, which threatens noncomplying educators with a Class 4 misdemeanor. The bill does not camouflage its hostility toward people of color. It seeks to forbid school districts from creating a position or hiring a consultant with the job title of equity director or diversity director. And it would require current events to be presented from diverse and contending perspectives, without giving deference to any one perspective. Should teachers give deference to white supremacists and insurrectionists? Balance has its place, but never above truth and justice. The bill, with its emotional gatekeeping, seeks to inoculate students from discomfort, guilt, anguish or any form of psychological distress during school instruction because of their race, religion, ethnicity or sex. No one wants students to feel guilty about atrocities they had no hand in committing. But students of all colors should feel discomfort, anguish or distress upon learning about the genocide of Americas Indigenous people, the enslavement and subjugation of Black people, and discrimination against women and Asian, Latino and LGBTQ people. The empathy that comes with this knowledge should compel them to do better, if only their elders would get out of the way. Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin had every reason to be happy on the eve of his inauguration as Virginias 74th governor, and he showed it. Youngkin appeared onstage with his wife, Suzanne, Virginias next first lady, to thunderous applause and cheers from more than 700 supporters many of them Republican legislators who had gathered for a festive reception Friday evening celebrating the Spirit of Virginia Welcome at the Omni Richmond Hotel. I hope you feel the spirit of Virginia because it is alive and well, he exclaimed. Youngkin was happy, too, because he said he had spent a full week with his wife after a year of hard campaigning and preparing to form an administration for Virginias executive branch of government. Its the longest time we have been together in a year, he said, adding with a laugh, Nothing to be proud of, folks! Youngkin will be sworn in Saturday along with fellow Republicans Winsome Earle-Sears as lieutenant governor and Jason Miyares as attorney general. Youngkin had begun the day in a show of community service, spreading mulch around the Reconciliation Statue along the Richmond Slave Trail in Shockoe Bottom, which was home to the second largest domestic slave market in the United States before the Civil War. He had visited the commemorative trail of historic markers during his gubernatorial campaign and recalled the way it made us feel a connection to our history. Yes, the toughest part of our nations history, he added, but it also helps us understand where we can go and how much progress we have made. But after the sun went down, the party lights came on with Youngkins last name in large letters etched in bright white bulbs with a red star over it at the top of the stairs to greet guests to the Omni ballroom for the reception. Republicans reveled in the moment, with the Grand Old Party poised to regain control of all three executive branch offices and the House of Delegates, just two years after losing two decades of control over the House and starved for a victory in a statewide race since 2009. Few in the crowd at the large cocktail party wore masks amid the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. Later Friday night, the Youngkins were to host a Spirit of Imagination dinner at the Science Museum of Virginia. At the Omni, House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, who had been sworn in as House leader two days earlier, relished his role as emcee to welcome you to the newly liberated capital of Virginia! The air is just a little bit better when you walk around Capitol Square, Gilbert said. Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, one of Youngkins earliest allies in his bid to become governor, led the audience in prayer, while Del. Amanda Batten, R-James City, followed in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. We come to you in the spirit of hope and expectation, Newman prayed. Virginia Beach developer Bruce Thompson, chairman of the Youngkin inaugural committee, promised the biggest crowd for a gubernatorial inauguration in Virginia history, with more than 6,000 people expected in Capitol Square. Thompson also promised a celebration like Richmond, Virginia, has never seen on Saturday night, after Youngkin becomes governor. Youngkin looked forward to his inauguration in three stages. The first, he said, would be celebration, not of whats behind us, but whats ahead of us. The second comes after the ceremony and parade. In the afternoon, were going to work because its Day One, said Youngkin, echoing the refrain of the late summer unveiling of a tax cut package that he promised would be a priority from his first day as governor. Finally, at Main Street Station on Saturday night, he said, Let me tell you, we are going to have a ball! But for all the high spirits, Youngkin stayed close to his political themes from a victory that he said was the result of a movement rather than a campaign. He savored the 52-48 majority that Republicans hold in the House and reminded the audience that all 140 seats in both chambers of the General Assembly are up for election next year. Democrats hold a 21-19 majority in the Senate. I have to say, 2023 is right around the corner, Youngkin said. So get ready for the Senate. Todd Gilbert, the just-installed Republican speaker of the House of Delegates, got a makeover: new suits, trimmer and less funereal than those he usually wears; shirt-and-tie combinations at once understated and natty; and sleek oxfords ideal for creeping through the corridors of power but useless for mucking about his vest-pocket-sized farm in Shenandoah County. If the stylish togs somehow make Gilbert known by his mountainous countenance, The Rock-like bald pate and occasional churlish snarl appear less menacing, then appearances are deceiving. Witness his real-time scolding on Twitter of Ralph Northam during the Democratic governors farewell address to the General Assembly on Wednesday night. Gilbert in private, witty, attentive, often brimming with questions and curious about the complexities of Virginia history that contributed to Northams post-blackface racial reckoning was fully in character online: sneering and sarcastic, all but labeling Northam the poster boy for white guilt. Democrats, including Gilberts predecessor, Eileen Filler-Corn of Fairfax, replied with rhetorical spitballs. It was among the more noticeable tense moments of a freshly convened legislative session that promises to be defined by more of them over the next two months. There will be tension between the new Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, and election-chastened Democrats; between the Republicans who rule the House and the Democrats who run the Virginia Senate; and among legislators in both parties who have been doubled- and tripled-up in districts drawn by the Virginia Supreme Court because the politicians sabotaged the voter-approved commission that was supposed to depoliticize redistricting. In a General Assembly in which, at one point, roughly half of its members incumbents and just-elected were dumped into districts with other incumbents, legislators will spend more time looking over their shoulders, assessing colleagues as possible primary opponents or general election challengers. Some of this will ease, with incumbents moving to new open seats. Several have already announced they will move, satisfying residency requirements. However, such complications could accelerate, particularly for House members, if a federal court orders a special election for this November by siding with a former state Democratic chairman who argues last falls balloting was unconstitutional, having been held in outdated districts. They remained in place because of delays in receiving census data from Washington. State law requires elections held the year districts are reset. With a special contest, House candidates would have to run in three consecutive elections 2021, 2022 and 2023, the first and third, regularly scheduled. This hasnt happened since the early 1980s, when federal courts and a Republican U.S. Justice Department found that House Democrats had advanced redistricting plans that illegally diluted Black voting strength. That wave of elections, coming as Democrats were bouncing back statewide, hastened the Republican Partys growth in the General Assembly, lifting to the ranks a future star: George Allen. He would serve as governor and U.S. senator before flaming out in a racial calamity in 2006. And then theres the coronavirus pandemic. Masks and, to some degree, vaccinations are statements of party affiliation. Democrats wear masks; Republicans dont. The Youngkin inaugural throw-down; floor sessions in the House, where sneeze screens were removed; and committee hearings that attract herds of lobbyists and onlookers all are potential super-spreader events, transforming the seat of state government into a giant Petri dish. There are few habitues of the state Capitol who arent expecting a spike in infections there. Earlier strains of the virus have sickened politicians, including Northam, and killed one, a Republican state senator from deep-red Southwest Virginia. That Youngkin, whose position on jabs is Trumpy (get em if you got em), has named a mandate-skeptical Johns Hopkins doc cum Fox News talking head as his COVID-19 guru, speaks to Youngkins high-wire act on this continuing public health emergency. He wants to acknowledge the hostility of the right to perceived nanny-ism while affirming for the center, and even the left, that government has a role in protecting people from themselves. Because of this balancing act, which helped Youngkin to a slender victory over Terry McAuliffe, Youngkin is viewed in national Republican circles as perhaps the kind of presidential or vice presidential candidate who could simultaneously appeal to the disaffected working-class voters who gravitate to Trump and middle-class suburbanites revolted by him. This is often a consequence of the disproportionate national attention Virginias off-year gubernatorial election receives. Youngkin could give voters beyond Virginia an opportunity Monday to judge for themselves. In his first State of the Commonwealth message, he will address the legislature in the late afternoon rather than the customary time, 7 p.m. This way, recorded coverage of the speech might not only lead local newscasts across the state but be available through the evening to national outlets, such as Youngkin-favored Fox. Hed also have time to do a live-shot or two. This celebratory stuff is a distraction, albeit brief, from the disruption synonymous with the transfer of power from one party to the other. Across the bureaucracy, Democrat-appointed agency heads some of whom quit rather than be replaced were told in the run-up to the Youngkin inaugural (either in person, by correspondence or, in some cases, news release) that the new regime no longer required their services. This qualified many for separation pay under a program Democrats fashioned in response to an expensive house-cleaning by Allen after his election for governor in 1993. Other agency directors received letters asking them to remain on the job for at least four months, giving Youngkin time to gauge their performance, test their loyalty or find replacements. The fate of these appointees is largely overshadowed, for now, by huffing and puffing over Youngkins choice of a Trumpster for Virginia natural resources secretary. Senate Democrats are spoiling to block confirmation of Andrew Wheeler, a coal lobbyist who ran the Environmental Protection Agency. Youngkin is defiant, declaring hes fighting for Wheeler. Could appearances be deceiving? The key to the Executive Mansion wasnt quite what Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin expected. Instead of a brass key to a door lock, outgoing Gov. Ralph Northam handed the incoming governor a plastic card punctured by tooth marks from his Labrador puppy, Pearl. Did the dog eat it? Youngkin asked incredulously after he and his wife, Suzanne, joined Northam and first lady Pam Northam in the Old Senate Chamber in the Capitol for the traditional passing of the key from one governor to the next. Northam responded, He tried to eat it. I can promise you it still works, Northam told Youngkin minutes before the governor-elect took the oath of office, steps away on the South Portico of the Capitol. Two hours later, Youngkin walked back into the historic building as Virginias 74th governor, surrounded by his executive protection unit. He had given his inaugural speech and reviewed a parade around the Capitol in his honor. What a morning! he exclaimed before heading to the governors office upstairs, where he was preparing to sign a series of executive orders and directives to begin carrying out his day one agenda. A day of celebration and executive action was to culminate with a casual-dress party at Richmonds Main Street Station in lieu of the traditional black-tie inaugural ball. *** It was a morning of respectful tradition, as a Democratic governor welcomed his Republican successor and joined with seven other former governors to welcome Youngkin and say farewell to Northam. Well, this is a heck of a group, Youngkin exclaimed as he walked into the Jefferson Room to meet with Democrats Chuck Robb, Doug Wilder, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, and Republicans George Allen, Jim Gilmore and Bob McDonnell. McDonnell, the last Republican to serve as governor, replied, Welcome to the group! After posing with eight of Virginias nine other living governors for ceremonial photographs, Youngkin told them, Being here today is what one Virginia is all about. Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat whom Youngkin defeated in November, did not attend but sent his regrets. McAuliffe, who preceded Northam as governor, said on Twitter that he and his wife, Dorothy, had hoped to attend but are quarantining due to a close COVID contact in the interest of health and safety. We wish Glenn Youngkin and the new administration well today as they start their term, the 72nd governor tweeted. Two other former governors were sadly missed at the quadrennial reunion. Linwood Holton, elected in 1969 as Virginias first Republican governor since Reconstruction, and Gerald Baliles, who served between Robb and Wilder, had died since the governors gathered in the same room four years earlier for Northams inauguration. He was in my heart, Anne Holton, the former governors daughter and Kaines wife, said later. Both he and Jerry [Baliles] were here. Most of the former governors wives joined their husbands for a group picture. Lynda Robb was absent, less than a month after a fire destroyed the couples home in McLean. She and the former governor (and U.S. senator) escaped, but were injured in the blaze. Northam and the former first lady left the Capitol minutes after Youngkin took the oath of office. See you on the river, he told a news reporter as he left with a security escort to drive them to their home in Norfolk. The former governor said he is ready for life out of office. A pediatric neurologist, he is already scheduled to see at least 10 patients on Monday at his medical practice in Norfolk. Northam said in an interview that he does not plan to be involved in Democratic politics, but wants to advocate to eliminate the disparity in access to health care, based on race and income. He also plans to volunteer with organizations to preserve the Lynhaven and Elizabeth rivers, a cause he shares with his wife, along with promoting early childhood education. Pam Northam wore a pin featuring the state seal circled, which Senate Clerk Susan Schaar had given her as a memento of four memorable sometimes turbulent years in the Executive Mansion. We are so excited for you and your family, Northam told the Youngkins during the key exchange, held beneath portraits of Captain John Smith and Pocahontas. Four years will really go by fast. Youngkin responded that he and his wife were deeply, deeply gratified by the warm welcome they received from the outgoing governor during the transition. The entire commonwealth sees the love in your heart, he told his predecessor. The two men had collaborated personally in preparing the new administration for a state of emergency from a winter storm expected to sweep through Virginia on Sunday. Northam said Youngkin joined him in a meeting on Friday with state officials preparing for potentially hazardous weather, less than two weeks after a snowstorm stranded thousands of motorists, including Kaine, for more than a day on Interstate 95. Shawn Talmadge, a former deputy secretary of public safety under Northam, will serve as Youngkins coordinator for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management at the heart of the storm response. Northam said he was happy that Youngkin would keep some institutional knowledge in these agencies. Its really important. *** Outside the Capitol, thousands of Virginians gathered for the inauguration ceremony in weather that steadily improved from briskly cold to seasonably cool. The day was memorable for Republicans, including former Del. Steve Landes, R-Augusta, now clerk of the Augusta County Circuit Court. Its great to see old friends, said Landes, who retired in 2019 to run for clerk. As a Republican, its great to have all three [statewide] offices again. It was especially gratifying for Republican Party Chairman Rich Anderson, a former delegate from Prince William County who was defeated during a Democratic electoral wave in 2017 and lost a bid to regain his seat two years later. Its a great day to be chairman of the party, Anderson said from the grandstand overlooking the inaugural parade. Its all about the timing. Anderson, elected party chairman in August 2020, took over a state party in disarray, stung by a series of electoral defeats. Last year, Republican activists fought publicly over the best way to nominate candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general during the COVID-19 pandemic, which prevented them from meeting in a conventional convention. Now, Anderson said, The party is united, solid and looking forward to midterm elections in November for Virginias 11 congressional seats. But elected Democrats also attended the inaugural ceremony, including Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, a prime target for Republicans seeking to regain control of Virginias congressional delegation. Spanberger is running for a third term this year in a newly drawn district that no longer includes her home in western Henrico County but is now anchored in eastern Prince William and the Fredericksburg area. She was attending her first inauguration of a Virginia governor, accompanied by her husband, Adam. Its the peaceful transition of power, said Spanberger, who was trapped in the House of Representatives chamber a year ago when a mob tried to disrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election. Thats the way it should be. In a final attempt at getting an absolute pardon from Gov. Ralph Northam, a Black man who spent more than 20 years in prison for a robbery he didnt commit came to Richmond on Friday to ask lawmakers for help. Gov. Terry McAuliffe, at the end of his term in 2018, granted Messiah Johnson a conditional pardon because of the credible evidence he was innocent of a 1997 robbery at a Norfolk beauty salon. Johnson was released from prison and has since started a trucking business and purchased a home. The real robber pleaded guilty. He was disappointed that after four years, Northam didnt grant him an absolute pardon, which would wipe felonies related to the robbery off his record, he said, and allow him to move on to the next chapter of his life. The Innocence Project at the University of Virginia investigated the case, helped find the real robber, and calls Johnsons case a slam dunk on innocence. Johnson talked to several aides to lawmakers on Friday. I didnt know any of the politicians personally, he said. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to fight for myself and so I decided to do just that by going there and bringing awareness to my case. One lawmaker, Del. Jackie Glass, D-Norfolk, issued a statement: Given the evidence and the hard work of the UVA Innocence Project, Messiah absolutely did not commit this crime. We owe him, and he deserves, an absolute pardon. Johnson was joined by Darnell Phillips, who is also Black and was paroled in 2018 after the Innocence Project found DNA and other evidence to support his claim of innocence in a rape case in Virginia Beach. Northam, who has issued more than 1,200 pardons in his term, leaves office at noon Saturday. On his final day in office presiding over the state Senate, lawmakers from both parties praised Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax as a friend and extraordinary leader with a good sense of humor, an expert on the rules, and someone theyll miss. Fairfax, a Democrat, leaves office Saturday when Republican Winsome Earle-Sears is sworn in as the next lieutenant governor. You have put up with the jokes that we have thrown at you. Most of them were not funny, but you laughed anyway, said Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County. You leave as our friend. If you ever need us, as your friends, we will always be there for you and you will always have a special place in our hearts and in our minds. Fairfax, a former federal prosecutor, became the second African-American to hold the post when he was elected in 2017 after an unsuccessful run for attorney general in 2013. When Gov. Ralph Northam was embroiled in scandal in 2019 over a racist yearbook photo, Fairfax seemed close to becoming governor as waves of leaders called for Northams resignation. But soon after Northams scandal erupted, Fairfax was met with allegations of assault from two women from years earlier, prompting calls for his resignation. Fairfax maintained his innocence and refused to resign. The allegations were never investigated by law enforcement. He ran for governor in 2021, finishing fourth in a five-person Democratic primary. Among tie votes he broke in the chamber were votes to ensure expansion of Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act in 2018. I know that the last four years have not been a walk in the park for you, and obviously theres been some bumps but you handled it with dignity and grace, said Senate Democratic Majority Leader Dick Saslaw, D-Fairfax. I want to wish you nothing but the best and the best of luck in the future. Youve earned it. Senate Republican Leader Tommy Norment of James City said he enjoyed the relationship he developed with Fairfax over the past four years. I am confident that all 40 senators are appreciative of your service and we actually look forward with anticipation to what the next chapter in your life is going to [be]. Senators praised Fairfax for his goodwill. Im sincerely going to miss you and I want to thank you for all your service, said Sen. Janet Howell, D-Fairfax. Sen. David Marsden, D-Fairfax, was direct: Mr. President, many people have been in your role over the hundreds of years of our commonwealth. I dont think anybodys ever done the job better. Said Sen. Lionell Spruill, D-Chesapeake: You held all of us together. Other senators who spoke in praise of Fairfax were Sens. Barbara Favola, D-Arlington, Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax City and John Edwards, D-Roanoke. Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, marveled at the captivating and genuine way Fairfax welcomed visitors to the gallery. You speak directly to the individual or you speak directly to that group and truly make them feel as though this is their Capitol. That they are participating in democracy when they are here, Locke said. Senators presented him with gifts: $4,100 for him to donate to the charity of his choice and a gavel. Senate Clerk Susan Clarke Schaars office gave him a bell. Fairfax returned the praises, calling the senators extraordinary public servants and wonderful people and I got to see that every single day. I got to see how dedicated you are to making the lives better of everyone that you come into contact with. I believe that each one of you, members of your staff, your families have made this such an enriching time for me and for my family and such a wonderful experience. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you have provided to us. KAMPALA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- At least nine people were killed and five others seriously injured in two separate road accidents in central Uganda on Friday, police said Saturday. Faridah Nampiima, Traffic and Road Safety Police spokesperson, said in a statement that five people died and four others were seriously injured after a vehicle they were travelling in from the capital Kampala towards Gulu rammed into a South Sudan registered trailer from behind at Kyampisi in the central district of Nakasongola. She said all the bodies of the yet to be identified deceased persons were conveyed to Nakasongola Hospital Mortuary for postmortem examination. Meanwhile, four people were killed and another injured after a lorry truck moving from eastern town of Jinja towards Kampala tried to dodge a head-on collision with a commuter taxi which was overtaking, knocking five pedestrians in the process, killing four on spot and seriously injuring one. Hellen Butoto, police spokesperson for Sezibwa region, said in a statement that the fatal accident occurred at Najjembe Trading Centre, along the Jinja-Kampala Highway in the central district of Buikwe. "The bodies have been conveyed to Kawolo Hospital mortuary for postmortem examination. The hunt for the driver of the Tata lorry who fled from the scene of the accident is on," said Butoto. According to police data, some 20,000 road accidents occur nationwide annually, causing more than 2,000 deaths. Sunday is Religious Freedom Day, celebrating the adoption of Thomas Jeffersons Statute for Religious Freedom and his vision for religious liberty, a vision that stands in sharp opposition to recent efforts to divide Americans. Jefferson had multiple reasons to support religious freedom. It was a natural right; government had no authority to deny it. People had to make their own religious commitments not dictated, prohibited or even encouraged by government; religion is a matter which lies solely between Man and his God, Jefferson said. But on Religious Freedom Day, it is especially important to think about the political reasons why Jefferson believed religious freedom including a strict separation of church and state was a foundation for the United States. Religious persecution had been a scourge throughout history; Jefferson was disgusted that oceans of human blood have been spilt, & whole regions of the earth have been desolated... by religious persecution. His trusted lieutenant, James Madison, opposed any government support even of all Christian religions because torrents of blood have been spilt in the world in vain attempts of the secular arm to extinguish religious discord, by proscribing all differences in religious opinion. Jefferson and Madison knew that while the old world had drowned in blood from religious persecution, Americans shared in the wild frenzy. In their home state, before the American Revolution, not only were all Virginians (including Presbyterians, Baptists, Quakers) taxed to support the Anglican Church; over time, dissenters were persecuted, their ministers chased with hounds, shot at, prayer meetings dispersed by men on horseback with whips or by hornets nests. More than half of Virginias Baptist ministers were jailed before the Revolution for preaching without a license or on trumped-up charges of disturbing the peace, a diabolical Hell conceived persecution, Madison wrote. Other colonies joined in religious persecution, in several cases to death. While religious persecutions had painted Europe with blood, Jefferson was well-aware the same could happen here, especially if government continued to take sides in religious disputes. Jefferson understood that the United States would be an enormously diverse nation in which religious discrimination, especially government favoritism for one religion or another, would tear the nations fabric. What made this particularly dangerous was that, even at its birth, our nation was multiethnic, multiracial, multicultural, multireligious ... Jefferson saw that this would increasingly be so, insisting religious freedom be applied equally to the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan, the Hindoo and infidel of every denomination. Now, there were not a lot of Hindus in 18th-century Virginia, but Jefferson understood that America, over time, would be peopled from around the world, and that religious freedom had to apply to everyone. Efforts to enforce or even use governmental power to encourage religious uniformity would backfire. (While Jefferson, alas, did not anticipate multiracial citizenship, his declaration that all men are created equal played an important role in that essential development.) Broad religious freedom could not only prevent our shores from being washed by persecutions oceans of blood, but Jefferson saw American diversity as a great strength. In religion, divided we stand, united we fall. In his first inaugural address, he explained that what made the United States among the strongest nations in the world was not any homogeneity, but that all Americans would share in the rights, responsibilities, and benefits of a nation based on democratic principles and freedom. As a result, when the nation was attacked or faced foreign interference, citizens would fly to the standard of the law, and would meet invasions of the public order as his own personal concern. It is no coincidence that Jefferson was a member of the small committee that adopted the motto E Pluribus Unum out of many, one. Like strands of a rope that, alone, are weak, the united peoples of America, in all their diversity, are very strong. Today, efforts to divide us along lines of religion, race, culture and language are buffeting Americans. Such efforts seek to weaken the nation, to interfere with the strength from E Pluribus Unum. Religious Freedom Day is a good opportunity to remember that American religious freedom exists in part because of Jeffersons recognition that our diversity is our strength. Update 4 p.m. Sunday For most of metro Richmond, the snow has given way to sleet, also known as ice pellets. Snow totals have been close to expected, averaging about an inch, with locations on the east side of the city getting even less only trace amounts. Temperatures have been creeping through the middle and upper 20s through the afternoon as the precipitation has generally been light. Less than a quarter-inch of liquid equivalent precipitation has fallen to this point in the storm. More snow has fallen west of Richmond, and travel conditions have correspondingly been worse there, but there will be no more snow from this storm for Richmond, as transition from sleet to freezing rain is in progress. Early this evening, the center of the storm will pass over Virginia. This will give about 2-3 hours of heavy rain and increase the winds from the east. The east winds should provide enough warming to get the temperatures above freezing for a few hours during the period of heaviest rain, eliminating the risk of massive icing of trees and power lines across the metro area. All significant precipitation will end by midnight. However, the stronger winds that develop this evening, when combined with leftover ice and snow already on surfaces, will lead to scattered power outages this evening and overnight. Daybreak temperatures will retreat to the lower 30s by dawn. The winds will increase to 15-25 mph, with some gusts briefly to 40 mph this evening. After a lull in the winds late at night, they will pick up again early Monday morning, bouncing back to about 10-20 mph and staying in place most of Monday. Highs on Monday will creep into the lower 40s with a partly to mostly cloudy sky, so there will be time for cleaning up. And fortunately, no massive deep freeze will immediately follow this storm. Update 11 a.m. Sunday Snow started an hour or two ahead of schedule, but has overspread metro Richmond and already coated most surfaces. Sleet is advancing from south central Virginia, and the changeover to sleet and freezing rain is still expected during the early afternoon central Virginia. Snow accumulation averaging about an inch or so across metro Richmond, but upwards of 2-3 inches in some of the heavier bands of snow before the changeover. Those higher amounts will generally be on the western side of the city, where the snow started a little earlier and the change to sleet and freezing rain will be take slightly longer to occur. Travel has already become difficult in the southwestern quarter of the state, where the snow started earlier in the morning. Snow and slush have accumulated on Interstate 81 and US 220 south of Roanoke and US 29 south of Lynchburg. Due to inclement weather, newspaper deliveries may be delayed Sunday. If you do not receive your print edition, please enjoy our E-edition digital replica at roanoke.com/eedition/ . Need to sign up for a digital account? Its included in your subscription. Simply go online to roanoke.com/activate to get started. Also Sunday, all phone lines for The Roanoke Times will be down between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. due to work connected with the newspapers move to new offices. During those eight hours, please call 804-775-2904 to reach customer service. The regular customer service numbers, 540-981-3211 and 800-346-1234 will be working before and after that eight-hour outage on Sunday. A program has begun to offer free and voluntary weekly testing for Pulaski County students, staff, and school system administration. The program, in partnership with the Virginia Department of Health and Primary Health, goes to a different school each day to offer the testing, according to a news release from the county school system. The goal of the testing is to help identify COVID-19 cases earlier, which can help prevent or stop an outbreak before it happens. Knowing sooner that someone is positive will allow them to stay away from others and prevent spreading the virus, according to the release. The program is offered to all students, staff and school system employees, regardless of vaccination status. The testing is offered at no cost and no insurance information is required. The testing is completed at the school during the school day in a private location at each school. Testing will be conducted each Monday at Critzer Elementary at 10 a.m. and Dublin Elementary at 1 p.m. Tuesdays the testing is conducted at Pulaski County Middle School at 8 a.m., Pulaski Elementary School at 10:30 a.m., and finally Pulaski County High School at 1 p.m. Wednesdays the tests are conducted at Riverlawn Elementary School at 8 a.m. and then Snowville Elementary School at 10 a.m. Results are sent directly to the parents and the school by email and usually are available 24-48 hours after the test is complete, according to the release. If a test comes back with a positive result, the school will also contact the students parent or guardian. The test kits used are not the type that go further into the nasal cavity. Students can self-swab as they are monitored by testing personnel. The tests are not painful and do not cause discomfort and normally takes less than five minutes to complete. To sign a student up for testing, parents or guardians should visit https://my.primary.health./1/pulaski-county-public-schools. This link is specific for Pulaski County Public School students and staff. After registration, students are NOT required to test each week, but they can. Parents may also stop testing their students at any time after signing up. Richard Thomas is the Testing Division Coordinator for the program. He can be contacted by email at rthomas@pcva.us. Parents or guardians can also contact Mary Hall at mhall@pcva.us or by calling 540-643-0531 if they have questions or concerns. We are extremely grateful to our committed families and staff who continue to show great flexibility and resilience as we work together to contain the spread of this virus, Thomas said in the release. We are excited to offer this program to help identify people who are COVID-19 positive earlier and protect our students, staff, family members and others. Those who have already signed up for the program are pleased with the speed and efficiency of the testing, as well as the peace of mind it offers them. We want to make sure we are doing everything we can to keep Pulaski County students in the classroom and safe through this pandemic. CHRISTIANSBURG Montgomery County Public Schools is keeping the indoor masking requirement, at least for now, in spite of other school boards in the region and state quickly moving to end the measure in response to anticipated changes from the new governor. The Roanoke County School Board, for example, voted earlier this month to make masking optional and return to pre-COVID medical policies that leave decisions such as testing, quarantining and contact tracing to the doctor, the student patient and parents and guardians. That board, however, on Jan. 6 temporarily rescinded the decision, with the chairman saying that the body had not consulted legal guidance before passing the measure and that it could have potentially conflicted with state law. While most of the Roanoke County School Board still agrees with the original move, they said they will wait until the orders from Richmond are official. For Montgomery County schools, district spokeswoman Brenda Drake said the school board would have to decide that they want to re-vote on their COVID-19 mitigation measures. They could stay with the current decision, to follow CDC [the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines. That requires no action or discussion, Drake wrote in a message Friday. In August, just before the state masking mandate in K-12 schools was announced, the Montgomery County School Board had narrowly approved a measure to follow CDC guidelines to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. While guidance on other points have since been adjusted, the federal public health agency has maintained its recommendation of indoor masking in K-12 schools for anyone 2 years old and older students, teachers, staff and visitors regardless of vaccination status. MCPS officials discussed the coronavirus situation in a school board meeting this past Tuesday, during which they heard from New River Health District director Noelle Bissell. Bissell covered several points, including current recommendations on masking, the omicron surge and the virus latest trajectory. One point Bissell made is that masking will have to remain for now due to the ongoing surge of Omicron, which she said is four times more transmissible than the previous delta variant. On face coverings, Bissell spoke on the effectiveness of N95 masks, which she said can block 98% of aerosols and droplet particles. She said surgical masks do a good job, as well, but they have a weakness in that they can leave openings on the side. She, however, said that can be addressed by tightening the surgical mask, which raises its effectiveness. Bissell did share some encouraging insight on the future of the pandemic. She said cases are expected to drop next month and put the situation in a totally different place. Bissell, in response to a question from a school board member, said the end of strong masking recommendations in schools and return to more normal life will start when the pandemic shifts to an endemic. There is hope that transition will begin after the end of the Omicron surge, and there has been some encouraging news from places such as Europe where a number of schools dont require masking, she said. Their data is good, she said. During her presentation, Bissell highlighted other data such as the omicron curve in South Africa and the United Kingdom, each of which she said are coming off of surges. When something goes up that fast, its going to drop that fast, she said. Bissell said on Tuesday that Northern Virginia is peaking and that the local area is about a week behind. So expect that within the next week, we will hit our peak, she said. Bissell said she believes many of the areas returning college students have likely been exposed to the omicron variant, but that they are also vaccinated and are required to receive booster shots. She said she anticipates college students to play some role in the increase, but not a major one. Bissell also showed data supporting the need for vaccination. Our unvaccinated people have much higher rates of infection than our partially vaccinated or fully vaccinated individuals, she said, adding that there are similar patterns with hospitalizations and deaths. Want to see more like this? Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The Virginia Association of Museums will host online voting for the 2021 Top 10 Endangered Artifacts competition from Jan. 18-27, and the New River Valley is once again represented on the list. Among the current nominees is an 1872 steamer trunk from the Preston and Olin Institute, an early forerunner of Virginia Tech. The trunk is part of the collection of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Museum. VAMs description of the artifact reads, in part: This Civil War trunk is one of only a handful of historical objects still in existence from the very birth of VAMC [Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College]. Corps of Cadets Communications Director Shay Barnhart explained in an email that the trunk had been on display in the Corps Museum when the collection was located in Rasche Hall. As demolition and replacement of Rasche moved forward in 2013, the trunk was moved to the Corps offices in Lane Hall. Only recently was it rediscovered, she said, when a new employee joined the staff. One of the intriguing features of the artifact is a piece of letterhead stationery pasted inside, with 1872 and the initials W.H.W. written on it. But according to museum curator Samantha Riggin, who nominated the trunk for the annual VAM contest, the identity of W.H.W. and information about the trunk itself are something of a mystery. Previous nominees from the New River Valley include: An 1850 coverlet created by an enslaved woman of Montgomery County, nominated by the Montgomery Museum of Art & History. An early 1900s Odd Fellows ceremonial collar, nominated by the Blacksburg Museum & Cultural Foundation. The Hance Store ledger, nominated by the Wilderness Road Regional Museum. VAMs announcement of this years voting notes that 2021 marked the 10th anniversary for the Endangered Artifacts program, which has become one of the organizations most successful outreach efforts. It raises awareness of the importance of protecting historic resources, and provides conservation funding for the participating museums: $2,000 for the item that gets the most votes, with additional monies for the rest of the honorees. Were thrilled to have the Virginia Association of Museums recognize the uniqueness of this artifact, and we look forward to putting the trunk on display so the public can see it, Riggin said. The public is invited to vote online at https://www.vamuseums.org. Christina Koomen RICHMOND Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin had every reason to be happy on the eve of his inauguration as Virginias 74th governor, and he showed it. Youngkin appeared onstage with his wife, Suzanne, Virginias next first lady, to thunderous applause and cheers from more than 700 supporters many of them Republican legislators who had gathered for a festive reception Friday evening celebrating the Spirit of Virginia Welcome at the Omni Richmond Hotel. I hope you feel the spirit of Virginia because it is alive and well, he exclaimed. Youngkin was happy, too, because he said he had spent a full week with his wife after a year of hard campaigning and preparing to form an administration for Virginias executive branch of government. Its the longest time we have been together in a year, he said, adding with a laugh, Nothing to be proud of, folks! Youngkin was sworn in Saturday along with fellow Republicans Winsome Earle-Sears as lieutenant governor and Jason Miyares as attorney general. Youngkin had begun the day in a show of community service, spreading mulch around the Reconciliation Statue along the Richmond Slave Trail in Shockoe Bottom, which was home to the second largest domestic slave market in the United States before the Civil War. He had visited the commemorative trail of historic markers during his gubernatorial campaign and recalled the way it made us feel a connection to our history. Yes, the toughest part of our nations history, he added, but it also helps us understand where we can go and how much progress we have made. But after the sun went down, the party lights came on with Youngkins last name in large letters etched in bright white bulbs with a red star over it at the top of the stairs to greet guests to the Omni ballroom for the reception. Republicans reveled in the moment, with the Grand Old Party poised to regain control of all three executive branch offices and the House of Delegates, just two years after losing two decades of control over the House and starved for a victory in a statewide race since 2009. Few in the crowd at the large cocktail party wore masks amid the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. Later Friday night, the Youngkins were to host a Spirit of Imagination dinner at the Science Museum of Virginia. At the Omni, House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, who had been sworn in as House leader two days earlier, relished his role as emcee to welcome you to the newly liberated capital of Virginia! The air is just a little bit better when you walk around Capitol Square, Gilbert said. Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, one of Youngkins earliest allies in his bid to become governor, led the audience in prayer, while Del. Amanda Batten, R-James City, followed in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. We come to you in the spirit of hope and expectation, Newman prayed. Virginia Beach developer Bruce Thompson, chairman of the Youngkin inaugural committee, promised the biggest crowd for a gubernatorial inauguration in Virginia history, with more than 6,000 people expected in Capitol Square. Thompson also promised a celebration like Richmond, Virginia, has never seen on Saturday night, after Youngkin becomes governor. Youngkin looked forward to his inauguration in three stages. The first, he said, would be celebration, not of whats behind us, but whats ahead of us. The second comes after the ceremony and parade. In the afternoon, were going to work because its Day One, said Youngkin, echoing the refrain of the late summer unveiling of a tax cut package that he promised would be a priority from his first day as governor. Finally, at Main Street Station on Saturday night, he said, Let me tell you, we are going to have a ball! But for all the high spirits, Youngkin stayed close to his political themes from a victory that he said was the result of a movement rather than a campaign. He savored the 52-48 majority that Republicans hold in the House and reminded the audience that all 140 seats in both chambers of the General Assembly are up for election next year. Democrats hold a 21-19 majority in the Senate. I have to say, 2023 is right around the corner, Youngkin said. So get ready for the Senate. (804) 649-6964 Instead of a brass key to a door lock, outgoing Gov. Ralph Northam handed the incoming governor a plastic card punctured by tooth marks from his Labrador puppy, Pearl. Did the dog eat it? Youngkin asked incredulously after he and his wife, Suzanne, joined Northam and first lady Pam Northam in the Old Senate Chamber in the Capitol for the traditional passing of the key from one governor to the next. Northam responded, He tried to eat it. I can promise you it still works, Northam told Youngkin minutes before the governor-elect took the oath of office, steps away on the South Portico of the Capitol. Two hours later, Youngkin walked back into the historic building as Virginias 74th governor, surrounded by his executive protection unit. He had given his inaugural speech and reviewed a parade around the Capitol in his honor. What a morning! he exclaimed before heading to the governors office upstairs, where he was preparing to sign a series of executive orders and directives to begin carrying out his day one agenda. A day of celebration and executive action was to culminate with a casual-dress party at Richmonds Main Street Station in lieu of the traditional black-tie inaugural ball. It was a morning of respectful tradition, as a Democratic governor welcomed his Republican successor and joined with seven other former governors to welcome Youngkin and say farewell to Northam. Well, this is a heck of a group, Youngkin exclaimed as he walked into the Jefferson Room to meet with Democrats Chuck Robb, Doug Wilder, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, and Republicans George Allen, Jim Gilmore and Bob McDonnell. McDonnell, the last Republican to serve as governor, replied, Welcome to the group! After posing with the other governors for ceremonial photographs, Youngkin told them, Being here today is what one Virginia is all about. Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat whom Youngkin defeated in November, did not attend but sent his regrets. McAuliffe, who preceded Northam as governor, said on Twitter that he and his wife, Dorothy, had hoped to attend but are quarantining due to a close COVID contact in the interest of health and safety. We wish Glenn Youngkin and the new administration well today as they start their term, the 72nd governor tweeted. Two other former governors were sadly missed at the quadrennial reunion. Linwood Holton, elected in 1969 as Virginias first Republican governor since Reconstruction, and Gerald Baliles, who served between Robb and Wilder, had died since the governors gathered in the same room four years earlier for Northams inauguration. He was in my heart, Anne Holton, the former governors daughter and Kaines wife, said later. Both he and Jerry [Baliles] were here. Most of the former governors wives joined their husbands for a group picture. Lynda Robb was absent, less than a month after a fire destroyed their home in McLean. She and the former governor (and U.S. senator) escaped safely, but were injured in the blaze. Northam and the former first lady left the Capitol minutes after Youngkin took the oath of office. See you on the river, he told a news reporter as he left with a security escort to drive them to their home in Norfolk. The former governor said he is ready for life out of office. A pediatric neurologist, he already is scheduled to see at least 10 patients on Monday at his medical practice in Norfolk. Northam said in an interview that he doesnt plan to be involved in Democratic politics, but wants to advocate to eliminate the disparity in access to health care, based on race and income. He also plans to volunteer with organizations to preserve the Lynhaven and Elizabeth rivers, a cause he shares with his wife, along with promoting early childhood education. Pam Northam wore a pin featuring the state seal circled, which Senate Clerk Susan Schaar had given her as a memento of four memorablesometimes turbulentyears in the Executive Mansion. We are so excited for you and your family, Northam told the Youngkins during the key exchange, held beneath portraits of Capt. John Smith and Pocahontas. Four years will really go by fast. Youngkin responded that he and his wife were deeply, deeply gratified by the warm welcome they received from the outgoing governor during the transition. The entire commonwealth sees the love in your heart, he told his predecessor. The two men had collaborated personally in preparing the new administration for a state of emergency from a winter storm expected to sweep through Virginian on Sunday. Northam said Youngkin joined him in meeting on Friday with state officials preparing for potentially hazardous weather, less than two weeks after a snowstorm stranded thousands of motorists, including Kaine, for more than a day on Interstate 95. Shawn Talmadge, a former deputy secretary of public safety under Northam, will serve as Youngkins coordinator for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management at the heart of the storm response. Northam said he was happy that Youngkin would keep some institutional knowledge in these agencies. Its really important. Outside the Capitol, thousands of Virginians gathered for the inauguration ceremony in weather that steadily improved from briskly cold to seasonably cool. The day was memorable for Republicans, including former Del. Steve Landes, R-Augusta, now clerk of the Augusta County Circuit Court. Its great to see old friends, said Landes, who retired in 2019 to run for clerk. As a Republican, its great to have all three [statewide] offices again. It was especially gratifying for Republican Party Chairman Rich Anderson, a former delegate from Prince William County who was defeated during a Democratic electoral wave in 2017 and lost a bid to regain his seat two years later. Its a great day to be chairman of the party, Anderson said from the grandstand overlooking the inaugural parade. Its all about the timing. Anderson, elected party chairman in August 2020, took over a state party in disarray, stung by a series of electoral defeats. Last year Republican activists fought publicly over the best way to nominate candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general during the COVID-19 pandemic, which prevented them from meeting in a conventional convention. Now, Anderson said, The party is united, solid and looking forward to mid-term elections in November for Virginias 11 congressional seats. But elected Democrats also attended the inaugural ceremony, including Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, a prime target for Republicans seeking to regain control of Virginias congressional delegation. Spanberger is running for a third term this year in a newly drawn district that no longer includes her home in western Henrico County but now is anchored in eastern Prince William and the Fredericksburg area. She was attending her first inauguration of a Virginia governor, accompanied by her husband, Adam. Its the peaceful transition of power, said Spanberger, who was trapped in the House of Representatives chamber a year ago when a mob tried to disrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election. Thats the way it should be. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said Friday that the criminals behind a ransomware attack on Virginias legislative agencies had penetrated state computer systems last spring almost nine months before they prepared to shut down networks critical to the General Assembly session that began this week. Warner, speaking after a private briefing by the director of the assemblys automated services division, said the attack was stymied by a state employee who came to work on a Sunday afternoon last month and discovered that some of the defenses in the system had started to be taken down. The Division of Legislative Automated Systems immediately shut down the IT networks for assembly agencies, including the division that drafts bills and resolutions for the legislative session and the Capitol Police. The agencies were able to resume their work on a backup IT system reserved in the case of an emergency to maintain continuity of government. It could have been a much nastier circumstance, said Warner, speaking at the assemblys temporary home at the Pocahontas Building in Richmond after a briefing by Dave Burhop, the director of the legislatures IT agency. The senator, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, pitched the close call as reason to step up investment in cybersecurity and pass federal legislation to ensure that the government knows about ransomware attacks that often are resolved privately by paying criminals what they demand. This demonstrates something that is not a Richmond problemit is a national issue, he said. A criminal investigation is under way, led by the Virginia State Police with help from the FBI, to determine who was behind the attack. Warner, who is in Richmond to attend the inauguration of Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin on Saturday, said no definitive amount of ransom was demanded by the attackers and the state declined to follow them into the Dark Web of the internet to find out. He said he has no evidence that any foreign countries, such as Russia or China, were involved in the Virginia attack, but he noted that national adversaries like to disrupt government operations in the U.S., including those at the state level. These are the kinds of things our adversaries like to mess with, he said. Warner said the state discovered at the end of last March that someone had penetrated the system. IT experts thought they had rid the system of malware implanted by the attackers, but they saw evidence this fall that they were wrong. They thought they had cleared out the bad guys, he said, but the bad guys were still in the system. Warner said the legislatures IT agency is well, well down the path of disinfecting the compromised computer systems. He declined to estimate the cost to the state, but said government would be wise to invest more money up front to prevent cyber-attacks instead of paying for repairs later. Were going to have to up our game, Warner said. ACCRA, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said here on Friday that the biennial Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) is a catalyst for trade on the African continent. Obasanjo made the remarks during the official opening of registrations for the next session of the IATF scheduled for Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire in 2023, which is held by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat and the African Export-Import Bank. "The IATF is an important component of our efforts at righting the wrongs of the past, breaking down borders, and building bridges to help us achieve the ambition of Agenda 2063 to build the Africa we want," said Obasanjo, who was the chairman of the 2021 IATF advisory council. "It was not just a trade fair, but a powerful transformative, socioeconomic event that fostered African integration on the platform of trade," said Obasanjo, referring to the 2021 IATF held in Durban, South Africa. He added that the 2021 fair provided a platform for trade and investment deals worth more than 42 billion U.S. dollars. "IATF-2023 should enable exhibitors to showcase their goods and services and conclude different deals that would change Africa's fortunes," said Obasanjo. (CNN) One Mississippi middle school's attempt at addressing girls' body image concerns sparked outrage among parents, forcing the school to backtrack. Ashley Heun, of Southaven, Mississippi, became angry after her 13-year-old daughter, Caroline, on Tuesday handed her a letter from Southaven Middle School titled "Why Do Girls Suffer from Body Image?" The letter discussed body images issues among females and, at the bottom, offered parents the option to consent to their daughters receiving "healthy literature" and shapewear clothing items. "We, the counselors of Southaven Middle School, would like to have an opportunity to offer some healthy literature to your daughter on maintaining a positive body image," part of the letter reads. "I had to reread it a few times," Heun told CNN. "My first instinct was to go up to the school and yell at every person I could find." Heun told CNN that eighth-grader Caroline had called the letter "stupid" and didn't understand its purpose. After taking some time to calm down and gather her thoughts, Heun took to Facebook to share her concerns. Other parents quickly chimed in, in agreement. "It's hard to raise girls in this environment with social media, with filters and Photoshop," Heun said. "They're bombarded with images of what the ideal body is." She then sent Southaven Principal John Sartain a lengthy email to further express her concerns. "The letter, unfortunately, takes an unforeseen turn by offering my daughter SHAPEWEAR," Heun's email read. "If my daughter begged me for shapewear, I would tell her no. Now I find out that you are ENCOURAGING her to wear it. I, honestly, am baffled that a 'counselor' who is TRAINED in child psychology would actually think that this is a good idea." Sartain called Heun on Wednesday morning, and they met later that day. Heun said Sartain was very apologetic and said the counselors had nothing but good intentions with the note. He also told her that the program had since been canceled. "The district has been made aware of the parental permission form sent to parents by Southaven Middle School," Lauren Margeson, DeSoto County School's executive administrative assistant to the superintendent, told CNN in a written statement. "District officials understand how this type of information causes serious concern from parents." "I don't think they were trying to send out that message, but bottom line is that's the message that came across," Heun added. CNN reached out to Southaven Middle School for comment. Heun notes that she didn't intend for this to be anything more than voicing her concern and adds that everyone makes mistakes and the school is working on fixing theirs. "If anything comes out of this going viral, I hope it starts a conversation," Heun said. Dalondo Moultrie is the assistant managing editor of the Seguin Gazette. You can e-mail him at dalondo.moultrie@seguingazette.com . Felicia Frazar is the managing editor of the Seguin Gazette. You can e-mail her at felicia.frazar@seguingazette.com . Workers in Singapore who are not inoculated against COVID-19 may risk losing their jobs as new restrictions on office access take effect. (PHOTO: REUTERS/Dawn Chua) By Chanyaporn Chanjaroen and Low De Wei (Bloomberg) Workers in Singapore who are not inoculated against Covid-19 may risk losing their jobs as new restrictions on office access take effect. From Saturday, a prior concession that allowed unvaccinated employees who test negative to go to workplaces will be removed, according to a government advisory. Employers can redeploy those with no jabs to suitable jobs that can be done from home, place them on no-pay leave, or as a last resort, fire them if they cant perform their contracted work outside the office. Singapores inoculation rate is among the worlds highest and it has adopted a strict nationwide approach against the unvaccinated. The nation bars them from restaurants and shopping malls in a push to prevent the risks of the virus spreading and over-burdening its healthcare system. At the same time, the country has stuck to a gradual reopening path, dropping its default work-from-home stance this month. If you think about it, if all the 48,000 were infected with Covid-19, it would indeed impact on our healthcare system, said Rahayu Mahzam, the Ministry of Healths parliamentary secretary, referring to the number of workers who had not taken any vaccine dose as of Jan. 2 and who make up less than 2% of the total workforce. A fully vaccinated workforce would be able to operate more safely, Rahayu said in parliament on Jan. 10. She also cited statistics showing how throughout the pandemic, two-thirds of beds in intensive care units are taken up by people who arent inoculated. Venues requiring vaccination for entry Date of implementation F&B establishments Aug. 10 Shopping malls, attractions, coffee shops and hawker centers Oct. 13 In-person visits to hospitals, nursing homes Nov. 22 Libraries, selected activities at community clubs Dec. 1 Workplaces (without testing alternative) Jan. 15 Most other countries do not take such a uniform approach, and its the private sector which takes the lead on deciding office access. In the U.S. for instance, the Supreme Court this week blocked President Joe Bidens attempt to get 80 million workers to take their shots or undergo periodic tests. Meanwhile, firms including Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have moved to require vaccination for U.S. staff. Story continues Understanding Concerns In Singapore, 87% of the total population are fully vaccinated and 49% have gotten booster shots. The Singapore Business Federation and Singapore Manufacturing Federation advocate that employers speak to workers who have yet to get their jabs to understand their concerns. As the inability to return to the workplace will have implications on the performance of unvaccinated employees, we urge all unvaccinated employees who are eligible for vaccination to go for their vaccination as soon as possible, Lam Yi Young, chief executive officer of the SBF, said in an emailed reply to Bloomberg questions. Companies can also provide time-off for workers to get their shots, Lam added. As the bulk of vaccinated workers eventually go back to the office more frequently, the prolonged absence from the workplace of those without inoculation may affect both their performance as well as that of the organization, the government advisory, issued with the trade union and the employers federation, states. Some other points made in the Dec 27. advisory: If termination of employment is due to employees inability to be at the workplace to perform their contracted work, it would not be considered as wrongful dismissal. Those medically ineligible for vaccines will still be allowed in offices. Still, employers should consider allowing them to work from home if they can do so, and that shouldnt affect assessment of their performance. Employers should not terminate the employment of medically eligible but unvaccinated pregnant employees and are strongly encouraged to give special consideration to their needs and concerns. 2022 Bloomberg L.P. Dear Helaine and Joe: I hope you can help me identify this piece of sculpture. My mother had this piece sitting around for years and now it has been passed down to me. It is 7 inches tall and 6 inches wide. What is it called? And does it have any value? Thank you, E. P. Dear E. P.: Yes, it does have a name, and yes, it does have monetary value. But we were a little nonplussed by the term sculpture. We have never thought about pieces of this sort being designated this way. We tend to call such pieces carvings, but we suppose that since its a three-dimensional depiction of a bird among foliage, sculpture is not entirely out of the ballpark. When we first saw the photos, we thought it was well carved, but our eyes did not pick up the pictorial content right away because the image was on its side. We thought it was a chrysanthemum and did not see the bird until we turned our heads and had an ah-ha moment. This double vase is a Chinese soapstone carving, probably from the early years of the 20th century. We see some art nouveau influence in the curving, curling leaves and the naturalistic rendering of a mythical bird known as fenghuang. Many times the bird is referred to as a phoenix, the mythical bird that bursts into flames at the end of its life and then rises from the ashes. This is a Greek myth that should not be transferred to Chinese carvings because in this case, East does not really meet West. The fenghuang rules over all the other birds. Originally feng was the male bird and huang was the female, but over time they merged to become one bird. The bird is also called the ho-ho bird or August Rooster, and yes, the Chinese phoenix. At one time, it was said that the fenghuang bird had the beak of a rooster, face of a swallow, neck of a snake, breast of a goose, back of a tortoise, hindquarters of a stag and the tail of a fish. Yes, one weird bird. The fenghuang is the symbol for virtue and grace and is the union of yin and yang. The vase belonging to E. P. is made from a mottled reddish-brown soapstone or steatite that is an easily carved talc schist. The talc content varies in the stone, and the ones used by the Chinese for this type of carving were up to 80% talc, while the soapstone used today for such things as countertops is only 30% talc. Soapstone, which was also carved by Vikings, Egyptians, Inuits, Native Americans and many others, can be found in shades of pink, white, gray, brown, green, black, yellow and more. Large intricately carved pieces of Chinese soapstone (depictions of mountains, villages and the like) can bring serious money, but smaller pieces such as this one are much more common and less expensive. The Chinese soapstone carving belonging to E. P. is better carved than most and the color of the soapstone is attractive. In our opinion it should be insured for between $200 and $300 if it is in perfect condition. (Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson have written a number of books on antiques. Do you have an item youd like to know more about? Contact them at Joe Rosson, 2504 Seymour Ave., Knoxville, TN 37917, or email them at treasures@knology.net. If youd like your question to be considered for their column, please include a high-resolution photo of the subject, which must be in focus, with your inquiry.) 2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Dear Helaine and Joe: My family lived in Brussels in the early 1960s. We became very attached to a couple that lived next to us. I was only 5 years old when we moved there, and this couple became my grandparents. When they moved into an apartment, they gave my parents an old radio. I would like to know more about it. I have the manual and other accessories including headphones, lamps, etc. I dont know if I need to insure it and for how much. What can you tell me? Thank you, J. M. Dear J. M.: We think we can throw some light on the subject, but we want to note that the question brings up the Peter Principle. In other words, it raises us to our level of incompetence. Vintage radios are not something we know much about, but J. M. sent us pictures of the radios manual, so we can provide a bit of history on the piece and some other insights. It is an Audionette made by Etablissements Radio L.L. The L.L. stands for Lucien Levy. Levy was born in Paris in 1892 and was a radio engineer and manufacturer of radio receivers. In 1916, Levy was made head of the Eiffel Tower Radio Telegraphy Laboratory, which was basically wooden barracks on the Champ de Mars that used the Eiffel Tower as an antenna. Probably Levys most notable accomplishment was he was the invented the superheterodyne method of receiving radio signals, which is used in almost all AM radios. Edwin Howard Armstrong was granted a U. S. patent for superheterodyne some months after, but in 1920, an American court granted Levy seven of the nine claims made in Armstrongs application. Levy founded Etablissements Radio L.L. in 1920, but mass production of radio receivers did not begin until 1922. Levys companys first mass-produced superheterodyne unit came in 1924, and this radio was made in a separate block like the one owned by J. M. In 1925, Etablissements Radio L.L. produced a superheterodyne unit with a single turning control. The example in todays question is a great-looking piece of equipment. We cannot be sure from the photographs, but it appears to have been made from seven separate components probably cased in ebonized wood. We particularly like the six blue tubes the French called lampes. Now for the value of the rather rare piece. While doing our research we found eight lampes like the ones in todays question that sold at auction for 1,200 euros (close to $1,400). But the only comparable item for the radio itself that we could find was for an Etablissements Radio L.L. that sold in 2014 for around $5,000 without the lampes. The specialist in this area appears to be Auction Team Breker, Otto-Hahn-Strae 10, 50997 Koln, Germany, and yes, this radio should be insured. (Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson have written a number of books on antiques. Do you have an item youd like to know more about? Contact them at Joe Rosson, 2504 Seymour Ave., Knoxville, TN 37917, or email them at treasures@knology.net. If youd like your question to be considered for their column, please include a high-resolution photo of the subject, which must be in focus, with your inquiry.) 2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 When it comes to closets, organization is often top of mind. But where do you start? There is the mindset that everything should have a place. Have tiny items that you fear may get lost? Place them in decorative boxes as opposed to loosely on shelves. Have items that wont work well on hangers? Create slots to allow them to be neatly folded. Here are some top tips to create a functional and inviting closet. DO'S Do use boxes and bins to hold small items. Do color-code your closet by pairing similar colors and patterns together. Do incorporate slim or huggable hangers to create more space. DON'TS Dont keep items in your closet you havent worn in at least a year. Purge those items no longer needed or worn. Dont mix different seasons of clothing in the same closet if possible. If you have the storage space, try to store items in your closet by season. Dont design your closet before taking inventory of what you have and a plan of how you want your closet to function. Otherwise, you may end up creating a closet that isnt fully maximized for usage. (Cathy Hobbs, based in New York City, is an Emmy Award-winning television host and a nationally known interior design and home staging expert with offices in New York City, Boston and Washington, D.C. Contact her at info@cathyhobbs.com or visit her website at cathyhobbs.com.) 2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 SIOUX CITY -- The Sioux City Chapter of the NAACP will be donating an original work of art by local artist Paul Chelstad to the Sioux City Public Museum. The donation will occur following Siouxland's Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration -- a partnership between the NAACP, the city's Human Rights Commission and Mary Treglia Community House -- that is taking place at 7 p.m. Monday at Kingdom Ministries Church, 2000 Military Road. An accomplished artist specializing in graffiti-like pop art, Chelstad had originally donated the piece -- an image of Martin Luther King Jr. with a Black Lives Matter statement -- to Sioux City's NAACP chapter. Since the majority of local NAACP meetings have been held virtually, chapter members wanted Chelstad's art to be seen by a larger number of people. The Sioux City Public Museum, which had previously hosted regional NAACP meetings and group activities, was selected as the chosen venue. "I originally created the MLK image in the 1980s," Chelstad said. "As the 'Black Lives Matter' movement became more known, I realized I wanted to update the piece to make it relevant to both the 20th and 21st century." "Once (Sioux City's NAACP) did the right thing in meeting virtually throughout the pandemic, it became logical to think about another place to hold the piece in its permanent collection," he continued. "I'm happy that the Sioux City NAACP chose the museum to be its beneficiary." Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. BISHKEK, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Kyrgyz servicemen have finished their peacekeeping mission in Kazakhstan and returned Friday to their homeland, according to the Kyrgyz Defense Ministry. They are part of a collective peacekeeping force deployed by the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to protect socially significant facilities in unrest-hit Kazakhstan, which has been stabilized in general. To serve its CSTO mission, Kyrgyzstan has sent 150 soldiers of the Scorpion special forces, as well as eight armored vehicles and some vehicles to Kazakhstan, for the safety of a heating and power plant in Almaty, the Kyrgyz Defense Ministry said Friday in a press release. According to the press service of the Kyrgyz presidency, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev held a telephone conversation on Thursday evening and discussed a number of priorities in bilateral relations and regional cooperation. SIOUX CITY -- Two Siouxland men have been sentenced to federal prison on firearms charges in unrelated cases. Austin Rockwood, 21, of Sioux City, was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison. He pleaded guilty in September in U.S. District Court in Sioux City to one count of possession of a firearm by a felon. Rockwood had three previous felony convictions. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Rockwood was arrested Feb. 11 after he was spotted following an unmarked police car and then led police on a chase after they attempted a traffic stop. He eventually abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot with a loaded firearm that he tried to hide in the snow. Rafael Gomez, 20, also known as "Danger," of Sergeant Bluff, was sentenced Thursday to 57 months in prison after pleading guilty in September to possession of firearms by a drug user. Six guns were found in Gomez' home during a homicide investigation. He had hidden a loaded .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol that had been reported stolen in a couch. Officers also found a rifle that was used in a Jan. 1, 2021, homicide at a Sioux City home in which an 18-year-old girl was killed after several shots were fired at the house. Gomez was an unlawful user of marijuana, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol has caused a sea change in how the federal government views the threat of domestic extremists, say researchers affiliated with the University of Nebraska at Omahas counterterrorism center. And analysis of the 700-plus people arrested in connection with the riot continues to produce surprises. UNOs National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center (known by the acronym NCITE) was less than a year old when rioters bearing banners of then-President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol as Congress certified Joe Bidens victory in the 2020 election. But it has given new focus to the work of NCITE, which was established in 2020 with a 10-year, $36.5 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security to be the agencys research hub. Ive never seen so many resources and such consistent energy toward understanding the domestic terror threat, said Gina Ligon, the centers director. (The Jan. 6 attack) has made what were doing more urgent. Ligon said that in the immediate aftermath of the attack, she expected that well-established far-right groups like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers would turn out to be the driving force behind the riot the kind of people shown in videos wearing tactical gear and carrying zip ties. They would have been followed by a larger group of unaffiliated protesters who entered the Capitol but didnt engage in violent acts. My first thought was that it was this organized, top-down militia that got everyone spun up, Ligon said. Thats not the way it turned out. A study released last week by George Washington Universitys Program on Extremism part of the NCITE consortium showed that just 11% of those arrested so far were members of known extremist organizations. The vast majority were not affiliated with organized groups, said Seamus Hughes, the programs deputy director. The study also dismissed any notion that large numbers of rioters were down-and-out skinheads associated with past far-right groups. Instead, the analysts found a diverse group ranging in age from 18 to 80, representing 350 counties in 45 states. Most (87%) are male, and most had jobs. There were business owners, real estate agents, a yoga instructor, a state legislator and even a musical theater actor. Although some press attention has focused on the arrest of current or former military service members, only 11% had ties to the military. The information was drawn from court records of the 704 people charged with federal crimes for participating in the siege. It showed that many of those accused of crimes were part of what the studys authors called spontaneous clusters of people who are alleged to have joined in lawless or violent acts with people they had never met before. It feels a little bit novel, Hughes said. Ligon described them as people with no connection before Jan. 6 who may have linked up on the spur of the moment based on a shared ideology that was shaped by social media. They see someone wearing the same symbols and speaking the same language, and instantly have this bond, she said. It requires a lot of trust to follow someone down a hallway and commit acts of violence. In the past, foreign terror groups like the Islamic State group relied on direct recruitment of new members, typically using YouTube or other social media. The idea of spontaneous clusters suggests that law enforcement may have to look beyond those groups. There are things that are happening online that are taking the place of what traditional terrorist structures do, Ligon said. Our thinking about what a terrorist organization is has shifted radically. Twenty years ago, the Sept. 11 terror attacks forced disparate parts of the federal government to drop their turf battles and work together to prevent another 9/11. That effort succeeded, but at a cost. We became pretty fixated after 9/11 on the foreign (terror) threat, said Samuel Hunter, an NCITE faculty member at UNO. But there was an emerging home threat. Jan. 6 was an exclamation point on the shifting nature of the threat base. Though the Jan. 6 events were planned in plain sight promoted even on Trumps own Twitter feed the violence caught federal law enforcement by surprise. Clear warnings werent heeded, and intelligence tips werent shared. The government has upped its game dramatically since the Capitol riot, Ligon said, boosting communications among intelligence and law enforcement agencies and for the first time enacting a cross-agency strategy to counter domestic terror groups. Theres been a sea change in domestic policies, Ligon said. The last year of studying has made me more confident that we can degrade this faster. NCITE is part of the response. It now encompasses 50 researchers at 18 academic institutions. Seventeen of them are based at UNO, in a newly constructed addition to Mammel Hall. Hunter, a professor of industrial and organizational psychology, left a tenured position at Penn State University to come to NCITE last year. The attraction for him was that NCITE planned to bring together academics from different disciplines such as business, political science, psychology and information science to combat terrorism. We all bring different perspectives to the table, Hunter said. Theres no one way. None of us are going to solve this alone. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A Lincoln man has lost an appeal over his conviction and 10-day jail sentence for yelling racial epithets and vulgarities from his apartment balcony at two painters and a neighbor in 2019. Kenneth Grant Jr., 52, maintained the speech was protected under the First Amendment. At a bench trial in 2019, Grant was accused of violating two provisions under the Lincoln Municipal Code: disturbing the peace and assault or menacing threats. Jennifer Ponce, one of the victims, testified that on July 15, 2019, she was painting a house with a colleague when Grant started yelling vulgar things at them from across the street. Progressively, his comments got worse. Ponce said he yelled lewd comments about her body and threatened to "put bullets in your boyfriends." Ponce said, feeling threatened, she called the police. Gregory Patterson, another of the victims, testified that this was nothing new. "Hed always sit on the porch and holler racial slurs, all the time, towards me, towards the neighbors, even towards people walking down the street, Patterson said. That day, he said he heard Grant shouting "Kill them all" and "send them back to Africa." Asked whether he viewed Grant's words as threatening, Patterson, the only Black person there, said he felt his comments were directed at him. Lincoln Officer Breanna Callese said Grant admitted he had called Patterson a racial epithet and yelled at the painters that "he was going to 'light them up.'" But he maintained that saying it was protected under his First Amendment right. Callese ticketed him and he was charged. Lancaster County Court Judge Laurie Yardley found him guilty and sentenced him to serve 10 days in jail. He appealed to the district court, which affirmed it, then to the Nebraska Supreme Court. Deputy Lancaster County Public Defender James Sieben contended the speech was constitutionally protected and that the government couldn't restrict it because he had been on his private property at the time. And the Lincoln City Attorney's Office argued the conviction should be upheld because they were "threats and fighting words," which aren't protected. In Friday's decision, Chief Nebraska Supreme Court Justice Michael Heavican said the broad protections afforded by the federal and state Constitutions are not absolute. Here, he said, the prohibition against disturbing the peace makes no reference to the content of speech and or target particular speech on its face. Heavican said Grant's speech not only occurred on his own property but also at least 50 yards across a public street and sidewalk, making it public. So the court didn't need to analyze whether Grant's speech included fighting words or true threats. "Because even if Grant's speech was protected, we conclude the state may regulate it through reasonable restrictions on the time, place, and manner of speech," he said. Heavican said if Grant had been communicating the same content without yelling loudly down the street, for a lengthy period of time, "we find no evidence in the record that he would have been cited under this ordinance." Reach the writer at 402-473-7237 or lpilger@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSpilger Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 MANILA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The daily reported COVID-19 new cases in the Philippines jumped to another record of 39,004 on Saturday as the Omicron variant spreads in communities, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 3,168,379. The Department of Health (DOH) said that the number of active cases soared to an all-time high of 280,813. The positivity rate dipped to 47.1 percent from 47.3 percent the previous day. It added that 43 more people died from COVID-19 complications, pushing the country's death toll to 52,858. The Philippines' COVID-19 infections keep hitting new records during the last week due to high mobility, poor compliance with safety health protocols, and the fast-spreading Omicron and Delta variants. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Metro Manila remains the region with the most active and new cases, adding the infections are fast spreading across the country. "We are seeing community transmission of the Omicron variant in Metro Manila," she told a virtual press conference. As of Saturday, Vergeire said the active cases in Metro Manila stood at 149,000. "We are projecting the number of active cases in Metro Manila to double by Feb. 15," she added. The Philippines, which has around 110 million population, has tested more than 24 million people since the outbreak in 2020. Gov. Kim Reynolds and free market legislators are working to make Iowa a pro-growth leader. Tax reform is a priority for 2022 - and rightly so. Even after successful tax reforms in recent years, more work is needed to bring greater tax relief and make Iowas tax code more competitive. Iowa is in a strong position to enact substantial pro-growth tax reform in 2022. As a result of years of fiscal conservatism, Iowas fiscal foundation is sound. In her Condition of the State address, Reynolds proposed a comprehensive tax reform plan that calls for a 4 percent flat personal income tax by 2026, gradually reducing the corporate tax to 5.5 percent, and repealing state taxes on retirement income. These are ideas that would substantially improve Iowas economic outlook. Governor Reynolds and conservatives in the legislature deserve credit for prudent budgeting. Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Iowas fiscal house was in strong condition. As a result of Governor Reynolds wisely keeping Iowas economy open during the pandemic, the economic recovery was quick. Iowa was one of the states that passed a tax reform bill in 2021. This was a result of following fiscally conservative policies. Currently, Iowas budget is running a $1.24 billion surplus and the reserves are full. As a result, the Taxpayer Relief Fund will have over $1 billion for income tax reductions, and this is expected to increase by close to another $1 billion by the end of the year. We have almost a billion dollars in the rainy day funds. Another billion in the taxpayer trust fund. Another billion dollar projected surplus in this current budget year, and a huge structural surplus as we brought in almost a billion dollars more than we spent this year, said Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver in describing Iowas healthy fiscal outlook. The Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) has forecasted healthy revenue projections for fiscal Years 2022 and 2023. While temporary federal stimulus dollars that have flooded into Iowa from the federal government have certainly played a role, the states surplus is a result of conservative budgeting by the Legislature. The pathway to sound tax reform begins with prudent spending decisions. Certainly, the substantial surplus and the healthy revenue outlook, provide a pathway for tax rate reductions, but policymakers will need to continue to properly prioritize spending as well. As Speaker Pro Tem John Wills said, The time to make Iowa more competitive with transformational tax reform is now with the excess funds in our coffers. Tax reform will make Iowa a more competitive state but, more importantly, it is the right thing to do for the citizens of Iowa. Reynolds understands that Iowa is in economic competition with other states. Taxpayers win when youve got governors that are competing to create an environment that not only helps Iowans and Iowa families keep more of their money, but also to create an environment where businesses want to invest and grow, hire Iowans and really drive the quality of life that we want all Iowans to be able to enjoy, Reynolds said. In the 14th edition Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index, Iowa ranks 33rd. Data from Rich States, Poor States confirms positive migration patterns towards low-tax states -- and particularly the nine states that go without a personal income tax altogether. The no-income-tax states have outperformed their high-tax counterparts in terms of key economic measures of success like wage growth and population growth. Of the nine states with no personal income tax, eight experienced positive net domestic migration in the recent 2021 Census estimates, totaling hundreds of thousands of new taxpayers for those states. On the other side of the equation, many of the states with the highest personal income tax rates, like New York and California, experienced massive net domestic out-migration last year. A serious economic challenge that is confronting Iowa is the need for more people. Iowas workforce challenges can be greatly helped with a more competitive tax climate that would help attract more taxpayers. Policymakers can build on the important tax reforms back in 2018 and 2021 by lowering both the individual and corporate income tax rates. Iowa can look to states such as North Carolina, Indiana, among others that have lowered rates, while providing for the priorities of government. Several weeks ago, North Carolinas Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper signed into law the budget from the Republican legislature which will eventually reduce their flat personal income tax to 3.99% and eliminate their business income tax altogether. Since 2018, Iowa has made considerable progress implementing tax reform. This tax reform, balanced with conservative budgeting, has created economic growth and opportunity in Iowa. Reynolds is placing Iowa taxpayers first with her 4 percent flat tax proposal. John Hendrickson serves as policy director for Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation and Jonathan Williams serves as executive vice president for policy and chief economist at the American Legislative Exchange Council. Love 1 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Above the equator, winter officially begins in December. But in many areas, January is when it really takes hold. Atmospheric scientist Deanna Hence explains the weather and climate factors that combine to produce wintry conditions at the turn of the year. How does the Earths orbit influence our daylight and temperatures? As the Earth orbits the sun, it spins around an axis picture a stick going through the Earth, from the North Pole to the South Pole. During the 24 hours that it takes for the Earth to rotate once around its axis, every point on its surface faces toward the sun for part of the time and away from it for part of the time. This is what causes daily changes in sunlight and temperature. There are two other important factors: First, the Earth is round, although its not a perfect sphere. Second, its axis is tilted about 23.5 degrees relative to its path around the sun. As a result, light falls directly on its equator but strikes the North and South poles at angles. When one of the poles points more toward the sun than the other pole, that half of the planet gets more sunlight than the other half, and its summer in that hemisphere. When that pole tilts away from the sun, that half of the Earth gets less sunlight and its winter there. Seasonal changes are the most dramatic at the poles, where the changes in light are most extreme. During the summer, a pole receives 24 hours of sunlight and the sun never sets. In the winter, the sun never rises at all. At the equator, which gets consistent direct sunlight, theres very little change in day length or temperature year-round. People who live in high and middle latitudes, closer to the poles, can have very different ideas about seasons from those who live in the tropics. As the Earth orbits the sun, sunlight strikes the surface at varying angles because of the planets tilt. This creates seasons. Theres an old saying, As the days lengthen, the cold strengthens. Why does it often get colder in January even though were gaining daylight? It depends on where you are in the world and where your air is coming from. Earths surface constantly absorbs energy from the sun and stores it as heat. It also emits heat back into space. Whether the surface is warming or cooling depends on the balance between how much solar radiation the planet is absorbing and how much it is radiating away. But Earths surface isnt uniform. Land typically heats up and cools off much faster than water. Water requires more energy to raise and lower its temperature, so it warms and cools more slowly. Because of this difference, water is a better heat reservoir than land especially big bodies of water, like oceans. Thats why we tend to see bigger swings between warm and cold inland than in coastal areas. The farther north you live, the longer it takes for the amount and intensity of daylight to start significantly increasing in midwinter, since your location is tilting away from the sun. In the meantime, those areas that are getting little sunlight keep radiating heat out to space. As long as they receive less sunlight than the heat they emit, they will keep getting colder. This is especially true over land, which loses heat much more easily than water. As the Earth rotates, air circulates around it in the atmosphere. If air moving into your area comes largely from places like the Arctic that dont get much sun in winter, you may be on the receiving end of bitterly cold air for a long time. That happens in the Great Plains and Midwest when cold air swoops down from Canada. But if your air comes across a body of water that keeps a more even temperature through the year, these swings can be significantly evened out. Seattle is downwind from an ocean, which is why it is many degrees warmer than Boston in the winter even though its farther north than Boston. How quickly do we lose daylight before the solstice and gain it back afterward? This depends strongly on your location. The closer you are to one of the poles, the faster the rate of change in daylight is. Thats why Alaska can go from having hardly any daylight in the winter to hardly any darkness in the summer. Even for a particular location, the change is not constant through the year. The rate of change in daylight is slowest at the solstices December in winter, June in summer and fastest at the equinoxes, in mid-March and mid-September. This change occurs as the area on Earth receiving direct sunlight swings from 23.5 N latitude about as far north of the equator as Miami to 23.5 S latitude, about as far south of the equator as Asuncion, Paraguay. This satellite view captures the four changes of seasons. On the equinoxes, March 20 and Sept. 20, the line between night and day is a straight north-south line, and the sun appears to sit directly above the equator. Earths axis is tilted away from the sun at the December solstice and toward the sun at the June solstice, spreading more and less light on each hemisphere. At the equinoxes, the tilt is at a right angle to the sun and the light is spread evenly. Whats happening on the opposite side of the planet right now? In terms of daylight, folks on the other side of the planet are seeing the exact opposite of what were seeing. Right now, theyre at the peak of their summer and are enjoying the largest amounts of daylight that theyre going to get for the year. I do research on Argentinian hailstorms and Indian Ocean tropical cyclones, and both of those warm-weather storm seasons are well into their peaks right now. [Over 140,000 readers rely on The Conversations newsletters to understand the world. Sign up today.] But theres a key difference: The Southern Hemisphere has a lot less land and a lot more water than the Northern Hemisphere. Thanks to the influence of the southern oceans, land masses in the Southern Hemisphere tend to have fewer very extreme temperatures than land in the Northern Hemisphere does. So even though a spot on the opposite side of the planet from your location may receive exactly as much sunlight now as your area does in summer, the weather there may be different from the summer conditions you are used to. But it still can be fun to imagine a warm summer breeze on the far side of the Earth especially in a snowy January. Deanna Hence receives funding from NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the Illinois Campus Research Board. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 As I sat down to watch the new film of The Tragedy of Macbeth from director Joel Coen, out in theaters and now streaming on Apple TV+,I realized that I have seen Macbeth more than any other Shakespeare play. While the popularity of some of Shakespeares work comes and goes with shifts in cultural taste, over the past 30 years Macbeth has remained reliably in the No. 3 slot, content to allow King Lear and Hamlet to duke it out for the top prize. Its steady popularity and cultural relevance make a certain kind of sense. Macbeth is among Shakespeares most tightly plotted and efficient plays. It can be directed into any number of recognizable genres from supernatural horror to feudal political thriller to revenge tragedy. It comes chockablock with famous lines. And its tale of ambition, violence, madness, and the limitation of individual free will speaks to us no matter what our current crisis is. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But the plays lasting popularity is also odd because Macbeth is among Shakespeares most hopeless works. At the end of Hamlet, much of the cast lies dead, but we can at least hope that Fortinbras and Horatio could manage to cobble together some new, more stable, and just nation out of the broken pieces that remain after King Claudius reign. Macbeth takes place on an ever-spinning wheel, one that cannot be escaped. For all the brutal violence of the play, nothing has been accomplished by its end: The play begins with the defeat of a traitorous Thane of Cawdor and the redistribution of his lands and title, and it ends with the defeat of a different traitorous Thane of Cawdor and yet another redistribution of lands and titles. In the early 17th century, the noun success contained more definitions than it does today, meaning an achievement of something, the result of something, the progress of time, and the succession of heirs. Shakespeare, who couldnt resist a good pun, organized the play around these multiple meanings. Macbeth has succeeded beyond his wildest imagination by assassinating the king and succeeding him onto the throne. But he lacks an heir to succeed him, and thus his successes turn to ash in his mouth. Hamlet learns that because life is finite, the readiness is all. Macbeths great epiphany before he dies is that all success means is that you are next in line to be succeeded, and the inevitability of death means that life is a tale/ told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,/ signifying nothing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although its tempting to imagine that Macbeth originates in a middle-aged Shakespeare becoming the preeminent playwright of his time and having a midlife crisis, the plays hopelessness likely has political and cultural origins. In the three years prior to Macbeths premiere, Shakespeare had seen a plague kill one-fifth of the population of London, and he had also lived through the Gunpowder Plot, a failed insurgency by religious extremists that nearly destroyed Parliament. Emotionally, these events are all too familiar to us today, yet director Joel Coen isnt interested in finding these kinds of contemporary resonances. As in his previous work with his brother, Ethan, Coen opts out of trenchant political commentary to return to one of his favorite themes: the struggle of the individual to exist in an inscrutable, capricious universe. The Tragedy of Macbeth is very much a film by a director who inserted the title card Divine Presence to be Shot in one of the films-within-a-film in Hail, Caesar! and had Richard Kind wail at the injustices of the universe in A Serious Man. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement [Read: How the Plague Ravaged Shakespeares World and Inspired His Work] Joel Coen is part of a generation of filmmakers whothanks to the licensing of old film libraries to televisiongrew up far more film-literate than any who came before. Hes spoken in past interviews of spending hours with his brother, Ethan, in front of the family television in suburban Minneapolis, watching any movie that happened to be showing, and learning that all genres of film were simply different means of expression. His filmography bears this out. In the 38 years since his first film, Coen has directed westerns (True Grit, No Country for Old Men, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs), a sex farce (Burn After Reading), a picaresque (O Brother, Where Art Thou?), screwball comedies (The Hudsucker Proxy, Intolerable Cruelty), realist period dramas (A Serious Man, Inside Llewyn Davis), and several noirs, including my personal vote for most underrated of his films, The Man Who Wasnt There. For Macbeth, he has turned to new genres, attempting his first classic play, and filming it in a German expressionist style, with black-and-white cinematography, high-contrast chiaroscuro lighting, and sets that eschew verisimilitude and reflect the subjectivity of the characters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The results are hermeticMacbeth is the most suffocatingly controlled of all of Coens workbut deliberately so. The fates of the characters of Macbeth cannot be escaped. They are trapped, and a doom has been pronounced upon them, one that is reflected in a 4:3 aspect ratio that confines the characters in a tight little box and in spaces that never disguise their artificiality. Whether indoors or out-, the environments feel constructed on a soundstage. Instead of any attempt at realism, we get cinematography so sharp and starkly lit that the spaces have a vertiginous quality. The walls lack all decoration. Everything is cut with shadows and overwhelmed with fog. Scenes transition in and out of one another in slow cross-fades that cause the environments and people to bleed into one another. Watching the film, you cannot shake the feeling that this Macbeth takes place in a series of spaces absolutely hostile to human life, spaces in which joy, love, loyalty, and honor could not possibly grow. The earth looks burned. It is a blasted heath destroyed by war, a land of paranoia and cold, bloody power games. Advertisement Advertisement Sign up for the Slate Culture Newsletter The best of movies, TV, books, music, and more, delivered to your inbox. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. The deliberate staginess of the film also solves a major problem of many cinematic Shakespeare adaptations. Shakespeares plays were written for very specific spaces and circumstances, and those origins are embedded in the texts themselves and often quite difficult to shake. Movies that try to force his scripts into a purely cinematicand mostly realisticvisual vocabulary often have the unfortunate side effect of emphasizing how uncinematic the text really is. By basing the films visuals on the most theatrical movement in cinema history, The Tragedy of Macbeth takes an essential problem in the project of adapting Shakespeare and turns it into a conscious choice. Were never taken out of the world of the film by the materials inherent theatricality. Instead, we remain imprisoned in it along with its characters. Advertisement Advertisement And it is that feeling of being stuck in a world we do not fully understand and cannot control that The Tragedy of Macbeth is most interested in. Of all the versions of the Scottish play I have seen, this one is by far the scariest, a work of cosmic horror in which supernatural beings pursue their own games, delighting in their ability to manipulate and destroy the mortals caught it their web. As the witches, Kathryn Hunter, a virtuosic shapeshifter and Shakespeare veteran largely unknown to moviegoers, is genuinely uncanny, her body curling around itself, her voice scraping the very bottom of her register. By going all-in on this idea, the film downplays the originals other themes of the destructive and ultimately hollow nature of ambition. The screenplay omits Macbeths to be thus is nothing but to be safely thus speech, which is the moment the character realizes that he will never be content, even though he is king. Instead of raging against the world and his fate the way that Toshiro Mifune does in Akira Kurosawas adaptation, Throne of Blood, Denzel Washington plays Macbeth in a much lower key. Washingtons Macbeth is an older man, weary of the world, afraid in every moment that he might misstep and bring destruction down on him and his wife, and only rarely channeling the volcanic defiance we expect. As Lady Macbeth, Frances McDormandwho has played the role previously on stagebrilliantly traces the arc of a character who begins as the instigator of the conspiracy to assassinate the king and rule Scotland but gradually breaks with her husband over his murder of Banquo, and then falls into guilt and madness over what she has done. They feel more human than most portraits of the Macbeths, and not unlike the protagonists of Coens beloved noir films, who always think theyre one step ahead of everyone else, only to find theyre two steps behind. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Tragedy of Macbeth is for people already familiar, perhaps even well versed, in the original play. The interpretational choices the film makes, which include changing its plot by knitting together several parts into the character of Ross (an incredible Alex Hassell), only read as particularly significant if you know what theyre reconfiguring. The actors set aside the telegraphing that audiences are used to in Shakespearean performance and deliver the lines almost like everyday speech, playing their scenes to their partners rather than the crowd. What lingers in the mind after this version of The Tragedy of Macbeth is not specific line deliveries or bravura acting momentsalthough the cast all acquit themselves wellbut images and sounds. The smear of blood on Macbeths cheek. The circling crows. The fog out of which characters emerge. The ominous strings of Carter Burwells score. The dripping and knocking and pounding. These fragments remain, like the shards of a dream, one youre happy to have awakened from but also long to return to, so you can discover what profundities lie within. Since the violent Jan. 6 terrorist attack failed to overturn the 2020 election results, many Republican leaders have turned to state legislation to make it harder for Black and brown Americans to vote. Nineteen states have passed voting restriction laws since then, with more under consideration. Thats a threat to much of the Democratic party base, andas the president pointed out in his speech in Georgia this weekthis affects democracy itself. But many of the activists who help lift Biden to victory are unimpressed with the administrations efforts to support their work. So whats next for efforts for protecting voting rights and whos leading them? On Fridays episode of A Word, I spoke with Nse Ufot about dangers to voting rights, frustrations with Biden, and the dire consequences for people of color should voting protection efforts fail. Shes the CEO of the New Georgia Project, an organization that helped bring hundreds of thousands of new voters in Georgia and turn the state blue in 2020. This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jason Johnson: You heard President Bidens remarks this week. And I just want to get straight to this. What was good, what was bad, and why didnt you attend? Nse Ufot: What was good is a final acknowledgement and recognition about the urgency of this moment, a clarity that there is nothing more important to passing his domestic and foreign policy agenda, nothing more important than getting voting rights passed and expanding federal protections for voting rights, because aint nothing moving if we cant secure and guarantee that the will of the people is reflected in the results of our elections. And I heard my president clearly articulate that. What was bad, I think was [the verbal slip] Ebenezer Bastard Church. Advertisement Yeah, that was pretty terrible. I was like, I think it was such a solemn moment, people were not going to focus on that, but I was like, he just cussed. And we were listening. I was hanging on every word. I definitely heard Ebenezer Bastard Church. I also heard President Harris, but Im not going to hold you. You did not attend Bidens speech this week at Morehouse [College]. Was that because you were busy? Did you have a schedule conflict? Or were you actively not attending in order to make a point? Advertisement I have competing professional obligations that made it impossible for me to attend. Those competing professional obligations are the fact that Georgia Republicans have lost their damn minds, and are actively working to dismantle our elections infrastructure, that we are in the middle of a live and active threat. All of us make decisions. And I had to weigh the decision between the value of a photo op, and basically putting the pieces in play that are necessary to protect our elections and to protect our people and protect our work. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think that people dont understand the kind of venom that continues to be fomented on the right. That there are not only elected officials in the federal government, but in state governments all over the country, that dont believe that Joe Biden is the legitimate president. That believe that the election was stolen. That believe that we are in a crisis moment for American democracy, and they may have to take up arms to take the country back. That is happening right now. And its an academic discussion for a lot of people, an intellectual debate for a lot of people. This is our real life, our real lived experience. Advertisement Advertisement There are 159 counties in Georgia, which means there are 159 election kings and queens, right? Board of elections officials all over the state. Black county election officials, chiefs, are being unceremoniously, unilaterally dismissed all over the state of Georgia, right? Lincoln County in Georgia, one of the Black Belt counties, eight polling locations currently, theyre preparing to close seven of them. And the one that theyre leaving open, obviously, is on the white side of town where almost 40 percent of the voters in this county are Black. And theyre going to consolidate down to one polling location for the entire county, on the white side of town, because segregation is still alive. Advertisement Advertisement So there are organizers on the ground collecting signatures right now to block that from happening. The legislative session started on Monday in Georgia. They came out the gate. Not only did we pass Senate Bill 202 to make it more difficult for yall to vote, but oh by the way, were going to get rid of drop boxes in 2022. People do not understand that if we do not have urgent action, that not only could we see that impact play out in the midterms, we could not have a Congress seated by the end of the year. Because there are 19 states that have passed these anti-voting bills. Theyve been introduced in 48, but 19 states have passed them. And so if half of those 19 states are thrown into chaos, with the counting and the certification of their elections, we might not have a Congress by the end of the year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These threats are real and active. And if the president didnt come with a plan, and when I, again, make choices about how I use my time as an organizer, there are 10 things that I could have been doing other than standing in the cold at Morehouse for six hours to hear our president say Ebenezer Bastard Church. What were you guys asking the administration for before they came down, and have you heard anything from the Biden administration? It was several organizations that put together these asks. So one, what were asking for is to get rid of the filibuster. I think that people dont remember that this is sort of a new position. So he forcefully and vocally articulated that we need to get rid of the filibuster in his speech. So yay, congratulations. That actually represents movement. He was not there, and how had not been there for several months, despite the fact that we were talking about the filibuster as a racist tool that doesnt have any real value, he was absolutely not there. And so that felt like progress, number one. Number two, we passed the For the People Act that passed, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement People act like they dont know what weve been asking for. People act like we have not been consistent this entire time. Pass the Voting Rights Act and set a floor for federal elections. This current version of the Republican Party, this current sort of Republican criminal caucus, that has decided to be the party of no, that nearly 200 of them refused to certify the Electoral College vote. Many of them are apologists for the Jan. 6 insurrectionists, where there was a failed murder plot to kill the vice president of the United States. And those folks are actively in office right now. So not now, but right now, we absolutely need to do something. Advertisement Advertisement Our governor just signed into law these trash maps that are going to bind our hands for the next decade or more if we dont pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. If we dont figure out a way to prevent state legislators and bad actors from shoving these gerrymandered maps down our throats. So get rid of the filibuster, and communicate a plan for passage of the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Listen to the entire episode below, or subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts. The right-wing fight to suppress the teaching of uncomfortable truths in public schools reached a comical new low this week in a Virginia bill that blatantly misstated a basic fact about U.S. history. Wren Williams, a 33-year-old Republican, pre-filed the bill on Tuesday, the day before he was sworn in as a new member of the Virginia House of Delegates. It proposed a new standard for regulating high school social studies curricula in the state, including a requirement that students learn about the first debate between Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Advertisement This was a clear misunderstanding of the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates, in which Stephen Douglas, a then-sitting senator from Illinoisnot Frederick Douglass, the famed abolitionistfaced off against Abraham Lincoln on the issue of slavery.* Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Naturally, Williams was dragged online for the on-the-nose error, which seemed to prove exactly why censorious legislators should not be entrusted with the teaching of historical facts. But on Friday, the Virginia Division of Legislative Services, a nonpartisan government agency that formats and edits drafts of legislation, claimed responsibility. The error was inserted at the drafting level, following receipt of a historically accurate request from the office of Delegate Wren Williams, according to a statement from the division. The Douglas-Douglass mix-up will surely be corrected before the bill comes up for debate. But the bill also includes deliberate attempts to censor teachers and reshape the facts of U.S. history to flatter white menthe sorts of provisions Republican lawmakers have been advancing in state legislatures across the country in a manufactured panic over the supposed teaching of critical race theory. (In its November gubernatorial election, Virginia rejected Democrat Terry McAuliffe in favor of Republican Glenn Youngkin, who made the issue a pillar of his campaign.*) Advertisement Advertisement The Virginia bill would prohibit instructors from teaching that the U.S. is systemically racist or sexist or that the ideology of equity of outcomes is superior to the ideology of equality of opportunities. It would also ban school boards from hiring anyone with the job title of equity director or diversity director or a substantially similar title. Advertisement Williams cribbed most of his bill, including the part that refers to the first Lincoln-Douglas debate, from a law that passed in Texas last fall. Both bills include a provision even more disturbing than the swapping of Stephen Douglas for Frederick Douglass: one that prohibits school boards from requiring teachers to cover any current event or controversial issue of public policy or social affairs.* Teachers that choose to do so must represent multiple competing viewpoints on the issue, without giving deference to any one perspective. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats perhaps not so worrying in theory. But for a vision of how this law might be applied in practice, look to Texas, where a school administrator said it required that students have access to opposing perspectives on the Holocaust. In a hearing over a similar bill in Indiana that would prevent teachers from attempting to reveal or affect a students attitudes, habits, traits, opinions, beliefs, or feelings, a Republican state senator said that educators should be impartial when teaching about Nazism and fascism. When criticized for their statements, both the Texas school district and the Indiana legislator apologized. But their alarming directives were fair interpretations of the state laws as written. If a teacher must take an impartial both sides stance on every current event or controversy, she will be forced to give credence to some truly ghastly viewpoints. How will she teach about the mass detention of Uighurs in China? The Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia? The Jan. 6, 2021, assault on Congress? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A decade ago, we might have assumed that a violent invasion of the U.S. Capitol to overturn the results of the presidential election would not be a controversial issue with two politically mainstream sides to unpack. We would have been wrong. Williams, the author of the Virginia bill, set aside his law practice for two months in 2020 to help Donald Trump challenge the vote count in Wisconsin. Who knows what current, seemingly universally despised ideology will be up for debate a few years down the road? Most social studies teachers will end up covering who the president is at some point in their classes (and whether certain incumbents win or lose their reelection campaigns). If Williams and his ilk take charge of the curriculum, it wouldnt be hard for them to require an ambivalent stance on that bit of U.S. history, too. Advertisement Advertisement At this moment in time, its unlikely that teachers in Texas and other states with propagandist curriculum laws will be forced to cover Nazism as a value-neutral political ideology. But these laws will have an immediate chilling effect on educators, who may be justifiably scared to discuss historical events (and what we can learn from them) for fear of losing their jobs. Its not just unflattering facts about the Founding Fathers that Republicans are trying to keep out of public schools. Its critical thinking itself. https://sputniknews.com/20220115/alec-baldwin-turns-over-cell-phone-to-authorities-amid-probe-into-fatal-prop-gun-shooting--1092270964.html Alec Baldwin Turns Over Cell Phone to Authorities Amid Probe Into Fatal Prop Gun Shooting Alec Baldwin Turns Over Cell Phone to Authorities Amid Probe Into Fatal Prop Gun Shooting Earlier this week, the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office claimed that it was still without the cell phone belonging to Alec Baldwin, the 63-year-old Hollywood... 15.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-15T03:49+0000 2022-01-15T03:49+0000 2022-01-15T06:40+0000 hollywood celebrity scandal alec baldwin /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/0f/1092270451_0:111:2953:1772_1920x0_80_0_0_df1876f753e5b52e13d589fefce8b592.jpg Authorities are now in possession of Baldwin's cell phone, the Sante Fe County Sheriff's Office revealed in a Friday memo. The memo noted that the 63-year-old actor turned the phone over to law enforcement officials in Suffolk County, New York. New York authorities will reportedly gather information from Baldwin's cell phone and share it with the appropriate Santa Fe County investigators. He went on to assert his client's innocence, arguing "there are no answers on his phone" for investigators. "It is clear that he was told it was a cold gun, and was following instructions when this tragic accident occurred", the 63-year-old's lawyer said. "The real question that needs to be answered is how live rounds got on the set in the first place".The development comes nearly a month after the warrant was initially issued in connection with authorities' probe into the on-set shooting that claimed Hutchins' life. "Affiant is requesting a warrant for the seizure and search of Alec Baldwins' [sic] cell phone to search for any evidence relating to the death investigation of Halyna Hutchins", read the search warrant, approved on 16 December.On Saturday, Baldwin reiterated that he intends to fully cooperate with the probe, but also noted that the warrant involving his cell phone is a complicated issue. "Any suggestion that I am not complying with requests or orders or demands or search warrants about my phone, that's bullsh*t, that's a lie", Baldwin claimed in an Instagram video. https://sputniknews.com/20211105/angelina-jolie-speaks-out-about-on-set-gun-safety-after-alec-baldwins-rust-shooting--1090487128.html hollywood Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Evan Craighead Evan Craighead News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Evan Craighead hollywood, celebrity scandal, alec baldwin https://sputniknews.com/20220115/biden-reportedly-mulling-executive-action-on-police-reform--1092268594.html Biden Reportedly Mulling Executive Action on Police Reform Biden Reportedly Mulling Executive Action on Police Reform The White House on Thursday announced that US President Joe Biden remains supportive of bipartisan police reform legislation, but is now mulling executive... 15.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-15T02:43+0000 2022-01-15T02:43+0000 2022-01-15T07:27+0000 joe biden us legislation washington dc us congress police reform executive order us midterm elections /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/0e/1092268455_0:0:3071:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_f0d1e06fe03c716f80c1b0c9569041c5.jpg Biden is expected to sign executive actions as early as this month related to his administration's efforts on police reform, according to an NBC News report citing three individuals said to be familiar with the plan. The details of the directives remain unknown, as they are still being finalised, the sources claimed. The reported action would follow Democratic efforts to pass key election and voting rights legislation in the US Senate. The matter has yet to be brought to a vote in the chamber, despite Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's push to call a vote before 17 January, Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the US. "I don't know whether we can get this done", Biden said of the voting rights legislation on Thursday, moments after Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) doubled down on her support of the filibuster. With voting rights and police reform legislation stalled in Congress, Biden likely views executive action as a way to drum up support for the administration ahead of both Black History Month in February, and his first State of the Union Address on 1 March. According to a new Quinnipiac University poll, Biden's approval rating is sitting at 33%, five points lower than former US President Donald Trump's rating midway through his single term in office. Additionally, only 57% of Black voters polled approve of Biden's performance thus far, another Quinnipiac survey showed. The findings equate to a 21-point drop from April. White House press secretary Jen Psaki noted on Thursday that Biden intends to honour the administration's pledge to bring about police reform. She claimed that the US president was unable to take action sooner due to their support of "efforts to negotiate police reform on a bipartisan level" in Congress.Psaki asserted to reporters that there is "a substantive process that it has to go through in the consideration of executive order". https://sputniknews.com/20220113/democrats-voting-rights-bill-in-critical-danger-as-sen-sinema-doubles-down-on-filibuster-support--1092243185.html us washington dc Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Evan Craighead Evan Craighead News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Evan Craighead joe biden, us, legislation, washington dc, us congress, police reform, executive order, us midterm elections